Young Writers Society

"And out of the eternal night rose a pillar of light, a single candle flame amidst as sea of darkness. Her name was Avren, and within her burned a fire kindled by the ocean of blood about her. Tired and furious of being the hunted for so long, she rallied the humans, gnomes, and halflings, giving them the one thing they needed to survive: hope.

"'Come forth,' said she, 'and together we shall fight. For around us lies death and terror, but we can change it. Take up arms and battle, for our enemies are made of flesh and blood like ourselves. No longer shall we cower like lambs to the slaughter, but we shall be that which bites back!'"
- The Chronicles of the Hunters, Anonymous

The History

For hundreds of years, the Pack has ruled Ethnu. Nothing dared stand in their way as they hunted the lands, for they would be struck down with no mercy. They roamed unrivaled by predators and unchallenged by their prey until a woman by the name of Avren rallied the Alliance (human/halfling/gnome) and created an order called the Hunters, who stood for equality, chivalry, and law, but, above all, the protection of the innocent.

The Pack

The Pack is the worg/dire wolf/werewolf alliance. They are the apex predators of Ethnu and merciless. They aren't evil, they simply view humans as their prey. They function almost entirely off instinct. However, they are just as intelligent and often as tactful as humans, so beware.

The term for a werewolf/dire wolf/worg when referring generally to any of the three is simply 'wolf.' They take more damage from silver weapons than anything else, but other weaknesses have not been discovered.

The most dangerous wolves known are three individuals: a lycanthrope named Zylana, a worg called Valkyrie, and a dire wolf named Agrona. They often fight together, and are the alpha, beta, and gamma of the Pack (Zylana is alpha, Valkyrie is beta, and Agrona is gamma). Valkyrie is black with silvery-blue eyes and two-foot long saber-teeth (see the worg description below). Agrona is red with golden eyes. Zylana's appearance is unknown.

Dire Wolves


Worgs


Lycanthropes (Werewolves)




The Hunters are the rulers, guardians, and law enforcement of the Alliance. They are lead by Avren and three higher-ups: Gryphon, known as the Guard Dog for his protectiveness; Adalhelm who is known as the Cougar for his leadership skills; and Apophis, known as the Dragon for her ferocity.

Instead of using a currency, they are still a trade-based economy, and currently a very fair one. Basically the idea is the craftsmen and farmers supply the Hunters, and the Hunters protect them with those supplies. It's seen as a fair trade, and one the commoners and the soldiers are happy with.

The Hunters have one main stronghold called Akaron Hold, named after the star Akaron which is the brightest star in the sky, the first to rise in the morning and last to set in the eve. It consists of a large tower and walls, within which most of the Alliance population lives. The only ones outside of the Hold are farmers who need large tracts of land. When the wolves attack, however, everyone evacuates behind the walls.

There are several ranks of Hunters, with a total of seven ranks, ranging from newblood or 'puppy' to Avren herself. Avren is the only first rank Hunter who leads everything, followed by Gryphon, Apophia, and Adalhelm as the second ranks.

Basically, seventh rank Hunters are the newbloods. Sixth rank Hunters lead squadrons of newbloods. Fifth rank Hunters are in charge of companies of multiple squadrons. Fourth ranks deal with battalions which are multiple companies. Third ranks lead legions of companies. Second ranks lead armies of legions, and Avren is on the very top.

Dogs

Hunters sixth rank and above have dogs. They aren't very far into the domestication process, and still look very wolflike. They're superbly trained and of two varieties: hounds and hunters. Hounds find and run down the wolves; hunters fight them and guard their humanoid companion. They are trained in the following:

- Finding (discovering werewolves among humans without a command)
- Attack (hunters only)
- Stand Down (hunters only)
- Sit
- Down
- Stay
- Come
- Guard (a given person or items, hunters only)
- Heel
- Scenting (tracking, hounds only)
- Give Chase (hounds only)
- Halt (stop moving)

Training


*Required by all classes

Any fighter will take one selected combat class (in addition to the required hand-to-hand) where any healer will take either practical or magical medical skills. Other than that, there is no difference in what they learn. In the schedule is included the eating times and times used for taking care of your animal(s). The end/beginning of each class/break is signaled by a bell, as is curfew and the morning bell to wake everyone up.

The schedule is as follows:

Morning Bell
Breakfast (15 minutes)
Caring for Steed (15 minutes)
Combat (Hand-to-Hand)
Riding & Mounted Combat
Combat (Bows/Blades/Magic) or Medical Skills (Practical/Magic)
Lunch (20 minutes)
Survival
First Aid
Wolf Culture
Code
Dinner (15 minutes)
Caring for Steed (15 minutes)
Homework/Free Time/Detention (3 hours)
Curfew

The Races

There are three races in the Hunters: humans, halflings, and gnomes. Humans are what you'd expect. Halflings are like hobbits- small, generally optimistic, and fair-minded. Gnomes are the ingenious creators and engineers, always making something new. Gnomes are slightly smaller than halflings, reaching maybe 3' tall. Tall halflings are about 4'.

Lycanthropy

There are a few different possible outcomes of being bitten/mixing blood with a worg or werewolf: a) you become a lycanthrope; b) you die; and the least common, c) you fight off the wolf blood and remain human (or halfling or gnome, depending on which you are playing. The first usually takes a maximum of a couple weeks and a minimum of a day. The average is about 7 days before you succumb to the wolf blood. The second usually takes a bit longer- you’re dying from rejecting the wolf blood but being unable to actually get rid of it. It generally takes a couple weeks. The last is around a month and very, very rare. Avren is the only known human to survive a worg/werewolf bite and stay human.

The Characters & Rules

You can play as any of the Alliance races and anything from a newblood to a fifth rank Hunter. You must be a Hunter, though you can be a medic or mage if you wish.

The rules are simple and detailed below:

- No god-modding
- Violence or gore is allowed
- No sex or explicit romance
- Please keep cussing mild
- No killing, maiming, or injuring a character without first discussing it with the player
- Of course, be respectful to your fellow SBers
- Minimum post of four paragraphs

Character Profile Template

So, today was the day the puppies would leap headfirst into the chaos called the Hunters and the day I'd be assigned a squad of the squalling whelps. My dog leaned against my leg. She was a hunter, trained to fight, just like me. The rangers, mages, and archers were the ones with hounds- melee fighters like me kept to the stronger more combative kind. Her eyes were gold and fur a deep reddish-gray, like a coyote's.

There were exactly fifty-seven new recruits. I counted as I watched them line up. They hadn't noticed me yet, unsurprising as I was pretty nondescript as I leaned against the wall. Most of them looked the same: sheepish, scared. Some were more determined than others. One in particular caught my eye- he was pale-skinned, perhaps of Northern descent, with light brown hair and bluish-gray eyes. It wasn't his looks that made me take a second glance, but the way he glanced nervously about and eyed the dogs.

No, he was probably just nervous like the rest of the trainees.

Adalhelm made them wait a good five minutes in line, probably just to really push them, see how they would react to the unsurety of what would happen. Finally he stepped out, his huge dark hunter dog stalking next to him.

Adalhelm was a huge man, bigger than even my father. Hulking muscles were covered by full plate and across his back was slung a gargantuan greatsword I'd forged with my own hands. He was known as the Cougar for his superb leadership skills. I'd always liked the tan-skinned man.

"Perk up, laddies 'n lassies!" He yelled at the trainees. "Don' y'all know how t' be payin' attention? Stand up straight! Y' can't do t'at, y' ain't goin' nowhere!"

They did.

"Now, I don't know why y' came 'ere. Don' much care. Some o' y' I'm sure came from the wrong side of the law, others from poverty. Still more were the sons 'n daughters of artisans 'cross t'e hold, 'r survivors of wolf attacks. We've got high bloods workin' 'longside common-bred peasants, 'n natives 'longside Northerners. Halfling, gnome, human, Northerner, Southerner, halfbreed; rich, poor, outcast, outlaw, religious, godless- we don't much care so long as you follow orders and kill wolves. Don't like that, leave now."

No one moved a muscle.

"Good. Now, I'm sure y'all know why we're 'ere and what we do. By joinin', you become law enforcement, soldier, honor-bound warrior, and animal trainer all in one. You'll learn discipline, honor, law, fighting skills, loyalty, 'n teamwork. Y' can't be a lone wolf as a Hunter. We need t' work together t' defeat t'e wolves. They have the advantage.

"Now, yer gonna each be assigned to a squadron led by a sixth rank Hunter. There will be four of you and your leader in a squadron. As I call your name, step forward.

"Aspen, Victor Belmont, Ariana Wood, and Nelli Deepflare!"

Each stepped forward in turn. I sized them up. One of them was the one that'd caught my eye earlier, the shifty one.

"You're assigned to Melandri Smith, the Gryphon Squadron." Oh, was that what we were calling it? "Mel, show these puppies the grounds." Adalhelm started barking new names at the others as I came forward.

"I'm Melandri Smith," I introduced myself. "And I'm making myself clear here and now: I expect you to work hard, do as your told, and not ask questions. You will follow my orders and my rules, and you will learn to get along whether you like it or not. My rules are simple: follow orders, do your work, be respectful, and don't fight with one another. You will address me as ma'm and nothing but ma'm, and you will leave my dog well alone. Am I understood?" My voice was stern, my eyes unwavering. I wanted to intimidate them and show them that I wouldn't put up with troublemakers.

"Aspen, Victor Belmont, Ariana Wood, and Nelli Deepflare!"

A slim, red headed girl stepped forward, followed by the three others called Victor, Ariana, and Nelli. She eyed her companions as they were directed towards another female who was standing off to the right, a large guard dog by her side.

"I'm Melandri Smith, and I'm making myself clear here and now: I expect you to work hard, do as your told, and not ask questions. You will follow my orders and my rules, and you will learn to get along whether you like it or not. My rules are simple: follow orders, do your work, be respectful, and don't fight with one another. You will address me as ma'm and nothing but ma'm, and you will leave my dog well alone. Am I understood?" The sixth rank hunter almost glared at them. If this was an attempt to intimidate them, it was surely working.

The four newbloods all nodded. The one called Victor was still staring at Smith’s large dog. Aspen let her eyes drift again, a habit she was prone to. She watched at the hulking beast of a man ordered the other recruits to their respective squad leaders. She watched the more experienced hunters and their dogs pass by; some with large wolflike animals and some with slimmer hounds. “Wonder if we get dogs?” she thought to herself. Smith was still talking about something she expected them all to do, but Aspen was off in the left field somewhere. Smith cleared her throat and sent her a glare, bring Aspen to her senses.

Aspen turned a little red: she’d gotten distracted again. It was a tendency, especially when she was in a new environment. “Why did I make Echo stay in the tent…” She thought, then growled to herself. Of course, she didn’t want to look silly with that bird following her around. Echo was prone to get into trouble and make Aspen embarrassed. He had no respect for personal space when it came to dogs either, and just might get eaten. Aspen almost growled aloud thinking of it. She was very protective of her friend.

"Why is she taking so long..." Aspen heard Victor whisper to Ariana.

"Should be dismissed to prepare for training after..." Aspen shut up as Smith finished her last sentence and turned towards her. After eyeing the cadets, she waved her hand in dismissal. The four immediately relaxed as Smith strode off, the began to talk among themselves.

"So...more training." Grunted Aspen. She stretched her sore shoulder, the one she had hit in a sparring match.

"Yeah, not so fun." Victor answered, calming down now that there were no dogs near.

"If it was archery I'd have won." Aspen stated. She growled. "That's it..." Her eyes drifted again, this time in the direction the quarters. There seemed to be some commotion, then a little black dot appeared above the heads of the other hunters. As it grew closer, the outlined form of a falcon appeared. It landed on the ground in front of Aspen and squawked, looking up at her.

"There you are, crazy." Aspen almost glared down at the bird. "I suppose you thought that was so funny to tear my bed up, yes?"

The bird cocked his head to the side and cheeped. Aspen sent it another glare in reply. Every time she left him to his own devices, Echo got into some kind of trouble.

Victor Belmont

His amulet was heavy against his chest, warm against his quickened heartbeat. Hunters passed by, holding their dogs on short chains as they went. Some were barely dogs - swathes of feral grey fur flowed over their hulking bodies as they trotted past with their wolfish eyes smirking at him, as if they knew the truth about him.

Victor stood slightly sheepish next to Aspen, whom he barely knew but seemed nice enough - that was, just so long as she thought he was a human. What would they do to him if they found out? God, he didn't want to consider it. He banished thoughts of his chestnut pelt strung up and still warm to the back of his mind as a little black-and-white raptor landed beside Aspen and made a chuffing, purring noise at her.

"I suppose you thought that was so funny to tear my bed up, yes?"

Victor looked incredulously at the bird and its sharp, hooked beak. It looked as if it could definitely tear up a bed - and a lot of other things, besides. Even its plume looked dangerous, as if each feather were a sharped razorblade.

Thinking too much, Victor. Chill, man.

"It's such a cute bird," Victor began, as Aspen glared at the bird. "It's a... hawk?"

"A Falcon. His name's Echo." Aspen said, smiling ever so slightly.

Victor smiled, too - at least his blunder had amused someone. And at least her pet was an blade-beaked falcon, rather than a snuggle-toothed dog. Dog. Just the thought of it made him shudder - those yellowing teeth snapping shut against his neck, tearing chunks of his fur out as they clawed for his insides, ruthless like starved cats as they slashed.

What if he survived the dogs? He imagined their corpses lying scattered around him, their wiry hair matted with their own blood and desperation, he imagined himself standing on his hind legs around them with his chest heaving and jaws drooling crimson saliva. His tail would be quivering with horror, his claws clenched and eyes wide and terrified. He imagined the shadow of horror on Aspen's face and the steeled grimace of the higher-ranking hunters as they advanced, as much to avenge their fallen hounds as rid the world of a werewolf.

Such thoughts crossed his mind far too frequently.

Victor shook his head slightly, as if the thoughts were riverwater that could be thrown from his pelt with a determined shake, and tried to force his mind to focus on the imminent training.

Ariana Wood

The short, grey-eyed young woman stood silently, inspecting her squad members. A second chance..

What were their names again? The short, smiling red-head was.. Nelli Deepflare. The thin, anxious-looking man was named Victor Belmont.. The last, laughing as she showed off a small peregrine falcon to Victor, was Aspen, no surname given. Hm. I wonder if there’s a reason behind that? Ari thought.

As she looked them over, Victor shook his head slightly, hands clenched at his sides.

“Anything wrong?” Ari asked, voice casual, but eyes watching for a reaction.

A flash of fear appeared in his blue-grey eyes as he shook his head again.

“No- I’m fine. Just ah- excited for training.”

Ari’s face relaxed into a disarming smile as she followed his gaze and realized what it was. “Don’t worry about the dogs. They’re on our side- remember? And they’re very well-trained.”

Victor flushed, looking down. “That’s not what I…”

Suddenly, Aspen yelled from behind them, “Echo! No- don’t.. Get back here!”

Furious barking accompanied by the screeching of a certain peregrine falcon gave Ari some clue as to what was happening before she even turned around. Ari hid a smile and Nelli promptly burst into laughter, before saying guiltily, “I’ll go help Aspen sort this out.” She ran off in Aspen’s direction.

Ari glanced up at the sky. “Seems about noon- I should get to my Medical Skills class.. Looks like I train separately from you guys, my being a healer and all.”

Victor nodded, showing a bit of relief at the change of subject and Echo's distraction. I wonder why he joined up if he's afraid of dogs.. Ari thought. Everyone knows Hunters use them, after all.

"More combat training for us.." he said, sighing.

"What'd you expect volunteering for the Hunters? You're going to miss the training and mock-battles once they put us up against real wolves." Ari grinned.

"Probably." Victor smiled slightly. "I'll go make sure Aspen and Nelli are coming."

So, casting one last look at Aspen scolding her bird, Nelli laughing next to her, and Victor walking towards them, Ari turned and headed off to her lesson. She felt… disappointed. What did you expect, Ari? That your guilt would go away once you became a Hunter? She chastised herself. It would never go away, of course. But still, this was her duty… A penance of sorts. Remember...

Heavy breathing, a racing heart, terror making her hands tremble- as she had closed and locked the village gate. I didn’t know.. I didn’t know she was still outside…

Ari shook her head, gritting her teeth and clenching her hands at her sides- still walking past the other Hunters. Oblivious to the raging storm of terror, pain, confusion, and guilt that constantly ate away at back of Ari’s mind. It was strong when it came, but almost unnoticeable the rest of the time, thankfully.

As she stepped into the medical tent, heads turned for a glance at the Newblood. Ari, head swimming in pain and a dead girl’s screaming, smiled at them politely.

It was her weight. Hers alone.

Melandri Smith

I wasn't so sure the newbloods wouldn't get themselves into trouble, especially after I saw the falcon, but I guessed they would figure it out soon enough.When evening fell I'd sniff them out and bring them to the mess hall and barracks. Until then, they were on their own. I was a strong believer in throwing them into the river to teach them to swim.

I drew my sword, flipping it around my wrist before savagely attacking a wooden post. It already had numerous cuts and slices in it from many others doing the same thing. It was my first time with trainees, and I was honestly a bit overwhelmed by it. Exercising helped me collect myself.

Advance, lunge, retreat, parry, riposte.

What if they died? That would be on me. They were just puppies, trainees. Inexperienced. I had to make them ready for the field, but what if I didn't?

Block, dodge, slice, dodge, retreat.

How much should I help them and how much did I need to leave them on their own?

A sword made contact with mine. Aillion. Metal clanged and sparks flew as we sparred. Normally in a fight, I would zone out- see nothing, hear nothing, perceive nothing but my enemy. But now...I could feel my mind racing.

Advance, attack, attack, attack, attack.

He fell back at my onslaught. What if I made a mistake? I was bound to, it was my first time training newbloods.

Block,block, block, block, dodge.

Now it was my turn to retreat. What if I couldn't protect them?

Dodge, attack, block, block, block.

What if I failed them?

I found myself on my back, my sword several feet from my hand. Aillion had his foot on my chest, sword at my neck.

"Your mind is clouded," he noted, stepping off of me. I rolled to my feet and grabbed up my blade.

"Can't you just say 'is something bothering you'?"

The man shrugged. "Is something bothering you?"

"No, I just lost to you," I teased.

He chuckled. "Really, though. What's wrong?"

"Oh, just these puppies. I don't know what I'm doing. Never done this before."

"You're wondering of you can or if you'll fail them."

Damn! Was he a mind-reader or what? "Yes," I grudgingly admitted.

"You'll do fine, Mel," he told me, patting my shoulder. "I promise." With that, he disappeared into the crowds of milling Hunters, leaving me alone with my dog once more.

I sighed as I watched him go, stroking the canine. It'd been a long day.

Nelli Deepflare

After I helped Aspen get her falcon (I think it was called Echo) under control then we went to do our training. I was happy to be here as I had always wanted to become a Hunter after the wolves killed my family. "Why can’t the wolves eat other animals?" I said to myself as I arrived at the place where we would be training. I noticed that Victor still looked worried and briefly considered asking him what was wrong but decided not to, reasoning that he was just nervous.

We arrived at the place where we would be training and our trainer started talking about to fight a wolf. However I wasn’t really listening, I was thinking about what had happened to my family. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't forget what had happened. The sound of the others running to get weapons brought me back to reality. 'It doesn't matter if can't bring them back,' I thought as grabbed two daggers. 'As long as I can stop the wolves from killing anyone else.'

Victor Belmont

Victor crouched ungracefully over his horses' withers and cropped mane, standing in the stirrups with trembling legs and pulling too hard on the reins with scared hands. Horses were marginally better than dogs - he actually quite liked being around them - but galloping through a hideously open trail on the plains in search of wolves wasn't his idea of fun.

He'd spent weeks sparring and joking and watching Echo fly, growing more comfortable with the group and with the strength of his amulet. He'd forgotten about his little problem, only reminded about it by the steely glares of the hunting dogs when they passed by. Then, suddenly, Avern had called for them all to gather.

"You've finished your training," she said in the same gruff tone as usual, "so it's time for your first mission."

Those had been the words that had made Victor's stomach sink. She'd continued to talk.

"You're going to go scouting on the plains. We've had news of a wolf camp there, and we want you to check it out. It's nothing too hard - you all know how to fight wolves now, don't you? We have some evidence about a possible worg, but it's not confirmed. It'll be werewolves and direwolves, most probably."

Werewolves. People like me. Victor thought.

"So, pack up and take the horses. Remember, this is a scouting mission - nothing more. Good luck. I know you can do it."

Aspen rode on his left flank, and Melandri on his right. Arianna and Nelli rode behind, on horses of varying size. His own horse was the biggest of all of them - he was the tallest of the squadron, after all - and he'd been given a tall chestnut warmblood with a greying, whiskered muzzle and scars on its side. She had the temperament of an old dog - sweet and stubborn - and the strength of a horse half her age, something that made galloping with her even more terrifying.

"So," Victor shouted to no-one in particular, as much to calm his own nerves as to try to get everyone talking. "How are you all looking forward to the mission? Werewolves, right? Fun!"

"It'll be fine," Melandri said without taking her eyes off of the trail in front of her horse. Perhaps she'd picked up on his nerves. "It's kind of nice to get out of training, finally. We're going to be real Hunters soon."

"Yeah, true..." Victor trailed off, going silent again. The plains were depressingly continuous, sweeping brushstrokes of barley yellow and summer-grass green underneath endless overcast grey. The off-kilter horizon went on forever - no matter how far they galloped, cantered, or trotted. They continued and, in time, the lull of horses' hooves and the thud of the amulet against his chest melded together like the eternity of barley yellow, summer-grass green, and overcast grey that awaited them.

Ariana Wood

Ari watched the scenery go by, stifling a yawn. Fields and yet more fields, turned a hazy gold by the sun's dying light and extending as far as she could see. Her horse, a placid dust-colored gelding, veered off to the left every once and a while. Echo, a white and black streak in the sky, sometimes spiraled down to rest on Aspen's shoulder. There was some subdued conversation.

But other than that.. not too much had happened.

"I wonder why any wolves would camp out here. No villages to raid for miles- just the occasional farmhouse," Ari said eventually, idly deciding that talking would be less boring than riding in silence.

"Maybe they want to get away from people," Victor suggested from ahead.

"Maybe," Ari repeated skeptically. "But I doubt it."

Melandri glanced back from the head of the group, golden-brown eyes scanning the newbloods. "Doesn't matter why. They've been sighted and they're close enough to be a danger. That's why we're here," she said sternly.

"Yes ma'am.."

The group fell back into silence.

Over the next half hour, night came on and the last of the sun melted away into the horizon. Ari glanced up at the dark sky, easily finding her favorite constellation. Might be comforting if it didn't remind me of home. She frowned, looking down again and doing her best to dispel those dreaded memories... They always came when she was tired. When she didn't want to deal with them. Second chance... It'll be different this time.

Because if it wasn't.. If she failed again...

No. She would not fail them.

"Alright puppies! We didn't come across any wolf camps today and night's come. We'll camp at the clearing up ahead and continue scouting at dawn. Watch changes every hour," Melandri announced at last.

"Finally!" Nelli said as soon as their squad leader had turned away.

"Deepflare! You're taking first watch!" Melandri called without looking back.

The newbloods laughed at Nelli's expression.

After caring for the horses and eating a quick dinner of hard biscuits and jerky, the Gryphon Squadron collapsed onto their bedrolls. Ari hadn't realized how exhausted she was from the day's riding until she was under the blankets. Bet I'm going to be so sore tomorrow. But hey- this is what I wanted, right? She closed tired eyes and hoped against hope that there wouldn't be any nightmares that night...

It felt like only a second had passed before Ari was woken up to Nelli shaking her awake.

"Your turn on watchduty! Aspen's after you," she whispered.

Ari nodded, stifling a yawn. "Get some sleep- I'll wake her up in an hour."

She crawled out from her warm bedroll and shivered at the chilly night air. Pulling on a forest-green cloak from her pack, she grabbed her short-sword and settled down for watchduty.

Alright. One hour. You can do this.

But she was so tired... She fought to keep her eyes open. Twenty minutes went past and she was fighting a battle she knew she wouldn't win. Five minutes... I'll close my eyes for just five minutes...

She didn't feel it when the sword slid from her fingers and hit the dirt. She didn't hear the rustling in the sea of rippling grass- made pale-grey by moonlight...

A snarling black mass stepped from the fields, eyes a luminous silver and fangs bared at its sleeping prey.

Aspen lay down in her bedroll, silent.

It was pitch dark outside, the sky color of Echo's hood. She still lay awake, though the others were asleep. Today consisted mostly of tramping through wolf country, looking for any sign of worgs, werewolves, or direwolves. Wolves and canines in general were not Aspen's favorite animal, and though she didn't mind them, she preferred birds and horses. Speaking of birds, she still had no idea where Echo was. He had disappeared this afternoon after flying off after a pigeon. She hadn't seen him since. Now, he was probably sitting in a tree somewhere sound asleep, falcons being diurnal raptors.

She turned over in bed, having a hard time falling asleep. Not that she wasn't used to the hard ground, she normally had no problem with sleeping on the ground. It was something else. Maybe it was just her. Something just felt off. It wasn't Victor, though he had been nervous all day. Then again, he usually acted nervous and seemed like the "lone wolf" personality to her. He got along well enough with the others, but he had this weird thing about dogs and didn't especially like questions about his past. Even that wasn't too surprising, a lot of people who joined the Hunters had at least a little bit of a questionable or uncomfortable past. Aspen heard a small, whining sound and turned her head. Victor was all the way on the other side of the tent by himself. He was in his bedroll, shaking.

"He must be dreaming..." Aspen thought as she heard Victor whine again.

She turned over and rested her head on her arm. "Wonder what it's like, fighting wolves..." Aspen thought, looking at the light of the moon through the canvas of the tent. She'd never seen a werewolf, at least not one she could remember or one in real life. A few dead ones were dragged into the camp back at the training base, but that's all.

"They say dires are as big as horses. How do people fight those? We were trained, but going up against something as huge as that? What about worgs? eighteen inch teeth? That's about the size of my own freakin' dagger." Thoughts ran through Aspen's mind as she finally began to doze off. She heard Nelli come in and shake Ariana awake. Ariana mumbled something before heading out of the tent. Aspen's eyes closed as she heard Nelli get into her bedroll and immediately start snoring.

"Wonder if we'll see any wolves tomorrow..." Aspen finally drifted off into sleep.

--

There was a scream, or a shout from outside. Aspen jerked up, wide awake. The others did so as well. Melandri was the next one up, and was out of the tent with her sword in a second. Aspen fumbled around with her dagger in the dark, her hand shaking. She heard Melandri cursing and animals snarling from outside, it sounded like a dogfight. In reality, it was.

Finally finding her dagger, Aspen made her way to the front of the tent. Victor was nowhere to be seen, probably outside fighting. Nelli was beside Aspen with her sword held against her. The both made it to the exit.

There was Ariana, fighting off a large, hairy beast with her sword. Nelli rushed to help her as the wolf took a swipe at Ariana. Aspen saw Victor tangling with another wolf and Melandri holding her own against a couple of them.

One wolf, a tall dire wolf, howled and whirled, ending up face to face with Aspen. It snarled, it's huge teeth reflecting the moonlight as it crouched, eyes glinting yellow. Aspen readied her dagger, but backed up. The dire wolf took a step after her, then roared and leapt at Aspen.

The next moments were very confusing for Aspen. She shrieked when the wolf jumped and held her sword in front of her, the next thing she knew she was half pinned under the huge body, which suddenly seemed much larger. She struggled to get her arm free, only...it didn't look like her arm. Instead of what you would expect of the normal human arm, there was a bird wing. The top a sleek black color and underneath, the feathers where white. Aspen shrieked, only she didn't mean to. She meant to say "what?", but out came a raptor-like squeak.

"What in Ethnu!?" Melandri's voice rang out as she charged the confused dire. She too sounded much bigger.

Aspen gasped and felt her actual hand grip her dagger as Melandri was able to fight the wolf so it turned and was no longer pinning her arm down. She looked at her arm, and to her relief it looked like a normal arm. She stood there, looking utterly confused.

"What...just...happened..."

Melandri Smith

Now I had the dire's attention. The great beast turned to me, releasing Aspen. I could have sworn her form had changed to that of a falcon's, but it was dark and I didn't really have time to ponder the situation. Yelling in fury I brought my blade down and slammed it into the wolf's side. It snarled and fell back, revealing those three-inch-long canines as it crouched and proceeded to charge.

I leapt to the side, barely dodging the furious wolf's attack. I didn't do it very well, though - instead of rolling as I was trained I managed a faceplant. I turned and scrambled to my feet as the creature spun.

I raised my blade and stepped back, wating for its attack. There was no way I could hold my own against this thing alone with nothing but a sword.

It yelped and turned to Aspen who had her bow upheld and a second arrow nocked. Thank Avren for archers! She loosed a second projectile from her weapon, nailing the dire in the eye. It howled and charged her.

Oh, no you don't! I leapt for it, raising my blade and plunging it downwards through its ribs. The beast yowled in agony as I withdrew my silver blade now stained scarlet. Aspen delivered a third arrow through its neck as it collapsed - there was no way the beast was getting back up. 

Nodding to Aspen in acknowledgement of her aid, I turned and leapt into the mêlée, racing to aid Victor as he struggled with a big, black worg. This was the alpha and therefore my target - he was the only worg on the battlefield, and concerned me much, much more than the dire wolves or lycanthropes, and for good reason. Worgs were shorter than the dires, but they were stockier and stronger. They could go berserk and felt no pain nor any desire but the call to hunt and to kill. Most concerning of all was their fangs: two foot long lower canines with serrated insides. One slice from those and you were turned wolf; one bite from those teeth, you were turned wolf.

It turned to me as I charged and looked at me with those piercing silver-blue eyes.

Silver eyes.

Worgs weren't supposed to have silver eyes. Unless...

“And from the battlefield rose up three worgs, each different from the rest. The first was black, with eyes as deep and dark as the night sky; the second was deep red, his eyes glimmering gold; the last one was white as pure snow, her eyes cold silver tinted with blue. The look of the last was the most daunting, for nothing was behind those eyes but the simple instinct to hunt, to destroy, to kill. She was the Chosen of Winter; of survival, of vengeance, of the Hunt. the first was the Shaman, the one under Lēryth of the arcane; of the past and the future and the stars. The second was of Ragnar; of the pack, leadership, and loyalty. It was the first, however, that came to battle Avren.”

It was from the Chronicles of the Hunters, telling of how the Huntress - Winter’s Chosen - fought Avren and came to win. Her name, Agrona, came to mean the Harbinger of Death in her honor.

Was this a Chosen? Or simply a fluke?

No time to ponder it now.

I charged.