A grey wolf lay in a damp, cramped den, its body the size of a small calf. In the dark, its yellow eyes shone with a determined glow. The den was nestled in a small mountain on the edge of the Endless Forest ,a name that seemed a misnomer to the ignorant. They saw only a small patch of trees on the Northern Desolate continent, but it was far more.
It was raining cats and dogs outside.
The wolf's belly was distended, either with extreme fat or pregnancy. Given its visible ribs, the safe bet was pregnancy. She looked malnourished and was in extreme pain. The time for the birth had come and gone, and each contraction brought only more suffering. This was not her first time, but she felt she would likely die this time. The best-case scenario was that most of her pups would be stillborn or terribly deformed.
Even with the excruciating pain, she didn't dare let out a single howl. This was the Endless Forest, and a cry of pain was an invitation for predators.
This was no ordinary wolf. It was a demonic beast, though of the lowest level, whose bloodline could not devolve any further. While most creatures looked down on them, these grey wolves had the intellect of a ten-year-old human child.
Driven by a desperate need, the wolf struggled to her feet and went out into the heavy rain. The tall trees surrounding the den blocked what little sunlight there was, helping to conceal the entrance from predators. In a normal forest, she would be an apex predator. Here, she was prey to ninety percent of the inhabitants and a primary food source for sixty percent.
Using her weak bloodline ability to control the wind, she moved slowly and carefully, hiding in the shrubs and bushes to avoid detection. Her inherited memories as a demonic beast had kept her kind from extinction for thousands of years on this dangerous continent. She knew of an herb that could ease a difficult birth but had not dared to seek it out before. Now, she had no other choice.
Fortunately, the gods, or perhaps the devils, seemed to favor the birth of her pups. The wolf reached the herb without incident. It was called the Cardinal Luck Herb, a yellow plant with four leaves pointing in the cardinal directions. The leaf pointing South, representing birth, was twice as large as the others, which represented life (East), youth (West), and death (North). It was believed to gather the blessings and luck of the four directions, making it a coveted herb.
Although it was only of the lowest grade, for a low-level demonic beast, it was more than enough. The wolf snatched the herb into her mouth and swallowed it whole. She then quickly but cautiously returned to her den and gave birth to six healthy pups.
No one knew it, but this single birth was the nexus event that would permanently and irrevocably change the world and all of existence forever.