by Brandon Chen
Seeing all of this was not anything new to Yuri; he’d seen a river before. But he found that it was extremely difficult for him to focus on one fish to target. He could see the tributary before him in more detail than ever before, but was unable to narrow his vision to focus on one particular thing.
Biting his lower lip in frustration, he jabbed at the water at the area where he predicted the fish was going to go. The animal darted inches to the right of his hand. His prey was certainly not faster than him; Yuri had simply missed. Blinking several times, he tried to clear his vision so that he could focus on one fish. But the vast detail of the river was still tampering with his mind. He attacked the water ferociously, his hands stabbing at the water, but to no avail. He’d completely missed the fish.
After several tries, Yuri brushed back his hair and frowned. “How is it that I had the coordination to kill dozens of werewolves earlier and now I can’t even catch a damned fish?” he grumbled to himself, irritated.
“All werewolves react differently when they ingest the Phoenix Heart,” Archerus called, already returning with his fish under one arm and wood kindling in the other. “You and I were lucky. When we ate the flower, we maintained our coordination as if we were still human, even though our attributes had been enhanced tenfold. We could still perform physical tasks normally. But that effect wears off quickly. It was gone when we woke up in Moriaki’s cottage. Every werewolf eventually faces the reality of adjusting to master their new abilities.”
“So you’re saying that because my vision has been strengthened … I have to train to be able to focus my vision on individual objects?” Yuri said with narrowed eyes. He kicked at the water in annoyance. “Then how the hell did you manage to adjust your eyes to your new werewolf vision, huh? I didn’t see you do any training.”
“I’ve been lugging you around all day,” Archerus said, setting the wood on some dry dirt so that he could begin making a fire. “My training was when I was running through the forest. After traveling for a full day, I’ve gotten used to my new vision.”
“Oh, so that’s why you were running into bushes at the beginning of our journey,” Yuri said, stifling a laugh. “You nearly rammed straight into a tree!”
“Hilarious.” Archerus rolled his eyes. “The reason you haven’t synchronized your coordination yet is because you’ve spent the entire day clinging to my damned back instead of moving on your own. We’re done traveling for the day, so you might as well spend some time getting used to your new werewolf senses. The effects of the Phoenix Heart aren’t here to help you stay coordinated anymore, so unless you want to continue looking like a fool, I’d get started.”
Yuri rubbed his hands together and licked his lower lip. “All right, let’s do this.”
“As an incentive for you to succeed in catching a fish, you’ll need to catch your own dinner tonight,” Archerus said with a gentle smile, striking two stones together with tremendous force. Sparks ignited between the rocks and fell onto the kindling, the wood smoldering as it began to glow orange. Soon the sparks became tiny flames that flickered on Archerus’s pile of wood. “These two are mine.”
“Huh, catching this fish will be easy!” Yuri said, tackling the water as he attempted to grab a fish. Once again, he missed by a slight margin. Rising from the river, drenched, he groaned. “I expect that it’ll take a couple tries, though.”
After several hours, Yuri had only managed to catch one lousy fish. Darkness settled in the sky and the glistening moon shined down on Yuri and Archerus’s camp. The two men were sitting around a reasonably sized fire, using it to cook their fish, which were skewered on sticks.
Yuri devoured his fish in a single gulp and sighed, leaning back. He was exasperated from trying to catch prey all afternoon. He had stopped because he was becoming far too frustrated to continue with such tedious training. He grabbed his stomach, which moaned in complaint. Damn, I wish I’d gotten a bigger catch.
Archerus chuckled and tossed him half of his second cooked fish. The food landed on Yuri’s stomach and the boy looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow. “Go on and eat it. I’m not going to let you go hungry just because you haven’t gotten used to your vision,” he said.
There was silence between the two men as Yuri munched on his food.
“It’s bothering you too, huh?” Archerus said.
“Yeah, I never knew the world was this loud,” Yuri grumbled, swallowing the last piece of his meal. He lay back in the dirt, folding his arms behind his head to cushion him. Gazing at the sea of stars that glistened in the night sky, he let out a long sigh. To any ordinary person, it would’ve seemed like a tranquil night underneath the stars. However, to Yuri and Archerus, the night was noisy. Nature’s sounds were constantly harassing the two werewolves.
They could hear everything from the howling of the slightest of breezes to the droning noises of insects in the night. The sounds were not exactly loud, but they all bombarded the eardrums of the both of the werewolves in unison, creating a dissonance of agonizing noise that made relaxation impossible. The world hadn’t been this loud when Yuri had first left Moriaki’s cottage. He imagined that the effects of consuming the Phoenix Heart had worn off for him sometime while he and Archerus were traveling.
It wasn’t just his hearing; his sense of smell was even stronger than it had been when he first became a werewolf. He could catch the scent of anything within a mile’s radius of his position. Twitching his nose, Yuri tried to block out everything, all of the smells, all of the sounds. Right now he just wanted to rest. It was certainly not easy, but as he closed his eyes and relaxed, he felt his senses toning down, as if they had been switched off.
“Do you think we’ll ever be able to return to Horux?” Yuri asked quietly.
“Who knows?” Archerus said, finishing his meal with a final gulp. He turned his head, gazing across the stretching plains of grass around them. “The city is infested with monstrosities that are each capable of massacring a small village. We shouldn’t be bothered too much with the idea of retaking our city. Rather, we should focus on preventing the virus from spreading to the rest of Escalon. Otherwise, it will just be a repeat of Lichholme.”
“Lichholme? What’s that?”
“That’s what many inhabitants of Escalon call the northern section of the continent,” Archerus said. “At one point in time, it was home to multiple thriving empires. But then a powerful necromancer spread a plague that annihilated every human in the area. That was what gave rise to the undead. Constructed abominations, skeletal creatures, and zombified monstrosities swept across the land, slaughtering and conquering all living things in the name of the necromancer. Eventually, the human race was eradicated completely from Lichholme. Their corpses became the undead warriors that now roam the land, but it is said that they are bound to Lichholme. Otherwise, they would’ve conquered the rest of Escalon by now.”
Yuri whistled. “That sounds like the worst-case scenario for our situation.”
“It does, yes. But it certainly is within the realm of possibility if we do not contain that virus,” Archerus said, leaning back onto the grass. “We need to get to Reidan as soon as possible, so get some rest. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover tomorrow. “
***
Yuri found himself standing at the edge of a frozen cliff, overlooking a blackened abyss. The skies were filled with dark clouds that blanketed the land in an ominous shadow, but they were rushing overhead with incredible speed, as if time were passing at an accelerated rate. The boy was wearing boots that crunched the icy ground beneath him. He gazed across the ridge and found that there was a figure on the other side, staring at him.
The figure was completely black, as if it was a mere shadow, and had no definite form. While it was shaped somewhat like a man, there were black wisps of darkness that drifted off its body. Horns protruded from the top of its head, and its eyes … they glowed like two flaming coals dipped in lava, burning Yuri with their fiery gaze.
Yu
ri could feel a knot in his stomach, his fear seizing control of his mind. He retreated several steps, feeling the stranger’s unrelenting gaze tearing him apart. Turning around, the boy was about to flee, and he found himself face to face with the ominous being. His heart jumped, and he gasped in surprise when he suddenly felt a hand pressing against his chest. Looking down, he saw that the stranger had pushed him.
Losing his balance, Yuri’s eyes widened as he fell from the edge of the cliff and into the dark abyss below. He screamed in terror, watching as the cloudy skies got farther and farther away. The icy walls of the ridge became darker, until they were nothing but blackness. The sky eventually faded into nothingness. Within moments, Yuri had descended into the void, surrounded by sheets of black.
Yuri suddenly felt something grab his back, and he sank downward into something hard. He glanced over his shoulder and, to his horror, saw that he had fallen into a pit of hideous undead monstrosities. They had no eyes, only blackened sockets. Bloody boils had sprouted over their decaying flesh, and their rotted teeth chattered, chilling the terrified boy to the bone. Resounding screeches, sounding like banshee cries, left their mouths as they grabbed at Yuri, proceeding to rip the boy limb from limb.
Powerlessness. Remember that feeling.
Yuri blinked, finding himself transported to a valley of lush grass surrounded by snow-covered mountains. His heart was still racing and sweat rolled down his face as he stared at the clear skies. He had heard a voice, the same voice that belonged to that mysterious being that had spoken to him in a previous dream. Was this all still a nightmare?
The boy leaned forward and exhaled shakily when he saw that the black figure from the ridge was standing several meters in front of him. The mysterious being watched him for several moments before turning his head and pointing to something. Yuri reluctantly followed the stranger’s gaze and spotted an entire field of Phoenix Hearts, blazing brilliantly.
Yuri pushed himself to his feet, staring at the field. That’s enough Phoenix Hearts to cure the werewolves of Horux! He glanced at the ebony stranger, who was now staring at him once more. “Are you Malyios?” he asked, recalling the name of the mist of darkness from his previous dream.
“Indeed.” The voice was the same.
“Where is this?”
“You are in Lichholme.”
“But how did you bring me here?” Yuri asked, looking around him. “All of this feels so real, as if it isn’t a dream. But it has to be … I remember that Archerus and I are still in southern Escalon.”
“Well, young Yuri, this is not an ordinary dream,” the being said. “I’ve come before you to offer you a deal, one that might interest you. I’ve been watching you. You do not understand yet the full extent of your power. But I know what you are capable of. Your boundless strength allowed you to overcome that horde of werewolves in the warehouse in Horux’s Lower District. Do you remember?”
Yuri remembered vaguely that he had somehow lost control of himself and slaughtered every werewolf within that vicinity. He narrowed his eyes, watching the being. At the time, it had felt as if … someone else had taken control of him. “Was that you?” he demanded. “Did you take control over me at that time?”
“I did, in order to show you what you are capable of.” Malyios pointed to the field of Phoenix Hearts. “Finding that field would be a miracle for you, wouldn’t it? You could save your people and reclaim Horux without having to massacre the transformed citizens of the city. There could be a solution with minimal bloodshed. I could tell you where this supply of Phoenix Hearts is — and how you can control your werewolf powers.”
“I don’t need your help to control my powers,” Yuri mumbled, though deep within his mind he doubted whether he would ever discover the triggers to his transformations.
“Do you think Archerus will have the answer to all of your questions? His knowledge of werewolves comes from words in books, not real experience. He can’t even tell you how to transform from a human to a werewolf and then back. Are you going to entrust everything to him? Especially when time is so limited,” Malyios said with a gentle chuckle. “I can sense that you have questions. Go on, ask.”
“How were you able to control me when I first transformed?”
“My real body is far away, beyond the physical grip of Terrador. I used my magic not to control you, but to save you from your demise,” Malyios said. “I can also use my magic to communicate with you when you are asleep. Do not be deceived by my actions, Yuri. I do want to see you succeed and I am prepared to offer you the information that you seek, should you agree to my accord.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to find the Oblivion Portal and enter it.”
Yuri remembered that there had been markings on the floor of his home, in his past nightmare. Malyios had said that was the portal to Oblivion. “What is on the other side of this … portal?”
“It is a gateway to the realm of the dead. There, you will be able to speak to those who have passed. In fact, you could even exchange a few words with your deceased family. You could apologize to your mother. You two were on poor terms the last I checked,” Malyios said, holding out his hand. “Worry not. All you have to do is step through the portal. Then you will be free to leave whenever you would like. Your life will not be in danger. Just shake my hand and the accord will be sealed. Once you do so, I’ll tell you the secret to controlling your werewolf powers and the location of this field.”
Yuri stared at the being’s hand, contemplating the deal. There certainly was more to this accord than what he was hearing. Why would he be asked to simply step through a portal and not complete another task? Perhaps Malyios was lying about the exit and was condemning him to his ultimate doom, trapped in the alternate world.
He bit his lower lip. Malyios’s offer was quite tempting, though. Yuri was caught at a particularly desperate time. Getting to Reidan right now was their top priority; they would need to get reinforcements to trap the werewolf virus as soon as possible. He needed to get control over his werewolf transformation so that they could get to the city quicker. Right now, he was slowing Archerus down. In addition, if he could find out where the field of Phoenix Hearts was, they could retake Horux without having to massacre the werewolves. If all he had to do was go through a portal — maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
Yuri reached out and grasped Malyios’s hand, suddenly feeling a surge of heat rushing into his hand. His eyes widened when images of Lichholme began to race through his mind, burning into his memory like hot iron. Within moments, he had memorized how to get from Reidan to the field of Phoenix Hearts — and from there, to the portal of Oblivion.
***
Archerus stirred slightly, his eyes cracking open against the sun’s dazzling rays. He groaned as he rolled over in the grass, hearing a boisterous splash in the river next to him. Raising an eyebrow, he turned to find that Yuri was already awake with a pile of fish flopping on the riverbank, and a bonfire blazing beside it. Even more surprising was that Yuri was in his werewolf form, grasping two large fish with one hand and holding them up in the air, as if he’d just won a contest.
After taking several minutes to fully wake up, Archerus stood up and sauntered over to the riverbank where Yuri was beginning to cook their breakfast. The man raised his eyebrow at the werewolf, one hand on his waist. “You’ve been busy. I’m impressed. You’ve managed to transform and regain your coordination. How long have you been awake?”
“Three hours,” Yuri said, pulling a fish from the fire that was burned to a blackened crisp. He raised an eyebrow and sighed, eating it anyway. “Unfortunately, I’m still a poor cook.”
Archerus guffawed, sitting down beside his companion. “What was the secret trigger to your transformation? A specific memory that you had locked away?”
“No,” Yuri said, shaking his head. “It was a feeling, a relatively specific one. It was the feeling of being powerless, watching someone that I’ve loved
perish. For the past couple of days, I had been sifting through my most tragic memories, like the death of my family and Asmund. But all of this time, my trigger to becoming a werewolf was the empty feeling of weakness that I’d endured when I watched my best friend transform into a werewolf — and when I walked into my home and saw that I was too late to save my family.”
Archerus watched his friend for a moment and nodded. “Have you managed to figure out what trigger can turn you back into a human?”
“Yeah,” Yuri said with a gentle smile. “It’s a memory. One with my father, long ago.”
Archerus bit his lower lip, feeling a gloomy ambiance in the air. He reached out and touched the Yuri on the shoulder. “Well, that’s quite the surprise that you managed to grasp control over your transformations so quickly,” he said, smirking. “That’s outstanding.”
Yuri cracked a half-smile but said nothing.
“Now that I won’t have to lug you around anymore, we could reach Reidan before the end of the day,” Archerus said, grabbing a fish from the pile. “So be sure to eat up. We’ve got a grueling day ahead of us.”
The Quest of Peril
Moriaki soared over Reidan in his raven form, looking down on the grand city. He descended from the clouds, sweeping down to the capital and morphing back into his elven form. There were several startled outcries of surprise from the civilians, but he paid them no attention as he walked through Reidan’s packed streets.
Structures of all sizes surrounded him, mostly made of either stone or wood. The architecture in Reidan was just as Moriaki remembered it. The buildings were slightly ostentatious in their vibrant colors, and had steeply slanted tiled rooftops. They were gigantic, making the citizens seem like mere insects that strolled in the buildings’ shadows.
The civilians in the city also wore very colorful attire, and were well prepared for the arctic weather that haunted Escalon. Citizens typically wore multiple layers of clothing and scarves to protect them from the bitter cold. Squadrons of soldiers and knights patrolled the city streets, clanking about in their heavy, metallic armor. Most of them had blue tabards draped over their armor, bearing the golden insignia of Iradia.