Breaking Curses

“Me too,” I agreed, stretched and hefted my ax onto my shoulder. Then, almost before I even got the words out of my mouth, a choking howl sounded from somewhere behind us. Before anyone even had time to think about what had just happened, the bracken behind us was crushed under a heavy weight, spewing a cloud of dust and dirt into the sky. From the debris a huge shape jumped out and landed neatly in front of us. It was a grotesquely misshapen creature somewhere between a man and a wolf that towered almost a meter taller than me and even taller than Brawly. It was covered by a thin layer of ashy fur over thickly corded, wiry muscles. It's jaws parted slightly to expose rows of frightening fangs and deadly sharp claws glinted in the moonlight at the tips of its almost human hands and wolf like feet. The beast glared at us with cold golden eyes full of rage that seems to burn like ice fire, if not more fiercely. “It's the nightmare!”