Therelia watched in horror as the girl convulsed on the forest ground, patches of brown fur thickening over her human skin, while the rest of the pale skin darkened, bulged, and became a knobly armour of tough wood. Thorns pushed through that outer layer, splintering wood, and punching bloody holes through the fur. The blood remained, but the holes closed almost immediately.

Outwardly, she was calm and collected, ready for the battle ahead, but inside, the Elf was recoiling in revulsion, certain now that this could only be the work of a Dark Elf.

The girl's fingers twitched as thorns replaced the nails, and her back arched as the base of her spine elongated, fur sprouting and thorns ripping. Her jaw snapped, and Therelia could see her canines growing, taking on a sickly green hue. She realised they were no longer teeth, but thorns that now filled a wolf snout. In fact, her whole head was now that of a wolf.

Her eyes, which had been screwed shut, snapped open, and they were now dilated and tinged with yellow. They locked on the trio in a mindless fury, and she snarled, baring her thorn-fangs at them.

"Get back!" Therelia warned and dived away from this monstrous figure as it lept to its feet, the tattered red cloak streaming behind it. Carus was too slow, and with one swipe of its hand, it did to him what Siobhan had done to it while it was still in human form. The wound dripped with a sickly green substance, and the Elf knew that the monster's claws were poisoned.

"Don't let it touch you," she called to Siobhan, and he barked in affirmation. Carus could take care of himself; she had to deal with this monster before it could do any more damage to the Shifter society. It was likely the cause of the recent mayhem in the Manticore Mountains.

Siobhan carefully circled the monster, lunging at it every now and then to rip a piece out of its hides, all the while avoiding the lightning fast claws. His efforts did not seem to slow the monster down, however, mas each wound regenerated immediately. Sooner or later, the monster would catch him, and he would be unable to counteract the poison in his body.

"Let me take over!" Therelia yelled, "Watch Carus!"

Immediately, Siobhan backed away and ran to stand guard over her mate, who was using a mix of Druid and Elven magic to purge the glowing poison from his wound. Paying no more attention to them, Therelia centered her mind, focusing her sole attention on the monster who had been a girl.

Then, lunging forward, she attacked.

~

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