Ash: The Wolves of the World's End

Chapter 8

His dreams took him back to the island.

     At first, Ash's vision was black, but he gradually made out his surroundings. He was in a vast, warm cave. He looked down and saw he was laying on a bed of pulled up grass. It was a den.

     Wait, he thought; the inside of his mouth felt small and compressed, and he could barely feel his teeth. He sniffed the air; it smelled of a she-wolf. He called out to hear if he was alone, but all he heard was high pitched squealing.

     Another wolf had entered the cavern, and Ash nearly squealed. The wolf was huge; it stood at least four times his height. No, it's not huge, he realized suddenly. It's me that's small. The wolf's smell was familiar, but its memory was vague, like the moon behind clouds. But his own scent he knew well enough. I'm a pup again. And the wolf was-

     My mother. He awkwardly ran up to her, full of energy. His legs stumbled as they tried to propel him toward her, and he almost tripped. He heard the whines of the other pups as they ran to greet her. Ash scrambled back up, trying furiously to regain his lead.

     She laid down as Ash bounded up to her, licking her face affectionately. Whoah! He felt the ground fall from under him as she lifted him in her jaws. He bared his tiny teeth in exhilaration, not caring how many of his bones would break if he fell. The other pups barked at him enviously as she delicately set him down back on the dirt, and he felt his energy drain from him as she curled around him and the others, falling asleep.

     The dream shifted, and he was still in the den. His mother was still there, but the other pups had disappeared; where, he had no idea. He felt the urge to play with her again, but she growled a warning; it was full of love, but urgent. She snatched him up in her mouth, and Ash felt the air breeze through his short fur as she bounded outside. There was another wolf waiting. Father. The word popped into Ash's small mind.

     Before that, he had never been outside the den; now, it seemed so small in comparison to the expanse of star filled sky they were under. He felt a strange feeling as wind buffeted him back and forth in his mother's jaws, and the pup inside him wanted to go out and explore the grass. But he could smell something wrong. It was something from outside of his dream.

     The smell of smoke.

     The whole forest was up in alarm as his father and mother ran from the flames. Ash swung helplessly in his mother's mouth as she ran. Trees crackled and popped as their sap exploded from the heat. His father howled something, but Ash's mind couldn't grasp what he meant. He stared up at his mother's eyes, feeling her fear and her will to live mix with his own. He glanced at the ground, and wondered how his mother could run so fast. He felt every bump in the ground as she fled for safety.

     And all of a sudden, he heard a loud CRACK! and was in the air, carried by his own momentum, hitting the soft grass. Where was she?

     His mother lay under a fallen tree. He rushed to her side, tripping as his legs tried to adjust to the harsh, new environment. She was still moving, trying to pull herself free. He growled at the tree, but it was too late. The fire had caught up with them, climbing to the tops of the trees and bathing everything in yellow light. The wolf groaned, and Ash pressed his small body next to her head. She took a couple of quick breaths, and went silent.

     He didn't know how long he waited at her side as the fire raged on around them, but eventually he collapsed from exhaustion, vaguely feeling something poke at his side. "Ash!" a voice called, one that sounded familiar.

     A chilly winter gust of wind bit at him, and he opened his eyes to the frozen terrain of the real world. His nose stung from where the fire had bitten him, and he tried to remember what had happened. He tried to stand, but something around his neck pulled him back. His tail hit something hard and cold sticking out of the ground, and he turned as far as he could to get a better look.