Lily of Lupinia

Chapter Twenty-Six: Some Time Later

Two (almost three) months had passed. Lily had already spent the entirety of December and January on this island. It was the middle of the night before the first day of February when it happened again.
The howls. The loud pawsteps. The smell of fire and the sounds of trees crashing.
They were back.
Lily woke up, seeing that it was still nighttime. However, the night was not peaceful, as around her the trees, bushes, and grass were on fire. There were wolves running in different directions and sounds of howling, yelping, and snarling filling the air. In the distance, she could see a few wolves fighting infected wolves; she could tell from the crazed look in their eyes.
She was getting tired of every place she had chosen to reside in getting invaded. It was getting exhausting. But she knew she had to get up and run.
So, she did. She stood up and she started to run in the direction that most of the wolves were running in, dodging falling, burning trees and jumping over flames. She could smell the burning of wood and hear the snarls and yelps of wolves fighting. At last, she had reached the edge of the island, where she followed the big crowd of wolves as they began to swim in the water. The water was cold as Lily jumped in, the shocking, chilling feeling overwhelming her.
Lily swam with the other wolves for a very long time, and for a moment was surrounded by nothing but water around her and the night sky above her. She could feel herself growing exhausted. However, relief filled her when she saw a strip of land up ahead.
Lily kept swimming forward with the other wolves as she grew closer and closer to the land, until she had at last reached it. She felt relieved when her paws touched the earth again.
Though it was dark, Lily could see that this area had a LOT more foliage than the old island where they had sheltered. The more she wandered where she had followed the other wolves, the more she saw how mystical the island looked. She could see colorful crystals sticking out of the ground and trees with blue leaves. There was a big mountain with a waterfall running down it. When Lily looked above that mountain, she could see a few floating islands. The whole island was beautiful, not entirely pitch black but instead lit up by glowing colorful crystals. Lily went over to an area by a waterfall where there were many blue crystals and oddly blue plants, where she lay down and let herself drift off to sleep.

The next morning, when Lily woke up, she decided it would be a good opportunity to explore the island. She stood up and began to wander around. As she wandered, she saw many wolves of the Summer Tribe going about their day and was absolutely stunned by how beautiful this island was.
It was HUGE, and just as beautiful in the daytime. There was a central area surrounded by flowing streams, decorated with mushrooms, ferns, and flowers. There was a wooden billboard with a few papers on it, one of them reading the recent news; the papers must have been installed overnight. And the area around this central area was even more stunning.
As Lily had seen it before, there was a big mountain with crystals adorning it. Some waterfalls flowed down from the mountain, landing in small ponds and streams below. Above it was a floating island with a waterfall that poured down into one of the small ponds scattered in front of the mountain.

Opposite this area was another mountain that appeared to be covered in snow. On that mountain were snow-covered trees as well as more of those blue trees, and blue crystals. Part of the snowy mountain was opened up to shelter a big cave with a small pond in the middle. Opposite those areas was a grassy forest area adorned with many plants; the sun seemed to pour in especially here.

It had to be one of the most beautiful places where Lily had resided. But how long was it going to last before the infected wolves found it?