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An unnatural stillness fell over the three figures. They sat like marble statues, their stony stares fixed on the door before them.
It creaked open slightly, then shut again without anyone passing through it. Still the three sat unmoving, only daring to move their eyes to question silently. The small female in the middle let her pale eyes flick forward again and a small gasp of surprise escaped her.
There, in the middle of the room, a man stood, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Dressed entirely in black, his hair slicked back in a glossy crew cut. He had a short, neatly trimmed beard and dark, opaque sunglasses that hid the rest of his pale face from the inquiring eyes of the trio he now had the attention of.
A low chuckle escaped the dark man’s lips as they curled into a menacing smirk. The trio, the remaining Council members, fought against the panic that threatened to seize them. Struggling to keep their composure, they once more faced the center of the room, stony and silent.
One, the largest of the three Council stood and bowed slightly, showing respect. The black clad figure bowed back, his smirk widening. He didn’t mind these pleasantries, rather they amused him greatly. Eager to play along, he furthered his amusement as he watched the big Council member make his way from where he was sitting. Now, both of them stood before one another, their heads both held high in a regal manner. Both also had identical smirks. The Council member held out his hand. The other man grasped it and they shook, maintaining eye contact all the while.
“Good evening sir. And you are…?” inquired the Council member, smile still plastered on.
“No one you need to be worried about,” the other man answered curtly, a slight accent slurring his words.
“Can I not have your name?”
“Names are merely words attached to a specific thing to me,” the dark man said, starting to pace slightly. He kept his hands folded behind him and his eyes locked unflinchingly on the other man. The council member started to speak, but the dark man held up a pale hand.
“No need to inquire why, Mr.… Amaroq, yes?” his grin grew wider still as the Council member, Amaroq’s face grew deathly pale.
“Oh yes, I know you,” the dark man continued, pacing faster as he went on. “You are… most famous among us. Your cunning and prowess fills our stories… and the nightmares of our orphan children!”
With a sudden flash, the female Council member stifled a scream as in an instant; Amaroq was pinned to a wall by the other man. What little color was in his face now left it, and his pupils were so contracted in his pale eyes that they were mere pinpricks. He shook with fear as the dark man leaned in close, his mouth right next to his ear.
“You, Mr. Amaroq, are the ringleader of this little circus, no? I see the way you are always in front of the others, first to make a move. And always in front of that female over there… Zeera yes?”
He chuckled darkly again and continued to whisper.
“Too bad, Silva misses you so much. She thought since you stopped writing and coming to visit that you were dead. Imagine her pain and anger if I told her the truth.”
Amaroq’s fists clenched. But the foul breath from the dark man wasn’t finished expelling its equally rotten words into his ear.
“Tell me. Why should our deal ensue? You’ve made our lives a living hell. You know what I speak of. Many lives were lost, countless souls slaughtered. And yet now… for some reason, we are still saving you. I’m still allowing your pathetic selves another chance. Here is my deal; I give you what you need, you leave the rest of us alone. Am I clear?”
Amaroq, still shaky, took a few shuttering breaths. He considered the deal the dark stranger had cut for him. There was no other way. Setting his face, he hoarsely whispered back.
“Yes.”
The dark stranger smiled again, canines flashing.
“Well then, we’d best be going.”
And with another deep rumbling dark chuckle like ominous thunder, he dissipated right before their astonished eyes.

…………………….

Click.
A young girl of about 14 stepped out of the house, letting the door latch click shut behind her. She was wearing a white dress; like her mother always loved to dress her in. ‘Showing her innocence,’ that’s what her mother always said whenever she asked. She never understood her mother’s ideas or reasoning for her actions, so she just left it at that, indulging her mother’s insatiable appetite for all things girly and sophisticated. Personally, she didn’t care much for it, much preferring to romp in the mud rather than sit looking pretty all day. But nevertheless, she sat still and let her mother brush her curly auburn hair. She didn’t want to challenge it. Rather she merely put up with it all, indulging her mother’s fantasies.
But after that however…
She slipped off the front porch, down the steps and onto the grass. She put on her nonchalant persona of ‘I’m only going for a walk’. But turning the corner off her street…
In a flash, her shoes were off and she was busily working on her dress. Underneath, she donned a black tank top and cutoff shorts. Folding the dress neatly, she carefully stored it in a hidden plastic bag she had stored beneath some bushes and ran off barefoot into the surrounding wood.
Her sweet, girly laugh of pure joy crescendoed into a reverberating howl as the dark labyrinth of trees swallowed up her small tanned body in its depths.

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I shouldn’t have used that much magic.
Clenching his teeth, the dark man fumed to himself as he paced outside the circular meeting room. He wasn’t as young as he used to be and using the small magical store he had in him wore him down tremendously.
But, he reminded himself, most of us never learn how to tap our magical energy. They don’t even know that they have anything to tap into.
Smirking at this tidbit of information, he felt his spirits lighten considerably.
“I’m one of the lucky ones,’ he told himself quietly, leaning casually against the wall as if he had been there the whole time.
The Council members eyed him, first in bewilderment and awe at his strength and power, then reverence and respect because of it.
Amaroq stood once more between the two council members and the dark man. He kept his upright regal posture, squared his shoulders in a businesslike manner and cleared his throat.
“Sir, we’ve talked amongst ourselves and all decided to take you up on your offer. However, in order to truly work together, we all feel that it is necessary to know your name. You already somehow know ours and we feel we need equality in this matter.”
An amiable smile lit the man’s pallid face.
“Of course, of course Mr. Amaroq. But if you truly need my name, then all you need to know is that I answer by “Shadow”. No other name is necessary, just “Shadow”.
“Shadow,” Amaroq said, testing out the name. “Peculiar, but interesting nonetheless. Lead on.”
Shadow kept his grin plastered on, but it grew less friendly and more like the menacing snarl of an animal, fresh on the trail of unsuspecting prey.

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The girl whooped and howled joyfully as she darted through the trees. The sun was just going down and the dew hung heavily in the air. It was only late summer, but the nights were somewhat chilly. The leaves around her were just becoming stained with autumn’s fiery palate. But one of the most beautiful sights to her was the moon.
Peeking over the horizon line, the full moon could be seen gracing the deepening azure sky with its soft silver glow. The girl’s blue green eyes widened at the sight. She stopped where she was and just stared for a few moments, basking in its majesty. For what seemed like years, she just stood and stared. But small excited yips and howls brought her back to her senses.
Tongue hanging out, she panted happily and darted forward unerringly, even in the forest’s shadowy gloom. The yips and howls grew louder until finally they were directly ahead. Taking a great leap, she flew through the air, arms outstretched and watched with ever mounting excitement as a silvery light formed runic tattoos across her skin, covering her completely before flashing into a solid silver case.
But by the time she landed, the silver sank back beneath her skin. Now, it was no longer just skin, but a full, shimmering pelt.
She was no longer girl, but wolf.

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Shadow ran nimbly alongside the road. He reveled in the way the night wind whipped around him, through his hair, caressing his skin. But he took care to control himself and stay out of the direct path of the moonlight. True it didn’t do much and he had enough self control to hold himself together, but still. The three knew plenty already. He preferred to keep some aspects about him a mystery. That way he could still have a few aces up his sleeve.
Which is something he definitely had quite a few of this he knew for sure. He had specifically planned it that way. Now he had two sources which he had almost total dominance of. He had a plan, he had supplies and support, and soon he would have a strong alliance with the most powerful people in the world in his debt. He had it made.
He kept reminding himself of his plan and goals to distract himself from the bitter cold and the monotonous run. He didn’t need to think about it. It came naturally. His body and instincts were on autopilot. A very handy skill to know, especially for someone as busy as he is.
But finally, he reached his checkpoint. The car that had been trailing him throughout his run saw him halt and took this as a signal to pull over and stop themselves.
Cutting the power and letting the engine die down, the three Council members, Amaroq, Zeera and Kane, exited the vehicle. Each now sported black, lightweight but warm and durable jumpsuits as well as specialized vests custom made for their protection during the crusades. On top of all this, they also armed themselves from head to toe.
Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Pathetic humans. What did they thing was going to happen that they needed all this black-op equipment? But still, he bit his tongue and tried his best to be patient as they loaded themselves down with yet more equipment from the trunk.
This was going to be a long night.

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The girl/wolf stood just in the tree line where she had landed. The yips and howls were coming from the clearing in front of her. Her tail wagged slightly, its long ringed plumed length shimmering slightly in the moonlight. Then, with a short flick and a happy yip of her own, she breeched the tree line and bounded out into the open meadow.
Multiple pairs of curious eyes looked up and the rowdy banter died down. Clouds of foggy breath rose from them as they panted, tails excitedly wagging at the sight of another pack member. The girl/ wolf trotted over to where they waited for her and she touched noses with each in a sign of greeting. Respectfully, the rest of her wolfish acquaintances waited as she made her rounds.
Finally, reaching the last wolf, her eyes sparkled and tail wagged slightly harder. Touching noses briefly, she made as if to walk away, but at the last moment, she sprang off the ground, snatching one of his ears in her jaws, firmly, but not enough to hurt him. Growling playfully, she gently tugged once. His surprise at her sudden attack was evident. But almost as quickly as he was startled, he too took on a playfully mischievous air.
He flipped his head up, effectively jerking his ear from beyond her reach. Then, swooping low he launched himself at her. Flying through the air, the two became a ball of happy and playfully growling fur. They rolled over the ground wrestling when another jumped in. this one was about the same size as the girl/ wolf, but stockier and more rounded compared to the lanky, angular frame of the girl/ wolf. Then yet another joined, bringing their happy bundle to four.
This flippant, boisterous play continued tirelessly for multiple hours; from running through the woods to pouncing and tackling one another. Each of their pelts flashed brilliant colors as they wove between the trees and splashed through puddles of pearly moonlight. Medium gray and blue, white with black stripes and a hint of green, black with a reddish hue and a mahogany brown with a light caramel. All were blurs over the forest floor, happily enjoying their freedom together in their moonlit domain.
But even seemingly boundless energy runs out eventually. They flopped down in the dew soaked grass, sides heaving as they panted heavily. No one wanted to break the silence, so they all lay staring up at the stars, content to merely enjoy each other’s company. A few fat fireflies caught the attention of the white and black striped one. Her light green eyes sparkled as her catlike demeanor took over. She pawed at the air, tail lashing. The girl/ wolf yipped softly in a wolfish chuckle as she pushed a lock of mahogany colored fur away from her golden eyes. The big medium gray one twisted his neck and nudged her, motioning with one blue tipped paw at a passing comet.
Make a wish sis, his voice echoed in her head. She craned her neck to face him, smiling wolfishly.
‘Kay. You too, she replied.
Ready?
Ready.
Go.
Together, all four began to chant.
Star light, star bright, falling piece of mother moon, take my wish and grant it soon!
Their eyes all shut and they lay quietly, wishing fervently. The girl smiled. She knew exactly what she wanted to wish for…
But before she could finish, the trees rustled and spread apart, revealing another visitor.