We have forgotten the horrors, the turmoil of their forgotten battlefields and the secrets of their special magic.
The outline of a large wolf, the size of a Clydesdale, is seen only by the light of the moon staking through the lush frosty forest. White glittery shapes of humans dart into the rays of moonlight, they seem to appear and disappear in a blink of an eye.
Like ghosts in the moonlight, sleek shapes gather to confront one another. Werewolves to beguile the vampires.
An eerie howl breaks through the darkness of the forest.
Vampires to torment the wolves.
Spine-chilling high pitched laughter is heard, it sounds as if the pack of werewolves has been circled.
They have both arrived to the very north coast of Washington. Unbeknownst of the pack of werewolves that already lay claim to this area, and not far south from them a coven of golden-eyed vampires also call this place home.
The rivalry of the outsiders reaches far beyond the competition for territory. If animals and the undead can hate, this is a blood feud of hatred.
Terrifying growls emit from the wolves deadly jaws as the red eyed leeches let out inhuman snake-like hisses of their own. The two mighty forces standoff in a clearing, the same clearing were a battle much like this one was fought. The night is quiet and still, the only noises heard for miles are of these supernatural beings. The resident wolf pack can hear the foreign growls and the sickly sweet smell of bloodsuckers. Immediately the pack goes on high alert and sets off to find these newcomers. The golden-eyed coven can also hear the hisses of their kind and the growls of unfamiliar wolves, they too are on edge and head out to find these invaders.
Back the clearing, it is obvious that this would be a momentous battle in the many years this war was fought. Most of the red eyed coven can be clearly seen, however only some of the wolves are out in the glow of moon, determining how large the pack is, is nearly impossible.
For a millennia, these killers and protectors have waged an ancient war against each other.
Both coven and pack advance and retreat with mock charges, swiping of their claws, hisses, growls and snarls.
It is often unpleasant to witness, desperately sad and horrifying. Always deeply disturbing. Until now this war has been veiled in the secrecy of darkness. Long bloodlines fuel this pack's and coven's hatred for each other, deeply sewn into their very being.
This is the story of two of the nights' bitter eternal enemies.
This wolf pack is from Oklahoma. They are Comanche Indians, one of the fiercest Native American tribes ever encountered. The pack grew up in Lawton, on the Comanche Reservation and on the legends of their tribes encounters of the cold ones. Back when their ancestors still lived on the Great Plains and in their tepees, a coven of red eyed cold ones attack their camp, killing many of the children, men, and elders. Enraged by their murderous acts, Comanche women looked for a way to get revenge and protection. The wolf granted women of the tribe the spirit of the wolf. With the gift of the wolf, the women changed to she-wolves and hunted down the old ones killing all of them but one, offering them up to the wolf. As generations passed, when cold ones would come, young girls and a few young men would change. Over the years the cold ones watched the numerous wolf packs, learning and studying each pack. They began to make a sport out of hunting and killing down some of the wolves as trophies.
Unlike other shape shifting tribes, the pack's alpha is always female. The pack's structure is matriarchal, the few males that do shift are the subordinates, but amongst themselves males have a hierarchy of their own.
Like their ancestors before them this pack fights to protect their people, but this is the first time the that number of wolves has increased by so much that there are two well sized packs. One full of a younger generation, trained and deadly, the other is mixed with wolves of every age and are much more laid back. As such a large pack, it was unusual the younger pack that would take out the cold ones that ventured to close. However there were more than enough capable wolves to take out vampires, while the young pack went out as a hunting party to kill and rid the world of these bloodsuckers for good. It was agreed that since none of these werewolves had imprinted that they would go. This young pack has nine females and two males, with killer intent, set out to eliminate their immortal enemies.
The Comanche wolf pack and the Pale Face coven took their ancestors war to a new level.
A few weeks ago, a she-wolf, named Loki, was missing and something was happening in a valley untouched by man in Oklahoma. Sometime during the night the she-wolf killed a large bull elk. A few members of the Pale Face vampire coven circle her a few yards away, already tormenting her. The young Loki is alone; she can't do much but try and run. The smell of blood attracts more of the Pale Face leeches and they began to try and take some of her kill. She tries desperately to ward them off with snarls and baring her large canines. However the vampires' tolerance is short lived and chases her off before stealing her kill. Thunderous sounds of paws full the air making the earth quiver. The mocking laughter and hissing of the leeches carried around the valley to the alpha female, Vallari (Va-lar-e), who is always eager to confront vampires. Soon more rumbles of the ground signaled the rest of pack was not far behind. With final jeers the vampires began to retreat, but some didn't make it without injury from Vallari or the packs other large she-wolves.
Vallari is the reigning queen, the female leader, the Comanche's Alpha. Her status set for life unless she dies. As Alpha she is 20-35% larger than her pack males and 30% heavier than them. Her role as Alpha, Vallari must protect the pack and pack territory from any threat. She is the female equivalent to male lion, an alpha wolf, and a silverback gorilla. Her pack is made up of related females and two non related males. The weakest female ranks above the two males, Vallari ranks above everyone. She-wolves are the primary hunters but the males do assist in the hunt. After Vallari, the beta females are next on the tadpole. Chai, the beta, Akela, Gaia, Nala, and Yuma were the powerful and were around the same age as Vallari, 22. The three pups, around 16, Ista, Waya, and Loki were getting the hang of killing vampires. The two males, Chinook and Shane (Little Brother) made up the rest of the pack.
The Pale Face coven is red eyed vampires, nine strong. There is only one left of the original coven, who taught the coven how to study the werewolves and hunt them down. Next in pecking order are four vampires with three decades of experiences and lastly are four newborns created a year ago. The Old One teaches the younger leeches how to fight the werewolves and how to kill them. The Old One, Acheron, enjoys the thrill of battle and the excitement of the hunt. The slightly younger vampires, Chalice, who is very cocky and believes she can do anything, Kaige, who has a very cold personality, Locke, who loves antagonizing the wolves, and Noire, who is the most humane out of the Pale Faces, like to rile the all wolves but a wary of Vallari because she has killed many before and seems to have fondness of killing a vampire for no reason at all. The newborns, except one, are all about fun and games when it comes to wolves, they want nothing more than to make the wolves' lives hell.
A week goes by from when the Pale Faces stole young Loki's hunt. Today the newborns are playing on an open grassland, little did they know that danger is not far away. Akela and Nala are out looking for food when they stumble upon the newborns. They stalk the baby leeches, till one of the newborns notices the large females. They panic and quickly head off towards the forest, with Nala and Akela not far behind.
The Old One, Acheron, is alerted and with the coven storms back to save the newborns. Akela is surrounded and attacked. Her usual companion Yuma is away hunting in the forest, but the rest of the pack rushes to her aid. A young female, Ista, darts in to take on the vampires. This youngster, on the verge of adulthood has had many violent encounters with vampires.
Fear has turned into something more akin to hatred. The vampires recognize the transition.
It was a skirmish not a battle, no blood was spilt today.
Acheron checks the newborns for any damage. He looks over Zima, nicknamed The Princess, because he favors her, especially careful. Finding all of them fit, he decides the coven should stay in one spot and together for the night.
That night Vallari's loud and majestic howls filled the night, a warning to those listening.
Regal masters of the night wait and watch in the darkness. Vallari and Chai, the pack's beta, meets up to hunt. They caught a pronghorn and began to eat. The coven was out looking for the source of the blood. The vampires know each of these two wolves by sight and stay away.
Tucked away under the shelter of a large tree the Comanche pack, sees out another hot day with a nap. Vallari chooses now to go patrolling and keep an eye on the Pale Face coven. She wants to know exactly when they move on. She returned a day or so later and was greeted by body rubbing, licking of the chin and showing of the neck.
One can't help but get caught up on the spine chilling excitement of the hunt, as the wolves head out at dusk. Perhaps it has to do with something of the memory of time gone by when we were the prey and our nights were filled with darkness.
The elk are in migration this time of year and the wolf like shapes are drawn in by the need to devour. Vallari is nowhere to be seen when the female wolves bring down a bull and cow elk. As always the kill is watched from the shadows, a few leeches stand not but a few yards away. Quickly the vampires identify that wolves and realize that Vallari is absent and send out a call similar to an owl. The noise attracts the entire coven, as the numbers mount up the battle begins.
Akela charges them and they scatter only to return when she turns back for the kill. Perhaps sparked by recent memories, Akela is the most aggressive. The bloodsuckers laugh and find amusement in her agitation and failed attempts to ward them off.
The numbers are too great, the battle too fierce.
The vampires began to bite and nip at the wolves, to make them give up their kills.
Vampires are the masters at exploiting chaos.
They keep Akela isolated while attacking the other she-wolves viscously. The wolves are helpless and quickly change form to climb a close tree. The Comanche's can only watch as their kills disappear.
Blood flows tonight, this incident was just a simple struggle for food. Competition between the super predators.
The prowling vampires melted away into the night, by morning the Comanche were still isolated in small groups up trees reluctant to venture down. The pack begins to relax; they seemed comforted by the lift of the darkness and the disappearance of their enemies. Akela is still shaken, getting up the tree is easy, and coming down is less dignified. The pack, seemingly glad that everyone had made it through the night, begins to play.
Zima, of the Pale Face coven, favorite of Acheron, is enjoying her status within the coven. Because of her position, it appears as though the others dote on her. Her position as 'princess' will probably be for life unless something happens to Acheron. The Princess is being groomed for the leadership of the clan, but she is still dependent on Acheron, who gathers blood for her.
Night after night these vampires pass the night within ear shot of the wolves, constantly aware of the other presence, always alert for a weakness to be used. Two families of feuding enemies.
The middle of fall brings out many bears and the wolves react immediately, verging on any bear. Wolves appear from everywhere, ignoring established boundaries, encroaching on forbidden ground. The Pale Face coven had marked this area. They were after the same food supply since they had drained every human around. As Akela leads the pack on a hunt, the coven comes running in. Akela's pack is attacked and chased. As they retreat, one female Yuma is separated behind the line of attack by the coven. She is surrounded and seriously injured. The leeches' attack her from behind once her attention is turned somewhere else. With a look in their crimson eyes, it is clear they will kill her. With their teeth and claws they tear her fur apart, leaving bloody gashes in her skin. She desperately tried to fend them off, but with only a few minutes of rest between attacks Yuma is tormented throughout the night. Her growls become desperate pleas for freedom. She calls to her pack and Vallari. Vallari has been tricked; lead far away so the coven could carry out this murder. Acheron lead her on a wild goose up north, using his powers he disrupted the packs telecommunication and created a sound barrier around Vallari, so she wouldn't come and ruin the coven's kill. Yuma's fate was sealed. The vampires attacked her again and again, while she tried whole heartedly to fight for her life. Akela has been waiting in the shadows, and comes in to investigate when the growls subsided. The injured she-wolf is slightly older, possibly her sister, but Akela can do nothing. She is chased off. The vampires then did the most disrespectful thing they could do; they bit her injecting their venom. The she-wolf is left alone to whatever fate awaits her.
The vampires venom, if they choose to inject it, will take away the rapid healing of a Comanche wolf. If left untreated, the wolf will surely die.
In the night her blood drains out into the grass. The Comanche pack is now smaller by one she-wolf. The newborns drawn by the blood, find the human body of Yuma. These endless cycles of life and death continue throughout the ages. The newborns feed on the dead she-wolf till nothing but a few bones remain.
Back from the wild chase, after Acheron suddenly disappeared, Vallarri learns of her pack sister's death. Fueled by anger she and the pack give chase to the Pale Face coven till exhaustion over takes them and they must stop for the night. The horrors of the night melt away in warm glow of survival.
A few days later, a little north west from the Comanche pack in Idaho. The Pale Face clan is hunting. For the first time the princess has joined the hunt. The cattle are returning from summer pastures along with the cowboys who heard them. The clan methodically runs down the cowboys and their horses, not bothering about stealth. They tear into the humans and their horses unaware of the coming danger. Vallari appears from the darkness, ready to confront the coven, even more so now with her pack sister's death still fresh in her mind. Charging in, the vampires don't notice till it is too late. Vallari catches Acheron in her claws letting out a ferocious snarl before closing her massive jaws around his torso and thrashes him violently about, while he tries unsuccessfully to remove her. He fights wildly, hissing in pain, as Vallari let's go briefly to bite down on his head and neck. Black congealed blood covers Acheron body as Vallari uses her front and back paws tear him open. Others from the clan try to distract her, but it only succeeds in her giving a quick and immobilizing twist of her powerful jaws before she lets go of him to turn her attention to the others. It is a moment of supreme opportunity for Vallari, not concerned with food, her drive is to kill.
Acherons back is broken; he cannot survive the brutal mauling from the Alpha. He rolls helplessly on the ground, while Vallari chases away his coven. While Vallari is away the Princess comes to see Acheron. On her very first hunt, Zima is faced with a catastrophe; she has only just passed dependency from Acheron to a harsh world where she'll have to fend for herself. As the Princess finds him Acheron goes still. Zima doesn't have time to say good bye as Vallari and the pack return to light the body on fire.
Without Acheron the clan is in turmoil. They are leader-less. New relationships have to be sorted out. Second and third ranked leeches now compete for the top position. For days the clan will be nervous and quarrel-some. The life of the Princess is also in turmoil. Without the protection of Acheron she has lost all rank within the coven. She wanders in and out of covens' temporary territory without knowing the limits and without the guidance of an older vampire. Alone, in world full of enemies. Zima is still accepted because she is a member of the clan, but now she has no privileges. Very soon she become alienated by her uncertainty and leaves the clan's company for the last time. She finds her own little rest area and a small clearing where she meets up with the rest of clan to go hunting. One night a nomad stumbles upon the clan while they are eating, it is here a female vampire named Charice takes over as the leader of the clan and leads them into a fight with the nomad. When vampires clash they use their strength to inflict heavy wounds on each other which sometimes end in scarring or even death. The nomad barely escapes with his life. The Pale Faces' mark their boundary line, fixed till the coven moves on.
Fixed too is the relationship the coven has with the wolves, one that can only change with death. A blood feud that is forever.
The coven moved once again to the forest of Oregon. The pack has followed, not wanting to lose the vampires now when they still are uneasy and quarrelsome. The pack could use that weakness to finally destroy all of them.
It was mid morning and Vallari's howls could be heard. A reminder to the bloodsuckers that the wolves hadn't given up their chase. Vallari is a mile away patrolling, Chai is patrolling on the plains when the new clan leader appears, following Chai's every move. Chai stares down the vampiress as she marks her territory and moves onto a bush. Charice goes to patch of ground Chai just marked and digs it up. This matriarch is confident and defiant, harassing the much larger Chai. Chai gives her a warning growl and a mock charge before continuing on her way to a tree to lie down under. Charice's cocky attitude draws out more of her clan into the plains and her actions don't go by unnoticed to the pack that is resting on a hill at the edge of the plains. Slowly the pack gets up and follows Chai but some of the leeches including Charice are in the way. This not a competition for food. When Chai leads the pack out to meet he vampires, it is to do battle once again with their eternal enemies. Chai leads in a mock charge, growling fiercely at the scattering vampires. Her growl filter across the plains to the queen's ears and Vallari comes running to her packs aid. Targeting the new leader of the clan, the queen runs to full speed, gaining on the vampiress. Vallari is a vampire killer. She was made perfectly just for this and she is great at what she does. Her pack follows their Alpha and targets their own vampire to hunt down. With each step Vallari gains, she shortens the gap between the two of them. Lounging forward she trips Charice . Charice turns to the wolf queen, as Vallari wraps her immense jaws around Charice's head and neck before slamming them shut, breaking the leech in two. The new matriarch is dead. The day belongs to the wolves. Chai and Gaia have also brought down a newborn. After burning the leeches bodies; high from their kills the pack began to chase down the remaining members of the Pale Face clan.
Forever these eternal enemies will fight on.