Eshaaxe: Chapter I

The furthest thing I can remember from here was a mission to warn an old friend about the spirit. I was searching for Humphrey's territory with Julie and 2 of my brothers on a hot day with no shade to rest in. After walking for miles, we finally got to what looked like his territory. A muscular male with red fur approached us, asking;

"Who's this? Why are you here?"

I told him I was a friend of Humphrey's, and that I wanted to warn him about a threat. He informed us that his name was Garth, and after I let him know the situation, he let us pass. After we entered the gates to his territory, I saw Humphrey in town center near the Mesopyron talking with his wife. His silver fur was darker and longer than the last time I saw him, and his body was generally more muscular. He had grown so much.

"Humphrey!" I said, excited.

"Daniel!?" Humphrey said, confused.

We ran to each other with the speed of raging warriors, only to wrap each other in the tightest hug in Neanthron history. His wife looked rather surprised.

"Humphrey, who's this?" she asked.

"An old.. friend." he said, hesitating.

I told Humphrey that I need to talk to him about something important, and told my brothers that him and I should be alone for this. They stepped aside, as did Humphrey's wife, Kate, and after stepping a bit further away from them to ensure secrecy, I told Humphrey about Erebus attempting to control the world again. He was silent for a little while. He looked shocked.

"I-I'm not ready for this..." Humphrey said, starting to panic.

"Whatever fighters your pack has are essential. Get your pack some training within the next few days." I told him, trying to keep a calm and stern voice to calm him down.

"Do you even know who's body he took?"

"A Ranian wolf, not very muscular. Keep a lookout." I told him, giving him the only knowledge of Erebus i had. Afterwards, I called my brothers over to give Humphrey a proper greeting. I pointed to my favorite of the two, a wolf with golden fur similar to Kate's, Michael.

"This is Michael. He's not too different from me, and should I ever be absent, you two should get along." I said, putting in a good first word for Michael. I then pointed to the younger brother, with brown fur similar to mine, but shorter.

"This is Mathew. You might find him a bit harder to get along with, but you'll like him in the end." I said, trying to be as honest as I could without being rude. Humphrey introduced himself to them both, and left to go assemble his armies. Julie followed him as the sounds of frogs and crickets were started to creep in .It was getting dark, so I went and sat by the Mesopyron, which was still lit because putting it out when the town has visitors is considered a rude gesture in Neanthron culture. Mathew and Michael occupied 2 of the 3 seats left that were surrounding the fire, and Mathew pulled out a bag of glowing turquoise buds, Kharophyllos. Julie was having a talk with Kate, and by the time she finished, Mathew had rolled the buds into a cigarette with a leaf that he picked from a random plant, giving everyone a sense of his intellectualism. He handed it to Michael, who took it with his right hand and raised his left. Fire from the Mesopyron flew to his fingertips, which he used to light the cigarette. Julie sat by the fire, but declined when it was passed to her. The Kharophyllon had a euphoric effect on the rest of us, making us feel almost too good to move, and we fell asleep at the fire, all of us but Julie.

The next morning I woke up earlier than usual, and left the den that I slept in to walk around a bit before trying to go back to sleep. The territory was painted with blood. Dead wolves were everywhere. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I hoped that Michael, Mathew and Humphrey were okay. I searched across all of Humphrey's land, until I found all three of them cowering in a den. I reassured them that it was just me and all of us were going to be okay. Humphrey replied "We're not going to be ok.. You have no idea what we just saw..". I told them that I was going to search for who did this, and that they could stay where they were or come with me. When I exited their den, I saw an all black wolf with his back turned to me. He turned around to reveal his glowing red eyes and bloodied claws. I knew this had to be Erebus. He started to run at me. I quickly attempted to ensnare him with roots from the ground, but he passed through them as if they were never there. I threw a seed bomb in his face that staggered him, and delivered a swift kick to his chest, knocking him to the ground. He got up and stared at me, blood dripping from his mouth. He then ran off. To this day I still don't know why I didn't chase him. I could've prevented all of this. I turned to Humphrey and told him the fate of Eshaaxe depended on our leadership, and that whatever army hadn't been killed by Erebus needs immediate training. →