Galaxy 25: Tundra of Krocvar

Hurlia is an endless tundra where werewolves howl. Night lasts six months there, and the moon is always full. The settlers lasted one winter. Then they started howling too.

A howl rises from the frozen plain. Then ten. Then a hundred.

The trackers of Traquia smelled you before you landed. They followed your ship by the smell of its fuel. They never miss their prey.

A shot cracks through the snow. The tracker was already in position.

The wild druids of Druidia heal the pack. They shield the wolves with a veil of frost and close their wounds. As long as a druid sings, the pack does not die.

A druid raises his staff. The wounded wolves get back up, growling.

On Pleine-Lune, the moon never wanes. The werewolves there are permanently transformed, and enraged. They never sleep.

The moon shines like a sun. The wolves have seen you.

Fang Pass is the only way to the Alpha's den. The whole pack guards it. The pass is narrow, and the wolves are many.

Figures rise on every rock in the pass. All of them stare at you.

The Alpha's scent fills the whole Den. The wolves there are stronger, faster, more enraged. They defend their leader to the last.

The growls come from everywhere. The Alpha's guard surrounds you.

Krocvar is the den of the Alpha, lord of the pack. He was the first werewolf, and all the others descend from his bite. He strikes three times before you see him move. His trackers protect him from afar, his druids heal him. The pack has already transformed two entire colonies. Command wants the contagion stopped at its source. You will have to lure him out of his den and strike before he pounces.

The pack falls silent at once. The Alpha steps out of the shadows.