Dark Earth Anthology

Wolf

1817 Avengaver, Wales

You cannot control how the cards are dealt, it is how they are played that matters.

Happiness was no mystery to a man like Bryn Maddock. From a young age he had always been able to find the good in even the most dire of situations. In some instances this was a blessing others a curse for he never failed to see the good in someone irredeemably bad and this would one day be his downfall but today was not the day. This was rather the happiest day of his 37 years of life. Hand in hand, eye on eye with the woman he loved more than silver and gold, soon to be Mrs. Bronwyn Maddock. Their house was small but not tiny. Although it just had one floor it was home and home it stayed until Mrs. Maddock was blessed beyond compare with the gift of life. When it came for her to conceive her child she did not receive joy but rather grief for she was told that her child only had days to live due to an unknown illness. In his desperate and grief stricken state Bryn Maddock met a man in the cold night who promised to heal his dying daughter.

"Why are you describing my life story, hasn't my dying been enough?"

Drysi stood in what looked like a garden floating in a void. The plants were filled with berries, some she knew others she didn't. All around her spun planets and stars in their own delicate celestial dance. Looking down she could see that she was dressed in a simple robe made of sunlight. Her eyes lay upon a N'kune wearing what looked to be ceremonial armor, white metal with images of wings on the chest and shoulders. Floating in the sky was an image, the image of which the N'kune had just described in a deep ethereal voice. "I am not reading your life story just to build guilt within you but rather to figure out where to send you. You had so many faults yet you are not a bad person, now please just listen."

The man which Bryn had met was not an ordinary doctor but rather the eternal prophet of the God of darkness and death: Mol. He promised to heal her but at a price. This price was a curse, a curse that turned his beautiful daughter into a hideous wolf and that Bryn would meet his fate at the hands of the wolf in a most gruesome manner.

"So it was all my father's fault, he is the reason that I am this...thing. His stupidity was the reason he..." she felt tears threaten to start but she held them back as she always had when she thought of her father. "Yes, but it was not stupidity but rather his love for you. His love is the reason you survived that night but also the reason he fated himself to die because in that moment he did not just sign the contract but he had a vision as well."

Bryn felt his hand touch the parchment that was a blood contract and his mind began to soar. He saw visions of the justice that his daughter, Drysi, would one day bring to the world. He saw that she would grow up to be a vessel of all that is holy, even if she didn't know it. This soothed his fear of the future and for the first time since he had heard the bad news about the ill conception he was content. A few years passed without any incident until her first transformation at age 7.

Drysi shivered, she remembered this all too well. She remembered the poor boy, Güln. She remembered the screams of horror of all who witnessed it. She remembered his face, covered in blood and how limp he fell, how cold his hands were when he died. She shut her eyes not wishing to see it happen again. But she felt her eyes thrust open by an invisible force and she was forced to watch. "If you do not confront your past you cannot accept your future and you cannot move on." The N'kune spoke in a very matter of fact tone, as if it had dealt with hundreds just like her. She nodded, not wishing to anger this powerful being who dictated her life. "Let us continue. Your next core memory was 2 years later..."

It was spring when she transformed again this time by will. She had seen a young girl getting harassed by a group of nearly grown up boys looking somewhere around 18. Since she had always been small she could do nothing as she was. But being forced to watch made her angry and as they forced themselves upon the girl Drysi blinked and when she opened her eyes again she was surrounded by pools of blood and as she peered into the eyes of the dead the young girl ran off screaming about a monster. Drysi knew this monster was her and after she put back on her clothes she ran as fast as she could home. At home she became frantic and started locking doors and putting blankets over the windows until it was all dark. Her parents weren't home so she was utterly alone with her thoughts. The townsfolk never did pursue this but it started rumors and tales of what they called 'Beware the wolf' or as some people said: 'Werewolf'. The next memory was a hard one to pry and it occurred when you turned 11.

"Can we skip this part? Oh gods I really don't want to relive this. Please..." "To confront your past you must confront all of it."

It was your birthday and you were having a wonderful time. All of your friends had gathered in the small building that was your home bringing small gifts like toys and such. When you had an episode. You did what you normally do and locked yourself in your room and out wait the wolf. This went awry when your friends decided to check on you. I will spare you the details just that no one survived. They had instead let you loose and in your blood lust you committed the most grievous sin thus far and that was the death of your father.

She could not hold back the tears any long and soon she was on her knees sobbing as her father was gutted by the creature that was supposedly her. After a long moment of silence the N'kune continued calmer in its ethereal voice.

Seeking to alleviate your sorrow you sought to die. After stealing a boat you went to sea in a massive thunderstorm not waiting for anyone to tell you otherwise. It was not death that awaited you but rather Norway. By now the beast was cut loose from all morals and for an entire month you unknowingly terrorized a small fishing town until the authorities came in, fought you, and won. You were strung up in a silver cage like an animal until vampires stole you away to use as a weapon against your will. You were put under a hypnosis spell and forced to fight an enemy that you didn't know. You met a very powerful witch who took you under her arm and taught you that your curse could be used for the greater good. During the progressing days you fought against the Hoard and as you broke the witch out of the dungeon you were finally freed from your curse. Although you were only 12 when you died you carried enough sorrow and rage to last a normal person's entire life.

The image froze and went dark leaving only Drysi and the N'kune. "Now you see why blessing you with heaven, or condemning you to hell is such a difficult decision? You committed atrocities but also saved many...where do you believe you belong?" She just sat there as if mesmerized by the long braids of grass laying against her bare knees. After a moment of staring and thinking she responded, almost mumbling her answer. "I don't belong in either." Feeling almost rejected by the gods themselves Drysi started feeling angry and helpless. She punched the ground "I wish I could atone for my sins against the earth." The more she talked the angrier she became leading her to flop onto her back and just stare at the rushing stars. As the N'kune watched it had an idea, a way for her to atone whilst still in keeping with the sacred timeline. "Wolf..." Drysi sat up in response "There is a way for you to fix your soul but it will take time. The time of which I am thinking has not yet occurred but will in approximately 67 years with the descendent of the first witch. He will require your help on his noble quest but I cannot send you down as a human because it would mess with the balance of the universe. But I can send down an animal. Given your experience with such things that will not be an issue for you I assume." Drysi sat on her knees looking up at the tall being, her eyes dry from tears. "So you're saying I can redeem myself by helping a person as an animal?" The N'kune nodded. "I open my soul to you oh great being, let me become whole. Let me die a warrior's death and return to you clean in the eyes of whichever god you serve." as she spoke she felt her body begin to disappear as her conscience began to float away "You have made the right choice. Luck of the gods be with you Ms. Drysi Eleri Maddock."