Sat upon the thrones were four lykans elders, second in power only to the king.
Nyxanthe Erebassa sat at the far right. She had raven black hair that flowed in waves to her waist, her skin flawless. She had eyes the color of ember which did well to reflect the firelight in the chamber.
To her left sat Damon Agathonis, who wore a blank face with sandy brown hair tied in a warriors knot while golden irises sat in his sockets.
He wore a tailored black suit which fitted him perfectly with a ceremonial dagger at his hip. Perhaps a family heirloom from times past.
To his left now sat Thaleia Aristrea, a petite woman by Lykan standards but known to be the most viscous of the four. She had silver white hair braided tight in a warrior's braid, woven with iron rings marked by Lykan runes.
She had deep green eyes the color of moss under the moonlight. She donned leather clothes with a white wolf's fur cloak over one shoulder.
The last of the elders sat at the far right, a man named Aesom Themis (he who burns with fire).
He was massive even by Lykan standards,with a broad frame. He had clean shaven head with a thick beard he kept well groomed. His eyes were grayish silver, his favorite color.
He too wore a tailored suit but in grey and around his neck sat a necklace with a silver pendant.
"Welcome" Nyxanthe said with a smile "Mr Aman, Mr Vollen you grace us with your presence"
"Thank you for inviting us" Tariq replied "Your city is quite breathtaking"
"It is indeed" she replied "Even after all these years I am still amazed by its beauty. Now I believe you know that this was no social call, you must know the reason as to why we requested your presence"
"Not at all" Tariq replied "Perhaps it's because I nearly burned one of your subordinates to ash"
"Did you now" Nyxanthe said with a smile.
Alric stood to the side his eyes glowing with menace but this only made Tariq smile.
"Two days ago you encountered a giant wolf accompanied by a powerful Witch as you were transporting a highly valuable prisoner" Damon said "Have you any idea of who they might be?"
"No" Tariq replied " Prior to this incident I had never seen nor heard of their existence"
Damon nodded slowly " I believed so, the wolf is our primary target and has been for the past millennia but still till this day iy manages to elude us"
"How could a creature of such size evade you for so long?"
"That's because it's not just a wolf my boy but a man as well, but unlike us he is a werewolf"
Eirik frowned "What joke is this?, Everyone knows that werewolves do not exist. As lykans we are gifted the strength, speed and power of a wolf and though we may partially change our form to mirror theirs no one can truly transform from man to beast"
"I assure you Mr Vollen this is no joke" Damon said "You saw the beast for yourself did you not?"
He had but what they were saying was impossible, his brain still refused to accept the possibility.
"In theory such creatures indeed cannot exist even among beings such as us. Lycanthropy is termed as the ability to change forms from man into a bipedal hybrid like beast" Damon said
"Whereas werewolves can fully shift from man into wolf. What makes the concept of werewolves impossible is not their ability to do so but the requirement" Thaleia continued.
"Which is?" Tariq asked.
"Two souls" Alric replied.
"Correct Mr Kessler" Thaleia replied.
"I don't follow" Eirik said " What do you mean two souls?"
"To become a werewolf one must posses two souls, the soul of a man and that of a wolf. This is why they are called werewolves. They are literally part man and part beast but no body can posses two souls in harmony and therein lies the predicament"
"That would make sense" Tariq said "But then how does this one exist. Is he some sort of anomaly?"
"Indeed he is, but we suspect like our king his existence is by divine hand"
"That would explain his power but not his size, surely he is not part giant"
"No that would be absurd, none can be of two species. Even if one was to have offspring with a different species they would only gain access to one side of their heritage while the other would lay dormant"
"But it could speak as well" Tariq replied" Not even lykans are able to do so when shifted"
"Yes, it possesses many abilities that are quiet astonishing to say the least. This beast threatens all that we have built and seeks to destroy us and that is why he must be stopped" Damon said.
Tariq crossed his arms "And what of the Witch you held prisoner in the Null box? Why violate the Accords? You know none should imprison another of a different faction, especially for not as long as you clearly held him"
"That Witch was our prisoner long before the Accords" Aeson replied "His crimes against us far precede any laws you believe apply"
That would mean he had been their prisoner for more than two thousand five hundred years. What crime would require such a long sentence?
"And why was he imprisoned?" Eirik asked.
"As I said before" Alric began " It is none of your...."
Aeson raised his hand to stop him which he did, causing Tariq to smirk and whisper "Dog" clearly knowing that Alric would pick up his words with his hearing.
"The Witch sides with our enemy and that is all you need to know" Aeson replied.
"Why go through so much effort to transport him? Why risk even moving him knowing he might be rescued?" Eirik asked.
Nyx leaned forward eyes glinting "That Witch is even older than we are. Had he been at full strength, no rune-etched box could have held him. I believe you saw what his wife did with just a flick of her wrist, and believe me when I say this he is even more powerful than she is. Together they are literal gods"
Eirik had noticed a flicker of emotion on her face when she saw him. Twenty five centuries separated from your loved one, but why?
They weren't telling them everything. Eirik could see they were being told only half truths.
"With the couple united with the beast they could scry the location of our city and destroy us in retaliation" Damon said.
"You have yet to tell us why the beast would want to seek your destruction" Tariq said.
"Now that" Nyx said " Is not for us to disclose to our guests"
"So why tell us any of this?" Eirik asked his voice tense "I left this kingdom and all it entails centuries ago. I earned my freedom from your reach, your politics do not concern me"
Damon leaned back " Because we require your services. We all know how good you are at tracking and eliminating targets. Few in all the worlds could hold a candle to your skill Mr Vollen and I must say I am quiet proud of you"
"Spare me the false praise" he replied " Why employ us again when we failed to complete the previous assignment?"
"We expected you to fail" Damon said "Though we had hoped by some small chance we would succeed. The Witch's cell was failing. The more we age the more stronger we become and this applies to all Velari. Though frail looking his magic had become too powerful to be contained even within a Null box and although witches are physically weak when compared to other factions their strength also increases with time. I bet his strength would be equal to that of yours Mr Vollen without any magical enhancements"
Witches were not remotely even close in physical strength to that of a Lykan, Vampire or the majority of any other factions that did not dabble in magic but given how old this man was said to be Eirik believed it might be true, but he still wanted no part in their war.
"You have your dogs for that, surely they can step up to the task. I am done taking orders from you and I only accepted this job for the pay which you have still yet to do. Do not waste my time again, I want no part in your wars, Tariq let's go"
In the blink of an eye Eirik was pinned to a stone column, cracks appearing like spider webbing behind him with Thaleia's arm around his throat.
"You forget yourself pup" she said calmly but her voice was cold "You may have left our kingdom to live your fairy tale life but you still answer to us. Our word is law and we can just as easily snatch away that so called freedom any time we want"
Her eyes began to glow." You may have your quarrels with your superiors but we tolerate no disrespect. I could end you with a simple thought"
Tariq had known the elders to be powerful beings but this was crazy. He hadn't even blinked before he heard the stone column crack behind him. Her speed was astonishing, had she wanted to end him unlike Alric she would have succeeded before even knew he was dead.
"That wasn't necessary Thaleia" Aeson said chuckling " Now he is less inclined to take on this task"
Thaleia released Eirik, letting him fall to the ground gasping and calmly returned to her throne as if nothing happened.
"Oh but he will" she replied settling back into her seat as she gave him a fanged smile "Complete this task Mr Vollen and perhaps we'll help you with a certain problem of yours regarding accessing your other half"