| It had left several wolves jaded and disillusioned, Stytentos being one of them. He no longer wanted to help anyone for fear he would be killed. Let them all die. He no longer cared. Let the ungrateful humans fend for themselves. The entire village of Lupus had been wiped out by Roman soldiers under orders of the Catholic Church, their homes burnt to the ground. Few escaped. Many Romans were killed in retaliation. Tranak, the village that had loved Mary and Walter so dearly, were sympathetic to the wolves� plight, offering protection in their village, and in some cases, hiding them. They paid horribly for it. Every villager was killed in a surprise raid, their village suffering the same fate as Lupus. The surviving Lycanthrope left their beloved homeland to seek safety in other places. They just wanted to be left alone. Stytentos himself, wanting to escape the tragedy and pain of his past, journeyed to Nepal where he had been living with Tibetan monks for the past sixty-three years. He didn�t even know if any of his kind still lived. Oddly, the vampires had watched with silent glee, but not being stupid, they no longer attacked their victims out in the open. He briefly wondered if the bloodsucking bastards had a hand in it all. Tears formed in his eyes as he thought back to long ago. Despair and sorrow overwhelmed him. He felt empty. He swung his feet over the side of his bed and stood up, feeling the cold stone floor on his bare feet. Going over to the dark red velvet curtains that hung to the floor, he pulled them to one side, gazing out at the mountains surrounding the temple. Pale sunlight penetrated the room as dawn broke. The view was breathtaking . Snow-covered peaks jutted up from the earth to reach high above the temple to the heavens, as if to touch God Himself. The surrounding mountains were beautiful and he had traveled up and down their majestic grandness, helping some of the local villagers with their herds. He had even been attacked by a Yeti, but the creature quickly realized its mistake when he changed out of pain and anger. He had let it escape with only a broken arm. Sighing, he dressed then went to the door. He needed to think. He had been meditating in the prayer area for only an hour or so when a voice spoke to him. �What troubles you, brother Stytentos?� His eyes opened in a flash as he looked up at the elderly Nepalese monk standing beside him, his gaze focused on the foreigner. Tychook stood there, looking at him, a smile almost perceptible on his features. He had been one of the monks that had welcomed the werewolf into the temple and their way of life. Once they had learned of his history, some had decided to help rid the world of evil as werewolves themselves. Those monks had set off into the world to build a fortress for his people as a sanctuary, a place of knowledge, a stronghold. A sacred place one of his kind could go in times of trouble, for guidance, for training. They would call this fortress Shambala, after the mythical kingdom of ancient Tibetan legend. Stytentos was grateful to them, and had learned a great deal from the men who lived in the monastery. They had taught him how to deal with spiritual turmoil, doubt, and anguish. But on many occasions, he had found he still had much to learn from them. He had yet to find some semblance of peace. �My past. Again,� he replied . �I see,� Tychook said quietly. A long moment passed between them in silence before Tychook spoke again. When he did, his message was not what Stytentos had expected . �Sometimes, the past must be confronted in order for us to move on.� �What do you mean �confronted�?� �Confront all of the pain of your past to move on with your life. Until you do this brother Stytentos, you won�t be able to find your way in life. Or peace.� Stytentos looked at him solemnly. His eyes downcast, he said softly, � I�ve lost my way. I can�t move on . . . I have no direction, I don�t know where to go, I don�t know what to do and I don�t even care anymore . . .� Tychook placed a hand on his shoulder. He had a quiet strength that the werewolf had never known in any human before. �You must find something that makes life worth living again,� the priest explained. �How will I know when I find it?� |
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