stop himself, but he was moving too quickly and skidded off the edge of the cliff, rear half dangling over as his forelegs gripped the cliff for his life.

“Damn it!” Hunter cursed, glancing down at the rocks down below him, “I fall, and I’m through!” As he glanced up, he saw Rallan standing there, gold and brown eyes glaring judgmentally down at him.

“Rallan!” he exclaimed, a pleading look in his eyes, “Please help me… Please…” But Rallan didn’t move. He just stood there for a bit, glaring down as his former friend and current enemy hung on for his own survival. His eyes were cold, a vengeful fire burning within them. Such a look sent chills even down Hunter’s spine as he gazed up into them, for once in his life actually fearing Rallan’s power and skill. However he thought it would end, Rallan grabbed Hunter, wrapping his paws around the wolf’s neck to help hold him up. Hunter sighed with relief.

“Thank God! I thought I was gonna die for a second there!” Hunter said, relief filling his voice, “Thanks Rallan… I was sure I was gonna fall…”

“You’re not gonna fall just like that Hunter… No, you’re going to fall because of me… Because of all you’ve done to me…” Rallan said, his voice starting out warm, then getting colder as he went on, “Goodbye Hunter…” Before the wolf had a chance to plead like Valley had, Rallan moved his paws from his neck to his shoulders and gave a strong shove. Hunter’s grip came loose and he fell down, crying out in fear as he fell, his voice dying out into silence as his body hit the rocks and he died immediately. Rallan glared down at the body of his friend far below before turning and gazing back into the forest.

“Two down, one to go, Drake…” he muttered darkly before sprinting off into the cold winter forest.

Drake grunted softly as he fell down into another deep snow bank. Everywhere he seemed to step, he seemed to fall in a pile of snow! And he still had yet to find Rallan! What only made matters worse was that Hunter and Valley seemed to be having bad luck as well, since not one of them had howled to let him know they’d found Rallan! Did he just disappear into thin air?! he thought angrily to himself, trudging onwards. Finally he got to a part in the forest where the land leveled out, the snow not so deep anymore. But where on Earth was Rallan?!

From the edge of the forest all the way through to where Drake was, a gray-pelted wolf rushed, following tracks and scents of his enemy to guide him along. Having lived here for half a year, he knew the forest like the back of his paw and it didn’t take him very long to catch up. He finally came across him, padding along through the woods, alone and looking quite aggravated. This would be fun…

“WHERE ARE YOU RALLAN, YOU COWARD?!” Drake shouted out into the forest, his voice echoing around him, “WHERE ARE YOU?!”

“Right here, Drake…” came the voice of Rallan. Drake gasped and spun around as a gray blur ran at him, tearing through his left shoulder as it ran by him, then vanished into the forest again. Drake cried out in pain and nearly fell to the snow, his blood dripping down his leg. Fiery pains burned through him from the wound, making him wince and whine softly in agony. His hazel eyes darted left and right as he looked for the wolf again.

“Rallan?” Drake asked, raising his voice a little more, “Rallan?”

“Right here, Drake…” Again, behind him. This time, Drake didn’t turn around, hoping Rallan wouldn’t attack him this time.

“Rallan… So I found you, huh?” he asked, not even daring to glance backward yet.

“I guess you have…” Rallan said, his voice as cold as ice, “Lucky you…” Before Drake could even consider turning around, Rallan ran forward and bit down hard onto Drake’s right hind leg. Drake yelped loudly in pain and fell down to the snow, not even noticing the gray animal rush back into the woods. He whimpered lowly to himself, struggling to get up to his paws again. Not hesitating any longer, he let out a howl calling for assistance for Hunter or Valley. All around him, he could hear Rallan’s laugh echo.

“Howl all you want, but no one will come…” Rallan’s voice said, seemingly coming from everywhere around Drake, scaring the wolf even further, “They’re both dead… They were lucky like you and found me too… But then again, that made them unlucky, didn’t it? Then I guess it’s unlucky for you too…”

Fear now coursing through Drake, he knew if Rallan kept this up he’d surely win. I need to get an advantage… Close-quarters, maybe… Drake thought, glancing around quickly. His eyes fell across a cave not too far off. Without a second thought, he ran as best he could to the cave, limping slightly on his hind leg. Surprisingly, Drake reached the cave without any further trouble from his foe, panting heavily as he wandered further into the cave. The cave was huge and filled with winding paths made by ice walls. The density of the ice wouldn’t allow seeing through it well, but reflected his image all over the place.

Drake continued to walk on, ears pricked high to pick up even the slightest noise. As he walked on, he glanced around, looking for a good place to hide for a while. But as he moved on, he saw someone standing in front of him. A gray-pelted male wolf with a white muzzle and underside, a furious glare on his face. Rallan! Drake growled lowly and leapt at him- only to crash into a wall of solid ice. He groaned in agony as he slowly got up, watching Rallan’s many reflections moving around the labyrinth of frozen water. After a few moments of wandering about, he came to a circular room surrounded on all sides by more ice. He sighed heavily; perhaps Rallan wouldn’t find him here…

But those hopes were dashed as he saw Rallans all over the place again. He yelped in surprise and backed up against a wall, waiting to feel the cold touch of the ice against his back. But instead felt a warm, furry surface.

“Rallan!” Drake cried out just before the wolf placed a paw to his throat and slammed him hard against the ground.

“Hello Drake… Miss me?” Rallan hissed out viciously, eyes burning with the desire for revenge. Drake was shocked and terrified. He’d never, ever seen Rallan like this before! He was completely uncontrollable, driven by a bloodlust and a thirst for vengeance. He looked and acted like a wolf with nothing left to lose. Drake gasped out for air, choking as he struggled for survival. His legs kicked about and he tried to push Rallan away, but the wolf held firm. He wasn’t about to let him go until he saw the life jerk out of him.

But Drake got lucky and scored a direct kick into Rallan’s unguarded stomach. Rallan grunted as the air was knocked out of him and released Drake, doubling over on the ground as he slowly got up. Rallan rose to his paws again and growled ferociously at his opponent. Drake growled back; now that he was facing off against Rallan in an even setting, he didn’t feel as intimidated by him as he had before.

“So Rallan, you’ve begun using guerilla tactics for fighting, hmm?” he asked patronizingly. Rallan snapped his jaws at him, still growling consistently.

“Only when I knew I’d be fighting someone as unjust as you, Drake…” he snapped back heatedly, “How could you be so heartless as to kill an innocent wolf?”

“Who, you mean Krystal?” he asked in his same taunting voice, “She wasn’t so innocent… She’d degraded herself to helping out a lowlife exiled criminal… AKA, you…”

“She helped out an innocent wolf… She was my mate, my mate!” Rallan snarled, white fangs glistening violently as his eyes pierced Drake’s head, “How could you just harm such a perfect creature? She’d never do anything to harm anyone! She was an example of how a wolf should live and you took her life away… You sick, disgusting savage!” Drake scoffed at Rallan.

“Do you listen to yourself half the time? God, you sound so weak! So foolish! Only an imbecile would give a damn about a criminal’s love-life!” Drake argued back, then got a wicked grin, “Oh, and by the way, I enjoyed killing her… I savored every second, knowing just how much it would hurt you…” Rallan froze in his tracks, his growling stopping and every part of his body freezing in place. Drake laughed evilly at Rallan. He’d apparently struck a cord deep in Rallan’s heart.

“It was so amusing, listening to her call your name desperately… At least, until I stopped her…” he continued, “She kept calling for you in vain… Up until I sank my fangs into her throat… And you know what else? I regret nothing…” That was the final straw in Rallan’s life. His growling resumed, but at a much fiercer level than before. His eyes looked as cold and as emotionless as a murderer’s.

“You bastard…” Rallan spat out before launching himself at Drake. The two wolves collided and rolled about on the floor for a while. Finally,