Cursed Bite

Forgotten and dying within the depths of the Great Forest and with only the moonlight for company, Lars looked back at his wounded arm. The creature had torn off a sizeable chunk of sinew and skin, but Lars could have sworn that the gaping wound in his flesh had been much larger just moments before. Furthermore, the flow of blood that had been cascading from the wound had all but stopped. Curious, he stared closely at his injured arm. To his great surprise, he found that the flesh was actually healing, and fast. Shredded and torn parts of his arm were reattaching themselves, muscles were sewing themselves back together at an extremely rapid rate. He'd never seen a healing process like this. As he watched, the chunk of flesh taken from his arm reformed itself. In addition, the gouges left by the creature's teeth were sealing themselves, until soon Lars's arm looked as good as new, baring only a set of faint indentures where the beast's fangs had made contact with the skin. 

Lars was amazed but also confused. How had this happened. His gaze was then drawn to the massive moon that shone above him. Did that have something to do with it, he wondered. Was it possible that moonlight could heal certain injuries. Lars had never heard that tale before and he still had a gaping hole in his stomach so he rather doubted that possibility. But, as he continued to stare at the moon, he felt a strange pulling in his heart. It really was the most amazing sight he'd ever seen. Such a spectacular moon, it was perfectly round and it seemed to fill the sky. It filled the night with gorgeous shades of light and dark. He’d heard stories of so called supermoons, when the full moon was pulled closer to the planet for a short time, but he’d never thought that he’d see such an event in person. He'd never realised just how amazing the night could be. He'd been afraid of the night as a child, yet now he felt almost comforted by it. Lars guessed this was just the near-death experience talking. 

As he lay there, bathed in moonlight, Lars began to feel hazy. A headache was beginning to brew inside his skull and his heart thumped loudly within his ears. He lowered his head and closed his eyes in frustration. Gods, that headache was going to be annoying, he thought bitterly to himself.

Suddenly, there was a sharp snapping sound and Lars let out a loud scream of pain mixed with surprise. Somehow his dislocated shoulder had just popped itself back into its socket, and it hurt like all the fiery circles of the Underworld. Eventually, after a few heavy breathes, Lars managed to bring his eyes up to his arm. Tentatively, he poked his right shoulder and was relieved to see that, despite a slight numbing sting, it felt fine and he could once again move it with reasonable ease. However, as he admired his fixed shoulder, his sight was drawn downwards, towards his elbow, where the beast had bitten him. It looked as if thick stands of arm hair had sprouted from the skin around the bite mark. Hair that had definitely not been there before. 

Hurriedly, Lars undid the straps of his right rerebrace and pauldron. Once they were off, he removed his gauntlet. His arm hair seemed to be growing and multiplying all the way from his elbow, down to his wrist. In shock at what he was witnessing, Lars failed to prevent the hair from reaching his right hand. Without warning, knotted hair shot out of his backhand and knuckles. Lars grunted hard as sudden pain signals started to flood his brain. His hand was twisting and contorting in all sorts of directions, and he was unable control any of it. It was like his hand had gained a mind of its own. 

What was happening to him, wondered Lars with increasing panic. The hair across his lower arm and hand was continuing to thicken to such an extent that it was starting to resemble fur. Lars's stomach heaved and a feeling of dread filled him. He was growing dense, hazel fur, just like that of a dog, or even…a wolf. Memories of old stories started to form in the back of mind, but they were prematurely pushed away when the bones under his hand started to shift and crack. Peering through tears of agony, Lars watched his fingers lengthen and then the nails on that hand started to extended. His knuckles bulged profusely and by now his whole hand and forearm were covered in coarse, brown fur. His growing nails were turning black and enlarging, and Lars winced in pain as they dug deeper into his bulking fingers. The tips of his new fingernails then curled and sharpened, giving them the appearance of a set of animalistic claws.

Lars couldn’t take his eyes off his transformed hand, he was simply too enraptured by it. Nervously, he flexed his mutated fingers and grimaced as his new claws scraped together. Then he noticed that the fur was now spread up and over his elbow, advancing slowly up his arm. What had that bite done to him? Though in his heart, Lars knew what was happening, he just didn't want to admit it, not even to himself. 

~
1. Alarmed at the fate awaiting him, Lars desperately cuts off his own arm in an attempt to stop the changes from spreading.
2. Lars transforms into a four-legged wolf with only the mind of a savage beast.
3. Accepting fate, Lars transforms into a humanoid werewolf, free to fulfil his most primal desires.
4. Little did Lars know that he was in fact the centrepiece of a larger ritual, created to unleash the legendary Lycan Queen

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