—Ramsdale, Belanen—
The cemetery was deathly quiet when they stepped past the black iron gate, which was appropriate she supposed considering it was a place for, well, dead people. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end at the stillness that met them. Despite the earlier howling and the cold wind, everything was now silent and still. To anyone else, they might have assumed the danger had passed, but Lulu knew better. The danger was still here. They were just being hunted from the darkness.
Naturally, of course, Mervin remained completely oblivious to such dangers, walking forward with an undeserved amount of confidence. Hands on his hips, he surveyed their immediate surroundings. He wore the same emerald robe he had been in since she had met him, the mark of a healing priest of Katrianna. His short sandy brown hair was tousled like always, as though he had never met a comb in his life, a light amount of stubble dotting his handsome face. Cobalt blue eyes swept the darkness, missing several glaring clues that were right in front of him as he let out an amused yet shaky laugh.
"Well, looks like it was nothing after all? Slightly disappointing, but that just means there's more time for drinking I suppose." He turned toward her and flashed her the same smile she had seen him use on various women throughout their time together. It made other women swoon, but it did absolutely nothing for her despite his persistence.
"How the fuck are you still alive?" Lulu frowned, motioning to what was directly at his feet. A large streak of blood leading toward the back gate.
"Aha! The game is afoot! Let's go, beautiful! We have a crime to investigate!"
With a roll of her eyes, she followed him. The trail of blood led through the rows of graves, some splattered on nearby headstones. Whatever had happened here had happened quickly and violently, whoever had been attacked having little chance to defend themselves. Her guess was quickly proven correct when they reached the end of the trail, finding the man who had been attacked.
"Yikes, how unfortunate," Mervin knelt down next to the body without hesitation, the sight of blood and corpses hardly frightening to a healer. He assessed the wounds. "Hmm, slashed throat, some broken ribs...not to mention the obvious of his chest being ripped open. He was in quite the fight before he died, whoever he was."
"Which wound killed him?"
"Hard to say. They all happened within quick succession. Though, I imagine the throat was slashed first. He might've still been alive when the chest was ripped open. Whaddya think? This the work of your Witch Tits?"
"Couldn't get lucky enough," Lulu grumbled. "Witch Tits wouldn't stay after the kill. Whatever did this is still here."
Mervin straightened, pointing to a spot in the dirt nearby. "Think it left those too?" There were a number of tracks that led away from the body, large paw prints preserved in the dirt. "Looks like a wolf...or...a wolf and a man?"
Lulu frowned, following him toward another set of tracks. Closely she inspected them. It was a strange pattern. There were human footprints and wolf tracks scattered unevenly about through the dirt. It seemed as though sometimes the man moved and sometimes—
"It's a fuckin' werewolf," Lulu groaned, suddenly realizing why the pattern was so strange. "Fuck! I thought this...Shit."
Turning away, Lulu balled her hands into fists, fighting against the frustrated tears pooling in her eyes. She had been so certain when she saw that contract. For an entire year she had been chasing Virmira Tanadall, and still, she was no closer to finding her. Not once had any of her leads paid off. Not once had she gotten close. It was as though Virmira Tanadall had ceased to be the day she had left with Idelle's body. Lulu blinked away her tears, feeling Mervin coming to stand behind her, a hand settled on her shoulder.
"Hey," Mervin whispered softly. "I know it sucks, but...We'll find her. I made you a promise, didn't I?"
"Your promises mean nothing," Lulu growled, pulling herself away. It was wholly unfair of her to say, she knew, but the words were out before she could stop them.
"Ouch," Mervin muttered quietly.
"Fuck. I'm sorry. I don't...I...I fucking hate this," she closed her eyes and tipped her head back. "Look, you should head back to the inn."
"What're you gonna do? Run off again? I think I'll stay."
"My instinct says to leave," Lulu answered honestly. "This has nothing to do with me. It's not Virmira. It's just a werewolf. Though...why it wants a heart, I don't know. But either way, it's not my problem. So, if my instinct says to leave, that means Idelle would want me to stay and fix it."
"So, you're gonna hunt it down? Isn't that...incredibly dangerous and probably should wait until morning?"
His question almost made her smile. For all his talk of adventure and his determined nature to follow her in her quest, Mervin was actually quite the coward when it came to actual danger. He had no fighting skills to speak of. The only time he had to fight saw him defend himself with a wooden spoon. He was certainly a liability, but he had patched her up on many occasions. Indeed, when they had met, if he had not happened to cross her path, she would have bled out. Though she hated to admit it, she did owe Mervin quite a lot, and despite his fear, he still followed her.
"I don't have to track it down," Lulu shook her head, positioning herself in front of him as she withdrew her sword. "It's here right now."
To punctuate her point, the figure nearby moved. She had thought the wolf hid behind the massive shrubbery along the stone wall of the cemetery. But what she had thought to be greenery, was actually the wolf itself. With a low, deep growl, the werewolf stepped further into the moonlight, the silvery threads illuminating the ginger and white fur that covered its massive form. It was four times the size of a regular wolf, its heavy steps thudding softly against the ground as yellow eyes watched them carefully.
"Fuck," Lulu shifted closer to Mervin, trying to push him backward. "Run to the inn. Tell the people to lock their doors and gather what weapons they can. I'll deal with him."
"I'm not leaving you," Mervin shook his head, quivering behind her. "That thing is massive. You're gonna need help."
"Not from you. Go."
"No!"
"Goddamnit, Mervin, go!
"Absolutely not! I can help!"
"By doing what? Letting it eat you?!"
"Possibly."
"Fucking go!"
He made to argue again, but the werewolf sensed its opportunity to strike. It bounded forward, one leap all it needed to close the gap between them. Lulu barely had enough time to turn and shove Mervin out of the way as the wolf came barreling down upon them.
Its massive frame should have made it an easy target, but the werewolf was surprisingly agile for its size. Lulu found herself spinning in circles, slashing wildly as she tried to keep the wolf's attention on her. Snapping jaws barely missed her throat. Lulu rolled across the ground, trying to put enough distance between them to find her opening, but rather than maneuvering him into position, the wolf simply twisted around and aimed for Mervin instead. A cry escaped him as large claws tore across the front of his chest. Blood soaked through the emerald robes as he stumbled back, hitting the ground with an audible thud. Lulu dove forward without hesitation, her blade slicing through the wolf's side seconds before he could lunge forward and land the killing blow. The wolf howled, twisting around to throw her back. He bounded out into the night, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Lulu didn't turn to look, scrambling instead to Mervin's side. He tried to push himself up on shaking arms.
"I-I'm okay..." he assured her as she pressed her hands against his chest to stem the bleeding.
"Okay?! Mervin, this isn't okay!"
"Oh, but it's not...hang on...are you worried about me?!"
"Of course, I...Wait...why are you not worried?"
Mervin smiled proudly as he pulled away the tattered pieces of the front of his robes. The werewolf hadn't touched the skin, instead hitting the row of vials strapped to his chest. Now that she was closer, she could see the bits of glass and various colors that were seeping into the fabric.
"I knew you were madly in love with me," Mervin reached out, intending perhaps to pull her down for a kiss. Lulu shoved him back harshly, hissing when several pieces of glass dug into her skin.
"Asshole."
Mervin only laughed, infinitely pleased with himself as she made to follow the wolf. But then, a quiet groan caught her attention. There, huddled beside one of the cracked tombstones was a man who actually needed help. Lulu called for Mervin, hurrying to the man's side to assess his injuries. He was struggling to breathe, several bite and claw marks from the werewolf nearly enough to claim his life. Mervin sprung into action without prompt, the remainder of the vials and poultices that hadn't been destroyed in the attack slowly being used to heal the injured stranger.
In the distance, the werewolf howled, signaling it was headed east. Lulu didn't wait around to see if Mervin could save the stranger. Instead, she took off toward the east. If Idelle were here, she would want Lulu to protect this small town from the beast that plagued them, and so, Lulu chased after the werewolf, deaf to Mervin's frantic shouts for her to wait.