Divine Wolf

The name is Luper.

I am what you would call a god. Not just any god but one of the craftiest you will ever meet. In my true form, I look like a large wolf. A wolf the size of a bull that stands as tall as a man. I walk around the earth, coming and going as I please. I'm not like the others. I'm a fun-loving traveler. I'm a bit of an adventurer. I don't care for worshipers but any mortal who messes with me usually ends up regretting it.

The story I am about to tell you about involves me and a few of my divine colleagues. Yes, I am speaking of the other gods. There are many gods out there. There's the King of the Gods himself, the great Volk. Volk is the lord of thunder, the master of lightning. He is one of the most powerful of the gods and calls himself the Master of the Universe. He rules the heavens from his palace, Asjord, also known as the City of the Gods. If Volk is the lord of the sky, then Thurik is the god of the earth. There are a few others that number among the most powerful. Rahnia is the goddess of the night. Tyroch is the god of justice. Loreb is the god of Death. Arkhon is the god of Mercy. Heraphus is the god of war. Gerya is the goddess of Vengeance. Mitridon is the god of wild beasts.

All of them are big pains in the butt if you ask me. Think of a bunch of people who have a lot of power and too much time in their hands. They end up developing egos the size of mountains. That's how all the gods are. That's why I don't care for their company. Of course, I'm not exactly welcome anywhere they gather, anyway. Even in a community of divine beings, there are the popular kids and the outcasts. I'm afraid that I fall in the latter category. Some of those other gods really piss me off sometimes. Chief among the bastards is Halbor, otherwise known as the god of Travels. He constantly gets in the way of my plans. There's also Tecmare, his beautiful but annoying and wicked second-in-command. Tecmare is the goddess of Trickery and one of the nastiest femmes I've ever encountered.

If I wanted to name all of the gods and goddesses, I could be here all day. I'm here to talk about some of my adventures. It begins in this small island called Harik. The people of Harik are a primitive sort. They worship Atelo, the god of the Sun. They live off the earth. They are a nice people. I like them because they produce the most delicious of sheep and the prettiest of girls. They've also got pretty boys too, if you like that sort of thing. Anyway, here I was in Harik when I noticed someone doing something suspicious. There were five men on a boat and they had come to Harik's shores. They looked suspicious. I recognized them as worshipers of the god of war. They threatened the safety of my favorite island with their dreams of conquest. I Came up with a nice plan to make them leave as soon as possible.

I assumed my human disguise. My human disguise is that of a tall, broad-shouldered, powerfully built man with dark brown skin. I approached them. Would you believe the fools were dumb enough to attack me, a god? I needed to teach them a lesson. That was my mistake. One of those warriors had forged an alliance with Tanthor, the Lord of the Giants. If there's anything that scares a god, it's a Giant. The Giants hate the gods. They are usually indifferent to mankind. Basically, the human had rescued a fledgling Giant who was being lost at sea and once the young Giant was returned to his parents, the parents owed the human a debt of gratitude. This human's name was Tytus. Tytus was a very ambitious man. He had a small army that was some four hundred men strong. He wanted to conquer my island and use it as a stronghold against neighboring kingdoms he had designs on. I can easily handle any number of armed mortals. Unfortunately, facing a Giant was not my idea of fun. Tytus had made a deal with the Giants. A Giant named Antor was assisting him, for a limited time, on his voyage. Tytus wanted to show the kings and kingdoms he coveted that he had the help of the supernatural race of the Giants. He wanted to intimidate them into surrendering power to him. It wasn't a bad scheme, as far as schemes went….

So, here I was. A god in human disguise facing a Giant. Gods are not as immortal as humans might think. Giants do pose a threat to any god, even the King of the Gods himself. Antor immediately recognized me as a god. Giants can sense us. We don't know why or how. They always sense when we are near. Antor rose from the sea and came after me. This is what a Giant looks like. At first glance, I saw a large man with long black hair and a beard. He wore animal skins. The only snag? This "man" was actually sixty feet tall! Antor came at me, bellowing a fierce battle cry. Even in human form, I have certain abilities. My physical strength was ten times that of a normal human. Also, I retained my sharp wolf's senses and reflexes. I wasn't too worried…

Antor grabbed a tree, uprooted it and used it as a club to smash me into bits. I leapt into the air, assumed my wolfish form in mid-air and savagely bit his knee. The Giant cried out in pain. He struck me with the tree, and I went down. I was wounded. My blood was flowing from shattered ribs. I ran as fast as I could. The Giant gave chase. In wolf form, I was faster than he but not by much. He came at me, swinging his huge club. I ran until I found myself near a creek. Below me was a chasm, a deep one, with sharp rocks at the bottom. I didn't have anywhere to go. I had to take a stand. The Giant came into view. I bared my fangs and braced myself. He swung his club. I dodged. He grabbed me and I felt myself being raised into the air. I was in his hand. I couldn't move. His grip was too strong. The Giant opened his mouth, showing his many huge teeth. He smiled nastily. I knew what he had in mind. Antor had a nasty reputation among the Giants. He ate from the flesh of his enemies.

I knew that someday, even the gods must die. I didn't want to die that day. I didn't want to become some Giant's meal. So, I did the only thing I could do. I savagely bit his fingers. He screamed in pain and hurled me away from him. I whirled through the air, flung by the Giant's arm. It looked like I had escaped death as his meal only to face another horrifying death, being impaled by the sharp rocks at the bottom of the creek. I closed my eyes. I've been alive for a long time. A length of time so great that it cannot be measured even in the tens of thousands of years…Death which came to all would take me. I waited for the inevitable….and fell into the sea.

I fell into the sea. I remember its coldness. I remember desperately swimming in the ocean. I felt rage deep inside. Rage against the entire race of the Giants for being the bullies of the supernatural realm. I don't remember much else. I knew that my old enemy Talok, the god of Water would laugh his head off when the news came out that Luper, the Wolf of the Gods had drowned.

I could see the other gods join him in laughter. I hated them. I think it's that hatred that kept me alive. When I came back to consciousness, I found myself on the beach. Lying on a blanket. I was in human form. There was a young woman nearby, sitting by a campfire. I looked at her. She was a slender girl with black hair and bronze skin. She looked Beautiful. By all appearances, she was my savior.

"Who are you?" I asked. The young woman smiled at me. " I am Lora, I found you in the water." I looked at Lora. She was clearly a human. I didn't need any supernatural powers to sense that. She was lovely, clad in a red summer tunic. I found her beauty distracting, as did many men, I guess. She demanded to know who I was. I couldn't tell her that I was a god. I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't believe me anyway. Most gods don't get their butts kicked by Giants and end up almost drowning in the sea. I'm pretty sure that had I drowned in the sea, I wouldn't have died. My body would have been found by Talok, he would have revived me and probably removed my hide, while I still lived. There's no love lost between me and most of the gods. I'm pretty sure that most of them would be glad to see me finally dead. It's a pleasure I have enjoyed denying them for eons. Thanks to a nasty Giant, they almost got what they wanted. I needed to get back to my feet. I wanted very much to avenge myself on the Giant and his human allies. But before I could do that, I needed to properly heal and return to full strength. I needed to return home. It's the only way to recharge my drained powers.

All gods are different powers. Some powers are common to all. All gods are capable of superhuman strength and speed. All of them heal quickly from any injury which doesn't kill them outright. Those are our common abilities. We differ in many other ways. I can assume the shape of a wolf. It's my favorite physical form and I prefer it to any other. I can also communicate with animals and make them do my bidding. I am at my strongest on the island of Yggrah, my home. Yggrah is a thickly wooded island. It's my favorite place on Earth. There are no other gods or humans there. It's my domain. While on Yggrah, I am a hundred times more powerful than I am anywhere else.

I got back to my feet. Unfortunately, my strength was gone and I fell on my face. What an ungodly position! I'm sure that my fellow gods would laugh, if they were watching. I winced and slowly got back on my feet. Lora helped me get back up. I looked at her. She was a very interesting mortal. Also, a beautiful one. I started to thank her when she placed her hand on my mouth to silence me. I demanded to know why she behaved this way. She told me that her island had been invaded by an army of well-armed men. She didn't want to attract their attention. I started to laugh and tell her that I could take on a whole army, then remembered that in my de-powered state, there wasn't much that I could do. My powers had exhausted themselves keeping me alive through the encounter with the Giant. They needed to be charged up again before I could attempt anything like sending those armed goons into the bottom of the ocean.

What was I to do? Lora offered to take me to her village. She said that I would be safe there, at least for awhile. I nodded. We walked toward the village. I knew that there were many armed men on the island. No mortal weapon can kill a god but a Giant's weapon could. I sincerely hoped that Antor the Giant had left the premises. If he was truly gone, I'd just hide until I had recovered at least some of my powers, then I would dispatch the armed men.

I wanted very much to skin Tytus, the mortal who had sent the Giant after me. I smiled to myself. I'd change back into wolf and make a meal out of his bones. I would have my revenge soon enough. In the meantime, I would wait. I looked at Lora, my benevolent savior. What an interesting woman. Angry armed men and belligerent Giants aside, maybe my stay on this island wouldn't be so bad.

To be continued.