Wolf Warrior

Thirteen

It was early in the morning when I was woken up. Today was battle day. I stood up, brushed leaves off me. (which was futile, as I'd get mucky again but a girl's got to try to keep herself clean right?) I picked up my bow and arrow quiver too. Then, I walked to the assembly point where Snowdrop Army would meet up to discuss battle plans and tactics. Soon, everyone arrived and we had a short meeting before we all got into groups to attack from 6 directions. One by one, I saw each group disappear off into the shady woods, with my group leaving camp last.
"Think positive, stay strong." Brindlemark's words echoed in my mind.
My group; Franky, the she-wolves and 3 bears, 3 dog-sized bats, clambered over sharp rocks, ducked under trees and went through Brambles as we journeyed to the place where we would attack. Well, the bats flew there but they had to fly really low, to avoid giving away our position. I felt quite sorry for the bats, as I could see they really wanted to fly a lot higher, where the branches weren't scratching them but I knew I had to keep focused and not worry about them, or I'd messs up, possibly giving the game away. We stalked around the scratchy pine trees, avoiding branches overhead. Several times I hurt myself but I didn't dare cry out in case I revealed my teams position. All the time while we were travelling, my heart was beating like a drum. Finally, after leaping over a grassy bank, my group saw where we were supposed to go. Barely making noise, we all slipped behind some large granite boulders, sitting on the brown pine needle forest floor. The atmosphere behind those rocks was really strange. I could feel the tension of all the other fighting animals and I felt myself grow tense. If I was a wolf, I would've raised my hackles. We lay there, shivering with excitement, waiting for Moonlightgrowl's attack signal. We waited. And waited. Then, as the sky began to cloud over with thundering, angry clouds, an ear-splittingly loud howl ripped across the forest. That was the signal. We all sprang out from behind the boulders, brandishing our weapons or baring teeth and unsheathing claws. Hackles were raised, teeth were chattering as we all charged towards the central forest, where the Nightstar army was. I ran as fast as I could go, putting an arrow in my bow and bracing myself for impact. From this distance, I could already see some Nightstar warriors ahead of us. The cats, unicorns,hounds charged at us on sighting where we were. I drew back the string on my bow and fired, the arrow killing a Nightstar cat. The warriors screamed, wild eyes looking hatefully at our group. Then we clashed. The Nightstar and Snowdrop army descended into confusion and chaos. My heart was hammering hard as clawed paws lunged at me, fur filled the air and constant animal distress calls pierced the once peaceful wood. Constantly avoiding the magic bolts and clawed paws and snapping jaws made me feel on edge as I reloaded my bow. But somehow in amongst this turmoil, I found an ideal target. I spotted a dark, mangy unicorn with rolling eyes, searching for something. Reloading my bow, I drew back the string. On a normal day, drawing back the string quickly would be hard. But in a situation so extreme like a battle, the challenge I faced here was almost unreal. I was shaking as I pulled back the string, even though I knew where my arrow would land. It would hit the unicorn perfectly. But then I saw something so strange. The Nightstar cats were transforming! Slowly, their tabby coats grew thicker and some got manes. Their paws grew larger and fatter and their legs and body extended, their fur going orange and black or golden brown. Their ears rounded and they opened their mouths, roaring furiously. They'd turned into lions and tigers! At that moment, my mind drifted off to an event that had happened years ago. The incident where I'd rehomed a tabby from this forest and found a tiger in my room. I shuddered at the memory of seeing those amber eyes staring at me with so much fury. But now it made sense! I'd unwittingly rehomed a Nightstar warrior, who transformed into a tiger and tried to kill me as it must've known I'd one day join Snowdrop Army! But then I realised I'd allowed myself to be unfocused. Idiot! I thought to myself. But it was too late now. My targeted unicorn had seen me. It was galloping towards me, making a shrill, moany neigh.

I had no choice but to run.

I ran away from the battlefield, sprinting past trees and heather, bracken, brambles. I breathed heavily as I ran for my life, although I was exhausted. But then a tree root got in the way. I tripped, fell and I winced as the forest floor badly grazed my knee. The unicorn reared on his back legs, eyes almost looking white, hair a shiny-looking jet black. He shook his ragged head menacingly as he shot lightning bolts at me. Screaming, I dodged the bolts and hit arrows into him but he would hurt me soon... I fired an arrow into his flank and he shrieked, bucking. Everything seemed to go in slow-motion then. His hooves slammed into my thigh and I was thrown far away... out of the forest... I landed somewhere in a field and when my head hit the ground I lost conciousness.

All I remembered after that was darkness.