It was a cruel scene we had come upon, but I soon realized my pity was premature. As one the Hunters was driving a pike toward the eye of the Howl Beast, it bit down on the shaft and, with a violent twist of its head, tore the weapon from the man’s grip. With another turn, it sent the pike hurtling toward the men holding one end of the chain. They scrambled to avoid it, but the pike hit both of them at a spin. One of the chain’s ends now free, the Howl Beast took it in hand and wielded it like a great bullwhip, lashing the razor-covered steel at the Hunters around him. One unenviable Hunter wearing a heavy helmet took a blow directly to his head, creating a sonorous clank that rang through the marshes - and, I imagine more painfully, the man’s skull. The Hunters had by now ceased hooting and were feebly barking conflicting orders at one another in hopes of remedying the situation. Seeing a clear gap in the ring of men, the Howl Beast sprang toward the breach in an attempt to escape.
“’Nough of that!” grumbled the lead Hunter. He shouldered his now reloaded spear-driver and fired at the Beast. The spear sank into its hind leg, evoking a sharp wince and slowing the Beast considerably. Moving closer, the lead Hunter fired a second spear, which sailed through a hoop on the end of the chain, staking it into the ground, and jerking the creature to a stop. Before the Howl Beast could recover to its feet, the lead Hunter was upon it. Brandishing his newly tipped spike-sword, he drove the full length of the weapon into the Beast’s back. It cried out in pain, and the lead Hunter withdrew the sword, leaving five spikes gouged in its flesh. Soon the rest of the Hunters surrounded the defeated creature and began to bludgeon it as it lay on the ground bleeding.
As they backed away, I ran up to see its great form convulsing as if it were undergoing a transformation from within. I could see the hair receding and the bones rearranging from their unnatural settings. The process seemed to the cause the Howl Beast more pain than any of the weapons that had been put to it. When it was over, I saw before me the man from the marshes, naked and bleeding and crying out for mercy. The spikes in his back had fallen out, and the wounds seemed lesser than expected, yet atrocious still.
