the dragon wolf's reborn bride

Chapter1 I and Old Balin usually went into the forest to gather fruits and green vegetables for our breakfast. That morning wasn't any different. We woke up early as usual, carrying baskets and clays pots as we treaded the bushy path that led into the thick forest. "You are the only one who can save the remaining moon wolves and defeat the dragon wolves Elowen," he'd say to me everytime. They are counting on you. Once you turn eighteen, the moon goddess will impart power into you and you will become invincible" Old Balin never failed to remind me that the fate of my people rested in my hands, he didn't make me forget the bondage my people were leaving in. "You are the only one who can save the remaining moon wolves and defeat the dragon wolves Elowen," he'd say to me everytime, "they are counting on you. Once you turn eighteen, the moon goddess will impart power into you and you will become invincible" He didn't say anything else until we arrived at our spot. He sat on the river bank to fish while I went on gathering vegetables. "I don't want you catching cold Elly," he said when I removed my slippers and jumped into the crystal coloured lake "You worry too much, Balin" I giggled as I dipped my hand into the river and brought out a gold fish "when was the last time I caught cold?" "Last week" he answered and I laughed and tossed the fish into the basket beside him "don't do that" he yelped as I bent to put my hand in the river again, "you could get bitten by something,use a fishing hook instead" "But that takes too long,I don't have that much patience" He shook his head as he heaved a sigh"Beauty and patience... "Power and responsibility" I completed and he laughed "you have learnt so well my dear" "Yes I have and I'm going to be a philosopher like you someday" "Yes my sweet," he said with adiration in his eyes," you would make an excellent philosopher and a great talkative" "Oh common, imagine what this place would be like if I don't talk" "It would be quiet" he said as he dipped the fishing hook into the river and sat on the grass on its bank "and wisdom forms in quiet places. A wise mute is better than a lousy fool. You don't need to talk everytime, sometimes you just listen, talking everytime doesn't mean you're intelligent,it only shows your confidence" "But confidence is nothing without a voice" I answered vivaciously,"and wisdom doesn't guarantee happiness,a lousy person's words brings comic relief" "Who told you that?" "I thought of it just now" He pondered on my words for a while and smiled "you have indeed learnt,we all have our sides to everything" He stopped as his saw his reflection in the river, then he widened his eyes in surprise "what in the world have you done to my hair?" I giggled mischievously and stood up from beside him, laughing "I thought I told you never to put flowers in my hair again Elly" "But they make look handsome, it's a beauty prank" He laughed at that and I joined, not long afterwards we returned home. After we got home we started making lunch but halfway through our cooking spree ,we heard a very loud crash sound,then there was a loud bang,this sound shook our small house to the roots. "What's going on" I asked as I held onto the railing to prevent myself from falling. The next thing we heard were noises and battle cries coming from outside "what's going on, Balin" "We are under attack" he answered My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. Goosebumps covered me instantly as I felt cold from inside. My legs began to wobble and for a moment there I couldn't breath, within a few minutes my nightmare had come true. How did they find us? "they have broken our walls" I will never forget the look on his face as he said those words,he had the look of a failure,he was broken and hurt and in a flash,tears streamed down the old man's face. "How did they find us" old Balin wondered aloud "I shouldn't have relaxed, this is all my fault. I have failed" I contemplated running up to my room or hiding somewhere but before I could decide, the door was suddenly thrown open and we were surrounded by soldiers, armed to the teeth. They grabbed us and held our arms behind our backs "Let us go" I screamed but the soldiers only tightened their grip on me. I was scared, what if these people took our lives, would that be the end. Just then a man who seemed to be their leader walked in. He was tall, muscular and strong looking. He was dressed in regal battle clothes, he had a handsome face but it was streaked with wickedness. "At long last," he said as he saw us, the evil grin on his face sent shivers of fear through me, there was no mercy on his face "the last moon wolves alive" "Who are you" "I am Alpha Arion, the son of..." Old Balin gasped and widened his eyes in shock at the sound of the name "how good does revenge feel" Arion asked "I bet it feels as good as rendering a little boy fatherless" "Your father is wicked and ruthless" Old Balin shouted in response "he deserved to die" Arion turned and hit him across the face the instant he said those words. "No!" I shouted as blood gushed out of my old man's face,hot tears streaming down my face. I tried wriggling out of the soldiers hold but he only tightened his grip around me. "Your father wiped out an entire lineage..." "Keep quiet," Arion shouted, hitting him again "You have no right to hit him!" He stopped and turned to me the moment I said those words "WOW" he exclaimed advancing slowly towards me "it really is true, the beauty of the moon" he stopped in front of me and ran his hair over my shiny silver hair. "Never have I beheld something as pleasing to the eyes as you" he stopped and his face darkened with hatred so much that his eyes burnt my skin "you will pay for the sins of your people, you will suffer until the blood in your veins is full of bitterness. I've had to search too long,too hard to find you and now that I have nothing will be against me, the moon goddess is now powerless" "You can't do anything to her," Old Balin shouted again trying to get out of the grip, "she belongs to the moon goddess" "Not anymore," he said and began to walk towards the door "bound them in chains and flog them if they refuse to move" It all started when The Frostbite Clan, one of the packs in the werewolf land rebelled against the moon goddess and started a war to conquer and rule the remaining packs in the land. The Frostbite Pack was victorious in the wars they fought because the custodian of darkness whom they decided to serve instead of the moon goddess was with them,he gave them black magic and strengthened them. The custodian of the night and the moon goddess used to be close friends but the question of superiority caused a rift between them. The god of the night claimed he was more powerful because he had evil powers and the moon goddess boasted about the beautiful creatures she was in charge of. The custodian of the night grew jealous and decided to take control of the werewolves. Thus, he bestowed evil power on the Frost Bite Clan and they conquered so many packs in the land with it. I belong to the pack of the moon seers. The moon seers are a pack of wolves who serve as the priests of the moon goddess. Out of the members of this pack the moon goddess chooses one female to represent her and pass her message across to the people. The moon priestess is regarded with a lot of respect, being the only one who can communicate directly with the moon goddess. My family, the priest family, fought against the Frost Bite Clan. This battle was a heavy clash, so many of the members of my pack were killed including my father. The Alpha of The Frostbite Clan also died in the war with thousands of his soldiers. At the time the war ended, the Frostbite Clan had already conquered a remarkable amount of the land. They ruled these colonies with cruelty, forced them to stop serving the moon goddess and took over their lands. The Frostbite Clan thus, became the biggest, strongest and the most powerful werewolf pack in the world. My mother, the moon priestess was pregnant with me at the time of the war. The death of my father broke her spirit and the grief weakened her so much that she died a couple of minutes after she gave birth to me. My mother's sister Johvis, took me as her own and nursed me. When I was seven months old, the Frost Bite Clan attacked my pack again, determined to wipe every moon wolf off the face of the planet. The wicked wolves caught us unaware and unprepared, thousands of my pack members were killed while the rest were bounded and taken away. My aunt Johvis died in this war, trying to protect me, she removed the sword from her chest and carried me from my cradle,then she ran with what was left of her strength until she found Old Balin. An old werewolf whe took me into hiding. Old Balin took me to a safe place and raised me. He was the only family I had and at the time I was growing, it seemed as though we were the only ones in the world. He told me the story of how my people were killed, took care of me whenever I was sick and taught me a lot things, including herbs, potions and healing spells. He told me of the evil in this world, the virtue of being good and harmless like the moon and the power of unconditional love . Most times, I wondered what laid behind the huge walls of the hidden hills I grew up in. Even though I never made any attempt to find out, because the old wolf told me what would happen to me if the Frost Bite Clan laid their eyes on me. Alas! He had been right all along. The aura surrounding Arion and his men was of hatred and foreboding. Yhe moment the soldiers released their grip on us and made to chain us, Old Balin shifted into his wolf and pounced on Arion! This act caught Arion by surprise but before he could recover, Old Balin had already injured him, clawing his neck and biting a patch of his skin off. I thought the act would make the soldiers to refrain from us but the next thing I heard was a gunshot from nowhere. Old Balin instantly shifted back into his human form and blood began gushing out of his chest. I screamed in horror, pushed the soldier that was holding me away with all my strength and ran to Old Balin's body on the ground, falling to my knees as I held on to him "Balin! Don't leave me," I cried, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him,"get up. We have to go" He forced a smile and moved his hand from the round bullet wound "I... have" he winced in pain and shut his eyes for some moments "come to... the...end of...my journey princess" he smiled again. "Do not forget.... everything... I've taught you... I'm going away... but I'll always...be with you" "Calm down we'll do something about this, you'll be fine" He smiled again "there's nothing now princess. Don't ever....turn .... away... From... the moon goddess, you have...a destiny to fulfill.. the land is counting on you. Goodbye princess" He flashed me a little smile and then he slowly closed his blue eyes in death. I held on to him, wailing until I was dragged off him. The dragon soldiers bound me in chains and bundled me into a waiting carriage. I looked at the other carriage but I didn't see Arion,I was still wondering where he was and where he was taking me when a wind suddenly began to blow. I was aware that the dragon wolves had dark magical powers but this was the first time I would be witnessing it.