Argent

Darkness had arrived to consume the sky with dense clouds. Thunder echoed through them as lightning viciously struck against the tall trees, and ignited the forest with a burning fire from hell. The crackling sounds immediately rushed the animals out of their home. The villagers screamed in agony while the wolves howled at the gleaming moon that surpassed all darkness. Peculiar how it was the only thing gleaming with life. It was here where a curse was arising from the depths of the underworld and taking over all human life.

For ages, mankind roamed the lands of the Earth in perfect harmony. They had health, intelligence, companionship, unlimited resources, and eternal life. All to which the mighty gods had gifted them in return for their worship and diligence.

Mankind had to cultivate the land but had no need to go hunting as food was a source the gods granted them. All this came with a price, however. They needed to follow and respect the demands and orders the gods had placed in the scrolls of the light realm.

The light realm was believed to be where the gods resided. No one knew where it was, nor had they seen the real scrolls, but the rules were clear and somehow, everyone knew them by heart.

They had been warned, however, for if these rules were to be broken, even by just one man, a horrible curse would fall upon them; even a worse curse to the one that decided to question or defy them. Among those rules, stood the most important of them all: “Thou shall not take a life. Be as it may—human or beast, friend or foe— a life shall not perish by thy hands."

For many centuries, death, agony, fear, loneliness, and sadness were all things unknown to men. They considered it quite easy to follow the demand of the gods. After all, they received what they pleased. But, in a perfect world, perfection never truly exists.

The gods had granted new animals the opportunity to roam the world with humans. A new species that had become the favorite creations of the gods as it represented each of their strengths. For weeks, not a single soul knew how they looked or what they were, but everyone had their own stories about these new beasts.

They traveled and hunted in packs. They worshipped the moon goddess, Lunera, and had a hierarchy--an alpha, beta, and omegas. They were smart, agile, fast, and loyal. The gods called them wolves, and they came to be the doom of mankind.

Humans never ventured into the depths of the forest for obvious reasons. It wasn’t prohibited nor did it pose any harm; but, it was immense and intimidating.

One young man, however, was quite curious. He was well known in his village as he was a handsome, tall man with black hair and a toned body. But what everyone loved about him, were his royal blue eyes; eyes that mesmerized anyone who made eye contact with him. Everyone insisted he was a fallen god. He was wanted by every young woman and loved dearly by the elders.

A few hours before the sun began to set, the man ventured into the forest. He admired its beauty and the animals that came out to inspect this odd-looking, two-legged creature. Animals and humans never interacted, so one could imagine how amazed each was by one another.

The man continued his journey. Eating the fruits the forest offered, and swimming and drinking from the clear water of the lakes and rivers. Everything seemed perfect, and this place felt like a sanctuary for this man...his safe home.

He knew it was getting late and had to head back to his family. He made a promise to himself to come back the following day and experience the peace the forest brought and thank the gods for the magical place they had gifted men.

On his way back, the path to get home was becoming unclear as the sun met the horizon. The man continued to move, not exactly knowing where he was heading; but he had faith he would find his way back one way or another. It took only one wrong turn to change this. A crunching sound was becoming louder the more he walked in the same direction. Curiously, the man followed the sound until he came out of the dense forest and moved to an open field. Before him, a giant beast devoured an animal. Frozen in his tracks, the man gasped and heaved at the horrid sight of the carcass of its prey being viciously torn to shreds. The wolf heeded the presence of the man and turned to face him. Its golden eyes were predatory and its snout was painted a bright scarlet red. The man felt shivers down his spine as the wolf inched closer, licking the blood clean. This was the first moment in history men had felt fear.

Wolves were curious animals naturally but not dangerous. Its intention was never to scare the man, but he didn’t know that.

As the wolf circled and observed the man, the man tried to back away but his feet gave out and he stumbled. The curious wolf snarled and crouched, preparing to launch toward the fallen man. Out of fear, the man grabbed the closest object to his hand and held it high as the wolf launched. With closed eyes, he awaited for the wolf to attack, but it never did. It didn’t stand a chance. With blood dripping on his face and garments, the man opened his eyes to discover the lifeless wolf hanging from the piercing branch. Immediately, he dropped the wolf as he realized the terrible crime he had committed. His face grew pale and he ran. He ran as fast as he could and didn’t look back, but the world around him was changing. The gods were furious and it was clear. A storm started brewing up, the warm weather turned cold. Screams filled the air, animals scurried away, and the many sights and emotions that were unknown to humans began hitting each and every one of them like never before.

The ground trembled beneath and crevices began to form. Through the crevices, a dark smoke-like shadow with blue particles erupted into the sky. As if it were alive, the shadow traveled through the woods, looking for something— for someone.

Along its way, the shadow suffocated and killed every living being that was in its way. It didn’t care who had angered the gods. Its only goal was to destroy most, if not all, mankind. Thousands of bodies began hitting the floor. Elderly, adults, even children were all victims of the curse. It traveled through the depths of the forest where the man that had killed the gods' most precious creation, ran to find his way back home. The man noticed the black shadow following him. He began running faster. He knew what was after him. He didn’t know, however, what the curse was nor whether his life would be taken. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast or agile enough to escape the gods’ fury. Within seconds, the shadow engulfed the man’s body and elevated him in the air.

It was unclear what was happening. The few villagers that remained and observed could only make up crushing and snapping noises along with the agonizing screams of the man that soon turned to roars and growls. The shadow began disappearing as the dark figure of the man began descending from the sky. Everyone watched in horror as a limp body reached the ground. But, there was something different about this body. It was larger and seemed beast-like. Unaware of what had happened, the villagers approached the body to inspect it. Their curiosity brought them their doom for the creature was still alive, starving, and out of control.

The man that had once existed had been taken over by a wolf-like beast. He howled at the moon acknowledging her presence, killing and devouring every villager that stood around him. The gods had given this man the curse of the moon where he was to be her slave for eternal life. He would have to live in solitude and every month, transform into this beast they called lycan. Every shift between man and beast or beast and man would be painful and agonizing. He could not escape death for he was to be immortal and nothing could kill him. Silver would become his weakness, but it would be hardly impossible to obtain and even more difficult to get him killed. He’d be forced to live with the guilt and regret of causing mankind to be extinct, and if the gods were to allow humans to walk among the earth once again, he would have to watch every person he knows and loves die as humans could and will never be immortal again.

This man...this beast, came to be known as Argent.