Chapter Text
It was on a clear and moonlit night that Nika caught up with her quarry in a copse of trees, a bolt just loosed from string of her crossbow.
The hunt had been tense- her prey was been large and powerful, armed with wicked teeth and claws. Luckily, she was small and quick, armed with a crossbow and a satchel of wolfsbane-infused water jars and bolts, which had proved most effective to keep the werewolf at bay.
Dominicus hunters had a reputation, after all.
She had pursued the massive form of the humanoid wolf from a hut near the village outskirts, the full moon providing enough light for her to shoot at the purple-hued fur. There had been a heart-stopping moment when it had turned and lunged at her, but the attack had been too short in reach, so she had loosed two more bolts into the stomach and shoulder of the beast, which had howled and turned away.
She had nearly lost her target, but found tracks and broken branches leading to the copse. Nika had burst through the bushes, reloading her weapon, ready to loose-
The woman before her was ragged, muddy and bloody, her dark top and shorts ripped. The transformation had dislodged most of the the red-fletched bolts from her lupine form, though her supernatural resistance was stopping too much blood loss and apparently keeping her in a stable state, despite the poison. Evidence of the lupine still clung to her; long incisors, patches of fur on her skin, black sclera. Similarly her hands were flexed, claw-like but very human, either from pain or frustration, the same mix of expressions on her face.
Nika paused, heart pounding, from adrenaline and perhaps more. There was a great tension between her and the taller woman who was vulnerable before her, falling to her knees with great wearniness.
Remember your training! She told herself. She is a threat to humans!
"Go on." The woman sighed, closing her eyes as her shoulders slumping.
You have your duty! Do not let Dominicus down!
Nika raised the crossbow, the manta of Dominicus in her mind.
Only weapons should exist to kill people! Magic is to be destroyed!
"There's no-one to mourn me anyway."
Nika's finger froze on the trigger.
"What?" She asked. This was new information- the village had sent a letter to the Dominicus chapter-house, asking for aid as a werewolf was terrorising the local farms on a monthly basis. Dominicus had dispatched Nika on her first assignment.
The yellow eyes opened once again, fixing her with a sharp look. "Don't you know? I'm an orphan. I doubt anyone will come to bury me."
Nika had not been informed of the fact she shared that circumstance with her target. She looked at the woman again. "How old are you?" She asked, half-knowing the answer already.
"I've seen nineteen winter solstices- and it would have been twenty, but, well..." She trailed off, eyes fixed on the crossbow.
Born in the winter, Nika marked her age by summer solstices, and was therefore around six months younger than the were- the wom-
"What's your name?" Nika asked, going against her training.
"Of course they didn't tell you." The woman barked out a laugh. "I'm Sabina."
An unlikely connection- both born around the same time, both having lost their families, both ending up on so different paths. Nika was so lucky to have her quick mind be noted by Dominicus, given food and shelter and training. Sabina, though…
Was her condition hereditary? Were her parents werewolves, killed by Domincus hunters? Or was she orphaned by a werewolf attack, bitten but not killed and then forced to live with yet more challenges? Nika's quick mind, once an asset to her studies, now a hamper to her ordained work, whirled- was this the best way?
"I've made my decision." She said.
Sabina flinched back as Nika lowered her crossbow and drew her dagger.
"A mercy killing?" The exhausted woman scoffed. "How is that any different than shooting me and leaving me to die?"
"No." Nika said, the idea burrowing further into her mind. "I take your braid back to the villagers and say that it was from your corpse."
Yellow eyes narrowed. "You're sparing me?" Sabina asked, uncertainty tingeing her voice.
"I… Have an idea. Questions, too. I need to do some research though." Nika said. "And the sooner I start, the better."
The fingers that Sabina had hooked into a tense, claw-like form relaxed.
"Then do it." She muttered. She raised her head, summoning the last of her pride. Her eyes remained fixed on the hunter as she walked closer, step by careful step- until Nika was behind her.
Nika realised what it meant for Sabina to let her be at this angle- she could wield the dagger in a killing blow, complete her mission without any of this lie that was growing in her mind like a weed- but weeds were always tough to kill. She heard and saw Sabina draw in a breath as she took the braid in one hand. She bent down and touched the flat of the blade to Sabina's nape- then sawed upward, severing the long twist of violet hair from Sabina's head.
"It's done." Nika gasped, with all the finality of if she had spilled heartsblood. Her choice was now made as she held the braid in one hand.
Still on her knees, Sabina looked up and over one shoulder. Her hair, once long and tied back, now fell short and loose around her face after the cut. It was the most vulnerable she had looked since the chase had begun.
"There's an abandoned town- Vanadis- a week's walk north from here. Head there, and I'll find you later." Nika said.
"I've heard of it. I'll survive until then." Sabina promised. She got to her feet, slightly unsteady but still towering over Nika. She turned to go.
"Wait!" Nika said. Sabina turned.
Nika dug in her pack and pulled out a pack of trail rations. "This will last you some of the way."
Sabina gave her a short nod as she accepted the supplies. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry I can't do anything about clothes."
Sabina shrugged. "I'll scavenge some sacks from a farm nearby." She gave a twisted smile. "I used to live around here, after all."
With that, she loped away, disappearing into the brush with barely a sound, the parcel of dried food tucked under one arm, leaving Nika alone with her thoughts.
She inspected the braid. It was a little damp from sweat, secured at one end with a dull iron ring, but not really looking like it had come from a dead werewolf. She looked around the copse, her mind building a story with what was around her. Dominicus hunters had a reputation, after all.
Nika wordlessly dropped the braid, fraying at the cut end, onto the alderman's desk. It was covered in leaves, mud, and blood wiped from the crossbow bolts to give authenticity. She let the village leader take a certain meaning from the 'trophy'.
"Good, it's done." He sighed. "You have our gratitude, hunter."
There were a half-dozen others in the small room, all of whom murmured their own thanks.
A woman Nika assumed was his wife sniffed.
"She was always too proud of her hair."
"Aye, and her eyes were changing, becoming more wolf-like!" The alderman said. "Made us all afraid, didn't it?"
As the villagers muttered in agreement to each other, Nika knew that there were no external physical changes to a werewolf- aside from the one caused by moonlight. It was what made them so hard to detect, and hunters like- well, perhaps I'm not the best example of a hunter right now . Dominicus hunters were trained to investigate, but since Nika had arrived when she did she had just waited near Sabina's hut until moonrise and then kicked the door in, making Sabina burst through the wall with strength-
Rather than use it to fight back.
"You've saved the village, young miss!" One called. "It was only a matter of time before she turned on one of us!"
I think- Nika mused, her mind chewing over the previous thought as she accepted the coin purse that was her reward. That I've saved her from you.
It would be a week's ride to the nearest chapter-house. A week and a half to Vanadis. And four weeks until the next full moon. That left her one and a half weeks to research more about werewolves.
Because whilst Dominicus taught much about how to identify and kill the supernatural, Nika was suddenly aware from her encounter with Sabina that her education might be lacking in certain elements.