her chest to the moments when he watched her eyes take their last glimpse of the material world ran through his mind. I don’t want her to grow like she did. As she died, she matured . . . He tried his hardest to shake away those memories of their last conversation together all those years ago . . .

 

 

 

A gunshot fired with a loud BOOM, not knowing exactly who it would strike first. Of course, its target was to be a wolf, . . . but the one it would hit was a complete surprise.

 

The bullet pierced the gray flesh of the young she-wolf sentry suddenly, hitting her in the chest . . . almost right at the heart. She fell onto the ground as if it were slow motion. It was somewhat beautiful, yet completely heart-breaking as the wind whipped against her blood-stained fur until the moment she fell to the hard floor.

 

The red wolf was nearby and had heard the shot, but turning to the guards that were close to him, he saw the gray female drop. He couldn’t believe that on her first real duty she would become a target, . . . but of course, the life of a sentry was a risk worth taking. It was their job to make sure that a pack’s Alpha was safe, while at the same time, they put their lives on the line for his – or in this case, her – own protection. Sometimes they would be merely wounded; unfortunately, most of the time, it led to a one-way trip to Aniu’s eternal light.

 

“Jadze!” Shadow immediately ran to her side. Other guards that had seen her fall carefully hid, hoping to save themselves from being the next victim of fire. His breath was paced, seeing how helpless the young female was, but he began to drag her carefully to someplace hidden from the firing range.

 

My God, who would do such a thing? Shadow had tears in his eyes while he sheltered them in a small patch of bushes lining near the outside of their territorial cavern. She’s so young . . . and this is her first venture as a sentry . . . I just spoke with her only seconds ago . . .

 

Despite his tears, he heard a small, weak chuckle from underneath him. It was Jadze, of course; every time she moved and tried to sit up, a little more blood squeezed out from her chest wound, only intensifying when she fell again. “Well, . . . isn’t this . . . ironic, . . . huh, Shadow . . .?”

 

“Jadze, please don’t move,” Shadow tried to calm her down, hoping that there may still be a chance to take the bullet out. “You’re hurt.”

 

Jadze only chuckled again, ignoring the pain she felt in her chest. “I know . . . It . . . it hurts to . . . breathe . . .” She gasped every time she took a breath, and more and more blood trickled from her.

 

“Then you shouldn’t talk so much,” Shadow replied back. It was hard for him to watch her struggle, but this was his friend, as well as a niece. He hated to see someone he knew in such pain, but this was sentry duty – always a risk, a possible chance to lose the most precious part of one’s life.

 

The gray wolf only chuckled once more. “You know, . . . life . . . life is . . . wonderful, Shadow . . .” She tried not to cry at the pain she felt, but her breathing continued to strain the strength she had left. She knew what this pain would lead to . . . she was going to die, but she didn’t want to show it.

 

“Yeah,” Shadow answered, trying his hardest to keep a strong face in front of her. He knew that she would die, but he didn’t want to believe it. He looked away, keeping his focus on saving their skins from any more danger. That’s how he was – always so protective and cautious.

 

A couple of minutes past before the silence was broken. It was more gunfire, shooting out from the every side of their cave. Shadow had no idea whether it was safe to take her inside the cave where he could get someone to offer some help.

 

“Shadow?” Her voice was calm, despite the shots that they could hear behind them in the battlefield.

 

“Yeah?” Shadow turned back to her. He kept his voice quiet, so as not to attract any enemy fire on them.

 

“Be sure . . . to tell my Mom and . . .” She stopped for a second to let out a quiet set of coughs, again causing blood to leak onto the ground. It sounded like she was really in pain, as if her heart was beginning to give out. Shadow was about to speak, but she silenced him with her voice. “. . . tell my Mom . . . Dad . . . and siblings . . .” She coughed again, this time it was shorter and less severe although a bit of blood spit out from her mouth. “ . . . give them my love . . . tell them not . . . not to worry so much . . . about me dying . . .”

 

“Don’t say things like that, Jadze,” Shadow comforted her with licks, trying to stop the bleeding from her chest. “You’re a fighter, girl – you can make it.” The blood didn’t stop at all, only covering his muzzle and the tips of his front paws. “You’re not going to die . . . not yet.” By the way he talked to her, it was almost like a father speaking to his own daughter. He wanted to believe every word that he told her – seriously, he did – but he knew the truth.

 

Her elegant yet scruffy head shook slightly side to side. “Don’t hide the . . . the truth from me . . . I know . . . I know it’s near . . .” Her lips curled up for a soft smile. “I am going . . . going to die . . .”

 

Shadow couldn’t help but to weep at her brave divulgence, but he had pride in the courage she showed. “Yeah . . .” He replied back, still in tears.

 

“You know, Shadow . . . I . . . I wanted to make . . . make a difference . . . for the Clan . . .” Jadze just disregarded the fatal wound in her chest and continued to talk to him. “I wanted . . . to take on . . . everything the world had . . . had to offer . . .”

 

“You did,” Shadow could only respond through his tears. “You’ve done a good job.”

 

She only chuckled again. “Yeah, right . . .” Jadze directed Shadow’s attention to her chest. “. . . and this is my . . . my reward, huh?” The soft chuckling continued.

 

“No, no, no . . .” Shadow shushed her, calming her down. “That’s not it – you’ve done all you can the best way you could, and I’m proud of you.” He seriously couldn’t help but to cry. If Timbre were here, I’m sure he would say the same thing . . . he added in his mind. I know he’s always been proud of you, Jadze.

 

However, she didn’t want him to treat her like a child or any other young wolf in the pack. She wasn’t a baby anymore and wanted nothing more than to be able to do something important in her life. Ever since she was a pup, she was a leader – the dominant and headstrong one of the litter of six. Now that she was old enough to do the more dangerous and effective things that were a part of Clan society, Jadze knew that it was time to make the Clan she was born into proud.

 

However, she just hid her emotions in the form of chuckles – that was all she could do. “At least you . . . you take notice . . . Dad still treats me . . . like a newborn . . . like a naïve, little pup . . .” Shadow’s ears pricked up at these words, but said nothing as he listened to what she had to say. Suddenly, tears began to flow from her eyes. Shadow had no real idea why Jadze was crying – he was thinking the pain had finally gotten through to her, of course – but he would understand the real reason once she explained herself. “. . . Sorry, Shadow . . . but can you . . . keep a secret?”

 

“Of course,” he answered. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Somehow, something about this whole conversation made his fur bristle nervously. What does she trust me with? Shadow wondered. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

 

“Well, . . . I said something . . . to my Dad that . . . that I wish I could take back . . .” Jadze was still in silent tears, but she was still smiling somehow through the tears, as well as the pulsating pain in her chest. “. . . I told him that I hated him . . . right . . . right before I . . . I went to duty here . . .”

 

“Well, I’m sure he knows that you didn’t mean it,” Shadow responded. He was best friends with Jadze’s father, Timbre, so he knew the brown wolf’s personality well. Timbre was rather protective of his family – he cared so much for them, and living in this dangerous world in which there was a chance one could be killed off for no good reason and at any time by a random hunter only increased his love for his mate and pups. “He still loves you, Jadze – I know that as well as you do.”

 

Jadze tried to shake her head, but she could only manage to twitch instead. “No . . . I . . . I really meant it . . . at the time . . . I was angry, . . . upset at him . . . He was afraid to . . . to let me grow up . . .”

 

“That’s how all fathers are sometimes,” Shadow spoke from experience. “We love our children so much that . . . well, we feel like we just don’t want to let you pups go, that’s all.” His mind was filled with the thoughts of his own children. They were all so precious to him, even Thunder, his adoptive son. “My son Sheik’s a lot like you too, you know. He’s on sentry duty tonight as well.”At least, I hope he’s still okay out there, Shadow worried to himself. All three of his children were being taught how to be good sentries, but he knew that anything could happen as a guard.

 

“Oh, I wish . . . I could apologize . . . to him . . .” The wounded gray wept quietly. “I know I don’t . . . don’t have much time left . . . but . . .” She sighed deeply out of frustration. “. . . but at least I’ll . . . I’ll be with Aniu soon . . . I’m not afraid of it . . . I don’t have any other . . . regrets right now . . .”

 

Really, Shadow was admiring Jadze’s courage, even at only a year old. Every pup grew up learning about how wonderful the Great Aniu was for all

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