The Southern Mountain Range of the Dulsan Empire marked the natural border of the country. The Mountains were near impossible to trek by land and the mages who specialized in flight magic or the elements of wind and light simply didn't have the mana reserves to pass over even the narrowest parts of the range. The only races that could fly over the extremely dangerous mountains were the members of the winged Fey race, called by many as Fairies. The other race that could pass over the mountain range were the dragons but their territory was on an island in the great ocean that separated the Continents of Dulsa and Zelix, as well as the lesser sized continents to the north and south of the large continents. The island in the middle of the Great Ocean (yep, that's its real name) was the size of a small continent itself, but it was called an island simply because of the size of the dominant species of the place.
The Dragonlands or the Dragon Isle, as it was often referred to, was three thousand (3000) kilometers wide and approximately five thousand (5000) kilometers long with only one inhabited city on the eastern coast, facing the Empire of Dulsa. The dominant species was the Ancient Dragon, a large and almost mythical beast that even the gods wanted little to do with. No one really knew how many Ancient Dragons were alive but the general concensus was the number didn't surpass one thousand. These large and powerful creatures didn't leave their island very often, the only historical reference to a member of the race leaving was when the dragons were provoked at sea by an ancient race. The fleet of ships the ancient race was destroyed by a single dragon. The same dragon then nagivated the world seeking out anyone and anything with blood relation to the offenders, mercilessly annihilating everything related to the said race.
The Southern Mountains, officially called the Moon Mountains by the Dulsan Empire, was extremely dangerous both in terrain and because of a particular species of higher life that resided within the peaks. The mountain range received its name for the island in the sky that always hovered over the highest peak in the center of the mountain range. The island was thought to be immense and high because of the light it shined at night, like the celestial satelite in orbit around Pandora. The mountains themselves were made of a substance akin to earth's obsidian but made for extremely solid foundations for plant life, called the substance was called glass iron.
So little was known about the Moon Mountains that the primary species in the mountains weren't even known to many. Roars of dragons could often be heard if one was in close proximity to the mountain range but they weren't true dragon roars. The owners of the roars were a species of lesser dragons known as fire lizards. They had a length of 10 meters long and a wingspan of close to 30 meters to support their size in flight. Though not as powerful as High Humans, they could breathe fire and incinerate anything on the ground while staying out of range of spells and long distance projectiles. Stories were often told of how the Moon Mountains used to be much easier to travel through and had many elven cities within but when the fire lizards arrived, their fire was so hot that it not only destroyed the settlements in the mountains, it also turned the soil to glass. This was, of course, only a story.
The fire lizards were actually exiled by their larger cousins, the ancient dragons, for being weak and shameful to the proud dragons. The Moon Mountains served as a prison for these reptiles and their prison guards were a sentient species of canine so feirce that the likes of Cerebus and Fenrir would run away with their tails between their legs. Each of these canines were actually divine beings with enough power to wipe out even the Ancient Dragons single handedly but the ancient dragons had saved one of their pups a very long time ago and the debt of gratitude was not forgotten. It was not known how or when the dragons and the divine wolves had contacted eachother and to supress panic, only the monarchs of each major world power knew of the arrangement.
Being divine beings, these particular wolves could hear the gods talking at all times and the gods would hear the wolves, for their howls were imbued with divine power, though the two forces mostly avoided one another. The majority of the gods had an extreme dislike for anything that had the ability to take human form but wouldn't, a sort of prejudice, and the wolves held the gods in contempt for always vying for power with one another and refusing to work together for a single alpha and for the betterment of their races.
The reclusive prison guards also cared little for the workings of the outside Universe, but to them, Pandora was their territory, so they payed special attention when a god from the outside came to Pandora. The only foreign god that didn't arouse their suspicion was Loki, and that was because he had the scent of a wolf. How could the father of a god killing wolf, not be a wolf himself?
The only foreign god the wolves didn't bother with was Veorful, they noticed her coming and even her shattering of the barrier but because they had already sensed something within her that had already been on Pandora, it had been assumed that it was a god who had left before the wolves came to be. They didn't know it was because of the soul fragment of Divinus that Veorful had been given.
As a rite of passage for the young wolves going into adulthood, they would travel the world and their mission was to do deeds of great merit for the various races. These young wolf pups ranged from the ages of 11 to 17, depending on their talent. Their power would be sealed by the alpha and they would be forced to take human form. Fifteen years ago, going on sixteen years, a brother and sister had began their trial and ended up crossing paths with Traigar and a young Freyd who were on their way home as Cirwyn was due to give birth.
The two wolf pups had come across an particular high human who was being pursued by the Dulsan military for robbery, attempted murder, the murder of a noble, and seven counts of rape. While the younger brother of the sister wolf had been out buying goods, the high human had broken into their temporary place of residence to hide from the military. Being exceptionally beautiful and having her powers sealed, the woman couldn't defend herself from the evil man.
The male wolf pup returned to find the evildoer on top of his sister and in a rage, managed to forcefully unseal his innate abilities. Reverting to his true form, the young wolf and the high human battled shortly ending with the high human's death but the damage caused by forcefully unsealing his abilities and the ensuing battle had severely injured the young wolf.
The sister grieved for her brother and tried to carry him the long distance back to the mountains but ended up collapsing some five miles away from the Nihili house. This was where Freyd and Traigar had crossed paths with the woman and the wolf. The two were taken to the Nihili house where the woman was to be nursed back to health and the young wolf was to be saved, if possible. When Lynefra was born, the girl and her dog had mysteriously disappeared and a note had been left as thanks, "In return for saving my brother and caring for me, the wolfpacks of the moon mountains will provide aid, should the Nihili family ever been in need."
The Nihili family hadn't thought anything of it except that it was incredibly ungracious of someone to leave without any warning. Having no knowledge of any wolf packs in the Southern Mountains, Traigar had assumed the woman had fallen into madness, as did sometimes happen with women who had their purity stolen from them. Unknown to the Nihili family, when Lynefra was born, a powerful healing energy had been released and the young wolf was miraculously saved. The young woman was even healed in such a way that her purity had been restroed. This had been the first battle Lynefra had won over Fate in her new life.
When the two wolves returned to their pack in the Moon Mountains, their father, the Alpha, assigned a new task to the young wolves. Having been told of the miracle surrounding the young Lynefra's birth and knowing his children were not prone to exaggeration or lying, he ordered them to watch over the Nihili family until such a day that his daughter was old enough to bear children with her intended mate who she had "bonded" with. The pack was then shocked when the Alpha named the son of the Beta to be the next alpha (cuz god wolves fighting for supremacy with eachother would be god aweful for the planet).
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It had always troubled the old Alpha that his only son didn't "bond" any of the young female pups as was the Moon Wolf custom, however; seeing the distant gaze of his returned son, he had then realized why his son didn't find any of the young female wolves compatible. The old and wise Alpha had realized that his young son had been bonded to the unbridled innocence of Lynefra when she had healed him. Such a thing was grounds for execution by the pack's laws so in order to save his son and hide this fact from the pack, the Alpha told his son to always protect Lynefra as gratitude for saving his life, then he forced his son into exile for "failing his coming of age trial."
The son didn't know that at the time, his father was saving him. He didn't know his soul had bonded with the essence of Lynefra's being, nor did he know that if wolves matured and were too far apart from their chosen, albeit involuntarily, then they would experience symptons like those of canine distemper - for god dogs.
His son's Fate may have been to be bonded to Lynefra's essence and subsequently, to death, but the Alpha of many years was wise and Bluwater was his only son. "Even though I have defied the will of the heavens and went against Fate to save my only son, would any good parent not do the same?" The old Alpha had asked himself as he watched his son leaving the territory of the Moon Wolves that day. The Alpha had no clue he wasn't speaking in metaphor.
If it had been his Fate to have more than one son, then the three old women might have successfully eliminated powerful ally for Lynefra. There was no great battle, or tough decision. In the span of two days, a newborn baby and a loving father had defeated fate twice and created a powerful force that Fate had no power over. Bluwater had overcome his Destiny and in time, would grow to become a force so powerful that even the heavens would tremble at the mention of his name.
It wasn't easy for Bluwater to only watch over his savior though. When she was younger he could feel all her emotions, thanks to his special bond. Needless to say, he felt the intense impulse to seek her out and shower affection down upon her because of this bond and the lonelyness and sorrow he could feel through it, despite the distances he kept from her.
All through Lynefra's life, she would often stare into the distance. No one knew what she was doing except for the Gods who she was talking with. She wasn't always talking with the Gods of Pandora though. Any time the girl was by any kind of nature, she would feel an intense gaze watching her. She didn't notice the divine presence of Bluwater because she was always surrounded by gods but when she was in nature or close to it, she would always feel something watching her intently. Sometimes she would even imagine that she could see a radiant pair of lupine eyes or the vague outline of a large wolf.
The Blue-robed woman was a goddess of wisdom and battle. There had once been a city named after her on a distance Planet. Though Athena was wise and one of the most intelligent Goddesses, she could not feel the presence of the powerful canine watching her as she slowly crept towards Lynefra and the unsettling boy known as Micah Mishall.
The woman in the plain dark robes, Veritas, saw through all deception. She didn't see Micah Mishall, but instead saw a greek being of mal-intent and deception, Dolos. The wind picked up just enough to break the tuth seeing goddess' attention and her tunnel vision expanded. She quickly looked to the trees and saw the truth of the shadow's deception. What Lynefra could only vaguely perceive, Veritas could see plain as day. A large and regal wolf with questioning amber eyes and resplendent white fur. The wolf was poised to strike, with its body lowered and its ears tucked back against its head.
Bluwater noticed Veritas had become aware of him and his right ear rolled forward and lifted up as his protective gaze fell upon the Goddess of Truth. Drawing himself to his full height, he exposed the blue patch of fur on his breast, the reason he had been named "Bluwater."
Veritas held no malintent and her eyes were disarming, throwing Bluwater into a slight confusion. Unable to tell if the green-eyed woman was friend or foe, he kept an ear pitched toward her as he looked at the woman, with spear and shield, still approaching Lynefra and Micah.
As the armed woman crept closer to the pair of children, she enderwent a subtle change. her eyes displayed a hint of bloodlust as she focused on Micah. The change alarmed Bluwater as he couldn't tell which of the young pair the bloodlust was directed at.
Leaves rustled softly as, to everyone's surprise but Veritas, a large white wolf emerged from the shadows of the surrounding trees. The wolf stood One and a half meters (1.5m) tall at the shoulder. A low rumbling growl was emitted from the depths of Bluwater's chest as he licked his lips before peeling them back to reveal his vicious looking teeth.
Veritas tried to signal for Athena to stand down but the proud goddess scoffed at the beast. She might have been a goddess of wisdom but hubris was still in her nature. Being threatened by a wild beast was offensive and beneath her.
Hmph. Is Dolos so scared to enage in combat with me that you get a mere dog to do your dirty work? Athena spat at Micah.
Athena's remark caused Lynefra to give Micah a questioning look. Athena's words also greatly offended Bluwater. He might have been exiled from his pack but he was still a proud wolf.
Call me a dog again and it will be the last thing you ever do, Bluwater used divine sense to communicate his message.
The whole situation was escalating quickly and Bluwater's threats didn't help to diffuse the tension whatsoever. In fact, because Athena thought so highly of herself, the threats from Bluwater only served to escalate the growing chances of a physical class between the two entities.
Micah didn't say anything, he only stood there wearing a poke-face. If Veritas wasn't a goddess of truth, even she would have been fooled by Micah's performance.
As Athena met Bluwater's gaze, her vision slightly clouded for a moment. The ancient bloodline of the moon wolves held enormous power and amazing genetic memories. Athena grunted, forcing herself back to her senses.
I would like to see if you have the ability, The Goddess sneered, as she prepared to receive Bluwater's attack. Filthy Mutt, she added with contempt.
'The Goddess of Wisdom isn't quite so wise as it turns out,' Micah muttered to himself as a smile played across his lips.
Normally, a Moon Wolf would avoid heated combat because the power they brought to bear was too great for the environment to handle. A Moon Wolf also wouldn't be enraged by the words of any lowly god, let alone a god foreign to Pandora and ignorant of the ability of the Moon Wolves. Bluwater was, however, too young for clear judgment to prevail.
The clash was swift and exceedingly brutal. Bluwater snarled and lunged. Athena swept her spear, seeking ti impale the young wolf but her celestial weapon shattered against Bluwater's fur. He impacted her shield with such a force that the shield cracked in half and Athena was knocked down, backwards, with the Divine Beast landing on top of her, his jaws snapping towards Athena's neck.
Divine blood splattered everywhere as Bluwater's powerful jaws snapped closed around Athena's armored forearm. The wolf shook his head mightily and crushed the punctured gauntlet around Athena's arm. in the last moment, Athena had managed to avoid the lethal attack by sacrificing her shield arm, but without weapons, the Goddess was a powerless child before a tidal wave of destructive force.
Veritas screamed. She had seen many horrific things in her long years but Athena was a major god whose ability in battle almost equal to the ability of Ares.
STOP! Veritas shrieked as Bluwater snapped his jaws closed around Athena's arm once again, this time his bite was intended to maim. Athena's face controted in pain as Bluwater pulled his head away from her arm, pulling the ruined gauntlet and Athena's flesh with it. The crushed bones of her forearm were exposed as only a bit of mauled flesh and ligaments remained clinging to them.
'This isn't right,' Lynefra throught to herself in alarm. The girl didn't know who she was and even if she did, she wouldn't know the wolf and the now battered Goddess, but the situation didn't seem natural to the girl.
Noble Wolf, Loki said with slight urgency as he rushed over. He had started to make his way in haste as soon as he noticed the two Greek Deities. You are being manipulated by negative intentions!
Micah smirked in his heart. 'Veritas noticed my hand at play but even she couldn't stop these two,' he thought smugly. 'Soon, Loki will meet a similar fate to Athena.'
The smugness in Micah's heart quickly dissipated and his face paled as the young, hot tempered, wolf actually ceased its attack on Athena and turned to face Loki without any hostility.