*11/11/79*
High up in the cloudy nights sky, the full moon shines brightly down onto the earth below. The land is cloaked in the silver-white light of the gracious orb in the heavens.
Before long, however, deep, black smoke rises, blocking out the moon entirely. The smell of burning wood and flesh dominates the air that once held the gentle fragrance within every forest. Then, howls began to ring out into the air, echoing throughout the trees.
A bright, burning fire spreads and engulfs the once lively denning area. Wooden huts and shacks burn to the ground as the flames eat away at the surrounding foliage. Throughout the carnage stricken community dozens of werewolf corpses litter the ground, their blood seeping into the soil staining the ground a deep shade of red. Alongside them were piles of bones within pools of bubbling blue tar-like blood.
“Don't worry, Isabelle. I will find us somewhere safe to hide. It won’t be long until Mommy and Daddy find us. Just you wait,” Ellora thought. She panted and groaned as she fought to keep from collapsing.
She pulled a bright red wagon across a worn-down path littered with cracks, potholes, and tree roots growing into the pavement. The road cut through the forest trees draped in darkness which looked terrifying as Ellora’s eight year old mind was in overdrive. Still, she pressed on.
Inside the wagon was her three-year-old sister, Isabelle. She lay asleep, wrapped up snugly in her red cloak.
Ellora's pale white legs stung from the cold as the frosty night’s air beat mercilessly against her. Her breaths were labored and heavy, but she never stopped, even for a second. She had fled from the family den when her parents went to help defend their home from the seemingly endless horde of savage, bloodthirsty Shadow Creatures. Even in their werewolf forms, the defenders were no match against the attacking monsters.
Following the demands of her parents, Ellora had been quick to get herself and Isabelle as far from the bloodshed as possible. After fleeing her home Ellora had spent hours searching for somewhere safe to settle down for the night.
She stepped into a cold, muddy puddle and managed to slip, falling into the dirty pool.
“Stupid mud…” Ellora mumbled angrily as she sat up, wiping away the filth from her face and hair. In her rush to flee the denning area, Ellora hadn't dressed as warmly as she should have. Ever since then, the harsh winter cold was making her pay for her negligence. Isabelle was fine, however, wrapped up warmly in the red cloak her mother had made for her.
She looked back at the pillars of smoke with worried eyes as another howl rang in the distance. “Are mommy and daddy okay...? They always are…. They promised...”
Ellora bit down on her lower lip as she continued forward once again. “They'll be fine,” she thought bitterly. “That big old jerk, Scar, won't know what hit him!”
“...Love you, Mommy….” Isabelle mumbled in her sleep.
Ellora looked up at the moon, half-covered by clouds and lingering black smoke. “Should I transform?”
She looked back at Isabelle, who was still fast asleep, with her leg occasionally twitching.
She gritted her teeth before she started tugging the wagon. “No, I can’t. Doing that is too dangerous. If any humans see me in my wolf form, we’ll both be killed.”
Before long, Ellora approached a large, overgrown, unkempt wheatfield. It must have been untouched for a long time as it looked like Ellora’s tangled, messy hair every morning before she brushed it.
As she walked past the grain she soon come apon a path in the field. It looked like the wheat was pressed down by something huge and heavy. She decided to take the path as a shortcut, hoping to find a farmer kind enough to let them stay the night.
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After a few long, difficult minutes of prying the wagon through the path, Ellora made it to the other side of the wheat field, where an old barn, worn down and abandoned, greeted her. Boards were missing, cobwebs decorated the empty windows, and a shudder held in by a single bolt swung limply in the blowing wind. The barn doors were broken and cast to the side.
Ellora smiled as she stared at the decrepit building. She didn't care about the mind-numbing cold or that her legs felt like they were about to give out. She had found safety and shelter. All she had to do was go inside and wait for her parents to find her. Then everything would be good again. “We’re going to be fine, Isabelle. Everything is going to be okay! We just have to wait for Mommy and Dadd-”
A terrible sound silenced the girl's mental cheer. A noise akin to an angry, ferocious animal growling at an intruder encroaching on its territory. Ellora's smile was quickly replaced it with an expression of pure terror. Five sets of red eyes, burning with inhuman hatred, flashed in the darkness of the barn.
Ellora couldn't move, she couldn't look away, she couldn't scream for help! Fear and exhaustion had rendered her helpless in the face of these monsters. She couldn't find the strength to whisper.
She glanced up at the moon that was now cloaked by a blanket of black smoke and clouds. She cursed under her breath. She should have transformed into a wolf form when she had a chance.
The eyes moved out from the darkness to reveal four wolf-like creatures covered in dark shadows. Their bones and innards were slightly visible, as was everything behind them. The only thing about them that was completely solid was their bony plate-like armor. They stood taller than an average man, despite being on all fours. Their massive, spike-covered forearms sprouted long, fiendish claws Their skull-topped muzzles, decorated with exotic blue markings, were filled with razor-like fangs. They growled and snarled at Ellora seemingly drawn to her fear like a moth to a flame. They were about to pounce when they just… froze.
The owner of the last pair of eyes was still cloaked in the darkness of the barn. The Shadow Hounds as if waiting for some signal or command. Then, with terrifying slowness, the fifth figure revealed itself.
Ellora's emerald irises shrunk. “'Mommy! Daddy! Where are you!”
The figure was far taller than the Hounds and shared the same primary colors, but that was where the similarities ended. It stood upright, like a man, but it clearly wasn't. In place of a face was a strange, white horned helmet, reminiscent of a knight's helm, with a thin, barely visible, zig-zaggy black line. Its horns were sharp and tall, reaching about a foot above its head. Its body was mostly concealed by a heavy, black fur cloak that dragged across the ground. What could be seen beneath the cloak were bone-like plates, positioned on its torso and legs like armor. But it was its glowing eyes that captured Ellora's attention the most. They were adorned with red markings. However, these were more jagged and savage looking than any of the Hound's marks.
As it got closer to Ellora noticed a long diagonal gash was present over the left eye. Still, it did nothing more than amplify its already fearsome image. The eyes were bright red, like embers, and they burned with such intensity that they rivaled fire. But they held something inside them that the Hound's eyes lacked, something more than just hatred. When the monstrous figure stood not two feet from Ellora, it looked down at her like she was a just a bug waiting to be crushed beneath its foot, she knew what the monster’s eye held.
Power…
Whatever this thing was, it was powerful. Ellora felt like she was in the presence of a monster taken straight out of horror stories. Creatures that destroy whole villages overnight and take children back to their lairs and gobble them up for dinner. Only this time, Ellora did not believe a hero would come to beat this thing.
It glared at Ellora, its red eyes boring into what were now terrified emerald pinpricks. It was like it was looking into her soul, judging her very being with its powerful gaze.
"mmmhmm… no Ellora… my cookies…"
The monster's head snapped towards the wagon, and Ellora sucked in some much-needed air. Its gaze was now fixed on Isabelle, moving past Ellora to stand next to the red wagon and look down at the toddler.
Ellora couldn't do anything but watch in horror as the horned devil studied her baby sister. Her fatigued body could barely stand up, let alone stand up to something that could crush her head in its palm like a grape.
“No, please not Isabelle… not my baby sister,” Ellora thought with tears already filling her eyes.
As if sensing her despair, the being looked back at Ellora. The zig-zaggy line she had seen on its face had parted to reveal it was the monster's mouth. A coarse hiss-like growl sent chills down Ellora's spine.
It returned its gaze to Isabelle, ignoring Ellora. It raised an armored claw-like hand from under its cloak. Slowly lowered its hand towards Isabelle's face, sharpened finger extended. But instead of piercing Isabelle’s face, it did something Ellora didn’t expect. Turning its finger about, it brushed the back against Isabelle's cheek, unintentionally making the toddler sigh.
Ellora blinked in surprise at the tender action. Still, the surprise once more turned to abject horror as the monster gently reached and picked Isabelle out of the wagon. Then it stood to leave.
“No, no, nononononono!” Ellora thought as she sank to her knees.
It looked back at Ellora one last time, reacting to the sound of her hitting the ground, before turning away and heading into the woods with her sister in its hands.
“Isabelle…” Ellora reached her hand out in vain.
As if to spite her, the monster's Hounds circled her. Their muzzles dripped with drool from all the fear, despair, and sadness practically oozing from Ellora.
Finally, as if by some miracle, moonlight managed to break through what was cloaking it’s gracious light. His skin seemed almost to absorb it. Then, fur began sprouting from her body.
The Shadow Hounds backed away as she groaned with her bones cracking and joints popping. Her body took on a new shape and she growled, fangs in full view.
Instead of fighting however, Ellora leaped above the smallest Shadow Hound and dashed for the trees opposite where Isabelle was taken, eyes filled with tears.