SWNOVELS Chapter 13
Summit Of The Night Prowlers
It was dark.
The luminescent moon hung above the Oregon woods as its white light dimly radiated on the surface. The woods, usually filled with sounds of birds chirping as well as various forest animals and critters engaging in activity, was now filled with nothing but a deafening silence.
One could assume it was due to the harsh condition of winter which caused a lot of the wildlife in the wild to go into hibernation or simply a period of inactivity. A valid reason... But this wasn't the case. The reason for such silence on a usually active and noisy night was due to only one thing... The presence of Apex Predators, the ones who dominated the Oregon woods. Known to be none other than... Werewolves.
Howls of different tones and volumes covered the expanse of the vast region of trees and thistles. With such sounds filling every corner of the region, every other creature knew by instinct to be quiet and retire to their beds that night.
The Howl of the wolves, and ones as plenty as this. It could only mean one thing... A gathering.
From the deep corners and dark recesses of the cluster of trees, they emerged. One would expect to see beastly monsters with fangs and claws. With bloodshot eyes and watering jaws. But that was not the sight beheld. The ones who were seen were none other than men, yes, men who walked through the woods with such confidence and aura that it could be seen that they were truly one with the wild. The fallen branches crunched and the dead leaves mashed. The human looking beings trampled upon them underfoot as they all headed to their destination. Some came from the east, some the north, some east, some West, all converging at one single location.
The Zenith Hill.
They looked above them as they saw the huge cliff, the howls emanated from the leak of the cliff, a summons of sorts. The people who converged there knew what had to be done. A hike was necessary. A steep hill, one difficult for even the most experienced of hikers. Coupled with the winter, the hill seemed even more dangerous than ever. A place where no human would venture, at least not in the dead of night with no equipment whatsoever.
The people looked at one another and nodded. With a single coordinated leap, they launched from the cold ground filled with dried up roots and moss. In an instant, they were already a great distance from the place they started from. Their hands grabbed the hill as they maintained a crouching figure. Clearly these weren't ordinary men. They kept climbing the steep slope, not flinching as they seemed to do it with such great ease. They effortlessly reached the top within moments, after barely a minute after their start.
Finally, they reached the pinnacle of the hill. It didn't have a pointed tip, but rather, a smooth and horizontal platform of hard and cold stone. In front was also a cave, dark and deep. No one dared venture deep within, for they knew of what lay inside. As they, one after the other, got to the top and walked further, they saw two figures in a distance, standing directly in front of the dark cave.
These two had gotten there first, or rather... They had always been there. As the last of the not-so-ordinary hikers finished his climb, they all converged as a group and looked in front of them to view the silhouette of two men like themselves.
The group of men were 5 standing at the forefront, directly facing the two shadows, with another group of 5 standing behind them, making 10 of them in total. The howls had stopped some moments ago, making everywhere once again deathly silent.
Then... A deep voice spoke.
"You're all here..."
Upon hearing this deep tone, the men all took to their knees and bowed their heads. The two silhouettes they had seen were not the one they bowed to, because those shadows also went on their knees and likewise, bowed their heads. The voice came from further beyond, deep within the cave.
Тар. Тар. Тар.
Footsteps were heard by everyone at the top of the Zenith Hill, the sound of soft legs tapping on the hard floor echoed from the recesses of the cave, making the bowed men twitch slightly. Finally, the owner of the voice emerged from within the darkness.
"Good... We may begin our meeting"