Chapter 1

3544words2026-02-06 07:24

Behind the safety of stone walls the citizens of Brhams went about their usual daily lives. At the center was the castle Blackstone, where King Marcellus and his queen, Valyria, resided. The walls were patrolled by armored guards day and night, and for most of the citizens, this created a sense of safety. But for a select few, there was always a sense of fear looming over them.
One such citizen was Trinady Moon, a man who carried a dark secret his entire life.
As usual, Trinady would gather his own food outside the city walls. He would hunt and gather in private and trade the furs for geldings, the local currency. Something unusual would happen on his hunt today.

As he carried his catch back to the city, he could smell something familiar. As quick as he could, he climbed a nearby tree to see further out, and saw a thin line of smoke in the distance. It was far too faint for a normal human to see, let alone smell. As Trinady climbed down, he noticed a small group of travelers, and recognized one of them.
“Chance?” he called out. One of the men in the group looked in his direction.
“By the gods, is that Trinady Moon I see?” the man's face lit up and he ran to his old friend to embrace him. “What in the world are you doing here, my old friend?”
“Gods above, Chance, I live nearby!” Trinady said with a chuckle. “Obviously!”
The two laughed and made small talk for a minute before being interrupted by Chance's compatriots. “Gentlemen!” one of the men shouted. Both Trinady and Chance turned to look at him. “Chance, I believe we have not met your, um... friend.”
Chance smiled and patted his comrade on the shoulder. “It's all good, Samuel!” he exclaimed with a smile. “Trinady here is from my old clan!”

“Samuel, was it?” Trinady reached out to shake his hand and Samuel gripped his hand firmly.
“Indeed.” Samuel stated flatly. “It's always a pleasure to meet the friends of my subordinates.”
“Subordinate?” Trinady asked, looking at Chance.
“Don't worry about it, Trin.” Chance reassured him. “I need to ask you something, though.”

“What is it?” Trinady asked, looking concerned.
“Do you by chance live within the city walls?” Chance's face looked concerned, as well.
“Unfortunately.” Trinady replied.
After a tense moment, Chance suddenly seemed excited. “What's it like? I've never lived in a city before!”
“Uh...” Trinady was taken aback by the question. “It's okay, I guess.” he was struggling to provide a real answer. “There are a lot of people, so I don't go out into the market unless I have to.”
“There's a market?” Chance seemed even more excited. “Do they sell clothes, or swords, or...”
“Chance!” Samuel called out. “We need to be on our way, I don't want to be stuck in the city all night!”
Chance scratched his head nervously. “Sorry Samuel!” he called back. “Just one moment longer, please!” Chance turned back to Trinady. “That place must be pretty busy, right?”
“I guess so...” Trinady replied. “I'm usually really cautious about the guards that patrol everywhere, so I find it safer to stay home.”
“I see...” Chance said softly. “Well, I'm glad you're staying safe my friend!” Chance embraced his friend one last time. “I shall hope to see you very soon, my friend!”
“And you, as well, Chance. It was good to see you.” Trinady said with smile.
“Maker watch over you!” Chance said as he waved goodbye, again leaving with his group. “You should consider camping in the woods tonight, though. There will be an aurora that cannot be seen in the city.”
As Chance and his friends walked away, Trinady noticed something.
Samuel smelled like the smoke in the distance.
“Maybe it's nothing...” he said to himself quietly before taking his catch back into town.
As he made his way home, he stopped by the butcher to have his catch skinned and prepped for cooking. He greeted the butcher with a smile as always, never once letting on that anything was out of the ordinary for him, and the butcher returned the smile in kind.
After leaving the butcher, Trinady stopped by a trader, and traded some new furs. Again, they greeted one another with smiles and small talk.
After leaving the trader, he stopped by the tavern to pick up a keg of ale, and once again, he and the barkeep greeted one another with smiles and small talk.
But all the while, Trinady could not help but think about what Chance had told him, the smell, and the smoke. He pondered on it as he walked home, but quickly put it out of his mind as his neighbor, Alice, called out for him.
“Trinny!” she shouted.
Trinady smiled nervously. “Hey, Alice...” he said, trying to feign enthusiasm. “How are...”
“Trinny, you're back! Did you have a good hunt? Did you catch anything big? Like, really big? How big was it?” Alice rambled excitedly for quite some time, never once actually giving Trinady a chance to answer any of her questions, but on and on she went, until she said “Well, anyways, it's been great seeing you, and I hope you'll join me for dinner tomorrow night. Will you? Great! I can't wait to show off my cooking! Have a wonderful night! Bye!” Alice disappeared in her home and shut the door leaving Trinady bewildered.
“What...” he asked himself quietly. “What just happened?”
After a few moments, he shrugged it off and continued into his home, where he stored his food and ale and prepared to settle in for the night, as the sun was already dipping below the horizon, and while sitting in his chair, with his feet up, Trinady slowly began falling asleep, exhausted from the day's events.
A loud clanging of large bells awoke Trinady from his deep slumber, and his eyes widened in horror as he smelled the smoke. He lunged out of bed and ran to the window, only to see the pulsing glow of fire in the direction of the main gate, followed by faint screams. He threw his tunic on and ran to through his door to find Alice outside his door, one hand up to the door, the other covering her mouth as tears streamed down her face.
“Alice?” he said, adrenaline flowing. “What is it? What's happened?”
“It's... it's just awful!” she cried. “W-we're under attack!”
Trinady took her hand and looked into her eyes reassuringly. “Please, get your family and bring them here. Under my bed is cellar where you will all be safe.”
Alice nodded, tears flooding her eyes before throwing her arms around Trinady, squeezing his neck tightly. “Thank you so much!!”
He awkwardly hugged her back. “Hurry now. We don't have much time.” he whispered softly into her ear. She stepped back, wiping the tears from her eyes and ran to her home as Trinady turned toward the coming destruction.
As he moved through the neighborhood, the screaming and fighting became louder and louder, and the familiar scent of smoke burned his sinuses, along with other familiar scents. He hastened his approach, slowly running faster and faster, his bare feet rapidly slapping on the stone path.
He suddenly slammed his forward foot down hard enough to dislodge a stone from the road, and quickly ducked down as a sword narrowly missed an attempt to remove his head. The wielder of the blade stumbled forward, having missed his target, and Trinady punched the man with enough force to dislodge both his upper and lower jaws, sending him spiraling backwards into a nearby stone wall, leaving a man-shaped splatter of blood behind. He looked toward the markets and knew he was in for a difficult fight, but onward he ran, and as he moved, he encountered more and more of the raiders attacking Brhams. Who would be stupid enough to attack the capital? He thought to himself. It's pure madness!
As he approached the market, he climbed the ramparts, pulling a raider from one of the city guards and lurching him off over the wall to plummet to his death outside the city walls. He then reached out to the guard, and the guard took his hand and rose to his feet, feeling Trinady's strength. “Blimey you're stronger than I took you for!” the guard shouted through the sounds of chaos.
“Are you still able to fight, sir?” Trinady asked.
The guard nodded. “There are civilians in the markets! Can you help them? We don't have enough men to leave the walls unguarded!”
Trinady nodded. “I'll take care of it!” he shouted as he turned and descended the ladder from the ramparts. Half way down he spotted another raider attacking another guard and leapt from the ladder, tackling the man and striking his throat before sprinting toward the market, leaving the raider to drown in his own blood.
He spent some time taking out raiders as they attacked, and spent even more time pulling raiders off of men, women, children and the elderly, desperately trying to save as many lives as he could. Exhaustion was starting to settle in, and it was getting harder to keep up. He closed his eyes for a moment, pain starting to overwhelm the adrenaline, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded.
“Stand down, Trinady!” a familiar voice shouted with rage.
Trinady turned to see who was brazen enough to give him orders in the middle of this carnage. “Chance? Is that you?”
“I told you to stay out of the city tonight!” Chance had his hand wrapped around a small child's neck, holding him like a human shield. “You never could listen!”
Trinady looked at the boy apologetically before looking back and Chance. “And you never could think for yourself! Why are you here? What have these people done to you?”
“These people?” Chance shouted angrily. “These people have treated us like animals while they sit up here getting fat on the food they stole from us! Their “king” decided what our lives were worth and all of them followed suit!”
“These are good people, Chance!” Trinady shouted back. “Maker's breath, you're holding an innocent child hostage!”
“Innocent?!” Chance shouted. “This brat is a future killer, and you know it! If these people knew who you really are, do you really think they would be so accepting?”
“It doesn't matter! But I have lived among these people for years, they're not so different from us!” Trinady was trying desperately to save the boy and stop his old friend. “This is madness, old friend! Stop this senseless bloodshed!”
Chance looked down at the boy and looked back at Trinady. “It's too late. Samuel has already infiltrated the castle.”
“That's right!” another voice called out. Trinady turned to see Samuel walking toward him, covered in blood and grinning viciously. “In fact, I've already killed the king of pigs.”
Chance dropped the boy and knelt down to Samuel as the boy ran away and hid. “All hail the king of wolves!”
Trinady looked to the sky, both moons shining down on the burning city as the chanting of the other raiders faded away, his thoughts wandering to Alice and her family, the pellar, the baker, the butcher, and all the other people he had come to know over his years in Brhams, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he felt the moons giving him strength, and he opened his eyes, and they glowed a bright golden glow. “You will not have my home, and you are no king of mine!”
White fur grew from his body and claws grew from his fingertips. His shirt ripped open as his body grew larger, and large fangs grew in his mouth as his maw grew longer, bringing him closer to a wolf than a man, and he bared his claws and teeth as he howled menacingly at his enemies.
The guardsmen had all but given up at this point, and they, along with many surviving townsfolk, stared in shock and disbelief as they watched one of their own turn into a werewolf. A mix of shock and horror filled the air, but Trinady stood fast.
Samuel simply smiled. “Kill him.”
Groups of raiders attacked in waves, and Trinady quickly had his white fur quickly covered in blood as he tore them apart, sometimes 2 or 3 at a time. Heads rolled and organs splayed out all over the market as he took on each and every raider that attacked him.
Several guards took advantage of the situation and began attacking once again, refusing to give up the city to the scum who saw fit to take innocent lives.
On and on, Trinady fought waves of men, and his white fur turned red. The enemy numbers were dwindling, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder, and a crushing weight pushing him to the ground, onlookers gasping in horror. Chance had transformed into his lycan form, slightly smaller than Trinady, and covered in patchy black and white fur, and had clamped his jaws down on Trinady's shoulder after pouncing on him from behind, and held him in place. Trinady gasped for air and looked onward as Samuel began transforming in to a large black wolf, his eyes glowing blood red.
Samuel snarled, and in a deep and gravely voice said “It is over, heretic! This land belongs to the wolf!”
“No!” Trinady snapped. Even pinned down by his old friend, staring down his homicidal enemy, he still had defiance and determination in his eyes. “We were created to protect them! The wolf is the guardian of this world, not its butcher!”
Samuel sneered, baring his fangs menacingly. “Foolish boy.” he said softly.
“Do you remember, Chance?” Trinady asked softly, the faint sounds of fighting getting quieter in the distance. “Do you remember the humans who rescued us?”
Chance said nothing, tightening his grip on Trinady's shoulder.
“They live here, Chance.” Trinady said softly. “Their daughter is my neighbor. She is a wonderful girl, and I would not let anyone harm her.”
Chance closed his eyes, still holding Trinady strong as Samuel walked closer, flexing his hands and flashing his sharp claws.
“I owe them my life, and I will gladly give it, if that were all it took to save her.”
Samuel soon stood face to face with Trinady. “Any last words?”
“Spare them.” Trinady said roughly before coughing loudly. “I don't care if you take my head. My life here is over either way. Just spare these people.”
Samuel sneered and cracked his neck. “A man's true nature is revealed at the moment of his death. I am pleased to see that you are no coward.” Samuel pulled his hand back, claws aimed at Trinady's throat. “Farewell, heretic.”
In the blink of an eye, Samuel took a swipe, but met no resistance.
Trinady and Chance seemed to have just... disappeared.
A blinding white light shimmered behind Samuel, and he ducked behind a nearby merchant stall before peeking out to see what was happening.
Trinady and Chance were back to their human forms, and both kneeling on the ground next to a small hooded figure. “Are you okay, Trinny?” she asked softly. “I'll heal your wounds.”
“Wait...” Trinady protested, but to no avail. Light surrounded his body and all of his wounds began closing quickly, while Chance watched, unable to move.
“The transformation takes a lot out of you, doesn't it?” she asked, slowly pulling her hood back.
Trinady's eyes widened in disbelief. “You?” he asked, shocked. “Alice?”
Alice smiled at him with her big blue eyes. “I guess we both had some secrets, huh?”
Trinady looked to the ground. “I... I am so s...”
“Don't apologize, Trinady.” Alice said sternly. With a quick swish of her staff, Chance was covered in ice, leaving only his head exposed. “That ice is stronger than steel. So don't struggle.”
“Can you get his attention?” Trinady asked. “I don't think we'll be able to capture him alive.”
“Can you still transform?” she asked softly, and he nodded. “Do it.”
Trinady's fur reemerged and he howled, no longer with the rage and fear he held before, but with cool determination. “Ready.” he growled.
Alice waved her staff, covering Trinady in frozen armor, as Samuel prepared to pounce, and as Trinady leapt into action, he was swiftly met in midair by Samuel's brute strength, and with a single blow, Trinady was instantly launched nearly to the other side of the city, obliterating stone walls and wooden buildings along the way. Alice quickly covered herself with a dense dome of ice as Samuel pounced in her direction, his razor sharp claws scraping the surface of the ice as it narrowly closed behind her head, and as quickly as his feet touched the ground, he was airborne again, dodging the needle-like shards of ice shooting out of Alice's shield.
“Bastard!” a voice shouted behind Samuel. A single town guard charged at the enormous wolfman, sword in the air. With a seemingly effortless swing of his arm, the guard was airborne and sailed over the wall into the forest outside of Brhams. As he watched the soldier disappear in the distance, he suddenly fell to the ground, looking down to see a large white wolf with its teeth sunk into his ankle. “Heretic!” he shouted in a rage.
Trinady had transformed into a full blown wolf, and began quickly dragging Samuel away from Alice, who remained behind her shield, chanting quietly.
Samuel grabbed the nearest object he could find and swung it at Trinady, who reacted by wrenching Samuel's leg sideways, but not soon enough. Samuel struck him in the shoulder, and Trinady rolled toward Alice, transforming back into his lycan form, then lunging at his foe.
Back and forth they struck each other with enough force that the sound echoed in the valley. Back and forth they fought until both were worn down, and covered in blood.
“Why do you protect them?” Samuel growled. “Why would such a strong wolf care for these... parasites!?”
“You wouldn't understand, Samuel!” Trinady shouted back. “You became strong in spite of them. I became strong because of them.”
“You... are... a... LIAR!” Samuel snarled, and began charging Trinady, who dropped to his knees, finally at his limit. “You are a heretic and you will DIE for it!”
Trinady closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable.
A few moments later, he opened his eyes to find Samuel's claws lightly grazing his fur. “What... happened?”
“I froze his blood.” Alice called out from behind as she threw her arms around Trinady, then whispered “Please don't tell anyone I did that, though, it's not something we're supposed to do.”
The next morning, Trinady woke up in his bed wearing bandages for the wounds Alice could not heal, and it didn't take him long to notice the commotion outside. “Here we go...” he whispered. “Guess I should start packing.”
With a brown cloth bag filled with his few belongings, he opened the door to find quite a few of the townsfolk gathered outside his house, and among those people were several guards, along with people he knew and interacted with on a daily basis. He looked at the faces of all the people, wondering if anything he could say would make a difference.
“Look...” he started. “I'm sorry. I won't trouble you any f-”
“Can you be a doggy again?” a tiny voice called out.
Trinady looked around and saw a familiar young boy in the front of the crowd. “A... a doggy?” he asked, a perplexed expression on his face.
“You're a wolf man, right?” a woman called out.
“We want to see the real you!” a man shouted.
Alice stepped out of her house and watched with a smile. “They're here to thank you, Trinny!”
Trinady looked at Alice, even more confused, then looked back to the crowd. “Wait, you're not here to run me out of the city?”
“Are you serious?” a woman shouted. “You saved us!”
“You're our hero Mr Wolf!” a child cried out.
People began cheering and complimenting him one after another, and suddenly, Trinady turned into a full white wolf, mostly in an attempt to hid his blushing, but laid in front of the crowd smiling and wagging his tail happily.
After the crowd dispersed, Alice approached him as he returned to human form. “Well, 'Mr Wolf'?” she started with a smile. “Can I get you to come over for dinner now?”
“You know what I am now, so why would you still even want to talk to me?” Trinady asked.
“You dummy.” she replied with a smile. “I've always known.”
“What?” he asked, his brow furled in genuine curiosity.
“One, I'm a witch.” she started, still smiling brightly. “And two, my mama is an elf, and a seer.” She took his hand and held it with both of hers. “You see, I've, kind of been... well... in love with you... since you moved in.”
Trinady's tail appeared out of nowhere and began wagging happily. “S-sorry...” he stuttered. “This is kind of new for me...”