Prelude

Prelude

"Rayan," a gentle voice carried across the room, finding uncaring ears. "Please," Kate sighed. "It is not what you think. I was not there to see anyone."  Her smile retreated for only a second. "I went to see my mother," her eyes sparkled, "to tell her the news."  She paused, running her hand along her side before stepping closer to the thick wooden table. A slow distant look came over her eyes recalling the violent stomach she had been nursing. "I have not felt well so I went to see the healer this morning." Kate glanced over her shoulder to the man who was now pacing several feet away. "She gave me wonderful news, and while I was in town, I stopped to see mom."

Pouring a glass of mead, she held it to her chest surveying the table. The clutter that had once lined the edges had been cleaned up and three plates had been set in prep for the dinner and news to come. Catching the center vase which now held freshly picked Gerber Daisies; she leaned forward to remove a yellow one. Happy with the setting, she spun on her heal coming chest to chest with her husband-- offering him the mead and the flower.

"You are lying to me!"  He protested, knocking away her hand that held the daisy. "I know you went to see my brother."  He added sniffing the air and trying to find his scent as if to prove a point. "I was watching the store and he left just moments after you did."

"For the last time, I have great news to share with you."  She protested. “Now will you simmer down and let me speak?”

“What could you tell me? Nothing! Nothing you say will convince me you are nothing more than a liar."  His hand went to the side of her head, gripping a few strands of hair as he pressed against her. "You will pay for seeing my brother and betraying me."  His grip tightened on her shoulders.

"By Gaia, would you please listen to me?"  She said in a forceful voice. Leaning her head to his shoulder, she drew a deep breath. "I'm--"

"--I know what I saw today."  He interrupted releasing her shoulder long enough to trust his hand forward, sending the dagger into her side and up at an angle.

"Pregnant."  The woman fell to her knees still looking up at her husband. The look of shock spread to fear as her blood-laced hands came into view.

"Pregnant," he said with a look of confusion. "What," he whispered, dropping with his wife to his knees. His mind cleared from the black rage he had been under. For the first time in a week, Rayan’s mind was clear. The horror of what he had set in. "No! Kate,” he pleaded. His hand hovered over the wound. “You can't,” his gruff tone settling to panic. “Die.”

"Why," she mumbled. It was clear she didn’t understand why he had stabbed her.  Her eyes fluttered as her body went limp.

Rayan gently kissed her forehead before taking her lifeless body into his arms. "What have I done?"  he whispered slowly, placing the body on the bed. Time seemed to slow down around him. The cabin twisted and contorted as though reality was rejecting her death. Darkness invaded his vision, and it was only at that moment did it sink in what he had truly done. He had killed the one person who could have saved him from this madness, this encroaching darkness, this deceitful rage. Moving away from the bed as though denying what he was seeing, his hand gripped the handle of the door, though it faded into a silhouette and became obscure in his mind. He settled his weight from left to right before rapidly shifting into his battle form. His face elongated, and his fingers mutated into talons as his body stretched to nearly twelve feet in height. Ripping the door from its hinge, he released a sorrow-filled howl, which carried on the evening air. A flock of birds took to the sky and animals scurried into their shelters. Wolfin surrounding his home looked to the night sky before responding at record speed. The howl was so deep and loud it called to the entire pack no matter the distance.

Rayan was still on his knees when his brother approached. He stood slowly, having shifted back to his human form. "You were right."  His tone was cold and vacant. 

His brother had never heard the depth of grief before. He looked over Rayan’s shoulder to see the now parlor body of his sister-in-law.

“She would die by my hand."  He walked away from the small house heading into the twilight of the rising moon. Looking back another howl roared from his chest, and he simply walked into the light leaving behind his dead wife and a child he would never know.

Five years later

Dusk was settling into twilight when a deep sorrow-filled howl echoed off the high mountain pass. Animals started to scurry away and seek shelter: even the resting birds could sense the approaching evil and took flight. A tall white fur-laced being emerged from the darkness and began its attack in the fields just south of the town. By the time any of the wolfin could react all the humans had been slaughtered. The bodies formed a path to Rayan’s home. Their skulls had been crushed and many of the limbs were torn free and tossed on the ground surrounding the bodies. It looked as though a battle had been fought against an invading army.

Royin searched the area for clues only to find his brother's dagger laced with fresh blood. As the search continued, he found a small child still alive. Cradling the unconscious boy in his arms he returned to the tribe healer.

"There was another attack,” he spoke to Wyana. “An entire village was slaughtered except for this boy. I have a feeling he will turn like the others. I also found something else,” he set the child on a table and opened his shirt showing her the dagger. “I found this up there," he said laying the dagger on the table. "I believe it was Rayan," he paused knowing they had agreed to refer to him as Walks in Sorrow. The pack had labeled with the new name after his howl. "The howl we heard could only have been his. It felt the same, as the night Kate was killed."

"Warn all the packs of this new attack, but do not tell them it is Rayan.”  She examined the boy before continuing. “Confirm it is not him but a new creature," she paused. "Call it Night Terror. We cannot have the humans panicking and attacking us.”  She stood tall. “Our treaty with them is fragile and if they think it is one of us it will start a war, a war they will not win. Take the child to Red Ember maybe she can figure out what is happening to us."

"I spoke with her yesterday, and she said she thinks it is a virus caused by the lycanthropy plant. She believes all the infected wolves can be treated if we catch it in time. What are we going to call the infected?”  Royin asked.

“Lyceum,” she nodded. “Tell the humans it was a lyceum, a mutated animal. And let’s hope we can cure our pack before they all turn like your brother.”  Wyana said opening the door.

"We can only hope so. If not, we must find a way to keep him in the twilight. If he cannot pass between the worlds he cannot kill. I will seek Gaia's help in this."

"Also, I will spread the news, that if anyone hears the howl; they are to move inside and protect themselves."  She nodded looking at the fading skyline.

"What do we do if we can't contain him in the twilight or find him to cure him?"

"We will have to destroy him."  She sounded deadly serious.

Royin, who had wanted to kill his brother many times and time again was suddenly faced with a truth—He might just have to kill him. He could only nod as he carried the sleeping boy to see the healer.