Tenth year of Emperor Archaldes (Three years before the Emancipation)

The priest wasn’t anything like what Adrianna had pictured. A member of the inner circle of those who worshipped Falkar, he should have had an aging figure, with dark eyes and an evil look about him. Instead, he was young, thirty at most. He was shaved bald, but it suited him and drew Adrianna’s attention to hazel eyes that seemed to hide a galaxy within. She couldn’t make out his figure beneath his grey robes, but he walked like a soldier, full of purpose and determination. He introduced himself as Kleos, bowing before the two members of the Emperor’s Guard that he met outside Persunia’s major temple. Adrianna and Kane were both in uniform, silver armour embossed with intricate patterns of vines and olives. Out of deference to the temple, they were unarmed, though either of them could kill most enemies with their bare hands. Kleos didn’t say much but waved them inside the temple. The corridor was lined with murals depicting Palia’s many conquests, each with a dark wolf watching from the clouds with saliva dripping from bloody jaws. Kleos stopped halfway down the corridor, and the two siblings studied the painting before them. Adrianna recognised it instantly and exchanged a glance with Kane.

The mural portrayed a violent battle under a typically stormy sky. On one side was a battalion of silver-clad cavalry on red horses brandishing spears and pikes, each with a golden flag waving in the wind. Dark winged figures flew above them, claws stretched out towards the golden-armoured infantry before them. Above them the wolf watched, its tail hanging below the clouds.

“The Emperor’s conquest of the dwarves,” Kane said quietly. “When even the beasts followed his command.”

“I have never witnessed such magic,” Adrianna commented. “But all Palians know the story.”

“Do you believe it?” Kleos kept his eyes on the wolf as he spoke, and Adrianna could swear the painting shifted, as if the two of them had really locked eyes.

“I have no reason to doubt it,” Adrianna replied. Beside her, Kane stayed silent. A slight nod was the only agreement that he gave. Kleos grunted.

“The difference between myth and history is merely perspective,” the priest told them. “As is the difference between magic and illusion. Touch the mural.”

Adrianna glanced at her brother, then reached out a hand. The stone wall was cold to the touch, as smooth as her skin after a bath. When Kleos nodded, she let her hand drop. The priest was silent for a moment, then whispered in a language that neither of the siblings recognised. Adrianna took a step backwards as the mural rippled like a pond disturbed by a stone. Without a word, Kleos stepped forward and disappeared inside the wall. Kane gasped and edged forward, though he didn’t reach for the wall. Adrianna was less cautious. She reached out a hand and pushed on the rippling surface. Her hand sunk into what felt like mud, and before she could react she felt herself sucked inside. For a moment everything went black and she felt thousands of hands grasping at her, tugging at her clothes, pulling at her hair. She could not move in response. A wolf growled somewhere in the distance and she found herself standing in a wide open room lit by a series of torches mounted on the walls. Kane appeared beside her whispering a curse. Kleos grunted.

“There is no turning back for you now. One must either prove their devotion or perish.” He stood in the centre of the room beside a silver basin half his height. “Some have tried to leave. I am tired of burning the bones of cowards.”

Despite his words, there was no sign of weariness on his face, only grim determination. This was a man to be weary of, Adrianna recognised.

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“We have sworn our oaths to Falkar,” she assured the priest. “We will not turn from our path.”

“And you, child?” Kleos asked, turning his eyes to Kane.

“I serve my lord,” Kane assured him. “My devotion is not in question.”

“So you say.” The priest waved them over and drew a curved blade from the folds of his cloak. It wasn’t anything elaborate, but Adrianna knew at a glance that it could cut through bone without any trouble.

“Every member of the Emperor’s Guard swears fealty to Falkar,” Kleos said, holding the blade by his side as he studied each of the siblings. “Some do so to gain the prestige. Some do it out of duty. Few do it out of true devotion. The Chosen are brought here to pledge their sole, eternal submission to him.”

“The Wolf has guided my steps from birth,” Adrianna said. “I hunt in honour of him.”

“And you hunt both man and beast,” Kleos acknowledged. “Both of your reputations are known to me. You gained your positions through your father’s influence, yet you deserved the station nonetheless. But that is another discussion.”

He stared into the basin and nodded, as if assuring himself that he had made a right decision. “Falkar marks his Chosen in a way that no other can see. The two of you have that mark. To swear a blood oath to him is to bind your souls to him for eternity. Do you both swear to serve for all of his existence?”

“I swear,” Adrianna said without hesitation. Kane echoed the sentiment barely a moment later. Kleos nodded thoughtfully.

“With such an oath comes great gifts, and what some would consider curses. You have made your oath. Put your hands over the basin.”

Adrianna and Kane both stretched out their right hand, and Kleos placed Kane’s upon Adrianna’s. He looked into both their eyes, though he lingered on Adrianna’s. She found herself unable to hold his gaze, so intent was it that she almost blushed. He didn’t give a warning. Still silent, and still with his eyes locked on hers, he raised the dagger and plunged it through both their hands. Adrianna gritted her teeth at the pain, eyes wide as Kleos pulled the blade forward, cutting through their hands until it ripped free between their fingers. Blood splattered the basin as Adrianna stumbled backwards, instinctively grasping her hand even as the skin began to heal over. She stared in wonder as the pain faded and the injury disappeared. She looked over to Kane, who shook his head as he held his now healed hand.

“It is not easy to wound a slave of Falkar,” Kleos told them. The blade was gone. “To share his nature is to share his invulnerability.”

“We are unkillable,” Kane said. Kleos shrugged.

“For all intents and purposes,” he replied. “Though not without exception. There now lives within you a manifestation of your desire for blood. It is not easily satisfied.”

As he spoke, he turned his back to Adrianna. “Though I imagine that you may enjoy the attempt.”

“What kind of manifestation?” Kane asked. Kleos grunted and spoke an incantation. A section of the wall slid backwards, and two shackled prisoners were pushed into the room by a pair of guards, both of whom quickly moved back as soon as Kleos dismissed them. The priest stood behind the prisoners and sliced their arms with his blade. As their blood dripped to the floor, Adrianna felt a desperate desire rush through her body. She took a step forward but froze as pain flooded every nerve. Her skin seemed to ripple, and she watched with wide eyes as her fair skin erupted with reddish-brown fur and grew, almost looking like a wolf’s leg.

Standing against the wall, Kleos watched silently as Adrianna fell to her hands and knees, her body shuddering as it stretched to accommodate thick, inhuman muscles. Bones seemed to crack as her limbs expanded, and her armour cracked open and fell away with a clatter. She lifted her head to look up at the priest, her panicked blue eyes turning a bright amber before she screamed in sudden agony. Her head transformed last, her scream turning into a howl as her final sign of humanity was replaced by a wolf’s snout. Both twins turned to face him, unsteady in their new wolf forms. The prisoners were screaming, pressed up against the wall as they begged whatever gods they worshipped for a chance of salvation.

Kleos didn’t speak a word as the werewolves gained their first taste of flesh. He was surprised by their apparent delight in the violence, though he knew that he should be satisfied that he had chosen correctly. As the smaller wolf that he recognised as Adrianna looked back to him, he gave a slight nod. Falkar would be pleased.