DARK SOUL

Chapter Fifteen

Cain rested back in his chair and fixed Marcus with a hard stare before speaking

"My kind have roamed this earth for hundreds of millennia and saw the rise of your species. We even managed to hunt some of your kindred to extinction but your species is so pervasive it proved almost impossible to kill you all."

"Are you claiming your kind is responsible for the extinction of the Neanderthals?" Marcus raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Yes they were slower and chewier than your species but easier to hunt and your kind still spent a lot of time climbing the trees from whence you came making hunting problematic at times." Cain pressed his fingers together and leaned forward slightly in the chair he was sat before he carried on speaking

"In many ways you caused us to evolve into becoming the perfect predators. You see we lived in packs; many hundreds of us roaming freely across the land. Dire Wolves we were known as then by your history books and we were the mightiest of our four legged kindred and all others humbled themselves in our presence."

Marcus watched Cain as he listened to him carry on talking and waited for his gaze to fall on the window and away from him as he carried on his dialogue

"Therianthropy is what my brethren and I call our gift and it allowed us to evolve and dominate all around us until the fools who believed we were wrong to live in dominion over all other species emerged from within our own clans." Cain gazed out the window before him as he spoke staring up into the night sky.

Marcus slowly inserted a small key into the draw hidden from sight on his desk and slowly turned it; all the while his eyes fixed on Cain trying to ascertain if his covert action had been discovered but it was clear that Cain was still lost in his memories and was paying little attention to the professor. "We were able to transform at will and walk upright which allowed us to carry on the hunt. Our powerful claws allowed us to climb the trees that had once given your kind such sanctuary and once more we feasted on the flesh of your ancestors; but as our numbers grew yours of course dwindled and there were those who argued that over hunting of your kind would lead to our own inevitable extinction too as our food sources across the planet became scarcer and scarcer." Cain's lip curled slightly as if he was recalling an unpleasant memory but his vision remained fixed upon the night sky before him.

Marcus slowly slid the draw out from his desk and his hand carefully felt for the object he was looking for; all the while keeping a careful eye upon his intruder sat opposite him.

"Divisions formed within our ranks and the more weak minded extolling the virtues of your kind. They would preach about livestock and crops providing all with a sustainable future. As if our kind should have ever lowered itself to such things! We were the master race and all served beneath us." Cain's voice almost snarled as he uttered those words before he visibly calmed himself and carried on speaking in a low even tone.

"Finally the separatists slowly became able to mimic your form and began to live amongst you. It was they that whilst living amongst your kind as one of you tamed the wilder of our cousins the wolf packs that roamed across the land. Teaching them to hunt and live among mankind finally becoming the domestic dog as you know it now." Cain glanced at Marcus and paused for a moment as if waiting for the professor to say something in reply but when nothing was forth coming he returned to his story and fixed his gaze upon the window once more.

Marcus watched Cain turn his attention back to the night sky then slowly slipped the object from his hand and placed it carefully upon his lap before finally reaching out for his cup of tea and slowly sipping it as he calmly studied Cain.

"The final insult came when we discovered that they had begun to live and breed with your species!" Cain's lips drew back in derision at the thought of this act of union.