The Howlers

In the Stone Wall temple of Liken, hidden under Mt. Safarin, Lord Murdock opened his red Irish eyes to the grim fate. The Universe shuttered and all his powers troubled within him.

‘Something coming,” his lips trembled at the words. Lord Murdock, rose from the throne, walked to the heart center of the temple and stood on the primordial center stone.

He sent his sights up to the heavens through the narrow line carved out on the stone. His body shook with the force of electric jolts and Murdock chanted with his frightening words.

The mountain shook with a vibration and he stopped his chants.

“Something bad is happening, earth- shatteringly ravage,” Lord Murdock, the high priest, and the highest divinity of the werewolf kingdom had known about the curse and the prophecy, together with the powers of the crystal, the black force and the red force, they invoked a counter-curse to keep the kingdom safe, but it all seemed in vain now.

In a hurry, he walked out of the temple. With his fairy cap flowing behind him, he rushed down to the secret chamber. He was astonished. The Crystal. The Liken crystal glowed with a blinding shimmer shaking and its hole.

“It’s a curse.”

Lord Murdock fell to his knees and chanted the counter spells. He opened his arms heavenwards, and with a squeal, pray to the Liken gods. Howls echoed behind him, and the stone trembled out of its place.

“It's awakened.”

Jack’s heart beat the loudest and then came back to its normal rate at the same time when the night sky bolted with a strike of lightning. Jack was left bewildered. He was shocked and dismayed at what had just happened.

“ What the hell is going on? This is so, so, strange,” he thought.

Jack didn't waste a minute thought on it. He shook his head and focused his attention back to the girl that lay lifeless before him.

He keenly looked at the body which was lying on the ice. Jack exerted a little bit of pressure to shake her body. She was lying face-down. Gently, he shifted her body and turned her face upwards. Her clothes were muddied and torn. She was wounded and bruised all over. Her body had frozen in the dazzling snow. There was blood all over, fresh blood, which meant that the incident might have happened just a few minutes back.

This would haunt him forever now until he got some answers. Jack felt a wave of guilt hit him.

“Had I rushed her aid when I heard the first sounds, I could have saved her.”

Jack reached out to touch her. With his fingers, he pushed the hair from her face.

“She is beautiful, an innocent soul,” he thought to himself.

She had a very peculiar face, cheeky and childlike, but at the same time, it bore heavy sadness, as if having battled immense pain.

Though beautiful, it was missing a charm. It only stroked his imagination.

“What gruesome agony must she have had to go through.”

The bruises were much worse. There was blood all over her body. Her clothes were torn beyond repair. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a quilted sweater. They both were torn miserably, revealing pale white skin underneath. There were deep cuts around her palms and up her arms. Her head was badly injured, with lots of blood oozing. He simply knelt beside her unmoving body, staring into her closed eyes, imagining what they looked like. Jack was drawn to her with a force beyond himself.

His heart beat and Jack felt an immense range energy within him. It made him feel worse.

‘Had I acted before, I could have saved her, what could have happened to her’ kept running through his head. Or maybe what could have done such a thing?

All his years living in the woods, he has never come across something so brutal.

Jack saw blood drip out of her head and it looked like it was cut open. This could mean that the attacker must be nearby. He thought,

“The weird sounds, the howls, it most definitely had to be a wolf.”

Jack turned and looked far ahead into the distance. If he could find anything moving. Absolutely nothing. The woods were as quiet as her, under issues.

He felt the ground to be uneven.

“Tire marks?” puzzled, he looked in each direction.

Yes, indeed. They were tire marks and it was leading straight up to the cliff. Something was definitely wrong here.

Humans, not were wolves.

There was no human stink around.

“ How does that fit into this part of the forest?” He wondered out loud.

His mind was filled with questions. He knew if he wanted answers, he'd have to look around. And Jack did just that. Jack went into the woods, looking around for traces of any animal or perhaps another werewolf or even humans, which was unlikely he searched for miles around the area to find nothing to be sniffed and scavenged, but still nothing.

Jack could see the daylight shine over the cliff. Her face flashed before his eyes. The sight of her lying dead engraved itself in his mind, he squeezed his eyes tight in an attempt to push it away. He opened his eyes and looked up to the sky, though it was still dark, he knew he had to act fast before the daylight shown.

“First things first. I'll take her to my place. Then I'd have to call my parents and decide what to do about the situation.”

When Jack reached the cliff, he saw her more clearly. Though her face was covered in blood and mud, the pain was carved onto her. He went close to her took her head in his arms and propelled her up. With the other arm below her knees, he picked her up. Her face was very close to his.

“She's breathing,” he was alarmed.

At that instant, his blood ran cold,

“She is alive.”

Though it baffled him. He felt a sigh of relief, “I can still save her. Take her to a doctor.” he thought.

Jack put two fingers at the side of her neck to feel the pulse. Though it was slow and faint, the vein was throbbing. He pulled himself together and prepared to pick her up. He had to do it gently because her body was bruised all over. He picked her up and stood up. He smelled a peculiar scent from her. It was all over her clothes and her hair as well. The scent was quite intense.

Wolves? It sent his mind back in a twist. For the first time. He was having trouble connecting the dots. He looked around on the ground, and there he found his next clue. By her side, he saw big large footprints .

“Wolves?” his heart cringed at the thought, “The wolves have been here.”

Jack's heart beat harder thinking of all that must have happened to her. Above all, he could have saved her from this uneventful incident. Jack quickly rushed through the woods with her in his arms. He jogged as fast as he could without stopping. His house was a little far and on top of the mountain. Not once did he flinch at the thought of climbing uphill while carrying her in his hands. As he ran, he contemplated everything that he needed to do next, one to save her life and the other to save the forest and his pack. He called his parents Nathaniel and Vanessa Parker.

His father was a leader of the courts, the werewolf pack of Arthur, Nebraska. They were a small pack of about a mere 100 Werewolves. They've lived in harmony under the leadership of Nathaniel. According to the treaty, no wolves are to hunt humans. Breaking this rule could get them excommunicated from the entire kingdom of werewolves. They’d forever remain the lone wolf, the pariah.

As Jack reached his house, he rushed inside with her still in his arms. walked up the stairs to his bedroom and carefully laid her on the bed. He rushed to find his phone and rang his father.

“Dad, you need to get here immediately, it's urgent, get Mom along.”

His voice was trembling as he spoke. Nathaniel could sense the fear in his son's voice through the phone. He never heard of him like this before.

“What’s the matter?” he asked in a calm tone.

“Some wolves have attacked a human on our land.”

As he said it out loud, he acknowledged the gravity of the incident.

“We'll be right there,” Nathaniel said and ended the call.

Jack sat beside her on the bed and looked at her enchanting face. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Every time he looked at her, his heart pounded in his chest. Helplessly, he reached out and held her palm and his. Jack held and tight wishing he never have to let go. In that moment, he felt as though their souls were entwined into one as if she was his.