Wolf pack

Past Demons

"Darling, I sincerely and lovingly ask you quit it right now."
Jynx frowned, making the hallucinations disappear. It felt odd to walk about in his own skin, having no images to control. Edit was already off wandering somewhere, likely causing more mischief.
Melody shook her panic away as the ground under their feet stopped crumbling. It had reminded her of her experiences in Kayla's caverns.

It was when the ground crumbled underneath her, breaking like thin ice. Except instead of falling into water she fell down onto solid rock, landing on her back. The fall had knocked the wind out of her, not just because of how she landed, but because of the demon that fell down after her.
Melody had named him Mark, because she was bad at names, and because of his ability to leave marks on her. The demon had not cared about the punishment for taking a victim, and he was fully intending to do all he could with her.
She could never forget that face: massive, bulging green eyes, horns curling around his thick, square head. Crooked teeth sticking out of the large, twisted mouth that could barely contain his oversized tongue. He had what appeared to be a dog-type nose after being smashed and deformed like clay. Spines tore out of his skin along his face, joints, back and tip of long, whip-like tail. Long, ugly talons fastened to four thick fingers on all four limbs.
Mark was an ugly demon to behold, one unafraid of the penalty for taking a victim.
The fall made her head scream for rest. The fall hadn't been dangerous enough to cause injury, but it did leave a bad headache and a back that refused to stop aching.
Having fallen, the light from the jewels above was barely visible, she could barely spot the stalagmites around her. She was grateful not to land on one.
Melody's eyes had not adjusted, so the only sight of the demon were the bulging eyes glowing through at her and the white fangs glistening with saliva.
"Get away from me!" Melody kicked the approaching monster, feeling the hard jaw absorb the shock.
Mark only growled, ignoring continuous kicks as he came closer. "I will only after I am satisfied."
Her back ached still, but she felt along the stone for a stalagmite and pulled herself to a stand, not letting the eyes out of her sight. "You will be horribly punished if you touch me, don't think you can get away with this!"
Mark's teeth disappeared and reappeared as his tongue brushed over them, eyes drawing closer as he did. His breathing was loud enough she could have tracked him by sound alone. "Now, now, fighting will make this worst, just relax."
She felt four strong fingers on her leg tighten and pull, threatening to knock her down.
Melody would not go down without a fight. She shook off the fingers, grabbed tightly around a small stalagmite and yanked it loose. Not willing to hesitate, she swung the rock and hit the demon's head.
Mark, of course, did not appreciate this.
If he was a larger demon Melody could not have stood a chance, as it was he was only about the size of a wolf. Still large and frightening, but fat and slow enough to give her a chance.
Soon as she saw them in the minimal light, Melody grabbed his horns, using all her strength to shove his head into the wall and into the rocks sticking up.
She started to feel she had the upper hand until he twisted his head to break her grip and used both forelegs to slam her onto her back. She quickly grabbed onto the horns on his jaw, trying to keep his mouth from reaching her.
It was not difficult at first, but her arms were getting tired as the muscular demon forced his power against her. She felt her lock start to break, the mouth drawing ever closer. His teeth did not reach her, but his tongue did. It was only a moment but that was all the drive she needed to push back stronger and get him off.
She kept her grip tightly on the horns and rolled to the side, his position on top of her slipping long enough she could stand again. "You will leave me alone! Get out of here vile demon!"
Mark shook his head free from her grip, slinking back in the shadows.
Melody waited a few long minutes before letting out a sigh of relief. Her eyes had started to adjust well enough to see the ledge above and pull herself back to safety.
No longer able to hear the heavy breathing, Melody approached the ledge and felt for grips to pull up.
It was too soon, Mark was not finished and pounced out of the shadows, giving a swipe to her head that made her dizzy.
She found herself unable to stand as her vision went black and she was laying down. Dull pain grew from her leg but it became sharp as her head cleared. The demon was dragging her deeper into the shadows by the leg, sharp teeth grabbing onto her calf.
They were moving too fast for her to attempt standing, so she reached around to grab a weapon instead.
The rocks rushed past her, teasing as she could touch them but could not get a grip on one. She felt her hands and fingers become raw as the floors grew rough. She demon would drag her faster and faster. She was growing too tired and bruised to keep the fight up.
No, Melody would not give up! She would not allow herself to- her head hit against a rock and her vision went black again.
Thankfully, when she awoke the demon was gone. At first she thanked Abby, but then discovered Kayla had saved her.

"Hmm, a little tight on the ears."
Melody snapped out of the gruesome memory as she realized she was squeezing Anu's ears tight between her fingers. She immediately let go. "Oh! I'm so sorry."
"Don't stop, I like it. No rides for free you know."
She played with his red ears again, feeling his entire body relax. "Now that is better." Anu didn't even bother to look at the others or open his eyes. "It smells like we are approaching Valia's oak fortress. That means we are close to Nimera."
Melody stayed silent. It felt odd riding another wolf, and as she looked at her traveling companions she found she knew next to nothing about any of them. Even Cleo she did not know. She had left when Cleo was a cit and met her again as a queen.
She was anxious to be away from Nate, but for the moment this pack didn't show aggression towards her, so she would relax as best she could.
"Melody, you're safe here. We have pasts just as you do and don't wish to repeat them." It was almost as if Anya could read her mind, then again, she could.
Anu huffed. "Oh I repeat mine, in reverse."
Jynx shuttered. "I know."
The blood wolf smirked and turned to the wolfpair. "Hey, you should try to read my mind right now."
Jynx and Anya immediately shook their heads.
"No? Not even try? These are really good memories." Anu licked his lips as red fluid dripped out of his fangs. "Lots of blood."
Cleo nudged against his side, nearly pressuring Melody's leg at the same time. "Not everyone has the same fascination you do Love."
Anu chuckled, smelling the air again as he led the pack. "Now, since the blue moon may not want to be found it is best we go through the lelivillian. It had guided you to her before, correct?"
Melody closed her eyes as she remembered. "Yes, and I named him Parker."
Anya laughed. "You met a massive, long-legged, scaly and speedy lizard and you named it Parker?"
"Yes."
"Speaking of, I got his scent. We'll have the lizard tracked down in no time."
Melody had learned fast enough to grab tight onto Anu's ears as he took off at breakneck speed. The trees and scenery flashed by in a blur, and she closed her eyes tightly.
Humans were poorly adapt to travel on wolfback.