The Wolves of the Gems

Chapter 13

14 miles from from territory border: No Known Territory: Metal Trees: Early Summer

The six wolves walked through the metal forest. The metal trees rose higher than any biological tree and no leaves swayed with the wind, but the colour of the metal was the same as any tree trunk. A brown, some dark, others light. The metal machines humans once rode in, now sat abandoned, the rubber on the wheels long gone, the glass cracked or completely gone and the frame was the same colour as the buildings.

The former Rogue scout jumped on one of the machine roofs and sniffed around where the windows once existed. "How did humans even control these things?" Ghost questioned, mainly to herself.

"Humans are strange, but they are survivors, like any other creature that walks, crawls or flies," Stormcloud said, carefully taking in all the sights and smells.

"And the Storm Wolf speaks," Ghost raised her head and looked at the pure black wolf with the muddy white collar, his gem dangling down from the metal ring on the collar. Stormcloud looked at the gun-metal grey wolf who only looked away and jumped on the hood of the machine.

"How could they survive in this environment? Its so cold and dull, and it seems nothing could have ever lived here," Faita looked up, seeming to try and see the higher levels of the buildings.

"It may seem impossible for any animal to survive here, but to the humans, life here was easy," Darkness said, stopping in the middle of what was once a busy road.

"So, what happened to the humans?" Chinook jumped onto the back of one of the machines, his claws clicking on the rusted metal.

"A sickness nearly drove the two-legs to extinction, the survivors either live peacefully and away from any animals in small cave-like things, or they continue to hunt our kind and every other creature," Ghost explained, though her words were laced with hate towards the humans.

When Ghost mentioned humans hunting wolves, Chinook flattened his ears against his head, remembering what had happened a year ago. Darkness was the first to notice this.

"We better keep moving," he said and the others followed, though Ghost raised her eyebrow and tilted her head before jumping off the rusted machine and followed the group. She too had seen Chinook flatten his ears, but it was how Darkness reacted that intrigued her, and unlike Faita, she was not afraid to ask questions.

But as she opened her mouth to speak, she noticed Silver had stopped and was looking at the path the six had already taken, her ears perked. "Silver?" Ghost walked up to her, her own ears perked high.

"I'm guessing you can't hear that?" Silver said, turning her head to the slightly smaller wolf. Ghost shook her head. Then suddenly, a loud howl pierced the air. The four others stopped in their tracks, their heads turned towards the sound.

"Who was that?" Faita asked, worry and surpirse traced her voice.

"Eon," Darkness and Ghost said in sync, but only Ghost flattened her ears, except it wasn't in fear.

"I suggest we run," Ghost said, turning to Darkness.

Darkness nodded, "agreed."

The six wolves headed to the denser parts of the city, trying to evade the oncoming wolves. But as all attempts became unsuccessful, the group had to split up. Darkness and Faita ran into one of the ruined buildings, racing up the stairs to each floor.

Suddenly the male stopped. "Faita, keep going, I'll catch up later," he ordered. The midnight teen nodded and continued up the stairs. Once Faita disappeared, Darkness turned back to the two Rogue wolves coming up the stairs. The two Rogues stopped in their tracks and one of them a dark brown, the other was black and dark grey, Eon.

"Stand aside Darkness and we may tell Victoria to go easy on you and accept you back into the pack," Eon offered, his usual smirk was not present at the time.

"I will never rejoin the Rogues, and I will never stand aside, Eon," Darkness growled, jumping down the stairs, landing between the two. He attacked Eon first, grabbing him by the neck and slammed him against the wall. As soon as the dark brown wolf launched at Darkness, he quickly moved out of the way. The two Rogues slammed into one another, but it seemed to be their plan all along. The second Rogue quickly took her chance and ran up the stairs after Faita.

Darkness was about to run after the Rogue, but Eon stood between him and the stairs. "Guess we have something in common Darkness, I won't stand aside either," he smirked. Darkness roared as he attacked the older male. Eon simply dodged this time, as if he knew the dark grey wolf's every move before he even made it.

"Make this easier on yourself Darkness and stand down," Eon said as the two began to circle each other.

"I will not stand down, not as long as I'm still able to stand," He snapped towards Eon.

"Very well," Eon's smirk once again disappeared as the two launched at each other. The force could almost shatter bones. Darkness swung around, his jaws wrapped around Eon's neck. Eon clamped down in front of Darkness' shoulders and tore him off. Eon could taste Darkness' blood as he lifted him off the ground and threw him down the remainder of the stairs. Eon stood where he was as Darkness laid at the bottom of the stairs, unmoving.

Pleased with his success, Eon turned around and headed up the stairs following his packmate and the midnight teen. The old male followed the scent carefully, to make sure he didn't lose Faita's scent on any one of the floors. It turned out Faita had only made it up three flights of stairs before she had been forced to go into one of the rooms. Eon walked through the door, his head held high, looking around the old human office. In front of him laid the body of the dark brown wolf, its bones shattered inside its very own body. Eon narrowed his eyes at the body of his packmate, then his attention was suddenly turned to the blood trail leading away.

"Come out, come out lil' Faita," he called, chuckling at the end of his words, "I'm all you've got pup, you're friends have abandoned you and you've got no family left." Eon walked down the isle between the desks.

Under one of the desks hiding was Faita, cleaning a fresh wound on the side of her chest near the necklace that the blue gem hung off. She could see his light grey paws through the gaps between the desk and the dusty and grotty floor. As Eon got closer, Faita got to her paws under the desk and crouched. She was ready.

The moment his paw touched the ground in front of her, she rushed out of her hiding spot. Her teeth were bared as she launched in the air, landing on the old wolf's back. She clamped down on the back of his neck and hung on. Eon growled as he tried to get to the teen off him. He suddenly slammed his side into one of the desks. Faita let go of the black and dark grey male and jumped off, landing on the desk. She ran along it before jumping off the far side and disappeared behind some rotten boxes.

Once recovered, Eon shook his head and neck, the small teeth wounds on his neck stung but were more of an annoyance than anything.

"So you're a wolf who likes to ambush," he chuckled darkly, "I'll tell you one thing Faita, an ambush only works once, because now I know how you attack I won't be decieved again." He followed the small blood trail to behind the boxes, his pawsteps quiet against the hard ground. Eon spotted the young teen, her attention away from him as he assumed she expected him to come from a different direction. He snuck closer, his mouth open slightly. The old male wasn't going to make the same mistake Faita had, he was not going to let her live when he attacked.

The old wolf managed to get right behind her before Faita even noticed Eon was there. He let out a growl, his mouth wide open, his sharp teeth ready to come down on the teen's throat. Faita closed her eyes and prepared herself for the pain to come.

But it never came.

The only thing she felt was something liquidy and thick hit her front paw, then two more drops. Faita opened her blue eyes slowly, before widening them.

Standing over her, was Darkness.