The Hunters Of Haven

Chapter 2: Lycaonthropy

Silvian

I stood there on the steps leading up to the Den. Could it really be true, no casualties? Well it added up, if the boy were the werewolf, then the mother would have been the first to die, being in the immediate vicinity when the boy first took form. But, she was with the boy even as I stood there. One thing was for certain, she would have to be very astute, and she must have known her child well. Until the first transformation there is next to no indicator that someone has contracted lycaonthropy. Only an animal, or at least someone with an animal’s nose could tell with any real degree of certainty. Of course the individual’s personality can change in subtle ways, but not in any way that someone who wasn’t looking for it would notice. It is possible, technically, that someone would notice the changes before the first full moon, it just never happened.

And yet, after ten minutes of standing there Romulus walked into the square. At his side was a young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties, and a boy who, definitely smelled like a werewolf. I could see their likeness as well, the red-brown hair, there stature: middle height with thin shoulders, their faces were similar as well. My heart was racing, decades had turned to centuries, and I had begun to believe that I would never live to see the day when a werewolf didn’t have to live with the memory that he or she had killed his or her family. And yet, there before me stood a wolf who had made it here before transforming. I don’t believe that the woman that stood before me that day even knew how many lives her sharp eye for her son had saved.

“Typically you would meet the Alpha now but she is out hunting, so instead you get to meet the leader of all the Hunters.” Romulus explained to the two.

“Welcome to Haven, Pup,” I said smiling at the boy. “My name is Silvian, sorry if you didn’t receive the warmest of welcomes, we find that it is prudent to make sure that Lycaonthropy spreads as little as possible, don’t worry this is a temporary measure. However, until you can bathe and get clothing that hasn’t had any opportunities to come in contact with you son’s blood we will limit our interaction with you to those of us who are immune.” I explained to the mother hoping that the immediate quarantine they experienced didn’t upset them.

            “Please! Cure my son! Before he becomes a monster!” the woman cried. Tears rolling down her face, the scent of fear floated through the air. It was so strong that the Pup was wrinkling his nose even though his senses were not yet fully developed.

            “I understand how you feel but there is nothing to cure, he has already fought off the sickness itself.” I explained

            “Then he will be alright.” She said relieved.

         “Of course, he was never the one in danger. It was you, as the closest person to him that would have been killed. But, you realized that he was mutating and got him here soon enough. Now we can teach him how to control his Form before he kills anyone.” I said as delicately as I could without sugarcoating anything. She obviously believed we could prevent him from becoming a wolf, but the truth was that he already was one.”

            “His Form!” she cried the scent of desperation joining her fear.” You said he wasn’t sick!”

“He isn’t, Lycaonthropy dies off after the individual inflicted with it has finished mutating. Only after that point can it be detected. Of course after that point the mutations are impossible to revert.” I said trying to get my point across. 

“Then why are you worried about it spreading? And what is going to happen to my son! My little boy!” she screamed grabbing my collar

            That was when Romulus spoke up. ”Lycaonthropy isn’t a common sickness, it’s a mutation caused by the cursed blood of Lycaon the first Werewolf. After the mutation there is no sickness to cure, but the blood is still more than capable of causing future mutations. As for your son he will stay here and we will raise him, he is part of the Pack now, and by extension so are you. Once he has learned how to retain his humanity while in Form he can return home. You are welcome to stay here with him if you wish, I’m sure Silvian can find a place for you to stay. He is in charge around here after all.”

            Suddenly the woman became outraged. “‘We’?  You mean you’re one of those monsters!” she screamed hitting Romulus. She turned to me “ Yes, I can’t believe I didn’t see it, you both are! It’s your fault! If your kind were never born my son wouldn’t be like this!” she cried referring to our golden eyes and slit pupils.

            “I am a Wolf, yes. But unlike Romulus here I am not a Werewolf. As I already told you I am Silvian, Cleric of Fenrir. The blood of my god runs through my veins. As for being a monster, if Romulus is a monster than so is your son and I don’t believe you see him that way. In terms of giving fault to this, the only ones responsible have been dead for nearly seven hundred years. The first Romulus and Remus, killers of Lycaon: who, in there infinite stupidity, scattered Lycaon’s cursed blood to the four corners of the land, contracting Lycaonthropy themselves in the process.” I then turned to the boy, wiping his silent tears away. “ Don’t worry alright, you’re in Haven now, and man or wolf we look after each other here, okay. ”

He sniffed and looked up. His eyes, which had yet to change were red and bloodshot. “What’s your name?” I asked

“John” he said.

“Romulus, go introduce John to the other Pups, and get this young lady a draught of Wolfsbane. She obviously doesn’t want to mutate anymore than we want her to.” I said and made my way to the pit where the Bloodhounds would be waiting.

When I got there men in clean white robes were loading three horse carts with barrels of potion, and a number of wolves were prepping their gear: shovels, axes, firewood, tinder, etc. Gamma Marcus Redtail came up to me.

“Hail Shifter!” he saluted as everyone always does.

“Hail Hunter!” I said in return.

“So your leading this mission today?” he asked.

“Of course do you see Kinkiller anywhere?” I barked eyeing a young wolf standing with the rest. “Don’t you think he is a little inexperienced to be going on a Blood Hunt” I said pointing to the wolf in question.

“We all had to get our experience somewhere, didn’t we?” Marcus responded.

“I guess you’re right.” I said uneasily making sure that Marcus could smell my worry. We left Haven right about noon, and reached John’s village by nightfall. Luckily one of the wall guards had thought to check what village he was from before letting either of them into Haven. It was a fair sized village not too far from Haven by the name of Willowbrook.”

(sorry that nothing has really happened yet, i didn't want either half of my first arc to be too dark, hopefully i will get to showcase some actual hunts. next chapter will be a Blood Hunt, but that just means there looking for a bunch of inanimate, if deadly, blood. hopefully once Ish joins the story things will be a little more exciting and funny. also the story is arc based meaning that while i have some parts of the story decided on, a lot of it is fluid so if you have suggestions then place them in the comments and i will be sure to consider them. also i do not have an editor so if you don't mind please point out any gramatical errors as well i do read through my works ocassionally and remove some of them but i'm not exactly a grammer nazi so, yeah.)