Darkness Rising ~ Book 1

Chapter 13

Kodiac perks his ears, the battle was already enough to send him hissing like a cat. To think they might have followed them made his heart drop. Why in the world had they wanted him anyways? He was just.. Well, he had wings, but he doubted any wolf other than his pack knew about them.

Fawn stands and slowly pads closer to the scent she kept her head low. Her tail swished behind her as she creeps closer, her ears perked, her eyes focused. "I said who's there? Come out!" she growled.

Soon, a soft brown colored wolf slowly shows himself. He was the wolf that had saved him, Fallen. Knowing that made everything better again, Kodiac sits up and smiles brightly at him. Fawn on the other hand just stared at him with hard eyes.

"That's Fallen, he saved my life." Kodiac puts in after the small staredown went on for a while. Finally Fallen shifts and takes a few steps back.

"I know who he is." Fawn said shortly. "But why is he here?" she asked, staring at him harder. Kodiak stands now, he slowly pads closer to the two brown wolves.

"Uh I saw you guys leave-" Fawn cut him off.

"So did everyone else." she growled.

"Well I uh was just wondering where you were going and uh decided to follow?" he ended in a question and shifted his feet.

Kodiac narrows his eyes and tilts his head. "I'm sure everyone else was wondering too." He replies with a soft scoff. He looks over at Fawn who continued to stare, it was no longer a hard stare. She was just lost in thought. "Plus, you're a forest wolf pack thingy, so like I almost got killed by them as well as wolfnapped." Kodiac shakes his head laughing at himself.

"Um, well yea i'm sorry about that.. but really I mean no harm." Fallen directed his speech to Fawn. His eyes seemed to be pleading with hers. Fawn growls and turns her back to him her eyes closed.

"So that's why you followed us? What if someone comes after you and they find us?" she growled. "This quest isn't supposed to end before it starts." she snapped.

Fallen lowered his eyes. "Don't worry about someone following me.. they probably won't even notice I'm gone at all.." he muttered.

Fawn's lithe body sagged suddenly. "Okay." she murmured. "You can come too." Without looking at either wolves she laid down at the edge of the clearing and curled herself into a ball, her eyes shut tight.

"Just like that?" Kodiac says staring at Fawn with hard eyes. "Just because of that you broke?!" Kodiac turns to Fallen and narrows his eyes. "I've got my eye on you bub!" He barks rather loudly. Fawn shh's him, he lowers his head slightly. "I know karate, don't mess with me." Kodiac whispers before smiling. He bounds far from the two wolves and plops to the ground.

Fallen stared at Kodiac, bewildered. "What?!" he barked. He looked at Kodiac like he was a crazy wolf, then turned his gaze towards Fawn. He took a couple steps closer to her and curled up a couple of feet away from her. "What is this quest about?"

Kodiac rolls on his back, stretching his legs out. "Some stupid prophecy about a paradise." He barks and rolls back to his stomach where he lays his head on his paws. The moon was high in the sky, it was full and shining brightly on the three.

For once Kodiac wasnt thinking about Felicity, he wasnt lonely either. Despite almost dying multiple times now, he was actually quite happy at where the Sky Wolves have led him. Soon enough, Kodiac was sure every wolf was sleeping but him.

He sits up slowly and flicks his ears. There was a sound of rustling, it made his fur rise. As it came and went, Kodiac began to calm down.

"The bird will soar," Fawn mumbles softly and turns to her other side, bring her paws to her muzzle. "To find the fawn."

~

As Fawn began to stir, Kodiak was still awake, for he couldn't sleep. His thoughts raged his mind, confusing him. Slowly she sits up with a yawn. Fallen had been up a few minutes ago and went hunting. As Fawn stood, he came back with a flimsy rabbit.

"Hay guys," he mumbled through the rabbit's fur, " This is all I could find, sorry. There's the reek of fox all over these woods and it seems to have frightened most of the prey away." He explained as he set the rabbit down by Fawn and sat down to her right. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked Fawn. Her pelt was ruffled and her eyes darted around almost nervously.

"I slept fine, thank you." She replied curtly. But Fallen could hear the waver in her bark and Kodiac could too. Fallen just nodded absently and took a bite of the rabbit.

Kodiak lowers his ears and blinks tiredly at the two. Fawn looks at him with narrowed eyes. She glances at Fallen then stands, slowly making her way to the white brute. "Hey guys, why do the packs hate me?" Kodiak asks with a chuckle.

"We should get going. I don't want to stay here any longer with foxes around." Fawn mumbled, ignoring Kodiacs question. Fallen looked away from Kodiac too a faintly embarrassed look on his face.

"Yea i agree with Fawn, lets just go." He barked and stepped towards Fawn.

"I'm not going until you tell me." Kodiac narrows his eyes and flicks his tail with a small sigh.

"They just don't know you.." Fallen began. He looked at Fawn with a slight tilt of his head and a pleading look in his eyes.

"Yea you're new that's all. They don't know if you're a threat or not." Fawn finished lightly. "Now can we go?" she asked a little impatiently.

"Sure." Kodiac pads past Fawn and looks around. "You realize I have no idea where to go right?" He barks turning around to face the two brown wolves. "The dreams I've had never told me where the hell this stupid paradise is."

Fawn and Fallen exchanged uneasy looks. "Well even so.. we're in it now and there's no going back." Fawn pointed out. "How about we go through the woods and head towards the lake?" she suggested. Fallen nodded absently and shuffled his feet like he wanted to say something. "Yes Fallen?" Fawn asked with a sigh.

"Well its just... I think I know where this place is... maybe i mean i could be wrong.." Fallen's voice trailed off when he saw them staring at him. Fawn looked thoughtful and Kodiac looked confused.

"It actually exists?" Kodiac narrows his eyes and looks at the ground.