by Ryan Evans
“As a landless noble sworn to our house, you can achieve the rank of captain. Anything higher will require you being awarded property within the house and a more binding oath of service. The pledge I’ll have you make here in a moment allows you the freedom of leaving the house if things aren’t working out the way we hoped,” he said.
His answer seemed straight forward, and it satisfied me. “How will all of this work here at the battle academy after I pledge my allegiance?” I asked, remembering my time here. I had grown to appreciate and respect the skills of those whom I’d trained with all these years, and it’d be a disappointment to serve without them.
“It can be a little awkward at first. Once you fully embrace your heritage, it will awaken your aura, and you’ll notice its effects on those around you. We can suppress our auras, but even then, they’ll see you differently than they have. Depending on the strength of your bloodline, you may suppress it to where they barely notice,” He said in a reassuring tone.
It made sense, I hoped six years of training and comradery wouldn’t disappear overnight. These people had seen my triumphs and failures. They’d seen me make mistakes and take lashes on more than one occasion. I wondered how things would go from here. I sat in silence for a moment before asking my last question.
“Karsam, how do I fully embrace my heritage? Since this morning, I’ve had to hold back shifting several times, and every little thing seems to make me angry. I keep feeling like I’m losing control.” Even as I spoke, I could feel my inner beast pushing at the edges of my mind.
“That part is simple,” Karsam said, looking me in the eye. He had my full and undivided attention. “You have to shift. That’s why you’ve been so on edge.”
“Your body is trying to make you shift to open your power. Once you transform, your noble traits will unlock naturally to fight the influencing effect of the surrounding auras, and your body will adjust to your new abilities. Your strength will increase along with your senses and reflexes. You’ll be able to control your aura like an almost physical thing, allowing you to release it or draw it back to keep from influencing those around you. You’ll also be able to compare it to the auras of the nobles you meet. They’ll have the ability do the same when you’re around them. We’ll use it to help us establish the strength of the bloodline you come from, which may give us an idea about your parents’ possible identities. As a side benefit, your emotions should return to normal. You’ll always have dominance issues, but that is part of the struggle of being a beast-kind noble,” he explained.
His answer surprised me. The entire morning, I’d feared unleashing my inner beast; afraid that if I did, I would become a feral monster. Now, I found out that embracing it would bring it back under control. The irony wasn’t lost on me.
“If you’re not opposed to it, I’d like for you to shift now. After that, we can have you make your pledge to Silvanti House. Once all that is taken care of, we should be able to catch the tournament finals and introduce you to the other nobles here,” he said amicably.
“The first shift after your bloodline awakens can be more painful than usual. It is a side effect of your aura coming into being. Once you make it past your first shift, your later shifts will be faster and easier than they’ve ever been before,” he added.
Shifting into beast form was an intense experience. The change itself was both exhilarating and excruciating all at once. As the change occurred, your senses felt like they had been muffled until that point and were just now coming alive. On the flip side of that, as your senses came alive, so too did your nerve endings. You felt your body stretch and grow and change in unnatural ways. It was as if you were being torn apart, but during the experience, such power flooded you, that the pain was worth it.
Commoners had very hard limits on how often and for how long they shifted, and the battle academy taught us not to do so without real need. The nobles had much more leeway depending on the strength of their bloodline. I’d been able to shift for six years now, so it wasn’t all that intimidating to do so; I just had to mentally prepare for the pain of having my bones, muscles and skin rearranged violently.
As beast-kind, our entire society was a little different from most other civilized groups. When we shifted, our forms expanded and changed into a mix between man and beast. When that happened, clothes didn’t last long. Because of that, most commoners preferred to strip down before shifting, and nudity wasn’t taboo like in many other civilized races.
Wolves were considered medium sized, and our shifts usually took less than three minutes to complete. The larger beast-kind such as bears, lions and tigers took considerably longer since their mass increased much more drastically. The opposite was true of the smaller species such as coyotes, foxes and weasels.
Upon changing, most wolf-kind gained anywhere from six inches to a foot of height and up to a hundred pounds of weight. Despite our size, our bodies appeared sleeker and lither with longer legs and arms. Along with the change to our size and muscles, we gained razor-sharp teeth and claws capable of tearing and scratching all but the hardest stones and metals.
I was acutely aware of Karsam and Lathian as I took off my weapons, armor and clothing. They remained sitting with relaxed postures: Karsam’s natural, Lathian’s forced. I saw the tension in his shoulders and noticed his hand close to his hip. There was a distinct outline of a knife hilt I had somehow missed earlier.
The familiar pain radiated throughout my body as I allowed the animal side to take a greater hold on my mind.
Bones shifted. Tendons and ligaments stretched and moved. Muscle tissue grew and re-aligned. Skin stretched, tore, and regrew. Hair sprouted all over my body. Senses sharpened to a knife’s edge. I embraced the wild, familiarity of my beast.
Then, something changed. A pressure grew inside me, and I thought I might explode at any moment. And then, suddenly, I did.
A fire erupted in my veins. I let out a pained growl that turned to an agonizing roar midway through the sound. My body was being burned away and replaced with another, though there was no fire or smoke.
The pain lasted forever. Or one second. Time melted away in my personal hell. I had no way to measure it. But, in that moment, I would have given anything for it to stop. Death would have been welcome. I would have gone willingly.
Just as I reached my limit, the pain disappeared; suddenly nothing more than a memory. The abrupt lack of pain left me hollow, but just as quickly as the emptiness arrived, strength flooded in to fill the void.
The power overrode everything else. I was invincible. Every inch of my body radiated energy. My senses slammed against my brain, sharper than I had ever experienced. Strangely, my control over my inner beast was stronger than it ever had been. Instead of the sensation of relinquishing control to the animal within, my perception barely changed. My mind was no longer split between man and beast. We were one. Despite the continuous barrage of sensory information, my ability to think and reason didn’t diminish.
My body appeared in my mind’s eye. A seven foot tall monster consisting of half man and half wolf stood where I had been before the shift. While I looked lean, I had more muscle than I remembered. Thick, black fur replaced the charcoal grey that I’d once had. It was the deepest black; an abyss of darkness. It was as if the light itself didn’t dare touch me. My claws and sharp teeth completed the image of an indomitable killing machine.
For a long moment, I was lost in my new found strength. The scent of fear reached my nostrils and broke my revelry. I focused on finding the source of the scent and traced it back to Lathian. He sat stock still as if even the smallest movement might make me attack. He’d even tilted his head down slightly so he might keep me in his sight without making direct eye contact. His response shocked me; I expected him to be calmer around a shifted beast-kind, seeing as how relaxed he’d been until this point.
The aroma of the meat tray caught my attention and derailed my thoughts. I silently moved closer to the scent in front of Lathian
and Karsam. As I moved, I experimented with my new body. I stalked forward, trying to decrease the noise I made.
My ability to move silently didn’t disappoint. Even my acute hearing barely picked up more than a slight noise from my movement on the wooden floor and rug. Based on the little I heard, even Karsam and Lathian directly in front of me wouldn’t be able to hear my steps. As I got closer, the fear intensified. Lathian’s body was poised for action as his hand gripped the not so hidden blade at his hip.
My inner danger assessment noted that, even if he attacked, the blade wouldn’t help him. My regeneration had always been faster than my fellow trainees, and a part of me knew it would be almost instantaneous now that I’d completed my awakening. That’s what this was, an awakening. I realized that until now, I’d only been a shadow of my true self.
The memory of the morning’s run entered my mind. I’d always pushed myself, but been frustrated with the results. I now had access to the energy that had been locked inside me all this time.
I stepped towards the food tray and got close enough that Lathian or Karsam were within range of a quick lunge. It surprised me to note that the elf wasn’t the only one exuding fear anymore; the scent also came from Karsam.
Something wasn’t right. As a senior noble in House Silvanti, Karsam had been around countless other nobles in either form. What made this time different?
Looming over the table, I reached down and scooped up several pieces of meat. My hands in beast form were great for carnage, but fine movements like picking up meat slices individually were a little trickier. The claws that were so useful in battle were hell on not destroying the metal serving tray and the table beneath it.
I raised the meat to my elongated face and inhaled deeply through my nose before dropping it into my mouth. The aroma and succulence of the meat were so much richer in this form compared to my human form. Despite how good it tasted, my senses told me the roasted meat would have been better raw. As I chewed and swallowed my snack, the tension in the room came down several levels at my display of control. Even with the tension fading, the fear didn’t go away.
Karsam cleared his throat. Whether the action was to keep his voice from trembling or get my attention, I didn’t know. “Valian, I wonder if you wouldn’t mind shifting back now. We must move on,” he said in a steady voice, but his words sounded fragile in my ears.
I struggled with the desire to stay in my beast form. That impulse was there for all beast-kind when shifted into their animal side, but as a commoner, you only had so much time before you exhausted your energy. The change would also drain your energy for several hours.
In my newly awakened form, my instincts encouraged me not to relinquish my strength. I no longer had a limit on my shifts, so I didn’t have to turn back. This power could be mine forever. As tempted as I was, I forced myself to shift back to my human form. The transformation back wasn’t nearly as painful, but left me feeling diminished somehow.
As I stood there naked, my inner beast lurked just below the surface, ready to shift again. The animal inside me had melded more closely with my regular thoughts. It was no longer an internal force trying to get out, it was just a part of who I was. With that new connection to my savage side, my strength felt magnified, even in my human form, at least tenfold.
I recognized what had to be my aura. It was a force radiating from my core. I mentally pulled it in dialing it back as much as possible. Suppressing this inner power reminded me of holding my breath or constantly flexing my stomach. It was unnatural but more of a discomfort than pain.
Concentrating on my aura, I released it and suppressed it repeatedly. Like any new muscle, I tried to understand its capabilities. I noted that even when fully suppressed, a measure of its power still radiated out from me.
Karsam interrupted my self-reflection and practice by clearing his throat again. His voice sounded surer and more confident this time. “Valian, do you mind throwing your clothes back on and having a seat? We need to talk about some things.” His words carried an edge to them that intrigued me. After all, I had unlocked my full potential. What could possibly be wrong in that?
“Valian, earlier I told you we’d probably never know what bloodline you were from,” he started, staring down at his hands in his lap. “After that display, it’s safe to say I was wrong. It was a shock to see your awakening and to feel your aura come alive. If I had suspected, I would have warned you more about the pain,” he said still focusing on his own hands.
“I expected to have to warn you about stronger bloodlines using their auras to bully you, but now I must council you on the opposite issue.” He paused for a moment before continuing.
“As bloodlines get older, they become more powerful. When a noble from a much older bloodline releases their full aura, everyone, including other nobles, is affected. I expected you to be from an unknown weak line like most bastard nobles are. I know, now, that I was incorrect. Of all the different wolf-kind bloodlines, only two have the strength you’ve exhibited. They are both among the oldest bloodlines known in the empire,” he said, looking up to face me. His eyes had a clouded, far off look to them.
At this, Lathian stood and started pacing behind his chair. “Karsam, you cannot be serious. It is impossible. They were eradicated generations ago,” he said with an insistence that surprised me. Neither his statement nor his agitated body language made any sense.
Karsam nodded as he turned and spoke to his elven servant, “With his black coloration and strength, he couldn’t be from any other bloodline than Fero,” he said in an almost grim tone.
In training, they had taught us of the last great civil war of the empire known as the Founder’s War. During that time, two rival factions of the oldest and strongest bloodlines fought for complete control. The Fero bloodline was one of those lines and came close to gaining the throne instead of the current imperial family.
Several types of beast-kind made up the Soltaran Empire. Before the empire’s foundation, the different species were separated into various tribes and clans based on species. The oldest bloodlines of their species led these clans and tribes.
These groups of old were even more warlike than today’s empire and continuously tried to dominate their neighbors. Over time, they conquered and absorbed weaker tribes into budding kingdoms that later became one unified empire. The two strongest political factions within the new empire weren’t content with sharing power. Instead, they waged a bloody war for total control.
The wolf-kind Fero line and the tiger-kind Saeva line led the two factions. The two sides were so evenly matched that the war continued for nearly three hundred years, and the toll it took on the empire was unfathomable. Entire bloodlines were lost in the constant bloodshed. Both sides knew they had to end their war soon or risk the downfall of all beast-kind to the lesser races.
The second most powerful family in the Fero faction, the Cruentos, made a deal with the Saevas. In exchange for power, they’d defect to the Saeva faction and help end the war. During a particularly gruesome battle, they, along with many other bloodlines, betrayed the Feros and slaughtered most of their forces. With their army destroyed, the Fero bloodline and their most ardent supporters were wiped out.
As the Feros no longer threatened their power, the Saeva House became what was now called the imperial bloodline. The Saevas, being tiger-kind, allowed their feline beast-kind supporters to take positions of power and importance within the empire. They forced the other species into a more subservient role.
They gave the Cruentos the wealth and station they had been promised, making them the only influential wolf-kind house in the empire. Other wolf-kind and canine species that had followed the Cruentos in their betrayal weren’t as lucky. Despite their support of the Saeva line, they had much of their power and influence stripped from them and given to the feline-kind houses that had first supported the new emperor. As a result, to this day, many canine beast-kind still had a deep seeded resentment of the empire they served.
“What makes you so sure I am a Fero descendent and not from the Cruento line? Weren’t the Feros wiped out during the war?” I asked, not believing what Karsam was telling me. This talk of what line I descended from was taking a worrisome turn. If what Karsam said was true, there was a real chance I was in danger of being labeled an enemy of the strongest bloodlines in the empire.
Karsam took a sip of his drink before answering. Lathian sat back down roughly in his chair. He had not spoken since his earlier outburst. “Valian, in the oldest bloodlines, certain traits are always dominant. For instance, all the wolf-kind with majority Cruento blood have a dusky red coat. No matter what house they pair with, you can always tell if the Cruento blood is strong in their offspring by that trait alone. In the Saeva line, their white coloration is the identifying mark. Just like all the other oldest bloodlines, the Feros had a unique identifying trait. People knew them as the Dark Wolves because all of them were a hellish black while in beast form. There are no others who bear that genetic marker. That, mixed with your strength, leads me to believe you could only be a descendent of their line.”
Lathian stirred from his thoughts. “The elves are a long-lived people. We have passed our stories, both uplifting and tragic, down from generation to generation for as long as we can remember. Many of our stories talk about the Dark Wolves. When they led the beast-kind, they attacked with a ruthlessness that the elves could scarcely believe. They brought destruction and ruin upon my people wherever they went. To this day, we use stories of them as a way to scare humility back into our younger warriors whenever they become too proud,” Lathian said, going silent as he finished his story. A shadow lingered in his eyes as his hand touched the knife handle on his side. I briefly wondered if he would make a move against me.
Karsam noticed his friend’s behavior. “Lathian, please find Valian here some new under clothing and a lieutenant’s tabard?” he asked, giving the elf something to do. The request snapped Lathian out of his musings, and he stood and bowed before leaving the room without saying a word.
