Akira followed Wulfric and Azura through the maze of rope and wood walkways before they reached another large tree that had a crew of large burly werewolves whose job was to power the winch connected to the pulley system of an elevator used for raising and lowering goods the city needed.
Wulfric as the Grand elder was also able to use it as a way to ascend and descend from and to the ground floor.
The burly men all greeted Wulfric and Azura as they walked over to the elevator, and stared at Akira the only person they did not know.
“Grand elder who's next to you?” asked one of the elevator operators as he held the wooden elevator gate open.
“All I can say for now is that he is a very important guest of the clan. Sometime soon I'm sure everyone will be able to learn more when I call for a clan meeting,” said Wulfric.
“How suspicious,” said the man as he closed the gate behind them when they had all finished entering the elevator.
“Alright, gates secured. Let her down! Take it easy because the Grand elder is inside!” shouted the man.
The ride down was quick and over within less than 10 seconds.
Thunk! The landing was rough enough to cause Akira to stumble.
This was Akira's first time using a contraption like this. The feeling of falling down from the high treetops to the ground made his stomach churn and he had almost lost the previous meal he had eaten.
If that what they call taking it easy he didn't want to ride the elevator when they were in a rush or he might lose his stomach entirely.
After taking a few seconds to calm his stomach Akira followed Wulfric and Azura who had already exited the elevator and were walking towards the messenger outpost. The outpost had several guest rooms for the messengers from distant cities allowing them to rest and recuperate from a long journey, and prepare for continuing their journey.
Wulfric knocked on one of the doors that were occupied.
“Come in the doors unlocked,” came a middle-aged males voice from the other side.
The three walked into a candlelit room to see a middle-aged man with a beard already specked with gray hairs.
“Welcome Grand elder. Oh? You brought the little miss as well,” said the messenger.
“Will you be staying long?” asked Wulfric not wasting any time and asking the question.
“I will only be staying for tonight. I still have to reach the other clans as quickly as I can. Who is this?” asked the messenger pointing at Akira.
“His name is Akira, other than that I'll explain later. First, tell me what you came here for. I can guess but it would be better to hear it in case it is something different,” said Wulfric.
The messenger looked over to Akira wondering if he was allowed to say everything including secrets meant only for the elders and clan leaders.
“No need to worry you can speak freely, Akira is also a member of our clan and needs to be up-to-date on the current affairs of the Earth tribe,” said Wulfric.
“It is as you probably guessed the Grand elder meeting will happen in less than a month. But this time news has come to us that a few of the clans are planning to leave soon, and it's not just one of the small or medium clans but one of the large clans this time.”
“Another group? If everyone keeps leaving we will not have enough warriors to protect our land. We are already stretched as it is. If another great war like the three before starts we will not stand a chance at surviving.”
“That is the reason why they want to leave now. The Grand elder of Coldfang clan who is also the clans strongest shaman has been having strange dreams and ill feelings for the near future. He wasn't sure what exactly the problem would be but in the next five to ten years something big will happen. But that is just a rough guess. After hearing the prediction the elders and chief of the Coldfang clan decided to start preparations for leaving. This next meeting will be the last one before they leave.”
“This is serious news. Anything else?”
“No, everything else is minor stuff that can wait until the meeting. So who is this Akira?”
“My grandson,” said Wulfric proudly.
“Your grandson? Didn't your grandson die with his parents some 16+ years ago?” asked the messenger.
“I was surprised to find out that he was alive as well. It is a great fortune that I was able to find him.”
“Interesting, this is big news. I guess I should be offering you my congratulations. Will he be taking over the clan sometime in the near future?”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Possibly, it has yet to be decided. It all depends on the views of the other clan elders.”
“Do you mind if I help spread the news of his return for you when I meet the other clans?”
“That was part of the reason why I brought him here. I would be grateful if you could help with spreading the message.”
“I understand I will make sure to inform everyone that I meet.”
“If that is all then I still have other stuff I need to take care of today. We'll be leaving now so you can rest up for your journey tomorrow,” said Wulfric.
They walked back to the elevator and this time the experience was far different from falling from a high place, it was a slower and somewhat smoother ride up. At some points of the ride up, it was a little jerky but nothing serious.
Ten minutes later they had returned back to the house and we're sitting back down in their original seats.
“What was all that talk about clans leaving where are they going?” asked Akira.
“The Earth tribe wasn't always this small we were once able to form massive armies of over 100,000 warriors. But due to the last three great wars, our strength has dwindled and the majority of the clans have already migrated to a far off distant land across the ocean. Not much is known about it except that it has very little to no humans living there. The last major wave of clans to leave was over ten years ago after the last war ended. Everyone that has stayed has had to become tougher and stronger in order to defend against the human empires that might want to start trouble. Not to mention those blasted Demigods,” said Wulfric.
“Grandfather what are we going to do about it?” asked Azura.
“I know Grand elder Varn from the Coldfang clan, his premonitions are normally true. So, for now, it is not something we have to fret over just yet. We have at least four years before we need to worry about any future trouble, but just to make sure we are prepared, I will mention this to the other clan elders and we can decide on what to do.
I still believe we will still be able to live here peacefully. If push comes to shove we are not any weaker than the kingdoms. So we should have no problem defending ourselves. As long as nothing major happens before then we will be ready for whatever happens,” said Wulfric trying to reassure Azura who was worried.
“Akira let's get back to cramming some more stuff in your head,” said Wulfric.
“If you could I would like to know more about my parents ended up dying,” said Akira.
“Very well, let me gather my thoughts...” said Wulfric getting comfortable in his rocking chair.
“Wulfric the second was your father and my only son and Zara was your mother. Your father and I both agreed that you were going to be named Wulfric the third. Unfortunately, your mother put a stop to that saying that there were already two Wulfrics and there was no need for a third so she named you after a great warrior ancestor from several hundreds of years ago,” said Wulfric.
'Thank you mother, for making sure I had a good name,' thought Akira. He was extremely happy for his current name.
“They were both the shining stars of the clan and held great sway with the other clans. Nearing the end of the second great war your parents had been in contact with several people from the human kingdoms that had been unhappy with the demigods and wanted to form an alliance with the Earth tribe.
At that time you were four years old and your sister was a few months over 1. They took you on the trip that was supposed to be uneventful so you could see the world. But somehow the information was leaked and the party that opposed the demigods were exterminated. An ambush was set up for your parents where the meeting was supposed to take place, and the rest is history,” said Wulfric.
“Do you know who was leading the ambush?”
“No, we were never able to find out the true culprits behind the attacks. We only know that the demigods had something to do with it whether they were the masterminds or just the muscle is still unknown. Any other questions?”
“No.”
“Then I will continue from before and explain more about what it means to be a werewolf. The Earth tribes main strength that has allowed us to survive even in such harsh places and through many wars is our ability to awaken the blood of the Earth tribe.
The trait may or may not show itself during the birth of the child such as fur covering their body or they might have wolf ears or small tail showing. After a few days the fur, tail, ears will all go away. Normally we are almost the same as humans until our blood of the Earth tribe is awoken.
There are past records from hundreds of years during the more peaceful times of many people never experienced an awakening. The only reason the blood of the Earth tribe activates is because it is our bodies defense mechanism to danger.
You may be living a normal life but then something happens where it requires to transform, so your body will awaken the dormant blood and transform.
Here a few examples of past events from the clan records. One person fell from a fairly high place and while falling their blood was awoken in midair. They were able to slow the descent with their claws and land lightly on their feet before bounding off unhurt. A major one that happens all the time is when someone wanted to protect a loved one from a great danger they were able to awaken the blood of the Earth tribe and transform to protect them.
The main reason for awakening is when war comes. There are many records of mass transformation whenever a huge war came.”
“So it's not guaranteed that I would have awakened if I lived a peaceful life?” asked Akira.
“As far as we know that is correct. The reason the clans living in the swamplands have a high rate of fully transformed werewolves is because of the many wars and high dangers of living in the swamplands. That is not to say you can't awaken if you are born during a peaceful era it will just be harder since it doesn't have that extra punch.”
“You probably already know this but with our ability to transform we gain several times more power than normal. Our bodies defense is also high due to our thick fur that for some clans can be as strong as steel, so some don't even need to or just don't bother to use armor. Our regeneration of wounds is far faster than humans and we can recover faster from sickness and wounds the would cripple humans.
You need to always be aware of the moon. It is a powerful ally and it gives us extra strength so fighting at night with a full moon we will be at our full strength. You must remember this and make sure to use it to your advantage along with your night vision and other heightened senses.
Lastly, you need to be very careful of silver. It has a strong effect on us and can restrict some of our powers. It hurts like hell when you get cut with it and the wounds don't heal as fast.
We werewolves can look scary and tough but not everyone is good at fighting although when everyone is old enough they are trained to fight.”
“For now, that should be enough to hold you over until I can continue teaching everything else. I have to go talk with the other Elders now and inform them about everything that has happened. Azura, keep him company and help him feel comfortable,” said Wulfric as he got ready and left the house.