Page 53 of The Stone Initiation
Being burned by otherworldly magic can do that.
It’s almost one in the morning, and the sparsely populated village isn’t one for nightlife, even so, three souls have been taken by werewolves. Three humans devoured, and it’s our job to prevent any more losses.
Human populations are low in the Rims, but they thrive in the southern sectors, safe closer to the Fringe. But here, on the outer eastern lands, supernatural threats are widespread and many, and the nightmare nights are a breeding ground for creative imaginations to spawn even more horrors in the form of tulpas.
At least tulpas are easy to extinguish. They always come with a weakness for hunters to exploit and a gargoyle can burn one up with a single touch. Once we catch it of course.
Prasan takes the lead into town. The male carries maps of every settlement and town in his head, and we instinctively follow. Our dark clothes allow us to blend into the shadowy night as we make our way toward the human law enforcement office.
The streets are narrow and filled with dips and hollows, and the buildings seem to sag as if in defeat. There’s an air of despondency about this place that puts my teeth on edge.
The enforcement office is a small run-down affair with peeling paint and a half-starved feline loitering on the steps. It peers up at us with desolate eyes the color of peridot. Orix clicks his tongue and holds out his arm. The creature darts forward, leaps up and clambers up his arm, coming to lie across his broad shoulders like an inky, ratty scarf.
“Hey there,” Orix says in his soothing baritone. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
The cat purrs softly, clinging to him as if he’s the lifeline the feline has been waiting for.
“You can’t adopt them all,” Selas drawls.
“Why not?” Orix reaches across to stroke the cat’s head, and it purrs louder and closes its eyes.
I’ve never visited his cat sanctuary, but I’ve heard it’s a wilderness area on the outskirts of Arcadia, filled with feral cats. Once upon a time these furry felines were domesticated by humans and kept as pets, but now they roam free, most of them starving. The sanctuary is a safe place for them to thrive.
This cat is lucky Orix found it.
The door to the building opens, and a woman steps out. She’s tiny, maybe five feet tall with wild brown curly hair and angry eyes. “Nowyou come,” she snaps. “Where were you three days ago when I put in the call huh?”
I arch a brow at Prasan. This is, after all, his department.
“The call went to your local hunters,” he says smoothly, “and only came to us when it wasn’t marked as actioned. We came as soon as we could.”
But she is looking at us with fresh eyes now, and they go round as realization dawns. “Are you the elite team?”
“Yes,” Orix says with a charming smile that showcases his fangs. “We’re here to help, so point us in the right direction and we can get your werewolf problem cleaned up right away.”
“Werewolf?” She frowns up at us. “You think we have a werewolf problem?”
“That is what the message said.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales. “Darn it, Bertie.”
“What?” someone calls from inside.
She looks over her shoulder. “Did you report our problem as a werewolf issue?”
“Sure did. We got us some werewolves ain’t we Jude?”
She grits her teeth and peers up at us. “We certainly do, but did you let them know those werewolves also happen to be our local hunters newly turned. Did you do that Bertie? Did you submit it to the emergency channel?”
“Um…I submitted it.”
To the regular route which would have sent it to the local hunter’s inbox, the very hunters they were trying to report. Shit.
Selas steps forward and puts a hand on the woman’s shoulder looking down at her with a reassuringly calm expression. “Okay, start from the beginning and tell us exactly what happened.”
* * *
“So,the hunters went in, and they never came back out,” Jude says. “And when I went to investigate, I barely got away.” She blows on her coffee mug and takes a gulp of the milky concoction. “Adam, the lead hunter, held the others off so I could escape. He was turning, but hadn’t…”
