Wolves of the Elements| #1 The Lost Heir

Chapter 16

It was the dawn of the next day, and news of Lightning's death spread across Cloud Hill. Many wolves mourned that morning, for Lightning and all of the other's that were lost in the battle.

Freya peered through the tall grass at the edge of the Misty Meadow. She was downwind, and far enough away that no one would really notice her at first glance, but she was close enough that she could hear everything that the head Coroner and some other wolves were saying.

Lightning might have been mean to her, but she was still her brother. He had still been family... and if she could be honest....she was sad he was gone...

No, she didn't miss getting bullied and taunted every single day and getting beaten up by everyone. She didn't miss the mean words that they talked her down with, and she didn't miss the scars and endless fear she felt every time she went outside..... But she still missed him. Because.....? ... Well, she didn't actually know... Why would she miss someone who had hurt her?

Freya's purple eyes drifted to her mother's grave. Mist had been buried here some moons before when the sickness, Galbaities, had plagued her and killed her.

It may have been only a few moons ago, but it seems like a lifetime since Freya had been held in her mothers warm embrace. "I miss you, mom..." The purple eyed pup whispered quietly.

As the funeral started, Freya looked around at all of the wolves that had gathered around, there were a lot of them...more than there had been than at Mist's funeral. More than half of them were young teens and wolves around her age, she noticed.

Lightning's friends or wolves he had influenced. She thought.

There looked to be close to a hundred in attendance- and those were just the pups and teens.

Freya looked around and tried to spot any familiar faces, she noticed some of Lightning's closest friends- the pups that were in the Gang- were sitting near the front. Her eyes drifted over to Torrent and she flattened her ears against her head as the memories from the day before played in her head. The betrayal... The broken necklace... Had it all really been yesterday morning that they were still friends? How could things have happened so quickly..? And just yesterday, Lightning had been alive before the Ice and Earth Wolves invaded Sky Pack territory... and now he was gone forever.

She decided to move on and see if there were any other familiar faces she recognized, and she spotted Blaze and his father, Ash, in the front row. Beside them was Storm, Freya's father and Cloud, her brother. Everyone looked so sad...Cloud especially looked miserable.

That makes sense... Cloud and Lightning had been very close....they were practically inseparable.. She thought.

Despite the mixed feelings she had towards him, she actually felt sorry for him. She remembered losing Mist... It had been hard... She imagined losing her mother and her best friend brother... Was it worse for him..?

She looked back at Storm. At least he had a father that loved and cared for him... Unlike her, whom he hated.

A wolf stepped up to the front of the crowd, his back facing her. All of the conversations died down and everyone pricked their ears to listen to him. He was the head Coroner, the wolf in charge of organizing funerals. Freya also recognized him from Mist's funeral.... He must be a busy wolf...

"Thank you everyone for coming here this morning..." He began, "Today, we celebrate the life of Lightning, firstborn son of Alpha Storm of the Sky Pack.

"Lightning is gone now, yes... but he died a hero. He had been brave, loyal, and influenced many of the young wolves in this Pack... including my own son." The Coroners' eyes searched through the crowd until they landed on a young Skylek Wolf, around fourteen. All eyes turned to look at him for a moment, before turning back to the front.