Thursday Morning September 20th, 546 ALW. Fennur's Heart, North-Eastern Glacial Regions. ….
Challenge.
The word hit Konan like a white-hot blast and echoed throughout his body with the shaking intensity of thunder.
Shaking. It carried on from the inside. Into his hands and knees as the cave-peoples and dogs got up, hooting and barking as they rearranged themselves and hugged the walls of the cave.
Emotions stirred and anxieties rose.
Despite his lack of knowledge, he couldn't say he didn't know what was coming.
The visions didn't let him go anywhere or hear any word without seeing.
He saw challenge. Not in the cave as it came in the form of a brooding defiant one eyed giant. But in his memories. In the form of brothers. He could tell by their identical faces behind the different scars and tribal markings. Twins. Like the boys that watched him.
They loved eachother. Their people loved them. The pack— kin, surrounded the brothers in the dense cold of a wintery forest. It was mid-day. Sun rays bounced off the snow and turned the white into sprinkles of diamonds.
It added to the aesthetics of the battle. Matching the prideful eyes of the elders. Etherealizing the song of the younger members. Framing it in luxurious wild reverence.
It was beautiful.
So unlike what was about to transpire in the cave.
Sure, they were more powerful— seen in their devastating blows and quick movements, but there was love. Belief in the way the elements worked in tandem with their intentions. There were no roaring Berserker's or explosive bullet-spewing guns.
They transformed in battle. Seamless and with a biological rhythm— making it so he almost didn't even notice. One moment they were young men, the next they were something more.
Wolven beasts. One had a third eye at the center of his head and the other had feathers growing from the fur on his back that made him jump so high he seemed to be flying at times.
Bones broke and realigned. Skin split and scabbed over in seconds. But one lost— not life, but standing.
The feather-flanked lycan was tackled out of the skies and slammed into the frosty earth. Before he could even try to recover, clawed hands held his neck and three golden eyes peered into his own.
The crowd was silent. But not in shame.
The brothers were battered. But not broken.
A winner was declared. An Alpha was made.
They rose together and faced the crowd.
The vision faded with the sounds of celebration and support etched in the howls of the pack.
Konan was back in the cave. Facing Berkaal from across the cave, the one-eyed giant. The disbeliever, smelling of dead animal and cold winds. He didn't stretch or pace, he was already primed for combat— for murder. It was his resting form.
Mother, Sulekha and Haurik stood beside him, with Haurik placing his hands on Konan's broad shoulders. Nuwetara brushed up against him from behind.
"Alright, Konan. You do know what The Challenge is, right?" Haurik asked as the surrounding people talked, sang and slapped the earth.
"Fight… for position. Fight…. for strength. But I'm not alpha…I don't understand." Konan replied.
Haurik made a confused expression before being pushed aside by Mother.
She loomed over him like a maternal wolfish titan with her long canines, thick nose and furred cloak. "It seems you're only familiar with the Old Ways of The Wolf. Before the Blooded Empire was established, our packs were lead by one—"
"That was over five hundred years ago….before the wars" Haurik said.
Mother nodded and continued, "It's the Old Ways that subjected all Wolvenborn to following one Alpha. We don't follow those ways anymore, Golden-child. That path was never leading us anywhere but astray."
Konan was only barely following. Barely familiar with every term and reference.
"We can't afford to put everything we have into one." She held up a long finger. "If they fall. We all fall. We are tired of falling."
Something about her last words made a lump form in his throat. His eyes watered as he clenched his fists so hard they bled.
For a moment she was still. Then Berkaal growled. She turned her head so her ear faced him but continued to speak to Konan.
"The Alpha is a position many occupy. Healers, Leaders, Elders, Seer's…. And those like you." Mother explained.
"Like me…"
"Idealists…. Icons… Symbols? I'm not sure yet. The Spirits haven't explained you. You haven't explained yourself. But you're quite the opposite of Berkaal. Maybe not yet, but he knows. It may be why he despises you. You contradict his centermost truth. That the Spirits despise us."
Konan was officially lost.
"Anyway, the rules are simple…" Mother started, "You fight till one submits. The loser loses their position. The winner takes over and joins us in the Alphas Circle. But we both know he's not fighting to join the circle."
Konan nodded.
Mother did as well and stepped aside.
Haurik was standing in the center of the cave between both fighters. He looked natural with everyone's eyes on him. He winked at some and waved to others, casually conversing, calming any overblown nerves before he began to speak.
"Brothers and Sisters of the Howling-Frost Tribe, today we've been given something— someone remarkable. A gift from nowhere we know intimately, given to us right before he was taken by the very Blooded Empire that took the rest of them. The Last known Lycan. Konan."
The crowd howled and beat the earth.
Haurik continued, "He's welcomed us as kin. As family. We've fed and healed him as family, thanks to Sulekha and her herb-master parents."
Konan turned and found the red haired girl arguing with the man and woman she sat with at the Alphas Circle. He know knew they were her parents.
He tried to listen to what they discussed so passionately, but he was too anxious. There were too many other voices.
Haurik continued, "And it is just as family— as pack does, that we bring him to his first Challenge."
"Start placing your bets, folks!" Maka said with a devilish grin.
"We literally have no money." Ru fidgeted nervously beside him.
"I'd like to add for anyone that disagrees, a pack that goes unchallenged is a pack that strays from the difficulties of truth toward the ease of secrecy— and hate. At that point we might as well dine on blood and blood alone." Haurik said.
The werewolves defied the idea with the same passion and intensity Konan felt when Mother reminded him that they were tired of losing.
"Now, Challenger Berkaal, do you have any words or wishes?" Haurik asked.
"Start the damn fight." Berkaal rolled his hulking shoulders and a symphony of pops echoed.
Haurik nodded, "As verbose as the day we found you. Consider poetry."
Maka burst into laughter, "Hey— HAHAHA! Hey, Ru! Imagine hollow-face as a poet… PFFFT! I hear they wear tights and flap their arms like chickens during speeches."
"What's a chicken?" Ru asked seriously.
Before Konan could hear any more, Haurik turned to him, "Any words or wishes, Konan?"
He said nothing.
"Then, you may begin—"
"Let go of me!"
From behind Konan, Sulekha broke free of her parents hold and entered the challengers space.
"Girl!" Berkaal snarled.
"Quiet, you oaf! Challenge me next if you want to." Sulekha planted herself in front of Konan as the crowd laughed and gasped collectively.
Konan stared at her again— envisioning the dream. The humming tune. It played in tandem with the children singing and taps of the dogs claws as they paced anxiously. Happily. As a family—
"You don't have to do this." Sulekha said.
"..."
Sulekha didn't seem as fearful as she was before. She held his gaze unflinchingly.
"Do you want to do this?"
"Suleh!" A woman hissed behind Konan.
She looked up at the woman defiantly, "What?! He's barely older than me! This shouldn't be allowed!"
"The rules aren't the same for him. It is said that—"
"Lycans age into adulthood faster than us. I know." Sulekha said, "Why are we going off of a five hundred year old book when the real thing is right here. He looks no older than sixteen behind all the muscle and hair. He shouldn't be doing this."
Sulekha looked back at Konan. Fiery in the eyes despite their ocean blue coloring like everyone else, "Do you want to do this?"
"….i don't understand." Konan replied quietly.
"Ever since you got here, everyone's been asking about other Lycans. Who brought you here. The spirits and your dreams. But what about you. What do YOU want?" Sulekha asked.
And suddenly, Konan was back in the ruins— angry— terrified, that he didn't have the answer to such a simple question about himself.
"Who are you?"
"What do you want?"
He raged as he wondered why he didn't have the answers.
Something must've changed in his face because Sulekha's eyes widened and she took a step backward.
Konan placed a hand on his healed wounds, "Thank you."
She nodded hesitantly. Some of the fire was gone in her eyes. It lived in Konan then. He had an answer— though he wasn't sure it was his own.
"…..we are tired of falling."
Sulekha made a confused expression. Before she could say anymore her parents pulled her away as Berkaal charged.