• For the past three years, six clans of part-demons - the Silverfin, Saltwhisker, Greybeak, Leatherwing, Swiftfang, and Thunderhoof - have been at war. Rivalry for territory, arguments, and disputes over food have caused the once-peaceful groups to feud, causing violent rifts between them.
    Now, passed down over the years, tales of a legendary book have reached the ears of the clan elders. This book, known as the Night Chapters, used to be thought of as nothing but lore, a tale mothers told to get their children to sleep, and supposedly has the power to overthrow all other clans. The battle is now on to find the book - but which of the six will discover it first?

    Rae


    “Stop it, you silly girl.” Renna laughed, pushing my muzzle away from the pouch attached to her belt for the third time. I knew there was food in there, and not just because of my powerful sense of smell – I had seen her skinning and slicing the dead rabbit an hour or so ago. The blood was beginning to seep through the deerskin bag, teasing my hungry stomach with its tantalising smell and making me whine and paw at my owners’ side yet again.
    “Look, if you want food, you go and hunt for some yourself. This is my dinner, not yours.”
    I pretended not to understand, cocking my head to one side cutely.
    “Oh, alright then. Just a little.” she sighed, putting the flint knife she’d just been sharpening to one side and throwing me a piece of the meat. I caught it in my jaws eagerly and chomped on it loudly, causing Renna to laugh again. “Dippy wolf.” she muttered to herself, shaking her head and smiling.
    Quite short for her age, my owner had a slender face and body, dark hair cut short, and slate-coloured oval eyes. A brilliant archer, she was my friend and protector, and I was the same to her.
    I finished chewing and stood up abruptly, my ears pricked up after hearing a noise come from across the brook we were resting beside. I could see nothing moving in the thick forest, but it never hurt to be sure. Cautiously I stuck my snout in the air and sniffed delicately, catching a hint of something in the barely-there breeze.
    Renna noticed my sudden change in temperament and got to her feet too, one hand on the back of my neck as her eyes darted around warily. “What is it?” she asked under her breath. “What did you see?”
    There it was again, a faint rustle, a twig snapping, a trace of a low voice. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, but my nose and ears said different. There was something – I didn’t know what – over there.
    A growl rose in the back of my throat. Rennas’ grip tightened. She didn’t want me running off and leaving her by herself, as I had done in the past when chasing rabbits.
    “There’s nothing there, Rae. Come on, let’s go back.” She crouched down and began to collect up her things. I took my chance and darted off, jumping across the stream and tearing towards the source of the sound.
    “Rae! Get back here!” Renna shouted, dropping her belongings and chasing after me, stumbling in the beck slightly. I halted and waited for her less agile frame to catch up a bit before continuing, following my nose.
    Finally I stopped, unsure of where to go next. Renna appeared behind me thirty seconds or so later, panting heavily. “Don’t ever do that again!” she chided, tapping my muzzle as a warning, pulling a length of twine from a pocket. I snapped at her hand when she tried to tie it around my neck – I wasn’t about to be tethered like a pet! She pulled away, a hurt look in her grey eyes. “What’s wrong with you today?”
    I licked her hand, trying to tell her that I was sorry, but my attention was quickly caught by a sharp ‘whoosh’ as an arrow flew past us and fixed in a nearby tree.
    “Damn.” snarled a voice from the branches of a tree opposite us. My hackles raised, I barked aggressively. Renna undid her bow from her side, pulled out an arrow from the pack attached to her back, and shot it into the branches. Although she was probably the better archer of the two, our foe still had the advantage of being hidden by thick greenery.


    Renna


    There was no sound from my opponent, and no movement. Either I had injured or killed them, or they were biding their time. Of the two, the latter was more likely, so I didn’t let down my guard, staying frozen in a fighting stance with my bow at the ready. However, I didn’t count on having a rock thrown at me from behind.
    The stone connected with my skull with such force that it almost knocked me out. Head aching, I spun round to see a cockily smirking boy, around my age, hanging upside-down from a branch.
    “Well, that’s mature.” I hissed at him, rubbing my head and wincing in pain. My hand was sticky with blood and I felt dizzy as Rae jumped up at him, trying to bite him but only able to snap at his black hair.
    He grinned, showing his slightly pointed teeth. “What? Never seen someone flit before?”
    I recognised his voice as the one I had heard from the tree a few minutes before. “You’re a Mage?” I asked, trying to mask the amazement in my voice at one so young being able to flit.
    “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”
    “Who are you, and what are you doing on rival territory?” I demanded, fixing him with a steely glare.
    “How do you know I’m not one of your clan?” he asked, folding his arms.
    “Firstly, you have dark eyes. Secondly, you have black hair. None of my clan has those features. Thirdly, you don’t have the Swiftfang mark beside your ear. As well as that, you’re wearing black.”
    “Hmm, cute and observant? Looks like it’s my lucky day.”
    “Excuse me?!” I spluttered indignantly. “Quiet, girl.” I ordered Rae, whose growls were drowning out my voice.
    “Don’t you like compliments?”
    “Not when they’re from a loner like you. And especially one who threw a rock at me.”
    “Loner? I beg to differ. What makes you think that?”
    “You don’t have your guardian animal with you, which leads me to believe you’re a deserter of your original clan and have become an outsider. Either that, or you’ve been banished and are now looking to join another.”
    “I think you’ll find I do have my guardian animal with me, Wolfie.”
    “Where is it, then? And don’t call me Wolfie!”
    He let out a couple of high-pitched whistles. Out of instinct I ducked as a small winged creature, black as night, flew at me, squeaking.
    The boy laughed at my surprise as the bat flew back and landed next to him.
    “You’re a Leatherwing.” I growled, my eyes narrowing. I should have known. There was no way he could be anything else with those almost-black eyes.
    “Well done, Wolfie.”
    I clenched my fists, trying to stop myself from sending an arrow into his head. If I killed the only Shadow Mage, I’d probably end up starting a war between both mine and his village – and my clan had enough to worry about without more fighting, for instance the food shortage that was slowly creeping up on us.
    “So what are you, a lowly gatherer? I very much doubt you’re a warrior, even if you do know how to use a bow.” he said, indicating the gash on his shoulder where I must have caught it as he flitted.
    “I’m an Apprentice, for your information.” I said through gritted teeth, my face burning.
    “And yet you still come out with your pet to gather food?” he commented with one eyebrow raised, clearly amused. “How...quaint.”
    “Just because your clan is full of snobs doesn’t mean mine is too. We help each other out. We’re frie-”
    “Friends as well as neighbours, protectors as well as friends, blah blah blah.” he said, a bored look on his pale face. “Heard it all before. What’s so bad about knowing your place?”
    “Your clan is a dictatorship! Those who aren’t privileged enough to be born in leadership have no chance of ever getting it. Unless they’re somehow related to the original Leatherwing family, they can only hope of being a warrior at best, and a low one at that.”
    “You’re smarter than you look, Wolfie.”
    Despite myself I felt the colour rise in my cheeks. “Don’t call me Wolfie! I do have a name, you know!”
    “Which would be...?” he queried.
    “Renna-Lae Chase, first daughter of Mara.” I answered automatically, using the traditional manner of giving my mothers’ name after mine. “You?”
    “Manak Windrider, third son of Jaet.”
    “You’re of a high rank.” I said, noting his surname.
    “I wouldn’t be a Mage if I wasn’t.”
    In the distance I heard a howl, which reminded me to get this intruder off my clans’ territory before the others came along and used force to do so. “You’re taking a risk, being so far away from your own land.” I said, wondering why I didn’t just tell him to go away instead of making hints.
    He shrugged. “A couple of ‘Fangs armed with little more than toothpicks won’t be much of a match for a Mage. If things start getting nasty, I’ll just flit.”
    Manak stretched before grabbing the branch, lifting himself up, flipping over and dropping down, wiping the tree sap off with his baggy trousers. I was impressed at how effortless he made it look – if I attempted that, I’d just end up falling out and breaking my arm.
    Then I noticed something – he had two large, black wings protruding out of his back.
    He saw my surprise and a questioning look appeared across his face. “What?”
    “...You have your mark...”
    He shrugged. “So?”
    I went a deep red, feeling a lot younger than him even though we were around the same age. “Nothing.”
    His eyes flicked to the top of my head, and then down to the base of my spine. “Oh, right. You don’t.”
    I went even redder. “Obviously not. Er...”
    “What?”
    “If you don’t mind me asking, how?”
    “Well, it’s pretty simple, there’s a boy and a girl and they-”
    “I don’t mean like that!”
    “Oh...you mean when and who and all that crap?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Don’t really remember. Some Saltclaw girl, I think.”
    “I thought they were supposed to be from your own clan?”
    “I got bored.”
    I was silent as I thought about this. Getting your mark was something special, something you did when you felt that you were ready to become, and finally be seen as, an adult. Not because you ‘got bored’.
    “So, why haven’t you got yours yet?” he asked.
    “I don’t get bored easily.” I said scathingly in reply.
    “Well, if you ever do get bored, or you get tired of waiting, then...”
    “Then what?”
    “I’ll probably be bored as well.”
    “Ugh. People like you sicken me.”
    “I could’ve said something worse.”
    “Like what?”
    “I could have told you that I charge.”
    “Now that really wouldn’t have surprised me. I suppose you want me to feel happy that I’m privileged enough to be offered your services for free?”
    “Of course.”
    “Pervert.”
    He didn’t reply, and started to strip the bark off the tree he was leaning against.
    “Hey, go destroy the trees in your own territory.” I said, glaring at him.
    He ignored me and continued. Rae sensed my irritation and began to growl.
    Fine then, if you won’t stop, I’ll have to make you! I thought, murmuring a few words under my breath – first, a spell to stop him from harming the tree any further, and then, a charm to quicken the healing process which doubled as a protective defence. However, it didn’t seem to have much of an effect. “Your magic is too weak to have much of an effect on me.” he explained. “Basic spells won’t make any difference.”
    I glanced at Rae. What about wolves?
    She took her cue and lunged at him. I knew she was only trying to scare, not harm him, but Manak didn’t see it that way, throwing her to the ground with astonishing strength. She lay a few feet away from him, obviously in pain but unable to do anything about it, as he muttered something and launched a sable sphere of energy at her.
    “Rae!” I cried, the smoke from the explosion making me cough.
    “It’ll live.” he said calmly as the smog began to clear. “Just.”
    “You b*****d.” I spat at him, kneeling down and trying to see how badly she was hurt.
    “She attacked me. What did you expect me to do, just stand there and get mauled?”
    A tear rolled down my cheek. “She’s...dead...” I whispered, resting a hand on Raes’ unmoving body.
    “No, it’s not.”
    “She’s not breathing!”
    “So?”
    “So you killed her!”
    “Oops. My bad.”
    “How can you say that?!”
    “It’s easy, I open my mouth and the words come out.”
    “You...you...murderer!”
    “Get over it.”
    I had never hated anyone so much in my entire life. In a pitiful attempt at some form of revenge I picked up a stone and hurled it with all my might, missing by miles.
    He turned round, a smile on his face. “Looks like Wolfie’s getting angry.” he laughed mockingly.
    I wanted to kill him, I despised him that much. I knew I had to avenge Rae in some way, but how? My magic wasn’t strong enough to defeat him in a proper fight, and although I was good at long-distance archery, my hand-held weapon skills left much to be desired. I wasn’t stupid – there was no way I was going to pick a fight I had no hope of winning, especially when he could kill me as easily as he had Rae.
    In a fit of fury I pulled out my dagger and threw it at him. I was luckier this time and managed to nick his ear.
    He grinned. “So it’s a battle you want, Wolfie? Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you. This time.”
    I rose to my feet slowly, wondering what I had gotten myself into.
    Seconds later, I knew.
    I dived to the ground as the tree directly behind me exploded, slicing my cheek on a jagged rock as I did so. Wincing in pain, I got up and tried to make an energy ball; however, Manak was faster.
    “Well, that was difficult.” he said sardonically, as I lay on my back, groaning in pain.
    “Want more, or have you had enough?” he asked, striding over to me with a triumphant look on his face.
    Annoyed with myself for not practising my magic more, I did the only thing I could – which was grab his ankle and pull him down to the floor. Childish, but it wasn’t what he expected, which was exactly what I wanted.
    He tumbled to the ground and landed on his knees beside me. “So you want to play dirty, huh?” he said, a glint appearing in his ebony eyes.
    I rolled onto my back, trying to move away from him, but he grabbed my arms and pinned them down beside my head, putting a leg on either side of my hips and sitting on me so I couldn’t move – his wiry frame was surprisingly heavy.
    “Get off me!” I panted, struggling under his firm grip.
    He smirked. “If I do that, you’ll run away and I won’t have any fun, will I?”
    “I’m not a coward. I’ll carry on fighting under my last breath.” I hissed at him.
    “Well, I’m not getting off until you promise to be a good little Wolfie and learn how to behave.”
    I scowled at his patronizing tone. “Get. The. Hell. Off. Me. Now.” I growled darkly, emphasising each word so he’d get the message into his thick skull.
    “Nah, I’m enjoying myself here. Plus, you look cute when you’re angry.”
    Letting go of my arms, he put a hand to my throat so he could get something out of his pocket. “And even cuter when you’re terrified.” he noted as I involuntarily let out a squeak of fear, seeing the gleam of a knife. “Keep still. If you keep wriggling around like that it’ll be more painful – and slow.”
    I closed my eyes, praying that he’d be nice and make it quick as he raised the knife above his head – and then opened them again as I heard a thud beside me. Did he miss on purpose? I wondered, studying his face for a clue.
    “Just messing with you.” he said. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. Yet.”
    I glared at him. “So, what are you going to do?”
    “That would spoil the surprise.”
    “Well, you’re not going to be able to do much if you’re sitting on me, are you?”
    “I’ll be the judge of that.”
    Grabbing the wrist of the hand that was pinioning my neck, I wrestled with his arm and tried to get him off so I could breathe. He tightened his grip, making me cough and choke.
    “Remember what I said about behaving?”
    I let go, partly from his comment, mostly due to the lack of oxygen getting to my brain.
    Manak released my throat and held my arms to the ground again. “If you carry on not doing as I say, I’ll stop being nice to you.”
    “You call blowing up my wolf nice?!” I asked incredously.
    “Be grateful, I could have made it slow and painful – like yours will be if you keep misbehaving.”
    “Go to hell.”
    “Have it your way.” He closed his eyes and started to whisper – strange words that didn’t seem human, yet were somehow familiar to me. Too late, I realised he was using magic as my limbs grew weak.
    “Now you can’t disobey me, Wolfie.” he stated proudly.
    I tried to speak, and found I couldn’t open my mouth. I made a noise which sounded like a cross between a growl and a hum to get his attention.
    He sighed. “Talk.”
    A stream of words poured forth from my mouth, mostly profanities and insults.
    “I’m not some sort of pet! I don’t have to ‘obey’ you!”
    “I beg to differ. Firstly, stop swearing at me, it’s most unbecoming for a lady. Secondly, get up.” he said, climbing off me.
    No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from doing as he said – I couldn’t even move a finger unless he told me to.
    “What have you done to me?!”
    “A controlling spell. Simple, but effective, as you doubtless will agree – especially since I can stop you using magic of your own. Now, go and stand by that tree.”
    I did so, somewhat unwillingly. “Stop controlling me!” I cried, although I was powerless to stop him from doing as he liked.
    “Hmm, very forceful. I like that in a woman.”
    “Take it off! Take it off now!”
    “What, your shirt or mine?”
    “Shut up!”
    “No, you shut up.” he said with a smirk.
    I tried to say something in return, but no words would come out – I couldn’t make a single sound.
    “Much better.”
    I gave him the dirtiest look I could as he took the rope from my pocket and unwound it, then wrapped it around my arms and torso, tying me to the tree and fastening it at the back where I couldn’t reach it.
    He snapped his fingers. “Release.”
    “Let me go!” I shouted, finally free from the spell.
    “Let me go, please.” he corrected from behind
    “What the hell do you want from me? Why can’t you just go back to your own territory?”
    He didn’t answer, emerging at my left and moving round to the front. Folding his arms, he leant against the tree, his face only a couple of centimetres away from mine.
    “You know, you really need to learn some manners.” he said mildly, using a thumb to wipe away some of the blood from the gash on my face. I winced, then watched in horror as he put stuck out his tongue and delicately licked the blood off his hand. He saw my face and smiled. “Yum.” he said, licking his lips.
    “You’re sick.” I said, disgusted.