The Rage (Very rough, rough draft) Chap. 5

I freeze up, the exact thing they tell you not to do when fighting Rages, the moment the Rage springs at my big brother. I’m terrified Dake will be killed, the only family I have left. But Dake rears, flashing to the side quick as a snake, lashing out with a paw to catch the Rage over the head as it spun past in the exact same move I’d used on Crow just this morning. Except his claws drew blood. The Rage doesn’t even seem to feel it, just leaping forward, jaws gaping. Dake drops a little, and for a horrible moment I think he’s been bitten, but then he springs up with incredible force, arcing over the Rage’s head to land behind it. He doesn’t waste his time, whirling to bite the Rage. I don’t know how he knew exactly when the Rage would turn, or how it would turn, how sharply, and how far, but Dake’s teeth bury themselves straight into the Rage’s throat as it rounds on him.

I don’t realize I haven’t moved until Crow finally bites me, tugging me back. I stagger back, away from the fight, and then crouch beside Glass, my belly brushing the ground, ears pinned to my head, watching my brother.

The Rage doesn’t even seem to realize it was bitten, it only roars in fury and swings its head, trying to bite Dake. The Rage is definitely faster and definitely stronger. I don’t know how it works -- but The Rage drives the infected wolves to kill, and the more they kill, the stronger they get. Weird concept.

The Rage rips away from Dake, snarling viciously, and then surges forward. Dake ducks to the side, twisting to kick at the Rage. His hind paws miss the Rage’s side as it streaks forward, straight for us.

I bolt to my feet and stumble back, ramming into Lane. She yelps and turns on heel, another thing not to do when fighting a Rage: Act like prey and run. The Rage lets loose a blood-curdling howl, and I hope desperately no more Rages will show up. Dake barks loudly, bounding forward. The Rage is almost on top of Lane.  Dang it. I leap forward, shouting, “Lane! Turn right 360!” 

Lane obeys, crashing through the long grass and back towards us. The Rage follows, saliva shining on its teeth. Lane shoots right past me and I take a deep breath, then barrel into the Rage’s side as it blazes past me. It stumbles. It clearly hadn’t noticed me, so intent on its prey. I’m terrified, but I use the fear to give me energy. I bite down on the first thing my teeth touch. The Rage snarls, so close I can feel the hot breath on the back of my neck. I close my eyes, and training kicks back in. I jerk back, snapping my jaws, opening my eyes. My mind is instantly calculating. The Rage is mere feet away, eyes wide and blazing, blood dripping from the wet fur around its neck. Why isn’t it dead yet? It springs, and I twist to the side, dipping my head forward to sink my fangs into the Rage’s flank. The Rage’s fangs brush the side of my face and I recoil, darting a paw forward to glance over its already-wounded head. The Rage suddenly goes down, hitting the ground, and I wonder if I really hit it that hard. Then I see Crow, one of the Rage’s hind legs crushed between his black jaws, blue eyes sparking in anger. The Rage writhes, kicking Crow’s face. But Dake’s jaws are on its throat again before it can rise.

The Rage finally goes limp, its sides ceasing to rise. Dake waits a moment, then releases the Rage. His eyes are closed. Crow walks up beside me, and I can feel the slight tremor in his body. I let out a shaky breath.

I don’t know whether to be thrilled, or disgusted, or angry. I mean, I just helped kill my first Rage, but that Rage was once a brother, or sister, wolf, and it tried to hurt my friends--my team. Dake sighs heavily, opening his green eyes. He lifts his head.

“Anyone hurt?” His voice is dull, completely void of emotion. We all shake our heads mutely. His eyes rake over all of us.

“Crow? You’re bleeding.” Dake growls, stepping towards him.

“Oh?” Crow asks, eyes widening. I look over at him. There’s blood on the side of his face. I lean forward and hesitantly sniff at it. I wrinkle my nose and draw back.

“It’s just the Rage’s.” I tell Dake. Crow’s shoulders slump.

“Wow.” Lane sighs, sitting down, eyes fixed on the ground.

“Yeah.” Dake mutters. Then He leans forward, brushing his nose against the Rage’s forehead murmuring a single word.  No one says anything, in their own worlds.

“Hey. C’mon. You have blood on your muzzle too.” Crow mutters, nudging me towards the creek. I pad after him. We dip our muzzles into the creek, washing off the blood, then lap up quick mouthfuls of the cold water, washing the taste of Rage blood from our tongues.

“I’ll keep watch.” I offer to Dake. It wasn’t like I could sleep now anyways.

“No.”

“It’s my turn anyway, Dake, and there’s no way I’m sleeping.”

“We have to keep moving. More Rages’ll be here any minute.”

“What?” I ask, but I really don’t mind. My paws are itching to move, and I don’t want to stay here and wait for Rages.

“Guys. Let’s go.” Dake barks loudly, and all eyes flick towards him.

“What?” Lane asks.

“You heard me. Let’s go. Move out.” Dake turns and sets off at a lope. We charge after him, not keen on the idea of being left alone in Rage territory. Clouds are gathering overhead, and a cold wind sweeps across the plains, stirring the silvered grass that stretches miles in every direction. I squint towards the East, seeking out the snowy caps of the Eastern Mountains. They loom ominously ahead, highlighted by the vanishing moonlight.

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The next morning, thick gray clouds roll over our heads, and I yawn, trekking after Dake, head low, wishing to sleep. Glass’s pale silver pelt is fluffed up and I can’t help but comment.

“You look like a snowball.”

“Thank you.” Glass grunts, not looking at me.

“Dake, can we stop now?” Lane complains from beside Crow. Crow flicks her with his tail.

“Just a little farther. We need to get to a water source before we rest.” Dake answers, not sparing a glance back at us. Lane huffs and Crow rolls his eyes. I wonder how far we’ve traveled, and how much farther we’ll have to. I mentally groan as Dake abandons our easy walk for a lope. The others grumble but pick up their paces, falling into our traveling position, a V-shape with Dake at the head, Glass and I next and Crow and Lane after that. The thrum of our paws on the ground is the only sound for a while after that, and snow starts to drift from the sky. When Dake veers off our course, I don’t notice until I realize the mountains are no longer in my sight.

“Hey Dake. Where we goin’?” Crow asks, pulling to a stop. The rest of us do as well. Dake turns to face us.

“Are you coming?” he asks.

“The mountains are that way.” Lane points out.

“I know.”

“So why’re we going this way?” Glass asks.

“There’s a river a mile up. It runs right by the mountains, so we’ll follow it until we reach the Healers’ place.” Dake explains patiently.

“Okay then.” I mutter and we start back up. We run into the river Dake described in fifteen minutes, and we all drink our fill, then instantly plop down in the snow to sleep. Dake sits outside of our little circle, ears pricked.

Oh yeah. Rages. I heave myself to my paws.

“It’s still my turn to watch.” I say reluctantly. Dake looks over at me, surprised.

“It’s fine, Katya. I’ll do it.”

“No. It’s my turn, Dake. It’s only fair. “ I sigh. Dake half-smiles, but he looks saddened.

“You’re just like Mom.” He muses, then sighs heavily. “Alright. You know the drill. Circle, sit, circle. We’ll hunt after we sleep, okay?”

I nod and swap places with Dake. He curls up next to the others, his golden fur ruffled. I yawn and stretch, shaking myself awake. The snow is falling faster now, flecking my teammates’ pelts with white. I can’t sit and do nothing and expect to stay awake, so I circle the team, pausing to take a drink from the cold river. The sky is gray, the ground is white. I sigh heavily. Hoped the team wouldn’t sleep that long.

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After I get past the initial, terrible boredom, it’s simple to just sit and circle. It doesn’t really require much thought, and though time ticks by painfully slow, it eventually ends. Dake wakes up first, shaking the snow off his fur. He stretches, looks over at me.

“Nothing?” he asks. Like, obvious answer.

“Nothin.” I yawn, standing up.

“Just wake one of the others up and sleep while you can. I’ll have food soon.”

“Sure you don’t need someone to go with you?”

“I’ll be fine.” Dake barks, rolling his eyes, then sets off with no further conversation. I nudge Glass. She blinks awake.

“Wha?” she asks groggily, rolling onto her back.

“Hey. Keep watch while I sleep.” I mumble and curl up, tucking my nose under my tail.

“Good morning to you, too.” Glass grumbles and stands, plodding over to my spot. I sigh and fall asleep almost instantly.

A paw prods me awake. I groan and curl up tighter.

“Hey. Up. Food.” Lane barks. I sigh heavily and heave myself to my paws. I feel like I’ve barely slept five minutes. Ugh. Lane trots back over to the already-being-eaten body of a snow hare.

“It’s not much,” Dake sighs, “but it’ll do for now.”

“It’s fine, Dake.” I tell him, digging in. He’s right - it’s not much, when you can eat up to twenty pounds a day, but we can go a long time without eating, so it’s fine.

After eating, I pad over to the river, lap up a mouthful, then look towards the east. The mountains loom ominously.

“Let’s go.” Dake barks, turning and heading off at our usual pace. We fall into our places and follow after, coming nearer to the mountains with every pawstep.

Glass lopes alongside me. She flashes me a glance.

“Remember the last time we came out here?” she asks. Boy, do I.

“Yeah.” I snort. I remember the twisted metal and dust of the Ruins. I remember the huge, slavering jaws and red Rage eyes. I remember the strange wolf that saved us. Glass is clearly remembering the same thing. She shudders.

“Rages. Bleh. I had nightmares for weeks.“ She barks, shaking her head.

“Totally.” I agree.

“And you are never going there again.” Dake barks, wagging his tail once to soften his sharp tone, but I can see the way his fur bristles up a little. He was incredibly worried, I can guess. He’s always been overprotective. I sigh. Glass smirks at me. I roll my eyes.

We travel sixty miles that day, and by the time we stop to rest, my paws are killing me. I roll belly-up at our camp and lick my front paw. The river is still running alongside us; its course doesn’t change much at all, I’ve noticed. Glass collapses beside me, complaining dramatically. Crow laps water from the river and Lane stomps around the camp, grumbling about cold and her paws. Dake stretches, circling the camp. I look up at the sky. There’s a break in the gray clouds, and little snatches of blue here and there. Maybe it would be clear by tomorrow. Crow sprawls out beside Glass and I, and Lane eventually curls up beside us as well. Dake is the only one still standing, watching.

“Hey, whose turn is it to watch tonight?” Glass asks absentmindedly.

“Ugh. Mine.” Crow groans, flicking his ears.

“Oh, darn. My turn too.” Glass sighs heavily, remembering.

“In that case, we’d better sleep early. You guys know the drill? Circle, sit, circle?” Dake rumbles, turning his green gaze towards us.

“Yeah.” Crow and Glass say, then start arguing about who’ll take first shift. I stand and circle once, patting the snow down under me, then curl up tight and fall asleep. I finally sleep all night.

“Ooohhhh, good morning world!” Glass sings beside me, awakening me with a terrible start. I slap at her muzzle.

“Rise and shine!” Crow woofs, prancing over.

“What’re you two so happy about?” I grumble, sitting up and shaking myself off.

“We’re reaching the mountains today!” Glass cheers.

“No more running our paws off and starving!” Crow yips, tail wagging.

“Great.” I say unenthusiastically. Glass pokes me.

“Grumpy.” She sniffs. I nip at her, then look around for Dake.

“Mornin’.” Dake woofs, walking straight past us and towards the river. Lane yawns, padding over to us.

“When we leave?” she calls over to my brother.

“Now.” He answers and heads off.

“Great goin’.” Crow mutters, playfully snapping at me. We all fall into our places and race after Dake, who’s pushing the pace faster than usual. And now I start to get excited about reaching the mountains. We finally get to meet the Healers, and perhaps when we get back we’ll be full Pure Warriors! I can’t wait.

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His jaws are at the young wolf’s throat before it can howl. He bites down, surrendering to the red clouding his thoughts. He flicks his head, throwing the young wolf’s body away from him. The elder wolf is rooted to the spot as he snarls, baring his already-bloodied fangs. The elder wolf stumbles back, howling his head off, the sound ringing through the entire camp. Shocked wolves spill into the stone hallway only to see the elder wolf splayed out and dead on the floor.

He rockets through the hideout, eyes blazing. His revenge has begun.