Gregor watched Aslaug disappear into the night and soon had lost sight of her in the forest around them.
Full of pride, he turned back towards the castle and started running. His mind was full of different thoughts of the things he had been told, of the new things he had learned from Mother Aslaug, and the pressing truth that was slowly slipping over him. If the wolves had told him the truth and he had no reason to doubt them they had been honest to him thus far.
Then the only way his father would of died in that battle was if the king turned on him, Aslaug had said he was only there to help the wolves. That if he had known his wife was pregnant he would not have returned to help either side in the battle, he may have known his father. But at the same time he would've turned from his other sons, Gregor's brothers...
Gregor ran hard for hours, barely stopping to even get his bearings and was nearing the edge of the forest when he was brought to a sudden halt. He lifted his muzzle to the air and inhaled slowly trying to figure out what had caught him off guard, what had been so out of place.
Smoke.
It wasn't a simple hearth fire or some chimney smoke that was burning to thickly, this was a sure enough forest fire. He was sure of it.
Gregor began to look around him desperately wondering where it was and who would have set fire to the forest. His eyes found the glow of the flames -they were spreading quickly- and he saw the men responsible for the blaze. They were wearing the armor and colors of King Roderick, the king had sent them to burn the wolves out of hiding.
Gregor growled deep in his chest and he bared his teeth, angry. The edges of his vision were tinged with red and as he looked at the men that he would of called brothers days ago, all he could think was he wanted to taste that blood. Gregor turned from the path to the castle and he ran full force towards the soldiers putting their torches to the brush.
"Look it's one of the wolves!" one man cried suddenly.
"Put it to the sword! For Gregor!" another man called.
Gregor leapt right at the first man with the torch catching him full in the chest with his paws, knocking them both backwards. The man landed on his back with Gregor on his chest ready to strike at the next man.
The second soldier turned towards him sweeping his sword horizontally aimed at his chest trying to avoid hitting his comrade on the ground. Gregor ducked low then launched himself upwards snapping his jaws around the man's wrist. The man screamed in pain as the teeth pierced his skin, Gregor jerked his head to the side violently and he felt the man's hand give as part of his hand was torn off.
The man fell back and screamed in pain as he put his good hand over the bleeding stump.
Gregor didn't have time to feel sorry for the men, his own life wasn't out of danger yet the forest was already alight with flames. He turned to the path again and leapt away from the soldier beneath him who was starting to try to struggle for the nearby sword his comrade had dropped next to him.
Gregor started running through the forest again and he was saddened by what all he encountered before escaping the burning forest and getting into the clear air again.
There were more soldiers setting everything on fire and searching for the wolves swords at the ready. There were the villagers who were becoming homeless due to the fires and were struggling to escape to the safety of open air. The animals and humans that couldn't make it out were dead from either the smoke choking them or the flames consuming them. He also only saw a few of the soldiers actually helping people or trying to disuade the others from burning the forest.
