Renica and I both reacted instantly. She dodged to the side, drawing her long knife, while I moved to the other side and kicked out at the thing charging us. The figure fell sideways, knocked back by the force of the blow, and as it dropped, Renica slashed at it with her knife. The attacker screamed, a high-pitched, inhuman sound that reminded me of a noise I’d heard once in the Florida Everglades, when a Florida panther was prowling about. I ignored the strange sound and pulled out my hatchet, chopping at the thing’s back. The blade sank into the attacker’s furry hide, and it screamed again.

Renica stumbled back, looking around in confusion, and the monster scrambled toward her, its claws flashing. As fast as it was, though, I moved faster, sweeping its nearer foot and sending it crashing onto its chest. I leaped atop it, jamming my knee into its spine and pressing it into the stones below. It lashed at me, but its body was built like a human’s, and it couldn’t reach me atop its back. My hatchet rose and fell, sinking into the back of the thing’s neck, and the monster stilled as the blow severed its spine.

Renica recovered quickly and looked around, her eyes wide as she scanned the darkness. “Moonclaw!” she gasped, staring at the figure. “But–but how?”

“Another moon-cursed?” I asked her grimly. The thing looked to be human shaped, taller than Renica but shorter than me, with a slim but muscular body. That was the only human thing about it. Coarse, dark fur covered its body completely; its feet and hands ended in long, curved claws; its head looked mostly feline, with large eyes, a protruding mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth, and a nose shaped like an inverted triangle. If I had to call it anything, I would have considered it a cat-person or maybe a werecat.

She nodded. “A creation of Fiare, the brown moon.” She shook her head. “How can one be here? It’s not a close moon…”

“It wasn’t when we were attacked in Panja either,” I reminded her, scanning the surroundings for more of the creatures. “Do they usually attack alone?”

“No, they tend to move in small packs,” she replied, her face pale. “You think–you think they’re hunting us?”

“Unless you think that a moon-cursed just happened to show up in this city the first day that we got here, then yeah, I’d say we’re being hunted.”

I stepped out into the moonlight, my hatchet in hand ready to strike. I was glad it was; a flash of movement caught my eye as something sprang at me from the side, and my blade flashed almost of its own accord as I chopped into another moonclaw’s arm, nearly severing the limb. It ignored the wound and swarmed onto me, its claws flailing, and I twisted, grabbing the wounded arm and pulling it over me. Like a regular cat, the thing was light for its size, and it flew over me to land heavily on the ground. Renica darted out and stabbed her knife into its throat, ripping open its jugular and spraying blood into the air. The monster screamed, and I felt a strange hesitation sweep through me at the sound of its cry. I shook it off, but Renica seemed staggered by the call, shaking her head in confusion and falling back. Fortunately, it bled out and fell still swiftly, and Renica gathered herself quickly.

“What can you tell me about these things?” I asked, my eyes still scanning the area around us. The square around the Cathedral was strangely empty considering how crowded I’d seen it all day. I didn’t know if that was because of nightfall or the presence of the moon-cursed.

“They’re fast,” she said, her voice calming as she seemed to recover her equilibrium. “Strong, too. They’re like pisiks, in a way; they like to stalk prey and take them by surprise. Their cries confuse your mind to make it easier for them to take you. Oh, and their bite can give you the blood fever.”

“Blood fever?” I echoed.

“Yes. It sends you into a rage, where you attack anyone and anything around you.” She paused. “I’ve never had it, but I know people who’ve suffered it, and they say it’s agonizing, that you hurt so much you just lash out at everything around you.”

“How long does it last?” I asked.

“It depends on the bite. I’ve seen it wear off in a minute, and I’ve seen it last nearly half an hour.”

I nodded. Point taken; I needed to watch out for the creatures’ bite more than their claws. “Okay, we need to get back to the inn as quickly as possible. Hopefully, we’ll be safe inside.”

“We should be,” she nodded. “A building that isn’t built to keep out the moon-cursed doesn’t last very long, after all.”

We walked into the darkness, heading toward the shadowed boulevard we’d taken to get to the Cathedral. We made it all of ten steps before the next moonclaw sprang at us, leaping out of a darkened alleyway. Fortunately, Renica’s warning that they were ambush predators was all I needed to anticipate the thing’s attack. It leaped with a scream that once again made my thoughts fuzzy for an instant, but I kept enough focus to dodge its attack and slam my axe into its lower back. It slashed at me, but I caught its wrist, wincing as the movement reopened the wounds in my left hand, then twisted, locking its arm straight and pressing it forward. In that moment, Renica recovered and plunged her knife into its back, piercing its heart and killing it instantly.

We moved down the street, stopping when we heard the sound of shouting and gunfire. I followed the sound to a nearby alley and saw a half-dozen people in armor battling a group of the moonclaws, and apparently getting the worst of the exchange. I hesitated–we had our own problems, after all–but the fact was, if the moon-cursed were out in force in the city, Renica and I had little hope of making it to the inn on our own. She didn’t have her preferred weapon, her crossbow, and I had no ranged attacks except throwing knives. All it would take was a single bite, and we might end up trying to kill one another. We needed help, and while the people in front of us didn’t seem all that skilled, they were better than nothing.

Renica and I ran toward the battle, and as we drew closer, I saw that the omeni were dressed in matching armor with tabards that looked like a sword in front of a glowing sun. They fought in ranks, those in front holding shields and spears, while those in back fired crossbows or rifles. Two of them had already fallen and weren’t moving; three of the remaining six looked badly wounded. The moonclaws pressed forward eagerly, seemingly scenting their foes’ weakness and attacking viciously, forcing the omeni to fall back.

One of the moonclaws leaped into the air, clearing the front ranks and hurtling toward those in back. The monster stiffened and tumbled to the ground as my thrown dagger caught it in the chest, piercing its lung. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it wasn’t one that could be easily shrugged off either. The creature dropped but scrambled back to its feet just in time to take a bullet to its skull that killed it quickly.

“Citizens, you should be indoors!” one of the guards shouted at us. “The moon-cursed roam the city! Stay back and let the guards handle this!”

“I think we figured that out,” I muttered, flinging another knife that caught a moonclaw high in its chest and killed it quickly. A third screamed loudly, and the entire wall of omeni seemed to stumble and fall back as its cry clouded their minds. A faint fogginess touched my thoughts, but I shook it off and moved to meet one of the creatures as it broke through the front line. I ducked its slash and kicked at its knee, turning its leg and knocking it off-balance. It spun, recovering quickly, and took my backhanded hatchet blow in its throat.

I pushed the dying creature back and snatched a pistol from the chest of a badly wounded man beside me. I ignored the pain in my left hand as I cocked it and fired, sending a bullet punching into a moonclaw’s brain. I dropped the weapon and cut into the extended arm of another monster, leaning back to dodge a claw slash and using my foot to sweep one of its legs out from under it. As it fell, its claw slid along my side, opening a shallow set of cuts, but I drove my hatchet into its face and ended its struggles.

A crossbow twanged, and the bolt that flew forth caught a leaping moonclaw in midair, piercing the center of its chest and ending it. I glanced back and saw Renica hand her crossbow to a badly wounded soldier to cock while she lifted another. Following her lead, I knelt and yanked a pistol from one of the fallen soldiers and took careful aim. A charging moonclaw fell, writhing, as my bullet tore into its chest. I dropped the weapon and dodged another monster’s attack, catching its elbow with my wounded left hand and yanking it forward. It seemed to dive past me, screaming once as my hatchet plunged into its upper spine.

Without the pressure of the creatures on them, the melee defenders reformed and began pushing the monsters back, but that single scream broke their resistance once more. As a soldier stumbled back in confusion, I pulled the pistol from his chest and fired it into another moonclaw’s throat. Renica’s crossbow thrummed, and another moon-cursed fell with a feathered bolt protruding from its eye. I hurled the spent pistol into the face of a charging monster, then ducked below its claws as it raised them instinctively to block. It swiped at me as I ducked, but I slipped past its strike and buried my hatchet in its solar plexus. I yanked the blade free and swept it around, catching the creature in the lower back and severing its spinal cord.

A final moonclaw leaped from the top of a nearby building with a scream but fell as Renica’s crossbow bolt punched into its chest. Silence suddenly fell over the alley, a silence broken only by soft cursing and moaning from the wounded.

The older soldier who’d first spoken lifted his rifle and turned toward Renica and I. “Citizens,” he said gruffly. “Not that I don’t appreciate the assistance, but I told you to stay back.”

“And if we had, what would have happened?” I chuckled, looking around. Another of the wounded had died, and it looked like one more was on the way. “I think we saved your life...” I looked the man up and down and shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know your rank. Do guards have ranks?”

“I’m Fruntas Tavian de Mihabag,” the man replied, inclining his head toward me. “And you are?”

“I’m Ionat, and this is Renica,” I introduced us. “We’re new here to the city.”

“While I’m pleased to meet you, what are you doing out? The alarm sounded fifteen minutes ago. You should have sought shelter indoors!”

“We didn’t hear any alarm,” I shrugged. “We were paying our respect to the Cathedral and were on our way back to our inn when the moon-cursed attacked us. When we saw you, we thought we might ask for an escort to where we’re staying.”

“We’re on patrol, Citizen,” the man said, running his hands through his hair. “We can’t go traipsing across the city! Your best bet is to return to the Cathedral and wait out the night there.”

“We’re staying at the Dripping Knife, Fruntas. I don’t think it’s too far–just down the main boulevard a bit. Hell, you could call escorting us there patrolling if you really wanted.”

The soldier sighed and looked at another guard beside him, who shrugged helplessly. “Seems like the right thing to do, Fruntas,” the soldier offered. “Besides, they saved our lives, and we’re down three men already. Probably four; Gabi doesn’t look so good. We could use their help.”

“Fine,” the fruntas sighed–I guessed that was his rank, not his name, but I could have been wrong. “We’ll take you to the Dripping Knife. You’re right; it’s not far from here, and…”

The man froze as Renica’s crossbow snapped up and fired. A moment later, a moonclaw crashed into a wooden crate toward the end of the alley, a crossbow bolt jutting from its skull. Renica lowered her crossbow and looked at me with a wide smile.

“Like I said, ambush predators.”

“I never doubted you,” I grinned back.

The fruntas cleared his throat. “Yes. We should get moving.” He looked at the last badly wounded man. “Stelian, handle the bodies, then head to the Cathedral. It’s close enough that you should make it.”

“Hold on a second,” I said, going to the fallen men and gathering their pistols, gunpowder, and extra shots. I also took a slim, curved saber from one of the men; it wasn’t a rapier, but my Light Swords skill would still work with it. At least, hopefully. Renica did the same, scavenging crossbow bolts from the fallen. “Okay, now we’re ready.”

As the group turned and walked away, the wounded Stelian falteringly drew the sword at his hip and turned to the first of the dead guards. I knew what he was going to do; those who were killed after being bitten by the hungering rose as moon-cursed a few days later. I assumed the same was true for the victims of moonclaws. Apparently, though, beheading the corpse was enough to stop that for the moonclaws’ prey. Either that, or the poor guard was about to dismember a person who’d once probably been a friend.

As we walked back toward the main boulevard, I leaned closer to Renica. “Good eyes back there,” I told her quietly enough that no one else could hear. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Neither did I,” she admitted just as softly. “I knew it was there, though. I could feel it.”

“Feel it?”

She nodded. “I could feel the bestial magic in it. It felt–unnatural, like it wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“I suppose none of the moon-cursed are particularly natural,” I observed.

“No, but not like this.” She shivered slightly. “There’s a lot of power in the air tonight, almost like when it’s a close moon, but it feels different. Like it was put here. This isn’t natural.”

We moved through the city with moonclaws attacking sporadically as we went, but as we traveled, I considered Renica’s words. “This is like Panja, isn’t it?” I asked Sara silently.

“Well, it’s possible that a plethora of moonclaws just happened to descend on the city, but…yes, it probably is.”

“So, we’ll just keep being attacked until whatever portal was opened gets closed, then?”

“That seems likely. And before you ask, no, I have no idea where the portal might be. It could be in the Cathedral again, but…”

“But we weren’t swarmed by moonclaws in there,” I finished grimly. “So probably not.” I paused for a moment. “Will my unbinding spell close a portal like that?”

“It should, but it will probably take more raju than you have available,” she hedged. “You’re not recovering it as quickly as you should thanks to the poison in you; some of what you’re recovering is going to countering the venom. And until you do counter it, I don’t know how effective your spell-casting will even be.”

“Well, then, there’s no point in going looking for it until we know, is there?” I asked with a hint of relief. I knew that I was supposed to be helping people in my new life, but I was wounded, hurting, exhausted from fighting and blood loss, and limited in my ability to use magic. I honestly just wanted to get back to the inn and sleep. It was selfish, but I couldn’t help people if I passed out, could I?

As we neared the inn, though, I could sense that something was wrong. Renica was starting to fidget, her eyes looking around constantly. I could feel a chill in the air, a sense of foreboding. More to the point, the closer we got to the inn, the more my stomach began to churn. Sense Imbalance was going crazy, and I had a sinking feeling I knew where the imbalance was.

As we rounded the corner of the street leading to the inn, I realized that my suspicions were correct. The inn door hung open, and a pair of bodies lay sprawled before it. I recognized one as the young man who’d greeted us earlier today; the other was a woman I hadn’t seen before. The group stopped as we saw the bloody spectacle and stared at the carnage.

“It looks like the moon-cursed got inside the inn,” Tavian said grimly. “I’m sorry, but anyone inside is probably dead.”

“Vikarik’s still alive,” Renica half-whispered. “I can tell.”

“Then they’ll be dead soon,” the man said somewhat callously.

“Not if we save them,” Renica said, hefting her crossbow and looking at me. “Right, Ionat?”

I stared at the inn, my thoughts skittering about. I was exhausted. My left side hurt, and blood loss had weakened me. I had about forty raju total between both solar and lunar, most of that lunar since it was night. I couldn’t count on my spellcasting ability until I’d purged myself of the poison in my body. I could barely use my left hand anymore after constantly reopening the wounds on it. I was maybe operating at two-thirds capacity, probably closer to half.

The smart choice would be to retreat. I didn’t know if whoever was chasing us opened their portal in the inn, but even if they didn’t, I was willing to bet that the building had more moonclaws inside than we’d seen so far that night. The wisest choice would be to go back to the Cathedral, speak to Ilinca, and bring more soldiers, perhaps a Razvaraji or three to clear the inn and close the portal. I supposed that it might close on its own come morning, as well. That was the smart choice…

A single look at Renica’s eyes made me realize that it wasn’t the right choice, though. Vikarik was in there and still alive–I trusted Renica’s feelings on that–and so were Ferka and Melania. The thought of the moonclaws getting to the kids, tearing them apart… I’d brought the pair into the inn to help them. If I hadn’t, they’d probably have found some safe place to sleep. By involving them with us–with me–I might have doomed them. If Vikarik was alive, there was a chance the kids were, too, and I couldn’t just turn my back on them.

“Right,” I said firmly, trying not to let any of my uncertainty show on my face. I looked back at the guards. “Fruntas, I understand if you need to continue your patrol.”

“We do,” the man said heavily. “And we could use your help, Ionat.” He took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself. “You have to face the facts. The omeni in there are dead. Once the moon-cursed breach a dwelling, they pour into it and kill everyone inside. Don’t throw your lives away; come with us and help those who can still be saved.”

“You’re wrong, Fruntas,” Renica shook her head. “Someone is still alive in there, and if she is, others could be, too. We can save them.” She hefted her crossbow. “We will save them.”

“That’s guard property, you know,” he said quietly. “I could demand that you return it.”

“And we’d have to refuse, Fruntas, and where would that leave everyone?” I said gently, laying my hand on my hatchet. “We have the moon-cursed to fight; we shouldn’t be killing each other.” My face hardened. “But if you make us choose between killing you or abandoning the people in there, well…” I shrugged. “You won’t like the choice we make.”

The man stared at me for a moment and sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Fine. Do what you have to.” He straightened. “Those weapons are still guard property, though! I expect you to return them first thing in the morning!”

“Happy to, Fruntas,” I grinned at him before turning to Renica. “Come on. Let’s go save some people.”