Sat comfortably in a camping chair, one man leaned back, stretching his arms above his head with a groan as the fire in front of him crackled. Across from him, his comrade sipped from the flask of coffee, eyes momentarily dropping after the long shift.
"Where the hell are those guys?" The first man muttered angrily. "They were meant to arrive half an hour ago."
"I don't know, but I'm getting tired." The second man responded, looking out into the woods before turning back to the small cabin behind them. A simple, raggedy cabin that looked to have seen far better days, but it was a front that hid something far more dangerous.
It was then they heard something strike a tree nearby with a dull thunk and the two froze, eyes scanning the area for any sign of what caused the noise. They found nothing, but their nerves became heightened as they felt a chill down their spine, almost as if they were being watched and slowly rose up. Cautiously, reaching down to pick up the hunting gun and raising it just enough to show their intent to harm if necessary.
Its then something came rolling to their feet and before they could even cry out at seeing the bloody head of one of their compatriots, there was a line of blue light flying towards them. It cut through their neck and removed their heads in an instant.
Their headless bodies falling to their knees before collapsing fully to the ground. And out from the shadows, Harry removed his invisibility cloak and walked towards the cabin. A flick of his wand and dirt rose up, enveloping the bodies and the heads as Harry passed them, pushing open the creaking door to the cabin and looking round.
There was a hole in the roof where moonlight seeped through the lit the cabin in its glow. A few rotting tables and chairs, an old mouldy carpet and floorboards that creaked at even the slightest of movement.
'He said it was here, where the floorboards are the weakest.' Reaching down, Harry pressed upon the board and it popped open, a rush of air flowing up and rustling his clothes and hair. And as Harry leaned over the hole in the floor, he saw the depths in which the Werewolves had dug.
Most of the tunnel had been handmade, but the moment that the Werewolves had recruited and turned Wizards and Witches, the process of building this entire, underground network had expanded rapidly.
From what Harry had seen in the man's mind, it was a wide network expanding for nearly three miles in all directions, dozens of rooms and wide-open space, training areas, mess halls, medical centres and even prisons. It was a large, underground base that the Werewolf Pack would use to launch their invasion of Magical Britain.
Avoiding the use of the ladder, Harry instead jumped straight down, stopping himself before he hit the ground with a slowing charm. Pausing momentarily, he crouched down as to make himself smaller and took a look around, making sure no one was around and once assuring himself there was no one, he pulled his Invisibility Cloak back on once more.
The corridors were long, almost as if he were walking down the corridors of the Department of Mysteries. Except, instead of black-tiled walls, floors and ceilings, lanterns of blue fire ominously lighting them, he instead found himself walking down dirt corridors with simple wooden torches burning. Beams of wood decorating the sides and the ceiling as to provide stability and stop the entire thing from collapsing on them. Openings were nearby, branching off into other areas of the base.
But right now, Harry's main focus was upon finding the prison.
According to what the Werewolf's mind had told him, Harry knew that the prisoners held here, were Muggles and Magicals who had bitten and successfully turned but had refused to join. Each of them was held there until they broke and agreed to fight for the Pack.
It was Harry's hope to find them, gain an understanding of numbers before moving onto to properly search the base. Then, he could begin dispatching the enemies inside before freeing the prisoners.
And after following the instructions he had found within his mind, he found himself entering the prisons. Iron bars holding men, women, and young children in hollowed out areas of hardened dirt, a makeshift prison.
He moved forwards down the prison corridors, passing by five prison cells filled with prisoners, coming up to a total of around a hundred Werewolves. 'I am glad that they've refused to fight, numbers on this scale would give them a very real chance of taking over Britain before the reinforcements even arrived.'
"You must be that mysterious Wizard who killed thirty of my men before I even arrived." Not removing his Invisibility Cloak, Harry twisted his head to see a middle-aged man with black hair and bright blue eyes, a cocky smirk upon his face. "You can remove the cloak, as good as it is, you didn't prepare well enough, I can still smell you. Such a shame, so close, yet so far."
After a moments deliberation, Harry decided to play along for now. He could already see five men forming up behind the man, each of them looking confident and having an air of experience around them, from his experience, he would wager that they were Betas, but not the ones he faced days ago.
As he removed the cloak, Harry picked up the sound of movement behind him, and took a peek over his shoulder, spotting Derek and five more Betas there as well. 'This isn't looking good.' Harry looked back to the man who had noticed his presence, the one who seemed to be almost overwhelming compared to everyone else, without even knowing why, Harry had already identified him as the most dangerous of all of them. 'How did he know I was there, the scent-blocking charms were in place, as were the sound charms as well? So how?'
Moving to the left, Harry prepared to withdrew his wand while he put his back against the wall, ensuring that he could keep both sides in his peripheral vision at all time.
"How did you know I was there?" He asked, hoping to stall for time while he tried to figure out a solution to his current problem. 'I'm in way over my head. I haven't received anywhere near enough training to do this on my own yet.'
That was something that had become abundantly clear.
Something that had been in the back of his mind from the moment he had been deployed to Cornwall.
To the moment in which he was forced to withdraw days ago.
Now, was the final nail in the coffin, a nail the drove home the point that he was underprepared and completely out his depth.
"How? That's simple, those spells you have, that block your scent and the sound you make, well they don't work anymore." The man pointed out.
"I know that, I figured that out quite easily when you pointed me out, but how? And who are you exactly? From what I was aware, Derek was in charge, but he's been unusually quiet, almost docile?" Harry noted, sparing a glance to the stone-faced and quiet Derek whose countenance gave away nothing.
The man chuckled. "My nephew is just disappointed that I'm here. He does like his freedom and now, I have arrived and to find that he's fucked up."
"Nephew?" Harry repeated unsurely. He remembered Croaker informing him about the Hale Pack that had been wiped out a few years ago, only two survivors remaining afterwards. A nephew and uncle, Derek and that meant this was the other. "You must be Peter Hale. I'm honoured, but you didn't answer my question."
"Oh, come on now, you seem to be very well informed if you know who I am and where we are? You're telling me you don't know about our evolutions?" Harry didn't answer, there had always been a theory that the Lycanthropy virus had been stabilised, whether by natural or unnatural means was unknown. But either way, they knew that the Lycanthropy virus seemed to have more success in turning their victims into Werewolves, the number of fatalities almost entirely disappearing the more time passed.
However, Harry didn't reveal that because it was just a theory.
Despite not knowing Peter, the man seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice and seemed arrogant. Harry intended to use that to try and give more concrete answers as to why Werewolf numbers were growing so rapidly.
Peter chuckled at Harry's silence. "Don't know, or are you simply just not telling me?" He asked, moving forwards slowly. "Surely you must have figured it out by now, why our numbers are growing so rapidly. We don't need to simply bite you anymore; a simple scratch is all it takes now. And no matter how miniscule it is, every scratch and bite will turn you into Werewolf? I wonder how you would feel about becoming a Werewolf?"
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Coming awake with a groan, Malia pushed herself up off the bed and looked around the room. Things were always quiet in the house, only the sound of people moving around in the early hours of the day, the sound of seagulls and sea splashing against stone sounding through her window. But one thing that was different was the lack of smell.
Normally, there would be a nice smell of cooking as Harry made breakfast for himself and her. But that smell was not in the air today and so, Malia climbed out of bed and opened the door to her room.
She walked down the corridors of the room, not bothered by the lack of life in the house as she eventually came to stop outside Harry's door. She paused, focusing her hearing as a means to try and listen in but could head nothing.
Not even the slightest sound of movement anywhere in the house reached her. He never left the house till she awakes, he was very keen about upholding a certain routine, one that Malia had found predictable and strangely comforting as well.
And so, with no idea as to where he could be, pushed open the door to his room only to find nothing.
Unbidden, panic begin to grip her.
She had been alone ever since she was young, and Harry was her only source of human companionship. Unwanted and unneeded at first, despite all attempts to keep him at a distance, the few days in which they had known one another had warmed her to him.
It was then her eyes began to dilate, her heartbeat pounding in her ears as her fists flexed sharply. Hair began to form up along her bare arms, nails stretching out into claws as her mouth opened to reveal sharp fangs. And as she collapsed to her knees, her legs giving out underneath her convulsing body, her ears echoed with the sound with a powerful, demanding animalistic roar that ordered her to release the beast within herself.
A deep growl escaped her lips, bright blue eyes glowing as she looked upon the rising sun.
Eyes flickering between Peter and Derek, Harry considered all options available. And there were only two options, both requiring he fight and either continue to fight and most likely die in here. Or fight his way out and run away.
Harry wasn't stupid enough to think that he could win if he attempted to stay and fight. He'd barely escaped alive last time and that was in a wide-open space with plenty of cover from trees. Now however, he was in an enclosed space, only two ways to move and they were covered by his enemies. There also wasn't anywhere to take cover which only made it that much worse.
Gripping his wand tightly, he watched Peter shift, his body moving in preparation to attack and Harry moved pre-emptively. Wand flicking out and firing two exploding curses in short concession, one left and one right.
It struck the ground at the feet of both Peter and Derek, throwing dust and debris into the air. With this Harry burst forwards towards Peter, cutting spells bursting through the smoke and there were a few sprays of blood coming from within. A few cries of pain and a shout that one of them had been cut down told him that he had killed someone.
Even so, a fist came round, striking Harry in the cheek and knocking him to the ground. However, he went with the blow and rolled to his feet, a bone-breaking curse firing off behind him as he continued to rush down the corridor.
"Don't let him escape!" Peter shouted, Harry sparing a glance to see them all bursting out of the dust and running after him.
Turning back to the area in front of him, he took note of the few dozen Werewolves that were coming out of the room. Magic burst out from his wand, spikes bursting out of the dirt wall and piercing those in his path, some managing to dodge it. However, the spells Harry fired from his wand as a follow up dealt with them in short order leaving the path completely open for him.
Behind him, Peter gave a nod his head to Derek and ran down a little side path, Derek and the rest giving chase. Suddenly the ground beneath them burst up, Derek and his comrades forced to manoeuvre around the new obstacles.
Dodging, weaving, jumping, and vaulting over the spikes that were aimed to impale them. Even so, it did work in slowing them down enough as Harry had already begin climbing up the ladder leading to the surface. As soon as Derek saw this he came to a stop, but another wasn't quite smart enough to recognise this trap.
He, moving forwards to peek out underneath and his head was struck by light. Suddenly he pulled back, screaming in pain as bubbling, steaming blood dribbled down from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
It was a horrifying sight, something that caused them all to take a step back and wait.
-X- Line Break -X-
Pushing open the door to the shack, Harry clambered out and closed it behind him, even applying a locking charm for extra measure before pushing the door open in a mad rush. Getting out had been easier than he expected, but he didn't think it would be over just yet.
Now that the Werewolves knew that he knew where their base was, he doubted they would wait anymore. They certainly wouldn't just let him escape, not without doing anything they could to stop him.
No, he may be out of the base, which was certainly a positive, he was not out of the woods yet, both figuratively and literally.
Its then he picked up the sight of movement to his left and fired wands in that direction. The figure however managed to dodge the spells and went to punch at Harry only for him to dodge the blow. It wasn't a gracious dodge, Harry tripping over his feet and falling onto his ass as he looked up to see Peter skidding to a halt.
"Funny seeing you again." Peter taunted, a smirk upon his face. "I'm a bit sad that you tried to leave so suddenly, didn't even give me time to show you something, the last thing you'll see before you die. You see, we Werewolves have been evolving and I don't know the science or magic behind it, but I do know that it's a work of art."
Harry didn't get a chance to answer as he watched Peter flex his hand, sharp claws suddenly appearing. Slowly, Harry rose to his feet, cautiously watching as fur seemed to grow upon Peter's cheeks, his skin become almost leathery in texture and sharp fangs grow.
But most noticeable of all, was the bright red eyes that locked onto his own emerald, green eyes. "What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?"
'What the hell?' Harry muttered out, stepping back worriedly as he watched ten Werewolves appear from the forest and stand beside Peter. 'How the hell is he doing this? Can they all do this?' His question was answered when Peter took a deep breath and roared to the world.
Reflexively, Harry clutched his ears as the loud noise made his ears ring.
And after the sound began to die down, Harry opened his scrunched-up gaze only to witness the other Werewolves also having undergone a similar transformation as Peter. However, whereas his gaze was blood red, theirs were bright blue, similar to Malia's when she was particularly angry.
'Is that why they wanted her?' Harry questioned as he looked at the Werewolves warily. 'Is she and those like her the key to their transformation? Or was she simply an escapee? No, that doesn't make any sense she was a coyote in appearance, and she was a child when it happened. Plus, their transformation was triggered when he roared. Damnit, I don't have a fucking clue what's going on!'
"Well, shall we pick up where we left off?" Peter posed, Harry tensing up.
-X- Line Break -X-
Taking a deep breath, Croaker looked down at the unconscious coyote upon the floor. He had thought that Harry had reversed the girl he had learned was called Malia, so that raised the question as how she was like this. He had appeared nought but a few minutes ago when there had been an alarm Ward triggered, one that only happened when someone with hostile intent had begun attacking the base.
Croaker's initial thoughts were that Harry had screwed up and the Werewolves had learned of their safehouses location. Only that had not been the case and instead he found an out-of-control coyote tearing up his safehouse.
Putting her unconscious had been simple, she was just a wild beast and the attack patterns of a wild beast were easily predictable. Best thing to do was to take them out before they could attack you and that's exactly what he did. Conjured ropes tied around her front legs resulting in Malia being unable to move and then a stunning charm put her under.
Turning to the two Unspeakables next to him, he nodded his head to the coyote. They were both researchers, but lower level meaning they were expandable. He only brought two, but they were newest recruits and if the situation had been as bad as Croaker had expected he would have sacrificed those two in order to secure Harry's safety. He was the future of the Unspeakable Field Agent Department and under Croaker's tutelage would be the greatest Field Agent ever produced.
These incidents had simply been bumps in the road; Croaker had expected that much considering how little time he had been given to train in field tactics. Most of his training had been focused on expanding his combat skills and from what Harry had shared from his fight with the Werewolves in the forest, those were being tested heavily.
However, these would-be learning experiences that would force Harry to grow in turn.
The questions remain however, if Harry wasn't here then where he was. Pushing open the door to one of the rooms, Croaker paused as he looked at the dried blood on the floor. 'What did you find, mister Potter?' He questioned, suddenly feeling the ring on his hand grow warm, not uncomfortably so, but enough that it was noticeable.
Looking down, he saw the Triskelion glowing red and Croaker took a deep breath. "You two, with me!" He shouted.
Wherever Harry was, he was in danger.
-X- Line Break -X-
Crying out, Harry slammed into the tree after being thrown into it by one of the Werewolves. Despite the pain his body was in, he was capable of flicking his wand up, dirt raising up high enough into a wall that the two Werewolves who had been rushing towards him, smashed into painfully. At the same time, he spun his wand circularly, leaves and twigs shifting into spikes that riddled another one.
It didn't kill him, the fact he was still crying out in pain was a sign of that, which was unfortunate news for Harry. Since their transformation, the already impossibly high odds that were stacked against him even further.
They were faster, stronger, and more durable.
Their senses more honed to point no matter what he tried they found him.
It was dangerous game of cat and mouse and one Harry was losing badly.
"There you are!" Suddenly a clawed hand gripped hold of his leg, pulling him back along the ground and reflexively, he lashed out with a kick. It didn't even stall Peter who just laughed and picked Harry up, spinning him around and smashing him into and threw another tree.
The only thing that protected his body from being broken apart was the shield he formed mere moments before striking the tree.
As he did, the grip on his ankle was released and he threw across the clearing, rolling along the ground a few times before coming to a stop. It was then that Derek came rushing forward and Harry just barely managed to parry the blow to one side. As he did, both he and Derek looked at one another, neither making a move in that fraction of a second.
But it was long enough for Harry to notice something.
He pushed away, Derek not giving chase while Harry fired a spell that Derek leaned to one side to avoid. The Werewolf that had been coming up from behind wasn't so lucky, the reductor curse striking her and possessing enough power to throw her back while ripping one arm off.
She lay there, screaming out in pain as blood pooled out from the stub that had once been a hand. The fact she was still alive after that blow showed that their transformation also increased their durability, whether that was a good or bad thing in this case was still up for debate. However, Harry didn't get much time to think upon that as Peter came rushing forward.
Claws swiping out and while Harry managed to dodge the first couple by a hairs breadth, the next few weren't so easy. Luckily for him they struck against his Dragon Scale armour and didn't even leave a scratch, but when the twelfth swipe came a little higher, Harry knew Peter had realised that as well.
The first came dangerously close, the claws nicking his eye lashes and ruffling his hair. But the next one cut deeply on the left side of his face.
Harry groaned out, lashing out with a kick that fortunately struck Peter in the side, stalling him long enough for Harry to put some distance between them. It was then that he was tackled from the side, he and his attacker bursting out onto the edge of a cliff and Harry fought to stay standing.
He knew that the moment he fell down, that was it.
They'd swarm him and he'd be dead.
So, in that moment, all thoughts of magic fled his mind and Harry fought with his fist. Blows striking the back and side of the Werewolf but to no avail and it instead forced the Werewolf to push harder against him. Each step he took driving them both further and further towards the edge until Harry's backfoot reached the edge, coming upon loose gravel that caused him to trip.
With the Werewolf seemingly unaware of how close to the edge they were and so, as Harry's footing became loose and so, faced with no resistance from Harry anymore, they fell.
Both plummeting to the rocks below.
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