"Everyone, get to the centre of the clearing now," Katie yelled putting all the urgency she could into her voice. Silence took over the clearing, the low sound of werewolf growling breaking through it, the silence of the crowd was enough to let the growl get heard by everyone in the vicinity. Panic filled the whole crowd like a storm. The lot of them ran to the centre of clearing in no particular order. The one most barred by their fellow humans were the safest as logic would have it. "Hunters, surround the group and take on defensive stances. Do not let the rogues anywhere near the civilians." Katie yelled her orders while she got Shaemus' body out of the fray of panic and placed him beside the gathering crowd. It would have been easy to get him trampled in that chaos. She then stationed two hunters to guard his body.
The rogues did nothing to attack and only came out once everyone was cornered in a tight circle. A quick headcount of the snarling wolves gave seven as the result. The delay in their arrival was something that Katie still didn't understand. "Katie, how did you know they were coming?" Cole's voice came as he walked up to her, leaving his alphas to guard different sides of the group.
"A hunch," Katie said, keeping the fact that she had received the clue from Shaemus to herself.
The rogues that surrounded them were seven in total. Katie's eyes darted back and forth gathering all the necessary information and his mind working faster than it normally did to find the best effective way to solve the problem at hand. The Seven wolves that surrounded them flanked them from the seven different directions all around them cutting off all routes of escape. Katie currently stood with Cole by his side, facing one of them, Sandra not too far to the right, facing another. The two alphas whose names he was yet to learn were each blocking another one. Dexter, along with the other six wolves he was with covered the others while the rest of the hunters stood around the crowd in one defensive circle, their numbers easily reaching twenty.
Despite the good defences, rogues would only stop attacking once they realized that this path only led to their demise. Unfortunately for them, Katie had no intention of letting them live. "Cole, help the others, there is a team of werewolves under Dexter on that side," Katie spoke up.
"What's our primary objective?"
"Kill them all," she said, without a hint of malice in her voice. It was just plain and simple, that's how the hunters worked. There was no room for tolerating rogues when they attacked humans or werewolves alike. Any rogue found was to be killed immediately to cut off communication between it and the rest of the pack.
Katie darted forward after relaying the order, vanishing almost instantly to the normal eye due to her Prometheus gift. The battle raged on for a short while, the civilians in fear the whole time as they were forced to watch wolves fight wolves and hunters alike in an effort to strip them of their lives. Katie made swift work of her kill, dashing forward and hitting all weak points that were the joints of the wolf's limbs before it had time to react. While the wolf was on the ground, Katie looped her hand around its semi-thick neck and with all her might snapped it without a second to waste. It had been swift and easy because she had kept the element of surprise and killed the unsuspecting wolf under the span of thirty seconds.
She turned around in time to see Sandra evade the jaw of the wolf she was engaged with, backing her up a few meters and not allowing her to recover before attacking again. She was on the defensive, only being capable of evading the wolf's attacks. The skill with which she avoided the wolf probably told it that this was someone skilled and therefore kept her on her toes the whole time. A quick assessment of the situation told Katie that she would be just fine in the end, not like she could have let her step in any way.
"Agility, is that the Prometheus gift she possesses?" one of the hunters in the defence line asked his neighbour, speculating based on how fast he was moving.
"That's what I want to believe, but by the way, she snapped that Rogue's neck like it was nothing. Is that strength even human?" the friend close by laughed shivers running through them.
"I know… that's what makes it so hard to believe. Is it possible for her to have both…"
"Shut up, that's not possible and we both know it."
"And yet, look…" the comrade pointed a shaky finger at the unstoppable hunter as she rushed over Dexter's wolves, grabbing the throat of the wolf they pinned down and smashing it before vanishing from sight, in pursuit of yet another target.
............
Katie returned to Sandra after finishing off the wolf that was giving Dexter's comrades a hard time. She couldn't blame them since neither of them had ever had to take a life before. It wasn't something that could come naturally and the purpose of the hunters was also to make sure that no one would be forced into taking such an action out of necessity. Humanity still lived on even within werewolves, as they were born that way and did not choose it. Taking a life wasn't easy on anyone, whether human or werewolf and Katie knew that completely.
She rushed back to Sandra just in time to see the rogue she was fighting turn tail and run, heading for the forest. One other rogue darted in the same direction, and the last one walked up to Katie and lowered itself to the ground in submission. A quick scan of the clearing confirmed that four of the rogues were dead, one had surrendered and two were escaping. Cole came up to her jogging, "Hey, Katie, shall I initiate the Prometheus evaluation?"
"Yes, please do. Sandra, we are going after them. None of them shall escape," Katie said getting ready to follow in the directions the rogues were headed.
"KATIE," someone yelled from within the crowd… Kyle. His hand hastily rummaged through the bag he had been given to hold, producing a black leather sleeveless jacket. He threw it at Katie who wasted no time in putting it on and darting into the woods, in pursuit of the rogues, Sandra in tow close behind.
Cole snapped his eyes away from the two hunters that had given chase and put his hand on the forehead of the rogue that still stayed down, head bowed in submission with its eyes closed. White carving lines began to trace all over the rogue's forehead, sketching an image of a howling wolf before glowing blue. This was the mark of the Lycaon royal family and putting it on any Rogue is what could kick start the Prometheus evaluation. Through this process, the wolf that was put under it would be unconscious throughout the whole process making them practically harmless.
"Stay and guard the people just in case there are others lurking around," he ordered Jason and Caden before running in the direction Katie and Sandra were last seen headed.
"Cole, be careful…" Caden called, a hint of urgency in his voice urged Cole to look back at him, "that jacket…"
"Yes, I noticed," he replied, before calling on his wolf. 'The smell from that coat is one that no werewolf can forget once they know what it is… the smell of wolfsbane.' If there was any way he was going to catch up to them. His human legs would not make it easy with how much time he had used already used up.
A swift numbness took over his entire body preparing her for the change it was about to go through. He surrendered control to the wolf within him, leaping high into the air.
The sound of bones snapping and reforming rapidly could be heard while he was still shifting. His entire body was reforming and growing larger and taking on the animalistic form of a wolf. Cole's clothes fused with his body while fur, pitch black fur, burst forth from his pores covering his entire body while the transformation ended. A large pitch-black wolf, easily towering to two and a half times the size of a normal one landed with a heavy thud, vanishing into the cover of the forest as soon as it landed on its paws. The transformation froze everyone in the crowd including the werewolves that saw it.
Cole ran through the forest, the scents of the four people he was chasing along with the wolfsbane in the jacket that Katie was carrying became clearer to him in this form. He pushed his powerful legs to go faster, zipping through the forest in hot pursuit. He could tell he was getting close. The heartbeats of the scared rogues were impossible to ignore. They too could smell the wolfsbane and no matter how fast they tried to push on, they were unable to outrun the two hunters tailing them. 'These two… are simply unbelievable…' Cole thought to himself when the chase finally came into sight looking as one-sided as this entire encounter had been looking so far.
The wolves dashed, weaving through trees trying to shake the hunters off, but regardless of how they tried to evade the pair, the hunters just kept on coming. Cole pushed forward putting more power into his strides passing Katie and Sandra who weren't fazed at all by his sudden appearance until he was right beside the wolf at the back. Katie was close behind, the look in her eye telling him she was choosing now to strike. With one energetic leap, she quickly closed the gap between her and the rogue, fist clenched, a silver glint catching Cole's eye from within the sleeveless jacket that she wore.
The rogue swerved to the other side in an attempt to avoid the gigantic wolf on its right and the hunter aiming for its back. If it hadn't been for Cole's abilities as a Royal, he probably wouldn't have noticed the flying kick that was aimed at the rogue by Sandra colliding clean with the werewolf's neck, the two tumbling into a rolling frenzy. 'Ouch, that has to sting,' Cole thought, looking back to see Katie continuing in pursuit of the other wolf, paying this one little to no attention at all.
"Sandra," she yelled, placing a hand into the insides of the jacket and throwing something out of it. Sandra jumped off the werewolf and grabbed what appeared to be a knife in mid-air like it was nothing. 'What training does Katie take her through?' he thought to himself. Cole stopped the chase to aid Sandra as it seemed she needed more help. The heavy sound of her panting was a clear indicator that she was exhausted and yet, her eyes were steeled with determination like no other than Cole had seen in a long time.
The rogue looked between the royal and the tired hunter in a defensive stance. It was two against one and there was nowhere left to run that we couldn't… or at least I couldn't catch him. When werewolves were cornered like this, it was obvious what they would do and that was to go for the weak one of the group they were against. If the group that they fought worked like a pack, then it was likely that they valued each other equally, and that would be their way out. A weak link, one might say, that would then be used to start a hostage situation.
Sandra raised her hand, barring me from defending her before she got up and took a stance. The wolf lunged straight for her going for her neck, a quick sidestep to evade could have sufficed but the hunters were not wasting time. As Sandra sidestepped the wolf, she stabbed the side of its neck precisely where a vital artery was meant to pass and brought it down, holding the convulsing werewolf until the life left its eyes. Sandra collapsed right on top of the wolf, exhausted to no end, "Royals are huge… if I didn't know who you are, I would be freaking out right now. Thanks for the assistance, Cole."
The black wolf lowered his head in respect and to show they were on the same page before rushing off in the direction Katie had taken. Sandra wanted so much to stay where she was and rest, but she knew Katie would be disappointed if she slacked off when the job was not yet done. She got up and retrieved the poisoned knife from the wolf's neck, wiping it clean with some grass before she began jogging in their general direction, keeping her senses sharp for any sign of movement. 'It's been long since I last saw Katie this serious about catching a rogue… brings back memories.'
...............….
Cole pressed on eventually catching up to Katie who was right behind the rogue she was chasing. Something was odd about it though, Katie wasn't catching up to the wolf, but at the same time, she wasn't tired yet. For a human, she had incredible stamina. It soon became apparent to Cole that he could just spare her the trouble and kill the rogue himself.
The heartbeat of the wolf they were chasing only sang a song of defeat. All its comrades were either dead or in enemy hands. There was nowhere to run and he was being chased by a Royal and a hunter, both enemies that it stood no chance against. Cole pressed forward only to see Katie raise her hand making a gesture telling him to back down. Cole couldn't tell what it was she was trying to accomplish for the time being. This was frustrating for many reasons, including the fact that he was a Royal and thus listened to no one at all.
His slightly rough breathing started to ease up and that's when he noticed the wolf was slowing down. The wolf could barely keep its eyes open. Its breath came out much more laboured than before. The sound of metal from a knife being drawn from its sheath reached the royal's ears in time to see the hunter rush forward and quickly cut all the tendons in the wolf's legs that allowed it to run. The wolf collapsed with a loud thud, the wounds on its legs turning an ugly shade of purple due to the wolfsbane on the knife. The colour of the wounds and the acrid stench of the poison could make any werewolf sick just by looking at it.
"If the other wolf that is going through the Prometheus evaluation does not pass, then we will have to extract all the information we need from this one and if it does pass the test… well, this one dies," Katie explained her reasons for not killing the wolf and grabbed it by the tail, dragging it back in the direction of the clearing. The sound of footsteps approaching got Cole on high alert, "Relax, it's just Sandra."
Cole willed himself to shift back into his human form once he confirmed it was indeed Sandra who was coming towards them. The sound of his bones being reformed and snapped filled the air, slightly bothering Katie. His clothes came forth while the fur receded seamlessly as though it was intended that human skin was not meant to be seen during the shift. He continued to shrink down more until he once again stood on his two feet before them. "That looks excruciating," Sandra said indifferently.
"How does someone become a werewolf that large?" Katie asked, scepticism laced in her voice.
"Am not really that small?" Cole asked her looking himself over and flexing his muscles. Thoughts of checking Cole out rushed to Katie's mind while he looked himself over as if that was going to solve anything. She looked away, the image of the white wolf flashing in her mind if only for just a second. Something about Cole triggered the wolf to stir even under the heavy medication that was keeping it suppressed. There was a high chance that the wolf would seek him out if it ever broke free which was something that Katie did not want to see happening.
"Let's get back to the others," Katie said, starting to drag the wolf back by the tail.
"Hey, Katie," she heard Cole call back, his tone serious and low, stopping her in her tracks.
"I know you hate rogues… or werewolves perhaps in general, but you don't have to treat them like garbage," Cole approached the rogue on saying that lifted it, placing it on his shoulder like it was a sack of nothing.
Normally Katie had no care what a werewolf would think of her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she never wanted him in particular to have the wrong idea, "I don't hate werewolves," Cole stopped walking ahead of them, startled from the rushed confession before he continued on his way without another word. 'There goes the chance we were going to have to talk after the fight that just occurred.'
It took them fifteen minutes to make it back to the clearing. As they approached the clearing where they had left everyone, Katie spoke up breaking their silence, "Sandra, make a call to the hunter's guild and inform them of what has transpired here."
"They will only listen to a pro hunter, not a junior."
"Tell them you have been given permission by me to speak in my stead, they will listen then and if they ask you to put me on the phone, you bring it to me. Much as I doubt it will come to that considering they know that we are almost always together," she explained.
The crowd was no longer as tense as it had been when the rogues had attacked though they didn't make any unnecessary noise. They were still shaken up by the appearance of rogues. This had been the first rogue attack in years to happen in this town. Cole dropped the wounded rogue on the ground and walked up to the one that still lay unconscious with the Lycaon family crest shining on its forehead.
Katie walked up to the hunters that were guarding Shaemus' unconscious body and turned to address the entire crowd. She took in a deep breath, preparing to be heard by all those that were present, "Can I have everyone's attention?" The low murmurs that were milling through the crowd ceased, everyone, turning to her.
"The rogues that had attacked have been dealt with. The occasion that took place here was in violation of many laws and the one responsible for it put many civilians at risk. He will receive his punishment in due time, but as for now, here is what is going to happen. Night patrols are going to get tighter starting at 8:30 pm. Everyone should be within their households by that time whether human or werewolf. Werewolf proofing procedures are to be adhered to in every household. If any house is found after the agreed curfew time without their houses barred with the necessary locks and precautions, they are to be held accountable for their incompetence. Considering the time it would take for the rogues to mount another attack on our town, everyone has a window of twenty minutes to get back home this very instant and not a minute later. Are there any questions?"
"Yes, there are questions…" a single voice stood out. The cacophony that the whole panicking crowd was producing seized on hearing the voice that spoke up. "What gives you the authority to make all these laws on the spot? You haven't spoken to a single pro hunter. We aren't obligated to follow anything you say."
"Well, that's quite simple. I am a pro hunter." This seemed to quiet everyone down… shock was written on everyone's faces as they stared at the youngest pro hunter in hunter history.
"So they let just about anyone in these days… as long as you were born in the right family, I guess," the man said, the crowd murmuring in agreement, a new wave of commotion taking over them.
Katie cleared his voice to speak up and began once the crowd was quiet, "The minimum requirement for one to go for the hunter exam is simple. One must already possess a Prometheus gift… in other words, it is only the god of mankind, Prometheus who has the power to decide who gets a chance to be a hunter and who doesn't. That way, everyone has a chance to become a hunter and there is no bias in the selection process. Now if there are no other questions I would ask that you all get…"
"Katie…" I was interrupted by Sandra, her face had 'urgent' written all over it while she waved the phone at me.
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