The fire born: wolf of fire | A Wolf Story

I Need You Alive

"No, no.. don't dampen your spirit Shadowfire. It's going to be alright-"

"B-but... I never.."

Gray closed his eyes, shedding a tear, and gave another lick across my bloodied cheek. "Don't worry... your actions are enough."

I leaned in close, trying to whisper to him, "you're all... I've ... ever loved.."

Darkness. The world slipped from hold; every sense, every thought, every breath, blink, and heartbeat was known, and unknown ceased in a snap. And the frail, broken body I writhed within fell limp along with it.

Gone. Lost.

Dead.

I didn't know what had happened. There was nothing there, nothing I could do, that is. All that's good before I was a void of blackness that stretched indelibly in all directions; stars wheeled overhead. But I couldn't move anywhere; all I could do was stare deep down into its horizon and watch.

Until something strange happened, something was here watching me.

Something spoke.

It is not your time, young wolf... I need you to fight.

I need you alive. For me...

A sudden warmth drew a sensation similar to a molten rock, which burned me from the inside out. The dark and starry world aorund me squeaked, and I squeezed my eyes shut, whimpering in fright. My senses began to tingle as if on high alert, and the burning anguish in my eyes flared outward, rippling through my brain. I cried out and twitched, panting as my body returned from the grave. And in the final moments of this emptiness, the voice returned for one final say:

Now up, I say!

Up!

My paw suddenly burst through the grassy earth gripping after the blackened skies. A single bolt of lightning illuminated the region, and dribbled cold, crisp rainwater splashed over my freed limb, offering the promise of a midnight storm.

I've never felt so cold before, so exposed.

So...weak...

Three of my blackened talons slammed the limb into the ground, curled into an evergreen forest's cold, mushy soul, and pulled. My head escaped the raw underground, spilling into the howling wind of the midnight storm and glistening in the tremendous rains that followed it. It didn't take long before I retched, jerking my neck hard and puked out a sort of blackened bile reeking of my stomach acid earthen near and blood.

That certainly wasn't normal, nor did it taste this way. But I hadn't cared much over my release, for something much more critical stood before me.

I was alive. And not a wolf any longer.

🐉

As I continued to crawl out of the grave, a fireball of anguish exploded from my stomach, forcing me to gasp. My glowing and now slitted eyes peered down at my underbelly for a moment, not seeing much else other than the dirt that collected beneath me and moved on. Sadly it only magnified the further I pushed, and it wasn't until I fully resurfaced that this fire inside reached excruciating proportions.

Ngn... my belly...

When the second tremor struck, a muffled Yelp escaped me. I bent my head down, growling in discomfort, then shrieked upon the arrival of a third pulse. Both claws curled into the soil, and my body writhed over the mortal wound that took me. I should've known better than it would return to kill me again.