The Star, The Demon, and The God - 8. The Circle of Wolves

700 Years Ago

Villie - The Servant Boy

My name is Villie. I am sixteen years old and when I was an born, I was found by the former Queen of the time. She allowed me a place in her castle. There, I became a servant.

I live in the great city of Halehigh. A city that sits at the base of one of Thymestrys’ tallest mountains.

Halehigh was once ruled by a Queen. Six years after she took me in, her castle was infiltrated by another kingdom. A kingdom full of Bancrofts.

I never quite understood what was happening in the world. Even now, I still do not care to learn it. All I know, is that the Bancrofts treat me the same as the Queen. A servant who is never to speak.

With the Bancrofts came a new age of ruling. Instead of a King or Queen, they created the Circle. A Circle of Wolves is what they call themselves.

They must have been hoping for the intimidating factor.

The Circle consists of five Wolves. Three men and two women.

While their power is meant to be shared, one man definitely has everyone under his control. Nobody else seems to realize it however. I do though. I see everything that goes on in this castle, but I never share it with others. There is no reason to.

Well, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The dead Queen had cut my tongue out as a lesson in speaking when I am not supposed to.

You could say that her death was a little satisfying to me. They placed her head on a spike and fed her body to the pet bears she kept in the throne room.

Oh, the throne room was completely redone by the Circle. Instead of one chair staring at the doors, there are five chairs that are spaced around a large table. The middle of the table is cut open, leaving room for people to be judged or just to have a simple audience with the five Wolves.

This morning, the man in charge of the castle’s stables stands in the center of their attention.

“My lords,” He bows his head. “I have come to ask about the traveler that will be arriving today. Is there anything I should prepare? Are we aware of what he may be arriving on? I would like to get the proper necessities if needed.”

Lady Amora sighs and face-palms.

“Is this really what you came to us for?” She asks. “About his damned animal’s preferred meal?”

The Stable Master’s usual cheery smile slowly begins to disappear.

“Honestly, could this not have waited for until the Serendian had arrived?” Amora asks before turning to me. “More wine, boy.”

Walking quietly to her side, I pour halfway up in her glass goblet. When she brings it to her lips, I back away to stand by the wall again.

“I am sorry, my Lady,” The Stable Master says. “I will be sure to ask the Serendian when they arrive.”

Amora nods and takes a sip of her wine.

The Stable Master leaves.

With another sigh, Lady Amora stands from her chair and walks towards one of the windows next to me.

I keep my eyes forward, staring at the table.

“Still no snow yet,” She says before taking another sip of wine. “Perhaps that Serendian will be somewhat comfortable here.”

The Circle have been asking for a random Serendian mage to come south and help them commune with the Gods. I am not entirely sure as to why they feel the need to do that, but more power to them I guess.

“The others are lucky they do not have to deal with all these ‘problems’,” She says. “Don’t you think the same? They probably did this on purpose, huh?”

I only blink and keep my eyes forward and keep the wine bottle in my hands.

Amora sighs before turning back to sit in her chair.

“Go and fetch me something to eat, Boy,” She says. “If I am going to be here until the Serendian arrives, I would rather not starve to death before I see him.”

Before I go, she has me leave the wine with her.

Leaving through the back door, I walk through the courtyard and the stables. One of the horses sees me and they bob their head as if they are dancing.

Smiling, I reach out and pat its neck before walking on to a building that holds the kitchens.

A cook sees me and she gives me a smile.

“Lady Amora asked for food, Villie?” She asks.

I nod.

“Very well,” She pats my cheek. “You sit yourself down and I will prepare the meal.”

Moving to one of the stools in a dark corner, a cat comes and rubs against my leg. I scratch at its back and it flops onto my shoe.

This would be Masie. A pretty tabby cat who just recently had some babies.

~~~

The food takes about thirty minutes and I quickly make my way out.

Passing the stables, I find a strange animal. It reminds me somewhat of a horse except...its chin is hairy and it has weird humps on its back. How could anyone possibly ride it?

Walking as far from it as possibly, I quickly make my way to the Room of Thrones.

Not only is Lady Amora there, but so is everyone else in the Circle.

All eyes turn to me when I close the door behind me.

Lady Amora rolls her eyes before motioning for me to bring her, her food.

“Beautiful timing, boy,” She says sarcastically.

Walking back to my spot near the wall, I stare at the man in the middle of the Circle.

The man has dark brown skin and a beard. His hair is black with a few greyed out strands. His hair is braided into his hat. His hat and clothes are strange colors. They hold reds, yellows, and oranges. He has kind eyes so he must be a good man, right?

This is probably the first Serendian I have ever met. It might actually be considered rare. Most of, if not all, Serendians are considered nomads now.

Many, many years ago, the Serendians had lost their last royal family. They blamed a city called Avelin. That led to a great war between the armies of the desert and the armies of literally everyone else.

At first, the Serendians were winning thanks to their expertise in magic. Soon though, other kingdoms looked to the help of other mages who were able to bought to their side. That led to the end of the Serendian cities and most of their people.

The remaining Serendians are considered Nomads. They do not live anywhere. They simply exist.

“Welcome to Halehigh,” Lord Torian says. “We are pleased to finally have a volunteer.”

The Serendian chuckles. “Yes. I can imagine. Most of the others have mentioned your calling, but most do not wish to work so far from home.”

Lord Torian nods. “Yes. I can imagine that being an issue. We thank you for using your time to get here, Sir Andul.”

Shaking his head, Sir Andul steps forward to offer his hand to Lord Torian.

“Please, just Andul is fine,” he smiles.

~~~

Five Days Later

Andul is a strange man.

I have been tasked with helping him whenever needed, but he never asks for anything. All he ever does is tell me to keep out of his room while he studies.

Studies what?

I have only seen glimpses of his room and it is packed with scrolls and all kinds of books. Most look so old, I am surprised they are not piles of dust for me to clean later.

Every night, Andul will speak with the Circle over dinner. They talk about everything but the Gods. All they ever want to talk about is how different Halehigh is from the desert.

That is, until tonight.

The Circle and Andul were eating away at their stews and drinking their wines, when an elderly woman came in.

Apparently they forgot they had set up an appointment to speak with the common folk.

They were about to throw her out, but Andul stopped them.

“Do not forsake your own people simply because I am here,” He says. “Go on, listen to the woman.”

The Circle all look at each other, a bit confused with being told what to do by an outsider. Lord Torian eventually speaks for them.

“Very well,” He says. “What is it you wish to tell us?”

The old lady looks confused. Unsure of whether or not she should speak. Given the reputation the Wolves have, I am not surprised that she is a bit scared to.

“Speak!” Lady Amora shouts. It causes the old lady to jump and straighter herself out.

“I-I have news,” She says. “The children in the orphanage, I heard them talking about something that I felt needed to heard by you.”

Lord Torian nods for her to continue.

“They were speaking to one another; asking about each other's dreams,” She says. “Eventually, they all realize they dreamt of the same thing. A dark spirit was speaking to them. Telling them all the same message. They were not allowed to say the message out loud, but they know they were all told the same thing.”

Lord Torian hums. “Did you ask them what it is they said? Surely one of the orphans would have spoken. There are about twenty of them there. I would not doubt there was at least one who shared.”

The Elder shakes her head. “I am afraid not. They were too scared to. They feared the dark spirit would have hurt them.”

“If I may,” Andul speaks up. “Did they describe what this ‘dark spirit’ looked like? Did it have horns?”

The Wolves all look between each other, clearly annoyed that Andul has spoken when he was not supposed to.

“No they did not, Sir,” The Elder says. “They would not share a single detail. They only called it a dark spirit.”

Andul nods and reaches into a bag, pulling out a book.

Lord Torian rolls his eyes and asks the Elder to leave.

Once she is gone, Lord Torian turns to Andul.

“Serendian,” He calls.

Andul looks up from his book. Eyebrows raised in question.

“Speak again without our permission, then we will have some problems, understand?”

Andul’s eyes widen before nodding frantically. “Forgive me, my Lords. I am accustomed to the ways here. It will not happen again.”

“You may return to your room,” Torian says. “The Circle has business to discuss. We will call for you when we are ready to proceed with what we were promised.”

Andul nods before standing and walking out of the room.

As soon as he leaves, Lady Amora sighs.

“I guess Serendians really are the animals people say they were,” She says. “Speaking without permission. You would think after all these years they would be used to all of our ways.”

The Circles nods and murmurs their agreement.

Knowing this is my time to provide drinks, I quickly grab the wine pitcher and walk around to each member, filling their goblets.

“You know,” Lord Torian speaks. “Maybe those children in the orphanage provided us with a sign. Possibly from the Gods.”

Lady Rofida shakes her head. “I doubt it. They spoke of a Dark Spirit. No God would want themselves to be called that.”

I grab the meal tray from Lady Amora’s table since she has finished.

“There are the two Gods,” Lord Torian says. “Raiyo and The mysterious God of Darkness. It could be one of them. They are considered dark, are they not?”

Everyone sips on their wine in thought.

Walking with the tray over to the door to leave, I am met with one of the cooking assistants.

“Oh good,” He whispers. “I was hoping I would have come on time.”

He takes the tray and leaves. I go back to my place at the wall.

“What if it not a God?” Lady Amora says. “For all we know, it could be a Demon playing tricks.”

Another sip in thought.

“Does this even matter?” Lord Osiwalder groans. “When are we going to perform the ritual? I am ready for whatever comes next. Our enemies are getting stronger everyday. We need to act now!”

Lord Torian sets his Goblet down and glances at me. I quickly make my way to fill it.

“Calm down, my friend,” He says. “We are to perform the Ritual tomorrow. That is what Andul told me. I was going to tell you earlier, but we had a little distraction with those orphans.”

Everyone looks at Lord Torian in surprise.

“Tomorrow?” Lord Osiwalder breathes. “Are you serious? That soon? I thought this was going to take a week at most.”

Torian smiles and shakes his head.

“Fear not my brethren,” He says. “By tomorrow night, we shall become Gods!”

I frown for a small moment upon hearing that, but I quickly wipe it off my face.

The Circle wishes to become Gods? Why? They are already one of the most powerful leaders in all of Thymestrys. What more could they possibly want?

Also, a ritual? What ritual? What is Andul going to have them do to make them become Gods? This is a Serendian we are talking about. I have heard the stories of how they would use magic and do things with Demons. Is that what is going to happen tomorrow?

Everyone decides is it that moment that everyone should go to bed. I grab all the empty goblets in a bin and carry them out to the kitchens to be washed.

When I was to go back to the servant’s quarters, I walked by Andul’s room.

It was not really considered a detour from my usual pathing, but I would not like when I say that I was curious about him.

I hear the sound of glass breaking and then sounds of crying.

Frowning, I press my ear to the door.

“Gods dammit,” I hear Andul say; voice shaky and breathless. “What am I going to do?”

Raising an eyebrow, I wait for another voice to answer him, but I only hear him sobbing once again.

Why is he crying? Is it because he is nervous?

Not entirely sure what to do, I decide that knocking might be okay.

Instantly the sobbing cuts off. I hear him clearing his throat before speaking.

“W-who is it?” He calls.

Since I cannot answer, I knock again.

I hear him sigh before the locks on the door starting rattling around on the other side. Soon enough, Andul swings open the door.

“Oh,” He frowns. “You. What are you doing here? Will you not get in trouble?”

I shake my head and glance past him. A broken glass is on the ground.

Is that why he was crying? Surely not. That was recent. Andul’s eyes are far too red and puffy for something so recent.

He follows me gaze to the glass shards.

“Oh!” He turns back to me. “You do not have to worry. It was my fault. I will be sure to find a replacement. I promise. If you wish to take it with you, I will not stop you.”

Nodding, I make my way inside the mysterious room. After five days, I can finally see what is in here.

Unfortunately, I am let down. There is nothing out of the ordinary in here. Just scrolls and books piled up everywhere.

All of this is for a ritual? I imagine it would not require this much information.

“Sorry for the mess,” Andul says behind me. “I swear I know where everything is.” He chuckles and smiles at me.

Not knowing how to respond to that, I turn to the glass and use a small towel to scoop it up.

“You do not talk much, yes?” he says. “Is there a particular reason why?”

Looking up at him, I give a small moment of thought before deciding that it does not really matter if he knows.

Using my fingers, I create a scissoring motion over my mouth.

At first, Andul does not get it. He gives me a look of confusion but after a few moments, he gets it. His eyes widen and his mouth gapes open.

“Did they do this to you?” He gasps.

I shake my head.

He frowns. “So they wouldn’t do that to me? I thought I was going to lose my head today.”

I shrug.

Andul looks down at the towel I am using as a knapsack.

“I had better let you be on your way,” He moves aside to let me out the door. “Apologies for that and also about bringing up your...problem.”

Nodding, I walk past him and head back to the kitchens to drop the broken glass off there.

What a strange man. Unfortunately I could not ask why he was crying. He never brought it up so I guess I will never know. A small part of me thinks it has something to do with the ritual tomorrow.

~~~

The Day After

Well, today is the day for when I learn if Andul’s ritual will work. Will the Circle actually become Gods? That seems too good to be true. Not only that, but how would a simple Serendian be able to do that?

Whatever the case, I believe the Circle is being foolish, but my thoughts do not matter.

Everyone is back in the Room of Thrones. The Circle is in their chairs, I am standing at the wall, and Andul is preparing things in the middle of the room.

He is using sand to form circles into the stone floor. First a giant circle, then four other circles put together like a square inside the giant one.

“Alright, my Lords,” he says when he uses the last of his sand. “We must capture the Demon. If you can control a Demon, then you have earned the first step to becoming Gods.”

Everyone in the Circle looks at each other with mischievous grins on their faces.

Capturing and controlling a Demon? An actual Demon? Just the thought of seeing one sends a shiver down my spine. It appears to have done the same to Lady Amora only, I feel she may be shivering in excitement.

“Do you all have your bowls of prized possessions ready?” Andul asks.

The Circle of Wolves each pull out a bowl with different items inside them. Some have gold, one has paintings. Lord Torian has his own crown inside.

Andul nods and takes their bowls. He places them on different sections of the outer circle. Each in their respective place like the chairs.

One he has finished that, Andul pulls out one last jar of sand to make a circle in front of the larger more complex one.

“That will be the prison for the Demon?” Lord Torion asks.

Andul nods and smiles. “Excellent guess, my Lord.”

Narrowing my eyes, I stare on, a bit uneasy.

For people who frolic with Demons, Andul seems perfectly fine with trapping one.

Andul walks over to me. “May I have a drink?”

Nodding, I pour water into a glass and give it to him. He drinks it in large, quick gulps. He takes a deep breath, pushing the glass back into my hand, and then walks back to the center of his strange giant circle.

“Very well,” He nods to himself. “Shall we begin, my Lords?”

With a nod from Lord Torion, Andul starts the ritual.

I cannot say that I have ever seen magic at work before. You hear about how dangerous and scary it can be. It only occurs to me now that magic will be put to use right now.

Andul stands in the middle of the large circle, he holds his hands together as if he is in prayer. He begins to chant in a language I do not understand; most likely it is the Serendian language.

The sand begins to glow like wildfire. It does not burn anything, nor make a smell, but I just know that if Andul wished to, he could make that fire hurt every one of us.

“Hellel fa Drej us Enfierna,” Andul chants. He says that over and over again. The sands burn brighter and brighter.

I press myself closer to wall, wanting to stay as far away from the magic as possible.

Andul’s hands lift into the air as if he is embracing the wind.

“Creature of Enfierna,” He says in a loud voice. “Join us at once!”

At that, the fires in the sand die down. Everything goes quiet. Nothing happens as all. The small circle that was meant to keep the Demon capture has not glowed even once. Not even a little bit.

The Circle is silent; waiting for whatever is supposed to happen.

Andul stares up at the ceiling, his breathing is hard and his skin is sweating. Does using magic take that much of a toll on the body?

Everyone stays completely still. Everyone is too scared to move or speak. All except Lord Torian of course.

“Nothing is happening,” He says with a frown on his face.

At that, Andul begins to scream. He grabs at his head and pulls at his hair. His screams echo around in the room. They make my blood run cold.

I so badly want to run but I can’t. My feet stay planted in their place.

The Circle all stand up in their chairs, they are all too scared to stay sitting. Lord Torian does not rise however.

Fire erupts from Andul’s feet. It spreads up his legs and up the rest of his body. He screams loud in pain. His pitch goes higher, just like the fire spreading across his body. Andul falls to his knees, he tries to roll around to get the fire off, but no matter what happens, it just won’t leave his body.

Just as his face bursts into flames, his body goes completely still. The sand that he used to trace is ruined from him rolling on the ground.

The fire does not go out; nor does it grow. His body just burns. The smell of his flesh fills the room. I gag and almost have to turn away. Something stops me however. Something stops everyone from turning away or leaving.

The burning body slowly begins to stand. If I am not mistaken, it looks as though Andul has gotten shorter.

The fire slowly begins to die down. It slips into the new body that has formed. The fires turn into smoke, and then that smoke solidifies into leather.

A new man stands in Andul’s place. They wear a...exotic outfit. They look as though they are trying to show as much skin as possible. Their hair is dark and it swirls around in the tips like smoke.

A cape made of smoke trails behind the new arrival.

For a moment, I think this is a regular man. Another Serendian perhaps; but their eyes tell me a different story.

They glow orange, but they do not sit on a pool of whites. Instead it is black.

“Is this the Demon?” I hear Lady Amora ask. “How are we supposed to capture it without Andul?”

The Demon chuckles. His voices bounce around the room. Or my head?

“Do you not just love when someone betrays their own kind?” He smiles. “When someone who struggles as everyone else decides to throw everyone under, simply because he wanted a few gold coins?”

Everyone is silent as this Demon speaks.

“A real shame that someone would decide to use one of my people for their own good. They have already struggled through life. Why would I allow humans to make it worse after?”

The Demon glances at each of the Wolves. His gaze lingers over Lord Torian the longest.

“Who are you?” Lord Torian asks. “You act all high and mighty. Tell us your name.”

The Demon laughs. “My, aren’t you demanding?” He makes his way to Lord Torian’s spot on the table. “Tell me, Wolf, What is your name?”

He sits on the table and reaches out to run the back of his claws along Lord Torian’s cheek.

Never have I ever seen that man tremble in fear. Today is that day.

“T-Torian,” he stammers. “Torian Bancroft.”

“Bancroft, eh?” The Demon smiles and slowly back away to stand in the center again.

“You know me as Raiyo, the God of Persuasion, Seduction,” He says that one in a suggestive manner, “and of course, Vengeance.”

Everyone looks scared now. They had wanted to become Gods. I do not think they wanted to meet one just yet.

“You know, I have been keeping an eye over this city,” Raiyo says and he walks in a slow circle. His footsteps somehow make this all the more terrifying.

“The amount of prayers I get is more than I can even count. Yet, out of all of them, this city is the only one where almost everyone prayer is spiteful and for their own good.”

People pray for him in this city?

“Yes, your people pray to me,” Raiyo smirks and looks over at me for a small moment. “They call for my vengeance. To bring an end to their foes. That is not at all how I work so of course I would never help, but it is just astonishing that an entire city could be so full of...Wolves.”

“You five have been fearsome leaders. You have won over many wars. You have held your kingdom together to points that no other Kings or Queens could even imagine. Yet, you have forgotten to teach your people to be humble.”

I can practically hear the gulps from the Circle.

“It is rather fitting that you call yourselves wolves,” Raiyo chuckles. “Wolves prey on the weak. You all prey on the smaller kingdoms and their people. You act all high and mighty, but really, you are just weak children to me.”

Lord Torian is starting to look angry now.

“You know, I had planned to teach your silly little Kingdom a lesson,” Raiyo says. “I even told the orphans to run away. To hide out in the wilderness where it will be safe. No. Not anymore.”

“Stop!” Lord Torian says.

Raiyo raises an eyebrow and turns to him. He has a smile on his face.

“Oh?” Raiyo chuckles. “Am I scaring you, dear wolf? You all have been loving your power so much. It has clearly gotten to your head if you think you could talk to me like that.”

He looks around at everyone in the room and nods to himself. “Yes. Yes that is perfect! Just the perfect form of punishment!"

With a snap of his finger, everyone in the circle begins to scream in agony. Their bodies can be heard crunching and grinding. Their bones dislocating and growing in ways that should not be possible.

The only one who is not changing is Lord Torian. He stares on in horror.

I must have the same expression on my face.

The clothes on the member of the circle begin to tear off of their too large bodies. They are naked but their bodies no longer look human. They are tall and wide. Their skin begins to burst with different colored fur. Red, brown, grey, and black.

They...they look like wolves! Horrifying wolves! Their faces have turned into wolf heads with sharp teeth far too big for their mouths.

“Now you may truly call yourselves wolves,” Raiyo laughs. “You four shall live the rest of your days as my pets in Enfierna. Just wait till we get home. You are in for centuries of discipline.”

The wolves rear their heads up into the air and let out loud howls into the room. I have to cover my ears because it is so loud.

“Why are you doing this?” Lord Torian whispers.

Raiyo turns to him. “It is a lesson for you and your people. I am keeping you alive so that you will tell them yourself. Let them know of your humiliation. When they see that their leaders can fall just as easily as everyone else, then they will know not to be so proud of this disgusting place you call a city. If you do not, I will send the very same Circle of Wolves into the city to cause mayhem.”

Lord Torian narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare. You claim that they pray to you. That means they follow you with their heart. A God would not attack their own people in such a manner.”

Raiyo lets out a sinister smile. “Oh really?”

He stands and glances at me for a moment. He smiles before turning to face the castle doors. With a wave of his hand, they blast wide open.

“Stop!” Lord Torian shouts, but it is too late. The Circle has already sprinted out of the Room of Thrones.

Raiyo then follows. He walks right out the front doors with his head held high and a smirk on his face.

All that can be heard that night is the screams of terror and death as the four Werewolves massacred the people of Halehigh.

Men, Women, Children. The death count was in the hundreds.

Lord Torian and everyone in Halehigh did in fact learn their lesson. There are always things out there that have more power than you. You must respect that for it may cost the lives of everyone around you.