Fangs and Roses

Chapter Thirty: Light in Darkness

 Alexander Lykos

I howled in pain as a wolf lunged to sink its teeth in my arm, flailing in mid-air as he shook his head. He let out a muffled whimper, but still refusing to relinquish his hold, as I sank my silver claws into his throat. It only took a couple of seconds before his body crashed to the ground, laying still among his fellow wolves.

We were clearing a path for our own warriors to pass through, bringing those from the stronghold along with them. It was extremely risky, especially with many of them not being able to move fast, but the mountains were our best bet.

My claws and teeth sliced through the intruders as they tried to pick off my pack members, the impact of my paws sending them flying into the trees.

The flood of wolves seemed endless, the more we put down, the more seemed to appear from the trees and our own seemed to be the only ones to dwindle. Each time we seemed to get the upper hand, one of the intruders would break a vial sending our wolves running from their posts, and those that were not fast enough... died in front of our eyes, the clothes around their noses not providing much of a barrier. This gave the other side time to regroup as they seemed to be immune to the effects of the poison. During that small break, it was up to me to prevent a successful regroup while I sent my wolves to deal with threats further away till the air was clear. It was extremely frustrating, but that was all we could do at this point.

My body ached from all the damage it had taken, and was exhausted from all the energy it had put it to heal my wounds over and over again. I looked up to see one of the intruders with a vial in his hands, smiling as he locked eyes with me.

*"Run!"*

There was chaos as everyone tried their best to get away as fast as possible, those who were able-bodied swept the injured, pregnant, elderly and young into their arms, but there were too many... some would have to be left behind.

I charged against the wave of people, trying my best to get to him before he could throw the vial against the ground... but someone else got there before me.

A russet-brown wolf had broken off from the group to lunge at the intruder, the two of them falling into thorny bushes by the time I reached them.

The intruder laid upon the thorns, scratches covering every inch of his exposed skin while blood poured from his throat, the red staining the white flower petals. I stepped over his body to look for the shattered remains of the vial, but there was none. I turned back to see that the intruder's arm had been bitten clean off. Guttural wheezing sounded from a nearby tree causing me to go over there, my jaw open in shock when I saw who rested at the base of it...it was Emery.

He sat propped against the tree, blood spilling from his mouth to cover his bare chest, wheezing as he took in fast and shallow breaths. His eyes were bloodshot as he stared up at me, spitting a mouthful of blood at my feet. My throat tightening as I saw pieces of glass in the small puddle... he had swallowed the vial. His head began to jerk in all directions, mouth opening to scream as he dug his claws into his torso, blood pouring onto the earth. I instinctively reached to pull his arms away, but he swiped at me with his claws before pointing to where the rest of the stronghold group had gone... I nodded as I left his side, his final wishes as clear as day.