Desert Life

[Apollo]

The cold desert night seemed to be endless; but I sprinted on, never stopping for rest as the moon began to fall and the sun rose. The dunes seemed to be different colors than those in the day. Though the difference lie in the heat and the light itself. I found a site to get out of the heat to come and lay down. I turned in circles and layed my tail over my front paws and turned myself back into human form to sleep. As I awoke the sun was setting once more and I went the rest of the way to the desert metropolis. In the darkness of night the giant doors hidden by sand opened to reveal the hide-away for humans in the desert. I walked in with a group of merchants and found my way to a hotel. Walking in and sitting at a table I ordered a drink and asked the girl serving me if there was a room left. The waitress said there was and she would get me a key soon enough. I watched her leave and sipped at my hot drink and let it pour down into my stomach and help my aching, sore and cold joints from all the running. You never used to have to worry about getting here in one piece unless you forgot water. I changed to sit a different way and my empty canteen rattled against my leg. Stupid creatures the lot of'em. I sighed and got up as the waitress shook the key to my new room.� Five star rooms I take it?" I asked, my voice hoarse from the heat.
"Yeah. . .sure." She tossed the key to me and I went to find the lock it went to.
The bed made a sound every time you moved, the floor and ceiling seemed to be the same type of material because I could hear people downstairs as well as above me. A couple in the room next to mine was fighting. Great. . .good way to get rest. Listening to people fight. I laid on my bed and fell asleep with ease. Guess I was more tired than I had given myself credit for.
Waking up I heard people running in the streets to the palace. Let’s find out what’s going on. . . I got up gathering my things and lastly putting my canteen on. With the paper of my orders in my pocket I set out. I hunched my shoulders trying to hide my face so if someone knew me they wouldn’t see me to well. I followed the crowd quietly thinking to myself, I wish I was home and not here with these. . .insects. . .

[Kale Allerion]

I had never seen so many people crowded together in one place. There seemed to be no end of them.
Little children zipped recklessly through the moblike crowd, dodging adults who for the most part cast disapproving glances at the youngsters. Vendors barked above the general hubub of the city streets, willing for new customers. Schoolchildren chattered noisily amongst themselves.
I was not used to such chaos. As the day stretched on I began to miss my small isolated hometown in the east more and more.
So many people! I thought, distressed. We'll never find him in this multitude!
As if reading my thoughts, my twin brother, Gaius, put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Iola," he said smiling bravely. "We'll find Malek eventually."
"But we've been searching for hours!" I moaned. "And everywhere we go there's just more people!"
"Think of how much ground we've covered in that time!" Gaius said cheerfully. "Honestly, you're so pessimistic."
"I am not pessimistic, Gaius!" I shouted.
Now I really had his attention.
I continued, "Look, don't you think we should have some sort of a plan?"
"Plan?" Gaius echoed. "We've got a map! That should be good enough."
"No," I sighed, trying to hide my amusement.
A map should be good enough? That's ridiculous!
"OK, it's like this," I continued. "Do you think Malek Malsum will stay in the same part of the city all day long?"
"Probably not."
"Then we should spend one day in a certain section of the city, searching for him. If he's not there, we move on. That way--"
"What?!" Gaius exploded. "That's ridiculous! We don't know how much time we have! Malek could be here and gone within a day's time--maybe less! No...we have to keep moving."
"He could be moving as fast or faster than we are! Malek could have moved on to Port Street, where we started looking for him hours ago!"
"Oh, and of course that would be my fault, wouldn't it?"

Thus erupted a fierce sibling brawl in the middle of the marketplace. Some people watched us with interest. Most, however, paid no mind. In a city with this many people in it things like this were bound to happen.
Angry as we were, we were careful in our shouting not to let any important details of our mission escape from our lips. We made sure that as far as any of the bystanders were concerned, we were just a couple of stupid tourists who got lost trying to find a friend in the city.
We didn't have the self-control to keep from looking like morons in front of everyone. Thankfully, somehow we had the willpower to keep our true identities a secret.

But when that scent wafted through the air I nearly lost control.
That hard, acidic smell shut me and Gaius up instantly.
At once, I felt my body begin to convulse. By some miracle I managed to restrain myself, my fist clenched tightly and drops of sweat forming on my brow.
No, no, NO! My mind screamed. You can't transform now! Not in front of all these witnesses!
Once I was under control, I looked to Gaius. It was apparent that he, too, had struggled to remain in his human form.
I almost bolted in the direction of the scent when I remembered the few witnesses of our quarreling.
I sighed, and in the most sincere-sounding voice I could manage said, "I'm sorry, Gaius. I suppose you're right after all. We should keep moving."
"Glad you see things my way now," my brother said with a smirk.
I just rolled my eyes as we began following the all-too-familiar scent, weaving through the multitude as naturally as possible.

Once we were cloaked in the deep shadows of a dark alley, we ran with inhuman speed.

The scent we followed was one that only our kind could detect, because it was the scent of other were-beasts.

Malek Malsum was close.
Dangerously close.

[Apollo]

I walked through the crowded steets calmly and with a disgust of what humans looked like. None had some small thing of an animal about them and it made me sick. Hating humans made my job as a wolf scoyut so much easier."Boo!" My little brother jumped off a roof and landed right next to me. I grabbed him by the nape of the neck and dragged over behind a pillar so no one would see us.
"What is you problem?" I made him look me in the eyes. "You know if your smell wasn't so different from a human I'd've slit your throat as you fell."
"That's not nice to say to fam. . ."
"If you bring up family one more time I swear I won't hesitate this time."
"But you wouldn't. . ." My small brother's features began to smile. "You need me to scout ahead of you." Idiot's right. . . I hate that. . .
"Well if your my scout then . . . you should know if they are here?"He tapped his chin with his pointer finger and thought. "Mikew I don't have time for this, we have a dead line so are they. . ."
"Yep" I smiled and patted his head.
"Good." He seemed to be calming down since I was being nice.
"Here's what I want you to do. . ." I leaned in close and whispered my plan . As he understood what was happening he lit up like a light and smiled. His smile is as evil as he is. He placed his fingers together and nodded. I gave him a nodd and he went about his way.
Let's see those fools beat that. . . I began my walk once more.

[Kale Allerion]

"I can't believe it," I sighed, sinking slowly too the floor, back against the cold marble pillar where Malek Malsum had stood just moments earlier. "After all that hard work, we just barely missed him."

The treacherous were-wolf's scent had led us to the porch of a large, stone building--a private schoolhouse. He and another were-beast had met here a few minutes before Gaius and I discovered their meeting place. The were-wolf's pungent smell still lingered in the air, mixed with that of another, smaller creature.

Up to this point, my brother and I detected, Malsum had been walking, so we had no trouble picking up his smell. But after he lingered by the schoolhouse for a moment, he ran. Thus, his scent became less and less obvious the more we followed it, until it completely disappeared altogether.

We were stuck.

Instead of finding answers as I'd hoped to, I was only left with more questions.

What is Malsum's mission here?
Where is he now?
Who is this mystery were-beast he met with?
And the most daunting question of all, Is he still as bent on vengence as he was the last time we met?

I closed my eyes, remembering that last, terrifying encounter. Before Malsum retreated, barely defeated by Gaius and myself, he swore that he would repay us for the suffering that we brought upon him. I could still see his firey eyes and gleaming white fangs as he growled, "Next time I see you...I'll kill you."

"Iola!" my brother's voice said sharply and suddenly, awaking me from my nightmarish thoughts. "Did you hear that?"

I jumped up, remembering the mysterious scent that filled the area.

"Hear what?" I asked.

Scritch...scritch...scritch...

"Hear that! Can you tell where it's coming from?"

Scritch...scritch...scritch...

My eyes scanned every nook and cranny of the entrance to the schoolhouse. I listened hard and finally discovered the source.

Scritch...scritch...scritch...

"On the roof," I answered. "In that left corner, I think...there."

I pointed, although there was nothing to be seen in the darkness. Gaius and I stared overhead, scarcely even breathing, but listening hard as the scratching noise slowly faded.

"It's stopped," Gaius whispered.

"Oh, really? Thank you, Gaius," I said, hoping my sarcastic tone would mask the fear I felt. "Maybe it was a mouse or something."

"I don't think so," my brother said, suspicious and still looking up at the roof. "I think that was Malsum's friend."

Maybe...a were-mouse?

For what seemed like hours, Gaius and I stood stiller than the pillars that surrounded us, searching for any sign of life. Nothing stirred. The sound had ceased. But somehow we knew that we were being watched.

All of a sudden, I felt someone's tiny finger jab me in the back. Chills ran up and down my spine and I screamed, whirling around to face the villain who haunted me and my brother--a small were-child with spiky hair, doubled over in laughter.

[Apollo]

I ran down another back alley and climbed a drainage pipe as I made my way to the center of the insect infested thing called a town. As I got to the roof I could see Mikew from here and the twins. Iwas right . . they're the ones tracking me. I smiled. Well that's nice . . .means I get revenge with my mission. I saw Mikew on the ground laughing . . he was having to much fun . He wasn't paying attention to what he was blurting out. But that was ok. I knew he would sooner or later. All part of the plan. I truned around and ran to the edge of this building and jumped. As my feet hit thye ground I bent my knees and dropped to all fours running like the dog I was.
Almost. Noe I could see the podium where the leader of the humans of this city was making a speech. . .Well not for much longer. . .

[Kale Allerion]

My fear was instantly replaced by intense anger when I saw that little runt laughing at us. I took a step forward, ready to wring his scrawny little neck, but Gaius held me back.

"Who do you think you are, kid?!" I demanded.

[Apollo]

I kept snickering to myself as I went over head, pleasure in finishing my job so easily and for my plan for the twins. I kew exactly what would happen. Mikew was the same kid as he always was. He tried to be mysterious, always being creepy and loving every second of it. My enemies would ask who he was, he would wait until he heard peope scream and just smile saying.

[Kale Allerion]

"Well, it's obvious," the were-brat replied. "Your worst nightmare!"
His laugh, which had before been simply annoying, now morphed into an evil-sounding cackle.

I rolled my eyes. What an immature little jerk!

"Come on, Iola," Gaius said loudly (likely trying to get the were-child's attention). "I doubt this kid can be of any help to us. Let's get outta here."

[Apollo]

Landing next to Mikew I heard his next words. "Your wrong . . I could help you but I'm not gonna." He laughed again. I hit his head and he jumped. "Sorry I'll shut up." I stared at the twins before changing. The runnong crowd ran faster seeing me. I growled at Mikew and he turned into his squirrel form and hopped on my back. He chattered and we were off.
They can't catch me like this . . .fools . . .

[Kale Allerion]

It was so strange to see Malsum again after years of his haunting my memories. He'd grown taller and looked fiercer than he had when I'd seen him last.

It was even stranger that he left in such a rush. Without a word, good or bad, he and his were-squirrel friend were gone.

Gaius and I gave one another a puzzled look and then took off. Malsum was naturally faster than we were, but we didn't let him out of our sight for a moment.

My heart was pounding in my chest from fear more than from exhaustion. I mind raced, wondering what our next encounter with the were-wolf would be like.

I'm so sick of being afraid of him, I thought. I just want him to be gone...forever.