Shadows of the pack

Sebastian’s POV Humans bring such chaos into this world at every point in time, so it’s not a stretch to say they would sooner bring doom to Mother Earth and all that exists within. It was a cold, silent evening, and one could already tell from the look of things that something was wrong; these people, the humans, had left their village in utter disarray, but what I couldn’t ascertain was what had actually happened. I wandered across the little town I had encountered on my long journey; seeing this little village and its obscene nature of reality made me feel like I was going through Deja vu. I had seen something like this before, one too many times for me not to remember; the memory of something I experienced deep in the mountains of Dagil hit me. My eyes widened in realization. Could it be? This village bore similar marks of the aftermath of the battle between me and the Shinto Oni soldiers. But no! I had travelled so far from where those creatures had attacked me, they couldn’t possibly follow me and yet go ahead of me to cause such damage. After all, I am Sebastian, born to werewolf parents; I would have smelled them from a few miles away with my strong sense of smell. Moreover, they don’t seem to be after humans back in Dagil. They were solely after me. These creatures with humanoid physiques, devoid of life form, having no essence or soul, always wielding a sword and emitting thick dark flames all around their bodies while moving in eerie synchronization. I later met a friend who told me they prey on lesser gods or godlike creatures they perceive as weak and they always had a puppet master controlling them. This made me wonder what sort of foe could be after me and if they were after my power because the mind control my friend suggested the puppet master for the Shinto Onis had, was similar to my magical power. I left my pack and embarked on this quest leaving my position as Alpha to my brother because my grandfather told me I had to find a Sorcerer to help me control my magical power of controlling other wolves before he died. I’ve always had a rare power of controlling other low-ranking wolves which always made my grandfather worry. He mentioned that he had seen something like this before and it was a magical ability that could make some really dangerous creatures come after me. This wasn’t only a threat to me but also to the whole pack if I became the Alpha. Perhaps my journey to find the Sorcerer had something to do with the Shinto Onis that had attacked me twice within a year. I moved across the village in hopes of finding answers to why the village was left in such disarray but there was no evidence that suggested that a fight took place, it seemed as if the attackers didn’t meet anyone in the village but still went around and torched some houses. Perhaps I was only being paranoid to have thought at first, that the Shinto Onis had attacked the village because of my recent recurring dreams of them. Of course, the humans couldn’t be their target since they don’t possess magical powers that could make dark creatures like the Onis come after them. I felt a little comfort since I couldn’t smell any stench of blood that suggested that someone was killed or that foul smell of dark flames that could have been caused only by the Onis, I then assumed that the villagers might have escaped before an attack happened but I was very certain in that moment that the Oni hadn’t attacked the village and I was only being paranoid. So I decided to find a comfortable place to rest my head and maybe stay for a day or two before we continue our journey. Just then, 'Hey, Seb!' the ancient voice of my companion, Cain interrupted my thoughts and brought my attention back to the fact he was back from searching around the village after we separated some minutes ago to cover more grounds in our inquiry to find out what had happened to the village we expected to be filled with life and chattering of humans. Cain, I met Cain not quite long after I got out of the deserts of Gwimpora, five months after I left the pack. He offered me shelter just after I found my way out of the desert and for that I was grateful and indebted to him but he wanted nothing in return than to guide me on my quest to find the Sorcerer I mentioned to him in one of our conversations about how I found him. We headed towards another part of the village that Cain had found and said was safe. He had met with some villagers who told him they were escaping from the forest because a war had just begun and the enemies had pillaged the village. Luckily for them, they had hidden somewhere in the deep parts of the village’s forest long enough for the pillagers to be done, and they were escaping only a few days after the horrific attack had occurred. Humans always amaze me; at one point or another, they’re either in war or on the verge of one. Those creatures fight over the slightest of misfortune and disagreement and never seem to see each other as the same species, perhaps because they do not constantly encounter celestial beings and other extraterrestrial creatures that pose a threat to their whole existence. Maybe, just maybe, when they do realize that the world goes beyond petty fights over space and resources, they’d be able to get along. I only pity the weaker ones among them who would suffer the often-severe consequences. We made camp at the remote part of the village that Cain had found and set a little fire to smoke the bush meat we had hunted and killed a few miles from this village. This would last us until tomorrow morning when we get moving. I often love to hear stories from Cain, as he always has one to tell, especially because he’s an immortal man who has been living and wandering for many centuries now. As usual, tonight, Cain had one of those stories to tell. “Humans have always been like this, you know, Seb? “Mmm, have they?” I replied to him. “Ah!! Yes, we are always warring,” he said, nodding his head while staring deep into the campfire as though he could see the memory of that time through the fire. “There was once a time when being king was what I wasn’t, but live like a king I did.” Cain smiled slightly, then continued. Until they came in the middle of the night, barging through our defense like a raging storm embedded in an arrowhead after a 58-day siege. The Dulguans came fully prepared to conquer our kingdom. Although we had heard from scouts and neighboring kingdoms about a possible war coming to our walls, both the king and we, the subjects alike, were too engrossed in the kingdom’s affairs and paid so little attention to the defense of the kingdom, thinking it wasn’t a really serious issue.”