Chapter 7 - The Dark Forces

The night Adriana was born, Vikra, the leader of the dark forces had been lurking in the shadows. He had been waiting ever since Shira had entered labor.

Devoid of a real face, Vikra was more like a demented skeleton of a soul, wearing a black garb which hung over his figure. The garb blended with the darkness around him. Unable to walk on the ground, Vikra floated above the ground, and the fringes of his garb seemed to disappear into thin air every time he moved, only to appear when he stopped. Once an extremely powerful alpha, he was respected amongst all the packs. He had waged many wars and had returned victorious, but soon, his greed took over his morals and he started attacking humans and wizards. The humans had to form an alliance with the wizards in order to control his wayward ways. In the ensuing battle, many humans died. In the end, when Vikra was surrounded, the wizards had collectively used their powers to bring him down, reducing him to an undying skeleton. Eventually, he was banished from the jungles and forced to live in the barren lands under deserted caves with no vegetation.

Vikra only emerged from his hideout when a few freshly converted werewolves had come to take refuge in those caves after being chased by the pure blood werewolves. Soon, he had formed an army of neotides, promising them protection and a better future. Slowly, they had formed a base in the extreme western part of the jungles where even the wizards didn't dare go.

That night, Vikra had traveled the periphery of the jungle rather than going through it to avoid the various packs that inhabited it. Although traveling from the northern periphery was shorter, he preferred to travel through the southern periphery in order to avoid the wizards who lived in the northern parts.

The thick clouds and heavy rain were covering the full moon. Taking advantage of the night, Vikra lurked around the small cottage where Shira was crying out in pain due to labor. Driven by his greed of l.u.s.t and power, he had been compelled to come take the baby. The only person around the Luna of the pack was her maid. None of the pack doctors were allowed to go near her and her husband was not interested in this birth, leaving her alone. It made his work easy.

He could have sent any of his servants, the freshly converted werewolves, to get the baby, but he, himself, had come.

As soon as he heard the cries of the baby, he rushed towards the cottage. However, a bright light suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blinding his nocturnal vision. Shrieking in pain, Vikra retreated to find darkness. When he was once again shrouded in darkness, he fixed his gaze on the object that was shining so bright.

It was the moon goddess, Selene.

It had stopped raining and the moon was shining brilliantly in the sky. The moon goddess appeared so ethereal that even Vikra fell on his knees. Appearing right before him, the moon goddess struck him with light energy so strong that his body started burning, making him shriek in pain.

Alighting from her two winged horse, Selene floated in the air, her body glowing in the night and her golden crown emitting clear beams of moon light. With a long neck and black hair that blended into the dark night behind her, she appeared vibrant. She conjured up energy to make a small ball of white light in her hand and threw it towards Vikra.

Vikra couldn't stand the force and had to retreat even further into the shadows. He dared not come near the cottage unless she was gone. As soon as Vikra retreated, a bubble of impenetrable white light surrounded the cottage. Vikra knew that no matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to enter that layer of protection. He left the place swearing that he would soon get the child.

Because he left without being able to see the child, he wasn't able to see whether the newly born child was a boy or a girl.

The light Selene had thrown at him was so bright that the ray it had generated could be seen throughout the jungle. The wizards in the northern jungle became alert and some of them apparated near the source of the light only to find Vikra flying towards the west. The wizards chased him, but he was too swift for them.

Over the years of having a body-less existence, Vikra had mastered the art of disappearing swiftly. He had used the energy from the humans to turn them into fresh werewolves for his defense, but ever since the wizards had become more vigilant, his energy source had started depleting fast. The neotides were becoming useless, but since they could not die, he could only admit them into his ever increasing army.