Between Wolves and Demons: Part One

by Dragonsfang

It haunted the Western Woods when the fog wrapped its shroud around the trees, and it appeared like a vampire, from literally nowhere. Yet, no one had seen this heinous and diabolical force that haunted the Western Woods, much like the Headless Horseman that haunted those of Sleepy Hollow on old Earth. It wasn't until a year after the beast had arrived that someone saw it, and people first knew of its power.

He was a teenager of thirteen, with a blue Lupe and a green Eyrie as his pets. He had made the mistake of taking them out into the Western Woods, and they had been in Still Meadow when the beast had first appeared, eyes flaming like the fires of the Underworld. It was a massive black beast with burning red eyes, long white fangs, and ripping black claws; to the boy, it looked like a replica of his Lupe, only black and twice as big.

The black beast had merely looked upon them silently, lips wrinkling back from its fangs, and had disappeared back into the forest, fading into the mists like a ghost. The boy and his pets had returned to his village to report what they saw, and people dismissed his claim as nonsense. But the local Lorekeeper of the village believed him, and had made the moonsblessing sign on her chest, for now she knew the fate of the boy.

Less than two days later, the boy had passed away, while his NeoPets had lived on from the sighting.

People thought it had been an isolated incident, but less than a month later, three more people had died from the sighting of the black beast, and their NeoPets had lived. Now, the humans of Neopia were frightened of the black creature, for it had the same qualities of the fabled Hounds of Baskervilles in the legends of old Earth. Thus, the black Lupe-like beast was named the Black Lupe, for the sighting of the beast could end a person's being if one was unfortunate enough to set his or her gaze upon it…

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In one of the villages near the Western Woods, the villagers had gathered around the platform set in the town square, shouting at their own Lorekeeper for answers and cures for the Black Lupe's demise--impending sighting. She was doing her best to keep the people quiet, but without much success.

"Please, the Lupe will not show itself in a full village like ours. Do not go into the Western Woods alone, or else the Lupe shall show itself!" the Lorekeeper shouted, raising her gnarled hands to quiet them.

"How do you know that? The beast could come into our village and kill everyone here, leaving only our NeoPets behind!" someone snarled. Others echoed his cry, picking up stones and branches to throw at the Lorekeeper.

"Stop it!" A young woman dressed in leather boots, leggings, a jerkin over a black tunic, and a black cloak around her heavy shoulders appeared at the back of the crowd; a sword hung in its sheath at her left hip, and the dull hilts of bootknives glinted in the moonlight. Her long black hair blew out behind her like a flame, and her violet eyes gleamed beneath it like a wolf's. She pushed her way through the crowd, and leaped up onto the platform.

The crowd was about to converge again when a snarl drove them back again, forcing the people to part to make a path for the massive beast that shouldered its way through their ranks. Its heavy fur was dusty gray in color, standing out like spikes from its massive shoulders; its yellow eyes cast everyone baleful looks, along with the threat of gleaming white fangs and glinting black claws. It snapped at someone whom tried to touch it, and lunged onto the platform, growling and slinking behind the violet-eyed woman.

"You dare treat your Lorekeeper this way, when she is the only one who may be able to help you!" she snarled, eyes smoldering. "The Black Lupe will only stay in the woods, for it does not dare to enter human settlements where so many NeoPets live." The dusty gray beast beside the woman snarled, black lips curling back from its long fangs.

"And how do you know this?" a teenager asked. He was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and battered tennis shoes, and held a rock in his right hand, clenching it so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Next to him, a massive red Skeith frothed and seethed, wings flaring and spade-tipped tail lashing back and forth like a whip.

"It is a wild beast, child, and it does not dare to come into the villages where it knows that it can be injured by NeoPets," she answered, looking down at him with glinting violet eyes. The wolf growled low in its throat, the sound harsh from years of snarling and growling.

"And what is that?" the boy asked, motioning toward the beast with his chin.

"Her name is Gray Isolm, and she is a wolf," the violet-eyed woman answered.

"And who are you? Its trainer?" he replied, emphasizing the word "it" greatly. The Skeith beside him snarled, ringing its challenge to Gray Isolm, who merely gave it a baleful look.

"I am Kezsia, Kezs for short," the woman replied. "I am a wolfrunner, and the only one on this planet."

"Wolfrunner?" the boy spat. "Those things are mere myths on old Earth, yet you stand here and act like you are one of them? Do you take we Neopians to be that dumb, Wolfrunner?" He said the last word sarcastically, and with a slight emphasis.

Kezs merely looked at him, but with a look just as malevolent as Gray Isolm's. "I take you to be that ignorant, while there are others on this planet that still believe in wolfrunners. If you do not wish to believe what you see standing in front of you, I suggest that you leave now."

The boy glared at her balefully, and the Skeith beside him snarled, ready to pounce upon the woman and her wolf. "How do we know that you are telling the truth? You could have just caught that wolf, and only act like you are a wolfrunner." Others in the crowd shouted their agreement, and stones began to fly, pelting the wolfrunner and her beast. Gray Isolm snarled and caught a stone in her jaws; she crunched down viciously on it, and the stone crumbled into dust.

"That is enough!" the Lorekeeper cried, raising her gnarled hands. "You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves, pelting a wolfrunner and her wolf like a common raider! Wolfrunner Kezsia is our only hope of defeating this demonic beast, and we should be thankful for her saving us when we have treated her and Gray Isolm so terribly."

But the boy with the red Skeith merely snorted and said sarcastically, "Our savior." Then he turned and shoved his way through the crowd; the Skeith snarled once more at Gray Isolm before leaping after its owner.

"That one there, he does not believe in anything; he only has that Skeith of his to fight and win him Neopoints," the Lorekeeper murmured to Kezs. Then, louder so everyone could hear: "Now, we have no need to worry about the Black Lupe of the Western Woods. Wolfrunner Kezsia and Gray Isolm will stop the beast from destroying anymore Neopians."

The crowd gathered cheered uncertainly for Kezs and her gray wolf, then began to disperse after a few minutes of murmuring amongst themselves. From the looks on their faces, Kezs knew that they expected a miracle from the wolfrunner, something that she doubted she would be able to give them. Gray Isolm, sensing her wolfrunner's distress, whined and shoved her black snout into the young woman's leather-gloved palm.

What troubles you so, Wolfrunner? the wolf asked.

"These people ask for a miracle that we cannot give, Isolm," Kezsia murmured to the wolf, digging her fingers into the thick gray scruff. "They think that we can get rid of this beast, when we have no idea what its effects have on wolves and wolfrunners."

Then we shall find a way, Gray Isolm said. She leaped from the platform and trotted to the edge of the forest, yellow eyes gleaming in the darkness. Come, Wolfrunner! Run with me! The massive wolf exploded into the forest, bounding amongst the trees toward their small, rootgrown home.

Kezs stretched her own mind with the wolf, tasting the forest scents on her own tongue and hearing the startled cries and yelps of the wild NeoPets Then she leaped into the trees, racing after the wolf with the speed of the wolves aiding her feet and giving her speed to catch up to Gray Isolm.

Their rootgrown home was large and airy, with many arching windows and a massive curved doorway. The furniture that decorated the house was plain, wooden-frame furnishings, blending in with the twisting, plain roots of the walls, floor and ceiling. It was large enough to accommodate an entire wolfpack, but only Kezsia and Gray Isolm occupied the root-house.

The treetops began to rustle, despite the lack of wind, and they exploded with color as a massive fair of dragonets loosed themselves from their perches on the branches. They swirled above the heads of the wolfrunner and wolf, chittering in their own language; a medium-sized black dragonet folded its wings and swooped down to Kezs's shoulder. It perched, digging its small, silvery talons into the cloth of the cloak, and whistled blithely in her ear.

After living near the dragonets for ten years, she was used to the antics of T'kil and his companions. Years ago, the Demons from the Underworld had Arisen, and it had been the dragonets that had warned the people of the beasts. They had also helped the legendary Lupe Tribe member Incubus defeat the Demon King, and thus ridding the world of the Demons forever. Ever since, people had kept the small skybeasts as pets, companions for their NeoPets, and guardians of their homes.

A group of dragonets swooped down upon Gray Isolm, but the wolf didn't tolerate their antics like her wolfrunner did. She snarled and snapped at the flying beasts, driving them back up to the rest of the fair. With a final chittering, the dragonets disappeared over the trees, while T'kil stayed with Kezsia.

Chattering pests, Isolm growled, following Kezs into the root-house. She glared balefully at T'kil as he swooped to his usual perch on one of the chairs, tail narrowly missing her right ear. He whistled at the gray wolf, which growled and snapped at him in return. The flying beast hissed at the wolf when her fangs came too close to one of his wings, and the beast snarled, bristling and creasing her black snout.

"Cut it out!" Kezs snapped at the wolf and dragonet. The pair continued to hiss and snarl, but not at each other; they were facing the heavy wooden door of the root-house. T'kil's wings were opened, and the small blades on his sinuous tail snapped apart with a sharp crack. Gray Isolm was crouched on the ground, fur bristled and fangs bared back to the gums; her yellow eyes were narrowed to mere slits, and her black snout was creased from the intense snarl that rippled past her knifelike teeth.

Something's out there, the wolf sent to the wolfrunner. Kezsia drew her sword, and flicked a bootknife into her other hand. Her own lips curled back from her teeth from the intensity of Isolm's mental projections, and her violet eyes flashed lupine yellow briefly. Through the gray wolf's ears, she heard the soft snorts of a beast at the door, and the scratching of paws digging at the rootpath that led to the house.

"T'kil, open the door," the wolfrunner whispered. The dragonet narrowed his yellow slit-pupiled eyes, and the door swung open as his telekinetic powers kicked in. As soon as the door opened, Gray Isolm howled and lunged at the beast that had been scrabbling at the entrance; T'kil roared and darted out of the root-house, flames spewing from his nostrils.

Kezs leaped through the door, and slammed hard into something; a gasp of pain reached her ears, but lupine fury overtook her. She slashed with both blades, but they were met with another blade that countered her blows. She snarled like a wolf, and shoved her full weight against her locked steel, forcing the other fighter back. The antagonist tripped and fell on its backside; Kezs lunged and attacked.

To be continued...