"He's a sorry sight, ain't he, Jon? But he's a lucky bastard, for all the damage that wolf did to him. Lucky to be alive. Unlike Mac and Thom, eh," Elwyn said frowning at the sight of Emri lying on his back in one of the hunter's tents. The man was stripped down, sweating buckets as he fought against his delirium and the tending of his half-bitten off shoulder. The bite was as big as a human jaw and blood-soaked bandages covered it.
"No....no! Don't touch me! GET AWAY!" he shrieked. Emri pushed at another hunter that tried to pour water down the wounded man's mouth. It took three other men to hold him down. "Please! Let me GO! Gods....!" He tossed his head back and forth, nearly breaking his teeth as he grit them.
Jon stood on the side, looking grim as ever. His gaunt face was shaded, but it was clear there was something else on his mind. Elwyn knew his thoughts by expression, even in the dim lantern lights of the tent. Jon looked back outside before bothering to speak at all. "That wolf should have killed him. He might from infection, now. Or worse."
"Worse?" Elwyn asked. Jon have him a look that told him exactly what he meant and the rotund man nodded in comprehension. "What ought we do about him? The wolf I mean. I never see one aside from the stories. But to see one real up close. You don't suppose, it's a full blood, do ye? He can't be. He was like half-man/half-beast. I always thought all them werebeasts were shaggier. Hairier, you know. But maybe it's a good thing, he got away. He might have broke out of the cage and killed us all."
Jon looked at his partner with a furrowed-glance. "Let him go?" he scoffed. "We're going after him. And the girl. They escaped together, and I doubt he'd let a meal as easy as she, get away so easily."
"After him!? You saw what he did to our number! He could easily kill us all."
"Not with these weapons." Jon lead Elwyn out of the tent and back to his own before opening up a wrapped dagger he had underneath his cot. It gleamed by lantern light, shone like gleaming moonlight. "Silver. You think I don't know the legends, too? You want to kill a wolf-man. You kill him with this. The weapons we have now are pretty useless. Sure it's iron and steel, but they don't cause much lasting damage. Yes, we're going after him. We'll melt down all the silver we have to make weapons just like these. Gild our current ones if we have to. Might even be faster. But I'm not going to let a prize like him get away."
Elwyn appeared horrified for a good long moment. He took a deep breath, looking flush in the lighting at the thought of hunting down a werewolf. "How will we hunt him? What do you expect us to do? He'll kill us. Even if we do manage to wound him with these silver weapons. He'll get most of us. And do you really expect the men to give up their hard earned silver to melt down into weapons? Pah, good luck on that."
"This is our yearly hunting expedition, need I remind you? We've all got plenty more where that all comes from. And besides, imagine what gold ten times what they melted down we'll be rewarded with if we hunt down a bloody werewolf. Dead or alive. Better off dead, though, I imagine. Now, go tell the men to get the dogs we have back at town. We'll flush him out."
"Dogs? Would they not be in league with him? Hound for hound."
"Dogs are not wolves. Lineage made them loyal to us not them. You forget our hunting hounds are trained to kill. Not even townsfolk are safe around them. And if they don't flush him out, we can use them as bait all the same. Then we move in for the kill. Take half the men with you, and tell the other half to start smithing pits for silver weapons, and recruit any more hunters you find in town with the promise of treasure beyond their dreams. We'll catch our wolf soon enough. Go."
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Jerec brushed away the cold ashes of last night's fire, dashing them all around to better disguise their use. Dusting off his hands, wiping them off his clean trousers, he was ready to exit the cave. Glancing back at her, he offered a confused glance before looking at the shirt. After some thought, he shook his head rather violently and said, "No, you keep. I don't need it. You'll get colder than I will. Now, come on. We should keep moving, keep them off our tracks."
Without turning back he exited the den , crawling on all fours for a while, scouting out the area for any sight of life. He found none, save some movement of birds in the trees, an owl on a branch, swerving its head to survey them. He motioned for Ariel to follow him before standing in a semi-crouched position, staying close to the ground.
As they moved, he thought of the layout of the land, keeping his mind to where the best place would be to hide, to evade if possible, and knew a few days travel further north of them was a river. It was wide and powerful as tempest. Perhaps if they could cross it, there might be chance of escape. Pausing for a second beside a tree, he peered out to his companion. "We can head for the river. If we can cross it before they do, we could be free of them. Is that a sound plan to you?"