Blackbird

†Prologue† (Edited)

Ashes fell like snow, clinging to my midnight black fur, coating the ground. The smell of all that I ever loved burning hung heavy in the air, thick gray clouds and smoke kissed the charred trees, and the bodies of everyone I knew lay scattered throughout the remains of the village I once called home; their bodies twisted, gnarled, and broken. Their blood stained the earth.

Tears burned in my eyes as I padded through the soft, terrible ashes, scanning the fallen structures for any signs of life as I made my way to the other end of the village where I hoped my house would still be standing. Lifeless faces watched me walk by, silent screams echoed through the air. The children who I used to take on runs now stared at the sky with empty eyes and their parents lay close by, frozen in their final protective embrace. Elders who had given me food in exchange for simple tasks were charred beyond recognition, but somehow I knew who they were.

In the town square was a large structure with Daeus, the pack Alpha, strung up like a deer. His skin was streaked with soot and blood, a gaping hole in his stomach. His innards were piled at his feet and his tattered clothes moved slightly in the gentle breeze. I bowed my head, tucking my right paw against my chest, laying my ears back, and then slowly lifted my head to look at his corpse once more. Thunder rolled through the sky high above my head as the clouds darkened with my sorrow and as tears began to fall from my eyes, a heavy rain descended. I promised that, when the moon became full again, I would sing the Song of Honor to the gods above and pray for the god of Death to carry every lost soul to Paradise.

I bolted left down the path that led straight to my home, begging the gods that my family had somehow survived. My chest felt tight and my paws felt heavy as I ran past the mangled bodies and burnt houses. I wanted to ignore the horrible feeling in my gut, trying to convince myself that they had somehow escaped the death and flames, but when I reached the charred structure, I felt my heart shatter in my chest. The pain that ripped through me was so powerful I tasted bile at the back of my throat. From the sturdy tree that stood in front of our house where I used to lay under while I read hung four wolf bodies, evenly spaced apart, swaying in the wind.

The strength in my legs drained and I collapsed onto the wet ground before my mother, father, and twin baby sisters. The wet mud was cold, but I didn't care that it chilled me to the bone. I slowly retreated into my human form with my forehead pressed into the ground, my eyes squeezed tightly shut as I felt the sobs rise in my chest. My entire village, my family, everything that I ever loved, was destroyed; all of them, slaughtered mercilessly.

"For what reason?" I whispered aloud, hot tears pouring from my eyes. My long fingers curled into fists and I pounded them into the ashy mud as hard as I could. "What did we do to deserve this?!"

My voice rang out, slicing through the painful stillness, bouncing off the blackened trunks of the trees, echoing throughout the forest. I tilted my head back and screamed as loud as possible, as hard as I could, hoping that the whole world heard my pain even as my cry fell back down into choked sobs. My chest ached harshly and my body burned with anger.

I will find who did this. I will track them down and make each and every one of them pay for what they did to the ones I loved. I will make them suffer. I will make them pay in blood.

It took me four days to bury my pack and each day was the equivalent of being tortured in Hell. Memories flooded my mind with every face that I covered with dirt, making my chest ache once more, and provoking more tears with every body. I buried the children with their mothers, the fathers just a few feet away from them, up on the hill where we buried the ones that passed from old age and, rarely, sickness. At the top of the hill was a tomb that had remained untouched during the destruction of the village where the Alphas were laid to rest. After washing the filth away from his cold skin and closing up his stomach, I placed Daeus on a cart that escaped the worst of the flames and pulled him up the hill to the tomb and placed him in the stone coffin that was marked with his name. Once I had pushed the stone slab in place, I remained there for a few minutes, remembering the mighty Alpha for his kindness and bravery.