Am I a traitor? Or did love make me do it? Neither.

I am telling you my story not because I care if you read it nor because I feel guilty for what I did. I am writing this because I am proud of betraying The Manipulators. Why? Because I found love in the darkest of places and it was given to me by the most beautiful of faces, the sweetest of hearts. Normally the idea of love would make me wretch. But now that I have experienced it, I am one happy wolf.

It all started with The Manipulators. They have always hungered for control-control of everything you have ever seen, ever heard, ever dreamed, ever breathed. To win it is to gain true power, or so I thought at the time. Being a dual-nature creature, I do not possess a world of my own. This allows me to travel between worlds, to morph into a human, a Fantastican, and what-have-you. It is not as pleasurable as you might think it to be, you little dreamer you.

That is why I sided with the powerful, with the Manipulators. They appreciated my deep knowledge of Fantastica for I had traveled there many times. Together we were going to destroy Fantastica and everything in it, everything it stands for. Dreams gone, passion sapped! I was to be their agent of destruction, along with the Nothing, sent to hunt down the one they called Atreyu, the son of all, the little warrior that could inspire hope and other nonsense. I wanted to kill him because he and every other dreamer had a place to call home. I never had that privilege and it made me resentful. His people called themselves hunters when I could easily devour them all. Alas, it was my arrogance that slowed me down and let the boy get away. As my sharp teeth bit at his ankles, the boy was gone, partly thanks to a fluffy and foolish Luck Dragon.

I returned to Spook City, humbled yet hungrier, and irritated by the demands of The Unseen. They were furious at my delay of killing the boy, but I told them that I still had no home to call my own or any real promise of it to fuel me onward-their reward that was to later be given to me for doing their dirty work-and reminded them of how the Nothing was still whirling through Fantastica like a voracious tornado of death and that chance might sweep up the boy for us while I regained my vigor. I knew that Atreyu would be mine soon, despite how his faint scent had left me there in the Swamps of Sadness to writhe in my failure. His blood would soon slake my thirst as his body lay in shreds and then I would deal with Bastian on Earth. His father would never recover from the death of his 10-or-12 year old son. I would never pay Bastian a visit, though.

First I needed to rest. The Swamps of Sadness are a morbid delight to a wicked beast such as myself, but they are vast and I was weary. During my break from the hunt, I became close to Gaya, the Dark Princess. We became intimates. She would feed me luscious meats, keep me warm with a fireplace and comb my thick black fur. Often I felt a nagging void from not being able to do more for her in return aside from licking her fingers and falling asleep next to her. We found joy together as I would regale her with the stories of my travels. She had a dark sense of humor and did not mind my murderous ways. They became bedtime stories for Gaya. She brought out my softer voice, the white whisper to my black howl. Pranksters as we were, Gaya would also concoct spells to harm those who crossed her. Her own level of power made me drool with laughter. Sometimes, I would hunt down those who crossed her and bring them back to her as a trophy. She was beautiful, and her beauty possessed time. I lost track of how long it had been since my failure in the Swamps.

One night, in full trust, I told her of my real purpose-that it was not to be her puppy dog but rather to kill all dreams in the form of a boy. Suddenly she hated me, crying out that Fantastica was her home and how dare I threaten to destroy it. She told me that she and Fantastica were one, and if I was its enemy, she would stop me. That is when the magical chains appeared around my limbs. Had her beauty not entranced my eye so, I might've saw it coming. I thrashed in evil defiance, but I could not break free. I felt tired again, and then she was gone.

In a role reversal, the little hunter paid me a visit. The Nothing was ripping at his heels and yet I could barely move. Some days I had thought death had already claimed me. My throat was as arid as all of Fantastica's deserts. My bones ached terribly but it was naught compared to the river of tears within my heart. Gaya had convinced me that I had one, and I wished she had taken it with her. Atreyu bothered me but what was I to do about it, unless he was foolish enough to be within biting distance, should I even be able to clamp down with my lonely teeth. He had a bundle of questions about the Nothing, of what I hunted him for, of what it all meant-dreary drivel I tell you and I much preferred the blaring music outside of my dank prison. Yet amid his slew of desperate requests, time must've stopped by the beauty of Gaya, whether she wished it to or not, the bitch. The Nothing seemed to pause in its ruinous sprint through Spook City. A powerful energy all its own was stopping it...

I obliged the boy under one condition and told him all he wanted to know, for what was any of it to me now? I was going to die soon, or so I hoped.

"Why are you so wicked?" He asked me in a child's wonder. I told him, "Because unlike you creatures, I never had a home. No one ever loved me...until now. I am the wandering heart." I told him more about my love with Gaya. The boy said that my story made him feel sad. I said that I did not care about his feelings. I expected contempt in exchange for my contempt. Perhaps the boy would put me out of my misery. No such luck. Do you know what he said? The Son of All said to me:

"It is not too late for you, G'mork."

"Then find Gaya for me, you whelp!" My throat surged with pain. My next raspy cry entered the boy's ears. "She is leading that ungodly racket outside. Bring her back to me...by any means necessary. Only she can break my chains. I must see her...before the end." But Atreyu wouldn't just go. He asked me something else. There was a hint of fear in his voice.

"Once you're free, what shall you do?"

"Live a lie, like you and everyone else."

"You won't hunt me any longer?"

"Look at me, boy. How could I dare walk yet alone run you down?"

"You're a sick animal. Maybe I should just put you down."

"You speak of mercy, but I speak of love. Can you even fathom such a thing, boy? Don't rob Gaya and I of the love we've shared together. For love is deceptively strong, far stronger than any of us."

"But you love to destroy."

"How would destroying me be any different? I am no purple buffalo, boy. If you kill me now as I lay here in chains, you are a coward. How will the Greenskins ever honor you? No, boy...slay me where I lay dying and the evil within me will infest you until you bow to it. And that is what Gaya will do. She will plunge into the eye of The Nothing if you don't stop her now with news that I have-" In that moment I laughed. It might've terrified the boy. "Had a change of heart. Then she may be the one to kill me, not you. Or she may-" I laughed again. "Forgive me for what I have conspired in. She may even love me again."

Then the boy left. I assume he followed the noise-Spook City's final act of defiance, far from being a battle cry-of the parade led by my love. Ages dragged by as I waited in my gloomy darkness. The pain was harrowing...and then she appeared, melting with the darkness of my prison.

I could tell you what we spoke to each other as time resumed. Everything trembled-the ground, my heart, even my teeth chattered-but our love is far too intimate. All I will say is that I am a very fortunate creature. Should The Unseen-the Manipulators-enact their revenge on me for betraying them? So be it. I am not waiting. Why? Because I am too busy being in love.