Back To You

Chapter 10

"Tyler, I'm sorry." Aidan was feeling the ultimate guilt at getting his new friend into trouble with his mother, of all people, and had to apologise profusely. Tyler waved it off like it was a trifling matter, "Don't be. Personally, I don't regret making that decision. Besides, I'm used to the harsh treatment from the Chieftain, so don't beat yourself into a pulp over nothing, little guy."

Tyler's words only made Aidan feel worse.

Everyone was seated in one of the rooms in the living quarters that had been converted to a lounge area. The furniture and décor were aesthetically industrial style, which was much to Aidan's liking, with a nice mix of neutral tones, dark wood and exposed brick.

They were all seated together because Tyler had taken it upon himself to educate the two humans about supernatural history, and Gavin had tagged along for fun. Aidan shifted comfortably in a plush brown leather armchair, while Hailey had opted for a grey oversized bean bag chair. Gavin didn't even bother with furniture, instead lazing about on a furry rug.

Tyler cleared his throat and looked at the two of them solemnly and, in Aidan's eyes, appearing very much like a young high school history teacher trying his best to engage his students in the dullest subject matter. "Alright, let's begin. I'm about to give you an abridged version of the history of werewolves, so listen closely because I won't have time to repeat myself."

He cleared his throat once more before beginning. "About one thousand three hundred years ago, werewolves discovered a portal that linked their homeworld, Freskalran, to a new world. No one knew how or why it appeared, whether it spontaneously formed or if someone created it. Till today, it's an unsolved question.

"When the werewolf explorers scouted the new lands, they stumbled upon the native inhabitants, humans, who were far inferior in physical strength and with a somewhat degenerate society, but with a fast-growing population."

Hailey glanced at Aidan and winked. Aidan struggled to hide a smile. She, too, must have been inwardly rolling her eyes while thinking, 'Geez, what's with the human bashing, considering you lot were the ones to invade this world?' Tyler, ever sharp, caught the wink and held his hands up in surrender, "The words of the elders, not mine." Aidan gave the wolf a thumbs up sign, knowing that Tyler wasn't the type to say such things.

"The werewolves decided to colonise this new land while interacting with the locals. Luckily for them, the humans of the time saw them as gods descended from above to guide and offer counsel and were willingly subservient. As the werewolves sent explorations further away from the portal entrance, they came upon the witches first, followed by the vampires. Both races had also begun establishing bases around their portal entryways.

"To maintain peace and stability, the three races signed an accord, agreeing to not interfere with each other's claimed lands." Fully immersed in Tyler's story, Aidan listened attentively. So far, it matched Gavin's previous explanation.

"This peace was kept for three hundred years but came to an abrupt halt when a powerful witch named Nina Forst laid claim that the vampire king, Lucius Bloodreign, had stolen her powers. Not only had he stolen her powers," Tyler paused for dramatic effect, "but he was able to pass on such abilities to his offspring, making him and his family unbelievably powerful."

'Vampire-witches. What a crazy but powerful combination,' Aidan thought to himself.

The werewolf subconsciously hunched his tall frame as the history lesson picked up in intensity, "The incident, coupled with the underlying concern by both witches and werewolves that the vampire population had grown substantially compared to their smaller populations while expanding their domain exponentially to accommodate such growth was reason enough for the accord to fall apart. The vampires and witches declared war on each other, attacking each other's cities to try and gain the upper hand.

Tyler's dark eyes darted between the humans as he spoke, "Lucius Bloodreign made the first move, killing thousands of witches in a surprise attack on the Earth city of Onirique. In the ensuing chaos that followed, the werewolves chose to side with the witches. Our wolf leaders justified joining the fray because they felt that the vampires would eventually be too strong and numerous, posing a threat to our safety."

Tyler shook his head sadly, signalling the direction the story was about to take. "The next three hundred years were the bloodiest and most brutal in supernatural history. It came to be known as The Portal Wars."

Aidan shifted about in his chair, already feeling a deep sense of abhorrence for the vampire king. To think that greed for power from a single being had led to the deaths of so many.

"It pains me to say this," the wolf said, his tone dropping slightly, "but to fight the wars, humans were needed for menial jobs, mainly as servants or for skilled labour such as weaponsmithing. They were conscripted voluntarily or by force to serve their so-called gods." When Tyler spoke the last three words with a voice laden with dissent, Aidan couldn't help but like the tall wolf even more for being so honest.

"Over time, the focus of the wars went from decimating enemy numbers to capturing the enemy portal and invading their homeworld. Although vampires initially held the upper hand, their numbers alone weren't enough to fight the innate powers of the witches or the supreme strength of us wolves. They were losing, slowly but surely. It was only a matter of time."

Tyler then let out a long sigh. "Unbelievably, lady luck chose the worst possible timing to shine her light on the vampires. Just as the werewolf-witch coalition prepared to finally annihilate the vampire portal city of Hjem, all three portals began showing signs of destabilisation."

Hailey and Aidan were like children being read a fascinating story, wholly entranced by Tyler's abridged history lesson. "Just like that? All of a sudden?" Hailey asked.

Tyler nodded, "No one knows why, but the portals suffered sudden variations in their physical structure, going from randomly expanding dozens of feet to shrinking to the size of a small doorway in a matter of minutes."

Aidan tried imagining the portals in their glory, wide enough for dozens of men to walk through standing abreast, compared to the moments before they vanished, shrinking ever smaller until barely one man could fit through. He just couldn't imagine the anguish of those supernaturals trapped on the wrong side of a disintegrating door back home, watching in horror as they were forever separated from the ones they loved.

Tyler continued with the history lesson, "The portals pretty much broke apart, leaving many supernaturals stranded on the wrong side. Meanwhile, the humans had had enough of fighting the wars of their gods and turned on their former masters. As you can imagine, many supernaturals died during the aftermath of the closure of the portals and the uprising that followed. In the end, the witches had no choice but to conjure a powerful spell that wiped out the memory of the existence of supernaturals in all humans."

When the tall wolf reached the end of the story, he looked from Aidan to Hailey, waiting for questions. When none came, he continued, "That was seven hundred years ago. Afterwards, infighting broke amongst the wolves left behind, which is why we have the Clan Executive Board.

Curious, Aidan asked, "What was the infighting about?"

Tyler explained further, "Our wolf society needed some form of power structure to replace what was lost with the closure of the portals. With a lack of leadership in place, everyone wanted their clansman to be in power." He rolled his eyes in irritation.

"Eventually, the elders came to an agreement of sorts and our current structure was made. The Clan Executive Board closely resembles what they had going on back in the werewolf homeworld. Every clan has a Clan Head, an inherited title passed from parent to child."

Aidan's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Tyler. Didn't this make the tall wolf the next Clan Head, after his mother?

If he noticed Aidan's reaction, Tyler didn't show it, instead continuing on, "The Clan Heads choose amongst themselves a Clan Chieftain to rule for a tenure of two hundred and fifty years, so it has to be someone with strong leadership and decision-making skills, to make absolute decisions for all wolves. The other Heads can advise, but the final say lies with the Chieftain."

Aidan glanced up at Tyler in shock. This meant that Emerie held ultimate power in her hands.