Wolv

22 - Saving Spike

When I awoke, I could feel my flesh knitting itself back together. I rolled over on the cold ground, letting out a howl of pain. Please don't be bad, please don't be bad...I lifted my head up and inspected my back. Singed fur lined a dark streak of charred flesh that ran down my spine, ending just in front of my tail. My muscles tingled and burned as they healed themselves; after several minutes of staring at my burn, I could already see a noticeable improvement.

I coughed hoarsely and stood up. I was on a rock, several metres from the edge of the river. Across the waters, the forest glowed yellow, still engulfed in flames. A stiff wind had picked up while I slept, and the stars where slowly winking out as a band of clouds began invading the night sky.

"Is anyone there?" I called out, searching the shoreline and the forest next to me. No one answered.

"Hello? Spike, are you there? Hutch? Nadie?" I sniffed the air, but all I could smell was the acrid smoke. I sneezed, and sniffed again. There you are!

I trotted into the trees as rain began to drizzle down from above. Lightning flashed across the sky overhead, and I caught a glimpse of Nadie's tiny form, curled up beneath a spruce tree. Her chest rose and fell, sending ragged breaths out into the damp air.

A rain drop plunked down onto my nose, and I sneezed again, spraying it off. With every step I took, I could feel the charred muscles in my back pulling and straining against my movements. Dang, how long is this gonna take to heal? If I was still human, I would imagine that such a burn could easily take months to fully recover. But what about now?

The sky above finally unleashed itself, sending rain down in torrents. I squinted my eyes against the needle-like drops and crawled under the spruce tree next to Nadie.

On the other side of the river, thick, white smoke began billowing up from the trees as the storm doused the raging flames. Gradually, the forest began to dim as the fire died down.

A bolt of lightning flashed overhead, and a split second later, a deafening crack! shot through the forest in reply. Nadie flinched beside me, and her eye flicked open, searching.

She was still human--mostly. Her hands shook, and her lower lip quivered against the change.

"You told me to fight it," she rasped, and rolled onto her back. "And I did. But I'm so tired now."

I couldn't blame her. The past few days must've been exhausting for her. She hadn't had a dull moment once.

"It's okay now. I think we're safe."

"I just can't sleep!" she groaned, and coughed violently, clutching her gut. "I just want to rest!" she growled to herself, and winced as something cracked inside. She looked at me, studying my wolfish features through the slits of her eyes.

"How did you do it? Ahh! What did you do to get through?" she whispered.

I don't know! I didn't really know what to tell her, so I just shook my head. "Just don't fight it anymore."

"Uhhhh-huh!" she cried, and wrapped her arms even tighter around her stomach. She sat back against the tree trunk, but doubled over as her muscles spasmed again. She crawled away, as if trying to escape the coming pain.

"I'm too tired. I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can! C'mon, girl, you were built for this, much more than I ever was! You're gonna make it!" I pleaded, trying not to sound hollow. She wasn't the only one who was completely drained; if she wasn't changing right in front of me, I would fall asleep where I stood.