The long-eared people of the moon, and the people of the earth, looked towards the east as giants with flames for hair, came towards them. A great war raged between both the moon people and the earth people fighting against the flame haired giants. The three groups fought many battles, (he knew this because the pictures were separated and drawn in different ways multiple times).
With the moon people’s help, the earth people were able to drive the fire haired giants back into the ocean from which they had come from. Then the moon people seemed to disappear, they weren’t drawn anymore. But something much more terrifying met William’s eyes.
The scene changed. A full moon was depicted and under the light of that moon a single group of three robed figures looked to be sacrificing a small child on an altar of grass and stone. The blood from the ritual covered the three and twisted their forms. They became something not human, and the walls of the cave only showed shadows where they had stood in the previous picture.
William’s throat was suddenly very dry and he could feel the evil and fear from those figures. He didn’t want to even look at their painted visages, let alone touch them or stay here for much longer. He followed the pictures along the wall a little deeper.
The shadow men were twisted and evil but they seemed to need to feed and whenever they were drawn on the wall, dead bodies always followed. Then a single holy man with a black bird on his shoulder walked out into the desert. The man walked far from everyone till he came to the mountains in the west. There in the forest, next to a mighty river he was confronted by a great wolf. The wolf was grey in color and stood shoulder to shoulder with the mountains around him. The wise man knelt and sliced his chest open with his knife. The wolf howled towards the full moon and then attacked the man. The two struggled for days, until only the man was shown walking out of the forest with the setting sun on his back. Then that night, under the bright clear full moon, only the great grey wolf was shown howling into the heavens.
The last picture that William saw in the cave, was of a single wolf, a great protector, as large as the mountains from which he came, facing down three shadows which reached towards the heavens to blot out the light of the moon itself.
William shown his flashlight ahead of himself. He took a few steps deeper into the cave. He shown the flashlight all over the place. There had to be more, there had to be. What had happened? He searched for a long time, maybe an hour or so, looking deeper and deeper into the cave, retracing his steps, following the story again to see if he missed anything. But there was nothing more, only the great wolf facing down the three shadows.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He sat down heavily and heaved a weary sigh. He hadn’t found the City Under the Clouds but he had found something that might be more valuable and interesting. He wanted to know what had happened. Where had the moon people gone? Why had they helped the people of the earth? Who were the fire haired giants? His head swam with so many questions but he was tired. He needed to get back and tell the others what he had found.
He backtracked to the mouth of the cave and stepping outside, looked up into the darkness, as a new moon shrouded in the night sky was drowned by the billions of stars that draped the night sky. He reached out and touched the side of the cave. Closing his eyes he pushed the membrane and slipped into the Whyte Plain.
It was only a short trip but even as he took his first step, he knew something was wrong. The darkness pushed in on him oppressively and he reflexively dropped his pack and shifted into werewolf form.
He looked around straining to see in all directions, but not even his enhanced wolf sight could penetrate the shadows and darkness that pressed around him. He inhaled deeply but he couldn’t smell anything either. Then the coldness came and his claws swiped out reflexively at the attacking Shadow.
It swirled around his claws and wrapped around him. William twisted his body and flung his claws out in a vicious arc. The formless shade seemed to smile at his attack and came in again, slipping under and around William’s defenses. The chill from the formless foe was seeping deep into his body. He had felt it before, but he had been much younger then.
Growling deep in his throat he dove backwards and rolled onto the ground landing in a crouch. The maneuver gave him some separation but the Shadow wasn’t about to give up its advantage so easily. It seemed to grow then pulse towards him with impossible speed. William smiled and dove towards the thing head first with claws outstretched and pierced the center of the shapeless mass. He then ripped his claws outward violently, spreading the shadow like smoke.
The shade was injured. It pulled back as a piercing inhuman wail met William’s ears. William knew that the wail was one of pain but also a call for reinforcements. He had been traveling this short distance of the Whyte Plain for about two weeks now. He should have known that his passing wouldn’t go unnoticed forever.
Turning quickly, he ran and, grabbing his backpack in his claws, sprinted for the spot that would let him immerge back in their pack’s apartment. The shadow must have suspected something because as he ran he felt the shade reach out and wrap itself around his legs, or at least try to.
William growled and sprinted faster as he pivoted and slashed out with his claws driving the shadow back momentarily. This wasn’t a fight to the death, but one of attrition. William wasn’t interested in winning today. And there was no telling when this thing’s friends would show up. He had to get out.
Turning back around, he opened his stride and pushed himself at full speed towards the spot that symbolized safety and the outside world. He got there and pushing at the membrane… stumbled forward, and crashed hard into the back wall of the apartment.