Chapter 1: Waterwolf

Raven sat crouching in the shadows of an alley, watching a merchant selling meat from his stall. He felt the burning hunger within his gut, for he hasn’t eaten in many days. The dried meat hung on the carts wooden poles on thin rope, there it gently swayed in the wind and its delicious scent flared in Raven’s nostrils. He stayed in the shadows carefully planning his actions and playing every possible result over and over in his head, he was a good strategist and the patience to go well with the trait. The merchant turned his back and bargained with a customer, Raven got to his haunches and was ready to jump. Just as he was about to dart towards the cart, a garbage bin fell over behind him and he got a fright and gave a low yip.

“Stupid rats” he hissed with his young but sturdy male voice.

He strained his attention back to the merchant and his cart and focused his mind back into planning strategies. The scent was stronger now and his mouth began to water and stomach ached, his mind was dazed and needed the nutrition. The merchant walked towards everybody walking by in the busy road telling them of his great bargains in the shopping district of the strangely larger than average village called Deeproot village. The village was about 15 square kilometres and great stone buildings flourish the village, but the greedy mayor doesn’t want the village to have the title of city because taxes will rise for him and the villagers.

Raven’s endless patience disappeared and he jumped up in a flash and charged out of the dark alley towards the merchant cart, he sidestep the villagers as he hastily ran forward but couldn’t dodge a oddly large wolf and slid underneath the wolf’s waist without thinking, while he was sliding on his side he immediately got up and smiled proudly at himself and jumped up as smoothly as he could, careful not to break his luck streak. He aimed his muzzle at the biggest piece of dried meat hanging on one of the poles and gripped it tight in his jaw. The rope didn’t snap as he planned it would and he swung forward and back again trying not to lose his grip on the mouth-watering meat. The merchant cursed and the villagers stared at the thief making a fool of himself, as Raven swung back he managed to tip the cart and the roped snapped, Raven fell to his back and closed his eyes with the body-to-earth impact. He opened his eyes and saw the broken cart and the merchant struggling to get his leg free from under it. The villagers went into a mild riot, gasping at what happened.

“Thief, call the guards” yelled a female wolf between the villagers.

“Not good” Raven mumbled with the meat in his jaw.

Raven got to his feet and started running towards the alley hoping to hide in the shadows again. Two guards’ saw what happened and chased after him into the alley, Raven hid behind the garbage bin hoping not to be discovered.

“Come out thief, we know your there!” demanded one of the guards.

Ravens mind raced and tried to think of a plan of escape, but the scent of the large chunk of meat distracted his thoughts. The two guards walked towards Raven, pushing over the bins as they slowly paced forward. With every crash of a bin Raven grew more anxious. He was trapped in the dark alley, there was a wall at the end of it and was too high for him to jump. His mind went into a chaos frenzy of plans and ideas but nothing logical came to mind. But then it hit him, why does the answer need to be logical? He scoped his surroundings and saw a small ravine of water running in a trench just on the other side of the alley. Raven dropped the meat, smiled and casually walked out from behind the garbage bin, the guards saw him.

“There’s no escape wolf” yelled the second guard and chased forward towards Raven, with the first guard following.

Raven stood his ground proud and mighty facing them, he told himself to focus as he briefly closed his eyes. The water from the drain overflowed and streamed towards him in a narrow stream. He opened his eyes and gave a sigh.

“I guess this will do” he hissed.

The water levitated into the air and formed a whip shape. The two guards stopped in their tracks and gasped in horror.

“He’s a waterwolf” gasped the first guard.

“We should have figured, his fur is blue” replied the second one.

Raven smiled proudly “Blue? I prefer you call it azure. Now get away from me or you will be sorry” he said dryly.

The guards stood their ground staring blankly at Raven.

“Very well” sighed Raven.

The spectacle of water shifted in the air and moved towards the guards in haste, the water whipped the guards and they yelped in pain.

“Is that all you got” hissed the second guard and charged for Raven.

The guard pounced at Raven and with a glint in his eye the water spectacle gripped the guard’s leg in mid air and slammed him to the ground, unconscious. Raven smiled proudly at his magnificent ability, and stared at the first guard expecting him to do something. The guard just stared at him in horror.

“You want to say something?” Raven asked as he directed the water spectacle to the remaining guard.

He frightfully shook his head. The water spectacle was right in the guards face when it suddenly dropped to the ground. Raven flattened his ears and knew that wasn’t good. The guard saw his confused expression and smiled.

“You reached your limit, ey waterwolf?” he smiled sardonically.

“Uhm... got to go” Raven said with a nervous smile, picked up the meat chunk and ran and jumped onto a garbage bin to gain more height. As he flew over the guard, he snapped at Raven’s paws but missed. Raven stopped by the alley exit and looked back

“See ‘ya” he said with a mischievous smile and ran into the streets.

“There’s the thief again!” yelled the merchant who got to his feet “Get him!”

Raven ran as fast as he could, avoiding the villagers as he did, he heard yelling behind him and when he turned around he saw four guards led by the guard from the alley.

“You won’t get away thief, you’re going to rot in the dungeons for the rest of your life, I’ll make sure of it!” yelled the alley guard hysterical with anger, he wanted revenge for being made a fool of.

Raven directed all his power to his legs to make the quickest getaway he could manage. This is a normal day for a thief, he thought to himself sarcastically. He wasn’t as stealthy as he wanted to be. In the previous village he collected his loot with pure efficiency and no commotions. But in a way he enjoyed the uproar, to cause a riot in a greedy village like Deeproot. The guards started to catch up to him, not surprising because it was a wind village, windwolves, and they are known for their great speed. Raven felt like he was cornered and started to fear the worst. One of the guards caught up and was snapping at his haunches, making him stumbled a bit. His mind was racing, thinking of possible ideas and outcomes, playing each tactic in his head. He was proud of his tactical thinking trait but even that fails him in tight situations like this, then he gives his body over to his instincts. He was getting annoyed and frustrated by the guard snapping at him. He saw three crates piled on each other and thought of a small plan. He ran for it and in a huge leap jumped on top of it, as his back paws touched it he kicked it backwards behind him and the crate flew into the face of the guard who pounced after him. The guard yelped and fell to the ground. Raven laughed proudly and continued running. The guards behind him grew in numbers and he knew he’s going to be in trouble. He reached the village square and stopped by a huge fountain in the middle of the square. He was totally surrounded on all sides by the guard wolves.

“This aint good” he hissed and dropped the meat.

“We got you now thief, surrender yourself calmly and you won’t get hurt”

“What makes you think you can hurt me” Raven bluffed.

“I take it you’re not willing to give yourself up calmly, well this makes it more fun for me” Laughed the alley guard dryly.

“What? No wait...” Raven replied worryingly.

“The one who pins him down gets a reward for his family” said the guard proudly.

There were whispers between the guards and they accepted the challenge. Raven stood there in horror with his mouth hung open. One guard pounced at him and he dodged him smoothly. Another came and snapped at Raven’s neck but missed when Raven shoved him sideways. They started coming in pairs and Raven used their weight against themselves, pushing them into each other. Raven was quite the talented duellist but he knew he couldn’t keep this up for long.

“I’ll take care of him, move out of my way” grumbled a wolf as he emerged from the crowd. Raven stared at him blankly.

“I would be afraid if I were you, waterwolf” threatened the old wolf.

“Are you going to give me a reason to be afraid, gramps? Replied Raven smugly.

The wolf growled but then smiled darkly “Oh how you going to wish you never said that” he said and whipped his muzzle, as he did, a ripple of wind shot towards Raven, and in a fright he ducked to the side and heard a rough slice, he looked around and saw a deep chip on the fountains wall.

“Wind elitist” Raven growled.

“Did I forget to mention that” the old elitist growled and the guards laughed.

Raven knew he was in serious trouble; he tried to manipulate the fountain water but was unable to.

“Are you ready to die now” asked the elitist coldly.

“Die? You can’t kill me, isn’t that against the law?” Raven asked confused.

“Not when you have the proper authorization. See you in hell waterwolf” he growled and let out another wind blade.

Raven hardly dodged that one and the wind elitist started to get agitated and sent one blade after another. Raven managed to dodge them by chance and began to feel more hopeless. Then his sight shot to the meat and he got an idea. He dashed to the meat and started ripping at it and swallowing the pieces almost whole.

“Awh look at that, he wants he’s last meal before he dies” mocked the old wolf, and the guards laughed.

He was finished with half of the meat and the elitist got annoyed because he got ignored by the thief. He growled and shot another wind blade at Raven, the blade cut him on the shoulder and he gave a painful yip. The elitist chuckled with pleasure and the guards stared at him with fear as they noticed his enjoyment. Raven shook off the pain and blocked it from his mind; he continued to ignore the old wolf and stared into the water. He concentrated and managed to make ripples in the water. He turned to the elitist and gave a proud smile.

“Now you’re going to be sorry gramps”

“Oh?”

With that Raven levitated a large pool of water and formed it into a spear kind of shape.

“I thought you said he reached his limit” barked the elitist at the alley guard.

“He did” mumbled the guard in defence “It’s the meat”

The old wolf snorted in disgust and gazed at Raven again.

“I guess this is a duel now, waterwolf. And as a wolf of pride I’m suppose to give you my name before I kill you”

Raven smiled at the old wolf’s nerve.

“I’m Roshak, wind elitist and 3rd in charge of the Deeproot guards” He said proudly with his muzzle slightly lifted.

Raven rolled his eyes.

“Well... and you are?” asked Roshak agitated.

“Raven, water uhm... enthusiast I guess, no title” he said sarcastically.

The guards stared in amazement and whispered amongst each other.

“Looks like you’ve made quite an impression on the guards, but I’ve never heard of you. You famous?” Roshak asked dryly.

“Well...”

“Honestly I don’t care, you’re going to die here anyway” Roshak interrupted.

Raven laughed smugly a swerved the water figure at Roshak, knocking him over with a splash of water. He got up angrily and growled, sending blade after blade at Raven. Raven shot a water blade at each of the wind blades to counter it. Roshak knew he won’t get through to him with an amateur trick like that. He bowed his head and blew to the ground; a small whirlwind formed by his paws and slowly moved forward, growing in size. Raven stared at it amused. Roshak stopped blowing and gave Raven a dark smile, Raven shrugged his shoulders.

“See you in the afterlife” Roshak said with a dark voice and gave a howling blow towards the whirlwind making it grow in size by tenfold, the devastating wind moved quickly towards Raven as he watched in horror. Before he could do anything, the whirlwind dragged him inside, swirling him around and tossing him out into the fountains statue. He hit the statue with his back and gave a loud painful yip and fell into the water. The water was running out of the fountain, running between the guards’ paws and covering almost the whole town square.

“This is the end of you” hissed Roshak “guards finish him”

“We will rather bring him in” Said one of the guards.

“I said finish him” Roshak barked angrily.

The wolves stared at Roshak with disbelief. But two guards walked towards Raven’s body, ready to finish him. They stood over his body and Raven slowly opened his eyes and gave a low growl. The one guard took a grip on Raven’s throat. Raven’s mind rushed but his body was unable to move; he felt hopeless and was ready for death to take him. He gave a low yip as the wolf’s grip tightened over his throat and just when the wolf was about to snap, something extraordinary happen that made all the wolves watching, gasp in horror and watch in utter disbelief. Ravens body disappeared in the water.

More whispering went on amongst the guards.

“Where’d he go? Is he a demon? Did he die?” the crowd went on as they looked around confused.

Roshak heard the commotion and turned around; he was walking away so he didn’t see the strange phenomenon. He didn’t notice at first but when he noticed Raven’s body was missing he shook with anger.

“Where did he go!” he barked hysterically.

“He... he... disappeared into the water” muttered one of the guards.

Roshak’s dark gaze shot to guard and he charged at him, knocked him over with his large grey head and pinned his paw in the guards’ neck, making him struggle to breathe.

“You let him escape, didn’t you?” he hissed furiously as he put more weight onto the guards’ throat. The guard kicked around helplessly, unable to breathe at all now and no possible way of escape. The others watched in horror and were too afraid to help their defenceless friend.

“Roshak, stand down” came a voice from behind him.

“Who has the nerves to command me” he hissed and swung his muzzle around, worry filled his eyes and he immediately let the guard go.

“2nd seat, I’m sorry... my anger got the better of me” Roshak cowered.

The black wolf with purple ripple marks on his fur stared at Roshak in disgust and snorted.

“I’ve been watching from the hall balcony, I’m amazed an old fool like yourself didn’t recognize that waterwolf” Said the black wolf calmly.

Roshak lowered his ears and cowered to his knees.

“You should have killed him when you had the chance”

Roshak’s ears shot up “you’re not mad that I tried to kill him?”

“I’m angry because you couldn’t. That waterwolf has the power to bring down the New Country”

“You don’t mean... is that...” Roshak muttered.

“What are you still doing here you old fool, track him down and kill him, all of you!” ordered the black wolf.

Roshak dipped his head and got up.

“You heard the 2nd seat, do as you’re told” he barked. With that order, all the guards scattered in all directions, looking for the blue thief.

 

Raven crawled out of a sewer gasping for air as if he was drowning; he laid on his side coughing water out of his lungs for a while. When he got to his senses he struggled to get up and only managed to sit, slouching forward a bit. His body ached from the battle with Roshak, and his mind was dazed, he had no idea what had happened to him and how he got there. He shook his head and looked around, he was in another alleyway.

 “Over here, I think I saw something this way” yelled a guard from the streets.

Raven heard and went into a state of panic, he knew there would be no way he could defend himself in the state he is now. He threw his body to the corner and cowered in the shadows, he was relieved when the guards ran past the alley. The streets of the market district were in a slight chaotic state; everyone was suspicious and kept their eyes open for anything peculiar.

A cart stopped in front of the alley.

“Why did we stop dear?” asked a male voice.

“I think I stepped in something, just hold on” replied a female voice.

“Make it quick then, we have to be in the next village before sunset”

With that Raven’s ears shot up and a glimmer of hope ran through him. They were travelling merchants who went from town to town selling their merchandise. Raven knew they were his only hope of escape from the troubling village. He got to his feet and limped to the cart, he was just at the alleys end when he heard more guards coming. He slumped his weakened body to the shadowy wall and stopped breathing, just to be as stealthy as possible. The guards stopped by the cart and asked the merchant couple to check the cart thoroughly.

“This is the third time in the last hour you guards ransacked our cart, what’s wrong with this stupid town” The female nagged.

“Let the friendly guard do his job, dear” replied the male and smiled foolishly at the guard who rolled his eyes. The female gave her mate a dark look.

“This cart is clear, let’s move on”

The female shoved the male swiftly on his side “Kind guard?” she growled.

“Let’s just keep moving. Help me pull”

Raven swung his muzzle around the corner and checked if the coast was clear. He could only see one guard but he was questioning a villager. He took the chance and jumped as quickly as he could under the large blanket of the cart that protected the goods. The cart started moving and he felt a sense of relief.

“Help me pull” demanded the male.

“I’m pulling with all my strength you moron” snapped the female.

The male stared at her confused and decided to drop it. Raven heard their spat and smiled softly, glad that the couple are too stubborn towards each other to notice the extra weight on the cart. Raven was exhausted and in pain, he struggled to fight the sleep that was consuming his body but the gentle rocking of the cart added to the struggle, and soon he was fast asleep.

 

The air grew cool and Raven woke with a breeze on his fur.

“Wake up scavenger” hissed the female.

Raven’s eyes shot open and he saw the couple staring at him angrily.

“Think you can steal from us, do you?” she snapped.

“No... No... I just wanted to get out of that village” he mumbled.

The males eyes grew big “are you the thief the guards were looking for?”

Ravens ears dropped and he avoided eye contact.

“If anybody finds out he used our cart to escape, then we will be culprits. He’s in pain, end him quick” barked the female.

The male growled at his mate “Don’t you speak like that, you hear me?”

The female gave a low growl. “Get out of here, thief. Don’t tell a soul we let you go” whispered the male.

“Thank you” Raven said with admiration to the male merchant. He jump off the side of the cart and looked around as he limped ahead. The cart was standing on a crossroad, Raven recognized it. They travelled a good few hours so he knew he would be safe from the Deeproot guards. He looked as the merchant couple started their journey again, appreciating their unwilling help. Raven picked up his pace and went into the forest, not really knowing where he was going, but with one thing on his mind – survival. He walked a considerable distance and heard a stream, so he decided to head towards it. He got to the stream and looked into it; he couldn’t see a reflection due to the strong current. He walked a few metres away from the rippling stream and started to dig a hole. When he was done with the small hole he paced back to the stream and concentrated his mind into it. A small stream of water flowed through the air and filled up his hole. Using his ability again in his weak state strained his body even more and he shook as it hurt him to the bone. He limped back to the hole which was now filled with water and he stared into it.

 

A light blue muzzled young wolf looked back at him with keen light ice-blue eyes. Black crescent moon markings went over his eyes and darker blue hair spiked between his black ears and ran down his back that formed a darker coat over his light blue fur. He had a larger black crescent moon marking on each of his shoulders and there were a black wavy ring around each of his legs. He had a sleek slender young body with a luscious blue tail with a black tip, he was nearly fully grown but smaller than an average male wolf.

 

He gave a soft proud smile at himself in the reflection and then sadness filled it. The thought of his mother came to mind, he wondered what happened before, when the guard had a grip on his throat and it suddenly felt he was drowning, and then he woke up in an alleyway.

“Mother... is this your curse I bear now?” he whined as he saw his tear ripple in the puddle. He lowered his muzzle to the water and softly blew at it; he looked at it confused because nothing happened. He tried again. When he blew at the water on his fourth attempt, the water shone a bright blue colour, like water in the clear summers moonlight. He smiled at the sparkling water.

“Here comes the fun part” he whispered sarcastically.

A quantity of the water levitated out of the pool and Raven closed his eyes, ready for what’s to come. The water hovered over his wounded shoulder where Roshak had cut him with his wind blade and in a painful whine it settled on the wound. It was slowly healing Raven’s wound but looked liked it was causing more pain than healing. He tried to hold his painful whines in as his mind cowered at the thought of the terrible pain. Suddenly the water dropped to the ground and he gave a sigh of relief, he gasped for air and looked at his shoulder, it was completely healed except for a small scar.

“Now for the finale” he laughed darkly.

The rest of the water from the puddle, which was majority of it, elevated from the hole. It hovered over Raven’s head. He breathed in all the air he could get into his lungs and blew it towards the levitating water. The water went from a sparkling blue colour to a shockingly bright light-blue colour. He whined at the sight of it and closed his eyes, and then it dropped onto his whole body.

Quite a distance away a pair of ears shot up at the sound of a deathly painful howl that filled the sky, curiously she walked towards it.

Raven lay on the ground whining and gasping for air, he was wet to the bone and in total shock. He laid there for a short while and then growled as he struggled to his feet. He shook the water off his coat and trembled in the cooling air, night was arriving.

“I hate water element healing” he growled softly. He casually walked to the stream while stretching his legs and then drank a lot of water, for a waterwolf gain a more than average percentage of their energy from water. He drank longer than intended to because of his great thirst. When he was done he could think more clearly and scoped his surroundings, he was still hungry. The piece of meat from the village didn’t satisfy his hungers. When he thought of the meat, the memories of the day flushed into his head all at once. He felt a new hate, a hate for Roshak. He felt foolish because he hated him more due to the fact that he destroyed his meat rather than the little detail where he almost got killed by him. The thoughts lingered at the back of his mind, while finding a safe den to spend the night was now his top priority. He walked next to the river while looking for a place to rest; he wanted to stay near the water because a waterwolf always feels safer near water, with reason of course. A river is like endless artillery for his kind. He walked for what seemed like hours. Night arrived and the darkness was at its peak, Raven couldn’t find a decent place to rest so he decided to spend the night at the base of a great oak tree under the moonlit sky. He patrolled the radius of the tree to make sure there’s no one that will threaten him. He couldn’t find anyone but he kept having an unnerving feeling that he’s being watched. He decided to sleep with one eye open just in case, to settle the unnerving feeling. He dropped down and quickly forgot about his anxiety. Little did he know of the bright yellow eyes watching him from within the bushes.

2: Forest spirit

Chapter 2: forest spirit

 

The yellow-eyed wolf snooped around the oak tree, her body and tail was straight and she was on alert. Her ears shot in all directions for every little sound she heard. She scented the air and looked around secretively as if she was on lookout for something. She watched Raven’s sleeping body from the corner of her eye. When she was sure they are alone and safe her tale lowered and she was in a relaxed pose again, she gave a sigh of relief and strolled slowly towards Raven. She sat down in front of him and sniffed him gently; she then studied his body and gave an eager smile. She tapped him with her paw on his neck but nothing happened. She tapped him harder the next time and only his ear flicked, she started to get annoyed. Then she put her paw on his cheek and started tapping continuously, harder and harder each time. She looked at him happily as his eyes slowly opened, but he just gave a low growl and hit her paw away unconsciously and his eyes shut tight again. She was really annoyed at his deep sleep and hated being ignored like that. She stared blankly at him then suddenly a mischievous smile formed on her face. She lifted up her paw and a small spark jumped around on it, she then slowly lowered her paw towards Ravens thigh and when it was a small distance away the small spark shot to his body and he jumped up with a frightful yip deeply confused.

“What the… who are you?” Raven barked in confusion and got into an attack stance.

His sight was still dazed and needed time to adjust to the moonlit night, all he could see was a silhouette in front of him. The female wolf stared at him foolishly not afraid of his aggressive state, she opened her mouth and was about to speak.

“Answer me or I will attack you” Raven hissed.

His eyes adjusted and he saw a beautiful young female wolf with black and yellow fur sitting in front of him. She had a neatly layered long black fringe that her bright yellow gentle eyes with black lightning markings under each of them peered through. Her black hair went between her grey ears right down her neck and back straight down to her pure black tail in a narrow passage. There was a large black lightning marking on each side of her body surrounded by a divine yellow colored fur and she had a strange black lightning mark on her chest that looked like a scar.

 “Wait, I’m not a threat to you” She said calmly in a slight giggling voice.

“Did the village send you to capture me?” he asked suspiciously.

“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb female. Did the Deeproot guards send you?” he barked.

“Does it look like I’m a Deeproot citizen?” she asked dryly.

He checked her out again and dropped his tail; she didn’t look like a Deeproot citizen. She would stand out of the crowd like he did.

“So you’re a hired mercenary?” he growled and she looked at him confused.

“I have no idea what you are talking about, and I’m way too young to be an assassin. Even though I wouldn’t mind being one, I hear the pay is good”

Raven’s tail rose again and he snarled “I said mercenary, not assassin. So is that what you are?”

“You don’t listen well do you?” She said mockingly and got up, she started to circle him slowly “If I was an assassin you’d be dead now. I think the first rule of assassination is to make a silent kill” she continued.

Raven could see she was temporarily lost in thought and took the chance and knocked her to the ground, he pinned her paws down so she couldn’t escape and there he stood above her snarling. She knew she was vulnerable in that state and her instincts went into a panic.

“So who are you?” Raven demanded.

She smiled coolly and stared into his eyes “well well… you surely know what you want” she laughed.

“I’m not kidding around. Answer me or I’ll kill you where you lay” he snarled.

She inspected his eyes and gave a soft smile, "You don’t have the eyes of someone that would take a life. She gave a sigh “very well… my name is Whisper, but my friends call me Whisp, you know, like a lightning whisp” she said proudly.

“Friends? There are more of you?”

“More of me? Like another me? That would be fun”

Raven growled and she stared at him blankly.

“No, I’m all alone in this world. I don’t have friends or family blah blah blah the whole sob story of a lone wolf” she said mockingly.

“Why should I believe you?”

“Why wouldn’t you? Now can you please get off me, this is getting rather uncomfortable”

“No” he growled.

She stared at him agitatedly and gave a sigh “Very well then” she whispered.

Whisper closed her eyes and jolts of electricity bounced all around her fur, suddenly a surged of electricity ran through Raven’s body and he fell to the side yelling in shock. His body shook on the ground in spasm while Whisper casually got up and shook the dirt from her fur.

“Oh come now, that was just a few volts, hardly enough to kill a squirrel” She laughed mockingly as she watched Raven shakily getting to his feet.

“Lightning wolf” he hissed.

“You didn’t think I was as defenseless as I look right, I got the talent to match this pretty face” she laughed.

Raven shook off the static from his body and went into an aggressive stance again, ready to pounce at her.

“Just relax would you” she said rolling her eyes.

“What trickery is this? I thought the lightning breed was extinct” he growled.

“No trickery, and clearly you thought wrong. Or maybe I’m just a ghost” she said smugly.

“Enough of your foolishness. Tell me what you’re doing here, female”

“I said my names Whisper, you may call me that. Now tell me strange wolf, what is your name?”

“I’m the one asking questions here!” Raven barked.

“Do you want me to talk or not?”

He growled and looked away “Raven” he said dryly.

Whisper smiled gleefully “Wow, a handsome name for a handsome wolf. Nice to meet you Raven” she said and dipped her head.

“Stop this foolish game” he barked “Why are you here?”

“I came to warn you…”

“So you are a Deeproot mercenary” He interrupted with a snarl.

“What, no. just listen to me” She snapped and made Raven feel foolish.

“I heard your howl so I thought someone was in trouble, I couldn’t find the wolf who made that deathly sound so I assumed the Spirit who roams these woods got to him” she continued.

“And yet here you are, how did you find me?” Raven asked suspiciously.

“I thought you were going to respond on the Spirit part first, but very well. I found you by chance, I was just wandering around then I saw you sleeping peacefully”

“You expect me to believe you?”

“I don’t expect anything from you” she smiled.

Raven snorted.

“Aren’t you afraid of this dark forest? Many myths surround it” she said trying to scare him.

“You are a fool if you think I would believe in such childish nonsense” he hissed.

“Nonsense? But I have seen this Spirit for myself. And believe me, it aint friendly. Do you want to be one of the many victims who disappear in these woods?”

“I can take care of myself. Now get away from here or I will force you to” he growled.

Whisper smiled and laid down; Raven’s threat didn’t bother her at all.

“You wouldn’t hurt me. You wouldn’t hurt the only possible lightning survivor nor even a defenseless female” She said smugly, taking his bluff.

Raven stared at her in disbelief thinking of the nerve she had. He dropped his ears and gave a low growl while he relaxed his tensed body and she smiled.

“It’s not every day you see a lone waterwolf in this part of the kingdom, what’s your business here Raven?”

“I don’t have to answer your questions, what do you want from me?” he growled.

“Stop being so arrogant, and I don’t want anything from you”

“Then why are you here?”

“I’m just looking for company, that’s all. And I might want to protect you” she said with a kind smile.

“Protect me from a Spirit? Do you not hear how foolish that sounds? I don’t need your protection, I can take care of myself” Raven said proudly.

Whisper laughed. “Well you’re stuck with me now for the time being. It’s your fault I’m out here and there’s no way I’m walking around in this forest alone at night”

“You’re scared to be alone? What kind of lone wolf are you? Don’t answer that” Raven said sarcastically and Whisper just smiled dumbly.

 “I still don’t trust you, female” he growled.

“It’s Whisper, say it with me, Whis-per” she mocked “And it’s your problem you don’t trust me. But I feel safe with you” she said, Raven rolled his eyes and looked away.

“Just keep your distance. I need my rest so I’m going back to sleep. And don’t try anything.” he said and dropped down in front of the oak again. “I hope you will be gone when I wake up” he mumbled and dropped his head onto his paws, still staring at her.

Whisper slowly crawled closer to him with a foolish expression on her face, every time he opened his eyes she stopped. He noticed her and quietly growled under his breath.

“So how old are you?” she asked. He ignored her and she felt offended.

“I’d say you’re about 16. Well I’m 17 years of age…” she continued but still no reply.

“Where are you from?” she asked.

“Can you please keep your mouth shut?” he growled.

She sighed “If I keep my mouth shut then I won’t be able to talk. Don’t you want to know where I came from? She asked curiously.

“Listen to me, I don’t care about your age or where you’re from, I don’t care about anything you want to say. So please just leave me alone” he snapped.

Whisper dropped her ears “Fine… Rude bastard” she hissed under her breath and walked away. Raven gave a pleased whine and drifted into sweet slumber.

 

“Raven… Raven, wake up” Whisper whispered as she nudged Raven on his muzzle.

“Go away” he mumbled and turned around.

“Raven, I think I saw something”

“There’s no evil spirit or whatever, please just leave me alone”

An owl hooted and Whisper nearly fell over as she swung her muzzle around in fright, she looked around with her fearful eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

“Don’t make me shock you again” she said in a trembling voice.

Raven growled under his breath then turned around to face Whisper, he saw the fear in her eyes and felt a sudden pang in his heart.

“A lone wolf that’s afraid of the dark?”

“I’m serious, Raven. I saw a shadow on the ground as I walked through the forest, near here. I heard whispers then the shadow of a wolf flew over me and I ran here as fast as I could” she said frightened.

“Since when do wolves fly? Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?” he growled.

“Spirits fly, Raven”

“Spirits don’t exist” he said dryly.

“Yes they do. I’ve seen it with my own eyes” she barked in defense.

“You saw a…” Raven said but fell silent at the sound of a deep moaning noise that sounded like a thick tree branch cracking slowly.

“What was that!” Whisper yelled in horror as she looked around to see what dangers are possibly stalking them. Suddenly a shadow flew by in front of Raven and the rustling of leave could be heard from a tree a short length away from them.

A mischievous grin formed on Raven’s face and Whispered stared at him confused, fearing the worst.

“Don’t” she whispered.

“Let’s go find your spirit” He said and darted to the tree, looking up into it but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“Don’t go, Raven. Do you want to get cursed?” she trembled.

“I’m already cursed”

Suddenly another tree’s leaves rustled as a weight crashed into it further along, Raven immediately rushed towards the tree.

“Don’t leave me alone” Whisper yelled and chased after Raven.

Raven ran after the shadow, knowing it couldn’t be a spirit. He thought that if somebody had skills to move like that, darting from tree to tree, it would be a worthy opponent in battle. Raven needed badly to get rid of his frustrations and felt the anger burn in his veins, he felt unstoppable. But little did he know the distance between him and the stream increased, and he would be practically defenseless without the source of water.

“Have you gone mad?” Whisper Shouted from the back “Who knows what that thing is you’re chasing or how dangerous it is, stop running”

“I didn’t ask you to follow me” Raven yelled back to Whisper.

“Then at least slow down so I can catch up” She growled.

Raven smiled darkly and increased his pace. Whisper eyes widened and she noticed his spitefulness. She closed her eyes as she ran and her fur began to light up with volts jumping around on it, and in a bolt of lightning she was right next to Raven. He stared at her awestricken and then smiled.

“Nice trick” he said.

She stared at Raven miserably but smiled gleefully when he looked away.

The shadow’s pace quickened and the sound of leaves faded as the distance between them increase.

“Dammit” Raven hissed as the ‘Spirit’ disappeared.

They slowed down and walked while looking around; Whisper noticed the desire in Raven’s eyes and stared at him puzzled. He noticed her staring and snorted and turned to the other direction.

“So what’s your plan? If you even have one. This is an idiotic thing to do, chasing after a spirit. You put both our lives at risk”

“Again. I didn’t ask you to follow me” he snapped.

Whispered looked down, hurt at his attitude towards her.

“Why are you following me, Whisper?”

She smiled “You said my name for the first time”

Raven stared at her confused and felt ashamed. Suddenly they heard a howl and their ears shot up.

“There you are” he said and started running to the howl’s direction.

Whisper followed against her better judgment. They ran through the trees and dived through a bush and into a small open clearing in the middle of the towering trees. They stopped dead in their tracks as they saw dark, almost black eyes, staring back at them. The creature snarled at them looking as if he was going to pounce at them at any time. Raven and Whisper inspected the creature as he shone in the moonlight peeking through the stretching arms of the great trees. The creature was in fact a large greenish-black wolf with ruffled up fur.

“Shadow Stalker” hissed Raven as the beast snarled furiously at them.

Whispered swallowed deeply and began to tremble “What should we do, Raven?”

“Don’t move a muscle. I’m thinking” He whispered and his mind went to work again, thinking of any possible plan and outcome. He felt dim-witted forgetting about the stream he wandered away from. The beast slowly paced forward making savage noises with drool dripping from his violent fangs, making Whisper feel sick to her stomach.

“Do something, Raven” Whisper cried.

Raven went into a deep concentrating state and was trying to feel and pinpoint the location of the nearest water source.

“Run. Follow me” he yelled and ran away from the scene.

“Your plan is to run away?” she replied and darted after him “This is something I would have thought of” she continued.

The creature chased after them barking furiously.

“Uhm… Raven?” She said hysterically.

“Don’t stop running” he yelled ahead of her.

“Yes I was about to stop now, thanks for the tip” She replied sarcastically.

The beast quickly caught up to Whisper and was snapping at her tail.

“Get away from me” she yelled hysterically.

The beast was so close behind her that he could snap her tail off without any trouble. She panicked. The sparks ran across her fur again and towards her tail. She jumped into the air and spun around to slap the beast with her tail across the face and with a crackling sound the beast yelped in pain and fell backwards. Raven looked back and smiled.

“You have some skills other than annoying others with your element I see” He laughed nervously.

“When can I see your skills?” She snapped.

Raven ignored her and kept running. His hopes lifted when they got to the stream again running through a larger clearing. He stopped in front of the stream and turned around, waiting for the beast to emerge from the shadows.

“Don’t you think we’ve lost him, Raven?” Whisper asked.

“Shadow stalkers don’t give up so easily, their bloodlust are to strong” he hissed.

“Oh great…” she replied.

Moment later the beast walked out of the shadowy foliage and into the moonlit clearing, he snarled furiously.

“Now the fun begins” Raven said darkly.

The beast charged for Raven then pounced at him with his jaw snapping in the air, Raven easily sidestepped him and the beast landed on his paws nearly stumbling into the river.

“Try again”

The beast jumped again and a stream of water shot out the river and grabbed the beasts paw in mid air, tossing him to the side and slammed him into the earth. Whisper flinched as she heard the breath of the creature knocked out of his lungs. Raven laughed darkly.

“You're awfully slow, mindless abomination” Raven laughed.

The beast got up and snarled furiously at Raven. He shook his body and wet drops formed on his fur.

“Finally you’re starting to get serious” Raven growled.

Whisper backed away, not wanting to get in the way “Be careful Raven”

Raven made a stream of water circle around his waist; he walked to the creature and shot water projectiles towards the creature while doing so. Each projectile hit the beast and he yelped in pain at each hit. Raven stared at him confused, wondering why he’s not trying to avoid them. Suddenly the beast charged at him and snapped at Ravens neck, he missed by a hair as Raven sidestepped and then punched the beast in the gut with a water rapid. The beast swerved through the air and flew into a tree stump with a loud yelp.

“Is he dead?” Whisper asked.

Raven ignored her and stared at the beast. After a while the creature struggled to his feet and snarled furiously, exposing his big white canines. He stopped and closed his mouth, and then suddenly he spat a projectile at Raven from his mouth. Raven stared at the dart in his leg in horror.

“Poison” he hissed and dropped to the floor, struggling to get up again. Whisper watched in terror.

“Run away, Whisper. He’s stronger than I thought” Raven yelled.

“I can’t leave you, not like this” She yelled with tears flooding her eyes.

“Do as I say or you will be killed”

The beast walked towards Raven, growling, it sounded as he was laughing through his savage growls. He stood over Raven and was reaching for his throat. Whisper panicked as she stared, not knowing what to do. Raven whined as the beast almost had a grip around his throat. Whispered yelled and charged for the beast, she pounced at it, knocked it off balance and they flew over Raven, rolling around on the grass snapping at each other. She bit into its neck and tightly held her grip, then suddenly in flashes of lightning; she electrocuted the beast with her deathly grip. Raven stared in awe as he watched her determination as the blinding sparks jumped all over her and the beast, scarring the earth around them. The beast howled in pain and shook under Whisper, when suddenly all fell quiet and the beast laid there with smoke coming from its scorched fur. Whisper stumbled off him and walked towards Raven. She licked his muzzle and dropped down next to him with her eyes closed and breathing deeply.

“Are you alright, Raven?” she whimpered through her panting.

Raven stared at her in confusion and at the same time bewilderment; never did anyone risk their life to save his. He didn’t know what went through her mind or why she followed him in the first place. He wondered why a kind-hearted wolf like her would take the world on alone, without anybody besides her. Then he wondered the same thing about himself, he knew he can’t get through these hard times alone. Then he became aware that he needed a companion like her, to keep him from slipping into the darkness of his own mind.

Raven crawled closer to her and gently put his head on her neck, he could feel the electricity still escaping from her fur but he ignored it.

“I’m so sorry, Whisper. I should have listened to you” he whimpered.

She managed to laugh softly “arrogant male” she mumbled as she fell into a deep sleep.

Raven licked her ear gently. They laid there in that position for about ten minutes; he kept his eyes on the beast lying motionless when suddenly it began to move. Raven stared wide-eyed at the burnt creature wondering how it could still be alive after Whispers brutal attack. It got to its feet and Raven growled at it as his heart began to race, he knew he had no way of protection himself or more importantly, protect Whisper.

The beast limped to them growling darkly. It was about halfway when Raven lost all hope, like back at the fountain in Deeproot village. He was ready for death once again but he refused to accept the death of Whisper. Raven Struggled to his feet with all the power he could gather in his body, he put his paw over Whisper and growled. He could barely stand up or keep his eyes open, the only thing that made him stand his ground was the will to protect his new friend. The beast was about to jump when suddenly a great thorn shot out of the ground and pierced the beast through its gut right out of his back, he died instantly.

 

Raven stared in shock, not knowing what just had happened. His limbs grew weak and he collapsed on Whisper, trying to fight the sleep that was trying to take over his mind. His sight blurred as he struggled to keep his eyes open. In the corner of his eye he saw a shape descent from a tree without a sound. The shape moved closer until it was standing in front of him, he could only see a blurred silhouette in front of the moonlight that gave it a light green aura. Raven felt a sense of peace rush through him.

“Are you the forest spirit?” he whispered to it.

“Forest spirit?” a female voice snorted “Did the poison affect your brain?”

Ravens mind became clear again and his body started to prickle all over.

“Who are you?” He demanded.

The mystery wolf moved out of the moonlight and walked to the stream.

“That is of no importance to you. I suggest you leave my forest immediately, or I will have to force you”

Raven’s paralyzed body began to regain feeling again and he crawled off Whisper towards the stream.

“If you think you can take me on, then you’re making a big mistake waterwolf, but try if you want. I will enjoy putting an end to your miserable life” hissed the female voice.

Raven ignored her and continued towards the stream, when he reached it he dipped his face in the water and stayed like that for a moment, the female wolf stared at him confused pacing back and forth. When he lift his face from the water he shook the wetness off and was now able to see properly again, and his body was nearly fully healed from the poison that infected him.

He turned towards the figure and saw a beautiful green wolf with spiking black hair on her head that went up between her dark olive ears and down her neck that formed three black spikes markings on her green fur. She had striking sly blue eyes and had strange Egyptian style black markings around her eyes that stretched out towards her muzzle in two spikes. Her front legs were covered in black spiked vines that circled upwards until it formed peculiar thorn markings that stretched out on each side of her body. She had a lavishing black tail and the black ran down the back of her legs that formed two waves on her green thighs. She had a lighter green belly and big green paws.

“Leave us be. We don’t want any trouble” he said and dipped his head.

“Lift your head you coward. You trespass in my forest and expect me to just let you stroll around?” she hissed.

“Your forest?”

“Yes, mine. I’m the guardian of this part of the forest. Now leave” she demanded.

Raven snorted and didn’t want to take her aggression, but he had Whisper to think about before he did something he would regret later.

“My friend isn’t well, she needs rest. Can I wait ‘till she wakes up first?”

The female wolf looked away and Raven knew she was busy thinking.

“Very well” she hissed “But you better be gone by sunrise”

“Thank you” he said dryly.

She turned around and was about to jump off.

“That spike, is that you’re doing? Why did you save us?” Raven asked.

The wolf peered over her back and stared Raven in the eyes.

“It doesn’t really matter; your friend is dying anyway”

“What are talking about? She’s just exhausted from using her ability”

The female wolf sighed “I saw your battle from within the trees. The drops that formed on that creature’s fur were poison. Well your little girlfriend there bit him and the poison went into her system. She will be dead within two days”

Raven looked at her in horror then stared at Whisper’s calm body.

“There has to be a cure. How do I save her?” He demanded with sadness filling his voice. The wolf smiled at him.

“There is no cure. She’s not a waterwolf like you who’s immune to all poisons. You don’t know how lucky you are, but you are weak and will die due to your arrogance” she said dryly.

“You are hiding something” Raven yelled furiously. The wolf laughed.

“Remember what I said, waterwolf, you’re gone by sunrise” She said and disappeared into the shadow of the trees.

“Come back here” He yelled at the trees, but no answer.

He paced to Whisper and watched her sleep peacefully with sadness in his heart. If she died then it would be a heavy burden on his conscience, because she risked her life to save his, even though he had nothing to live for in the world.

“I’m not going to leave you, Whisper. I’m not going to let you die” He whispered as he lay over her body, keeping her warm. He whined as he thought of her dying so young, before they could become friends. He felt horrible for treating her so lowly the time they’ve spent together, but it was his nature to push other wolves away, to avoid getting hurt.

3: Withered amity

Chapter 3: Withered amity

 

The next morning after blissful dreams and aching bodies, Whisper woke first.

“Raven, wake up” she said.

“Didn’t you leave yet, go away” He mumbled in his sleep.

Whisper stayed quiet for a while, feeling a bit awkward and hurt.

“Can you get off me please?” she asked dryly.

“Huh what?” he mumbled again and opened his eyes “Whisper?... Whisper” he shouted and jumped up. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How do you feel? Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

“Yes I’m fine… Raven. Just a bit dazed. What happened after I passed out?”

Raven looked away not sure what to say, he thought that if he told Whisper her brutal attack that’s going to lead her to her death failed, she might feel pathetic. Then the thought of Whisper’s death shot through his mind like a piercing arrow. She had no idea of her sad fate and Raven had to tell her.

Raven dropped his ears “Well… you see, you didn’t kill it”

“What” Whisper said stunned “How can that be? There’s no way he could have survived my attack, I put all my energy into it”

Raven shrugged his shoulders.

Whisper swung around her fine yellow muzzle and her eyes searched the area for the creature “Where is he then?” as she spoke she saw the impaled body dangling from a big thorn that rose out from the ground.

“Raven… what happened?” she asked blankly.

Raven sat there quiet for a moment thinking what to tell her. “After your attack you stumbled towards me…”

“I vaguely remember that, I fell down in front of you and said something I think” she interrupted.

“Uh… yes… then moments later the creature started to move and I feared for our lives. It moved towards us and I tried to protect you but I could hardly move due to the poison” Raven made a painful expression on his face “the creature almost jumped for my throat when suddenly that spike shot out from the ground, I couldn’t believe my eyes but there it was” he continued.

They both looked nauseously at the spike, still dripping with blood.

“How? I mean, where did it come from, Raven”

“I think it was the spirit we chased. But it wasn’t a spirit; it was a she-wolf. She’s like us, has elemental powers, she’s a nature wolf I think” he said with a shaky voice, still trying to piece it all together.

“She saved us” Whisper said relieved.

“I guess” Raven said. He couldn’t tell her about the poison in her body, he didn’t have the courage in his heart to tell her she’s going to die in less than two days, it’s possibly the worst news anybody could give someone.

“I hope I get to thank her someday” Whisper smiled and got to her feet, she stumbled to the side and gently dropped to the ground again.

“Whisper” Raven yelled and rushed to her side.

“Don’t worry Raven, my body’s still asleep I guess” she smiled and struggle to her feet again. Raven stood against her as she leaned against his weight to get up. Whisper was surprised at Ravens sudden change of attitude towards her and blushed.

“Can you stand?” he asked.

Whisper jumped up and started to spin around like as if she was chasing her tail like a playful pup, in the process she slapped Raven in the face with her lavishing black tail. Suddenly she stopped and dropped her front paws and head to the ground with her tail wagging happily in the air. Raven stared at her blankly.

“Stop staring at me like that Raven. I’m perfectly fine. There’s no way an attack like that can damage me, I’m the master of my element” She proclaimed proudly with her tongue lolling from her mouth. But she could feel something was different. A lightning wolf’s body overflows with pure energy, due to that their heartbeats are incredibly fast, and Whisper felt the slight difference in her own body. She felt the pace of her pulse is slower.

Raven cocked up his ears and looked at her in disbelief. Did the poison not get into her system?

Raven smiled softly and wanted to pounce her out of happiness but held himself back because he didn’t feel relaxed around company just yet. He tried to keep his cool but his tail wagged rapidly behind him. They both smiled happily at each other when Raven remembered what the she-wolf said about them that have to be gone by morning. He didn’t plan on falling asleep, he even thought about ditching Whisper and get himself to safety, that’s what he would have done but he felt bad for Whisper, and a strange new bond with her.

“We have to get out of this forest now” he said.

“I agree, there may be more Tainted in the shadows”

“Tainted?”

“Yeah, there are many names for the creatures but I personally like the term Tainted, since their minds are corrupted by their own bloodlust” whisper replied.

“I like that. But let’s start moving” Raven said and scoped the area.

“Should I take the lead?”

“No. this way” he got up and started walking, Whisper didn’t move and sighed. Raven peered over his back and looked at her, expecting her to follow. She shook her head.

“What?” he asked with a sarcastic tone.

“You’re going in the wrong direction. Or perhaps you want to go deeper into the forest and get killed by squirrels” she laughed darkly “This way” she said and walked next to the stream with its current.

Raven growled and followed behind her.

“Males and their sense of direction” she laughed.

They walked in silence while Whisper looked around at the wonderful scenery, it was still early in the morning but the summer sun was at full bloom. The blue sky reflected in the stream making it look like a sparking river of crystals. This would have eased Raven’s mind but he couldn’t stop thinking about the battle and what the she-wolf said about the poison in Whisper’s body, could it really be true? But she looked plenty healthy to him. Meanwhile Whisper’s heartbeat slowed down even more; it was about the same speed as a normal wolf’s, almost the same as Raven’s. She didn’t know or even consider its poison, she just thought it’s because she exhausted her power a bit too much. But her mind was puzzled at the fact that her paw pads were numb, she couldn’t think of an excuse to relieve her mind, so she was worried. Her powers couldn’t have done something like that, what she told Raven about her being in control of her ability wasn’t a lie. She can’t damage herself anymore with her lighting abilities like she did in the past. Raven noticed the worry in her eyes and gave a low sad yip; Whisper didn’t want him to worry so she smiled stupidly at him making him look away with a low growl. He stepped into the shallow bank of the stream and continued walking forward in it, liking the watery sensation running up his legs. The water in front of him shot up in a small fountain and rained watery mist over his face. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the stimulating properties of his marvelous element. Whisper stared blankly at him and as he saw this he stared back. He smiled mischievously at her and squirted a thin water stream at her face. She didn’t look pleased and shook her head to get the moisture of her fur. Raven laughed and shot another spurt. This time Whisper was ready for it and snapped at the water in the air, exposing her pure white canines in the sun and swallowing the water in one gulp. Raven was mesmerized by her powerful teeth, for he admired a wolf with powerful jaws. Meanwhile Whisper was on a mission for revenge and stepped with her one paw in the water. A spark jumped around her paw and in a crackling sound Raven Dropped in the water. She sent a few volts into the water and paralyzed Ravens limbs for a second. She laughed out of the pits of her stomach as she saw Raven laying flat in the water bank eyeing her darkly.

“Water conducts electricity don’t ‘ya know?” she laughed.

Raven growled but laughed as he got up “Touché”

“I bet I could kick your ass” she laughed and got into a playful position facing him.

“I highly doubt that, your abilities are still immature”

“So is yours Raven” She said dryly.

“So let’s see who’s is more mature” He growled.

With that Whisper’s body was starting to cover with dancing lightning sparks. Raven stared awestricken at the beauty of the sight but he didn’t notice the pain it caused her body.

Raven growled pleasurably and then smiled. Suddenly a big wave crashed over him and Whisper. She stood her ground as she got drenched and Raven fell in the stream again due to the electricity that yet again jumped from her body through the water. He laughed as he got up.

“That was a lot of volts this time” he said shakily.

“That was highly unnecessary, Raven. Now I’m wet to the bone” She said annoyed standing there with water dripping from her drenched fur.

“I don’t want to sound like a pup, but you started it” he said and swung his muzzle to the side, pulling off the water from her fur.

She stood there stupidly with a blank expression on her face with all her fur spiking to the side, Raven laughed at the sight of her and she shook her fur back into place.

“Neat” she sighed sarcastically.

Raven smiled foolishly exposing his teeth.

“Let’s keep moving” he said.

eƒf

“Do you like your element, Raven?”

“Why?”

“Just curious. You are the only waterwolf I’ve ever met so I don’t really know anything about it. Most wolves don’t like their elements due to the damage it inflicts on the user. But I don’t see how water can have a negative effect on the user, so tell me, do you like your element?”

“Yes, I consider myself lucky to be blessed with it”

Whisper stayed silent for a moment thinking of what Raven said the night before.

“You speak of blessing but you said that you are cursed”

“Forget about that” he said dryly.

“You can tell me Raven, maybe I will understand”

“I said forget about it” he barked.

Whisper dropped her ears.

“Let’s pick up our pace, I want to get out of this forest as soon as possible” Raven said as he suspiciously stared into the trees with the feeling of being watched. Whisper nodded and they began to run. But she didn’t like the quickened pace, her body began to ache at the joints and she felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to say anything because she felt too embarrassed to tell Raven about how she feels. She thought he will think she can’t control her element, and she didn’t want him to feel like she’s inferior. she didn’t want him to try to chase her away again. But if only she knew what he knew, that she’s poisoned. Raven still didn’t know how to tell her, but he was clenching on a small hope that she’s not ill at all, since she looks well.

They kept running in an awkward silence along the stream. Whisper was struggling to match his pace and her eyes were starting to blur in the luminous morning sun, the light gave her a splitting headache and she just wanted to close her eyes. Suddenly her front paw gave in and she fell with a thud to the ground, she cried out in pain and laid there motionless.

“Whisper” Raven yelled, stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her and finally rushed towards her.

“Whisper, are you okay?” He asked frightened.

She didn’t answer but panted heavily.

“Please be okay” he whispered as he knelt down to her exhausted body.

She turned from her side to her stomach and with a lot of effort she positioned her aching limbs ready to elevate her body.

“Don’t tire out your body, lay still and rest”

“I’m… okay, Raven” She said and raised her frail body from the ground, she lifted up her muzzle and gave Raven a faint smile. Raven looked her in the eyes and managed a smile back. Then suddenly she started to cough violently and drops of blood spat on the grass, then she got sick in front of Raven. He stared in horror. She struggled to breathe and kept on coughing out the bit off air she managed to get into her lungs. Tears ran down her muzzle and she whined at the burning pain in her stomach, again she got sick but majority of it was blood. She was petrified at the sight and passed out.

Raven stood there in horror, he didn’t know what to do. Suddenly he shot back to reality and knew the seriousness of the situation, she was going to die. His body was run by pure instinct when he went to the water and covered his paw in a thick layer of water. He rushed back to Whisper’s sick body and padded her forehead with his wet paw, trying to keep her temperature down. He had no knowledge of healing others other than himself, never mind poison infections. He felt a terrible pang in his heart that he’s limited at only healing himself with his ability, he felt useless and weak, if only he was stronger. None of it would have happened if he had been stronger, he could have killed the Tainted with no help if he wasn’t so weak, and now Whisper has to suffer for his arrogance. Whisper moaned and her body shook strangely, she was awake.

“Raven. I’m sorry” she whispered under her rapid panting.

“No. Don’t be. I should be sorry. I should have told you about the poison in your body, I knew about it. The she-wolf saw the fight and said you were… going to die in two days” Raven said sadly and he struggled to look at her.

“At least I don’t have to die alone. You will stay by me right, Raven?”

“Of course I will, Whisper” He said with tears filling his eyes “And I will try to find the she-wolf and force her to tell me about the cure, there has to be one”

“No. please don’t leave me” she whimpered softly.

“But…”

“No Raven. I’m not afraid of death. When I decided to take on the world alone I readied myself for death, I have nothing to live for”

“Live for me”

Whisper’s eyes widened, she had not expected that.

“Raven?”

“I don’t want to be alone anymore, I don’t want you to go Whisper” He cried and went to go lay next to her, he felt awkward at her touch but knew he needed it, and she needed the comfort.

“You’re making this hard for me Raven” She kept crying.

“I refuse to let you die” he barked.

Whisper dropped her fine head on Ravens back and rested it there, she liked the strange cool touch of his fur, it made her feel better. she kept coughing.

eƒf

She sat silently behind a shadowy pillar, trying not to be seen by the other guards and trying her best to avoid their pointless chitchat and boasting. She sat there getting bored, her paws were twitching and then she started hitting something with her soft pad as if there’s a bug on the floor. She was impatient and started getting agitated; she growled silently under her breathe and then sighed while looking up at the markings on the dark ceiling, trying to figure out what’s meant to be illustrated there, like she’s never noticed it before.

“Has anyone seen Vera?” asked one of the guards.

Her ears turned to face the conversation.

“She’s probably late, like usual” said a different voice.

She sat against the wall and growled softly again. She was usually late for these things because she felt there are more important things to do than reporting in. That day was the only day she decided to come early and get it over with, which she regretted soon enough because she’s bored senseless.

“That girl, thinks she’s better than all of us and that she can do what she wants. Somebody should discipline her for once”

She was tempted to come out of the shadows and make the guard swallow his words, but with the little self-restraint she had she held herself back but growled angrily.

“You want to try?” asked another guard.

“Well...” muttered the guard and looked away. The others laughed.

“Yeah I thought so. Just let her be, we should be glad she’s on our side”

She smiled darkly from within the shadows. The corridor door opened and an old male wolf walked out.

“The Elder wishes to see you guys now”

“Finally” she said loudly and stepped out of the shadows.

“Vera” the guards whispered amongst themselves while looking at her with fearful expressions.

“I thought I will have to ‘discipline’ one of you just for the fun of it” She said darkly with a smile and looked at the one guard as she walked passed him. He shook in fear where he stood and gave a loud gulp. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and snorted.

“Pathetic cretin” she hissed.

She walked though the large passageway and into the high roofed conference room with all the guards following behind her, the scared guard right at the back.

“Thank you all for coming, and nice to see you’re on time for once Vera”

She rolled her eyes and dropped her head in respect, so did the other guards as they lined up next to her.

The Elder sat on a cushion on a higher stone step; he was a grey-green old wolf with dark grey vine markings all over his body that used to be black, his fur was sleek and slightly longer due to the passing years. Next to him sat a young female wolf, she had long dark hair on her head as fine as silk flung to the one side and with a braid hanging by her ear on the other side of her face, the dark green went over her shoulders down to the centre of her back that formed two spikes that curled on her fine light green body. Dark green vine markings crept around her upper front legs. And her back legs, from the knee down to her paw pads were a deep colored green. She had a long lavishing dark tail covered in an array of greens; her tail was longer than average that touched the ground even when she stood. She was the Elder’s granddaughter. Her tail wagged slightly behind her.

“Vera” she greeted with a smile.

“Hazel” Vera greeted back and dropped her head again.

Hazel dropped her ears and looked away, she was irritated at Vera’s formal greeting, but she knew it was the proper custom.

“Can everybody please give their reports, Vera let’s start with you”

“I have nothing to report; all was peaceful in my territory”

“Really? That’s unusual, but I’m glad. No confrontation is the best there is” The elder snickered foolishly.

“I would disagree” Vera said under her breathe.

“What was that, Vera?”

“Nothing sir” she replied as he eyed her suspiciously.

“Ziel, report”

“There was a lone wolf scavenging in the northeastern part of the forest about two kilometers away from the rock fields at sunset. It was a middle aged male but I think he was just lost, so I scared him off without having to use force. I don’t think he will come into our forest again” Replied the guard.

“Good job. Jaze, report”

“There were a group of merchants taking a shortcut through the southeastern part and dangerously close to the North entrance. I tried to scare them away but two of the males got aggravated and started attacking. I made quick work of them, the one male got badly wounded and one possibly died on one of the carts as they fled out of the forest, I followed them till they were out” said the guard proudly.

“We should never resort to violence, yet alone death” barked the elder at the guard and he dropped his ears. “But I guess you had no choice at the moment, just try not to kill anyone in the future. We are not murderers”

“I-I’m sorry sir, I beg for your forgiveness” pleaded the guard.

Vera got bored again and tried not to become restless, she always tried to make it look like she’s interested in these meetings and protecting the village, but she became a guard to be able to roam around in the dark forest freely and cause trouble with trespassers. Hazel saw Vera drawing on the floor with her claw and noticed she was as bored as she was. She gave a noticeable fake cough that made Vera look at her. Hazel implied to Vera to meet outside with a head motion, Vera nodded and Hazel slowly snuck out a door behind the Elder as he and the guards talked. Vera waited till the Elder looked the other way. The guard that stood next to her noticed what she was planning.

“Don’t even think about it”

“Shut up” she said and quickly dashed through the door and it closed behind her.

The room she was in was a smaller rectangular one with ferns and all kinds of plants growing on the walls and ceiling. In the middle of the ceiling was an elliptical skylight where the vines of the plants entered the stone room. In the corner of the room was a small water feature with water flowing down stone leaves into one another. There were many carpets and pillows placed on the rooms floor but weren’t placed in an orderly fashion.

Hazel sat on one of the pillows with her tail wagging furiously behind her when Vera entered, her tongue lolled from her muzzle as she smiled.

“You summoned, successor?” Vera said and bowed her head.

Hazel closed her mouth and stared at Vera with an annoyed expression. Vera lifted her face and exposed a dark look on her face.

In an instant Hazel got up and pounced Vera, They rolled happily around on the floor wrestling and laughing. They stopped. Vera was pinned down under Hazel, Hazel kept laughing but Vera smiled awkwardly.

“Why don’t you visit me more often, I miss seeing you”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so busy lately with protecting the village and stuff. And you’re busy as well with your studies, I don’t want to be a bother” Vera replied as she looked away.

“You’re so busy because you take too many shifts; you’re more outside ‘protecting’ the village than inside. What do you hope to achieve Vera? And don’t bring up my studies; you know I always have time for you. I care about you” Hazel said with sad eyes.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Vera said and kicked Hazel in the stomach and she fell off her. Hazel gasped as she fell to the ground with a thud as the air escaped her lungs. Vera took the change and pinned Hazel this time, the table was turned. Hazel coughed once.

“What the hell” she barked.

Vera smiled and gave her a quick lick on the muzzle.

“It’s good to see you again” she said kindly.

Hazel looked at Vera confused, it’s rare for Vera to admit her feelings or open up easily. She smiled foolishly at Vera and Vera stared awkwardly. As this happened Hazel’s tail slowly snuck through the air and hovered over Vera’s head, ready to grab her and throw her off. Hazel smiled darkly and her tail grabbed Vera around her waist and threw her into a pile of pillows. Hazel laughed as Vera got up in bewilderment.

“What was that?” Vera asked baffled.

“What? you ask. Well my dear friend was my tail” Hazel giggled as she performed movements with her tail that wasn’t quite possible for a wolf to do.

“That’s so strange, how do you do that?” Vera asked over-excited, then pulled back her curious expression and she looked serious again. Hazel laughed.

“You really should come see me more often. This is something I’ve been practicing for a while now, since I’m insanely bored here. Quite awesome hey?”

“Yeah it is, show me how you do it”

Hazel looked at Vera’s tail and shook her head.

“I’m the only one who’s able to, since my tail is longer than average”

Vera sighed.

“I manipulate my tail with the nature element. I let a thin but strong vine slowly grow inside of my tails length. It hurt like hell but is totally worth it. And now I can freely move my tail any way I want through manipulating that thin vine. So now my tail surpasses the movement limitations of a normal wolf’s tail, like your tail” Hazel explained in a boasting way.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Vera asked dryly.

“Depends if it’s working”

“It is”

“Then yes” Hazel laughed.

“Well you can’t do this” Vera said and a vine shot from the wall and grabbed Hazel’s front paw, she stared at the vine wide-eyed and once again fell to the ground as the vine pulled.

They both laughed as Hazel got to her feet again.

“Touché”

“But that tail ability would be useful in battle” Vera thought out loud.

“You’re too dark Vera”

“Yeah well...”

“Life is beautiful and shouldn’t be wasted so easily. You will get hurt or even worst, killed. What should I do without you, Vera? You’re my best friend” Hazel whimper.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I won’t go down easily”

“I worry about you and the others you kill; you shouldn’t take a life so easily. It doesn’t even bother you and I even think you enjoy seeing someone die”

“I do what has to be done. I put them out of their misery” Vera barked.

“The others you kill, the pain doesn’t stop there, it multiplies. Think of the pain their loved ones go through. Think of their loss”

Vera looks away ashamed.

“I know” Hazel said dryly.

Vera looked puzzled at Hazel “Know what?”

“I know you’re hiding something”

“I don’t know what you are talking about”

“I know you Vera, I can tell when you want to tell me something”

There was something Vera was burning to tell her but she knew it would upset her more. She was surprised Hazel could tell.

“Tell me” Hazel continued. Vera lowered her head and there was a short silence.

“I wasn’t completely honest to the Elder” Vera said.

“Go on”

“I found two trespassers fighting a Tainted One, I watched the battle from within a tree but they struggled. I killed the Tainted One before it would kill them”

“That’s a good thing you did Vera” Hazel said surprised. “You saved someone’s life” She continued.

“No I didn’t. One of them consumed some of the Taint’s poison”

“That’s horrible. Did you give her some of your cure?”

“No” Vera said bluntly.

“So you left her to die?” Hazel barked.

“It’s not my duty to save trespassers’ lives. I let them go and told them to get out of the forest” Vera snapped back.

“What is wrong with you” Hazel said dryly. “Why didn’t you report this to the Elder?” she continued.

“I- I don’t know”

Hazel snorted in disgust and walked to the door.

“Then I will”

Vera growled and turned away, but she knew Hazel was doing the right thing. Vera felt bad for herself.

4: Whisper

Chapter 4: Whisper

 

“Come on. We need to get you to a safer place to rest”

“Ok Raven”

“Can you get up?”

“I-I think so” Whisper said with a faint, weak voice. She tried to push herself up but her weakened limbs gave in under her. Raven Watched painfully.

“Bite into my scruff and I will pull you up”

“But Raven… That will hurt you, I-I can’t…”

“Do it” Raven interrupted and lowered his head to Whisper.

She gave a low moan and slowly reached his scruff with her muzzle. Raven felt her faint warm breath on his pelt and knew she hesitated.

“What are you waiting for? This won’t hurt me so easily” Raven reassured her, and just as he finished speaking she gripped her strong jaw onto his scruff. He quivered at the intense force gripping near his fragile throat. He underestimated the sharpness of her deadly canines. He pulled her up with more force he intended to use. He felt the tension of her weight in his spine as she rose with difficulty, her legs shaking under her. Whisper’s eyes widened as she started to taste a strange metallic on her tongue, she knew immediately what had happened… She penetrated his skin. When her legs were straight, she let go and Raven quickly dove under her chest so that she could rest her weight on his shoulders. Her right front paw was resting over his neck, her chest on his shoulders and her head was right above his.

“Raven…”

“That worked better than I expected it to; do you think we can move like this?”

Whisper saw the bloodied gash on Raven’s scruff by her chest; his blood was staining her fur and whisper felt nauseas at the sight.

“Raven I…” she whimpered.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing” He interrupted. He felt the intense pain as his skin tore while he was pulling her up, he didn’t want to show her that he was in pain. He just wished to help her any way he can without showing weakness.

“We won’t get far like this. I have a plan”

Whisper’s mind was dazed; she wasn’t as alert as she used to be due to the spreading poison. Her eyes were fogged up and heavy and her muscles weak. She dropped her head onto Ravens’; her muzzle was breathing heavily between his ears. He felt the weak life force resting on him and his spirit grew heavy.  He steadily paced towards the stream and Whisper moaned.

“We have no other choice, Whisper. This is a faster way of moving, trust me” He said with a soft caring voice, trying to lift her spirit. He walked into the pool one paw at a time, feeling the refreshing nourishment of the water running through his fur. He went in deeper until only the top of his body and whisper was above the water surface. Whisper didn’t like the water for it brought bad memories. Suddenly Raven dropped under water, giving Whisper a scare, she moaned frantically as her head was about to go underwater when Raven emerged again, getting a more comfortable position of Whisper above him. Her body was now completely on Ravens’, her belly was resting on his spine and her paws floated on both sides of him.

“What the hell, you scared me Raven” She snapped.

“I’m sorry; I guess I should have warned you first. But it had to be done; this is more comfortable for both of us”

“Yes it is” She whispered and blushed above him. No one has ever been this close to her and it made her warm inside but still a bit awkward. Raven felt the same and his mind was racing, never would he have thought something like this would ever happen to him.

Whisper felt pressure around her waist and freaked out; it felt like someone was holding her.

“What you’re feeling now is my tail with a water extension gripping around your body to keep you in place when we start to move. We really don’t want you to drift off, now do we?” Raven said.

“Again, you should of warned me first” Whispered said dryly.

Raven began to kick his legs and they gradually began to move forward, slowly gaining speed. This was Raven’s terrain, he felt good with water surrounding him. But the Water had a strange atmosphere; it was slightly electrified with escaping volts from Whisper’s body. Raven tried to ignore it, he didn’t want to mention it and risk upsetting Whisper.

“I’m sorry” She moaned.

“Sorry? What for?”

“Don’t pretend not to notice it, Raven. I can’t control my element, its escaping from my body. It hurts trying to stop it” She cried.

“Then don’t try to hold it back, Whisper. Let it go”

“You will die” She snapped.

The atmosphere grew heavy and Raven didn’t know what to say.

“You don’t deserve this, Raven”

“You don’t know…” He tried to speak when suddenly Whisper started coughing violently again above him, drops of blood spat in front of him and onto his muzzle. Before he could think a sudden surge of electricity numbed his body and shocked the gash on his neck intensely. He yelled in pain and his head dropped under water. Whisper stayed afloat and stared at the bubbles coming out of the water in horror. She was speechless and couldn’t wrap her mind at the situation.

“Raven!” She yelled in horror. She thought he died, but with the panic in her mind she didn’t notice the water tail was still wrapped around her body keeping her surfaced. More bubbles came from the watery abyss when suddenly she felt Ravens back against her belly again and his head resurfaced. The water around them was a pale red colour; the gash on his neck began bleeding violently.

“Is that all you got?” He laughed dryly.

“I’m so sorry Raven, are you okay?” Whisper cried worriedly.

“I have been better. Hey Whisper, want to see something cool?”

Whisper was confused at Raven’s relaxed state, but little did she know that he was suffering and this is his way to cope. Whisper whined.

“Thi… This is a waterwolf’s specialty, though I haven’t tried it in running water before, never mind with somebody on my back. This is going to be a real treat” Ravens said between breathes. He closed his eyes and continued to paddle forward; he lowered his muzzle in the water and concentrated. Whisper felt a strange heat under her belly; Raven’s body temperature was rising. The water lit up in front of his muzzle and out of that light, streams of crystal clear blue water that shone in a divine light started to flow out of it. The divine light streams surrounded them and Whisper’s eyes glittered as she was amazed at the beauty that surrounded them. Whisper’s admiration snapped when Raven’s body started to shake violently under her, he tried to keep his painful screams in but it escaped his mouth. Whisper listened in horror and her spirit instantly shattered, she passed out. Raven’s screams became a painful howl then suddenly there was silence. He panted heavily and struggled to keep afloat, he started to desperately paddle to the rivers’ bank. When he got there he and Whisper dropped to the moist ground, still half in the water. He turned to face Whisper and kept panting heavily for a while.

“You will be the death of me” he sniggered as he watched her unconscious face.

He laid there motionless for a while, accumulating energy and enjoying the warm afternoon sun on his wet pelt. He got up and pulled whisper out of the water by her scruff, as he did this, the still escaping volts from her body tingled in his mouth.

“What a troublesome element you have” He hissed then shook himself dry. He stared intently at her body until her fur began to bristle. In a waving movement of his head the water ran off Whisper’s fur and she was dry, but untidy and in need of grooming.

He looked around and knew that they were lost, it felt like a never-ending forest and he did not know which direction to travel to get out of it, since he has never been there before. He was scared for whisper’s life and his own, if the green she-wolf appears again he would have a hard time defending himself and Whisper. Raven didn’t have a plan of action; for once his mind was silent. All he could think of was to be with Whisper and keep her safe.

In a few hours the sun was going to set again, after the night Whisper’s final day will break along with a new sun. It was hard for Raven to grant Whisper’s dying wish, to be with her till she dies. He wanted to look for the green she-wolf, even though he would put his own life in danger, and extract the cure from her. Raven was confused and restless; he kept pacing back and forth while keeping an eye on her.

Food, she needs to eat something. Raven thought to himself, but he knew he couldn’t leave her alone or take her with.

“Everything has to be a problem” he growled to himself.

He laid down next to her with his head in his paws and looked around; trying to come up with a plan, but all he could think about was food. The still burning hunger in his gut was becoming more uncomfortable. He hasn’t had a decent meal in many days; the stolen chunk of meat was just a tease.

Raven grumbled something under his breath and got up to face the river.

“Fish” he hissed. Ironically for a water wolf, Raven hated fish, and he would rather go hungry than to eat fish. But he had Whisper to put first now. And he knew he had to eat something or he would die of starvation in a few more days.

He stepped with his front paws in the shallow bank and closed his eyes; he concentrated in the waters movement and synchronized it with his instinct. He stood there for a good few minutes with great impatience, when suddenly he opened his eyes and blood in the form of a small explosion formed in the depths of the river. Raven swam in and dove it out, dropping it on the bank. He did this till he had three average sized trout. He then walked around in the area and dug out several edible roots, or he hoped it was edible. Raven knew little of survival in the wilderness, usually he steals when he needs something. He put the roots and fish separately in two piles and decided to try to wake up whisper.

Her body was still shaking with little volts jumping around on her fur making crackling sounds as they go, making Raven keep his distance. Even though the gash on his neck is healed it was still throbbing in pain of the memory.

“Whisper, Wake up. I brought food”

Her ear twitched and she made a soft whine.

“Wake up!” he yelled unnecessarily loud.

Whisper shuddered as she was forced out of her sleep.

“Wha…“ She started to cough violently.

Raven looked at the river as a small stream floated out.

“Open your mouth”

Whisper opened her mouth and the water slowly went inside, she managed a few swallows but them vomited and coughed it out. Raven watched painfully while Whisper cried.

“You have to drink, try to keep in it”

“Okay Raven” she sobbed. This time she managed to hold the water down.

“I got us some food; I guess you should eat something. Are you hungry?”

“Yes I am, thank you Raven. My stomach is hollow from being sick the whole time” she said and looked away shyly.

“Don’t be embarrass Whisper, I don’t care” He said and went to sit right next to her, then rubbed his side against hers and smiled. Whisper looked at him confused and blushed, then smiled back. She didn’t expect for him to warm up to her so quickly.

No, he’s pitying me. She thought sadly.

“Do you like fish?”

“I love fish”

“Of course you do” he said sarcastically as she stared at him blankly. “I got us some fish and roots”

She just smiled and stared at him, and then he got up and dropped the food in front of her.

“Well dig in, get some strength back”

Whisper stared blankly at the pile of roots.

“What’s wrong” Raven asked.

“Most of the roots aren’t edible, but if you want to die with me then go ahead and eat. I’ll pass” She said with a dark smile.

“That isn’t funny Whisper” Raven said dryly.

Don’t joke about your own death like that you foolish female. He thought sadly to himself. Whisper dropped her ears.

“I’m sorry Raven, I didn’t mean to upset you” She said and grabbed some of the roots in her mouth and tossed it aside. “Now we can eat”

Raven took one of the smaller roots and chewed it, it was bitter and unpleasant. Whisper gulped down two of the fish in an instant, hardly chewing them. Raven stared at her in utter amazement with a small vine from a root hanging from his mouth, Whisper smiled casually.

They ate until only one fish remained.

“Aren’t you gonna’ eat that?”

“I don’t eat fish”

“Are you serious?” Whisper laughed.

“Yes” Raven answered bluntly.

“That is so strange…” She said then swallowed down the last fish.

“Thanx for the meal Raven, I feel a bit better now. So what’s the plan from here on out? I guess we should start moving again”

“Can you move?” Raven asked surprised.

“Well…” Whisper said and got shakily to her feet “Looks like it”

“I’m so glad!” Raven barked happily and whisper smiled proudly.

She started walking towards the trees, she slightly went off balanced and tripped to the side when Raven suddenly stood next to her, she leaned against him and they continued walking forward.

“Where are we going?” Raven asked.

“Out of the forest, this way is the quickest way out”

“How do you know that?”

“The sun sets east, so we go that way, west. Unless you have the strength to climb over the mountain range which lies east of this forest, I sure don’t” Whisper said smugly.

“Alright, west it is then” Raven said, he was impressed with her.

They continued walking through the forest, the trees became thicker and less sunshine shone through the branches as they progressed ahead. Small rays of sunshine escaped through the thick foliage making visible beams of light. Whisper watched the spore and dust particles float through the light beams with awe.

“Isn’t nature beautiful, Raven?” Whisper said softly.

“What? Oh… uh yeah”

“So much beauty to behold, you should notice the little things in life Raven. Only then will you understand what true beauty is, and nature is true unpretentious beauty”

“If you say so”

“I want the nature element; I want to be part of the beauty”

“But you are beautiful” Raven said without thinking, he quickly felt the awkward atmosphere and was completely embarrassed. Whisper looked at him with tender eyes and blushed; she was caught off guard by the compliment.

“Raven” she said softly.

“I-I’m sorry” Raven said awkwardly.

“Your quite handsome yourself Raven” she joked and gave him a slight bump on the side. Raven looked at her blankly and started laughing. The awkwardness lifted.

They kept walking side by side and enjoyed each other’s company, they joked and made smalltalk. It has been a long time for both of them since they could chat so freely. Raven turned his head and looked at Whispers body and then his own and suddenly realized something.

“Whisper you’re slightly bigger than me” He said bluntly.

“What on earth are you going on about now Raven” she said dryly.

“Look. You’re bigger than me” he said and they both looked and compared sizes.

“Oh gosh, seriously. Have no one ever told you not to bring up a females size?” she said looking at him darkly. “And I’m not bigger than you” she barked. “The static in my fur makes it all puffy, I’m skinny dammit”

“Okay okay I’m sorry” he laughed.

“You’re just freakishly small for a male” She teased. Raven growled under his breath.

“I thought you said the mountain range lays in the East”

“It does” Whisper replied puzzled.

“Then what’s that up ahead? The ground is getting steeper with rocks and stuff”

“My sight is blurred, I can’t see very far. But I know there shouldn’t be a mountain range here” She replied confident of her statement.

“Right. Let’s check it out then” Raven said and they walked towards the steep ground. The trees were less thick and he looked up in astonishment. The ground grew steeper and steeper till it almost went perfectly vertical, it was a great wall-like mountain covered in several kinds in grass, shrubs and trees.

“There is no way we would be able to go up there. I guess you were wrong Whisper”

“I can’t be wrong, I’m pretty sure this mountain shouldn’t be here” She said agitated.

Suddenly a sinister howl was heard from behind them and they both jumped in horror.

“It’s a Taint. We have to run Whisper!” Raven yelled.

“I can’t Raven” Whisper cried. Raven growled with frustration.

“Lean your weight against me and try to walk faster”

“I will try”

“Quickly” he whispered with fear starting consume him. He knew they would be in big trouble if the Taint found them. They started walking alongside the mountain range, gradually increasing their speed. Whisper started panting heavily. They heard sticks snapping and vicious growls behind them.

“Raven I’m scared” She cried.

“Keep moving”

“Leave me Raven, let him take me I’m dead anyway. Save yourself, forget about me”

“Don’t talk like that” He barked angrily. “There, A cave! Get inside”

They ran into the pitch black cave and laid down flat against the wall, they both tried not to breathe. They stared at the entrance in horror, expecting the worst, but nothing could be seen nor heard. They stayed motionless for a while.

“Are we safe?”

“I don’t know” Raven replied. He silently got up and sneaked to the entrance, he looked outside while trying to remain in the shadows.

“I think it’s gone” Raven said relieved then laid down next to Whisper and licked her muzzle.

“I’m glad” She said relieved and dropped her head on Ravens soft back.

“We will spend the night here” Raven whispered.

Whisper’s breathing became fainter and out of rhythm, she was slowly drifting off to sleep but Raven grew afraid for her, he didn’t her to fall asleep.

“Whisper?”

“Yeah?” she mumbled in his fur.

“Tell me about yourself, how old are you?” He asked in attempt to keep her awake.

“Oh okay, I’m 17 years young, and you Raven?”

“I’m 18, but you thought I’m 16 before, remember? I guess I look young for my age” he said and she smiled. “Younger and bigger than me, didn’t expect that” He joked.

“Shut up” she laughed.

“Why are you a lone wolf, Whisper?”

“I ran away. And you?”

“Same I guess” Raven replied, avoiding giving further details. “Why did you run away?”

“It’s really complicated and personal”

“I’m sorry; you don’t have to tell me then”

Whisper dropped her ears and sighed, she hoped Raven would be persistent to know, she really wanted to tell her past to someone for once. She kept quiet and waited for Raven to ask again, but he already lost interest and Whisper was annoyed.

“I have no memory of my life till I was eight…” Whisper started.

“Oh you’re going to tell me anyway, great stuff” Raven said and Whisper looked at him dryly.

“I was found next to a river behind a small fishing Village by a she wolf named Rae…”

 

eƒf

 

A female wolf was strolling to the river that ran behind a small village to do her usual fishing schedule. She had grey fur that had a hint of blue in and with pale black spear markings on her body, she had pallid-blue eyes and a sleek grey muzzle and medium length black-grey hair that almost covered her face and spiked at the back.

She walked through the village smiling happily at everyone that seemed to notice her. The villagers thought she was odd, since she always wore random colored stitched up rags somewhere on her body and at the fact that she’s the only female fisherman in the village and always in a pleasant mood.

“Beautiful day to go fishing, hey Rae?” said an old wolf sitting in front of his hut close to the edge of the village.

“Indeed it is” She smiled, “Let’s just hope the fish are in a biting mood today”

“I hope so for your part, I’m looking forward to some fish tonight”

Rae laughed at the old wolf’s obvious hint. “I will bring you my best catch”

“Thank you Rae, you spoil an old wolf like me too much” he chuckled.

Ray gave him a gentle smile and continued walking until she reached the river’s bank and strolled upstream until she was quite a distance away from the village by a spot she believed the fish are the most active. She felt a strange atmosphere and the hair on her back rose. She tried to ignore the uneasiness in her spirit and continue her job, until she couldn’t take it anymore. She started to survey the area until finally she saw a yellow ball of fur in the distance; Rae rushed to it and saw a young little she-wolf pup laying unconscious in the grass.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

 She sniffed and nudged the body trying to figure if she’s alive when suddenly she woke up with a hysterical scream and tried kicked away on the ground. The little girl cried violently as Rae looked at her confused and scared. Suddenly the girl was silent and stared blankly and Rea, Rae noticed the girl had a strange expression on her face, like she wanted to say something. Then, she heard crackling noises and strange bright lights bubbled on the little wolf’s fur. Suddenly the little wolf lit up and lighting flared out of her body into the sky and ground while she howled in pain. Rae took cover in some bushes a distance away. She stayed there for a while with her mind racing at what she just saw, but all she could think of was if the little wolf was alright. She snuck out of the bush and saw the yellow wolf lying motionless again, with sparks jumping around on her frail little body. Rae rushed her.

“Little wolf!” she yelled as she tried to turn her body over with her paw, Rae pulled back her paw as she was shocked. She tried again and again but she couldn’t touch her without getting hurt, she gathered the courage and quickly picked up the small with by her scruff. Rae whined as the volts rushed through her muzzle, numbing it, and she ran a few steps then accidentally threw the wolf in the shallow bank of the river. She watched in horror as she thought she drowned the wolf but as she rushed to her in a burst of speed she saw the sparks on the little wolf’s body jumped of her and disappeared into the water in an array of lights and strange snapping sounds.

The yellow wolf whined in the water and her breathing picked up again. Rae walked into the water and picked the wolf up by her scruff again, this time the voltage wasn’t as bad but her tongue still got numb.

Rae rushed to her house through the village and all the villager wolves stared at her confused and whispered amongst themselves as they saw her carry a small yellow dripping wolf. She got into her house and dropped the young wolf onto a pillow, panting and trying to think. A little grey female wolf walked into the room, she looked a lot like Rae but with shorter hair and lighter fur.

“Who’s that, mommy?” she asked.

“Autumn” Rae said relieved to see her daughter “I found her by the river, I don’t think she’s well”

“Please make her better” Autumn whined sadly.

“I will do…”

“What’s the meaning of this” interrupted a large male wolf standing at the front door with some villagers behind him, He was a dark grey wolf with white spike markings all over his body. He was in charge of the small village.

“Ross… I found this pup badly hurt next to the river. I had to help her”

“Bless your kind soul, but we cannot let strangers into our village. Especially when it’s a different element. You of all wolves should know that”

“I couldn’t just let her die. And how do you know she’s not like us?” Rae growled.

“She’s yellow, windwolves aren’t yellow” he snapped.

“Just let me take care her ‘till she’s healthy, I beg you Ross. I can’t just turn a blind eye on her, she needs help” Rae pleaded. Ross growled at her resistance but he noticed she felt strongly about this, deep down he was kind of glad she was passionate with something again.

“Fine. But she leaves as soon as she’s healthy again” He said and agitatedly walked out “and I will be watching you, Rae” he hissed.

 

For the next few days Rae cared for the frail little she-wolf, she was unconscious for several days. She moaned in her sleep and sometimes shook violently. Rae didn’t think the wolf would make it; she was very sick and wouldn’t eat or drink. On the fourth day things looked worst for the pup, her body was twitching and shaking and she was crying in her sleep. But what made Rae more worried was the electrical atmosphere in the room and the small volts that danced on the yellow wolf’s fur. Rae feared the worst so she told Autumn to stay outside for a while. Rae watched as the yellow wolf slept restlessly in bitter pain, but she was sure to keep her distance. The volts grew bigger and started to jump of her body and onto the ground and surroundings. Rae watched in awe and knew the seriousness of the situation, and then, she had a plan.

She went outside and saw autumn lying under a tree and rushed to her.

“What’s wrong mommy?” she asked as she saw the worry in Rae’s face.

“Help me get a pail full of water, she needs it” Rae said and looked back at the house and saw flashes of light striking the glass. The villagers started to wonder what was going on when they saw the commotion.

“Quickly” Rae yelped.

When they went inside the house the saw the wolf sitting in the corner of the room with tears running down her emotionless face, she was whining. Bolts of lightning shot out of her body and destroyed the house’s interior.

“Stay outside autumn!” Rae barked then dragged the pail towards the wolf, hoping that she wouldn’t get struck by the lightning. Rae was afraid, she closed her eyes as she slowly paced the short distance. She heard the demonic bolts miss her by a hair each time, like they were teasing her. She finally got to the wolf and dropped the pale in front of her.

“Step into the pail” Rae yelled through all the commotion. But the wolf just stared at her blankly, she didn’t understand. Rae growled and used her paw to lift up the wolf’s yellow paw and dropped it into the pail, Rae yelled in pain as she shocked. She ignored it and dropped the wolf’s other paw in the water. The yellow wolf screamed and all the electricity succumbed into the water. The little wolf stopped yelling and her consciousness slowly faded away again, as she fell, Rae quickly dipped her head under the wolf to save her from the impact with her soft neck. She laid down out of breath and panted heavily from the literal shock with the wolf on top of her, sound asleep.

Autumn came in and rushed to her mother’s side and laid beside her. Rae saw her and gave a relieved laugh. She then saw Ross standing in the corridor and giving a deep sigh.

 

The wolf was asleep for another two days until she finally woke up. Rae was glad but the wolf was afraid of her and Autumn. She kept crying and tried to run away but her weak legs wouldn’t let her. Rae tried to soothe her into a calm state then she asked her where she came from and what her name is and etc. but the wolf couldn’t talk, she just whined and mumbled stuff as if she was half asleep. Rae noticed the yellow wolf was just as confused about herself as Rae was; she had no memory of her past.

In the week that followed, Rae tried to bond with the wolf, she wanted the little wolf to trust her and receive her care without a fight. Ross was also growing impatient for he thought the wolf looked well enough to leave, but Rae refused to let her go.

 

Two months went by since Rae found the wolf and she grew much attached to her. The wolf couldn’t talk properly; she only mumbled and whispered things that didn’t make sense. So Rae decided to call her Whisper since she couldn’t remember her name and everybody needed one. Ross finally agreed to let Rae raise the pup, but nor he or the villagers were happy about it. They didn’t trust an outsider, especially one that is so dangerous even at a young age. Everybody watched the lightning shows at the river every few days. Whisper had to relieve herself of the pure energy that’s locked inside her small body, and the villagers watched in horror as the destructive force was released into the water each time.

 

As a year went by Whisper regained speech again and could talk normally. She grew very fond of Rae and saw her as a mother, and Autumn, who is her best friend, was like a sister.

 

“Whisper, wake up!” growled Autumn as she playfully bit Whisper’s ear.

“No, let me sleep for a while longer” She moaned in her sleep deprived state and hit Autumn in the face as she turned away.

“You have to wake up Whisper, it’s you birthday!” Autumn yelled excitedly and jumped onto Whisper. She pretended to sleep.

“Is she awake yet?” Rae said as she walked into the room.

“Mom!” they both yelled and jumped into Rae making her fall over, they licked and bit her playfully.

“Wait girls. Let me get up” she laughed and shook Autumn and Whisper off.

“Whisper” she said and licked Whisper’s muzzle, she giggled foolishly with a wagging tail.

“Morning mom” she smiled.

“You know what today is right?... it’s your bi…”

“The anniversary of the day you found me four years ago” Whisper interrupted with a smile.

“Well… yes. But it’s also your twelfth birthday silly girl”

“And now you’re like a year older than me Whisper!” yelled Autumn happily.

“Not a whole year, you’re birthday is in a few months” Rae stated. “But Whisper! I have a gift for you, wait here”

Whisper sat next to Autumn with her tail wagging furiously behind her, Rae came back with colored rugs in her mouth and pulled it over Whisper’s head to get it around her neck.

“Oh wow, more old sheets” Whisper said dryly as Autumn was rolling on the floor laughing.

“Yeah I made it myself; see it’s the same as the ones I always wear. Now we’re a perfect mother-daughter team. And don’t worry Autumn, I’m busy making you some as well” Rae laughed as Autumn eyed her dryly.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

“No I love it. Thanx mom” Whisper said and snuggled up to Rae.

“I’m so glad Whisper. I couldn’t afford to buy you anything” she said sadly.

“You guys are all I want” She whispered as the three of them snuggled up together.

 

Whisper and Autumn played outside while Rae was baking a cake inside for the occasion. Rae was happier than ever. Since she lost her husband in a freak accident she felt like she wanted to die, she struggled to keep on going and couldn’t afford taking care of Autumn and herself. So she worked hard and eventually started fishing to make extra money. They slaved through the months and were about to give up. But seven months after his death Whisper showed up, and Rae knew it was fate.

 

It was a warm midday afternoon and time for Whisper and Autumn to go to their teachings. Rae called them in to get ready.

“I don’t want to go” moaned Whisper “Can’t I stay home ‘coz it’s my birthday?” she said smiling innocently.

“Those puppy eyes won’t work on me missy, now get going you two, before you’re late again” she said laughing. Whisper growled something under her breath.

“Nice try” Autumn said laughing as they walked, Whisper eyed her darkly.

As they left Rae continued baking the cake and preparing Whisper’s favorite meal. She told Autumn to sneak out early and to quickly come home, so when Whisper comes back they would yell ‘surprise!’ Rae smiled as she thought how happy Whisper would be.

 

Whisper never liked school, it was a small building with only one class and all age groups were in the same class. Everybody treated her as an outcast, even the teacher. The other students avoided her completely or gave her a hard time, but usually Autumn stands up for her. When Autumn isn’t around to help her then Whisper just crawls up into a ball and cries, but there has been a few times when she couldn’t control herself and seriously hurt someone with her out of control lightning element. She tried her best not to draw attention to herself.

Class was done for the day and she couldn’t find Autumn, so she decided to walk home alone. The sun was setting over the trees and it was slowly getting darker. Even though everybody in the village knew each other and it was quite safe, Whisper always felt uneasy when she was walking alone.

She walked down the main street towards her house with the village wolves eyeing her darkly and whispering amongst themselves. She was an outcast to the whole village, nobody acknowledged her.

She could see her house in the far distance and smiled; she picked up her pace and thought of being with Rae again and eating cake while having a good time. When suddenly a massive lightning storm burst out in the house, shot through the roof and into the heavens. The sky lit up with lightning spreading like branches out of the house. Whisper watched motionless in horror, her body and mind froze. She then saw a dark silhouette emerge from the smoking door and suddenly it disappeared in thin air with a flash of light.

Whisper ran into the house crying and yelling hysterically and called out for Rae and Autumn, but no reply. When the smoke cleared a bit and the eerie early night light shone through the ruined building, Whisper saw what she believed was Autumn splattered against the wall and floor in an explosion of gore and blood. She stared in horror with no voice escaping her petrified body.

“RAE!” she called out hysterically and swung her muzzle around expecting to see her, and she did. Rae was lying motionless in the corner, her body was fried by the electrical massacre and the smoke was still rising from her burnt bloodied body. Whisper slowly snuck to Rae’s side as she watched the blood flowing between her own toes.

“Mom?” she whimpered through the tears. “Please get up”

She looked at Rae‘s face, her mouth was open with her tongue laying on the floor and blood leaking out. Her eyes were open, and as peaceful as ever.

“Mom please get up, don’t leave me” she cried and rested her head on Rae’s chest.

A commotion was started outside and Ross rushed in and stared at the horrid scene.

“I knew letting you stay here will end up like this” He growled.

Whisper was dazed with trauma and didn’t know what he meant.

“Now you die little one” He barked and leaped for her.

Whisper yelled out of fear when he jumped for her with his fangs furiously staring at her in a snarl, his jaw met her neck and he was about to snap her fragile throat when suddenly he shot back with a scream. Whisper shocked him with her lightning element. He was about to get up again and she feared the worst. She gave Rae one last look and sadly licked her bloody muzzle then jumped through the broken window and fled into the forest with a broken spirit.

 

eƒf

 

Raven’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor as Whisper told her tale, he could hardly process what he just heard. For a young female wolf to go through so many traumas was unheard of. Whisper was in tears, she never told anybody her past before, and it wasn’t easy.

“Oh my god Whisper, that’s horrible” Raven muttered.

Whisper couldn’t talk but managed a painful whine as she dropped her head onto Raven’s pelt.

“I can’t believe something like that happened to you, and who was that… that thing that killed them?” Raven asked.

“Please let’s not talk about this anymore Raven” she cried in his fur.

“Oh ok, I’m sorry”

“Thanks for listening Raven, it means a lot to me” she mumbled as her mind drifted away.

It was dark out and Raven decided to let Whisper sleep, he wanted some shut eye himself but his mind kept playing what Whisper told him over and over. Whisper quickly fell asleep against Raven and he watched her as she twitched and moaned. Raven’s eyes grew heavy and after a while his head dropped down into his paws.

“I found them. Over here!” barked a male voice from the back of the cave.

Raven jumped up and was on alert; he heard footsteps run towards him until he could see about four silhouettes.

“Who’s there?” he growled angrily.

“Stay calm blue, we’re not going to hurt you. Take the female”

“Leave her alone!” Raven said furiously and charged for the male wolf.

Suddenly a vine shot out from the cave wall and grabbed him around the neck and threw him against the wall, he impacted the wall head first.

“Whisper, run…” he whispered as everything went black around him.

5: Veiled forest village

Chapter 5: Veiled Forest Village

 

He laid on the cold stone floor scoping his surroundings while he laid motionless with one of his hind legs stretched out behind him, his fine blue muzzle resting on his paws. He had just woken up, with a throbbing pain in the side of his skull. He pulled back his leg under him to look less relaxed, as he was not. He was confused and panicky, and was too afraid to move. Fear froze his body yet again. He was in a dark stone cell with vines dangling from the walls.

Suddenly he remembered what had happened.

“Whisper!” He yelled out from the pit of his gut, jumped up and rammed his body into the steel cell door. The gate rattled in its joints and the impact shook through Raven’s bones.

“Whisper!” he cried out hysterically and slammed into the gate again. He knew it was futile but he was confused and in mental pain.

He slammed into the gate a couple more times and then passed out due to the mental and physical trauma.

 

“What’s with all the racket?”

“The prisoner is awake sir. He tried to break open the gate but his effort went to vain, he damaged himself and passed out” the guard sighed.

“He is a troubled wolf. Tend to his wounds while he’s still out”

“Very well sir”

Raven moaned as he heard voices in his half unconscious state. He scratched at his ear with his front paw as he tried to wake up again, he’s mind was in turmoil.

“Sir Wait, he’s waking up” Said the guard as he stared at Raven.

“Open the gate”

Raven heard the rattling sound of a key turning in the lock as his mind started to synchronize with his surroundings once again; he opened his eyes as his head was spinning and everything was in a blur. He saw a blurred silhouette of someone as he looked dimly through his eyelashes.

“Can you hear me?” said the dark green silhouette in front of him.

Raven growled under his breath as he got up, he shook his head and curled his lip up in a snarl.

“Don’t do anything irrational, blue. I’m not here to provoke you. I’m a friend” said the dark green wolf.

“Where’s Whisper?” Raven growled, still ready to attack.

“Your yellow friend is safe for now. Please calm down” He smiled.

Raven stared at the him confused and suddenly pounced at him and pinned the dark green wolf to the ground.

“Warden!” Yelled the guard that accompanied the dark green wolf.

“Take me to my friend or I will end your life” Raven barked at the warden as he stood above him. The warden sighed and looked at the wall, he then pulled his front paw back that was close to Raven’s chest and then vines suddenly grabbed Raven and pulled him off the warden and into the wall. Raven gasped as his wind was knocked out.

He was stuck against the wall with the vines tangled uncomfortably around him, holding him tightly against the wall and off the ground. Raven growled and kicked around in the air struggling to get free.

“I came here to check if you would cooperate. So that I could take you to your friend, but you just had to be violent. Now you will stay in this cell” Growled the warden as he walked out.

“Are you okay warden?”

“I’m fine” He barked at the guard as he locked up. They walked away in silence as Raven began to fathom what had happened at that moment.

“Come back!” Raven barked painfully. Then he fell to the ground with a thud.

 

Four days passed since his confrontation with the warden, or it felt like four days according to Raven. He was cut off from the world outside and no natural light came into the dark dungeon. Only source of light was the single torch in the corridor outside his cell that shone through a barred opening through his metal door. Raven felt a pathetic, there were no sign of water anywhere that he could manipulate and escape. And his body was too frail and weak to break open the gate.

The guards brought him dried out food twice a day and constantly forced him to eat ice to keep his body hydrated. The guards cleverly blocked all of Raven’s possibilities of escape.

 

“This dungeon is designed specifically for water scum like you” a guard taunted one day to break Raven’s spirit. But instead Raven’s ears rose and he stood against the cell gate and looked at the guard.

“Were there other water elementalists here recently?” Raven asked with a burst of relief.

“No” the guard replied bluntly “This cell was designed before the war, you are our first Waterwolf in many many years”

Raven dropped his ears and the feeling hopelessness rushed over him again like a dark cloud.

“You, my friend, are probably the last living Waterwolf. The rest died in vain, and soon you will join them in the afterlife” Laughed the guard darkly as he walked away.

Raven gave a painful whine and bit deep into his front leg with his powerful jaw, he cried as the tears ran down his muzzle that mixed with his blood. Raven pulled out the blood from the wound with his ability and continuously shot it at the gates lock. Raven grew weak after each shot as the blood in his body dwindled. After a few shots he stopped and his painful howl echoed through the dark corridors of the dungeons. The lock didn’t have a single scratch on it.

He fell down exhausted and stared into the dark oblivion of his mind. Raven thought of Whisper and knew she would be dead by now, he lost all hope and he didn’t care for escape. All he wanted was to die and be put out of his misery.

 

Raven, wake up.

“Huh... who’s there?” he asked confused and opened his eyes but saw no one.

I must be finally losing my mind, he thought to himself.

Suddenly he heard footsteps walking towards the cell. Raven got up and sat in the dark corner of his cell, fearing the worst.

He heard the familiar jingle of keys as the lock opened. The guard that always taunted Raven stepped in and saw him cowering in the corner with his ears flattened to his head and back arched to make himself look smaller. The guard gave a cynical laugh.

“This cell breaks a wolf’s spirit so quick. The wolf that was once full of anger is now cowering in the corner, just look at yourself. You disgust me”

“Get away from me” Raven barked.

“That’s enough. Get out of my way” demanded a deep voice from behind the guard. The guard moved out of the doors passageway and the warden stepped in.

“You have been in here for eight days now, blue. I suggest you cooperate now or you will stay for another week”

Raven growled submissively.

The warden looked around and saw the dried splattered blood around the doors lock and walls, his jaw nearly dropped open. He hadn’t expected his prisoner to inflict self pain just to have blood to manipulate. The warden was disgusted but awed at Raven’s strange will.

“You really are something else blue...” he said softly.

Raven growled under his breath as he looked away in embarrassment.

“Don’t try anything stupid, it won’t end well for you. Will you obey?” continued the warden.

Raven decided to listen to the warden and comply obediently. He didn’t want to be in the dark any longer, even though he thought they were going to kill him now.

He nodded to the warden and got up. He yelped in pain as he put weight on his damaged front paw, the self-inflicted gash was covered in dried blood. He slowly limped towards the warden with his head lowered, avoiding eye contact.

“Good choice, blue. Guards, restrain him” the warden ordered. Raven’s eyes widened as he saw two more guards come in. Two vines wrapped tightly around him, one around his chest and another around his waist. Raven grew anxious but submitted without a fight. The warden smiled and threw a third vine around Raven’s neck, but it didn’t tighten as much. The vines that were attached to him were wrapped around the guards’ front legs to prevent him from running.

The warden pulled Raven behind him as he walked out of the cell, leading him like a dog on a leash. Raven felt humiliated as his eyes searched his surroundings, it was a refreshing change of atmosphere since he has been locked in a small dark cell for so long. They walked through many corridors, for Raven it felt like an endless maze, with the warden in front, a guard at each side of him and the guard that taunted him behind.

Finally they started to climb a swirling flight of stairs until they got to a huge metal door.

“Open her up” yelled the warden. The door began to open with chains rattling from behind it.

“Don’t try to run. This vine will tighten and snap your head clean off, got it blue? Don’t make unnecessary trouble for both of us” he said with a relaxed tone.

“My death will be troubling for you?” Raven hissed.

“More than you can understand. Just don’t do anything stupid. The Village Elder requested an audience with you; he is a very important figure here so please respect him”

Raven stared confused at the warden.

“So this is just a small village? Why does a village have such a big dungeon?” Raven asked irritated. The guard just manage a chuckle and as the door was now almost fully open, Raven stared out in the blinding light as the Warden pulled him again. He’s eyes were shut tight as the light gave him a splitting headache.

They continued walking until he heard the warden starting to speak to someone. Raven couldn’t concentrate on what the voices were saying through the splitting pain in his head.

He continuously tried to open his eyes but the light was too much to handle. Being locked up in the dark for so long with the headache did a number on his eyesight.

Suddenly he heard his name and his ears cocked toward the conversation.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

“I’m a friend, Raven” said a soothing female voice.

“So everybody keeps telling me, and look how I get treated. Like filth!” Raven barked.

“Hazel leave the prisoner, he is dangerous” demanded the warden.

“I hate to play this card, warden. But I am the elder’s successor and you will treat me with the proper respect. Now release him” Hazel said almost shyly.

“But Hazel... We have direct orders from your grandfather, we can’t just let him go, he is dangerous!”

“Let him go now or I will have you severely punished” she growled. The warden’s muzzle wanted to go into a snarl but he tried to hold back.

“You heard her, release him” he ordered the guards dryly. The guards pulled their vines back and Raven could breathe properly again, since that two were awfully tight.

“Why are you doing this, female? You heard the warden, I could be dangerous” Raven said.

“Have you seen yourself, Raven? You are covered in wounds and your own filth. And you are thin to the bone... You didn’t look like this before, did you?” Hazel said sadly dropping her ears then suddenly anger flourished in her face “You haven’t fed him properly, warden. We aren’t cruel beings; we care for others even if they are our prisoners” Hazel barked angrily as she looked like she was going to cry. “The elder will be hearing of this. Get out of my sight” she hissed and the guards walked away with their tails tucked between their legs.

“Thank you female. But you’re eight days to late; the damage has already been done” He said and dropped his head in shame.

“I am so sorry Raven. I wish I could have come sooner, but I’m prohibited to enter the dungeons or interfere in any way. I could only come now since you are free now”

“Free, am I? You should have left me to rot”

Hazel looked at him with sadness filling her.

“What happened to you down there, Raven? You’re strong will seems to be completely broken, your will is what Whisper admires the most about you”

Raven’s head shot up, revealing his proud muzzle in the sunlight, he opened his eyes ignoring the pain the bright light caused to him.

“Where is Whisper? Is she here? Is she alive?” Raven demanded to know.

“Yes Raven, she is fine. She has been persistent to see you since she woke up four days ago”

“Thank goodness” Raven cried happily as the tears ran down his muzzle. Hazel smiled happily at him. He looked up to see Hazel’s beautiful green figure, and smiled at her through his tears of relief. He had happiness in his heart again and it felt good.

“Come on Raven, let’s get you cleaned up. And then I will take you to Whisper” Hazel said and Raven nodded with his tail wagging behind him.

“Follow me. And please call me Hazel; I know my gender thank you very much” Hazel laughed.

“Very well, I owe you that much... Hazel” He smiled.

 

Hazel grew concerned as she saw Raven limped next to her, the dried out wound on his front leg started to bleed again, and he was squinting his eyes in the daylight. She knew he was too proud to say anything.

“So where are you taking me?” Raven asked suddenly, catching her off guard.

“Oh uhm... to the bathhouse” she quickly replied.

“Water...” Raven whispered with his eyes glistening.

“Yes Raven, you probably haven’t seen water in a while. This is exactly what you need right now, right? To get yourself all healed up and all. So I arranged that the bath house should be empty, nobody would bother you”

“Thank you Hazel” Raven said relieved.

His eyes started to get accustomed the bright light again. He then noticed why the warden chuckled when Raven said ‘small village’ this village was huge with tall trees towering into the sky. In the trees there were houses resting on the convenient branches, rope bridges connected the houses to make it more mobile for the residents. The whole village was suspended above ground. On the ground where Raven and Hazel were there were beautiful gardens and natural features with only a few stone buildings.

“Beautiful isn’t it? A nature village untainted from war. Welcome to the Veiled Forest Village, Raven” Hazel said.

“It is truly an amazing sight to behold, yes. But why is it ‘Veiled’ Forest Village?”

“If you haven’t noticed yet, this village is surrounded by a mountain range. We are hidden from the outside world and they don’t know we exist, we make sure of that”

Raven was amazed at what Hazel had said.

 

“We’re here, come inside Raven” Hazel said and led him into one of the stone buildings.

Two wolves walked past them and eyed Raven suspiciously as they head out. Raven stared at Hazel’s lavishing long tail as she walked in front of him down the hallway. She noticed his eager eyes and smiled.

“In there”

Raven nodded and went through a corridor; his eyes grew big as he saw the wondrous sight. It was a big bath and in the middle there was a beautiful statue of a wolf covered in leaves with water running down her into the water. The room was under a layer of steam that stimulated Raven’s fur with nourishment as it swept over him. She stood there gawking at the sight with his tongue lolling from his mouth as he panted happily.

“Go in, Raven”

He bowed his head to Hazel in thanks then limped to the baths edge, it was quite deep and he didn’t just want to jump in, the water looked warm and he didn’t want to put his body through more shock. He surveyed the bath and saw steps then headed to it. He first stepped in with his one front paw, his body shook at the feeling of warm water around his paw. He exhaled out and walked all the way in until the water covered his legs and stomach. Raven flinched as the water burnt his wounds, he watched how the water around him turned brown from the dried blood and filth on his fur. He was embarrassed when he saw Hazel eagerly watching him from the edge of the bath with her tail wagging slightly behind him. They exchanged awkward looks for a while.

“Can I maybe get some pr...”

“Yes! Sorry. I will get you some food now” she barked foolishly and headed out, Raven rolled his eyes and laughed.

He went underwater and spun around, enjoying the nourishing warmth, but he was still badly damaged and needed to heal himself, he really didn’t feel up to it. He closed his eyes and concentrated, with his gathered strength he blew down into the water until an orb of clear blue light formed in the water. He closed his eyes and went under the water, the room fell silent. The blue orb suddenly burst and bright streams of light flooded the water. Hazel peeked from behind a thin wooden screen; she was awed by the beauty in front of her. But then she saw Raven’s once motionless body shaking violently under the water. She stared in horror as she heard his suffocating screams under the water.

“That ability of his is like a double-edged sword” said a voice behind her and she turned around.

“Vera...”

“Has the blue wolf caught your eye, Hazel?”

Hazel ignored the question.

“I know you’re overly friendly, but the way you look at him is slightly... different” Vera said teasingly, Hazel didn’t say anything.

“How long are you still gonna ignore me? Huh Hazel? This little game of yours is getting quite annoying, stop acting like a child” Vera snapped. Hazel turned to look her in the eyes.

“You left his friend to die. It’s your fault he has been through so much pain” she said sadly and looked at Raven slumped over the side of the bath panting heavily. “You should have helped them, Vera. Don’t you feel any regret? None at all?”

“Well...” Vera said as she looked away.

“You are dark, Vera” Hazel growled then walked out from behind the screen and towards Raven. Vera gave a sigh as Hazel walked away.

“Raven... Are you okay?” She asked and poked his head with her paw. He opened his one eye and peered up to her and smiled.

“I’m just great” He said a bit sarcastically. He got out of the water and stood in front of Hazel, she smiled shyly as she saw his dripping fur.

“So where’s the food?”

“What food?”

Raven stared at her blankly “You said you were going to get me some food?”

Hazel was quiet for a few seconds and stared at him puzzled “Oh right!” she barked “The food is ready for you in the other room; I had many dishes made up for you”

Raven smiled softly at her and turned around, as he walked next to the baths side he stretched his legs, finally he stood still and took a deep breath. Hazel looked at him amused wondering what he was going to do next. Raven shook his body that all the water from his fur flew off and levitated around him. From Hazel’s point of view it looked like Raven was surrounded by a divine aura as the water particle around him sparkled in the sunlight that shone through one of the many sunroofs. Finally the water gathered up into a ball and floated down to his muzzle, he blew at it and it began to shine the familiar bright blue glow. He walked towards Hazel and put the water orb in front of her.

“Here’s a little something for you, just to show my gratitude for your kindness” he said.

“Thank you, Raven. It’s beautiful, but what do I do with it?”

“Touch it. But first wait until I’m a safe distance away, I got enough healing for today” He said jokingly rolling his eyes.

“Uh... ok then” Hazel said a bit puzzled as Raven ran off the far side of the bath. He turned around and nodded; Hazel stared at him blankly then poked the blue orb. Suddenly there was an explosion of divine light and she was surrounded by a diamond mist. She gave a surprised gasp and watched the mist around her with awe. Vera stood by the screen watching them; her eyes sparkled as she watched, suddenly she snorted and walked away. Hazel dropped onto her back and laid there mesmerized by the beauty that surrounded her. Raven looked at her and laughed, and with a whip of his muzzle the mist dispersed.

Hazel had still laid there until Raven got to her, when she saw him she playfully rolled around on her back as she panted happily.

“That was amazing Raven! Your abilities are truly poetic” she laughed happily. Raven nodded in respect. Then Hazel got to her feet again.

“You must be starving by now, let’s go eat” she said smiling and started leading him again, they exited the bathing room and entered another, smaller room across the hall. Raven saw many plates of food and his stomach ached when he noticed the hollowness in it. Hazel sat down and told him to sit next to her; he stared at the food with his mouth watering.

“Eat all you want, Raven” she smiled. Before she could finish her Raven started gulping down food as fast as he can. Hazel stared blankly at him then started laughing.

“Slow down Raven, there’s plenty more food from now on. You won’t starve for weeks until your next meal here”

Raven looked at her foolishly with a piece of celery hanging out of his muzzle “I’m sorry, it’s a habit I guess” He said feeling embarrassed “Where’s the meat?”

“Oh right, meat. Yeah we don’t really have a big meat stock; most of the villagers here are vegetarian”

“Oh my gosh that’s horrible!” Raven barked surprised. She stared at him a bit agitated.

“But I will arrange some for your next meal?”

“That would be great, thank you. I need meat” he laughed. She rolled her eyes and they continued their meal.

“Are you full, Raven?” Hazel asked when all the food was done.

“Well as full as I can get on fruit and vegetable” he said insensitively.

“That’s great” she said dryly “Come on, you want to see Whisper right?”

Raven’s ears shot forward on attention and he quickly got up “Will you take me to her now?” he asked happily.

“Yes, Raven” she said and stood up, Raven ran out of the room and down the corridor. Hazel was surprised at his action.

“It’s the other way, Raven!” she barked and he turned around and ran past her, she laughed and ran behind him. He caught up to him “Why don’t you let me lead since you have no idea where you’re going”

“You do that”

They ran happily next to each other through the gardens as the villagers stared at them and whispered amongst themselves. Raven noticed as they ran, Small flowers grew where Hazel stepped. Hazel noticed him looking and smiled “It’s a habit”

“Right” he chuckled.

 

They stopped in front of a big tree with a very thick base and they both looked up at it.

“Whisper is up there, in that house... my house”

Raven’s tail wagged happily behind him then suddenly it stopped “How do we get up there?” he asked confused as he looked around to see no way of going up.

“This village is actually just for nature elementalists, we don’t usually allow outsiders. So if you’re a different kind of elemental you are going to have a hard time getting around”

“Oh that’s just perfect” Raven said dryly.

“Well you have me, Raven” Hazel smiled. Then she touched the tree with her paw and four wooden steps grew out of the base of the tree. She then smiled proudly at Raven then started to climb the steps, Raven followed behind her. As they ascended, the steps behind Raven went back into the tree as a new one formed in front of Hazel. Raven felt uncomfortable being so close to Hazel but it was clearly better than falling off behind.

“Are you sure this is safe?” He asked as he looked down to the ground.

“Yes of coarse Raven. Just as long as you don’t fall” she chuckled. Raven rolled his eyes as he stiffly continued climbing up. Finally they reached the deck and a hole opened for them. They climbed through, standing in front of a rather large tree house.

“I’m alive!” Raven barked jokingly and Hazel laughed.

Two guards were standing in front of the door and they nodded to Hazel in respect as they opened the door. Raven and Hazel walked in and Raven was awestricken by the beautiful natural decor.

“Are you an important figure in this village?”

“Something like that” she said dryly. “Whisper is beyond those doors”

Raven Rushed happily for the wooden sliding door and pushed it open with his paw, he saw Whisper and stood there motionless. Whisper was lying with her behind on a stack of pillows and her top side of her body on the floor, with her mouth open and her tongue lying on the floor. She looked like she was dead.

“Whisper!” he yelled as he rushed to her side, he laid down next to her and licked her muzzle sadly. “I thought you said she was okay now” he cried.

Hazel watched with a horrified expression on her face “But... she...”

6: The Elder

Chapter 6: The Elder

 

“You told me she was healthy again, you lied to me” Raven growled.

“But she was fine a few hours ago, I swear” Hazel exclaimed.

“Whisper... no...”

Whisper moaned and slowly opened her eyes as she licked her lips “Raven?” she whispered. Raven stared at her in disbelief.

“Raven!” she yelled and suddenly pounced him to the ground. He fell backwards and Whisper lay on top of him resting her head on his chest.

“I can’t believe it’s you Raven” she whispered as she listened to his fast beating heart. Raven was too surprised to move. “Where have you been?” she asked loudly and stared at him lovingly in the eyes.

“Whisper... your okay. Thank goodness” he muttered.

Whisper smiled gently at him with her tail wagging furiously behind her.

“It looked like you were dead just now!” he said surprised.

“I was taking a nap, silly Raven”

“I thought you slept like that before because you were very sick”

“Oh no... I guess I always sleep weirdly” she giggled.

“You look well Whisper”

“You look good yourself Raven. I see they have been taking good care of you”

Raven looked away sadly “Yeah...”

Whisper was overjoyed to see Raven again, nobody told her what had happened to him and she was constantly worried. Whisper licked his muzzle and smiled shyly, then playfully bit his ear. They wrestled and played for a while until Raven noticed Hazel still sitting there sadly, watching them. Raven felt bad for snapping at her and accusing her of being a liar.

“Hazel... I’m sorry” he said and bowed his head. She dropped her ears and got up.

“It’s okay Raven. I will leave you two alone for a while”

“Did something happen between you two?” Whisper asked curiously while lying on her back looking up at Raven. Raven put his big blue paw on her face.

“Don’t worry about it” he smiled.

Hazel dropped her ears and walked away.

 

“Raven wake up”

“I’m awake!” he barked unnecessarily loud still half asleep. He could feel whisper tail hitting him continuously on his rear. “Whisper why are you on top of me?”

“You looked so fluffy and soft, I couldn’t resist” she said smiling foolishly.

“Right. Please respect my personal space in the future”

“Please respect my personal... oh lighten up Raven” she mocked.

Raven sighed and pushed her off, she dove into the pillows and stared at him as he stretched and gave a wide yawn.

“How long was I out for?” he asked.

“For about two hours”

“Ah... why did you wake me up?”

“Hazel told me to meet her by the front door, I think she’s taking us to meet her grandfather or something, I didn’t really pay attention what she said. I was staring at you snapping at the air while you sleep, you’re so weird”

“Oh yeah, she did mention something like earlier. Apparently her grandfather is the Elder of the village” he said and Whisper nodded. “Wait, what? Don’t stare at me while I’m sleeping, it’s disturbing” He said dryly.

“Its fine, you don’t notice it” She said laughing.

They walked out the room and headed for Hazel.

“Let’s go” Hazel said with a smile and led them to a hole on the deck, she dropped down onto the first step and Raven looked down.

“I hate heights” he growled. Whisper chuckled as Raven dropped down next to Hazel, Hazel got a chill through her body as Raven accidentally bumped against her.

“Sorry ‘bout that, the thought of dropping to my death is slightly confusing my balance” he laughed awkwardly “Come on Whisper” he said as he looked back and saw her smiling proudly.

Her paws began sparkling with electricity and the hair on it raised, she dropped down and attached her paws to the base of the tree. She stood vertically against the tree and smiled at Raven.

“Static paws”

Raven laughed “Impressive”

Hazel rolled her eyes and continued walking forward and descended with the steps, she was walking quicker than before and Raven had trouble keeping up since the steps under his back paws disappeared quickly into the tree. Whisper took her time walking down to match their pace, every time Raven came around to Whisper she smiled happily. Suddenly she detached from the tree and fell yelling; Raven looked down in horror and saw her rolling around in the soft grass.

“Just kidding” she laughed. Raven growled at her prank since he didn’t know how far away the ground was because he was too afraid to look down.

“That wasn’t funny Whisper” he growled.

Whisper sat up and stared at him with sad puppy eyes until he laughed.

“I’m good” she laughed.

Hazel rolled her eyes again and continued walking down a path, in the distance they could see a large stone building that looked like a small castle.

“Are we going there?” Raven asked.

“Yes. That’s the village hall and the Elder’s home” Hazel said bluntly. Raven noticed her dull mood and kept quiet for a while.

“Hazel I’m really sorry, honest. I overreacted but it’s over now, please don’t be so depressed” Raven suddenly said.

“I don’t care about that Raven” she said softly

“Then what’s wrong?”

She sighed “I guess I’m just a bit jealous of your and Whisper’s relationship, you two fit so well together. I can see you two share a great bond”

“We’re not together” he said dryly as he looked at Whisper running around sniffing all the flowers and greeting all the villager wolves.

“We’ve only been in each other’s company for two days, I barely know her. She’s just friendly like this... and I don’t know... I just feel comfortable around her”

“Do you feel comfortable around me, Raven?”

“I don’t know”

“You knew after only two days with her, how long will it take with me?”

Oh no, Hazel is clearly jealous of Whisper... I don’t know what to do in these kinds of situations! Think Raven, THINK. Let her down easy. Raven thought to himself nervously.

“I’m a lone wolf, Hazel. And I’m a very unsocial being. I don’t know these things; Whisper is like the first wolf I’ve slightly opened up to in a very long time”

“Oh...” She said and sadly looked away.

“But we can see what happens?” he said bumping her awkwardly with his side. She looked him in the eyes and smiled, her tail wagging slightly behind her.

“This place is so beautiful!” Whisper yelled as she ran in between them.

 

They walked for a while till they finally reached the town hall, they went in and Raven and Whisper looked around. It was a huge building with a nature portrait on the ceiling. In the middle of the corridor there was a big water feature, and on the sides of the room there were flights of stairs went up to a bridge that reached across the room. Under this bridge that was against the far side of the wall guards guarded a door. They walked to the door.

“Tell the Elder the visitors are here” Hazel told one of the guards and he nodded, he went through the door and closed it behind him.

“Visitors? We were captured, we’re more like prisoners, don’t you think?” Raven said smugly and Hazel laughed.

“Raven, Whisper, please treat the Elder with the utmost respect and with proper etiquette. He is quite strict and you don’t want to get on his bad side”

“Why are we here Hazel?” Raven asked.

“This is your judgement; the Elder will decide your fate”

“Fate? Why are we getting judged? We didn’t do anything wrong”

Suddenly the doors opened and the guard told them the Elder is ready to see them. They walked in and saw the Elder sitting on a cushion pedestal on a stone platform. Raven looked at him and then to the ground as he walked. When they stopped a distance away, Hazel and the two guards that accompanied them bowed down in respect. Raven looked around confused and then at Whisper who just shrugged her shoulders.

“Raven, bow” Hazel whispered and he did as such, with whisper following his action.

“I welcome you to my village, travellers” said the pale green old wolf with long smooth fur.

“Thank you” Whisper said and Raven nodded his head.

“Hazel” greeted the Elder, she got up and went to go sit next him, Raven looked quite surprised as he saw this.

“All the guards are dismissed, please leave me alone with our visitors”

“But sir...”

“Go” He ordered bluntly and they all left.

“Why did you call us here?” Raven demanded.

“Raven” Hazel said sternly.

“It’s okay Hazel, he’s just confused. You are here because we heard about your yellow friend that got poisoned”

“And then one of your wolves left her to die” Raven hissed.

“Yes, and I apologize for that. Vera was severely punished for her actions. We are peaceful wolves but that girl is slightly different”

“So her name is Vera... when do I get to officially meet her” he growled.

“Sooner than you think, Raven”

“If you are peaceful wolves, then why did your guards ambush us in a cave?”

“That cave is one of our entrances to our veiled village; the guards were quite surprised to see someone in it. But it was a good thing since they were the search party I sent out to find you two. They had to restrain you because you were violent”

“Why did you sent out a search party for us?”

“I couldn’t just let your friend die; she has a destiny to fulfil. And so do you Raven”

Raven eyed him suspiciously “So we’re here because you wanted to help her, and that’s all?”

“Not quite, young wolf. When Vera told me of a Waterwolf I had my suspicions, but when she told me about the black crescent moon marking on your eye, then I knew who this Waterwolf was...” The Elder got up and walked to Raven “Raven SilentPaw...” he continued.

Raven’s eyes widened in shock, he hadn’t heard his full name in many years.

“What do you want from me?” Raven barked.

“I know the burden you face, Raven. And I knew that someday you will end up here, I am here to help you fulfil your destiny, Waterwolf”

“I threw away that burden, I started a new life. I don’t need your help” Raven growled.

“A new life? Don’t be a fool Raven. Roaming the lands as a lone wolf, scavenging and stealing, isn’t a life. And while you’re wasting away, you’re country is suffering”

Whisper didn’t understand what the Elder was speaking about “Raven, what’s he talking about?” she asked confused.

“Tell her Raven. Tell her how you manage to continue living on while knowing your country is suffering”

“Stop it!” Raven cried.

“Raven...” Whisper said softly comforting him with her touch, sadness overcame Raven and he started to cry on the spot. Hazel watched him sadly.

“So the burden is still heavy on your heart, Raven” The Elder said.

“Of course it’s still there, do you take me as a fool?” Raven growled.

“Only a fool will ignore the calling of his destiny”

“I can’t do anything. I’m weak. I’m pathetic”

“Don’t undermine yourself like that Raven. If you even had just a quarter of your grandfathers will or spirit in yourself, then you are the most powerful wolf in existence”

Raven looked up surprised “you knew my grandfather?”

“Yes I did, he was my best friend and my mentor. And you are the spitting image of him when he was younger”

“I am too weak to carry out this destiny. I couldn’t even defeat a single Taint, Whisper almost died because of me!” he barked “How do you expect me to take out a whole country?”

“By becoming stronger” the Elder said with a smile.

“Wait, what? Take down a country? What are you guys talking about?” Whisper asked, now very baffled. Raven looked at her warily and back at the Elder.

“How will I become stronger?”

“I will train you”

Hazel jumped up; she couldn’t take anymore of this in. “You will do what?” she barked

“Hazel please, settle down please”

“No I won’t sit down. You are the Elder of this village; so many wolves depend on you. You can’t go around training wolves and risk getting hurt. You are too old for this barbaric crap” She protested.

“I might be old, but I still have bite in me yet” the Elder joked “And if something happens to me you are here to take over. You’re already done with your studies and you basically know everything I do, you just lack experience...”

“I’m not ready yet!” she barked

“I don’t want to interrupt, but she’s right. You are an old wolf. How can you possibly train me?” Raven asked.

The elder smiled smugly “I might not look like it, but I’m quite powerful. And the final act of my life is the train you, physically and mentally. We have to do this Raven”

Raven looked away angrily. Whisper looked at them both and felt the heavy atmosphere.

“What about me? Will you train me as well?” she suddenly asked.

“Whisper you don’t...”

“Raven stop. I don’t know what the hell you two are talking about and frankly at this moment I don’t care. But I know I’m going to stay by your side from now on and if I have to become stronger to do so then let it be. Elder, will you train me?”

Raven stared at her in awe and was touched by her words.

The elder smiled gleefully “See this Raven? This is exactly what you have to keep. Great bonds with friends. With friends on your side you will accomplish more than what you can fathom”

Raven dropped his ears and looked at Whisper, he didn’t want to involve her in this mess he was in, he didn’t want to get her in danger again.

“Don’t look at me like that Raven, you have no say in the matter, you are stuck with me” she growled happily. The burden in his heart grew heavier.

“I can’t do this Elder” he said sadly.

“But you will Raven, your fate has already been decided. Just accept it”

Raven gave a confused growl “Great, I don’t get to decide my own fate. Very well, I will try to accomplish my so called destiny” he said dryly.

“Fantastic! This will be so much easier when I don’t have to force you” the Elder laughed.

“So what do we do now?” Whisper asked.

“I’m glad you asked Whisper. I need to see your skills before I can train you. I have to analyze your current level and see how skilled you are with your element”

Whisper looked away embarrassed.

“So we’re going to put up a show for you?” Raven asked surprised.

“Something like that. You are going to be in an arena battle”

“Are you serious?”

“Indeed. Go back to rest up and Hazel will bring you to the arena first thing in the morning. This is going to be a tough challenge and you have to show me your best, don’t hold back. Now go”

Hazel growled something under her breath and gave the Elder a dark look as she walked past him, he looked at her blankly.

“We’re going back to my villa, come on” she growled to Raven.

Whisper followed behind them as she could imagine a dark cloud hovering above them both.

 

“I’m not sure I like your grandfather very much”

“I know exactly how you feel, Raven” Hazel replied.

“Lighten up you two, this isn’t so bad. If he trains us then we can stay here for a while longer, then we can hang out more Hazel” whisper said

“I guess that’s a good thing” she smiled and looked at Raven.

Oh gosh she’s looking at me strangely again, Raven thought and smiled back.

“And Raven, you said you wanted to become stronger, well here’s your chance. And I’ve always wanted to go on an exciting journey. Just the two of us, taking on the world!” Whisper barked excitedly.

She has literally no idea what the journey is about, she can’t really be so naive, can she? But it’s actually comforting to know I won’t do this alone.

“Yes whisper” he said and playfully pushed her. She then took it upon herself to dive him into a bush.

 

When they got into Hazels house Raven and Whisper walked back to the room Whisper was in, when Hazel saw Raven going in she quickly rushed to him.

“No Raven, your room is the one down the hall”

Whisper’s head popped around the corner when she heard this.

“He will be sleeping with me Hazel” she said with a smile.

Seriously... Raven thought sarcastically.

“But that won’t be... decent” Hazel said a bit upset.

“I’m sorry Whisper; I’ll just go to the other room”

“But... Raven? No” Whisper said sadly as she dropped her ears and pouted.

“Ugh, whatever. Do what you want, I don’t care” Hazel hissed and walked away “I will send food later”

“What’s crawling up her ass?”

“Whisper please, don’t be so vulgar” Raven laughed. He paused temporarily and looked down the hall when Whisper suddenly pulled him by the scruff.

“Inside” she mumbled as she pulled him.

“This isn’t so bad as last time, when you pulled on my scruff the other day you tore my sk... ahh ok its hurting now!” he yelped. Whisper let go and smiled foolishly.

“Wow you have sharp teeth” He said surprised.

Whisper dove into the pile of pillows and rolled around in it, Raven fell flat on his stomach on another pile with his legs spread out and he gave a long weary sigh.

“You tired, Raven?”

“A bit yes. So much to take in, my mind is in chaos”

“Oh ok, want to talk about it?” whisper asked caringly, she was actually burning inside with curiosity; she wanted to know what the Elder was talking about. About Raven’s past, the burden he carries, what this so called destiny is and what this journey is they will go on. But she tried to be sensitive on the matter; she didn’t want to upset Raven.

“Not now, Whisper. But thanks”

“Thanks?”

“You decided to stay by my side, even though you have no idea what’s going to happen. It really means a lot to me” He smiled.

“Oh it’s nothing Raven” she laughed shyly.

“But I’m not taking you with me”

“Can you just stop, please” she barked annoyed, Raven looked at her shocked.

“I can make my own decisions and I’m going with you whether you like it or not, you don’t really have a choice. Once I set my mind to something I won’t let go. So either you accept that I’m staying with you or...”

“Whisper I don’t want to put your life in danger again” Raven suddenly barked.

“Raven, I’m strong. I can take care of myself”

“Are we going to ignore the fact that you nearly died the other day?” he growled.

“If you think back carefully, I was the one that protected you. I just didn’t think things through and got myself poisoned; it really wasn’t your fault Raven”

“If I wasn’t so weak you wouldn’t have to protect me”

“And now we are going to train to become stronger”

“Well... yes”

“So what’s the problem with me staying with you if we’re both going to become stronger, the Elder even said you have to keep your friends close”

Raven stared blankly at Whisper; he didn’t know what to say. She cleverly talked him into a corner and he couldn’t think of anything to say to make her not follow him.

“Ahh your impossibly” he said and covered his head with his front paws.

Whisper stood up and laid next to him, he lifted his head and smiled to her.

“So I’m pretty much stuck with you” He whispered.

“Pretty much”

They talked until nightfall until Hazel came in pushing a trolley with food on it; she saw them lying next to each other as she snorted.

“Food is here” she said.

 “Great, I’m starving” Whisper said and got up and walked around the trolley sniffing all the dishes.

“Enjoy the food” Hazel said and turned around.

“Hazel, wait” Raven said “Aren’t you going to join us?”

“No. I already ate... alone” she said softly and walked away.

“Raven did something happen between you two?” Whisper asked suspiciously.

“I’m not sure” he said confused.

“You really are socially retarded hey?” she said and he shrugged his shoulders.

“Where’s the meat?” she asked dryly and Raven laughed.

7: Clash against nature

Chapter 7: Clash against nature

 

“Oh Raven I’m so excited! I’ve never been in an official battle. I wonder if I will win. I wonder if my opponent will be male or female!” Whisper went on excitedly.

“How can you be calm?” he asked dryly.

“What if you’re my opponent Raven” She suddenly said wide-eyed

“Uhm...”

“I’m sorry Raven but I will have to beat the shit out of you” she said conceitedly.

“Oh gosh you’re a lost cause” he laughed.

“Hazel are we nearly there yet?” whisper asked.

“Almost there, just be patient”

“Ahhh come on. Can’t take the pressure, have to relieve some of my lightning” she hissed. Raven stared blankly at her.

“Whisper, you are scary” he said and she smiled shyly at him.

 

As they walked into the large stone arena Hazel stopped them before they went through the final entrance that leads to the arena itself.

“Don’t look so nervous Raven, you will do just fine. Like I said... I have faith in you” Hazel said and shyly licked his muzzle.

“I guess I’m just nervous that the two of you, our opponents and the Elder will be watching me”

“And some of the villagers”

“What?!” Raven barked surprised.

“Didn’t you notice the village was awfully quiet as we walked through it? It’s because most of the younger ones, and some of the off duty guards are here to watch the battle”

“You’re not serious. Why didn’t you tell me! I can’t do this, not in front of so many other wolves”

“Ravens gonna faint” Whisper laughed mockingly.

“Come on Raven, just ignore the others” Hazel said and pushed open the doors and they could hear voices from beyond.

“I can’t, this is madness”

“Stop selling yourself so short Raven” Whisper said wryly and shocked his hind with her front paws as she shoved him. Raven yelped and jumped forward.

Raven turned around and growled at Whisper, she and Hazel nearly fell down laughing and he just rolled his eyes at them. Then they walked into the arena. The arena was about 80m in length and 50m in width. It was cleverly designed for elemental battles with a grass field with trees, rock features and a river flowing through it on the left hand side. Raven felt a bit at peace when he saw the stream. They walked to the middle of the arena and stared straight at the Elder that was sitting on the balcony higher than the other seats. As Raven looked around he saw only about 50 other spectators.

“Welcome to our arena”

Raven, Whisper and Hazel bowed down in respect then Hazel ran ahead and joined her grandfather.

“Alright then, let’s not waste any time, this is how it’s going to work. You each will have your own separate match; you can decide who goes first.

“I’m going first” Whisper said before Raven could speak.

“Very well. You have to go full out with your skills in order for me to analyze you; don’t hold back, at all. But try not to kill your opponent. The one who is knocked out for 15 seconds unable to get up is the loser and the one left standing wins, and use the terrain to your advantage”

“Only 15 seconds?” Whisper asked smugly.

“I don’t mind getting hurt because I can heal myself. But how can I go full out on somebody knowing he will be badly damaged. And what about Whisper? She could get hurt”

“Don’t worry about my wolves, they are naturally tough. And your friend...”

“Don’t worry about me, I can take care of myself” Whisper growled.

“Now you know the rules and your probably wondering who your opponents are. Well... you can choose yourself. Pick anyone from the right side of the arena”

“Oh fun. Then I pick uhm...”

“I will fight you” a female wolf said and jumped into the arena.

“No Vera, get back” ordered the Elder.

“I have to do this Elder” she growled.

“You are too strong, you will kill her” barked the Elder.

Raven stared at the she-wolf in horror.

“That’s her Whisper”

“Who is she Raven?”

“The one who killed the Taint and left you to die, the one who ordered us to leave the forest”

“Oh is that so” she said in thought “I accept her challenge” Whisper said loudly.

“See Elder, the little girl wants to play. You said she may choose whomever she wants, didn’t you?” Vera said arrogantly.

The Elder gave a deep sighed “Very well, just go easy on her. Raven leave the arena, come here” he ordered. Raven looked at Whisper worriedly and she smiled.

“Don’t worry Raven, I am strong”

Raven nodded and ran to the wall and jumped up. Hazel signed to him with a swift movement of her muzzle to go sit next to her, and he did as such.

“Start the battle” The Elder yelled as his voice echoed through the arena.

 

Vera dropped her head and started to growl softly while starting the traditional circling of an opponent. Whisper didn’t circle along with her but instead she sat down. Vera lifted her head and looked at Whisper sitting relaxed with her tongue lolling from her mouth.

“I wouldn’t be so relaxed if I was you” Vera growled.

“Oh?” Whisper said and tilted her head innocently to the side. Vera got annoyed and ran to Whisper, bearing her fangs ready for attack.

She pounced towards Whisper and while she was in the air Whisper ducked down and lay on her stomach. Vera missed and as she was above Whisper, Whisper forced herself into the air with a powerful unsuspecting jump and knocked Vera on chest with her back. Vera flung backwards and landed smoothly on her feet with impeccable balance.

Vera growled at Whisper as she smiled gleefully back.

“I’m going to make you suffer for that” Vera barked angrily.

“Are you going to keep boring me with your threats or actually start to fight me seriously?” Whisper said dryly and sat down again.

Vera snarled at Whisper cheekiness, she was getting very agitated. She laughed darkly and jumped up with her front paws; she let out a cynical laugh and dropped down again. As her paws hit the grounds a big thorn shot out from the ground missing Whisper’s front paw with a centimetre, Whisper gasped as the sharp thorn went up as high as her chest. Within the second the first thorn came out, Whisper jumped backwards rolling on the ground as a trail of six thorns followed her. She jumped to her feet as she stared at the murderous intent on Vera’s face.

She is really taking this seriously, I should be careful from here on out. She won’t hold back. I should start fighting seriously as well, but I must be careful not to kill her. Whisper thought to herself. Whisper dropped down with the front part of her body and stretched while yawning unconsciously. Her hind was in the air and her front paws stretched out in front of her. While she stretched, volts of electricity started to jump around on her fur, but Vera didn’t notice this. Vera’s eye twitched and her lip curled up in a furious snarl as she thought Whisper was taunting her.

“Get ready to die you insufferable cretin!” Vera barked and ran towards whisper with a furious growl. Whisper smiled but didn’t move, she accepted Vera’s oncoming charge as she thought she was going to try to bite her again. But suddenly Vera jumped into the air and closed her eyes as she came down with a thud. The ground shook under Whisper and a blunt root shot out and punched Whisper in the gut and tossed her in the air. Vera swung her muzzle and a vine shot out the root and grabbed Whisper back leg while she was falling to the ground and yanked her leg almost out its socket, and then it swung Whisper back into the air then down again and slammed her hard into the ground. She hit the ground with a loud thud. She yelled in pain as her body went into shock. She curled up into a ball and licked her leg which was in agonizing strain as she growled painfully.

“Whisper! Are you okay? Get up!” Raven yelled from the sideline as the Elder counted down.

She heard the comfort of Ravens worried voice and ignored the pain. She lifted her head and stared darkly at Vera through her fringe while she growled angrily.

“You should of stayed down foolish girl” Vera growled as she hid the fact that she was surprised by Whisper’s determination.

Whisper started to get up slowly while allowing a larger majority of her electricity to escape, more than she hoped to at the beginning of the battle. The volts doubled in size and in quantity, they started to jump of her body and disappear into the air and ground. Vera noticed it and looked warily at the sight of Whisper, for she knew Whisper is getting serious.

Whisper pounced forward with a burst of speed and ran for Vera. She tried to knock her over but Vera sidestepped. Vera dropped her head and snarled as Whisper spun around and charged for her again, but again Vera sidestepped.

“Your movements are blunt and slow, you don’t actually expect to hit me, do you?” Vera hissed sardonically.

“But I did as I planned, didn’t you notice anything?”

“Don’t toy with me” Vera barked. But Vera did notice. Every time Whisper missed her, her electricity numbed her muscles a bit. Vera’s front legs were slightly numbed by the quick painful shocks. Whisper snorted and charged for Vera again, aiming to hit this time.

Vera stomped her paw down and a large thorn shot out in front of Whisper, and in a fright Whisper disappeared in a flash of bright light. Vera wondered what was going on since all she saw was a small explosion of electricity from behind the thorn that was blocking her view of Whisper.

“Looking for me?” Whisper said mockingly. Vera nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard Whisper behind her; she quickly swung around and saw Whisper standing face to face with her.

“How did you...” Vera asked surprised when suddenly Whisper’s muzzle lit up with electricity and she licked Vera’s muzzle. Vera shrieked in pain and recoiled away from Whisper, Whisper smiled darkly at her.

Vera snarled and growled furiously as she ran attempting to circle Whisper, as she did this, thorns randomly shot out of the ground around Whisper as she tried to dodge them. She teleported around the arena with flashes of light as the thorns continued to emerge from below her. Whisper knew she couldn’t keep this up so she decided to try to finish the battle. Vera noticed her thorn attacks were useless so she hid behind a tree to try to think out a plan while Whisper is distracted.

“I can’t be beaten by this cretin” Vera hissed to herself.

“It’s just too bad this ‘cretin’ is going to put an end to this” Whisper said as she suddenly appeared in front of Vera. Vera backed into the tree while staring at Whisper with anxious thoughts. This is the first time anyone has come to par with her and she hated not being the strongest. Then something snapped inside Vera.

“I am stronger than you” Vera barked hysterically with anger. Suddenly two vines shot out from the tree and grabbed two of Whisper’s legs. Whisper hopped around struggling to get free. She started to chew the vine caught around her front paw when Vera suddenly jumped into to base of the tree next to them and as she descended to ground, two vines shot out of that tree and grabbed Whispers other two legs. Whisper fell to her back and growled as she struggled to get free. Vera laughed evilly as she slowly paced towards Whisper. The vines started to pull Whisper up and soon enough she was levitated off the ground with her limbs painfully stretched out. Whisper was unable to move at all. She growled in pain from the strain put on her limbs. Vera stood in front of her and looked up into Whispers bright yellow eyes.

“And now, like I said before, I will make you suffer” Vera growled happily with dark intentions. Whisper looked away, refusing to look Vera in the eyes. She feared the worst. Vera walked to the tree and pulled out a vine from the trees base. She went to stand in front of Whisper again and Whisper stared at her in horror when she noticed her intentions. Vera laughed cynically exposing all her powerful fangs with the vine in her powerful green jaw. Suddenly with a swing of her head she whipped Whisper on her exposed yellow belly. Whisper yelled louder than before as her belly was lashed open and her blood dripped to the grass. She moaned in pain as Vera laughed loudly, readying herself to give another whip to her suffering victim. Vera’s judgement was clouded by the enjoyment of causing pain to another and revenge. Raven stared in horror as he saw Whisper’s suffering, every time he attempted to jump into the ring the guards strained him down and the Elder told him not to worry.

Vera whipped her again and again until Whisper’s belly and chest was soaked in blood, even Vera’s face was covered in drops of blood as it spat through the air.

Whisper tried to keep it in but she cried loudly in pain, she just wanted to let the match end. Vera laughed as Whisper’s cries we’re like ecstasy to her ears. The Elder was thinking about stopping to match as Vera’s murderous intent grew too big, just as he was about to get up Whisper suddenly yelled loudly from the pit of her gut and she was consumed in an explosion of electricity that shot up into the air. Vera yelled as she was struck by the lightning bolts escaping the explosion and fell down. When the lightning blast died away Whisper laid on the grass panting heavily. They both laid down while the Elder counted down to a double knock out, but when the Elder counted 11 they both started to get up slowly.

“You continue to surprise me. Don’t get up” Vera hissed between pants.

Whisper lifted up her muzzle and smiled darkly as the blood dripped under her, she charged her tail behind her with electricity and then suddenly ran for Vera. Vera was caught off guard and froze where she stood; Whisper’s last attack was still stunning her body. When Whisper got to Vera she suddenly spun around and slapped Vera across the face with her tail. Vera shot through the air with the loud sound of a lightning strike and landed in the water stream. She laid there unconscious in the water as the Elder counted down again and Whisper slowly limped to her. Whisper was a few metres away from Vera when suddenly a thorn punched Whisper in the stomach and she dropped into water as well.

“You should of stayed down, Vera. I’m sorry” Whisper moaned through her bloody coughs. Vera struggled to get to her feet, but her painful moans suddenly turned into a cynical laugh. Whisper got up and gave her a friendly smile.

“You can wipe that smile off your face. You will never beat me you foolish cretin” Vera hissed.

Whisper dropped her head in shame and suddenly Vera yelled in pain and dropped down into the water again. Whisper electrified the water, and then she lessened the voltage just to paralyze Vera’s muscles. The Elder counted down Vera’s defeat while she barked angrily trying to move her body.

“Resistance is futile, Vera” Whisper said calmly.

“Whisper is the victor!” Barked the Elder and the crowd roared in excitement.

Whisper smiled and mumbled something and then dropped down into to water, unconscious.

 

 Vera’s paralysis wore off and she started to quiver angrily.

“Unforgivable” She hissed to herself and then clenched her paw. Raven jumped into the arena and rushed to Whisper, suddenly he froze where he stood as a heavy atmosphere dropped down that made his spirit weigh a ton. She stared at Vera who pushed herself out of the shallow water in horror; he could feel her murderous intent cloud the air.

“Unforgivable. Unforgivable. Unforgivable” Vera growled louder and louder “I will kill you!” she barked and pounced at Whisper’s unconscious body. She stepped on Whisper throat and pressed down on it as she peered down gritting her teeth in a dark smile “Die now” she laughed. Suddenly Raven shook off the crushing feeling from his body and shot back to the seriousness of the situation. The guards all jumped into the arena barking and running for Vera but Raven was the closest, and he knew he had to stop her from killing his friend. Whisper started choking in her unconscious state as Vera applied more and more weight. Raven Ran towards Vera planning to knock her off Whisper, but she saw him coming and suddenly a great thorn shot out in front of him. He sidestepped it and continued his course, Vera snarled furiously at him exposing her deathly canines. He knocked her off Whisper with his shoulder and she fell into the water with a splash. Raven didn’t think of hesitating for a second and suddenly conjured up a water tornado from under Vera that swallowed her body and swung her into the arena wall. He grabbed Whisper by the scruff and pulled her out of the water and onto the dry grass, he didn’t care to watch if Vera is knocked out, all he could think of was Whisper’s safety.

“Whisper... I told you this is too dangerous. What are you trying to prove?” Raven whispered as he lay down next to her and rested his head on her pelt attempting to comfort her, even though she’s out cold. The medical team told Raven to move aside as they loaded her body onto a stretcher, they picked her up and headed for the door with Raven walking beside them.

“Raven wait”

Raven turned around and saw the Elder standing up. He was peeved that the Elder was relaxed through all the commotion and didn’t try to stop Vera.

“What?” Raven hissed.

“You didn’t forget about your match, have you?”

“I’m going with Whisper”

“No. She’s in good hands. You have to fight now”

“Worry about your precious soldier. That was a pretty brutal beating she took from Whisper and myself. Let me go with Whisper”

“Vera is fine; she can take care of herself. See, she’s already gone”

“What?” Raven asked surprised and swung his muzzle around expecting to see Vera lying unconscious by the wall. She was gone.

“Isn’t she in some kind of trouble for trying to kill Whisper? You can’t let her just get away with this” Raven barked.

“She knows the consequences that are going to follow. I will deal with her after the match. So the sooner we can get this over with, the sooner you can be with your friend. Now come Raven, choose your opponent”

Raven dipped his head and growled. Why fight the inevitable? He thought to himself.

“Fine” he hissed and scoped the arena. He didn’t know who to pick. But suddenly he saw a familiar face and smiled darkly.

“You” he barked.

The wolf quickly jumped into the arena with a broad smile on his face.

“I never would have guessed I would be the one to put an end to your miserable life, blue. I will enjoy it thoroughly” he laughed. He walked up to Raven and snorted. Raven wondered at that moment if he made the right choice choosing the wolf he had picked. It was the very wolf that teased him all those days in the dungeon. Raven’s mind was clouded with revenge.

“There would be no killing, Nayate” Barked the Elder.

“Sir” he said and bowed his head in respect, and then he peered up and stared at Raven with dark intentions in his wicked smile.

“Start the battle” The Elder barked again and sat down.

 

Raven lowered his head and started to circle around while Nayate did the same; they stared deep in each other’s gaze. Raven tried to predict his movements but he didn’t change his posture or showed any openings.

“Make the first move blue” Nayate said with a wry smile. Raven just snorted.

They nearly made a full circle while Raven’s mind was hard at work, trying to think of a perfect strategy on how to defeat Nayate. Many plans came to mind but there were too many blind spots since he doesn’t know any of Nayate’s abilities or fighting style.

Raven noticed Nayate’s eager eyes; he was staring at Ravens paws, waiting. His eyes made Raven feel uneasy but they continued to circle when suddenly Raven yelped in pain. He dropped to his side and licked his paws as it throbbed in pain. He looked where he stepped and saw tall blood covered grass descend back into the ground. The grass had turned sharp as razors and shot into the cushion of his paw and tore his delicate skin when he stepped on it. Nayate laughed as he saw Raven lick his bloodied paws.

“I can’t believe you fell for that, how can you be so naive? You should have listened when I said you must make a move” Nayate laughed. Raven got up and snarled at him, exposing his white canines.

“You’re not one for trash talk, hey blue?”

Raven was furious and charged towards Nayate, ignoring the pain on his paw’s tissue as he stepped on it each time. Nayate decided to take on Raven challenge and ran to him; they both jumped and clashed in the air as they snapped at each other. They both fell to the ground with a thud and Raven jumped up immediately and pinned Nayate down before he could get up. He looked into Nayate’s fearful eyes and hesitated, but he shook off the pity in his mind and bit into his scruff and tossed him aside, Raven had the advantage. Raven dashed and jumped into the air and landed with force onto Nayate’s exposed belly. Nayate’s wind was brutally knocked out and he swallowed big gulps of air as he struggled to breathe as Raven got of him.

“Where’s all your big talk now?” Raven said wryly.

Nayate started laughing through his heavy breathing when suddenly the grass around him hardened and grew instantly and covered his body in a grassy barrier. Raven jumped back as the razors nearly penetrated his flesh again. He kept his distance as he stared at the grass dome, he heard Nayate laughing from inside which puzzled him a bit. Raven didn’t know what to expect. Suddenly one of the razors dislodged from the barrier and shot towards him, but missed. Raven stared wide-eyed in terror. The whole barrier began trembling and the grass razors were pointing outwards, standing on alert.

“This is bad, this is way bad!” Raven yipped and looked around, looking for cover. He ran for the nearest tree when he heard Nayate roar from within the dome. The grass randomly shot out in all directions, many of them came close to Raven. Suddenly the dome exploded and the razors violently shot everywhere at high speed. Raven pounced for the tree’s cover and finally reached it that felt like an eternity in his racing mind. Raven sat against the tree out of breath. He saw a long grass blade sticking out of his thigh and growl as it pained, he positioned his muzzle over it, ready to pull. He hesitated for a moment then suddenly pulled it out as fast as he could. He dropped the blade in from of him and stared at it in awe as he saw to bloodied length that came out of his upper leg.

I can’t finish this with feral force alone; I need to use my element. Raven thought to himself and looked at the stream on the other side of the arena. He then got up and growled as he felt the amplified pain in his thigh when he applied weight onto his leg. He looked back and saw the blood running down his leg, staining his blue fur. He walked out from behind the tree and saw Nayate eagerly waiting for him.

“I was just about to come get you. But I’m glad you figured out by yourself that hiding from me is no good. Come”

Raven dipped his head and growled aggressively, he was annoyed by Nayate’s attitude.

“Don’t look so scary blue”

“Shut up and fight me seriously” Raven snapped. Nayate stared at him blankly and then snarled.

“You really want me to fight seriously blue? You will regret saying that!” he barked then lowered his head and stretched his paws further apart. Nayate growled loudly with high pitched yips in between and his green fur began to rise. Raven didn’t like the sight and knew something bad was going to follow, so he began to pace towards the river, not taking his sight off Nayate. Suddenly Raven froze where he stood. Nayate’s shoulder blades were spiking outwards and stretching his skin until it couldn’t take any more. He gave a painful howl as his flesh tore open and something started to slowly surface. Raven stared in horror as Nayate stared at him with a dark painful expression on his face with tears running down his muzzle.

“I’m going to rip you apart blue!” Nayate barked and charged for Raven. Raven’s mind was in turmoil and couldn’t move, Nayate was nearly by him when he suddenly grasped reality again. He ran as fast as he could towards the stream with Nayate right behind him. He reached the stream and spun around with a quick forming wave of water behind him, ready for attack. Suddenly two vines shot out of Nayate’s back with a fountain of blood gushing into the air. The bloody vines swung through the air and lashed onto Ravens back. Ravens stared at the vines that went past his face in horror; he noticed the vines were covered in razor sharp thorns. He was tugged forward but he didn’t want to fathom what was happening: The vines were lashed into the skin of his back. He shook violently as he understood the seriousness of the situation. Nayate laughed darkly as he saw the fear on Raven’s body expression. Suddenly he took a step back and swung the vines back as it nearly lifted Raven off the ground as it ripped his flesh apart. Raven couldn’t make a sound, the pain was too unbearable. He fell to the ground and stared blankly into nothingness as his blood spattered all around him.

“You can’t die yet, blue. I’m not done with you!” Nayate barked and continuously whipped Ravens body, lashing him until his blue fur was covered in blood and open gashes. Raven lay there, frozen, he couldn’t move through all the pain. When he finally managed to try to get up his effort went to waste as his paws were whipped out from under him, and as he fell to the ground he disappeared in a small explosion of water.

The Elder got up from his seat and stared with his jaw nearly dropping to the ground “It can’t be” he whispered. Hazel lifted her head from under her paws.

“What happened? Did Raven win?” she asked and scoped the arena but didn’t find Raven.

“Where is he?” she asked confused and looked at the Elder, she noticed he was in shock.

“Grandfather?”

“What kind of trick is this? Where are you blue!” Nayate barked furiously.

 

Raven felt a strange cooling force run over his spirit and he opened his eyes. He saw the dark watery oblivion around him and he panicked as he started choking for air, until he noticed he could breathe.

What is this? Where am I? His thoughts murmured.

He heard a soft gentle laughed and a small blue light drifted towards him from a distance, as it came closer he could swear he saw the shape of a wolf, but as it came even closer the light grew brighter and brighter until he was consumed by a blinding bright azure light.

A soothing ecstasy ran over his body and he whined in confusion as he couldn’t describe within his mind the strange pleasure he felt consuming his existence. Suddenly he shook it off and the light disappeared.

Is somebody there? Raven growled in his subconscious, but there was no reply.

Answer me. Get me out of here.

 

Suddenly his surroundings came back and he was at the bottom of the stream, he looked up at the sun rippling on the surface and he was confused, but glad that he was back into reality. Raven’s wounds was completely healed and his body felt better than ever, even the scars from his battle with Roshak at Deeproot village and the battle with the taint had completely vanished. Raven didn’t know what had happened, or how he was entirely healed. He doesn’t have that level of healing, not without the pain and not without leaving scars.

Nayate growled angrily as he looked around with the eager vines above him, thirsting for blood. He noticed the stream acted strangely with current actively flowing in all directions. He walked closer and looked into the stream. Suddenly a current rocketed out and punched him in the muzzle, the force lifted him in the air and he fell backwards, but the vines shot into the ground and flipped him over and he landed on his paws.

“Come out you coward!” he barked. Raven heard him and laughed proudly, he knew he had the advantage yet again, even more since he was surrounded by his power source. But he wanted to toy with his opponent a bit, to show off his advantage and new health, and of course, to get his revenge. Raven shot out the water current rockets one by one blindly to scare his opponent not knowing he was right on aim. Nayate hit the water rockets defensively as they came for him with his vines, the water’s force broke and plashed onto him. Suddenly he ran forward, stomping his paws to the ground and thorns shot out of the ground and the trail headed towards the water. The thorns began to ascend from the rivers bank and one of them missed Raven by a hair. He quickly swam up and jumped into the air and landed on the shallow bank, Nayate stared at him in shocking awe as he saw Raven was unharmed and completely healed.

“What are you?” Nayate hissed confused.

Raven conjured up a wave behind him and it gushed over him and into Nayate, taking him with the strong current and knocking him into a tree. Raven walked towards Nayate. Raven was covered in a layer of water, about 15cm thick. Nayate opened his eyes and stared at Raven standing proudly over him, shining in the sun under his water armour.

His armour formed two water arms and grabbed Nayate around his waist and tossed him away. Raven felt guilty as he enjoyed hurting the wolf that nearly broke down his spirit so many times is the dungeons. He laughed under his breath as he proudly walked towards Nayate’s frail wet body laying on the ground staring at him. The water reached out and continuously punched down on Nayate’s body, making him gasp in pain each time it hit. One of his vines lashed towards Raven but missed. Nayate was nearly done for and slowly began to pass out when suddenly his eyes shot open and in a raging bark he jumped up with all the strength he could muster. Raven looked at him in respect for his willpower, when suddenly he howled in pain, unable to move his legs. Raven looked down and saw grass blades sticking out from above all four his paws, it grass blades pierced his paws clean through and pinned him to the ground. Raven lost concentration due to the immense pain and dropped his water armour. Nayate stood in front of him and laughed as he could barely keep his eyes open himself. Raven struggled to pull his paws free but it hurt him too much to try.

“I will kill you for this. You made a huge mistake you pathetic cretin!” Raven barked angrily with the tears running down his muzzle.

“Oh now he talks” Nayate laughed nervously, readying his vines for attack but suddenly his body froze and he was unable to move.

“Something wrong?” Raven mocked as he watched intently at Nayate.

“What is this?” Nayate hissed.

“It isn’t a good idea to be wet when you’re fighting me” Raven laughed darkly, trying to ignore the pain in his paws “I could easily break you” he continued.

Nayate’s eyes widened in horror “Don’t” he yelped.

Raven smiled darkly and swung his muzzle around, then suddenly his eyes widened as a strange pain struck through body and his vision blurred. Raven passed out and fell onto his side. His body weight ripped his paws off the Razors and ripped his flesh.

Nayate stared at him confused.

The Elder didn’t count down; he knew Raven had reached his limit.

“The winner is Nayate” he barked loudly. The crowd didn’t cheer, they all were silent and shocked at the eccentric battle they had seen.

The medical wolves rushed to Raven and carried him away on a stretcher, leaving Nayate lying on the ground panting heavily as his beat down body was in excruciating pain.

“What about me?” he hissed and passed out.

8: Teachings

Chapter 8: Teachings

“Whisper… Whisper?!” Raven howled in the corridors as he frantically ran through the elaborate stone building with a dazed mind. A group of four wolves chased after him, trying to calm him down.

“Raven stop!” Hazel cried out from the back of the small crowd. He didn’t hear her and continued growling at nothing as he desperately searched his unfamiliar surroundings.

“He isn’t in a conscious state Successor, his body is acting by pure feral instinct. You should keep your distance and let us handle him” said one of the wolves.

Hazel signed and dropped her ears. “No” she suddenly proclaimed and her ears shot up “I will get him to settle down”

“But…”

“Stand back” she interrupted.

Hazel ran ahead to Raven that was trying to dig through the stone floor at a dead-end corner, she walked closer to him and his muzzle swung around exposing his sad eyes to Hazel, she looked deep into his eyes and could see he wasn’t conscious.

“Raven, calm down” Hazel Whispered.

He dropped his head and his fur rose in its hackles, showing an aggressive stance, but at the same time he was in total submission.

“The light, the voice told me…” he mumbled and then covered his eyes with his paws. Hazel was shocked at the strange state he was in and felt a deep sadness for him. She softly licked Raven’s ear and then pushed his paws of his face with her own, exposing his emotionless pale blue eyes staring into oblivion. His lips were quivering as he mumbled under his breath. Hazel knelt down “Raven please wake up” she whispered in his ear. He gave a faint bark under his breath that sounded like a cough and Hazel receded away. Suddenly he jumped from his haunches and tried to run away but Hazel quickly grabbed him around his neck with her tail and pinned him high against the wall. She looked away as he squirmed and struggled to get free as he kicked around; Hazel dropped her ears and looked away. She held him up against the wall until his movements started to slowly ceased and he passed out due to the lack of oxygen to his brain.

‘I’m so sorry Raven” she said sadly as she gently laid him down on the ground.

“Take him to Whisper’s recovery room, now” She ordered the guards.

 

eƒf

 

Raven woke with a loud yawn and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he noticed something weird on his paws and opened his eyes fully, he saw red stained bandages on them. He gave a confused yip and got on all fours to stretch out his tired body until he finally noticed all of his paws were covered in bandages.  He kept kicking his back leg out trying to get the bandage off but it was no good. Suddenly he felt an impact on his hind paw and a sharp pain shot through his spine, he quivered and at that moment his whole battle with Nayate came back to him.

“The bandages…” he whispered softly as he stared down at his front paws deep in thought.

“Raven, you’re finally awake” said a voice behind him. He looked around and saw Hazel awkwardly sitting behind him with one of her eyes closed.

“Are you okay Hazel?”

“You just… kicked me in the face. But other than that I’m just peachy” She said with a sarcastic tone and sat in a proper position. Raven gave an awkward smile exposing his white canines as it became clear to him that the impact to his paw was her face, he didn’t put much thought into it when it happened.

“What happened, Hazel? Last thing I remember I was standing above Nayate, on the verge of winning the duel, did I win?” Raven asked suddenly serious.

He doesn’t remember what happened the other night. He really was unconscious. Hazel thought.

“You reached your limit from overexerting your element, your body recoiled and you lost consciousness. You’ve been asleep for two days” she said and there was a short silence between them as Raven tried to put it together in his mind.

“I don’t think that has ever happened before, usually my water abilities just cease to work when I reach my limit, but losing consciousness…”

“Did you notice anything different from your battle?”

“Well, I used my element a lot more than I could before, and at one stage in the battle I was surrounded by a watery oblivion and all my wounds healed”

“How can you say that so freely Raven” Hazel snapped “These things don’t happen in real life Raven, how can you accept whatever happened so calmly?” she continued.

“I guess I’m used to these weird things that happen to me, but I don’t accept it calmly, it puzzles me as well. I just don’t go around shouting it out to the world” Raven said and Hazel looked away in shame, she could hear the faint confusion and pain in his words.

“Where’s Whisper?” he suddenly asked. The question felt like an unsuspecting blow to Hazel’s gut and she looked up with a broad smile on her face.

“She’s behind that screen. She’s still pretty beat up and has a small fever, she just sleeps most of the time”

“So she woke up before? I guess she didn’t reach her limit like I did” Raven said and thought back at her battle and how intensely she used her lightning abilities, he felt a pang of jealousy at the amazing amount of energy she could use and not reach her limit.

“Yes she woke up quite a few times, but she wasn’t fully conscious. She just kept on muttering things and tried to get up”

“What did she say?” Raven asked as he was heading towards the screen.

“I couldn’t make out what she was saying” Hazel lied, she didn’t want to tell Raven that she kept calling out to him.

Raven saw Whisper lying on her side on a bed of pillows; he silently made his way to her side, careful not to wake her. She had a peaceful expression on her face with her whiskers twitching as she was dreaming and her pink tongue laid spread on the pillow, or as peaceful as she could look at the strange way she always slept, Raven thought to himself and smiled. He stared her down and saw her whole belly was covered in bandages with patched of blood stains on them.

“It’s going to be a hard couple of months before she would be fully healed again” Hazel said standing by the screen door.

“This is all my fault, I’m so sorry Whisper” Raven said sadly.

“No Raven, she wanted to fight on her own accord”

“She wanted to fight so she could become stronger and stay with me. I won’t let this happen again” he growled. Hazel hesitated but couldn’t bear to see Raven carry the guilt.

‘So are you going to let the battle that got her in this position just go to vain? Not your decision to make, Raven. It’s only hers”

Raven looked up at Hazel and she saw his sad glossy eyes, she knew he would carry the burden of Whisper’s pain no matter what she says. Hazel walked to Raven and rubbed her head on his chest and neck to cheer him up.

“Stop beating yourself up Raven. I don’t know if I should say this just yet, but my grandfather might have a way to speed up her recovery. He found an old book about lightning wolves in his private library, there might be something that could help us”

“Really? That’s good news!” He barked excitedly.

“Let’s hope. Oh by the way my grandfather is on his way up”

“Why?”

“He is done with his analysis, and he wants to get you to training as soon as possible”

“Oh that’s fun” Raven said sarcastically.

Whisper started moaning in her sleep and shifted her position; she gave a painful yip as she was trying to turn around and woke up as she was lying on her back with her paws in the air.

“Raven you’re awake!” Whisper barked happily when she saw him.

“Hey there Whi…”

“Gosh this is uncomfortable” she said abruptly “Help me get up, you’re making me feel awkward”

“I’m not doing anything” Raven snapped.

“Don’t pretend you’re not staring” she said with a mischievous smile.

“Glad to have you back” Raven said dryly. Whisper smiled softly at him, she knew he was really worried about her.

“That’s nice, but seriously, help me get up”

“Fine” Raven said as he tried to figure out how without hurting her, Hazel noticed their confusion and stepped forward.

“I could always just lift her up by the neck with my tail?” She said and they looked at her dryly.

“Please don’t” Raven said.

“I’m just saying” Hazel rolled her eyes.

“I think I have an idea. Whisper keep your spine straight; try not to apply pressure to your wounded belly. I will try to lift you up by your head downwards until you eventually tip forward” Raven said, still working on the plan in his head while talking.

“That sound… fun” Whisper said, not trusting Raven’s plan fully. He walked to the back of her head and stood over her; she looked up at him and smiled gleefully, then noticed his bloodied bandaged paws on each side of her head.

“Okay, spine straight now” he said and Whisper did as such.

He stuck his muzzle under Whisper’s neck and dug most of his face under her, then he started to lift her up and worked his way downwards, Whisper didn’t know if she should laugh or cry out in pain, she managed to do both.

“Oh gosh you’re heavy” Raven said as he was beginning to lose his footing and strength.

Hazel, who was still standing by the screen with her muzzle almost fully hung open, couldn’t bear watching them anymore. She had a feeling Raven would fall flat with Whisper on top him and she couldn’t bear seeing that. Hazel suddenly walked to them and grabbed Whisper around her throat with her tail and gave the final pull that made Whisper land on her paws and collapsed with a painful moan.

“Did I do it?” Raven asked surprised but saw Whisper laying on her haunches cringing in agony.

“I’m so sorry Whisper! I didn’t mean to…” He yipped.

“It’s okay Raven, it was unavoidable” She panted as she looked up darkly at hazel through her fringe.

 

“Am I disturbing something?”

Everybody’s focus shot to the Elder standing by the screen door.

“Not at all, grandfather” Hazel said “We had word that you were on your way”

“Ah good. So you know what’s going to happen now, right Raven?”

“Oh uhm… You are going to give me some sort of analyses to determine whether I’m strong or weak?”

“Well yes, and I want to start your training right away”

“We aren’t in any state to start training right away, just look at Whisper. And I haven’t fully recovered yet myself”

“You shouldn’t just assume training means physical training, young wolf. I will train you physically and mentally, to become strong you need to have a decent balance between them. Only then, you will have the power to unlock your true potential”

“I understand, I am sorry” Raven said and bowed down his head in respect, feeling like a naive pup.

“Its fine Raven, I can see you have never had training before. And I have to say you are really strong even though you fight with your own raw ego and instincts”

Raven didn’t know if that was a compliment or an insult, so he just nodded.

“Can we please sit outside of this screen room; it’s too stuffy in here” the Elder said and walked out of view. Hazel followed behind him and Raven helped Whisper up and led her out of the room with her leaning against him.

“He said you have a large ego” Whisper laughed and Raven rolled his eyes. Raven dropped Whisper onto another pile of pillows and sat next to her, in front of them Hazel and the Elder sat. The Elder saw Whisper struggled to sit up straight.

“I found an interesting book about lightning wolves in my study, from hundreds of years ago when they roamed the land in great numbers. It taught me many things about your kind, and I will teach you your heritage, because I fear you don’t know much about it since you are the only lightning wolf in existence”

Whisper looked away sadly as it hit her again that she was alone.

“I found a way to speed up your recovery” the Elder continued. Whispers ears cocked forward on alert and her eyes lightened up.

“How?” Raven barked before Whisper could reply.

“Through a kind of electric therapy. I already set up a group to make preparations for a session after we’re done here”

“Hear that Whisper? You’re going to be just fine” Raven said and licked her muzzle, he was too glad that he couldn’t restrain himself and he soon felt very awkward. Whisper didn’t know whether to be glad or shocked at the great news or Raven’s sudden affection. She just smiled softly and kept quiet.

“So what is your final analysis about me?” Raven quickly said trying to change the subject and to get Hazel’s dark stare off him.

“Where to begin…” the Elder said looking at a large fern in the corner of the room in thought. Hazel got up and sat next to Raven; he looked at her and smiled nervously.

“I bet you did great, Raven” She said and rubbed her head against his scruff. Whisper saw Hazel’s intentions and snorted.

Why does this keep happening to me? Maybe I should just walk away… Just start talking already. Raven thought to himself while staring intently at the Elder.

“Well…”

“Yes??” Raven asked abruptly, interrupting the Elder.

 

“Like I said Raven, you are strong even though you never had a teacher. But your abilities are dull and weak; you prefer fighting with force attacks. You hold yourself back because you are afraid of hurting your opponent, or at least that’s what I think”

Raven knew that was the truth, he was afraid of taking someone else’s life.

“You’re elemental limit is okay, you can use your abilities an average amount before you reach your limit. But then something puzzles me, you reached your limit long before your battle with Nayate ended, at the stage where you created a wave but Nayate lashed at you with his vines. You should have been done for, but you disappeared into the water, healed and had more stamina for elemental manipulation, I have never seen anything like that. What happened?”

“I don’t know” Raven whispered “This has been happening since I was young, but never this strong before. What happened in the battle confuses me just as much as it does you”

“This is very interesting; I will look more into it. Did something occur before this started happening to you?”

Raven looked away, avoiding eye contact “After I saw my mother die in front of my eyes, it started happening every time I’m in a life threatening situation”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to open an old wound” The elder said. Whisper looked at Raven in great dismay; she felt a deep sadness for him.

“Due to this ‘talent’ you have, it’s hard for me to pinpoint your level, since it is really unstable”

“My level?”

“The older generations of elemental wolves and masters used to label their students with a level, but this system died out long ago. Only a few know of this system in this age. Every wolf is labeled in levels between zero and four”

“Oh ok. If my level is unstable, then what is Whispers’?”

“She is a level one” he answered.

“Level one? I’m that weak?” Whisper asked dryly.

“The levels don’t determine your strengths as a whole, it determines your elemental ability and how you master it. But Whisper, you have one of the strongest elements in existence. Even though you are still immature in your element, you overflow with raw power and you are naturally strong. I read in the book that lightning elementalists’ body overflows with energy and needs to be relieved on a regular basis or it will kill the user. The raw power within your body lets you make lethal attacks, and you have an amazingly high limit if you learn to conserve your lighting and ration it into attacks. But having this much power will obviously have negative consequence on your body as well, for example, you always have a lot of energy, you don’t sleep as much as others, you sometimes don’t have enough willpower or strength to hold back your lightning and end up hurting others or yourself, and of course the part where you can die. I’m sure there are many things you know that I don’t and I will be honored if you could teach me some time”

“Awesome! I’m strong” She laughed “And sure, I will tell you whatever you want to know” she continued.

How do you tell who is what level?” Raven asked curiously, his tail wagged slightly behind him as he was amused with the new things he was learning.

“A level zero is a wolf that doesn’t use his elemental abilities; they live without using it because they believe it will only bring trouble into their lives. All wolves are born with the potential to manipulate a single element but it’s their choice to do so or not. Most wolves choose not to so that they can live a normal life”

“I don’t know what I would have done without my abilities” Raven said.

“I wish I was one of those lucky ones who had a choice” Whisper said.

“Whisper?” Raven asked looking at her.

“A lightning wolf doesn’t have a choice, if they don’t relieve their lightning from the day they are born, they will die. When a lightning pup is born, there’s an 80% chance that the mother will die while giving birth due to the pups electricity. This is one of the reasons why the lightning wolf race died out. Also, the pups die at a young age if they cannot control their lightning within themselves, which was really common” The Elder explained.

“My kind lived with a harsh fate. Deep inside I am glad I am the last lightning wolf, I can’t bear to know how they suffer if they were still here today. This legacy will end with me”

“Whisper I’m sorry to hear this, but don’t say things like that” Raven whispered as he pressed against her giving her comfort as her eyes tear up.

“Should I give you two time?” The Elder asked thoughtfully.

“No, please continue” Raven said.

“Alright… A level one wolf is a wolf that can only manipulate his element on his own body. For example, Raven, when you were a level one you could only heal yourself or make a water barrier around your body, you couldn’t manipulate water off your body like you can now”

“Good times” Raven hissed sarcastically.

“Whisper is a level one; she can only manipulate her lightning on her body. That’s why she attacks forcefully and not at a distance. A level two elementalist can control his elements outside of his body in a certain radius, depends on his strength. If you didn’t have that unique ‘gift’ you would have been labeled as a level two water elementalist. And also, most elemental wolves are level two, only a few has the potential to go further. Whisper, if we manage to get you to level two, you can strike enemies with your lightning”

“Do you think we have the potential?” Raven asked.

“If I didn’t think you have the potential, I wouldn’t even have bothered training you. But even if I just manage to remove your fear of hurting others, you would be a strong level two water wolf, that’s what I am aiming for” The Elder said and Raven nodded.

“A level three elementalist is a wolf that can manipulate his element in a more greater way than level two, but it’s different with every element. It unlocks more potential and abilities. A nature wolf can make plants grow at a greater speed on almost any surface, and can do it even further away from himself. According to the book a lightning wolf can make lightning strike out of the sky. And a water wolf can make water appear from thin air by gathering the moisture in the air, I saw your grandfather do that with my very own eyes, Raven”

“Wow that’s so cool” Whisper said in awe.

“My grandfather was a level three?” Raven asked surprised.

“No, Raven. You’re grandfather achieved the greatest form of a waterwolf, he was a level four” The Elder said proudly.

“I always knew he was a great wolf” Raven said admirably.

“He truly was. A level four is a wolf that can fully transform into his element, unlocking any limitation he had before. A level four wolf can transform into his element at will, in this state his powers are amplified by hundredfold and he has an ultimate defense. But there are only a few elementalists that has ever unlocked this power, I’ve only ever known of three that has achieved this power”

“My grandfather, and who else?” Raven asked excitedly.

“Yours truly… Me” The Elder said proudly. Raven and the others stared at him in shock.

“You have never told me this” Hazel barked out.

“Not many know this, Hazel. I wish to keep it a secret. For I am the village’s trump card”

“That’s amazing! Will you ever show us your ultimate form?” Whisper asked excitedly.

“One day, yes. But for now, neither of you are ready” He replied.

Raven was burning inside with excitement, he wanted to gain this form more than anything, then his destiny will be easy to complete.

“Somehow you already have this form Raven”

“Say what now?” Raven asked confused.

“You disappeared into a pool of water; you turned into your element. But you couldn’t hold a solid form and I don’t think you planned for it to happen. I don’t quite understand this at all, maybe it’s a whole different thing. But we will try to harness that strange power, I’m burning with curiosity” The Elder said excitedly.

“You make me sound unstable” Raven said dryly.

“You are going to be one of my toughest students yet, and you are very unstable yes. You’re hiding behind walls you put in front of yourself, hidden from your true potential. You think you are weak and you hold yourself back. And then you still have the potential to become stronger when we remove those walls, and of course you have this mysterious power. You are just a bundle of possibilities” The Elder said delighted at the challenge.

“It’s hard to figure out when you’re complimenting or insulting me” Raven said, still processing what the Elder had said.

“I guess I have said what I needed to say, you will learn more throughout your training. Whisper if you would please follow me, I will get you to the therapy I talked about earlier”

“I will come with” Raven said.

“No. you need to go heal yourself” The elder said and indicated to Raven’s paws.

“Oh right, I forgot about this. But can’t I just walk with?”

“Are you two that inseparable?” Hazel mocked.

“What? No... I mean I just want to see her off safely” Raven said embarrassed.

“I will take good care of her Raven, don’t worry. Hazel will stay with you. Whisper, come on” The Elder said and headed for the door. Whisper got up and stiffly followed behind him; she looked around and smiled at Raven then disappeared into the corridor”

“And now it’s just you and me again” Hazel said softly.

“I guess”

“Let’s get you to the bath house for a healing session; you probably have infection on your paws by now”

“Can’t I just get a pail of water? I’m not in the mood for a bath now”

“No. Come on” She said and pushed him forward.

“It’s sad how little free will I have” Raven said dryly.