The Warriors: Caith

  Have you ever wondered how some kingdoms rose to power against all odds? Have you ever wondered how the most powerful kingdoms fell? I am going to tell you a story, a story that has been kept secret for hundreds of years, a story that many tried to bury. I don't know the exact date when the first was born, not sure anyone ever knew. I am not even sure what to call them. This story starts at a time where kings waged wars and the people suffered. A selfish time, where money was power and honor was all but forgotten. A time where religion controlled politics and the masses were scared, scared of the unknown, and scared of the unusual. The Clan MacGreagor was just that, unusual and only known to a few. The Clan had special gifts, and these gifts were perfect instruments for King's to win wars. This Clan of warriors was begged and bribed by kings to help them and whoever had them fighting on their side won. The gifts of the Clan made humans nervous and those in power feared what would happen if they desired power.     Some claimed these gifts were unnatural, that they were evil, but to the Clan it was a way of life. Shapeshifting was a part of who they were. They could transform their bodies into wolves, and the wolf was a part of them. It was two beings inside the same body and both had equal control. They were formidable in battle, hard to kill. They were smarter, faster and like their animal counterpart they were honorable, they didn't care about money or power. They didn't choose to fight for who could offer them the most in gold, they fought for who they believed in, to protect the innocent. They fought to protect their lands, to protect their families.     The MacGreagors were a peaceful clan. Like their wolves they put the pact first and would fight to the death to protect each other. They also trained, trained to fight, trained to protect, and trained to kill. It was a savage time, they knew how powerful their enemies were and how far they would go to hurt them. Every child male and female was taken to a mountain and taught how to survive, how to fight, and most importantly how to hide when they turned nine years old. Like the Vikings they believed that women needed to know how to defend themselves. They started this training early, before the shapeshifting happened. They needed to learn control and how to hold down the blood lust they felt with the first few years of changing. The first changes happened around the age of thirteen, when your hormones are already out of control. The elders of the clan taught them control, courage, honor, trust and love. One of the many gifts they were blessed with was time. After their first change years did little to effect their youth. What twenty years would be for us would be like one year or maybe less for them. Seven years of training was nothing, just a small blip in time.  They didn't send the women to battle but trusted them to protect their home while they were gone. Women were respected and held in high esteem. Women brought new life in the world and life to the clan.      The clan kept certain secrets about their lifestyle, such as how they trained, and that some members married humans and chose to live outside the clan. Like wolves each member had a mate, one mate. Finding your mate was sacred, and no one kept them a part. The mate whether they were human or part of the clan was accepted as family and their union was celebrated. It was up to the couple whether they wanted to live as part of the clan or in the human world. Although most chose to live with the clan since they had little fear of being discovered, but some chose to be with their humans in the outside world. Humans didn't always accept the Clan, but they would always be welcomed home and accepted. The MacGreagor's one flaw was trust, they trusted their friends to be as honorable as them.      In this savage time the Church was growing in power and had ties to many kingdoms around the world. One relationship they sought above all others was with the Clan MacGreagor. If they could control who the Clan fought for they would secure their place of power in the world. The Church befriended the Clan and promised them they viewed them as gifts to the world. They joined in on celebrations and preformed marriages in the Clan's village. Behind their fake friendship loomed a fear, a jealousy. A deep seeded jealously. They wanted to control the Clan but as we know wild animals cannot be caged, they rebel against control. In turn the Church form a secret society whose whole purpose was to control the Clan, and if that failed then destroy the Clan. The first time the Clan went against the Church it was forgiven some still had hope. Plus, it wasn't time yet, the secret society known as the Hunters were not ready. The second time a devious plot formed. A plan to wipe out the Clan and all memory of them. A plan to destroy them and was executed almost to perfection.      One year during a long and cold winter the men were called off to war, or so they thought. The Church had sent them a message of an attack on a monastery. A Monastery filled with innocents. The warriors would be gone for months and most of the children were off to train. All that was left in the village were a few women and sadly the youngest of the Clan. Children had been born less and less as the years went on and woman, mates were becoming harder to find. The Hunters came as friends and were welcomed as such, and before a warning could be shouted the few women and young ones in the village were slaughtered. Even with men being so far away they could feel the pain of their mates and children being killed. The children on the mountain training could hear the cries of their mothers and younger siblings. The men rushed home only to be ambushed and killed by the Hunters. The elders training the children on the mountain hid them away and kept them on the mountain for many years to come. They passed all knowledge of the Clan and their gifts down. They taught them of the betrayal. They taught them of how revenge could destroy. When children grew some decide to try and forgive and live out peaceful lives. Others could not forget and  lived for justice.      After hundreds of years this fight is still happening today.