The Vagrant Shadow

Chapter 8

A jolt of pain traveled through my body as an uneasy gurgling forced me into an upright position against the soft fur of the wolf. I did my best to ignore the pain as I lay on my side, feeling the warmth of the fur and the steady breathing raise and lower to the beating heart. A funky musk entered my nostrils as I lay perfectly still. My stomach churned as a painful bolt shot through my body and into my bladder. I sat up clenching my stomach almost feeling embarrassed to leave. Slowly sitting up, I looked around: the timbers slept soundly huddled against their father, who lay on his side, cold cavern floor touching his right side of his face. I looked towards the exit, where the moon shone brightly. Carefully I made my way towards the door I looked over my shoulder to see the white wolf once more. Her face was tucked in her tail, and she lay in a large ball. Her ears twitched listening to the sounds around her.

I followed a silent path through the woods to find the perfect spot that had both privacy and lighting. As I sat there against the tree, a slight shiver went down my spine; I could feel a set of eyes watching me, but from which direction I could not tell. Was the she wolf following me, making sure I was okay? I hadn't the slightest idea. I scrounged around for a pile of leaves and quickly cleaned myself up before heading to the stream. That same uneasy feeling wouldn't quit haunting me. The nervous shiver kept flowing down my spine. I knelt down on the river bank and washed off my hands, occasionally listening for any sign of danger. 

I headed back to camp, in the direction I thought I came. A feeling of dread washed over me as I looked at the trees--every last one looked exactly the same. The feeling if being watched didn't help my paranoia either. My mind played tricks as images danced to the tube of the forbidden songs of night. I looked around and clenched my fists in anger. “come on out you coward!" I demanded. Nothing moved except for the occasional sound of rustling branches that swayed in the calm breeze. I took a step back and bumped into something solid, and thick with coarse hair. A slop of pungent water landed on my shoulder as I felt heavy breathing blow through my hair. I spun around and gasped, picking up a large stick. There, standing before me was a great demon of the night. Shrouded in black, twelve inch fangs bared with breath reeking of decaying corpses. Paws stood at attention as claws gripped the earth, creating trench-like grooves in the hard soil. Eyes glinted and bewildered with a deviled glare. Dried blood was caked to the beasts muzzle as a smooth tongue ran over its fangs, savoring the blood that remained. 

A lone cloud moved out of the range of the moons glistening rays to reveal man who sat proudly with a gun clenched firmly in his hand. 

“Well, well," the man sneered, “look who came crawling back, and for what, to see my magnificent beasts. You don't really think that twig is going to protect you against nine hundred pounds of muscle?" he snorted as he shifted his weight. “Let me ask you this: if by chance you do manage to make it out alive, who’s going to believe you? These are restricted grounds, any sort of knowledge that you've been here, and you can find yourself in a heap of trouble, and God knows you don't need a criminal record, now do you Thomas?" he taunted, " I will tell you what: I will go easy on you. I will shoot you first, then let Ember here take care of the rest," 

My heart raced with adrenaline as I kept the stick firmly on my hand. I glared at the man who loaded bullets into his gun, and cocked it with the ammunition. 

“Don’t worry about them looking for you; I highly doubt anyone will miss you." he chuckled and aimed at me before firing. The shot went off, and I flinched, I didn't feel any pain. I blinked and looked around and saw that the man was thrown off his mount by an unseen force. His gun was knocked out of his hands and I made a dash for it. The black beast was faster than me, and blocked my path from escaping. Hackles raised as a sinister snarl erupted from her throat. It pawed the ground and flicked its tongue through its teeth revealing a pink gum line. I circled the beast half way before darting in the other direction. Yelps of pain and desperation echoed in the night from the man

"Ember, help me!" he pleaded. “Forget the boy, save me first," the black wolf shook her head and glanced at the human who was being constrained by the timber wolves. Each wolf clenched down on the man’s arms and legs while they put their full weight on him. 

Ember looked back at me and I glared at her. I raised my weapon and charged at her. She snarled and bounded towards me with vicious speed. I mmediately I ducked and rolled, just barely missing her claws. The wolf skidded to a halt, and snorted before lunging again, this time with accurate precision. I heard teeth clench as sharp enamel braised my ear. The man jeered but was quickly replaced by a yelp of pain. The wolf stopped and snorted through wicked fangs before letting out a growl of determination. I clenched the stick tighter and aiming the sharp end for her throat. The beast dodged and swatted me to the ground, sharp claws raking against my side. I stood up breathing hard and feeling faint. I stumbled towards her wearily as the man yelled with sheer devilish delight, which was once again silenced with a shriek of pain. I charged at her, and the wolf charged back with open jaws, but something pushed me out of the way--the white wolf. The large female snarled and tackled the black demon to the ground. Vicious snarls broke the tranquility of the night. I stumbled towards the white wolf, but was pushed back down by a firm but gentle paw--the alpha was protecting me from the ferocious dog fight. The fight raged on until the break of dawn; as the sun peeped over the horizon, I witnessed the conclusion of the horrific battle: the black wolf latched on to the scruff of the white wolfs neck and twisted it. The pleading yelp echoed through the forest with a terrifying crack! the black wolf dropped the white wolfs body--she was dead; blood erupted from the puncture wounds as the demon laid down and began to roll all over the white wolf, crushing bone and marking her scent over her kill. She then stood up and shook her pelt, before walking over to where the man’s unconscious body lay, and dragged him back into the forest--disappearing without another sound.