FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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CHAPTER 12

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It was four days since our departure from New Zangar. There was no apparent chase to apprehend me, but we rode hard for the first two days to make sure. Stopping long enough to rest the dandos and feed them before pushing on. After the second day we felt it was safe enough to make camp and allow them a proper rest, along with the rest of us. They would do us no good if they died from exhaustion before we reached Banuke.

For the last day we have been avoiding the main routes to and from Banuke. This was wolven controlled lands and this time we did not have an army at our back. We needed to avoid any wolven patrols to avoid allowing them to warn the others. Grandfather had assured me that the Alpha Prime of Banuke would aid me once he read the letter he had given me. In order to ensure the Alpha read the letter we would need to make him read it before his wolves attacked us. There was only two ways to attempt this.

Either we, or rather I should say I, would sneak into Banuke under the cover of darkness and find the Alpha Prime and 'convince' him to read the letter. Or we attempt to negotiate with them, explain to them the issue at paw and use the letter as evidence. Either one had its risks. If we were to sneak in the problem would be finding the Alpha Prime without being spotted by any of the hundreds of wolven warriors stationed in the town. If we approached under the terms of peaceful negotiation there was every chance the Alpha would ignore protocol and simply have us killed. Never mind the other countless risks that stood in our way.

It would not be long before we reached our destination of Banuke, a village which sits at the Southern most edge of the Zangarian Mountain range, in the stretch of land between the base of the mountains and the Dark Forest.

It was originally a village like Rengilar, a village of mixed races and open trade. It was a hub for any merchants travelling from South of the Dark Forest and into draconian lands, or going to-and-fro from Erythea to the West. The wolves took control to reduce the amount of aid New Zangar would be able to receive from its allies. By controlling Banuke to the South and Rengilar to the North, the only aide that could reach New Zangar came from crossing the perilous Zangar mountain trails, or through the labyrinth of caves which ran beneath the mountains them selves.

As we neared Banuke we kept close to the base of the mountain, traversing through the rougher ground there which slowed our progress significantly, but as Malnark suspected there were far fewer wolven patrols in this region. The few patrols we did spot didn't notice us.

As we sat just a two hours walk away from Banuke the afternoon was quickly disappearing. We were debating whether to wait until morning or approach under the cover of darkness. Either one was both advantageous and disadvantageous to us.

Approaching during the day meant that we would be spotted instantly. An over eager archer might just take the chance of taking us out despite the flag of peaceful negotiation raised as we approached. Not to mention having to sit and wait for dawn to come in order to do so. I was so lose I was not going to waste any more time! Malnark and Jovani strongly objected to sneaking in and coercing the Alpha to read he letter. So I suggested a compromise.

The others understood the urgency of our mission. The town could already be badly contaminated by the demonic energy the curi'nakra infected everything with in order to grow their own power. At worst they would have arrived in town six days ago. Depending on the level of their power they could have caused some serious harm to the residents of the town already.

With a flag of negotiation raised Malnark, Jovani, Loire and Mantou would approach the town from the Western road. We would leave the wagon and the rest of our supplies hidden in a cluster of trees to the North-West. I would approach from the North under the cover of darkness and scope out the town. Even with a flag raised there was no guarantee that the Alpha Prime would listen to us. I would infiltrate the town and should the Alpha not honour the flag of truce, I would create a distraction that allowed the others to escape during the chaos. This would also allow me to locate the Alpha Prime when he went to speak with the others.

Unlike Rengilar, Banuke had no outer wall for security. The fighting had not come this far South. A wall was currently under construction from the looks of it, but it would be weeks before it was finished. Wolven patrols were surprisingly lax as well. It was all too easy to slip into the town unhindered.

The village was quite large, but not large enough to be called a town. There were a fair number of wagons parked on the outskirts of town. Traders, merchants and other travellers by my guess. Even if the wolves wouldn't allow anyone to travel North into draconian lands, there was still a lot of trade to be had here.

Most of the buildings were made from logs. If I set a fire it would spread quickly. That may come in handy later if I needed to create a distraction. As I stalked the darkened streets I noticed a faint trace of demonic taint. It was so faint I could only sense it every now and again. It was nothing like Rengilar where I could sense the taint before stepping foot within the walls of the town. That meant that either the curi'nakra hadn't had the time to spread the demonic taint, or they had already left! I hoped it was the former. But without the Alphas help we would never be able to identify the fur I was hunting if they had left town.

Using the shadows I darted between the buildings. I used my nen to enhance my senses to track the furs in the nearby area. The wolves security was surprisingly lax. There were regular patrols but the wolves themselves were not on high alert. Group of warrior stood around talking rather than patrolling their routes. That just made it that much easier for me.

Just as I stepped out into the street I heard a patrol approaching, I watched at they rounded the corner. I leapt into the nearest doorway and suppressed my presence. A handy trick taught to me by Callen. When hunting it was important that your prey didn't sense your approach. This technique had a few additional uses as well. It had taken me a while before I had gotten any good at it. It was essentially the opposite of drawing on your nen, instead of drawing on your nen you suppressed it further.

I stood in the shadow of the doorway as the patrol of four wolves passed right by, laughing and joking amongst themselves. They hadn't seen me. They hadn't smelt me. If they had being paying attention then they might have. I needed to be more careful! I stepped out of the doorway and moved closer to the East side of town. I reached the edge of a large open square with a well in the center. There were several wooden stalls constructed along the edges of the square. I could see the bridge! A stone bridge which arched over the river. The river itself marked the Western most edge of the town, that was the direction the others would approach from.

If I had to estimate, based on how many wolves I had seen on my approach from the North, then there would be at least four dozen wolves on patrol, spread out in all directions. A town this size would easily be able to house over two hundred wolven warriors. It should probably be safe to assume they had something similar to that number, which meant that there would be at least four other Alphas in town in addition to the the Alpha Prime himself. They would be his war council. I doubted that they would be open to listening to a drake accuse one of their own as a traitor to all furs! I hoped that the Alpha Prime would listen to reason after reading Grandfathers letter.

I heard the warning call of one of the sentries followed quickly by the sound of a horn. There was a sudden rush of activity from the nearby buildings as several wolves ran outside with their weapons drawn. Several voices could be heard over the commotion. I spotted one particular wolf barking out orders to the others; most likely one of the alphas. They had spotted the flag and were ordering others to go and alert the Alpha Prime.

I took up position between two buildings. From the sounds and smells around me I could only assume that both of these large wooden buildings were barracks used to house the wolven warriors. There was a lot of activity from inside and sure enough a few moments later a dozen wolves emerged from within and set up a defensive formation around the bridge. The square was lit by a large bonfire which burned fiercely in the center. I remained where I was, hidden in the shadows of an alleyway.

Everyone was so focused on the others approach that no one even looked in my direction. Over three dozen wolves had now gathered, all armed to the fangs with a variety of weapons, and more were on their way. Malnark and the others stopped on the bridge, the flag of truce suspended above them. No one had attacked yet, which meant they were waiting for their Alpha.

I heard Malnark begin to speak. Requesting to speak to the Alpha Prime in accordance with the teachings of Jan'Zar. There were a lot of grumblings from the crowd. All of them were eager to spill a blood tonight.

I needed to change my position to get a better view of the square so I could see the Alpha approach. I stepped back to use the building to block the wolves view of me as I moved round. As I rounded the corner of the building I heard movement next to me. A moment later a door swung open and a wolf stepped out of the building, adjusting the straps of his armour. He noticed me a moment later froze. He stood there motionless as his mind processed my sudden presence which gave me the opportunity to close the distance between us. I delivered a punch to his sternum, winding him and preventing him from calling out. I delivered two punches to his muzzle and then slammed the side of his head off the wooden walls of the hut he had emerged from. He collapsed motionless to the ground; breathing but unconscious.

I heard more movement from the alleyway between the huts I had come from. Looked like my exchange with this wolf hadn't gone entirely unnoticed. I darted behind the corner of the building and waited for who ever it was coming. There was only one of them from the sounds of their paw steps. They called out to the fallen wolf and cautiously approached. Hopefully he thought they had simply passed out drunk.

I saw the end of their spear from around the corner and leapt into action. I grabbed the shaft of the spear and drove my elbow into their snout, spun them round and wrapped my arm around their neck and held his muzzle shut with a paw. He struggled, but he couldn't overcome my nen enhanced strength or the leverage I held on him. I glanced back over my shoulder, no one was watching. After a few moments his movements became slow and sluggish as he began to pass out. I gently lowered him to the ground and then dragged him and the other wolf into the darkness of the alleyway across the street. I grabbed his spear and continued on my way.

When I reached a better position to view the square the Alpha was just arriving judging by the entourage of a dozen more wolves around them. To my surprise the wolf in question was familiar to me. I knew them from Rengilar, and they would know me. He had hated my existence more than any other wolf; even more so than Kaleb had. Did Grandfather really hope to convince him with a letter?

"What brings you here dragon!?" The word 'dragon' was said with as much disgust as he could muster. "Know that only reason I don't have you slain where you stand is out of respect of the teachings of Jan'Zar!"

"Understood." Malnark responded.

"Now speak so you can leave here before I do something that will sully the traditions handed down by the Guardian Deity of War."

"My name is Malnark Ral'var. Warlord from Zangar. We have come here on an important mission. I have a letter written by Randel Redpelt, requesting your assistance with hunting down a dangerous individual who we believe has travelled here recently."

"Randel Redpelt?" He scoffed. "I am to believe that one of the most respected wolves I know, has written a letter asking 'me' to aid 'you'?"

"Correct."

"I don't believe you!" The Alpha Prime snarled.

"It was written by his own paw and bears his seal."

"Nothing you say will convince me that he wrote that letter! I'm not going to waste my time reading that piece of trash!"

"I assure y..."

"Leave now and I shall honour the old ways and not have my warriors pursue you!" The Alpha snarled. "I'll give you until dawn! If you have not left our lands by then I assure you my warriors will hunt you down!"

I smelt a shift in the scent of the warriors. Blood-lust. The wolven warriors wanted blood and the four drakes standing before them were their target. I cast my eyes over the warriors. There was one wolf in particular who I got a bad feeling about. They were still young, blood thirsty and was literally shaking with nerves and anticipation. I reached out my senses to detect the flow. Things were as bad as I thought.

Worse still the young wolf who had caught my attention. The flow around him was erratic and disruptive to the flow of the other wolves around him. He would do something soon that would dramatically affect the flow of every fur in the area around him. And I didn't need to be a Farseer to know that that result would risk the lives of the four drakes standing on the bridge.

The young wolf was armed with a crossbow. The way his paws was clenching the crossbow told me that he was already thinking about using it. I couldn't call out and warn the others without alerting the wolves to my presence. But none of the wolves here could sense nen so I drew on my nen, knowing that Malnark would be able to sense it and hoped he would understand the warning. It seemed to work when a few moments later I felt Malnark's nen in return. He had gotten the message.

"I must insist that you read the letter." Malnark presented the letter bearing the wax seal bearing Grandfathers mark.

"I don't trust anything you dragons say!" The wolf barked. "Last warning! Leave!"

A sharp spike to the blood-lust from the wolf I was spying alerted me to what was about to happen. I saw him raise the crossbow and take aim. I focused my nen behind my eyes and inhaled sharply before holding my breath. Time slowed down just before the wolf pulled the trigger. I raised my paw and gathered nen into my palm. My eyes followed the arrow as it slowly cut through the air and judged the distance and fire a burst of wind to where I estimated the arrow to be when my attack would reach it. I was slightly off, my attack caught the back of the arrow, just enough to deflect it off course. The arrow struck the wall of the bridge and Malnark and the wolven Alpha jumped in surprise. Malnark used his nen to summon a large mass of water from the river and formed a wall of ice around him and the others just as three more crossbow bolts struck it and became embedded in the ice.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!!!" The Alpha Prime snarled. Several other Alphas yelled the same, trying to control the wolves under their command.

The wolves calmed down but they were ready for blood now. It would only be a matter of time before the Alpha lost control of the situation. The only reason he was attempting to hold back the wolves, barking threats at his warriors, was to maintain his honour. If Malnark and the others were killed during a peaceful negotiation then his honour would be sullied. One thing I knew about the Alpha Prime was that he considered himself honourable and followed the old ways. Not surprising since he had been taught by Grandfather. All of the Alphas were also barking at the other warriors to try and hold back any further attacks. Malnark's plan to negotiate had failed. Now it was my turn to try and take control of this situation. If he would not read the letter willingly, then I would give him no choice but to!

I stepped out from my hiding spot, the hood of my cloak up to give me a few moments of anonymity as I moved through the crowd of wolves. Most didn't notice me, too focused on the Malnark and the others. A few others gave me confused looks as they didn't know what to make of me, giving me a few moments to reach me target. The young wolf who fired the first shot. The young wolf, probably about sixteen winters old, bore a cocky grin as he held his crossbow which was now reloaded. He turned and saw me. He froze before turning and raising his crossbow. I shoved the crossbow aside with the shaft of the spear I carried with one paw, the bolt shot into the leg of a nearby wolf, his cry of paw alerting all the others wolves around him. But that didn't stop me from pulling my arm back and nailing the young wolf in the snout with a nen enhanced punch, that not only knocked him flat on his back, but knocked him out cold.

The wolves around me shout and growled, readied their weapons. Now no longer needing to keep my presence a secret I extended my wings, revealing them from their hiding place under my cloak but I kept my hood up still.

"HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!" The Alpha Prime growled. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

"You should have read the fucking letter!" I growled threateningly, pointing the spear at him, ignoring the three dozen wolves surrounding me. "Now read the damn thing or you, and every other wolf here will die by my paw!"

"You dare to trick us using peace talks!?" The Warlord snarled at Malnark. "Have you no honour!?"

"I assure you we did no such thing." Malnark countered. "The moment your warriors fired upon us the peace talks were sullied and your honour stained!" Malnark countered calmly and eloquently. "If you agree to read the letter then we shall resume the negotiations and give you a chance to redeem your honour."

"I shall not be tricked by you!" He snarled. He was visibly angry now. "You think that the actions of a single warrior will force me to bend to your will!?" He turned back to look at me. Dozens of wolven warriors were poised ready to attack me, but all of them were holding back for the orders of their Alpha. "You have a lot of guts walking into the middle of a pack of wolves as you did! I can respect that, but you won't be living long enough to regret it!" He grinned. If he knew who I was he would have ordered his wolves to attack already, but my identity was hidden beneath my hood.

"You will resume the negotiations, or every wolf here will die!" I growled, summoning my nen and building it up.

"Kill us!?" He barked out a laugh, drawing his sword and pointing at me. "With just five of you!? Kill him!"

I gathered my nen before forcing it outwards. I released a burst of wind in every direction, with enough force to flattened every wolf within ten feet of me. The sudden and unexpected attack surprised the wolves and a cry of panic filled the air. The attack gave me enough time to plan my escape.

I raised my spear and threw it at the Alpha Prime. It landed in the ground between his legs, exactly where I intended it to. He jumped back, my threat was given. I could have killed him then, and it had been tempting to do so, but for the moment he was more used to me alive. His expression told me he knew that I had missed on purpose.

I spread my wings and gathered my nen and propelled myself into the air. None of the wolves had expected me to be able to take flight. I back-flipped in the air and landed on the roof of the nearest hut and leapt down onto the far side of the building away from all the wolves, knowing full well that they would pursue me. I needed to draw as many wolves away from Malnark and the others as possible to give them a fighting chance.

I had little worry that Malnark would be able to handle himself against a pack of wolves. We had planned for him to use the bridge to stage the negotiation for this very contingency. As a water bender the river to provided Malnark plenty of water for his bending, making him even more effective in a fight. The bridge would force the wolves into a bottle neck as well, making it nearly impossible to surround them.

The first wolf emerged from the alleyway moments after I landed on the ground. I drew my sword and dodged the swing of their axe and punched them across the muzzle before slamming their head into the wall of the hut. They fell to their knees, their paws pressed against the side of the hut preventing them from falling all the way to the ground. The next wolf emerged from round the corner along with several others in tow.

They saw their fallen comrade and didn't hesitate to lunge at me, their sword raised to strike me down. They thrust their sword at my chest, I parried with my own sword, knocking their weapon to the side leaving them open to my follow up attack. I struck them in the chest with a nen enhanced punch which knocked them back into the two wolves behind him, causing the wolves behind them to stumble as they fell back into their comrades.

I turned, focusing my nen into my blade, and unleashed a powerful wave of wind into the wolves who had emerged from the alleyway behind me. I needed to prevent them from surrounding me. This was where the wolves were at their most dangerous. They were incredibly dangerous when attacking in packs. But for the moment they had not yet fully organised themselves, but once they did I would be in trouble. The wind attack was not enough to knock them over, but it did give me enough time to kick in the door of the hut I was next to. I slammed the door shut behind me and held it shut. A moment later I was struggling to keep it closed as the wolves attempted to force their way in.

A vixen screamed as I entered her home, she grasped her young cub and fled to the far end of the hut. As the wolves forced the door open I ran my sword into the chest of the wolf leading the charge. I kicked him back into the other wolves and lunged forwards with my sword and thrust it into the shoulder of another wolf. The air was stained with the metallic tang of blood now.

A quick glance through the door and all I could see was a wall of wolves snarling and growling, eager for an chance to kill me. Their wounded comrades were pulled back out of the way and I engaged the first wolf who attempted to pass through the door way. I used my sword to force them back, but the narrow doorway meant I was limited to thrusts and stabs. Two wolves came either side of the doorway, armed with spears and thrust them at me. I managed to dodge them, but now it would be difficult to hold the doorway with those two wolves there. These guys were smart, experienced and knew what they were doing. They were using the longer reach of their spears to push me back in order to force their way in. If I was pushed back from the doorway then there was nothing stopping the large pack of wolves from pouring into the hut and then that would be that! In this tight confined space their superior numbers would quickly overwhelm me. I needed to escape.

I reached my nen out towards the fire-pit in the middle of the room, ignited my nen and created a powerful stream of flames and channelled it towards the doorway. The wolves yelped in surprise and pain as the flames engulfed them. The scent of singed fur filled the hut as well as the panicked cries of the wolves who had been struck by my attack. With the wolves advance stopped for the moment I turned and ran towards the window on the far side of the hut. As I approached I fired a wind burst at it, shattering the glass before diving through the gap. I landed in a roll outside and glanced around. About a half a dozen wolves had spotted me and turned to attack. Another dozen or so were crowding round the bridge which Malnark was doing a good job of defending. He was holding the wolves off with his water and ice bending, using the near endless supply of water from the river to great effect.

Two of the nearby wolves had crossbows, and as they aimed I leapt to avoid their shots, which I felt zip past me by mere inches. Now that they had to reload I sprinted towards them, ignoring the other wolves running at me. They both knew they had no chance of reloading in time and so discarded the crossbows and drew their knives. But their knives didn't have the reach that my sword granted. I caught one wolf in the chest with a downwards slash of my sword. He cried out and fell. I dodged the slash of him comrades knife and swung my sword at him, catching him in the shoulder. My blade cut into his leather armour and the wolf fell back clutching his bloodied shoulder.

At this point the wolves were now in pursuit of me, several of them were crawling through the same window I had escaped from while the others were running around the hut to give chase. I ran towards the bonfire in the center of the square and used my nen to draw out a powerful stream of fire and spray the ground between me and the wolves. The wolves stopped in their tracks as the ground before them was engulfed in flames.

After my last display using fire bending I'm sure they were nervous about what I could do with a large source like the bonfire. They didn't attempt to get any closer, instead they began to surround me. As they surrounded me I took the moment to assess the situation. Over two dozen wolves surrounded me, all of them eager to spill my blood.

I did not come here to kill every wolf. I was here for one fur alone. The fur who had sold their soul to the Demonlords, the fur who had caused over one hundred needless deaths back in Rengilar! I would not allow them to continue to have their way. If I had to kill every wolf here in order to stop them, then that's what I would do! But if they were one of the warriors attacking me, I could end up killing them and not even know. That would complicate things considerably! But killing every wolf here would not be easy. All it would take was a single lucky attack, a well timed crossbow bolt and this fight would end!

In order to take control of this situation I needed to demoralise them, or force their Alpha to call off their attack. Either way that meant I needed to confront the Alpha Prime! I knew where he was. He was over by the bridge, directing the pack of wolves attacking Malnark and the others. I extended my wings and using my wind bending to once again propel myself into the air.

Within seconds I was descending towards the wolves by the bridge. I landed on the ground in a crouch, right next to my target. He jumped in surprise and raised his sword defensively. I stood up, raised my sword and created a nen bubble around me and created two nen blades in the air either side of me.

I stared at the wolven Alpha, I smelt no fear from him. I had surprised him but he didn't fear me. Two wolves from the pack attacking the others turned and ran to defend their Alpha. They came at me from behind, but the moment they stepped inside my nen bubble I fired my nen blades towards them. Both blades caught them in the neck above their neckline of their armour. The nen blades sliced through their fur and flesh and they collapsed and began to bleed out on the ground with some sickening gurgling sounds.

The Alpha stared at the two warriors with wide eyed surprise. I had killed both of them without moving a muscle, my nen blades were invisible to the naked eye. He realised now just what I was capable of, and that if I had wanted him dead he already would be! He couldn't sense my nen at all and was well within striking range of my nen blades. If I wanted to kill him then there was nothing stopping me from being able to do so!

"Hello, Uncle Dwayne." I said as I pulled down the hood of my travel cloak, our eyes meeting for the first time in a long time.

The spirit within me was revelling in the blood I had already spilled, and now I was muzzle to muzzle with my Uncle it was trying to influence me to attack him, reminding me of all the things my Uncle had said or done to me to goad me into spilling his blood. I suppressed the spirits influence, but admitted to myself that I did want to kill him. For the moment though I needed him alive.

"Malakye?!"

"You should have read the damn letter!" I growled. Aware of the pack of wolves quickly closing in on me.

"I see... so Father finally gave in to you." He snarled. "That explains why you have such a letter! He was always soft on you! He should have killed you the moment you were born!"

"If I wanted you dead you'd be dead already!" I reminded him. "I will give you one last chance to call off your warriors, and read the letter before you force my paw!" I growled.

Uncle Dwayne had always hated me; more than any other wolf. He blamed me for the disgrace that his sister, my mother, suffered for deciding to keep me and not having me drowned at birth. He blamed me for her death when he was helpless to get her the medicine that could have saved her life. She had been disowned by her family, meaning none of them could speak to her or aid her in anyway. If they did they would risk suffering the same fate as she had. He had never hidden his anger or hatred from me.

The pack of wolves who had pursued me were mere yards away. The other wolves who had been attacking Malnark were either busy dealing with him or were standing watching me warily, the two bodies of the wolves on the ground behind me holding them back for the time being.

"HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!" Dwayne yelled with authority. His position as Alpha Prime was one that the other wolves would not be able to ignore. And in response the wolves running towards me came to a stop mere yards away. "Tell me. What does the letter say?"

"I'm here to find a fur who is serving the Demonlords; a curi'nakra!!!" I explained. "We need to find them and stop them before another disaster like Rengilar happens."

"What happened in Rengilar!?"

"Over one hundred furs died when a portal to the Underworld opened up. Demons spilled out, but we were able to stop them."

He paused, eyeing me warily as he considered my words.

"You'd better not be lying to me boy!" He growled with his gruff voice.

"Read the letter!" I growled back.

"Fine." He grunted. "But if I have any doubts, any doubts, that this letter was not written by my father, or that he was in any way coerced into writing that letter for you... I will order my warriors to kill you!"

"Sir! You can't seriously..."

"SILENCE!" Dwayne snarled at the warrior who had dared to object to his actions. "No one is to do anything without my direct order! If anyone disobeys that order, or in anyway risks the sanctity of these peaceful negotiations further than they already have been, I'll have them publicly flogged!" He looked round at the three dozen plus wolves who surrounded around us. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD!?"

The tense silence which was littered with unhappy grumbles of the warriors around us were taken as agreement. Whether they agreed with my Uncles decision to reopen the negotiations or not, he was their Alpha. Their leader. To defy him was mutiny. The only way to defy him without consequence was to defeat him in an officially recognised Kinyar for his position. As much as I hated the wolf, he was reputed as a strong fighter. The fact that he was son of Randel Redpelt, a warrior whose reputation made him one of the greatest warriors to still be alive today, despite his advancing years, gave Dwayne that much more clout in regards to his status as a warrior. After a few moments the wolves slowly backed away to a respectable distance, but still held their weapons ready. With the wolves now backed away Malnark melted the walls of ice he had created and began to walk towards us; letter in paw.

Before the letter could be handed over I felt blood-lust along with a surge of nen. I leapt backwards just as a blur of motion came from my right. I fired my nen blades at the fur who had suddenly attacked, striking them in the side and neck. Everyone, including myself, was shaken as we saw just what had attacked me. A cry of panic rippled around us as everyone saw what had suddenly attacked me out of no where.

The beast stood nine feet tall, long narrow limbs with pointed claws. It's hide was covered in patches of black fur. Between the patches of fur, and around their elongated limbs was thick, course, black, cracked skin. Its eyes glowed ominously with an orange hue. Long razor sharp fangs filled their maw. A low threatening growl emanated from the beasts throat as it glared at me with menacing intent. Its long wiry tail whipped through the air behind it. I shook off my surprise and raised my sword defensively. The blood-lust poured off of the beast so thickly that I felt almost suffocated by it!