A shadowy figure moved unnoticed across the unusually well lit forest night. The light came from a camp of hunters that were celebrating their great success during the days hunt.

A high pitched howl not unlike that of a young wolf�s cried out for help threw the night. The howl was cut off and replaced with a yelp of pain and followed by the resounding laughter that only a large group of men could make.

The camp was surrounded by a large fence made of the trees that used to inhabit what was now a large clearing. The camp sat on a slope however, which permitted the figure to see just over the fence on the high side. Permitted him to witness the brutality of men.

Inside the camp, which was large enough to fit a small village, there were almost a hundred tents, one for each man in the camp. Although, at the moment, these were not being used like they normally would be. This night the men were all seated in the middle of the camp, around the fire where a man was staying just out of reach of what appeared to be a young wolf leashed with a two foot rope to a poll.

This was no ordinary wolf however, for no ordinary wolf had hands nor feet. A normal wolf could not speak and think logically nor could one walk on two legs. He appeared to be half beast half man. The youth had already been half beaten to and was becoming desperate. He had the leg of a chair that had been broken earlier and was swinging wildly and growling with rage at the man who was taunting him. One wild swing connected with the man�s jaw and sent him sprawling to the ground. This brought a �serves you right� kind of smile to the youths face and roars of laughter from the audience. The man, still on the ground, looked back over his shoulder at the youth, and wiped the from his lip.

�So, you think that�s funny do ya? Well let�s see how ya like this!�

The man bounded at the youth which was barely half the man�s size. The youth slashed violently at the man�s face, but missed. The man, seeing the youth was off balance, pressed his advantage and landed a punch to the youth�s midsection that caused him to collapse to his knees. The crowd began to roar all the louder and whistles could now be heard. The man kicked the youth square in the face with his boot. He flew threw the air and was thrown harshly to the ground as the rope that choked and bound him snapped him back to earth. A foot away from the kick the youth lay sprawled on the ground covered in dirt and bleeding heavily from the mouth. Half conscious and reeling the youth tried to stand up, but was sent back to the ground when a foot from the audience kicked his feet out from under him.

The roar of the crowd was almost defining. It wasn�t hard at all to understand why these creatures were so feared. They had no fear. No conscience. No regard for anything but themselves. The figure stared in disgust at the spectacle that had befallen his little brother �Well,� he thought. �I think it�s time they learned the meaning of fear.�

The man moved towards the youth, who was sprawled on the ground. A malevolent look now gleamed in the man's eyes. He now stood over the nearly unconscious, exhausted and beaten youth. The man placed an enormous boot on his victim's defenseless head and began to press down. The youth made no noise at first, but as the pressure began to mount the youth�s face contorted in the firelight. He let out a low moan of pain that only the sensitive ears of the figure to could pick up.

�Well, if that�s all the fight you got left in ya�.then I think it�s time ta end this thing.�

The man leaned forward to put full force of his weight on the youth�s head. The roar of the crowd heightened in anticipation of the . The man gave one long triumphant look around the crowd. Before he had the chance to squash the youth like a bug, a howl, louder, deeper and a hundred times more powerful then the one the youth had made silenced the roar of the crowd in an instant.

The man turned to glance over his shoulder. The confidence and triumph had vanished from his eyes and were filled with a look that resembled . Balanced on one peg of the wooden fence was a figure. His eyes seemed to be amber fireballs as they were illuminated by the firelight. A long silence more defining then the roar of the crowd could ever have been fell upon the camp. Finally the figure spoke.

�Let him go.� said a low and elegant voice.

The voice was so strange and foreign to the man that nothing like it had ever touched his ears before. The whole camp stared in horror at the figure that was only partially visible to them, and what one could gather from the anatomy of the figure told them that what stood before them wasn�t human. The silence again engulfed the night and was only broken when the figure spoke again.

�I said, Let...him�GO!� said the voice now noticeably more threatening.

This second breaking of the silence snapped the man out of his trance.

�No.� said the man, defiantly.

The man turned his eyes down on the youth and applied more pressure causing the yelp in pain. The man seemed to regain some of his confidence and as he turned back to the figure with an arrogant, upturned sneer. The glowing amber eyes narrowed at him a tilted down menacingly.

The figure seemed to simply vanish from sight. The movement of the figure was so fast that the man never saw it. The man merely felt a breeze blow by. The man was looking around wildly for a few second before he realized that he was standing on one foot.

�W-what the�.? W-where did that little mutt go?�

�Over here� answered that strange, foreign voice.

The man whirled around to face the figure. The inhuman figure was standing on fence on the opposite side of the camp. The distinct outline of the youth could be seen cradled in his arms. There was a sudden blur, as if something was moving too fast to see, and the youth was gone and only the figure remained. The glowing amber eyes seemed to look almost excited.

�Now, time for the fun to begin.� said the strange voice.

A row of pearly white teeth appeared beneath those inhuman eyes in a malevolent grin. The figure crouched down and then leaped into the air covering unbelievable distance as he landed in the middle of the camp next to the fire. The figure was now fully visible. A few in the crowd screamed, others let out gasps of shock and . He was like the youth. A sort of half wolf half man creature. His face and head, which resembled a wolf's, was almost pure white except for some black fur that started at what could be called his eyebrows and extended up passed the ears. He had the body anatomy and build of a man though covered with thick fur. From the waist down he wore what looked like a tattered pair of hunting pants. One of the pant legs was torn at the knee and showed some powerful legs that ended in proportionately sized animal paws like that of a wolf�s or a large dog. He raised his paw like hand to shoulder level and clenched it into a fist.

The wolf stared at the man for a few moments letting him get a good look. The wolf then raised his head and let out another defining howl. Several more people screamed at this and a few made a mad dash for the tents. Those who remained seemed to do so only because they were too frightened to move. The pandemonium subsided and there was quite.

Soon there was the sound of things moving very quickly threw the trees around them. On all sides the forest seemed too be responding to the howl.

�It begins.� said the wolf, his smile faded into a vicious snarl. The surrounding camp exploded in chaos as large beasts began to leap the fence. People ran for their lives in vein as they were easily picked off by the black shadows of . The wolf�s gaze never left the man. He advanced on the man, walking slowly and odically, daring him to run. The man backed away as quickly as he could and tripped on the rope that had bound the youth. The wolf was on him in a heart beat.

�How does it feel human? Well! How does it feel to be prey?