I remember the story about the girl as well; many tales had been told. She had lived for thousands of years, a Witch of massive respect and power. She was born with her powers; her babyhood filled with torment for her parents, who died at the hands of the very power she now possesses. Long ago; demons promised her eternal life. Being just four years old at that time, she was stupid and accepted the offer. She grew until she reached the age of twelve, where her magic evolved, and the gift of eternal life bloomed inside her. Ever since, she still wanders this forest; often called the Twilight Woods. Kayel had now met this Witch and her motives were unclear... for the time being.

The Hut

‘I wonder if I am dead already...’

His thoughts were hazed, and he found himself in complete darkness.

‘Is this the “gift” promised by that Witch?’

“Wake up, wolf.”

‘Huh?’

Everything turned white, and slowly the real world materialized before him. He had been gone for some days, he assumed. And this hut... it was so strange; the roof was made of straw, but several artifacts hung from it, and some of them were heavy too. How could the roof survive the weight?

Looking around, he saw the girl standing beside him, carrying a metal plate. On the plate, a wooden-cup filled with water, and some bread had been placed, and she offered it to him. He mumbled a thank you, accepting it, and starting to eat. He still sucked in as much information about this hut as he could.

It was rather big; this bedroom separated from the rest, but the door into the main room had been opened, and he could see a fireplace in the middle of the room, and various books and items in the shelves. On the far end of the room were a small bed, and a closet stood beside it. There was also a shelf with some plates and items for eating.

‘Humans are crazy...’ he thought. And that was his honest opinion too. The girl smiled, and retreated back into the main room. But food was tasted so well, and he was hungry, and so, instincts took over him, and all manners left him as he threw himself over what was not eaten already. Oh, he felt like he had not eaten for weeks, and the food disappeared within minutes.

Content, he resumed to peering around the room, making himself familiar with it; he had a feeling he would stay here for a long time.

Now, there might be some doubt about Kayel’s motives, as he decided to stay and not flee, return to his distrust in humans. But there was something about this girl’s existence which made him determined to stay. I guess, if he had listened to his instinct, instead of his head and feelings, things would have been much worse for us Wolves now. We would, for instance, not have our magicians. Our Elders would have died out, and we would have no one to lead us. The Humans would surely walk over us, and our dominance over the world would have never been present. Our children would have lived a life, filled with slavery and death; the humans would slowly kill us, if we did not commit suicide before they had their chance. Yes, Kayel played a major part in our history, but he did not yet know it...

Three days had now passed since Kayel woke up in the hut........

He yawned and stretched. Sunlight snuck into the room, like a snake that hunts its prey. Oh, how he hated it when the sunlight stole his sleep away, forcing him away from his dreams, like an emperor uses his power to force his will upon anyone.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!”

Kayel opened his eyes, and stared into the face of his new “teacher”. He had learned that her name was Maya, after the Maya-leaves, which she had been showered in at birth. Her eyes were also green, and there was no visible pupil. Now she seemed cheerful, though, other than the moody feel this place had had for the last two days.

“Ugh... Morning...” he greeted her back, and slowly sat up. “What’s up?”

“Well, it is time for your lessons, my student!” she exclaimed happily. Obviously, she had finally decided what to begin with, and after a quick breakfast, they both went outside. Kayel smiled; finally he could move about freely again. This was, seemingly, the only open area of the forest, and Maya ran to the middle of it. “Here we can start!” she exclaimed again, and Kayel could not, but smile at her childish side.

After some hours of preparations, the lesson began, and today it was only theory, though.

Maya began to explain. “To use magic, you first need to know exactly what it is. Magic is the essence of all living creatures on this planet, although only a few knows how to use their own. The source of this is called ‘Mana’. The amount of Mana one has, depends on oneself because every being has a Mana pool of its own, and all of these so-called ‘pools’ are of different size.

So, to extract the Mana from your pool into a physical form, so it can be used in various ways, you first need to know how to concentrate insane amounts of energy, without it exploding in your face. Any questions?” As Maya spoke, Kayel took notes, ensuring that nothing was missed, and shook his head; he had no questions.

“Good” she said. “Then let’s start with the theory behind gathering the energy from your Mana pool. To drain the Mana, and use it, you first need to ‘open your heart’, as they say. Although that takes too much time. Time, which we don’t have. So, I’ll go straight to the point; you need to find an energy source inside of you, and then focus it into your hands, or any part of your body, for external use.”

Kayel grinned; this was going to be more fun than he first suspected.

Surely, our hero had his suspicions about the knowledge he was receiving, but that was of no difference now. He had been hooked; anxious to learn more about the wondrous magic, of which he, himself, had been easily defeated. I know how he was thinking; ‘I shall use this power for righteousness.’ unaware that it was this though, which would ultimately destroy him, for the good of us all. Many years after that, when Kayel reached the age of twenty-two, he left his teacher, and headed for the Temple. The final battle was about to be staged.

Kayel moved swiftly through the devastated barrens. Time was of the essence, and his invisibility cloak would not last for long. He had changed throughout the years; having trained only in Magic, his physical strength was somewhat reduced, but he did not care. He still knew how to fight with both sword and staff, and that would be enough. While he encroached upon the temple walls, he took time to prepare himself for something, which could possibly be his final mission.

He sat down behind a rock; his new blue robe swaying a bit with the wind, and his blue hat as well. Unlike most sorcerers, his hat was not pointy; it was rather more like a hood, which had been woven into his purple cloak. These wastelands looked like something which could only be described as hell. Skeletons, dead trees, red ground... it all was there, and it felt awful to him. He closed his eyes, and began projecting the ground for its memories; but even the earth did not answer him.

“How....” he muttered. “How could they have silenced an element?”

He peered over the rock, and stared right into the eyes of one of the Cat demons. The beast laughed like a maniac. Astonished, he jumped up on his feet, and backed away a little, holding his staff tightly.

The beast looked like a Siberian tiger on two legs, and it was wearing primitive weapons, and leather straps as its armour.

“How brave of you, wolf, to come to our temple! Allow me to give you a proper welcome!” the beast cackled, its voice high-pitched and rasping. And it immediately drew a far-from primitive sword, and charged towards Kayel, who was on the verge of retreat. Well, looked like it. He turned around, pretended to run. This made the cat careless and overconfident, but then the Wolf turned around and faced the Cat, determination written on his face, hate written into his eyes. Time seemed to stand still as their gaze met, before the Wolf jumped to the side, and the slash of the Cat’s blade hit nothing but thin air.

The beast screamed in anger, and charged towards Kayel again, and once more; he dodged, and now he drew a sword. He parried another attack from the bestial Cat creature, although it glanced towards his arm, giving him a deep wound. The Wolf growled loudly, dropped his sword, and moved his hand towards the Cat’s face, grabbing it before it could react.

“Fire!” he shouted, and the Cat was engulfed in flames, and left nothing but burnt ashes. It didn’t even have time to feel the pain.

But this effort tired him, and the use of Fire magic was not something he was used to. It took too much of his energy. He decided to camp here for the night, and wait for his Mana to replenish, and so he did. But the Cats did not rest; deep inside the temple, they were preparing a ritual. One which would put the Wolf-tribes for all eternity.

I can say to you, that things did not look good for us wolves after this.

But this is where the story ends; Kayel, somehow, managed to find his way into the temple, and put an end to the ritual.

The End (5000 years later)

“So, that was it for tonight, children.” The Elder spoke, as he stood