Now that it was standing up the creature was almost 2 meters tall. Each of its breath creating steam in the air. It's breathing was irregular, it looked desperate as if it was starving. Bella was frozen in place, not in fear but waiting for the right moment. She knew that every second she was not aware of her surroundings could be the last. She needed a way to defend herself, she didn't know any spells to attack and she knew werewolves were resistant to magic. Only silver could harm them enough or kill them, in the meantime all she had was ... THE KNIFE! The knife she used to collect plants, but where was it? As she was thinking about it she got her answer. When the creature took a side step to move around her, she saw the bag, right behind it. She had a mental sigh " of course it had to be right behind it ". The creature was moving to her right, they were both looking at each other. It might have been feral but it wasn't stupid, it recognized that it had to actually hunt her and not just lunge at her. '' If it was at full capacity it would charge at me until I was tired so it's probably close to death or very old. Maybe if I wound it's leg enough I can outrun it and go back to the safety of my home". People always wondered how she could stay safe in this forest with all of its constant danger around. It's because she had put runes all around her home and any ill intended creature would be repelled instantly. She wasn't a novice in magic but she wasn't a battle witch. Battle witches started appearing during the second great war but witch is a loose term as there are different ways to practice the art. Being a sorceress, an alchemist and or a magician. Sorcery is what the battle witches use, they can form spells on the second without needing to have a spirit following them nor do they need a wand or a staff. Magic comes from within themselves, from their own mana and all they have to do is recite an incantation. The incantation may vary in lenght, what mattered was the intent. Some chant to gods, some to devils, some to the elements themselves. It is said that most witches are sorceresses. Alchemists have to use runes in order to perform any form of witchcraft but they have the advantage that their power is even stronger even though if they have to fight it has to be an ambush. Runes can be mixed with components to strenghten them. Using a harpy claw for a spell granting flight, using ashes to create a fire golem. All these options were able to those willing to try. Runes can be formed on soil, with blood or anything as long as the rune within the circle is completed and that the user is still alive. This last fact isn't always true because old ruins from a century ago were discovered with tight shut rooms with doors covered in runes and the witch that had them that way died a long time ago. And finally magicians, who are more rare, also known as spirit users.They make a pact with a spirit and borrow its strength to perform magic acts. Little is known about the extent of their abilities. Most magic users are able to make use of all three branches of magic. Any witch can perform any type of magic but the problem lies in their affinity with it, one can train all their life to be a sorcerer but they won't get far if their affinity is to be an alchemist. Isabella being mainly an alchemist, she only performed little tricks in her day to day life, she didn't have time to make runes now, the werewolf was way too fast. She had to make a gamble to reach that knife. She whispered something to herself in the northern language "em ot emoc" the bag started moving towards her very slowly but she had to keep the creature's gaze on her for it not to notice. So she took a gamble and started to walk to the right, in the same direction as the creature. The lycan was perplexed that she would be so bold. So he started walking in the opposite direction. Her plan was working, the bag was creeping closer and closer and the werewolf was still not looking at it. " Come on, go faster ". The bag suddenly picked up in pace and came charging towards her "NOT this fast!". It stopped right in between the legs of the werewolf, it looked at the bag, then looked at her and formed what could have amounted to a malicious grin. The creature then proceeded to stomp and kick the bag backward even further than before.

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  " Aren't you a clever one, wanna play fetch? "

  She was trying to laugh at her own situation, what else could she do?

  " Enough games, E need to go back home "

  She decided to charge the creature and it did the same. Once again in the nothern tongue, she screamed

  " EZEERF "

  . Suddenly, ice formed at the feet of the werewolf making it unable to take another step. " Ok now that he can't move, how do I pass him? " The path they were on was so narrow that it's wingspan was big enough to grab her even if she went to the left or right. So she decided to go straight, she was only a meter away from the creature when it tried to grab her. A second later she disappeared from it's field of view as she slid between the werewolf legs.

  " EM OT EMOC !"

  She screamed again and the bag got launched itselftowards her. She thought she was about to reach the bag but then she heard a loud crack right behind her, it was the ice on the feet of the werewolf breaking. She had at best just a mere few seconds after grabbing the knife before the creature was on her. As she reaches the bag she heard the last bits of ice breaking and saw the lycan rushing towards her. But this time, she was smiling, she remembered a crucial piece, the knife wasn't the only valuable item she had in the bag. As the wolf leaped forward she screamed again.

  "GNIVOM POTS! "

  This time the werewolf got stopped in mid air as if a huge hand had stopped it. Right before it was able to move again she shoved her entire hand to the back of it's throat and then moved away. The creature being able to move again smiled at her and spat blood from the cut she just made from her tiny knife. Ready to attack again, the creature got on all fourth. He was ready to lunge but its legs never moved. Suddenly, the creature collapsed, unable to even lift its head. Isabella kneeled near the creature.

  " I think you can still hear me, sadly for you I love plants. Aconit is one of my favorite and sadly for you it's a deadly poison for your kind. I'm grateful that you stomped it because it squeezed out the essence of the plant and it was easier to cut you with a knife covered in it than to make you just swallow it. ".

  As the creature's cardiac rhythm started to get slower she could see the former human he once was in it's eyes. A deep sense of pitty washed over her. Lycanthropy was never a choice, it was a curse. Often passed down from bites but it was also a common belief that any man that would end up, for one reason or another, consuming another human being's flesh would be afflicted with such a curse. They would be forced to roam the earth as a half wolf half man creature only satiated by flesh even that of their own family. Isabella placed her hand on the werewolf's snout.

  " You are more human than any of those I see out there, I'm sorry it had to end up this way. May you rest in peace."

  As the creature expired its last breath, it managed to moan in an almost human manner as if it was saying the following words : "thank you".