“The werewolf tooth and the merflor should be possible without murder,” Aisha replied. “As for the dragon scale… let’s just get the first two before thinking about that…”
“So we need to go to The Woodlands?” Julie asked.
“The Woodlands?” I frowned.
“That’s the realm of werewolves,” Julie explained.
“Yes,” Arron said. “We should head there now. We might find ourselves running out of time if we dally.”
On cue, Aisha made our surroundings disappear in a fog of mist, and the next thing I knew, we had arrived at the edge of a dense wood of towering trees that would rival even The Shade’s redwoods. The ocean roared behind us, wild waves crashing against a pebble beach.
Arron neared and addressed me in a low voice. “You’re going to need to let go of this aversion to killing,” he said. “We need to get this problem solved, and since you’re not open to any alternative, claiming lives—at least one life—is mandatory somewhere along the line. In fact, it would be much faster and easier to just kill a werewolf for a tooth than dancing around trying to figure out some other way.”
Ignoring his words, I marched toward the entrance of the woods.
“Aisha,” I called. “Come with me.”
I didn’t care what Arron said. During my bouts of bloodlust, one might argue that I had an excuse for murdering the way I did. But now that, thanks to Bahir, I had control over my thoughts and was aware of myself, I wasn’t about to look for an excuse for killing. I simply couldn’t justify it. We had to find another way.
As we entered the dense wood, I scanned the area and began to mull over how we were going to pull off this first ingredient. The best way would be to find a werewolf who was alone and corner him or her. Aisha would need to stun the wolf and anaesthetize the jaw so the creature wouldn’t feel the pain while we removed a tooth. Even that was uncomfortable to me—forcing a tooth from someone who had done no harm to me—but it was the best solution I could think of. Because I didn’t think that we would find an abundance of werewolf teeth in the undergrowth. And we didn’t have time to scour the place in search of one. We still had two more items to get before the appointment.
And so we moved swiftly and silently through the woods in search of our victim.
Then something occurred to me. The woods were dark due to the thick canopy of leaves overhead, but it was still daytime. If we came across a werewolf now, they would be in their humanoid form. The list stated ‘tooth of werewolf.’ But would the tooth be acceptable if it came from a werewolf’s human form? I doubted that if I pulled a tooth while the beast was in their human form the tooth would turn into a wolf tooth once night fell. The list didn’t specify, but I couldn’t help but feel that the witch would want the tooth of an actual wolf… in which case we had time to kill.
“We shouldn’t have come to The Woodlands first,” I muttered, frustrated.
“Why?” Arron asked.
I explained to the Hawk what had just occurred to me.
“Oh,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that… It will take time to search out a wolf in the first place. It’s already late afternoon. By the time we find a beast, the sun may have well set.”
Still, I felt unsure as to whether Arron’s suggestion to come here first had been wise. Julie also looked as doubtful as ever, while Aisha’s eyes were narrowed in concentration as they darted around the area in search of a wolf.
As it turned out, Arron was right. I was both surprised and dismayed by how long it took us to track down a target. Aisha had suggested that we go straight to the mountains where the wolves’ dens were, but I remained insistent on getting a wolf on his own. Approaching the dens, which would be closed off and filled with packs of dangerous wolves, was simply not a good idea. More injuries than necessary would be incurred, and if they launched a full-on attack, I was sure that at least one life would be lost.
It wasn’t until the sun had set that I spotted a lone wolf through the trees, bent over and drinking from a stream. He was already in his wolf form, so we wouldn’t even have to wait. I froze, holding up a hand and urging the others to stop. I was on the verge of turning to Aisha and nodding for her to stun the wolf when a twig snapped to my left. I spun around to see an apologetic Julie.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a whisper.
It was too late. The werewolf’s head shot up from the stream and, noticing us, he turned and raced away. I bolted after him. Although I was sure that I ran at least as fast as a werewolf, he’d had a good head start and now, as I looked around the dark tree trunks, I couldn’t see him anywhere. For all I knew, he could’ve scampered down a secret hole somewhere. As the others appeared by my side, not even Aisha could locate the wolf.