The Cinders of Dezu

2nd: A Walk in the Night (5)

In the black, between the shadows of the trees, was a glow. It was a small light orange glow that slowly moved through the dark. Then, with a swift motion, the one orange glow became two. A chill ran up Cairo's back as he realized they were a pair of eyes. And even before the creature came into view he knew there was no good intent in them.

With a slow intensity, the figure emerged from the shadows and a gentle soft light blanketed the creature's snout. It lit up its gleaming teeth, then its brow, and then its turned down black ears. His large furry black face came into view. The edges of his hair colored with flecks of ashen grey. Its paw was lifted and the creature's whole body was tense, poised to strike.

Raina had seen the creature by this point and was squeezing Cairo's hand. She began backing up in an all-consuming fear. Raina loved wolves, mostly because she loved dogs. Dogs spoke to her in a way very few other creatures did. They usually had a simple friendliness to them. But mean dogs were hard to reason with, even for her. But she had never had an opportunity to interact with a wolf. She was not swayed by any sort of childhood naivety. She knew better than to reason with the hunting eye of a predator. Before she knew what she was doing, she had yanked her hand from Cairo and tore off into the forest.

Cairo whipped around in horror as she disappeared. Julian heard her take off, but was made more aware by the wolf creature's reaction to it. While before its eyes were trained on Julian, they shifted to see fleeing prey. It's instincts took over. It shot completely out of the darkness after her. Cairo saw this and instinctively dived towards the wolf to save his cousin. A decision he instantly reconsidered upon colliding with the ground and missing the beast entirely. He thought about what the dog would have done to him had he caught it. He then thought it best not to think too deeply about that as he scrambled to his feet. He ran after the dogs tail as it disappeared into the trees.

Julian quickly went after them both. The forest was very dark, and although their eyes had acclimated to it, it was all they could do not to run into trees. They both ran as fast as they could in the dark, all the while pushing off trees to get a better sense of their surroundings and the obstacles ahead of them. Cairo could hear the shuffling of his feet as he ran. He could hear the dog growling and running up ahead so he knew it hadn't caught up to Raina yet. They ducked under branches and around trees but could only see clearly when the moonlight was able to pierce the thick shadowy overcast of the pines.
Raina's legs were taking her as fast as they could carry her. She was quickly realizing what a bad idea it was to try to out run a canine, and barefoot nonetheless. She had given herself quite the head start on the wolf but she could feel him getting closer. The rustle of the dirt beneath his feet was getting louder and she could hear that his speed was effortless as he gained on her.

Remarkably, she hadn't stepped on anything sharp or prickly yet or perhaps she just hadn't noticed due to fear. Her legs burned, but it wasn't enough. The hairs on the back of her neck raised as she felt time slow in the split second that the wolf's back legs left the ground. Silent emptiness hung in the air along with the lunging beast. It's eyes were trained on Raina's neck, its jaws agape with rows of teeth at the ready. Raina blinked her eyes shut in anticipation. But her feet kept moving, even in what she thought was the last moment of her life.