Chapter 12: “ A New Leader“

The werewolf village of Lycana is home to the king of the Lycans. His kingdom had been wrought with internal conflict for territory from its many tribes, he had managed to unify them even temporarily. In the most robust structure of the large village was the throne room with aspects derived from the earth.

Someone other than the king had sat in the throne, wearing a hoodie and a mask covering his face. There was an ominous presence to him as he looked off into the distance. He was waiting in this chair with his legs crossed and hands under his chin. The guest of honor was yet to make his appearance.

The massive throne room doors opened and a towering man emerged. His body was well defined and strong for a king that had dominated for decades. His beard was unkempt and bristled. For one deemed royalty he chose no shirt to flex his ferocious appearance, instead opting for a cape with fur closing in around his neck. The king’s amber eyes leered over at the man on his throne, looking to him with great disgust.

He angrily approached his throne with powerful steps that cracked the floor beneath him with every step.

"Why are you sitting on my throne Damien!" The king growled as he stood before the man. He apparently knew him as if it were anyone else this man would have meant a violent end. "This is no place for games, SON!"

Damien chuckled lightly as he removed his hand from under his chin. He sat up leaning slightly toward his father, whom had little time for his shenanigans.

"Hate to break it to you,” Damien said condescendingly before awkwardly pausing. “But this isn't your throne anymore.”

“Boy, the position of king is not one scoffs at.”

“Oh? I should take it from one who can barely manage his own territories? When are you going to make Lycans great?”

“This world isn’t as simple as you would expect it to be. Wars must be fought, blood must be spilled-”

“Thus the cycle will always continue, just like it always has, right? Your time is up! It’s time for some real leadership! Our people have gone through enough with your reckless outlook!”

The king became furious with the thought of his own son attempting to dethrone him. He understood the power that his son possessed but knew it wouldn’t be enough to stop him, he wasn’t ready to simply take the mantle, especially by force. The king was sure he’d make it out of this fight unscathed, but he wanted to know why his own son would be willing to fight his own father. Still remaining in control of his anger:

"And by what reason have you concluded as a justification for this? There better be a damn good reason!"

Damien went back into a relaxed position to provide him with the bare minimum. He felt his father undeserving of an actual answer. His father was typically suppressing rebellions around their country.

"You’ve failed to take a seat from the Five so many times. And you hardly make it out alive."

“Son,” His father began to reason with him. “These 5 are incredibly powerful forces. The fact that I made it out was an act of mercy.”

"So, I understand. This society is made for those who are strong. They can have everything. By fighting these elite, how does it benefit our people? Imagine how many others fight on their behalf to die and watch their societies crumble? Have you considered that?"

“This is the way of the world. We are merely lycans, an elite class but compared to the dragons and vampires above us... By fighting in this, we can prove ourselves to everyone as a powerful tribe.”

“You’re joking, right? Look at you. You came from killing your own. You expect this to be acceptable in these more advanced realms? The Five simply don’t deserve their position to where it can influence not just certain denizens but countless generations. The more we cling to this, the more rigid this cycle becomes. And I intend to fix it all!"

The king was reduced to laughter.

"How can someone as weak as you fix anything?"

Damien summoned his Kogane, surrounding his body with 6 flying daggers circling him. A giant great sword stabbed into the ground in front of the throne, within arm’s reach.

"I will start the age of ember early." Damien said matter-of-fact. "And we will find the Land of Iron Grass and wish away this pointless system. These principles hold back not only the universe, but our own people."

The king was baffled by what he was saying.

"who is this we you speak of"

10 cloaked men emerged from the shadows in the throne room’s vicinity. Their presence sent wind down towards the king’s direction. He stood confused by what was happening. Damien continued:

"These are my men. I will lead the world going forward. This will be ground zero for the revolution."

The king tired of talking and was prepared to put his son and his lackeys in their place. But before he could make a move the 10 had left and only his son remained. The king looked back at his son, who hadn’t moved an inch.

"Leadership?" The king mocked. “You don’t know how to lead you entitled little brat. I gave you everything! And this is what you give in turn?”

“And I do thank you, father,” Damien nodded. “But what you give to me, isn’t what our people have. This system, you don’t seem to want to change.”

“I fought my way to be where I am. And I’ll be damned if I let someone who isn’t ready take over. You are not ready, son! You have no way to even stop immortals! No way to stop me!"

Damien chuckled again.

"Remember, there are things worse than death... Let me show you..."

Angered by the threat, the king activated his forux. (Full moon) placed a crimson moon glyph on the top of his wrist transforming him into a full werewolf instantaneously. It was the most convenient power for a werewolf as transformations took time for the average lycan.

"I will listen to this no longer!"

The king’s howls created shock waves of wind blades towards Damien. But his 6 floating daggers cut them apart without effort. The effects of the cut wind had completely destroyed everything behind the throne. Little of the damaging wind damaged the throne itself.

"Looks like I won’t be moving from here after all," Damien laughed at the underwhelming attack.

"Boy, you don't deserve my time!" His father was ready to attack again.

The daggers flew toward the king, first straight from Damien but then diverged to coming at him from multiple directions. Each time he managed to block each one with a swift slash from his steely claws. He growled at him again, proclaiming:

"Big talk is this all you have!"

The king bent down and dug his giant claws into the ground. With a slither of effort he lifted the entire floor of the building forward turning over the throne and all. Through the destruction he ran through all the rock in front of him and dashed towards the upturned throne. He created 5 balls of wind, one above each claw and slashed into the throne. The throne moved out the way as it wasn't attached to the ground any longer. The king only managed to leave giant claw marks into the earth.

"Are you mocking me?"

The king looked above to find the throne suspended in midair and upside down with the back facing him. The king grew furious at his son’s disrespect. The king’s fur sharpened and his claws hardened further. He swept his hands left and right, creating multiple tornados that moved violently. He swiftly surfed along the sides of the tornadoes moving wildly from multiple directions. However, with each surprise attack, came a block from another blade. The blades had acted instinctively without proper oversight from Damien. Tired and frustrated, the king landed on the ground and with the throne guided into the middle. It remained in the center of the 6 tornadoes.

"That wasn’t even my best move," The king stood tall. "Needle storm!"

While he had moved from one tornado to another, he had deposited clusters of his fur in each. The hidden fur shot out toward the throne, which thousands of needle-like fur hit the throne all at once. After the onslaught, the chair was facing downwards toward the ground where the king was, but it was empty.

all the tornados started to move upwards and formed a compressed ball of air which was grabbed by the king who jumped into the air through a tornado. He knocked the ball into the back of the throne into the ground. The throne slammed into the floor and a powerful gust dispersed, also creating a massive crater. After all the debris cleared, blood splattered along the side of the floor. The throne was facing upright with Damien in it with the same posture as before. The king found himself impaled by all 6 daggers.

“But, how?” The king was baffled. As he coughed up blood

This monster, The king thought as he lost consciousness..

Damien called back in two of his knights who emerged from the darkness behind. They quickly knelt at his side. Damien ordered one to carry out the first task:

"Destroy his mind before he can recover… Then, throw him into the Darkness."

One of the mysterious knights lodged a bottle into the king’s left eye. With a flash of light all his memories started to bleed out into the bottle. Once done, the knight put the bottle in their pocket and created a dark hole behind him. The king couldn’t even come close to a recovery before being thrown into the darkness. The hole quickly sealed.

"You may take your leave," Damien said nonchalantly.

The second knight stood by, awaiting an order from Damien.

"Uh, why did I summon you again?" Damien had forgotten the need for 2 knights. "Oh, that’s right. Are we close to getting that key?"

The knight looked up from kneeling before getting onto his feet.

"Yes, our scouts will find the location soon. The key will be in your possession."

Then the last knight faded into the darkness behind Damien. Damien remained seated in the throne in the middle of the large crater. He sighed to himself before slowly getting up:

"Time to let them know who their new leader is."