The cottage was somewhat sunken and splintered with a thatch roof that looked to be decaying along with the wood that held the structure up. It was surrounded by thick brush, save for the trail that lead to it and the cottage was almost overgrown with vines. He''d have thought the place abandoned if it weren''t for the faint orange glow of candlelight emitting from the cracked glass window.


    Dain wasted no time and began to tie the horses to a nearby tree. As he dismounted Tycon heard the door creak open suddenly and slam into the splintering wall. In the doorway was a horned woman who looked to be the same species as Dain. Her features were somewhat similar, though instead of black and white fur, hers was brown and she had a bearskin top that covered her breasts. Initially, she looked mad but her expression quickly changed to shock when her darkened eyes fell upon Tycon as he picked Sylaina up in his arms behind Dain.


    "Dain, what''s going on?" She asked with a hint of concern in her voice.


    "Reilah! She was wounded protecting me from the spiders," Dain called waving his arms for her to go back inside, "Get a cloth and some alcohol. Quickly!"


    Tycon heard her swear under her breath and disappear back inside the decaying cottage. He rushed past Dain as he was finishing tying the horses to the trees and made his way hastily to the door with no regard for manners, barging inside like he owned the place. This was an emergency, not a social call, he knew nothing of Dain''s species etiquette but he was sure this would be an exception.


    As he entered the damp dimly lit room, he heard Reilah call out to him. He followed her voice from what he assumed was once a living room to an adjacent room that seemed to be in a better condition. There was a bedroll placed on the floor and Reilah stood by a waterlogged bookshelf preparing the bandage. The room was much dryer than the living room and he was glad that Sylaina would be, in the very least, a little comfortable while he figured out what to do next.


    Tycon watched in horror as Sylaina lay on the floor shivering with remnants of vomit and foam spilled down from her chin to her neck. Dain was leaning over her attempting to dress the wound as best he could with what he had. Tycon stood within the shadow in the corner of the room, away from the candlelight, desperately trying to blanket the sound of her whimpers with the cracking and scratching of twigs as they caressed the sunken roof of the cottage in the wind. His mind was ablaze; There had to be something he could do, it was hard to watch her suffering in the state she was in. Dain held her still as his wife, Reilah, wrapped an alcohol-soaked bandage around the wound. Sylaina winced at the pain and cast a short empty gaze towards Tycon and he avoided it, knowing that it would only break his heart further.


    "What do I need to do?" Tycon asked from the shadows.


    "We need to make antivenom," Dain replied between panting breaths.


    "How can I get it?"


    Dain waited a moment before replying, not speaking until Sylaina had settled, "First things first, you need to get a sample of the venom from one of the spiders."


    Tycon had an inkling that it would involve something like that, he didn''t react and only nodded, "Anything else?"


    "I don''t know," Dain paused for a moment and silently rubbed his horns. Suddenly his face lit up, his ears twitching with the motion, "Get the venom sample and find a doctor in the nearby village of Calimay, though I haven''t seen folk from there in some time, it''s our best shot at getting your friend to survive. We''ve bought her some time but not a lot of it."


    Without delay, Tycon nodded and began stepping to the withering wooden door and toward the darkness beyond.


    "One more thing," Dain called from behind as Tycon approached the door, "Here." Tycon turned just in time to clumsily catch an empty vial.


    "For the venom sample," Dain said.


    "Thanks, Dain."


    Tycon knew exactly where to start, he had to return to the campsite and hopefully, he''d be able to acquire a venom sample. If there was anything he had learned in all his time on the road, it''s that things are never that easy. He reassuringly grasped the hilt of his sword as he exited the door and peered into the darkness beyond. Nilab snorted at the sight of him and brushed her tail, the horse craning its head toward him.


    Sylaina''s life was in his hands and the pressure felt overwhelming. He was anxious at the thought of failure, what would he do should that fate come to pass? Knowing that he couldn''t idly linger with the thought in his head, he quickly concluded that he''d never know if he didn''t try. Sometimes trying was all one could do.


    He approached Nilab and untied the rope that held the horse at bay, quickly climbed into the saddle and tapped his booted heel on the horse''s side, galloping on his way into the darkness of the deep forest. Enclosed in its confines, he felt as if the branches that passed him by were embracing him in a cold tight grasp, a shadow that ever followed - Watching.


    It wasn''t much like the forest where he had reunited with his sister, this one was different. Filled with mostly dead trees that unlike the forest before, did not stand proudly - Only standing broken and withered like wooden skeletons in the moonlight. There was a sense of foreboding that hung heavy like a cold blanket, every moment he spent within made him feel uneasy and as he rode deeper and deeper, that feeling only became more overwhelming.


    There were things within this place that didn''t belong, the feeling had been always there, though, he knew for sure after the battle with the spiders. He wondered what else may be hiding off the side of the trails and roads, somehow he knew he''d likely find out.


    <hr>


    Tycon knew he was nearing the campsite when a bitter smell wafted into his nostrils. He scrunched his face and slowed Nilab into a canter, riding through the brush that rustled as he passed them by. He gripped his sword as he moved closer, the smell of both charcoal and death now getting stronger. When he arrived, he stopped Nilab and tied the horse to a tree, climbing off to observe and find the corpses of the creatures. He stood by the dead fire trying to remember where they had killed them when he saw the familiar silhouette of spindly legs raised up above the large dead creature. Tycon slowly approached, taking timid steps upon the blood coated dirt, his hand on the grip of his blade, ready to strike if anything approached. He glanced to both his left and right and saw nothing, allowing himself to let his guard down if only slightly.


    When he reached the corpse, he studied it carefully and noticed that it had dried up significantly, its hairy legs likely to snap off like a branch. Tycon reached behind under his cloak and drew one of his daggers as he looked upon the large dead spider. He went to cut the head open to find the venom sac when he remembered how Sylaina had been wounded from its abdomen.


    This isn''t like any regular spider I''ve seen before.


    The venom should have come from its fangs but instead came from a spike on its abdomen, he studied the spikes and noticed two of them. He could only conclude that one was for venom whereas the other was for web-spinning. The abdomen was large and covered with black hair with red splotches marking it. It looked like a boil that would pop if he so much as slightly pierced it but he was willing to be covered in muck and goo if it meant saving Sylaina, he''d do anything.


    He pointed the short blade downwards and slowly pierced the abdomen, a bit of white goo squirted from the incision that barely missed his face, almost wretching at the smell that followed. It was sickly bitter and was accompanied quickly by the smell of rot, he tried his best to bear it as he continued the incision until it was wide enough for him to reach into the inside. He gagged as he placed his gauntleted hand within the abdomen and rummaged around in the sticky insides until he grasped something that felt like an organ. Peering inside he saw it, the small green sac that connected to the stinger, he promptly cut it out and quickly popped the cork and placed the vial under the draining liquid, trying to get as much as he could before it was gone. He hoped that the sample would be fresh enough, though he wasn''t exactly filled with options he took the opportunity anyway.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Once the vial was at least half full, he slipped the cork back on and took one last look at his surroundings. All was quiet, only the sounds of insects and the odd brush of the leaves in the wind surrounded him. Time was short and he had to make his way to the nearby village, all he had to do was follow the roads. It all seemed simple but soon he''d learn that he was wrong - Very wrong.


    <hr>


    Oh fuck.


    That was all that went through his head when he arrived at the village of Calimay. He stood at the large front gate with Nilab by his side and looked on at the aftermath of the carnage before him. The foreboding dead quiet of the village, the dark wooden buildings stood like tombstones that surrounded the desolate streets. Nothing but the odd creak of timber and the sound of ajar windows as they smacked upon the wood in the wind could be heard. He decided to let Nilab wait outside and to investigate on his lonesome, leaving the shivering horse by the empty stables where others rotted - Dead and torn open, feeding the soil with their blood.


    He knew something was wrong the moment he approached. Even in the dead of night, lights would still have been on for the guards on their rounds. When he saw the pitch-black silhouettes of the houses in the silver moonlight and not a single guard posted at the gate outside, his stomach turned and he assumed the worst. He was right, it was the worst.


    Tycon carefully slipped through the front gate, slowly drawing his sword. He tried his best to keep his footsteps quiet, but the crunch of the dirt was unforgiving so he made each step deliberate. He studied the empty streets and noticed that there were no bodies spread throughout. He considered that maybe Dain had been wrong, that the village had been long since abandoned but the bodies of the horses in the stables were fresh. The heads were still intact so he knew at least that it wasn''t a pack of headhunters, he just hoped it wasn''t something worse.


    Whatever was hiding in the village, he didn''t intend on fighting it if he didn''t have to, all he needed was a doctor. The further he made his way through the main street, the more It seemed likely that the doctor was dead or gone, but he kept an eye out nonetheless. If he weren''t to find one then he''d go for the next best thing, the tool required - A syringe to make and inject the antivenom.


    Tycon turned a corner from the main street into another much smaller road. The moment he began stealthily moving down the road, however, he felt an odd presence at his back, like something was watching him, shadowing his every move. He snapped himself around, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever was behind him but saw nothing, just an empty home looking back at him, almost mocking him for his paranoia. Tycon, frustrated, tightened his grip on his sword, ready to strike without hesitation at a moment''s notice. Suddenly he felt it again, his heartbeat heightened as he searched again for the unseen eyes staring daggers within him.


    He was growing annoyed and decided to call out.


    "Where are you? I know you''re there," He called, brandishing his sword.


    He waited a few moments for an answer but there was nothing, just a whistling cold breeze that blew through the empty streets, the cold numbing his face. He sighed and continued on, in his irritation he made no effort to be stealthy anymore. Whatever was watching him knew he was already there, Tycon knew there was no point. He had his guard up and his shoulders tensed as he scanned hastily at each building searching for a clinic of some kind. Time was running short.


    He marched through a few more empty streets before he found the clinic he was searching for. A building like the rest, camouflaging with them like another simple townhouse. He''d almost missed the two-story building entirely and if it weren''t for the symbol, a cross with a snake wrapped around, he''d have cast it off as another house or store. He climbed the rickety stairs to the porch, each step creaked loudly, convincing him to push down his weight slowly. The door was made from wood with a glass panel in the middle that bore the same symbol as the sign at the front. The glass was cracked and he noticed a smudged bloody handprint planted on it, he knew something had happened but the handprint surprised him. A grim feeling echoed from the building up close and it got even stronger as he slowly twisted the cold metal knob.


    Unlocked? Strange.


    Tycon held his sword in front of him as he slowly squeaked the door open. On the floor in front of the door was a corpse, presumably the doctor, his insides strewn across the office and his head along with them, staining the parchments and walls that surrounded him.


    "Shit," Tycon muttered to himself.


    Dust particles floated in the silver moonlight, falling to rest on the abandoned desks and chairs that furnished the front room. Tycon knew that whatever he was about to encounter be it man or monster, was incredibly dangerous and lethal. He didn''t take the stairs immediately but instead moved through a short corridor that was just beyond the main room and led to what he assumed was the checkup rooms. As he approached the door he heard short muffled cries beyond.


    A survivor? No, it could be a trap.


    He hesitated for a moment, unwilling to open the door and see what was beyond, but he had a feeling that what he was looking for was in that room. He remembered Sylaina, wishing she were there to help talk some sense into him and he swore. Tycon was there for her, to save her and whatever was beyond that door didn''t mean a thing to him compared to her. He grabbed at the knob and slammed the door open, springing into action with his sword pointed outward. He heard a startled cry and saw a young woman dressed in nightwear huddled in the dark corner of the room, weeping behind the operating chair at a nearby window. Tycon stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and he let out a sigh of relief, lowering his sword. The woman, however, huddled herself deeper into the corner, eyes avoiding Tycon entirely.


    "Hey, What''s going on? Where is everyone?" Tycon asked as he squatted down to match eyes with the terrified woman.


    She didn''t reply, seeming as if she hadn''t heard him. Tycon waited for a few moments and was about to repeat the question when the woman, through shaken breaths and sniffles, finally replied.


    "T-They''re all dead. Everyone. Mother, papa... My sister."


    "Hey, it''s gonna be fine. Here." Tycon reached out his hand.


    The woman''s wide blue eyes slowly locked on his but her expression didn''t change then she quickly buried her head in her chest.


    "Look, we need to get out of here now!" Tycon said, slightly raising his voice.


    The woman looked to him again with her terrified eyes and for a moment, her expression seemed to soften and slowly she reached her hand out to his but before their hands could meet, the window crashed. Glass shards scattered the room as a large claw suddenly ripped through the window and grabbed the woman in a tight grip, she shrieked and cried as the claws dug into her skin, impaling her.


    "Help me," She screamed repeatedly, as she was picked up and slammed into the frame, the blood from the force spattered onto the roof.


    Startled, Tycon shook himself back to reality and attempted to come to her aid, but he was too late. It happened so fast, he had barely any time to comprehend what was happening before she was ripped through the window, her body twisting in an odd angle and her begging cries trailed off into the distance, leaving only a wet mass of blood on the floor in her wake.


    Tycon stood wide-eyed, trembling with a tight grip on his sword. A monster he hadn''t seen before, something he wasn''t sure how to fight and he was completely and utterly alone. There was no chance he could save that woman now, he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes tightly.


    damn it all.


    He knew better than to fight it on his own, he just needed to find what he came for and get out as soon as possible before that thing came back for him. Without another seconds delay, he slammed through cupboards and draws looking for a syringe before he found it. Made from silver and glass with the needle looking incredibly long and intimidating. It was likely used a hundred times before and he made a note to thoroughly clean it when he returned.


    If he returned.


    He felt those eyes on him again as he made his way back towards the front gate. He tried his best to ignore it and move as quickly as he could, rounding the corners rapidly until he was back on the main street. A loud roar echoed into the deep night, the sound seemingly shook the buildings around him, the glass rattled like chains. Tycon stopped and held his sword in front of himself diagonally, scanning the area around him. He waited for what felt like an eternity before moving on.


    His feet carried him on their own like his whole body was desperate to be out of that place. The chilling fear that rose kept his strides long and quick while his legs trembled. Suddenly he heard a creak, not like the wood in a strong wind, but instead the hard-pressed creak of a footstep. Tycon snapped around, his sword at the ready and he finally came face to face with the creature that had been watching him.


    It stood on the rooftops with glowing yellow eyes staring back at him through the darkness. Eyes with the intent to kill. The creature had white fur and large arms with sharp jagged claws that reached to its knees. It stood like a human on its dog-like hind legs and it snarled at him, baring sharp yellow teeth in its mouth which drooled at the sight of Tycon.


    I thought Lycanthropy was a myth.


    But he was sure of what he saw, like in the old tales, it was indeed a werewolf that stood before him, ready to gouge his throat and tear him open. He knew that he stood no chance against a creature so strong and large on his own, he had to run. Even knowing that outrunning a werewolf would be impossible, but he had little choice.


    I have to run, now!