Stefan was having a delightful time up there. I could hear his barrel-laughs as I struggled to catch up. He lit the trees on fire up ahead, and I had to dodge around flames as the forest ignited around me. I nearly burned my paw on a falling branch, and I could smell the fur on my tail singeing.
“You dick!”I shouted. Stefan only laughed harder. In our shifted forms, we could still speak using telepathy, and I wanted Stefan to know just how much of a jerk he was.
Time to show him who was boss. I bounded off my back legs until they were burning, trying to catch up, and victoriously felt the shadow of Stefan pass me as I came out ahead. Stefan noticed that I was getting the upper hand and increased the beat of his wings to match my pace. We were neck and neck now.
The trees were getting thicker here. We had to slow down. I attempted to use my magic to call out to him. “Stefan, watch out for that—”
Too late. Stefan ended up losing control and careened into a section of trees. They uprooted, and the sound of wood cracking rang out through the forest. I moved like hell to get out of the way as Stefan went barreling through the trees at high-speed, wrecking everything his body came in contact with. Finally, his mass reached a structure that would not be moved, a large stone wall that had worn away from part of the mountain. He slammed into it, and debris from the stone wall went crumbling as the dragon came to a complete stop.
“...Tree.”I watched as the dragon went slinking down to the ground. I nearly died laughing as the dragon shook his head, dazed. He changed back into Stefan, sitting on the ground and holding his head. A huge chunk of forest had been torn down by his crash-landing.
“Oy.” Stefan shook his head again. “You win this round, mate. Must’ve been weighed down by my big—”
“What are you two boys doing?”
A pleasant voice broke our banter. The King of the Arcanea broke through the trees to join us. He wore a wide smile, and paid no attention to the destruction that Stefan had caused on his way down.
Father’s stance was wide and commanding. His long hair was gray, broad shoulders covered by a long cape of bear’s fur. People said he was a mountain of a man, though I was nearly as tall as he was. His large hands were covered by rabbit skin gloves, one of which grasped a tight dagger in his belt, set with ruby gemstones.
“Aw, Da, just goofing off,” I said. The royal guard wasn’t with him, which I was thankful for. Dad had a tendency to be less of himself and more of a king when people were watching him.
Father’s eyes slightly narrowed. “This isn’t a game, boys. There’s a monster on the loose.”
I knew he wasn’t mad. A chuckle was playing at the corners of his mouth.
“I’m convinced it flew off. It shouldn’t be taking this long to locate a wild beast,” Stefan said. He sneezed, and a bit of smoke came out of his nostrils.
“You have a right to be concerned. Something’s… different about this one.” Father rubbed his beard. “I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.”
I slung my arm around his shoulder. “What do we have to worry about? After all, we’ve got the best monster slayer this side of the country on our side.”
Like the rest of my kind, I was attending Arcanea University to become a monster hunter. I’d had no better teacher growing up than my dear old dad. He could behead a monster in less time than it took most Arcanea to assess the situation.
Father shook his head. “Experience is no substitute for information. I don’t believe I’ve ever hunted a creature this elusive.”
He made a face. “Perhaps I should send you boys back to town. This monster could be out of your skill level.”
Stefan made an obnoxious noise. “Unkillable byus? I don’t think such a monster exists.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Stefan had the mind that he could destroy anything. If the Seven Gods themselves challenged him to a duel, he’d accept.
Father still seemed troubled. I spoke up. “I’ve killed my share of monsters. Why would this one be any different?”
Father frowned. “I’m not sure, son. Monsters usually leave clues behind. This one… it’s too clean. There’s no scent, no tracks, no indication that it’s been in the area at all, although it must’ve been to kill those people. Something’s not right.”
I didn’t like how he spoke. When we’d found the bodies of the slain Arcanea, they’d been just outside of town, bodies ran through with twisting roots that rose up from the earth. Blood and entrails everywhere, though there was no indication the monster that had killed them desired to feed. The bodies hadn’t been touched after they were killed. This creature seemed to murder for sport.
Father waved his hand, as an indication for us to follow. He pointed upward. “Search the skies, Stefan. Perhaps there’s something we’re missing. Maybe the creature can fly.”
Stefan became his dragon form, and took off. The black dragon quickly became a spot in the sky as he soared through the clouds, on a hunt for something none of us were even sure existed.
My father transformed, from his brusque human body to his wolven form. The old wolf’s gray fur seemed to be getting whiter and whiter by the day. On his back two large, feathery wings rested. He kept them tucked in close to his side as he prowled through the brush.
I followed his lead, and changed myself. Father towered beside me as we stalked the woods, keeping close to the ground.
Father’s feathers brushed me as we walked, and I had to suppress a sharp feeling of jealousy. Within the four Factions, dragons, griffins, and alicorns were the only Arcanea born with wings. Wolvens like myself and sorceresses had to earn them. I had yet to prove to the Seven Gods my worthiness, and therefore, remained wingless. I wasn’t sure what I had to do in order to earn my wings— it was different for everyone.
For some Arcanea, their wings never came at all. It was a nightmare that haunted me daily as I continued to age. It wasn’t exactlyexpectedfor a wolven to have wings… a lot of my kind lived and died without them... but the Circle would never accept an ascender to the throne who couldn’t fly.
