The werewolves encircled the princes, saliva dripping down their menacing fangs. Galuf felt his body flooding with adrenaline, his skin perking up at the slightest sensation. Zeza, on the other hand, could not move, let alone speak, as he was too overcome with fear to function at all. Wasting no time, one of the werewolves leapt forward, its vicious claws extending outward to slice into its prey. Galuf gritted his teeth and was about to swipe at the beast with his sword when a silverback werewolf came bounding in from the forest and tackled the oncoming one to the ground. The two beasts wrestled, biting and clawing incessantly at the other.

"I'm not sure what's going on but we best get going while they're distracted!" exclaimed Galuf as he grabbed his hapless friend by the arm and bolted away. Unfortunately for them, the other two werewolves decided to chase after them.

"Get moving its right behind us!" cried out Galuf as he urged Zeza to run faster. Running past a pile of barrels, Galuf ran to the side of the stack and kicked out one of the bottom barrels, causing the rest to roll and fall. This proved to be a decent diversion, as one of the werewolves nimbly dodged several of the barrels only to get knocked out by a rather large one.

"Well that takes care of one!' yelled out Zeza as he continued to run, the other werewolf still hot in pursuit.

Not taking any time to relish their small victory, the princes sprinted out of the city and into the forest. The town was situated atop a very large hill overlooking the Surgate river. Galuf bounded down the steep hill using large boulders to support his weight as he hopped to and fro. Zeza was having a much harder time as he slowly inched his way down, only to slip on a patch of moist dirt and tumble down. Galuf immediately turned around and caught his friend before he hit something sharp or hard and hurt himself.

"When we get back I'm sending you to see Reinalt, he'll whip you into shape in no time."

"Once we descend down this hill we should come to a river. The bridge shouldn't be far from there, and then we can take the main road back to Surgate castle," replied Zeza dusting himself off.

"Oh geez you're bleeding Zeza!" said Galuf as he parted back his friends hair, revealing a nasty looking gash on the right side of his forehead.

"It's nothing. The clerics can mend it as soon as we get back…what was that noise?"

Galuf and Zeza looked up horrified as the werewolf came bounding down the hill looking angrier than before. Not wasting any time, the princes bounded down the hill as fast as their legs could carry them. They both soon reached the base of the hill near the banks of the great Surgate river. The werewolf was also right behind, slowly advancing on the two boys.

"I thought you said there was a bridge here!" lamented Galuf as he scanned the locale for one.

"We just have to keep moving. It's near here I'm sure of it," replied Zeza, blood still oozing slowly from his forehead.

"There it is, I see it! C'mon, we have to hurry," yelled Galuf as he tried to help Zeza as best he could.

The werewolf finished bounding down the hill, and landed right in front of the two princes just as they were about to reach t he bridge. Galuf had never seen a werewolf up close before, and thought to himself how he never wanted to again. Its fangs were yellow and crusted over, its fur matted and blood soaked, its eyes focused on its prey. Galuf extended his sword and swiped at the beast a few times, only to have his weapon slapped away by the animal's claws. The young prince's short life flashed before his eyes as the beast lunged straight for his throat, only to be knocked away by the same silverback werewolf from earlier. Galuf and Zeza both fell to the ground, stiff from fear. The silverback finished off his quarry quickly with several well aimed bites to the neck, and then turned its attention on the princes.

"Oh god…" whined Zeza as he felt his death was soon to come.

"I'm not going to hurt you…" snarled the silverback as it looked upwards at the village.

"You…can…talk?" asked Galuf, opening his eyes.

"Of course I can!" The silverback began to shudder and waver, like the surface of water when a rock hits it, and transformed into a bipedal form. The princes simply let out a sound of wonderment as the silverback transformed into a wolf man dressed in regal looking clothing.

"I didn't know werewolves could do that!" exclaimed Galuf as he examined the wolf man.

"Who are you?" asked Zeza.

"I am called Kelgar, silverback of the Lupinus tribe," remarked Kelgar, his voice a gruff mixture of wolf and man. Galuf was taken aback by Kelgar's appearance. On the one hand, he did have indeed human looking eyes and facial features, but he also had a snout and wickedly sharp looking claws.

"You attacked our village!" accused Zeza as he quickly lost control of his emotions.

"We did no such thing, I assure you. We wolves have been living in peace with your kind for many years now. I came here because several of my kin had become crazed and broke off from the pack." Kelgar had a deathly serious and straight-to-the point manner about him that was entirely devoid of emotion.

"Well a lot of innocent people were hurt because you couldn't keep your own kind in check!" yelled out Galuf as he grabbed Kelgar by the scruff of his shirt.

"Your anger aside I think the first priority here is to check on your village and see how much damage they caused. Now unhand me…" snarled Kelgar as he pushed Galuf aside. Zeza and Galuf simply gave each other a glance and followed behind Kelgar back up the hill and into the village.

"You said your people became 'crazed'? When did this happen?" asked Zeza as the group reentered the village.

"It was recently that they lost control of their Lupus and began to rage out of control."

"What is a 'lupus'?" asked Galuf.

"There is no concept in your culture that could be considered equivalent. It is our soul as wolves, our connection to nature. Every werewolf maintains control over the wolf side of them. If they can't…well…you end up with this…"

"These people…" choked Zeza as he surveyed the village. The town had been decimated by the werewolves. The mangled corpses of the unfortunate were strewn around the ground, their faces and bodies marred by claw and teeth marks. It seemed the beasts left no stone unturned, as even people who tried to hide away in the houses were hunted down. Galuf looked everywhere to try to find any survivors, hoping upon hope someone made it through the ordeal alive.

"You followed them here then, once you found out they couldn't control the wolf side of them anymore?" said Galuf gravely as he took stock of the situation. Zeza couldn't find the composure to speak, and instead wept. The village he had known since he was a boy now lied in ruin, picked clean by wild animals.

"Yes I was able to track their scent here. I did not know what they would do once they completely lost control of themselves, so I thought it best to find them and eliminate them as quickly as possible."

Galuf walked over to Zeza and laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Kelgar simply turned around and changed forms back into his wolf shape.

"There may be more, and if so I intend to find them. I suggest you alert your leaders as to what has happened here. I wish you luck," the wolf said as he bounded off into the forest.

"Some trip this turned out to be," thought Galuf as he tried his best to comfort Zeza.

-------------------

"We must seek action against them immediately! This is an open act of war!"

"We must think of the families of the village, who will rebuild?"

"We can't be thinking of war at this time, our soldiers are spread out thin as it is!"

The council of ministers in Surgate was abuzz with shouting and yelling, as the ministers were in an uproar over the massacre in the village. Galuf simply sat next to his father, looking on dejectedly at the proceedings. Zeza was on the other side of the table sitting besides his father, his face downcast and his eyes glazed over as if he were in another world.

"Order, order!" exclaimed Jardek, the royal councilor, banging a large wooden orb on the table.

"All I'm saying, is that this could've been a ruse set up by the werewolves to start open warfare against us!" cried out one of the ministers, getting to his feet and gesturing wildly with his hands.

Galuf tuned out the rest of the proceedings as he often did at home. His entire trip to Surgate had been ruined by the crisis that was now overtaking the kingdom. No doubt his father would have to help out the King of Surgate, and Galuf wouldn't see him for most likely weeks. Then there was Zeza.

"He still hasn't snapped out of it since we got back to the Castle," thought Galuf as he looked on at his friend, who seemed so disconnected from the world around him.

"I know if Baal were hit like this I'd feel exactly the same way. And I still don't know if we can trust that Kelgar. He did save us though…"

Galuf waited patiently until the meeting had been adjourned and retired to his room. Night had fallen over Surgate, but Galuf could not rest his mind. He made his way down the hallway from his quarters over to Zeza's room and knocked on the door.

"Zeza…hey Zeza are you in there?" There was no reply.

"Alright I'm coming in anyway," said Galuf as he opened the door to find his friend curled up on a chair looking out over Surgate.

"You can't mope forever you know."

"Just leave me alone."

"I'm not. You can't just stay in here and mope you know. Now I know your father said they'd be sending out scouts to investigate, but we both know we can't just sit around and wait for things to happen. You have to make them happen."

Zeza didn't reply, but instead continued looking out the window towards the great forest. He was happy to have Galuf as a friend, but now he really didn't have the patience for him. Galuf had all but given hope of trying to rally his friend into action, when he caught sight of something moving rooftop to rooftop towards their window.

"What the…" said Zeza as he got up to stand by the window.

A shadowy creature leaped up and landed on the prince's windowsill. It had claws and was draped in a dark cloak covering the body and head.

"I think there is something you two should see," said the figure, pulling back his cloak and revealing himself as Kelgar.

"Kelgar!" exclaimed Galuf pointing, only to be shushed by the cloaked wolf man.

"Silence or I'll be found out. I came here to show you both something strange that has been happening in the forest."

"How'd you know we were here?" asked Zeza quizzically.

"I recognized you, prince Zeza, of course!"

"And why are we to see it and not the king? I'm sure father…"

"There's no time, and besides, I imagine everyone in the castle is wary of werewolves. I should think that they would not listen to us at a time like this. Now get your things, and I will meet you by the pond not too far down the road from your castle gate. Make haste!" Kelgar turned around, covered himself up with his cloak and leapt downwards, nimbly bounding out of the city.

"You heard him Zeza, let's get a move on…" said Galuf picking up his friend.

"But I…"

"Listen to me, Zeza. We've got to take this chance to do something for Surgate, and for the people who were attacked in that village. We can't just stand around. Are you with me or not?"

Zeza looked into Galuf's eyes and found assurance in his friends conviction to do what is right.

"It's good to have you as a friend. Now let's go."

-------------

"Good, you're here." Kelgar had been hiding in the reeds near the pond by the castle so as to escape detection. Galuf and Zeza walked up to Kelgar dressed in whatever armor they could find.

"Where are we going?" asked Galuf.

"We need to head into the forest; there is something you need to see. Quickly!"

The three stalked their way into the forest. The darkness made it difficult for Zeza and Galuf to follow Kelgar, but they managed to keep up. As they continued into the heart of the forest, a thin mist sprang up and covered the ground. The trees seemed to grow taller and the air had a sense of magic in it.

"Where exactly are we headed to?" asked Zeza a bit nervously.

"We're heading into the true heart of the forest, locked away by our kind to keep it safe."

Eventually Kelgar stopped and motioned with his hands towards a clearing in the thickness of the brush.

"Why did we stop?"

"We are here, the hidden temple of the Earth crystal."

Galuf and Zeza looked on in wonderment at the glen they had just entered. The air had a refreshing moisture to it that clung to their skin, as well as the unmistakable fragrance of lilacs. In the center of the glade atop a pedestal was a small prism like crystal that emitted a faint green glow across the glade.

"We've truly entered a holy place…" remarked Zeza in awe of his surroundings.

Galuf walked over to the crystal and gazed at it, but noticed a large crack in it.

"The crystal its…" said Galuf.

"Breaking," said Kelgar gravely.