The Iron Wolf

In the Gloom

     Moonlight filtered through the skeleton trees of the BadLands, the light shattered down upon the dim forest floor. Dead branches swayed gently in the breeze, the night wind accompanied by a biting freeze. The air drifted heavy with something dark, leeching into the BadLands. Nothing grew here any longer. The land had been salted by evil, once fertile soil only sowed blood and bone now.

     Slow shapes moved in the dark, shambling though the carpet of dead leaves that littered the ground. Much quicker shadows moved up in the trees, running with practiced ease on thick branches, leaping from tree to tree. The figures were shrouded in pelts, the dark fur of the northern wolf gracing each of their shoulders. All except one, the leader who moved with unmatched grace through the trees. They wore a different pelt, one whose fur gleamed dark silver in the weak moonlight. The pelt of the giant beasts that prowled through the King's Forest. An Iron Wolf.

     Both shambling shadows and the wolves moved towards one point, where wavering fire light and voices staved off the gloom that shrouded the woodland. Weary men ate and drank around a small pinpoint of light among the trees. Their chests were decorated with the King's crest, a grey wolf in a field of poppies, marked them as soldiers of the GoodLands' Army. A small section probably sent to patrol and collect taxes from the towns that still dared to border the BadLands, away from the Walls. So close to the edge, just a day's march to the first of the border towns, it gave a sense of security to the group of soldiers who knew not how the trees talked. Of how whispers carried in the winds and how stones watched with unblinking eyes. For there were things to be feared in the
BadLands, where nothing living ever resided...

     The pack stopped, unseen high above the group of soldiers. They crouched low, deep in the shadows that the firelight could not touch. Slowly, they moved down through the branches, the heads of the pelts they wore pulled low over their faces, stopped where the fire light met the gloom. They dare not drop down towards the ground. Only the faces of the wolves they wore were touched by light. The pack leader slowly stood, drawing the eyes of the soldiers to the Iron Wolf. Neither said not a word, only exchanging stares till the wolf lifted their hand to reveal a slashed palm and the blood that dripped down to the ground. The message was clear. A few drops of blood meant fate worse than death among these trees.

     The soldiers scrambled, their captain shouting for bows and swords, other soldiers of the section hurriedly stamping out the fire. The light faded, the soldiers now all armed. They were quick in the face of terror, their training was certainly not lacking, the GoodLands' army had seen to that. But no amount of training could truly prepare for what haunted this dark wildwood. Even the most seasoned soldiers' hands shook when a green boy whispered of moving shadows.

     With swords and bows raised and ready, the section of soldiers waited with bated breath, still holding to hope that maybe the blood wasn't enough, maybe they were just close enough to the border town. Maybe... but in vain they hoped. They lashed out at flickering shadows, both unreal and not. They knew their fate when the first moan oozed through the gloom, a lonesome sound that seemed to come from all directions. Cries of fear and pain rang out as the wolves watched, safe in their treetop perches. The once so safe section now was in chaos, green boys and veterans alike deserting into the trees, so desperately trying to escape the clawing hands of the shambling men who came where nothing lived.

     The pack watched, the eyes of the wolves they wore unblinking to the gruesome scene that unfolded before them. The pack stood with their leader in the branches, the Iron Wolf lifting their head and howling, a hollow and rage filled sound that echoed through the timberland. The pack followed suit, filling the night with their howls to mask the screams of the damned.

Chapter 1 in the works now!!

~TheWanderingQueen