Ill Omens...

The darkening sky accompanies flurrying snow and whipping winds...

The tall, young woman treks through the deepening snow while clutching her arms to her chest. She descends a sloping, snow-covered valley, heading toward a small village illuminated with warmth. Her boots crunch snow, her throat burns every time she inhales the icy air, and her fair skin stings as the wind bites her. Those bluish eyes look toward her home; she's so close, and she's got a lot to share. Today was the day that changed everything she knew about herself and history. Today starts her journey to changing the world.

She picks up speed the closer she gets to her small village surrounded by hills and quickly treks into view of a wandering patrolman dressed in fur armor. He carries an oil lantern at eye level in his left, and a spear in his right. The moment the woman's visage steps into the farthest reaches of his lantern, the mature-voiced man calls out. His armored mask covers his features.

"... Ryn?" he asks, his dark eyes squinting in the darkness. The woman brushes snowy residue from her well-cared features, those mystic eyes locking onto her tribesman. She greets him with a wide, overly excited smile until another frigid breeze blows over the landscape. She and the man tense and recoil from the cold, and then the girl yells out.

"Yeah! It's me!" Ryn halfway screams over the increasingly loud wind. The blizzard was nearly upon them; they shouldn't be out here. "Why are you patrolling in this blizzard!? Do you have a death wish!?" she yells, and the man gestures she follows him, and the two quickly head toward the small village.

"I was out looking for you! You were supposed to be back yesterday! You had us all worried sick!" he loudly answers without looking over his shoulder. Ryn shudders and cradles her arms, aggressively shaking snow off herself. Still, this cold fails to cool her fiery spirits, for she's discovered the greatest thing ever.

"I decided to stay out another day!" Ryn blurts back, her voice is low-pitched but packs a mature, womanly allure to it despite her younger age. "And, I'm fucking glad that I did! You will not believe what happened!" she excitedly squeals, barely containing herself. It's like she's discovered gold in her eyes. The patrolman glances over his shoulder as they traverse through empty streets deeper into the small village. The blizzard is now in motion and grows stronger and more intense with every second.

"What?" the man responds. "You finally realized you're chasing legends and gave up?" he jokes, and Ryn squints at him. He's not ruining her world-shattering adrenaline.

"No, you dumbass!" she barks while they approach a tavern, and the patrolman pushes through the doors as Ryn speaks. "I saw a Lycan! They still exist!" she loudly reveals, and pauses with shock upon entering the much quieter tavern. Everyone idling in the hearth-filled establishment immediately hears Ryn's distinctive voice when she yells, and all eyes settle on her. She's got the spotlight, even if this wasn't the way she wanted it. Her blue eyes flare with a strange glow, then the glow disperses upon blinking, and she clears her throat.

"... Yeah. Lycans aren't extinct!" Ryn eventually steps into stride on her metaphorical stage, dusting snow off her person as she approaches the large, roaring fire in the center of the tavern. She removes her winter jacket upon getting closer, revealing a tank top and a well-defined figure. The most immediately eye-catching thing is the colored tattoos covering both of her arms, from her high shoulder to her wrists and knuckles. After fluffing her long and beautiful shoulder-length hair, she faces the halfway curious audience of thirty or so patrons situated throughout the double-story tavern.

"I saw one. He has messy silver hair, and pale skin, is rather tall and well built, and has the prettiest eyes that I have ever seen in my life," she pauses in recollection, fawning more over the Lycan's eyes than the man himself. One patron, an older woman half drunk already speaks.

"Aren't Werewolves vicious, anthropomorphic wolf-beasts that eat anything that moves?" she questions, drawing eyes and Ryn's exasperation. Here they go. Ryn takes a breath and readies herself for what was obviously about to happen, then exhales, now running her hands through her bangs draping across her brow.

"Allegedly..." Ryn responds. The drunken woman furrows a wrinkly brow.

"So, why are you describing a person, honey? Werewolves don't look like people," she says, drawing nods of agreement from her peers. Ryn's gaze flicks to everyone, then settles on the questioning woman again. Ryn responds in an educative and informative tone, rather than the snark she wishes to say.

"Lycans..." Ryn corrects, resting her hands on her hips. "Are not Werewolves..." she starts explaining, but someone cuts her off just as she expects. This one is a man with nothing better to do than cause drama.

"Did you really just say a Werewolf isn't a Werewolf?" he chuckles, earning laughter from his peers and Ryn's ire. Ryn, however, flashes a fake smile when she responds.

"Well, if your dumbass stops trying to be funny by interrupting me and listens till I'm done explaining, you'll learn that there's indeed a difference between a Lycan and a Werewolf. So, shut up, yes?" she calmly says, keeping her unbothered composure when the man stands and starts approaching her.

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" the drunkard asks, his imposing six-foot, burly figure dwarfing Ryn's slimmer, lighter form. Ryn nonchalantly stands her ground, eyeing the man even when he looms over her. Ryn quietly reminds herself why she never drinks alcohol.

"An idiot, from the looks of it," Ryn quips, one hand on her hip and the other idling at her side. The man reaches for her, but Ryn vanishes in a flare of energy, reappearing across the room near the old lady, where Ryn grabs a chair and sits. The drunkard trying to fight her remains baffled and then slumps into a chair himself. He wasn't about to ruin his buzz dealing with that bitch.

"Anyway," Ryn clasps her hands together and a burst of blue energy resembling a puff of fire erupts from her gesture. It vanishes as quickly as it comes; Ryn was showing off for anybody else intending to interrupt her. It was a threat display. "As I was saying, miss..." she locks eyes with the old woman, keeping her informative and gentle tone. "A Lycan is a Shifter still capable of regressing to a human form. They are called Lycans because of their ability to turn into wolf-beasts at will. A Werewolf is slang for the Lycans that can no longer regress to a humanoid form or was never a Lycan to begin with. Because Werewolves that breed only create more Werewolves. Once the transformation sticks, the gene for shifting disappears," she pauses and looks over everyone listening.

"Everyone following along? I never thought I'd be a teacher," Ryn chuckles, tapping her chest. The woman sitting near her grunts, gesturing her mug at Ryn while speaking.

"So, you're saying that you saw a 'Lycan'," she pauses and emphasizes as if mocking Ryn's obsession with terminology, and Ryn casually ignores it. "After they've been gone for what? Several hundred years? If not an entire millennia?" she cackles, earning rising laughter from her patron peers at Ryn's expense, who still maintains a calm and pleasant smile. The drunken woman then leans forward, pushing the small wooden table away to get eye-level with Ryn.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"What's next? You're going to tell me those Blood Drinkers let you see them and walk away, too? Despite them also being gone for almost the same amount of time? Please..." She eye rolls and falls back into her chair, dismissing Ryn's excitement. "They're all gone, dear. And, I'm a bit concerned about why you're excited at the assumption they're not. Do you not know human history with those two races?" she questions, earning heavy silence as all eyes focus on Ryn. Ryn huffs and stands, pacing around the room.

"Ohhh..." Ryn softly hums aloud, her melody light and crisp. "I know more about it than you'd think..." she answers, winking at the woman before moving on. "Regardless, I fail to see why the possibility of Lycans still being around shocks you. Because, I mean..." She suddenly vanishes into thin air and reappears in that same seat by the woman, startling said patron. Ryn's next statement came from the depths of her disappointment in everyone watching the spectacle who didn't believe her. Her blue eyes flare brighter with enchanting energy, unnerving the patron across. To her, Ryn's eyes unnerved more than struck awe. It was an anomaly Ryn readily took advantage of in arguments.

"You're looking at the first human to use magic, aren't you?" Ryn rhetorically asks, then vanishes and reappears again near the bar counter. She spins and leans her back against it, hoisting her arms atop the wood and taking a load off. "I should be far more unbelievable to you than the thought of Lycans still existing. Yet, none of you question my existence, do you?" she again asks a question she knows the answer to, earning silence from all. Ryn pushes off the counter and crosses her arms.

"I plan to go back and see if I can discover their village once the blizzard ends," she says, and the patrolman from earlier quickly speaks up. He snatches his helmet off before speaking, quickly rushing over so he doesn't rudely broadcast his concerns.

"Are you insane!?" the man asks, his lustrous blonde hair, fair skin, and green eyes indicating his lineage from across the seas. This was Marcus, one of Ryn's closest friends. "Ryn, please calm your excitement and think about what you're saying! You sound like a lunatic!" he aggressively whispers to the woman to spare some embarrassment. Ryn side-eyes the larger man.

"I've only been thinking about this ever since I decided to follow through with my gift," she points at her eyes, that mystic glow briefly flashing for a moment. "What's the point of having one of the Trinity's gifts if I'm never going to push through and use it?" she scoffs, her face twisting with disbelief. Marcus looks at the crowd watching them bicker, then toward Ryn again.

"Because there's a high chance you'll be eaten!?" Marcus claps back, growing annoyed. "You may be able to use magic, Ryn. However, you're still human. Even if you did meet a Lycan that looked as human as you, they're not humans. Their customs and morals do not align with ours. We are prey to them, not equals. It's insane for you to even think you'd be able to do this without dying!" he says. Ryn pauses and cups her chin, thinking about her encounter with that Lycan earlier today, and how she felt at the moment. Then, she turns and looks at Marcus again.

"You know, the Lycan I mentioned?" She pauses, making running gestures with her hands. "He saw and pursued me for quite a bit. I thoroughly expected to die the moment he transformed..." She pauses again because Marcus interrupts her. Just like the drunken idiot from earlier.

"So why are yo--" Unfortunately for Marcus, Ryn cut him off by snapping her fingers, sparking magic loud enough to stun him. Then. she raises her other hand, drawing Marcus's attention to her extended index finger while she talks in a calm, yet dominant tone.

"Do not interrupt me..." Ryn demands, gesturing toward the drunken guy from earlier asleep at his table. "I've already been interrupted once today despite showing courtesy and never interrupting you all. The next time someone interrupts me when I'm talking, I'm purging the alcohol from their blood and forcing sobriety. Permanently," she adds that flair, and everyone falls silent. Ryn's odds of being interrupted, even by Marcus, shot to near zero. Thus, she continues.

"As I was saying. I feared for my life, yeah. However..." she lowers her hands and crosses her arms, now looking down at her side in mild thought and growing disbelief. "He never attacked me when he chased me. Actually!" she looks at Marcus with a beaming curiosity. "He called out to me almost as if he wanted to talk. I still fled because duh, but I didn't feel as terrified as I thought I would," she turns toward the bulk of her fellow humans. This was her best moment to get something off her chest.

"Ever since the Lycans and Vampires disappeared, we've become the dominant and most numerous species on the planet. Yes, we aren't as dangerous or capable as an army of shifters, witches, trolls, whatever. However, we have something that gives us an edge in today's world," she points to her head, giving a sly smile. "Ambition!" she exclaims, drawing growing looks of interest in where she was headed with her words. Marcus even steps back, giving her room.

"We aren't satisfied with our niches like wild animals are, or the more dangerous monsters still roaming about the world. The Lycans and Vampires were the biggest threats to our expansion, and they suppressed our ambition because of it. It wasn't until some of us grew ambitious enough to fight back and take a stand, that we discovered their weaknesses of silver dust and wolfsbane. It was because of the ambition of our ancestors that we realized these otherworldly creatures could be killed by us," she emphasizes, pointing to her eyes and activating that ethereal glow again, while also clasping one of her wrists with the other hand, and sparking luminous magic in her palm like fire.

"It was because of the ambition of Adam and Eve that humans were blessed with the gaze of Trinity like Lycans and Vampires. Their ambition during the height of our weakness is what allows me the ability to cast magic like them. It's what blesses me with the Eyes of Discovery. It's what motivates me to seek out our once greatest threats..." she exhales, flicking the magic from her hand and blinking away the glow in her eyes. Marcus suddenly speaks, his voice filled with caution, doubt, and fear.

"And what will you do if you discover where the Lycans reside, Ryn?" he asks the question on every human's mind in the tavern. At this moment, nothing else matters to them but Ryn's answer to such a profound question. The whipping winds, cold, and raw darkness surrounding their fire-warmed hearth were an afterthought to the expectations of Ryn's response. Ryn remains silent for a long time, for she doesn't know the answer. It's a potent reality check for her.

".... I don't know..." Ryn responds, looking at her friend with an almost defeated look in her eyes now. "I really... don't know..." she repeats, and Marcus slowly approaches, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder while speaking from his heart.

"Everyone in the village knows you're unique, Ryn," Marcus reminds, gesturing toward the other patrons with his free hand, but keeps his eyes on Ryn's. "However, as I said, you are still human. Being ambitious is both a blessing and a curse for us. For it is a blessing when we all share the same ambition, but a curse when only one has it. You have more power than the rest of us to pursue your ambitions just like Adam and Eve once did. However, you must also remember the consequences that happen when two or more ambitions differ. So, Ryn..." Marcus places both hands on her shoulders and gently rocks her. Ryn remains subdued and calm but attentive to the man's words. Her eyes stay locked with his.

"We cannot control what you do. But, we ask that you consider the consequences of your ambition when you make decisions like this. Because you might've seen and escaped that Lycan, but who's to say you'll be so lucky next time? What if that Lycan did transform and pursue you? You'd likely be dead, or worse. You could've also led it to our village, and well..." he trails when Ryn suddenly brushes his hands from her shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it..." Ryn scowls. "I don't need to hear any more of your lecturing. I understand your point; I'll be more careful..." she assures, and Markus lofts his brow at her answer.

"You're still planning to try and discover where these Lycans live?" he asks, and Ryn promptly and confidently nods.

"Yes, I am," she resolves herself. "Regardless of my personal ambitions, where there's one Lycan, there's more. Their territory is through the mountain path toward the Boreal Forest and tundra. They're on the valley's edges, threatening future expeditions in that area. I'm the best person suited for finding where they are so we can make plans in case things go south. Worst case scenario, we might have to go to war..." she ominously warns, and Marcus nods without batting an eye.

"I'll alert the village elders and see if we have any silver dust and wolfsbane in our storages. It's been so long since we've considered the possibility of fighting Lycans that our stores might be low. Luckily, we know where some silver deposits are. I'm almost certain that one of these mountains is an inert volcano..." he informs, and Ryn nods again before facing her attentive patrons, who all listened to their exchange.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not, you're safer assuming that I'm telling the truth. Tomorrow, we're going to start re-training how to kill Lycans. But, I hope it doesn't come to that..." she pauses, thinking about the Lycan she encountered, and the look he had when they locked eyes. There was something about him she couldn't figure out, but felt connected to. The more she thinks about it, the more she unknowingly triggers a power gifted to her from birth: the power of discovery.

She has a vision of the future...

Involving that same Lycan...

Next Chapter: The War at Home...