Confusion mounted. There were things happening that Conner couldn't begin to understand. First, there was his situation; a girl was lying murdered at his feet and he hadn't the first clue as to how or why. Perhaps more pressing was the monster, except, it wasn't a monster at all. Upon closer examination, Conner could plainly see the figure of a massive wolf. It had to be the largest he'd ever seen. The wolf had two blended furs covering the length of its body--a light brownish hazel covered the top most portion while the soft underside was a striking white colour. The wolf's hackles were raised high, its jaws slightly slackened as bits of spittle trailed away from the corners of its mouth. Clearly enraged, the wolf drew itself up to its full height. That settled it. It was simply not possible for this to be a wild wolf. There had to be some explanation for it. As if on cue, the wolf spoke down in the alley way, its massive yellow eyes trained on a spot directly across from the butchered girl.<br/><br/>"Hey Creature! Yes, you, the one with the horrible stench."<br/><br/>Connor whirred.<span style="font-style: italic">Okay,</span>he thought<span style="font-style: italic">I could roll with that.</span>It wasn't as though he was not accustomed to magic; he was an elf for Lady Gelatinous' sake! Yet no magic he possessed would allow him or anyone he knew to transform into a behemoth wolf that could talk and kick A all in a single bound. Then he considered the wolf's words. "Creature..." he murmured. He turned round, examining the area where the wolf appeared to be speaking. There was nothing there. The young girl was still bleeding profusely, a slight heat haze hung over her form, and...<span style="font-style: italic">Hang on.</span>Conner thought. How could there be two discernible shadows? The shadow of the girl was cast naturally against the opposite wall of the alley way, but there was another...lighter than the girl's, almost silhouetted. He checked to insure it was not his own. No, it definitely wasn't. His shadow was positioned accurately three feet to the girls left. The mysterious shadow seemed to belong to the heat haze. Connor stole a glance up. The heat haze had indeed moved closer to the girl, so that it was now directly overhanging the both of them.<br/><br/>Connor shot up, backing away.<span style="font-style: italic">This isn't happening.</span>He told himself firmly. But a tentative glance towards the stone face told him the shadow had moved accordingly.<span style="font-style: italic">This is bad...</span>He realized. Strangely he hadn't made this deduction earlier. With no time to think, the sun plummeted beneath the view of the high stone walls forming the street. A sickly, gurgling sound issued from the woman at his feet, now a good 10 feet from him. The body gave a spasm and began to writhe on the ground. The woman's arms rose up; slow at first but gaining speed they tried unsuccessfully to pry nonexistent hand holds on the stone surface above her. Next moment, her legs gave a shake, and worked together with her inexplicably functioning arms to push herself up. Her head hung low as she took a shaking step forward. A rattling, rasping breath accompanied the final drop of blood spilt from the corner of her lips.<br/><br/>"What are you?" He questioned blankly, not really sure if what he was seeing was real or a horrid nightmare. The light disappeared completely over the distant mountains on the East side of the town, and the early night was interrupted with a grating noise and yet another scream.