by Night Ember » Mon Aug 04, 2014 1:05 pm
I let myself not keep track of time. I took the Vampyre's ways of life, their customs, and I even drank blood. It all got too out of had when I realized that my 'human' form had become a Vampyre now. Months and years passed, and I hadn't even been back to see Ash, Night, Dust, Fury, or even little Sky. When I realized this, I went back to the burrow, and I saw a gleaming white wolf stalk toward me. I said "Sky?" and the wolf growled. She said "How do you know my name, trespasser?" I answered with dignity "I am Rage, your father." She narrowed her eyes and she replied "We'll see about that, come on inside." I followed her into the burrow to see my family and all 7 Soul Wolves. Snowball looked much older, with graying hairs on her muzzle and a dull gleam in her eye. She said hoarsely "Rage? Is that you meeting me to die?" I replied "No, Snowball. I came back. You're not dead, at least not yet." She rasped "But you look so young... We all thought that you had died by Soul Wolf hunters. Envy took over, Rage, it was terrible. Your society has been morphed onto human-like standards and Envy has taken control. She burned all of the ginger and she forced us into exile. You must do something..." and she lied her head down on her moss. I was astonished "Envy? Exile? This makes no sense. Wait... where's Ash?" I asked, looking for my most eldest, and most rational son. Dust walked up to me, his light brown eyes filled with sorrow. "He died, father. Envy made an example of him by crippling him and putting him near a cave of bears. I have never seen so many bears in my life..." Dust, Night, Fury, and Sky walked up to me and sat down in front of me. I was relieved to see that the others had survived, but Fury asked "Why did you leave us? This wouldn't have happened if you had stayed! We wouldn't have to suspect every wolf that comes here to be one of Envy's." I replied "I will fix this, Fury. Just give me time. I was doing something far away from here and important and I lost track of time. Please, my children, forgive me." They all nodded solemnly and walked away into the shadows. Fury's bright orange eyes glared at me and he said, his black pelt ruffled with anger, "Fix this, Rage, or we will give you the same death Ash had." I nodded, and I left. I went straight to the Dragon Hunter's camp, and I shouted "Envy! Where are you, I need to have a small chat!" Many Hunters looked at me through Dragonbone masks and watched me with the eyes of a vulture, hungry and unforgiving. A small shout said "Hey! Rage's back! He wasn't dead after all!" All of the heads turned to a larger tent as Envy, in golden Dragonbone armor and a large headdress, stalked out. She was older, you could tell. Her fingers were lined with golden rings, her neck adorned with the shiniest of gold and she had many piercings. They all bowed to her presence and she told me "You are dead, brother. Why do you return from the Underworld?" I replied "I wasn't dead, I was on a long trip. Either way, I'm back now to restore order to this tyranny. This isn't right, where's the chieftain?" They all pointed to a head skewered on a sharpened log. Envy said "I came to these people when you deserted them, Rage. I am their leader, I showed them the light of what they can do, not what a Soul Wolf can do. They rely on me now and we all vowed to kill and exile all of the remaining vermin called "Soul Wolves". You just happen to be alive." I growled and stated "You are a Soul Wolf, Envy! Do you vow to commit suicide?" She replied innocently "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am 100% human, and it's Shadowy Cheetah, not Envy. You should know, you named me." She was a Soul Wolf still, I could see it in her eyes. She lied to them all. I said "Who of you wants my leadership back, with less death, less hunger, and less pain. Who wants her side?" 85% went to my side, and the remaining stood by Envy with menace in their eyes. I shouted "Dragon Hunters, attack!" and my side tossed spears, clashed swords, and shot arrows until Envy backed down. She said "Fine, you win Rage, but I will be back, even after your death. This has only just begun, far from ending." She ran off with about 20 warriors, and they became Envy's soldiers. The remaining asked "What now? Envy has caused too much damage to fix, Rage. We still don't forgive you for leaving us." I lined them up and I selected the skinniest and scrawniest of them and I asked "What's your name?" and he replied "Mouse's Tooth" I asked "What is the best way to kill a dragon?" and he replied with the best way to kill a dragon. I asked him more questions and I got the most clever of answers. I finally shouted "Mouse's Tooth is the new Chieftain! He will be a commander until his death, and then his son or daughter will rule. Do I make myself clear!?" and they all replied "Yes, sir!" I dismissed them and I said to Mouse's Tooth "Rule them well, and fix this tribe. I have faith in your success." and I walked away before he could reply. I went back to the burrow and I told my children "Done. It took a day and a half, but you all are not in exile. I fixed this-" Night shouted with desperation "Please stay, father. Mother is on her deathbed and soon we will have to bury her where the others have been lied to rest. She is deathly ill, I tell you. Will you please stay, just for a day or so?" I nodded and I looked around for Snowball. I asked "Where is she anyway?" Sky replied "She said that she went out for a walk an-" she was cut off by a bear's growl and a bloodcurdling scream. Sky and I ran toward the scream and we saw Snowball's body drenched with blood on the ground and a bear walking away, obviously thinking that she was dead. I saw her chest rise and fall, she was alive! I ran over to her body and I remember her words earlier "Do not turn me unless I am dying." This was my only choice left. I shouted at Sky "Get some Ginger, quickly!" she replied worriedly "But the Dragon Hunters destroyed it all." I said "Then get some from them, or anywhere, just bring me some." She ran into the burrow saying "I thought i saw some in here in the back cavern..." I gently licked Snowball's wound, and I got some cobwebs. She said "I am dying, Rage. I am leaving you. Leave me be..." I shouted over her, my voice cracking with panic "No, you will live! I won't let you die on me, stay awake, don't close your eyes! You will make it through this, I promise!" I was convincing myself more than her. Sky came back with Ginger, and I said "I'm sorry, but this is our only chance." I ground up the ginger hastily and I inserted it into her wounds quickly. Sky and I put her body by the cave's lake, and she was barely alive. I heard her say "I can't do it, Rage. I can't handle this, it's too much. Let me die, the pain is killing me!" Her voice was getting weaker and fading more, she wasn't going to make it. I stayed beside of her, listening to every moan and cry as they got slower between pain spasms and softer in voice tone. I was used to hearing it after awhile, I closed my eyes and half-slept to the rhythm of her cries. She was dying, slowly. I cringed every time she shuddered in pain or gasped at the intensity, until I heard nothing. My eyes shot open, and i shouted "Snowball!? Are you awake, are you alive!? Tell me something, anything, just don't die on me!" Her body lay lifeless and it didn't move. Sky walked up to me, and she silently said "She's gone, Rage. She is in the Realm of Light now. I sobbed, my cries echoing through the cave. I yelled through the tears "Why did you leave me, Snowball. I loved you, you were my everything! I gave you all I had, and you died!" I dug my nose into her pelt and i sobbed silently into her cold fur. Sky was sitting by a far corner, skulking in the shadows. Night and Dust were by the water, sitting with their heads bowed. Fury glared at me and bared his teeth. He growled "If you had been watching her, she would've been alive! If you didn't have to go to the Dragon Hunter's camp, this wouldn't have happened; Oh wait, if you hadn't dragged her into this in the first place, she wouldn't have been through all of this!" Sky glared at him and she said "Don't talk to him like that Fury, it wasn't his fault!" I told them all "Fury's right, it is my fault. I shouldn't even be here, putting you all in danger. I will leave now, before I lose more of my children as well. I left to go back to the Coven. I said right before I left to the Soul Wolves "You know how to turn other wolves, create an army for me and when I return, I will reward you greatly. Also, protect my children." They all nodded and a few of them set out to find Ginger while the other guarded the burrow. I shifted into a Vampyre, walked up to the Coven and I said "The predator and the Hunter" and they let me in. The first step I took inside the Coven walls, a few Vampyres ran up to me, spears pointed, and they shouted "Thief, traitor! Stop right there, we know what you've done!" I raised my hands and they took off my armor and my weapons. They searched my pack, and one of them mutters "Figures, no blood. The Coven leader will love to hear about this... Tie him up and bring him to her Majesty!" The Vampyre obliged and I was shoved in front of the leader in a matter of minutes. She narrowed her eyes and she said "Well, is this him!? Murderer of Envy, our top guard, killer of our warriors, and the thief who brought back nothing and took all?" I was shocked and confused "murderer? I killed no one! The warriors were, are, mine and Envy isn't one of you all!" I shouted. The leader raised her hand as to silence my tone and she replied calmly "Envy came to us like you did and became one of us. Her warriors became our warriors. I got word of your rebellion and I sent out a watch lookout for you. You also gave no blood but you took much of it, so that was an addition to your crimes." I shouted back at her "I did give you all blood!" She ignored me and she said "Punishment for murder of that many souls is death, no doubt. It will be slow, but first, I must perform an exile... Bring him to the main cavern, there I will deal with him." I couldn't believe it, I was a murderer to these Vampyres. I was brought to the center and the leader said "Rage has murdered one of our top commanders, Envy, and many other poor souls who didn't deserve their fates. Therefore, the Ancestors shall shun and disown him; he will never be allowed to enter the realm of Vampyre-kin. May his death be slow and cold." They took me to another room, obviously a room used for executions. A large pole stuck out of the ground, rusted and bloody. The guards removed my shirt and tied me to the pole with chains. The metal scratched into my skin and the shackles dug into my arms like razors. The more I struggled, the more the blood spilled down my bare arms. I saw 12 Vampyres pick up crossbows and they circled around the room, making a wide circular range around my post. The queen stood right outside of the circle and she said "I am fulfilling the ancestor's wishes to make your death slow and cold. Therefore, you will die slowly, just like Envy did." I was confused "Envy is dead?" I asked. She replied "We found her body right outside of the Coven, with arrows sticking out of her. We recognized the arrows as the ones your rebels had. Now your death will replicate hers." I knew we had punctured her, but not that bad. I held my head high and I waited. The leader continued on as I did that "Hold your head, look brave, but that won't help when we see you begging for life and screaming as an arrow goes into or through you, one by one, until you die like Envy did." I did nothing. She signaled to the first of the circle, and a bolt flew into my thigh. Another into my calf, then my arm, and my gut, and in random positions, each bolt hurting more than the last. Once the circle had completed it's rotation, she signaled again. I was bleeding too heavily. They all had missed my vital organs that bled too much, but they would kill me one day or another. My vision was fuzzy, but I still held on. I moved a little, and a bolt pierced my rib. I was remaining quiet and unmoved, blood dripping into my eyes. I was still conscious when I saw Snowball, but in a human form. My eyes widened and she said "Let go, Rage. Life isn't worth this much. I am a Soul Wolf, but I let go. If you let go, you can join me." I released my hold on life, and I saw myself from the outside. I was a pincushion, only much bloodier. My head hung low, and I dangled from all angles. My mouth was open in a never-ending scream and my ribs looked mangled and not functional. I felt no pain anymore. I looked at Snowball and I asked "What about my plan on Ozark? What became of Envy?" She said "Ozark will be fine and Envy is in the Shadow Realm, waiting to get revenge on you. Come now, I will show you the lands the Ancestors exiled us to so we could roam and judge. The Council is here, with Night, Bone, Venomfang, and Scarface. We've already set up some rocks, all we needed was you now, Rage."