The Werewolf King by Ryan Matthew Harker (recommended books to read .TXT) 📖

them by the detonation of the dark lord’s arcane energy bomb. This innocent looking device, no larger than a soccer ball, was invented by Harmony to contain, compound, and release his magical energy in such a way as to destroy everything within a five hundred mile radius. Detonated in an attempt to destroy the city of Dirsellia, the palace, and it’s inhabitants which included the then High King and Queen Zakeriah and Mega’N, it had only succeeded in annihilating the surrounding countryside. This was largely in part due to the heroic efforts of many mages and technicians who erected an invisible force field around the palace and most of the city. One heroine in particular contributed the majority of the magic and expertise into the project was a woman named Pentooli Adamschild, a good friend of McAriicoys who lost her life in the undertaking and at the mercenaries request Candlelite, as one of his first acts as the newly appointed High King of AnEerth, declared her a national hero and had a statue erected in her honor. It was now a national monument that hundreds of thousands of people had flocked to visit and pay homage to by laying wreaths and flowers on and around as a way of saying thanks for her ultimate sacrifice.
So these blasted plains were slowly but surely becoming the lush grasslands that they had once been. Even trees had begun to grow again and just the month before Candlelite had signed an order for druids and wizards to go about the countryside and nurture all those little saplings making sure that they had more than a fighting chance at health and maturity. It was out here amongst the wonderful tenacity of nature that Mega’N had chosen to retire.
According to the directions given Absinthe by Farewethor the former queen’s residence was more than a half of a day’s ride south east of Dirsellia. Although they had the talents of the mage Pwami at their disposal it was unwise to teleport with the horses as the experience had been known to cause dementia and violence in the animals. Science and magic had yet to explain these effects. There were of course ways around this dilemma such as picketing the horses and teleporting there but it was a beautiful summer day and after months of being cooped up in the palace dealing with the tedious affairs of politics and economics Candlelite had no problem spending the day in a saddle marveling at the steadfast progress of a recovering landscape. Apparently neither did his companions for they spent the morning and most of the afternoon talking comfortably amongst themselves, reminiscing about past adventures and lost friends. At one point Vohrmint went into great detail filling them all in on his whereabouts of the last year and Max almost fell out of his saddle when he recounted an incident with a one eyed working girl of bad temper in one of the coastal cities to the east.
“Vohrmint!” As the only woman in the group Absinthe chastised him and shot him an indignant glare that along with his name was more than enough to cut his storytelling short.
It was early evening and the sun was finally losing some of it’s heat when Candlelite spotted the little cabin off in the distance. It was a small, humble structure obviously built to house one person. It was completely surrounded by a variety of deciduous and evergreen trees that had to have been grown with magic to have grown to the height they were in such a short time. A light breeze blew softly, rustling branches with th whispering of leaves and fir and pine boughs. Absinthe had spotted the trees even before he had and had pulled her horse next to his. “That must be it,” he told her when the cabin came into view.
“I’m going to ride ahead,” she told him and without waiting for a response she spurred her horse into a run.
While Candlelite led rest of his companions into the clearing the young queen had already dismounted, tethered her horse and was exchanging pleasantries with the old queen.
“Candlelite!” Mega’N called warmly as the young man and his companions dismounted their horses.
Candlelite handed his reigns over to Vohrmint and approached the former queen. Embracing her he said, “Mega’N it’s good to see you. How have you been?”
“Oh you know,” Mega’N said dismissively and changed the subject by greeting the others in turn. “So do you like what I’ve done with the place?” she asked of them all once the formalities were complete.
“I love it!” Absinthe told her enthusiastically. “Everything is so green!”
“I’ve always loved plants and growing things but never had much luck with cultivation or the time to improve it,” Mega’N confided. “Zakeriah always teased that plants were better off without me around.” At mention of the late king her sadness was readily apparent though short lived as she continued, “But here I am and it seems that my thumb is greener than either of us would have thought.”
Absinthe again felt a stab of compassion for the woman’s loss and in her usual compulsive manner she hugged her tightly and said, “I’m sure he would be proud you.”
Mega’N squeezed her young successor with tears in her eyes and whispered hoarsely, “Thank you Absinthe, that means a lot.” Then she pulled away and taking a step back, wiped the tears from her eyes before asking, “So to whom do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit? I have a feeling that this is more than just a social call.”
Candlelite grew serious and his eyes narrowed. “You’re right of course and you can thank Nefarious for our arrival.”
Mega’N looked surprised at the mention of the magician’s name and Candlelite lost no time in filling her in on the last five days.
“Sefu Atarle is on Earth?” Mega’N seemed incredulous at the admission of the assassin’s part in the scenario but of course she accepted the king at his word. “And you want me to leave the comfort of all of this,” she gestured about expansively, “to come on this adventure with you?”
“Farewethor did think that it might do you some good,” Absinthe said honestly.
“Did she?” Mega’N huffed and a spark of her old fire crept into her eyes. “Why that busy bodied little witch.” Then she turned and stormed off towards her cabin yelling as she did, “You just stay there, I’ll be right back!”
Max and Vohrmint exchanged puzzled looks at this sudden tirade and Max asked Vohrmint, “What just happened?” and Vohrmint answered, “I’m not sure.”
Candlelite knew though and asked Absinthe, “She’s coming with us then?”
“Yep,” Absinthe answered looking pleased with her handiwork.
“You are so bad,” Candlelite laughed while Max and Vohrmint looked more confused.
When Mega’N finally emerged from her cabin she had changed out of her summer clothes and was dressed in travel attire. She had a sword strapped to her back, a pistol, on each hip, and she carried a rifle in one hand and a backpack and bedroll in the other.
“Are those beasts of yours tame enough to carry our supplies?” she indicated the werewolves as she approached.
“Yes,” Candlelite answered and with a mental command the six werewolves lumbered over and settled onto their bellies next to the horses.
The six people spent the next fifteen minutes transferring their supplies from the five horses to the six werewolves then a quick slap on their rumps sent the equines running back toward Dirsellia.
As they were traversing the blasted plains earlier in the day Pwami had asked shyly if the King would show him the Lupelire. Candlelite was happy to oblige the old mage and as Pwami handled the amber wolf reverently he revealed that he was something of an amateur authority on the nine artifacts of power. Although she had failed to mention it this was something that Farewethor was aware of and just one more reason why she thought Pwami would be the ideal teleporter for their journey. Therefore, he had said, he had a fair idea as to where the adventurers ought to start their search for the artifact of power. All of his research could not turn up which of the nine artifacts, besides the Luplire had been hidden in his country but there were many myths and legends that strongly hinted to its location. He also revealed that although many would be fortune hunters had never returned from the quest for this artifact the ones who had returned were considered cursed with insanity and madness, raving about demons and monsters. In an entire world of such creatures they must have been truly monstrous indeed.
After the horses had ran out of sight Pwami turned to see five sets of eyes looking at him expectantly. The old mage was excited to be returning to his homeland but still he asked nervously, “Are we ready to leave, my lord?”
Candlelite was sure that if he had heard some of the stories Pwami had he would have reason to be nervous as well but as it was he could barely contain his excitement at finally reaching the official start of this adventure. He answered Pwami with a voice filled with strength and confidence, “Yes, I believe we are.” He looked to the others and received a nod of assent from each of them. Then again to Pwami, “Alright, let’s do this!”
The old man nodded, took a deep breath to steady his nerves and softly said, “Prepare your selves.” The beautiful clearing was suddenly lit with bright blue light and when it subsided the beautiful clearing was empty.


It had been quite a while since Sefu had last experienced the joys of teleportation and she was embarrassed that the orange light faded to reveal her bent over with her hands on her knees while she dry heaved. It only lasted a couple of moments then she was on her feet and noticed that Random was looking at her with a touch of amusement twisting the corners of his mouth slightly.
“Ha ha,” she said sarcastically and the merc broke into a broad grin.
“Been a while huh?” he asked and she said, “Yeah, a little while.”
Sefu looked around and adjusted the shoulder straps of her backpack for a more comfortable fit. Just as Random had said they were in a clearing through which a small brook bubbled and gurgled happily(1-describe Alaska climate for late summer i.e. lighting, daylight hours, etc.)
“Which way do we go?” Sefu asked.
“We have to follow the brook,” Random informed her. “At it’s head it seeps out of the ground. It’s there that the source of the magical disturbance originates.”
She looked at him in surprise and he shrugged, “I took the liberty of scouting ahead a little bit.” Her eyes flashed darkly and he said hurriedly, “I was discreet.”
I bet, she thought. About as discreet as a flash of orange light can be. But all she said aloud was, “Whatever, let’s get a move on.”
She unslung her rifle and butted it to her shoulder before she began to follow the brook upstream. Random followed her lead and did the same. He understood as well as the assassin that you could never be too careful when engaging the unknown and he kept himself alert for anything out of the ordinary.
Sefu found her interest gravitating towards the brook more and more as they followed it. She could not quite place it but there was something about it that did not seem right. At first she tried to tell herself that she was just being paranoid but as miles of the rough terrain passed beneath her feet her instincts kept telling herself otherwise and she found it harder and harder to pull her eyes from the narrow, swift flowing bed of shallow