To Love & Protect (#2 A story from the world of Arcaya)

Chapter 5: A New Power

*Huff* *Huff* this is training to him? I was standing in the bottom of a tall pit. There was a loud thud next to me as a skeleton hit the ground, "ANOTHER ONE? REALLY?"

"You need to get used to this or it will be your death within a real war. Pay attention to the sound and find out how to block it out." I could hear the screams of distant people once he disappeared... he might not be who I thought he was... he seems more like a sadistic murderer...

"Wait! Can I at least get some food?!" I yelled at him when he reappeared with fresh bodies.

"These are considered food to those that are hungry enough, besides, you have the blood of a demon, do u not?" He said as he threw the bodies off of the edge. They made a blood splatter as they slammed on the floor next to me. I eyed them for a second before I decided that I would not be eating a body, ever.

. . .

It's been four days... when is he going to let me out the bodies were starting to pile up, about four feet now, I wouldn't be able to reach the top this way for another month. There was a grunt and a body landed on top of the others next to me. One of the bones of the bodies flew out, nearly hit me and stuck into the wall. That's when I got an idea. I went over to that same body and broke its arm in half and off, then, dealing with how gross it was, pulled the sharp bone out of the arm and stabbed it into the wall. These are sharper than ice picks... I wonder if they can support me. I grabbed the other bone and started using them as ice picks to climb the wall. After what felt like hours I reached the top of the pit and pulled myself over it. I laid there for a while, thinking about Drakath, He can't be a god, why would a god choose me and why would a god treat someone like this.

"So you finally made it, after over half a week, you finally climb outta that hole." Drakath's voice was one I did not want to hear right now. I turned to throw a punch in the direction the voice came from. He caught my fist and squeezed until it was about to break, "You didn't eat anything, did you?"

I gave up trying to hit him and answered with a simple nod, "Well then, we better get you some food." Drakath said, "Naomi!." I realized there was a house not too far from where we were.

Naomi, as Drakath called her, came from the house wearing a light red tank top and a miniskirt that was pink, she was carrying sandwiches of some kind of ingredients I don't believe even existed. She handed one to me and one to him silently and walked back to the house, swaying her hips with every step. Drakath began to speak, "There are certain things you need to know. Follow what I say and you might even become a god yourself." Bullshit, "You were born a wolf and transformed into the human hybrid you are right now to save your life and your species."

Definitely bullshit, "Funny, do you really think I would believe something as ridiculous as that?" I told him, That can't be possible, "Besides, wolves aren't extinct."

He spoke a bit slower, like he was planning his words as he went, "That is true, but there are only a handful of you left, you few... Dire wolves." He said it with a spark in his eye as though that would get my attention immediately.

Well, it did get my attention, "Dire wolves? Those went extinct around 7,983B.C" I studied these animals, from domesticated teacup dogs to wolves, to dire, even to werewolves. They did die off, right?

Drakath smiled, "No, they all got their own private plane of existence when their numbers started to dwindle, humans listed it as though they simply mysteriously went extinct for no reason. You are one of the few handful left alive, most of them around your age as well." He looked at me as if he was waiting for a response.

Not knowing what to say I simply muttered, "Oh.

He stood, his armor making clinking sounds like glass wind chimes out of tune, "You may very well be within the top couple strongest." He handed me a small stone tablet, "Your kind drew on these small thin rocks to record their lives." I looked at the picture, it was a tall black wolf, he had a bunch of ribbon medals hanging from his neck, and a small black wolf pup sitting on top of his head with a curious tilt of the head. Drakath saw me run my hands over the rough surface and said, "Look on the back." I turned it over to find words carved into the rock, 'Ad, you are my son, and I am your champion, the people's champion, and the best damn protector the Snowpaw Clan has ever seen. Please, do me proud and save them when the time comes'

I stared at that name, Ad. It seemed familiar. Wait just a moment. "My name is Ad?" I looked to Drakath for an explanation.

He nodded, "A fierce war claimed the lives of those who did not flee... and those who did flee dies anyways. Who launched the attack is not in my place to tell you, you will have to figure that out on your own. Just remember that there are others just like you with no idea why they are like this and no idea where they came from." He reached into his backpack, "I'm afraid our time is very short as your soul is not strong enough to stay in this realm for long." He pulled out a stone shaped like a wolf fang, "Block out the pain, survive this and you may become a god." He plunged the fang deep into my chest and shoved me back into the hole.

When I landed I was back in the tower in stormwind, "N-not this place... N-not again." I struggled the words out of my mouth as I gasped in pain. I felt weak and as though I was dying.

An old man walked up to me. Does this mean the J'zargo are gone? "Listen to me, you will be safe here for a few more hours, but when you are strong enough to have your own disciple, find the one named Brutis, he has the same type of tail and ears as you do." The old man left a bag and a jug on the floor by the door, "For when you wake up." He started leaving, I tried to tell him to wait, but I had no strength for speaking and started blacking out.

When I woke up, it was night time. I was very, very thirsty, and hungry. I stood up and walked over to the bag and jug, the bag had raw meat and the jug had water. I reached for the jug and I realized I was reaching with a wolf's paw. I took some time to look at myself, I had transformed into a dire wolf. I stuck my head in the jug and drank most of the water. I then picked up the bag and shook it until the meat came out, I took a bite out of the plain, raw, bloody meat and it tasted like heaven. Once I was done with the food and water I noticed a note sitting under the jug, I knocked the jug over and started reading the note. 'Hello Ad, welcome back to your original form, I would be careful, most humans and even mythical people have not seen a dire since the humans claimed them extinct. You do have the ability to change back to the form you were in before, all you have to do is focus all your energy into your heart with your old form in mind' I tried doing just that, and with the feeling of pins and needles as though my entire body was asleep, I was myself again, or, my familiar self.