The Rage (Very rough, rough draft) Chap. 3

“No, no, no! Not like that!” I twist around to look at the speaker, but the jaws locked on my forepaw tighten. I don’t move, on my back in the dust, aching from the battle.

“Look! Now you’ve been infected!” the speaker rages, and thumps over to us. The jaws around my foreleg loosen and then vanish. I roll over and spring to my feet.

“Sorry Myan.” I pant, looking at my teacher. His brown fur is spiky with irritation.

“Sorry doesn’t keep you alive, Katya.” Myan scolds, and then turns to the wolf at my side.

“Very good battle on your part, though, Crow.” He praises. My sparring partner ducks his head in acceptance of the comment. He only won because he’s had two months more training! I think, my pelt burning with shame at having lost so easily.

“Alright. We’re going again.” Myan orders, retreating to the edge of the clearing the Pures used to train their wolves in fighting Rages or other things. Crow takes up his position across from me, assuming a waiting stance. I mirror him, paws braced, weight spread evenly, head lowered to defend the throat, tensed to move in any direction.

“Begin.” Myan commands, watching the two of us. I narrow my eyes, trying to read Crow’s stance. It’s impossible; he’s too well-trained. He’s only four months older than me, but he’s got centuries more experience.

Suddenly Crow lunges, jaws open. I rear backwards instead of dodging to the side like I had last time, and strike my paws forward, battering Crow over the ears. Crow draws back for a millisecond, and I surge forward, aiming to get his neck in my jaws. But Crow slips easily to the side, delivering a blow to my flank that sends me stumbling sideways. I whirl just in time to dodge a bite to the face. I back up, trying to get some maneuvering room, and Crow rears up, determined to come down on my head. I spring backwards, pushing up onto my hind feet to match him. Crow’s eyes glint and I manage to read his attack before he executes it. He ducks down, snaking a paw forward to snag my hind legs out from under me, but I crash down on his head. He yelps in surprise and tries to squirm away, but I growl, closing my jaws around his neck, careful not to really hurt him. He tries to shake me off, but I keep my grip firm, giving my head a rough shake. Crow finally slumps to the ground.

“Okay. You win. I’m dead.” He sighs dramatically. I release him and give my tail a wag. Crow’s a great partner. He’s hard to beat, has a definite sense of humor, and is never mad. But of course Myan had to come and insult the both of us.

“Katya, you definitely could have been quicker. In a battle with a real Rage, you would now be dead, because trying to out-strength a Rage is a surefire way to kill yourself. Landing on a Rage’s head is not a good attack. And a blow to the flank like Crow gave you would’ve been a thousand times harder, and you’d probably have your side ripped open right now. You have to be ready for any attack, because if you’re not, one attack is all it takes for a Rage to kill.

“And Crow- offering your head to a Rage isn’t the smartest thing to do. How many times did I see you risk your head? Three? And hit twice out of that. You’d be dead if Katya had been a Rage. Trying to trip a Rage will not work. They’ll manage to turn your attack against you, as demonstrated.”

Crow stares at his paws, though not with shame, but more irritation, I think. I flick my tail, annoyed. There was always gonna be a fault, wasn’t there?

“Why don’t we try one more time?” Myan barks, turning to walk back to his spot at the edge of the clearing.

“Can you try later?” a voice asks, followed by the skittering of rocks as a wolf descends the slope to the training clearing. Myan turns to learn who dared interrupt his training session. The Alpha Female is watching him with her piercing yellow eyes.

“I’m afraid I need them for something else.” The Alpha Female says, motioning to us with her tail. I rise slowly, looking back at Myan.

“Go ahead. We can finish later.” He mutters. He doesn’t look happy, but he turns and exits the clearing, leaving us to the Alpha Female.

“Come, you two.” She orders and Crow and I slink forward. The Alpha Female turns and climbs back up the slope. Crow and I follow carefully, hesitantly. I wonder if we’re in trouble. The Alpha Female lopes back towards camp, and we pick up our paces to keep up with her. She leads us to the Alphas’ den, motioning for us to enter.

The Alphas’ den is a small cave with an overhanging rock ledge. It’s shaded and cool inside. I’m surprised to find four other wolves in the den. There’s Glass, Dake, a wolf I don’t recognize, and the Alpha Male.  I take a seat between my best friend and brother, lifting an expectant gaze to the Alphas.

“As I’m sure you’re all aware by now,” the Alpha Male begins, “Dake’s team has returned from the Outlands. However, they are currently the only Pure Warriors in camp, considering we just sent out the next team. We recently realized that we had no fresh Warriors left to send off, because the returning Warriors are entitled to a period of rest. We have received a message from the Healers in the Eastern Mountains. A Rage Pack attacked their home not long ago, and they are requesting assistance from the Pure Warriors.

“However, as I mentioned, we have none left. You four,” he says, motioning to Crow, Glass, the wolf I don’t recognize, and I, “are the most trained of all our in-training Warriors. So we’ve decided that you will be sent to the Eastern Mountains as requested by the Healers. Dake, who has offered to go with you- and we greatly honor him for giving up his much-earned rest-will be your team leader. You four are to listen and do as he tells you. You are simply on a mission to destroy the Rages in the Eastern Mountains. Are we clear?”

The Alpha Male waits for our response. We all nod.

“Good. You leave at noon. Eat, drink, and meet at the den in three hours.” The Alpha Female commands. We exit the den. I plop down in my usual spot and gape at Glass.

“Can you believe this?” I ask, stunned.

“Nope.” Glass murmurs, probably as confused as I am. The Pures didn’t send out anything but fully-fledged Warriors unless something was really wrong.

“Should we be excited?” I ask. Glass shrugs. I decide to be excited to have a real Warrior mission and get up.

“Are you coming?” I bark at Glass.

“Where?”

“Hunting. We better be ready in three hours.”

Glass snorts and stands.

“I guess we better.”

            The two of us lope through the forest and towards the lake. The wind carries the scent of snow, and I feel saddened that I’ll have to leave my home, but the feeling only lasts a moment, then I’m back to feeling proud that I’ve been chosen to do a Pure Warrior job. Glass and I hunt down a hare and share it, filling our bellies, then drink from the crystal blue lake. We stretch out next to the lake for a quick nap and I prick my ears, listening through the forest. I can hear the thump and yelps of wolves training, the thrumming paws of wolves running through the forest, and the friendly chatter of some wolves nearby. I sigh. Home sweet home.

I snap awake as Glass kicks me in the side.

“Hey! Wake up! Time to go.” She barks. I grumble and stand, stretch, and tip my head back to look at the sun. It’s in the middle of the clouding sky. We could possibly be late, I think, casually, then take off towards the camp, Glass trailing me.

Once back at camp, I’m relieved to find that Crow and the strange wolf aren’t yet here, so we’re not technically late. Dake and the Alphas are waiting for us, though.

“About time.” Dake chides, rising to his paws.

“Not late yet.” I bark, circling around the wolves, itching to be on our way. Glass woofs a greeting as Crow and the other wolf lope into the camp.

“Now you two-you’re late.” Dake barks, flicking his ears in disapproval.

“Sorry.” Crow pants.

“We got caught up hunting.” The strange wolf offers. Dake snorts, then switches his attention to the Alphas. Four other gazes follow his.  The Alphas stand, their heads held high and pelts rippling in the breeze. They look majestic.

“You five: Dake, Crow, Glass, Lane, and Katya, Pure Warriors of the South, do you agree to this mission?” The Alpha Male rumbles, watching us closely. My fur tingles at being called a Pure Warrior. This is what I’ve always wanted. Five affirmatives come from the others.

“Do you promise to destroy the Rages you can, and must, with no hesitation, for the good of all?” The Alpha Female asks. “Think hard. This promise bears much responsibility.”

The five of us comply, brooding on the promise and weighing the sacrifice. In the end, our souls to save others. Five slower, more hesitant, agreements.

“Good. Then we give you our blessing, as Alphas of the Southern Pure Pack. Fight well, our Warriors.” The Alphas say together. Dake bows his head, the four of us following suit. I feel the Alphas’ muzzle brush my head, then two howls split the air. We don’t need Dake to demonstrate. We raise our heads and howl right along with them. And then we gallop out of the camp, the wind brushing our pelts, our eyes shining as we start our mission.

                                                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“So what first?” I ask, loping alongside my brother.

“Since we’re past the East Towers, we head to the Outer Patrol, pass them, and move on to the mountains.” Dake answers. I can’t believe we’re actually going past the Outer Patrol, where we’ll fight real Rages. I hope our training will prove itself to be useful.

“Nervous?” Dake chuckles.

“Nope. Excited.”

“Hey, are we gonna stop for food? Is there even food out here?” I hear Glass asks indignantly from behind us.

“Man, are you kidding? We’ve only been running two hours!” Crow exclaims, flanking Dake.

“I think we can fit in five more miles before we stop. Then we’ll eat, okay Glass?” Dake sighs, glancing over at her.

“Fine.” Glass huffs.

“How far is the Outer Patrol anyway?” Lane asks from her spot beside Glass.

“It’s forty miles from camp, exactly. We’ve covered twelve already.” Dake replies.

“So we should only be running about half an hour more, then.” Lane tells Glass.

“Still hungry.” Glass grumbles. I roll my eyes and look out at the horizon, watching the fluffy white clouds.

Forty-five minutes later, the four of us are stretched out in the wide-open, rolling brown plains of the East, awaiting Dake’s return with food. Glass is on her belly next to me, admiring the big blue sky.

“That cloud looks like a bunny.” She comments.

“That one looks like a lion.” Crow barks from his spot in the long grass.

“That one’s a bird.” I call.

“That one is definitely a turtle.” Lane says.

“And that one is our dinner.” I hear Dake’s muffled voice say. I roll onto my feet. He’s got a small deer clamped in his jaws. One paw is raised towards the sky, pointing at a deer-looking cloud. I wag my tail.

“That didn’t take long.” Lane comments, padding up towards the deer.

“It was close by, grazing. An easy kill.” Dake mutters, sitting back on his haunches to admire his handiwork. “Eat up.” He barks. I spring on the deer, instinctively leaving the best for Dake. He is our leader out here. The others do the same, following pack rules. Luckily, there’s less of us, and each of us eats until we nearly pop. I sprawl out in the grass, swiping my tongue around my jaws.

“Ya know, out here, you can eat whatever part of the prey you want.” Dake says.

“Really?”Lane mumbles, obviously as sleepy as the rest of us.

“Yeah. We don’t follow pack rules here. We do what it takes to survive, and everyone gets a fair share of the meal, unless, of course, we start starving, which we won’t.” Dake yawns. The deer is nothing but blood and bones now, but I take that into my head for the next meal. I think I’ll take the liver. It feels weird to eat whatever you want, without waiting for others to get their share first. But I can understand how pack rules would harm us out here.

“But remember, someone’s always got to be on watch. A Rage could attack at any moment. We don’t have two lines of protection now, but one. And soon, we won’t have that, so be on your guard, all the time.”Dake instructs. “I’ll guard this time.”

Soon, with our bellies full and the sun beaming down on us, we drift off to sleep, all but Dake.

                                                            ******************************

His paws are scraped raw, and his jaws are bloody and torn. But he’s free. Finally free. Nothing else matters. Not the pain, or the hunger, or the exhaustion. They’ll pay for what they’ve done to him. He staggers on his paws. They will pay. But for now, he must wait. He’s heard their plans. He just has to wait…a little longer….and then he’ll kill them all. But for now, he just has to wait. Only a little longer. And then he will go and kill them. Every blasted one.