Exile Empire, Exile The Second

Chapter 1 - Sorin

Two Years Ago...

It had been another tedious day of cutting wood and listening to the birds mocking me in these fucking endless fucking trees.

If I could chop every last one of them down, I would.

Now don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm not some American conservative nature hating asshole who wants to destroy the planet to make a few million dollars. I was just sick to death of the fucking trees.

I bundled the last of the wood I'd chopped into the back of the UTV, loaded the axe, hopped in and drove back to my cabin. I started to stack the wood, choosing different pieces based on color and size to create an image in the wood pile knowing full well I'd be the only one who'd ever see it.

Boredom did wild things to a brain, especially when you were going on six years alone in the forest. Six long years away from civilization, all because you were a lone wolf and slowly creeping towards outright savagery.

I reached for the heavy splitting maul to break apart a few of the larger chunks of wood. My hand brushed across the bare space behind the seat where it would normally sit, and I exhaled sharply.

"Fuck," I grumbled. The last spot I'd seen it, it was resting against a tree back in the forest where I'd been cutting trees. I had to split wood now, so I couldn't leave it there for the night. Otherwise I might say fuck it and head inside, put my feet up and zone out for the evening. Give myself a rest from the constant, insistent wolf in my chest.

I heard that, wolf said, waking up.

"You were supposed to," I replied.

I hopped back in the UTV, drove to the site, and jumped out. I picked it up, began striking one of the trees I felled earlier that day. With wolf awake and nothing else to do this late towards evening, I might as well get some surplus chopped for when it came time to trade.

Every month my former village would send an envoy in a truck to bring me supplies, and in return they'd take back a cord of wood for my parents. It was the only way I could survive out here; it wasn't like I could drive my little truck to the nearest convenience store for a late night meal and a bottle of vodka. The hard Russian stuff that would warm my toes and ease the frustration building inside my chest with each passing day in this place.

I felt wolf stir inside of me again and I paused in mid-swing, lowering the maul to rest at my feet.

I didn't know what had made the beast wake up, but I tried to settle it before it fully rose and wanted to take control.

I'd fought it for years simply because I didn't like going for too long giving into that side of myself. Wolf was me, and yet it wasn't entirely me. In my clan we were biological shifters, so there was the inherent genetic ability to transform from human to animal shape. My lineage happened to be wolf. Some other clans shifted into other creatures, depending on their genetics.

In my clan, each one of us chosen offspring went through a ritual at puberty where we were introduced to our magic side, the non-biological aspect of the shift. The duality of our bodies meshed with our dual auras, and we became as one with the creature that had lived wrapped around us like an invasive ivy since the time we breathed our first breath.

It didn't happen to all of us in our clan, just those who were chosen. And some of us weren't even aware of it until puberty, when the entity made itself known by waking up inside. Once this happened, we had a matter of months before completing the ritual. If we didn't do this ceremony, I have no idea what would happen. It was unheard of.

Although there were rumors of madness and death if you didn't let the ritual carry through. I wasn't sure what would be worse: for it to happen immediately or for it to happen in slow motion like it was to me, month after month.