It was the dead of the night in the village of Mantlis, and both Ashter and Vreil were asleep. Suddenly, Vreil woke up, startled. He was unsure what exactly it was that had awakened him, but his body was tense.

Suddenly, he heard a faint scream coming from outside. He immediately grabbed his sword, opened the window, and jumped outside. He considered waking Ashter up, but then he remembered what the wizard had said last night. He doesn't want to help. That’s fine. I will stop the killer myself.

The scream was heard again, and he rushed to its source, through the houses of Mantlis. When he got there, he saw that at the end of a small alley, the caped figure of a man was on top of a woman, trying to keep her mouth closed with his hand. His hand was bleeding, so Vreil assumed the woman had bitten him and that’s how she managed to scream the second time.

She was beautiful, with long blonde hair, which was now smeared with dirt. Vreil remembered seeing her behind a window when they first entered the village, and even then he had been impressed by her beauty. Apparently, so was this man.

He was huge, and his muscles looked like he could easily break the woman in half if he wanted to. His intentions were clear to Vreil, as he saw the man trying to rip the woman’s clothes off with his other hand.

His sword was already drawn and he was ready to attack when he spotted something dark moving at the corner of his vision. Fast. Before he could defend himself, a dark figure ran straight past him and jumped on the big man. Loud screams echoed through the village, but this time it was the man that was screaming as he was absolutely getting slaughtered by the figure. Vreil was frozen from the brutality of this attack, and even more so the woman who had pieces of the man’s flesh all over her now.

The dark figure was humanoid, but it clearly wasn’t a human. It had sharp fangs and claws, sharper than razors, and it was using them to tear the man apart with a ferociousness Vreil had never witnessed before. He didn’t know what to do, who was the good guy and who was the bad one between a monster and a rapist. In seconds, the man had been killed.

Is it… a werewolf? But Ashter said they do not exist!

The creature stopped and looked at what was left of the man’s body. Vreil couldn’t understand its expression, but it looked as if disgusted by the result of its actions. It spat out pieces of the man that were left in its mouth and, without sparing a glance at the woman, turned towards Vreil.

Blood was dripping down its mouth and arms, and it stared at him coldly, as if considering whether to kill him or let him live. Then the creature noticed the sword that was still in Vreil’s hand and immediately changed its stance. As the footsteps of many villagers were closing in, the creature looked around, searching for a way to escape, but it was trapped. The only exit was blocked by Vreil so, even though it now looked scared, it approached Vreil ready to fight for its life as a trapped rat would.

Vreil saw the creature approaching him with a determined look on its face. Strangely, now that he could see it more clearly, it looked rather human. Suddenly, the werewolf story didn’t sound so impossible. But werewolf or not, he didn’t want to fight the creature.

After witnessing how it protected the woman, who had by now fainted, he felt that it was trying to act like a protector, shielding the weak and stopping the evil. Like him. It had good intentions, but this murder was too… gruesome. Was it a monster, or a savior?

The best way to deal with this issue would be through talking, but not under these circumstances.

“You have a human face, right? Show it to me, and I will let you pass. Otherwise, I will kill you. I want to protect this village, and I can help you if you want to”, Vreil heard himself saying, surprised at his own words.

The creature looked confused. Nobody had tried talking to it in this form, let alone trying to help it. There was no time. It had to escape now, no matter what.

Vreil saw something amazing. The muscles in the creature’s face started to tremble, its face structure changing rapidly until he was suddenly staring at the face of the boy who took care of their horses at the inn. He stepped aside and the creature, with its animal face again, ran past him, not sparing a single glance more.

Seconds later, the villagers ran past the alley, chasing after the shadow that had just turned around the corner. Nobody seemed to notice Vreil, the woman, or the man’s corpse, hidden as they were in the darkness. When the villagers were all gone, Vreil left too, rushing to the inn to wake Ashter up and tell him about everything.

He thought all the villagers had already left, but he bumped into someone as soon as he rounded the first corner. He involuntarily jumped back, sword aiming ahead; the tension still hadn't left him.

Thankfully, the man he was up against was none other than Ashter. He had begun saying “Asfar…” but as he saw it was Vreil, he stopped chanting and sighed in relief before shouting in rage. "What were you thinking!?" he boomed, ready for a scolding of colossal proportions.

But the situation was urgent, and Vreil quickly managed to postpone the scolding.

Apparently, Ashter had been awoken by the loud screams of the dead man. Immediately, he ran to Vreil’s room, only to find it empty and the window open. With the worst-case scenario in mind, he too jumped through the open window and ran after the origin of the screams, ready to unleash a cataclysm at whatever got in his way. Luckily, the first one he met was Vreil.

Then Vreil told him everything he had seen and explained why he thought they should try speaking with the boy who could change his form like that, after which they both headed to the inn.

“Why did you not wake me up? What the hell is wrong with you? From now on, never do something like that again. Never.” Vreil had never seen the wizard angry before, and it was not a pleasant sight. He unconsciously took a step away from him.

“It worked out okay, didn’t it? Besides, I thought I didn’t have time to wake you up, I had to save the woman.”

“OKAY? You were almost killed three times and you call that okay?” Ashter shouted, louder than before. Vreil really hoped the villagers weren't about to come check on them. But seeing the worried look on the old man’s face, he regretted being so hasty.

“I’m sorry”, he admitted, sighing. “You’re right. I should have woken you up”.

“Of course I’m right! This is neither a game nor a place for teenage stupidity”, the wizard thundered once again, and then he sighed. “Oh well, what is done is done. But did it occur to you that maybe the creature can change its flesh at will? Maybe that was not its real face.”

“Oh”, Vreil deflated.

“Not really... But even if he did trick me, he didn’t have time to think a lot about the face he would show me, or he would have shown me a man from the village. No, I believe he is either that boy or someone who knows him very well”, he replied with confidence.

“We have no other leads now, do we? Let us start there and we will see. I caught a glimpse, there is no way the villagers could catch up to him at the speed he was running.”

When they arrived at the inn, the first thing they saw was Teder the innkeeper waiting in front of the door with a bow at hand, frightened but still bravely defending his estate.

“Your courage is admirable, but I do not think you would survive if the killer did show up. Is your life worth less than your inn?” asked Ashter. “Where are our horses and the boy who took care of them?”

The innkeeper looked at them in a mix of surprise and frustration. “At the barn. The boy is sleeping there too, since there are no rooms to spare”.

“Thank you.”

Seconds after they had entered the barn, a small door at the side opened and the blond boy walked in, blood all over him. When he saw the two men, he froze in place. He’d thought he would have time to get his things and escape the village before they caught up to him.

“Do not worry”, Ashter said, smiling calmly, seeing that the boy was ready to transform again.

“We are not here to hurt you, and we will not tell anybody about who you are.”

“You can trust us”, added Vreil.

“My name is Ashter and this is Vreil. Can you tell us what your purpose is? Is it to protect the village, or is it to feed? Both are acceptable”, Ashter spoke calmly, but Vreil knew the wizard’s intentions. Of the two options, one would end badly for the werewolf.

The boy hesitated for a second, but then spoke.

“My name is Milos. I am the protector of this village. I protect those who need to be protected and I kill those who need to be killed. Are you soldiers after me?”

“No, mere travelers”, replied Ashter. “But we support justice, and we both find your actions commendable. Will you allow us to have a conversation with you?”

The boy stared at them, eyes narrowed in thought. “Yes”, he finally replied.

“Well, we cannot do that now. Wash that blood off yourself and then come to my room. I will leave the window open. You can run if you want but, if you really want to protect people, then come. We can help you do it the right way”, said Ashter, turning around and exiting the barn before Milos could get another word out.

Raising his brows in surprise, Vreil followed him. “You don’t intend to recruit him for your revolution, do you?”

“Why not? He is strong and has a strong sense of justice. An ideal member.”

“Seriously? You just run around the kingdom and try to recruit every single stranger you meet?” Vreil asked, exasperated, but Ashter raised a brow.

“I am a recruiter, boy, among other things. Occasionally, I recruit promising people. But let me assure you, I do not approach everyone I meet. I have very, very strict requirements.”

“But still, him?! He is a cold-blooded killer. He tore that man into a bloody jigsaw instead of just slitting his throat, and who knows how many others he has killed! Were they all evil?” Vreil protested.

“If he really is a werewolf, then that cruelty is mere instinct; it can be controlled. We will see whether he comes to the room. If he does, I will try to recruit him. You are free to speak against that if you want, but it is his decision that matters”.

Vreil sighed, considering it. There was no use in speaking further, the old man was stubborn as a mule.

But Vreil himself was open-minded. Murder by itself wasn’t that bad; many people had killed someone, somewhere. Who knows how many Ashter had killed. But the level of cruelty that the boy, Milos, had shown...

“If he can prove to me that he can change, I will support you. Otherwise, I will not be able to trust him”.

“Sounds fair”, was Ashter’s only reply, even if he was smiling under his beard.

"And by the way", Vreil exclaimed in realization, "didn't you say that werewolves are bedtime stories?"

"I did, indeed", Ashter replied mysteriously, and he didn't explain further.

🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️

Ashter and Vreil were silently waiting for Milos to show up. Just as Vreil was about to voice his doubts again, the boy jumped through the window, clean like a maiden’s bed.

“I’m here”, he said, remaining right next to the window, ready to escape. “Tell me what you want to tell me. If I don’t like it, I will leave.”

“Very well”, replied Ashter.

As Ashter was explaining the same things he had explained to Vreil less than a day ago, Vreil noticed that the words he was using were exactly the same. He must have rehearsed this speech many times, to make it more convincing. And while the wizard’s commitment to his cause was impressive, Vreil did feel a bit cheated. He thought he’d been special even if, in hindsight, that thought was naive.

But this time, Ashter had something more to say.

“But I have a question too, Milos. Who are you? How can you transform yourself like that?”

“I don’t know. It comes naturally to me. When I want to change, I change”, the boy replied, his hands touching each other. Nervousness, thought Vreil. His father had taught him that.

“Do you know anyone else who can do this?” Ashter continued.

“No. But I never showed it to anyone before. I suppose it could be happening to other people as well, and they are not telling anyone either.”

“Mhm”, the wizard nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. “What about your parents?”

“I never knew them. My mother died at birth and my father died at war. He was a soldier of the Blue House, and he died defending a town from the Black Beard pirates”, said Milos, and this time a hint of pride could be detected in his words.

“The Black Beard pirates?” yelled Vreil. “They are the ones who killed my parents too!”

Milos looked surprised, but Ashter continued asking.

“Do you know if they could transform too?”

“I…” the boy stammered. “I really don’t know. My uncle is taking care of me now, and he doesn’t talk a lot about them. I think he didn’t really like them anyway.”

“I guess we cannot know everything, can we? So, Milos, what do you think about joining our revolution? It has to be better than taking care of horses for an uncle who only lets you sleep in the barn.”

Vreil looked at Ashter from the side. Was he really encouraging a child to leave his house and family? Then again, he was sleeping in the barn, so perhaps it wasn’t that bad of an idea.

The boy thought for a moment, but even Vreil could tell that his mind was set already, and his eyes were glistening with newfound hope. Ashter waited patiently.

“I often dreamt that someone would recognize my ideals and let me fight for justice”, Milos finally spoke, with all the naivety and grandstanding of a child. “Of course I want to join the revolution. There is nobody bad left in this village anyway.”

Vreil’s thoughts were cut short. A very deadly child. Ashter smiled and was about to say something, but Vreil spoke first.

“Milos, it’s not like I don’t like you, but can I trust you? From what we heard, you have killed many in this village. Were they all evil? And when you killed that man in the alley, you chose to tear him apart like a wild animal would, when you could have just slit his throat. Was it on purpose, or did you lose control?”

Milos bit his lip. “Of course they all deserved it, I am not a beast! But when I become a wolf, I can’t completely control it. I felt that I wanted to make him suffer for what he was trying to do. Of course, now that I am human I think differently but, as a wolf, killing him quietly and painlessly feels… empty.”

“Ashter”, Vreil glared at the wizard.

“Tell me, boy”, Ashter spoke again. “If something happens while you are in your other form, are you sure you can control your urges and act like a human? Also, is there a way for you to transform involuntarily?”

“I only transform when I want to. Yes, I can control myself if I have to, even in wolf form. You can trust me”, the boy said firmly, his blue eyes locking onto Vreil's. He raised his brows, suddenly realizing the anomaly in Vreil's eyes.

Vreil and Ashter exchanged a look. Vreil sighed.

“That is good enough for me”, said the wizard. “Welcome to the revolution, my son”.

The boy smiled brightly like the sun, his months and years of hiding squeezed out in a single moment as moisture filled his trembling eyes. Vreil was confused, but then he realized that those were tears of happiness. After being practically alone for practically forever, Milos finally felt like he belonged somewhere. It was probably the happiest day of his life. Even Vreil, who wanted to remain skeptical, couldn’t help but be touched by this.

“Thank you, thank you”, Milos shouted at them, sobbing. Vreil and Ashter were watching him with a big, happy smile on their faces. Soon, his tears dried up, and the boy calmed down. “I have always dreamt of living a life without hiding. Thank you.”

“That said, we might have been seen”, said Ashter. “We have to leave now. Is there anything you want to take with you? Any goodbyes to say?”

“No”, Milos replied quietly, but surely.

“Then let us go. You will ride on my horse”, spoke the wizard and they all walked to the barn.

“You are lucky to have such horses” commented Milos as they entered the building for the second time in a night. “Especially the brown one. It is small, but its mind and legs are faster than the wind”.

"It's called Boom", Vreil replied proudly.

Milos laughed. “Why?” he asked.

"Well, it kinda looks like a Boom, doesn't it?" Vreil smirked.

As he was jumping on Ashter’s horse, Milos finally thought to ask the obvious.

"Where are we headed?"

“Northwest from here. To Waterslide, the headquarters of the revolutionary organization”, Ashter replied, a hint of longing tinging his wizened voice.

A smile was drawn on Vreil’s face as the three riders left the village, their hearts filled with adventure and the sun beginning to rise behind them.