Prologue

It all began many years ago, during the age when the great Spirit Dragons protected over our world, a time when peace and prosperity reigned. The Spirit Dragons were ethereal beings revered as the gods and goddesses of our Dragonian World. Nothing could ever compare to their mystical and otherworldly powers. From the lands of the Dragoons, to the vast seas of the Leviathans, to the deep forests of the pack-hunting Wolvenkind, the Spirit Dragons brought peace to them all. Life was beautiful. Life was peaceful.

But even amidst these years, dawned an era of terror and dread. An era of war. From deep within the hellish depths of the Netherrealm, a terrible beast had arisen along with his army of dark forces, the Scourge. For years they terrorized and enslaved our world. And so we summoned the might of the great Spirit Dragons to bring an end to the war. Countless casualties amassed on both ends. Ultimately, only a few Spirit Dragons remained, but The Scourge was no more. The battle was finally over… or so we thought.

The battleground was left with a mighty wound that had never begun to heal. Cracks beneath the earth began to fester with darkness. In the wake of the destruction, amongst these lands broken by war a creature emerged, manifested from the shadows… a Black Dragon. He came onto our realm with only the darkest ambition to shatter our world more than we could ever know. Many feared to whisper his name, and thus they referred to him as, “the Black Spirit”. They say every night, the beast would scour the lands on his black wings of fate, only to leave death and destruction in his wake. Forthcoming, is his tale of conquest…

And revenge.

Scant beams of moonlight glittered through a sea of trees. Large groups of deer and rabbits bounded along the forest floor, while flocks of birds soared high among the clouds. But these weren’t the only creatures travelling that night.

Under the midnight sky flew creatures of grey, black and brown. These winged beasts crossed between wolf and dragon– the Wolvenkind– were powerful hunters of both land and sky. Soaring high they unleashed a terrifying chorus of howls. Down on the forest floor, smaller wingless variations of Wolvenkind raced across the land, giving chase to a large group of deer. Together long living in unbroken peace, these creatures have cut themselves off of the outside world and chose the Great Forest as their home and hunting ground.

“Hmm… it fled here, but I can’t catch its scent anymore,” a grey Wolvenkind said as he sniffed the ground. The young hunter’s eyes were filled with determination. “And I was so looking forward to roasting that deer,” he whined.

“It may have died already for all you know,” replied a female Wolvenkind, who led a group of three others. She was a gorgeous creature. Unlike most of her kin whose forms were stocky and muscular, her build was sleek and graceful. With her long snout, tufted black ears and auburn-brown fur, one could have easily mistaken her for a vixen. Most striking were her eyes. Framed by flowing black locks, her eyes were the color of the deepest violet. Her wings were as white as snow.

“You never were a good hunter Hairon,” she chided. The other three followers started to laugh and taunt him. There were the Wolvenkind sisters, Luna and Cress, and a burly, wingless Wolvenkind named Fenrir who all made up Niele’s hunting pack. And then there was Hairon, the weakest of the group, the straggler.

“Shut it Niele!” Hairon snapped. “I was so close too.”

“Sure you were,” Niele chuckled. Hairon’s lips curled to a vicious snarl. “One of these days I’m gonna get you, got it?!”

“Spare me the complaints,” Niele said as she ran a paw through her hair. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re gonna look for some real prey. We don’t need you slowing us down.” She and her pack then fled into the night.

Alone but far from afraid the lone Wolvenkind set out on his own quest. “Heh, I don’t need them. I’ll show her I can hunt just fine,” he muttered to himself. “I’ll show them all!”

“You won’t get anywhere with those words…” responded a dark and demonic voice. Hairon froze. Everywhere the atmosphere plunged into momentary blackness, and all there was to disturb the silence was a quick chill of wind which raced down Hairon’s back. He shuddered.

“W-W-WHO’S T-THERE?!”

A pair of nightmarish eyes shone within the darkness. The mysterious creature slithered forward, its body cloaked in shadows.

“Now now friend, is that prey really what you want?” the creature spoke with a sinister yet almost seductive tone.

“W-w-what do you mean?” Hairon questioned, his eyes bulging. The ghostly serpent coiled himself around Hairon with a gaze that tore him from reality. “I can offer you all the power necessary to show everyone that you are superior to them.”

“I’m listening,” the Wolvenkind curiously replied.

“All I want is for you to wear this.” In the serpent’s hands was a silver pendant necklace. A large purple jewel was embedded in its center.

“This Nether’s Amulet will bestow you with powers far beyond that of your own.”

“Hmm, I like the offer,” Hairon replied. The serpent whirled around once more, grinning as the Wolvenkind had already fallen under the amulet’s mesmerizing embrace.

“Will you accept?”

Without giving it a second thought, Hairon put on a smile of content.

“Gladly.”

“Good, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Wait,” Hairon said abruptly, suddenly snapping back reality. “Just who are you?”

The creature simply replied with a sinister smile. “My friend, it will all be known in due time.” With that said, he disappeared into the shadows.

The darkness faded, and Hairon was left to ponder that thought as he stared at the peculiar necklace in wonder. A strange charm it was, a jewel of ethereal beauty. The moment he donned the necklace, nothing happened for a brief moment. Until suddenly, the jewel began to shine with an ominous purple light.

“AAAAaaaagggghhhh!!!” Hairon screamed.

He was forced to his knees, arms quivering violently as they threatened to give out beneath him. He struggled to catch his breath; his heart pounded so forcefully that he feared it would burst from his chest. A sickening sound reached his ears as he heard his very bones crack and shift beneath his skin. A massive jolt of energy surged through his veins like fire. Hairon was left lying on his back reeling, screaming, unable to hold back the excruciating pain any longer. Minutes that seemed to last forever had passed before Hairon’s episode had subsided and was finally able to get back on his feet. He flexed his arms and felt strength unlike any he had ever possessed. He then opened his wings, their feathery membranes stronger than ever before, as if he could soar through the skies for days without rest. His reflexes had increased tenfold. “Amazing, this power is incredible!” he said with a joyous laugh, in awe of his newfound power. Just as those words escaped him, he felt a hot breath upon his shoulders. Hairon turned his head to see a huge bearlike beast towering over him. The bear roared, chunks of flesh and splinters of bone still clinging to its teeth. Rather than cowering in fear, Hairon chuckled with a newfound sense of pride. “Now to show Niele who truly deserves to be called the better hunter.”

Back at the nesting ground, a large crowd stood in silence, gawking in awe at the fallen beast that lay before Hairon. Its eyes were glazed over, body disemboweled and riddled with claw marks. Truly the work of a lethal hunter.

“Hahaha! Look at you all, shocked by this mighty beast that fell to my paw!” The wolf dragon chuckled boastfully. “I told you I’d prove you all wrong.” The hushed crowd suddenly began cheering. Hairon felt their satisfaction, and for once in his life he felt like he belonged with them, no longer as an outcast, but as a hunter. Niele stood off behind the brush, unimpressed by Hairon’s feat.

“And you call yourself a true hunter?” Her cold amethyst eyes were full of suspicion as she regarded the mysterious necklace around his neck. “Enjoy your so-called glory while you still can.” She fled and returned to her den.

Several nights passed without unrest, when suddenly…

“AAAAAaaaahhh!!!” A terrifying shriek awoke the forest. “Somebody help me!” the voice screamed.

It was the voice of Cress.

“Cress?” Luna shouted. “Cress where are you?!” Her cries were then drowned out by a macabre of screams. Luna rushed through the forest, trying not to lose her nerves. The screams were suddenly cut to a sickening halt, and Luna had stopped dead in her tracks. Her jaws hung open upon discovering a horrific scene; a horde of black wolf-like creatures, none like which she had ever seen before, greedily feasting upon helpless innocents.

Bloodfangs.

The beasts were haggardly thin. Their bloodied pelts drooped heavily from their frail forms, exposing flesh and jutting spikes of bone along their backs. Their eyes shone with a hellish gleam. They swarmed over their victims– pups and adults alike– tearing them to pieces.

Luna stood wide-eyed. There she saw her sister Cress, her body torn apart by the savage creatures. Among the carnage she also witnessed one unfortunate Wolvenkind mother, who could barely let out a shriek before her skull was crushed into a bloody pulp by the one of the creature’s powerful jaws. The Bloodfangs immediately turned their eyes from their half-eaten prey and lunged at Luna’s petrified body, and she was quickly brought down and killed.

Eventually the horde had spread throughout the entire forest, and the masses ran rampant in fright of the ravenous bloodthirsty beasts. Soon enough, the Great Forest was left in ruins.

Beyond the smoldering trees, a shape cut itself away from the flames, a Wolvenkind standing as the proud leader of the pack. Its amethyst eyes held a dark and terrible glee. Its great wings splayed open, once white as snow, now ebony black and bathed in the blood of those so unfortunate to cross paths.

What happened during the following years was but another tale. The Wolvenkind were driven to extinction, and the murderer was never seen or heard from again. The Black Dragon looked proudly upon his work, but even then he wasn’t completely satisfied… His dark soul hungered something more. Something stronger.

The powers of a Spirit Dragon.

Thus, a new war between the two had begun. Their fateful battle became the stuff of legends, the ultimate clash between yin and yang. In the end, it was the Spirit Dragon who reigned victorious.

…But the Black Dragon wouldn’t let her get the last word.

“So, you think you’ve won? Soon you’ll be in for a very rude awakening. And when that time comes, the world will be ours…”