Chapter 1: The begining
I remember that day as if it where only yesterday, the day that marked the end of my life as a human. Trying to hide it only proved futile. I always knew that someday, someone would find out...but not in my wildest dreams did i know that it would lead to this. The shadows that had always been in my past, following me wherever i go, waiting for a chance to reviel themselfs have finaly come out. Now as I look death in the face I still don't understand why this happened to me, why this curse took everyone from me, and made me an outcast for all of my days. Maybe now that my end will soon come I can find peace in the fact that I am the last that has to live in the fear that their own emotions will drive them insaine, that getting close to someone would prove faital to them. I am the last, there will never be another like me, there will never be another werewolf to walk this earth.
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It seemed like any other day to me. I was almost home after a weeks hunting in the woods, I had started a new life in a small village in the mountains. The village itself was overlooked by a large castle, the lord of the land, sir roland was in his early fourties and had takin his fathers place on the thrown not long after i had arived. He was nice enough to let me live in his village and sell furs to the villagers.
The sun was just comming up over the hills and it made them seem alive with color. I sat their under a large oak tree, watching the sun come up realizing that Aria had never been away from the village and had never seen this amazing sight, I decided that on my next trip i would ask lord Roland if she could accompany me. Even with this breathtaking sight before me I noticed a smell being caried on the wind, deer, I decided it wouldn't hurt anything for one more hunt.
I spotted them not far from where I was, drinking their fill from a nearby stream. The wind was blowing twards me so they had no clue what was about to happen, no I think even if they did smell me they would have no clue what happened next. I slowly stalked through the grass, leaving my bow and daggers with the rest of my things under the oak. I watched them, deciding which one i should go for. Five in all, a large buck and his mate and what looked like their fawn. One of the fawn looked about the age to leave his parents, he was tall, just starting to grow antlers. The thing that made him stand out was his front right leg, he was limping, probably the reason he was still with his parents. I decided that he was the one i would kill.
I stayed still, crouched in the middle of the field only about fourty yards from the stream, and my prey. I slowly closed my eyes and locked all my muscles instantly i began to feel a wave of heat go over me. I slowly saw red behind my eyelids, i was still in control even when i felt the change go over me i still had every muscle locked, one wrong move and it would be for nothing. I opened my eyes and was breathing heavily. I looked down and my hands where now nothing but black fur with long razor sharp claws. I slowly relaxed myself letting the beasts instincst take over, everything was relaxed. I watched the deer intently waiting for the right moment to strike down upon them. It didn't take long, the wounded fawn bent down to drink, and i attacked.
With a roar a jumped from the grass and in only a few strides found myself nearly upon him. The others started to run but this one didn't have time to do anything but look at his attacker. I brought myself within a few feet of him and jumped right as he decided to turn and run, he didn't get far. I had aimed my jump just right and clamped my jaw around his neck dragging him into the water. with a quick tensing of my jaw it was over and the struggling deer lay dead at my side. Looking into the water at my own reflection it was a horible sight. My usual red/black eyes where bright red and my fur jet black. The beastlike wolf I had become was the one thing that had single handedly ruined my life, ironicly enough it was the reason I was living a good life as a hunter. I was the best around, but not for skill with a bow like everyone thought but skill with a cursed power that durned me into a gaint wolf, same thing though right?
I slowly bent my head to get a drink and felt the heat slowly go away and my body felt lighter, emptier. As i lifted my head up from the stream i looked back at my reflection to see no longer was I the wolf but instead the 17 year old hunter. Some of the things about my wolf form stayed the same, like my eyes and hair, my eyes where a redish black color and in the beast form a full on blood red. My hair was jet black and a complete mess as always. The only other wolfs I had ever seen where my parents and my brother, they where killed in a vampire attack, I was given a long scar that went from my chin to the middle of my right cheek in the same attack. My family didn't look as much like thier wolf form as i did, make no mistake i still looked human, but sertain qualities where very much like the beast itself.
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A few hours later i was back in the village, in the shop of the town bucher and my good friend Darwin. To call him a bear of a man was a huge understaitment, he was just plain big. bairly any fat on his body just plain muscle, he stood at about 6'7 a good five inches on me. He was nearly bald and almost always had a smile on his face. I had always wondered why he never inlisted in being a knight at the castle, truth be told we never needed them and the only ones we had weren't that much of nights, shure we had a few but the rest where volintears from the village looking for something to do.
"Ah zane my friend back already?" darwin asked as he noticed me walk through the door. " I sware u are the best thing to happen to this town!"
"You mean the best thing to happen to your shop right?" I said shaking his hand and putting the deer i had hunted on a table. "Thanks for the flattery and all but I'm not that good i just do what i can to get by. Here we go, i got seven this time so how much is that worth again?"
"Comeon Zane you should pay more attention to these things, you don't even know the price of your own game." He mumbled something about me gitting ripped of and how I was lucky he was a nice guy but I was to buisy looking at the armored nights riding into town to listen.
"Hey dar whats going on in town, thoes don't look like our knights." I yelled to him, truth be told our knights don't have much armor at all becides some chainmail, these knights where fully armored and ready to fight.
"And here we go...30 shillings m'boy good doing buisness with you. O thoes guys, I heard they just got back from the war and are headed to attack the head vampires soon. lookin for a place to stay the night or something it's no big deal." Vampires, the sole reason humans where at war, a large conflict broke out and ever sense nothing was the same. My father had told me the sole reason for our powers was to kill them, all i wanted to do was get away from all of it.
"to stay the night...wait aria!!"I said jumping out of my seat, i grabbed the pouch of gold and took off as fast as i could to the castle.
"Zane wait up im comming to, you impashent little punk!!" Darwin yelled as i took off, but I didn't care, to many wories flashed threw my mind.
They want to stay at the castle, they will probably do something to aria and wouldn't let that happen. I would normaly take the road that led up to that castle but it was lined with people, I guess it was more important than Darwin said. I took a path up the mountain and ended up at the castle gates in only a short time. Running up the courtyard I noticed all of the knights where headed to the great hall were it looked like the whole town was having a meeting. I ran all over the castle but no sign of her, shurly she would know to stay out of there I thought. Then I remembered I was talking about Aria, thats exactly where she would be. I came in through a side door and found her watching with all the other slaves in the castle. I never liked the fact that Lord Roland had slaves but there was nothing i could do.
Aria had been a slave sense the day she was born, her mother died from a sickness when she was three and noone knew her father. She had blond hair and blue eyes, she seemed to light up a room, everyone liked her and she always tryed her best to look on the bright side of life. Not far from her was her best friend Isabella, or more commenly called bella. She has brown hair and brown eyes, from the day she came to the castle Aria and her got along pretty well, I heard that bella was moved alot so it took awhile but they finaly became friends. The most known thing about bella is, well, she's a cluts. she always hurts herself in more ways than one and is usualy daydreaming. Not far from them i saw Darwin enter the room asking the castle guards some questions, normaly the sight would be pretty funny seeing as how Darwin the butcher towered over every guard in the whole place.
I was about to get Aria's attention when I froze, not by choice, my body just locked up. I cought a sent In the air that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and i slowly heard everyone in the room get deathly quiet.
"We are headed to the lands of Sinanta to the head of the vampires. I am Lord Henry, leader of this part of the army. My men and I where wondering if we could stop and take rest at your castle. We also have a prisoner of war that we would like to keep in your dungeons until we head out a couple of days from now." A knight said to Lord Roland.
I never heard what Roland said back, but in truth i don't care because at that moment my life fell apart, everything I had worked so hard for came crashing down before me. Breathing hurt, then slowly became impossable, I couldn't move, every part of me seemed to shake with the fear of what was right there in front of me, for looking at me stairing at ME with his topas eyes filled with such hate, he knew what i was, the smile on his face said so. I turned and ran as my body started to shake more violently and the red haze starting to fill my head, the image of his eyes where still so strong in my mind, the eyes of a vampire.