Nobody really knows what it's like to walk into friendly fire, because frankly nobody has lived to tell the tale, but for Lesli it was a different kind of feeling--an obligation to protect these animals no matter the cost, even if itself lead her to demise, she felt a sort of pride glowing in her. To be mounted on a Belgium-sized gray wolf, holding a staff of surrender, she almost felt like Mel Gibson in Braveheart.
With her feet firmly planted at the wolves flanks she grasped the white flag firmly in her hand as she approached the clearing, she looked down at Aurora and whispered in her ear.
"You know what to do," Aurora, indeed knew what to do, even though they had not discussed the proceedure, she tilted her head back, and gaped her maw open slightly and howled an eerie moan. Lesli watched from the brush as the men lowered their weapons and looked around trying to determine where the sound was coming from, with no little time to waste, Aurora prodded her way through the brush with Lesli proudly on her back. Lesli waved the white flag, yelling at the top of her lungs:
"Don't shoot! THEY ARE NOT HERE TO HURT US!" Gene waved three times pointing to the forest as men surrounded the wolf. Aurora let out a protective growl as men attempted to pull her from her mount, while Aurora was distracted, men from all sides threw ropes around Aurora's muzzle, and began to tie it shut. She snarled with such ferocity that she forgot that Lesli was on her back as she began to buck wildly. Then men managed to pull Lesli from her mount as they dragged her off to the paramedic van.
"Check her for wounds, take care of any cuts, scrapes, bite marks this beast may have inflicted" Gene's voice shouted over the ruckus of the snarls coming from Aurora. Being at the disadvantage Lesli was, she was literally helpless due to her immobility. Fierce commands echoed through the commotion as he barked even more orders.
"Infiltrate the forest, seek out and destroy any other mutants you can find!"
A shrilling scream came from Lesli as he heart raced and tears filled her eyes. He turned to the child and briskly walked past her.
"It has to be done," he muttered.
"YOU MONSTER!" She screamed, "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, TO THOMAS?" she cried.
"Monsters are made, never born you should know that," he said gruffly, as he walked away from the scene, in a few short moments, there was a heartbreaking yelp as Aurora fell victim to humanities cruel behaviour and to the ground her lifeless body fell.
******
Thomas sat upright as he heard footsteps from soldiers approach from all directions, he remained hidden from their sight as he watched their movements. Their stout figures moved carefully from the trees as their guns lay close to their chest, elongated fingers formed a sideways C against the trigger of their automatic weapon. He kept a careful watch as he followed the their trails distinctly, and when he saw an opening, he made a dash for it. Cupping his hands together while jumping over brush and fallen pine, he let out a lone howl, warning the wolves to retreat and evacuate the forest. He met up with Wisdom, who was badly injured, but still able to flee on three legs.
"I thought you were dead," Thomas asked, running along the black lupine. The lupine chortled a little bit, as he hobbled over dense vegetation and kept his nose to the ground picking up unfamiliar scents.
"This way," he barked as he veered to the left. Thomas followed close behind to the best of his ability. Skin scratching against the rough bark of trees left splotches of blood on white pine that reopened cuts that were already almost healed. Wisdom, lifted his head back, sticking his nose to the air, as he looked at Thomas with concern only for a milisecond, then looked back to the trail.
"The pack is regrouping by the waterfall, its a secluded place so these humans shouldn't be able to find it, and by the time they do we will be long gone..." he went solmn for a moment. "I should add, Ember will be there, when we heard Aurora's dying yelp, we decided it was best not to kill each other, we have bigger threat. She maybe a killer, but we are still a family, and like your family, we have to stick together."
He grumbled a few intangible words, then halted in front of a waterfall where sound of rushing water poured into the lake bed like an overflowing kettle of boiling pasta. Thomas slowly followed Wisdom down into a small gully where the river flowed freely. Through the frigid water, they both were in the cavern, damp and unamused by the choice of location, but it was the only place they could hide. Shaking his damp black coat, Thomas lifted his arms over his face and wrinkled his nose as the smell of wet dog held prevalent in the secluded cavern. Water dripped from the ceiling as the lupine huddled together for warmth.
Thomas looked around at each lupine and noticed that Embers eyes were not as red as they were; granted they still spelled hatred, but for some reason, there was a sense of sorrow behind the bloodshot eyes.
"I gathered you here today, tell you that I am stepping down from Manny's side, and joining Thomas in the fight to bring down his corrupt mind and to end his suffering," Ember began, "This does NOT mean that you can rub against me like you are my pup. You are still human and still reek of that human stench, but granted, I realize that too many lives have been lost already, too much suffering has been executed for this to go on. With that being said, we must devise a stategic plan to cause the humans to back down and make them listen to us, although we cannot speak the tongue they do, Thomas will be our interpreter," Ember licked her muzzles as she bent down for a drink for water that formed by her paws, before speaking again.
"The only reason why Aurora lost her life is because she succumbed to them and assumed that they would go easy on here because she was different than her. NO! Humans fear what they do not understand if we are going to bring Manny down we are going to be on the same page as them. Right now as we speak these soldiers are looking to terminate us. That is why we will stay here till nightfall, Then we will depart. Thomas will ride on my back since Wisdom is to injured to carry any weight, we will follow different trails, so that we can cover our tracks if we are to be pursued, until then, Layla and Fang will hunt together since they look like each other, they mirror each others moves that way if they are spotted, they will be able to confuse the humans and retreat until we can send someone else to hunt," The wolves nodded in agreement and looked around before they went to their seperate corners to lay down.
"Thomas a word?" Ember asked.
"Of course," he replied as his heart raced. Ember padded out of the cavern as she stood close by the rushing water so that the others could not hear their conversation.
"I don't want you to get any ideas, about you and I. I know that your species killed Aurora, and for that I hold you accountable. I have no desire in getting close to you, but soon as we are done here, if you ever set foot on our territory again I will personally rip you from limb to limb and leave your corpse to rot for the birds to peck at, do I make myself clear?" her voice was cold, and it pierced Thomas in a way no words could have ever done.
"Perfectly."
YOU ARE READING
The Vagrant Shadow
Teen Fiction"Monsters are made, never born" When Thomas Bravier stumbles across a pack of wild wolves he notices something strange about them: they are not like normal wolves, they are smarter, bigger, deadlier. Someone or something is mutating their genetic...
