The sound of the gently flowing river was enhanced greatly by the high stone walls of the ravine, the cold, crisp water flowing over the smooth rocks with a bubbling sound as several different kinds of fish made their way down the river's current. From the top of the ravine came the crunch of a dead leaf, left over from the previous year's winter season, as the paw of an animal applied its weight to it.

"Here" the animal said, human words being uttered from its bestial maw "The smell is coming from the ravine" The beast speaking was a colossal mass of fur and power, a mythical creature that remained unknown to the human societies that dominated the once-free land. This beast was a Taelorian Wolf, an animal supposedly blessed by the Mother Goddess with the power of intelligence and speech. This specific Taelorian was covered by silver fur with crisp, snowy white patterns that covered his powerful body, hiding the true build of his shoulders and leg muscles, his large chest supporting a strong head with powerful jaws, powerful enough to tear through almost any human armour.

"If we just find a way down without breaking our legs we'll be fine" it said again, eyeing up the rocks with a trained eye to try and locate a safe path down to the river. Its bright blue eyes covered distances fast, but yet with the precision of an eagle, quickly planning a route down to the river and moving towards it, its sharp claws clicking on the stone as it moved.

"If you'd be willing to tell me exactly what we're looking for here I might be more willing to lend a paw" another, rougher, voice growled. This Taelorian was a similar build to the first, if not slightly larger, with an extra inch of height and a larger muscular build. This wolf's fur was a coal black but broken up by grey patterns in his fur, most notably the triangle-esque grey marking on his head. His own eyes were a powerful green and seemed to be more focused on potential threats in the area rather than his companion's movements.

"When the wind blew in from the south coast this morning, I picked up a faint scent of blood in the air" the grey wolf began to explain, pausing in a certain position before carefully slinking his way down the rocks.

"And this matters to us why exactly?" the black wolf asked in a disinterested tone "We smell blood on the wind all the time, our noses are powerful enough to pick up even the smallest drop from leagues away"

"I am aware of that brother" the grey wolf sighed, reaching the bottom of the ravine and looking up at his brother with a waiting gaze "Come on then!" The black wolf scanned the route his brother had taken and shook his head slowly.

"Not until you give me a reason" he responded.

"Fine, the blood I smelled, though faint, came from quite a large amount of it judging by how long the smell lasted" he explained "And if my nose isn't lying, the blood might be human" This sentence got a strong reaction from the black wolf, he curled his top lip up and looked at his brother in disgust, turning his head to the side and speaking as such.

"And why should we care about that?" he demanded "If those hairless apes were killed by other forest creatures then good riddance! Its about time they were punished for the hell they've given our clans"

"We should care because they might have left something valuable behind, something we can salvage and bring back to the armoury" the grey wolf said in a matter-of-fact tone. The black wolf pondered the chance for a brief moment, knowing that their clan, the Harsh-Tooth clan, were currently struggling for resources to repair the structures they'd created.

The Taelorian Wolves had not only been gifted with speech and intelligence, but a select few were also given the power of magic, allowing them to perform certain actions and jobs that would be impossible otherwise.

Those who were lucky enough to be descended from the first few hundred of their race were also gifted the power of magic and this caused their civilization to flourish. They began to think of new ways to hunt and forage, using their magic abilities and new-found intellect to create traps and tools to hunt prey, allow themselves to forge armour for when combat began between certain clans.

"If there's a chance we can restock our village's supplies then maybe its worth a quick search" the black wolf said "But as the High King of Taelarian Wolves I would expect you to be able to carry the supplies back by yourself, Brynyolf" The grey wolf, Brynyolf, chuckled to himself, always finding his brother's unwillingness to assist amusing at these times.

"Very well Arnyolf, but remember that the one who brings the items back receives the reward" Brynyolf smirked "And that means they're presented the gift by Silena" Arnyolf visibly flinched at the mention of the female wolf. Brynyolf often liked to tease his little brother about his infatuation with the female and constantly reminded him that he would be unable to claim her as a mate due to her already belonging to another male in the clan.

"And I think she'll be very disappointed if her favourite little cub doesn't help out the clan" Brynyolf continued to mock, much to his brother's displeasure. Arnyolf stood still, glaring hatefully at his brother before releasing a loud sigh and nodding his head.

"Fine, I'll help" he growled, clambering down the rocks in the same route his brother had taken before joining him at his side.

"Shall we depart?" Brynyolf asked with a smile. Arnyolf didn't answer, he instead held his strong nose up to the wind and inhaled briefly before taking off on his own. Brynyolf rolled his eyes at his brother's usual aloof behaviour before hurrying after him and quickly catching up to him.

"You know if you keep acting like that you'll never manage to woo a mate for yourself" Brynyolf said.

"I don't need to woo one, I can simply challenge another male in the clan, or in another one, and after I've killed him I can take his mate as his own" Arnyolf growled, looking around as he walked forward "The smell's getting stronger..."

"Arnyolf, I expect better than that from you" Brynyolf said disapprovingly "Its not the Harsh-Tooth way"

"Its the easiest though" Arnyolf muttered "If I claim one as my own I won't have to go through the ridiculous courting ceremony" Brynyolf shook his head but felt the same way about their courting ceremony. Before two could be considered as mates the male must first seek out a single precious item at the request of his soon-to-be mate and retrieve it, no matter what the item was and present it to them along with a identifiable part of an animal larger than themselves in order to prove that they could indeed hunt for their mate and their offspring as well as protect their family from harm, no matter how big the attacker was.

"Aye, the ceremony is quite an ask, especially for the males in better supplied clans" Brynyolf sighed, kicking a rock in front of him with the top of his paw. This was the case because the female requested something valuable. Now if she belonged to a struggling clan that item may simply be a large amount of food or animal hides to use for bedding and clothing.

But if the female belonged to a richer clan, such as the Saw-Tooth clan, who were the current owners of a hunting ground that exists next to an abandoned jewel mine, then the male may have to seek out something more valuable than a diamond or a ruby and this process could take years and also put the male in a great amount of danger.

"I heard that a female from the Thick-Tail clan requested a pocket watch in order to become a male's mate" Brynyolf said before shuddering "And we both know the only place you kind find those around these parts" The two brothers looked at each other before shivering at the thought. There was a human settlement far in the north mountains, the closest one in the region, and it would take well over three weeks to reach the place even at a constant sprint. This settlement was known to the Taelarians as the Valley of Shattered Teeth due to the extremely dangerous location as well as the trek involved to get there.

The journey itself forced one to go through a thick forest that once saw human trade routes go through but was quickly abandoned after legends of a vengeful spirit slaughtering anyone who entered the forest. After that they needed to pass through the mountainous regions of the north, known to the wolves as the Demon's Fork due to the three entry ways that existed with no one knowing which way was the correct one. Several scouting parties had attempted to go through the Fork but they had disappeared, never to be heard from again.

The clans had decreed that the Demon's Fork must be avoided at all costs and that all parties, no matter how large or small, were ordered to go around the dangerous area, a forced option that added at least two weeks to the journey on paw due to the sheer size of the canyon that the Demon's Fork lead in to. After the journey around the canyons the next known landmark was known only as the Phantom palace, an ancient, desecrated ruin of a once awe-inspiring castle that was said to have been the birth place of the Mother Goddess an eternity ago.

"I'd hate to be the poor bastard who made it that far only to be slain by the humans at the Valley" Brynyolf said with a fearful tone in his voice.

"Aye" was all his brother responded with before returning to the search. Brynyolf took several more steps before a fresh scent of blood, much stronger than before, hit his nose.

"Arnyolf!" he snapped loudly, getting his brother, who had wandered a few metres ahead, to turn around and look at him.

"Yes?" Arnyolf asked.

"The blood, its closer than before... and its fresh I think" he explained, sniffing briefly before aiming his head further up river "This way!"

"I thought we were supposed to be scavenging supplies and not looking for dead humans to gawk at?" Arnyolf asked irritably, only to be ignored as his brother sprinted off up the river, his large paws creating huge splashes as he moved "Oh for the love of the Mother..."

"Its just up here!" Brynyolf yelled back before his brother caught up with him, the grey wolf veering left down a smaller yet still powerful water route with Arnyolf following quickly. The two of them caught sight of the source of the smell; a body. They noticed several small fish swimming around the body and seemingly enjoying the taste of the blood from the body. The two came to a stop in front of the body, the body of a young woman with many different colours in her hair, the most prominent being pink.

"Brynyolf..." the younger sibling said slowly. Arnyolf walked over to the body and examined her injuries on the way over. She had a cracked shaft of an arrow piercing through her leg and a large array of deep cuts and bruises on her thighs, hands, stomach, breasts and back. The finely crafted material of the dress she once wore was torn and soaked, both with the clear water and her own blood. There was a deep cut on her cheek that still bled and a wide gash on her forehead.

As Brynyolf stood above her he was able to see that she was still breathing, a fact he was shocked to discover.

"She's alive!" he exclaimed.

"Really?" Arnyolf asked coldly "I'll rectify that" He moved over to the woman and lowered his jaws down to her throat before Brynyolf shoved him away from her, standing protectively in front of the gravely injured woman.

"What the hell's the matter with you?!" he demanded furiously.

"She's the enemy brother, its best that we just kill her now before she wakes up and harms any of us" Arnyolf snarled.

"Look at her brother, do you really think that she'd be able to even scratch one of us?" Brynyolf asked calmly "She's barely clinging to life as it is never mind waiting to slaughter us"

"She'll recover and then she'll bring others" Arnyolf argued.

"She'll die without our help" Brynyolf said, looking back at her with compassionate eyes "She needs us"

"She doesn't need anything from us brother, we should just leave her for dead and get on with salvaging" he said "Like this" Brynyolf walked over to the woman's limp form and lowered his jaws to her shredded dress before tearing it away with a quick tug, leaving the woman exposed for their eyes. It was at this moment that a strange feeling came over Arnyolf, his eyes beginning to examine her sleek, feminine body and the size of her bust.

This was another part of the spell performed by the Mother Goddess, she imbued in her chosen a more human way of thinking, and through this a more human arousal system, thus making certain male wolves as attracted to human women as their own kind.

"Arnyolf?" Brynyolf asked with a confused expression "What's the matter with you?" The black wolf looked down at the woman for a second longer before shaking his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind.

"Nothing, I... we should go now" he said, turning around after dropping the dress.

"We're not leaving her here to die Arnyolf" the older sibling snarled.

"I refuse to help one of her kind" Arnyolf spat "They're responsible for the deaths of our clan, our families Brynyolf, and yet you want to help keep one of them alive?" Brynyolf stared at his brother for a long moment before looking back at the woman, a glint of an idea in his eyes.

"I didn't want to have to do this Arnyolf" Brynyolf said slowly "But as High King-"

"Don't you dare" Arnyolf spat furiously.

"I order you to assist me in saving this woman's life" Brynyolf finished, glaring angrily at his brother.

"You can't force me to do this" Arnyolf snarled.

"I can't, but I can just as easily have you arrested and executed for treason when I return" Brynyolf threatened.

"You wouldn't!" Arnyolf exclaimed "I'm your brother!" The two of them locked eyes for another long moment, Brynyolf speaking without lowering his gaze.

"Then as my brother, I am begging you to help me save this woman's life" he requested.

"I... why should we?" Arnyolf asked "We don't know what she'll do when she wakes up"

"Exactly, she may be able to assist us in finding out what happened to the other humans around here" he answered.

"How do you know there are others? Or that she'll try to help us and not just throw us into the fire-pit as soon as she's healed, she could be a mage for all we know!" Arnyolf snapped.

"Brother please, I feel like this is something we need to do" Brynyolf said, attempting to reason with his brother "I am begging you to help me" There was silence from the two of them for a long second before Arnyolf nodded without speaking, simply lowering himself into a lying position and gesturing with his head towards the woman and then to his back.

"I'll carry her" he said quickly "But we need to hurry back to our camp before she freezes to death"

"Aye" Brynyolf nodded "Let's go"