The Wolves of the Gems

Chapter 24

Northern Forest Pack Territory: Territory Border: Late Autumn

"Well, we're here," the large winged wolf, Matla, said as he flew down to the ground, landing on the territory border of the Northern Forest Pack. He looked back at the six approaching wolves and one wolf-dog.

"Finally," Chinook panted, sitting on his haunches.

"Keep your guard up, Nook," Ghost said as she stood beside him, "this pack consists of warriors, fighters who could take us down if they wanted to."

"Something I'm not looking forward to," Silver said, looking at the trees, flattening her ears.

"Let's get this over with," Darkness said as he crossed into the Northern Forest Pack territory, Nightsong and Stormcloud following. Chinook, Faita, Ghost and Silver looked to one another before they followed the three.

"I'll keep watch from above," Matla said before he spread his wings and took to the air. Faita looked to the sky, watching Matla go as she followed the group.

The trees stood tall and covered in green leaves. White puffs of air flew out of the canines noses from the cold. Winter was just around the corner, the wolves - all bar Silver - could smell it.

"So, how long before they figure out we're in their territory?" Faita asked the group, tilting her head as she walked.

"They already know," Ghost said, not looking back at the younger wolf, "they'll be watching us from the shadows."

Faita paused in her tracks, baring her teeth slightly before she ran up beside Ghost, "that's not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Ghost said, flicking her tail.

Nightsong stopped, raising her head as the wolves walked past her. She flicked her ears back, her eyes narrowing, "I guess you're not the silent type of warriors."

The six wolves stopped in their tracks and looked back at Nightsong, before they looked to the trees. At first glance, nothing seemed to be there, except shadows and leaves. But something was there, something in between the trees and bushes. Wolves.

"Stay by me," Darkness whispered to Faita, his teeth slightly bared to the wolves in the shadows. Faita nodded, moving to stand near him and copied his actions. Silver stood on the opposite side of Faita, keeping the midnight teen between herself and her brother.

Ghost and Chinook stood beside one another, facing different directions, snarling, seeing more wolves surrounding the group than first thought.

Stormcloud raised his head, standing tall. He was once again using his size as a deterrent, although he knew that size nor strength meant nothing to this pack. Skill and experience was all this pack relied on.

But the wolves in the shadows didn't move. They just watched. And it was not the curious type of watching. This watching was unnerving and waiting for the order to move.

Then rustling could be heard as two wolves stepped from the bushes and over to the group. The male wolf was a large brute, as big as Darkness, coloured grey and white. He was a fearsome looking wolf, his lips were raised revealing white, pointed teeth in a ferocious snarl. His companion though barely even raised a hair at the wolves. She was a beautiful, tree trunk brown she-wolf.

"Haven't your Rogues learnt your lesson?" The brute snarled, "or must my pack beat it into you once again?"

"We aren't Rogues," Chinook said as he looked to the wolves surrounding them, a snarl on his muzzle.

"Yeah right!" One pack wolf snapped, "tell us the next time you don't carry their scent."

"No, I carry Rogue scent," Ghost snarled back, "but I abandoned the Rogues a while back. I want to stop their rule."

"And I carry a scent that would be almost unknown to you," Stormcloud said, eerily calm as he stepped forward.

Many of the pack wolves backed away, even the grey and white alpha took a step back, merely at the size of the black wolf, whispering 'The Storm Wolf' to one another. But one wolf did not step back at the size of him, instead the tree trunk brown she-wolf took a brave step towards him.

"So you must be The Storm Wolf," the she-wolf stated, as she began to circle him, "I was expecting you to be bigger, but I'm still impressed. Many say you don't belong to a pack, but your scent betrays you, the scent of a Snow Pack wolf, a pack which has fought the Rogues almost since the very beginning. Why are you here with what seems to be a few Rogues, a wolf-dog and a couple of loners?"

Stormcloud bowed his head to the she-wolf, "Alphess of the Northern Forest Pack, I carry no lies in my words. I was given orders by my sister and Alphess of my pack to protect this group to collect the seven gems and return them to their rightful owners, the Guardians."

Laughter broke through the trees as the pack wolves and their alpha laughed. But they were almost immediately silenced when their alphess glared at them.

"Rain, I hope you aren't believing this," the alpha said as he walked up to her, "I know you're from far away, but these myths are nothing but stories you tell pups. The Guardians do not exist."

At those words, a rush of wind nearly blew each and every wolf off their paws, as large wing flaps filled the air.

"You were saying?" Chinook smirked as the large, white winged wolf flew down through the treetops. When he landed, the ground shook the moments his paws hit the ground. He folded his wings by his side effortlessly as he looked down at the much smaller wolves.

All of the Northern Forest Pack wolves backed away, their eyes wide. But once Rain lost her immediate fear of Matla, she grew inquisitive of him. Even where she had grown up, she had heard the legends of the Guardians, but even still, none had told of the truth. She was speechless, as was her pack.

"So, who's impressed?" Matla smirked as he looked over the wolves.

"I-I cannot believe my eyes," the Northern Forest alpha whispered as he looked up at the Guardian, "my whole life, I thought you were just a fairy tale."

"Okay, yes, my siblings and I were gone for over twenty thousand sun cycles, but how could you forget about this?" Matla said, raising his head, making Nightsong let out an annoyed groan, and, if she could, she would've put a paw to her face.

Rain shook her head, a small smile on her muzzle, before she turned to the trespassers, "we have much to talk about, and make sure to bring your... large friend, I'm sure the pups will want to play on him."

Darkness nodded. His companions relaxed their battle positions and followed after the pack, except for Chinook. He had looked back in the direction they had come from, flattening his ears. Something was making him nervous, something he was hoping he could avoid.