Beauran Book 2 ~ The Return. {Wolf Story}

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Yay! Keep going.

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Yippee! I've got another chapter! Please enjoy!

Danger

Her father had the same thing happen to him. Cornered in this very forest by Shadow wolves, with nothing he could do. And there was even less the four pups could do now. They huddled quietly in their den beneath the log, listening to the approaching voices of the dark wolves walking down the path.
“No, it’s too dangerous in the day.”
“Night?”
“Only at the very right time.”
“Are you sure getting these pups will get the information?”
“Poderos requested it himself. It will definitely work.” Twilight shivered. The voices were right outside on the path, not far from their forest hiding place. And they had stopped. Her body went tense as she hoped desperately that the others wouldn’t make a sound.
“Come, we shall hide somewhere until the time comes.” Said a voice. “There’s no point in returning home, it’s too far.” As the footsteps padded quietly away, Krieger shuffled on his leaves. It made a loud sound as the leaves rustled around.
“Hey, did you hear that?” hissed one of the wolves.
“Yeah. And that was no squirrel.” Said the other. Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. The footsteps were smooth along the dirt of the path, until there was the crunch of paws on pine-needles and sticks.
She couldn’t help it. Her throat let out a whimper, small and croaky. She glanced at Rai. He was staring at the door, his eyes wide and fearful, his muscles tense. Krieger was breathing fast and Copaci was whispering things under his breath,
“I smell pups.” Said one of the voices.
“Me too. That way.” Replied the other. The footsteps came closer and closer, louder and louder….
“Run!” howled Copaci suddenly. His voice was terribly loud and urgent. A snarl erupted from outside, and Copaci leapt from the den. Twilight yelped, spreading pine needles everywhere as she awkwardly tried running after Copaci. But Rai had grabbed her tail, holding her back.
She saw four black legs out the door leaping after the escaping pup. Another four followed, and there was howling and snarling echoing around the dark forest. Twilight was frozen with fear.
“Run!” barked Rai. He nudged her in the hind and she leapt out of the den. Rai followed, chasing after, and Krieger come closely behind.
“We have to go and help him!” howled Twilight as she galloped down the path.
“He’s distracted them!” growled Rai. “Just get home!” Twilight nodded.
They charged down the path, listening to the painful yelps and cries echoing around them. Who was it? And what did those wolves want?
As they reached the oak forest, and the golden afternoon sun shone down onto the green grass, a growl came from behind. Twilight shot her gaze over her shoulder, and saw Copaci, leaping onto the path. His hind was stained with red blood, and his face was screwed up in a wince.
“Run! They’re coming!” he snarled. They jumped ahead, and Copaci bravely followed. As the pack galloped through the grass, they heard the wolves behind them.
“We can’t go into there!” cried one of them.
“Just go!” snarled the other.
Twilight kept her eyes ahead, forcing her legs to move. Just go. Just run, she told herself. Krieger charged along beside her, with Rai on the other side. Copaci was near him, beginning to fall behind. He bared his teeth, trying to block out the pain in his leg. The two wolves, whom Twilight didn’t bother looking at for their details, were coming closer and closer….
“Get away!” roared a voice suddenly from the right. Krieger yelped and leapt out of the way of the brown wolf springing over his head. The wolves at the back stopped and growled at the pups’ defender.
Aldoro. Tune’s father. Mighty and strong, terribly brave and defensive. He snarled nastily at the shadow wolves. The four pups had stopped, hiding briefly behind an oak. Twilight’s heart beat hard and fast in her chest, with her side aching from a stitch. Copaci leaned his body against the tree, breathing hoarsely. She now noticed the severeness of his wound. It was deep and bloody, about six inches across his hind. One of the wolves must have grabbed him, and that would explain the noise in the forest.
“Armik, you just don’t give up, do you?” snarled Aldoro to the blacker wolf. His feet and tail were covered with red scar-like patterns, with red from his belly up to his neck. Under each eye were five red spots. His ear was chipped, and around his left back leg was a string of teeth.
Armik? Twilight recognised that name. He was the one that killed Aldoro’s mother. Evil. She knew he was a Shadow wolf, working for their Alpha, Poderos. The other she didn’t recognise, but he was dark brown with white under each eye going down his face, and white around his ankles.
“Oh, Poderos said if I capture those horrid little pups of yours, I’ll become the Beta. Good deal, don’t you think?” he replied dangerously.
“Thanks for telling me the plan.” Said Aldoro. “Now I can let Guapo know precisely what you want to do.”
“Oh, see, I am going to kill you so that won’t happen,” whispered Armik.
“And I will rid your bloody scent.” Said the other wolf. His eyes sparkled crimson, glaring into the green eyes of Aldoro.
“Don’t you think, being a friend of the mighty Alpha, I will have powerful friends?” said Aldoro. Armik stared suspiciously at him. “Ever since you took my daughter, I’ve been watching out. You’re done here, Armik.”
Armik’s eyes widened.
“Guards! We have them!” Aldoro howled. Twilight’s gaze shot over to the side and she saw seven large, snarling wolves running through the trees, towards the stunned pair of Shadows. Armik tried running, and a guard came behind him. His ally snarled at a wolf approaching him, lunging forward to bite. But the attacker ran forward and pinned him to the ground, knocking him out with a claw to the head.
Armik was surrounded by five wolves, all snarling at him ferociously. Twilight looked on extremely hopefully, watching Armik’s death approach him, but instead, the devil wolf braced and leapt over the heads of the guards, landing with a thud on the ground. His face had an evil look across it.
“I am not going to give up! Before you know it, Aldoro, you’re whole pack will be covered in shadows. Shadows direct from the cave of Wisdom.” He snarled, and he took off towards the pine forest again.
“No.” whispered Aldoro. “Guards! Go! Get after him!” and at his command Armik was being pursued by six wolves.
Twilight slowly prowled from behind the tree, and Aldoro smiled weakly. “Oh, Twilight.” He said.
“What does he want?” she whispered to his grandfather.
“It doesn’t matter, pup.” He replied. “All is well.”
“We know, Aldoro.” Said Krieger from next to her. “We know about what happened to Tune.” Aldoro’s face sank. He tried to ignore the comment, telling the remaining guard to collar the unconscious wolf on the ground.
“Just…. Just pretend nothing happened. Armik’s gone, it’s OK. My guards will get him.” He muttered, and as Copaci tried to call after him, he had disappeared into the forest. Gone. Answers gone. Armik gone.
Twilight turned her attention to the wolf near her, slipping a twisted birch and horse-hair collar around the brown wolf’s neck and dragging him away. Probably to be locked up somewhere. Deep in the mountain. She shivered.

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Awesome! Bad Armik, grr...

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Grrrrrrrrrr!!!!
Oh, and you character is going to be in it real soon!

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Ok thnx and lol. Its getting good so far.

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Aw thanks! I'm trying to do as much as I can at the moment.

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Your welcome, can't wait for more.

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~Lifebackwards~, your charrie is getting introduced in the story as I type! I'm just posting this next chapter.
I hope you enjoy!

The First Snow

Over that next month, Beauran, being below sea level, became extremely cold. All the leaves had fallen off the beautiful oaks, creating a carpet over the grass. Squirrels began running frantically around gathering nuts for the coming winter, and Tune started gathering extra meat from their meals just in case. Gaze tried to tell her that she and Twilight could hunt, but she wanted to be sure.
One chilly evening as Tune was settling into her spot under the branch, (now completely leafless) there was some voices from below them in the clearing.
She rushed to the edge, immediately recognising Rai’s voice. He and his parents were with Gaze, speaking happily. When Rai noticed his friend, his curled tail wagged happily. He ran to the tree and climbed up.
“What are you doing here so late?” she asked him.
“Apparently our den will be dangerous in the winter.” He said.
“Why?” Twilight asked.
“Something to do with a cold thing called ‘snow’. I’m not sure what it is, this is our first winter.” He replied. It was true. They were born in early spring. Last year, so this was their first winter. Even though it was about half a month until that came.
“So, why are you here?” she asked, still mildly confused.
“We’re sleeping here for the winter!” he cried happily. Twilight noticed the boys had been listening to the conversation, and Copaci let out a groan. This made her feel even better.
“Great! You can sleep near me in my special spot. You’ll definitely find it warmer.” She replied. Just then, Rai’s mother and father, Amiria and Ihaka, climbed into the den, followed by Gaze with fresh blood on his muzzle. Rai’s parents had been here sometimes, but Tune didn’t know them too well. Gaze knew them though, because often Ihaka came with Rai, Twilight and Gaze hunting.
“Sleep anywhere. We have room.” Said Tune welcomingly. She greeted Amiria kindly and started speaking to her.
Ihaka was dark grey like Rai, but instead of the white and green in bands around his legs, they were all over his feet up to his knees. His tail wasn’t curled though, and wore a necklace of little, round bits of bone and come river rocks, and in the middle was a topaz.
Rai and Twilight curled up in the spot, and Twilight had gathered some dead leaved from the branch above and made a cosy bed. Next to it was a small pile of bones from her meals.
They let the pretty sounds of the darkened forest around them relax them, and Twilight drifted off to sleep with Rai’s head on her shoulder.

* * *
Twilight’s body rustled on the leaves beneath her as she lifted her head and yawned. Cold morning air made her shiver, and she found Rai’s head was not on her any more but in a stupid-looking position as he lay in the leaves. His tongue lolled out and his back legs were spread this way and that.
As she stood up and yawned, she something in front of her. It was white and fluffy and in a little patch on the ground. As she glanced around, she saw it in more puddles and bits of it wedged in forks in the branches above.
She bent over and sniffed it. Scent-less. Nothing. She touched it with her paw and found it was extremely cold, and it wet her paw. She looked back at the puddle and saw it had made a mark in it, sort of melted away.
Twilight decided it was nothing, probably a spot of very odd-looking frost. She walked to the edge of the tree to wait for Rai to wake so they could go hunting, when she saw the whole forest had changed.
It was white. Completely white. The clearing was no longer covered in leaves but white stuff, and it was in the trees and covering the bushes, weighing them down. She saw a big chunk of the stuff fall from a branch as a squirrel leapt around in the tree.
It was so odd. Where did it all come from? And what if it was poisonous? She decided to check it out.
Twilight climbed down onto a root and leapt down. As her feet touched the white stuff, instead of stopping they sank down into it. She lifted her paw out and saw it was wet and covered in powdery white stuff. And it was cold.
She walked ahead and with every step her paws sank in, making little holes behind her. She bent down and licked the stuff. It was cold on her tongue. But it tasted exactly the same as water, melting in her mouth as she swallowed. Rai had to see it.
“Rai! Rai! Wake up you mutt! Rai!” she called up into the tree. Twilight sat down as she waited, and the white stuff wet her bottom.
“Twilight?” said a voice. Rai came to the edge of the tree, and as he saw what she was sitting in, he gasped. “Whoa!”
“I know!” replied Twilight, watching him come down. His eyes widened in amazement as his feet sank in. “It tastes like water.”
“What, what is it?” he said, bewildered.
“No idea. But it’s cool, and makes everything very cold.” She replied. “Maybe our parents might know!”
“Let’s wait. They’ll wake soon.” Said Rai. “We should do some hunting before your brothers wake though.” Twilight nodded. They got up and went over to the forest, looking around at the white wonderland.
The forest around them was not as blanketed at the clearing. This stuff probably came from the sky then. Sky-powder. It was on the needles of the pines, in the forks of the branches, and every time a bird or squirrel ran around above, piles of white stuff fell onto the bushes below.

* * *
In a while they reached the meadow. It was so different. Instead of lush grass, there was a giant white blanket. Little footprints from small animals were everywhere, making it a lot easier to stalk prey. But it would also be easy for the prey to spot them.
Over the far side was a small herd of deer, and about three horses and foal were sticking their noses in the powder to find the grass. They would probably be occupied doing those sorts of things then.
Rai nodded and they both went into the meadow, making deep footprints where they went. It was rather annoying having to lift your feet all the way up just to walk. And she would stand out terribly with her black all over.
She plodded through the grass, as she could feel it beneath the blanket. She decided rabbits were not going to be an option today. Twilight would have to team up with Rai. She turned around and went looking for her hunting partner, and he was easy to spot. He seemed darker than usual against the bright white.
When he spotted her, she immediately knew he was thinking the same thing.
“Deer or horse?” asked Rai.
“It would be good to feed the others with a nice big foal,” considered Twilight.
“Yeah. We’ll have to work really hard though. Foals are pretty fast.” Replied Rai.
“Don’t worry. We know how to hunt together, this shouldn’t be hard.” And with that, they set off towards the grazing horses.
As they neared them, one stallion looked up quickly. He was so white he practically blended in with the snow. Rai knocked Twilight down and they huddled in the white powder, trying not to be seen. The stallion seemed to buy it, and he continued grazing. Twilight kept down, creeping towards them.
“We’ll have to chase it away from the group then into the forest the way we came.” Hissed Rai, keeping his eyes on the target. Twilight nodded. They crept closer, and Rai parted with her and went to separate it.
They would have to be careful, horses were so big and protective. She was so close now. She had to stop. She huddled down and waited for Rai to make a move. She would definitely know – horses are so jittery when they’re spooked.
Suddenly there was a high whinny, and she saw the little black foal with its ears back jumping about. Behind it she watched its friend running off into the forest behind, and then the foal leapt towards her.
Behind it Rai was running with his teeth bared. As the foal ran past her she leapt into action. Alongside Rai she chased the foal, and it ran through the white stuff, whinnying very highly for its mother.
As a log got in the way, it stopped for a moment, before leaping over it. Rai and Twilight didn’t want to try to kill it out in the meadow, they’d have to wait until it was easier in the forest. If they caught it now, someone would just trip in the powder and the foal would just be injured, living in pain.
The forest was right ahead, and the foal tried to turn. Rai quickly bounded over and it changed direction again, heading straight for their target.
It suddenly leapt from the power and into the pine forest, its little skinny legs flying everywhere. It suddenly became easier to run, and the two wolves chased after it very quickly.
The foal began to slow, losing speed and panting. It whinnied again, crying for it’s mother. It leapt over a log and kept galloping, pursued by the hungry pair.
Suddenly there was a ledge of boulders ahead, impossible to jump and terribly hard to climb over without falling.
The little horse stopped, rearing frantically, whinnying loudly. Rai snarled and leapt forward, grabbing the foal’s leg as it reared and pulling it down. It fell to the ground kicking and writhing. It jumped halfway up, but Twilight pulled it down.
Its back legs kicked out, almost hitting Rai as he ran behind it. Twilight held its leg and Rai tore its shoulder with his claws. It neighed painfully, and suddenly Twilight lunged forward, silencing it with one powerful bite.
Around them the white powder was stained in blood, as well as each of their muzzles. Twilight stared at the kill, then looked at Rai.
“Well, hopefully the pack will be grateful!” she said, and they grabbed the foal’s legs and started back home.

* * *
As the pair stumbled from the forest carrying their load, they were greeted bye giggles and voices around the clearing. Twilight’s paws were frozen from walking slowly through the forest in the cold, and the foal’s body was covered in the powdery substance.
Gaze’s feet crunched on the snow as he approached them, a smile across his face.
“Father, what is all this?” Twilight asked, dropping the big leg to the ground.
“It’s snow!” he replied. “It’s made of ice.”
“Whoa, really?” said Rai, coming up beside her.
“Yes, and you managed to catch that in the snow?” he said, looking at their kill. The two pups puffed out their chests proudly. “We should get it up to the tree, out of the cold.” They nodded and with the help of Gaze they hauled it over to the tree, creating a track in the snow.
They struggled to get it up into the tree, but it worked, and they set it down in the middle of the area. Gaze went over the edge of the tree and called the others up, and one by one they appeared, soaked and white with snow. Upon the boys’ faces were smiles and Amiria and Tune were talking happily.
They spotted the foal lying on the ground, freckled with white on the black. Tune smiled and looked proudly at her daughter. Then they all tucked into their delicious meal.

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Great chapter!

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Thanks! And is it OK if your Merlia is a main character? Because she's in the story and I've sort of made her important in it. Is it OK?