No Such Thing As Werewolves by Chris Fox

Spanish and was spoken by many of the natives in this land. The land itself was Peru, though he was near the border of another land known as Ecuador. Beyond that was a more massive nation called Brazil. Through the man’s mind, Ahiga glimpsed vast cities, cities of millions, and they weren’t the only ones. There were other lands on other continents. The most powerful were on the continent to the north, the continent of his birth. He continued his exploration, dimly aware of the man’s trapped consciousness fluttering like a caged bird in his iron grip.
    Interesting. The world contained scattered myths with grains of truth. Werewolves, a crude but accurate description for Champions. Though much of what they knew was wrong, they even remembered the ancient enemy. The man’s knowledge painted a romantic picture of the deathless. Was that the enemy’s doing? Perhaps they had modified the genetic memory of their unblooded just as the Mother had done. If so, it did not bode well.
    Shock shivered through Ahiga’s mind as he discovered the root of the technology the people of this world had employed. They used signals indiscriminately, blanketing the world to deliver messages to their communications devices. They did so in ignorance, unaware of the tremendous abuse such a network could allow. Of how it could be employed to shape their minds and even their bodies.
    Ahiga retreated back to his own mind, releasing the unblooded. Miguel, he called himself.
    “What did you do to me?” Miguel rasped, rubbing at his neck with a calloused hand. He no longer reached for the knife.
    “Such information is useless to you,” Ahiga explained in the tongue he had stolen from the man. He released Miguel’s wrist and took a step closer to shore.  
    “Why?” Miguel asked, clearly still dazed from the experience.  
    Ahiga wasn’t surprised. Sifting a mind disoriented the target.
    “Because you are about to die. All who draw breath in this village are about to die,” he answered calmly. He channeled a spark of energy into his right hand, extending the claws that were his birthright. They gleamed wickedly as they flashed for the man’s throat. Miguel collapsed in a spray of blood, and his body toppled into the water with a muddy splash. He didn’t even have time to give alarm to his fellows.
    Ahiga turned toward the village, making his way between the ramshackle huts. There was grisly work to be about. Important work.

Chapter 7- The Ark

    “Wait till you see the inside of this place,” Sheila said, boisterous enough that even coming from her the words sounded a bit forced.  
    Maybe Blair was just being paranoid, but he wasn’t so sure. He paused a moment as she unzipped a tall domed tent and ducked inside the white canvas. Blair followed and was surprised to find that he could stand at full height. Despite how thin it was the fabric warded the worst of the chill.  
    “You guys have some great friends,” Blair said. “We never had anything like this on any of the digs you and I were involved with. You remember the debris huts we had to make ourselves? This place is paradise.”
    “Yeah, and that’s what I want to talk to you about.” Sheila lowered her voice. Her dark eyebrows furrowed. “Listen, I don’t know what we’ve gotten ourselves into here, but I don’t like it. The way the Peruvian government found us is too convenient, and they definitely have more resources than any government I’ve seen, especially Peru. Take Jordan, for example. He’s the bully they left to babysit. You know what? I don’t think he’s military at all. He reeks of corporate money. No military I’ve seen has access to so many high-tech toys. Like this little satellite dish he sets up every morning. And the pair of little black drones that circle camp.”
    “Who cares about the funding? We’re diggers, Sheila. We’re here for the knowledge, and if we have to kiss a little corporate ass to get it, that’s part of the gig. You were the