CURSE OF THE BLUE DRAGON

Chapter 1 - Even the Wolves' Past Brings Pain

When the nightmares began, in the darkness, he saw the Blue Dragon God, whom no one had seen before, looking at him, the losses he suffered in the war with humans - his wife, his mother, and father. In the nightmare, he tasted pain, sorrow, grief, anger... all the destructive emotions. However, lately, while the nightmares continued, he sometimes felt completely overwhelmed by wild emotions; he lost the abilities of imagining, designing, and managing himself that humans possessed and that distinguished them from wild animals, and he wanted to tear apart anything that came in his way and shed blood. He had occasionally experienced nightmares about his family since they settled in this magical, mysterious, and concealed village. But the feeling of savagery was new, and when he succumbed to this feeling, he couldn't wake up of his own volition. It was clear that something was going wrong.

The person bringing the news had again now arrived in front of his tent and called out, "Nobel Wolf, are you in there?" towards the inside of the tent. Nobel Wolf, though not fully rested, was thankfully no longer in an uncontrolled state lost in the depths of his nightmares. He got up and stepped out of the tent. "Come in," he said. When they returned to the village after the hunt, it was midday. As he stepped outside, he noticed that the sky was beginning to darken.

"The sages are expecting you for dinner. They said the matter is very important and instructed you to leave whatever you're doing and come," said the messenger.

"Alright. If they're insisting for the second time, something must be amiss. You may leave now. I'm heading there immediately. You need to be with the hunting party tomorrow as well. The animals in the forest and mountains are becoming increasingly savage. Hardly anyone returns home without injury from the team anymore. Go and rest. We need to meet early at the bridge tomorrow, prepare the party, and head into the forest. The village's provisions are running low these days. The animals we hunt and the supplies we gather don't last long anymore. We need to increase the frequency of our hunts," replied Nobel Wolf.

"Of course, Nobel Wolf. I hope the problem the sages will discuss is not as big as the concern on their faces. See you tomorrow," said the departing wolf who brought the news.

Nobel Wolf set off towards the tent of the sages. The village center wasn't very large to begin with, so it didn't take long for him to reach the sage wolves.

Sage Myonghorang had been waiting in front of his tent for quite some time, lost in past memories until he saw Nobel Wolf approaching. As soon as the messenger who had been tasked with delivering the news to Nobel Wolf left his side, Myonghorang began to anxiously await his arrival before sunset.

His tent and the area in front of it were slightly larger than the others in the village. The largest tent had at its peak the skull of the largest animal they had hunted in these magical lands. Above it flew a flag made of animal skin, bearing the names of those who had died in hunts. Though it may eem like a small thing, it was the grandest way to honor their losses and pay tribute to their spirits in these lands.

In the small square in front of the tent, there were provisions, fruits, and hearths. Upon returning from the hunt, Nobel Wolf and the hunters who were out that day would usually gather here with the sages, enjoying meals. Sometimes they reminisced about the past, sometimes they discussed the situation of those living in the village, and sometimes they evaluated the course of events.

Today, Sage Myonghorang was curious about how Nobel Wolf would react to the news he was about to share. The fate of all humans had effectively fallen into the hands, or rather, the claws of a person who had fallen ill and turned into a wolf. He began to think about how this curse began, his lost loved ones, friends, home, and homeland. Memories and thoughts began to pass through his mind as he watched the sunset shaped by the artificial magic in this world.