The fire born: wolf of fire | A Wolf Story

A Final Promise

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"She's... dead."

Gray closed his eyes, letting all his tears freely down her face. His whimpers were hoarse and broken as he laid upon my body, caressing every lifeless hair. The others aorund us fell quiet, too shocked to utter a word.

Carlos hoped toward my body, nuzzling my snout to try and rouse me. He pressed against my face twice, hoping for a voice or a whisper from my maw. There came nothing. The only thing that came was the truth: I was long gone. The poor pup started to cry, stepping toward his mother, who cradled him into her embrace.

"B-But... she can't die..."

My mother has now recovered from her wound, narrowed her glowing eyes, and, through a snarl, spun to the guards and snapped.

"Where're those other wretched assassins?!"

"They fled north, your highness," a royal guard named Aeon muttered, "toward the Griffin kingdom near the valley. Two of our guards are pursuing them as we speak. Should we-"

"You tell your liege to bring those cowardly werebears back to Shaw'Con before sundown," she snarled, her eyes blazing with a cold fire. "I don't care if they're alive, dead, or headless. I wish to tear them down to help for the crime they have committed here!"

The guard nodded once, horrified even to speak, and bolted out of the cave as fast as possible. My mother looked back down at my body, and Gray shaking in her fur and stomped over to the other wolves standing by

"Everybody out!" She howled loudly, "go back to your caverns and your families! Nobody leaves or enters Shaw'Con without me or Shadow's permission. BlackFur!"

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"I WILL!" my mother snapped at my father. "I am done waiting. And watching. And acting civilized as if nothing is wrong. We've lost too many in a week, and standing here like idiots will get us nowhere!"

"We wish Shaw'Con's safety by pushing our anger upon the werebears! Think of the past!"

"We risk everything by doing nothing!" Mother spat back, "I will not let their kin prosper over our dead without a wolf voice to be heard. Now Shadowfur-" she whirled back to him, "do you understand my orders?"

Shadowfur blinked. "D-Do you have a scroll that I could-"

"Last time I checked, you don't need one. Certainly, there's a brain between your ears and a voice in your throat," mother growled, "you're not a Liberian; you're a messenger for lunar's sake, so act like one!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

Shadowfur flinched, dipping his head to my mother, then stumbled away. Once he hurried from the scene, all had fallen quiet.

All except one.

Mother huffed and snorted. She was angry. Angry that she let her beloved daughter die. Mad at the werebears. She shook her head and glanced at her mate, sharing a miserable look with Shadow. Then, with a sigh, the white wolf walked over to Gray, twining their tails together, and bowed her head softly to the body before them.

"She's in lunar's paws now, little one," mother muttered to Gray. The heartbroken male wolf sniveled shakily, lifting a bloody paw from my flesh, and exhaled slowly.

"This isn't right.." he croaked "it has only been a month. I... I -"

"I know..." father whispered, stepping forth," she told me about it, little one."

Gray looked to the ceiling, briefly huffing a breath, and closed his eyes "this is what I feared. T-this ... this is" he bit his fangs together and squeezed. Then, as warm tears flooded his visage, my father rounded my body, closing my dimmed eyes on o shed from her view.

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"Bury?" My mother frowned "not burned? Among our ancestors?"

"There's a little place near the mountain.." Gray whispered, nuzzling my head slowly to gather the last faint scent "near a small waterfall with the perfect view of Shaw'Con. We would... okay under the moon and nuzzle each other beneath the stars. We... it was there I found out my never dying love for her. It only seems right that I bring her back one last time. We promised each other to do so tonight..."

"Do as you wish..." my mother whispered, giving the male wolf a lick upon his metallic shoulder. She dipped her head gracefully, accepting the gesture, then sighed, looking back down upon my body, tears filling her eyes. She trailed away from Gray's side, leaving him alone with my body. He rounded the bloody puddle aorund me moving to the side where my head lay, and rested his own against my neck, embracing me once more.

A few moments passed.

A minute.

After two, the male wolf began this sob again. And his weeping turned into a wail that shook the fortress he called home.

After three, Gray realized I would never stand again. That I would never embrace him, lick him, joke with him, muzzle him or enjoy our lives together. That I was gone... forever. Silent. Still dead. He whimpered, letting his tears soak my fur.

"S-Shadowfire..."

He stroked his tail over my body, trembling by the coldness of my fur, and pulled away slowly.

"I-it should've been me..."

He licked my fur and sniveled, shedding another tear and sighed. Tears wouldn't say soft anything anymore. All he could do was pay his respects. All that was left was to move on.

"I won't forget..." he promised, burying his head in my fur, "not now, not ever. So I'll continue, but my love will not stop for you..."

He lowered his jaws to my back, nibbling away hidden jewelry, my earring still clipped into my right ear to keep for himself and tucked into his tail as a safeguard. He gave me one last nuzzle and sighed.

"I love you, Shadowfire. And I always will... Until the very end of time."

His head lifted slightly, noticing the bodily frame of the dead male werebear still impaled by the rocks near the wall. It swayed limply on the sharpest end, dull and lifeless, and yet it looked alive to him. He swore he could see it smiling at him, glistening with darkness he knew nothing of.

It scared him.

No... it threatened him.

Gray's eyes flashed. A darkened growl began to rise from his underbelly, a pained one of sorts. He pushed away a final tear from his wetted cheek trembling as he stood up and faced the corpse ahead. Deep down, the wolf knew what he had to do. He knew what he had to say. From his maw came a promise, a dedication to the stars and moons above just for the one he loved so dearly.

A promise he knew he had to finish.

A promise... to the dead.

"And I will make them pay."

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