The First Tribrid

When the future is bleakest and hope all but lost, a begrudging decision will finally be reached. True enemies united; true friends unsure; true happiness will be breached. A wolf will come late and bring with her a gift to ensure a future for all. True salvation comes when she arises; the first tribrid stands tall. "We've heard all this before!" The last remaining gargoyle alpha slammed his fist on the table, causing it to shake and the rest of the council to frown. "This prophecy is so old, not one person alive knows its origin, so how can we be sure of its accuracy? Perhaps it's really about a male of a stronger species and it got warped over time by retellings." The leaders of all the supernatural species rarely, if ever, agreed on anything. The only occurrence thus far is that something needs to be done before they're all killed off. The human hunters had been wiping out everything they could find, leaving most species all but eliminated. Currently, the council only has 14 members, though it used to have over 100. Half the remaining members are various species of shifters. There are two alphas each of the wolves, bears, and cats, with the lone dragon as the acting head of council. The other half of the members vary much more widely. The elves, fairies, vampires, witches, demons, gargoyles, and demigods each only have a single remaining leader. Draconis, the dragon alpha, had just finished reading the prophecy before the equivalent of a bowling ball was smashed into the table. They were supposed to be discussing the merits of waiting it out or taking other action. Despite the obvious point that creatures literally made of stone should be more capable of patience, Ggrttynal (Grr for short) made his point of view clear before flapping his wings in an agitated manner. He didn't believe any female, especially one of the softer species', could possibly be the turning point for their joint survival. Of course, his comments offended several alphas, who all began arguing at once and yelling over one another. "What do you mean by 'stronger species' Grr? Wolves have lasted better than gargoyles in this!" "Women can be stronger than most men I know!" "I could challenge any man here and win against you all!" "I hope you're not referring to gargoyles as the stronger species! You're slow, heavy, too loud to be sneaky, and useless in a fight!" "We fight better than you elf! I could squash you with just my left foot!" "I did say heavy." "Perhaps a stronger species would be better. Demons for example..." The room descended into complete silence at the softly spoken comment. The demon king, who chose the name Shawn for himself eons ago, looked thoughtful and remained quiet for a moment longer before continuing. "Not possible sadly. The prophecy specifically speaks of a tribrid, and demons are incapable of combining with other species' in that manner." "Vampires are made, not born, same as you demon." Victoria, the Vampire Queen, spoke smugly, as though the whole proceeding was beneath her. "Our venom, however, mixes with the existing species and gets diluted or blended. There are no true vampires anymore as we are all hybrids of human or other beings. Perhaps it would be easier to make a tribrid with one of my kind." Draconis sighs and everyone turns to him. "You've made this argument before Victoria, and the answer remains the same. No other species can contaminate and combine like yours, so the creation of the tribrid will have to be adding vampire venom to an existing hybrid. As far as non-vampire hybrids go, the only way to create one is with a shifter. The other remaining species' cannot procreate and result in a hybrid unless a shifter is in the mix. As for the hybrid being a wolf, it makes the most sense. I believe the other half is human." Chaos erupted around him as Draconis tried to rein in the other leaders. He knew this would be the reaction. Humans were to be feared, not mated with. Humans killed so many of their families and friends that the thought of anyone mating with a human was repulsive to almost everyone present. "CALM DOWN AND LET ME EXPLAIN!" Draconis hated yelling, however sometimes it was necessary to get things done. When the room was down to a dull murmur, he spoke again. "The prophecy only mentions a wolf, not a wolf and a witch, or a wolf and another shifter, which would be equally dominant to the personality of the hybrid if either were the case. It also says the 'wolf will come late', and I believe that refers to the fact that human/wolf hybrids don't get their wolves until their 20th birthday, while full blooded wolves get them at 16. If I am understanding correctly, then it would have to be a wolf as well as a human for the simple fact that only a wolf can pass as a human well enough to get close to them to mate with one." The werewolf alphas started growling and looked at each other. "There aren't any human mutts in my pack!" Darius' words came out as an accusation. The pair did indeed look human in that form, if somewhat large and imposing. The growling they were doing would've been a dead giveaway in any human town, however, as it was a very animalistic sound. "I don't allow that s**t in my pack!" Marcus shouted back. "Perhaps one of the refugees you've taken in lately Darius? Weren't you just complaining the other day that they were dragging you down?" Darius stood up and slammed his palms down on the table. "At least I was willing to take them in! I didn't see you volunteering your pack for housing the few survivors of our race. I only mentioned to you that I need more resources in order to be able to feed this many extra members." He took a step back and sighed. "And no, for the record, there are no hybrids of any kind in that group, aside from one very sickly wolf/cat." Draconis cleared his throat and stared at Darius until he retook his seat. "I wasn't accusing either of you of harboring a hybrid, or allowing your people to associate with humans. I was merely explaining why I think it must be a wolf/human hybrid in the prophecy. If I might be allowed to continue?" He looked around the table slowly at each leader. Receiving nods from each, he told them the rest of his theory. "I believe it has been too long since we have been able to mingle with humans for this to be a very small child. She is probably close to receiving her wolf even now. As such, it would be impossible for either of you to have her in your pack without your knowledge, so she must have been born and raised with the humans." Another round of arguing began, but Draconis had stopped listening. He was tired of the bickering and just wanted to be done with the topic. He had done as much research as he could and drawn the most logical conclusions from the information at hand. If they didn't accept what he gave them, then so be it. A roomful of stubborn alphas and headstrong rulers would not be swayed easily. Somehow he would have to find actual proof of the woman's existence, or the woman herself, if he was to have any hope of their support in helping the prophecy come true When the arguing reached a painful volume that even he couldn't ignore, he sighed and stood from his seat slowly. "ENOUGH!" The room quieted instantly. "I'm neither asking, nor expecting you to agree with me. I only presented the facts as I see them. We don't have time for this incessant bickering, so let's just vote and be done with it. All in favor of waiting for the prophecy?" Only 3 hands went up, including his own. "All opposed?" The remaining 11 leaders all raised their hands. "Now is not the time for sitting and waiting. If the person in the prophecy exists, they can turn the tide without us twiddling our thumbs." As much as most of the other leaders hated to admit it, even to themselves, The fairy king had a point. Draconis took a deep breath and sighed again. "Well said King Artemis. Now that we have decided to act, we need to agree on how." Looking around the room, he could guess how most of his fellow leaders were going to feel about his next proposal and was getting a headache in anticipation. "We can spread apart, contact each other only in emergencies, and try to keep as far from the humans as possible to hopefully remain undetected and rebuild our populations. Or, we can band together and fight the humans to prevent them picking us off one by one." The room was silent. Every eye was on the dragon alpha. Most of the others looked incredulous, while a few looked thoughtful. He waited it out, not breaking the silence because he knew it would lose whoever was on the side of fighting if he over explained himself too early. "Haven't we lost enough people already?" King Artemis sounded resigned, and perhaps he had already given up. It was to be expected from him as hiding was always his first course of action in protecting his people. "That is exactly why we need to fight!" Draconis' tried not to show his surprise at Marcus making his point for him. "We've tried hiding from this enemy and it didn't work. We tried keeping to ourselves and whole packs were decimated by these hunters. They aren't going to give up and leave us alone. They aren't going to forget we exist like the rest of the humans. They will keep coming after us. If we're spread out and separated from each other when they do, we're just making it easier for them to pick us off." "At the last council meeting, you voted to keep to your own kind Marcus. Have you forgotten or just become to weak to handle your own problems now?" "No need to provoke a fight among us Grr. We both voted to stay with our own kind, as did most of the council at the time." Victoria coming to his defense surprised everyone present. It was no secret that vampires and wolves had an animosity going back centuries. She never raised her voice, but she commanded the attention of the room nonetheless. "Obviously that course of action wasn't as wise as we all believed. Look around, all of you. How many of us have been lost just since the last meeting? How many new faces are here because new leaders had to step up when the previous ones were lost? We used to be a grand company of creatures, but now some of us are barely represented. I know none of our factions are as big as they once were either. How much longer will it take the humans to completely wipe us out if we don't try something new and help each other for once?" She had a point. None present could argue the fact that their current situation of separation from each other was working. A charged silence filled the room while everyone thought about her words and their options. Could there be another way? Could they swallow their pride and work together for the good of them all? "I think it's time to vote dragon." As the oldest, and most disrespectful, member of the council, Shawn was not one to use titles. He refused names as well due to the power they hold over his kind. He understood the other creatures' need for monikers however, so he early on chose one simple enough for feeble minds to use and remember. "I see no point in dragging this out when most of us appear to be in agreement." He glanced at Victoria before adding, "I believe all that was needed has already been said." Draconis nodded. He agreed with the demon for perhaps the first time in his life. Victoria perfectly summed up everything he had hoped to argue without him having to step in or stop another argument. "All in favor of staying together and helping each other to fight for our collective survival?" One by one, every single member raised a hand, until all 14 had voted. As Draconis looked around, he noted that several members looked resigned to the lack of better options and he thought back to the prophecy. "When the future is bleakest and hope all but lost, a begrudging decision will finally be reached." If this wasn't the fulfillment of at least that first line, he wasn't too proud to admit the fear he felt when he imagined how much worse it would get, and soon. Forcing his emotions not to show on his face, he took a deep breath and made one final announcement. "We have made our decisions, so now we must make some arrangements. I offer the dragon kingdom as temporary home to all as we have the best protection from being discovered, as well as room for everyone to live and train to fight together. If there are no objections?" He took the following silence as agreement and nodded. "Then I dismiss you all to your factions and packs to make your own arrangements for the move. Feel free to contact me directly for any assistance you may need. I hope to see you all in my kingdom soon."