Wings of Wolves, Claws of Demons

Prologue

   Early in the morning, a squirrel perched on a fallen tree, nibbling on an acorn. His small gray ears twitched as he listened for danger. Moss coated the entire tree, cushioning it, so it was one of the squirrel's favourite places. A soft wind ruffled his gray fur.

Beams of sunlight shone through the canopy of trees, and the light caused the morning dew to shine in rainbow colors. A light fog twirled around tree trunks as song birds sang in the branches, concealed and safe within the sea of leaves. Soft breaths of wind rustled flowers and trees alike. The sky was a lovely light blue with very few clouds, and the forest below was thriving with life in the blooming lush green forest.

Above, two winged silhouettes illuminated by the rising sun, which the squirrel had taken for birds, wheeled and soared through the air, doing impressive acrobatics. One of the figures dived down from the sky, as the other took off in a different direction.

The squirrel saw the figure's approaching shadow and turned around, and came face to face with something... different.

It wasn't a harmless song bird, nor one of those hawks he'd seen steal countless other animals away into the sky, never to be seen again.

No. Not this. This was something else. It was something like a wolf. But this wolf had wings placed majestically upon its back.

The creature slowly spread out its massive wings to slow its descent, extended its neck, and opened its jaws. Its huge white teeth gleamed, a terrifying sight.

The squirrel felt small and helpless. He felt like he was dreaming, that this was just a horrible nightmare, or he wasn't really there, just looking through another's eyes. He was stunned with fear, and couldn't move. He stared into the wolf's deep eyes, and in the depths of the sea of emerald green was a shining intelligence, unlike any other the squirrel had ever seen. It was as if the wolf's eyes were draining his will to escape, and he was unable to tear his gaze away.

Then he saw himself reflected in the eyes, and he was jerked back into reality. It felt as if he had fallen into freezing cold water, as a deep feeling of dread washed over him. Time seemed to slow down as the squirrel made a mad dash, trying to escape, but the wolf's jaws closed around him, he heard an incredibly loud snap of teeth that brought an unbearable jolt of pain, and then he felt no more.