Read Online Mrythdom: Game of Time by Jasper T. Scott - Free Book Online Page A

reason, too, we must go, because Malgore will also be along.”
    “I don’t have a weapon. They keep speaking about these wolves and mentioning other deadly ‘terrors.’ How am I going to defend myself?”
    Gabrian fished into his voluminous robes and produced Aurelius’s pistol. “Now that you’re not going to shoot me with it, you may have your weapon back.”
    Aurelius hesitated, expecting some kind of trick, but when the pistol didn’t explode in Gabrian’s palm, he took it as a sign of trust and snatched his weapon from the old man. He checked the charge, flicked the switch from stun to maximum power, and snapped on the safety before holstering the weapon at his hip. “What about you?”
    The old man hefted his staff. “I will not need more than this.”
    “That’s how you use magic?”
    “No, I can use magic without a staff, just as you can kill a man with your fists rather than a sword. The staff merely focuses my power.”
    “I see.” Aurelius turned to watch the man in crimson furs walk by. Now that he could get a closer look, he saw that the jagged points of the crown upon the man’s head were made of giant canine teeth, each of them no less than four inches long. “Who is he?”
    “Rathgur of Dagheim, the chieftain of this clan. There are rumors that he is a magician himself.”
    “So where is his staff?”
    “There are many ways to focus power. One may also wear an amulet, or embed a magical stone in the hilt of a sword. If the rumors are true, I suspect our fair chieftain focuses his power through hidden means. Sorcerers are not popular in Nordom.”
    The crowd quieted as they began marching after their chieftain. Gabrian and Aurelius followed. “What do you mean they aren’t popular?”
    “The real reason has been lost with the long passage of years, and few now know it, but in the beginning it was because of Thesla hur Loban. In the human tongue, Thesla the Wolf. He is the one you heard about in the Firestone Brewery.”
    “So when they said that a wolf took a woman for his mate, they meant that this Thesla guy took her for his mate. That makes a lot more sense.”
    “Yes, it does, but I know what you are thinking, elder, and you haven’t asked me how Thesla the Wolf got his name.”
    Aurelius hesitated. “How did he?”
    “Thesla was a powerful shape-shifter. His favorite form was that of the wolf.”
    “You mean he could actually turn into a wolf?”
    “Exactly.”
    Aurelius shook his head in disbelief. “So a wolf really did take a woman for his mate. He must have changed back to a human before they . . .”
    “I doubt it. The problem with shape-shifting is that the longer you stay in any one form, the harder it is to change back, and the less you desire to. One’s essence changes to that of the form which one takes.”
    “You’re saying he became a wolf, took a human mate, and had a son by her?”
    “Exactly.”
    “Okay, that’s definitely creepy, Wrinkles, but I don’t see how that would enrage so many people for so many years. She was just one woman. She must have been popular or loved by a lot of people at least.”
    “Perhaps. Regardless, that woman’s son was the first werewolf. Since then, many thousands of werewolves have been born to Thesla’s line. Over time, they interbred with real wolves, creating a much larger, more intelligent species which is now the modern wolf, and the old wolves have all but died out.
    “As for the werewolves, only a very few pure-blooded ones still live. And those few that there are have become pariahs, hunted through all the seven kingdoms of Mrythdom. All the unsolved crimes in Nordom and even some other parts of the world are blamed on werewolves, though they are very rarely seen and even more rarely caught. Unlike regular wolves, werewolves can blend in with people; they can look almost human right up until the moment they rip out your throat. Whether or not they deserve their reputation as criminals, werewolves are very