“An equal and just world is what we envisioned when the new king came into power. Everyone was excited and ready for his reign and the end of the torment our old king had put us through. The citizens of Halioria had high hopes for this new king and at first, everything was alright. Then, after about 2 months of his reign, our new king declared that all families had to give up their first born child to the kingdom. Many protested but the king still got what he wanted. It didn’t matter what age the first born child was, the age limit was 20. I was 15 when everything happened. The knights that had taken us from our homes placed in an arena built with the people’s taxes. The king had given the orders to eliminate us and it didn’t matter how. They released wild and rabid animals on us and hundreds died the first day. You were a newborn when this happened and the knight, being chivalrous and everything, threw you into the middle of the arena. I thought you had died on impact but somehow, you lived. No one knows how, even I’m clueless; but the next thing that happened was the miracle. There was a lone lion and when you went down, it took the opportunity and attacked. There was so much red, it just added to the bloodshed and horror.
I don’t know how long it lasted but when the terror was over and all of us who were still alive were hidden, the animals retreated and all that was left was bones and red; so much red that it was all that I could see for days. But one thing was wrong, you were gone. No one really noticed but for some reason, a little boy; about the age of one, tugged on my torn and dirtied pants while pointing out in the arena. He was the one who got me to notice that you were gone. There was nothing I could do but that was the day I vowed to protect that little boy and the baby that disappeared, even if that little infant was dead.
6 years past and I was 21, just barely finishing maturing and getting stronger. The one year old boy I had vowed to protect was now 7 and smart as could be. His name was Hale, meaning ‘hero’. I let him come up with the name himself and that’s what he told me. Well, that was also that year we found out you were still alive. We were getting ready for our next arena hunt and when they released the animals, they were all injured. Everyone took advantage of this and ganged up on them, making it almost impossible for the animals to win. Sadly, one animal snuck up and Hale and I. I turned around too late and Hale was struck in the side. After I fended off the animal, I ran over to Hale and I honestly didn’t think he was going to make it. I had failed as a protector. Just as I had lost all hope; a little girl with long, scruffy blonde hair came over to us and put her hand on his side. At first, I didn’t notice her; I was wrapped in my own self-pity. It was when she picked him up, a 7 year old boy who was all muscle, and began to walk to the animal gates. I freaked out and began shouted for her to come back and soon, I was chasing them both.
Inside the gates, a pack of wolves sat huddled together. They were magnificent creatures, with beautiful fur coats of the darkest blacks, whitest whites, and the most vibrant shades of gray. The blonde girl placed Hale in the middle of the wolves and I thought that she was giving him up for dinner. As I began to flip out, she walked over to me and motioned for me to stay calm. I noticed she didn’t speak and that got me interested. She was super calm so I decided to copy her actions and remain calm.
It wasn’t much longer after that when I found out that Hale was okay and already healing. The healing process took about 6 weeks and during that time, the little blonde girl learned the English language and told me about herself. She was 6 years old and raised by wolves, since she was abandoned. She could talk to the animals because she was young and had an easily accepting mind or at least, that’s what the wolves told her. When I asked her what her name was, she froze. She claimed she didn’t have a name so I told her to give herself one. She told me she wanted the name, Alazne; meaning miracle. That was the moment you truly came into our lives.” Asa relaxed in his chair while he answered my question. I was 17 now, meaning Asa was 32 years old. My blonde hair was Rapunzel like, in the sense that it was super long and I wouldn’t have it any other way. We were relaxing for the day and right before I had to bed, I had asked Asa how he met me. Satisfied with his answer, I drifted to sleep. Sadly, I never got to reach my sleep induced peace.
A loud bang shook the ground as screams erupted. Panicking, I bare my fangs and run outside. When I was little, while Asa wasn’t looking after me; the wolves took care of me. Because of that, my DNA is now infused with Wolf DNA. So, it wasn’t a shock when I grew ears and a tail. But, I also gain the characteristics of a wolf along with their DNA. I like to call it my 6th sense, my animal instinct.
“Asa, keep everyone inside! I’m going to go see what’s got the ‘knights’ all worked up.” And with that, I was out of the building. My inhuman speed was another factor of my altered DNA. All of my senses were heightened and my physical abilities were improved. I got to the guard post and all of doubt disappeared. The kids were up to their old tricks again. It didn’t shock me to find out that they had blown a hole in the side of the arena and kids were running rampant. I surveyed my surroundings and jumped down form the post.
“Hale, get all of the kids back inside! I’ll deal with the guards!” I saw Hale’s ears twitch as he heard my command. (He was healed by the wolves too so he got a little wolf DNA in him. Only enough to give him ears but that’s it.) He quickly jumped into action and I knew that those kids were in good hands. “Okay, I’m going to make this as painless as possible.”
After about 5 minutes, all of the guards were down. I turned and smiled at the kids who returned my smile by scattering everywhere. They ran into the forest as fast as they could and I saw this as my chance to leave as well. I looked at Hale who had snuck up on me and asked him if he was going to stay with Asa.
“Asa can take care of himself.” He smiled and I knew what he was getting at.
“Okay, then let’s get out of here before more ‘knights’ come.”
We were free at last. Since birth I’d been in that arena but now, Hale and I were going to stop things like that from ever happening again. After all, we were the rejects.