It was aware.

Not quite awake. But aware.

Sleepily it stretched its gargantuan paws out in front of it, extending razor sharp talons that were easily as long as a man. Those deadly paws were attached to legs as think as tree trunks, heavily muscled with short fur that left it looking glossy and sleek.

Another rumble above brought it one step closer to wakefulness, dust trailing from the ceiling and landing on its nose. With a chuffing sneeze, the irritated creature cracked a single eye open, the stone and rock that had accumulated over its face during the ages shattering as if nothing more than a mild inconvenience.

Growling softly, it stood up in the darkness and shook the lethargy from its body. From nose to tail tip the creature was nearly eighty feet long. Powerful muscles rippled under the sleek black and red coat of fur as Fenrir stretched to its full length.

Cocking its head to one side, listening to the turmoil above, it chuffed. The mortals were at it again. Fighting. Warring. Never content with what they had.

It was a good thing they weren’t that tasty, or it would have eaten them all long ago. But thankfully the Custodians allowed it to go back to sleep after every purge of the little pink meat beings. It was tiresome, fighting them so often and in such scale.

Think back to the fun but tiring times had the great wolf amused, but more explosions from the surface far above it brought the creature back to the here and now. Something was… off. He had not been awakened by the Custodians. No. Nor had he been awakened by the fighting above. That wasn’t it either.

Fenrir cocked its great shaggy head to one side and took a massive inhalation of air. Its powerful nose parsed through the hundreds, no, thousands of scents of the cave system that it and the other creatures had gone to sleep in. He could smell each beast, from the Great Bear down to each and every individual minor creature resting within. But there was one more scent too.

Turning its head it curiously looked at the comparatively small being in a what long coat. It was strange, as the creature wore the trappings that many humans did. But it smelled nothing like a human. No, this creature smelled of fire, death, and brimstone. A combination Fenrir had never experienced before. Unsure what exactly to do, or how to hand the situation, it was surprised when the little being spoke.

“Hey there big guy! How are you? Boy, you must have been asleep for a long, long time. Limestone takes a few hundred years to build up you know,” the decidedly feminine being said excitedly.

Now Fenrir was certainly confused. Not even the Custodians ever spoke directly to it. They usually just sent a psychic message and called it a day. As this was a new experience, and an entirely new being, the great wolf decided to do something it had never done before. It chose to speak.

“Hi. Tetra,” it said simply, lowering its head to floor level to get a better look at the tiny thing. It was then that it realized the tiny female thing was a strange amalgamation of cat, bat, and… something else entirely. A cat ear and tail were prominent features, along with the black fur covering its face. The large, bat-like wings tied shut against the female things back were strange as well. It reminded Fenrir very much of the chimera it had fought ages ago.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

It was a fun fight.

“Oh boy! You can speak! Boss is gonna love you! But I digress, ahem,” she said clearing her throat. “My name is Tetra! Good to meet you!” she said, holding out an open paw.

Confused by the gesture Fenrir moved a paw forward to mirror the gesture and bumped her, bowling her head over heels. It winced, understanding that could kill most small things. It decided it must still be groggy and unable to exert fully and precise control over its body yet.

“Whoa! What a greeting!” the female thing said, surprising the great wolf as it popped right back up onto its feet. “I was asked to tell you by the Boss that, and I quote, ‘Those who have governed have left. We are on our own.’ No idea what it means, something about siblings, absorption, powers, blah, blah, blah. You get the idea.

No. Fenrir certainly didn’t get the idea. It was, in fact, more confused that ever. “What?” it asked, the single word kicking up enough wind to nearly knock over the Tetra female thing again.

“Those big energy guys. The ones who were running this place? Yeah… they all left,” Tetra said. “Guess they had other places to go. Said they were abandoning this realm or whatever,” she said, a little uncertain. “The Boss has the details. But he said to come down here, find the biggest and baddest beast and let you know.”

Someone who was decidedly not a Custodian had asked this Tetra female thing to wake him up? Odd. It had never happened before. But if it understood what the Tetra female thing was saying… the Custodians were now gone? Even more odd.

“Why. Did. Leave?” it growled out, still nowhere near used to making words.

The Tetra female thing hunched its shoulders oddly. “I have no idea. The Boss knows. Maybe? He knows more than me, that’s for sure.”

Fenrir considered this. If this Boss creature was one who had more information about the situation, then Fenrir needed to speak to it. Particularly if the Custodians were missing. It would avoid waking the other bests for now, as should they learn there was no oversight some would go wild with their destructive tendencies.

“Take. Me. Boss,” Fenrir enunciated slowly.

The Tetra female thing made an odd chuffing sound with its mouth. It was not unpleasant. “You wouldn’t fit silly. Can you get, you know, smaller?”

Smaller? Ah! Of course. Yes, Fenrir was being this silly thing. It was far too large to exit into an area meant for a being the size of Tetra female thing. It would wake all the other beasts doing so. The Tetra female thing was smart to recognize this and recommend a different course of action.

Exerting its considerable stores of energy, it shrank down slowly. Its body returning to a form it had only worn once when it was first born. The Tetra female thing gasped in astonishment, as she should, witnessing Fenrir’s might prowess at shape shifting.

Eventually the massive lupine form that had been Fenrir had shrunk down into a man sized being. Complete with white fluffy ears, a long fluffy tale, and absolutely no clothing, Fenrir was no in his humanoid shape.

“Woah…” the Tetra female thing muttered, eyeballing him. Her gaze was…. not unwelcome. “Here, wear this. Boss would pitch a fit if I brought you to him naked. You’re almost as handsome as he is. Wouldn’t want him to get jealous.”

“Nah keed. Han some,” repeated Fenrir, testing out the words as the Tetra female thing handed him her white covering. A coat that wafted a pleasant aroma of spring flowers and death. A most… welcome smell. Fenrir stared at the covering, unable to figure out what the Tetra female thing wanted him to do.

“Ah right, silly me. You probably don’t wear clothes often, if at all. Not that I mind,” she smirked while raking her eyes of his shredded body. “Here, let me help.” The Tetra female thing took the covering and helped Fenrir slid his arms into the jacket. She then buttoned it up the front, taking care to show him how it was done so he could repeat the task if needed.

Once dressed, the Tetra female thing gestured for him to follow. Very curious about the new situation that the world found itself in, if the Tetra female thing was right that was, Fenrir would need all the information that he could get. This was, apparently, a whole new world that he and his brethren would be awaking into. A new world with new opportunities, new territories, and new places to explore.

No longer would the beasts be limited to their zones, assigned by the Custodians. No longer would they be used as tools of war and destruction. They would be free. Free to choose their own paths forward.

… or to dedicate themselves to one.