The Truth Untold

Chapter 11

Fire. 

The heat licked at Eun-ji's skin while the smokey air whipped up at her face. She raised her arms to protect herself and took a step back to escape the burning building. She was even more shocked to realize that she wasn't in the building where Lee Rang lived. 

Instead, the fire stretched for miles over an open meadow. Where was she? She was pretty sure she just walked into the condo. Was this a dream? No, it felt too real. Her skin began to sting from the growing heat of the fire and her eyes watered from the smoke. 

The wolf let out a cough as she breathed in the smoky air, her lungs burning immediately in regret. Anxiety gripped her chest as she looked around for another being but she was alone with the exception of some forest creatures running past her looking for safety. She felt as if she was having an out of body experience. Everything felt real but none of it was making sense to her. 

The fire was sweeping quickly toward her. Her legs were shaking as she tried to will them to do something, anything. It wasn't until hot ash hit her face that she reacted as it burned her cheek. Her feet moved quickly, running away from the fire, unsure of where to go. 

A loud wailing noise reached her ears and she stopped in her tracks to look all around her. It sounded like a human crying, a child to be exact. Her heart lurched at the idea of a small kid being stuck in this tremendous fire. "Hello!" She cried out, hoping she would be heard. She received no response but she followed the sound and after a moment she stumbled upon a younger boy who was cradling a small black puppy to his chest. 

"Blacky, wake up." The boy coughed a sob into the pup's chest before letting out a string of coughs. He was covered in dirt and ash, signs of being out here for a while. 

Eun-ji raced over to him and grabbed onto his arms, trying to pull him up from the ground. "We can not stay here, we have to go."

The boy cried out and weakly pushed her away. "Hyung!!" 

The wolf stilled for a second. The boy wasn't alone, she looked around but didn't see or hear anyone else. No cries for help, no one searching for the small boy. 

Before she could turn back to the child he went into a coughing fit and slumped over the black canine. "Boy!" She tried to rouse him by shaking his shoulders. It did nothing. She could feel the tears start to roll down her face as she tried to lift him up. "Someone help!" She felt lost and confused. 

There was no escape, the fire made a ring around them. She tried to find a way out but she was growing weakened, coughing from carrying the boy and dog. 

'Please, please, please.' Her mind was chanting her pleas as she melted to the ground. She cradled the boy and dog to her chest, leaning over them. In a way to try and protect their bodies. She wasn't even sure if the boy was alive anymore, but she didn't have much hope. "Someone, anyone - please help." 

A vortex of fiery wind whipped up in front of her and though she knew she should curl up into a ball, she looked at the swirling, burning embers in front of her. A man appeared in front of her. His form was translucent but she could tell he wasn't a figment of her imagination. 

The man was dressed in traditional Royal robes, wolf ears perched on his head and gave her a most unpleasant look with his blue eyes. 

"Who are you? Please help."

He scoffed. "You forget who I am and then ask for help after leaving my protection." He tsked at her. "Why should I help when you ran to the Mountain God?" 

Eun-ji felt like she didn't know what he was talking about, but her body seemed to know everything. The words spilled from her mouth before she could think.  "D-Doung?" She gasped. "I had to leave. The pack died under your care. It wasn't safe. I wasn't safe with you."