The Spiral Grove

The Dominion of Elvin Authority had enslaved several other races over time in their desire to rule the realm of the Spiral Grove. The Forest Trolls were their first captured and enslaved race, that was about three-hundred and twenty-five years ago. The trolls were forced to be the tower guards and extra muscle when the Elves did not want to do their own dirty work.

The Sand Wolves were next on the conquer list, they were captured and broken into submission about two-hundred and ninety years ago. They were forced into servitude of labor, they were forced into the mines, smelters, smithing workshops and shipping yards. Then the Elves started hunting the Were-Cons as they called us (we are were-animals of many species and they consider us very dangerous), this was within the last one-hundred years. They forced us into domestic service to keep us under careful eye as their “pets”. Yet the Elves are still trying to further their reach on the Grove. The Swinemish Army and the Tinkertons are the only two races to have held them off for the last three decades, through constant war.

I grew up in the capital city of Sapphire, belonging to the household of General Zacar. My parents had been captured when they were still adolescents and had been made to serve as housemaid and technician. They fell in love over the years which was a forbidden love, weres usually did not intermix between species. Mom being a Leopardess and Dad being a Tiger it was not something that ever happened. Being born into slavery is not an experience any child should go through and having to learn to control my first change without harming anyone or myself since I was not able to run through the forest to chase proper prey was horrible. Instead of allowing my parents or at least one of them to traditionally teach me and show me how to go through the change process, eat and rest to sooth my animal side I was locked in a super heavy cage. I was not fed proper food for my Tigardess (leopard/tiger hybrid) form, in fact; General Zacar didn’t even realize or know my animal form until my first change.

The change started when I was about twelve years old, my mom tried to tell me how it happens and that the first several changes could be scary or painful. Her not being there with me made it so much harder than it should have been. I thought about tearing out the throats of several who came anywhere near the cage the first day. General sent down other Were-con slaves to check on and feed me. I remember bits and pieces of the first two changes, after that I can recall them all clearly. I forced myself through the pain and rage after the second change and I overheard General talking about making my parents disappear because he had never seen their animal forms but obviously they were dangerous seeing my form. At that moment I was determined to control myself and my animal-self, if not for my own sanity but absolutely for the safety of my family. If he killed them or sent them away who is to say I wouldn’t be next.

At the beginning the change happened for three nights in a row every other week right with the moon cycle. By the third set of changes I was able to hold back the change, then change at will from human to animal and back. The entire process unless fueled by rage or extreme sadness was very painful as nearly every bone in my body suddenly broke and reformed as I shifted. Keeping clothes once changed proved difficult however not impossible. In animal or “beast” form I am a black, brown and white Tigardess, first of my kind. The other weres that came in to keep in eye on me made several comments that I was an abomination due to weres were only supposed to mate with their own kind. In my animal form on that third round of changes I was able to walk upright and stop the change so that I was still an animal but in my human shape. I was also able to understand speech and even speak some if I kept my human form/animal skin. I also had noticed the heightened senses, I am able to smell, hear and see more than ever before in human or beast form.

That being said, I smelled the next time General Zacar came into the cellar where I was being held. Upon smelling him I forced myself back into full human form. General Zacar came in to observe me through the upper window during the start of my fourth change. Upon seeing my ability to hold back the change or change back so quickly and semi-easily he came down to the cage door. I had been kept in the cage since my first change, until General was satisfied with my control. General Zacar stepped up to the cage door, keeping a one-foot distance for his safety, he just stood looking at me for several minutes.

“Little moggie, are you prepared to know your new position within my home? You are now of age and obviously able to control your beast.” he paused to gauge my response.

“I am ready General.” I stated, keeping my eyes locked on him.

“Good, I was beginning to wonder if you were going to have to be put down for going feral on me. You will be training to be my personal bodyguard and personal fighting squad. You are unique and just the sight of your beast form will force most into surrender or retreat in fear.” he quietly chuckled at the thought, “Your potential for decimation while in beast form is impressive, the ability to have you at my command is going to be a prize.” He was so sure of himself, confident he would be able to control me completely. He opened the cage and stepped back.

At his gesture, I stepped out of the cage with hands at my sides and awaited further instructions. At the time I was thirteen and wanted to see my family, once they are safe I already had no promise held in my heart for the General’s safety. Being only thirteen and him being an aged and experienced Elvin General I did not know at that time if I capable of taking him on. So instead, I followed him upstairs. Once in the wash room on the first floor, he instructed me, “Clean up, eat, and report to my office. You have until the sun is high.” he stated before leaving the room and leaving me alone. Once alone, I sat on the floor and cried for a moment.

I heard them before I saw them, I jumped up and waited for them to enter. “Mama, Papa!!! You’re okay!” I ran up to them and hugged them super tight. They both hugged me back just as hard and I heard Mama crying.

“I didn’t know if we were going to see you again. They were saying you seemed too aggressive and General wasn’t sure if you were going to get a handle on the change.” Mama was in tears and hugged me even tighter.

“I was worried for you both too, I heard mention that the General had never seen your animals and with mine being sooo different he mentioned being concerned that you are both dangerous. I made myself control the change so I could make sure you were safe.” I told them in tears too. Then after a long hug, I explained I needed to clean up and get to General Zacar’s office for instructions on my position in the household. I did not tell them he planned for me to be a bodyguard as I knew it would upset and worry Mama more and I did not want her to worry any more. Mama and Papa followed me to the community house where we sat down and ate a filling meal of roast and veggies. I believe I ate about 4 portions before I actually felt full. Once full Mama and Papa gave me another hug and headed back to the main house to get back to their duties. I went and took a nice hot shower to clean off all the sticky icky slime that was partially dried in my hair and all over from the multiple changes. After I was totally cleaned up and dried off, I put on my comfortable jeans, a green t-shirt, and by black and blue sneakers. I wanted to just lay down and pass out for a bit but I knew if I didn’t report to the General's office he would send someone after me or my parents to make me go to the office.

I stepped outside the house and headed back to the main house and General Zacar’s office, on the way there the looks I was catching from the other weres on property were not kind. It seems the information about my change and my beast had spread and many were not happy about a moggie breed being in the community. Moggie is another term for mutt or half-blood, surprisingly if either of my parents had mated with a human, elf or other race it would have been ok or at least overlooked compared to intermixing in the animal world. When I arrived at the General's office, I waited for the guards to open the door. One of the guards entered the room and announced that I was here, inside I heard him and General’s response to bring me in. The guard came out and ushered me in, I followed without issue.

“Good girl, I am glad to see you follow instructions well. You will be starting training this afternoon with Captain Arden Amalith, your training will continue until he is satisfied with your performance. Once complete we shall speak again to inform you of where to proceed from there. You will stay with the infantry until complete, I will inform your parents of your location so they do not worry. Dismissed.” He waved to one of the guards to take me on to Captain Amalith and waved me off. I did not respond or argue as I saw no point in trying to argue at this time and I was not given time to respond even if I wanted to.

I was again ushered around by the guard, this time there were two once we left the General’s office, they walked on either side of me, left down the silver hall about five meters, then we headed down a long winding staircase to the lower courtyard. Once in the courtyard, we crossed to the stone archway which led to the Captain’s training yard. The Captain was in his office overlooking the courtyard observing the daily training exercises of the staff. As we walked into his office, he did not even turn or raise his gaze from the training below.

“What is that beast doing in my office?” Captain asked the two escorts.

The one to my right, stepped forward and handed him a sealed letter from General Zacar. He opened the letter and stared me down, as if he was in disbelief, but he knew not to argue with Zacar. Captain waived the guards off and I remained standing where they left me, not wanting to piss the Captain off and risk anything happening to my family.

He stared at me for what seemed like hours. Then he stood up, walked around me inspecting me and trying to understand why the General thinks I could be any type of guard or warrior. “You are nothing, but a mongrel maggot of the lapdogs. The best of the Weres is still no match and nothing compared to my soldiers.” he stated with disgust in his tone. He walked around me again, “Feet together, knees together, hands at your sides, head up and look forward.” he commanded. I followed his command and stood as if like a statue in place. He tried to find a way to verbally batter me for not following the command correctly but could not, which enraged him that much more. He then picked up a short horse whip and began to beat me with it. Just a slash here and there at first to try and cause a reaction, as I stood without reaction he began to whip me harder and faster, unrelenting until I was bleeding and tears were rolling down my face. He realized I was not going to break form, so he decided to stop and find another way to break me as he put it. “I will break you and prove that you are no different than any other mongrel in the Grove. You are no match for my soldiers and will never be.” he paused then placed a collar around my neck.

The thick, heavy metal collar was locked in place by a keyed lock. Captain Amalith attached a chain to the collar and led me to a cage which was outside in the courtyard. He shoved me inside and locked the cage, “You will sleep and stay here when you are not training. I will let you out in the morning when it is time to start the day. Do you understand me?” he demanded.

“Yes Sir, Captain Amalith.” I half shouted back at him, as I had heard some of the trainees doing with their leader. He paused and then left me. I think in some small way he was slightly happy with my behavior so far and showed discipline, but he refused to show any sign of emotion or any amount of pleasure in my behavior. Then he turned and went back to his quarters.

I half curled up in the cage as it wasn’t large enough to fully sit up. I curled up also due to the open, bleeding lashes on my back. They hurt so bad but I refused to show weakness to the Captain. I had to make it through this and show the General I follow direction to keep my parents safe, at least for now. In the back of my mind, I still wanted to rip them all to shreds and leave with my parents but I don’t know if I am truly strong enough to defeat them all. Plus I know if I do that I would have all the elves of the Grove hunting us for the rest of our lives which would not be good either. After the trainees left for the day and the courtyard became quiet, I finally drifted off to sleep out of exhaustion from the day’s events.

I didn’t sleep great as everytime I rolled over my back was hurting and woke me. I could also hear all of the small animals scurrying around the area, part of me wanted to bust through the cage and go hunting. By time the sun was starting to rise I had fallen back to sleep, but was suddenly awakened by cold water being thrown on me. I came up and hit my head on the cage. “Ow” I said as a growl left my lips.

“Get up Mongrel, time to be broken.” Captain Amalilth was standing with the cage door open, glaring down at me. I crawled out of the cage and stood up in front of him. I stood about to his chin as I am average size for a were and as an elf he is tall. He attached a chain to the collar, then climbed up on his waiting horse. “Come little cat let’s see if you can keep up.” he snickered as he started trotting out of the courtyard. I started running with him before the chain pulled taunt and dragged me along. He stayed at a trot until we left the city walls, then Captain Amalilth picked up the pace to a sprint. I ran right at the horse’s hindquarters, keeping pace with little effort. Seeing that I was keeping up at least for now he took the long route around the city walls, then as the day grew long he picked up the pace again. This time at a dead run with his horse he ran me until dusk, I was able to stay up with him though by the end of it I was very tired. When we arrived back at the courtyard instead of putting me back in the cage he attached the chain to a post so that I had to remain standing to not pull on the collar. There was no slack and nowhere for me to sit.

“You have a strong spirit girl, let’s see if you have the additional stamina to keep yourself from hanging tonight.” He huffed and left me there.

I stood there catching my breath fully from the full day’s run and noticed my back was not hurting despite all the sweat. I reached behind me to check some of the lashing marks I could reach, my back was fully healed. “How could that be,” I thought to myself. I know that Weres heal faster than most creatures but still the lashings were pretty bad last night and I hadn’t heard of a Were that could heal this fast. A bit tired from the long run I turned so that the collar wasn’t pushing on my windpipes and leaned against the strain of the collar to take a nap. I slept fairly well given the awkward position and inability to actually lay down and I was awake before the sun or the Captain so he didn’t know I had napped. I started walking within my small limits to keep active and appear as though I had not slept all night.

Captain Amalilth came walking up and again soaked me with a bucket of water, simply because he could and wanted to. The water was ice cold, yet felt really good as I noticed my regular temperature was beginning to run warmer than before. "Time to learn how to fight cub. Get to the yard with the other trainees for instruction." He instructed and then unlocked the collar from the post.