Chapter 1
Night, the most dangerous time for the city of Ahtuli as demons would sweep into the streets and kill all those who were wandering around past midnight, ripping the flesh from their bodies and devouring the blood of their victims. They were known as the Mokh Bahr, invisible winged creatures from the Abyss. A thousand years ago, the persistent efforts of the Lewtiko, the animals with powers, were able to defend the humans from the demonic creatures that scoured the city at night, but these days there were none. Most people believed that with the disappearance of the Lewtiko and other animals, the Mokh Bahr would also fall into legend to be passed on as scary campfire stories. Alas, the Mokh Bahr never did and they ravaged the city nightly, with no one to stop them.
As soon as the time was exactly one cycle before midnight, the city became under martial law and everyone was forced back into their homes. However if one was ever thrown out of their house to be eaten by the Mokh Bahr, the homeowner would be cast into the dungeons due to the fact that it was strictly prohibited to commit such a crime. Only the foolish would leave their doors and windows opened at night but most never survive to tell the tale. The Mokh Bahr could never enter a home that was fully concealed with no openings but they were free to enter homes where the windows may have been just a fraction opened.
As midnight struck, immediately the Mokh Bahr swarmed into the city streets, gouging down on whatever fool was wandering at the hour. But the Mokh Bahr could sense the presence of a Lewtiko and never would attempt to attack the human with the presence around it. If it was absolutely critical for one to leave their house at night, they’d do so right when the dawn lights up the darkened sky. The Mokh Bahr abhorred the light and would flee as soon as dawn arrived.
Just as quickly as midnight came, the sunrise appeared in the sky and the Mokh Bahr were gone within nano-cycles. As soon as they were gone, Ahtuli became very crowded and busy as everyone ventured from their homes once the All Clear signal was sounded. People rushed from place to place and enjoyed themselves with no worry of the Mokh Bahr threaterning the city...
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Despite being a human himself, a young adult with crisp blonde hair and steel blue eyes feared humans and was always hiding from them. He would always wear black pants, a white T-shirt, a leather jacket, and shades and was often questionable whenever he was spotted. No one knew his name, since he never engaged in conversation with them, and was often referred to as The Dark Wolf. Due to the fact of animals being vanquished, any term made directly to another human was a quite offensive term; depending on the lethality of the animal was how harsh the term. The Dark Wolf never smiled at anyone and constantly was on the run from the law enforcement officers since he engaged in the crime doing of Ahtuli.
“Hey there’s The Dark Wolf!” Constable Thomas Steinbock pointed out to his fellow police officers, “After him!”
As soon as his ears heard the officers’ running over to him, The Dark Wolf had took off running, darting down a dark alleyway, and leapt over a tall metal fence at the end. Sprinting through the puddles of the street, he quickly made his way through the crowded streets by hopping over them, crawling under them, or barreling his way through them. As he began to sprint down another road, a sharp zap of a taser ended the pursuit as The Dark Wolf collapsed to the ground in agony. The officer who tasered him immediately apprehended the young adult.
“Thought you could get away again, boy?” the officer sneered, “You didn’t make as far as you did the last time without bumping into me. But unlike last time, this time you’re going to the slammer.”
After handcuffing the young man, the officer brutally forced The Dark Wolf into the back of his police vehicle before climbing into the front and driving away towards the Jail…
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A young hardcore rapper and hiphop artist named Wayne, watched the way the officer brutally forced the young man into the police vehicle and he ran off in the direction of the jail, hoping to see if it were possible to get the officer put away for quarantine and The Dark Wolf’s charges dropped. Since he was built for speed, he easily sprinted down to the jail where he perched up on the ledge and viewed the interrogation. For a brief second, The Dark Wolf appeared to look like a wolf then returned to his normal human composition.
So this so called The Dark Wolf is truly one of my kind, Wayne thought as he shape-shifted into a terrier and then manipulated the sound conduction of the window until he was able to hear the interrogation quite clearly.
“So what is your name?” Constable Steinbock, a well-built, husky brunette questioned The Dark Wolf.
“Ryo,” The Dark Wolf answered very silently.
“What? Wee-oh?”
“No, My name is Ryo.” Ryo answered a little louder.
“Ryo? That’s a very unusual name for a human. Are you a Lewtiko is the form of a human?”
No reply.
“ANSWER ME!!!” Steinbock was pissed-off, “Open your damn gobhole and speak!”
After a prolonged silence, the officer picked up a baton and was about to beat the young adult when all the sudden he froze along with everone else in the room and outside. The time had even froze as well, leaving Wayne quite marvelled with the powers of this wolf-human. Ryo had shape-shifted into a wolf and froze time before standing up from the chair and rushed out of the jailhouse. Wayne shadowed him until he leapt right in front of the wolf as a terrier.
“What?!” Ryo came to an abrupt halt and stared at the terrier, “What… who are you?”
“My name is Wayne and I’m a Sound Lewtiko terrier. And it appears, Ryo, that you are a Lewtiko wolf.”
“You’re crazy. I’m not a Lewtiko… I’m just a wolf…”
“With power over time. Only animals with powers are Lewtikos.” Wayne explained, “However, our powers cannot effect one another.”
“I knew that; I’m not stupid. It’s just surprising to see another Lewtiko like me in this city... here I was thinking I was the last one.”
“Yeah right, bro! There’s actually a whole group of us Lewtikos in this city. We meet nightly at eight in the west wing of the Barqueley Mansion. Maybe you’d like to pop in tonight and meet some others?”
“I prefer to be on my own, thank you. Besides, why would an entire group of Lewtikos be in this cursed city of Ahtuli anyways?”
“We try our best to keep the city free of the Mokh Bahr…”
“And you’re assisting the humans?! Why? They’re the ones who hate our kind and purged it!”
“But let’s not forget that it was the Mokh Bahr who deceived the humans by creating the illusion of a human being ripped to pieces by a Lewtiko over 1000 years ago.” The terrier shrugged, “We were put on this world for a specific purpose: to protect humans from the Mokh Bahr, no matter how badly they treat us or how much they abhor our kind.”
“I think it’s stupid to protect humans when they’re the ones who…” the wolf growled.
“Just because of what occurred the past, it doesn’t mean we have to stop protecting to them. We have a duty to fulfill and we must remain loyal to that cause.”
“But what about the military? And our territory and homes have been taken over by the Mokh Bahr.”
“And doesn’t that tell you that the military are just trying to protect the people in the area where we were unable to? They’re just lost, but when they see the city safe at night and see us battling against the Mokh Bahr, maybe they’d remember.”
“I don’t know… humans are frightening.”
“And you don’t think that they’re not afraid of us? Think about it. Just come to our meeting at the Barqueley Mansion tonight if you do want in.” Wayne walked away, turning back into his human form, rapping a tune to himself.
Ryo turned back to his human form too, unfroze time, and shuffled away with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Who was he kidding? His identity had been discovered by the Law Enforcement and he would be hunted down by ABIED, a specialized military organization for capturing and imprisoning all remaining Lewtikos and animals…
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“You must understand, Mr President,” a female with crimson red hair and sapphire blue eyes said before a huge conference, “We must take into consideration that these animals with powers, also known as Lewtikos, are still around but are not a threat to us. The BRD Institute has proved that these animals have no intention on harming us humans nor do they pose credible threat to our city’s security.”
“Ms Cummings, you do realize that these animals with powers have torn apart humans in the past. In fact they rip people to shreds nightly and we have proof of this,” another scientist replied, “Look at these pictures: claw marks, teeth marks… all with DNA that lead to animals.”
“Well then, Dr Coyman, these creatures must not be the ones that protected us humans…”
“Protected us from what? We had no need for them in the first place.”
“Well, if you noticed there has never been any invasions from any cities when they were around and now it’s all free game.”
“The last invasion occurred well over 300 years ago and there has been no signs of hostilities with any of our neighbours.”
“But what of the Radians? The hostilities between our sovereign nations have been increasing rapidly and signs of war are slowly showing.”
“That’s why we have a military, Doctor. And how is this proof that those creatures have no intentions on harming us?”
“Well we have been working with a few and are constantly monitoring all their moves and looking for even the slightest signs of hostility which is non-existent within them.” Doctor Cummings replied.
“You have live animals?!”
“Yes, but do not worry, they are well contained and seem to be quite trained...”
“But you are holding these animals in custody illegally without obtaining permission at all?”
“Yes, but...”
“My point exactly. You have violated the trust of the president and all federal agencies. Mr President, I say that you consider these vile beasts illegal because there is no evidence to prove that they are no threat to society.” Doctor Coyman sat down smirking, knowing that the president would be in full agreement with his statement rather than with the BRD Institute’s opinion.
“Mr President, please reconsider that these animals do not wish to harm us humans.”
“I’m sorry, Dr Cummings,” the president shook his head, “But you do not have rock-solid evidence to back up your theory. The state rules in the opinion of the ARG Establishment. Conference dismissed.”
“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath and left the conference, meeting up with Wayne.
“Well? How’d it go, babe?” he asked, “Are we allowed to wander as our true forms freely?”
“No, we need rock-solid evidence to back up the truth. They still believe what the Mokh Bahr do nightly is of our doing.”
“This will be complicated to get evidence of, Diamond,” He kissed her on the cheek slightly, “But I believe in you.”
“Thanks Wayne,” Diamond allowed him to wrap his arm around his waist, “So how was your day?”
“Quite productive. And your suspisions were correct on The Dark Wolf. He is one of the Time Lewtiko wolves and is named Ryo.”
“A Time Lewtiko? That means he’s one of the strongest of our kind.”
“But one of the most frightened of humans. He may come to our meeting tonight.”
“Let’s hope so. We could always use more Lewtiko in our cause.”
The two walked away from the streets and into an alleyway away from every suspisious eye, where they shape-shifted into a terrier and a red Siberian husky and ran off together with Wayne rapping a love tune to his girl…
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A gunshot rang throughout the city as Tobi ran for his life. The young teenager had gotten himself in trouble with the Scorpion Gang, a mafia who pleasured in mugging and raping young children, since he interfered with the raping of a twelve year old girl. Sprinting down a road and dodging a barrage of bullets, he bolted into an apartment building and climbed up the stairs that led to the roof. Once he got on the roof, he shape-shifted into a Dalmatian and started hopping from roof to roof. Panting heavily, he stopped running to catch his breath.
“Whew! That got ‘em!” he smiled, “Man, these gangs are really out to kill me. I gotta play cool and lay low for a while. And I need to change my disguise... the Scorpion Gang must already have pictures of me.”
Instead of shape-shifting back into his former dark-haired human form, he had light brown hair almost a dirty-blonde, elmerald green eyes, blue jeans, sneakers, a Sports Brand T-Shirt, and a zipper hoodie. Quickly he hopped off the roof into an alleyway and casually walked out until he bumped into the leader of the Scorpion Gang who was armed with a fully-automatic machine gun, switchblades, and a machete.
“Hey kid! Have you seen someone like this around here?” the leader snarled viciously, holding a picture of Tobi’s former human form.
To fool the gang leader, the Dalmatian-human studied the picture very closely and shook his head in disagreement. Scowling, the gangster shoved the picture in his back pocket and walked away, before he suddenly took off in a full sprint.
“Phew! That was a close one,” the young teenager sighed with relief and instead of going out onto the streets, he decided to stay hidden and head to the Barqueley Mansion where all the other Lewtikos gathered every day. It belonged to Doctor Diamond Cummings, a Fire Lewtiko red Siberian husky, but their group was headed by Wayne, a Sound Lewtiko terrier who sported shades for the hell of it. He liked hanging out with the other Lewtikos but especially loved being the only Earth and Rock Lewtiko Dalmatian, since he could start an earthquake whenever he pleased.
As he headed towards his home, he wondered whether Diamond was successful in convincing the president that they were not dangerous creatures and could finally come out of hiding. Along with the others he had been hiding in Ahtuli for more than 200 years, waiting for the perfect moment to deem themselves ‘safe’ to the public, though they already were. But every president was the same and listened to the teachings of the ARG (Advanced Research Gathering) Establishment which had no intentions on permitting the Lewtiko safe and was one of the key instigators of the Great Purge, that he barely survived. On the opposing side of the ARG was the BRD (Barqueley’s Research and Data) Institute headed by Doctor Connor Williams, a human who strongly believed that the Lewtiko were perfectly safe for all humans. Tobi enjoyed cooperating with the BRD and loved meeting Doctor Connor Williams who he got to meet every night at the mansion where they were constantly being monitored and seeing if they could uncover the slightest fraction of hostility in one of the Lewtiko. Their results proved negative towards humans but hostility was greatly discovered when it came to the Mokh Bahr.
“I hope that this meeting we’ll be told that we are free to wander around as our true selves,” he muttered as he opened the giant doors of the Barqueley Mansion and walked inside, admiring the carovagio and all the pictures hanging on the walls, “Hey guys, Tobi’s back!”
“We’re in the living room. Please come join us, Tobi.” The sweet, buttermilk voice of Diamond called.
Tobi closed the door all the way and locked it so no one or nothing could enter and interrupt with their important meeting. It was the eighth cycle and pretty soon the whole city would be under martial law. Coming into the living room, he shape-shifted to his actual Dalmatian form.
“Welcome Tobi,” Doctor Connor Williams extended his arms welcomly, “Please find your seat and we’ll begin our meeting.”
Tobi was happy to see all his fellow Lewtikos: Wayne, Diamond, Sergei, Shayla, Donryu, Avro, Requiem, Sirrus, Jazz, Kaitlyn, Yellissa, and Kisper; and all his human friends: Doctor Connor Williams, Martha Jenkins, Doctor Paul Vanderbrinke, Cathy Cummings, Jeffery McKheenian, Vladimir Kulvoskov, Megan Kelley, Doctor Shelby Tournier, and Doctor Wesley O’Brian. But there was a new face in the crowd and he was a wolf.
“Who’s the newcomer?” Tobi asked.
“That’s Ryo, a Time Lewtiko wolf, formerly known as The Dark Wolf.” Wayne explained, “He’s come to join our cause, it appears.”
“So Doctor Williams, what is on the agenda today?” Jazz, a Lewtiko red fox, asked.
“Well, how the conference went and other issues that concern the safety of ourselves and humans.” The doctor replied, “So Diamond, how did the conference go today?”
“Same as usual, Connor.” The Fire Lewtiko red Siberian husky replied, “The president still is in agreement with the ARG Establishment and we must have rock-solid evidence in order to persuade him to change the law.”
“Well, that could be problematic,” the Sound Lewtiko wolf growled, “Because we don’t even know what the president wants to see in order for him to declare that we are safe to humans.”
“That’s very true, Wayne. Also for some reason ARG is excellent with persuading everyone to believe that what the Mokh Bahr do nightly is of our works. In fact they never leave any remnants of their victims so I have no idea where they get the evidence from.”
“Perhaps they’ve fabricated false evidence with special computer applications,”
“That’s also quite possible too, but I was thinking along the lines that the Mokh Bahr may have possessed the minds of everyone at the ARG Establishment.” Diamond shrugged.
Wayne seemed to ignore the rest of the conversation as the others debated on how to obtain evidence to prove that all Lewtikos were perfectly safe for humans to be around.
“Whoa! You lost me after the Mokh Bahr part!” The Sound Lewtiko terrier started to rap, “After, I’ve been tunin’ into my heart. I don’t give a hoot o’ what ARG think, but all I know is that they gotta get off the brink! We’re gonna find a way to make it back, and we doin’ it no matter what’s on the stacks! So stop talkin’ about stupid jizz cuz it just ain’t my kind o’ show bizz. So whatever route it takes, we’re takin’ it till we get past the stakes. And as long as I get my chick’s ass in the end, it don’t matter how this gets bended.”
Diamond shot a glare at Wayne after he finished rapping; clearly she was not too enthused about the “getting his chick’s ass” part.
“And that’s exactly why you will never be free to roam about as your true terrier form,” Ryo growled sarcastically, “Besides, if this is all the crap you talk about, then I’m outta here.”
“Wait Ryo!” Tobi ran over to the Time Lewtiko wolf, “Where will you go?”
“I’ll just journey to some other city or something; maybe hide out there.”
“Not trying to sound like a nerdy know-it-all, but the other cities are farther than a four day run without a significant source of water; you’d never make it before you die of thirst.” Cathy Cummings pointed out.
Ryo started for the door then glumly returned and sat down on a sofa.
“Okay, so the sanity level still exist within us,” Doctor Shelby Tournier said after a period of silence.
“I think we should conclude this meeting,” Doctor Williams replied, glancing at his watch, “The city is now under martial law as of now.”
With nods of agreement, the meeting drew to a close and their human friends wandered out of the living room, leaving only the Lewtiko.
“We’re never going to gain freedom in Ahtuli,” Wayne snarled, “We’ve been trying for over thirty years and we haven’t gained any status either than the fact we are viewed slightly above bacteria. Maybe Ryo is right, we should head to another city.”
“But...” Tobi whined, “We don’t know anyone in the other cities; we’d have no friends whatsoever!”
“That’s a possibility,” Kaitlyn, a Nature Lewtiko mustang stated, “But there’s an even larger possibility that other Lewtiko dwell within those places.”
“I’m bored of this living nightmare,” a water Lewtiko golden retriver named Shayla added, “I’m in favour of leaving this dump... maybe there won’t be any Mokh Bahr in the other places.”
“What’s the closest city?” Diamond inquired as Avro flew up to a shelf and brought down a map of the world, dropping right next to Wayne.
“Well, we’re here all the way in the Dality Region and all the other cities are quite far. I would say that the closest would have to be Horleri which looks like a five day run to me.”
“Should we tell Connor?” Tobi asked curiously.
“Of course we’re going to tell Connor and the others.” Diamond laughed, “We don’t want them to panic when we are gone.”
“So, who’s gonna bring the bad news to Cathy and the others?” Tobi asked.
“I nominate Donryu for the task,” Kaitlyn smirked at a Lewtiko Peregrine falcon.
“Jerk,” Donryu muttered under his breath.
But as Donryu was about to say one thing to any of their human friends, Connor and his friends were already wishing them goodbye (apparently they listened to the whole conversation). Cathy hugged Tobi tightly in her arms, gave him a special bracelet to remember her by, and kissed the Lewtiko Dalmatian on the head. Vladimir hugged Sergei, spoke something to him in a foreign language, and gave the Russian Blue a special ring with a red star on it. Jeffery gave Avro a special pouch that was able to be slung over his head and his wing fit right through it, as well as giving Donryu a pair of earplugs for occassions when Wayne decided it was cool to rap. Martha rubbed Kaitlyn’s nose and put a special flower sparkling tatoo on her thigh and put a beautiful pink Azayla flower beside Requiem’s left ear. Megan gave Shayla a tight hug and gave her an ankle bracelet. Paul kissed Yellissa on the head and gave her a bracelet and he gave Kisper a necklace that was made of rubies. Wesley gave Sirrus a blue scarf and she gave him a bearhug, literally. Connor, the human who discovered the existence of the Lewtiko and the man who found both Wayne and Diamond, was very tearful in the goodbye. He gave Diamond a sparkling diamond necklace and gave the Sound Lewtiko terrier a red bandana to sport around his neck. And despite no one really knowing Ryo, he was given a golden earring from Connor.
“Be careful,” he told them all, giving each of them a special container for carrying water, “Wayne, you look out for all the others, alright? And take care of my girl.”
“I will, Connor.” The Sound Lewtiko terrier was hugged once more, before he led the others out of the Barqueley Mansion and into the dead of night.
As Diamond stepped out to leave, Connor stopped her, hugged her once more, “You take care of Wayne and assist him whenever you need to, ok?”
“Don’t worry, I will.” Diamond said between tears, “And you’ll take care of everyone here, right? Don’t anyone of you die till long after we return.”
“Be safe and Godspeed. And take care of Tobi as well.” The scientist watched as the Fire Lewtiko red Siberian husky ran off to catch up to her pack.
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