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The World Eaters

Gordon was supposed to meet his friend in an inn.

It had been a day since the promised day, but his friend hadn't come to the vicinity of that inn. He couldn't catch his distinctive scent if he would come. Instead, he was forced to still masquerade as a golden brown timber wolf sleeping in the forest near the village, because no one would appreciate a bigger-than-normal wolf wandering around in the village, right?

As a Shifter, Gordon had a choice to turn into a humanoid form, complete with human face, but, as much as he wanted to, he had a limit maintaining his human form, and he couldn't afford to cover his bushy tail and pointy ears from the humans. The Northern people had no concept of a human-faced wolf guy. True, they met Lycans before, but seeing a hybrid like him would throw them out. There were no novelty items like wolf's ears and tail for roleplaying in the north!

"Really now, those guys don't have a sense of humor...let alone a fetish," thought Gordon with a sigh. "Goddamn it, and he said these knowledge is very anachronistic or whatsoever that is."

"It is anachronistic, and not to mention very dirty."

Gordon made a yelp then turned around. Before him was a black wolf around his size, with one of his eyes covered by an eyepatch. The primary feature that made him stand out from any other wolves was the fact that he had a bright red eye and wearing a collar, which, if not for his rugged fur, would have been clearly visible. Problem is, as best as he can acting as a person's pet, his size wouldn't cut a slack on anyone.

"Don't read my mind like that," said Gordon with a whisper.

"If I don't, then how am I supposed to meet you inside a forest surrounded by some pack of wolves?" replied the black wolf. "Didn't I tell you how anachronistic it is to even mention 'fetish'? Let alone a petplay!"

"Don't talk about that, Rex."

Rex sighed. "For a century-old wolf, you're still as perverted as you are long time ago."

They then walked towards the snowy forest, while kept talking to each other about what happened for the past week.

"Have you found some more Shifters in the North?"

"I found a dog and a snow leopard." When Gordon made a mocking expression, Rex said, "What? That's their model!"

"You know, talking about the species of Shifters is one of the worst topic we have ever known the entire life. Not to mention the fact that both of us are immortal."

"How about your son, then? A wyvern can life virtually forever, right?"

Gordon exhaled. "Thor...died ten years ago. Apparently there's a fun fact that wyverns do have life expectancy."

"I'm...sorry to hear that."

The golden brown wolf was silent for a moment, then said, "So what have you got?"

"Well, aside from the two recruits, we've got a serious problem ourselves. The Dragonsbane is mustering a big guerilla force and started hunting Shifters all over the Northern Region. Apparently they are still bitter over their personal history...and our involvement in that raid more than a century ago."

"That's why I hate them far more than your timeline," said Gordon with a growl. "So...why haven't you return to yours?"

"Are you serious?"

"Why? This is actually the time when your counterpart is alive, right? We haven't developed a time machine and I don't know if he has any powers like you."

They both silently walked towards the open, with a direction to a small village where they are supposed to rendezvous with the rest of their kind. Along the way, Rex said, "So, I heard Seraphor and Avila got two hatchlings? What's their name?"

"It's Vysrenis and Rhaynis."

"Twins?"

"Yeah. Why you figure that?"

"Well...you know...his hatchlings in my continuity is called Yartuscix and Yvonne. They are not exactly twins. Wow...the future changed for the best for both of them, huh?"

"They still meet their counterparts, though."

"And Raithorakh still dies...anyway, where is he?"

"He? Oh, he's going with Richard."

"Is that the dimension where the draconians are tribal and coexist with humans?"

"No! They have advanced technology and minimal magic. To be honest, though, they eat wolves as food, so don't try to open a dimensional portal to go there."

Rex made a small laugh. "I won't dream to go there. Now, tell me your part of the investigation."

"I found a celestial lion who agree to join our cause, a hog, and a fox. You'll be surprised on how the three of them are better than they looked. They are currently preoccupied with the civil war in their region but after they are done with that they will help our cause."

"And why do you think they want to help? Eastern Region isn't an open nation, but they willingly help us?"

"They say the civil war in the region happens because of some sentiments with some foreigners regarding their dragons. Unlike us, they respected their dragons like sages, so they will go into a length to prevent some dragon-hating group to kill their sages. Also...they can't risk having a very big force come into a war-torn region, so they only want to help. Also, they want to know their own conditions. The region doesn't have a concept of Shifters, but they believe the Shifters are mischievous demon spirit."

"Why? I can't see why a hog can be a problem."

"Well...celestial lions are mythical creatures in the form of statues, a hog or a pig is an icon of laziness, and a nine-tailed fox is a witch."

"Oh...I get it. How about the South?"

"We haven't been to the South, right?"

"We can do it now. But first, we need to let those we both gathered to..."

Rex's sentence was cut short by an aura than somehow was felt by Gordon too, making him erratic. The aura was like something big and nasty was flying towards them, yet stopped at a point where there was the village they were supposed to meet. The next moment they knew, there was a noise of something being combusted, then some shouts. Rex, in particular, realized something was wrong, and was horrified when there were so many voice, with terror in it, being abruptly cut off, except for a small child's voice calling his mom, before it was cut off, too. The revelation that all of the people inside the village was dead overwhelmed the black wolf Shifter, making him weak.

"What happened?! What was that aura we felt?"

"It was a dragon..."

The feminine voice behind Gordon was someone he knew well in his journey. She was, like most other Shifters, couldn't hide the fact that she wasn't human, with the pointy fox ears over her head. Not only that, her back was full of bushy white fox fur, but Gordon knew it was her tails.

"Kumiho, what the hell was that?! A dragon? What kind of dragon can be this evil?"

"This is also the reason why I want to go with you, Gordon-san. I need to make sure that our elder's prophecy is not right. I'm afraid it's as real as a daylight. Is that your friend?"

"Can you ask Zhu to take him? Let me talk to you for a sec."

A big humanoid pig then took a weakened Rex while Kumiho and Gordon walked aside. "So, how's you with the others," he started.

"I'm fine with the whole bunch of friends you gathered," said Kumiho calm. "But then...this is intriguing."

"Intriguing how?"

"Svetlana told me of a legend of the drakons...northern dragon, I think. She had just started when we all felt that aura. What is going on, Gordon-san? I thought we are fighting the dragon killers, not a giant dragon!"

"Kumiho...let me explain everything. Right now, we need to get Rex inside and out of..."

Just as he said that he felt a strong gust of wind which made the trees nearby was barely of the point of being rooted. A giant shadow came upon them, and Gordon could clearly see the horror over him. Physically, it looked like a dragon, but far bigger than any dragons he could ever knew. "My god, that's one big monster!" he thought to himself. He momentarily wondered why their group wasn't detected despite of being so close to the village, when he realized Kumiho was enchanting something.

"Your magic works every time," said Gordon. "Come on. Let's get inside. I'll tell you everything I can tell you."

Gordon went into a small hut, but dug out into a very big underground bunker, with all of his collected Shifters talking to each other. They all went silent when they saw both Gordon and Rex, and some even tended to the unconscious black wolf, set down slowly by the pig humanoid.

The group started eating a stew while they turned into their respective humanoid form. While they were eating, Gordon said, "I don't know where to start, but...I sure hope you understand what the Dragonsbane had done to your homes for being dragon sympathizer..."

The silence was unbearable to some of them that one said, "Just tell us everything, Gordon. We are here for a reason, not for the same cause."

"I've got words...." He paused, before continuing. "I've got words that the Dragonsbane is not entirely an anti-dragon faction. One of the dragons...helped them..."

There was another uncomfortable silence, when Gordon realized that they wouldn't buy the story unless he told them the fact of himself. He then exhaled sharply, and said, "I've...seen things...you Shifters might never believe...and that's because I haven't aged since 150 years ago."

Kumiho made a gasp, which wasn't surprising to Gordon. She would be surprised that a Western wolf was older than she was. Gordon continued. "There was once a group of dragon defectors known simply as the Defilers, led by a dragon named Ceroz. He threatened to annihilate the humans and Shifters by using a very ancient magic so that dragons may rule unopposed as the sole ruler of the Earth. Some of my old allies were dragons, and they opposed the cause. Some sacrificed their lives to make sure that plan never worked. This dragon...is his son."

When there was no objections, he continued. "Some of you who are Northerners might know the legend of the so-called 'drakons'. I won't interfere with your recount of the legend."

A snow leopard/girl walked to the front and said, "Privet" to everyone in the room. She was shaking of anxiety, possibly because of feeling the giant dragon's aura (Shifters have an ability to sense aura), but Gordon calmed her by turning into a wolf and put one of his paws to one of her legs.

Thus, the rest of the groups heard the recital of the story the northern Shifter told. Rex woke up in the middle of it, though.

"Long ago, in this snowy land, there is a story of four world eaters. I'm not going to tell you most of the story...but the story states that the world eaters are drakons that were forced to go to sleep because of their need to destroy the world and reform everything. There was a warrior priest who sang a lullaby to lure them into eternal sleep, and seal their bodies under a giant boulder he carried from a nearby mountains, given to him by the Old Gods."

"So...you're talking about four dangerous northern dragons? But how about the rest of the drakons?"

"The drakons, feeling guilty that their own kind would destroy the smaller and younger civilization, let the priest to make them sleep and seal them, so no northern dragons will destroy any civilization. Thus, the reason why no northern dragons ever existed in many histories...except in legends."

"But, you do know that the aura we all sensed earlier is clearly not of a dragon you all know, right?"

Some of them, who came from the Western and Central Region, and also from the East, nodded. Gordon then said, "The dragon killers are not aiming to kill all dragons; they want to enslave the dragons. But before they can do that, they pit one dragon to another, leaving the spoil of the war to them. Our job here is not to give a damn to that giant monster, but the strike the Dragonsbane in their heart, which is the big operation of dragon slayers-in-training in this Northern territory. Now, for you Westerners, you all know how ruthless the Order of the Dragons is. They may be smart and resourceful, but their target is too small. The rest of the kingdoms wouldn't risk another Darkness War. The Sixth is enough. Thus, we Shifters will do it ourselves to ensure the safety of this realm."

"But why are they so ignorant?! This fight is supposed to be determining the fate of the Regions!" said one of them.

"Right now," said Rex after regaining consciousness. "The humans are traumatized after the big skirmish 50 years ago, and most have banded together, not to do another war, but to make peace. The Dragonsbane is a terrorist group, but because they haven't acted, the kingdoms cannot take notice. They are holed up in the North, but we don't know if there are any spies inside the major civilization or not...or if they actually have another dragon concentration camp like the one in the South."

"That is why, we cannot strike their main base until we make sure the Dragonsbane is no longer in the South. Also, we haven't enlisted the help of any Shifters from the South. We must band together in this crisis, and to ensure our own existence and acceptance to the normal world."

Some of them murmured to each other, and Gordon dismissed them. As they left to their own assigned bed, Kumiho pulled Gordon away from the snow leopard, and grabbed him. He was surprised on how strong the slender kitsune woman was able to lift his big Timber Wolf body. She then talked to Svetlana a bit before she walked away, in her snow leopard form. Kumiho them turned to the wolf and said, "Let's talk somewhere private. Surface, maybe? I don't sense that dragon's aura anymore."

Gordon obliged and asked her to put him down. They both walked towards the surface, where the same snowy scenery was beyond them. Kumiho then turned into a kitsune herself, a nine-tailed mythical fox (though at this point she still had one tail), to match with Gordon's animal form.

"What is it that you are not telling me, Gordon?" asked Kumiho. "You cannot lie to a witch."

"Well...what can I say? I told you everything, didn't I? We talked about it over some tea."

"You haven't told me the fact that you're even older than I am. Kitsunes lived virtually forever, just like a dancing nekomata, who split their tails when they are a hundred years old."

"Are these Nekomata Shifters, too?"

Kumiho sighed. "Yes, they are Shifters...but they don't care with the state of the world, and I don't wish them to be tangled into a world where a crisis from the west is coming to our Region. They are innocent mischievous cats, like children."

"Even when they are adults?"

The kitsune made a small laugh. "No...the adults are more serious, but they are the guardians of the temples and the kings, so you won't get as much help as you want. It's still fortunate Zhu and Sai want to even help you. Still, what can you tell me about your immortality?"

"I prefer not to tell you about it. It's...something far more than it can be explained by magic."

"Tell me everything you can explain. I will accept everything, even if it's a taboo you broke or anything that's very forbidden. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Says a Shifter who's notorious for conning."

"I may be a con, but I keep secrets very well. You might be surprised."

Gordon still hesitated, but after a while, he sighed, and said, "My body is trapped inside a time anomaly... a 'paused' time, you might say. The anomaly paused any cell growth normally prevalent in all Shifters. Then, there is also a 'reverse' anomaly. When gravely wounded...or dead, my body's time rewind right before I was killed, thus I regenerated myself. That is why in many cases like that time when I was bitten by a snake and drank the emperor's poison, I don't immediately get any adverse effect because my body kept rewinding the damage done by the poison until it dissolved."

"So, your body is like an ever turning wheel of life, except it normally stops, and turns backwards?"

"Well that's one explanation."

"Who gave you that gift?"

"You know the black wolf who fainted. He had a Shifter ability to manipulate time. I was almost killed once back when we first met, and he broke the law of paradox to save me from death, simply by rewinding the time around me to the point before I was gravely injured. I am a paradox; I'm supposed to be here, but I'm not supposed to be here. To be frank, my Shifter ability is to manipulate energy to release an explosion, and thus I never want to use it due to its collateral damage. My paradox condition helped me overcome that weakness. What's good of having an immortal body if I can't use it for my advantage? Yet...maybe I should've told you about my power..."

"You don't need to give any of the generals your secret," interrupted Kumiho while moving her paw over Gordon's. "I understand it perfectly. Though I'm disappointed that it isn't involving a taboo on your side." She then sighed. "Mine, on the other hand, is not as complicated as you are. I simply maintain my youth by absorbing the life energy of anyone I ever made contact with. Now, that I know your secret, I wanted to use that on you, but maybe it's inappropriate."

"It won't be if I'm letting you do it," said Gordon with a smile. "That night sure was fun, huh?"

"To be truth...I was very worried. That was very hard, too."

Both laughed to each other, before eyeing each other deeply.

"A fox and a hound. Never thought it is not a tale anymore."

"Except you're not a hound."

"True. I'm their ancestors, after all."