The werewolf king led his wolf pack through the valley of flames on their way back home. The wolf king was distracted, absentmindedly jumping over the flame pits and cracks on the red ground, as his gaze swept over the region in search of the flame hair girl.
Unfortunately, he could not spot even a glimpse of her shadow.
"Werewolf King, are you alright?" Spotting his King's unusual behavior, a brown wolf worriedly asked.
"Hmm? Ah, yes. I am fine...just a bit tired from the clash with the Supreme Elder."
Sighing dejectedly, King Ramose recollected his thoughts and focused back on the alarming fact of the Bloodsucking clan's obvious ambush towards the Werewolf clan.
The number of incidents where werewolves returned injured and dead due to the machinations of the vampires had been rising at an astonishing rate ever since the death of the old wolf king 18 years ago.
It was also during one of those ambushes that he met the flame hair girl.
Finding his thoughts wandering back to her again, King Ramose could not help but sigh. After that night 18 years ago, there wasn't a single night where he slept peacefully.
Every moon in the Underworld Palace, he would chain himself to the walls using Flesh Roasting veins to prevent himself from harming his fellow pack-mates as he transformed into his wolf form and lost control.
Because the nightmares that haunted his dreams filled him with anguish that burned like concentrated acid, it seared into the deepest, most guarded part of his soul.
Shaking his head as if to shake himself awake, King Ramose's eyes turned sharp, resolve shinning through their dangerous depths as his pack arrived at the portal leading to their Underworld Palace.
The Underworld Palace portal was located in the depths of the valley of flames inside a flame cave. This flame cave was enchanted by a thousand-year-old witch who once had been in love with an ancestor of the werewolves.
As the struggle for survival was even more brutal at that period of time, the witch used the forbidden spell, 'a world under a rock' to create a passage in the small cave that led to the bottom most layer of the Nar realm.
This allowed the werewolves to live beneath the surface of the realm and create their Underworld Palace without having to go to war with the other clans. They no longer needed to strive to secure a livable environment.
Moreover, the witch also instilled what she called a 'moon' in the sky of the Underworld Palace, its silver-blue glow brightening up the red environment into an iridescent purple-silver. A small clear spring cut through the crimson buildings, stopping at a clean silver lake.
In the entire Nar realm, only the snake clan could compete with them in terms of suitable living abode.
Furthermore, the Werewolf clan's region of settlement possessed a celestial body that gave off light from the center of its sky.
Most significant, however, was the fact that the spell restricted the entrance of the Underworld Palace only to the werewolves, personally led guests, and their mates. As such, the flame cave did not need the guarding of the pack as it guarded itself against outsiders.
This was another important factor that contributed to the Werewolf clan's continued existence and powerful standing within the six supreme clans with their meager number.
What the heavens deprived of them in quantity was compensated in quality and good fortunate.
Unfortunately, the great witch that contributed to the foundation of the Underworld Palace disappeared, without a trace or clue to her whereabouts. There was, however, an unspoken consensus among the pack that the forbidden spell 'a world under a rock' might have cost her her life.
Entering the flame cave, King Ramose and the pack moved to the right-most corner and sat on their haunches, awaiting the activation of the portal. A silver-purple light spread out in the flame cave as it enveloped King Ramose and his group, weaving a resplendent shower of mysterious magic and beauty.
With a burst of brilliance, the light vanished along with the werewolves.
Very soon, the flame cave was empty, restoring its original flame color as silence permeated the valley.
*
Ramose opened his eyes to the sprawling circular city of the Underworld Palace beneath the slope. The bright silver-blue moon hung in the center of the city, illuminating the buildings in its mesmerizing glow, leaving in its wake a radiance of silver-purple hue.
Taking the spiraling thousand brick steps down, he navigated his way through the bustling werewolves and their mates to the center of the city in which a raised platform stood.
Without pause, he jumped onto the platform and howled loudly, attracting the attention of all the residents.
Growl!
Growl!
He growled twice more in the emergency signal. At this point, every living creature in the Underworld Palace was gathered beneath his feet, their eyes alert and attention fully focused on him.
Using his inherent power, Ramose projected his voice to every corner of the city.
"I am sure everyone has already noticed this fact, but recently, the Bloodsucking clan has been targeting our Werewolf clan. Since the beginning of the fall of our old wolf king, our strength has fallen.
Taking advantage of this fact the vampires have been setting ambushes to hunt our pack mates as prey. The Battle of Might is only a month away and our strength has already been compromised.
Make no mistake. Our quantity is not our weakness as the Bloodsucking clan seems to assume. Our quantity is our strength because, in our small number, we uncover our greatest strength.
We are small in number, yes. But we are not weak, because we have been far more blessed than the other four clans. Aside from the serpent clan, no other clan can compete with us in advantages.
We have a much more secure and beautiful abode than the Bloodsucking clan, the Demon Faction clan, the Flying Eagles clan, and the Seeking Evil clan. We have greater regenerative abilities than all the other five clans.
We have claws and eyes that could cleave flaming mountains in two, and fangs that can ripe an immortal vampire in half. We have the limbs to keep up with the vampires' speed, and we have the ability to walk on the red sand without experiencing pain.
We have furs that keep us warm and hearing and smell to help us detect an enemy.
Our only weakness is, we have not mastered how to fully utilize our abilities, allowing others to perceive us as weak and easy prey. Well, we can no longer allow any creature to look down on us for our numbers.
And neither will we. Because we, we are not weak!" Ramose growled the words out his throat, his voice booming and reverberating in the quiet underground city.
"Yeahhh! We are not weak!"
"We will show them our might!"
"We are not weak!" "We are not weak!" "We are not weak!"
The wolf pack hollered together in one booming voice, shaking the entire underground city.
"Good! Now to show the five clans of the Nar realm our might, I have decided to send all werewolves old enough to mate into the Eternal Inferno Arena for closed training. Starting today, no wolf pack will leave the Underworld Palace to scavenge.
The Underworld Palace will be on total lockdown for extreme training until the day before the Battle of Might competition begins.
Is that clear?" Ramose swept his dark gaze around the platform, daring anyone brave enough to object to stand out.
"It is clear, wolf king!" But only uniform impassioned growls answered his challenge.