Embracing new power.

Cayse had always been far too curious and too often threw caution to the wind. Why should she take the safe road when it didn't matter? There was still something to gain by taking risks and testing your limits. That is what lead to this. Her discovery of the dagger, buried in the belly of some ancient ruins, long forgotten even by time. She knew the ruins were from the time of the dark gods, deities of chaos that had been sealed away long before she drew her first breath. All the years of wading through and studying hundreds of tomes, scrolls, ancient carvings, and paintings paid off. She could decipher most of the glyphs, runes, scribbles, and pictures etched in the worn stonework all around her. "The risk is worth it," she assured herself as she drove her claws into the gut of another guardian. Rending the pitful creature's innards from its body. Black blood, sinew, and gore spilling across smooth floors. With a shake of her fuzzy head and quickly finger combing the long strands of her mane out of her face, the wolf pushed forward into the dark corridors and away from the scent of blood and a fresh kill. Despite her best efforts, sometimes the more feral sides of her came out. Blame it on her early years of giving in to the mind-numbing rage and violence her 'curse' had bestowed on her or maybe on the makeshift training she'd conjured watching the druids' channel nature's energy. At this very moment, she could ill afford to lose herself.

The hall was pitch black even with her keen vision. She had to rely on touch, smell, and hearing to navigate now. The last chamber was just ahead; the crunch and squish of bugs under her paw echoed with the skittering of the creatures she only just missed. It was a pleasant distraction . . . No . . keep moving. Finally, after floundering in the darkness, her hand connected with a large carved stone. It was different from the others, smooth and carved. It took some groping around, but she finally found the seam...Doors. She pushed hard on them, but they didn't budge. Again and again, she tried, throwing her shoulder into slabs and gaining no ground for all her pain and effort. Frustrated, a feral snarl vibrated the confines of the small hall, her athletic form swelled, muscle stretched, shredded, and reformed as the skin pulled away and regrew to accommodate her new form. A massive black bear filled the space where the wolf woman had just been, her head having to dip to keep from scraping the ceiling only and having just enough room to move forward and back. Lowing her head, she channeled the energy of nature to protect her and charged forward, throwing every bit of her two thousand pounds plus of bulk into the last obstacle in her way. The stone cracked and groaned, finally beginning to slide back on rusted hinges. The room behind was massive, the ceiling extending upwards into seemingly infinite darkness. The only illumination came from weakly glowing runes etched into the pillars that flickered to life as if in response to the presence of a living being. In the center of the room was an altar raised on a dais.

The efforts to get the heavy doors open had left her body riddled with pain, but she pushed forward with heavy rumbling breaths coming through clenched teeth. With One paw in front of the other, she walked. Each lumbering step thudding on the cold hard floors as her claws scratched against the stone. Every sound seemed magnified in the chamber. Everything she needed was, now, just feet away. Nearing the edge of the steps that lead up the face of the dais, the bear melted away revealing the familiar werewolf form to scale them. Upon reaching the top, she caught her first glimpse of the artifact. Laying in the center of the altar was a small ragged looking dagger. The rough angles and cut to the blade and handle didn't look like much; still, she took it in hand. The dark power pulsed around the blade as it finally awoke after years of dormancy. Cayse's body tingled as the energy seeped into her flesh, a crazed wolfish grin spreading across her face.

Gift From my best friend SvenSkaren
Art by  Gingerrey