The Hunger...

[Silas DroSakhar]

A full moon had risen over the lands as I wandered the realms, searching for another of "Lord" Casca's troops to disembowel.  Wispy clouds flitted across the sky, casting comforting shadows across the roads I traversed as they briefly hid the moon from view.  I found myself trekking aimlessly, from city to city, town to town, looking for a satisfying kill.  Someone who would scream appropriately.  Someone who would beg for their life.  But all I found was a stoic miner, chipping away at the bowels of a cave near Giltown.  He didn't even utter a syllable as I thrust my war fork through his back, pinning him face-first to the wall of the cave.  His pick fell to the floor as his life's essence oozed over my hands.  I rooted through his belongings, but found nothing of particular interest therein, so I quickly penned a note and slid it inside his pack, along with a sizable chunk of blackrock, hidden under his pile of spell and rune books.  "Let me not find you here again without proper payment ready" was all the note said, and I smeared the edges with his own blood.

Stepping away from the corpse, I planted my foot against the wall and yanked my fork free from the stone, hefting the weight of the carcass with it.  Unceremoniously dropping him face first in the dirt, I twisted the tines of my fork free of his flesh and wiped them on his woolen robes.  So unsatisfying...  so...  empty.  I made my way through the cavern, growing disheartened with each step.  I had a bloodlust that seemed would not be fulfilled on this most portentious of evenings, so I decided to find a room in Giltown and sleep away the night, figuring the morn would be better...  somehow.

On my way out of the cavern, I spotted light pouring forth from a tavern nearby, and figured a stiff drink couldn't hurt my mood.  "The Tortured Elf Tavern" the sign read.  How appropriate, I thought to myself, and slipped inside.  The tavern was busy, with patrons filling nearly every seat, and the bartender filling mugs and pitchers as fast as his hands would move.  This would explain my inability to find anyone about the lands, I mused, as I moved to the back of the room and found a seat.

The serving wench came by a few moments later, dropping off mugs of ale and wine to patrons nearby, and I swiped a mug from her tray as she turned.  No reason to drop gold on watered down ale, I justified my actions in my head.  I took a sip from the mug, and the room spun.  Another swig and my vision sharpened, and the scents of the ale, the polished wood, and the unbathed patrons separated themselves.  The bartender had the distinct odor of manure about his person, though how I knew this, I was not sure, as I was sitting at least thirty feet from the man.  I vowed not to order anything from him, in any case.

Another scent presented itself, and I found myself drooling ever so slightly.  A warm, coppery scent filled my nostrils.  As I gazed about the room, I was acutely aware of the blood pumping through each and every person in attendance.  And even more importantly, I was aware of the warm meat on their bones.  Even under all their clothing, I could sense whose body would provide the best cuts of meat.

I was suddenly aware of my odd thoughts, and raced to the inn, to sequester myself and sleep off the effects of the odd drink I had imbibed.  The inn was just across the street, and I rented a room quickly.  Locking myself in, I made a quick inventory of the room, as I always do, and made mental notes of the available means of egress, should the "authorities" come knocking in the middle of the night.  As I checked the latch on the single window, I caught a glimpse of the moon, it's bulbous, ominous face leering down upon me.  I stared at it for a moment, then hesitantly turned away and padded over to the bed.  I turned in a circle, then turned again.  My ear itched, and I kicked my leg up to scratch away the irritant.  It was at this moment I knew something was definitely wrong.

I looked about the room, and felt oddly disoriented.  Everything was as it should be, I supposed...  but it all seemed...  bigger.  The dresser in the corner now towered above me.  The bed was the perfect height for me to rest my head on...  but I was standing.  I looked down at my hands.  My hands...  were no longer there.  In their place were powerful black-furred paws, with jagged claws protruding from the front.  I looked behind me, and saw a mangy tail, and muscular hindquarters.  Then I felt the urge.  The lust.  The all-encompassing need to feed upon flesh.

I crashed through the window of the room and into the street below, mindless of the noise, caring only to find a meal.  I was desperate to feed, and my enhanced senses led me to a woman stumbling from the tavern I had just vacated.  She seemed heedless of her surroundings, and I followed her between the buildings as she wandered away from the relative safety of the establishment.  As she became fully enveloped in the shadows, hidden from casual view from the street, I pounced.  My body propelled through the air by my canine legs, I crashed upon her back with enough force to crush her spine.  She fell in a heap, and I immediately clamped down on her neck, thrashing with all my might to quiet her screams.  In only a moment, she was dead, and I began to feast.

In all the glory of the meal, I was mindless to my surroundings, and only realized I was not alone when I heard a man scream.  "Eowwyn!!!!  Noooooo!!!!"  I darted out of the alley past the man, and into the shadows on the other side of the street, as the man continued screaming and calling for help.  My hunger only partly sated, for having been so rudely interrupted, I vowed to return to finish feasting at a more opportune time...

[Eowyn]

Great story. Pity I had to be the first to die.
Oh and I have taken BOB!

[Alizaren]

*giggles*

And I was the serving wench!

[Silas DroSakhar]

And what a fine wench ye were!   

[Hoffs]

Thanks for the story, Silas. Good reading and very appropriate. And paragraphs this time!

[Rage/Tonks]

Very enjoyable read.  I shall be more careful when wandering about at night. : )