The earliest memory Carth could remember was one dyed in blood. Deafening explosions rang throughout the sky, like an everlasting crescendo. Black smoke swirled around helplessly, and the smell of burnt flesh permeated through the air. Carth, age 6, hid beneath the wreckage of what used to be his home.
Carth lived in a small farming town near the outskirts of the human capital Norheim. Then one day without any warning, a group of bandits descended on his hometown and razed it to the ground. Out of the hundreds of individuals in the village Carth was the only one to have survived.
After the destruction of his town, Carth lost everything he held dear to him. His parents, friends, and town members were all dead, and the only thing he had left was his mothers silver pendant. Due to the sudden onslaught of grief and shock, Carth lost the will to live. He wandered around aimlessly for days and eventually collapsed from exhaustion. As Carth lay on the brittle ground, he accepted that he was going to die and passed out.
Carth woke up to the feeling of a wet and rough object roaming around his face. He opened his eyes in pain and shrieked in shock at what was in front of him. A giant white wolf almost 2 meters tall was staring at him. Around the white wolf were roughly three dozen other wolves of different colors, but none were as large as the white one.
Carth stared at the white wolf in fear, not daring to breathe, and the wolf stared back with emotionless eyes. This stalemate lasted for a while until Carth felt a burning sensation in his body. He soon realized it was anger. He was angry at being helpless. He was angry at being weak. When his town was destroyed, he could do nothing but hide. When he was forced to fend for himself, he lay on the brink of death, and now when faced with danger, Carth was once again weak and helpless.
His anger reached a boiling point. Carth started screaming. “YOU WANT ME?! COME THEN!”
Carth breathed heavily, free from fear. The muscles underneath the white wolf rippled and it took a stance. Carth closed his eyes bracing himself for what was to come.
“AWOOOOOOOOOO”
A loud deafening howl was emitted from the white wolf and the surrounding wolves joined in. After the howls died down, the white wolf walked away and the surrounding wolves followed. Carth stood still with a confused look on his face. He had expected the wolves to kill him but the wolves were leaving.
When the wolves were almost gone from Carth’s vision, the white wolf looked back at Carth and titled its head as if saying “why aren’t you following?”
Carth immediately realized what the howling meant and followed the wolves. Carth was full of adrenaline but after the adrenaline ran out, he was bombarded with exhaustion and had a hard time following the wolves, but he pushed through with sheer willpower. Eventually after a few hours the wolf pack stopped in front of a large cave and started settling down.
Carth, who was at his mental and physical limits at this point, also settled down and the moment he did, he fell asleep.
[A few hours later]
Carth woke up and saw a piece of raw meat and a stone bowl filled with water in front of him. Although the meat was raw, Carth was too hungry to care. He immediately pounced on the meat and started eating it like a starved animal. After finishing the food and water he took a closer look at his surroundings. Currently it was night time and he was in a forest filled with tall trees. The wolves he followed were sleeping around the cave entrance in a circular formation and the steady flow of water could be heard in the distance. Carth stood up rejuvenated from the meal. Suddenly he heard a rustling sound. He swiftly turned his head towards the direction the sound came from and saw the large white wolf.
The white wolf locked eyes with Carth for the second time today. This time, Carth could see what the white wolf wanted to convey with its eyes. The wolf walked towards the forest and Carth followed along.
The wolf and boy walked in silence until they reached a dazzling lake as clear as an open sky and more beautiful than the rising and retreat of the sun.
The wolf stood close enough to the lake for the calm water to wet its paws, and the boy stood a couple of feet behind the wolf. Suddenly, a blinding light surrounded the wolf. Carth turned his face away in an attempt to block the light. When Carth regained his vision, he saw a beautiful beautiful woman with snow-white hair and piercing silver eyes. She was covered by a white dress but it was clear as day she had a body that many would kill for. As the woman walked to the place in front of Carth, her long jade-like legs swayed nobly.
Carth stood there stunned. This was the most beautiful woman he had seen before. The woman smiled warmly at Carth and spoke. “Jasmine.” Her name was Jasmine.
With a stutter, the flustered Carth replied. “C…C…Carth.”
Jasmine smiled with an amused expression. “Calm your heart. What matters isn’t what's on the outside, but what’s inside.”
Carth was only 6 years old and couldn’t understand Jasmine’s words, but he grew calmer as he got accustomed to Jasmine’s looks.
Jasmine looked at Carth as if she understood Carth’s confusion. “Let me show you.”Jasmine reached towards a smooth rock with her delicate hands and threw the rock into the lake. Before the rock touched the water, a blur smashed the rock into hundreds of pieces. Carth jumped in fright as the rock broke apart.
“A lake as beautiful as this looks inviting, but it houses creatures that will kill you instantly. The same can be applied to creatures with intelligence. They may seem warm and inviting on the surface, but their hearts are rotten on the inside.”
“Does this apply to you then?” Carth asked, hesitant of he answer.
Jasmine smiled warmly and looked at Carth. “Why would I have saved you then?” Jasmine then walked back towards the wolf camp and a blinding light covered her before she transformed back into a wolf.
As if a lightning bolt just hit him, Carth realized what he had just witnessed. A wolf had transformed into a human and back into a wolf! He had a hundred different thoughts at once. Is she a witch? Magic? An angel? What just happened?! Do dragons exist too then?! After a while, Carth calmed down. Worrying about things outside his control would do nothing for him. He decided to go back to the wolf camp in hopes of learning more about and from Jasmine.
By the time Carth got back to the camp, the majority of the wolves were up. They all turned to look at Carth when he returned. Carth felt an uncomfortable sensation emerging from his body. This discomfort was dissipated when Jasmine howled from the entrance of the cave. The wolves went back to what they were doing and Jasmine locked eyes with Carth again. She seemed to say “Those who can’t pull their own weight are useless here.”
The wolves split up into groups of 5 and went out in separate directions. Carth realized what he had to do. The wolves went out hunting and if Carth wanted to pull his own weight, he had to contribute something important to the wolves, such as food. Carth headed out in a direction the other wolves didn’t go. The white wolf stood at the cave entrance as she watched Carth’s figure get smaller and smaller.
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