Tikora Steel Prologue Prologue The trees howled their sorrowful cry and thrashed wildly in the blizzard wind. Snow choked the old lady as it whirled up in mighty gusts around her. But she wasn't afraid. She had seen worse storms in her day. The wind blew a last retort at her as she snapped the oak door shut. She turned and smiled in greeting at what was there to meet her. A dozen little children rushed her with greetings and proposals. "Ma Rose! Ma Rose! May we please hear a story? Please, please, please?!" It was a little boy, with copper colored hair and tail. "Why, of course you can dearest. Just let me sit." The woman creakily lowered herself into her worn buckskin chair. Lifting the boy onto her lap, she asked, "What story would you like to hear, Usker?" Usker looked thoughtful for a moment. His puffy, white-tipped tail slowly swayed as he lifted a claw to his lip, still white with youth. "I know! I know!", he exclaimed in excitement. "How about the story about Lixar the Brave?" A little girl with vibrant green hair named LoLo pushed her hair back with a flick of a thin wrist. "We've heard that one a be-jillion times, Ma Rose!" She sighed and little squeaks of agreement rose from their companions. But Usker sat on his lap throne and puffed out his chest saying, "Well, she asked me, so I get to choose!" Protests roared from the little congregation of children at Rose's feet. From squeaks and squeals to the primitive growl that encased the were-creatures' nature, everyone panicked. Flustered, the poor old woman felt the uproar shake her sturdy little house. The orphanage "queen" (or watcher and helper at the orphanage) struggled to regain control in the book-choked room. Her shoulder length brown hair was everywhere, her caramel eyes and angled face betraying her frustration. Finally, Ma Rose spoke. "I have and idea!", she proclaimed, and successfully caught the attention of all the little Weres. "I have a story that I have been saving for a time like this." The children cheered at the prospect of a new story, and the orphanage queen sighed in relief. Now sitting, the little ones sat in rapped attention to the old woman sitting in her chair. Depositing the little Usker to his proper spot on the frazzled woolen rug, she looked at them with a mysterious twinkle in her eye. Pushing her hair back, she thought of it fondly. It had originally been a pretty red, but had faded to a worn pink. She felt her teeth with her tongue. Not nearly as sharp as before. With a worn sigh , she looked at them all with a smile. "Once, in the time when the humans were still enemies with the Weres, there lived a Were named Tikora Steel..."