On The Hunt

Wearing an olive green t-shirt with khaki cargo pants and boots, Leona carried her backpack and Argent Gloves. She also brought her ram dao because she needed its reach and power for this mission. She had been contacted by a village on the border of Lycan Woods called Wolfsmane; they urgently needed her assistance in thinning the local werewolf population. The call for help came after an unfortunate village of three hundred inhabitants was wiped out in a single night when a large pack of werewolves descended upon it. Leona was on the way to the village to discuss the details of the job.

She kept her ears open and her eyes on the brush. Werewolves could show up at any time on the way to Wolfsmane. She kept going down the road until she spotted a roving patrol of people armed with swords, longbows, and polearms. Were they bandits?

"Hold there, stranger!" A man holding a spear called out. Within seconds she was surrounded by a dozen armed people. They looked as if they were afraid of her despite their numbers.

"Are you from Wolfsmane?" Leona asked them. The leader, a man wearing a plate cuirass and greaves over a shopkeeper's outfit, regarded her with suspicion.

"Yes. How'd you know?" He asked brusquely.

"I didn't. You just told me. I'm on the way to Wolfsmane to help with the werewolf problem." Leona answered.

"Oh. You must be the mage Leona from Silver Wolf. That's a funny name for a guild." He said.

"Yes, I'm Leona Jarnefeldt of Silver Wolf." She replied. She let the comment about the guild name slide. She was not the one who named it.

"Why's a group named after wolves hunting werewolves?" A woman asked. Other people murmured their agreement with the question.

"Technically, Silver Wolf's about magical research and collecting magic artifacts for research. But I like to take jobs that help people in more direct ways. And the way I see it, you guys need help." Leona explained.

"Yes. We need it badly. We don't have very many fighters in the village. We're afraid that what happened to Lycuston will happen to Wolfsmane if the problem isn't taken care of soon." The armored man admitted. He and the others looked relieved that Leona was on the way to help.

"Can you take me to Wolfsmane?" Leona inquired.

"Sure. Follow us. And be quick. We heard howling earlier tonight, so they're already on the hunt." He said as he and the other villagers formed an escort.

-Wolfsbane-

The village was bathed in moonlight that was bright enough to show Leona the hastily wooden barricades and watchtowers around the village. She saw groups of villagers armed with whatever they could find; spears, hatchets, axes, kitchen knives, swords, longbows, even wooden clubs. She saw men and women being drilled in basic weapons handling and how to fight in formation. The village had an air of desperation.

"As you can see, we're not a village of fighters. We have some retired soldiers and some hunters with fighting experience, but we can't train 400 people to fight in a matter of hours. We don't have the time and the materials to set up palisades all around the village. We're doing the best we can to prepare, but it might not be enough." The armored man continued.

"I'll take you to the chief. He can explain the situation better than I can." He offered.

"OK. Take me to him." Leona said.

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-Wolfsmane, Chief's House-

Leona was escorted into a well-furnished two-story wooden house. Inside the living room was an older man sitting in a reclining chair by a stone fireplace reading a letter. He wore a brown two-piece suit and a derby with brown dress shoes. On his face was perched a pair of brown-rimmed glasses.

"Oh, hello dear! You must be Leona, the mage from Silver Wolf!" He said to her before shifting the lever to rise into an upright position.

"Yes, Chief. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt." She answered in the affirmative.

"I'm Chief Daniel." He introduced himself.

"I've been waiting for you. I'll give it to you straight. We need your help." He started right away.

"We can't afford to fortify the entire village, so we've concentrated all our defenses around the entrance. We need you to go into the forest and fight the werewolves before they get here. Our people can't fight them face-to-face. We're a militia, not a professional army... we don't have the weapons and training to last very long. If they reach the village, it'll be a repeat of Lycuston." He explained.

"Lycuston? I heard that name a few times earlier. What's that?" Leona asked.

"It's the village that was wiped out a few days ago. We took in the survivors, of which there were only 30. They only got away because my brother, the chief of Lycuston, organized a defense. The militia killed a few werewolves and bought some time, but there were just too many werewolves. Everyone who remained in the village was killed... men, women, children, no one was spared." Daniel recounted grimly.

"I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again." Leona affirmed.

"Make no mistake, Leona. It'll be dangerous. You'll be fighting on their home turf, where they have the advantage. Many people have died in Lycan Woods at the claws of the werewolves." Daniel continued.

"But you know that. I heard that you reclaimed some flesh-eating mares from a barbarian king's camp in Lycan Woods some time ago. You have the magic and the skill to help us." He expressed confidence in her abilities.

"I won't let you down." Leona stated confidently. No matter what the risk, Wolfsbane had to be protected. She would go into the forest and draw the werewolves to her. She was better prepared for a fight than the brave but outmatched townspeople.

"We can't spare anyone to go with you, Leona. We need every man and woman we have to man the barricades and patrol the village, so you'll have to go alone. Good luck." The chief said in a grave tone of voice.

"I'll do it." Leona replied tersely.

"Thank you. Now you'd better get going. We've heard howling nearby... we might not have much time." Daniel said to her.

"I'm on the way." Leona said before leaving the house in the company of the armored shopkeeper.

-Wolfsmane, Village Square-

Leona walked into the village square, where it seemed that every able-bodied man and woman had gathered. People were still training in an effort to get ready for a fight. She could feel the desperation emanating from them. They were outclassed and they knew it. They still prepared to defend their homes and families.

Some men and women were practicing with swords. Others were practicing with spears. Still others had longbows and were shooting at scarecrows that served as practice targets. As arrows hit the wooden wall behind the scarecrows, it was obvious that their marksmanship left something to be desired. Leona paused a moment to watch the training before she went on her way.

The scene was familiar to her. She had helped train Berreb's people and they too had started out as unskilled conscripts. With time and dedication, they had gradually trained into becoming a decent militia. While they were no professional army, they could easily deal with most bandit attacks. Leona witnessed that firsthand when she helped them deal with a bandit raid that did not get past the village gates; Berreb's archers shut down the raider cavalry with numerous volleys of arrows and the infantry pushed back the survivors.

Her reminiscing was interrupted by the frantic ringing of a bell.

"THEY'RE COMING! THE WEREWOLVES ARE COMING!" A teenage boy with his hands cupped over his mouth shouted from his watchtower. Leona was jolted back to reality and raced for the village entrance. Following behind her was a section of the village militia composed of archers. That frightened her more than the werewolves. She would have to dodge both the werewolves and the arrows of the villagers.

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Leona weaved through the barricades and out into the clearing in front of the village gates. She planted her ram dao in the ground and waited for the wolves. She spotted four of them charging at her and used a Crescent Wave to stagger one of them. When they approached, she used an Air Burst spell to hit the quartet with two wind balls apiece. They finally reached melee range, so Leona yanked her sword out of the ground and used it to disembowel one of the werewolves, who gave a pained howl as its clawed hands gripped its open midsection.

She then dealt a Mach Straight to the face of another, knocking it down with a direct hit. Another closed in and slashed at her, an attack she blocked with her right Argent Glove. Her arm was jarred from the impact, but she was otherwise unharmed. She retaliated with a Mach Straight from her left hand, hitting it squarely in the chest and knocking it back. The third werewolf came straight at her, not paying attention to her holding the sword straight out.

It impaled itself but paid no attention as it reached out for her, seizing her shoulders and trying to pull her in for a bite. Leona struggled until she brought her right foot up and managed to kick it away from her, but it took about five kicks to do the job. As it fell on its back the disemboweled werewolf made its move. It surged towards the blonde with a series of claw swipes that she ducked; she countered with a Lion's Tail Sweep that knocked it down.

Leona pulled out her knife and stabbed downward into its chest, ending its life and eliciting a piercing howl as it passed from this world. The fourth enemy charged at her but was abruptly stopped with a thrown spear that hit it in the side of the head and pierced through. The dead werewolf pitched forward and skidded to a halt four feet away. The armored shopkeeper walked up to her.

"Nice work, Leona. There's not a whole lot of finesse in your style, but you get get the job done. You're not afraid to stand your ground against them. I can see why my father trusts you with this job." He said as he planted a foot on the wolf's side and removed his spear.

"My father's the chief. I'm Marcus, but people also call me Mark. I'm a retired bounty hunter who's now a shopkeeper. Quite a career change, huh?" He asked as Leona retrieved her ram dao. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He had a long, jagged diagonal scar on his right cheek. On his left side was a longsword in its scabbard. The man had armed himself with another weapon since their first meeting.

"I'd say. But you saved my life. Thanks." Leona expressed her appreciation. She had just yanked her sword out when she heard more howling from deeper within the woods. The two looked at each other. Suddenly a pack of six normal wolves emerged from the woods and raced towards them.

Leona used an Air Burst spell to hit three of them with a wind ball apiece. Mark threw his spear and hit a wolf squarely in the head in mid-run. The remaining five soon reached the pair, forcing them to use their swords. Leona kicked one in the face, sending it tumbling back as Mark followed suit and kicked one away.

Leona stabbed downward, killing one with a partial stab through the body as it wrapped its jaws around her boot. Mark stabbed one and kicked another away. Now they only faced three wolves. Mark withdrew his sword and kicked another one over, then pinned it down with his foot and stabbed it through the head. Leona pulled the ram dao out and hit a wolf that had just regained its footing with a Fast Ball spell, then followed up with a stab through the body.

Mark finished off the last wolf in the same fashion as he did the second; a kick to the face followed by pinning it with a foot and a downward stab. With the death of the last wolf, the current threat was over, but more enemies were certain to appear.

"You'd better make for the woods while there's time. We'll clean up here." Mark said while recovering his spear. A dozen villagers wielding spears walked up and began stabbing the werewolves in the head and chest to make sure they were dead. Leona nodded and sprinted for the woods. She had only made twenty running steps when another pack of werewolves burst out of the brush. They were the same as the first batch she had defeat, but now there were seven of them.

"GET READY!" Mark shouted as more spearmen and a group of archers ran up to him and formed themselves into ranks. The spearmen lowered their weapons and the archers readied their bows. Leona skidded to a halt and prepared for a fight.

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"FIRE!" Mark ordered the archers. They loosed a volley of arrows that hit three of the werewolves but did not kill them. Leona slashed one that had gotten too close to her across the chest, then finished it with another slash to the midsection before kicking it away. She had barely finished that wolf when the remaining werewolves surrounded her. Leona prepared and used a Storm Impact spell, staggering all the enemies and giving her time to flee.

Leona retreated a safe distance away from the lycanthropes and let the archers fire another volley of arrows. This volley was more accurate and hit four of the wolves, killing one with a lucky shot to the head. There were only five of them left. The remaining five charged towards Leona and Mark, who calmly stood his ground and threw his spear with precision. It hit the middle one in the head, making it pause a second before flopping lifelessly to the ground.

"SPEARMEN, FORWARD!" A man called out before the two ranks of spearmen hustled into position in front of Leona and Mark and reformed the wall of spear points. The four werewolves charged towards them and slammed into them. Two of the wolves were impaled from multiple angles, but the other two escaped injury and began wildly slashing into the spearmen.

The militia panicked and began to retreat before they fell victim to the teeth and claws of the wolves. Two militia members had already went down with slashes across their faces and a third was running away with a bloody chest bearing claw marks. One wolf grappled a terrified teenage boy and sunk his teeth into the hapless boy's throat, then began shaking its head. Leona sprung into action.

She avenged the fallen teenager by hitting his attacker squarely in the face with a Mach Straight when it turned to grapple her. The wolf went backwards and hit the ground; it did not move again. She then turned her attention to a wolf with spears still lodged in its chest. The blonde performed a stab, driving her ram dao through its throat and kicking it off the blade with a foot planted in its midsection. Mark punched the third wolf in the face, then rammed his sword into its chest.

It fell to the ground and did not move again. The werewolves were dead, but so were five townspeople. Leona was upset. She should not have stalled in leaving Wolfsmane. She should have left before the werewolves arrived outside the town gates.

"It's not your fault, Leona. You're only one person and you did everything you could. Now get going. We'll handle this." Mark tried to comfort her.

"OK." Leona said laconically before dashing off into the woods. She would not let any more villagers die because of a mistake of hers. She sprinted into the woods without further delay.

-Lycan Woods-

Leona slowed her pace down to a brisk walk. She needed to save energy for more battles because the werewolves would not give up their invasion of Wolfsmane Village without a fight. Howling confirmed what she had suspected. Another pack of five normal wolves leaped out of the brush and snarled at her.

"Out of my way!" Leona shouted as she raised her right hand and used a Wind Blast spell. All five wolves were caught in the blast and tumbled backwards, lapsing into unconsciousness. Leona then beheaded them all with her ram dao so that they would not track her down later and attack during a bad time when they recovered consciousness. It was unpleasant, but it had to be done. Once they were all dead, Leona moved on.

She had to save energy for the main event, so she needed to cut down on using big spells for small enemies. Still, she could not afford to take too many hits before the main event, so she would do what was necessary to to stay in good shape. Leona had a feeling that someone or something was guiding the werewolves and normal wolves. Was it the cult from Beanstalk Village or was it another force entirely? Leona intended to find out.

[Word Count: 695] [Total Word Count: 2,888/5,000]

Leona pressed on deeper into the woods. No matter how many wolves of either kind she killed, it seemed like more were always waiting around the corner. That did not matter. She had to press on, find the leader if there was one, and kill them. She had gotten a preview of what just two wolves could do against the militia... just two of them had killed nearly three times their number in villagers before being brought down.

If the wolves were allowed to mass, they could easily wipe out Wolfsmane. Leona would do her best to make sure that did not happen. She had to engage the wolves on their home turf and stop them from massing for an attack on Wolfsmane. While she was alive, the wolves would have to deal with her before they could go after the villagers. They may have had an advantage at night, but so did she.

As she ran, it felt like she was being watched. She was not being watched by human eyes, but instead those of the wolves. It felt like she was being drawn into a trap. For the sake of Wolfsmane, she would just have to take the bait. How long would it be until the wolves sprung their trap?

Leona kept going until another team of werewolves with gray fur leaped down from some tree branches and landed in front of her. These were taller than the earlier ones and she could detect a magical essence coming from each of them. This was a surprise. Werewolves that could use magic were news to her. She wondered what magic they could use... she would have to pay attention so that she could make a report to Silver Wolf concerning magic-using werewolves in Lycan Woods.

The new arrivals numbered eight in total. This was going to be a tough fight. One of them howled and raced at her on all fours. Leona threw a Crescent Cutter and hit it in the shoulder, making it tumble to a halt in front of her. As it tried to recover, Leona began stabbing it repeatedly with her ram dao until it stopped moving.

Another wolf snarled and began striding towards her, but an even taller one threw a clawed hand out and stopped it. Leona blinked. These particular werewolves could think? That was bad news. The taller wolf with gray fur and a black mane running down its back then crossed its arms and howled. A large number of smaller werewolves burst through the brush, spoiling for a fight.

It pointed a clawed hand at Leona and growled loudly. She could easily understand what it wanted. It wanted her dead. The dozen wolves howled and raced to the attack all at once. Leona was forced to stand her ground because they would catch up to her if she ran; this time she did not have the village militia to cover a retreat.

There was no point in holding back any longer. Now was the time to use her most powerful spells. If the leader wanted to test her, she would show it exactly what she could do. Leona raised her right hand and used a Wind Blast spell to scatter the younger werewolves. She had knocked eight of them down, leaving four standing.

She strode to meet them as they charged towards her. She stabbed one through the chest with her ram dao and kicked it away and hit another in the face with a Mach Straight. The third clawed at her, which she blocked with her left Argent Glove. A single claw grazed the part of her arm that was not covered by the glove, but otherwise the armor did its job. Leona countered with a Lion Claw, hitting it in the chest and eliciting a howl of pain as it collapsed.

The fourth one ran towards her and began furiously swiping its claws. Leona blocked each claw swipe until it lunged at her in a bite. She pulled back just in time and its teeth caught her shirt around the neck, causing her to scream as it snarled and began shaking its head. The frightened Leona began punching it in the eyes until it let her go, then hit it with a Mach Straight to the face. It went down and did not move.

The seven gray wolves watched her with eyes that shone with life. They were studying her, seeing what she could do and what she could not do. Suddenly the black-maned leader stood up straight, inhaled, and roared in her direction, hitting her with a cone of sound that nearly deafened her. As she clutched her head, two of the gray wolves rushed her. Her ears were ringing and her equilibrium was off... Leona was at a definite disadvantage.

[Word Count: 802] [Total Word Count: 3,690/5,000]

As Leona tried to regain her balance, the gray werewolves went on the offensive. The pair attacked in unison, darting in and punching her in the back before darting out of range. When she spun to face them, they were behind her again. They repeated the same attack, then easily avoided retribution with their speed. Leona was still disoriented and was thus unable to meaningfully defend herself.

Sensing their advantage, the pair rushed in and attacked from the front and the back. Leona's front and back were raked with sharp claws, tearing her shirt to shreds and causing her to bleed. Another pair of gray wolves joined the fray, again attacking as a pair while she was recovering from the first dual attack. This pair used wind-infused punches to strike her with rapid jabs that started off weak but quickly added up. So far the werewolves could use wind and sound magic... what other magic could they use?

Leona found out when another one threw a chunk of ice near her feet. It exploded and froze her feet in place, leaving her unable to dodge anything. This was bad. Before Leona could even react, she was slammed with a two-fisted attack to the chest that knocked her onto her backside. As she struggled to get up a howl sounded and another dozen smaller werewolves arrived, then charged towards her.

Leona reached out a hand to use a Wind Blast but it was grabbed by one of the gray werewolves. She used her other hand to use a Storm Impact, knocking the gray ones back and buying her some much-needed breathing space. The wind began to blow... now she had the strength to begin fighting back. Leona forced herself into a standing position and began hammering on the ice binding her feet, knocking chunks out of it. She was halfway through when a gray wolf punched her in the face and knocked her down again.

Now the smaller werewolves were on all fours and facing her down. Leona was shoved forward, then her hands were seized and held behind her back as the leader strode over to the deceased wolf and wrenched free her ram dao from its chest. It held the sword in one hand as a gray wolf grabbed her hair and forced her head down, pulling her hair so that she would be forced to keep her neck parallel to the ground. She quickly pieced together what was about to happen. The wolf leader was going to decapitate her with her own sword!

"DIE NOW." It rasped in a hoarse voice. It raised the sword in both hands and held it above its head. Leona tried to get a hand free, but the wolves were just too strong for her. Suddenly she heard a high-pitched howl as something whistled through the air and impacted flesh. Actually, it was a lot of somethings.

"HUMANS!" The leader rasped. Leona felt her hands be released. She used them to grab the ankle of the wolf holding her hair and yank back, bringing it down. Leona screamed as part of her hair came out, but it was worth it to be able to finally fight back. She began hammering on the ice until it broke, letting her finally move again.

"LEONA!" A familiar voice called out. The wolves began to fall back as more objects whistled into them, hitting flesh after they fell. Leona looked behind her. It was Mark and some of the villagers! They had come to rescue her!

"MARK!" Leona called out. The gray in front of her growled. Leona hammered it with a Mach Straight to the face, knocking it down. She then summoned the Blade of the Goddess and cut off its head with a short diagonal stroke as it tried to sit up. Two grays came at her, but this time she was ready. When they rushed in to punch, she ducked under their attacks, then lunged forward and cut one across the midsection.

She brought the sword down, cutting its arm off at the forearm and kicking it back with her right foot. The other made a grab from behind, but she ducked it and swept its feet out from under it with a Lion's Tail Sweep. She then stabbed it in the chest, killing it with a single stab. The wounded gray got up and ran, but a familiar spear struck it in the back, bringing it down.

"Mark! How did you get here?" Leona asked.

"Easy. I followed the trail of wolf corpses you left. As to how I brought men with me, I asked my father for permission to take some of the best militiamen and help you. He argued that we couldn't spare anyone, but I convinced him." Mark explained.

The wolf leader howled and brought in yet another dozen smaller werewolves. Mark drew his silver longsword. Leona raised a hand and used a Wind Blast spell to knock them all down as the two dozen lycanthropes charged the pair. The wolves fell down and were quickly turned into pincushions by the village archers. The wolf leader looked at Leona with more than a little concern.

A dozen normal wolves stormed onto the field. A team of spearmen rushed in front of Mark and Leona and formed a wall of spears. They then began marching forward in unison, forcing the wolves back and giving the archers a chance to fill them with arrows. The normal wolves were soon dead. The wolf leader howled one last time, calling up a team of two dozen normal werewolves to supplement his last few gray wolves.

"Looks like this is it." Leona said as she handed Mark her ram dao for safekeeping. Mark retrieved his spear and held the ram dao in his other hand.

"We'll handle the small guys. You go after the leader. Let's end this!" Mark urged her. Leona was not going to repeat the mistake of waiting for the wolves to attack. Gripping the Blade of the Goddess, the blonde rushed towards them.

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Running as if she had an entire army at her back, Leona rushed towards the werewolves. The wolves took a step back as she drew near. A gray strode forward to oppose her, pushing aside a number of its smaller fellows to reach her. She cut it across the chest in mid-stride without stopping. As it staggered, the archers behind her loosed a volley, killing it and harming some of the smaller wolves.

The smaller wolves ignored Leona and rushed towards the archers and spearmen.

"FOR WOLFSMANE!" Mark shouted. The militiamen echoed the cry and the sounds of battle erupted behind her. Leona faced down the last of the grays and their leader. There were only four left plus the leader, which equaled five. Even with her divine sword, this was going to be a challenge.

The wolf leader stood up straight, inhaled, and began to howl. This time she was ready. She raised her hands in front of her and crossed her wrists in an X and the Ruby Dome formed. The cone of sound was loud, but the dome reduced the effect of the equilibrium shift from debilitating to a momentary wobble in her vision.

"WHAT?!" The leader rasped as Leona immediately fired a Wind Blast, knocking down its bodyguards. While it took a step back, she then fired a Crescent Cutter, hitting it and making it bleed. She then rushed forward as the four grays got up. She decapitated one of them on the run and kept running towards the leader. She had just closed in and made a lunging stab when another gray jumped in between them, taking the blow for its leader.

The alpha male used the opening to punch Leona in the face, sending her staggering back. It then whipped its hands forward and shoved outward, generating a sonic wave that slammed into her chest and knocked her backwards. The two remaining grays rushed her in a team attack. One grabbed her by the shirt collar as she stood up and the other punched her in the stomach.

Her shirt was holding her in place, so Leona raised her arms and did a dropkick, momentarily strangling herself but ripping herself free of the shredded garment and dropping her backpack. She then rose to a knee and used the Blade to cut the front werewolf in half at the waist. She spun around and delivered a stab to the chest of the wolf behind her. With the last of its bodyguards defeated, she faced down the leader.

It was time to end this. Leona opened with a Smashing Crescent spell that it dodged. It punched forward and sent an orb of sound at her, but she ducked the spell. It repeated the attack and she zagged to the right. She was halfway to the leader when it backed up and whipped its hands forward to produce another sonic wave.

Leona rolled forward to avoid it and resumed running towards the alpha. Its eyes widened as it howled for reinforcements. She pushed on, coming within striking distance as eight smaller wolves broke from the brush and flanked the leader. There was no turning back now. The leader raised both of its hands to extend its claws for a downward swipe as Leona made another lunging stab.

The blade pierced its chest, eliciting a howl that slowly died. It slowly brought its right hand down across her face, coughing up blood as it lightly scratched her left cheek. Leona removed the hand, then withdrew the sword and decapitated the leader. The eight wolves looked at he fallen alpha male, looked at her, then ran for the bushes. Cheering erupted behind her as she spotted more wolves disengaging from the militia and running away... it was over.

"LYCUSTON HAS BEEN AVENGED!" Mark called out, raising his bloody silver longsword in triumph. More cheering erupted. Leona dispelled the Blade of the Goddess and slowly limped over to her backpack. She fished out the necessary supplies and began patching herself up for the return trip. Once her wounds had been cleaned up, treated with antibiotic ointment, and bandaged, she put on a spare shirt she had brought with her. Mark ran up to her.

"You did it, Leona!" Mark congratulated her.

"No. WE did it. You and the militia helped save the day." Leona corrected him. Mark had a militiaman bring over her ram dao. She took it into her hands.

"OK, so it's everyone's victory. Now, let's go tell my father the good news!" Mark said as the militiamen began to gather their fallen fellows. Leona was ready to leave the woods behind. She followed the villagers back to Wolfsmane, but not before going back and taking the alpha male's head with her. Chief Daniel might want solid proof that his brother and Lycuston had been avenged. The head ought to be proof enough.

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-Wolfsmane, Chief Daniel's house-

"You did it, Leona! Our village and other villages have been saved!" Chief Daniel said joyfully. Leona presented the alpha wolf's stuffed head to the chief. He clapped his hands together with joy.

"Ah, there it is! The alpha male! He won't terrorize Wolfsmane or any other village ever again!" He said cheerfully.

"Some of the smaller werewolves got away. I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Leona informed him.

"We can handle them. Without a leader to organize them, the region's hunters can take care of the smaller ones. We'll also use the time you bought us to build better defenses and train the town militia." The chief replied.

"The souls of Lycuston's citizens can rest in peace. So can my brother's soul." He said somberly as he turned to face the fire, the alpha male's glassy eyes reflecting the dancing flames. Silence filled the room. Counting the thirteen that had died in the woods, eighteen members of Wolfsmane's militia had died defending the village. She hoped that their souls were at ease now that the werewolf threat was over. Suddenly Daniel smiled.

"Let us rejoice, my dear. You've done a great deed for the region! I'll let the other villages know of your success, but in the meantime, here is the reward that was promised. All the villages chipped in for this, so the reward should be equal to the trouble you went to." He said as Mark brought forth a large rattling bag. Leona accepted it and thanked them both. She carefully put the reward money into her backpack.

"You've earned it. Every last Jewel. You saved us all." Mark said to her, blue eyes meeting green ones. Sunlight broke through the windows. It was daytime.

"Thanks to you, the sun rises on Wolfsmane again. Our people will have a future. Lycuston will be rebuilt. I just wish my brother were here to see it." Daniel said to her. Leona did not know what to say to that. She just kept silent.

"Uncle Harold would be happy to see you rebuild it, father." Mark said to Daniel, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder. Leona decided to leave before her emotions got to her. She knew what it was like to fight for one's home. She was glad that she could help Chief Daniel and Mark save their village from werewolves.

-Wolfsmane, Village Gate-

Leona exited the house and walked towards the village gate. She watched village hunters skinning the wolves to make furs to wear, rugs for houses, and other goods. Other villagers were busy hauling lumber intended to reinforce the town's defenses. She had just reached the gates when Mark caught up to her.

"You're always welcome here, Leona. If you ever need us, just stop by. We'll be glad to help you in any way we can." Mark said to her. He extended a hand for a handshake. Leona took it and carefully shook hands. She then left the village to a chorus of cheers. It would be a long road back to the guild hall, but she did not mind... she was buoyed by the feeling that she had just saved an entire village in its darkest hour.

[Word Count: 538] [Total Word Count: 6,055/5,000]