_{This is the first draft and may be edited later.}



The smell of night, the taste of mist, the feel of damp earth beneath one’s paws, the utter silence that screams from the darkness when everything holds its breath... ah, such is the predator’s view.



6:00 PM

Sarrik took another deep drink from his glass, listening to the life of the club. It was a rather slow day, a few people laughing, some whistling, humming, or tapping along with the band, some people were drinking, some people were just chatting and relaxing, but all in all, the place had a simple life. He listened in on the conversations about the thrill of human life… of course there is always the bit of gossip that he can’t help but butt in on.

“I hear that Rat-beast was out at Ferthar’s place last night, raidin’ the cattle.” “Oh, that old goat, he probably saw his shadow ‘n thought it was it.” “Probably, but hell, that beast has been seen everywhere, taking everything. Somethin’s gotta be done.” “Oh, and who’s gonna do it? You? Only thing that’ll get rid of that monster is a few bullets through it’s skull.” “Only way to do that is  te get out there ‘n shoot it yerself, or hire someone ta do it for ya.” “Maybe that’s what we oughta do, throw together the money and put a bounty on the beast.”

Sarrik sighed, then smirked. “Well don’t go puttin’ a bounty out so soon.” The group behind him paused and looked at him, waiting. “Let’s face it, you all wouldn’t have the money to hire someone to take down that beast, to dangerous, it’s not happenin’, and if someone get’s killed, they come blamin’ you. Any pack of dogs you turn on it’ll get torn to shreds, and any pack of men with it.”

“And why do you say? You talk like you know this creature. This is probably nothin’ more than a forest vermin, getting a taste for blood and liking it.”

“A forest vermin… you’d like to think that, eh? A forest vermin that… that raids barns, slaughters and eats every breathin’ creature within sight, and yet, though it seemingly has the tactics of a beast, it has dodged every bullet, escaped every trap, hell, none of you have even gotten close enough to get a decent description of it…”

“So the beast is tricky.”

“The beast… is a demon master, that monster you see is a killer, fangs that could sink its way through three inches of steel, claws that could tear down doors in a single swipe, and a never-ending appetite. Not somethin’ you wanna meet alone… or with a friend for that matter… heck, it’s probably not a creature you wanna meet at all.”

“You speak as if you’ve encountered the beast before.”

“Aye, I have, not this particular beast, but I have met one. It snuck into my home and ate all the food out from under my nose. I’m lucky the creature wasn’t hungry when it turned for me. They’ve got muscles like steel over their scrawny bodies.”

“They? Sir, what you are referring with that is that there could be a population of these creatures!”

“Aye, there probably is somewhere… course, we may never know, eh? I mean, you haven’t taken everything into perspective… we know this creature is strong, fast, smart, but what if it also has other tricks eh? Like perhaps what if your night beast is a shape shifter, a true demon, soaring above the town on vulture wings, or scurrying under your floorboards as an insignificant ant… or who knows… walking among us… human.”

There was a still silence among the group, finally broken by a gentle speaking man, from across the room who had wandered over. “And who are you to know so much about these creatures, eh?” It was the lord’s son. Sarrik found his composure after a moment, and presented himself with a more formal air. “Certainly from one little meeting you didn’t discover all of this. Sir I think the alcohol has gone to your head.” The man chuckled and jested, and the rest of the group mumbled and snickered, agreeing with the man, Esyrs (Uh-seer-is), and his more comforting idea that this man wasn’t serious.

“True, it was one encounter… but it’s not exactly ridiculous that a creature that has escaped every extermination method thrown at it, is a demon. This creature has killed people, and then left empty trails to be followed, it’s torn down a whole building-”

Esyrs cut him off, “That old shack was going down anyways, we don’t know if it was the creature, and even wolves can slaughter that many and escape. It is a trade of the wild to fight away with your life and not be found.”

“You’re belittling what this creature has done!”

“And you’re acting like you know it personally.”

Sarrik just stood there for a moment. He always loved poking fun and telling stories about the demon rodent, but no one had ever caught on…

He just shrugged it off and sat down. No use fighting Esyrs. It’s better to look like a superstitious fool than like a nutcase in this case. He went back to drinking quietly, and slowly the group calmed and went back to their aimless chatter. It had only been a few moments afterwards that Sarrik felt a light hand clap him brotherly on his shoulder.

“Mind if I sit?”

Sarrik looked back. It was Esyrs. He just arched an eyebrow and nodded.

Esyrs sat and ordered himself a drink.

“Heh… hey, sorry for singling you out over there. I couldn’t resist.”

Sarrik shrugged and smiled. “Hey, someone had to eventually. That’s what happens when you put your hand on the chopping block- eventually someone’s gonna take a swing.”

Esyrs lifted his glass when it arrived. “True. You were having just a bit too much fun with all of that.” He took a sip, pinched his nose and shook his head.

Sarrik chuckled. “Too cheap for your high-class tastes, young lord?”

He shook his head. “I’m not much of an ale person I suppose.” He smiled and chuckled. “Well, that and it is cheaper than what I’m use to.”

Sarrik smirked. “Figured. Can’t blame you, I’ve tasted the nice stuff.”

Esyrs pushed his drink away and looked at Sarrik. “Well… you want to follow me back to my home? You’re quite a story teller, and I could use a little company.” He pauses and waits for a response. After a moment he continues, “Plus, I got some of the good stuff back there, and plenty of food. You stare off at food like a hungry old street dog.”

He chuckled and thought on it a moment. “Sounds fine to me, hey, what time is it?”

“Oh, about six thirty, why, got something to do?”

“Nah, just don’t like to be out too late-” he chuckles, “who knows, the demon rat might get me.”

~~~

Sarrik took another sip and squeezed Esyrs’ shoulders. The two had been laughing, sharing, and drinking for a while. Time had slipped past, and neither of them were really watching it.

“Ye know, yer more of a fun than I gave you credit for Essy, this has been quite a night.”

Esyrs was perfectly composed and smiling. He hadn’t had more than a couple sips of a drink, and kept a clear head, perfectly happy being entertained by the strange drunk.

“I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your night, my friend.”

“’ey… Essy, if you don’t mind me askin’ ye… ‘r you always so warm to people? I mean… ye invited me in, a total stranger, a street dog, you’ve given me more food than I could possibly eat, more than I could possibly drink…”

Esyrs chuckled, “Warm… can’t say that I’ve had anyone describe me that way before… as for the why… well… I still have a couple more things to talk about.”

Sarrik shrugged and smiled, “A’ight. What is it? I think we’ve covered every topic from a to z.”

“Well… let’s start with this…” Esyrs shifted and straddled him.

Sarrik blinked and arched an eyebrow. “Eh? Hmm… not exactly the direction I expected this to go…”



Esyrs smirks “Then you probably aren’t expecting this either…” he leaned in close and whispered “who are you to know so much about these creatures? Sarrik Tal… that sort of information is not guessed, that is learned… from experience. You have to tell me what you know.”

"Esyrs? Hey, what is the meaning of this now!" He pushes back on the mans shoulders, but strangely, he does not budge, as if he were simply pressing against a wall. “Get off of me Esyrs! I told you, I was only playing around, what are you doing?”

“Just interrogating, Sarrik… don’t worry, it’s not like I’m going to hurt you…”

Sarrik looked around. There was no one in the enormous, beautiful room aside from them. Esyrs smiled.

“That’s right, no one to scream to, I’ve made sure this entire side is quite empty of life. We have everything we could possible need for a while…”

“Wh… why are you doing this Essy, what’s going on?” Sarrik gave him confused looks, unsure what to make of this. “Esyrs, I gotta go home eventually ya know, you can’t just keep me here overnight.”

Esyrs smirked with a rather malicious tone.

He was stunned for a bit, sure this young man had no idea what he was getting himself into. He felt every liquid in his body go cold, his heart rate quicken, and his stomach grow empty. The light from the dim glows around the room suddenly seemed brighter.  “Esyrs… what time is it?”

Esyrs leaned in and chuckled. “About nine o’clock, Sarr.”

Sarrik’s stomach gurgled and churned.

“Ouuhh… I need to get home…” Sarrik sat forward.

“Oh nonsense Sarr, feel free to spend the night here,” Esyrs smirked and pushed him back against the couch.

“Really, I must get back… I have a few pets back home and I don’t want them to go unfed.”

“You lie to me Sarr. Don’t lie to me. You have no pets so don’t try to use that excuse.”

Sarrik cringes, needing a way of escape. “No, really I must be home and soon, I…” He pauses, his stomach growling and gurgling.

Esyrs chuckles and shifts off of him. “Come now, you’re hungry, just relax and eat Sarrik.”

“I ate earlier, I’m fine.” Half true, he’d filled up earlier… but he was certainly not fine…

“It’s okay Sarr, just trust me…” Esyrs had a charmingly hypnotic voice and spoke with a kingly manner that almost could not be ignored or defied.

Sarrik’s stomach grumbled again and he stared at the ridiculous amount of food on the table, half his instincts telling him to take it, the other half telling him to run. Eventually he gave in and went to eating. He was like some sort of ravenous beast. After a while he stopped talking. The more he ate the hungrier he seemed to be. Esyrs only continued to smirk and stare, completely fascinated, like a child seeing his first Christmas. He waited, counting down every second…



“Nine-thirty Sarrik…”

He choked on his words, sliding another gulp of food down his throat. He stared at Esyrs through enormous black eyes with glowering disbelief. “N-no… you…”

At that moment Sarrik’s heightened sense of hearing picked something up, a faint click-tick-click-tick of an old clock’s gears winding and popping. It tolled the half hour bell. Sarrik groaned, leaning against the table.

Esyrs stood up and walked to the other side of the table, watching tensely. “So I really was right…”

Sarrik lurched, his muscles spasming and flexing, he thrust the huge heavy table away from him, towards Esyrs, who gracefully dodged out of the way as it crashed by him with inhuman force. He fell to the ground and let out a mind-peircing shriek.

“…You are the beast…”

His claws screeched across the floor as he wrenched on the ground, the demon trying to free itself from it’s feeble human body.

“you are the were…”

His shoed split as his huge clawed rat-feet burst through them and his pants ripped down the seem as the powerful hindquarters of the creature developed and cracked as each new spinal bone was developed for its great scaly tail.

“…absolutely magnificent…”

He let out another shriek as he thinned drastically and fur sprouted from his skin, covering his body. His head stretched and shaped into a rodent skull, equipped with huge, sharp incisors. He let out a low wheezing sound as his whiskers spurted out and the transformation was completed. Esyrs felt a chill race up and down his spine in the presence of the beautifully horrible creature that had just appeared in front of him. The transformation had taken nearly ten minutes, but it seemed to fly past due to the adrenaline. He smiled a twisted smirk.

Sarrik growled and thrashed about. His pants and his shoes had both split off to accommodate the rodent body, but the shirt hadn’t been damaged at all. He quickly turned around and ripped it off to stop it from irritate him.

“Glorious… beautiful… destructive…”

Sarrik’s new form twitched, focusing its sharp senses on Esyrs, and it bared its teeth much like an aggressive dog. He regained his composure quickly and slowly bent down and picked up a heavy melon-fruit that had fallen when Sarrik threw the table. He dropped the fruit and let it splatter on the floor, jumping aside quickly. Sarrik froze, his nose suddenly filled with a powerful aroma, juicy and sweet. He lurched forward to the scent and quickly scarfed the whole mess down. Esyrs stood aside and shifted his weight. Sarrik froze and chattered some sort of warning, his ears pricked up and half turned towards Esyrs. The beast had no idea who it was, nor did it care. It’s only objective was food and survival.

Esyrs stilled, watching with his morbid fascination at this strange beast, this were-rat. He slowly drew something from his belt as he saw the rat tense. Sarrik made a gravely groan and tensed back, his fur bristling, his eyes fixated on Esyrs. In a split second the beast had pounced. Esyrs drew the thing from his belt and flashed it in Sarrik’s eyes. The rat gave a shriek of terror, hitting Esyrs and jumping away. Esyrs took a moment to catch his breath and stood back up, flicking the bright light off. Trade of a night creature- sensitivity to light. Sarrik backed away and pawed at his face, probably seeing light spots. Esyrs chuckled, and shook, riding the near-death experience he knew that could have turned into.

“Thankfully I try to be prepared… now… let’s see if we can cooperate on this, aye Sarr?”

The rodent growled and glared at him. Esyrs stepped forward to the ruined table and pulled some leg of some poor creature that had been fixed for the feast and threw it at the beast’s paws. He sniffed it experimentally then picked it up and began to dig in, his senses filled with the scent of flesh, lighty spiced, not raw like he would normally eat, but it was still food.

“Heh, that’s right, take that taste in exchange for my flesh. Perhaps if I keep you fed there can be dealings with you, Sarr…”

Esyrs picked up another, smaller melon and took a few steps back. Sarrik’s eyes were on him.

“This way my friend.” He punched a hole in the tender fruit, not concerned with making a mess, just trying to keep the beast’s attention. Sarrik’s senses again were filled with that sweet scent, he watched curiously, taking some experimental steps forward, cleaning his greasy paws of the animal fat and smell of meat.

“Come now, don’t lag.” Sarrik no longer understood the language, he was just following the scent of the juice, and the man who now smelled heavily of food. He sniffed and patted after him at a curious but cautious pace.

“Such a curious creature… little concern for humans… only food. His thought process is simple… or is it? Show me creature, how cleaver are you?”

Esyrs came to a sudden stop and turned, then chucked the melon into a cage with heavy bars and a huge sliding lock. The fruit cracked against the bars and Sarrik lurched after it. Esyrs was right behind him, and slammed the cage shut, bolting it behind him. Sarrik jumped at the sound of the slamming door and lurched against the bars, clawing, thrashing, and shrieking in absolute outrage. He chomped on the bars, trying to free himself, putting large dents in the bars.

“Hush beast.” He cooed calmly and watched the caged were struggle. After a few minutes of hopeless struggle he stopped, panting. “Show me… what you can do.”

Sarrik paused and sniffed, his sensitive whiskers poking between the bars. He climbed to his hindquarters and reached through the bars, grabbing the bolt, lifting it, and pulling it back. It fell and the door swung open. He stepped through quietly and followed the scent of food back to the table, leaving Esyrs standing there.

“Fascinating… you are a quick learner, rat…” He smirked and walked back to the main room to see the beast, hunched over the broken table, gnawing on the masses of food spilled on the floor. Sarrik seemed more use to Esyrs presence and was unbothered by his approach, as long as he stayed far enough away. He stepped within twenty feet of the creature and took a seat on the couch he had originally occupied, as a friend to this beast. He raised his little-touched wine glass and took a sip, his eyes still on the creature.

“I have high hopes for you, my friend…” He breaks and takes another sip, watching the hungry beast feed. “Again I am sorry for being so rash before, but you see, weres are merely a myth to the common public, it’s just a story. People like myself exist to make sure that no one figures out that people like you exist. Were-wolves, were-cats, rarely were-avians, you all are all over the place it seems. I must admit though, you are the first were-rat I’ve met.” Sarrik didn’t care; he just continued to gorge, occasionally stopping to clean his face. “Sweet little Sarrik… you will be an excellent addition to our knowledge of weres. I can help you Sarrik… I am a tamer… and you have provided me with quite a project…”

Sarrik finally calmed and stopped to rest and groom his fur.

“To you, my new friend…” he took a sip from his glass and grinned. “My new pet.”