Wolfen - Part 12
 
Verik leaned back against a fallen tree. In front of him, there was a decent-sized fire going and many of the Iseyla were dancing around, laughing, and having fun. One of them, whose name was Lia, was sitting next to Verik, smiling at all the others. “Why are you doing this?” Verik asked her.

“Why am I doing what?” He cocked his head and looked into his eyes. Her voice was soft and almost childlike. Instantly sending a subtle message of comfort to those who hear it.

“Why are you helping me? You don’t know anything about me. For all you know, I could have slaughtered an entire village in cold blood, and got injured in the process.”

Lia nodded her head and turned back to the fire. “You could be, but it is unimportant. Who are we to judge who is worthy and who is not? We help anyone we see that needs it. As long as they are peaceful and accepting of us and we are not forced into a violent situation, we will help anyone in need. It is our one purpose in life.”

“Do any of you sometimes wish for something else in life? Forgive me if I’m asking questions too personal.”

Lia shook her head. “No, you’re alright. Very rarely, there is one of us born that will not help others, but these ones are very different from us. They barely talk, they stay mostly alone…” She quieted down and her eyes became a little glossy, “and then they kill themselves.” She sniffed and wiped her eye with her arm. “I’m sorry. This happened to my daughter only a few months ago.”

Verik laid a hand on her shoulder and scooted closer to her. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stir up bad memories.”

Lia hugged Verik and dried her eyes. “You did nothing wrong. I’ll be fine. It will take some time, but eventually, I will be free from these emotions so I can move on with my life.” Before they could continue the conversation, there was a strange coming from somewhere in the forest. It was a soft high-pitched tone. Upon hearing it, all the Iseyla stopped what they were doing and half of them ran towards it.

“What is that? What’s going on?” Verik asked.

“Oh, nothing to be afraid about.” Lia explained. “It’s just another group bringing back someone in need.”

They emerged from the trees in two rows. In between them, there was a human, floating a couple feet from the floor. The human was awake, but obviously in some pain. Several bones in his body were obviously broken, including his leg, some fingers, at least one of his ribs. He looked like he had been trampled by a herd of Kelderan.

The human looked around the camp, with satisfaction, but when his eyes fell on Verik, his eyes went wide with surprise, and then quickly into an angry glare. He kicked out his good leg, hitting one of the Iseyla, shoving him aside. The force that was holding him in the air suddenly stopped, letting him fall the short distance to the ground. He grunted in pain, but started getting back up. He reached down into his boot and pulled out a small knife.

Verik jumped back behind the fallen tree and moved into a defensive position, but the human never made it to halfway to him. The Iseyla al simultaneously, held their hands out toward the human and he was lifted off the ground. The knife flew from his hand and dissolved into steam.

They Iseyla’s pink skin turned a dark red and they said, their voice becoming lower and more powerful, “There will be no acts of violence while in our care. If you want to continue your disputes, it will be after you leave us. Otherwise, we will abandon you here and move on.”

The human trembled in fear at the power and anger of the small creatures. He nodded slowly and they released their hold on him.

Verik turned to Lia, “I didn’t know you were so powerful!”

She frowned and shook her head. “We may be skilled in the use of magic, but we do not, nor do we want others, to think of us as powerful. Power puts fear and thoughts of submission into the minds of others. We are here to serve. We cannot do that as effectively when everyone fears our strength. Nevertheless, we will not tolerate violence in our presence. If a show of our skill is necessary, then we have no choice.”

“That makes sense.”

A few more Iseyla entered the area holding baskets of fruits, vegetables, and other plants. They handed them out to the human and everyone else besides Verik. One of the ones holding the baskets came over to Verik and lowered his head. “Forgive us, Verik, but we could not find anything suitable for you to eat. Your body only accepts meat, but we cannot kill for you.”

“I’m a wolfen.” Verik responded, smiling. “I probably don’t need to eat for another week.”

The look on the small creatures face showed that he was very happy that he did not offend Verik. He quickly waddled off to pass the baskets to the others.

Verik watched them go around with amazement. These creatures were so beautiful. Their external appearance, their attitudes, their actions. Everything about them was absolutely perfect. He wished he could stay with them forever, but he knew, once he got better, he needed to go back to his pack. Everyone must be worried about him. Especially Syla. They might even think that he is dead.

The human said something in his language that Verik couldn’t understand. Looking over at him, he saw that the human was talking to him. “Sorry, but I can’t understand you.”

Lia quickly stood up on the log they were sitting on and placed her tiny hands on Verik’s forehead. A small glow emanated from her and Verik’s vision started to blur around the edges. He felt a little lightheaded, but it all faded when she removed her hands. Verik shook his head and focused his vision again. “What was that?” He asked her.

“I saw that you two,” she gestured to the human, “were unable to communicate, so I gave you the knowledge of the human language. Go on. Give it a try!”

He looked over at the human and asked him, “Can you understand me?” As he said it, he realized that it was in a different language, as if he had been speaking it his whole life.

The human nodded, “Yeah, I understand you. So what’s wrong with your face?” He asked almost accusingly.

Verik twitched his ear in annoyance at his tone, but he answered him anyway. “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure that out. I woke up about a week ago with no memories of my past.”

“You have amnesia? Damn, that’s rough. So do you know your name, or what?”

“Yeah, that was the only thing I remembered. My name’s Verik. Yours?”

“I’m Jack. A descendant of the legendary Kraden.” He said it with such pride, Verik felt a little bad for not knowing who he was.

“Who’s Kraden?”

Jack scowled at this question. “Well, I guess you are just a wolfen, and an amnesiac, but still. He was a very skilled archer, and by that, I mean he was literally the best. He could shoot an arrow at a man standing over a mile away right between the eyes, as long as he had a bow strong enough. Anyway, he was a general who, alone, saved the entire world from some monstrous creatures many years ago.”

Verik pretended to be interested nodded in fake amazement. “Do you take after him?” The next several seconds were filled with an awkward silence that made him instantly regret asking that.

Jack scratched his head and cleared his throat. “Well, I am a pretty good archer, but I’m not quite in the army. Any more, that is…”

Jack became a little nervous, so Verik quickly changed the subject. “So what happened to you before coming here? Were you attacked by something?”

Jack chuckled and shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I was out hunting in this area. I saw a bear down at the bottom of a cliff, so I knelt down at the edge and readied my bow. Just before I released the arrow, the ground broke out from under me. I fell all the way down the cliff and knocked myself out cold. These little guys found me a little later, thank goodness. This area is not the best place to be injured and alone. So how about you?”

“Honestly, I’m a little confused myself. I was working with the leader of my pack, trying to practice my magic and then suddenly—”

“Whoa, hold on there. You’re a mage?” He asked with a surprised expression on his face.

“I guess. I still can’t really control it yet. The ability surfaces when my emotions are strongest.” Verik cleared his throat and continued with his story. “Anyway, there was some sort of accident and I found myself in a strange dark place. I was being chased by these creatures and they injured me pretty bad, but I found a crystal that brought me to this area.”

Jack just stared at him for a while in silence. After several seconds, he finally added, “I still can’t get past that you’re a magic user. Come on, show me something.”

Verik shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. My power is very unpredictable. I might hurt someone.”

Lia spoke up, “Actually, it is not unpredictable to us. You can go ahead. We will not let you hurt anyone.”

Verik knelt down on the ground and held his hand out to a large boulder. He concentrated hard, trying to lift it off the ground, but he was unable to even move it. He turned to Lia and asked, “You won’t let me hurt myself, right?”

When she nodded, Verik attempted to clear his mind. He kept his eyes focused on the boulder, and silenced his thoughts. This time, it didn’t take long for him to successfully do it. Unlike what Keil told him, all the sounds around him didn’t fade. Quite the opposite, actually. Everything around him became much more distinct. He could hear the blood flowing in everyone around him. He could hear the thousands of bugs and other small creatures walking around and he could distinguish each one individually. He could also see every single detail of the boulder he was staring at, all the small dents, cracks, and scratches. He felt like he was no longer confined to his body, but part of the forest itself.

Verik savored the sensation for a few more seconds and then started his demonstration. He lifted the boulder up off the ground and held it in the air. In this state of mind, the task was as easy as lifting a stick. To make things a little more interesting, and maybe to show off a little, he threw it high into the air and then made it explode into dust that the wind carried away.

He looked back at Jack and smirked. “How was that?”

Jack’s eyebrows were raised in amazement. He chuckled and said, “Wow! I didn’t know wolfen were even able to use magic.”

“Only a few of us can, but they aren’t as strong. My power was given to me by Vannah.”

Jack scratched his head. “Sorry, but I’ve never heard that name before.”

“She’s…like a goddess, I guess. She watches over the wolfen race…which I guess there wouldn’t be any reason for you to know of her…anyway, she visited me through vision and gave me great power in order to stop an evil that is coming.”

“An evil? What do you mean?”

“I had an encounter with them just a few days ago. They are these lizard-like creatures with large wings. Their leader is a massive one called Erebos. She said that if they were not stopped, this world could be destroyed.”

Lia looked up and raised her eyebrows. “So that is what is happening. We have all sensed that the world around us began slowly dying four years ago.”

Now it was Verik’s turn to be surprised. “Four years? That was when I was attacked and became comatose. Either that is a pretty big coincidence, or it’s connected somehow.”

“So what do you know about these creatures?” Jack asked.

“Not very much. We went to see a group of very wise wolfen to get more knowledge, but before they could figure anything out, the creatures attacked their fortress and killed them all. I was able to fight the leader off, but I almost died. That is why I needed to control my abilities more. After that, I ended up here.”

Jack cleared his throat. “This fortress that was attacked, it wasn’t dome-shaped, was it?”

“Yes, it was!” Verik perked up. “Do you know it?”

“I know the general area where it is. It’s only a little ways north of my home city. I can take you with me when we leave here, if you want."

Smiling, Verik nodded and said, “That would be very helpful. Thank you.”

Lia stood up and faced both of them. “We thank you for your information, Verik, but you need to get some rest for tomorrow.”

“What’s special about tomorrow?” Jack asked curiously.

Lia’s reaction brought a smile to Verik’s face. She raised her eyebrows and gasped as if he just insulted her family. “What do you mean, what’s special about it? It’s tomorrow! If there was no tomorrow, everything would cease to exist!”

Jack just chuckled and laid down on his back. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Lia started to walk away, but Verik got her attention. “I don’t think it is safe for me to sleep here.”

“Because of your inability to control yourself during your dreams? That won’t be a problem here. We will make sure, your dreams are pleasant. And if you still lose control, then I doubt there is anything you can do that we cannot suppress.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Verik watched her leave to join the others and then curled up into a sleeping position. It felt weird sleeping in the middle of the night, but he assumed that he was the only nocturnal creature here. With the Iseyla’s help, he fell asleep quickly and dreamed another pleasant dream.

/.\ /.\ /.\

The next day, they all moved a little bit further to a river to get some water and let Verik and Jack heal the rest of the way. Already, they were almost at completely perfect health. There were just a few scratches, bruises, or achy joints left.

Jack was doing some target practice on his bow while all the Iseyla were playing around in the water, laughing and singing. Verik watched them silently just admiring how simple and happy they were.

“Amazing right?” Jack said from behind him.

Verik nodded. “I know. I mean, the whole world is dying, there is a large threat to everything around them, and they can just stay here playing around without any care in the world besides keeping others safe and healthy. That kind of selflessness is…well, amazing.”

“Hmm?” Jack said with a hint of confusion. “Oh, I was actually talking about my shot just now, but yeah, them too. Seriously, though, that tree was over a mile away and I shot it right in the middle.”

“Impressive.” Verik said weakly, not bothering to look at it.

One of the Iseyla stopped playing and just stood there still. The others ceased their play too to see what was going on? Suddenly, it lurched over and vomited a large amount of blood into the water. Upon seeing this, all of them screamed and pulled it to shore.

Verik jumped to his feet and ran over to them. “What is happening? What can I do?”

Lia gently, but urgently pushed him away. “There is nothing you can do that we cannot. We don’t what is going on so just stay back. It might be contagious!”

Verik stepped way, but watched intently and in horror as the Iseyla’s body began to change. It’s bright pink skin became grey and it’s hair fell out. All the while, it was writhing in pain, shrieking at the top of its lungs. All of them were crying in fear. Nothing they tried was able to help.

Lia stopped crying, clutched her stomach and vomited blood too and collapsed. Then, one by one, all the Iseyla did the same. All of them were writhing on the ground in their own blood, while they were changing.

Jack readied his bow and aimed it at them. “What the hell is going on with them?”

“I don’t know!” Verik growled, “But we have to do something.”

“Like what? I’m not a doctor nor a magician!”

“Just help me bring move them to the sunlight!” Verik ran to the one that first collapsed and grabbed his arms to move him, but he stopped when he saw what was really happening to them. Black scales were forming over his body. His eyes were turning yellow. Horns were breaking through the skin on their skull. Large lumps in their backs formed and burst open, two wings springing out.

They were turning into the lizard creatures. “How is this happening?” Verik stared at them in shock. Fear paralyzing him. His daze was interrupted by the creature he was holding on to, suddenly throwing his newly clawed hands toward his face. He let go of him immediately and fell backwards.

All of them rose from the ground, shrieking and hissing. The transformation was complete. Except for them being a few feet shorter, they were exactly like the creatures that attacked him at the fortress and in the dark place. Their teeth were all bared and they ran toward them.

“Run!” Verik yelled. Jack released an arrow and sent it flying directly in the head of the creatures and then followed closely behind Verik who followed the river upstream. They ran as fast and as hard as they could through the trees. Verik had to slow down for Jack, since he was not used to navigating the forest at such high speeds.

Finally, they made it out of the forest. Exhausted, they had to stop and rest for a little while, but nothing came. “They must have turned back.” Jack said through heavy breaths. “I think we’re safe for now.”

Verik kept staring into the forest while he caught his breath. Finally, when he was able to breath normally, he collapsed and burst into tears. “How could that happen to them! They were innocent! They were perfect! What did that to them!”

“I think the water was poisoned.” Jack said shakily. “Look.” He pointed toward the river.

Looking at the water, he saw that they water was no longer transparent, but black and purple…just like the sphere that Erebos casted. Verik bared his teeth and stretched his claws. “This is Erebos’s doing. I swear, the next time I see him, I will rip his face off and then tear his limbs from his body. I will not let him get away with this. He will suffer.”

/.\ /.\ /.\

Both of them departed the forest in silence, Jack leading them to the Elders’ fortress. They all had a lot on their mind during the short journey and neither were in the mood for small talk. When they arrived, Jack placed a hand on Verik’s shoulder. “I have to leave you now and go to my city. If they see me with you, it wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

Verik nodded. “I understand. Thank you for bringing me here. I don’t know if I would have been able to return without your help.”

“No problem. It was great to actually meet a wolfen. And to find that they aren’t as vicious as everyone makes you out to be.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Anyway, if you ever catch my scent when I’m out hunting, feel free to say hello.”

Verik smiled the best he could under the circumstances. “I will. Until next time.”

So they split up and went their separate ways. Jack to his home city and Verik to his pack.