Appolonius

Chapter 8

It wasn’t even a full month, when word arrived of her first deeds on her Cossiha.

It was but a busy day when merchants arrived and spread the word in Banstra. And the whole town was buzzing with excitement as with rapt attention they listened to the merchant’s tale.

By nighttime, the town was celebrating in her honour, food and drinks a plenty to fill bellies to concerning levels. But none cared, for that night, even Lord Bastrox was enjoying the stories told, and so was I.

With practiced ease, under the cover of the night, celebration and illusion, I listened and smiled at her adventure. I was both happy for her deeds and relieved to hear that her journey was advancing.

The next evening, Lord Bastrox surprised me, summoning me earlier than our usual meeting time. When I arrived, he told me that foul things are happening in Faleria. There were signs that werewolves were spotted in the Great South, off the coast of Faleria, facing the Ushollin Sea. That meant only one thing. They somehow sailed the sea from Nyuusta, the neighboring land south of Faleria. And already wreaking havoc.

This indeed was a concern. It had been many centuries since the last time a Nyuustan wolf had travelled away from that land, which really makes no sense. Nyuusta is a land where men live by way of war.

In the history of any living being, when talking of anything related to war, Nyuusta is usually the one that would be the first to be discussed. If any tactician wants to test his knowledge, Nyuusta would be the best place to do it.

Let’s put it in a different way, if Pirrya, the Mother Goddess, along with the rest of her divine entourage, would consider all the lands of Tebigol as children, they all, unanimously no less, would consider the land of Nyuusta, a trouble child.

So when you would hear of a resident of Nyuusta, leaving said land and reaching another, anyone from the most influential leader to the most foul of thieves would stop immediately whatever they are doing and be very concerned. But a Nyuustan wolf? A werewolf from that land? You best pray to all the gods for days and nights that they would not reach you, for a werewolf’s hunger for flesh can only be outdone by his thirst to conquer. And yet there are countless others in Nyuusta, besides werewolves.

This is why even I, after hearing from the Lord of this news, share his concern. He obviously asked me to search for information and confirm if it’s true. That would be a bit difficult, but not impossible. So I would make for the Great South of Faleria once we discussed.

It took me but 3 days and nights to reach the southern coast of Faleria. Once there, I scoured the countless port towns and villages, pretending to be a wanderer or beggar, listening to the word. And the word was full of ill.

They were always seen, travelling in large packs, from the coast line to the East. That would mean they probably favour the plains and forests. Rushing to the East, the cold was felt stronger, for the Great East is the domain of the Ever Winter Country of Faleria, Perlatos. The plains and forests would only suffer the cold air, but go further and as soon as one saw snow and ice, means that you reached the borders of Perlatos.

Several days more, I scoured the plains and forests, trying to find their scent, but nothing. Which was odd. Not even a footprint. A large pack would have left countless signs wherever they would roam, not just footprints. Fur left on trees and bushes would have been another sure sign with their scent, and yet nothing.

After a long investigation, which showed zero results, I returned to Banstra to report on my investigation. The Lord Bastrox did not like what he heard, but did not blame me for the results. Instead he told me that the same happened with his allies. They sent their own people to track and find the werewolves, but they either never returned and if they did, they found no tracks to follow.

And this apparently had been going on for almost a year. Suffice to say, it was never a good thing when not even a vampire, the werewolf's natural enemy, could not find neither scent nor footprint of the foul beast. Something was happening in Faleria and nobody seemed to know what or why. All I could do was hope that these things would not come in Zili's way. She barely had a month and the road was longer than I could think or imagine.