Mortem's Story

Chapter 2:

1 month later...

It was a full moon night. As Rylen made his way back to his makeshift shelter, a shaft of moonlight suddenly passed over his face. As it did, a sharp pain slammed into his head, chest, and most of all, his back. Then came a wave of pain in his sholders, arms, head, everything. Rylen felt like he was going to burn up, his mouth hurting as his jaws expanded to accomodate something that was yet to grow. Light gray fur sprouted everywhere, and his legs lengthened and got thicker, more muscular. His feet slowly expanded into the shape of a wolf's paw, and his hands grew bigger, but didn't have much fur on them. His fingernails and toenails grew in length, turning into curled black black claws. 

'Aaahrrgh!' As he grew, his clothes ripped even more. Rylen's face lengthened, his teeth becoming sharper, more pointed, and longer. His ears bacame pointed, and furry, like a wolf's. A mane of fur sprouted from his chest and his back, and a long, thick tail appeared. Finally, the change was done. The pain receded, and Rylen dragged himself to his shelter, too tired to stand up anymore. 

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to. The moon called him, kept him awake and yearning for meat, for something or someone to bite, to share his condition with the thing he would bite. Rylen resisted, but the wolf inside didn't listen, driving him out onto the road, looking for meat. 'Meat, meat, meat!' was his only thought. Rylen, as the wolf, headed into the town of Illyich, which was only seven miles away from the town of Osprey. He slaughtered many people that night, eating them, but leaving some to populate the city. 

He did the same the next night, and the next. On the fourth day after the full moon, he changed back. When Rylen saw the blood that was staining his trousers, he was horrified. 'Oh no. Three nights... Three frinking nights of letting the wolf have control. Three nights of killing... So many people dead... Three nights... What have I done?' 

The feeling was horrifying, but at the same time, it was elating, like he had just gotten high on several large beers. Rylen stayed in the forest for seven months, eating berries, nuts, bugs, anything he could find, even rotten animal carcasses, hoping that one day he would be able to see his family again.