The Howling Night

Chapter 1

Hunter and the Hunted

“Alright pups, you ready for your first hunt?” Dodger said with an eager tone that made Sky’s emotions go radical with excitement. The morning was new, the sun warmed the world around him, the smell was to die for. It was a perfect day for a hunt, the birds where tweeting far into the forest and the sound of a smooth running brook caught his attention. There was still morning dew on the grass around him, it was soothing to his fur and smelled so amazing that he could not even explain it.

Sky was new to hunting, being less than a year old had its disadvantages. His father would have been the one to teach him how to hunt and find food, but he had died a month after Sky’s birth. It was a tragedy that he looked down upon. He could still remember the sight of his dad sprinting for cover as a forest fire consumed the air and wildlife. He remembered the spark of hope he saw in his dads eyes when he passed the oak tree where the deer always lurked. He then remembered the horrible sound that followed, his father had been enveloped by fire, the screams still haunted his mind.

Sky rubbed his head with his paws yawning in the process, he was up all night and his eyes still drooped. Dodger laughed “Being on watch is a pain, I know.” He walked by laughing the whole way. It was true that Sky had been on watch, but he never perceived it to be a pain. To be truthful, he had actually enjoyed the peace, it was not the lack of sleep that really got him. Sky rubbed his eyes one last time and slowly opened them, so that he would not be blinded by the morning light. Lifting his eye lids he looked straight at the sun, jerking back he looked away and tried again, It burned for a little, but after a few seconds his eyes adjusted to the light. It was a beautiful day, the trees around him looked like they were dancing in the wind, leaning in every direction.

‘It looks so different at night.’ He observed

 His eyes grew larger as he took in the sight. The mountains where surrounding them far in the distance, some of them still had that cold white fluff that fell after the trees changed colors. All over the valley floor the trees would change their colors, except for the ones with the needles, deeper in the season they would fall, making a perfect place to play

 “Sky, you look like you’ve never been here before” Hover said nudging Sky’s side with his snout. Sky laughed at his best friend and pushed back “You know me, I just like seeing things in new views. That’s all” he had been there before, it was their land. He was raised here, how could he forget. Past the mountains held the dark dead structure of the burnt woods. The pack had moved to the other side after the fire due to the fact that food became very hard to come by.

~~

“You smell that?” Dodger said.

“Ya, I guess” Replied Hover

“That is the smell of our food.” Dodger said, his tongue was starting to linger from his mouth and hang.

There was a long pause.

“Well, what’s it called?” Tina asked. Dodger did not answer, he just sat and drooled. Sky had become friends with Tina, she was from one of the other packs in the valley but she was fun and always asked questions.  

“Dodger! What are we hunting!” Sky was impatient, he had also wanted to know what the animal was called.

“What… I… awe, yes, the animal’s name is elk. Although this is not the only animal we hunt, but for today we will be catching elk”

“Isn’t elk a little big for our level of, you know, Knowledge, let alone speed?” Another wolf asked with a little chuckle in his tone.

Dodger tilted his head left and right saying “Maybe, but can’t hurt to start big!” Sky turned his head, looking at the other wolfs, some looked pleased, others a little worried. He looked back at Dodger and just agreed, he was not truly pleased with the idea of hunting elk on his first day, nor was he worried, he was just, there.

“Ok then, follow me!” Dodger said. With that they set off. As a group they were rather large, twenty wolfs where not too hard to spot. So by the direction of Dodger, there guide, they split up. At this point Sky started to have some doubts, he knew that Dodger was an amazing hunter and tracker, but if they separated, how would they join again. Sky’s ears slowly lowered down, he was not so sure of the groups. He had been placed with four other wolfs that he did not know, not only was this a little bit awkward, but to add on to it, he was the one leading them.

~~

Sky had no sense of direction, his father would have taught him that. He shuddered at the memory. Nose to the ground he sniffed for a clue as to where the elk was headed. Nothing, nothing but the smell of dirt and grass. This was exhausting for Sky, his fear of getting them lost mixed with the running and walking wore him down. Lifting his head back up he moved on, from tree to tree, sniffing at the ground whenever he could. It was about mid day when they stopped for a drink by a lake. It was smooth and cold, soothing there dry throats. Deep in the distance a faint bang rang through. Sky cocked his ears to attention and looked left into the direction of the sound, birds franticly scattered from the direction of the sound. Silence followed.

“What was that?” One of the wolfs said

“I don’t know, but it sounded far away” another replied

“What should we do?”

Sky jumped as he saw something moved to his right, baring his teeth, he growled at the source.  A Rabbit scurried from a bush frighten by his growl. One of the wolfs laughed in amusement “It’s just a rabbit kid, don’t worry” Sky relaxed his muscles.

“Whatever that thing was, it’s gone now”

We should leave. I have a bad feeling about this, were—“ Sky was cut off by an extreme amount of pain in his ears, his legs were locked tight in fright, and his mind was distorted and jumbled, his eyes flash from black and then to red as he fell over hitting the ground. After a few seconds of immobilization, he pulled out the strength to pull his legs back into control. Blinking his eyes Sky looked around for the source of this pain, to his right one of the wolfs was laying on the ground, lifeless, a large amount of blood seeped from his chest. Sky wiped his head back to see if the others were alive, the last three where standing, immobilized by the look of it. Forcing his legs to move again he took a couple of steps to the closest wolf. Sky's ears ringed again and he could see blood splash over his coat. Another wolf to his left flew back and hit the floor, dead, his chest just like the other, had a small hole, blood seeped out onto the ground. Sky knew deep down he had to run, but his legs would not move. With all the strength left, he turned around. Behind one of the trees was an odd looking animal, from the looks of it, the thing was standing on two legs. In its hands was a large metal rod. Again his ears rang but this time he saw the source, the metal rod flashed. Sky bolted along with the others, his ears rang again, but he still kept running. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going, but as long as he was far away from that monster, he was happy.

~~

Sky’s tongue lulled to the right, he was panting hard and the back of his throat was sore. He pulled his tongue back in and swallowed, slowing his pace to walking speed, he had been running for about an hour. It was starting to get dark and Sky’s legs were beginning to cramp. Deep inside he felt the need to keep moving, but his legs could only take him so far. Still panting he realized a deep haunting thought. Through the frantic running to get away from that killing monster, he had not watched where he was, or where he was going. He looked around, the other wolfs had taken to other directions leaving him by himself. Wherever he was, it was far from home. The trees where darker than normal, but he guessed that was because night was coming so swiftly. The mountains that he could see where not painted with the white fluff, instead, they where covered in trees and rocks galore. The sun was setting and he could see the moon starting to rise, the stars slowly came into view.

Sky thought to himself, ‘First rule when lost. Find water.’

Searching for a source he walked past a couple of oak trees, they where thicker than the other trees around it, making them look like the kings of the forest, a couple of birds where nesting for the night. He knew something was wrong when the birds started to chirp wildly, it was like they were possessed by some sort of evil. Sensing the danger the birds where screaming about he slowly stepped backwards snapping a twig that made him jump. ‘It was only a twig’ He sighed in relief. The birds grew quiet again. Pain flew threw his ear and it started to ring a high pitch sound, he could taste blood, sky yelped in surprise. He screamed in pain, he could not move his ear, it hung limp. This time he took no time to delay, he sprinted though the woods again, but faster. His heart was pumping and his breath was becoming heavier by the minuet. Trees passed by faster and faster, he knew now that this monster was not giving up on this chase. He had a surge of energy run through his body, taking the advantage he took a sharp left and jumped over a fallen log.

There was a slope after the log that he had not seen, landing on his front paws he flipped and rolled down the incline. His speed picked up and he slammed into a tree knocking the breath out of him. His eyes started to fuzz and he let go, continuing his decent. The world around him seemed unreal, he knew he was still moving but he really did not care. It felt like an eternity till he stopped. Sky did not remember how he landed or where he stopped but all he could remember was another wolf running to him. His head had landed on something soft so he decided that this would be a great place to rest. With that he let go of his thoughts and lost consciousness.