1 How It Started

Chapter one

As night had once again descended in the forest, it was completely silent. It almost seemed as if all the woods were holding its breath. The only time a forest was ever this silent was went a predator was present. A man walked along the darkened path, moving with the ease of a man used to the trail or someone who could see as if it was daylight. Red eyes looked ahead. For all the world, this man, dressed in a charcoal gray turtleneck shirt, black jeans and a great coat that appeared more like a duster from the old western days, looked as if he was just on a moonlit stroll. If anyone were to get close to him, even without seeing his eyes, they would be able to tell there was something otherworldly about the man. However, his garnet colored eyes gave away the secret of his existence. Timeless knowledge and experience reflected in those red depths. Despite his strong, youthful looking body, his hair was the color of starlight.

Not that he even cared at all about that. This man is an apex predator. There were few things in this world that would defeat him. Something he would rather keep that way. In a way, he had grown rather attached to being alive, depending on his mood. Centuries had passed since his birth. He watched as the world grew, as things changed. He saw the rise and fall of many cities, empires, and countries. History did not know him. He made sure of that fact. He just kept wandering through the world like a shadow.

This time, however, was different. This time, he was not merely wandering. He was searching. One of his oldest friends, another timeless walker like himself, had vanished rather suddenly. It was not an uncommon thing amongst their kind, even as they lived among the unsuspecting masses. They simply were. Them and many others all on so many different paths, walks of life. But never, like this. Typically when they would go “underground”, as the saying goes, something was left behind or a warning was given to those closest. Never did one of them suddenly just vanished. At least, not like this.

This only happened if death was involved.

The night was hazy, as if a thousand camp fires were burning so late into the night. Clouds passed in front of the half moon, blocking out the light from time to time. The traveler was not impeded in anyway. The sound of his boots against the forest floor was the only sounds. It made him pause for a moment and look up towards the starry sky through the canopy of trees that made up the forests of the Cascade Mountains. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he listened once again.

Everything was silent.

Setting off again, he continues his trek towards the last known location of his closest friend. He had built a cabin in this area a century or so ago, give or take a couple years. The traveler never knew and frankly, never cared enough to ask why his friend did. It was one of those things that just happened and you move on. His friend kept great care of the place, even expanding it over the years to keep up with modern times. To this day, indoor plumbing is still their favorite invention. Still, the closer he got to where the cabin was located, the more something in his gut was telling him something was just not right.

Stepping out of the forests, he walked up the gravel drive way. The modest cabin sat further down with a separate garage. The traveler’s first stop was the garage. A silver brow raised at the fact the garage door was up. Leaves and other nature debris had been blown into the garage. Three cars sat, untouched. The white Jeep Grand Cherokee his friend adored, a blue four door king cab with extended bed 2001 Chevy truck, and a 1960s Ford pick up truck. The clunker worked, had a great engine, the man knew. But the body was for shit. It was, after all, still a work in progress. There was little to no chance his friend would have left the garage open when his baby was still in need of body work. The man sniffed the air a bit, making sure he missed nothing before he turned towards the cabin.

The cabin was in shambles. The man circled the house before he went in. Outside, there were dozens of footprints, the scent of old blood, chemicals and fur. The way the prints came from the forest then went back that way, the glass that was shattered on the ground, almost made it look like a home invasion. If a burglar had size giant clawed feet, the man mused as he followed the prints. Kneeling a moment, the man touched a patch of dirt, the smell of almost blood was strong here. Committing the smell to memory, he stood and entered the cabin, braced for whatever was there. He expected to find his friend’s body. Instead, he walked into a war zone aftermath.

The front door was broken in two pieces, indicating forced entry from the outside. Half of the door lay on the ground against a wall, a broken mirror reflecting back at the traveler. All around the living room, windows were shattered as well, imploding inward. Again, that off smell of blood and strangely dark blood was on the window sills. Something hurt itself getting inside after their target. Furniture was overturned, broken, like it had been thrown around. Massive claw marks in the ancient wood walls and floors gave the traveler a bit of pause. Kneeling against a set on the ground, he ran his fingers over the grooves, a frown marking his face. Looking around, his red eyes seemed to glow in the dim light that came from outside. More of that strange fur from outside was found in the living room. Whatever did this, was not something he was completely familiar with.

Another thing that stood out, his friend was nowhere to be found. No body, no remains. Nothing.

Stepping back out into the clear night air, he took a deep breath. The scent of burning wood seemed stronger and he just shook it off. Human campers were the least of his concerns right now. Turning his attention back to the tracks, he followed them again. A set broke away from the group, heading towards the back of the house again. That was strange, he thought. Why go back there again after they did what they came for? Following these prints, the traveler found himself behind the garage where the black scorching of an attempted fire was left.

Hmph. They attempted to burn the place down it seemed, he thought. Turning back, he moved once again to the back of the cabin and sure enough, he found matching scorch marks of an attempted arson there. Poorly handled, but there nonetheless. Keeping his eyes on the tracks, the man followed them to the tree line where they became distorted. Sighing heavily through his nose, the man straightened. Based on the evidence, and his past experience, there was only one thing that could do this type of damage and markings.

Bloody Wolven.

With no other leads, the traveler set out for a town he knew was roughly twenty five miles from the cabin. His friend often spoke of the town and their don’t ask, don’t tell policy. It would take him some time to get there if he just walked, and that was fine. It was the middle of the night, after midnight by now. No one in the town besides the drunks and the crazies would be out at this hour. Better to walk and think over what he knew. After a few miles, he started to notice the sky getting hazier, the moon being blotted out by fast moving black clouds. The scent of fire only was getting stronger to his sensitive nose. A tightening in his stomach urged him to go faster.

Something was dangerously off in the forest this night.

Sprinting after, silent as the clouds above, the man took off. He quickened his pace as horror started to flood his ancient veins. The sky was getting brighter. It was not the color of the dawn. No, it was red. He had seen one too many times in his life what a red sky like that at night meant. Nothing good.

Breaking from the trees, he slid to a stop. Red eyes widen in shock at the sight before him. The town was completely engulfed in flames. Buildings were falling in on themselves already. He could hear people screaming for help. It was a nightmare given reality. He could smell the unforgettable smell of flesh and fur burning. The moans of the dying, the cries of the bereaved. It nearly overwhelmed even one such as he.

Without much more thought, the man leapt into action. He started looking for any survivors or even the attackers that caused this nightmare. As he moved through the burning town, he stopped dead in his tracks. In all his years, in all his experiences, he never thought he would ever use the term “monster”. There were no monsters in his world. What he saw, chilled him to the bone.

“Monster,” he breathed out at the sight before him.

A group of women and children were being led by what appeared to be a Wolven male. He was trying to get them out of the town, to the safety of the forest since there was no place left here that could be called safe. The monster, backlit by the fires, came crashing out of a building that was not at the dangerous levels, collapsing it. It sprung forward at the same time the Wolven male did. The pair met and the fight was over before it started as the monster simply backhanded the male away.

Right into an inferno that was once a building.

The women screamed, grabbing the children tightly as the building the Wolven had been thrown into collapsed and the sickening smell of burning fur filled the air. The females did not wait any longer. They turned, bravely, and ran for the forests. The traveler was rooted in place at the sheer volume of what he just saw as the monster took off after the women and children. He shuddered, turning away as their screams filled the night.

This was no attack, the man thought bitterly as he took off to find anyone still alive since he failed to protect those women. This was a massacre, plain and simple. Whatever that thing was, it was not working alone.

All too soon, he spots something small darting away into the forest on his right. He does not hesitate this time as he sprints after it. Turned out he was much faster than the small thing, which turned out to be a small girl. She could not be more than five years old. A sound behind him has him picking up speed. Carefully, he snatched the little girl from the ground just as one of those monsters came crashing though the brush. It hit where she had been standing and slide in the dirt a few feet. The man stopped, turning to face whatever this thing was, the little girl shaking in his arms as he clutches her close to his chest.

The beast stood up and growled, turning demonic yellow eyes on them.

The traveler watched in awe as the thing stood at full height. Though he had come to a stop about ten feet from where the thing crashed, it was still beyond huge. It was easily twelve feet tall of pure muscle. The fur that covered its body was blood red with a white belly. Clawed hands that could palm and crush a human skull clenched and unclenched as it stared the traveler down with those unnatural yellow eyes. The long snout was pulled back, baring teeth that seemed too long for its face and dripping gore. Tall ears on the sides on the massive head was laid back as it growled again in challenge at him.

It looked like a Wolven Alpha! But… there was something wrong about it. It really was what he thought originally: a monster.

Realizing the beast thought he was stealing it’s kill, the man also came to the conclusion that he and the child needed to get out of there if they both hoped to see the sun again. Shifting his weight, the traveler fell into a defensive stance while looking for a way out. Spotting one, she turned and moved towards it with inhuman fast movements. The beast took that as an opening and launched at the pair. It easily blocked the route he was planning on and started attacking. The traveler grunted as he stepped back again and again. He did not like being on defense but it was hard to be offensive when holding and protecting a toddler. The damn thing was almost as fast as he was!

The deadly dance seemed to be without end. The man was dodging and evading the monster as it was attacking and pressing forward, moving faster. It was testing his every defend and opening, looking for a weakness. Spotting one, it seemed to grin at the man as it moved in. The traveler turned to shift around the claw strike but the beast anticipated the move. Soon the smell of blood filled the air between them. Looking down at the tiny whimper, he saw that the monster of a Wolven had gotten past his defense. It tore his jacket and nicked his bicep. Worst still, the little girl’s cheek was now freely bleeding where she had been clawed.

The man saw red.

The beast howled out in victory at drawing blood. Those yellow eyes brightened, almost glowing at the scent of fresh blood. Licking its maw, it launched at the pair once again. However, it's movements were becoming sloppy. Like it was dropping into a blood frenzy. The man narrowed his eyes, leaping backwards out of the monster’s range. The reaction was too much like a young vampire that was exposed to fresh blood and had no willpower against it. Only the craving was left. This movement was instinctive, basic. Repeatitive. In no time flat, the man noted a pattern of attack. Keeping himself one step ahead of the attacks, he was waiting for the opening to come around again in the pattern.

Grinning viciously, the man turned sharply. His free hand, he grabbed hold of the monster’s furry wrist and held on tightly with his left hand. The little girl gasped as the claws when a hair’s breath away from her, eyes wide. The man shifted his weight to his right foot before delivering a powerful sidekick to the beast’s stomach. The sheer force behind the kick was enough to seen the monster Wolven flying away from the pair. It’s body struck a tree, tearing a chuck out of the trunk before bouncing off into the darkness.

The creature’s arm was still held in his hand.

The pair waited a few heartbeats to see if it would come back before he dropped the arm unceremoniously. Looking down, he finds himself looking into mismatched eyes. Blinking a few times, he reaches up and gently tries to wipe the blood splatter from her face. He watches as she pushes his hand down and perks up, listening for something. He heard it a heartbeat after her. The howling. Not bothering to wait to see if it was a friend or a foe, the man just jumped. The little girl squeaked and clung to him. It was easy for him to just jump up into a tree, leaping from branch to branch, getting higher. Holding the child close to him, they both peered down at the ground, waiting.

It was like one of those nightmares you could not wake from, the man thought as he watched more of those massive red furred Wolven monsters come into the clearing and start sniffing around. This time it was two of them. The traveler was in little mood for another round with these things. One was bad enough, he could only picture was two would be like. They watched as the pair sniffed the clearing, roaming it on all fours. Odd, the traveler thought as now they were acting more canine than Wolven.

One nuzzles the discarded arm with its nose before growling at its compainion. The second comes over and looks, caulking its head to the side. Suddenly, it howls. It sounded different from the one the defeated one made. This time it sounded like a distress call. An ever larger one comes into the clearing, walking on two legs easily. This one was different, and not in a good way.

This one was twice the size of the others, pure black fur that seemed to swallow the light around it. Where the other ones they saw tonight had yellow eyes, this one has molten red. There was no whites to its eyes, only black and that burning red iris. The other two dropped before this one, baring their necks in submission as it came close. The two red furred ones seemed to slink back away from the arm, away from this one. The black furred monstrousitypicked up with arm and sniffed lightly. Lips pulled back as a growl vibrated the ground. The roar of pure, unadulterated rage shook the trees. The big black furred one swung at the two red furred ones, snarling at them.

The two smaller ones shrunk away from the obvious Alpha, one whimpering and the other yelping as his ear is caught by the Alpha’s claws. The one that whimpered shot off into the brush in the direction the one the traveler threw disappeared off to. The black furred one begins to pace, impatient and aggitrated as the bleeding one with him starts to sniff around again. It was obvious to the man that it was trying to find their scents. The traveler stiffened, readying to flee if needed should their scents be picked up.

The howl that split the night was like a call from the heavens to the pair in the tree.

The two monsters on the ground below them both turned in the direction of the call before taking off, taking the arm with them. The traveler and little girl waited longer, just hoping and praying this was the last of it for tonight. After thirty minutes had passed with no signs of the things returning, the traveler let out a sigh. He slumped against the truck of the tree, unwilling to come down just in case. He was not in the mood to deal with any traps or tricks. He was tired, not stupid. Leaning his head back against the bark, he closed her eyes and just tried to relax. Movement in his arms made him look down again. The little girl had squirmed and wiggled as only little girls can do until her head was resting on his shoulder. Not long after she went dead weight on him. He chuckled faintly, rubbing her back at the level of trust she was showing him. Carefully, he shifted and tugged part of his great coat over her to keep her warm.

Turning his gaze to the sky, he mused on how this night turned out like nothing he expected it to.

Morning came not soon enough for the pair. Once it was bright enough, and safe enough, they came down from the tree. The man deemed it safe when the sounds of the forest returned. Once he hear the animals and other wild life moving around after the sun rose, he knew they would be safe for the time being. First thing was first, he thought. Still carrying the little one, they returned to the town. Or what was left of it.

All the buildings were gone or merely a smoldering pile of rubble. The bodies of the dead littered the grounds. They walked amongst the silence, taking it all in. The little girl in his arms seemed to understand what all this was, what it meant. Silent tears trickled over her chubby little cheeks, making lines in the dirt, soot and blood that was covering her skin. Her little nightgown was not much better. They stopped in front of the remains of the largest building in town as she hiccupped and sniffled. This must have been her home, he realized.

Turning to gaze at the devastation left behind, he knew without a doubt he could not leave her here. It was too dangerous. He was many things, but heartless was not one of them. Looking down at the angelic child, he offered her a little smile.

“My name is Safar,” he told her as he rubbed some soot from her uninjured cheek. “I am going to take care of you from now on. Okay?”

She looked up at him with those mismatched eyes, one an icy albino blue, the other deep jade green. She would nod at him once and said nothing else as she once more laid her head against his shoulder.