Prologue

  The scions of the Mother must know three truths before they adopt the mantle of the tribe.

  Under a full moon to the solitary howl that matched his coming, Nashoba was celebrated. He lived among the trees and earned many titles, but his truths did not come, and he grew frustrated.

  Fair, but fierce; wise, but restless; the wolf was lost. It wasn't until his father wept for the cries of the Mother that his pride and faith could be tested.

  As Her chosen, the people of the Green Way answered the call, and they left their ancient trees for the vast plains and black mountains at the roof of the world.

  Soon, refugees of the shattered kingdom joined their caravan, and among them Nashoba found his first and only love. He came to understand that for all his pride and ambition, there was nothing that could compare to her embrace. This became his first truth.

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  Past treacherous rock and under haunted sky, they came to know their new home as Amona for its beginning. It was a grim place, but beyond, was the anguish of the Mother; beyond was death.

  A breach in stone gave way to a cursed domain, outside of time, where the land didn’t die, but was ever dying. It was there that his second truth revealed itself; it was there that he learned how precious and fragile life was.

  Nashoba's expedition into the unknown stirred the evil that lurked therein, and they were not prepared. Darkness spilled forth, and they were slain to a man by reckless hate.

  Far from trees and pack, the wolf was alone and surrounded. In desperation and despair, he sought refuge in the depths below where his truths were concluded.

  Endless tunnels, stifling heat, and ominous black; then, a precipice before a cavernous pit of deepest nothing.

  But soon, the enveloping empty writhed until form melted from shadow. A great eye regarded him with cruel, bitter intelligence, and he understood that his time was up.

  It was there in the throes of fear and dread that he came to understand his final truth. His journey had taught him of love and life, and now, he understood what threatened those precious foundations for all of man.

  With his birthright fulfilled, the wolf took up the mantle of his people, and bore his fangs at the thing that lurked below.

  For his and theirs; for Her and his wife; for love and life; Nashoba raised his spear. Tears fell on the final fire of his heart, and he cried havoc, leaping into the darkness to meet the devil.