text: # Jägers They were getting closer, the time was fast approaching. I can hear the gentle rumble of their tanks in the distance, I can smell the fumes of the exhaust. Through the gloom and haze of the early morning, I can see them in the distance approaching the edge of the village. I never would have been able to do this before I was turned. I don’t remember who I was before I was turned or why, all that matters now is that the Sound told me and my brothers to be here and to wait. They have no idea we are here, my brothers lurk nearby, waiting. They don’t know it yet, but they are walking into a trap. We are that trap. From atop a building overlooking the narrow streets below, I let out a low growl to inform my brothers to make ready, they reply in kind and I hear them begin to edge closer to the roadside. I hear my brother's hearts begin to beat faster in preparation, another growl tells them to calm themselves, that the time isn’t right, that we must wait. I can see them more clearly now, there were nearly 50 of them, a number of tanks and other vehicles, slowly advancing towards us, checking each building. Were they looking for us, or something else? It must be something else, no way they could know we were here. One smell cuts through the smell of the exhaust from the tanks, I can smell their fear, I can hear their racing pulses, they are all scared, they had good reason to be. I hear their voices now, it's not a language that I was familiar with, but I remember some of the words, I remember hearing them before I was turned. “Buildings all clear Captain!” said one. “Where the fuck are these Krauts?” replied another. One of the men was looking at a map by torchlight, gesturing to other nearby buildings, instructing the men where to go. His heart was steady, with no smell of fear. He was in charge, he was my prey I can feel my brothers becoming impatient, I sympathise with them, why are we still waiting, they were right there, ripe for slaughter. Yet the Sound hadn't told us to attack, it kept us waiting. The tiles began to crack under my claws as my muscle tensed, my anticipation becoming unbearable. They were directly below us now, the men following the tank as it entered the narrow street out of the town. We had to go now or we would miss our chance, now was the time. The moment finally came. The Sound pinged, at last, my fur bristled as it passed through me. With a thunderous howl, I signaled to my brothers to attack, to unleash their fury on these invaders, and unleash it they did. “Wolves!” roared one of the men below, panic rippled through the rest of them as they scrambled for cover and protection, trying to find us in the gloom with torches and searchlights. They were too late, we had sprung our trap. I pounced off of my rooftop, landing on top of the lead tank directly below me. As I looked up, I was staring directly into the face of a terrified crewman, I snarled at him as he tried to turn his weapon on me. One swipe of my claw was enough to nearly remove his head from his shoulders. Blood erupted from the wound as his body fell back into the tank. The smell of iron filled my nose, awakening something inside of me, I searched around for who would be next. Before I could pounce on my next victim the Sound pinged again. This time a deeper tone, I remembered what I must do. I reached for the pouch hanging from my belt, tore off the cord, and pushed it through the open hatch, past the corpse of the crewman deep into the belly of the tank. As I let go, I could hear panicked voices from inside the metal shell, I leapt from the tank through the window of a nearby house. A deep explosion erupted from the tank, launching the turret into the air, narrowly missing a group of men as it landed. Our surprise was beginning to fade now, a cacophony of gunfire began, the smell of gunpowder filling the air, drowning out all other smells, as the men began to try to defend themselves. What little good it would do. A second explosion roared from down the street, back towards the square. They were trapped now. Now it was just a matter of time before they would all be dead. As I lumbered back through the shattered window, letting out another deafening howl, and looked for my next victim, it didn’t take long. As I tore out throats with my fangs and disemboweled with my claws, I could hear the snarls and roars of my brothers doing the same, and slowly but surely the gunfire became less and less. I was drenched with blood and viscera by the time I heard a different sound, a yelp, and a whimper. One of my brothers had been injured, how badly I couldn’t know, that would have to wait, I had to hunt. As the last of the gunfire ceased and the smell of gunpowder faded, the air was thick with the smell of iron and that of those soldiers who had soiled themselves as they died, I searched for one smell, one smell that had stood out. The one man who didn’t smell of fear, even now nothing but calm, he was who we were after. He was why all these men had to die. He was who the Sound wanted. My brothers and I regrouped as the slaughter finished. My wounded brother limped over, he would survive, the injury was minor. We found the man without fear taking shelter in one of the houses lining the street. He heard us sniffing and padding up the stairs shouting at us as we closed in. “You stay away from me you fuckers, I’ll send you straight back to hell!” firing a few shots from his weapon through the closed door as we approached. One inaudible growl was enough to tell one of my brothers to retrieve him unharmed, just as the Sound wanted. We tore the door from its hinges and before the man could react his cries were cut short as he was dragged back on the street my brother grasping him by the throat, he still struggled and flailed at my brother, he had no hope of escape now. Our ears all pricked as we heard it, a door being bashed open and frantic footsteps fading away somewhere down the street. The Sound had told us to leave none alive and we must always obey the Sound. one of my brothers chased him down as we dragged the man back with us to where the Dark was. The sun was rising as we arrived back, the blood had dried on my snout and claws. My brother threw the human down in front of the Sound, he smiled as he instructed other men to drag him away. The Sound pinged again, telling us to return to the Dark. He spoke to the humans around us. “Get the poles, we must get them back to their cages, we will deal with the wounds later” Men approached with the poles, jabbing my brothers, light, and sparks erupted as they did. One of my brothers snarled and snapped at the human as they jabbed him again, prompting more humans to jab at my brother, coaxing him towards the Dark. I growled at my brother to calm him, but to no avail. With a roar he snatched at one of the humans and launched him at a nearby building, he landed with a crunch as the humans' bones shattered on impact. More humans now came with poles and other weapons and jabbed at us all, driving us into the dark. The Sound’s pinged with a continuous ear-splitting note, we all ran into the Dark to escape it. As we entered the Dark, the door behind us was shut with a heavy clang, only then did the Sound stop. Eventually, we would be fed, eventually, we would hunt again. Until then, here is where we would stay, in the Dark.