A few days before the 2nd full moon since the original ware-panther attack.

Well, these past three days have been quite an ordeal. Let me start form the beginning. The morning after we met with the Dwarven Wizard Raymond, half our party went to the swamps to hunt for wyverns, while the rest of us stayed in town.

That morning, while breaking our fast in the common room , I heard some guards talking about seeing a 'large cat', in the area. My heart skipped a few beats, I know it must have, at the mention of those creatures nearby. We had run into ware-panthers two months ago, the day we first met the monk, Dante. Unfortunately, they had escaped after their failed ambush on us. I don't know how, but I was sure they had found us again.

After talking with the guards, and checking out their story, we went out to the area the creatures had been seen. There in the snow, we found a note, in elvish, addressed to me! It was a threat, of sorts:

Lady Falahara, You are a difficult one to track down. It is almost as if you fly through the lands you travel. I hope I have not endangered your masquerade, but we both know you are not long to hide in such a place of civilization. Our Blood longs for the open wilderness. We must speak. If nothing else, I know the dark one who seeks for the White Castle. You travel with one who has something my mistress seeks. I believe we can arrange a beneficial trade. Meet me at the archery range when the moon crests the mountains, come alone. If your do not, then I will be forced to reveal your nature to the Silver Sword of this town.

Yours in Blood,
Jaga

Obviously, the ware-panther who had bitten me two months ago thought he had successfully induced lycanthropy, but we already knew this could not be, since Anuu had cast some magics on me just after that battle, and I had not changed the previous full moon. Still, I was nervous. I do no think I could stand that curse upon my being, nor any of my friends.

It was also obvious that this Jaga knew quite a bit more about our enemies than we did. Perhaps we could get some information out of him before we cleansed the world of his presence.

We had no luck discovering the whereabouts of anyone from the Emerald Enclave (an organization whom opposes the Black Blood and who would have surely given us aid), or the Silver Sword spoken of in the letter. So the four of us, Anuu, Xon, Aurhon, and I went to the meeting alone. I don't think they wanted to go at all, but didn't want me to go alone, so they hid nearby and waited for my signal.

Frankly, I was surprised that Xon was so not interested in confronting this Jaga. I still don't know if it was fear or apathy that drove him. Perhaps I misjudged this human, I must reflect on this more.

Anyway, upon speaking with Jaga, I learned that he in fact did not believe I was a lycanthrope, it had all been a ploy to lure me to him, which I stupidly fell for. I seriously underestimated this creature, who simply played off my fears. He seemed to know quite a lot about me for a bounty hunter, for that is all he was.

Jaga, along with his regular panther friends, had been hired both by the dragon Kissenth, and by Maloc to get the amulet, and our heads. But, the ignorant fool had no idea what the amulet even was, nor the power he would be handing over. He simply thought to make a deal with me for the amulet, and present our heads to Maloc after Kissenth took care of us for him.

He was quite talkative, he told me all this, and even told me about how Kissenth had a serpentine sorceress working with her and many minions. Killing Kissenth will not be an easy fight, one thing I think Jaga was right about. I thought we could probably get more information out of him as well as be more prepared to take him on, if we had more preparations, I was not the only one near him, and we had some allies with us. He surely had forces surrounding us that night, and the four of us were separated by many strides. I did not want him to get away again. So I bluffed him into thinking we would be cooperative, would pay him more that he had been offered, for him to betray his previous contract. He seemed completely interested in the prospect and perfectly willing to meet us again in three nights.

This should have allowed us to set a proper ambush, gather allies, and be sure to take him and his friends in one attack. But I didn't know the whole story.

My friends were completely baffled, they did not understand my reasoning in allowing him to walk away that night, instead of just taking him then and there, I tried to explain how I thought that he had more information, and he had had forces surrounding us, and we had been too far away from each other. The risk would be less when we were all together, plus our other friends, Bellum ,Boudicea, and Dante would be back and the fight would be much more in our favor.

I should have listened to them. It was a stupid plan. Perhaps it was fear that drove me to turn away from a fight that night. It was almost 90 years ago, but I still remember the night that the Black Blood took my brother... Perhaps it was the possibility that we would be able to take more of them out if we waited..