Egaiarasu Acharya led his pack through the disquiet of the Whyte Plain. The one good thing that the long journey through this hell provided him was a chance to think. He had been born to Indian parents in Suriname, South America. He had to smile at that. Most people had never heard of the place, let alone be able to find it on a map. He had become very adept at explaining that even though he was born in South America he was not, contrary to popular belief, a ‘West Indian’.
The long-convoluted path that brought him to America had been a painful one. He left his home when he was nine and his first stop was Miami, Florida. From there, eventually and a few odd jobs here and there that his parents had, he was brought to New York.
It was during his early college years while attending The City College of New York in upper Manhattan, that he first met Eustace Browning. He had thought that she was a professor at first. She was kind, but had a hard edge to her just below the surface that even back then he was able to feel. She was not a woman to be trifled with. It was she that brought him to the Mountain and had introduced him to Pepromene the Sage wolf born who was to be his instructor. Looking around at his pack as they moved quickly and silently, he marveled at all that had happened to him since those early days.
His Enforcer Aiman Bashara, was taking point as always. His brown fur stood out pretty well against the black, mist shrouded ground, of their surroundings. His silver stripes almost seemed incandescent against the mist that always covered the ground here. His white tipped tail was raised, betraying the man’s sense of alertness. They all knew well the dangers of this place. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure why they hadn’t run into any Shadows yet. If they were unaware of their presence, that wouldn’t be the case for long.
His pack had been together for a few years now. They worked well together and had enjoyed many successes. Losing the Mountain was something that still bothered all of them, he knew, because it bothered him. Especially since his whole pack had made it out alive. He knew that they had fought just as hard as anyone else. It was just a little hard to fathom that all but two Elders died and so many others.
They had a job to do now though. Huan Li had sent them to Africa, the country of Chad to be exact. He was charged with hunting down the rumors and stories of Werehyenas based on the current population of Spotted Hyenas in the area. And also because of the legends of Werehyenas in and around the Lake Chad region and the fabled lost village of Kabultiloa.
He had to shake his head a little. Searching for possible Shape shifters based on the current population of hyenas in the area he could understand, but searching for lost cities was something that he just couldn’t wrap his head around. But even the smallest hope was better than no hope. That and the prominent amount of legends that pointed to Werehyenas in the region was just too good of a possibility to pass up.
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Hyenas are distant cousins of the Grey Wolf, belonging to the Suborder of Feli Formia, while the Grey Wolf belonged to the Suborder of Cani Formia. According to the wolf born stories, passed down by their kind, the Werehyena was the last Shape shifter group to go silent only three or four hundred years ago.
Aiman thought that this was nothing more than busy work and a ‘fool’s errand’ he had said. He, however agreed with Mary Johansson, his Scout. She seemed absolutely convinced that these other races of Shape shifters did exist and they had gone to ground, much as the Werewolf had to do. All of our cities were underground, in some form or another, after all.
A whisper met his ears as Mary stopped them, “We’re here.”
Acharya stopped running. Had they really been here that long? With no sign of any Shadows at all? That was surprising, but even more so was that he had lost himself in his musings so much that he had completely lost track of time and the distance that they had run.
He turned towards the other Sage in his pack, “Tara? Would…”?
“I do the honors, Acharya?” Tara interrupted with a wink. Acharya had to smile at the woman’s uncanny ability to anticipate others thoughts and words.
Tara stood at just under seven feet tall. Her fur was a splotchy, mostly black mixed with brown and a few white spots here and there. She smiled and the group was suddenly standing on solid ground with a warm breeze that passed through their fur. The group, almost as one, shifted back to their human forms as they all looked around taking in their new environment.
Looking out they saw that they were on a bit of a hill overlooking a broad, calm looking river. In the distance, north of them, nestled right next to the river was a very impressive city. The tallest buildings reached up to fifty or sixty stories at least. He had seen other cities that were more impressive, but not many. And buried deep in the heart of Africa made it that much more impressive. He looked up into the warm sun light and inhaling the clean breeze as it passed over the nearby river he was filled with a sense of joy. After the stench of Agra, and the oppressive dark of the Whyte Plain this place was civilization, with all its spender, and squalor, and humanity included. He couldn’t help but smile.
“That’s N’Djamena,” Malikah said.
The woman was very tall, standing at five foot eight inches or so. She had let her blonde highlights go a while ago much to everyone’s relief. Her green eyes had taken on a very self-assured gaze over the last year or so. She still wasn’t quite ready to get rid of her breast implants which stuck out from her chest noticeably. However, she was finally starting to see worth in who and what she was, aside from surgical augmentations.
A small growl met Acharya’s ears. He glanced down to see the only wolf born in his pack, Asclepius, a male Maned Wolf. His reddish-brown fur shone in the sunlight. His black mane at the nape of his neck was visible as the wolf looked towards the city. He, like all the wolf born, had not been happy being paraded around as dogs in Agra, and it looked like, at least for the time being, he would have to pass as a dog again. Thus, his angry growl.
Acharya felt for him, he really did. But since N’Djamena was the capitol, and also the largest city in Chad, this was where they had been directed to start their search and move eastward as necessary. So, much as he hated it for him, Asclepius was just going to have to deal with it.