Extinction Vol. 1
((10 points to anyone who can guess what culture most of these names come from xD ))
Chapter 0: Prologue
The day was at it's end, darkness slowly creeping across the expanse of the woods, engulfing every tree in a midnight glow. In the distance a bright light contrasted with the looming blackness. A fire. It's own orange glow acting as a beacon, both warning and attracting animals to it's eerie serenity. Deep yellow eyes flashed in a bush several miles away, a cautious paw moved forward slowly and landed heavily on the soft dirt. The figure of a bipedal wolf appeared in the faint light, curiosity playing across it's features.
He began to move at a steady pace toward the interesting display of color. He knew what it was, he knew what it could do to his woods, his home, but the human inside him kept him from turning tail and sprinting to safety. After about a mile of walking he began to make out a village, he paused for a moment, his keen ears picking up a slight moan in the nearby brush, followed unexpectedly by a pup's whine. The wolf immediately recognized the sound as a newborn, kicking his paternal senses into gear, he rushed toward the sound. As he moved he began reacting in habit, drawing his long, hollow, steel-reinforced staff from it's leather sheath on his back. He traced the sound to a wide-trunked redwood, there he found an auburn male with a bundle in his arms, leaning against the large tree.
"Who's there?" the wolf said weakly, "I know you're not human."
"My name is Vahn," he said slowly, "I apologize, I thought I heard a child, I will leave you to your business."
"No wait!" the strange wolf said, lifting a fold of his bundle, revealing a similarly colored wolf pup, barely three weeks old, "You heard correctly..." he coughed, "my son..." another weak cough, "needs a home." Vahn was barely able to make out the wolf's struggling smile.
Vahn shifted nervously, "Well... um, I don't kno-" he stopped abruptly as the child began to whine loudly. He watched as it squealed and wriggled in it's father's arms. Vahn noticed a slight gleam on the wolf's pelt, a kind of slimy with a sheen only associated with one substance. Blood.
Vahn's eyes widened as the situation finally hit him, he cursed himself for not noticing the metallic scent that hung heavily in the air. He took a step forward to examine the damage and see if the pup was still healthy. What he saw was worse than he had thought. As he knelt, his knee touched a warm, sticky liquid pooling on the ground next to the wolf, he cursed himself again for his lack of attention and focused on the wolf's injuries. A large gash splayed the wolf's chest, tearing through his leather jerkin running from his shoulder nearly to his waist. There was a chunk of his forehead missing and one of his legs was completely limp, a cut trailing across his inner thigh and what Vahn guessed to be the source of most of the blood.
Vahn grimaced as another realization came to him: the injuries inflicted upon this wolf were recent. The blood was fresh and the wolf was dying very quickly. He made a quick decision and grabbed the pup, bringing it slowly to his chest and cradling it gently in his arms.
"What is the child's name?" Vahn asked quietly
The wolf laughed raggedly and coughed up blood. "His name is Gormal," he said slowly, "mine is Faolan..." he coughed up more blood and choked a bit, "he has a brother named Maon... he is still fighting the humans..."
At this Vahn stood up quickly, taking a step away from the fire and his eyes widened, "H-humans?" he stuttered "They did this to you..." he glanced toward the orange glow, "and your village?"
Vahn's statement put a smile on the dying wolf's muzzle, "They wont get past my Maon... he's... pro... te" at that point the wolf's body gave way to death, exerting the final ragged breath followed by the shudder as the soul moves on.
Vahn looked sadly toward Faolan's limp figure, briefly wondering what the auburn male was about to tell him but the pup demanded Vahn's attention, whining softly.
Vahn gazed at the pup, "Gormal" he whispered softly. He examined the pup's eyes, indeed his eyes were a clear blue color. As he looked at the dark blue orbs he seemed entranced, the pup looking back into Vahn's yellow eyes, innocently tugging at the strange wolf's fur. Vahn stayed in his trance for several minutes, completely lost in their deep color until the intensity of the village fire grew, snapping him to attention. Vahn began to walk back to his home, pondering the events that occurred on this night, briefly wondering if he was truly going to keep the pup. Remembering his strange trance, he decided that this pup was much too interesting to simply give away... Vahn was curious to know why Gormal's eye's had such an effect on his attention. No matter what he did with the pup, Vahn could tell that he had a very large, very important fate awaiting those crystal blue eyes.
Chapter I: Training
The sun was high over head and the cries of a young wolf could be heard, followed by the rough crack of wood on wood. A wolf pup, mid-swing, collapsed on the ground in a fit of exhaustion, panting hard he slowly sat up with his tongue lolling off to one side of his long, auburn muzzle. A taller, older wolf was standing off to the side surrounding the training area, his silver-gray fur rustling in the wind showing small flickers of his battle-hardened muscles and scars from wars in the distant past. He drew in a long breath and sighed heavily.
"You'll never get it if you keep falling over like that..." he said
"But Vahn! Pa! You can't expect me to last this long!" the young wolf replied between ragged breaths.
"Tch" the older wolf scoffed, "just because you are more adept at magic than your brother, does not mean you have the privilege of slacking off during physical training, because in the end, only your hands and a sturdy weapon can properly defend your life, not the spluttering mumbles of archaic languages."
A smaller wolf moved from a distant hut and called to the two squabblers "Is he done already? You should let him stick to the books!"
"Pipe down Gormal! As of now your brother could probably beat you in a fight!" Vahn shouted back. Even from such a distance, the youngest wolf could easily be seen drooping his ears and tail. A light chuckle escaped the eldest. "Too negative" he said quietly to himself with a smirk.
"I heard that pop!" Gormal said as he bounded toward the training area.
Vahn was surprised, his son's hearing was nearly as good as his own already, even the older brother, Onchu, couldn't hear a whisper past 100 yards. From where he was standing, he guessed the young wolf had just heard a whisper at over 500 yards. He shook his head, they grow up so damn fast he thought. He looked over at Onchu, who smiled at him with a diminished pant, and him, he can do better magic than me! He glanced back at Gormal, these two... if they stick together and continue to grow at this rate, nothing could stop them. He smiled proudly as Gormal closed the distance quickly, slowing down and showing no sign of fatigue even from such a long sprint.
"You should go head home and read some more." Gormal said to his brother, "you could certainly use the rest."
"Some of use don't have stamina as resilient as yours, little bro."
"Blah blah blah, just move out of my way." Gormal said cockily
"Remember what dad said?" Onchu seethed with a raised fist that quickly burst into flames.
"Hey!" Vahn cast a small water spell that doused the flames, "Just remember who can kick both your butts at once!" the father said teasingly.
Onchu grunted, turning from the two wolves as Gormal reached for the training stick that Onchu had left in the grass. Vahn picked up a training shield and tossed it to his son, who deftly caught it mid-air and was battle ready without a second thought.
Gormal glanced at the wooden circle "Dad! I get to use one today?"
"You're definitely good enough now... in fact I might admit that I have been holding you back for quite some time." Vahn said quietly, Gormal cocked his head quizzically, "Well, I wanted your brother to catch up with you first, but... his focus is... elsewhere."
"It's alright dad, as long as you push me to my limits here and now!" he said with growing excitement and anticipation.
"Now, now, don't get ahead of yourself" Vahn said calmly, "You never know what's" smack! Vahn swung his training sword and slapped Gormal in the back of his knee, hard. Gormal winced as this was the hardest his father had ever hit him. "coming." Vahn finished his sentence.
Gormal grinned, recovering from the pain quickly, "This..." he began as he readied himself for the day's training, "is gonna be fun."