The morning of Tomas’ sacrifice began like any other. Birds sang, the sun rose, and light spread out, warming the land. Most members of the church were already up, scurrying about excitedly preparing for the events of the day. They were all far too busy to notice as time was ripped in two.

Perhaps the most excited person was Roy. The Head priest practically skipped through the compound on his way to collect Tomas. Two acolytes hurried to keep up behind him. Despite staying up late creating a crown for the Matriarch, Roy was positively brimming with energy. Today’s sacrifice ceremony was going to be perfect!

He didn’t bother knocking on Tomas’ door before letting himself in. Tomas had fallen asleep on his sofa with his game still running on the TV. He didn't even stir upon Roy’s entrance. Roy looked down at him and shook his head, thinking, The boy wastes all his time on vidjyo games and tickle tock.

He clapped his hands in front of Tomas’ face, “Wake up, brother Tomas. It’s time to get ready!”

Tomas had only slept all of maybe 2 hours the previous night. With a painful, strained effort, he raised his head and looked at Roy through bleary, unfocused eyes. He wasn’t able to hold his head up for long. Slowly, it drifted back down to the sofa, his eyes closed long before his head landed. He fell back asleep immediately.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Roy grabbed Tomas by the robe and yanked him off the sofa. Tomas fell onto the floor with a thud, mumbled incoherently, rolled over, then fell asleep on the floor.

If Roy hadn't been expecting as much he’d have lost it. This wasn’t his first time waking Tomas, however. He snapped his fingers towards the door and one of the acolytes who had come with him entered the room carrying a bucket of ice water. Roy stepped back and gave the acolyte room to upend the bucket onto Tomas. Tomas gasped and snapped upright in confused, icy surprise.

Roy dismissed the acolyte, then greeted Tomas again, “Good morning, brother Tomas! It’s time to get ready.” He snapped his fingers again, a second acolyte entered the room and approached the head priest, carrying fresh robes and a set of heavy chain manacles.

Tomas was still having a hard time processing his surroundings. He stared at the bundle they held in confusion for several seconds before asking, “Chains? Really Roy?”

The acolyte gasped at the insolence Tomas had just displayed by not addressing the head priest by his title. Roy, however, completely ignored the insult. He took the bundle from the acolyte and gestured for them to leave. Nothing was going to take away from his happiness today, “Yes! Aren’t they wonderful? They’re traditional. Here you are,” he passed the robes down to Tomas, “Hurry and get dressed; we don’t want to be late.”

Tomas took the clothes, “What do you mean traditional? Isn’t this the first time we’ve ever done something like this?” Tomas stood and started to remove his wet robes

“Every tradition must begin somewhere,” Roy cheerfully explained, averting his gaze as Tomas changed.

Once Tomas had fresh robes on, Roy passed over the chains. Tomas' arms sagged from their weight, “They’re so heavy! Couldn’t we wait until we’re at the uh.. place before putting them on? Where are we even going?”

“It’s traditional to put them on in your room,” Roy helped clasp them around Tomas’ wrists and ankles, his smile constantly widening, “It is a beautiful day today, so we'll be performing the ceremony in the sacred outdoor courtyard.”

“Huh? Where’s that?” Tomas asked.

Roy chortled and shook his head, “Ohohoho, oh Tomas, You spend so much time on your sofa that you’ve forgotten your own home! Right! This looks good. Let’s go!” He took a hold of a chain and began pulling Tomas along.

Tomas trudged behind Roy lost in thought, trying to figure out where they were going. It was slow going with the heavy manacles attached. He let himself be guided by the yanking of his chains until they reached the ‘sacred outdoor courtyard’. A place that had been called the ‘outdoor rec area’ until earlier that morning. It was a large open-air area in the centre of the compound used for training and meditation.

The grounds were usually bare, save for a running track circling around the perimeter and a tall tree, standing in the centre, but today the grounds looked festive, with streamers of silver and blue flying off the tree and some raised platforms prepared for speeches and the sacrifice itself. All of the church members lined up around the grounds wearing their brightest white robes.

Tomas spotted his good friend, Ingrid in the crowd, looking the happiest he’d ever seen her. Surprise at seeing her smile woke him up out of the mental funk he’d been in enough to realise that he had just let Roy drag him all the way here without resistance. Gah! I was alone with Roy this entire walk. That was my best chance to escape! What a waste! he admonished himself. Can I make a run for it now? He looked out across the courtyard and saw another familiar face, the Matriarch, Oh… never mind.

The legend of the wolf and the lioness that Roy had read Tomas the previous night was based on a true story. The Matriarch was that wolf. She was the greatest huntress to have ever lived. This was in no small part due to the fact that she was one of the greatest creatures to have ever lived.

She was an enormous wolf-shaped woman covered in lean, powerful muscles and silver fur. She stood on her hind legs, hunched forward, ready to go down onto all fours. When she stood at her full height, she reached almost three metres tall. She had to be careful not to damage the ceiling or door frames with her head while walking indoors. The church compound was specially designed to be extra tall and sturdy with her in mind, just in case. Her long jaws were filled with razor-sharp teeth. Wicked claws tipped her elongated hands and feet. Just a glance from her piercing yellow eyes was enough to send shivers down the bravest of spines. Her tail, however, was cute, fluffy, and waggly.

If Tomas tried to run, she would be the one to hunt him down. She could track his scent from miles away, hear his panicked heartbeat from behind walls, and even taste his fear on her tongue. It was a well-known fact that nothing escaped the Matriarch. She was the pillar of absolute power that held the Church up for over 50 years. Upon seeing her, Tomas let go of hope and resigned himself to his fate.

She had dressed up for the occasion today. She wore an elaborate white ritual dress, tailored to her size and features. Bit of a waste, Tomas thought, as it would undoubtedly get stained with his blood during the proceedings. Tomas looked closer and could see that her eyelashes had been done up nicely, her claws were freshly polished and the top of her head was adorned with flowers. It was safe to assume that when she wasn’t a 3-metre tall wolf monster, she was a very classy woman. That’s presuming she was able to transform at all. Tomas had never seen her leave wolf form, so he wasn’t even sure if she was able.

Roy also looked at the Matriarch, a deep frown on his face. He called over a nearby, lower-ranking priest and hissed, “Where is the Matriarch’s crown!?”

“Head Priest, I’m sorry, sir. It’s missing. We have people searching everywhere but it's like it vanished into thin air. We couldn’t delay the ceremony any further so…” the frightened priest explained.

Tomas ignored them and stared at the sky. The weather was beautiful today, “It’s a good day to die.” he said, reaching an acceptance.

As soon as the words left his mouth, as if to mock him, it stopped being a good day to die. A strong wind blew through the courtyard and the sky that was clear a moment ago, filled with dark clouds, seemingly coming from nowhere. Roy stopped harassing the poor priest and looked up as thunder rumbled across the sky.

The Matriarch stood tall, raising her head to look at the strangeness above. At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning fell down and hit the highest object in the area; the tree in the centre of the grounds. The light was blinding and the thunder that soon followed sounded like a cannon. The sky went berserk, hundreds of bolts followed moments after the first, striking tree again and again. Everyone fell to the ground screaming and covering their heads.

Then, Everything went silent. The lightning stopped as suddenly as it had started and was replaced with heavy rain. Looking shell-shocked, everyone picked themselves up and stared wide-eyed at the destroyed tree in front of them.

Beyond the ringing of their ears, they heard a panicked voice call out, “Matriarch! This is a sign! We need your strength! Consume the boy now and protect us!”

The Matriarch’s yellow eyes opened and stared coldly at Roy. He should know better than to make demands of her. Roy shivered and lowered his head. Having made her point, she decided to follow his suggestion. She got up and crossed the courtyard in a few bounds, halting in front of Tomas. He was curled, trembling in a ball on the ground. She picked him up in both hands like a small child and held him in front of her. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. Tears ran down his cheeks. His face hurt to look at so she closed her eyes. Bringing him up into her mouth, she bit down.

A sickening crunch rang out over the sound of the rain. Followed by another, then another. Finally, there was a clanging sound as iron manacles were spat out onto the ground. The Matriarch’s beautiful dress was ruined, soaked in rain and blood.

For a moment there was only the sound of rain. Then The Matriarch let out a whine as her body twisted and bent over in pain. Something intensely unnatural began inside of her. The silent onlookers watched on as their Goddess changed. At first, her shoulder twitched, then her leg. Finally, her entire body began to jolt, warp, and grow.

At the time of the story from the chronicles, when she ate the lioness, she had been no larger than a regular wolf. On that day she grew from that size into the giant who had just consumed Tomas. As she had back then, now again she rapidly grew larger, stronger, and deadlier at an exponential rate. So great was her size increase, that the onlooking church members had to back away to make room for her.

Time went on, and the people began to worry. Her growth showed no signs of stopping. She grew larger than any living creature on earth and then kept going. Finally, after what felt like an hour, it stopped.

The Matriarch stretched and inspected her body now that she was free from pain. Although she was at least 40 metres tall, larger than the largest dinosaurs on Earth had been, she had lost none of her grace and agility. Each of her individual claws was larger than a man. Her fur was as thick as ropes; her mouth large enough to swallow a horse in one bite. She was magnificent. A true Goddess of the hunt.

Roy fell to his knees. Everyone in the courtyard quickly followed suit, “Oh great Matriarch! We are your loyal servants. The universe is your prey to hunt!” He called out. Tears fell from his eyes.

The Matriarch raised her head to the sky and howled. The ground trembled.

That was of course only what happened in the timeline where the Matriarch’s crown went missing. Over in the other one however…

Roy’s Smile grew wider upon entering the courtyard and seeing the Matriarch. She was wearing an iron crown shaped like long teeth, pointing to the sky. It was adorned with flowers to give her a feminine feel. With her crown on, she towered over even the tree in the outdoor rec area, “She looks so wonderful in her crown. I designed it myself, you know!” Roy bragged to Tomas.

Tomas ignored him and stared at the sky. The weather was indeed beautiful today, “It’s a good day to die.” he said, reaching an acceptance.

As soon as the words left his mouth, as if to mock him, it stopped being a good day to die. A strong wind blew through the courtyard and the sky that was clear a moment ago, filled with dark clouds seemingly coming from nowhere. Roy stopped bragging and looked up, feeling very concerned for the ceremony as thunder rumbled in the sky.

The Matriarch stood tall, raising her head to look at the strange sky. At that exact moment, a bolt of lightning fell down and hit the highest object in the area; her crown. The light was blinding and the thunder that soon followed sounded like a cannon. The sky went berserk, hundreds of bolts followed moments after the first, striking the Matriarch again and again. Everyone fell to the ground and covered their eyes and ears. Then, everything went silent. The lightning stopped as suddenly as it started and was replaced with heavy rain. Looking shell-shocked, they picked themselves up and stared wide-eyed at the Matriarch.

A voice was heard through their ringing ears, “Matriarch! This is a sign! We need your strength! Consume the boy now and protect us! Matriarch?! Oh no! NONONONONO! MATRIARCH!!!”

Tomas was curled in a ball on the ground. Hearing Roy’s panicked screams, he got up and rubbed his eyes. Roy was rushing over to where the Matriarch was sizzling, having been cooked by the lightning. Streams of black smoke rose off her body through the rain. He was still a bit stunned so it took him a moment to realise, this was his chance.

He looked down at his chained hands and feet. It was such an odd thing. Surely Roy knew that he could have escaped the chains at any time. Tomas transformed just his arms and legs into long slippery tentacles. He wriggled them around a little and the chains fell off onto the ground.

“She’s alive!! Get Tomas!” Roy screamed.

The blood drained from Tomas’ face. He shifted his limbs back to normal, turned around, and bolted away through the compound. By the time people started to look for him, he was already gone.

There was panic and chaos everywhere, which he used to his benefit. With his head down, he fled unhindered until he reached the outside gate of the facility. It was too tall to climb over for a normal person and he had no idea how to open it. He was not a normal person though.

Tomas fully transformed. It took a few seconds for him to change. First, his hands and feet became long thick tentacles as his head and torso shortened together into a large blob. Four new tentacles sprouted from the body and wriggled their way down to the ground growing to full size. His features became smoother as his face shifted and rearranged. His mouth moved down to below his body with his teeth fusing together into a sharp beak. Finally, his bones dissolved and his skin became slimy and red. His transformation was complete! He was a were-octopus!

He stretched some tentacles up and grabbed the top of the wall using his sucker pads for grip. He pulled himself up and over, landing outside in a squishy heap then transformed back.

That had gone much better than he had expected. Now that he had escaped the facility it was time to consider what to do next. Roy was undoubtedly rallying the church to come to hunt him down. Which meant escaping along the road was not an option as he would be discovered and picked up quickly. And if the Matriarch did indeed survive, eventually she would be strong enough to hunt again. This meant running and hiding were both not an option. Luckily there was a third option.

Tomas got his bearings; he had spent enough time looking at the map last night to figure out which way he needed to go. Stepping off the road, he fled into the wilderness, “Chooks creek, Madame Wanda” he recited.

Tomas decided to sacrifice his powers so that may live.