Heir To The Iron Crown ✓

19 - Nítjánda

I calmed my nerves as I looked at the large and barely visible wolf.

"Imadis. Imadis I need you right now," I said trying to reach out to her.

Nothing.

I don't know what the object is. I don't have my wolf against hers. And she is able to hide herself from my sight. Just brilliant.

Suddenly, she was gone.

Well, shit.

...

"What's happening Gramma?" I asked, looking at her. We were walking to the place outside the packhouse where everyone was gathered.

"Freyja is going to transform tonight Reynhildur," she said beaming. "Now hurry up, we don't want to miss it!"

My little five-year-old self was barely keeping up with Gramma's excited pace.

That's when I remembered. Every few months on the night of the full moon, one or more of the members who turn eighteen transform into their wolf for the first time.

It is tradition to gather and encourage the wolf to go through the transformation, as it is said to be very painful.

I could see her running with the glittering box in her hand. A gift.

The pack, although not required to, showers the little wolf with gifts on this day.

I ran towards the gathering but couldn't see anything behind all the people. I felt arms pick me up and saw Gramma's golden mane as she made me sit on her shoulders so I could see.

She was so much more agile for her age as she made her way through the crowd. She handed me the gift and I set it on top of the pile of all the other gifts on a large table.

There towards the centre of the crowd stood Freyja. She looked beautiful in her white, simple knee-length dress and I just couldn't wait for when it would be my turn to be showered with gifts and meet my own wolf for the first time.

As the moon rose higher in the sky, those who were greeting her stepped back to join the crowd as everyone else adopted a defeaning silence.

I watched her closely as she stood there, just staring intently at the moon, with love we all shared for its beauty and light.

I followed her gaze, and indeed, the moon was absolutely beautiful tonight.

A scream broke the silence and I shifted my eyes back to Freyja. Even after witnessing the transformation so many times, it still scared me; looked so painful.

A chant began in the crowd as they said their words of encouragement to Frejya. Their words were indistinct, but together they formed a beautiful melody which got louder and louder to drown out her screams as her limbs began to turn at different angles and fur began to sprout across her skin.

I watched in awe at the scene in front of me as a beautiful dark red pelt covered her body and the dress she was wearing now lay tattered on the floor beneath her paws.

Her fur shone in the moonlight and I could hear some gasps amongst the pack members.

"A Silvertooth," Gramma said.

"What is a Silvertooth Gramma?" I asked her as I saw Frejya's wolf being approached by the members once again.

"She is a powerful wolf with many abilities. She can turn invisible at will. A gift granted to the fewest of wolves," she said.

"That's so cool," I exclaimed.

She chuckled and said, "You know what's cooler?"

"What?" I asked. She now put me down and took my hand in hers.

"They have a tooth of solid silver," she said, smiling at me.

...

As the memory of that night slipped into my mind, I knew this girl was different from the other two. I was positive they were knocked out and it was exactly what I needed, no interruptions.

Whack!

I was on the floor and I could feel blood flowing where my ear touched the rough ground. She had come out of nowhere.

I still couldn't see her. I stood back up and just as I did, I felt a sharp pull on my legs which caused me to fall down on my already hurt back. The pain was excruciating but I couldn't give up now.

Besides, I knew what the object was.

I crouched on my knees and closed my eyes. I may not have my wolf, but I had my werewolf abilities.

I listened for sounds all around me. It was quiet.

That's when I heard her hurried footsteps from behind me. I waited till she was in range and turned around to kick her in the side.

The only thing that told me my blow fazed her was that I could see her again. But just like that, she was coming back, this time her jaw open to take flesh and blood. And I saw it, her silver tooth that shone brightly, as if wanting to catch my attention.

Wrong move wolf.

I readied myself and as she jumped towards me, I gathered all my strength and got a hold of her upper and lower jaws in my hands, and then snapped them open for good.

The impact had me lying on the floor, but the access to the object was right in front of me.

I pushed her limp body off of me. She wasn't dead, but she was going to take a long time to heal, especially after what I was about to do.

I opened her muzzle and wrapped my fingers around her large silver canine, then yanked it out of her jaw. The silver burned through my skin, but I did it anyway.

I earned gasps from the crowd but I was actually very proud of myself. She probably stood for the challenge in the first place because she didn't think I would win.

The blood that flowed from her mouth wasn't a pretty sight so I turned away and gathered the three objects in my hands to show.

The gold necklace. The wrist watch. The silver tooth.

All I placed into the hands of a proud-looking Sven. Jedrek looked absolutely infuriated, but I didn't care.

It was the sight of everyone else's slightly bowed heads that startled me.

Is it respect or is it fear?