Even for the most ordinary of magi the concealment of their true nature does not come easy in a city as crowded as London. Even more if they are members of one of the most powerful orders in the magical world, whose principles are very haughty and hiding one's identity is often considered as denying their brotherhood.
On one chilly December night, fortunately, the streets of London were exceptionally empty. Thick fog was hanging over the wet cobbled streets, reflecting the dim light of street lamps.
Not long before an unusually big amount of snow had fallen on the city, now, however, when the frost had partly worn off, the thaw was already beginning. From above the sea of mist the face of the clock tower was quietly looking on the surroundings. It was as silver as the full moon hanging beside it.
The day-to-day bustling with life city had become deserted. The buildings were fast asleep, a winter numbness. Impenetrable silence filled the surrounding air, being cut only every fifteen minutes by suppressed chiming – only the bell was awake. The silence falling in the intervals rang in the ears.
The last, twelfth chime had died away. From beyond one of the corners came the quick trotting of, it seemed, a great number of people. In contrast to the empty streets it seemed bizarre, at least. The sound and the echo accompanying it were not ceasing, they were drawing nearer. A long, slim shadow fell on the wall of one of the tenements. Then a second and a third, another one, and one more… until they all blended into one dark stain shrinking with every moment.
Through the thick veil of fog a tall man appeared. Right after him there appeared the specters of other people. The wide alleyway had filled with a procession of unreal figures.
They were all clad in coats of glittering sapphire cloth, high-collared, reaching just above the ankles. Covered with patterns embroiled with a silver thread, they seemed to be unreal, the effect even strengthened by their shade of deep sapphire. The robes glistened magically and together with the navy-blue cloaks they fluttered in the wind.
Silvery crescents of half-moons and small stars, which the cloaks were strewn with, were shimmering in the moonlight. One symbol, bigger than others, that decorated left sleeves, was similar to the Bisurman moon, a five-angled star at its sharp end.
"Are we missing anyone?" A quiet voice broke the silence. Beside the man there suddenly appeared a small woman with short, slightly curled hair.
"No," he replied in a calm way. His voice was smooth and enigmatic. "There's only one thing that's bothering me. Why is it that the Sages didn't allow us to go on horse-back for this particular expedition? We would have saved a lot of time and strength if we had our horses. And we wouldn't have to hide like sewer rats. Besides, what was their point of sending the delegation by train from Glasgow to London?" Now, a note of annoyance could be heard in his voice.
The woman shrugged her shoulders. She appeared as confused by all that as he was. The man smirked quietly.
"Loading more than thirty totally anonymous people into a single train without any previous warning – and they thought nobody would take notice of that?" he said. "We were lucky to have gotten out of Victoria Station before someone informed the authorities."
"I'm sure the Elders knew what they were doing," the woman replied. "Besides, there had been rumours circulating around the Silver City about the main well being polluted. Some of the animals even became ill. After all, you heard it yourself," she added and the man shook his head disapprovingly. "The vaimares may be good guardians of the city, but they're not the best means of transportation."
"When I visited the stables the day before our assignment, the animals were perfectly well. I have a feeling that those old geezers are up to something again, which is why they let the rumours spread…" he said and then fell silent. "It's good we're already heading back."
The woman said nothing to that. For some time neither of them spoke, then again it was the man who broke the silence, returning to the topic of the vaimare with his question. Whatever they were.
"What do you mean they're not the best means of transportation? They're the fastest way of travel we have besides horses."
"I mean that they're not the most comfortable you can get," she explained. "Also, I don't think the members of this delegation are used to travelling on their backs, let alone by air…" she sighed.
The leader took a quick glance at the already tiring crowd.
"What time is it?"
"Haven't you heard the bell?"
"You know I have more important things on my mind than listening for the sound of Big Ben," he said quickly.
The woman pulled up her left sleeve and peered at her silver wristwatch.
"Half past midnight."
"Good…" the man lowered his voice, burying himself in thought.
He didn't have much time to think, however, as the voice of a small girl brought him out of contemplation. Tightly grasping the woman's right hand, up until now she had behaved as if she wasn't there at all.
The girl, as black-haired as her mother and with the same short haircut, looked no more than five years old. Like everyone else in this bizarre group, she was dressed in a sapphire coat with a swirly A embroidered on her left breast. But in that small letter there was something that distinguished it from the others. A half-moon with a star played the role of its right leg. Whatever it meant, it had to have a special meaning for among all members of the group only the letter on her small coat was distinguished this way. Behind her, too, fluttered a small cape, its colour that of the night sky which spread above her companions.
"Daddy, are we still going to walk long? My feet hurt!" she said in a tired, child-like voice.
The man who just snapped out of his contemplation looked quickly at his daughter. Her big blue eyes were fixated on his face and were awaiting his reply like salvation.
"Just a bit more, Alex," he answered after which he turned to his wife, the woman walking beside him, "If she's too tired to walk by herself, take her in your hands, alright, Elizabeth?"
"We'll be okay, won't we, Alex?" Elizabeth looked at Alex when the front of the group turned from a wide alley into another dimly-lit avenue.
"Yes…" Alex replied grimly, lowering her head. At first, her parents had intended to leave her home, but she had insisted on going with them. Now, as she felt the tiresome journey slowly getting to her, she regretted it a little.
The empty avenue was again filled by the sound of hasty footsteps. The windows of most of the houses were dark and the covers drawn. Only in some, surely belonging to professional night-owls, there flickered a dim light. From between the curtains, its rays fell on the wet cobblestone and covered the melting piles of snow with a bleached glow. The wave of sapphire coats effectively avoided them, keeping close to the shadows of the buildings.
It appeared that in the sky yet a different kind of journey was in progress. Smitten by the abrupt wind the clouds drifted south faster and faster. In the end, against the background of the navy-blue abyss that flickered with numerous stars only the brightly-shining moon was left. The night was again cloudless.
With the clock turning to one, the mysterious travellers found themselves near the buildings of the Parliament. It seemed they were planning to proceed along Parliament Street heading towards their destination.
However, as peaceful as the night was, the more anxious the members of the group appeared to become. Every now and then someone would glance over their shoulders into the dark corners of the streets they passed and the menacing riverbank of Thames as though afraid there was something hiding inside its waters, waiting to leap out and attack the passers-by.
At that time, an elderly man overtook the rest of the group and caught up with Elizabeth and her husband who were walking at its front. A rapid gust of wind ruffled his snow-white hair and his cape fluttered fainly.
"Zeke, are you certain we will make it in time?" he asked strictly, glancing nervously at the moon.
"Indeed, even more so that this night doesn't seem to be favourable towards us!..." gasping for breath, a short man who appeared beside the elderly man in a blink of an eye nodded his head and voice his agreement in a hysterical tone.
"Of course we will make it in time. It's been a while since I last saw such a peaceful night. Besides, we still have quite a lot of time," replied the leader in an unmoved voice, without a doubt being of the highest rank among the group of sapphire coats.
"See, that's the thing. This night is too peaceful," replied the taller man with white hair. "There's something bad in the air. I can feel it."
"I wholeheartedly agree with him, Zeke," broke in the little man. "In addition to that, it's a full moon, don't forget about it!" he added in an even more hysterical tone than before, still gasping from his effort to keep up with the other two. Glancing at the moon, he exchanged a look with the worried old man.
"How can I forget that it's full moon when the moon is shining right in my face?"
"I'm aware, but…"
Zeke's face became more serious now as he frowned, which meant he was slowly losing patience.
"Stop panicking, you cowards! So what if it's a full moon? I'm not the one who set the date and the length of the journey – nor did I agree on our method of transportation – and the moon, regardless of anything, will not fall onto your heads…"
"So what if it's a full moon, you say? Electing you as the Highest Priest we regarded you as a responsible person aware of all the dangers related to such circumstances," the hysteric broke in again, not letting the Highest Priest finish his sentence.
"I assure you, Fulves, that I have not forgotten the most basic things from university and I know what to do when," Zeke began, but his speech was interrupted, this time by his elderly companion.
"Zeke, forgive me for interrupting," he said, but Zeke looked as though forgiving him for cutting in was the last thing he wanted to do "but at this moment you take responsibility for more than thirty members of the Order and I don't even dare think what Lunarius would say if anything happened during our return…"
"…walking with such a big group of wizards, Aureus," Zeke finished, paying no heed to the tall man's words and emphasizing the last word of his sentence. "I did all I could. You, gentlemen, have nothing to worry about since in any scenario I would be the one to blame. And don't exaggerate that much. You're no longer little kids taking their first protective spells examination. If there be need, we all know what to do."
Auerus and Fulves answered the words of the Highest Priest only with silence and seemed to be considering something. A while later they abandoned their argument and changed the subject.
"In that case, what did you think about the lycanthrope we saw in the Vitreous Palace?" Aureus asked, now calm.
"Lycanthrope?" Zeke seemed surprised. "Aureus, that was no lycanthrope."
"What's that?"
Zeke raised his eyebrows.
"I see it is not me who needs to refresh their Knowledge of Werewolves," commented the leader.
"Speak more clearly," Fulves joined the conversation.
"I have seen cases of delayed transformation stemming from the immunity level of a particular organism and strong psycho, or from the level of the internal change," he explained, "however, I have never before seen a freshly-bitten werewolf who would fully and flawlessly transform into a wolf before the moon has even risen."
His two companions seemed baffled. Seeing their faces, Zeke continued.
"When we arrived at the headquarters of the Order of the Vitreous Crystal we were informed that on the day of our departure we will be shown a lycanthrope who had been infected a few days earlier. This they still managed to plan since we were planning to leave on the first night of the full moon. Haven't you wondered why they refused to show him to us as a human, before the full moon? But, returning to the subject, you must have noticed their peculiar reaction when I made the decision we would return a few hours earlier – during the day. They panicked and in the end presented him, or what was supposed to be him, to us in a chamber without windows, did they not?"
"You mean to tell us that they wanted to trick us?"
"I noticed their intentions before the end of our first day of stay, Fulves," Zeke replied, "but I kept silent. I needed solid proof, not only suspicions. Eventually, just as I expected, their plan shattered so then they were prone to making mistakes. And they did," the wizard added triumphantly. "They showed us a plain wolf they had caught earlier during the day, a good couple of hours before the rise of the full moon and what's more, lead our delegation into a chamber without windows. Why, you ask? So that none of us would accidentally think to look out of it and notice there is something missing to prove their words true!"
The two other wizards thought about the leader's words for a while.
"Quite clever, Zeke. I have to admit that even I got mislead by their explanations," said Aureus. "However, after considering the matter once again I would probably arrive at the same conclusion as you… Only why did you not tell us anything until now?"
"Exactly, why?" Fulves appeared as impatient as ever.
"I am planning to do so still," Zeke replied. "Once we return to the castle and meet in the hall. Remember these two things which you should already know by now: first of all, it is not easy to capture a genuine werewolf without the use of spells and methods known exclusively to our Order. And second, no one is able to trick a true Half-Moon Servant on the topic of lycanthropy so easily. As for the reasons for their deceit, I can only think of them wanting to establish an alliance with our Order for economic or even military support."
"Yes, well, those two things are hard to disagree with," said Fulves. "Although after what happened in the Vitreous Palace I'm beginning to doubt the second thing a little… Generally speaking, of course," he added quickly.
"I don't think everyone in this group got mislead," Aureus addressed Fulves. "Those who had doubts probably kept silent – like Zeke. In which case the greatest storm will brew after we return."
"If they deceived us, you're not planning on letting them get away with it, are you?" asked Fulves, whose pride was disproportional to his height.
"I will report everything to the Elders, then a short letter will be sent to Norway and that will be it," Zeke finished.
"It may yet be a good thing that you are the Highest Priest," Aureus said. "At least I do not have to worry that the Order will stray from the right path because of my successor," he added. A moment later, together with Fulves he slowed down his pace and detached from the front row, returning to the back of the column. At the time, he wasn't yet aware he had spoken these words too soon.
Zeke sighed and focused his eyes on the wet pavement.
"They angered me at the beginning," he said to Elizabeth who silently walked next to him.
"Don't worry about them," she replied. "You know that Fulves has always been hysterical and prone to exaggerating some things and in Aureus' times lots of things used to be more simple than they are now." She smiled. "And you did the right thing to no longer keep them in the dark about what those magi wanted to…"
"Mr. Fulves is funny!" Alex's happy voice rang out as she tried to catch every single word of the grown-ups' conversation even though she understood little of it still.
Among the members of the group there could be heard more and more frequent conversations as though with the flow of time anxiety that lingered over the delegation like the omnipresent shadow of that grim night was beginning to fade. Nobody, however, felt like laughing. Despite the calmness of the superior, the time flew and the moon sailed through the sky farther and farther, slowly heading towards the horizon.
A high-pitched scream pierced the silence like a gunshot. Immediately the whole group came to a rapid halt. In almost a single motion everyone turned around in the direction from where the voice had come from.
"What the…?" Zeke mumbled, noticing a circle of his comrades gathered around something which he couldn't yet discern from where he was standing.
Elbowing his way through the crowd of glowing capes, he made his way towards its centre from which there came loud but incomprehensible moans. Elizabeth and Alex followed him cautiously.
The one who had screamed turned out to have been Fulves who was walking in one of the back rows of the column. He was now standing with his legs spread over a puddle of water and throwing nervous glances at the people around him was pointing to something that was floating on its surface.
"What in the world is it again, Fulves?" Zeke asked furiously, but he was also starting to feel anxiety rising inside him. "Do you want to attract even more attention to us?!"
"L-look! I k-knew it!..." Fulves mumbled, frantically pointing to the glassy surface of the puddle.
The Highest Priest's eyes followed his gesture towards it.
"A patch of fur?" he commented, examining the small floating patch of what looked like animal fur. "Is this why you're making such a ruckus, risking giving away our presence?!"
Quiet, nervous whispers spread through the group. Zeke threw one strict glance at the crowd and everyone went silent again. One of the men standing behind Fulves slowly approached the puddle and examined it with a curious look.
"This is no ordinary fur," he frowned.
"Not ordinary how?" Zeke asked. He came closer to the finding and also crouched over the puddle.
The man examining the patch of fur carefully raised it to the height of both of their eyes. Not only was there fur – the whole thing reminded one of a shed patch of skin that snakes leave, but covered with hair on the other side.
"This is not human hair, that's for certain," the man began. "It looks canine. And since no mammal sheds its skin like this, I think you know what this could mean. It also seems fresh."
"But how is this possible? We weren't even informed…" Zeke was visibly shaken. "If something like this came to pass, I am sure the Elders would have let us know. And yet, no owl and no messenger… Stand back," he commanded and the crowd obediently stepped back from the puddle.
The Highest Priest reached under the left lapel of his coat and took out something that resembled a metal stick – a wand. About twelve inches long, made of pure silver, with a delicately ornamented shaft. Adorned with three blue crystals it sparkled magically. Tiny sapphires glittered on its engraved emblem.
The wizard pointed the wand towards the puddle and murmured a spell. From the tip of the wand sprouted a few small silvery sparks – beautiful and lively. For a brief moment they swirled in the air, casting a fleeting glow on the surroundings, before dashing down. The patch of fur along with the shed skin was lifted high above the ground so that all those gathered could see it.
For a while the crowd stared at it in silence. Then a new wave of whispers broke out.
"While we cannot be a hundred per cent certain, I think everyone will agree that it's most probably a werewolf," Zeke said, silencing the whispers. "There is a possibility he is somewhere near. However, as long as we follow the main street and keep together, there should be nothing to worry about. If need be, I hope that you once listened well to your lectures at the Lunar University and that you still remember your training and your examination," he added and lowering his hand hid away the wand. The sparks surrounding the patch of fur dispersed immediately and a gust of wind blew it away. "Onwards!" the leader ordered and the group resumed its march.
After a few minutes of a fast-paced walk, the Highest Priest stopped. Without a word he ordered the rest to follow in suit with a motion of his hand. When all the eyes were turned towards him he started speaking in a loud and clear voice. They were nearing the buildings of the Old Admiralty.
"We've no more than a ten-minute walk before we reach Trafalgar Square," he announced. "We are progressing according to schedule, which is why I will allow myself a small speech. A group of vaimares is to arrive in the square at two o'clock sharp. From what I was told each member of our delegation will be provided with one of them. I expect no quarrels over this issue. I assure you that each of the guardians is capable of enabling us to reach home safely by the break of dawn. Are there any questions?" he asked, but none of the hands was raised. That cheered him up a little during this grim night. "Alright. If there are no questions, let us proceed."
The party began to move again. This time Elizabeth and her daughter were trailing along near the end of the column. It could be seen that such a long journey on foot wasn't doing the young one any good and slowly she was becoming increasingly weary.
Suddenly, behind the backs of the marching people, arose a long, drawn-out howl. The bloodcurdling wail made hair stand on the back of the wizards' necks. Many a head looked back with anxiety, but the street behind them remained equally empty and cold as before. Some of the wizards stopped and observed the surroundings in silence.
A thick, half-melted patch of snow slid down one of the rooftops and hit the pavement with a plop.
"I told you we were in bad luck, I told you!..." Fulves began mumbling somewhere in the crowd.
The rest remained silent, glancing at what their leader's reaction would be. Grave silence hung in the air and nothing apart from the wind shuffling through the naked branches of nearby trees disturbed it. The surrounding thick fog effectively limited vision to just a couple of feet. The delegation resumed a faster even than before march.
"Whatever it was, it sure sounded hungry…" Fulves said quietly, as if to himself, however Zeke took notice of it and, passing by, bumped the tiny wizard lightly on the head. As a result, the hysteric fell immediately silent and so he stayed.
Unable to focus as well as before and with their destination at hand, Zeke sprung forward and started talking energetically with a fellow wizard at the front of the column. Alex and Elizabeth, however, stayed visibly behind. Seeing this, the woman decided to stop for a moment to take the girl in her hands.
It was a matter of seconds. The sound of paws beating fast against the pavement, Alex's cry, the horrible growling and Elizabeth's scream. Lightning-struck, the wizards turned to the back to see what has happened, their wands at the ready in one swift motion.
On the ground next to the crying child lay the High Priest's wife, a huge creature resembling a hellishly big wolf trampling over her body. The woman's wand lay tossed away a few feet from her. The desperate cries of the victim mingled with the horrid growls of the wolf clawing away at her body. She tried to fight back, but she had no chance against such a large and ferocious enemy.
A few of the women screamed out when blood appeared on the beast's fangs, red blotches staining the nearby snow. Ripped off patches of the cloak were flying out in every direction.
With a lightning speed Zeke tore his way through the dumb-struck crowd of mages and his eyes widened in shock.
"ELIZABETH!" he screamed and jumped towards the scene, with a single motion taking out his wand. The rest of the wizards snapped out of shock and followed him. "SILVERIUS!" he thundered, pointing the wand at the werewolf before anyone else could do the same.
A stream of sparks comparable only to a bolt of lightning shot out of its end and struck the great animal with thunderous force. A heart-piercing shriek of pain echoed against the emptiness of the alley and the wolf flew high into the air before hitting the pavement with a loud thud, never to rise again. His body began to change and a moment later in the place of a huge beast there lay a dead man. Only later was it confirmed that the colour of his hair matched the colour of the fur found on the shed patch of skin.
One of the wizards took care of the little girl. Heart-broken Zeke was holding his dying wife by the hand, tears running to his eyes and a scorching pain in his heart, a little farther away from the rest of the group. Mumbling something incoherently, his eyes were fixated on Elizabeth. Using her remaining strength, she looked into his face and closed her eyes. Sobbing, the Highest Priest gripped her bloodstained hand tighter, deaf to all the sounds of the world. He did not care that in a few hours pedestrians would find the seemingly untouched corpse of the werewolf and the rich stains of blood on the snow and running down to the gutter. He did not care that for the next week the local media will be booming about the questionable demise of a nameless citizen, supplying the public with newer and newer information about the dead-end investigation.
The rest of the wizards stood speechless, from time to time wiping away tears that uncontrollably filled their eyes. No one dared to speak. Everyone knew that what had happened would change the course of their future.
In the heart of Ezekiel Arian there began to burn a hatred mixed with a burning thirst for revenge. He loathed them, all of them. He loathed the world, the alley, and himself. But most of all he loathed the man lying a few feet away. That day, he began loathing all those of his kind.
The sky above thundered and heavy drops of rain began falling down one by one onto the streets of London, directing the trickles of crimson into the nearby gutter. Somewhere from afar, as though from beyond the fog, came the ringing of a bell. The clock struck two.
* Original, untranslated text: summer 2003.*
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