Howls of war

The shouts of the guards filled the air as Lyra ran through the dark forest. Her heart pounded in her chest as her feet moved with grace and speed over fallen branches and crunching leaves. Behind her, she could hear her pursuers: the royal guard of the king.

She had broken the law by refusing to marry the prince of the rival kingdom to reach a deal between the two kingdoms. It was not her will, and perhaps that was what affected the king the most. In an attempt to control the decision he had made, he tried to force Lyra to marry the prince, but she was not one to do as she was told. That's why she decided to escape from the castle that had been her home all her life. Perhaps it was a premeditated decision and not a hasty one, but the truth was that she could no longer return to the castle, so she needed to find a safe place to stay.

As she ran, with much effort since she did not want to be caught by the violent soldiers, she saw a small stream winding through the forest and headed towards it. She jumped over the rocks and waded into the cold water, sinking her feet into the mud as she tried to cover her tracks. She looked back and saw the royal guards stopping at the edge of the stream, growling with frustration.

"Come on, keep running," she told herself. "You can't afford to get caught."

Lyra stepped out of the stream and continued running, more determined than ever to fight for her freedom. She knew her escape was not over, but she was willing to do whatever it took to stay alive and find her true destiny.

Suddenly, she heard a distant howl and stopped. She looked up and saw a man of sturdy build standing in her way, his brown hair shining in the moonlight. This scared her, as it was very likely that he was a werewolf.

Lyra tensed up, ready to fight if necessary. But then the man approached her and gently spoke to her, intending to find out what was going on.

"It's very curious to see a girl running around these parts, and so beautiful too. What's going on?" the young man with gleaming brown hair and visible fangs asked.

"I don't know what you want, but you can't hurt me. I'm the princess of the kingdom, and if you touch me, you'll have a lot of problems," Lyra said with a slightly trembling voice but without any fear of facing danger.

"Oh, of course, you're the princess. That makes it even more curious. I really don't want to hurt you, but I can sense that there are people approaching quickly, so they must be your guards. I better go to my lair, or they'll catch and kill me. Goodbye!" the man said as he started walking in another direction.

It was as if luck touched Lyra's heart and told her she had to understand the situation. So, she assumed that the man she had encountered was part of the rebel community that had been causing trouble for the kingdom, and at this moment, it was her only way out, so she thought very quickly and said...

"Wait. Take me to your lair! I want you to know that I'm eager to support your cause. That's why I'm here, looking for the werewolf rebellion," Lyra said with concern.

"How do you know I belong to any rebel tribe?" the man asked, stopping in his tracks at Lyra's words.

"I don't know, but I guessed it, and from your reaction, I can tell I was right. I assure you that if you take me with you, you won't have any problems. But if we stay here, the guards will come and kill us both," Lyra said anxiously.

The man seemed indecisive, unsure of what was going on, but the hostility of the men coming towards them was real, so at least in that part, it already meant danger. That's why he gave her the benefit of the doubt, trusted the princess's voice, and decided to give her some good news.

"Well, Princess, I think it's best that we head to the village as soon as possible. There I will know if you're telling the truth. Let's go!" said the werewolf, and then started running with Lyra.

Lyra was exhausted when she finally arrived at the hideout of the rebel werewolves. The journey had been long and tiring, and her body was covered in cuts and bruises. But she knew she couldn't afford to rest yet, there were still many doubts to clarify.

The rough man who had invited her to the tribe had to inform the other members that she was the princess of the kingdom they were attacking. The opinion was quite divided, and doubts were not far behind. The tribe needed the approval of the great sage.

"Who is the great sage?" Lyra asked, as she was the center of attention of the whole tribe.

"He is the leader of our rebellion. His wisdom makes any decision possible. You can't lie to him, he knows everything. So he will decide if you're trustworthy or just want to destroy us," said the man standing next to Lyra.

"It sounds good, I've been following your purpose for a while now, and although there are some things that need improvement, I know I can be a part of this rebellion and help your cause," Lyra says bravely.

"Why do you want to join us? If you betrayed your kingdom, it's very likely you'll betray our purpose too," says one of the warriors who was in the crowd of men.

"The truth is I didn't betray anyone, I just prioritized my own will, and that was something quite risky for me. That's why I can't go back to the kingdom, and also, I know they've caused a lot of suffering, and that's something I'll take care of myself, with or without your help," Lyra says with authority.

"It's hard to believe you, and our rebellion's leader is in a long retreat, so we won't be seeing him anytime soon. But it's okay, we'll trust you, although you have to understand they must be looking for you, so now we're in a pretty big mess, so you have to help us if you're going to be here," says one of the werewolves belonging to the tribe.

After a few more words, Lyra was excited because now she was part of the rebellion. She had to show bravery and commitment to the goal they wanted to achieve, so from the first day in the rebellion, she started training wildly, demonstrating strength and above all, will.

This generated doubt among the members of the tribe. They couldn't believe that a princess could be so strong, so one of the members approached her while she was throwing some logs as far as she could.

"Hey, everyone's incredulous about your strength, what lineage do you belong to?" says the man who approached her.

"Well, luckily you asked because I couldn't find a way to tell you, but I'm a werewolf. Just like you," Lyra says with an innocent smile.

"What!?" says the man who asked her.

It was shocking news for the tribe. They didn't expect Lyra to be of the same bloodline as them. She knew that would surprise them, but not in that way, so she was afraid to say it at first, but luckily, the tribe was happy to hear that.

"I can't believe you're of the same bloodline as us. In the kingdom, there are only beings with ancestral powers, and we expected you to have divine powers, but this is simply amazing. Can we see your transformation?" says Marcus, the man who helped her enter the tribe.

Well, I would like to do it, but that drains me a lot and I think it will be very useful in risky situations, so please try to believe me when I say that I empathize more with your purpose than you would think. The werewolves were surprised but happy that she was one of them, although doubts arose that they wanted to be solved somehow.

But now Lyra just wanted to fit in and so she continued to demonstrate her power and commitment with all her might. Meanwhile, in the kingdom, the indignation over what Lyra did was quite large, especially on the part of the king, who needed to vent his fury somehow, so he looked resentfully into the darkness while sitting, his hatred seemed to have no end.