Nightwolf

Chapter 1: The Beginning1

I knew from a young age that I was different. It was not the fact that as I was a child that I would turn into a puppy dog each night, but I was different during the day as well. When my parents first realized my condition, they didn’t know what to do. They knew that if they were caught with me, then they would be executed for witchcraft, so they considered killing me. However, they knew that I was their son, and they could never kill me. So they decided to keep it a secret and pray to god that no one would ever find out.2

As an infant and young child, my parents kept a close watch over me as much as they could. As I grew older, they watched me less and less, but I could never be out past 6pm. No one could ever see me at night. The transformation occurred at sundown and I returned to my human form at sunrise. The nights were painful. I could see and understand what was going on, but I could not control it. I was an animal. I was a monster. For years, it was kept a secret, but both my parents and I knew it was only a matter of time.3

I was ten at the time of the incident, and it was a day like any other. I was playing with my friends in the woods outside of the small town that we all lived in. It was a peaceful town, far away from the dangers of war and pestilence that constantly raided the borders of the empire. We were playing a game of tag, one of the usual games that we always played. I always had to leave at 6pm, when the sun was low in the sky to go home. I always had to leave the fun early. However, on this day, I lost track of time and before I knew it, the sun was beginning to set.4

“Hey, Neraul,” one of my friends said to me, pointing at the horizon, “Didn’t you have to go home a while ago?”5

I looked out at where the sun’s bright, orange rays were pushing through the vast army of thin, tall, autumn trees in the distance. Blood fled from my face as I felt that sinking feeling in my gut. Then, without a word, adrenaline took its place. I sprinted past the other boys and trees towards the direction of town.6

“Where are you going?” the children asked, pausing their game for a moment to see where I was headed.7

The sun was setting quickly, and I knew that I didn’t have very much time at all. The other children began to run after me to see what the matter was. I could see the edge of the woods when I suddenly felt my insides flip upside-down. The transformation was beginning as I tried to keep running. My lungs began to feel heavy, and my legs felt like rocks. I made it to the very edge of the woods as my running came to a halt. My legs twisted and stretched into the hairy, deformed legs of a great wolf. My back arched and curved into that of a beast. My arms shrank and grew thick into those of a wild animal. My face grew long and hairy with sharp fangs and glowing red eyes like that of a monster.8

During the transformation, I screamed with wild pain, but the screams soon turned into howls of agony and rage as the transformation came to an end.9

“Run!” the children screamed as they watched me, “He’s a monster!” They immediately scattered and went back into town as my animal form took over. I lost all control as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon and as darkness took over. I began to howl up into the night sky, running aimlessly through the cold autumn forest. That night, my wolf form managed to hunt down a rabbit and kill it. I watched as I devoured the poor creature and tore it to pieces. Somewhere within the horror, the human inside me managed to find sleep while the animal form continued to run wild.10

Dawn came as I woke up with much of my clothes torn off and shredded. My skin ached with pain from both the cold of the night and from the transformation of the night before. I was still in the forest beyond the town, but I found myself at the banks of a small stream. I had seen a stream in the forest before, so I decided to follow the flow of the water in hopes that it would lead me back home.11

Sure enough, it led me back towards the edge of the town. By late morning, I had returned home, unsure of what to expect.12

“Hey, mom and dad,” I said, opening the door to my house. Inside, I found my parents talking to a group of the town soldiers, “What’s going on?”13

“I’m sorry, honey,” my mom said to me in tears as the men began to close in around me.14

“They are going to have to take you away, son,” my father said holding my mom, “We love you, son.”15

I spent the rest of the day and that night in the town prison as my parents tried to reason with the town nobleman. The guards and other prisoners got to watch in horror and awe as I transformed into my regular beast at night. The next day, the guards took me to the nobleman’s house, making sure to keep their distance, fearful that what they saw the previous night before would return inside me and attack them.16

“Close the door,” the nobleman said to the guards as I was thrown down onto the ground. The guards obeyed and left the room. As I stood up, the nobleman peered up at me from his desk.17

“Why did you call me here?” I asked.18

“Do you know what I can do to you?” the nobleman asked me. I did not answer. “Tell me, boy! Do you know that I can do to you?”19

“No,” I said plainly.20

“I can kill you,” the nobleman said proudly, “I can take your life away as easily as I can spare it. Although, the Hemneths would be all over me if I just let you go.”21

“So what are you going to do?” I asked.22

“Well,” he began, “As you know, it is the time of the Reformation. The emperor has called upon a new Reformation. Throughout the empire, hundreds upon thousands of the Hemneths, the holy warrior priests are in search of sinners, heathens, heretics, and even demons such as you to burn at the stake in the name of the Almighty.”23

“I am not a demon,” I said firmly.24

“Then what are you?” he asked, “Yes, what are you exactly?”25

“I’m a person,” I said.26

“Who transforms into a beast every night,” the nobleman added.27

“I was born this way,” I said strongly.28

“It makes no difference whether you were like this two days ago or two years ago,” he said, “Either way, the Hemneths would be very eager to acquire an individual as yourself to use as an ‘example’ to others as to what would become of those who defy God. They would also be very eager to provide me with a very large sum of gold and silver for your capture. However, I have enough wealth already.”29

“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.30

“Be patient, boy,” the nobleman said, “Anyway, I have decided to spare your life and keep those Hemneth dogs away from my peaceful little town.”31

“So you will let me go, then?” I asked.32

“No,” the nobleman said, “Initially, I was most likely going to kill you like the freak you are, but after some generous and kind convincing from your mother, I have decided to send you off to a werewolf camp up north where you will live the rest of your life and die in captivity with others similar to you.”33

“Thank you,” I said, not knowing at the time what my mother’s “generous and kind convincing” was34