Dark shadows covered the little village, and thousands of lights lit up in the night like eyes of a huge monster. Wind was blowing through the streets, playing with pieces of paper and wood chips. Not a sound, not a human being outside. Cows and pigs looked around themselves nervously, for even they understood what was going on. Sheeps were bleating silently, begging their owners to leg them inside. Horses and the most valuable animals were safely locked in wooden houses, away from the horrors of the night.
There was one house that was special, though. People from the village preferred to stay away from it, mumbling things about the wizard that lived there. They said he could sent a plague on their home with one word. With one gesture, he could order clouds to rain for a week. Human emotions and feelings submitted to this man, he controlled them.
The old wizard was slowly walking around his house, the wooden planks in the floor creaking silently whenever he stepped on them. Every once in a while he would look at his open window in hope, then sigh sadly and avert his gaze.
Thousands of bottles were standing on the shelves in his house, some of them containing powder, others - liquid. There were even ones that were keeping inside a bug or a sleeping snake. Herbs and plants were hanging from the ceiling, and their scent made everyone in the house feel sleepy. Everyone apart from the wizard, that is. He had gone native to that scent a long time ago. If anything, it was making his blood boil with adrenaline.
He paced towards his table and swiftly brushed his forefinger up a candle. It lit up and the small flame danced on it, sending weird shadows in every corner of the room. The old man just sighed and turned a page of the book in front of him, a book so old that it could easily crumble in dust if anyone touched it in a wrong way.
"Dryadis, numenis..." He mumbled, and the words were impossible to understand. The language was so old that even the world itself had forgotten about it. The wizard was the only one who could speak it now, the only one who carried the knowledge of the Creation.
It was obvious that he couldn't care less about his looks. In his long black beird spiders made a nest. His long hair, as black as the darkness itself, weren't combed well. If one looked at them for too long they would get a feeling they are looking at the night sky which had lost all the stars. But nothing, nothing could be compared to looking in the eyes of this man for at least a second.
His eyes resembled sockets on a human skull. So old and empty of any emotion, they glared at every person without difference. It seemed like this man knew everything there was to know about every person. Woven out of strings of the time itself, he was patiently observing the life fly by, so many worries on his mind that anybody else would've died.
"You're late." He announced grimly, looking at the pages of his book. His fingers traced some sort of a symbol on the table, as if trying to carve it in. A small black creature landed on his shoulder, its wings folded by its sides and squeaked something.
The wizard raised his head and stared at the wall in front of him. Then nodded and waved the creature away. It obediently left his shoulder and found itself a shelter under one of the shelves to hang upside-down.
Old man walked towards the chest and, grumbling, opened it. Then took out a simple white shirt that was way too small for him. Then grabbed a pair of brown pants and some shoes, throwing all of those clothes in a special bag. Lastly, he moved towards the window and looked at the dark sky.
The full moon gave so much light that it felt like the streets turned into glowing rivers. The fields were filled with those flowers that never bloom during the day, and their cold light mixed with the glow of the moon. The wizard sighed and made a weird gesture in the air. A prayer to the spirits. A plead.
Finally, the old wizard grabbed his cane and walked outside. The door closed behind him as he walked down the streets of the peaceful village towards the unknown. His journey wasn't going to be easy or happy. It never was.
The old man glanced at one of the houses to his right and stopped, his head tilted.
A small girl, no older than five, was staring at him wide-eyed. She flinched when their gazes met but didn't move away. The wizard gave himself a weak smile that disappeared as soon as the girl's father shouted something and pulled her away, draping the curtains. The man on the street only sighed and stepped towards the house, making the same weird gesture he had made before.
And immediatelly the sick cow in the house with the little girl stood up and began eating the grass.
The wizard only walked away. His steps were followed by the sound of his cane meeting the road. So many people walked on this street that grass wasn't even growing there, and dirt swallowed the sound of the footsteps lightly. The bag with clothes was thrown over the old man's shoulder.
He walked out of his village and headed towards the forest. In the dark of the night it resembled fangs of a huge monster tearing in the ground. The wizard seemed to know where he was headed to, and neither the horrible darkness nor the sounds of night creatures could plant a seed of fear in his heart.
He looked around and glanced at his village for the last time. Village, where people only lived beside him because of fear of what he would do if anyone decided to leave. Village that existed only because of him, even though people didn't understand that. The only place where he could be safe.
With a deep sigh, the wizard made his way into the forest, keeping away from the tracks and paths usual people would go by. He was slowly walking through the bushes and passing the trees, which seemed to grow even more green and strong when he was around. His eyes lit up a bit, as if being among trees and plants made the man turn younger.
So he stepped further and further away from the civilisation, headed towards someplace the bat had told him about. Many people wouldn't be able to see anything at this point, but the man just walked and walked, and the grass grew stronger behind him, covering his tracks. Old trees gently touched the wizard with their branches and twigs, wanting nothing more than for him to be around.
"I know, I know my dearest." The old man touched the tree trunks, whispering nice words to every plant that got in his way. "Shh, shh, it's okay. He won't hurt ya."
And there it was. A long painful howl that reached the silver moon and made stars shiver and hide in fear. The wizard sighed and repositioned the heavy bad on his shoulder, walking further away. The plants seemed to move aside, allowing the man to walk through without ruining his clothes.
There were no sounds, no scents. The wizard sighed, for even he wasn't able to see in such darkness, where the moon was afraid to glow. He snapped his fingers and a tiny ball of light appeared above his hand, knitted of the rays of sunlight. It was glowing brighter than fire, and was as cold as snow. The man stepped over the fallen birch and instantly noticed something that got his attention.
It was a deer. Lying on its side, it was bleeding and definitely dead. Half of its body was torn away, and a couple of bones with meat on them could be seen a few feet away. The wizard clicked his tongue and bent down, closing the eyes of the animal.
Then shook his head and continued walking. Neither the sun nor the moon had ever looked in this part of the forest. The old man stepped on the rock and noticed a huge black spider crawl up his leg. But even the sight of such a creature only caused a chuckle to rise from his throat as he gently pushed the spider away and went on.
It became as cold as it can be. Rough winds somehow thrived under the leaves, and the wizard shivered, wrapping his old cloak tighter around himself. He didn't look to the sides anymore, because he knew that there were so monstrous creatures here that if you looked at them for a moment, you would fall dead immediatelly. Not even his charms or spells would be able to do anything against it.
And then he heard the growl that would make shivers run down a rock. The growl seemed to come from the darkness itself, it was the voice of true evil. The wizard froze, and with every breath he let out a small cloud appeared in front of his face. Even the magical light he was holding faded slightly, not wanting to be anywhere near this place.
The old man turned around and saw the creature that was eyeing him hungrily. Well, not the creature itself, rather just its cold yellow eyes. Wild, true rage was swirling in them when the creature stepped forward. The wizard didn't look away, didn't flinch, didn't even blink. The glowing eyes of a monster stared in the empty eyes of the mage.
"Hello again." The man greeted the creature, narrowing his eyes at it. "I thought you had dealt with it."
The answer was a terrifying growl and the beast stepped towards the old man, who suddenly looked very small compared to it. A huge grey wolf with shining eyes towered above the wizard, its long and harsh fur standing on its end. Blood was dripping down the wolf's jaws, and white fangs were glowing ominously in the darkness.
The man only reached the shoulder of a massive monster, but not even that made him worry. He just stood there as the wolf walked closer, roaring at the stubborn human in front of it. The trees and other plants grabbed its fur, tried to get in the eyes of the creature, wrapped around its horrifying paws.
The wolf growled again, hungry saliva filling its mouth. It was dying of famine. It needed to hunt, to eat, to kill! But the little man in front of it wasn't scared. On the opposite, he raised his hand calmly, looking the monster in its eyes.
"Calm down." He ordered, and ancient winds echoed in his words. "Calm down. You have control. This isn’t you."
The wolf roared and attacked. Faster than lightning, the wizard rushed behind it and weakly pressed the end of his cane against the hint paw of the beast. It growled and pounced again, but the mage put his hand on its nose before the huge monster could jump.
"Stop it." He ordered, and before the wolf could bite his hand away added one word, one word that sounded like a spell: "Jesse."
The name made the wolf stop. Its yellow eyes widened and it flinched back, howling and crying like a small dog. The sound of breaking bones filled the forest, and the wizard stood there, watching.
And the mass of claws and fangs and fur then screamed. The human scream made the mage wince and open the bag, taking out the clothes.
"You're lucky I found you." He grumbled, throwing the clothes at what had been a wolf. "Don't you know what could've happened?"
"Sorry, dad." The other voice, much younger and higher, replied. "I-I thought I had it under control. H-have I..."
The wizard shook his head and glared at the young male, which was hurringly pulling on his clothes. The guy had his father's black hair, but his eyes shone as pieces of cold obsidian.
"No, nobody is dead tonight." The old man grumbled. "But if you think that I have nothing more important to do than running around just to turn you back, you're dead wrong."
The boy whined but lowered his head. His mouth was covered in blood, but at least it didn't belong to a human this time.
"I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, running after the wizard. "Father, please! I-is there a way for me to stop it?!"
"You know the answer." The old man shook his head. "The only thing that turns you back is if I call you by your name. Nothing else will work. Nothing but self-control."
The kid sighed and looked down in shame. The wizard didn't even blink until they saw the lights of the village in front of them. Then, and only then, he sighed and wrapped a hand around the child's shoulder.
"It's alright, Jesse." He whispered. "You'll control it."
The moonlight made both their eyes shine yellow.
"We all do."
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