Laurenna and I lost no time in meeting up with Tharsten Heart-Fang.  He was chatting with one of the guards when he saw us arrive.

"You've returned from the lake!" he said, in a boastful voice. "You continue to surprise me, Eldorf Dragonmeal. You will excuse me for the moment, won't you? I have matters to attend to now. I want to hear about what you found in the lake when I have more time."

"Certainly." I replied. "You know where to find us if you need us."

We turned to leave. Tharsten certainly seemed to have a lot on his agenda recently.

As we approached the front door of the Greathall, we could hear shouting, growling, and the clash of weapons outside. I ran to the door, hearing one of the honor guard shouting "Help! The village is under attack by the werewolves!"

"Werewolves!" I thought. "Laurenna, you should wait here!" I shouted.

"No way!" she replied. "We Nords never run away from a fight! I have my broadsword in the tent! I can get to it if you clear the way for me!"

There was no way I'd stop her, so the only course of action was to use the enchanted mace that Tharsten had given to me earlier.

"Ok." I said, "Follow me."    

There be werewolves here! One nearly jumped me as we left the Greathall.

A quick glance showed a clear path between us and our tent. Laurenna, seeing the same thing, made a mad dash for it and came out with her broadsword.

They were everywhere I looked, attacking guards and villagers alike.

"I'll put an end to your furry existence." the honor guard shouted.

Raising his mighty silver battle-axe, he cut through the werewolf with a mighty blow.

Even the villagers were being attacked by these savage beasts, yet, even they were able to hold their own. The Skaal were not going to lay down and die for the benefit of these beasts.

Yet another honor guard caught a werewolf trying to eat a mother and her child.

Standing between the victims and the werewolf, the guard growled "Come fight someone your own size!"

The wolf circled around the guard, looking for an opportunity to attack. The guard would have none of it. As soon as the werewolf drew a deep breath for the roar it was about to give, the guard gave a mighty swing of his claymore, cutting the beast in half.

Suddenly, I heard a young child scream! One of the werewolves was chasing him, trying to corner the child between a tree stump and a house.

Quickly, I ran to where this battle was taking place, putting myself between the child and the animal.

The werewolf snarled at me. Raising my mace, I brought it down squarely on the creature's head.

Bleeding from the mace's wound, the werewolf gave me a look that could only be described as pure hate. It knew I had no armor, making me easy prey. Still, I wasn't going to let think it could beat me.

"Yes, you know me, don't you wolf?" I shouted at it. "Well, you may win this battle, but you will certainly carry a reminder of this fight to your grave, I promise you that."

I knew it understood what I was saying. I hesitated for a moment. I could see every muscle in it's body tighten - it was getting ready to leap right at me. Quickly, I raised my mace once again, this time hitting the werewolf as hard as I could. This time, along with the physical damage, the frost damage enchantment spell of the mace overpowered the werewolf's ability to resist it.

The werewolf fell dead at my feet.

Laurenna and two of the honor guards ran to my side.

"Is that all of them?" I asked.

"I think so." said one of the two guards.

As we made out way into the Greathall, two werewolves lunged to the attack. I dodged the razor-sharp claws, and swung hard with my enchanted mace, bringing one of the beasts down. Laurenna swung at the other with her broadsword, but it leaned back, allowing the edge of her blade to glide past it's furry chest. However, in doing so, it made itself vulnerable to a smack in the back from my mace.

I reached back for another swing, but this time, those razor-sharp claws struck me in the leg, tearing a gash in my calf. Knowing that I could take care of it later, both Laurenna and I struck the creature with our weapons, killing the animal.

I felt a little weak, mainly a burning sensation from the wound in my leg. I used a potion to restore my health, but while the wounds healed quickly, the odd, burning sensation remained.

It was then I noticed something was very wrong here - the honor guard, that Tharsten Heart-Fang had been talking to earlier, was dead on the floor, his throat ripped open by his attackers. Tharsten Heart-Fang, however, was no where to be found! Laurenna checked on the upper balcony, but he wasn't there. I checked behind his throne for any hidden doors or trapdoors in the floor, but there were none to be found! Tharsten had simply vanished.

"This is odd." noted Laurenna. "First, the fort is attacked, and the Captain is kidnapped."

"Yes," I replied, seeing where she was going with this, "then the Skaal are attacked, and now, their leader is kidnapped."

There was too much of a coincidence going on here to be an accident. There had to be other players at work here, staying in the shadows.

"We'd better talk to Korst Wind-Eye." I continued.

I just wished that burning sensation in my leg would go away.