Chapter One: Island in the Mist

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An aged wooden vessel drifted through the dark misty waters of the ocean. The ship had been intricately carved with swirling waves along the sides with oceanic angels reaching up towards the crew. There was no wind to carry the black sails and the thick fog limited almost all visibility. The crew was lounging about the deck or in their quarters, waiting for the dreary weather to disperse.

One of the men was laying in his makeshift hammock, made from spare fishnet and cloth, pushing his foot against the wall in rhythm with the steady rocking of the ship. The younger man under him was sitting on another of the hanging beds trying to make sense of his faded map collection. He grunted as he threw the maps down.

“What’s wrong with you, Jame?” The older man stopped moving.

“What’s wrong? We’ve been drifting for days! The water in this area is bare, our nets haven’t brought in anything since we’ve entered the mist, and without wind we’re just drifting at sea!”

“So, what’s your point? We have a stocked galley.”

The younger man shook his head. “What about our women and children? They’ve been squeezed into the lower deck since we left for sea. Don’t you want more for them, Gerard?”

The older man leered over the side of his hammock. “I want them to live. I want them to be safe. I want carefree summer days with fresh fruit and cool drinks! The way they are depicted in early texts before the dark lords locked us in the blood farms!”

Jame opened his mouth to say something when he was suddenly thrown to the wooden floor as the whole ship trembled. Other men were strewn from their spots as Gerard grabbed a hold of the post his bed was hanging off of to for support.

“The hell…!” he muttered through the creaking wood.

The men wearily climbed to their feet once the moving had stopped. Jame rubbed the red mark on his forehead tenderly.

“What just happened…?”

They slowly turned towards the steps leading above deck as the large brass bell at the captain’s wheel clanged piercingly. The crew gathered themselves together before rushing up the wooden steps to the captain’s call.

“All hands on desk!” the large burly first mate shouted over their clamor.

“Come on kid, duty calls.” Gerard swung out from his perch and helped the younger man up.

The men lined up in a disorderly fashion before the elevated deck where their captain stood. He was a middle aged man with long dark hair and dark circles around his piercing blue eyes.

Once all the crew was standing before him he smiled with crocked teeth. “We’ve reached land men, and there are no lighthouses in sight! This small plot of land may be where we can begin to build a new home!”

His speech was followed by an uproar of ayes and triumphed fists, he paused a moment before continuing. “This may also mean that we have stumbled across a colony of the demons that have robbed us of our lands! I say we search this land, and see how far back it goes! If you come across anything inhuman, bring back their pelts or let the warning whistle be heard! Now arm yourselves well and off with the lot of you!”

Long thin wooden planks were slid off of the curled deck and reached down to the beach. The men of the crew silently charged down to the shore of soft white sand holding small brass lamps to light their way. They were quiet a moment as they took in the sounds around them, trying to get some type of bearing of the land. The restless grey water of the ocean chased the soft white sand on the beach and the distant sound of trees in the wind could be heard. Behind the sand was a large steep hill covered completely in dark river stones blanketed in frosty white. They breathed out mist in the cold air and held out their hands to feel the light snow on the stone before they started up the steep hill.

Soon the crew had come across a small village that seemed to have been long deserted. There was a lighthouse looming in the distance, but it didn’t look like it had been used in decades. While searching the village a small girl with short dark hair had wandered too close from the surrounding forest and was spotted by Jame.

“Hey there little one…” he tried to coax her closer. “I won’t hurt you…”

She back stepped before turning to run into the trees, but was easily pounced on and over powered. The young child grunted as he pulled her to where the first mate and other men were.

“What do we have here?” he wondered a loud as he shined his lantern close to get a better look at her.

Other than navy blue hair, she also had curious eyes; no whites, but instead pure black with pale blue retina. She let out a frightened howl and he saw her short fangs and swiftly slit her throat before the howl could travel too far.

“There are werewolves here! Find the others and kill them!”

The men scattered into the woods as Jame stood over the child with shocked eyes.

“Come on kid, if there are others we have to keep moving.” Gerard pulled at his shoulder.

“She was only a child…”

“She would have led larger wolves right to us. Now come on!”

Gerard’s steps could be heard crunching in the night old snow as he followed after the others. Jame’s eyes lifted off of the body at the shifting trees in front of him. There was no wind and only certain trees were moving towards the area. Jame spun around and ran after the other men clumsily.

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As the dreary bitter cold day started to shift into night, the waves out at sea were becoming more violent. A large swell moved over the surface and two figures appeared from the water, floating like buoys. They both had blue onyx hair and pale blue eyes set in almond shaped eyes with no whites, but instead black.

“Lobo! Did you catch anything?” the girl inquired once she had caught her breath.

The boy tried hard to keep his head above the waves. “No, did you Tara?”

She shook her head. “Let’s head back, it’s getting late and the tide is coming in.”

They swam to the shore and leapt up the stones towards the village, stopping only to retrieve their clothing from under a shrub. Tara and Lobo looked similar both in their coloring and tiny build. Lobo's angular features were softened by his wavy, shoulder-length hair, while Tara's thin curvy frame was framed by her thick wavy hair that reached her waist.

Lobo stopped Tara with an outstretched arm and stood completely still, his keen eyes searched the still woods that surrounded the village and up to the sooth mountains in which their clan lived.

“What is it Lobo?” Tara whispered.

“Do you smell that?”

She inhaled deeply. “…Blood?”

They both followed the smell until they found the slain pup. Tara closed the girl’s eyes and folded her arms over her chest. The two suddenly lifted their heads to a low distant howl for one of the youth of their clan.

“The village!” Lobo cried with concern in his eyes. “Take care of Mauro.”

“No! If the clan is in trouble I want to be there!” She barked as she jumped to her feet.

Lobo pushed her back down. “Stay here and perform rights on the body! If I’m not back by night fall, or if something happens, I want you to swim to the mainland!”

She went to leap to her feet again, but decided against it when he bared his teeth at her. Tara sat next to the deceased child and glared up at him. Lobo bounded off into the woods towards the mountain.

The lithe female growled a little under her breath before she turned to the corps and sighed heavily. “Oh, who would do this to you, little one?”

Tara carefully picked the slain pup up in her arms and quietly ran to one of the empty shops. The structures of the ruined village were mostly stone and had been built to survive the passage of time in the island’s moist environment. The shop she had chosen was a smith shop of some kind, probably either metal working or glass, and had a constant burning furnace that had been built over a magma vent. She looked at the body and then hugged her against her chest tightly.

“I didn’t think I would have to do the death rights of a pup in my lifetime…” she whispered into the deaf ear of the babe. “But I will do my best to honor your memory.”

Tara laid the lifeless body on the empty metal drawer where the materials of the shop were usually heated. She took some ashes from the side of the metal and drew markings on Mauro’s face and hands.

“May the goddess of the sea welcome you into paradise with open arms.” she kissed her forehead and slid the drawer into the blazing furnace.

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The moon had grown high in the night sky when Tara had finished collecting the remaining ashes of the deceased child in an old bubble jar. She had hid under the broken window when troves of strange bloody men had run through the village from the direction of her home. After they had passed she charged into the woods at full speed towards the smooth angular mountain face. She leapt nimbly up the flat polished stone walls up to the entrance to their cavern.

Tara stopped in the main hall as the stench of blood and spicy smoke filled her nostrils and numbed her senses, making her light headed. She held her breath and ventured into her home, kicking a pile of spices out that had been left smoldering on the floor. She didn’t get too far when Lobo leapt out of the shadows and pinned her to the ground. She struggled before she realized that he was covered in blood and badly injured.

“I told you to swim to shore!” He growled.

“What’s going on Lobo?!” She asked hoarsely.

“You have to escape! Now! Go before the moon fully rises, while it’s still dark!”

“Why?!” She cried out.

“Men came, they filled the caves with a strange smoke... Many of the others passed out, the ones who tried to fight were slowly over taken… We’re now the last of our clan. …Listen to me, swim to the mainland and seek out the Thronnos Rokke Clan.”

“But-“

Lobo held his hand over her mouth. “Find the clan, survive. Or we will be an extinct clan.”

She nodded her head as a tear trailed down her face. Lobo licked her tear away and growled lowly to comfort her.

“Brother, will you follow me?”

“I have to take care of everything here…” he stopped and listened a moment. “…Go! Now!”

Lobo grabbed her thin arm and tossed her out of the cavern entrance. Tara landed on her feet on the ground and looked up with wide eyes. The sound of her brother’s growls and barks sent her running through the woods, tears streaming down her face. When she reached the ocean and leapt high into the air and landed out at sea.