Prologue
5 years ago
Asilan sat in the kitchen with his mother waiting for their father to return with news of where his sister was. She had been missing for most of the night and now that it was morning they began to worry. Asilan’s father left early in the morning and he hadn’t returned since then. Not a word was spoken since his father left and the it was starting to become unbearable to him that he finally said,” What’s sis doing, mom?”
“Probably hanging with that human boy,” his mother said bitterly. “If she’s not careful she’ll expose the...” but she stopped suddenly as Asilan’s father ran into the house carrying a bundle in his arms. Tears ran down his face. And as he stepped into the kitchen Asilan finally noticed what he was carrying; his sister’s cold, lifeless body.
“What happened,” his mother said in an extreme struggle to remain calm.
“She let it slip about the her and the pack,” his father said with a strained voice, “the boy was carrying a silver knife with him,” he chocked a little, “stabbed her in the heart.
“We need to inform Lisom, we need to get the pack out of here. For now we need to get out of this house. The human guards are probably coming this way with their silver bullets.” Asilan’s mother immediately stood up and started grabbing things. “Forget possessions, Asilan. Only grab what you need; clothing, food, anything.”
They spent the next ten minutes running around the household gathering things. His father managed to get hold of Lisom and he called an emergency escape to the other wolves in the area. There were to meet at his place in less than thirty minutes then they would soon begin their run from this place. They laid his sister in her room and began dousing her in gasoline. His mother explained later that so they can’t profane in death. Before they left they threw a match into her room and they fled the house as the first of the black smoke formed behind the windows.
It took them about fifteen minutes to reach Lisom’s home. Wolves were already congregating there and the house was beginning to become full. “Don’t worry about those,” said Lisom with his deep commanding voice, “we will hunt our own food. As for clothes, we will be running as wolves; we need none.” He then walked over to the new arrival of wolves and also instructed them to leave the possessions they brought behind.
Asilan and his parents dumped the little amount of items they brought with them onto the already large pile of food and clothing. Then they started stripping off their clothing and let their bodies take the form of wolves.
The transformation was very quick but it was very painful. His mother sat down and laid her brown fur covered head onto her front paws. Her eyes were glassy as if she were blind. His father was pacing around the room as rust red wolf. Asilan was the same color as his father. He walked over to his mother and buried his muzzle into her neck fur.
“Dammit,” Lisom said running into the house, “they found out about this place already. Everyone, run into the woods I will meet with you latter. Any males who wish to stay and give the others time to run, stay with me.”
I’ll stay Asilan’s father said in though speech, and don’t worry, I’ll see you in the woods again. Then we can go find us a new home with the pack.
Yeron, his mother said, please come back, please.
Do not worry Teropa, I’ll see you and Asilan soon. I promise.
But he never returned. They made their escape to the woods and eventually found a clearing where they stayed for the night. Wolves who stayed back to fight returned one by one in the early morning hours, but by noon Asilan’s father still hadn’t returned yet. Then by night wolves in their human forms started appearing with bodies of fallen wolves: still no father. One of the forms who wasn’t carrying a body came over to them and told them that his father and Lisom were captured by the humans and they would most certainly die. Asilan stood there in shock and his mother howled mournfully at the rising moon.
They buried their dead and set out for a new home, coming across a small village known as Yerl, where they promptly settled.
Chapter 1-Asilan
Asilan walked into the darkness of the kitchen. He flipped a switch and saw his mother sitting at the table in a nightgown tapping a clawed hand on the table. The surrounding air seemed heated by her anger. She took a sip of her coffee and finally said, “So where have you been?”
“Out,” Asilan replied.
“At two in the morning?” She took another sip of her coffee.
“I wasn’t endangering the pack. I was just with some friends.”
“Human friends?” his mother asked raising an eyebrow. Asilan nodded slowly. “Asilan, if you need friends or someone to hang out with I’m sure some of the pack would be happy to oblige.” She stood up and put her cup in the sink. “We can’t risk befriending the humans: remember what happened at Tirisk?” she asked sadly.
“Asilan, I don’t want you my last pup killed,” his mother said with worry. “Your sister, your father; I couldn’t stand it if you died too.” Tears started to stain his mothers face, but she quickly regained composure. “Don’t be with those humans more than you have to, Asilan. Now get to bed.”
