{"sf1_id":754061,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Moonbeams and Nightmares","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":4797,"posted_at":"2014-09-08T02:30:00.000Z","tags":["Death","Heat","Human","New York City","Transformation","Werewolf","battle","fight","silver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/754061-moonbeams-and-nightmares","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/754061","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=754061\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#22 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nI hope at the very least this meets expectations. I have read over it about four times, and while I'm not precisely happy with it, I think that it's the best it's going to be. There will be more in the next chapter that may explain a few things, so don't be too impatient for the filling out of details.","content":"                As luck\nwould have it, there was a full moon within three days time. Several things transpired\nleading up to that day. First, I actually saw Reynaud and Lupenia transform\ninto full werewolf form. Despite their age, they still looked pretty damn\nimpressive. Verona and Maggie joined them, and my hotel suite was suddenly the\nsetting for an impromptu werewolf movie. My camera stayed in its case.                Verona'\nscent was making my nose water, and that was on the mild end of the problems it\nwas causing me. I blamed it on flowers and allergies. I doubt anyone bought the\nexcuse, but they were kind enough to not remark on it. There was debate on\nwhether or not to remove the coin from my hip, to see what would happen.\nReynaud was torn.                \"Son, I\ndon't know what would be better; doing it now when we might have some chance of\ncontaining you, or out in the park, where you can run free if the\ntransformation grips you in its madness.\"                \"I say\nleave it. You may need me in berserker mode.\"                \"Don't\nsay that son. It's not funny.\"                \"I\nwasn't trying to be funny.\"                \"Good,\nbecause you have no idea what you're saying.\"                I shut\nup. Up to this point all my interactions with werewolves had been survivable,\nand therefore anti-climatic. Now we were getting into the stuff movies were\nmade from. It hadn't really sunk into my psyche yet. You can excuse me for my\nlackadaisical attitude though. Two of the four in the room had been bed\npartners of mine. It was hard to think ill of ladies you had known in \"that way\".                On the\nnight of the full moon, we gathered for our final showdown. I fiddled with my\nknives, debating on taking matters into my own hands. Reynaud threatened to\ntake them away from me if I didn't stop poking around my hip.                Maggie\ncame to my rescue, turning feral and growling at him. He was, of course,\nunimpressed by her display and rubbed her head. \"Child, I admire your courage,\nbut you have nothing to fear from me. Save it for later for then we will have a\nbigger Fish to fry.\"                 She\nreverted to normal herself, and taking my knives in hand  she got dressed and headed out.                \"Maggie,\nwhere are you going?\"                               \"I need\na walk.\"                \"With\nmy knives?\"                She\nhanded them back to me. \"I suppose I can always change if I'm attacked.\" I\nwaved her away.                \"Take\nthem, but hurry back.\"                She did.\nShe had a bouquet of those lovely purple flowers, which I can only imagine she\nabsconded from the gardens across the street. I shook my head and scolded her.\n\"We have plenty of money dear, thanks to you. You don't need to go stealing\nthem from the public.\"                She\nsmiled. \"I like what I like. And this may be my last day alive. Would you deny\nme anything I want or need under such circumstances?\"                She\nknew I couldn't. \"No dear. I'm sure they won't be missed.\"                Everyone\nput on clothing that they didn't mind losing during the transformation, because\nit was hardly advisable for an entire group of naked people to go walking in\nthe park after dark. There was no danger other than the obvious one. It was\njust advisable to avoid the unwanted attention it would draw. Me, I was playing\nit as safe as I could and had bought a two piece leather motorcycling outfit.\nReynaud told me it might hold up for about ten seconds more than the skin\nunderneath, but to me it was better than nothing. Finding Mr. Fish was not difficult. He was\nstanding on the top of the tower at Belvedere Castle. \"So you have come. Good.\nYou see, either way I win this game. \"                It was\npretty spooky seeing him there, with the bright full moon shining from behind\nhis back. Maggie obviously thought so too because I heard the click of her\ncamera phone. I was surprised she had brought it. Kids!                 From\nhere on out, I'm afraid that I must give up my viewpoint of this epic battle,\nlargely because I will only be seeing it through my single pair of eyes. That\nwill be insufficient to give you a well rounded experience. So I now bow out,\nand will allow you a better look at the situation.                Albert\nFish had waited in the park each night since posing his ultimatum. He had the\nfeeling that they would chose tonight, when their power would be at its\ngreatest. However, his would be to, so they were fools to think it held any\nadvantage to them.                 When\nthey arrived, he forced a smile. They were such a ragtag lot; an immature freak\nof a girl, her human pet, and three from a single family. He made his choices\nas to whom to kill first, and went into a crouch. \"Tua voluntas\nmea sit mors!\"                He\nhit the ground with a sickly thud. He sniffed towards the human, for the others had\nalready changed into their feral forms. This human had a stink to him, probably\nfrom the silly leather clothing he had on. He, Albert Fish, would shred that in\nseconds, should he be of a mind to. Then he stopped.                A\nflower? The stupid man wore a corsage to a fight! He focused on it. Damn that\nhuman! No one upstaged Albert Fish! With a howl, the old murderer leaped from\nthe parapet and ran towards the man, his fingers and nails growing in the\nmoonlight. The rage had taken a hold of him.                Edward\nstood his ground, holding his knives in two leather-gloved hands. He looked\nsort of bad-ass in his gear, but not nearly as bad-ass as the other members of\nhis group. And he knew he didn't stand a chance of doing any real damage on\nthis guy. His knives would probably do nothing at all. But he intended to stand\nhis ground.                Maggie\ncame out of nowhere and dived on Albert's back, digging in her claws,\ndistracting him for a moment. This enraged him even more, and he bent an arm\nback at an impossible angle to grab her and yank her off. She flew through the\nair but landed on her feet just shy of the pond.                Taking\nthe momentary distraction as a sign, Edward lunged forward, sinking both blades\ninto his opponent.  Albert turned and\ngrabbed him by the throat. \"You insignificant piece of pitiful human trash.\nYour knives are no match for me!\" In the next instant he flung him thirty feet\nto land with a sickening thud against the castle wall. In the process, one\nknife remained embedded in his chest. He pulled it out and dropped it on the\nground.                \"Who's\nnext?\"                Maggie\ncame out of the shadows like a wild cat and clawed at him like a weed whip, her\nfront paws going so fast they were a blur.                 \"Cur!\"\nHe screamed, bending his arm at that sickeningly acute angle again. He held her\nat arm's length. Wiry hair was starting to sprout from his morphing appendages.\n\"Little girl, I have played with children much younger than yourself. Their\nscreams were music to my ears. Shall I have you sing me a song of... Bastard!\"                Reynaud\nhad dived in on top of him, bearing him to the ground, and allowing Maggie to\nget free. Reynaud went for a killing clamp on his neck, but was thwarted by a\nhuge gnarly paw against his own throat.                 \"You\nold fool! Did you think this would be as easy as hunting prey?\" As he talked,\nMr. Fish's voice was getting lower and deeper and much more menacing. His arms\nwere growing ever longer and thicker, until they looked like frayed hemp rope.\nHis paws mimicked leaf rakes with broke tines, and his head was turning into a\ngrotesque persona of a werewolf. Call it an ogre head covered in wolf fur.                All of\na sudden, another form landed on his back, and he lashed out wildly. Lupenia had\nlanded, taken a bite and launched herself off again. Reynaud then lashed out\nwith his back feet and kicked him in the balls. Albert let out a glass\nshattering howl that reverberated throughout the park and echoed off of the\nsurrounding skyscrapers.                \"You\nlittle bastard! You and your bitch will fertilize the soil here as miniscule\nfragments!\"                He\nlunged to the side, only to be intercepted by Verona, who, taking advantage of\nher situation, merely rubbed herself all over him before bounding off into the\ndarkness. Albert clawed at his nose. \"Bitch!\" His scream was now high pitched\nand totally mad.                To this\npoint his transformation had been limited to his chest upwards to his head. But\nher scent was driving the transformation the rest of the way. And where it\nencountered silver, it paused. His abdomen boiled in frustration as the\ncollection of silver needles halted the transformation process. Her aroma was\ndriving it on like a stampede of buffalo..                 His\nkeening screams literally turned the water in the pond to ice. He began clawing\nat his belly, and taking this distraction to heart, Maggie pounced once more\nand clawed him until he grabbed for her again. This time she was too quick and\nleaped to safety.                Albert\nclawed at his belly, coming away with a single needle. And then another, and\nanother and another. No one could count the number for certain, but he finally\ntransformed completely. He was a good seven feet tall, and his black fur was\nshot through with gray and white. His eyes were glowing orbs of fire, and his\nvoice was barely discernible.                \"See\nwhat you have unleashed?\"                With a\nroar he lunged forward, snatching Reynaud and his wife off the ground and launching\nthem into the air. The two weren't amateurs and hung on to each other. As they\nbegan their descent, they pushed off of each other and ended up landing a good\ntwenty feet away from the netherwalker's position. It wasn't much distance, but\nthe demon werewolf had intended to impale them on his claws. He was angry that\nhis plan had not worked.                He\nlaunched himself into another attack, but was foiled when Verona charged out\nfrom the side. She jumped at his face, and rolling in mid air, sprayed him with\nurine. In the next instant she had bounded off again.                Fish\nclawed his face. \"Bitch! Do you think I care for your cunt?\" But despite his\nwords, her pheromones were sending shivers through his form. What his mind\nwanted was not the same thing his body wanted. He clawed at his face as Maggie\ncame in again; she dashed under him, grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the\nballs before extracting it and retreating.                His\nroar of pure rage was awful to hear. He went totally mad. His nose was now\nuseless, but his vision more than made up for the loss. Everything he saw was\nin infrared, and the moving shapes had nowhere to hide. He assessed the\nsituation. The human was lying motionless against the base of the castle, and\nhis little were-girl was back at his side. How pathetic, he thought. To moon\nover such a weak little thing as that.                 He\nturned his gaze, spotting the one in heat. He would have to kill her quickly,\nbefore she interfered any more with his senses. As it was, he had the urge to\nmate, a totally disgusting feeling. Death was the only thing that brought joy!                The old\npair of weres were pacing around him at a distance, treating him as a worthy\nadversary. At least there was someone here who might prove to have enough fight\nto make battle interesting. All of this subterfuge and sneaky guerilla tactics\nwere trying his patience.                 Before\nhe could make an attack, that little were-girl came out of the dark, from his\nback side. He heard her a second too late as she landed again and bit his neck.\nThe one in heat charged him and managed to spray him again. This time she got\nhis eyes. He jerked to the side and propelled himself into the pond.                When he\ncame out, he was dripping wet and covered with green slime. But his eyes were washed\nclean and his nose was flushed. \"To hell with you, you damn little bitches.\nI'll deal with you first.\"                That\nwas when he heard the voice. It was weak and wavering, but it was obviously the\nhuman male. He turned to glare at it; that sorry excuse for a living creature.\nHis eyes saw no color except for red, but it was enough. He could reach him in\na mere second and finish him off for good, before tearing these others from\nlimb to limb. He hesitated. The voice held just a hint of power.                \"So Mr.\nFish. I have something for you.\" The human tossed something the netherwalker's\nway. It hit the dirt and rolled a few inches before stopping. Albert was barely\nable to pick it up out of the dirt it was so small, almost like his needles had\nbeen. He held it in the tips of his nails and fought to focus his vision on it.\nIt appeared to be some sort of coin. He dropped it back in the dirt.                \"Puny\nhuman! That old piece of silver means nothing to me!\"                \"I\nknow. But it means a lot to me. My grandfather gave me that, and I have had it\nwith me ever since. Today is the first I have parted with it, and that's\nbecause losing my lucky dime means your luck has run out.                \"Luck?\"\nroared the netherwalker. \"Luck is superstition my little morsel.\"                \"So are\nwerewolves, yet here we are.\"                \"We?\nYou dare say we? You are nothing more than a sad little man and it will be my\npleasure to tear your flesh from your bones!\"                Maggie\ncame and stood in front of Edward. \"Over my dead body!\"                \"Oh\nlittle one, of course it will be over your dead body.\"                Verona\ncame up and took a similar stance. Albert eyed her cautiously and then checked\nhis periphery, fearing another attack by the older two. He was growing tired of\nthis constant badgering.  He returned his\ngaze back to her. \"I will tear you from the inside out bitch. I shall remove\nyour womb and eat it before you die, to show you that you do not mess with me!\"\nHe could smell her aroma and he drove the sensation down into his black heart\nto be consumed by his hatred and madness.                Edward\nstepped closer, standing in a patch of moonlight. \"Albert Fish. You are many\nthings, but the greatest of those is a fool.\"                \"Fool\nam I?\" He roared. \"I'll show you who the fool is!\" He rushed forward and swiped\nat anyone in reach. His paw hit a stone wall. It was Edward's hand. It didn't\neven budge.                The\nhuman glared at him for a moment. Then his eyes went red. \"Let's dance.\"                In the\nnext instant, Albert Fish, netherwalker and ancient werewolf extraordinaire,\nsmashed into Belvedere Castle, cracking the stone work that had stood for\nnearly as long as he had been alive. He shook his head and raged back into the\nopen. The human was still there, only he wasn't the same. His eyes were like\nlava pits, and he was growing. The hair sprouting from his body was as black as\nnight, struck through with blood red. His face elongated, and teeth the size\nand shape of daggers grew like cave formations from his jaw and the roof of his\nmouth.                His\nclaws were growing into ebony knives, six, then seven, then eight inches long.\nHis body was rippling like it had a mass of worms under the skin. The muscle\nunderneath grew and grew and grew, until this former human was the same mass as\nAlbert. The only defect to his form was the blood running down from one hip,\nbut even that was healing up fast. And then there was his voice.                \"You\nhave nothing to live for Albert Fish. I on the other hand have much to live\nfor. So I'd say that that makes me the winner already and far more dangerous\nthan you. Still care to make this difficult?\" The sound emanating from his\nthroat boomed out like the pipes of a church organ.                Edward\nseemed in his right mind for the moment. Albert was not and had not been for\ndecades. \"Live? Die? Who cares? I will expend every last drop of my life's\nblood to see your remains splattered across this park.\"                Verona\nand Maggie were still standing there, partially in awe of the were-male that\nhad taken Edward's place. \"Get back!\" He ordered.                Maggie\nwas defiant. \"No!\"                \"Little\none, I have no time for this. You have done well, and you have done as much as\nyou could be expected to do. From now on this is a one on one battle. If he\nwins, then you'll have your chance again. So if I die, make me proud.\"                She\njumped up and gave him a lick. \"If you die, I'll have no reason to live. So I\nwill die trying, if I succeed or not.\"                \"ENOUGH!\"\nroared the netherwalker. \"Your emotional niceties have no place here!\"                Edward\nflexed his body. He grabbed Verona and sniffed deeply of her scent. She applied\nherself to generating more if it. He gave her a kiss. \"Now go. This will not be\npretty.\"                The\nnetherwalker cracked his neck and then spoke. \"Pretty? No, this will not be\npretty. But I must ask. What are you? You showed no signs before that you were anything\nmore than human.\"                \"I\ndon't know what I am on the outside. I know what I am on the inside. If you\nwish for information to take to your grave, know that my ancestors originated\nfrom Gévaudan.\"                It was\nthe first time that fear had come to Mr. Fish's eyes in a very long time. \"Gévaudan?\nBut the bloodline of the Beast was destroyed!\"                \"I very\nmuch doubt it, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here. My grandparents came over\na long time ago.\"                \"So be\nit then. The time has come for one of us to die.\" Albert sprung forward and was\ndeflected back into the pond. He sailed fifty feet into the air before making\none hell of a splash. But a new problem had arisen. The cacophony and caterwauling\nwas attracting all sorts of gawkers, and in the clear moonlight, the events\nwere quite visible. This fact was not lost on the netherwalker. He bounded to\nseveral bystanders and picking them up, hurling them towards Edward. He in turn\njumped and snatched them out of the air, setting them on the ground. Their\nscreams added to the mayhem.                \"None\nof that!\" he roared, chasing after the villainous Fish. Albert for his part was\ngalloping across the park towards the city-proper. He had claimed that he didn't\nfear death, but he did fear anything to do with the mythical Beast. Those other\nweres were fools to think that partnering with this descendent of the\nmilk-mother was going to do them any good. Even a crazy man knew when to call\nit quits.                The\nnetherwalker sprang onto the Seventy Ninth Street Transverse and ran towards\nFifth Avenue. Cars screeched to a halt, and in some cases, his mass crushed the\nroofs on top of the drivers as he used them to springboard his way up the\nstreet. There was soon a trail of wreckage up and down the thoroughfare.                Edward\nwas running full out to catch him. His quarry turned north on Fifth Avenue,\ntaking them past the Metropolitan Museum. On and on they went, traveling along\nthe ground, disrupting traffic and causing havoc with each passing mile. Finally,\nthe netherwalker jumped skyward, latching onto a building and scrambling up to\nthe top. Chunks of masonry fell down like hailstones.                 He\nstopped at the top and waited for his nemesis. Edward was on the roof within\nseconds. \"Have you finally given up?\"                The\nnetherwalker was gasping for air. \"I'm not what I was once was, that's a solid\nfact. But then, I have never had such a reason to run as I have tonight.\"                \"You\nmay run as far as you wish old-timer, but I will always be right behind you,\nhounding your heels and chasing your tail. Why not just end this?\"                He just\nstood his ground, gasping and wheezing. \"I don't understand it. Why am I\nsuddenly out of breath?\"                A\nfemale voice carried over the roof. \"Because, you sick son of a bitch, I\npoisoned you.\" It was Maggie. She was holding a purple flower.                Edward\nwas pissed. \"I told you to...\"                \"Shove\nit father. I make my own rules. And here, I brought you your corsage.\" She handed\nhim one of those lovely purple blooms.The netherwalker screamed. \"You\nbitch! What have you done? How long have I stayed away from the Wolf's bane?\"\nThen his ugly face grew into a frightening smile. \"But you too shall die, for\nI'm assuming you dipped your claws in its juice.\"\"Correct you stinking hulk. I'd\nwillingly die to see you dead, and I would just as willingly die to save the\none I love. Maybe if you knew something about love, you might just understand.\"\"Maggie?\" Edward nearly reverted to\nhuman in his concern.                 \"Shove\nit! When this guy is dead, then you can slather me with your affection. First\nthings first!\"                An\nangry human can be a hard thing to handle. A werewolf even more so. An angry\nwerewolf; well that was the icing on the cake. But with Edward, in his new\nform, that anger was also the cherry on top. If his Maggie died because of\nthis; because of him, he would never forgive himself. Nor would he forgive\nanyone else.                The air\nabout his person seemed to thicken. His body, already huge and on par with his opponent's,\ngrew even more. His claws grew another inch, and his eyes became burning\nsockets. He turned to Maggie. \"GET OUT!\" The girl did as she was told without\nanother sassy word.                \"YOU!\"\nhe bellowed to the netherwalker. \"WE END THIS NOW!\"                With a\nswipe of his huge paw, Edward made Mr. Fish swim through the air for three\nblocks. He came down through the window of office building, shards of glass\nimpaling his shoulders. He collected himself and darted out the broken pane and\nonto the street, his heavy thud rattling the trash cans in the alley. Blood was\nleaking from his wounds as his body could no longer cope with repairing the\ndamage. That girl had done a number on him and if he did one thing before he\ndied, it was going to be to eat her still-beating heart.                He\nheard a thud behind him, and he doubled his effort to run. His body was wracked\nwith pain, yet it drove him on rather than deterred him. He ran blindly; down\nbusy streets, across rooftops, through back alleys, and occasionally crashing through\nbrownstones and storefronts. The chase led for miles until they reached Staten\nIsland, though neither werewolf knew where they were by the time the pursuit\nended.                 Edward\nfinally caught the other and a fight ensued. By now both were beyond\ncomprehensible speech, the fear and hatred boiling up inside them replacing\nthought and logic with unrestrained primal urgency. They became two rival males\nfighting over territory, over mates, and over life itself. They struggled\nagainst each other, but as time progressed, the older one's poisoned system got\nthe better of him. But where strength might be lacking, experience and cunning\nprevailed.                 He made\na feint at Edward, who dodged it with ease. But instead of attacking, Albert steered\ntowards a nearby church. With a heave, he launched himself up and forward\nthrough a stained glass window. He landed in the pews, splintering one in twain.\nHe scrambled to find cover in the darkened interior. He hid for a moment behind\na stone statue of the place's patron saint, the one they called Christopher.\nThen he loped into a hidey hole and waited.                 Edward\nfollowed by the same path, widening the destruction to the already fractured\nwindow. He landed with a thud, cracking the tiled floor and shaking dust from\nthe lights above. He sniffed the air, searching for his quarry. He was on the\nhunt now, and there was nothing in the world that would stop him.                 Albert\ncame out of a confessional wielding a long pole topped with brass. He hit\nEdward in the head, but it was a glancing blow. In his angered state, Edward\ngrabbed the pole and yanked it like it was a straw. It flew across the church\nand struck a pillar. The wooden staff shattered under the impact.                 Edward\nsnagged the other werewolf by the throat and flung him across the sanctum to\nthe front of the church. The raised marble floor caved in from the impact. The\nnetherwalker got up and grabbed a cross from the altar. He howled in pain as the\nsilver ate into his flesh. It was the first time in decades that he had not\nbeen able to tolerate the metal. But he hung onto it and sprang at the other,\nsmoke roiling from his paw.                Edward picked\nup a pew and with a force strong enough to deflect a freight train, splintered the\nwooden seating on his adversary, driving his opponent into the ceiling. The cross\ncareened off a wall and came to rest in front of the altar where it had been\ntaken, fractured off of its base. The netherwalker meanwhile struggled to\nget  free,  wedged in the beams above the altar, dangling\nlike a bug in a spider's web.                Edward\nwalked underneath him, feeling the drops of blood and the bits of ceiling cascading\ndown. With a heave he jumped and wrenched the half dead creature from its perch.\nIt hit the altar, crushing it to fragments.                \"You\nwin,\" gasped the netherwalker.  \"I\nfinally can find peace.\"                Edward's\nface was a mask of rage. \"Peace? You don't deserve peace. I think I'd rather\nhave you live the rest of your life as a rotting shell. I'd rather see you\nsuffer for an eternity than for you to have peace. You don't deserve a clean\ndeath.\"                Albert\ncoughed weakly. \"No, I don't.  But who\nmade you my judge? \"                \"You\ndid. When you made innocents suffer, you condemned yourself. And in doing so,\nyou also condemned all those who felt the need to stop you. So it ends here and\nnow!\"                Edward\nset down the lovely flower on his nemesis' chest, and picking up the cross,\nsavagely stabbed it through the other's sternum clear through to the floor\nbelow.                As the\nsmoke began to rise, he half expected to hear screams of agony. But there were\nnone. The werewolf form, in all its hideousness, melted away to reveal the aged\nhuman form he was familiar with. But it didn't stop there. It kept shrinking\nand contorting until all the remained was a small, unassuming shape. It was a\nboy, pale and sad looking in the filtered moonlight. His voice was small and\nfilled with joy.                \"Thank you.\nI have been trapped since I went to the orphanage at St John's. I have not\nlived a decent day since then. I was molded into the worst of beings because of\nthat place. My transformation into a were-creature came early, and I think because\nof something someone there did to me. Those days are blurred in my memory.  All my family was mad, and I traced it back to\nthe were-condition being unresolved within them. Only I became a true werewolf.\nBut the cost was too high. I tried to stop it. I succeeded with forestalling the\nchanges, but not halting the madness. Now I can have peace. Thank you brother\nfor your persistence. I may die a sinner, but I will die happy.\"                Soon\nthe body dissolved into a pillar of smoke and a pile of ash. Edward's rage\ndissolved as rapidly as the body had. All he had left in his soul were tears.  They spilled forth upon the floor in a\ntorrent, running along the floor to the foot of the statue. Perhaps they washed\naway the sins of the repentant sinner, but for Edward, they were tears of\nrelief, and tears of grief. They washed away nothing."}