Elgan put his hand to the tracks and looked ahead. He could see where the wolf prints started turning back into human feet. He walked at a crouch examining each one before standing back up and straightening the swords on his back.
Elgan had been tracking the were for two weeks now, and he was finally getting closer. He had been called in by the leader of a small village near Gothar to deal with the were, since it had been taking children and livestock for nine months, and the people could not find a way to stop it.
As he bent to examine a large gash on a tree, he remembered what it had been like in the town. The village was named Rae, and it was only 35 houses big. The streets were muddy, since it was the rainy season, and you could smell all the waste. Each of the doors had a large silver cross on them, but there were boards over the windows, and at a few houses you could tell where the were had obviously broken in. The village looked like it was under siege. At the town square a group of elderly citizens came to meet him and they told him about their plight. When he agreed to take care of it they offered him a room and some food, but he declined. He wanted out of the town as soon as possible. That night he confronted the were as it entered the town from the forest. It fled as he fired the first few shots from his crossbow and he missed. It had been a game of cat and mouse ever since. And now, he was sure, he would finally kill it tonight.
Elgan looked to the sky and continued down the path. The prints were getting fresher as he walked. There was a confused tangle of prints at a fork in the path, and then they went off into the underbrush. He followed.
Here and there bits of broken twig and crushed leaves signaled to him that he was still on the right path. As the forest got thicker, the were's direction became easier to follow. The sun's rising had confused it and it was seeking shelter from the day. This was his best chance to catch and kill it.
Elgan froze. The sound of soft breathing was coming from a small clearing to his left. He approached it slowly and then entered.
There was a pool of what seemed to be blood on the ground where he entered and he quickly stepped aside in disgust. The were was curled up in a ball with bits of leaves and twigs in her long dark hair on the other side of the clearing. She was completely naked, and had small cuts and scratches all over her body from wandering in the woods. She seemed to be holding something close to her body. As he crept closer to see what it was, her eyes snapped open and she jumped to her feet. She was holding a baby. The blood had been afterbirth.
The were let out a low guttural growl and charged him. Elgan lifted his sword and without thinking cut off the were's head, catching the baby as she fell with one last howl. He stared down at the body for a moment before turning to the child in his arms. It was a little girl, raven haired and fast asleep. Elgan cursed himself. The child would not be a were. The mother had given birth at day, and hadn't bitten her child. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't care for it, but since it was human he couldn't harm it or leave it either. Still debating, he began to walk back to the path.