PROLOGUE

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." -Edmund Burke

The wind sung a war song through the ancient alder trees. Quiet creatures of soot and shadow, tree spirits, peered curiously at the clash of steel and shield along the densely wooded path. Arrows pierced these filmy beings on their way to muscled, armored bodies and though many of the arrowheads fell the men, it merely tickled the alder spirits.

What curiosities these gutty men were. They slice one another open to see the bits inside and leave the bodies to rot and blend in the loam. They call it war but grunt and squeal like pigs mating in the mud.

One man stood above the others. He looked no different than the other men. Most of them possessed the sun-kissed complexion of the Desert Fae but not so dark as the Southern humans who tilled the land and cared only for Earthly prosperity. He towered over many but not all. His shoulders were wide and his back was strong. His features were arrogantly patrician with eyes of wild green. On his breastplate, he carried the regality of his kindred. Vuren the Dragon Lord. Descendant of ancient vicious fire breathers. Or so he believed.

And like the Dragons of lore, Vuren and his ilk were tyrannical in their rule. For generations, their kin spread through the lands. They made war with many and became well known conquerors. When they took all of the western lands, they began to seep into the eastern forest. Ancient trees fell beneath the feet of their marching soldiers. Even in this new land they seemed unstoppable.

Those who stood against Vuren and his Draconian Empire became known as Wolves due to the fact that they wore the furs of dead beasts on their back, wolf skulls as masks, and howled to each other in the language of the canine. These forest dwellers carried within them the spirit of their ancestors and lived closely to the Earth. It was because of this frail bond that the alder spirits watched so closely.

Of the Wolf pack, the General Lykos was of particular distinction himself. He was tall, though not as tall as Lord Vuren, nor were his shoulders as broad. Lykos possessed a developed lean muscular body built not from laboring and swordplay but swimming and climbing for recreation. And of all the people on the battlefield, Lykos was often the only person smiling.

The Wolf pack had both men and women in their militia and they all wore their hair long and braided in intricate fashion down their backs. These men and women were so similarly built with lean muscle and agile limbs that it was hard to differentiate them until they lay dead upon the Earth and their wolf furs were pushed aside.

Knowing that women fought in his opponent's forces angered Vuren. In his Empire, women were precious and protected. It was an affront to nature to allow a woman to even wield a butter knife, much less a sword or spear. This ideology has been impressed upon many conquered nations and though not all territories viewed women as so well-beloved and worthy of protection, Vuren was proud to know that women no longer held sharp objects for fear of breaking Draconian laws.

Each man viewed the other as barbaric both in how they view their women and how they live from the land. But these differences seemed so trivial to the alder spirits as they watched the battle reach its crescendo. The humans and their opposing views and perceptions of one another fueled them on with such violent vigor. There was no other animal quite so bloodthirsty than humankind. To the alder spirits, the humans as a whole were barbaric with only very few exceptions.

It was such a shame to see General Lykos brought to his knees before Lord Vuren. The alder spirits sided with the Wolves because their longevity was connected to the alder trees and to the soil that produced such robust arboriculture. Should Vuren overcome the great forests, the spirits of the trees would fall to rot like gutted humans upon the ground.

"Will you kill us all, Dragon Lord?" Lykos asked with a smile. Two of Vuren's guards held him down on his knees with gleaming steel blades and booted feet. Lykos didn't struggle when they pulled the wolf skull mask from his face. He was a cunning warrior, heralded as the great tactician by many of the other tribes. He would bide his time. If Death came for him today, he would greet it gladly, if not, he vowed to introduce it to new friends. Namely Vuren.

"You confuse me for a murderer. I am a King. If I kill my subjects, whom shall I rule over?" Vuren replied smoothly.

Vuren used his the flat polished steel of his sword to lift Lykos' face into the dappled sunlight. The General was handsome in a way that Vuren was unused to. Lykos was long lean limbed and very lightly cinnamon skinned. He possessed spirited mahogany eyes and piles of lovely shiny dark brown hair that had come loose from its braid, streaked with warm sunlight and matted down on one side with blood. His mouth was shamefully full, accentuated by a thin black line that divided his bottom lip in half, all the way down his chin and the front of his throat. No, Vuren thought, his enemy wasn't handsome as men should be. He was beautiful. Unforgivably beautiful.

"Carcasses," Lykos answered with a sneer that turned his lovely face into something devilish and fierce. He spat at Vuren's polished boots like a punctuation in his speech. The expression surprised Vuren out of his reverie and he rewarded Lykos with a swift impact of his sword handle that left the Wolf limp in the grip of his men's arms.

One by one, the remaining Wolves howled until they were each silenced in a similar manner. In the distance, deep within the labyrinth of alder trees, there was a faint answering howl that sounded like a promise.

*****

AN: I'm reposting this prologue with a few minor changes. For instance, I got tired to having to copy and past the accent on Lykos' name. This story has been insistent for years, even while I was trying to finish Love & Death. Denying it has only made me struggle more. Hopefully, by embracing it, I'll loosen up a little more and write more freely!

Also, this is my Patreon account. I don't have any locked posts but I'd still love to interact with my fans. Come chat with me there too! https://www.patreon.com/AlexaLaMenthe

I love and miss you all!