Dream of Revelation

Cayna gave a shocked cry as she met the sinister gaze of the yellow eyes in the dark. Even Carn backed away a few steps, snorting in displeasure.

"My apologies, I did not mean to frighten you." A rather pleasant voice said from the darkness.

"Then what did you intend with that ghoulish greeting?" Gwyn said, a smirk on his face.

The man in the dark chuckled. "I find myself at fault for a small trick. It shall not happen again. I will show myself now." He said.

A man emerged from the dark hole, Cayna immediately averted her eyes. The man was naked!

"What is it with being in the wild and being naked!" she said, exasperated.

"My apologies, after living so long in the wilds among the beasts, I have shed the custom of outer wear." He said. After a few moments he added. "There, I am now presentable for you."

Cayna gave a tentative look at the man who was now more clothed than before. He had on ripped shorts and a tattered vest. It did very little cover up most of his powerfully built body. Unlike Gwyn who was lithe and slim. This man was a hulking brute with muscles that seemed to pile on top of one another. Veins stood out on his arms like the tracings of rivers. She noticed that his eyes were still gleaming like gold in the night. It was at once beautiful and also off putting. They were the eyes of a wild predator and while nature can attract, it also warns of danger.

"I am Nuka." He said with a slight bow. His hair was black, straight and very long, reaching midway down his back. His skin was a reddish brown. He had a scar over his right eye as well as many others across his body. He was obviously no stranger to the art of brawling. Though what around here there was to brawl, Cayna could only guess at.

"I am Cayna." She said.

"Oh I know who you are, child. Come, follow me." He said and turned back into the darkness.

Gwyn followed Nuka into the darkness, the gaping mouth swallowing them both in shadow. Cayna used Dormach as a stool once again to get back on the ground. In the next moment, Carn was taking her hand, having turned back into her humanoid form. She offered her usual, reassuring smile and they ventured into the darkness, with Dormach following behind them, still in dog form.

The way was pitch black at first and Cayna was afraid of tripping over something. She cast a look back at the entrance of the hole but could not see to the outside. Whatever cover had been there before, it must have been replaced as soon as they entered.

"No worries, Cayna. The ground here is quite smooth. Just let me guide you and you will be fine." Carn said, to which Cayna was grateful. She relaxed a little and followed her friend through the winding tunnel. Like the tunnel she had ventured into before, there came a light ahead and it grew stronger as they came closer. Finally they reached an inner room. It was not large but could fit all of them easily. Around the room were small floating lights that Cayna realized were fluttering moths. They were all around and collectively cast enough light to match that of a hundred candles. Cayna marveled at their beauty.

Nuka and Gwyn were standing by what could only be described as an altar. It was made of stone, with many strange symbols carved all around the base. The stone was covered in a velvet red cloth. They seemed to be discussing something in hushed voices but Cayna couldn't hear anything they were saying. They stopped as they approached. Cayna wondered if there was something they didn't her to hear. For the first time in her journey with these strangers, who she was beginning to think of as friends, she felt a tinge of foreboding.

Dormach nudged her free hand and she reached down to give the hound a pat on her white furred head. Her sense of distrust and worry dissipated.

"Come here, child." Nuka said, gesturing for her to join them at the altar. Cayna looked at Carn who only smiled and nodded. She stepped back from Cayna, letting go of her hand.

"It's okay." She said.

Cayna cleared her throat. It felt like something was going to happen soon. Something that she would have no chance of turning back from. She wanted answers to why her life was the way it was. Both Gwyn and Carn seemed sure that this man, Nuka, had answers to her questions. Now she was wondering, did she really want to know the truth? Maybe it was something she wasn't ready to face. Whatever it was, she felt it would change her entire world. Then she thought of the world as it was right then. She was a hunted being and she didn't even know why. It would never end. They would either end up killing her, or she would be on the run forever until she was dead. This was the only path to a third option. A mysterious fate awaited her. She couldn't turn away, not after all her foster parents had gone through to keep her safe.

She came to stand next Gwyn and tried to put on a brave face. "So, I'm here." She said.

Nuka gazed on her, his eyes seeming to bore into her soul. She matched his gaze and for a moment, it seemed that they were more than just looking at each other. It was as if he was enveloping her in some sort of power. She has heard of ocular powers before. Was this one of those techniques?

After a while, he turned away to face Gwyn. "She is an adequate candidate."

Cayna turned to Gwyn and then back to Nuka. "Um, excuse me, a good candidate for what, exactly?" she said, nonplussed.

"I understand you have been raised in ignorance of your heritage." Nuka said.

"Apparently." She said.

"The Sycadians have erected a very efficient campaign of information suppression over the years. After centuries, almost no one knows that this land was not always under Sycadian rule. In fact, it is relatively a young empire." He said.

"And that is relevant, how?"

"Because you are integrally linked to the history they seek to suppress. Have you ever heard of Lycia?"

Cayna shook her head. "No, I've never heard of any of this until just recently."

"You would be surprised at how little the agents watching over you knew as well. The lofty echelons of the Sycadian government have the true story of their country's origin under tight wraps. Even their government spies and informers are mostly in the dark." Nuka said.

Gwyn sighed. "Forgive Nuka, Cayna, he likes to hear his own voice and rarely ever gets to the point of his ramblings."

"It is important to have context with history." Nuka said in his own defense.

"Right, although it would be helpful to eventually get some history to go along with that context of course." Gwyn said in retort.

Nuka made a very inhuman growl deep in his throat, his eyes narrowing and growing even more dangerous looking that they already were before. Fangs appeared from below his lips, much like Dormach's but longer and more deadly.

"My dear love." Carn said, appearing by her husband's side, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Do not antagonize our host. Let us withdraw and let them in peace for a while."

"I shall make a suitable feast for our dinner then." Gwyn said, turning away with his wife and exiting the room. Dormach stayed where she was, curled up and sleeping in the corner without a care in the world.

"The Lycian lineage." Nuka said, drawing Cayna's attention back to himself. "Is an ancient line that was almost wiped out from a long ago war. They are what are collectively known as the Cursed Immortals. The Lycian lineage is one of these families, who contracted themselves to the Arch-light Tetriel in a much darker age."

"Some of these things were written in a sort of temple. I know the story." Cayna said. "Wasn't it created because a woman hated the world of men and she wanted to be closer to nature?"

Nuka gave her a sinister smile that made her clear her throat. "That is one version of the story, I suppose." He said.

"Then what is your version of the story?" she said, having to force herself to look into his eyes.

"You must remember that she was human as well and no matter how much she wanted to distance herself from humanity, the first matriarch was not immune to very human desires." He said.

"Such as?"

He gave her another ominous smile. "Love, of course."

"Why, is that a bad thing?" she said.

Nuka laughed. "No, love is not inherently evil. Love is a creature of the heart and animals do not have hearts the way humans have hearts. So even though a woman can shift into a wolf, love is very much a part of her life."

"I already know she fell in love and chose a mate, the first alpha."

"Ah, the first alpha." Nuka said and a shadow seemed to cross over his face.

"You speak of them as if you know them." Cayna said.

Nuka's eyes flashed. "Well, of course I knew them. I was among the first lycans of the Lycian empire. I am the foremost elder left in the world."

"You are the oldest lycan?" Cayna said, astonished. That must make him many centuries old!

"Lupus transformation has not been handed down to a new generation for many, many years. All that is left are increasingly old lycans such as myself, though I, myself, far out pace the others in age. The others are elders in their own right. They are also scattered and leaderless."

"What about you? Couldn't you gather them together?" Cayna said, not really knowing why she cared other than curiosity. Then added. "What does this all have to do with me and why my parents were forced to go into hiding before they were killed?"

Nuka nodded to himself, his eyes telling her he was thinking of far off memories. "You must realize that the story begins with a woman making the contract with Tetriel. Only a matriarch can begin the process of making a pack. If one gathers a bunch of alphas together with no matriarch, they will only end up killing each other. That's why we have to stay away from each other to keep our species alive. The issue with that is, there hasn't been a matriarch for many years. They were all killed during the war. While alphas can create other cursed immortals, the matriarch's can gestate actual lycans rather than the lesser versions of us that infection through our bites can create. The infected are basically mindless, instinct driven monsters that only have their appetites guiding their actions. As an army they are haphazard, as a community, they obey only strength and not reason. Creating a nation out of those beasts would only be seen as a plague from the outside world and rightly so." He said.

"Okay, so what does that have to do with me?" she said.

"The lineage of lycian is still covenanted with Tetriel, regardless of the manifestation of Lupus transformation. Meaning that human females who have not undergone the change will still carry the contract. This makes every single female of the lycian lineage a potential Matriarch. So, as you may have deduced, you are special because you, Cayna, are a descendant of Gina Lycian, the human sister of the first matriarch, whose line the Sycadians have been trying to extinguish for centuries." He said.

"How is that possible? Surely they would have succeeded after all that time?" Cayna said, unbelieving.

Nuka shook his head. "Whatever the probability, they have failed in their quest so far. For here you stand, clear as day. For certain, you are a daughter of Gina Lycian, the last potential Matriarch of the Lycan species."

"But how can you be so sure?" Cayna said, still not convinced.

Nuka stepped around the altar with surprising speed, moving unnaturally fast for a man of his size. He stood in front of Cayna, who gasped and tried to back up a step but he grabbed her by the wrist. She felt like a toy in his hand. She stared into his yellow, hungry eyes. Then, she began to see things.

The dreams she had had all her life emerged from the back of her mind, and the obscure, blurry fragments came together. They cleared and organized into something cohesive.

A woman appeared before her. She was dressed in a simple, white robe. She had Cayna's likeness, of that she could not deny. They both stood in the dream Cayna was having. It was a ruined land, everywhere was destruction. Voices cried out amongst the plumes of smoke and burning buildings. They were voices of agony and war. Countless formless shapes moved in the peripherals of her vision, always disappearing as she tried to look, making her wonder if her mind was playing tricks on her.

The sky above was dark with the gloomy overcast of the clouds of war with splotches of red staining the heavens like pools of blood.

"What is this?" Cayna said, not wanting to be in this place.

"I am Gina, your fore-mother, if you are hearing this message, then you are the last of my lineage. Daughter of the Lycian clan, listen closely to what I am about to tell you. After I have said my words, you may choose your own path." Gina said.

"Wait, are you here? What is this?" Cayna said.

The image of Gina shifted for a moment in the way holograms do when the image projector is disrupted. When she came back into focus the woman started again.

"I am Gina, your fore-mother, if you are hearing this message, then you are the last of my lineage. Daughter of the Lycian clan, listen closely to what I am about to tell you. After I have said my words, you may choose your own path." Then she added. "My response pathways are limited, please choose your questions carefully."

Cayna wanted to shout a thousand questions but she kept her mouth shut for now.

"My sister, the first Matriarch of the lycans, the first of Children of Tetriel, has been deceived. This war has been a lie from the beginning. The Sycadians are being manipulated by a shadow that holds the strings of us all. I feel its eyes over the battlefield, watching and reveling in our misery. The corruption of the lycan race was planned from the beginning. I have determined that there is no one I can trust anymore, so I will take myself and the life within me into hiding. The Sycadians hunt me and the alphas are poisoned against their own kind."

"Child, if you are truly the last of my line, you must not fall into the hands of the orchestrator of this most foul plot. In you is the path to redeem the Lycian Clan. I will be your guide. Together, we will find a way where my sister has failed. You are the key to something greater and more terrible than you can ever imagine, even the end of this world."

"In order to survive, I will now grant you great power."