Everything happened slowly at first. Then, like the tumbling rocks themselves, things began picking up speed, until they had reached – and even seemed to surpass – their normal pace.
For me, anyway. As a Pack, we took off down the mountain like a box of explosives starting to crackle all at once.
The result would be loud, chaotic... and with any luck, deadly.
*Run! For the Alpha!!!* Surry cried. The chant was quickly taken up by the others.
"For our HOME" I breathed.
Our feet ransacked the snow and gravel in a torrential pounding. Ahead the gr
Sorry this chapter is such a short one!! I usually take a few days off at the beginning of each month to relax and collect myself :) The next chapters will be following regularly! As always: thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day!
Rubble. And snow. And blood. How long had I been fighting? Seconds? Minutes? Days?I clenched my teeth. *Surry! What's happening on your end??*There was no reply.*Surry...?*I spun in the circle. Which way was north? Which way to the center of camp? I seemed to have lost my bearings."Cillium!!" Shit!I winced as I yelled. Touching the side of my face, my hand came away covered in blood. No surprises there, though I didn't even remember receiving the injury.
My face hit the snow with tremendous force. For a moment, my world went too dim for sight or sound, but I vaguely heard a ringing in my ears and felt the large mass pressed against my body ease up somewhat, then redouble in its efforts to crush me.But nothing cracked. In neither my face nor in my body, nothing seemed to give way, of that I was fairly sure. Probably.I gasped for breath and struggled to keep my eyes open. Black spots danced across my vision. Instinctively, my hand began reaching out across the earth, hoping to find some kind of purchase – anything – that might serve me.The man above me dug his claws haphazardly into my neck, feeling around clumsily. His movements seemed desperate, hasty. If anything,
Julius squirmed, but I did not relent. Part of me knew I was acting too rough with the boy; and on a battlefield no less! But LUNA. Was he TRYING to get himself killed? When I spoke, it was with a barely contained fury that verged on tears. "Do you even know what I would do, Julius, if you got yourself killed out here? Because I don't. If you threw away all of my efforts to protect you and your friends, just so you could come and play hero for a while?" He'd stopped trying to move, and I released him. Slowly, I rose to my feet. My legs ached. My arms ached. My head felt compressed. I squinted, scanning my surroundings, while the glare threate
Chains clinked and snapped this way and that, but to Rufias it seemed that there were always more to be broken."Get yourselves to a safe distance!" Surry called as the last of the prisoners became free. "If you can't defend yourself, we will escort you! Oh, Fawn, your arm is bleeding..."Always more chains. This wasn't the first time.That didn't stop his eyes from tearing up, as Rufias embraced one after another of his beloved family, each thought to be lost, before ushering them on their way out of the old warehouse and into the sunlight.*The battle’s almost over* he whispered to his mate, *but I haven't seen any sign of the big one.
Without waiting for so much as an opening I flung myself across the snowy turf, muscles pumping, arcing forward like a bolt of lightning.Tiefing's eyes widened. He stepped back a pace, but rather than meeting me, he actually dove to one side as my claws just barely missed his flank.I recovered quickly, though. Turning on my heel I continued my assault, leaving Tiefing little space to regain his feet between warding my attacks.'Fight back, you bastard' I thought as my irritation grew.He apparently quickly grew tired of being cornered. With a wide swipe of his arm and a howl of frustration, Tiefing
~ Cillium ~*Rayla! Rayla? Can you hear me? I'm coming! I... I'm fine!*Damnit! Why wasn't she responding? Was she hurt? Was she...'Will you calm down a bit?' That wolfish voice inside my chest scolded me bitterly. 'You're losing too much blood as it is. Don't kill yourself just trying to reach to her, she's not worth it anyway.'I bit my lip, feeling the blood forming in my mouth. It tasted all too familiar.'
A lone figure hurried across the snow. Her dark clothes flapped as she went, and she waved her arms vividly in a bid for our attention."Tira!!" I shouted, feeling my heart swell. Oh, LUNA!'Julius... Your mother is safe. I'll be able to keep my promise to you, after all.'My glee quickly changed to frustration however. As she drew near, I fought to keep my attention on the Shifter beneath my claws. Tiefing still hadn't moved, which was surprising... But that didn't mean he wouldn't.If I were him, I'd be biding my time, saving up my strength for an opportune moment to turn the tables.
The forest burned.How the fuck did the firest burn? Those were evergreens! And it was winter...'Somebody set the fire.'"But why" I breathed. Oh Luna, our great forest! Was this the work of Tiefing's pack? My own?A sign?I halted just at the forest's edge. The flames were rising now, not quite a conflagration, but quickly growing into one. Most of the trees I could se