Chapter 1: The Kingdom of Telaerion

There he was, standing on the balcony that looked over the small village below. He was so tall, brave, and noble like a King should. He was one of the greatest werewolves that have ever lived, a mighty warrior sent to Telaerion, and a great descendant of powerful warriors before him, such as King Nicandro who had founded our small kingdom and did everything in his power to keep us safe and hidden.

His shoulders were broad, and his fur was a deep brown flecked with white and grey. He had eyes that reached into the depths of space itself, with a light rimming of yellow around the pupil making his eyes each a small planet from the deep sky. His fur looked faded from his ageing and scarred from the many battles he has lived; his muzzle was strong, and he had one of the largest canine fangs; there was a wide scar that curled from the bottom of his lip to his collar bone, a place where the fur never grew back. Another scar was embedded on his leg, like his own flesh had been torn out. His back did not look at all in perfect shape, but a broken part in his spine stuck out. As human, his scars were more noticeable, not being covered with fur. He had pure mahogany brown hair that waved down the back of his skull and stopped at his ears in a nice, trimmed cut. His face was a firm shape with a strong square jaw. His face showed that he was still young, but his battles had been wearing on him. He always stood straight, and his battle scars made him look even fiercer. People who do not know of the King feared him greatly, for he put on a serious stone-cold face when he spoke to strangers, but those of us that do know the king, know that his fierce behavior is not internal. The King is a gentle soul that makes sure every person in his kingdom is looked after with care; his smile could make anyone's day brighter, just knowing that their king was still smiling after all that has come to Telaerion. He was the leader of his clan and proud. He was King Skyrel Darius Alune.

As it should be, every King must have a Queen; and there she stood right by his side, her hands folded neatly on the balconies edge. Her body was sweet and slender; she stood right up to the king's shoulder. Her skin was a luscious light caramel cream; her hair a golden blonde that dangled to the middle of her back with platinum and brown laced between certain strands. Her eyes were a crystal ice blue that glinted in the light. She wore a beautifully woven dress that was a light grey stitched with thread the color of her eyes that shimmered along the dress that fitted her form perfectly, and she wore it with pride. In her feral form the Queen was the rarest of werewolves, she was a glorious white that glowed like pearls. Usually, male werewolves are dark colors of browns and grays; females are mostly a light brown or a dark cream. Then there were the rogue werewolves, the rogue males were a pure stone black, the females a dull grey. Rogue werewolves are a different form of werewolves in Telaerion, for they had a different scent to them and seem to be bred from werewolves from somewhere in another world, no one knew the origin of the rogue werewolves only that they came to Telaerion very hostile and seeking to reign over all werewolves, but our ancestors held them off and kept them at bay. The Queens feral form was slightly smaller than an original female werewolf but had a more vicious bite. She had the jaw strength to snap steel. She was the role model for the women in the kingdom, her wisdom, knowledge and elegance made her stand by her king as the perfect queen. She was, Queen Raina Sophia Alune.

They stood as the rulers of our small kingdom, the kingdom of Telaerion; they looked on into the distance at the top of their balcony staring at their small world. Telaerion was a smaller world underneath another, much larger world. Being underground, no one would expect there to be a sky or a night sky, but during the daytime the sky glowed a bright golden crimson, a lightly touched sunset. As it got darker, shades of blue would begin to rise from the trees and cover the gold rose of the day to a deep dark midnight purple. There was no sun, nor moon, or stars, only the colors, but every so often there would be small specks glowing in the sky that no one could really explain; some folks say it is the ancestors watching over their kin.

The entrance into Telaerion was at least a four-day travel on foot from the castle itself. This was another wonderful thing of Telaerion; the castle was made of white and gray marble. It was a petite castle compared to the great castles that are seen amongst the human world. A magnificent marble castle, as it glowed from the skies vibrant shine. Below the castle was a quaint little village that held about fifteen to twenty buildings made of every tree that grew in Telaerion, and those four distinct types of trees grew in various parts of the world of Telaerion: Nyssa trees to the North, Elms to the East, Snowy ash's in the South, and the great Willow trees in the West. There was more foliage and plant life among the trees but that is how the Telaerion people distinguish the territories easily. The kingdom was in the Eastern region among the Elm trees, so green and full of life; the entrance to our world was covered by the great willows to the West, they seemed to hide everything beyond the entrance so that nothing could see beyond the darkness of their dangling leaves. The rogues were usually seen in the North among the Nyssa's, the claw marks scouring the sides of the poor trees, and sharp sudden scents from their markings.

Luckily, there was a river that split the East from the North; a vast river that spread out in each region, cutting off in one direction and opening in another, the biggest part where the river leads to was Lake Yerlon which was located a few hours toward the West region away from the kingdom, towards the southern border. It takes about a day to get there but has been known to have the best fishing.

This was Telaerion, a beautiful world that was hidden away, and the werewolves prayed to keep it from the humans of the above, but they feared that one day, the humans will come; but little did we know, they have already been here before.