Chapter 1

     Heat blanketed the brown-grassed plains to the north of Symon. Summer’s heat was peaking early this year, and the man resting in the relative cool of a tree’s shade was feeling the effects of it. Jan Raedel reclined against a thick oak trunk, staring lazily over the long flat plains. He couldn’t recall exactly how long he’d been lying there, the sun had put him in a lethargic state long ago, but he was content to remain there until he needed to move.

     His bow was leaning against his right shoulder where it had come to rest after falling from its place propped against the tree. He tried to remember it bumping against his shoulder, but couldn’t seem to manage. Jan relished these days when he could sit alone and relax for hours on end. There was nothing pressing for him to attend to for days yet. As long as he managed to bring something back home with him, it did not matter what he did while he was gone.

     Jan was not as alone as he thought he was on this particular afternoon. Two pairs of eyes watched him from the trees further behind him. One of these pairs of golden eyes turned to its companion after studying the man. “Raedel? Are you sure Ryas?”

     The speaker’s companion responded without moving his gaze from Jan. “Quite sure, Allus. Keep your eyes on him, else you’ll regret it.”

     “It looks like he’s fallen asleep, he hasn’t moved yet.” Ryas ignored the man’s comment and continued to watch attentively. He rolled his eyes but returned them to the man lounging in the distance. Ryas was careful and calculating, and Allus trusted him to not make this judgment lightly.

     Allus Agnian was very much like his general in that aspect, though most would add cunning and ambitious as well. He had held the position of Ryas’s lieutenant longer than anyone else had managed, and as such he had gained many enemies even within the tribe. The position he truly coveted was that of a general, but he was satisfied with waiting. He could do much worse than to be Ryas’s subordinate.

     “What now?” He asked quietly, this time continuing to watch the man in question. “His Majesty will want to see proof with his own eyes before we do anything.”

     “We go ahead as planned.”

     Allus sighed, “His Majesty won’t be happy.”

     “’His Majesty’ has rarely been happy with my decisions,” Ryas sneered, “But Taren knows I always make the right ones.” Ryas broke his gaze for the first time in the several hours they’d been there to turn and look Allus in the eyes. “We go ahead as planned.”

     Under that stare, Allus was content to agree. “Alright, how long?”

     “He’ll be heading home soon,” Ryas continued, turning his eyes back to Jan, “I’ll confront him then, on the road in.”

     “Alone?”

     “You think I can’t handle the whelp?”

     “You’re the one who’s been watching him, you tell me.”

     Ryas was quiet for a time, seeming to be lost in thought as he watched Jan. When he finally opened his mouth to respond, his attention was pulled back to Jan by a slight movement. The man had tensed against the tree he was leaning on, and they could clearly see that his eyelids no longer drooped lazily.

     Ryas sniffed at the air and turned to look behind them. A large buck was walking serenely through the woods some several hundred feet away. He turned back to Allus with a slight triumphant smile on his face.

     “Looks like you get to judge for yourself whether or not I’m right about him.” Without another word Ryas climbed swiftly into the closest tree and watched Jan more intently than before, if that was possible. Allus stared in disbelief, even if Raedel was who Ryas claimed, did Ryas think he could have possibly detected a deer from that far away when he wasn’t even searching for it? Even their keen senses had not detected it until they tried and they were much closer than Jan. He looked back towards the hunter and found him on his feet with his bow in hand. Allus skeptically climbed up after Ryas, and when he was halfway up Jan disappeared from sight.

     Allus almost lost his grip in his surprise, eyes searching frantically for the man. He found him again about fifty feet behind their position where he had stopped and stood watching the deer. He could not have passed more than ten feet from them, yet Allus never would have known if he had not stopped. He disappeared silently again, as if he had simply stopped existing, and reappeared perhaps a hundred feet from the deer. Like lightning Jan pulled an arrow from his quiver, drew fletching to cheek and let fly, landing a perfect shot through the beast’s lungs. The dying creature tried to run for a short distance, but quickly slowed and dropped heavily to the ground. Jan stood frozen for a moment with his bow still raised, staring at his kill, and then he let his arms fall to his sides and stared at them too. Shaking his head as if to dispel some thought, he set off at a normal pace to retrieve his kill.

     Allus looked up at Ryas, eyes wide. He’s that advanced in his control? He asked through the amulets around their necks, not daring to speak this close to that man.

     Ryas chuckled, “No,” he said aloud, “He’s operating purely on instinct. He only seems to be able to do that much while hunting.” His smile faded, “Still, this means we’re done waiting. He has his kill, and the day is still young, so he’ll be headin home tonight. I will confront him when he reaches the forest, and you will be off to Senguen by first light tomorrow.”

     Allus nodded, “Yes, my Lord.”

     “And Allus,” He added, “these plans are nearly one thousand years in the making.” He fixed his lieutenant with that stare that never failed to impose his leadership, his place as alpha. “I will not tolerate failure.”

~~~

A silver moon hung in the sky above the village of Symon and the surrounding forest, dimly illuminating the single path through the woods at the north end of the village that was the only way for people to go in or out, not that there was much traffic to this small out of the way village. The few peddlers and merchants who did go did not enjoy it; there were many superstitions surrounding the village, or more specifically the forest.

Only the villagers roamed the woods with any confidence, and most of them would rather be anywhere else. The dense foliage almost completely blocked out the sun, making it impossible to judge whether night had fallen in some places. Strange wolves lived in the forest as well. Most wolves would avoid humans, especially those gathered in large numbers, but these lived in the woods just outside the village with no problem. Large, shaggy figures were a fairly common sight from inside the village, though they rarely strayed past the trees’ edge, and never inside the village itself.

These two facts worked in some people’s minds to create fantastic tales of wolf demons sentenced to roam the shadows by Aeril, and these myths caught on easily over time. Opinions varied on the details, but all of the myths agreed that the demons would do something terrible to anyone unlucky enough to stumble upon one of them in their dim domain. Outsiders often scoffed at the superstitions, but they avoided the woods nonetheless.

Jan was the lone rider who occupied the road this evening, returning home from a successful hunt with his skinned and cleaned deer being pulled along behind him wrapped in skins. Jan was weary after riding all day, but thought it worth the effort to make the trip a night shorter. A hunter by trade, Jan left the village more than anyone else and had easily seen the most of the outside world, not that that was very much. He had only been as far as the neighboring villages and towns, but that made him an oddity to the others in the village, and a kind of hero to the children who thought a trip down the road and past the woods was an adventure.

The soft plodding of his horse’s hooves on the dirt road was the only sound aside from the crickets in the trees and the occasional owl. Jan kept his bow strung as he rode down the path; he did not believe in the superstitions of the village, but he had seen enough wolves in the trees before to know that they could appear at any time. Though wolf attacks were rare, Jan liked to be cautious, especially when he was carrying fresh meat.

A twig snapped in the woods and Jan instinctively tightened his grip on his bow, his other hand twitching towards his quiver. He relaxed his grip after a moment and laughed softly at himself. He was being foolish; of course twigs are going to snap in a forest full of life. He wondered what it was that was making him so tense. It was like an itch between his shoulders that he just couldn’t reach, and he couldn’t tell what it was that had him on edge. Whatever the reason, he wanted nothing more than to be home.

A bush off to his right rustled, but this time Jan had enough sense to tell himself it was probably just the wind or some rodent out foraging in the night. He didn’t like being out in the woods after dark, but he’d done it many times before. He often laughed at the superstitious warnings of mothers telling their children about the dangers of the woods, and here he was jumping at shadows.

He kept on a few moments longer and then stopped when he heard a distinct thump of a soft but heavy foot on the ground. Reigning in his horse, he peered into the trees searching for any signs of movement. Detecting nothing, he turned his head forward to resume when a low snarl sounded behind him. This time he whipped around with an arrow knocked and his bow drawn just in time to loose it into a hulking wolf standing a few feet behind his cargo.

He turned back around to find the next, knowing they would probably have surrounded him. He found it already leaping towards him, and he let fly into its neck. Before it even hit the ground, another jumped over its lifeless body from the shadows.

Jan muttered a curse and sent off another shaft that imbedded itself in this wolf’s thigh. Drawing his large knife, he met the still soaring wolf with a blade in the throat. Jan’s horse reared high and sent both man and wolf to the ground. The air escaped from his lungs when he hit the ground with the wolf on top of him and he sucked hard to get it back. He was vaguely aware of the sound of his horse retreating in the direction of the village as he struggled to regain his senses. He painfully kicked the heavy corpse off of himself and got to his feet.

Jan held the knife ready, the blade gleaming crimson in the moonlight. Down the road he saw three wolves running towards him and he shifted his stance to meet them. The sound of paws hitting the ground behind him reached his ears too late and he fell hard on his back when his legs were knocked out from under him. Scrambling to get up and slashing wildly at the air, Jan’s eyes darted to where he had seen the three wolves. His vision was filled with the sight of one leaping at him. The weight of the wolf hitting his chest took his breath again as he fell back to the ground.

Four more wolves were on him in an instant. A scream of agony tore from Jan’s throat as teeth sank into his limbs. He shut his eyes tight and waited for the last wolf to finish him. He waited- and nothing happened. His eyes opened to see the wolves just holding him. He caught movement from the corner of his eye as a cloaked figure materialized from the trees. A deep hood hid all but a wicked smile. A silver amulet in the shape of a wolf’s head hung from his neck, and Jan saw the shape of a scabbard underneath the cloak.

The figure’s teeth came to points like wolf fangs, all the more menacing under the rest of his shaded face. He circled Jan and came to a stop at his feet. He gave a slight wave of a clawed hand and the wolves released Jan and moved to stand behind the thing in the cloak. He pushed back his hood to reveal a not quite human face. Yellow wolf eyes shone brightly among his other features. Shaggy, dark gray hair hung to his shoulders, held back from his face by a leather cord and parted slightly by pointed ears. His features were rough and hard, and the rest of his face added to the menace of his smile. Numerous scars suggested a violent life, but then so did commanding wolves that had just attacked a traveler.

Jan sat up with a wince, and glanced down at the bloody wounds in his arms and legs. The wolves had managed to avoid the arteries, but he was still bleeding profusely. The man reached into his cloak and drew out a bundle of bandages.

“Here,” he said, tossing the bandages to the ground in front of Jan, who looked up at him confused. “You should stop the bleeding before we continue, I don’t need you passing out while I’m talking to you.”

Jan tentatively began to treat his wounds, only taking time to clean the dirt from them a little and binding them. When he was done, he shifted his feet to stand, but found the tip of a sword pressed against his neck.

“Perhaps you should stay down there,” the man’s grin grew wider, “we wouldn’t want anymore bloodshed just yet.” His voice dripped malice. Jan remained perfectly still and looked around for his knife. Whoever or whatever this thing was, he was beyond Jan’s ability; he had not even heard the sword drawn.

“What do you want with me?” Jan just barely managed to keep his voice steady. His mind was spinning with how much had happened in the past few minutes. The man came closer, keeping his blade against Jan’s skin, and bent to bring his face to his level.

Those golden eyes seemed to pierce right through Jan. “You don’t know who- or even what I am, do you human?” His head tilted slightly as he studied his captive. “Forgotten completely even to one of your bloodline.” With a sigh the sword came away from Jan and the man stood. He walked back to his wolves before turning to face Jan again. “Perhaps more formal introductions are necessary. I am Ryas Wiore, Lord of the Nightrunners.”

Jan stood slowly, watching the sword held casually in Ryas’s hand. He opened his mouth to respond but the man raised a hand to silence him. “And you are Jan Raedel, of Symon. How pitifully far the family has fallen.”

Jan stared in confusion, “How do you know my name?” His eyes roamed over Ryas’s beastly features again. “And what the hell are you?”

Ryas’s grin vanished and the sword came back up, the tip jabbing sharply into Jan’s chest, “I told you, I am the Lord of the Nightrunners, and that is all you need to know.” He lowered the blade again. “I come to you with a warning. We, the hundreds of other wolves and men in this forest and myself, are bored. This false peace in the world is insufferably boring, so we are going to put things into motion. Chaos is coming, and we are going to help it along, starting with your village. In one month’s time, we will overcome your village and kill everyone in it; we do not deal in terms of prisoners or survivors. There is no hope of escape in this forest, either.” A howl rose up from the dark trees as if to punctuate this statement.

Jan’s mind raced to keep up with what Ryas was saying. “Why are you telling me this?” He asked, thoroughly confused. If this man was issuing a threat to the village then surely it should go to the mayor, or a least one of the elders. Jan was just a hunter, hardly of any real influence in the Symon.

Ryas sighed again, appearing to grow impatient, “I am giving you a chance to get out. We have an interest in you and your future, and the last thing we need is you lying dead in that village.” His eyes narrowed and the sword rose a few inches again, “You can do that in some other place at some other time.”

Jan was growing more baffled by the minute. He was not a native of the village really. He had been born to a woman who had wandered into the village alone and died giving birth. That was the extent of his knowledge of his family; his mother had been nearly unintelligible in the few days she had been there before dying, so nobody could tell him much. The village Healer had raised him, taught him some of her trade, as much as was acceptable for a boy to learn. He was an orphan; Symon was just the place his mother had wandered into in a daze before dying.

He felt some humane sadness at the thought of the village being destroyed, but it was not dear to him. Surprisingly, there was an anger building in him. It felt foreign to him, but it was there nonetheless. His hand grasped at the empty sheath at his side for his knife. The overriding feeling inside of him was to run, to get away, to survive. He needed to put distance between himself and Ryas at all costs.

Jan closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and relaxed. Standing limp for a moment he quieted his thoughts, attempting to gain control over himself. The anger was persistent though, if detached from him somehow, and powerful!

“Running should come easy enough to you, it did for your father.” Ryas smirked.

Jan’s own fury rose up and drowned out that other anger at that. Ignoring the pain his body screamed with, he rolled to his knife, snatched it up, and launched himself at Ryas with a snarl. He casually sidestepped and brought a knee up into Jan’s middle. The air rushed out of his lungs for the third time that night. The wolfish man finished him off with a sword hilt to the head, and darkness began to rapidly creep across his vision.

As Jan attempted to cling to consciousness, the last thing he heard was a voice in his mind, Fool. You have one month to decide.