When darkness falls who is the predator, and who is the prey?

[Alexis Sapphire]

The city was never entirely quiet. It didn't matter the time, or day, but there was always the shuffled moaning of the homeless, the occasional propositioning of prostitutes... the bored ranting and drug-induced laughter that often came from groups of general troublemakers. Those were just the obvious sounds nearby; to Ryder, the heightened senses of hearing, sight and smell, attempts to manufacture silence were among some of the most prevalent sounds he could hear.

Groups of thieves and other disruptions to the general peaceful atmosphere of the environment would often lay in wait for a target, attacking swiftly, unorganized, then bolting. Rapists, murderers, there was a tension and a false comfort that night-fall provided that simply seemed to invite them all out to play.

Ryder had lead his lycans methodically, maintaining a strong pack mindset as their numbers continued to grow. The vampires were out to get them. There was no doubt that soon, a war would come. Battles were constantly shifting back and forth in momentum. Fights breaking out in private areas, away from human eyes where a handful of lycans might face a smaller number of vampires. The fight would last for awhile, then dissipate and break off.

Eventually, the number of lycans had grown so greatly that Ryder would need help managing them. The vampires were stronger than the lycans were, the strongest vampires were even a tad bit faster than the strongest lycans. It made it very dangerous for any lycan to attack a vampire one on one and hope to survive.

The only real advantage that Ryder viewed in this war was that the Vampires were very exclusive. They were the superior race and made no secrets about considering themselves as such. To become a vampire, you had to share rather particular traits that made you worthy of a conversion. Ryder held no such standards. If the vampires were out to hunt them and viewed this as more of a 'hunt' than a war, then Ryder was going to crowd the 'chess board' as it were with lycans.

Every night, dozens of lycans in their human form blended into the environment of the homeless... the trouble makers, they caused trouble in order to draw attention and cause others to chase them. Upon leading their pursuers into empty subway stations or isolated areas in the city, they then turned on their pursuers and overpowered them before they had an idea of what happened.

The seemingly weak 'streetbum' began to display unimaginable speed and strength subduing three or four cocky pursuers before biting each of them and simply waiting several hours for the bite to take effect. Within hours, these men's baser instincts were overthrown and they viewed themselves as more beast than man. For the first night, they would engage in reckless behaviour, by the next night however, they were more obedient and fearful when they were approached by others of their own kind.

By the 3rd night, they were a fully functioning lycan soldier for Ryder's pack. Eventually, pack was no longer a term, they were a functioning army of men and wolves. Ryder's goal was simple... begin to isolate and hunt down the vampires. Watch them observe them, but don't engage in single fights where they had the advantage. If a vampire pursued an important lycan, they were bound to find out that by the time they instigated an attack, another six lycans were immediately in the area looking to trap and kill the stronger immortal.

Strength through numbers... that's our only advantage. Ryder constantly thought to himself as he moved along the city streets. His casual pace ended up taking him to the edge of the city where heavy forested land laid beyond. The forest was the Lycan's most natural 'home'. By the hundreds, they lived underground, they hunted among the trees, they could prey on stragglers and walkers along the path. The forest was everything that the city was not. Open and available for strategic attacks.

The city was more clustered and gave very little chances for the lycans to change into wolf form without being seen.

Approaching the nearby stream, Ryder glanced about. Sounds and smells from a good distance in either direction told him this was going to be a promising night for his army.