Tales Of The Wolf From The Fire

2

The she-wolf panted hard as she trudged through the snow on the caps of the  Bear Claw mountains. It's almost time she thought.  The pup inside of her womb was struggling and squirming. Its's father, however, was killed nine months ago.  The she-wolf's name is Artemis. now known as Akira.  A sharp pang whistled through her body.  She had to seek shelter to find a place to birth her pup in the almost blinding storm. Hail started falling and she ran. Seeing a sharp cut in the mountain, Akira quickly took shelter there. a frozen lake with a fairly roomy cave across the way.  She trotted as quickly as she could manage into the cave and went down deep. There, she found a cavern overlooked by glowworms. Ruins of statues and monoliths littered the area. She was ecstatic. She had found the MountainMover's clan room. Created by the Gods, it was designed for wolves to fit their every need. Before long the pain came back full force and knocked her off her feet. 

Warmth. Pushing. I was being jostled around. I feel a warmth around me but my nose smells something else. It's wet. Then I am pushed out onto something cold and hard. Something cold comedown and smells me. Then it was warm and wet. I was being cleaned. I go limp. so cold...

The pup she had just birthed was curling up. His thin body shivering and convulsing against the cold. She couldn't do much but watch. She brought him deeper into the mountain where it was warmer. She could do nothing now, but watch as her only pup took his last breath at only a few minutes old. Her heart wrenched and she sobbed. All day, and all night she mourned her son. she went out to the lake and tried to drown herself. but the lake was frozen over. She stopped moving and sniffed. Smoke. There was a fire. Then a small cry. The cry of a pup. Quickly she started running towards the base of the mountain and into the forest to try and find the pup before the fire could grow too large for her to search. A flaming branch fell and the flames lept up from it. Then something very strange happened. she could hear the cries getting closer. After that, everything went black.