Chapter Ten- Full Cycle

Seto held up his hands to stare at his long, pointed nails. His gold eyes looked out at him from the mirror as he put his hat on, concealing his slightly pointed ears. It was the day of the first full moon and his ears were beginning to develop points. Atem already had the eyes and ears while the nails were starting to grow. He swept from his room to head for the Throne Room; the next three days' business would be light due to the full moon.

Atem's fingers ran along the edge of his ears feeling the long points before glancing at the nails starting to grow. Seto already has his claw-like nails, but his ears are starting to gain points while I have the opposite. We both have gold eyes, though. He lowered his hands as he entered the Throne Room. There were hours to go before sunset and much business to do even though it was lighter than usual. The punishing of the robbers ended a couple of days ago. It had been amusing when the ones who had seen his transformation were brought up. They looked fearfully at him as if expecting him to change and kill them. Atem merely looked on as they were judged, had the darkness within extracted and sealed before being released as they didn't actually succeed in robbing anyone. The other criminals weren't as fortunate, particularly the one who had injured him. The court had informed him that the wolf he attacked had been the pharaoh and that he would be imprisoned for his crime after being judged. So, it was done. This day no patrols were done, but palace security was discussed and tightened.

At last, it was sunset and Atem adjourned court before he and Seto followed Mahad down to the dungeons. The setup looked as it did last time except there were two bowls of food and water set on opposite sides of the cell and there were more pillows and linens too. Mahad unlocked the door and Atem led the way in. Seto followed and he heard the door close and lock.

"I will see you in the morning," Mahad said.

"Good night," Atem called as Mahad left. He put pillows and sheets near the bowls close to the locked door. All set, he thought happily as he was comfortable being a werewolf despite the anger he had experienced last cycle. He looked over at Seto to see that he seemed nervous and excited. "Seto?" he asked.

Seto turned to the door and gripped one of the bars. "I feel like a prisoner, a criminal."

"You're not. This is for our safety and everyone else's too. Mahad put a spell on the door and bars to make them unbreakable. I doubt two werewolves could ram open a magically enforced cell door."

"That's reassuring." Seto removed his hat and Atem saw that his brown hair had turned a darker shade of gray. He saw Atem looking at his head and smiled. "My hair's not brown, is it?"

"Correct. It's gray, but a little darker." A burning sensation was then felt along his body and he saw his fur growing out. He went to his hands and knees and watched his hands and nails form paws and claws. He came to a realization as his muscles grew and his legs and feet changed: He felt no pain. I guess those lessons really paid off or maybe I adjusted to the changes thanks to the conscious ones. He heard Seto groan and yell in pain. Okay, definitely the latter.

Seto fell to his knees as pain shot through his body. He gripped his arm where the bite had occurred and saw his nails hardening into claws before his right hand formed a paw. He planted it on the floor and it was followed by the left paw. His hair turned to fur that spread over his body. His pointed ears formed into wolf ones and travelled upwards. He groaned and yelled as his muscles enlarged and he gained back legs and paws. This is awful and painful. Wait…the pharaoh is quiet. His conscious changes probably helped him feel no pain. He felt a tail grow and a muzzle appeared before he howled and felt his mind become a wolf's mind. Anger flooded his mind upon realizing he was confined. He growled at being trapped but than a howl and low growl caught his attention: He wasn't alone. He looked at the other end of the cell to see another wolf that was a little smaller than him and gray fur that was lighter than his own. Despite his bigger size, something told him that the smaller wolf was the dominant one. He slunk to the bowls of food and water nearby; his stomach felt empty and he was famished. Once his hunger and thirst were satisfied, he proceeded to pace his side of the cell until he grew tired and curled up on the pillows before falling asleep.

Atem awoke to find himself sprawled over his pillows. He rolled himself to a sitting position to see Seto curled up on his pillows, his hair brown again. That must mean his senses are enhanced now. He closed his eyes to think back on his emotions and senses. He recalled smelling another wolf and when he locked eyes with the bigger one, a feeling of dominance was felt.

He opened his eyes and blinked at what he had picked up. I'm the more dominant wolf? That would mean whatever I chose to do, Seto would follow my lead. If I chose to attack him, he would either fight back or allow me to injure or kill him. No, Seto's too strong-willed to let himself be attacked without fighting back.

A stir caught his attention and he looked to see Seto uncurl and sit up, his gold/blue eyes blinking sleepily before focusing on Atem. "Good morning, my pharaoh."

"Seto. Tell me: Do you recall anything last night?"

"Just anger and a vague feeling of submissiveness"

"I see. I recalled anger as well and a feeling of dominance. It would seem that I'm the dominant wolf of the two of us."

"That makes sense as you are the pharaoh and I am a priest. I noticed that you were silent during the change."

"I felt no pain and concluded that it's because I've changed between moons."

"So, I have to endure two more nights of pain before I could reduce it by changing between moons."

"So it would seem," came Mahad's voice as he came up to the cell and unlocked it. He looked both over as Seto retrieved his hat and followed Atem out. Both had dual-colored eyes and long nails but looked normal otherwise.

Seto inhaled and wrinkled his nose slightly. The dungeon smelled awful. I didn't notice it last night. Have my senses improved just as the pharaoh's has? I remember overhearing him mention sharper senses and the smell I just picked up would confirm that I have sharper senses as well. I do like being a werewolf despite the memory gaps. I look forward to when I can consciously change. Perhaps the pharaoh and I can do things together as wolves one day. But first, we have two full moon nights to get through. Atem looked back at him and a feeling of kinship was shared between them. A kinship forged by the light of the full moon.

The End