chapter11b

"I'd tell you to sit down but...eh, where?" ShaTaka said, smiling a little."Anyway, I have been with Sleeping Panther since I myself was a small pup, a good long while ago but not as long ago as my friend Der here." StevDer snorted but didn't interrupt.

"See, if you dig down in the levels of Earth and Nivta, around the same time period, there's this black layer of ash. At the same time, a big rock from space happened to hit Earth and cause the obliteration of a good piece of the population so humans haven't thought much of it except to label it as the End of The Dinosaurs.
"Sleeping Panther told you the Indian ledged of WolfAngels but the actual one is much more...complicated. Nivta and Earth are connected, which is why there are stories of our kind roaming your world. Both are connected, like Siamese twins you could say. And since magic is a strong force on Nivta, it's a strong force on Earth although not as much as it used to be.

"When the Earth was molten, a person named Galic, who was a general, King of Nivta, wizard, and pretty darn good looking to boot, decided to forever tie Earth and Nivta together. He made three crystals; one for Earth, one for Nivta, and one to control both. Why? I don't know. Boredom? Anyways, back then, there weren�t just two WolfAngels but scores of them and they made up Galic's personal army. Two of his highest-ranking generals, one male, one female, were chosen to be the carriers of the crystals, which is why all WolfAngels after that were of opposite sex.

"But what of the third crystal? While Galic may have been cute, he wasn't bright and made the third crystal as powerful as the two combined. And with that much power, it's easier to slip into darkness and evil. Galic became a shell of his former self, a slave to the crystal. It isn't just a hunk of rock, it was alive and it controlled him and forced him to wage war on the people he called friends. All this took place over billions of years, just to get the time frame straight.

"Raising an army of demons from the Underworld, which is below Nivta and exists on another plane or dimension, he attacked, planning to claim the Underworld, Nivta, and Earth for himself. But the Creatures of Nivta and the WolfAngels would not allow that to happen. They fought a vicious battle that destroyed much of Earth, deeply scarred Nivta for years, and eliminated most of Galic's WolfAngels. Finally, the two WolfAngels beat back their former master and destroyed him but not the crystal for they didn't have the knowledge to. They locked it away in the Underworld, knowing that one day, a race of men would arise on Earth and might stumble upon it again and that on Nivta, it might be too tempting of a prize.

"You'd think that's the end right? For thousands of years, the crystals of Earth and Nivta resided on Earth inside the most powerful and influential human beings and the Great Crystal stayed locked away in the Underworld. Nivta itself needed no protector because it had Sleeping Panther, even though he wasn't a crystal bearer, he was and still is, quite powerful.

"But the Council that governs here made a huge mistake; they sent Sayt, a demi-demon, into the Underworld from his place in the Dark Zone, a secluded place on Nivta. Little did we know that the crystal had chosen him to be its bearer. Sayt was incredibly strong and became nearly unstoppable with the crystal; he conquered the Underworld and now he has his sights set on Nivta then Earth. He's raised an army of demons, just like Galic before him and plans to strike soon, but by then you must be in charge of your powers, for you are the crystal bearers of Earth and Nivta; William of Earth and Natasha of Nivta." ShaTaka paused for a moment. "Have I forgotten anything?" she said thoughtfully.

"Um...what happens if we don't stop this Sayt guy and his army?" Will asked hesitantly.

"Oh, you both shall be incorporated into his evil being and Nivta and Earth will fall under his enslavement and cruelty but that's not what I'm forgetting," the dragon said with ease and Will and I gulped.

StevDer arched a horned eyebrow. "The offspring?" he offered and both of us jumped.

"OFFSPRING?!" we yelled and looked from one dragon to the other.

ShaTaka waved a paw. "Don't worry, that's not it...oh, I got it! Once you two defeat Sayt...um, if you defeat Sayt...the crystals are to be destroyed which means..."

"We die," I said simply and Will arched his own eyebrow placidly.

"Well, it just means that you'll be the last in the line of WolfAngels," she said, stretching her wings. "Not that you die, you just can't transform."

Shrugging, Will and I answered in unison. "Whatever."

Rolling his eyes, StevDer stretched to his full height. "Humans and WolfAngels treat their lives with such reckless abandon," he snorted before turning to his friend. "Can we leave now?"

"Yes, cranky. But first..." the dragon raised two huge claws and pulled the backs of our shirts down. "Hey!" I yelped and Will jumped but otherwise didn't move from the creature that could crush him with a slip of a paw. "Just as I thought, identical," she muttered and trotted away to the shadows. I looked up at StevDer with a puzzled expression. "What was that all about?" I asked and the white dragon regarded me with a somewhat bored expression. "You two have the identical birthmarks, the Cressant Moon, which means you're worthy to bear the Swords of Power," he said placidly. "Only very closely connected WolfAngels get such an honor."

Suddenly, two flashes flew out the dark at us. I caught mine at the same time as Will and blinked. It was a long handled sword, the blade nearly seven feet long and silver but light as a feather. The hilt was bound with red and black leather straps and the gold guard extended in an S shape on either side of the double blade. Will's sword was just as long but the hilt was bound with black and white straps and the guard extended to an I shape. "This is light," he said, grasping it in one hand and making a sweeping arc that made the air whistle. "It can't be steel."

I shook my head and did the same with my sword. "Steel would be breaking my arm now but it's like I'm fighting with a plastic sword," I replied and ShaTaka snorted. "Those aren't playthings. They're made of magic treated metal from the fires of Urit, the great volcano on Nivta. In order to change on free will instead of intense emotion, you must draw blood on each other, preferably on the hand."

"We have to...stab each other?" Will blinked and I reflexively extended my fingers. "It's only a little blood; your ancestors turned the ground red with it. What are a few drops of your own?" StevDer ask in a low voice. I swallowed and extended my hand to him and Will did the same. Laying the edge of our swords on each other's hands, we sliced back, drawing a line of crimson on our skin. "Nothing's happen--" Will started but cut off when he began to grow a muzzle.

My own body grew taller and bulkier and thick black fur covered my clothing. The itching in my back got worse until my wings and tail exploded from my skin and my muzzle pushed out the bones in my face. In fifteen seconds, we had become something that we had just begun to understand.

We were what we were supposed to be.