Chapter Two

Fryan watched as her older brothers wrestled in the grass, wishing she could join them in the tousle. She was way too tiny for that; they would crush her underneath and not feel a thing. Gregon grabbed a handful of Theo’s hair and yanked. 

“We said no hair grabbing!” Theo growled before swinging his elbow into Gregon’s side. Gregon let go, but it would take a lot more than a punch to the sides to bring him down. He chuckled at his younger brother and charged toward him.

“Theo, go for his legs!” Fryan suggested in her tiny six years old voice and it sounded more cute than menacing. Theo took her advice though, and grabbed Gregon’s legs, lifting him over his left shoulder and rolling him over his back. Gregon landed with a thud on the ground.

“Yeah!” Theon cheered, then he ran to Fryan and high-fived her. “Thanks, coach.”

Fryan giggled with pure glee.

“How many times have I told you that babysitting Fryan doesn’t mean teaching her how to fight?”

They hadn’t heard their mom come out. Her brothers had gone to the back of the house to chop some wood for dinner and since their dad hadn’t returned from the Council and mom had gone to the market, they had to bring Fryan along.

They had chopped a total of one large boulder before they got lost in wrestling.

“Don’t tell me this is all you’ve chopped all day?” Diana pointed at the flimsy logs of wood that lay scattered on the ground.

“Hey, mom.” Theo, always the charmer, walked to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You look tired, go get some rest, I’ll start the fire.” He led her back into the house.

“What you’re doing isn’t working, Theo.”

“What am I doing? What am I doing? Come on, mom, you need to get some rest.”

“And you, little missy, won’t you come to give me a hug?”

Fryan stared at her mom with large, gray eyes and a mischievous smile. “I wanna stay with Gregonnnnnn!”

Her mom shook her head and let Theo lead her in. “I thought the one girl I’d have would be my best friend. All I get is Theo.”

Gregon snorted as he picked up his axe. 

“Admit it, I'm a great company.”

Diana and Theo disappeared indoors and Frya watched quietly as Gregon chopped the wood. While Theo was her best brother ever, she was enchanted by her eldest brother. Gregon hardly spoke to her, or her parents. He was his noisiest when he was with Theo (well, everyone else was at their noisiest whenever Theo was around; he had that effect on people), or whenever his friends from the neighboring packs came to see him.

Gregon had started to beat up a rhythm and Frya animatedly jumped to her feet and began to dance from side to side. Soon, she was singing her favorite pack song.

The day of the moonlights

Whack, whack!

Beware of the wolf bites

Whack, whack!

They watch in the shadows

Whack, whack!

A leap, there your breath goes!

Whack, whack!

Tear your skin from…

Gregon stopped chopping the wood and stared at her with amused eyes.

“How the hell are you singing that song? What do they teach you guys at school?”

“It’s my favorite song.”

Gregon shook his head at her and smiled. “You are one scary little girl. I wonder how you’re so cute when the Wolf Bane is your favorite song.”

“Well, what’s your favorite song?”

Gregon resumed his chopping and ignored her question. Fryan went ahead to sing her second-best song, then her third-best one. She sang all the songs she knew until Gregon had piled the strips of wood into a neat pyramid and begged her to go back indoors, it was getting dark.

Their chimney had already begun to smoke and the aroma of chicken soup was already wafting out the door.

Gregon was about to put his shirt back on when a group of riders galloped past them on the street. Fryan stood up to get a better glimpse of the strangers. They were all clad in black robes and their faces were shielded with black veils.

They rode into town with a cloud of dust and Fryan had never heard the sound of so many horses pounding the ground at once; it was amazing and frightening all at once.

Gregon quickly walked over to her and picked her up. his face had a set look and she could see that he was grinding his teeth from the way his jaws flexed. The only time Gregon did that was whenever he was having a fight with dad. It was like he badly wanted to say or do something and was barely keeping it together.

“Who are they?” Fryan asked Gregon as he pushed the door open and they entered their warm home. Their mom was still stirring the pot.

“Mummy, horses are running outside!”

“What?”

“Mahi Riders,” Gregon said as he walked past their mom. Theo was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s your father?” 

Gregon dropped her on their father’s wooden rocking chair, then he disappeared into the room he shared with Theo. He returned after some minutes, wearing black boots and a black, woolen shirt. His eyes were glowing gold and for the first time, Frya sensed there was trouble.

“Papa should be back soon, okay?” Gregon told Frya and she nodded. He squeezed her shoulder then he walked over to their mother who was standing in the kitchen, trying not to look worried.

They spoke in low tones and Frya hated that they didn’t want her to hear whatever they were saying. It was the same thing they did whenever their dad was home. She seemed to be the only one who wasn’t scared of Papa and she told him he made everyone scared. It had been an uncomfortable moment when she told him those words with an innocent smile on her face as she sat on his lap beside the fire.

“Call for me if anything happens,” Gregon said to their mother before he walked out of the door. Fryan felt uneasy, watching her brother leave through the door. Something in her head told her it would be the last time she would ever see her brother again, but she shook it out.

“Who wants dinner?”

“Meeee!”

                                                                                    …

Papa snuck in at dark and Frya was asleep, but the moment she sniffed his scent, her eyes flew open. Frya silently climbed down from her bed and walked to the door which was cracked open. She could see her father’s rocking chair from where she stood and her mother was speaking with Papa. He threw a glance at her door and Frya shrunk back. She counted to ten, then she peeped through the open space again.

“…claim that Volmut belongs to them. Bloody liars. Fools, if they think they can take our ancestral home from us.”

“What are we going to do?”

“What do you mean, ‘What are we going to do?’ We kill every last one of them.”

Her mother nodded. “Okay, what about Frya.” Her mother pointed to her door.

“Hide her in a secret place.”

Frya had never heard of a secret place before and that piqued her interest. If they were going to keep her in a secret place, she was more than happy to comply. Theo always said she was a curious little cub. Gregon said curiosity got people killed. Either way, she was happy about the new developments. 

Whoever these Mahi Riders were, they were dangerous and needed to be killed. Personally, Frya would have liked to watch the fight happen but there was no chance anyone would let her in the danger zone.

Frya turned away from the door and grabbed her bag. Theo had bought it for her on her sixth birthday last moons ago. Although her room was pitch black, she could see as clear as day. If she was going into the secret place, she needed all her toys and books with her. She headed to her toy kernel and selected her toys. Then, she shoved all her books into the bag, including the ones she had stolen from Gregon’s bookshelf.

Suddenly, her room door was pushed open and the large form of her father appeared.

“Are we going somewhere?” he asked her. “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?”

Frya, who had whirled around at the sudden intrusion and now, her books laid scattered on the ground, smiled a what she presumed was a sweet smile.

“But the Mahi Riders are in town and you need me in the secret place.”

Her father walked into the room and sat on her bed, looking like a mountain on a very tiny island. Frya gathered her books and arranged them in her bag.

“How do you know of the secret place?”

‘I heard you tell Mummy.” Her father chuckled.

“And I thought we were being as discreet as possible.”

Frya had zipped everything up and now had her bag in one hand and her stuffed wolf in the other hand. Her father gazed at her for a while, then he motioned for her to come.

“You are one special wolf, and you have a great destiny before you. You know that?”

Frya nodded. He had said this to her almost every night whenever he was home. She never understood what he meant by that, but she hadn’t bothered to ask him. Theo, when she asked him what destiny was all about, said it was her future.

“Don’t come out of hiding until one of us comes to get you, you hear me?” Frya nodded, but another voice crept into her head. What if nobody came to get her?

The sound of a blowing horn boomed through the night air and Frya felt her father tense up. Her mother walked into the room with a strange look on her face. “It’s time.”

Her father planted a kiss on her face, stood up, and gave her one last look. ‘Remember, Free, that you are one…”

“Special wolf, I know daddy.”

He chuckled once more, then he headed out of her room. “I’ll see you soon,” he said to her mother, then he disappeared.

“Come on, honey, we’ve got an adventure to go on!”

Frya grabbed her bag and ran to her mother. “We’re going to a secret place, right?”

Her mom shook her head. “Well, it’s not a secret place if everyone has already told you about the secret place. Theo right?”

Her mom held her hand as they walked out of the house. The night was chilly and the two moons were glowing bright red in the night sky. Frya could see people running in and out of houses, and she recognized their neighbors.

“No, I heard you and Papa say it.”

“Oh?” They had entered the cabin where Gregon and Papa used to make weird iron claws and helmets. “We need to be more careful around you, don’t we?”

The calm of her mother’s voice was contagious. Frya knew she was supposed to be scared, that there was trouble and her entire family was going to fight and leave her alone in a hidden place. But the knowledge of these things did nothing to frighten her, if anything, she felt like she had known this moment was bound to come someday. 

They reached the end of the cabin where they kept broken chairs and tables. Her mother grabbed one of those chairs and yanked it out. A dark space loomed ahead.

‘We’re here.”

Her mother took a step back, shut her eyes, and whispered words. Frya watched as the dark hole began to light up and she saw what looked like a garden ahead. It was a strange sight! Amidst darkness and old, wooden furniture had appeared a colorful place.

Her mother turned to her and smiled. “You’ll be safe here. No one can find you because it’s magic.”

Frya nodded, but that voice kept on mocking her. What if no one came back for her? Would she spend all her life trapped in a magical nowhere?

“Mummy, what if nobody comes back for me?”

Her mother’s face crumbled and she bent down and engulfed her child in a warm hug. She kissed her soft, pudgy cheeks and smiled at her. 

“Someone will come for you. Okay?”

Frya nodded.

“Good. Now go on, I left a lot of apple trees and strawberries in there!” Those were Frya’s favorite fruits and she giggled.

“Okay.”

Frya stepped into the enchanted place and gasped at the waterfall she had just spotted far away. Frya turned around and looked at her mother. Her mother looked like a giant; Frya seemed to have shrunken the moment she entered the new place.

“I love you, Free,” her mother said.

“I love you, Mummy.”

The tear that revealed her mother’s face began to sizzle and close up until her mother’s face disappeared. Frya turned around and took in her new place. The secret place. Her first order of business was to gather as many apples as she could. Frya dropped her bag and skipped through her paradise.

She had no idea she was going to be trapped in her beautiful prison for more than a month.

                                                                             …

Riyin coughed out clumps of grass he had swallowed on his swift voyage back into the forest. He had screamed as an unknown danger dragged him in, then he was finally able to get hold of a tree trunk and he grabbed onto it tightly. 

The rope tied to his foot had been nudged and pulled by Riyin and held on to dear life before, finally, the tugging stopped. Now, he sat up and leaned towards his ankle then paused. There was no rope tied to it. Riyin stared at his foot, confused and getting even more frightened. How had his quiet, yet splendid life become a never-ending night filled with unknown creatures and supernatural happenings?

“Who are you?”

Riyin jumped to his feet, almost crashed face forward to the ground, regained his balance, then turned around towards the voice.

A tall man stood a few paces from him, his face shielded behind a hooded robe. Riyin couldn’t make out much from him, and the only way he even was a man was from his deep voice.

“Riyin,” he said in a shaky voice. What if this was another witch? Should he have told him his name?

“What are you doing, running through my woods?”

“Uh, I… I don’t know, my mama, and papa, we were attacked by a witch and she killed mama,” Riyin was gushing like a tap and the tears came in torrents as he spoke, “…and my Papa, he made the portal appear and he said Yisuf would take care of me, and I don’t know where I am, I’m scared. Please, don’t hurt me,” he concluded with a whimper.

The man observed the scrawny, little boy silently. Then he said, “You are dragon bred. I only know a handful of those. What was your father’s name?”

“Thorn.”

The man chuckled. “Thorn, the bastard. And he dared to send you to me after all these years?”

Riyin looked at the stranger closely now. “Are you Yisuf?”

“Who else do you think I am? And who does your father think I am; a babysitter?”

Riyin wasn’t sure he liked this man, and he wasn’t keen on being taken care of by him either. Did his father know what he was doing when he sent him through that portal?

The man was quiet for a while. “Follow me.”

Riyin was unnerved by how quiet everything and even this man was. As they walked through the forest, the man seemed to be gliding, not walking. There were no fallen leaves on the ground and so their feet landed on soft grass, the noise padded.

“Someone grabbed me back there,” Riyin said after he had swiped at his face.

“That would be me. You almost got yourself killed.”

What? Yisuf almost got him killed.

“How do you mean, there was a clearing up ahead.”

Yisuf sighed. “Yes, and you would have run straight into the Mahi Riders’ camp.

The Mahi Riders? Who were those? Riyin had never heard of them before. Yisuf sensed the boy’s ignorance. “Did Thorn raise you in a cave? I hear dragons love to stay there where they can remain ancient and out of touch.”

Riyin heard the bite in his voice and with every step they took, he grew more convinced that Yisuf wasn’t his Papa’s friend as he had thought he’d be.

“No, we had a cottage and Papa had a study.”

“Ah, a study. Fascinating.” Yisuf’s voice dripped with dry sarcasm. Maybe he felt bad for what he said because Riyin didn’t say anything afterward and Yisuf, who for the life of him couldn’t understand why felt sorry.

“The Mahi Riders are a clan of people who raid other clans and possess their lands. They are vicious barbarians, they spare no children or animals. Some say they are under the influence of ancient blood magic. It is the most dangerous of all magic.”

“They use magic?”

“No, magic uses them.”

“How?”

“They say the Mahi are under a spell.”

“Who put them under a spell?”

“Who do you think puts people under spells?”

“Witches,” they both said, and Riyin’s blood turned to ice. The thought that he had nearly encountered witchcraft sank his heart and his feet began to feel like boulders.

“Will they come here? To the forest?” Riyin asked fearfully. His heart had begun to beat faster.

Yisuf laughed and from the way it resonated through the forest, in a deep, booming wave, Riyin could tell that Yisuf found his question genuinely funny.

“They don’t call me Yisuf the Terror for nothing. Every creature, great and small, knows better than to wander into my woods.

So, his father had sent him off to be raised by a person they called a terror. Riyin wasn’t sure who to be scared of again. The Mahi, or the one man the Mahi, apparently were scared of.

“Don’t worry, you’re in safe hands.”

Great, the strange man could read minds.

“Considering that you are in my woods, you are a strange person.”

“Please stop reading my mind.”

“I don’t want to, but you’re not necessarily hushing your thoughts.”

“They are thoughts! How am I supposed to hush them?”

“You have a lot to learn. Anyways, welcome to my home.” Yisuf spread his arm, then stepped aside and Riyin gasped.

Blurb/synopsis

Most mystical creatures got to live pretty normal lives, but not all of them were that fortunate. Riyin's tale began when tragedy struck his home and he lost his parents in the hands of a mighty witch in a single moment. After managing to escape through a portal, Riyin was raised by the most powerful wizard known.

Frya is a rare werewolf, legendarily named the Wild Beast and she learned of her real nature years after she lost all her family, save one brother, in the Great Battle, inspired by the Sisterhood.

Now tinted with the mark of revenge, Riyin, alongside his best friend, Frya, embark on the quest to find the Sisterhood, a coven of the most powerful witches, the Violet Witch included, and avenging his family's death. Through fights, hunger, and many brushes with death, they finally find the Sisterhood, but they are not ready for what they meet.