The Valiant Wolf’s Diaries, Book 7: The Missing Animals

by Mark Mulle

said.

  Day 29

  We made it to Epheral city. We stopped 300 feet from the main entrance, where the two guards stood on watch.

  - “Here we are, boys. Epheral city, the place that hates animals. And we’ll discover soon why they do!” Steve said. “Now everyone, please get closer. I’ll throw a Splash potion on the ground.”

  We got close to Steve and he used the first out of the 15 Invisibility potions.

  - “Now, let’s go! To the left.” And Steve led the way. Since we were all invisible, we couldn’t see where he was going, so he had to keep whispering very silently. Fortunately, wolves have great ears for hearing, and we could listen to him whisper while the guards could not.

  - “This way, guys!” Steve whispered from the left, and we followed him.

  - “Ouch! You stepped on my paw!” Elly said.

  - “Sorry honey, I can’t see anyone!” Oopa said.

  - “Keep it up guys, Steve is just ahead.” I said.

  - “Ops, sorry. I just bumped into someone…” Susi said.

  - “It was me, honey. And no harm done, we are all invisible so this should be normal.” I said.

  We followed Steve to the wall, far from the guards.

  - “Okay, now stay still guys. Let me grab the pickaxe from my inventory.” When Steve grabbed the pickaxe, we could clearly see the item in the air, as if it was floating by itself. Steve mined the wall and we went through. He neatly replaced all the blocks, not leaving any trace behind.

  - “Perfect! Our plan is going smoothly.” Steve said. “Now, keep it up! Just follow the sound of my voice and we should be fine. Soon enough, I will use another potion.”

  We followed him around. Epheral city didn’t seem any different from Steve’s home, except it had more buildings and other structures. We could also see several humans everywhere, at their houses and some walking on the streets.

  - “This place is crowded as usual… And it doesn’t look any different from other cities.” Steve whispered. “I wonder what caused their hate towards animals?”

  At every corner, in every street, there was a huge sign with human words on it.

  - “No animals allowed…” Steve read it. “These people are nuts.”

  Steve continued and we crossed the city while invisible. He used the second potion of the 15 and we just followed him.

  - “We’re almost at Jeremy’s house, guys. Just follow me.” He said.

  When we got there, he told us to wait.

  - “That yellow house right there is Jeremy’s.” Steve said. “Apparently, he is still at home because the lights are on. When he removes the torches and leave the place, we’ll follow him.”

  Shortly after, we saw a human removing the torches from his house and leaving from the front door.

  - “That’s Jeremy! Let’s follow him.” Steve whispered.

  Jeremy left the house and walked up on the street. Soon enough, he was reunited with other humans and they were all going to the same place.

  - “Weird… Why is the street crowded with every human from the city, all of sudden?” Steve whispered.

  They entered a tall building with beautiful golden doors and silver windows. Whatever that building was, it definitely seemed to be of extreme importance to all citizens.

  We stayed by the main door along with Steve, watching over the people taking their seats inside and waiting for something to begin. Then, a human comes out and goes on stage. The humans gave him a round of applause and he silently looks at everyone.

  - “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” The human said. “May you be protected from all evil animals, and be blessed with prosperity and peace. Now, let’s begin with our weekly meeting. In this past week, it has come to my attention that some stranger tried to get into our beloved city with animals by his side. What do you think this is?”

  No one in the audience replied.

  - “This is the evil taking over the human! The evil animals are possessing him, and forcing him to come here and infect our lives. But no, we won’t be fooled by those wild beasts. For we all know that wild animals are the cause of all problems in the world, isn’t that correct!”

  And another round of applause.

  - “That’s right! Wild animals have been roaming around the world for ages. And when this happened, what else roamed the world at night? The monsters! That has never been a coincidence, nor an unknown fact. Therefore, one can only agree that wild animals also bring monsters to the world!”

  - “That’s right!” Someone shouted.

  - “But no, we won’t be fooled again. We’ve been animal-free for several months now. And what has this done to our beloved city, I ask you?”

  - “The monsters are gone!” Another person replied.

  - “Exactly! As soon as we get rid of all animals, the night monsters also disappeared. Coincidence? Of course not! Because there is no such a thing as a coincidence, ladies and gentlemen! This is the beast’s doing, and we are safe now that they’re gone!”

  Another round of applause.

  - “I’d like to take a moment to congratulate the guards of Epheral who have been doing an outstanding job. And for everyone else who is always on watch and ready to take action against any animals that might come nearby, you have my most sincere appreciation.” The human said.

  - “You’re the best, Mozeib!” Someone shouted from the audience.

  - “No, this city is. And we are better than ever, after gathering all wild animals and keeping them away. Good job, my people!”Mozeib said.

  - “This is unbelievable!” Steve whispered. “That guy is telling a lie to these people, and they believe in him! That’s why the people of Epheral city hate animals – because someone has been telling them to. I didn’t think it would come to this, but now I know why Jeremy was acting so weird. He has been brainwashed, along with the other citizens!”

  - “Now Mozeib, what is our next step?” Someone asked.

  - “Very good question, my dear friend. As you all know, our thoughts and prayers have also reached several other cities from this region, where wild animals have been equally banned and dismissed. The night monsters are weaker because of it, and we intend to continue our hard work. The more cities that join our cause, the better for everyone. Therefore, remember: if you have a friend or a family member living in a city where they accept those wild beasts, tell them about the Curse. And once they release those beasts, they’ll realize the truth.” Mozeib said.

  - “Mozeib, you are fantastic! Thank you so much for taking care of our city!” Someone shouted.

  - “You’re the man! Epheral city is better than ever!” Another person shouted.

  - “Easy now, let’s continue with our meeting.” Mozeib said.

  - “This is an outrage… Mozeib is infecting these people with his false knowledge, telling them what to do.” Steve whispered. “Not only that, but he’s willing to pass on his ‘truth’ to other cities. Can you guys imagine that? If every city in a 15 mile radius accepts his word as the ultimate truth, then it’s no wonder why all wild animals have gone away.”

  - “For our next act, I want to form groups of people to watch over the main walls. I want to see if we can spot any wild animals in the area. From now on, don’t let them get any closer, not even from our thick and tall walls that protect us.” Mozeib said.

  - “We better get out of here quickly… I am not liking this.” Steve said, after using the 3rd potion. We left the city and Steve got us out of the wall.

  Day 30

  After entering Epheral city and searching for evidence linking the citizen’s strange behavior to the wild animal’s disappearance, Steve was surprised with what he had discovered inside. A massive cult lead by a guy called Mozeib, who claims to have purified the city from the “wild beasts” who brought the curse upon the city!

  - “I don’t understand how they can trust a weird guy like that…” Steve said. “It doesn’t make sense to me. The people of Epheral city hate wild animals beca
use someone told them the hordes disappearance had something to do with the animals? That’s not true! Maybe they got the wrong idea shortly after we defeated the Zombie Leader and all the hordes got weaker. They searched around for an answer as to why the hordes had disappeared from the world, and then this guy decided to make up his own answer. Now he’s tricking these people into thinking that he is telling them the truth.”

  Steve doesn’t know what to do next – How can he tell the people of Epheral that Mozeib is just a liar? They seem to trust him very much, whilst Steve is an outsider so no one would probably believe him if he tells them that the animals are not the cause of the monster hordes disappearance.

  Even worse, we wolves can’t get anywhere closer to the city because they’ll take us out. We can’t help Steve in any possible way, and we must always use the Invisibility Potions if we want to get inside safely.

  Whatever Steve decides to do next, it will be not easy. Epheral city may not be the exact cause of why the wild animals disappeared from the region, but maybe the leader Mozeib might know something about it. After all, he’s the one who has been preaching against the passive mobs, and we’ll discover what he has to say.