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Elek and Eri are no ordinary wolves.

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MY BONES REMAINED stiff; eyes focused on the large shadows that moved amongst the trees in a fluid motion.

Everything was deathly quiet around me, only the rapid shallow breathing of classmates betrayed our anticipation. Two red lights suddenly revealed themselves from the shadows of the woods, hovering between the trees, causing a gasp to implode somewhere. Mr. Ogustus immediately raised a hand, forming it into a fist to signify we should remain quiet.

Another pair of burning red eyes appeared a small distance from the first, equally hidden by the intruding shadows. Mr. Ogustus beckoned the rest of us to stay as he grabbed a hold of his crutch.

"Whatever you see younglings, your biggest mistake is to run," he warned yet again without looking back as he hobbled near the edge of the woods. We watched him get closer, an air of anticipation and fear around us.

He paused a few feet from the tree line, leaning on his crutch. His eyes seemed to study the two pairs of red flames staring back at him.

Sighing, he shook his head, "Must we wait an eternity for you magnificent beings to grace us with your presence?" he called out lazily.

A growl erupted from both directions and almost immediately two irregular-sized wolves leaped from the trees, coming bounding towards him, their fur as dark as night, eyes a burning flame.

I didn't think they would have been visible at night, and yet as big as horses they stood lowering their heads as they approached Mr. Ogustus's outstretched hand, their noses sniffing and then rubbing against it.

I blinked twice at the sight, unable to believe the sizes of the wolves I was seeing. Kingsland was going to mess me up with these illusions. Their size, however, was not the only thing irregular about them.

Their glowing red eyes seemed to mimic red hot flames, flickering to and from.

Their paws had sharp claws but even with their sizes, I didn't see any footprints they had left. The woods were littered with dry crunchy leaves and twigs, yet even as they stepped on them, the ground didn't sink beneath their weight, nor did the leaves crunch.

I noticed an array of intricate patterns on their bank, ancient and powerful.

They emitted low growls, their ears up and on high alert as if they had never rested a day in their lives, their teeth were deadly sharp and steam rose from their nostrils signifying that somewhere somehow, they were extremely hot.

If anything, the wolves in front of me should have taken me as scary which to some extent they were, however, I found myself more fascinated by them than anything else, so much so I believe it quenched my fear.

Claire and the rest of the class on the other hand needed no explanations.

You could tell from their horrified looks and the way they huddled close to each other to avoid bolting back to The Crown, I presumed that they were terrified to the bone. Claire's hand tightly squeezing mine accompanied by her sharp low breathing let me know she too was frightened.

Mr. Ogustus hobbled around the wolves, his hand passing through what looked like soft fur. He paused, turning back around to face us, his eyes falling on our frightened expressions with a low chuckle.

"Once again, I see fear," he stated.

Knowing his previous teaching on Fear and how it is men's greatest weakness, I felt he was trying to teach us something. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what, but it seemed to get to most of us, students slowly becoming less huddled up.

He studied us for a moment before turning back to one wolf that emitted a low growl,

"Younglings," he began, "I am delighted to introduce you to Elek," he said, his hand resting on the back of one of the wolves who had a claw scar underneath its left fiery eye, "and Eri," he introduced, his eye turning to the other wolf, whose long tail wagged, releasing a low growl.

He chuckled at this, patting the wolf's coat.

"As you can see," he continued, placing both hands on his cane with a soft sigh, "Elek and Eri are no ordinary wolves, neither are they shifters by deceptions, rather, they are Shadow wolves, the only ones of their kind," he explained, "I brought you here because I believe vision is essential in the belief of the unnatural" he explained, "I also thought you wouldn't get confused this way," he added to which we all chuckled.

"There are many supernatural creatures that live as humans, and there are those that are as they are, supernatural creatures. In Mornings Origins class, we discussed the most common kinds of shifters, or the most well-known, from berserkers to werewolves, to Ape men, to Gigans. All these I have mentioned are Deceptions, however, not all shifters are deceptions," he explained as the two wolves Elek and Eri listened beside us, their glowing eyes focused on our frail bodies.

"Ari Davis is such an example, she is the descendent of a crocodile clan, one of the rare shifters that do not descend from deceptions but rather from gods." He explained.

"You m-mean like demi-gods?" Naaka asked, her eyes shifting from Mr. Ogustus to the two wolves beside him uncomfortably.

"Well," Mr. Ogustus replied, breathing out shortly, "there are those who are demi-gods because in their bodies runs the blood of gods biologically, and then..." he trailed off, "there are those who are Dilectus because in their blood runs the magic of a god. I shall vaguely discuss the myths of the crocodile clans, a story short and yet sweet," he enunciated sweet as if he could taste the word itself.

"The Crocodile Clan was a tribe that lived by the river, much like the wild men. They sought to protect their people from the claws of the outside world, however instead of calling onto the old dark forces, these clans were helped by a certain deity," he explained, "blessed them with the abilities of the serpents of the river beds. Crocodile shifters are one of the only kinds of shifters who can shift at will without a certain doomsday sign over their heads. For example, during the full moon, werewolves become insatiable and shift on command with no presence of their humanity. They kill without remorse, hence their curse. It is the same with other deceptions like Vampires on a blood moon. Elves and Faeries have their weaknesses. However, clans such as the crocodile clan are an exception when it comes to total control over their beast-like cravings,"

"But Ari does have physical changes to her body that she can't hide or retract on well, isn't that a weakness?" Claire suddenly asked her voice was low but much more steady and braver than ever she had before.

"Shifters like Ari Davis are Dilectus, hence their abilities were also considered supernatural. Because of this, they were also locked in the Aurora Borealis. What we see as physical damage at that time was seen as markings of power. We see her claws and the scales that form on her hands as a deformity and yet they are what make her unique and powerful, that is hardly a weakness," Mr. Ogustus finished.

He glanced over at the two wolves beside him, " Eri and Elek are another kind of supernatural creature, they can be considered Dilectus as they were sculpted from the very soul of a Criptus god," he began, "hence they remain as powerful as their patriot god and are loyal to only him, even if they do give respect when due," he replied.

"Are they dangerous?" David asked, folding his arms, seemingly more relaxed.

Mr. Ogustus Chuckled at this, " it's a soul of a god boy, it's more dangerous than you know," he replied, "unlike normal wolves, Eri and Elek travel by shadow and dimension," he continued, "They could be here one second and-" he snapped his finger, one of the wolves Eri, disappearing almost immediately, " and gone the next," he replied, a growl resounding to my side as the wolf hat had disappeared suddenly stood a foot away.

My breathing hitched but Mr. Ogustus immediately calmed us down, "be still little ones," he called over, "all wolves are attracted to fear, shadow wolves being designed to track it down, it is why they make excellent guardians of Kingsland from both men, convert and other supernatural intruders," he explained.

I looked at the wolf slowly, trying to not let my breathing betray the fear that was seeping in from being this close to it. It was also exiting a substantial amount of heat, its red eyes burning like hot coals, and yet I could see it slowly flicker and then suddenly dim as I stared on, seeming to read me, as I was reading it-

"No one touches a shadow wolf without burning off their hands," Mr. Ogustus suddenly said and I immediately froze stopping a hand that had unknowingly reached out to it, retracting it instantaneously, drawing my attention back to him," he looked straight at me, "only those that have mastered the art of the flame-" he began his eyes suddenly burning like two lit coals, similar to the wolves beside him,

"Have somewhat of a chance," he finished.

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