Murudius

In these the waning years of my life, I write about the most interesting point of my career. Never would I have dared write about this event in my younger years or while I was of lower rank, but now that I am an old general I don't think it will hurt. You see, the reason I dared not write about it earlier was that the legion hates to admit events like these happen. They claim to have control over the mad lycanthropes. The fact is, they do not have any control whatsoever. 
The first day of that horrific experience started out well, we had just eliminated some bandits who had run deep into the Argonian swamps. There were seven of us: Murudius and I, both Imperial pikemen; Nachin our Redguard blademaster: Captain Weltus, the leader of the expedition; Gro-Ard, an Orcish brute; Areth, our Wood Elf archer and an Argonian guide whose name now escapes me. It took us six days to travel out there and we were taking our time getting back, talking about what every legionnaire talks about: fame, fortune, women and booze. It was approaching night and everything seemed perfect until from up ahead our guide let out a scream that stopped us in our tracks and chilled us to the bone. We ran towards the source of the scream only to find our guides blood covering the ground. The captain figured that some beast had taken him and decided that we should move on without him. 
It wasn't long before we found some of the remains of our guide and the creature that had killed him. The creature hadn't noticed us yet and being young adventurous men, we thought it would be exciting if we could bring down a beast this big. Little did we know, it would be our undoing. We decided that Murudius, Gro-Ard and I would engage the creature so that Nachin could strike it from behind while Areth and Weltus supported us with arrows and magic. The three of us attacked the creature but it was much more intelligent than we had thought it to be. It managed to snap my spear in half and knock over Nachin with its tail while evading the arrows and spells. The battle was only won when it bit into Murudius's shoulder giving Gro-Ard a chance to put an axe into its back. Mortally wounded, the creature retreated into the brush, but we thought it would be wise not to pursue it.

On the second day Murudius complained of a headache, but we thought nothing of it. We were much too busy keeping an eye on our surroundings in case the beast decided to return. 
On the third day we knew Murudius had contracted some disease from the creature and knew we had to get to a civilized place soon. Without our guide we didn't know of any nearby villages and could only head to the nearest imperial town, four long days away. That night we were all awakened by a scream from Murudius. We rushed to his bedroll and found him there thrashing in pain. But Murudius was no longer the man we knew, he was changing into something like the beast right in front of us. Foolishly the captain went over to help, but was hit hard in the side of the head by a reptilian arm. The monster that was Murudius didn't stop there, he continued to claw away at the captain, turning his body into a sickening bloody mess. The rest of us scrambled for our weapons and armor, but were too late. The creature had grabbed Areth and disappeared into the night with great speed. 
We kept on the move that night and into the next day. Deciding that the creature that had bitten Murudius was a lycanthrope, we figured we'd be safe if we moved during the day. Later that day after some rest we stumbled on some of Areth and his equipment. Among his stuff I found Areth's bow and the Black Tip, an arrow Areth claimed his ancestors had used and that it always killed in one shot. I figured that if he told the truth it would help me slay the monster.

By evening we found a river with one shallow crossing and decided that it would be best to stay here for the night because we could see the monster before he came from either side and be prepared for him. Something didn't feel right about the plan, but we figured it was better than going through thick brush where the monster could be waiting for us anywhere. When I heard a great splash to my right I realized what was wrong, the monster had looked like one of the great reptiles of the region the natives called the crocodile and I recalled them to be excellent swimmers. I turned to the right and was greeted by a shocked look on Nachin's face as he was being pulled under the surface. 
Gro-Ard and I took no time in running away from there with the roars of the monster behind us. The monster gave chase and as he got closer behind us I pulled out Areth's bow and fired the Black Tip. The arrow went into its right shoulder and only seemed to make the monster angrier and faster. Gro-Ard stopped ahead of me, turned to face the monster and took out his axe. Letting out his own roar, Gro-Ard charged the monster and engaged it in a fierce combat. Gro-Ard managed too little damage to the monster before he was ripped apart. Knowing that it was going to catch me I turned, brandished my short sword and braced for the impact of the monster. It ran into me like a boulder down a mountain slope, knocking me over and making me lose my short sword. The monster roared in triumph and I thought I was doomed, but without thought I pulled the Black Tip out of the monsters shoulder and rammed it into the top of the foul creature's mouth. Screeching in pain and agony the monster turned and fled deep into the swamp never to be seen again. 
I came out several days later at the local garrison. I told my story to my superiors but they thought that it should never get out that almost a whole patrol had been wiped out by one creature, so they came up with some story about all those who had gone with me being moved to Skyrim or some other such place. For years I have kept this story to myself, but now I feel it is the time for it to be told, even if I do lose my rank for it. Let the power of the lycanthropes be known.