The boy had been following the pack for weeks.

He felt his patience flutter for the millionth time that day. Keeping one eye on the pack of wolves sitting around a dimly lit fire, down a slope and a good distance away from him, he made a little space among the bush around him to serve as a bed. There was only the voice of the crackling fire and a light wind blowing through the trees to keep him company, along with the moon and the stars.

As he lay his head on the ground, gazing up at the sky, he thought of giving up and returning back to his home and be with his friends again. It was his first time being so far away from home on a mission. He was already getting homesick. But his orders were clear: Follow the pack till they are out of Terricia and then return back to Luna. Report on what the pack's purpose is. Find anything you can about her.

Find her. He, his friends, his people were out there risking their lives for someone who might very well not exist. All they knew about this mysterious figure was her gender and age. A young girl of sixteen or seventeen years. Nothing else. But he could not give up yet. His mother had given her life for this. He would not let her down.

He liked to think his mother was out there among the stars. An old myth in Luna said that the Goddess Lucia picks the bravest and the noblest of her followers to be a part of her Court of Stars, when they die. His mother had to be one of them. She gave her life for a better future for their ill-fated kingdom. He would find a way among the stars with her one day. This thought alone made him endure this mission.

Sounds of someone running woke him up from his thoughts. He sat up straight to look at the wolf pack. The grey wolf that had gone off in the afternoon had returned. But his two companions were missing. The wolf turned into a man with pale skin and light brown hair, and collapsed on his knees and hands in front of his companions. One of them, their alpha as the boy had found out, shifted into a man too and bent down next to his friend. The others stood up straighter, still in their wolf form.

The boy dared to shift a little closer to listen to them. Things had just gotten a little interesting.

"It's her...they're... dead. She killed them Vorcan!" the brown-haired man said, his body shook as he cried.

"Get yourself together, Marlin. Tell us what happened," the alpha said.

"Saki strayed away from us. You know the kid. When we found him, he already had an arrow in him. Maia and I tried to catch them...two kids...girl and boy. They were Terra. Except she wasn't entirely Terra, Vorcan!"

One of the wolves grumbled a question. "Maia got an arrow too. It was the girl who shot. IT'S HER. She radiated that ripple of magic just when I was about to attack her. Exactly like we were told. They got out of those fences. I couldn't shift and follow them as I had to go back to save Maia. But it was too late," Marlin said. He shook violently now, crying as another wolf nuzzled him.

"Are you completely sure it's her?"

"Completely. Her eyes were definitely Luna. The look in them. It's definitely her."

"Lucia and her crown of bones. We've found her. We'll take her tomorrow itself. We'll avenge them both. I know what to do. Tell us exactly what she looks like," Vorcan demanded.

"She is two heads shorter than me, long brown hair and light blue eyes. I think there was some silver in her eyes too. Like the Lunar royals. Skin was brown like all the Terra here. She was with a boy, as tall as me. Black hair, brown eyes."

"It wouldn't be hard to find a Terra with blue eyes in here. Now tell me how they got out of the wards," Vorcan said.

The boy listened to their entire plan. Sleep had left him completely and he was buzzing with excitement and thrill. She's here. Somewhere down these mountains, in the town slept a girl who didn't know how many people were trying to find her. The girl for whom his mother had given up her life.

She's here. She's still alive. He had to get to her before the werewolves did.

The History of Merehalm

The title of the book read. A big, fat book with a fading golden cover and badly worn-out edges. The pages were rusted and coming out of their bindings. Isadora picked it off carefully from the bookshelf and sat down with it at the long oak table in the center of the public library.

The library was empty except for her, Ian and the old librarian who had now disappeared among the many rows of bookshelves.

"So, tell me again, why are we wasting our time in this boring place while we should be out there celebrating with everybody?" Ian asked.

She scowled at him. "The celebration hasn't started yet and this is important. Besides, I didn't ask you to be here. You can go," she said.

"Nah I'll stay."

"Then don't complain." Isadora told him of her and Alex's encounter the previous day and how she worried about the wolves.

"That just seems highly unlikely. There's just no way werewolves can secretly get into Terricia," Ian said after a pause.

"But it's not impossible," she remarked. "I just need to learn more about them."

Isadora brushed the dust from the book. The first page held a painting of The Eternal Sisters.

Goddess of the Moon Lucia, with her long, flowing silver hair that glistened like the moon through the painting, topped with an ivory crown made up of bones, stood on the right. Her eyes were entirely deep pools of silver and she held what seemed to be a silver leaf in her hand. Dark black runes marked her unearthly pale-white skin. The artist did an incredible job, as an aura of night and darkness seemed to surround her. She looked cold and unnerving.

The Sun Goddess, Solaria, had raging fire in her eyes and her olive skin emitted a warm white glow. Her hair seemed ablaze with all the colours of fire, from white-blue at the roots to orange-yellow at the tips. She held a yellow leaf in her hand. She stood on the left, tallest and oldest of the three, with wisdom in her demeanour.

Terrana, The Earth Goddess and Terricia's patron, stood in the middle. Unlike the fierceness of the other two Goddesses, Terrana seemed young and cheerful. Her brown hair was weaved with beautiful flowers and leaves. Her skin was dark and textured like muddy sand. Her eyes were deep ocean blue. She held a green leaf in her hand.

The paintings of the Goddesses were present everywhere throughout the town, on walls and fences, in temples, in shops, depicting their stories. Yet it enraptured her every time she looked at them, especially this particular painting.

She turned through the pages that held the entire history of how their continent, Merehalm, used to be one entire kingdom where mortals lived scared from all the monsters that terrorized them. The monsters, or the Creatures from the Void, were the children of a dark god who was jealous of the three goddess' love for mortals and wanted to eradicate them.

She knew the story by-heart. How the Goddesses gave some of the mortals of their blood and powers to defend themselves. How Merehalm grew to its extreme power with  the magic-borne calling themselves as the Eytaria, which meant 'the protectors' in the old language. How the powers divided among the people, attracting enemies from foreign lands who sought to divide and conquer the kingdom. After the invasion, Merehalm, divided into the existing three kingdoms and the people of each kingdom have long since held on to their grudge and hatred for each other.

Though peace treaties have worked out, making the people more tolerable towards each other, the kingdoms still did not trust the other.

She finally came upon the chapter that held information about werewolves.

"Found it," she said more to herself than to Ian. She read out loud.

"Wolves are known to be the children of the goddess Terrana. In some beliefs they are commonly assumed to be Lucia's protectors when she was born, the youngest of the three sisters, and was abandoned by their parents, the great Primordial Gods. Terrana nursed her little sister, while the wolves protected her. As a repay to their kindness, she gave those wolves the power to shapeshift into human form. The Lycanthropes, or werewolves as they came to be commonly called, hence became the followers of Lucia."

There was more about their history, but she skipped to the part she needed.

"Lycanthropy is passed through the generation, and the infant of a Lycan and a human might or might not have the ability, depending upon the dominant powers of the parents. If the blood of a Lycan enters a human, it is possible, though rare, that the human would come to possess the Lycan abilities. This is due to the fact that the humans might have mixed blood of the Goddesses, which could dominate instead, dissolving the effect of lycan blood.

The distinguishing features between a werewolf and a common wolf can easily go unnoticed. Though werewolves have greater strength and communicate differently among their packs. It is far easier to identify Lycans in their human form. They retain some of their animalistic nature and affinities. They are drawn towards meat and have exceptionally strong senses. They tend to be aggressive as the full moon night nears. Some spells can also identify a werewolf. More about the spells are written in the next chapter.

Though they can shift upon will, younglings tend to have lesser control over their powers. This could lead to them unwillingly changing during a full moon or when facing strong emotions. The first few changings might be painful.

After the First Peace Treaty, werewolves have been living in the Lunar Kingdom as the protectors and defenders of their people. From birth, they are subjected to brutal training..."

She skipped a few more parts.

"And if they do change into a Lycan, then they have to abandon their homeland and live in Luna, according to the Third Peace Treaty signed by..."

She skimmed over the rest of the pages in the chapter, though there wasn't more about the effects or symptoms of lycanthropy.

She sighed and looked at Ian, who arched an eyebrow. His brown hair was curling at his collar and he ran his fingers nervously through them every so often.

"Well, I guess I will have to observe Alex, see if he shows any of these symptoms. It was just a bite. The blood was probably not transferred. Probably."

"Maybe you should take him to a butcher, see if the meat instigates him," Ian suggested.

"We already went to one early in the morning to sell our hunt. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary." She closed the book and took her head in her hands.

"Relax Dory. The possibility is very low. And you said yourself, Alex is feeling all fine," he smiled softly at her, "Let's get changed and go to the feast now. It will brighten up your mood."

She smiled back at him and stood up. She was probably overthinking. Of course, there were ordinary wolves in the mountains. Though she wouldn't dare go into the forest for a long while now.

Isadora came back home to find her parents and Alex sitting around the little round dining table in their kitchen. There was a stack of papers on the table and her father was explaining something written on it to Alex. They all looked at her as she entered. Her father's face broke into a huge grin. He had a warm smiling face with sharp edges, very much like Alex. His hair had turned grey at places but his smile made him look younger.

He stood up and took her in a tight hug. "Oh Dora. I have such great news! Come sit." She sat down at the table, still very confused. She looked at Alex who had a stiff smile on his face, as if unable to decide if it was good news or a bad one.

"I know you kids have done your part in running the house. And my love, you too," he said looking at their mother. "But the struggling days are behind us. My aunt in Acidalia died and as her only living family, we get her inheritance; her money and property is ours now. It's quite a handsome amount. There's better work for me and Alex there too. Better education for you."

She never liked her Great Aunt Marcene. A narcissistic crone who never helped them when she was alive. She had only visited her aunt a couple of times, both encounters bearing sour memories. "What are you saying exactly? Will we move to Acidalia?"

"Yes! We'll have to wrap up the work here. It might take us a month. What do you think?" he said.

Acidalia was the capital city of Terricia. Isadora had fallen in love with it in the few times she had visited.
It was the city of art and culture, full of wonders and magic at every nook and corner. The City of Dreams, as it was popularly called, was home to most of the Eytaria in Terricia.

The way people talked about the grandeur of festivities held there almost sounded unreal. It also had the biggest library in all of Terricia where the oldest books in various languages across kingdoms and oceans all around the world could be found.

There were shops in the wealthy districts where you could buy potions that told your future, or statues made entirely of water, or flowers of each and every colour you could dream of. But of course, she never had enough money to buy them.

Her aunt did own certain enchanted things, but she was too selfish to let anyone near them. The things that, ironically, would be Isadora's now.

The magic in Maris was too rare. Their town was cut off from much of the other cities and solely dedicated to fisheries, farms and trade. The most magic she had seen here were during festivals. But in Acidalia, magic was everywhere at all times.

Her face lit up. "That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, it is," Alex said, with a little edge in his voice.

"What's wrong? Do you not like the idea?"

"Oh no I like it. I love it. I was just thinking about leaving this place that's been our home forever. And also leaving my friends."

"It's going to be okay, Al. It will take time to adjust, but we'll all be better off. You both needn't worry about us anymore," their mother said, smiling gently.

If only they would have heard this news a day before, everything they went through yesterday could have been avoided, Isadora thought.

But her earlier worries had left her. The thought of Acidalia filled her with excitement and possibilities. Oh, how she would devour every book in the city library. She would learn to play her aunt's piano. She would attend the enchanted street theatricals and carnivals. She would finally see Queen Nephelae's Stone Castle with her own eyes! She was sure their fates were about to change.

//The last of her kind - Peter Gundry//