The night wind was as sharp as a knife, cutting through the wilderness bone-chillingly, carrying a foul smell of beasts. The Black Forest lay silently on the earth, like a sleeping giant. Amidst the interlacing tree shadows, the occasional low howl of wolves pierced through the night, making people's hearts shiver with cold.
Kale stood at the edge of the small town, gripping the longbow in his hand tightly, his eyes fixed on the depths of the forest. In the moonlight, his figure cast a long shadow among the dirt and withered grass, as if merging with the darkness.
This was the second time this month that a villager had gone missing.
Kale frowned, his gaze as sharp as that of a falcon. The missing villagers usually walked alone at night. The next day, people would only find torn clothes and streaks of blood at the edge of the forest, and the bodies were never found. The elders of the small town all agreed that all this was related to the legendary curse - the curse of the werewolf.
Kale didn't believe those old legends, but he understood that beasts wouldn't attack humans without reason, unless something had awakened the evil in their hearts.
"Kale, aren't you going back yet?" A deep voice came from behind. It was Reiss, the hunter in the town, carrying a freshly hunted wild deer on his shoulder. Blood dripped from the deer's body onto the dirt, staining his boots red.
Kale turned around and showed a faint smile. "You're still here too."
Reiss shrugged. "Without prey, we'll go hungry."
"It's just... the forest has been too restless recently." Kale looked at the darkness with a solemn gaze. "Don't you think so?"
Reiss let out a sigh. "The wolf pack is just hungry. You know, they always appear frequently before winter every year, and the villagers are used to it."
Kale shook his head. He knew this time was different. The wolf pack wouldn't drag away their prey like ghosts, leaving only bloodstains and disappearing without a trace.
"Have you heard that rumor?" Reiss suddenly lowered his voice, leaned closer to Kale, and there was a hint of indescribable fear in his expression.
"What rumor?"
"On the night of the full moon, werewolves walk in the forest, searching for the flesh and blood of the living to satisfy their insatiable hunger." Reiss licked his chapped lips. "Those missing villagers might have... turned into wolves."
Kale frowned. "Stop talking nonsense. Let's go back."
Reiss looked at Kale, nodded, and walked away slowly with the deer on his shoulder. His footsteps gradually faded into the night.
Kale stood there, looking at the forest, but a strange sense of unease welled up in his heart.
The night grew even deeper, and the moon gradually rose to the middle of the night sky. Its silvery white light spilled over the earth, and the Black Forest seemed to be covered with a cold and solemn veil.
Kale turned to leave, but at the moment he lifted his foot, a low growl reached his ears - it wasn't the cry of an ordinary wild wolf, but something deeper and more menacing.
Kale whipped his head around, his hand instinctively gripping the bow and arrow, his eyes scanning around sharply, trying to find the source of the sound. Deep in the forest, a pair of eyes glowing with a faint blue light slowly emerged, staring at him, like a demon in the darkness.
Kale held his breath instantly.
He slowly stepped back, trying to avoid the creature's gaze. However, those blue eyes didn't disappear. Instead, they came closer and closer. Finally, in the moonlight, a huge black wolf slowly stepped out of the forest. Its size far exceeded that of an ordinary wild wolf. The muscles on its four legs bulged, and its claws left deep marks on the ground. Scarlet blood dripped from the corner of its mouth, as if it had just finished a hunt.
Kale quickly pulled the bowstring and aimed at the black wolf. However, the black wolf just stared at him quietly, with a strange light in its eyes, as if... there was a hint of human emotion in them.
"This can't be..." Kale murmured in a low voice. He had been hunting among wolf packs for many years and had never seen such a strange creature.
The next moment, the black wolf let out a low growl, exerted force with its four legs, and pounced towards Kale. Its speed was too fast to react. Kale reacted quickly, and the arrow whistled through the air, shooting straight at the black wolf's chest. However, the black wolf twisted its body in mid-air and actually managed to avoid the arrow. Then, it slapped hard at Kale's shoulder with one of its claws.
Intense pain shot through him, and Kale was knocked to the ground. The longbow flew several meters away. He struggled to get up, but the black wolf had already approached, and the stench of its breath hit his face. Kale looked at the black wolf slowly opening its huge mouth, and a sense of despair welled up in his heart.
Just then, a flash of silver light appeared, and a dagger accurately stabbed into the black wolf's front leg. The black wolf let out a shrill howl, turned around, and quickly fled into the darkness.
Kale gasped for breath and looked up. A woman wearing a gray cloak slowly put away the dagger. In the moonlight, her face was hazy and mysterious.
"You..." Kale gritted his teeth and got up, covering the bleeding wound on his shoulder. "Who are you?"
The woman walked over slowly, her gaze cold and calm. "If you don't want to die, don't stay alone at the edge of the forest at night."
With that, she turned and left, leaving Kale standing alone in the night wind, feeling the burning pain coming from his shoulder.
Kale looked down at the bloodstains on the ground. The blood seemed to be shining with a faint silver light.
He knew that this wasn't the blood of an ordinary wolf, but - the blood of a werewolf.