Long ago, there lived a wise old Lupe named Riamun. He was the greatest
sorcerer Lupe of his time. Many other Lupes craved for some of his power. That's
why other sorcerers constantly hunted him. You see, if you destroy a sorcerer
or sorceress Lupe, their power is extracted into your own power. Anyway, Riamun
lived in a secret cave hidden in Terror Mountain. He controlled the Snowager,
and all of the Faeries bowed down to him.
However, he was not an evil fellow. He had many friends and admirers by
his side, and any of them would have done anything for him.
Natsirt, a dark sorcerer Lupe, hated Riamun, and vowed to destroy him.
He had succeeded, but not without taking his own life. You see, when a pure
evil thing destroys a pure good thing, it is also destroyed, because taking
a pure good thing's life is the worst thing you can do.
"Now, I hope you learned a lesson from this story!" the white Grandmother
Lupe smiled adoringly at her grandchildren, Eniad, Sport, Cloud, and Fanger,
who were sitting on the floor of the cave, staring up at their grandma.
Eniad (Eh-nee-odd) was a blue Lupe pup with a star-shaped scar on her neck.
Sport, a green Lupe pup, had a scar of a sun on his. Cloud, a red Lupe pup,
had a cresant moon scar on hers, and the yellow pup, Fanger, had a comet on
his neck. No one could explain how these scars had appeared, and the pups had
had them all their lives, since they were born.
"Sure! I learned a lesson," spoke up Fanger. "It's that… um, good people RAWK!"
"No, no, it's that good conquers evil!" snapped Sport.
"It's that love conquers all," said the mystified Cloud, in a soft voice.
"What in the world does LOVE have to do with it?" asked Fanger, annoyed.
Cloud shook her head. "Nothing, I guess," she lay down on the floor of the
cave, which was their home. They lived in a cave in Terror Mountain, and the
Lupes were used to the cold. Their parents, Anuo and Clyde, were off hunting,
leaving the pups with their Grandmother, Annala. They had been educated about
Sorcerer Lupes, special Lupes with magical powers. They were very rare in Neopia,
only about a hundred total. Their parents were magic, and their grandmother
used to be one, but she was old and could not use her powers anymore. The youngsters
figured they had magic inside of them, but had no idea how to unlock it.
"It's bedtime, kids," Annala, their Grandmother, said.
"Aww! Do we have to go to sleep, Grandma?" groaned Fanger.
"Yes, honey, you do," smiled Annala.
"Man! If I was a sorcerer Lupe I wouldn't have to go to bed if I didn't want
to!" he grumbled.
"Me, me, me! What is up with that about you?" asked Eniad. Fanger
leaped on her and bit her ear. She yelped in protest.
"Now, kids, don't fight!" Annala said, picking up Fanger by his ruff. "Now,
off to bed, all of you. Your parents are going to teach you how to hunt tomorrow,
so you want to be rested, don't you?"
"ALL RIGHT!!!" they all yelled.
"All right what?" said a male voice from the cave entrance. It was Clyde,
the fire Lupe, and Anuo, the faerie Lupe, standing in the cave's mouth, with
a box full of Chocolate Chias.
"No luck with real Chias?" asked Annala, grinning.
"Nope, they've all gone south for the winter. I thought this would have to
do," Clyde replied smiling, watching his pups dive into the box and emerge with
a Chocolate Chia in his or her mouth.
"Thanks, Mum and Dad!" they all chorused together.
When the pups had finished their dinner, they were sent to bed. All the pups
slept in the same cavern of the cave. Their parents and Grandma stayed in the
front cavern, or "living room" if you please.
All the pups had gone to sleep, except Fanger, the mischievous pup. He poked
Sport awake.
"Wazzamatter?" Sport opened one eye.
"Come on, let's spy on what they're talking about!" he motioned toward his
parents and Annala.
"Can we do that to… tomorr... ow?" Sport yawned, showing his pointy teeth.
And with a snore, he fell back asleep.
"You're no fun!" said Fanger to Sport, and he snorted in reply.
***
The next morning, all the pups got up early, anxious to go hunting.
"Is hunting easy?" asked Sport, who was very lazy.
"No, dumb-head! It's a skill involving lots of running. Geez, don't you know
anything?" Eniad snapped at him.
"Now, kids, don't quarrel. Hunting is fun, you'll see," said Clyde.
They set off. They traveled about half a mile. There were no Chias in sight.
The pups began to complain that their feet hurt.
"Well, looks like there's no game today," said Anuo.
"Great! Just great! We traveled all this way for what? Nothing! I hate this!"
Fanger yelled, already cranky.
Suddenly, a red Chia popped out of the bush. He bolted when he saw the Lupes.
The adults took after it, the pups bringing up the rear. Clyde easily caught
up with the Chia and smacked its side, sending it flying.
There was a scramble to get to it.
"I call the Chia!" yelled Fanger.
"No way! Ladies first!" snapped Cloud, shoving him. He tackled her, and they
tumbled away. Eniad easily outran Sport, and the Chia scrambled. Eniad was about
to sink her teeth into the Chia's back, but something hard smacked her cheek,
and she fell to her side. Seeing stars, she struggled to see what had hit her.
She saw her father slam into something.
She saw a male Lupe, a large black one. He was snarling; Clyde had tackled
him. The two Lupes bit at each other, growling and snapping.
Someone grabbed the back of Eniad's neck; her mother pulled her away from
the battle.
"Mum? What's going on?"
Her mother didn't answer. She gathered up the pups and all of them hid behind
her. The males were still going at it. Finally, Clyde grabbed the ruff of the
other Lupe and heaved him away from his wife and kids. It snarled and ran away.
Baring his teeth, Clyde yelled, "Stay away from my family!"
"Is everyone okay?" asked Anuo. She inspected her children. Eniad had claw
marks across her face, but everyone else was fine. Clyde was bruised and scratched
all over, and his ear was cut a bit, but he was okay, too.
"Dad, who was that?" Cloud asked in a shaky voice. He looked at his daughter.
"Just a lone Lupe. They get aggressive sometimes, especially when it comes to
food."
"Do you know him?" asked Sport.
"Know him? No, of course not," he said flatly.
Eniad studied her father's face. There was a fire in his eyes she had never
seen before, and she knew he wasn't telling the truth.
He's lying, she thought. He knows that Lupe. I just
know it.
But why did he lie?
To be continued... | 
