kill any of them! You killed them! You! You! You!”

Calm your mind as well as body, Siria! Was what Shadowfang wanted to say, however it was not easy to express anything when he could not talk and could not make any movement. So he calmed himself instead and stared hard at the constricted eyes of the tan wolf.

After what seemed like hours of waiting with nothing but the panting wolf on top of him, the pressure on Shadowfang eventually lessened, but his captor did not seem any better, “It’s… only you…” She managed with shaking voice that was so soft that Shadowfang barely caught it.

Siria got off from him and Shadowfang got onto his paws quickly, but the she-wolf simply walked away and stared blankly at the sky, completely ignoring her surrounding and the black wolf.

Shadowfang walked closer to Siria and looked at her with concern, hoping she would be alright and not completely, helplessly insane. Seeing that she had no reaction, Shadowfang nudged her lightly, and this time she responded.

“They say we go to the stars when we die…” she said dreamingly, her mind seemed distant, “Maybe some of them up in the sky were my friends…  Maybe I can count their number by counting the stars…”

He nudged her again, it was not safe leaving her out in the open like this, he wanted to being her somewhere safe until she could gather her mind up. He made a ‘move’ motion, not too harshly, and pushed Siria on the side gently, urging her to stand up.

“Where are you taking me… where am I going?” Siria muttered as she got onto her paws, but otherwise refused to move. Despite the weird choice of words, she seemed to be pulling herself together and saw with clearer eyes, although they were red and watery.

“Safe… place…” Shadowfang croaked as he gently pushed Siria to face the direction he wanted her to go.

“There is nowhere safe… nowhere safe now…” She mumbled and refused to move.

“There… is! Please…” Shadowfang forced the words out of his mouth, the problem with gestures was that one cannot understand the meanings without a clear mind, and right now, Siria had a mind as clear as swamp water.

His words went unheeded, as the she-wolf sat down again and looked away as if he was not there at all. Shadowfang was planning on dragging her along until an idea stuck him, If she doesn’t want to leave, then I’ll just wait here until she changes her mind.

He seated himself beside Siria and made sure she noticed him, and he waited. Perhaps guarded was a better word, as he made the decision to protect Siria from any harm that could come to them, until she comes to her senses, no matter how long to would take.

After what seemed to be an eternity of silence that seemed so out of place after the earlier event, Siria spoke with a tearful voice, “Did… anyone survived?”

Her sudden question startled Shadowfang a bit, he had gotten used to the quiet and serene atmosphere of the hill and enjoyed it. This, when he came to think of it later, was indeed very, very rare for restless wolf like him. Sadly, the answer to Siria’s question was one Shadowfang would like to know as well, he shrugged and looked at her.

“There are none, isn’t it?”

He stood up and pushed her lightly with his head, prompting her to go check it out, “Maybe… there… are.” He looked to the east where not so long ago he fled for dear life. Actually he believed there were survivors based on two facts. The first being that the traps Eastern Wars walked into proved to be a non-lethal fall. Bruises and broken bones maybe, but not death. For the second, Shadowfang vaguely remembered seeing the beta of the Eastern War commanding a team of wolves before, and what struck the shadowy wolf the most about the second-in-command’s appearance was that he had the same sort of pure black pelt as he did. However, he did not recognize spotting any wolf of that color when he was surrounded; surely the beta had to be elsewhere…

To his relief, Siria gave a sigh of surrender. “Hopeful or not, it is my duty… as a member of the pack to seek out for anyone who escaped that… that…” she stood up, unwilling to finish her sentence, “In this case, you are right…”

Shadowfang escorted Siria down the hill and headed back to lower woods. He had suggested retracing the warpath Siria and her pack took, perhaps on the way they would meet some of the members of her pack, most probably the beta. The tan wolf gave no objection.

They deliberately avoided the spot where many were slaughtered, the stench of blood stained even the air distant from the spot of its orgin. Both Shadowfang and Siria tried not to think about what had come to pass on this path and devoted their attention more to the security of their surroundings. The forest was particularly quiet, no the chirp of a single robin or the noises squirrels made was heard, of course it may be the recent event that heightened their sense for anomaly.

The surrounding woods showed no sign of the humans that wield supernatural forces as they approached the spot where, According to Siria, the ground collapsed and two wolves fell inside it. The two unconscious wolves should have awaken by now, and would have been oblivious to their pack’s annihilation and gone trying to find them somewhere and rejoin them, or they may have heard the thunderous sound the humans made and fled to no one knew where. Either way, they would find them, they both refused to think that these wolves rejoined their pack before the pack met its end. That would be simply too horrible.

Shadowfang hid in the bushes while Siria did the inspections, as if the Beta and his friends was around and saw their enemy out in the open alone, the end would not be pleasant. Siria was sniffing and looking around, and each of her steps was carefully made to avoid sharing the same fate as her pack mates. The time needed for a careful look-around and the precautious made for each move took quite a lot of time, which gave Shadowfang to think matters all over again.

It seems that she doesn’t know what Lyya did to her pack yet, that is the only logical reason she hadn’t pounce on me and tear me to shreds… He concluded, and another question rose to his attention, If she is blind to that, will it be better if she remains oblivious to it forever?

She will know of it eventually, perhaps pretty soon from now if her surviving pack mates had already found out what happened. Shadowfang found it quite bizarre to address members of the Eastern War ‘survivors’. They were the deadliest pack in every known region just not so long ago, to think how fast things can change…

“I don’t get it… why?” Shadowfang’s thought was cut off as Siria approached him mumbling questions that did not make sense. Once she saw Shadowfang, she repeated her trouble, “No one’s here, but they were. I can only say that not so long ago, Dakea must’ve revived the poor wolves who fell into the pit, and for some reason I cannot comprehend, left for the east, even before…. That happened.”

Shadowfang started trotting towards the direction Siria spoke of as the answer. Together, they followed the scent trail of Siria’s pack mates, Siria walked out in the open while the black wolf hid here and there to avoid being spotted, he reckoned it would not be good if Siria’s pack mates saw her walking with an enemy of theirs.

It was not a long search.  

They found the five wolves moving at the speed the two unfortunate ones can run, certainly because they have found something they did not like. They stopped when Siria stepped out and called for them.

I am no longer needed then. Shadowfang thought. He watched in the shade of a boulder as Siria ran up and rejoined her pack, her emotion seemed much more stable and he was sure she could handle well from now on.

He had no interest in listen to Siria as she bitterly narrated the story that just happened to her stunned audiences. He left the scene silently and headed back to his territory. A walk alone would be best, I would hate to escape from one sad tale, only to enter another.

One Week later…

Siria looked over the unfamiliar landscape with eyes full of memories.

There, she did what was right, what had to be done. There, she turned against her pack. There, she lost all her friends.

Dakea had made the decision to take up residence near to the site where many of his pack mates had fallen to honor their deaths, and Siria, despite how much she feared that place and the humans near it, had no objection. She thought it was some sort of punishment, and she was willing to take it.

She looked at the view once more, before answering the call of her remaining pack mates. No doubt you will soon find us here, but when that happens , I truly hope the day can end peacefully.

 “The hunters have left, though Hunter warned me there’s a good chance they might return.” Balto stated grimly, recalling the day when the old veteran hunting hound departed with his friends and owners. ‘Ya’ better watch out wolf-dog. This time ya’ got lucky, none of ya’ friends got hurt. But mind ya’, next time you might not be as lucky then. Yes, next time. After ya’ tricks that gave my masters such a fortune they would love to return and try their luck again. I hope next time I don’t have to hunt ya’ down.’ The seasoned hunter personally warned Balto about this.  

“I hope what you say will not turn into reality, brother.” Answered the

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