For once moonlight glistened on the snowy landscape. A lightening of the sky to the east suggested morning at some point, but for much of the world it still clung to darkness. Wind cut through all but the warmest of clothing, and the air near froze in Jinn’s lungs, but the starry sky and its beautiful aurora could be seen without the blemish of clouds.
Which was fine and dandy for a poetic soul, such as a graduate of the Bard’s College, but for the scrawny Bosmer curled under a tree it only meant a colder night.
He’d managed to light a fire before the deadliest temperatures could set in. Snow to two sides and a sturdy pine overhead did trap enough warmth for him to survive; huddled around the embers in a shivering heap, brambles clinging to remnants of stolen clothing, he might have been mistaken for a shrub in the predawn light.
Thus, he wasn’t surprised when a deer crashed into the clearing barely three yards from where he crouched. He was surprised at the panic emanating from the beast—no mere wolf or bear elicited that kind of reaction.
He wallowed in confusion for almost a heartbeat before things became rather more interesting than he’d bargained for…
Not even a split second after the deer burst from the trees, a massive black shadow crashed out of the underbrush, a terrifying roar that rivaled a grizzly’s in ferocity shattering the relative quiet. The dark shape’s long limbs sank deep into the snow before it sprang back into the air, pouncing on the panting doe. A short, panicked bleat came from the poor creature before her legs crumpled under the weight of her snarling hunter, a flash of sharp white teeth snatching her tender throat and tearing it wide, steaming red splattering onto chill white.
The beast let out a sharp growl, shaking its head violently to make sure its prey wasn’t going anywhere, a sharp crack issuing from the struggling doe’s neck before the hunter released the ripped flesh to let out a long, grumbling breath from between stained teeth. The steam from its hot lungs rose in a smoky cloud, illuminated by the light of the twin moons as it panted, sides heaving as it caught its breath. It growled once more before diving into its kill, tearing open the soft vulnerable belly of its kill. The beast tore a long strip of flesh free, meat and fat from the belly quickly snapped up, entire pieces swallowed nearly whole as it quickly and noisily, for lack of a better term, wolfed down its meal.
It was only a few minutes of eating before the beast stilled, nose twitching as it sniffed, ears pricking. The creature’s gleaming green eyes searched the darkness for the scent it was picking up, lighting up when they snapped to a huddled Bosmer near a pile of coals.
The werewolf’s muzzle wrinkled in a snarl, blood still dripping from its teeth before a low warning sound rumbled in its chest, bright green eyes wide and dilated with the quivering rage barely contained in its body.
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