A Wolf in the Dark

by S E Turner

  Lyall shuddered as the lifeless body fell next to him. He looked up at Skyrah. She had broken the General's heart in two. He ripped the Seal from the perpetrator and clasped it to his chest. They had done it. They had killed the General and secured peace. He had the Seal and he had Wolfsbane. He had his revenge, but at what cost?

  He looked towards his brother, and his own heart ripped in two. He let out a deep wail and clawed at the bloodied soil. Skyrah dropped down with him and they sobbed together in a subdued embrace. They turned to look at Namir's body: a true hero to the very end and a formidable leader. He was her soul mate. He was Lyall's long lost brother and his greatest friend.

  Skyrah pressed herself into Lyall's arms and wept again.

  As the dust began to settle, the clans made their way towards them, united in numbers with a strength that defied their young years. They were all too weary and grief stricken for jubilation, but in their hearts they cheered.

  Lyall brushed Skyrah's blood stained hair from her splattered face and took a moment to look over her shoulder to his fallen twin.

  He saw a movement. He watched as his brother struggled to motion a sign: Namir raised his arm for help .

  'He's alive, Skyrah! Thank the gods, he's still alive!'

  To be continued in – 'A Leopard in the Mist.'

  On the other side of the world, some ten thousand miles away, a lone man sat in a small tavern, at a candlelit table, surrounded by darkness and drunken strangers. Golden streaks of tangled limp hair reached his shoulders while a heavy woollen cloak hung almost to the ground, covering a torn grey shirt and tired worn breeches. A paralytic lout on the street had lost his shoes plus a handful of loose change to him. Under the growth of a few day’s stubble, a handsome face was etched, though some would argue it didn't exist at all. The saturated straw didn't bother him either as he supped on his ale, and he barely noticed the pungent aroma of body odour and stale beer. Outside was a maze of twisting alleyways and hidden corners: best to keep away from those places, people would tell him, but he wasn't scared of those places.

  Nothing scared him anymore.

  Main Characters in : A Wolf in the Dark

  CLANS

  Clan of the Mountain Lion

  Laith - Leader

  Zoraster - medicine man

  Namir & Lyall - brothers

  Skyrah

  Arneb

  Meric - physician

  Chay - Skyrah's mother

  Clan boys:

  Ronu, Silva, Bagwa, Clebe, Norg,

  Hass, Suma, Wyn, Targ, Hali.

  Hill Fort Tribe

  Dainn - (married to Ajeya)

  Rufus - Ajeya's nephew

  Clan boys: Storm, Malik, Durg, Tay

  Clan of the Giant's Claw

  Thorne - leader

  Siri - next leader

  Zeno - Siri's brother

  Marshland Tribe

  Torré

  Lac e

  COURTS

  Castle Dru

  Canagan - King of Durundal

  Artemisia - Queen of Durundal

  Palace in Ataxata

  Emperor Gnaeus III

  General Domitrius Corbulo

  General Van Piers

  Captain Vortim Vontiger

  Captain Alverez

  The Teacher

  Cornelius Gnaeus IV

  Macus - stable boy

  Roma - maid

  Scowler - guard

  Poxface - guard