The Oracle Paths

Kevin didn't even wait to check if the Werecobra was really dead. If this assassin was from Lost Divinities as he thought then he wouldn't die so easily. He had a hunch that something much worse was brewing.

These attacks were too obvious. The Werecobra wanted to look like he had inadvertently blown his cover, and his acting was stellar indeed. But the more flawless his acting was, the less Kevin bought into it.

And if Kevin could figure it out, then Kenway and Lysander would realize it too soon enough. The problem was that it didn't matter. To clear their names they would have to find the culprits without delay, and what could be more fitting than to go after the Werebeings clans responsible for these attacks?

The Werebeings were humans, but they were also beasts. When their fury took control of their reason, they were nothing but ferocious machines. To make matters worse, Lost Divinities had managed to time their attack on a full moon night. The moon was not visible because of all the dark clouds and that made this operation even more breathtaking.

During the full moon, the Werebeings' strength would increase tenfold, but their self-control would also become much more fuzzy. If a moonbeam hit them directly, they would transform into their beastly form and they would not stop chasing anything that moved until the next morning.

Alphas like Lysander and Kenway could obviously control themselves under any circumstances, but only when they were calm. When Lysander heard about his wife's death, he would flip out instantly.

If the other clans had been targeted in the same way, blaming the murders on another clan each time, then Kevin could already imagine how this night would end. The neutral factions would kill each other until there were only a handful of survivors left or sanity returned to them. All the efforts the Werebear had put into persuading them would be for naught.

'Damn it! They even used a Werelion to kill Kenway's childhood crush, those bastards!' Kevin roared internally, his anger turning to helplessness, then despair.

Kenway was Lysander's older brother, the ultimate Alpha Werelion of the clan. He never took sides, but with what had just happened, it was not impossible that in his wrath he would decide to wipe out everyone, including his own race.

However, Kevin had the feeling that he had forgotten something important. As he spotted the Were-eagles' mansion in the distance, his face went pale and he yelled in horror,

"Qewie!"

If Qewie died the Werelion, Werebear, Werebird, Wereoxen and Werewolf clans would disband. It was this princess who held this disparate group together.

But there was an even worse scenario...

'Don't tell me...'

Kevin galloped forth at maximum speed in his half-beastly form, a giant hairy creature over 5 meters tall with dark gold fur, overdeveloped muscles, long claws and a prominent jaw.

A few seconds later, he arrived at the young princess' palace. All the Were-eagles in charge of her security were dead or missing. With a heavy heart, he anxiously made his way to her bedroom, only to find an empty room with the windows wide open. A draft lifted the white curtain, as if to mock him for being too late.

"Fuck!"

Keeping his cool, Kevin tried to locate her with an Oracle Path in vain, then began to sniff the air for her trail and luckily he managed to pick up her scent. He rushed out of the mansion and came face to face with Lysander.

The Werelion was also in his half-beast form, and his yellow eyes were moist with tears of blood. Still impaled at the end of his claws, a huge gray wolf's head was hanging from his arm, his eyes bulging in utter incomprehension. Even at the moment of his death, he had been unable to understand what his clan had done to deserve the Alpha Werelion's hatred.

"They took her too?" Lysander growled ominously.

Kevin gulped. He knew that telling the truth would only make things worse and play into the enemy's hands, but he also knew that no matter what he did, Lysander would find her with or without his help.

"I'm afraid so..."

"Hmmph, whoever dared to do this I'll kill them all."

Like Kevin a few seconds earlier, he sniffed the air for Qewie's scent, then with a bang he turned east and turned into a blur, crossing the entire district in the space of a finger snap.

'This is fucked up...' Kevin sighed as he caught his breath.

Looking up, he could see fires breaking out everywhere. Explosions and tremors were not uncommon, and cries of agony, rage and pleading echoed throughout the district, altogether forming a morbid requiem.

'The Were-beings are no more.'

Even if Lysander and the other Alphas eventually realized their mistake, there would probably be no one left to save.

I'd better catch up with Lysander... If I have to, I'll fight him in person to stop him.' Kevin decided as he clenched his fists with determination.

*****

"Your plan is truly disgusting." Azeus spat as he stood admiring the carnage from the top of a bell tower.

"Thanks for the compliment." Shamash grinned at him brightly.

"It wasn't a compliment."

In Shamash's hands, miasma of black smoke could be seen wafting out of a half-opened antique amphora. The same kind of amphora that a Wengol Player had used to zombify the Wengol army three months earlier.

Once out, the gas would diffuse at an alarming rate, becoming totally odorless and colorless. Azeus, Shamash and their men had taken a preventive antidote, but the Werebeings were still breathing the gas unaware of anything.

Because of it, their already shaky reason became extremely tenuous, giving their minds the little push they needed to go completely bonkers. Now, even if the truth were revealed to them, they would carry on killing each other.

"Kenway hasn't lost control yet, but it won't be long now." Shamash chuckled aloud, a glint of gloating malevolence in his eyes. "I can't wait to see what kind of man he is when he forgoes his humanity."

The barbarian at his side remained silent, but deep inside he felt pity for the Alpha Werelion. The powerful warrior held the body of a young woman between his paws, but unlike Lysander there was only tenderness on his lion's face. He didn't look angry or hateful, but it was just the calm before the storm.

Suddenly the man stood up and turned his head to the East.

"Lysander..." He murmured worriedly.

Shamash and Azeus, who had been watching him carefully, suddenly widened their eyes.

"Hmm? Where did he go?" Azeus wondered with a confused look on his face. He hadn't noticed anything.

Shamash frowned, but in the end he sneered,

"I was hoping he would fall into a Berserk state like the others, but it seems that was too much to ask. But now that he's chosen to leave, our hands are free..."

Azeus shivered as he heard his companion's grim statement. Shamash put his hood back on and drew the huge saw slung across his back.

"Let's kill them all."

"What about our coalition allies?" Azeus hesitated.

"We kill them too."

"Very well..."

*****

By the time Kevin found Lysander and Qewie it was too late. The Lost Divinities kidnapper had laid the young woman in Duke Gole's bed after stripping her naked. As ordered, he used the powerful aphrodisiacs provided by Ashun, then using a certain artifact he managed to hypnotize the sleeping Duke into committing the unforgivable.

When Lysander arrived in front of the Human HQ, the Duke was two inches away from dipping his wiener in the honey pot.

"DUKE GOLE! YOU FUCKING SCUM! I'LL KILL YOU!"

BOOOOOM!

That night it was not only the Werebeing district that was wiped out, but the Human district as well. When Kenway arrived a few moments later at the slaughter site, there was nothing left but smoldering ruins. He took his brother in his arms, and they cried together for many minutes.

The only good news was that Qewie survived, but her status as princess was now worthless. She no longer had any subjects.

A few hours later, Jake and the other Myrtharian Nerds received the news about Kevin and they were furious. Wyatt and his faction were also informed. Upon hearing what had happened, they decided to meet to discuss their future plans.

The war had not yet begun and they had already lost the first battle. Nonetheless, it was also a very valuable lesson for them.

Now they knew what kind of scoundrels they were dealing with. Jake now had no remorse about slaughtering every last one of them.

"This time you've gone too far, Lost Divinities. If this is how you win your victories then you don't deserve to be the Gods you claim to be. Wash your necks for me, because the next time we meet I swear to God that heads will roll.