• Prologue

    The moon shone down upon the forest, bright, stars shining beside it. All was peaceful, yet something was wrong. Nothing stirred, and all nightlife had ceased. Not even wind dared to blow on this fateful night. Suddenly, a blood curling howl filled the air. It was the sound of a beast not heard in over a thousand years. It had no name, and It was coming. The sound of heavy paw steps came closer and closer to a small clearing. A giant beast suddenly tore from the trees, one so horrible it was indescribable. It held a small package in its hands, and the beast hurled it to the other side of the clearing. Then, with a howl, It was gone. The package moved. It was clear that something alive was in it.

    A young wolf stepped out of the clearing, and nervously looked about. Seeing no other being was about, the wolf picked the package up and promptly ran off.

    Chapter 1
    New Companions

    A night very much like before was the one tonight. With one exception. The night was one of great happiness. It was the Festival of the Moon. Werewolves from every corner of the world gathered to the great meeting place, The Almighty Tree. It was said the very first werewolf was born under the Almighty Tree, and the force which created it split the tree in three pieces. Hanging from the Almighty Tree were lanterns, decorations, and delicious tidbits of food. The Festival of the Moon honored the new moon, which signified the beginning of a whole month of no transformations.

    As the werewolves ate, drank, danced, and socialized the night away, the Grandmother Wolf was preparing to give the announcements. It was her duty every year at the festival to break all news, bad or good. Grandmother Wolf stepped out in front of the Almighty Tree, and in her brass voice called out “Aaaaayyeeeeeee Ayyyyyyyy! All ye werewolves gather round the Almighty Tree! Grandmother Wolf has a message for ye!” All the werewolves immediately stopped what they were doing, and formed a large circle around the ancient werewolf. Grandmother Wolf cleared her voice, and then began “The Great Wolf has been kind past year. Transformations have been not so many. But I came upon much bad news in my trek to the North Lands. A Lycan has been discovered.” All the werewolves gasped. A Lycan had not been seen in countless years. A Lycan was a type of were wolf that could change from wolf to person at will, as well as a mixture of the two. Even more so, a Lycan could speak in wolf form.

    Grandmother Wolf looked around once before speaking “The Lycan is a girl. I heard that the Lycan was brought by Je-Wolf! Je-Wolf flung the Lycan into a grove of trees, where she was recovered by a wolf-mother. After I spoke with the wolf-mother, I spoke with the oracles of the Great Wolf! They told me of a prophecy, one of the Lycan girl.” Grandmother Wolf coughed once, then continued “The oracles said

    ‘She who chooses no side
    Will bring the tide
    And rid the world
    Of an evil so great
    If she were to fail
    Fire awaits ’”

    The werewolves started murmuring about the prophecy. It made little sense. Then Grandmother Wolf yelled “Aaaaayyeeeeeee Ayyyyyyyy! I bring ye the Lycan!” Some were-wolves began to beat the drums, and suddenly, out of the trees dropped the Lycan, roaring, a frightening sight. Red markings had been painted on her, to make her more fearsome. Then she yelled “I am Tamani! I have come to fulfill the prophecy!” The other were-wolves replied by beating the drums louder and louder until Grandmother Wolf silenced them by yelling “Silence ye selves!” she paused, then continued “You all know how our kind have been hunted by the vampires as long as ye can remember. This Lycan has been sent by Je-Wolf to kill the King of Vampires, Vizka Jefta”. Grandmother Wolf spat after she said the name. The others did so too, and she continued “Yon Lycan will travel to the far Western Lands, where the vampires have stolen our sacred hunting grounds! She will travel through the human territory, to the vampire land. The Lycan will choose three of ye to travel with her. Now, line up, and show yon Lycan ye are worthy to travel with her!” All of the fit were-wolves lined up, and Tamani and Grandmother Wolf inspected them. Grandmother Wolf picked out two males she deemed fit, and Tamani chose a scrawny female.

    Grandmother Wolf supplied each a pack of supplies, and then she yelled “Aaaaayyeeeeeee Ayyyyyyyy!” Soon all the others began to yell that, and the four companions started off, lead by Tamani. Once they were out of sight, Grandmother Wolf rubbed her head and thought what have I done??



    Tamani loped quickly through the forest, with her companions not far behind. Before they started off, they had introduced themselves. The other female of the group was Luce, the first male of the group was Peero, and the second was Wydant. Tamani saw no reason for having companions, but Grandmother Wolf had said it best. Her keen eyes saw the trees coming to an end, so Tamani called back to the others “Your forest is ending. Soon we will have to change into human forms.” Wydant whispered to Peero “I think yon Lycan is going to be to bossy.” Peero nodded. Suddenly, Tamani skidded to a stop. She then said “Time to transform”. The three were-wolves shuddered, but began the transformation. Tamani however, had already changed. Lycans had the power to change incredibly fast. Moments later, the others had finished, and Luce called out “Lycan, where have ye gone?” A slender, blonde human girl slipped out of the trees and said “No where, were-wolf.” The boys then nodded to Luce, and Tamani started out again, not so fast. Her skimpy human legs simply could not take the same long strides.


    The forest ended abruptly, and the group slowed to a human pace. The sun was beginning to show towards the east, and the humans would soon rise. Tamani and the others waited in the shadows until the sun rose enough, and the humans had begun to walk about in the streets. Usually, the safest time for a werewolf to travel in human form was during the daylight, when other humans were about. It was easier to blend in then. Tamani signaled to the others, and they began to walk apart from each other, all heading to the end of the town, which was several blocks away and not yet seeable. Suddenly, a muscular young human who had appearance of being eighteen, same age of the werewolves human forms, approached Tamani and said “Hey pretty girl! Ain’t seen a girl like you before.” Tamani replied with no emotion “Then pretend you never met me and get out of my way”, dropping her natural tone and accent. The young man, slightly surprised at the reply said “Well now Miss, you didn’t have to go and say that. Folk like you have no right to get all uppity in the presence of a man like myself.” Tamani glared at him with her stone green eyes and said “Too late, because I already did. Now shove your ugly face out of the way!” She pushed in front of him, but the young man grabbed her arm roughly and said “Insulting, getting uppity, two strikes. Three and I’m taking you to the sheriff.” Luce shot Tamani a glare, but she ignored it and said “Sheriff? I consider my bottom more important then your sheriff!” The young man then said “Right, you’re coming with me miss and your pals too. You might be strangers to these parts, but you can always learn something new.”

    The young man dragged Tamani by the wrist towards a building, with Wydant, Peero, and Luce following. Though Tamani wrestled as much as possible, her Lycan strength was not with her. The young man dragged her into a building, where there was an odd looking human sitting at a desk, inspecting some papers. The young man then said “Sheriff Quito, this one was getting all uppity and insulting me and you” The sheriff did not look up as he said “Brian, insulting is not a crime. I’ve got work to do. Take your girl and be gone”. Tamani, angered, replied “I am nobody’s girl. So Sheriff is signing up for swimming lessons work these days?” picking up an application for swim lessons that was on the top of his paper pile, with the Sheriff’s name written on it. The sheriff turned red, and then said “Get your sorry little bum out of my sight before I get my gun out.” Tamani simply stuck out her tongue at the sheriff, and knocked a lamp off his table. The sheriff, very angry now, pulled his gun out of the holster. Tamani simply ran away after wrestling out of Brian’s grip. She called to the others “The humans! They have a gun!”

    The others sensed the urgency, and began to run with Tamani. Soon, they had cleared the town, with Brian and the Sheriff yelling after them. They cleared the town, and entered a woody patch. Peero glared at Tamani and said “Ye fool! Your arrogance nearly got us caught. And you know what humans do to Lycans and Werewolves.” Tamani replied “I simply put them in their place.” Wydant pushed forward and said “Don’t keep on. Those vampires have spies everywhere. The sheriff could have easily been one.” Tamani snorted then Luce said “Stop arguing and get on. We need to clear another town before we go down for the night”. The others said nothing, but began to walk again, this time with Wydant in the lead, and Tamani trailing. She grumbled out how it was her mission, but said nothing. The woody patch ended shortly, and the group of four entered another town.

    This one was larger then the second, with more people wandering the streets. The dusty road was full of people. No humans bugged them as the four silently slipped through the streets. Luce cringed at the sight of iron weapons and tools on display. Iron was the only thing that werewolves and Lycans feared. Wydant motioned to Luce, and she continued on, Tamani still grumbling. Already, she disliked her companions, Peero especially. They were ignorant, and annoying. They didn’t know how to listen. Tamani kicked a stone, which created a pile of dust where it landed. She sneezed but followed the others, lagging greatly. Tamani raced forwards, to avoid an elderly man. Humans who were old thoroughly frightened Tamani for no apparent reason. Catching up to the others Luce said to her “Why do ye race so fast?” Tamani did not reply, but silently walked on. This town was incredibly large. Wydant stopped walking, and so did the others. He then said “Yon inn is we must stop. We can get news there”. The others nodded. Tamani said nothing, and grumbled as she followed the others into the inn.

    Inside it was homely, and cool. There was a fireplace with no fire, as it was warm enough to be without it. There was a wooden bar, with five seats at the bar. One of these was occupied by someone in a large coat, wearing a big floppy hat. Peero gave him a strange look, but said nothing to the others. Wydant and Peero slid into a table together, while Luce and Tamani sat at the bar. A waiter walked to the boys and asked for their order. Wydant replied in a voice unlike his own “I would like a glass of water, and a bacon sandwich. And a newspaper, if you please”. Peero ordered nothing, and stared blankly at the table, bored. Tamani ordered water, as did Luce. It wasn’t a very cheery place.

    The man beside Luce and Tamani waved away the waitress, and removed his hood. Tamani instantly recognized him. It was Brian, the young man who had given her trouble in the other town……


    Pronounciaiton tips:
    Tamani: Tah-ma-ni
    Wydant: Wy-dant
    Peero: Pee-ro
    Luce: Loose