This is a short story not related to monster rancher that i wrote for school. While I work on Chap 4 of my epic, The MDA, I'll just put this up. It's very good, and I got a 100 A+!

Lycanthropy

I had no idea why I had to stand guard for the druid that afternoon. It was a job for grunts, not for the colonel of the Knights of Ovidio. The druid was a priest of Celtic religion, but no one knew what he did, or why he did it. All they knew was that he was important, and had to be protected at all costs.

The copper wheels of the druid’s carriage pummeled the rocks as we crossed the river. His carriage was made of gold and silver. However, the druid’s carriage was lined with various animal hides.

My name is Randolph, but I prefer Randy. I am a colonel in the Ovidian Army. I command a sect of 500 men. Being a colonel, I am outfitted in the proper uniform. I wear red armor on my upper torso and two red knee guards on my legs. I wear a black tunic and long pants underneath my armor. I carry a sword and a large, red shield.

“How much further do we have to walk, General?” I shouted up to the front of the pack.

“About 5 more miles till we reach the monastery,” replied the general.

Our mission was very straightforward. All we had to do was escort the druid back to his temple. It was a routine mission, which is why I was agitated. I was the colonel of the Ovidian Army. Why should I have to do grunt work, when we had some fresh new recruits who would be grateful to get this walk in the park?

As we walked along the rugged dirt path, the carriage made clanking noises, which didn’t help the mood I was in at all. I was so annoyed by everything going on in my life, and now I would receive a headache for my efforts. It was one of the more memorable moments in my life, a moment where I wanted to kill myself.

We arrived at the monastery about 20 minutes later. I had never seen the druid, and my annoyance turned to curiosity. If he was so important that even the general came, what does he look like? Finally, the door to the carriage swung open. What I saw was definitely not something meant to bring me out of my horrendous mood.

A rusty old man stepped out of the carriage. He carried an oak staff, and wore various animal skins. However, there was nothing special about this old coot.

He stumbled out of the carriage like the clumsy old fart he was. Now I was ticked. I had to escort an old geezer practically on his death bed. It was outrageous!

The man thanked the guards, and proceeded into the temple. We left the carriage where it stood, and started to make our way back down the dirt path.

“Now that was a waste of my life.”

BANG!

We all whirled around as the sound of trouble exploded through the temple.

“Help me!”

The hoarse voice of the old man passed through the doors of the religious sanctuary. All swords were drawn and we bolted into the temple.

As we passed through the dim, candle lit hallways, many cries for help crawled through the passage. At the end of the tunnel, a large oak door with a rusted metal handle was all that kept us from reaching the conflict. I began to swell up with excitement. It seemed that the mission really would be worth the journey.

As the oak door gave way, we charged into the monastery. There were stained glass windows and rows of benches. There was an alter at the front of the room. The walls were painted white, and the ceiling was a deep brown.

The druid and his pupils were cowering in a corner near the alter.

“Please help us!!!” they cried in agony.

Help them from what, their own shadows? There was nothing in the room. So I had got excited for nothing. That’s just great. Little did I know, they were afraid of the shadows.

Then I saw it. The other men saw it too.

“Wh-What is it?” stuttered one of the soldiers in shear terror.

Thin silhouettes roamed the outlines of the room. They were shadows, but there was no light blockage to create them. I was really confused.

I quickly realized that one of the shadows was slowly drifting towards one of the privates who had begun to approach the druid. He was oblivious to its existence.
\
“Get out of the way, soldier!” I shouted to the man, but it was too late.

The shadow shot from the wall and revealed itself as a thin figure with a blue robe and mask made of cloth. It pulled a katar out of the robe, and held it over its head. Instantly, the blade fell, and bit into the private’s right shoulder. He fell to the ground, his hand pressed against the wound as he tried to stop the bleeding.

I was astonished by the creature’s speed and by its weapon. I didn’t think that katars still existed. They were small blades held in one hand and were used for quick stabs and slashes. However, they were not used in this part of the world. It was very curious.

I quickly drew my sword and charged for the figure. The shadow turned, and revealed its eyes. Those eyes still haunt me to this very day. They were blue, illuminated eyes that were sharp enough to pierce any armor. They sent a chill down my spine, but I quickly snapped out of that trance, and charged my foe. I drove the blade into the waist of my attacker, and a black liquid spewed from the wound.

However, what happened next was a mystery that I still ponder. The black blood became a black haze, and soon the entire figure disappeared into it. It was gone, and for good I hoped.

“They are fast and strong, but they don’t have even the slightest sign of endurance!” I hollered to the other soldiers, “Even the slightest cut will kill them. Attack and show no mercy!”

On that note, the men charged into the group of creatures that had formed at the center of the room. A black haze rapidly engulfed the monastery as more creatures were felled, until there were none left, or so I thought.

As I was about to sound the victory cry, a blue figure began to take form behind me. I was terrified as I felt the wisps of haze run across my face to reach the creature to which they gave life. I turned around slowly and was horrified when I saw those blue eyes hovering over me. I froze in shear terror.

I was oblivious to the fact that a katar hovered above the head of the creature, and I would have dodged it, but I could not tear my gaze from the creature’s eyes as the blade descended.

“Get out of the way!”

“Move it!”

“You’ll die if you don’t dodge the blade! Get out of there!”

The various cries from the soldiers still couldn’t snap me from the trance. I was done for. Until at last, a ray of hope came in the form of a magical spell.

The druid quickly stood up and pulled a wand from his cloak. The wand was made of red wood, and had the feathers of various birds attached to the tip. He raised it, and cast a spell.

“LYCANTHROPY!”

As you may know, lycanthropy is the fabled disease that turns a man into a werewolf. As I was engulfed in the beam of light that had shot from the tip of the wand, I felt my body begin change.

My nails were replaced with claws, a silver fur protruded from my skin, and I grew a tail and felt fangs replace the teeth on my gums. I was no longer a man, I was a werewolf.

Placing my new paws against the cold marble floor of the monastery, I lifted my new body off of the ground. I whirled around and saw the look of terror on my assailant’s face. It sent a satisfying trickle down my spin. The hunted had become the hunter. I quickly hurled my arm at the figure and dug my claws into the shadow’s waist. He let out a yelp, and then disappeared into the black haze.

I turned around to face my horrified allies. They wore the same look on their faces that I had worn when I first saw the creatures’ eyes. I knew the feeling, and I was ashamed to inflict such terror upon my friends. I turned to the druid.

“Why on earth would you even think of turning me into this monster?” I demanded the answer from him. I was so mad that I would have ripped his head off. However, I don’t think the general would have been happy if I had killed the man I had been assigned to protect.

“It was the only way to save your life. If you had not noticed, when you were swallowed by the light, the katar passed straight through you,” the druid remarked as if he had done nothing wrong.

“Alright, so it saved my life, I’ll give you that. However, is there any way to reverse this metamorphosis?”

“Yes, there is. All you have to do is make your way north of here until you reach a clearing. In that clearing you will find the legendary Wolf Fang. If you touch the Fang, you will regain your natural form.”

“Thank you.”

With that, I left the temple. I walked again down the candle lit hallway, and pushed open the front door. I walked out onto the grass, and noticed something different about my hearing.

I could hear everything. The insects, the animals, the wind, even the spirits that roamed the earth. Now I knew that the theory of wolves having better senses than humans was true. I could hear all things, and it really would help me along my way. I walked north of the monastery, and into the northern regions of the forest.

After five hours of walking, I began to ponder my plight. I began to question whether or not I would ever regain my human form. The thought terrorized me, but I quickly regained my optimism, and could only think of becoming a human again.

My walk became a jog, my jog became a run, and my run became a sprint. My heart was beating harder than ever as a preternatural excitement made its way through my body. My tail began to wag at the thought of becoming a human again. I was filled with determination, and burst out of the forest and into a clearing.

Just as the druid had said, a small, marble shrine sat in the middle of the clearing. I ran towards it with the excited anticipation of ending my problem. I removed the id of the shrine with the an ecstatic feeling pulsating through my body. I dipped my muzzle into the small shrine, and I was horrified.

It wasn’t there! The Wolf Fang was gone! My hopes and dreams were shattered as I took my nose out of the opening. I fell to my knees, and began to weep.

“I’ll never be human again,” I cried out, “I’ll always be an outcast.”

“Aw. Don’t cry little baby.”

A jumped as the voice echoed through the air. It was a hiss, and it sent a chill down my spine.

A black silhouette just like the ones in the monastery crept towards me. I realized that it was the same foe as before. The shadow formed just like the others did, but this one was different.

A red robed figure with black piercing eyes shot from the ground. It brandished two bronze katars, one in its left hand and one in its right. It wore a blue belt at its waist, and then I saw it.

A white fang was tucked into the belt of the figure. It was The Fang. He had beaten me to it.

“You know, you really are a stupid beast. I followed you the entire way. I heard about the Fang, and I took it along with all of your hopes and dreams,” a hiss came from the cloth covering his mouth.

“You knew all along,” I muttered in realization, “You really think you’ve won too, don’t you?”

The figure jumped at my remark, but then regained its cool. It must have had something up its sleeve, and I didn’t like it.

“I guess you know about my little vanishing problem. Well, I anticipated that those goofs we sent to the temple would mess up. So, I brought a shield that will keep you from attacking.”

What on earth was he talking about? A shield from my attacks? I was really confused.

“You must know that the katars are solid, and that any solid we are touching when we die dies with us. Well, don’t you think the same principles will apply to the fang in my belt?”

I froze in terror as I realized what he had done. He had taken the fang as a safeguard to ensure that I wouldn’t harm him. Darn it!

He raised his katars.

“This is how it will be! Stay still and die by my hand, or kill me along with all of your hopes and dreams. Without the fang, you will not regain your human form. Here I come!”

With that, the shadow charged at me. What could I do? What would I do? Right now there was no time to think. I nimbly dodged the oncoming assault and the shadow creature stopped.

“Very clever. So you choose to continuously dodge my attack, eh? Well, it’s the best alternative, but how long do you think you can keep it up? If you keep hopping around, you will eventually tire. That will be your downfall!”

With that, the figure charged me again. I had no idea what to do. Should I plunge my claws into his chest and hope the fang didn’t vanish, or give up and die by the creature’s katar. My innards were in a pandemonium. My heart was beating faster than lightning, my head was pounding, and my muscles were throbbing. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep this up.

After about twenty minutes of this fatal game of tag, I couldn’t take it. I was worn out. I could hardly move. It was over for me, unless I tried to kill him. It was my last resort, and I had made up my mind. When the creature charged me, I ducked and drove my razor sharp claws into his gut.

“Hahahahahaha,” the creature cackled in harsh voice, “You may have killed me, but in a way you’ve killed yourself.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I said in a reassuring voice that puzzled the creature.

I swiftly maneuvered my hand into the belt around the shadow’s waist, and pulled out the fang. He jumped in astonishment as he realized what I had done. I had taken the fang out of his belt, and it didn’t disappear. The creature became nothing more than a black cloud floating through the atmosphere.

My body started to change. I had touched the fang, and it was working. My tail vanished, my teeth came back, and I had normal hands. I fell to the ground and jumped to my feet in ecstasy.

I HAD DONE IT!!!!!! I had accomplished my goal, and I was a human again. Happier than ever before in my life, I trotted off into the forest, and back to my home, hoping for a much less exciting adventure on my next mission.

A nice quick story with good action. Hoped you liked it! -Icelord13

OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHH!!! I like a story with a phantom and a werewolf! Very exiteing! Just an observation, but you are very active on these boards, aren't you?

yes, i love to write. It's one of my fav passtimes (besides playin mr4) As long as people keep reading, i will keep writing. :)

Well, you always have my support vote, as long as I don't get suspended, and such forth grounded off the comp...You're like...As I stated in AZATSOTL, Like Tolkein!

Play diablo much? O_O

Good story.

Actually, i do. Thanks.

I'll assure you right now, if you enjoy writing, you'll probably have a fanbase here.

If you continue writing with this calibar, you will form a cult.