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Next installment's here! Hope you enjoy this chapter too. Feel free to comment or critic.

Pronunciation

Tanis (Tan-iss)

Ryutai (Rye-you-tay)

Rohan looked over at Tanis, after picking his jaw up from the ground he managed to stammer, "You're going to be my teacher?" "Yes, I just said that, are you deaf as well?" said Tanis. Rohan surveyed his new teacher. Tanis looked like he was the same as Rohan, except that he was a rust colored fox with a black tail. "Come with me, it is time for your first test." Tanis said. "Wait. Test?! I didn't even start my training yet." exclaimed Rohan. "I do know what I'm doing, and I am the teacher. Now come with me." said Tanis. Rohan stood up and followed.

He realized that Tanis was only six feet tall. "I have a question, actually I have two." said Rohan. "What are they?" asked Tanis. "I haven't met anyone else like me so I want to know, are you a half demon?" asked Rohan. "No," replied Tanis, "I'm a fox demon, not a drop of human blood in me." "Okay," said Rohan, "this is a little strange but, am I tall for a demon?" "You are," said Tanis "I have met only one creature taller than you, and that was a dragon." "You've met a dragon?" said Rohan incredulously, "I thought they were only in tales and myths." "There are lots of things that you think of as myths that are simply hiding from the destruction that humans bring with them." said Tanis. "What do you mean?" asked Rohan. Tanis stopped and turned to look at him, "You will soon be able to see for yourself." he said as he started off again. After a few minutes of silence Rohan spoke, "So where are we going anyway?" "Here." said Tanis, stopping.

They had reached a cliff; the ground below sloped up as it went to the west and down as it went east. Looking out to the north, he could see the jagged mountains know as the Dragon's Teeth in the distance. "What are we going to do here?" asked Rohan. "Well, you are going to sit here and do what I tell you; I'm going to make camp while I'm waiting." replied Tanis coolly. "So what do I do then?" asked Rohan. "Sit down and cross your legs," said Tanis, "now, I want you to clear your mind. Next, I need you to breathe how I tell you, in for a count of seven, hold it for a count of seven, out for a count of seven, and hold for a count of seven. Keep doing this until I come and get you." Rohan tried it; he found it very relaxing. He soon lost himself in the rhythm.

Tanis got up to check on Rohan again. It had been some time and the sun was going to set soon. As he turned to go back to camp, he noticed something. What was that? He hadn't had that on before. Tanis walked around Rohan to see what hung from the strange red chain around his neck. "So it's true then." Tanis thought aloud. Tanis reached out to touch the pendant, in a flash of light he found himself on the ground. He got up, looking at the now glowing symbol. "How did he get that?" Tanis said. Tanis sat back down near the fire; he wondered how Rohan had come to have that necklace and why he hadn't seen it before. He tried to remember what those symbols meant, but it had been many years since he learned them. He knew one was Power and another Protection, but the third had him stumped. Sighing, he leaned against a tree and waited for nightfall.

Rohan was falling; suddenly, he stopped. Looking around he saw himself. No, it wasn't him, he didn't have gray fur all over, just his face; the rest was a mirror-like silver. If it wasn't him then why did have his mother's pendant? Then it hit him, it was his father, his real father; they looked so much alike. His father was a couple of inches shorter, aside from that and the color of his fur, they looked the same; down to the color of their eyes. "Rohan," said his father, holding the pendant in his paw, "I gave this to your mother, and now I'm giving it to you. It has great power. The symbols on it are ancient, there are four of them, however only those in our family can see all of them; most will see what they choose to see. The symbols mean Power, Protection, Family, and the fourth one, is the symbol for the Wolf." Each time he named one he would trace its shape on the pendant, the last being the pendant itself. "Each symbol is a part of the fourth," said his father, "they each draw their power from each other, Power comes from Family, Protection is provided by Power, and Protection holds Family together. These are the powers that make the Wolf, and they are the strength of all wolves. Only wolves can see the last symbol because we are of his family. Our family's line is descended directly from the first Wolf, so we have great power."

"Why didn't Mother ever say anything about you?" Rohan asked. "Because the woman you grew up with wasn't your mother. She and her husband owed me a great debt, and they repaid it by caring for you. Your real mother was a beautiful wolf demon, totally white, like the new snow, but a nearby dragon turned crazy and killed her when you were not even a day old. She had given this pendant to you to play with, and it protected you; it made you look human, I still don't know why. I knew it wouldn't be permanent, and I found that it could only last for 17 years." explained Rohan's father. "So how did the wolf pack and Tanis find out about me?" asked Rohan. "I told them. I also told them you were part human, and would begin to take your demon form when you turned 17. Also that you would have to choose to complete your change, all so they could not guess at the power of the pendant." said his father. "So where are you?" Rohan asked. "I have gone to the next world." his father said. "Is that where this is?" asked Rohan. "No," replied Rohan's father, "this is the border between your world and the next; I have crossed the border and can never return. Now, you must go, take this with you." Rohan's father gave him the pendant. "Goodbye, my son." said Rohan's father. They embraced quickly, and everything slowly faded to black.

Rohan awoke from his trance-like state; he saw that it was night and that the coals of a fire glowed behind him. He walked over and stoked the fire, waking up Tanis while he was at it. "Ah, you're awake." said Tanis. "I met my father," said Rohan, holding out his pendant, "he gave me this." "Oh," Tanis said, "then that's where you got that, it has the symbols for Power, Protection --" "And Family," finished Rohan, "my father told me." "Good." said Tanis. "Just out of curiosity, why didn't you tell me about it earlier?" asked Rohan. "What do you mean, earlier?" Tanis asked. "I've had it on ever since I left my village." replied Rohan. "I didn't see it then, and I can't see it now either." Tanis said. "Anyway, did I pass the test?" asked Rohan. "Well," said Tanis, "seeing as you're not dead, I would have to say yes." "Not dead? You mean I could have died?! Why didn't you tell me?" exclaimed Rohan. "Yes you could have, in fact it is amazing that you didn't after so long in that state, but would you have done it if I had told you?" asked Tanis. "Probably not." said Rohan. "Now, we will begin the training tomorrow, we will start by training your control; in the meantime, get some sleep." said Tanis. Rohan sat against a tree and watched the fire until he fell into a deep sleep.

Tanis awoke Rohan in the late morning, after hurriedly eating the meant and apples next to him Rohan stood up and stretched. "So now what?" asked Rohan. "Now, you get to sit and breathe again. This time though I want you to do it with a count of 5 instead of 7 and I want you to concentrate on one thing which makes you think of solidity." Tanis said. Rohan did so, concentrating on the chain of his pendant. "Now I want you to try to see the energy that is escaping from you and put it into the mental picture of the object you chose." said Tanis. Rohan did. It was like seeing, but he had his eyes closed. He saw the energy around him, it reminded him of the flames of a fire, he tried to force them into the picture of the chain but that just seemed to make them dance more. Next, he tried to guide them into the chain, which worked much better, soon he saw only the glowing image of the deep red chain. "Good," said Tanis, "now I want you to open your eyes but keep the mental picture." 'Easier said than done' thought Rohan, but he did it anyway.

"Next think of a fire in the fire ring, and put a little energy from the object there." said Tanis. Rohan thought of the fire and put energy there; as soon as he did, there came a blast of heat from the fire ring as it exploded into a 20 foot column of bright, silver, fire. Tanis, now flat on his back, yelled above the roar of the flames, "I said a LITTLE of the energy!!" "That was a LITTLE of it!" Rohan yelled back. "Well put it back in!" yelled Tanis. Rohan took the energy and put it back into the chain; immediately the flames died.

"What were you thinking?!" asked Tanis as he brushed himself off. "I just did what you said to." replied Rohan. "How much of it did you use?" asked Tanis, much calmer this time. "Just the energy from one link of the chain." said Rohan. "If that was one link then you need to use much less," said Tanis, "now try it again." Tanis backed up a few feet from the fire ring, just in case. This time though the flames reached only a couple feet and were crackling instead of roaring. "Much better," said Tanis, "but now do you see how dangerous your training is?" "Yes," replied Rohan, "but where did that energy come from?" "That was demonic energy, all demons have it," said Tanis. "Obviously, yours is exceptionally strong if it did THAT with so little. You are going to do this until you can control it perfectly; it will take some time, but when you use your energy you will become tired, and if you use it all up then you WILL die."

One day, after weeks of training, with Tanis adding difficulty each day, Tanis stopped Rohan as he began his daily routine. "Now we will try something else. You're going to become a wolf." said Tanis. "But I AM a wolf." replied Rohan. "No," Tanis said, "A real wolf, like Raistlin or Krynn. I want you to picture a wolf, and use that to shape your energy." Rohan pictured a silver wolf with a silver muzzle and a gray face; he shaped all of the energy into the wolf. Rohan soon had the uncomfortable sensation of a weight pressing on him from all directions. After a few seconds it stopped. Rohan, now a true wolf, looked around and realized that he was still very large for a wolf. He was 4 feet tall at the shoulder, and weighed almost 280 pounds. Rohan padded over to Tanis and said, "Great, now what?" "Now I want you to become yourself again." Rohan repeated the process but with a picture of himself instead of a wolf. This time the sensation was like being pulled from every direction, Rohan found this one actually pleasant, and it lasted less time than before. "Good," said Tanis, "now I want you to picture yourself as a human and do the same thing." Soon Rohan was standing there as a human. 'Why am I so cold?' he thought. He looked down; he quickly covered himself and realized why he was so cold; he didn't have fur any more. Without waiting he quickly changed back into his usual self. "I had forgotten about that." said Tanis. "Well," he continued, "Now you will practice this in addition to your other exercises, except in a more, um, private location. When you have perfected it, you will have completed all the training I can give you."

After another few weeks Rohan had indeed perfected the transformations. He showed Tanis with the wolf transformation. "That's sufficient; I will trust that your other form is similarly mastered." "Where do I go now?" asked Rohan. "You must find someone." said Tanis. "Who?" Rohan asked. "You must find your father's teacher, Ryutai. He is a dragon, and he lives far to the north, inside of the mountains. You will need help, as you cannot make it alone. Perhaps Raistlin will be able to help you, he has been to the mountains once before, while he was scouting for Krynn." explained Tanis. "He certainly has a strange name." said Rohan. "All dragons have names that the rest of us would consider strange, but they take pride in their names and those that insult them usually don't make it back to their homes." Tanis said. "I'll remember that," said Rohan, "I guess I should get going then." "Farewell, Rohan," said Tanis.

Rohan arrived at the cave that night. It had been almost 2 months since he left. He wanted to surprise the wolves, so he arrived in wolf form. It worked better than he thought, and he was greeted by the snarling faces of five wolves. He decided to play them a little bit and bared his teeth back. They started to surround him, but he anticipated this and had started to slowly change into his demon form. He stood up and the wolves stepped back. "What a nice welcome for an old friend," said Rohan, "Where are Krynn and Raistlin? We need to talk."

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End of Chapter 3. Expect more shortly.