Prologue
A mother wolf was lying down on a grassy knoll. A wolf cub that was about a one in wolf years walked over and lay down next to her. He nudged her.
The mother wolf asked, "Look up. What do you see?"
"Stars. In the shape of a wolf!!!"
"That, according to legend, is your great-great-grandfather Slovarion. He is said to have led the wolves through the Wolf and Human wars, Ranorait."
"Wow!!!"
The young wolf sat besides his mother remembering the Chronicles told to him every night and finally realized that the leader was his own ancestor. He heard a soft rustling in the bushes and the smell of a wolf, but dismissed it as another Haon making sure that they were not far from camp.
"Do you think I'll be like him, mama?"
The mother wolf looked down on her one and only son. She nuzzled him.
"…I believe that you'll surpass him in many ways…"
Chapter 1
The Beginning
Ten days later
Ranorait, or Rano as his friends called him, and his mom had been exiled from the Haon pack right after Rano learned who his great-great-grandfather was. The wolf, Loki, had been sent to watch him. When he heard what the mother had said, he raced back to the pack leader, Magkof. He, as well as the rest of the pack, knew that descendants of Slovarion challenged authority when old enough.
After ten days of exile, Rano and his mother were almost in Falort territory. Rano kept on asking questions about the Falorts and his ancestor, Slovarion. Rano and his mother came across a dead deer, whose neck had been cruelly slit. A stick, too short to be a spear but too long to be anything else, jutted from the right leg. Rano rushed to get some meat from the carcass. He decided that it was too tough. When his mom moved closer to the deer, a shaft came out of the underbrush. Both he and his mom stood perfectly still. The whistling blur continued until it hit a tree. Rano crept over to the quivering stick. It looked like it had three feathers. One of which was on top, the other two on the bottom. In that instant he heard the whistling noise again. Then he heard the same noise stop and instead of hearing the thunk it had made when one had hit a tree, he heard a softer noise. A noise that sounded more like a solid object going through flesh. Rano turned around to find his mother lying on her side. A stick was stuck in her side. Rano ran over to his mother and tried to remove the stick from his mother's side. A human, presumably one that they called a 'hunter' came out of the brush. The hunter tried to pull him away, but Rano bit his hand. Rano went back to licking the wound until his mother noticed. "Stop." she said. "You've done all you can Rano." Rano saw the life leave his mothers eyes. He started to attack the hunter for what he did, but the hunter picked him up by the scruff of the neck and threw him. Rano heard something about the man having run out of 'arrows'. These 'arrows' must have been what he had fired at his mom. Rano crawled away from the spot whimpering from emotional and physical pain. He let loose a howl of despair to mourn his dead mother. He ran in the direction of the Haon pack. Fueled by fear and anger Rano tried to find his way back to the pack that deserted him and had allowed his mom to be killed. But instead, he ran into a group of Falorts, the Haon's rival pack.
"What's a wee Haon pup doing out in Falort territory?" subtly demanded Falorain, the pack leader.
Rano looked in awe at the leader, dumbfounded as to why Falorian was talking to him.
"I said, what are you doing in Falort territory young pup?" he asked again, this time sounding a little testier.
"My clan exiled me and a hunter killed my mom. Now I want to get back and kill Magkof for doing this to me."
Falorian immediately took pity on Rano. He too had been exiled by his old clan and lost his mother to a hunter. The Falorts, the haven pack of the exiled, found him. But when he heard that Rano wanted to take on a pack leader in his prime he burst out in laughter.
"What, a wee pup trying to take on an established pack leader? HAHAHAHA!!! You need training, time to grow, and to become stronger. You also need to study wolf-lore and the Chronicles."
At the mention of the Chronicles, Rano's eyes blazed with an intensity brighter than many wolves' eyes.
"You know of the Chronicles then do you lad?" asked Falorian.
"Yes I do sir." blurted Rano right after Falorian said 'Chronicles'.
"Well then, this might make the job a wee bit easier. What did you say your name was?"
"It's Ranorait, but my friends call me Rano. Are you going to be my friend?"
"We'll have to see. We'll have to see." said Falorian, then he turned to another wolf "Send word back to the pack. See if any mother will take him. Ranorait. Hmm…"
The Falort Pack camp
No mother wolf had volunteered to take Rano because they had pups of their own, were expecting pups, or didn't want anything to do with 'that Haon pup'. Finally, Falorian's wife agreed. That was an unexpected turn of events for the rest of the Falorts. She already had many pups of her own, but she still welcomed Rano as her own. He was the junior of all the pups, the youngest of which was 6 human months and the oldest of which was one and a half human years old. Rano spent much time with Falorian and the oldest pup, Floriv. Falorian and Floriv would go into the forest with Rano to teach him how to hunt, mark territory, and fight.
One day, when returning from a fighting session in the woods, the trio was greeted by the watch wolf, Madas.
"Sir, there is an old wolf sitting in front of your cave waiting for you."
"Did he say who he was?"
"No. He did say something about teaching wolf-lore and the Chronicles to Ranorait."
"Hm… I'll see to him immediately. Rano. Floriv. Follow me."
When they made their way to the cave Rano saw something he had never seen before. He was looking directly at a green elderly wolf who looked like he knew everything the wolf world had to offer and more. Rano had seen black wolves, white wolves, brown wolves, mixed wolves, and even an albino wolf, but never a green wolf.
"Who are you, green wolf?" Falorian demanded with authority.
"Some call me the Forest Sage, some the Forest Shaman, and to others including your pack, I am called the Wolf of the Forest.. I have seen everything from the time when humans and wolves stilled lived in harmony, to the first Wolf-Human war when Slovarion the great-great-grandfather of a wolf who, in this era of human dominance, will lead us to victory. Though the wolf in question is still a pup, he will be stronger than Slovarion, when his time comes. He will unite all the wolf packs of the world and stop the humans from completely obliterating us for now. He will accomplish tasks that Slovarion had only dreamt of. And his name is Ra-"
"-norait." Completed Falorian in shock.
At that moment, all heads in the camp turned toward Rano. All the Falorts realized who they had let into their midst. They had a son of Slovarion, who they hoped was going to help them hold back the human onslaught. All of the wolves who had disrespected him before bowed. Falorian and Floriv were about to bow, when Rano noticed them.
"Don't bow. I'm not even sure how I'm going to do those things. I just want to get revenge on Magkof for exiling me and for what happened to my mother."
"Ah. But that is where it will start young Rano. The first packs you will unite are the Falorts and the Haons." The Forest Sage announced over the silence.
