Discovering The Wild Side (Book 1)

Chapter 3: The Magical Ones

Leafpaw stopped, abruptly. He said, "We are here." I looked at the rock wall in front of us. I turned and looked at him with a look of confusion. He said, "Follow me." He stepped through the wall and disappeared. It was like magic. I reached out a paw and tried to touch the rock wall. But, my paw phased through it. I stuck my head through. Inside was a whole new world. The rest of my body followed my behind my head and I tumbled into this new world. There were wolves with wings. Wolves without. Wolves with more than one tail. Wolves with all different colors and patterns. Two of the wolves bigger than the others. This new world was like a fantasy to me. I looked among the wolves and recognized one familiar snout. It was Amberwing. I raced my way down to him. I nearly tackled him. I hugged him, taking him by surprise. When I let go of him, I said, " Hello again, Amberwing! It's so nice to see you!" He smiled at me. Then, someone else approached Amberwing, Leafpaw, and I. They never took their eyes off me. Leafpaw and Amberwing back away. The wolf said, "Come here, Cloudheart. Let me look at you." I looked between Leafpaw and Amberwing. They nodded at me and Leafpaw gave me a reassuring smile. I approached the new face. I sat in front of them. They circled me. Studying me.

She stopped a couple times to whisper something to Amberwing. Soon, she stopped circling me. She said, "Cloudheart, I need you to take a deep breath." I did as I was told. "Let it out slowly. As you let it out, clear your mind. Close your eyes. I want you to think of the one thing that makes you happiest. Embrace it and feel it become a part of you." I continued to do as I was told. As I did, I felt a weird tingling feeling throughout my body. "Open your eyes now, Cloudheart. Go over to the small pond and look at your reflection in the water." I opened my eyes. Amberwing and Leafpaw were smiling at me, but they looked surprised. I walked over to the pond. I stared at my reflection and nearly jumped from surprise. I wasn't a normal black fur wolf anymore. I was somebody entirely different. I felt different, too.

I was ugly before. But now.... I was beautiful. The white wolf said, "Cloudheart, you are the most unique wolf of us all. You have more than two forms. You have 5. This is the second weakest one. Your weakest form is your normal wolf form. My name is Silentmist. This here is Honeypelt, my second in command."

Honeypelt stepped up next to her. She didn't seem too happy with my prescence. "Anyways, I want you to get some rest. We will try to discover this form's strengths tomorrow. Leafpaw and you will be sharing a den for now." She turned to Leafpaw. "Show her to your den." He nodded and motioned for me to follow him. As I followed him, I noticed that Silentmist's second in command was glaring at me. I glared back. Now she seemed like she wanted to hurt me.

"This is it. It's not much, but it's something." Leafpaw said as we entered the den. "Your bedding is over here in this corner. It's the most private. Mine is over there, if you need anything. Get some sleep. You'll need it. Wake me up, if you need anything." I nodded and circled, then laid down in my leafy bedding. I covered my eyes with my tail, so that Leafpaw couldn't see me my wandering gaze. I watched him as he laid down on his bedding and closed his eyes. I eventually fell asleep.