The Protectors

My world had fallen apart 10 years ago when werewolves were discovered. The monsters destroyed everything; It was as if they were programmed to kill on sight. This outrage was called the Great Destruction. Now it is 2069 and I am one of the lucky few surviving. I'm now 17, and considered what people call a protector. I fight the beasts in order to keep my village save. five years of intense training made me into what I am today; 6'4" and 210 pounds of muscle. I've only killed a few of the monsters, but one was pasted into my memory forever.

"Its winter and you're 16 now Tyre, you shouldn't be here. You don't deserve to stay in the village." My childhood friend Boxer told me. He was right; at my age, most people move out of the desolate and foreboding village. I had other plans though, I was going to be a Protector. . Boxer was still training with me to become one.

"You're 17 and you are still here." I commented. He shut his mouth for a short while before changing the subject.

"It's your birthday, you know what that means right?"

"It means I have to run the gauntlet tonight." The 'gauntlet' was when a party went scouting for werewolves. It was named the gauntlet because you never knew how many beasts you would encounter. Only the brave and daring went on the insane game, but very few survived. I knew I could make it though. The past four years of training I had made me more ready than ever.

"Exactly what are you going to do?" Boxer told me with a grin on his face.

"Me? I do believe rules state that there must be at least 5 people, and I get to choose them." I argued. The smile on my friends face only grew larger and larger.

"I choose Mace, Tabor, Abi, and I guess you could tag along."

"There was no way you would leave me out anyways. I'll go notify the people you chose and then suit up. Meet us at the gates." he told me before running off.

I looked at the sky and saw that it was nearing sunset. Everybody knew night time was when the beasts were the most active, so that was when we were going to leave. I ran to my small patched hut and grabbed the garbs I was going to wear that night. All of our armor was identical. Thick leather jacket and pants were worn to shield from the monsters blows. Special gloves were put on to be able to hold the viper. The viper was simply a curved knife, but infused with a laser, the only thing that could pierce a werewolf. I met up with my party at the gates, just as the last rays of light disappeared. It was growing colder now that there was no source of heat. A light snow had started to fall. The three other people I had chosen were also training to be Protectors.

"How do we get past the gatekeeper?" Tabor asked us.

"You idiot, Being a protector requires training, so why would we have to sneak past him?" Abi answered him. After seeing the questioning looks on our face she further explained.

"Go up to the gatekeeper and say we are leaving for training." She answered as if we were stupid. After the gatekeeper opened the front gates, we ran stealthily into the woods that bordered our village. The tall slender trees waved as a slight breeze blew to our backs. It wasn't that hard to find the beasts because it was a full moon and they were more active. There was a small pack of 7 that was foraging for food. We spotted them in a small snowy clearing that was light up by the bulk of a moon. They morphed to themselves to their human form and came towards us. It never occured to me that the pack would be naked, but then I realized there was no way the could have been wearing clothes. The Alpha male stepped forward and shook my hand. His was warm to the touch, even with my gloves on.

"You cold princess?" he asked me with a smug smile on his tan face.

"Nah, it's just you. I don't blame you though, it's hard not to be hot when you come from hell." His smile faded fast.

"What is your purpose coming here but to die?"

"That's an easy one; we challenge you to a pack fight."

"What would you know of such things?"

"Quite a bit I should hope. Do you accept?" He pondered the question a moment.

"No. We are the ones that just ran two miles for your flesh. I propose a counter offer; we challenge you to a pack fight."

"Alright you dumb animal, we accept." I said, drawing my knives. The whole pack immediately morphed back into wolves.

"You get the Alpha male buddy." Boxer told me before drawing his knives.

The two groups clashed into each other with a harsh fury. Growling, fur, and the gnashing of fangs were all around me. I feverishly slashed to and fro, hoping that I would pierce skin. Somehow I rolled away from the pile of fighting bodies. I saw Mace fighting a large wolf, but looked away when I noticed the Alpha male staring at me with his lips curled back. We ran at each other as I pointed my knives forward. He dodged the head on attack, but not before I cut open his skin. He ripped himself around to face me, and came charging at me again. I jumped into the air and landed on his back. The beast went into a wild frenzy. It kicked and rolled, but still I prevailed. Soon enough, he fell to the ground from all of the jabs I had issued to the back of his neck. The Alpha male changed back into a bleeding dead human like all werewolves do when they die. I noticed I was bleeding on the leg, but shook it off. I peered around in the dark night, searching for my comrades, but they were not to be found. After hours of searching, I came to the conclusion that they must have been captured by the wolves. My four best friends had been devoured by the evil beasts. I dejectedly started walking back to my village, leaving a lone dead body in the moon-lit snowy clearing.