Naarilash Que-slivik Umdamushbenkik'silverathensha, sat in her library, reading. She was in her human form, sitting at a table reading a large tome about magical creatures. She was reading the section on Wolfiei. She knew everything there was to know about them, as she was one herself, and she had no need for the book's explanation. But she liked to read it anyway. She had learned to read from a book in the library that taught one how to read. She was one of the few Wolfiei in her pack that could read. She was the only High Wolfiei in the pack, the only one who could transform into a human as well as a hybrid and full wolf. She had learned to read faster than the other Wolfiei, as her human from helped her.
She finished reading the section and stood, stretching. The library was one huge room. It was underground, and the only light came from the magic spheres that floated near the ceiling. They cast a golden light over the whole place. It was a dim light, but Naarilash, as a Wolfiei, could see well in dim light and even in the dark.
Naarilash shook her head and by the time she stilled she was done a sleek black wolf was standing in the library. She stretched again and bounded out of the library and up the stairs to the common area. The common area was above ground and within the ruins. It was inside, but the ceiling was very high. It was cracked but no light could come through. The whole place was made of stone, and tall stone pillars held up the ceiling. Broken pillars and pieces of the ceiling were scattered about. There were only three exits, one was just large enough for a wolf to go through, the other large enough for a human, and the last large enough for a small dragon. They all had woven blankets in front of them, keeping out the heat. It was cool in the huge room, the stone kept it at a consistent temperature. There were spheres of light floating near the ceiling in the cavern, these were blue, and the dim blue light cast dark shadows in the corners.
Wolfiei were scattered around the room, some in full wolf form others as hybrids. In the middle of the day they did not hunt, it was too warm. They hunted at night, when the sun was gone and the prey was out. Now the Wolfiei were just sitting around eating, talking, wrestling.
Naarilash walked out of the cavern and into a large courtyard that was behind the ruined temple. The courtyard was enclosed by broken pillars and a tumbledown wall. The courtyard was an oasis. There were trees scattered about and grass around the large pond in the middle. There were Wolfiei about in here too, some swimming in the cool water. There were many holes in the wall where one could leave the oasis, one would emerge onto the hot sand if they left, that's why there were no Wolfiei out now.
Naarilash barked at a Wolfiei who was standing at the edge of the water in its wolf form. It turned its head to see Naarilash running towards it. The Wolfiei yelped in surprise as Naarilash barreled into her, sending them both falling into the water. They wrestled for a bit in the water and then they both climbed out. They turned into their hybrid forms and walked away from the shade of the trees to dry off in the sun.
"What'd you do that for?" the other Wolfiei said in a growling voice, but she was laughing.
"You were standing right next to the pond, I couldn't resist!" Naarilash's voice was animalistic as well, and her amber eyes sparkled. "You would have done the same!"
The other Wolfiei smiled and stood up from where they had been sitting on the grass. Naarilash stood up, shaking, and walked back into the cavern.
It was dark when the hunting parties left. It was dark and the moon was out, and Naarilash couldn't wait for the hunting parties to return. There was a hunting pattern, on different nights different Wolfiei went out to hunt. Every Wolfiei had a night that they went out, except for the pups and elders, who didn't hunt. Naarilash was part of a hunting group, but tonight was not one of her nights.
There was almost always enough kill to go around, but Naarilash, as the Alpha, got to eat first. As soon as she would take the first bite of the meat, the other Wolfiei would start eating as well. It was very dim in the cavern, and everyone would eat in separate little groups in the shadows. Everyone came inside to eat, and the cavern would be filled with over a hundred Wolfiei. but now nearly fifty were out hunting, and the rest of the Wolfiei were waiting around in the cavern for them to return.
There were always a few spats over the kills, but it was usually nothing major.
Naarilash sat on top of a huge broken stone in her wolf form, waiting for the hunting parties to return when a sound from the north entrance. Every single Wolfiei in the pack raised their heads in a flash, silent. They knew it wasn't the hunting groups, there were not enough being in number and it didn't smell like a Wolfiei.
Someone was approaching.
