• "Eddy, Eddy! Stay where we can see you sweetheart!" Serena Wing called across the meadow to the back of her small son. Her small hummingbird familiar beat its wings furiously to keep the child in sight. The boy dived into the grass leaving just blonde bobbing hair to mark his progress. Placing the picnic basket she was holding on the ground, Serena began setting food out on the cloth her husband Wilber had laid. Eddy was a good little boy, he wouldn't go far. For good measure however her familiar kept its eye out. A soft tapping from behind told Serena that Wilf Wigfreed was approaching, the usual clap of his tall staff-like cane was oddly muted on the soft ground. His old owl familiar hooted dolefully at his shoulder.

    "Allow me to assist, harrumph."

    "Nonsense Wilf, set your bones down and let the warmth of the sun relax you. Working with children you need every moment of calm you can find!" Serena chided him.

    Wilf didn't need a second invitation and tentatively lowered himself on to the cloth with a quiet harrumph. A proud man she thought, too proud perhaps. She blushed slightly at her cruelty to think such a thing of her old friend and mentor; however she wasn’t wrong. Wilf Wigfreed was infamous for his hermit like lifestyle and behaviour. Few were the people he considered friends, preferring acquaintances as they expected less of him. It therefore surprised the majority of people to find that Wilf Wigfreed was the celebrated Head Master of Saint Iondine Brochard’s Boarding School for the Magically Gifted, and yet was still such an unsociable git that seemed to wholeheartedly dislike children.

    A light breeze caressed the old mans face, he tilted his head back and basked in the simple pleasure. The owl familiar ruffled its feathers and flopped to the clothed ground. The breeze died away and the sun beat forcefully down, prompting Wilf to lower his wide brimmed green hat. A bout of giggling erupted close by and he snuck open a single eye. Wilber had crawled through the grass and pounced on his unsuspecting son, they were now rolling around in a wild tickling battle which was causing Eddy to squeal for all he was worth. Wilber’s familiar, a small sunflower-yellow fox, leapt gleefully around both of them enjoying the game.

    “It’s ready!” Serena called from beside him. She had laid out the entire contents of their basket, which was an impressive amount of food, and left little room for them on the cloth. Wilf noted that the dishes and cutlery had been placed between his feet and, turning to compliment Serena, almost put his face into a large amount of jiggling green jelly which was wibbling rather close to his head. His eyebrows twitched in amusement, appreciating Serena’s unique sense of humour. Wilber had also told him of how she’d put laughing suns on every piece of clothing in their home for a day, and made innocent looking milk leave their tongues stained bright blue for an entire morning. Serena turned and smiled shyly at him, but he didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her eyes.

    “Splendid. I don’t know if I deserved that wonderful feast.” Wilf puffed up his chest and Serena knew he was being sincere, even if he was exaggerating somewhat.

    Wilber leaned over to thank his wife. Brushing her pale blonde hair away so he could kiss her gently on the neck. A pleasant shiver spread out from the kissed spot and she smiled in happiness. They heard a little cough and turned towards it. Little Eddy tipped his head back in a snobbish fashion and superiorly announced “There wasn’t enough bread in my sandwich”. Everyone was silent for a moment until Serena dragged her laughing son into her lap and tickled him mercilessly. When the laughter died away, Serena began packing away their leftovers. Wilf offered to help but she knew that he only meant it half-heartedly. Meanwhile Eddy had run off after his father and they were now chasing butterflies across the meadow.

    That was how they spent their final day; in peace, happiness and love, because once the full moon arose everything would change.

    The sun shone its last rays of the day as it sunk into the distant ocean. The family and their friend gathered on their picnic blanket. Serena handed them each a coverlet to protect against the nights chill, and she sat little Eddy between herself and her husband. They all laid on their backs, huddled under their coverlets, and waited. Little Eddy kept them all entertained with his chatter and silly questions. Nobody had told him what they were doing in this spot, but his father had said that something special was going to happen, and that Eddy was going to see something few people got to see.

    Almost half an hour later Wilf silenced them and announced that it would begin soon. Eddy looked around curiously, trying to see what could be so extraordinary.

    “Lay back son and look at the stars.” Wilber said in his quiet rumbling voice. He was a big but gentle man. Eddy however was petite like his mother and grandmother. It didn’t seem like he would ever grow very large. “They’ll be here any moment.” Eddy grudgingly laid back but continued to fidget, he was just too excited! His father’s fox familiar nudged him in reprimand.

    A few moments of nothing had passed and now he was getting even more fidgety. The little boy was wondering where they were, and what they actually were, but Father had said they were almost here so he kept quiet. Then his uncle Wilf spoke, “Harrumph, about time”, and little Eddy saw the migration of the Greater Micans for the first time.

    It was like the stars were moving, gliding across the sky towards them. When they were closer it became possible to distinguish the dark shapes from the night sky. They were great hulking giants that swam through the air rather than flew. Very few of them had wings - they rode the magical currents suffusing the world – but all of them were encrusted with hundreds of glowing points. They were either alight with the shining orbs, had them trailing around their bodies, or their hides glowed with them. They lit up everything around them as they passed, and the closer they came the more a sense of deep rooted peace overcame the quartet lying on the ground. Eddy had long since ceased moving at all, and was gazing in complete rhapsody up at the magnificent behemoths as they sailed serenely by to only they knew where. The creatures were truly massive, though it was hard to tell from so far below, some of them would be a quarter mile in length from nose to tail tip. They came in every colour imaginable, blues, greens, reds, and some were multicoloured, but each of them was such a dark shade it was difficult to tell them apart. Their hides were just as diverse, thick skinned, long fur, short fur, scaled or rubbery. The points of light, which are the identifying mark of the micans, glowed in a range of intensities and a myriad of colours. Suddenly a lone note reverberated around them that shook the ground. The call lasted for over a minute and caused the hairs on the back of the four humans’ necks to stand on end. The bellowing cry was the signal that the sea had been sighted, though a human would have seen it a long way back if they were as high, the micans had notoriously bad eyesight. Once the first call ended many more took it up, and soon the entire migrating herd were singing and were causing the ground to quake and the trees to shake. Their eardrums were fit to burst with the noise, and so they didn’t hear the creatures creeping up from behind.

    * * *
    He took the woman first. Snatching her head in his large jaws as he leapt over, dragging her bodily after him. She died immediately, her neck snapping from the sudden force. A tiny bird fluttered around panic stricken, but it was batted away with a single clawed paw, and its life was extinguished just as easily. One of the human males leapt up and tried to draw something from his pocket, but it was too late. The second beast charged at his legs and tore them off up to his knees. He went down screaming. Another tiny creature dashed forward and was kicked aside with a powerful hind leg to lay motionless on the ground. The first beast which had attacked was already bounding away with the lifeless body of the female in its jaws. This was his preferred choice of meat. He found the flesh of females to be tenderer, and liked the extra chewy fat. He listened enraptured at the cries of utter anguish from the downed male, but quickly spun on his heels as a yelp carried over to his sensitive ears. The second beast, his sister, was hurtling towards him, but limping heavily. Looking up he spotted the old male standing over a child. Light spluttered from the intricate carving on top of his staff as he raised it up. The beast turned once more when his sister ran passed, adjusted his grip on the skull between his teeth, then raced away as the old man brought the staff down with a crack. There was no worry for the beast though, the two of them were too quick and soon out paced the magical strike streaking over the field after them. It was obvious they had out run the attack. The sister-beast let out a joyous and mocking howl in scorn. They had gotten away from the unexpected resistance, and gotten away with a meal.

    It was a good night.

    The first of the micans far above ceased their mourning cries as they reached the sea, but the rest of the migration continued to assault all those within ear shot. The two beasts stopped running when they reached the sanctuary of the small forest. Within the deep shadows they began their meal. The small body of the woman would hardly be a feast, but they could never seem to kill enough to stop the hunger gnawing at their bellies and minds. Nevertheless they would not starve, and that was all that mattered.

    They ate with teeth that never dulled, the reforming of their jaws during transformation kept them sharp and able to cut through flesh and bone like butter. They continued to eat in companionable silence, only the tearing and cracking could be heard until there was nothing left of the woman called Serena Wing. Not a trace of blood laid upon the earth where she was disembowelled, in their blind hunger the beasts had lapped up the dirt her blood had seeped into. Seeing there was nothing left the brother-beast rose to find more prey, the night was still young, and there was more time for hunting.

    The sister-beast hauled herself up to follow her brother, but before leaving she glanced behind and spared a thought for the meal that could have been, for the male she would have feasted on, or even for the small child she had barely tasted the blood of when she had taken him in her mouth, high on the chest trying to crush the life breath form his lungs. However it was a fleeting thought, soon put out of mind, but she would remember, and if ever the chance arose she would have that meal, would taste that blood again.

    Then there was only the hunt, nothing was more important than the hunt, and the two werewolves moved deeper into the forest to continue their relentless search for food.