Chapter 2 The Ferry Ride

Naku bolts out of the woods near the river bank. He takes some time to catch his breath. He feels he is being watched, but he gives no regard to his instincts. After all, nothing could possibly catch up with him, unless..."No, that's not possible, all the wolves are back at home!" He mutters to himself as he heads to the river to drink some water.

All the birds fly away as he approaches, except the pigeons, who seldom fear other creatures. He bends to take a drink. As he scoops the water, he sees a distorted image of one of the pigeons dropping its poop. Naku lifts his gaze towards the source of the reflection, the bird,not too far from him. The water he scooped slowly drips off his hands and he decides not to drink anymore. His thirst vanishes like chaff in the wind. The pigeon suddenly flies away, as though it was scared by something.

Suddenly, he hears the roars of an angry mob, drawing closer. "How do they keep finding me?" He asks himself. He sprints towards the dock and finds that one of the ships is about to sail. He delays for a bit until he hears a gunshot, and a car, and then more cars! It is the gangsters. They have been chasing him all the way. He runs towards the ship, swallows his instinctive loath for water and jumps on the boat just as its anchors are cut and its engines rev to life.

He makes his way to the lowest deck where the goods were stacked. The crew members search for him in vain. He was stronger, faster, and somewhat smarter. He found a part of the deck where the crewmembers seldom came around.The air was like a 12 day old grave. But he had food. The canned fish and processed rice stored in that part of the deck was gonna be some wolf food. During his lonely days in the ship's deck, he would recall his fathers words. He wondered if his fathers warnings had any connection with the gangsters always finding him no matter where he went. He wondered why his mother was against him leaving home in the first place. "Why would Father tell me not to transform no matter what? I mean, even if someone sees me,no one is going to believe him. Werewolves are a myth! Why is he so worried?" These thoughts always led him to sleep. He found his son-father time back at home boring anyway.

The day finally came when the ship docked. He had no idea where it docked. He snuck out of the ship onto dry land. The island was desolate. The port didn't fly the flag of any country. It was obvious the island was not on the map. He didn't care much about where he was anyways. All he wanted was to get the gangsters off his tail. He wandered the delta until he found a valley, and there was a lighthouse in the valley. A tingly flying but unusually large creature caught his attention. It looked like a minion! He couldn't believe his eyes. Witches are the only creatures who can summon minions. He tried to catch the minion only to be led to the summoner, A harmless young girl, or at least that's what he thought. She immediately changed into dust and a loud bell could be hearn throughout the island. She triggered the alarm! The stones around the lighthouse came to life, and there were larvae flowing through them. The ground opened and Naku fell in before he could even process all that had happened.

The ground closed above him. It was pitch black. Then he heard a fizzling sound, he tried to trace its source,but it seemed as though it was moving. Suddenly, a hazy figure appears and says,"Constantinos illusione, eid-moz tom:boxes!" He then fell unconscious. It feels like a dream,but the sounds are vivid. He overhears many voices,like a rowdy market. Suddenly, the sound of a mallet echoes through the air. A voice then speaks,saying,"Here we have the son of the self proclaimed chief, or should I say, the dictator,who rules us with peace and tyranny." Another voice then says,"at least there is peace!" And the whole assembly bursts into a short laughter. The first voice then continues, "after all our plans to liberate our kind, and our allies, the forces of nature have delivered the heir into our hands! "What other sign do you need? What other omen, or fortune do you need before you are convinced that our path is the right one"?Behold!, today, before the Ancient Guild of Mages and Witches, and before the werewolves of the rebellion, Naku! Suddenly, Naku feels a sudden surge of energy through him, and his eyes are opened, he becomes conscious, and he sees the entire assembly,werewolves, mages, witches.

He is dumbstruck for a moment,for he cannot believe his eyes. When did mages and witches come together? When did werewolves forget the ways of the law of the full moon? That all forms of magic are forbidden. A werewolf,similar in appearance to Naku, then calls out," Are you Naku,son of the king?" And he responds, "Yes! And I demand my release. Are you not one of us? Do you not know the law?" The wolves sarcastically replies " A thousand apologies, my prince,for I forgot to wipe your feet, and to feed you with only the best of my spoils!" A hysterical laughter can be heard throughout the audience.

The assembly then proceeds to chant for Naku's death. The wolves intercedes and claims he has more plans for the rude Naku. Naku then says,"you serve your prince well, you saved his life!" The wolves replies, "I shall repay your arrogance with a message to your father, that you lead the rebellion that is going to overthrow him."

The audience gasps in shock and awe, some in fear of what the wolves are capable of. As for Naku, he falls asleep again as the illusion spell is cast on him. Just before his consciousness is seized, he spots in the midst of the crowd,the girl he saw earlier at the lighthouse,and then black's out.