Chapter XVI

XVI

Both remain in total silence until the prisoners stop talking. Both remain thinking, looking at the moon-clear sky, clear of clouds, with a gentle wind.

—Who are the SkinWalkers?

—According to Felipe, they are evil incarnate, summoned by just saying their name.

—Are they like us or magical?

—I don't know, I've never seen one, I only know the legend, from Felipe.

—Apparently, it looks bad on Elián, and that fills me with shame.

—Why my Nordic friend?

—The Skins and the wizards joined forces to wipe us all out, starting here because they are fewer in number. They want to be the only ones of our species left on the face of the earth.

—But we've lived together without any problems, I don't understand, just because there are fewer of us.

—The population of all of America is only five million, that's a small number.

—That's the population of werewolves in Russia alone.

—The ones we face are werewolves protected by magic, that's why they change at will, not like us.

—But I know there are werewolves who don't change. Why?

—Only the millennials, those who have true self-control of their power, are few, approximately two hundred.

• Among us, only the elderly, and they are not that old, at most a thousand or twelve hundred years old.

—In those times there was a war between humans and werewolves, my people already knew of the existence of these lands, but only those in the north, when they almost wiped out the werewolves, Elián took the children and women out of Europe, although it was a difficult journey we managed to reach the north, it was winter, we all went down, we waited for them to contact us. Elián spoke with who was the chief of the tribe, he explained everything, they did us the favor of accepting us, us men at least the majority returned to fight, it was difficult we almost reached extinction.

—Thank goodness it wasn't like that, or I wouldn't be here. But what do fighting dogs have to do with it?

—I'm ashamed to say it, they were our greatest warriors at that time, those who in their past lives were soldiers, strong, fierce. With Elián's permission, we created them. Precisely in the wake of that war, we almost ceased to exist.

—I don't understand why he has so much power. My old man doesn't say anything, he just tells us that we should respect him as if he were just another old man.

• Before you answer, tell me how much you know about our history.

—Mother Moon was out for a walk, Father Sun saw her and fell in love with her, but she didn’t, she was happy with her children who were all who lived on Earth, Father Sun wanted to kidnap her, all the animals went to defend her, the wolves being the ones who fought the hardest to save her, they managed to get her to safety and to prevent another fight of that magnitude from happening she went to heaven, every full moon the wolves greet her howling, as time passed they forgot about her, and man appeared. There was a great rain, almost all of my ancestors died, those who weren’t badly injured, Mother Moon sent her wolves to heal them, by doing so they transmitted all their goodness, but also their evil.

Elian's passion

—Nice story, however, it is different, later I will tell you in detail for now I will tell you that Elian is the direct descendant of the first werewolf, his grandfather was the king of Arcadia Lycaon, father Eleuter.

• Is he a prince?

—No, king, that's why we all have such respect for him, he's the grandson of the first werewolf.

—And your father and your uncles?

• Now that they're all dead, son, the weight of the crown, the power it brings with it, is highly coveted. The only thing that matters, on that note, is that Estrella, the family maid, defending the three children, killed Lycaon; Eleuter killed several of his brothers; he died under mysterious circumstances, leaving only the three of them. They knew how to do things well; they united as brothers, as princes, as werewolves.

—That's why there's so much respect. He looks so simple, he doesn't look like a king.

—Time, experience, life changes you, my friend, and with almost five thousand years of experience, it's normal.

—It’s a long time —they arrive with the others.

Two months later, late at night, a particularly cool night for summer, suddenly filled with noise, the coyotes didn't stop howling, as did the wild dogs, those in charge of the night guard, wake everyone up, the half-wolves take care of the humans in their population, the others patrol the perimeter.

Out of nowhere the entire forest goes completely silent, the wind stopped blowing, an electric current runs through each of their bodies, that silence was truly scary.

Thanks to their acute hearing, they heard footsteps; the dogs accompanying them shuddered in fear. One of the dogs dared to bark. They all turned to their right at once. Several beasts leaped out at them out of nowhere. In the distance, the half-wolves could hear the dogs barking, howls of pain, and screams of terror. It was as if the forest had come to life. The animals that had fallen silent began to make noise everywhere. The wind began to blow. It was unclear from which direction the howls were coming, even those pleading for help.

Cristian, who was protecting his family, put his hands over his ears to avoid hearing the terrifying screams. He couldn't stop trembling. He had to summon courage when he heard the domestic dogs barking, warning them that danger was approaching. From the bottom of his heart, he wanted to run away. But his duty as a father does not allow it, he takes a breath of air, goes out ready to die, as he went out he saw several of the beasts pass by, one of them saw him and did not hesitate to attack him, it was fast, gray and white fur, yellow eyes, its snout covered in blood, like a bloodthirsty beast it rushes at him, giving a swipe that the half-wolf barely manages to cover with his weapon, which was totally useless against the blows, the speed, with a swipe he is stripped of his weapon, with another swipe he is wounded in both legs, the beast is going to give the final blow directly to the head, a quick movement from the young man, a howl of pain is heard, a lifeless man covered in the skin of a wolf falls on the Chihuahuan.