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The Werewolf Tooth

The cool, crisp river water was both unwanted and refreshing at the same time, jolting Simon's senses back to the present. His legs ached from the previous day's hike, and his body yearned for more rest, but Simon couldn't afford to burn necessary daylight. Fully alert from the deep depths of grogginess, Simon set his hands on his hips and leaned back, popping several vertebrae.

"Oh yeah, that's good," he moaned.

He twisted his neck, resulting in more pops from shifting bones, which he followed up by stretching his arms wide to finish his morning routine. His body now as prepared as it could be, Simon got off his knees and took a good whiff of the forest air. Feeling fresh oxygen in his lungs brought out a tender smile on his lips. As he scanned the area, Simon did not see any creatures around but from the sound of singing birds to the buzzing insects the forest was very much as alive as it seemed dead.

Back at his camp, just thirty feet from the river, Simon worked on repacking his supplies. He rolled his sleeping bag, organized his tin utensils, and packed his fire starting kit. Before he was done, he dug his fire pit around with his mini-shovel to blend the grey and black remains with the forest grounds.

"Always leave an area cleaner than you left it," his former Scoutmaster always said.

Simon stuck the shovel into his backpack with the rest of his tetris'd camping materials. Clean up complete, Simon resumed his travels with a pre-made tuna sandwich in hand. He aimed to reach Malua Mountain by nightfall. Cooking breakfast would cost valuable time.

Simon was traveling to Malua Mountain because he had heard that a tribe used to reside in the mountain centuries ago. Not much was known about these people, the Maluans, named after the high-rising landmass. Their discovery was made recently when an archaeologist discovered paintings in a cave a few months back. Simon liked to learn about ancient civilizations, and he'd never walked a cave before. With some vacation time he decided to hike to Malua Mountain and see firsthand what kind of caves these were.

He hiked for several hours. Despite the cool climate, Simon became quite sweaty. Spotting a tree that provided ample shade, Simon headed over to rest. He dropped his forty pound bag down on the soft ground.

"Mmm..." Simon mumbled, the loss of the extra weight off his 150 pound body giving him slight pleasure. With a relieved sigh, he dropped down beside his bulging bag, enjoying the damp dirt under his fingertips.

The tree bark he leaned on was soft, which soothed his tight back. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he took in the serene imagery. The trees danced, gently swaying to the wind. Leaves rained, floating ever so slowly down. Small bits of the sun's rays filtered through the canopy. Simon slowly felt himself relax deeper and deeper. The images soon blurring out...

Simon jerked awake when he heard the twigs crack. He cursed at himself for falling asleep. The sun was still high in the sky so he knew he was not out for too long. Then he heard it again. Someone was nearby. Or something. He reached down to his belt for his hunting knife. Keeping his back against the tree, he slowly bent both his legs, his feet dragging through the leaves, ready to stand at a moment's notice. He had to be careful. If it was a fox or a deer, he'd be lucky. If it was a wolf or a bear, he had better say his prayers. Simon's mind spun as he tried to remember how to deal with those circumstances. Did he have to play dead? Or was that another animal? Maybe he had-

"Is someone there?" a human voice called out.

Simon sighed. He slid his knife back into his belt and came out of his hiding spot.

"Oh wow. I wasn't expecting to actually meet someone else here," the male voice belonged to another backpacker. He had slightly tanned skin with short, dark hair. His body was thicker than Simon's, having most likely worked out all of his muscle groups. Simon only found time to focus on his cardio and endurance training.

"I noticed your backpack," he motioned at the olive green sack sticking out in the open, "Enjoying the woods?"

"I am," Simon nodded.

"Great! My name's Pierce. Where are you headed?" Simon opened his mouth to answer but Pierce cut him off. "I'm just heading up towards those mountains just beyond the forest."

The man's overly extroverted attitude annoyed Simon but kept his friendly face.

"I'm Simon. Malua Mountain? I'm going there, too."

"Well, perfect! We can go together."

Simon was reluctant to go anywhere with a man like Pierce. But after tossing the idea around, he figured he might as well try backpacking with another person for once. He agreed and the two set off together.

The newly paired adventurers spent a few hours walking, discussing their experience with backpacking. Actually, Pierce did most of the talking. Simon felt lucky if he could drop two sentences in.

It wasn't long until the rays of the sun shifted from yellow to orange.

"The sun's setting," Pierce announced, "I think we should stop here. Even if we make it to the mountain base, we still need a safe place to camp."

Simon looked up. He could see the towering mountain looming over him, peeking over the trees, but the bottom of the mountain was still invisible. However, he was still determined to reach the mountain today.

"Let's push a little further, maybe we're close enough."

The two pushed on for another thirty minutes. The sun was dropping dangerously low.

"I think we should camp for tonight. It's going to be difficult if we don't have any sunlight," Pierce warned.

"Wait, wait, wait," Simon interrupted, "I think that's it."

Simon pointed in between a few trees. Sure enough, they could make out a rocky wall just 300 meters ahead.

"Looks like it," Pierce grinned.

They picked up their pace and soon found themselves at the bottom of Malua Mountain.

"Whew!" Simon breathed out. He had finally reached the mountain. But he had no time to celebrate with the sunlight almost gone. "Alright, let's go find a place to camp."

The light surrounding them grew a darker hue of red and dimmer.

"C'mon, hurry up," Pierce urged, "There should be caves around the mountain. If there aren't any animals there we can set up shelter."

Simon and Pierce continued walking, keeping the mountain on their right. Eventually, it was too difficult to see so Simon and Pierce had to use their flashlights. The two men were so determined to find a cave that even the dropping temperature didn't bother them.

"Over there!" Pierce exclaimed, as they rounded a corner. Pierce shined his light at a towering hole at the side of the mountain. Simon gaped at the sight. The entrance had to be taller than his house!

"Alright," Pierce continued, "try to be as quiet as possible. We don't know if there's a wild animal in there already."

Simon rolled his eyes, remembering the excited outburst just moments ago. Still, Pierce's words had truth behind them. They took slow steps as they approached the pitch black mouth.

Once they were up next to the entrance, Pierce motioned Simon to stop. Taking his flashlight, he peeked over the side. Simon patiently waited for Pierce to finish his scan.

"Looks clear. Let's go in," Pierce said. With that, the two walked in. Simon looked up as he entered. He still couldn't believe how large the area was. He hadn't been to a cave before.

"I'm going to scout a little farther ahead, make sure there aren't any surprise denizens," Pierce volunteered, taking off his pack, "Why don't you get some fuel for a campfire?"

"Sure," Simon answered, finally relieving his shoulders of the massive weight he'd been carrying for hours.

Simon spent the next twenty minutes gathering small sticks and dry leaves. The task itself wasn't difficult, but trying to find good pieces of dry wood in the dark with a small flashlight made the process grueling for a man who walked 10 miles in one day. Once he gathered what he thought was a sufficient amount of fuel, Simon returned to the cave. Pierce was already back from his scouting trip and had his one-man tent already pitched.

"Oh, good, you're back. As you can tell, there wasn't anything back there. The cave actually goes pretty far but I only walked for about 5 minutes." Pierce pointed to the ground near him. "I think we can set a small fire here."

"Sure," Simon dropped his gatherings on the floor.

Simon laid out the leaves and sticks into a traditional tepee structure. He then used his lighter to ignite a small flame and breathed it into a sufficient campfire. With a source of warmth and energy established, Pierce took a small pot and set it over the fire with the aid of a thin metal stand.

"I got a can of beans. What about you?"

"Tonight I planned to have some dehydrated fruit..." Simon dug into his backpack. "...and some instant noodles."

"The fruit sounds great. I'm going to have to pass on the noodles. I can't stand them."

With a nod, Simon took out his knife and cut into the pouch of fruit. As he dropped the knife into his bag, he pulled out his water canister for his noodles. There was only room for one pot, so he allowed Pierce to cook first. The smell of the heated beans enticed Simon and his mouth watered up quickly.

"So any particular reason you're here?" Pierce asked as he stirred the beans.

"Here? Oh. OK, this might sound silly but there used to be an old tribe that lived here. I'm a bit of a history buff, so the places I go to tend to involve the past or some kind of civilization. I find it interesting to see the land that used to be important for people and their culture." Simon caught himself rambling and stopped. He let out a deep breath, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

Pierce chuckled as he took the steaming pot off the fire.

"The Maluans?"

Simon looked up with widened eyes.

"I'm actually here for that too," Pierce continued as he poured the beans into each of their bowls. "How much do you know about them?"

"Thanks. Not that much actually." Simon set his own small pot over the fire and filled it halfway with the water from his canteen. "I don't think there's much known about them, yet. I read how they lived in caves which caught my interest. I haven't really dug into specific details." Simon picked up his bowl of beans and helped himself to a large spoonful as he waited for the water to boil.

"So, you didn't read about the new cave paintings they found?"

Simon raised an eyebrow as he took another spoonful. He shook his head.

"Just about a week or so ago, another set of paintings were discovered. We have the drawings of the Maluans, right? Well, these new pictures depicted them in battle poses, with weapons and armor. And what they were fighting against," Pierce used his spoon hand to trace a large semicircle above his head, "were enormous beasts."

"Beasts?"

"Yeah, giant creatures who stood twice as tall as a person and could stand on two legs."

The pair sat staring at each other, not making a sound. The only noise came from the crackling fire, soon joined by the rapid bubbling of the boiling pot.

Finally, Simon broke the silence. "You're messing with me." He ripped open his noodle package and dumped the contents into his pot.

"No, no, I'm not," Pierce defended, "These really were in the paintings. I mean, it's true it's the work of an ancient people who had no concept of perspective but if we're to take the art as it is, this is what it suggests."

"Do you really think there could be giant monsters and no one's heard about them until now?"

Pierce opened and closed his mouth, trying to find an answer. "Okay, probably not, but that's what I'm here for. To find new evidence to prove or disprove what the paintings suggested."

Simon sighed, "I don't know what we're going to find, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

Simon stirred his noodles. Once they looked ready, he took the pot off the stand. He offered it once more to Pierce but he waved it off. Instead Pierce got up and walked around, stretching his legs. Simon ate his main course straight out of the pot.

Once dinner was over, both men washed off their utensils to avoid leaving any trace of food for an animal to follow.

"Hey, how far do you think this cave goes?" Pierce asked, pointing towards the empty void.

"I don't know," Simon shrugged, rinsing his spoon with his canteen, "I thought you scouted ahead?"

"I only walked about 5 minutes. This place goes way farther down."

"The mountain is pretty big. It could probably go pretty far."

"Yeah, that's what I think, too. You want to go explore it tomorrow?"

"Sure, I mean, that's what we're here for, anyway."

With their utensils cleaned, Simon and Pierce prepared for sleep. Exhaustion and drowsiness finally caught up to them. Pierce returned to his tent and Simon went back to his sleeping bag. As Simon adjusted his position to get comfortable, all he could think about were Pierce's suggestions about giant, bipedal animals. Those couldn't exist, could they? But Simon's body demanded rest and soon his vision blurred to nothingness.

Simon awoke when the morning light refused to go away. He moaned, stretching his arms. He shifted in his sleeping bag to see if Pierce was still sleeping. To his surprise, he found Pierce's tent open and empty.

He sat up, taking a look at their camp. Nobody was around. With a groan, he forced his body out of the sleeping bag. Getting onto his knees, Simon proceeded with his morning routine. Most likely Pierce had probably just gone to use the bathroom. With his back stretched and his arms feeling loose, Simon stood up and slipped on his shoes. He slowly approached Pierce's area. His things were still around, so obviously he didn't just take off.

Simon took a glance at Pierce's backpack. He noticed something plastic sticking out of the front pocket. He reached in and pulled out an empty food bar wrapper. He guessed this was Pierce's breakfast. He looked over at the empty tent again. It was then that Simon realized Pierce's flashlight was missing. He remembered Pierce leaving it outside his tent the previous night. If Pierce had merely used the bathroom, then the flashlight shouldn't have needed to move.

Simon turned his body into the cave. He could only assume Pierce went in. But he couldn't figure out why Pierce hadn't taken his backpack with him.

Pushing the wrapper back into the bag, Simon returned to his side of camp. He considered waiting for Pierce to return, but Simon was curious about the caves, too. As long as the cave didn't split into multiple paths, logically, he would run into the eager explorer.

Simon kneeled over his pack to prepare for his excursion. He took a long swig from his water bottle. Not having had breakfast yet, he stuffed a powerbar into his pocket. He also kept his flashlight by his side, knowing that the sunlight wouldn't reach far inside the dark cave. Loading his backpack onto his shoulders once again, Simon set off into the cavern depths.

As he got deeper in, the light outside faded and soon he needed his flashlight to see. He continued walking, admiring the marvelous natural creation he was in. He enjoyed the sound of his footsteps creating ghostly echoes off the walls.

Simon walked about 15 minutes. He had gotten hungry, so he started eating his breakfast bar. However, there was still no sight or sound of his traveling partner. How far did these caves go? Simon was getting worried now. He wondered if Pierce had even gone through here at all. Maybe Pierce decided to explore the outside instead in which case Pierce would come back to the camp and see Simon was missing.

His mind was going through different scenarios when he heard a strange noise. He stopped walking and focused his ears. It was difficult to tell what it was due to echoes but he thought he could hear a few words.

"Pierce?" he called out, the walls repeating the name multiple times.

"Simon?" a reply followed.

Having finally found his travel companion, Simon sighed in relief. "Yeah, I'm here". It took about a couple of minutes before Simon could actually see Pierce. The cave was still curving and the echoes pushed sound further than they normally would go.

As Simon rounded the corner, he shined his light on a crouching figure.

"There you are," he called out. Pierce reacted by shining his own flashlight at him.

"Heh, sorry. You were still sleeping and I really wanted to see what was further in this cave."

"That's fine, but why didn't you take your pack?" Simon asked as he approached.

"I was just going to scout a little bit to see how far it goes down. Then I stumbled onto this," he motioned behind him.

Simon's eyes followed Pierce's arms. He pointed his flashlight to the indicated area and gasped.

Simon found himself in a room bigger than he'd ever been in. The area was circular and its diameter could have been as long as two basketball courts. As for the height, the place could be as tall as the Sistine Chapel, maybe 60 or 70 feet high. The place left Simon awestruck. Simon could sense an intense vibe from this natural wonder that just tingled his senses.

"What is this place?" Simon asked as he approached Pierce.

"Crazy, right? It's so big! Hey, you have your lighter?"

"Yeah, I do," Simon set his backpack down to search for it, "What's it for?"

"Well, I found a lot of sticks and kindling that could be used for a fire. That's what I built here, see?" He pointed to a circular collection of sticks and branches, "It won't last for too long but at least we'll get some more light."

Simon handed off his lighter to Pierce. Within a minute, they had another fire going.

Wanting to explore more of the room, Simon walked around, seeing what else was in a place such as this. To his surprise, there really wasn't anything special. The cave seemed large enough to fit hundreds of people. If there was a place that could fit a society, this would be it. But as he made his round, he didn't find much of anything...except some particular marks on the walls.

Simon stepped up to the edge of the room. At first he thought the marks were naturally formed grooves. But then he noticed groups of parallel streaks running at different angles etched into the walls. They looked unnatural, but he wondered what could have made marks like those.

"Pretty interesting, huh?"

Simon turned to find Pierce standing behind him. "I was looking at those, too, right before you got here. It's pretty fascinating. The whole place is."

"Yeah, no arguments here."

"There's so much history here. I can feel it. I can smell it. Can you?"

Simon opened his mouth in confusion. Smell? But then as he thought about it, there was something in the air. It felt light and smelled rich.

"So does that mean, you think the Maluans might have lived here?"

"I think so," Pierce answered, "Heck, if I lived here hundreds of years ago I'd want to stay here."

Simon shook his head. "But I haven't found any evidence of a civilization."

Pierce cocked his head. "Hmm...maybe they moved out? Or curious animals could have come in and taken bits and pieces of stuff. You've only walked the perimeter. Let's check the entire area."

Armed with their flashlights, Simon and Pierce began scanning the area, looking for any trace of anything. Most of their search turned up nothing. Sometimes they came across the occasional rock that looked like pottery or bone.

Then Simon's flashlight whipped past an object with unusual shape. He stepped up and knelt down next to it. It was a tooth, dark grey and worn with age. But this tooth stood out because it was longer than the size of his grip.

"Find something?" Pierce called from several yards away.

"Yeah, actually," he stood up, shifting his body towards Pierce but still focusing on this strange new artifact.

"Whoa, what is that?"

"It looks like a tooth."

"No way, that's way too big to be a tooth for anything, especially for whatever lives in this region," Pierce insisted, "Let me see that."

Pierce grabbed the tooth out of Simon's hands.

"Hey!"

"Just let me have a look," Pierce turned the tooth over his hand, analyzing every inch under his bright flashlight, "Maybe...hmm...what if this is a tooth from that beast creature from the stories!"

"What?" Simon asked, not really paying attention.

"Think about it, an animal with teeth like this must be huge," Pierce said, ""If I'm right, this would be a huge breakthrough. This could change the world, or at least history. A whole new species discovered by me! Oh I can just imagine the money..." Pierce blabbered on but Simon stopped paying attention. He just wanted that tooth back.

"Hey, give that here, I found it," Simon tried grabbing the tooth out of Pierce's hands, but Pierce was holding it too tightly.

"No way, this is way too valuable to let go!" Pierce tugged harder.

"Give. It. Back!" Simon pushed forward, hoping to surprise Pierce with a change in balance while throwing a fist at his face. Pierce indeed fell back, and he and Simon tumbled backwards onto the ground.

"Ooph!" Simon grunted. They both rolled a few times before stopping. Simon landed on his back. His flashlight had fallen so he couldn't see, but his empty hands indicated that he failed to take the tooth. Looking at his right, he saw that his flashlight landed next to him.

He pointed the light at Pierce, who had ended up on his stomach.

"Ugh, ow," he moaned, wiping his mouth, "I think you broke a tooth, you bastard."

Simon saw that the tooth was in the hand he used to wipe his mouth. He thought about leaping up and grabbing it, until he noticed a discoloration at the tip of the tooth.

It was blood.

"Damn..." Pierce mumbled.

Simon looked back at Pierce and saw its source. There was a gash across Pierce's chest where the tooth had cut into him.

"Well, this really hu-augh!" Pierce cried out. Simon leapt to his feet, his eyes bewildered. Pierce thrashed about on the floor, clutching his chest as he did. Simon was scared. Pierce looked like he was having a heart attack. Had he killed him?

Pierce thrust a hand out towards Simon, as though reaching out for help. Simon was about to rush to his backpack for first aid, until he noticed a strange sight. Pierce's hand appeared deformed. His fingers looked longer and seemed to be getting even longer. His hand was tense and Simon could swear it was getting bigger and his fingers were deforming into...claws?

Simon heard ripping and popping at Pierce's feet. As he turned his attention to them, he caught a sight of something coming out of Pierce's shoes. They looked pointy and inhuman. It took a moment for Simon to realize that those actually were Pierce's feet. They too had grown pointed nails and become hideous. Simon couldn't help but gape at the spectacle before him.

"Huuuhh...huhhhh...It's so hot..." Pierce moaned. Simon's eyes returned to Pierce's clawed hands as they tore and shredded his shirts into strips. As his torso became exposed, Simon could see his skin glistening with sweat.

"Urgh...ugh!" Pierce continued groaning. His muscles were tensing up, flexing as though they were in a middle of a workout.

Simon stepped in closer. He knew he should be helping in some way, but he didn't know how. And truthfully, he was too curious about the changes Pierce was going through.

Pierce started hugging his chest tight, and from his position Simon could tell something else was happening to his body. The light no longer reflected off any sweat. There was no sweat anymore as dark hair started covering his torso. It spread out, throughout his entire body, and Simon could see hair reaching the tips of his fingers and the ends of his toes. To Simon, the hair looked a lot more like fur. Actually, he was pretty sure that's what it was.

"What's happening to me-eeeeuurrrggg!" Pierce's sentenced ended with a deep, guttural growl. As the fur reached Pierce's face, his nose and mouth pushed outward, away from his face. Pierce's mouth opened wide, painful groans emanating from his throat. Simon got a good sight of Pierce's teeth shifting, sharpening while his three canine teeth extended further than the rest, giving his mouth a monstrous look. Simon assumed he broke the fourth tooth.

Pierce's mouth grew out about six inches. At the same time, his ears traveled to the top of his head and lengthened until the tips were pointed. To Simon, Pierce started to resemble a wolf. Then it hit him. Pierce was changing into a wolf! But based on the shape of his hands and feet, it seemed Pierce was keeping a human shape.

"Werewolf..." Simon whispered. Maybe this was the beast the Maluans painted.

Simon had half a mind to run back outside but the other half wanted to stick around. After all, he'd never seen anything like this in his whole life.

"Growr...Groaarrh!" Pierce rolled off his side onto his hands and knees. His back arched back, and then his hips thrust violently into the air.

Simon could see a bulge appearing at the back of Pierce's pants. As Pierce continued to struggle, he reached down with his sharp claws. With a sharp tug, the confining pants slipped off, allowing a long, thick tail to flow out.

Pierce's quick, shallow breaths slowed down to deep heavy breaths. Simon could almost feel the beast's body heat from where he stood. Then he noticed Pierce's body was tensing up again.

Simon wasn't sure what was happening this time, until he heard ripping sounds again. He looked at Pierce's feet just in time to see both of them tear through the rest of his shoes. Then he turned to look at Pierce's arms. The sleeves of his earlier torn shirt were still hanging, but they were very taut. Simon could hear pieces of thread groan until the seams gave way and Pierce's arms emerged through the fabric remnants. Simon gulped. Pierce was growing.

He could see it as his arms packed on mass, his biceps, triceps, and forearms getting brawny with muscle. His body trembled, chest pushing out and his back widening as he gained power and durability. His thighs and calves thickened, their increased size indicating speed and agility. His feet lengthened out more, dwarfing the remains of the boots that used to fit him.

Simon had hoped that would be it. But no, he realized, he wouldn't be that lucky today. Simon could see that the werewolf was growing not just in mass, but in size. He noticed as the distance between the beast's hands and knees grew much longer. His back rose higher and higher.

After a few more seconds of growth, Pierce's body relaxed, and he resumed his heavy breathing.

"Awroooo!" Pierce's sudden howl echoed off the rocky walls, the deep bass vibrating through every piece of matter. Simon lost sight of Pierce as he brought both hands to his ears.

When Simon felt it was safe, Simon brought his hands down from his ears and pointed his flashlight back at Pierce.

What he saw was a gigantic, snarling beast staring straight at him. Simon almost lost control of his bladder.

The monstrous creature stood at least twice as tall as Simon, maybe even taller. Simon guessed around twenty feet. A single hand could probably wrap around his body. A single foot could cover half his body. Simon felt his skin flush with fear.

The werewolf, keeping his eyes on Simon, brought a hand up to its muzzle. Simon had to focus, but he could make out the tooth he had found earlier. His eyes widened when he realized Pierce was sticking the tooth in the gap that Simon made earlier. Simon gaped when he saw the tooth stuck inside, as though the tooth was superglued into his mouth. The beast bared his teeth and Simon could have sworn Pierce was giving him a toothy grin.

"Okay, Maria, you were right. Magic does exist," Simon muttered.

The beast stepped forward, taking one massive step. The beast must have weighed a lot, for the ground trembled from that single paw. The beast took another step, getting closer to the frozen Simon. Simon didn't know what to do. The beast kept his eyes straight at his, watching carefully for any sudden movements. If this beast had the instincts of a wolf, running would lead to a chase. And Simon doubted he could outrun a wolf, let alone a werewolf. Standing still wouldn't do much either, it seemed, because Pierce continued his slow approach.

With the beast getting closer, Simon slowly moved backwards.

"P-Pierce, it's me, Simon. You don't want to hurt me right? I mean, I accidently knocked out your tooth, but that's no reason to want to eat me, right?"

The werewolf merely snapped his teeth in response.

Simon thought about a plan. There was only one exit, but merely running wouldn't work. Maybe a distraction? He could use the fire, maybe. He also needed a defensive weapon. He reached for his hunting knife, but then he realized he left it inside his backpack last night. The backpack was by the fire. He continued walking backwards, but he shifted his path towards the exit. He was only a stone's throw away, but he couldn't provoke the beast.

Simon kept his eyes on the werewolf, afraid of the consequences of breaking eye contact. After a few more steps, Simon could feel the heat from the fire.

"Almost there," Simon muttered under his breath.

Once Simon felt he was only a few feet from the fire, he kicked back a foot and waved it around to find his backpack. He took a sharp breath in when he felt a familiar companion.

Simon stopped walking, which also stopped the beast's movements. Keeping his eyes on the wolf, Simon knelt down to reach his pack. He tried to grab a good grip but he had trouble finding it without looking. He decided to risk taking a quick peek down.

Big mistake.

In what felt like a single second, Simon felt a huge rumble and then a sinking sensation as he was yanked several feet off the ground.

"Aaah!" he cried out, slightly crushed by the beast's paws. During the attack, Simon was still able to grab his pack but a few items fell out, including his knife. His flashlight fell, too, and so the fire provided visibility of the raging giant's face.

The creature brought Simon about two feet from his head, baring his teeth. Simon merely gaped at the size of each one. But then he noticed the tooth that replaced the missing one. Despite having a row of brilliant white teeth, that single tooth still looked old and gray, looking completely mismatched.

Knowing he was moments away from being eaten, Simon looked into his backpack. His shovel was still inside! He guessed its large head stayed stuck inside when he was grabbed. Yanking it out with his right hand, Simon threw the rest of the pack at the beast's face. Unfazed, the beast merely shook its muzzle and opened his mouth for a threatening roar.

When Simon got another good look at the mismatched tooth, he twisted his body as best he could within the werewolf's grip and swung forward. The edge of the shovel head smashed right into the beast's teeth, breaking off the tooth that started it all.

With a sharp yelp, the werewolf dropped Simon, who cried out when he slammed onto the floor. Simon almost passed out from the shock and pain but he fought to remain conscious as the werewolf was still around. When he regained enough composure, he took a peek at Pierce. The werewolf was lying on the ground, and he was changing yet again.

The beast was shrinking down, losing height and mass back to his original proportions. His claws retracted back to human nails. The muzzle returned back to the face, and its fur receded into normal pink skin. Soon, in front of him was human Pierce again.

Simon sunk back on his knees. He took a deep breath, his nerves finally able to relax now that the beast was gone. He reached for his fallen flashlight. Pointing it at Pierce's body, he could see that the chest was still moving, meaning Pierce was merely unconscious. Simon decided to wait until he woke up and began collecting his things off the ground.

It didn't take long before he heard a groan.

"Damn, my head, what happened?" Pierce moaned. "What the? Why am I nude? Augh, I'm hurting all over. And...am I missing a tooth?" He ran a finger along his gums.

Simon thought about telling Pierce the truth, but then he thought better of it.

"Oh Pierce! A wolf attacked us. It tore off your clothing, and then you fell and hit your face. I got hit, too. We're lucky to have survived," he lied, rubbing his side for added effect.

"Damn, I don't remember much."

"It must be from a minor concussion. Why don't we go back to the camp?"

"Wait, why would a wolf want my clothes? Why do you still have yours?"

Simon shrugged, "I can't speak wolf. I don't have a clue. Let's just go."

"Yeah, I suppose that's a good idea." Pierce slowly rose off the ground as Simon packed the last of his fallen items into his bag. With the bag over his shoulder, Simon rushed over to Pierce to help him along.

"Here's your flashlight," Simon handed him the flashlight Pierce had dropped.

"Thanks. What happened to my shoes? Don't tell me the wolf wanted those, too," Pierce inquired.

Simon tilted his head, "Ummm...yeah....that's gone."

"Damn it!"

Defeated, Pierce just started walking. They slowly made their way back, taking short steps to accommodate their sore bodies.

"What happened to the tooth?" Pierce asked.

"The...uh...the wolf actually grabbed it with its teeth. It ran away before I could I get it back."

"Damn. That could have made us a lot of money."

"Maybe. You have extra clothes in your pack, right?"

"Yeah, I have an extra set. What about my shoes? I don't have another pair."

"We'll figure something out."

The two walked back to camp, packing everything up. The two agreed to just go back home, due to the incident and the fact that they hadn't recovered any evidence of the Maluan tribe.

Once they were packed and had cleaned the campsite, the two set off. As he began his journey back, Simon patted the front pocket of his backpack, feeling the shape of a familiar tooth. He decided not to tell Pierce about it.