Kalil saw Tychon in front of him. He glared angrily at his brother and crouched low, growling at his enemy. "Tychon," he said, fury in his voice, "Why did you try to kill us?" Tychon just laughed and leapt on Kalil, biting into his chest. Kalil cried out in pain and pushed Tychon off with his back paws, rolling to his feet. He looked up and saw Tychon's paw collide with his muzzle, sending him flying sideways and rolling on the ground. He coughed, some blood hitting the ground. He glared at Tychon and leapt at his throat, but he passed through him and landed on the other side. "You can't fight your nightmares, Kalil!" Tychon said evilly and bit into Kalil's front paws, snapping them upward and breaking them. Kalil crumpled to the ground, looking up at Tychon as he placed his paw on Kalil's throat. "Tychon..." he gasped, getting harder and harder to breathe, "W-why?" Tychon laughed again and dug his claws into Kalil's neck, pulling back quickly. The last thing Kalil saw was a puddle of his own blood growing underneath him and then everything went black.

Kalil quickly bolted upright, gasping for air. He looked around and saw himself in the same place he'd fallen asleep in, Najan curled up in front of him. He sighed heavily and looked up at the sky. It was about noon. Kalil nudged his brother awake with his nose. Najan groaned sleepily and opened his eyes. "Hey big brother," he said and yawned, "Is it time to go?" Kalil smiled down at Najan. "Yeah, it's time to go..." They both stood up and stretched. "So, which way do we go now?" Najan asked and Kalil got a strange look on his face. "Big brother, did you hear-" "Shhhh," Kalil cut in and looked around. Najan scowled at Kalil. "Hey, you don't have to be rude! I was just-" "Najan, shhhhh," he said again, looking side to side, "We're not alone..."

After a few minutes of waiting, the forest had gotten deathly silent, worrying Kalil more and more. He sniffed the air, clearly smelling another wolf nearby. Where are you? he thought and sniffed again, inpointing the position. He growled and leapt into a bush, hearing a gasp of surprise as he tackled another wolf who was crouched down behind the bush. He pinned the wolf down, not getting a clear look at their face at this point. "Who are you?" he asked angrily. "None of your business!" came a soft, yet fiery answer. A female, he thought and felt her place her paws on his shoulders and rolled, reversing the pin. He looked up at her and could only see her clear blue eyes. "Why are you in our territory?" she asked, glaring down at him. Kalil didn't trust her, he'd been attacked too many times in the past few days. Not taking any chances, he placed his back paws under her stomach and kicked her off.

Kalil rolled to his feet and glanced back to see her try to bite into his shoulder where he'd already been bitten twice before. He crouched and dodged her bite, ramming into her side and throwing her off her feet. He saw her roll and stop on her feet. Time to end this, Kalil decided and leapt at her just as she leapt at him. The two collided in midair and fell to the ground, rolling down a slope in the ground until they both hit a large boulder at the bottom. Kalil's vision fogged a bit and he struggled to his feet, feeling like his legs were going to give way at any second. He looked over at the girl and saw she was just as dazed as he was. He growled at her and was about to attack again until he heard another voice. "Kelia, get down!" he heard a male say this time. Kelia? he thought and turned around to see another wolf hit him in his muzzle. Kalil's head hit the boulder hard and he fell to the ground, unable to move his body. As his vision blackened, he saw another wolf run down the slope, Najan struggling in their mouth. "Lady Kelia, are you alright?" "Yes, I'm fine... Take them back to our pack... Be careful of this one..." Kelia? Then Kalil lost sight of the wolves as his world went dark.

All Kalil still saw was darkness, yet he heard voices now. "What do you think we should do with him?" "I'm not sure Kelia... You said he attacked you, so maybe we should just kill him..." Kelia? "Maybe... but Daddy, he has a little pup with him... Probably his brother. I don't think they meant any harm..." Daddy? Kalil heard a heavy sigh. "We'll have to see why they're here... once he wakes up that is... You sure did a number on him Kelia!" "Actually, I didn't knock him out... Glyan did." Glyan? Kalil groaned and slowly began to open his eyes, a rainbow of colors filling his already blurry vision. "Ah, he's awake!" he heard the deep male voice say that he recognized as Kelia's father. "W-what? Where... where am I?" he asked, his voice shaking. Slowly, his vision cleared and he saw a grey wolf that looked much like his own father smiling down at him. "You're in Crystal Pack territory," he answred, "My name is Bacar. I am the Alpha of my pack." Kalil looked around at all the crystals inside the den he was lying in. "Who... who hit me?" he asked groggily and Bacar chuckled. "Well the one who knocked you out was the Beta, Glyan. He's out hunting right now," he answered. "The female was me," he heard a female say and looked to his left to see a solid grey female, the same female who he'd fought out in the forest, "My name's Kelia. Sorry for attacking you, but we weren't sure if you were invaders or not..."

Kalil struggled to his feet and looked from Kelia to Bacar. "Where's... where's Najan?" he asked, "Where's my brother?" Bacar placed a paw on his shoulder. "Calm down boy, your brother is fine," he said calmly, "What's your name son and where are you headed?" Kalil sat down, his head still throbbing from being slammed into the boulder. "I-I'm Kalil... My brother and I are headed home..." "Then how did you get those horrible wounds?" Bacar asked pointing to Kalil's shoulder and his scratched up chest and muzzle. "These," Kalil started, "Are proof that there are evil wolves out there willing to kill in cold blood... Now where's my brother?" Bacar motioned towards the entrance and in walked a wolf with Najan at his side. "Najan!" Kalil cried out happily as his little brother ran to him and buried his face in his brother's pelt. "Kalil! I'm glad you're alright! I was so scared for you!" Najan said, and Kalil gently patted him on his back. "It's ok, I'm here, I'm alright..." Kelia smiled warmly as she watched Kalil comfort his little brother. It's so strange to think that an hour ago, he was fighting me, she thought and looked over at her father who was giving her a sly-looking grin. She gave him a confused look and he mouthed the words "I'll tell you in a moment."

Bacar cleared his throat and Kalil looked at him. "My guard will show you to a spare den you can stay in for a few days," he told Kalil/ Kalil bowed his head to the generous Alpha and smiled at him. "Thank you sir," he said and nudged Najan with his paw. Najan reluctantly followed the guard out of the den they were in, Kalil right behind him. As he went to walk out, Kalil looked back at Bacar and Kelia. Kelia flashed him a warm smile and Kalil smiled back before walking out. Bacar chuckled slightly and caught Kelia's attention. "What's so funny?" she asked and he smiled at her. "I think you know," her father said, "I've seen the way you look at him. You like him, don't you?" Kelia looked surprised and blushed a bit. "I-I don't... That's not true!" she shot back and Bacar laughed. "You'd better not get that flustered around him, or you'll be a dead giveaway!" "I told you, I don't like him!" she said and he gave her a suspicious look, "I'm telling the truth!" "Whatever you say Kelia," he said and stood up, walking towards the entrance, "But if I were you, I'd work on keeping my cool. You don't want to start fumbling over your words when you talk to him." Kelia opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and looked at her paws, thinking about what her father said. Am I starting to like him? she asked in thought and followed her father out of the den.

Chapter 8: A Newfound Strength: Love

Well at least we're not dead... Kalil thought as he nodded respectfully to the guard as he showed him the cozy den with two elk skins laid out on the floor as beds. Immediately, Najan ran onto one and curled up, falling fast asleep. Kalil chuckled and sighed. He must be tired, Kalil thought as he watched his little brother, He's travelled 350 miles in the last few days... Kalil heard a noise at the entrance and turned to see Bacar walk in and look at him, then saw Najan. "I trust your lodging is to your liking?" he asked in a whisper. "Yes, thank you sir," Kalil replied, nodding and Bacar chuckled silently. "You don't need to call me 'sir' all the time," he said and smiled at Kalil, "You're guests! No need to treat me like your master." "Yes si-... alright..." Kalil answered. Bacar chuckled again and walked out. Kalil looked back at Najan and sighed, wondering what to do with the time he had at hand. Well, it's about mid-afternoon, so that gives me about four hours before they should be back with dinner... Kalil lay down and rested his head on his paws, closing his eyes, but not quite falling asleep.

Kelia slowly made her way through their pack, thoughts running through her head. What do I think of Kalil? she asked herself in thought, walking to nowhere in particular, I think he's a pretty good fighter for one. He's