• Prologue-


    The air was heavy and thick with the looming, tear-jerking scents that were all too familiar. Two of the three presented scents wafting in the air were the most familiar, the third not too much. The fact that the two mingled together wasn’t a good sign at all and the third, faintly familiar scent, made the situation worse. Much, much worse. My fear deepened as I raced forward past trees and bushes, following the devastating scents. As I got closer and closer my hope seemed to dwindle. Snow fell heavily, only coming down faster the closer I got, slightly blinding my vision infront of me. I hated the cold. Too bad it was December.

    I was almost there. The area became more familiar; the place I’d left only a few days ago for my own selfish reasons. From that point on I knew where every tree and shrub was located because I’d lived around that area my whole life. Breaking through the last few trees I came out at the memorable clearing of my childhood that I’d lived around my whole fourteen years of life. The scene before me concluded my fears and my heart sank instantly, hard and fast. There was no way such a thing could happen to me. I was dreaming, I had to be. It was too…weird and wrong. Oh, how I’d wished it was a dream. It wasn’t a dream; it was too vivid, too real. Red painted the ground everywhere, spotted by the white pile of flakes that fell pointlessly from the sky.

    The crimson coloring also decorated my beloved family, whom I’d just discovered as lumps on the ground, half devoured by snow as well. Every last one of them. The snow wasn’t very merciful or calm as I’d seen it in the past; it showed no recognition to my family as it covered their bodies carelessly. Not much of them was visible anymore, all white with spots of crimson showing. My family was rather large too, consisting of fifteen members including me. Now I was all that was left? It was just so…inconsiderably unbelievable none of them had made it out alive…

    Somehow, I found the ability to move my legs from their frozen, still position, walking forward but slowly, my eyes widened. It didn’t take long to find the corpses of my mother, my father lying right beside her…They’d died together… I then wondered who of the two had lost their essence of life first. Probably Mom. Strong as she was my father was a bit stronger and he would make sure my mother passed with him speaking final, soothing words to her gently while he made sure she didn’t go through any more torment.

    I blinked as I looked down at the two, only then becoming aware of the silent tears that had started to slip down my face. Instantly, I felt guilty for wondering who’d died first then completely shattered. I dropped to the ground beside them, the silent tears turning into disturbing sobs that were completely unnatural to me that racked my body without mercy. Snow was already covering my form but that was the last thing I was worried about. Life suddenly seemed…pointless. Without meaning. I felt ripped and torn then thrown to the side carelessly. What did I have left when all I had was my family? My pride? No, that seemed to have died too. So I layed there, weeping and having nothing while I wished death would come to me too. Where were those damned Blanks? Why didn’t they come back and check for survivors? There was one…

    It seemed like hours before I couldn’t cry anymore. Maybe it had been hours. I didn’t know. I didn’t care. My whole body was stiff, half frozen from the snow that caked my body like the others. My face was the numbest, the tears literally frozen on my face. I could get out of that. I could be warm if I wanted to. Two different ways I could escape the freezing cold, one more effective then the other. But I didn’t, of course. I wouldn’t save myself now, not when I was so close to what I wanted at the time. I found I could barely move when I lifted my body up slowly. I suddenly didn’t want to be there. By them. So I tried to move and walk off, probably go die in the middle of the woods somewhere alone. Because I should have died with them. I should have been there when they were attacked, but I wasn’t. I had run off beforehand because I was selfish.

    I staggered, almost falling over as I stood. Dazed and disoriented I let my true form rip out, tearing away the human flesh and replacing it with ash colored fur. Human appendages morphed into forelegs and paws and a tail grew in. Pathetic human teeth sharpened, lengthening along with feeble nails that changed into claws. Useless human ears pointed and became more acute while the form’s face elongated into a muzzle with a sharp sense of smell. Flames danced around my paws then vanished quickly, all part of my transformation. Bigger than an average wolf but not a werewolf. We were stronger and faster and definitely smarter then your average fairy tail. We were shape shifters, ones that changed to wolves and that alone. We’re called Shadows.

    For a moment I was proud of our kind even though our numbers were falling. We were being hunted and killed by the ones known as Blanks, our worst enemy. They killed without reason, none we knew about anyways. When we died we reverted back to our wolf forms automatically. Our human forms were just cover ups, maybe not even our other halves. The snow had settled a little, no longer pounding down on the earth. I lifted my head to the sky, staring, realizing night had come. The stars sparkled brilliantly and I could half see the the moon because of the clouds that made the snow fall lifelessly to the ground. For a moment I felt free. Would I feel that way after this? I didn’t know. I only slightly cared Maybe I wouldn’t chase death so quickly. Parting my fang inhabited mouth, my vocal chords let loose a fierce, mournful howl that rang throughout for miles maybe. I howled for my lost comrades, my family. And I howled for whatever the future held for me.