The Shadow Lycan's Rebirth

Chapter Two

Ezra was once again in the accursed abyss that inhabited his dreams. He still couldn't move or speak but something was different. This time around, on the horizon, he could see the same white-haired woman he saw in his memory. She turned to him and uttered the word 'Skotos'. Ezra burst out of the dream, cold water running down his shirt.

He looked up to see a woman in armor holding a bucket, "Why the hell did you pour freezing water on me?"

"How else would I have woken you up, Critineborn spy!" said the woman.

"Critineborn? I don't know what that is but I'm definitely not a spy!" said Ezra.

The woman drew nearer and leaned against the armrest of the iron chair he was chained to, "Well you're not Moonborn either, so what are you? I've never heard of a pitch black Lycan"

"I..I..I don't know. I don't even know what a Moonborn is. I don't even know how I turned into that dog thing" said Ezra.

"Liar" the woman yelled as she punched him across the face. The chair toppled over and he fell face-first into the cement floor.

"I'm not lying. I can't remember anything!" said Ezra.

"It seems you're a little tight-lipped. Don't worry, I can fix that"

The woman made her way to a dial in the wall and cranked it from zero to three. A surge of electricity ran through Ezra and he let out a horrid scream.

After about two more waves of electricity, a man walked into the room and ordered the woman to stop. His armor was more structured compared to hers and was gold-plated.

"The elder council has requested he face them," the man said.

"Aric, what do they want with this Critineborn scum?" the woman asked.

"They want to question him. You know, see what they can get on Innis Keegan" said Aric.

The woman turned to Ezra who was still recovering from the electrocution, "You hear that handsome, you're meeting the big bad council. When they're done with you, you'll wish that you'd stayed with me"

From the a side pocket in her satchel, she pulled out a syringe and jammed it into his neck.

Ezra opened his eyes and the bright lights penetrated his lids. He was on his knees, chained to the middle of a circular grand hall. Seated all around him were a mix of men and women wearing black robes but one of them stood out, his was white.

This man stood up and said, "Speak your name boy!"

"Umm.. It's Ezra. Well, it's not actually Ezra but I can't remember my original one so I'm going by Ezra for now."

"My name is Bearach Kavanaugh, I am the Alpha of the Otuthra Moonborn pack. We know Innis Keegan sent you here to destroy that town in Newhaven, Why?" said Bearach.

"No, no, no, you have it all wrong. I don't know anyone named Innis and I didn't mean to destroy the town. You see I was….." Ezra said. As he tried to explain himself, Bearach's patience ran out.

He slammed his fist into the table in front of him and said, "Answer the question! Why did Innis send you there!"

"Listen, listen… I don't remember anything. I lost my memories and I'm pretty sure I didn't know anyone named Innis"

As Bearach and the council kept pressuring Ezra, a woman holding a scroll came through the large golden doors of the grand hall. She made her way to Bearach and whispered something in his ear. Whatever she said must have frieghtned him because his skin turned pale after hearing it. Bearach cashed for silence, stood up and faced the council. Anyone could see he was distraught.

"Word has just reached me. And the information offered up by the recon team implies that this man is a Shadow Lycan"

The serenity turned up chaos and shouts filled the room.

One of the council members sprung up and said, "We have to kill him then! We cannot allow a Shadow Lycan to roam free. The prophecy forbids it!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!" the whole room chanted.

Bearach tried his best to placate the council but they weren't having it.

So by a majority vote, Bearach's decision was vetoed and Ezra's execution was authorized.

"Wait no. I'm not a Shadow whatever. I can't even remember most of what happened while I was transformed. Please no. Wait!"

Two guards came in from the hall's entrance and dragged him out of the council's presence.

As Ezra walked down the corridor leading to the Tartan; the Moonborn dungeon with two Lycans as escorts, he couldn't help but quiver. Hundreds of thoughts were flowing through his head.

'How was my life before I lost my memories?'

'Did I have a family?'

'Who is the woman with white hair?'

'Am I really going to die without remembering my life or my family?'

He didn't want to die, He couldn't. So he came up with a plan to escape his captors and it involved a torch basin. When they were within range of one, he kicked the base of it, causing it to fall. It ignited the ground between the escorts and him, giving him the leeway he so desperately needed.

"Goodbye Rufus and Bingo"

Ezra ran as fast as he could even though he wasn't sure where he was going. He knew any place would be better than a freaking dungeon. Sadly, after minutes of running, he came to a dead end and his pursuers cornered him.

As a last attempt at freedom, he rushed towards a gigantic glass window on the left side of the corridor and jumped through it. Some of the shards cut him but cuts were better than whatever they'd do to him if they caught him. He descended quickly and right as he was about to hit the ground, the silver Lycan that captured him earlier leaped out of a lower floor of the tower, grabbed him, and planted him into the soil.

"Wait can't we talk about this. Wait, Listen.Oh f**k me!" said Ezra before the Lycan gave him a right hook across the face.

The impact knocked him unconscious. During his time in captivity, the only visits he'd get were the occasional one's from the girls in the Moonborn academy who wanted to see how cute he was.

The day before his execution, two Imperial Lycans; Lycans who serve directly under a royal Moonborn faction as guards or messengers, came to his cell, bribed the guards and forcefully jammed another one of those syringes in his neck despite his resistance.

When Ezra came to, he was lying in what he thought to be a pit. At the embankment of the pit, there were rows of people all looking down at him like they expected something from him. Beside him on the ground were a sword, a bow, some arrows and a shield.

"What the hell is going on here?" shouted Ezra.

A man in a bedazzled red silk shawl emerged from the crowd and said, "Ezra my boy! My name is Kylian Reshar. As you can see, I am a royal and so is every other person you see in the crowd. Now you see, I've promised this nice folk that they would get to see a Shadow Lycan in the flesh. I don't want to disappoint them and you wouldn't want to disappoint me right? So let's get to awakening"

"No way I'm awakening just for you and your buddies' amusement. Plus I can't even transform on command, it's a danger type thing" said Ezra.

Kylian let out a sadistic grin and said,"Oh is that so? Well you should have said so sooner. I've made provision for danger already"

Ezra's face lost colour and a wave of fear rushed over him.

"What do you mean by danger?"

A rusted gate at the other end of the arena rose slowly. From the dark gateway, a dirty muscular man in tattered clothes, foaming at the mouth crawled out on all fours like a wind animal. He had chains all around his feet and his wrists and used his teeth to yank on them.

"Where are his own weapons?" Ezra asked.

Kylian smiled and said,"He doesn't need any"

Golden fur emerged from the man's skin as he turned into a Lycan. Immediately after awakening, he burst towards Ezra like he had been preprogrammed and started thrusting his claws. Ezra ran and dodged whatever attacks he could and endured the pain of those he couldn't.

The crowd booed. This made Kylian furious. He had promised the crowd a Shadow Lycan and all they got was a scared man.

After watching Ezra evade attack on and on, Kylian lost his temper and gave the Lycan orders to kill. In a rageful sprint, the golden Lycan caught up to him and plunged his claws through his chest and throat. The crowd went wild, cheering on the gold Lycan.

As blood began to fill his lungs and he approached his last moments, he fell to the ground and looked towards the sadistic group of people called royals and wondered how someone could be so cruel as to derive joy from watching one die. Suddenly, In the corner of his eyes, among the hundreds of people there, he caught a glimpse of a woman with white hair and a fox mask. At first, probably because he'd lost a lot of blood, it didn't ring a bell but when she took off the mask he remembered where he had seen that face. She was the woman from his nightmares! His heart started beating fast and the rush he felt the night he fought with Vanda returned. His wounds started closing and the bleeding stopped. Fur as black as night sprouted out of his skin and covered him up. He leaped into the air and took hold of the support beams that held up the protective barrier above the arena. He used the beams to propel himself through the barrier and into the embankment. The crowd scattered and everyone started running, but he didn't lose sight of her. Kylian's men tried to stop him but he sliced right through them with his claws and threw the rest down into the pot.

The woman ran into the forest behind the Reshar manor in an attempt to disappear but he still caught up to her. As he was about to catch up to her, she swiveled around swiftly and placed her hand on his hairy chest and sent a pillar of energy through him. He froze, fell flat on the ground, and reverted to his human form.

He couldn't move and he couldn't speak. Because of this, his gaze was fixed on what was above him. She entered his field of view and crouched over him. For the first time, Ezra could see her clearly and though he couldn't remember his previous experiences, he was sure that he had never seen anyone or anything more beautiful than her. She leaned closer and placed her forehead on his. He could feel the warmth of her body and her breath on his face. Her eyes glistened like a forest lake under the moonlight. Her beauty was so entrapping that he hadn't even noticed that her spell had worn off and he was now able to move. She placed her hand on his face and said, "You're as handsome as I remember and I know you'll be able to do it".

She began to get off him but he held her back by her waist. She let out a smile and said,"You can't remember me but still you desire me. You're hopeless". She leaned over once again and kissed him, after which he passed out cold.