Royce ran up the next hill, moving at a steady pace. His four legs moved gracefully through the landscape of sand and dirt. He was heading toward the city closest to the base. Sitting back on his haunches he glanced at the grouping of small shrubs and cactuses dotting the area. It was night and the moon was shining above. He howled into the sky.

Another animal came to him, a large bird. The creature landed before him holding a small fox in its beak, placing it on the ground. Royce knew this was an offering. He growled and grabbed the morsel, ripping it apart and finishing everything. He howled again.

His body started to tingle and change. He shrank, and morphed back into himself. It hurt a little but not too much. Royce stood dressed as himself in his army fatigues. The bird waited for him. It squawked, "Grog! Grog!"

Royce glared at the bird. He said, "You can change back."

He knew the bird was a human before, but the bird just looked at him.

Except, something was odd. He was not himself. He was different. He looked at his hands and saw his fingers were still shaped as claws. He touched his face and felt fangs. He was a man with wolfish features. He also felt his hair. It was long and flowing, like a mane.

"This cannot be."

He could speak sentences. Royce turned to the large bird.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

The bird squawked a few times and said, "Grog, grog."

"So, you did see one of the intruders? She was an Alpha wizard. She is in Las Vegas. It does not matter now because I am stronger than an Alpha. I can kill them one by one."

The bird squawked again. He nodded for the bird to fly back. He would take care of that woman, but he had something to do first. Royce would find more creatures at the city of Barstow. This Alpha girl, even though she was powerful, would be destroyed by his army. She would have to wait.

He roamed around the desert for a while, recalling that it was the Mojave Desert. The first place to visit was his small apartment. He sniffed the air. There was something in the air, magic, but deep magic. It filtered the very air and marinated everything with a tangy feeling.

He said, "Thinners, are you here."

Something flashed before him. It was like looking at a computer screen, but it was floating before him, transparent and glowing. On the screen were the Thinners. They were small, and he could only see the top half of them, but they looked different. They wore dark black cloaks and stared at him with long faces and bright green and blue eyes.

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"Royce, you will be our savior. You will kill the Alphas and give us back the charms so we can come back."

"I thought you are here? I saw you in the base."

"You don't understand. We were not there. The Alphas have the key to help us. You have to bring them to us."

Royce nodded. "Yes, I will do that. I have been bested by them, but I shall exact my revenge."

The creature said, "Yes, whatever you desire, but find the ancient device and destroy it. And Royce, stop calling us Thinners. We are not elves."

He growled at the Thinners.

"Hah," the creature said, "you don't know the history of your land. You will do as we ask. We have given you power, real power. But you cannot do the task. Remember, underneath the caverns, you let them open the Bastion portal."

"I will find them. I know where one of the Alphas is located, but she is strong and I need more allies."

"We will leave this in your hands."

"I will kill and destroy them and the device."

The screen disappeared and Royce was left excited about his new charge, his new job. He always knew he was destined for greatness. He felt he would receive accolades and awards like his father. His parents would finally respect him. He nodded. Moving closer to an open space of dirt and sand, he focused and started the change.

His body convulsed and he hunched to the ground. His fingers and legs morphed into canine paws and his face stretched, revealing large sharp teeth. When he was transformed into an Alpha wolf he howled into the heavens, a loud and forlorn sound. He waited for a reply, but no creatures answered.

He ran at top speed, trying to push his new powers. He moved in a blur, passing hills and covering miles in several hours. He arrived close to his apartment in the early morning hours. The city of Barstow had changed. Usually, it was a small sleepy town, a place that tourists from California passed on their way to Las Vegas without giving it a second glance. Except the usual fast food joints and the freeway were usually open at this time. But this time, it was not. And everything was destroyed or broken, like tonka toys thrown away by an unruly child. Sand was everywhere, in large piles over each and every building and structure Royce encountered.

He howled at the slowly rising sun. Royce felt that the Alphas had created this catastrophe. They should never have opened the gates. He padded around a blasted Burger King opened like a hard boiled egg, cut and seared at the top. He was hungry and he wanted something to eat. He sniffed and found the refrigerated back room. Inside was half frozen meat, potatoes and other food stuff, but everything was covered with sand and other dirt. He didn't care. He ate everything that looked edible.

Royce jumped out on top of the roof. He saw outside a group of creatures, animals that were once human, waiting for him. When they saw him they all bowed their heads with respect. He saw the group were mostly wolves, but with a scattering of insectile creatures and a few large birds. He howled at them. The beasts all growled in unison, "Grog, grog."

Royce's army was growing. The next thing he needed to do was destroy the first Alpha. She was in Nevada and he knew what needed to be done. He growled his command and sent the other birds to join his disciple.