With her earnest success out in the open it was harder and harder for people to ignore them. With her dragging body after body to them and depositing it at their feet it was hard to ignore them too. When she came back bruised and battered there was worry. The bites and the scratches were looked over; she had gotten lucky. There was concern over her health and perhaps she too had contracted lycanthropy. A few checks and the passing of a full moon went by and she was cleared.

There was no celebration for her; there was no celebration for those that they must mourn. There was the somber reality that they were still in a bind; for the lycan population here was that of a problem. Two packs gone into the night; butchered by the same woman. But a third problematic pack sprang out of thin air.

They attacked a family on the edge of the territory of the first two’s; butchering them in cold blood and slaughtering the livestock that they kept. Leaving the bunch of them dead to the cold open air. It wasn’t something many could stomach but them leaving behind the bodies gave clues to what else they pursued. What else they did.

While they didn’t take the corpses they took much in the way of bread, dried meats and the like. Supplies for a long telling journey or for the upcoming winter. It meant a stockpile; it meant that they’d get bolder if left alone. A warning out to all the families yielded very little; many farmers didn’t want to leave their homes and many more didn’t seem to care. So what if they came? So what if they killed them all?

It just meant more for them or for others. The woman sat against a fencing of one such abandoned farm; mulling over the various ‘attacks’ and looking for a pattern. She had a few guesses where she could go but… None of them really shared a point of interest together. Which meant that… Each werewolf of the pack was sticking to it’s own area and making sure that none of them crossed back in terms of sightings. Which also meant that they would be harder to track down.

She could see some overlaps of where they hunted; some overlaps of attacks. But nothing concrete enough to act on. Time passed and she was left wanting, little less than a week and almost three more homes were destroyed. This time they had kidnapped the residences, this time they had taken everything. There was next to no sign of a struggle. Even the storage was cleared out; not a single thing left for anyone. It had been a collective effort; the very first from this group. A daring effort that she had to track.

They took the cattle and that would lead her to where she needed to go; into an old cave system that had been marked as death for many. Lucretia figured that this was the reason they got around so quickly too. Gritting her teeth; lighting up a torch she was greeted with the grim reality. Many more warning signs inside; scratched by different types of people. But the further she got in the less vibrant they got. The final warning sign was coated and written in blood. Her expression softened when she saw the skeleton laying at it’s feet with a paper clutched in it’s hand. She wouldn’t let it go unread, leaning down to pluck it out of it’s fingers; she'd find a dusty and old written letter to someone from a nearby settlement. Given the age of the letter it was doubtful that they were alive but she’d store it away in a pouch for later.

Walking in deeper she’d find a few forks; taking varied routes to only find collapsed passages or things she couldn’t squeeze through. Eventually she’d come to… a lit intersection with a pair of ragged men that were playing some cards.

Their eyes met and maybe for a fraction of a second lucretia felt like she had found maybe a smuggling ring instead of what she was after. But the sudden and rapid transformations of their flesh and towering builds brought that assumption to a close. Her sword rang out of it’s scabbard and she’d take a wide prepared stance. She wanted to save her magic for a little later.

They both attacked her at the same time, but she brought her sword around in a brutal arc. One managed to stop itself short; saving it from a cruel fate while the other’s chest she practically sliced open from one way to another. Her sword biting deep into it and getting stuck about halfway. This was much better than fighting them hand to hand. Planting a boot on the convulsing werewolf’s chest she’d kick it backwards off of her blade.

The second werewolf took a chunk out of her pauldron, making lucretia stumble backwards. Her torch falling to the wayside while the wolf pounced forward; it’s jaws opening wide to try to bite her neck. But she’d shove her sword’s point forward intercepting the werewolves bite by jamming the sword through it’s skull… from inside it’s jaw. She felt the weight of the werewolf pin her against the ground for a few long moments and she’d snort.

”Never a word wasted with them… Tch. That or I’m getting too well known here.”

She’d push the werewolf off of her and collect her sword. Having to brace herself in order to do so; she could see that the weapon had seen better days but what could you do really? The woman adjusted herself and collected her low burning torch. An operation like this likely meant that there was a few more than the others.

From what she could tell there was five or six over all. Four to five packmates and one alpha. They rarely traveled together so there was little cohesion but they were able to cover a larger array of ground than the others.

She’d happen across another lit intersection. Finding no one there but a lantern and some dried meat sacks. With the same sigil that one of the raided farms had on it’s doorway. She was getting closer to the center. She could feel it.

Lucretia continued forward; eventually coming to a locked door. Scowling a bit she’d test it and look around; there was nothing here and she could distinctly hear laughing coming from beyond the door. She’d test it again and then with a firm boot to the door she’d kick it off of it’s rusted hinges.

She was greeted with a sight that many would normally recoil from. But she knew better. A group of three greeted her. All in ragged clothing and all of them freezing the second her torchlight hit them. Their eyes dilated and lucretia hardly gave them any time to do much else. Leaping forward with her blade extended. She knew that these were who she was looking for.

The first of the bunch maybe got halfway into his transformation before Lucretia’s sword point got him through the throat. Stopping it dead in it’s tracks while the other two roared at her. She wasn’t exactly skilled with the blade or fast by any means but she was the hunter here. She was the one that would be claiming all that had been lost.

The other two didn’t take kindly but neither of them were larger than the other. Her torch was knocked aside by one of their swipes and one of them would send her stumbling backwards. Almost tripping over a barrel while it went to pin her. Unable to really utilize her magic in her position she’d instead rely on her sword. Stabbing the werewolf through either eyesocket while he tried to pin her to the ground. Then kicking him up and over her with her sword still lodged in it’s skull.

Getting back to her feet was no easy feat as the other Lycan tore into her armor, sending her tumbling. Though she was able to get back to her feet just shortly before hitting the wall. Growling and unarmed the Icebergian would stomp her feet. Letting out a roar of challenge as her armor was overtaken by a frosty exterior. The magical seal doing it’s grisly work very quickly. The blocky plates of armor would help her in the few moments to come.

The fourth werewolf would charge her, the two of them exchanging blow after blow and she would skid back each time it landed something on her. It seemed not to react all too much to her own strikes which was a tad bit worrying. But noting how scarred it was… meant that it was a lot tougher than she probably was expecting.

It was either the beta or the alpha. The former felt a little more likely than anything else. An opening in it’s swipes let her draw back her magical seal springing to her primary hand. She’d step forward in rapid succession and with a point blank shot she’d hear the lycan in front of her cry out in pain as the shard pierced it’s chest.

She’d watch it crumble in front of her and she’d grit her teeth. All of this felt a little too easy and just as she was about to collect her sword the woman was sent flying by a force she didn’t see. Crashing into the a group of crates and she could feel her armor take a good brunt of the force from the something that had snuck up on her. Standing up, broken sword in one hand and the icy armor still intact she’d get a good look at what had whalloped her.

A creature that stood a full three feet taller than she was, rippling with muscle and ill intent. It’s reddish fur stood out and reminded her a little bit of a few of the friends she had up to the north. She’d square her shoulders and glance at the broken sword that now sat in her grasp. It would be of little use but it still could be a distraction for a moment.

The lycan alpha approached her and she’d throw the sword at her opponent, it’d snarl and bat it away just as lucretia herself leapt forward to punch it directly in it’s chest. It’d laugh and bat her away with a casual swipe, Breaking off some of her armor in the process and sending her flying. She’d crash down among some more crates of various food stuff and a guttural chuckle followed suit.

”Normally we don’t get to eat too well; the shepherd sees to us but he never had any rules about eatin hunters. I prefer my meat a little tougher than others. So get a good work out lass-”

Lucretia was on her feet without a word, drawing her fist back with a magical seal sprouting out of thin air. She’d growl and send an ice shard flying forward. The werewolf bringing up his arms to block where he thought it was going. Only to grunt in pain as it punched into his leg. Mobility first. Then onto the attack.

Lucretia practically lept forward again, finding herself at odds with the werewolf alpha. He’d swipe again and she’d find her inertia met by a force that overwhelmed her and sent her flying yet again. Crashing down into the ground and grunting in pain as she slid along. She definitely cracked a rib there! This armor was doing work but she could tell that the alpha was also making short work of the stuff.

Standing up slowly she’d find the alpha looming over here. In her grasp she held something that had been batted away not even a few moments earlier. But the alpha wasn’t about to let her do as she pleased; picking her off of the ground and slowly squeezing with it’s claws. Causing the woman to start to kick at him with a look of pain on her face.

”Struggle all you like. Once I kill you the farmers are next.”

Letting out a roar of anger, Lucretia brought her fist around; the one holding the remains of her broken sword and stabbed it directly into the throat of the alpha that was slowly trying to crush her chest. She felt the bit of resistance and then… a spray of blood told her that the sword did it’s grisly work. The alpha’s fists clenched and then loosened as his hands shot up to try to stop the bleeding. Leaving lucretia in a heap as she watched him swipe around…. And eventually topple to the ground. Gritting her teeth she’d slowly stand up and rub at her neck.

”....Guess I need to do some digging and find out who this shepherd is…”

It would be practically a day journey for her to get back to the nearest village with her prize in tow.