Flecks of snow blanketed the woodlands. The wolves arose from their sleep, still dazed from the invasion of humans. Within the den, the subordinates lay around each other in a heap. Khari wheezed. Her mouth hung open, a droplet of drool dribbled down her chin.

Varg rested with the pack. To boost their morale, the higher-ranked wolves often comforted omegas and hunters in times of turmoil. When the alpha refused to leave his den, his beta filled the position.

Dacianna kept herself awake. Her worries stopped her from finding rest. She yawned and her eyes drooped. She thought constantly of her sister and muttered countless prayers under her breath, asking the gods to bring her family home. Dacianna could not imagine losing Faolan, or the wolves following him to the border of Winter Frith.

She raised her head, and lifted her nose into the air. She cringed at a stale rotting scent. Dacianna got to her feet and walked from the den. The wolfborn sniffed the air a second time. The alien smell did not change. She wandered the woods. An eerie wind blew over the tops of the pines. The trees shook, scattering their needles on snow-beds.

Dacianna put a hand to her mouth. The undergrowth littered with still corpses of small creatures. Rabbits lay with their stomachs scratched open and squirrels’ heads were splattered from falling from their trees. She covered her nose with her hands. She smelt old blood. Death seeped through the earth. Its putrid fumes fermented manic and found a home within the bodies of the animals. Fear clawed at her stomach. Her flight instincts whispered in her ears, telling her to run. She heard a growl.

A sabre-toothed tiger staggered from the clearing. Its fur had been torn in patches. Its eyes dilated and sweat drenched its coat of mange. Its mouth dropped open and foam bubbled down its hungry jaw.

“Water… water… fear the water… water… water…” The tiger gurgled.

“Peace.” Dacianna reached her hand to the creature.

“Get away… the water… water...away…” It muttered.

Dacianna bared her teeth. She stood her ground.  

“The water! The water!” The sabre-toothed tiger lunged at Dacianna with its giant claws unsheathed. The wolfborn shielded her face with her arms.

The sabre-toothed tiger fell short. It rolled onto its back as blood poured from its eyes and mouth. Its muscles continued to spasm after the life left the body. Dacianna fell on her knees and gagged. The fresh smell of fetid flesh spread into the air. Dacianna wandered onward. A scratching sound buzzed in her ears.

Dacianna stepped towards the tree line with caution. A motionless wolf lay on the ice. Ravens poked at the meat of a stiff carcass. The frozen lake rippled with cracks. Dacianna put one foot on the ice. The blackbirds feasted upon the wolf. They carved through the thin underbelly, stringing the creature’s long innards over the ice. Their soulless eyes locked on the human standing at the edge of the forest.

“Water… the wolf is the… water…” The first raven cawed.

“Get…water…the wolf is the messenger…” The second raised its wings. “The black sees all…”

“The eye of violence knows all…the heavens are restless…”

“Run wolfborn. Run.” The ravens soared towards Dacianna. She turned to the woods to escape their talons. Her heart pounded to the beat of her footfalls. She returned to the ridge. The pack had vanished from the clearing. Dacianna’s frantic gaze caught Romulus chewing on an antler of a stag. She padded down the ridge to meet her brother.

“Sister, is there danger?” Romulus sniffed her face and neck.

“Is the alpha here? I must speak with him,” Dacianna said.

“Alpha in den. Beta feed him,” the wolf whimpered. He looked to the mouth of their leader’s cave. Dacianna followed his gaze. A rotten elk carcass lay outside. “What is the danger?”

“The woods have gone mad,” Dacianna explained between gasping breaths. “The beasts of the woodlands have turned on each other. I’ve seen it in their eyes. Madness. I have never seen a sight like it before. They turned on themselves, tore their own flesh. I fear that whatever insanity inflicts them will cross into our pack.”

“No.” Romulus raised his tail. “Eyolf strong. Pack strong.”

“Even the strongest die from it.” Dacianna stared at her packmate. Yipping and chattering of hunters broke through the air. From the forest, came the rest of the wolves. They carried small prey in their drooling jaws. Varg led the charge over the ridge.

“Beta!” Dacianna walked to the white wolf. There was an open wound on his shoulder. The other wolves dropped their prey on a pile. “Are you all right?”

“I am in charge,” Varg growled and raised his tail.

“I must speak with the alpha.”

“I am the beta. I am stronger than you. Stand down.” He curled his lip.  

“We have to leave our territory, right away, and go north,” she pleaded. “Something is coming, something that will kill the pack. Aeryn warned us of this. She had a vision, a vision that is now coming true. I didn’t believe her at first but-”

“Stand down. We will not leave territory. Pack strong.” The grey wolf snapped at Dacianna. “Danger awaits us in the wild. We safe here.”

“But we must! A sickness has struck the forest! It will destroy us!” Dacianna stood tall. She raised her head into the air. She turned to the kill pile. Dacianna picked up a racoon by the tail. Its fur was matted and fell off in clumps. “Don’t you see? This preada, this prey, is not right.”

The wolves of the pack barked.

“Stand down, Orion.” Varg curled his lip and snarled. Dacianna did not move, she showed the beta her teeth.

“Death is coming, it is coming for us all. But we do not have the choice to fight. We must leave.” Varg lunged. The giant wolf wrapped his huge jaw around her neck. Dacianna pushed against his head. She put her hand up to hold his jaw. A howl broke their brawl.

Wolves darted from the ridge. They scurried into the clearing, with Faolan at the rear. Dacianna studied the returning patrol, searching for her sister. She looked again, counting the hunters who returned. Her strength faded and her muscles liquidised.

Varg backed from Dacianna, and ran to greet the other wolves. The others went to their brothers and sisters, licking noses, yipping and wagging their long tails. The beta wolf marched towards Faolan who gave him a look of hopelessness. Water pooled in the ducts of Dacianna’s eyes. She crept towards her brother. She wished for silence. Dacianna dreaded the truth. Faolan did not need to speak. He wrapped his arms around his twin. She sobbed as tears rolled down her cheeks.

 “It’s going to be all right,” Faolan said.

“Did you find her broken and beaten?” Dacianna’s lip trembled. Her fingers and toes numbed. She wiped her face with her hand.

“We lost her scent.” He shook his head. “We couldn’t even find Lupa.”

“I couldn’t protect her.” Dacianna hugged him tighter.

“There was nothing you could have done. She’s in the land beyond ours. Her legs did not spot running. Her heart did not stop beating. She is now racing with Lupa to the Lands Beyond, with the great lights that guide us,” Faolan comforted his sister with sweet promises.

“I could have… I-I wish…” Dacianna could not find proper words. The wolves huddled around them. They stood together, under the shade of pine trees. The pack lifted their song into the chilling air. It sounded over the wood, as a united requiem, beckoned across the woodland. They mourned the loss of Junia, her pups, the young omegas, Lupa and Aeryn.

“I will stand vigil tonight, under Mani’s light,” Faolan told his twin.

“I will stand with you. We will share the moon’s light. Together we will be her bridge into the next life.” Dacianna agreed.

“There is no need. The pack needs you strong.”

 “As the pack needs you. We will stand together.” Dacianna took hold of her brother’s hand.

“Rest.” Varg trotted over to them.

“Thank you, beta.” The two bowed and then walked to the den. Dacianna chose not to sleep. She could not rest knowing the pack remained in danger.

            At nightfall, the twins stood in eclipsed twilight as they awaited the breaking of dawn. The moon did not shine. Gloom hung as a sheet in the skies, an omen of the appending storm. Owls hooted their elegies while the swaying of pine branches set the tempo. Dacianna and Faolan listened to the hymns of the forest. 

 “Do you believe they killed her quickly and without pain?” Dacianna uttered the first curious whisper of the night. 

“I’d rather not talk about this, sister,” Faolan began.

“Men are vile. I hate to share the same blood.” Dacianna clenched her teeth.

“They are not all that way, sister. Remember those shepherds? They took good care of us for a while. They taught us to speak,” Faolan spoke. Dacianna rolled her eyes.

“But don’t forget brother, others found out about us, said we were pagan spirits imprisoning the shepherds. They chased us back here.” She screwed her face into a scowl.

“I was found by a northern tribe during a storm. They were good to me. The leader, Willowsong she showed me truths I did not know. There I learned something, sister,” Faolan added.  “It is something I cannot ignore. Willowsong told me of the wonders of old. But she also warned me.”

“Warned you of what? What did she have to say?”

“Night will come, honour dies, darkness arises and the wolfborn thrives. The children of the dire shall inherit the earth. I do not know what it means, she did not tell me, but I sense danger.”

“I feel the same,” Dacianna agreed. “Aeryn was right. Her visions were not a lie. Madness befalls the woods. I have seen it with my own eyes. Animals falling from the pines, blood pouring on the earth, claw and teeth at war with their own bodies. I tried warning the pack but they will not listen to my word. I should have listened to Aeryn. I shouldn’t have teased her. None of this would have happened. It’s all my fault.” Tears returned to her eyes. She sniffled.

“No one believes the words of prophecy until it no longer blesses us. When Sol shines his golden mane upon us, we are often ignorant of Mani’s ever-present darkness.” The oldest she-wolf of the pack padded towards them. Khari planted her bottom between the twins. Her glossy eyes stared at the darksome sky.

“What is happening?” Faolan wondered.

“Hati and Sköll have swallowed the moon and sun, bringing gloom upon the realm once more. It has happened once in my lifetime, and it will not be the last. I came from a strong pack in the west. I am a Dire. A descendant of the old race, and my pack was the last of those who became wolves. We lived in the shadow of the mountains. We were twenty wolves strong and protected the richest of lands within the north, until lyssa cast its shadow upon our pack. One day, I smelt something strange within the air, staleness, as dried blood and decaying worms. I padded from my den and met with war. Wolves battled wolves with foaming mouths and widened eyes, marbled in spider veins. They would attack anything living, supping with bloodlust until they turned their fangs against their own flesh. It was a sight that has never left me. The illness killed my entire pack and all I could do was run. The wrath of Hati and Sköll leaves no hunter alive.”

 “The wrath of Hati and Sköll?”

“This is a tale even the sons of man are said to know,” Khari began. “In the aeons of old, there lived the great pack of Valhalla. After the passing of the first wolves, two brothers became the alphas of the kingdom. Sköll and Hati were twins who once loved each other, until hate divided them. Hati bore a dull-black pelt, while his brother bore a coat of gold, which reflected the light of Sol. Sköll was loved for his colours and blessed with good favour of the god of light. Hati grew jealous of his brother’s popularity within the pack. He wished to murder his brother. Upon the night of the full moon, Hati took Sköll to hunt. They wandered to a blood valley known as Hel. Hati attacked his brother and bloodied his golden pelt. The two alphas fought without end, through night and day, summer and winter. Valhalla became divided. Each hunter took a side, pledging their fealty to Sköll or Hati and battled for their alpha. Lyra, a she-wolf of the pack, cried to Mani for help. The goddess heard her cries and struck Hati with madness. He believed that the goddess of the moon was his enemy and began to chase it. Sol struck Sköll with equal madness. He chased the sun becoming the enemy of Sol. The gods would run across the sky, sharing the night and day to take cover from the fangs of the moon and sun chaser. As long as the pack thrived, and alphas took care of their kin, the two wolves would never end their chase.”

 “We need to flee north,” Dacianna suggested. 

“No. The uncharted lands of Winter Frith are too dangerous to bring our pack. We do not know what lurks there. If there are truly giants and ice wyverns, then our pack will be easy prey for those monsters. Our only choice is to travel south.”

“And bring the pack closer to humans?”

“There is nothing for us in the north,” Faolan said.

“Maybe it is time the wolfborn siblings joined with their kind.” The wolf whimpered. “There is no place in this world for wolves.”

“We will never abandon the pack.” Dacianna turned to the elder wolf.

“Then, the alpha must know of this.”

“We will speak with him at dawn.” Faolan nodded. 

“He will not let you go,” Khari grunted. The wolf perked her ears.

“Why do you say that, mother?” Dacianna wondered.

“The king of wolves is mad himself. He will not listen to your words.” Khari turned to her human children.

“But to rival the alpha is considered punishable by exile, or worse, death,” Dacianna added.

“How do you suppose we keep the pack safe?” Faolan wondered.

“You have to become alphas yourselves. You are bonded by blood, thus you can become the leaders. The pack will only follow you if you have dominance.” The old wolf finished. Dacianna squinted. She did not believe her elder, for the alpha would listen to their request.

“We will speak with him at dawn, there is no need to act traitorously unless he chooses to not listen,” Faolan proclaimed.

“I agree.” Dacianna nodded.  “We do not need to fight yet.”

“There was no time for my pack. Lyssa struck all too soon. I hope you will make the right choice and keep this pack safe.” Khari wandered to the den. The two siblings returned to keeping to themselves, protected by their own thoughts.

“May Mani guide us.” Dacianna peered to the skies. She swore on the goddess of the moon to fight for her pack. The kingdoms of men lay south, far from the comfort of the wood, the song of birds, and tranquillity of isolation. 

Next Chapter: LEORIC HOTHERUS