“This was given to me by my mother.” Huan Li looked up from the globe. “My great grandfather had given his life to this country and everything it stood for and the only thing that his granddaughter could afford for her son on Christmas Day was a cheap snow globe of the place I grew up.” Huan Li looked as if he was going to crush the cheap plastic between his fingers and let the water spill out through the broken remains. Instead, Huan Li placed the snow globe back on the dresser. “I have my anger and my own demons to deal with every day. You would do well to remember that. You are not alone in your hatred or your pain.”
He motioned for William to follow him as he walked toward his open doorway. As William joined him on the landing just outside the room, Huan Li stepped aside and gestured over and around to the massive city that surrounded them. Over the tops of the black buildings William could see the massive trees reach up toward the ceiling of the underground cavern. He saw the various shades of stone and the sharp black obsidian that made up most of the structures. He could see the tower rising above the rest of the city.
“Everyone living here, be it man, woman, child, human, or wolf born feels some kind of pain.” The Elder looked him in the face and a sharp pain greeted his legs as Huan Li swung his cane and connected with William’s exposed limb. William grunted and looked down to see the cane planted against his leg where it had connected.
William looked up at Huan Li in surprise. “What was that for?”
“What? This.” Huan Li struck at William’s leg again.
William backed away a step from the Elder. “What are you doing?”
“What needs to be done.” Huan Li struck William’s midsection under his arm. William was too slow and too confused to block the swift attack from the old man. Huan Li didn’t move from his place but struck William again in his exposed midsection.
William wanted to rip the cane out of the old man’s hands. He felt the lump of emotions in the back of his head stir and he almost didn’t care. Right then he wanted to end this. Huan Li stood there looking at William. And William understood. This is a test to see if I can control my other and his influence over me. William deflected the anger he was feeling and got a hold of himself again. He stood up and looked at the Elder.
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“William, pain can be controlled, physical as well as emotional. We shape shifters have come to accept who and what we are. We are monsters. We are what nightmares are made of. We thirst for blood and hunger for the thrill of the hunt. I know what pain is. I know what anger is. I know how strong those emotions make me feel but I also know how weak and exposed I actually become because of those emotions.” Huan Li leaned upon his cane.
“The thing you have to learn is how to coexist with that other part of yourself. You have to understand that you are human and monster, animal and beast. Once you have come to terms with that then you will be able to call yourself a true shape shifter.” Huan Li sighed. “Until then you will be nothing more than a werewolf, an instinctive monster content to hunt and kill anything and everything weaker than you are.”
Huan Li looked into William’s eyes and brought the full weight of his being down on the pup. “If you are unable to master what you are, you are useless to us. More than that, you will become a danger to all of us here in this city and those around you. I don’t have to tell you what will happen should that prove to be the case with you.
You have to accept what it is. If you fight against it, it only becomes stronger. I have seen a number of pups deal with this change in themselves differently. Some of them were…unsuccessful.”
Huan Li turned back toward the entryway and motioned to Ares who was still in the room. A moment later Ares walked out of the room and down the ramp past William. Huan Li looked at William. “I have killed many things in this world, one more werewolf won’t make a difference.” Huan Li disappeared back into his room.
“It’s time to go, pup.”
William turned around to find Ares watching him. Ares eyes didn’t hold any malice or hatred. If anything, what he saw reflected in those eyes was apathy. William knew that Ares couldn’t help him. Still, he couldn’t help but feel some resentment toward his teacher.
William walked down the ramp and pushed past Ares to step on to the street. He took several hasty steps away from the ramp. He didn’t know where he was going, he just wanted to walk. He took a few steps down the street heading away from the tower and the underground forest when he felt a rough claw grip his shoulder. William didn’t have time to react before he was spun around on his heel. He would have fallen over if Ares’ strong claw hadn’t supported him. William snarled at the sudden jerk and was caught looking right into Ares’ face which was several inches higher than his.
“Where are you going, pup?”
William let his lips pull back away from his jaws and let his sharp canines gleam in the city’s light. William let his anger and frustration build. The knot of emotions slowly uncoiled themselves from his mind like a snake recently awakened from its sleep. William wanted to tear Ares apart. He was tired of being talked down to. He was tired of being treated like a child. He was tired of living by someone else’s rules.