When it was revealed that the fires weren't the result of yet another attack but more feral madness from within the camp, Sonoma unleashed her fury at the elders for failing to keep the peace while she was away. Inferi was equally appalled when she found that yet another of her Metalhead crew was dead.
"It was after the late meal," Elder Hanska said. "Many wolves suddenly grew irritable and angry. They lashed out physically instead of verbally, and before long it spread like a virus. It was like something had released their beasts all at once. It was half an hour before things started to calm down, and by then they'd already torched the stockade."
"Who?" Sonoma asked, her voice cracking. "Who is responsible for this?"
"Too many," Hanska replied. "And while they were affected, they weren't in their right minds. Many I've talked to can't even remember who they were fighting, and those of us unaffected kept our distance. Most of our fighters were away on their raid—we couldn't defend ourselves. So we hid."
"We'll need an accounting," Sonoma said. "This is beginning to sound like a poison targeting our inner beasts. One of my warriors captured a virus sample from the HSM lab—they may have laced our food with it during the attack. I'll have my people compare the virus to the remains of our food supply before we have another meal."
I volunteered to assist Maker with her research on the virus the pack picked up from the HSM base.
I joined Jolon to search the pantry for signs of poisoning. Could that be the source of the feral madness?
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