KNIGHT

 

The grass was cold beneath my bare feet. I dug my heels into the thin layer of snow. The dirt on the ground was just beginning to harden from the cold.

Behind the soft snow that fell, there was a darkened sky with a full moon. The trees around the clearing were white with the snowfall from just the night before.

It was only the start. A chill in the air signaled a coming snowstorm.

I had little to cover my bare body but that didn’t matter. Nothing would make me move from the spot I stood upon.

I exhaled a deep breath to maintain my composure and the steam rose into the air. My heart was thumping hard inside of my chest. I didn’t know if it wanted to leap out or jump into my throat.

It’s all right… Everything will be all right…

I closed my eyes and calmed myself. The presence of the foxes who stood strong with me was all I needed to stay focused.

The snow had come. The fierce wolves didn’t say when they would come but the heightened senses of the foxes near me were enough to know of their presence.

I shifted my gaze in every direction around the clearing. It was completely silent except for the breathing of those around me.

Then I heard something off to the side.

We all turned toward the darkness between the trees. Something rumbling in the brush.

“Get ready.”

Anita commanded her skulk and the men and women all followed. They picked up the weapons they’d crafted. Heavy stones. Wooden javelins made from the branches around them, not sharp enough to impale but strong enough to draw blood.

The sound from the darkness started to grow louder. A loud howl pierced the night sky suddenly. It was enough to send a chill into the hearts of the bravest Alphas.

Another howl joined it. Then another. A chorus of howls in unison echoed into the sky for all of the Timberlands to hear.

I peered into the darkness as the fierce wolves appeared. Wolves with black and white fur rushed out from between the trees at all sides into the clearing.

But the traps Oliver and I laid were enough. Nets made from the twine Anita provided us snatched up the wolves and strung them up high toward the trees. They clawed and they bit but with their limbs caught, they were unable to escape. Even if they were able to shift, they couldn’t break free.

The fear from the other foxes was palpable.

“Steady,” Anita urged everybody. “Stay calm.”

Another rush of wolves moved toward us from all directions.

“Now!”

Anita shouted to all of the foxes and they attacked. Stones and sticks flew through the air.

“Go! Go!”

They heaved everything quickly and as hard as they could. The sticks and stones made the wolves whimper when they were hit. Some of them were hit in the head and rendered unconscious. Others were hit on the limbs and forced to the ground.

More than 20 wolves had been stopped. I looked around and saw that they’d all been defeated in one way or another.

I wanted to celebrate. I wanted to enjoy the fact that we’d held them off. But looking into Anita’s eyes, I knew that she sensed others.

I got my answer quickly when another set of wolves emerged from the darkness. A dozen wolves, their fur black and white, slowly inched closer to us.

“Go!” Anita shouted. “Now!”

Those in the skulk too weak to fight shifted and moved toward the bunker underground that had been burrowed earlier. Oliver gave me one last look and nodded before shifting and joining them.

I stood my ground with only a few foxes, the lead Alpha Anita one of them.

The lead wolf stepped forward. I remembered him from before. Just from the look in his eyes, I knew he was the one I engaged with.

He moved closer to me and looked me right in the eye, not shifting into the man I knew who he was.

“What is this charade?” he said. “You’ve attacked my brethren with sticks and stones. You’ve laid traps for the others. Why have you wasted our time?”

“We know why you have come,” Anita answered him. “You wish for tribute. You wish for retribution against the trespassers.”

She looked at me and clenched her jaw before turning back to the lead fierce wolf.

“You will not have it,” she said.

“Then you will surely die.”

“Perhaps I will die. But my skulk will survive. I will sacrifice myself for the greater good of my people.”

“Foolishness! Give us our tribute or surrender the trespassers. Don’t make this harder on yourself than it has to be.”

“I will not. I will kill as many wolves as I can. You will not break me.”

“You know not what you’re saying, fox. Your people are weak.”

“We are not weak. And I am more than willing to prove it to you.”

The wolves surrounded the lead Alpha all started to growl. They snarled loudly, baring their teeth to show off what they were capable of.

“I challenge you,” Anita said. “I challenge the lead Alpha. Me versus you. If you beat me, I will surrender the trespassers. Or are you so afraid you will lose to a fox?”

“If you wish to die then so be it!”

Anita shifted into a fox. Her fur a fiery red, trimmed with white. Her tail long, she held it high in the air and proud. If I didn’t know her already, I never would have expected a fox to appear so strong.

The lead fierce wolf moved forward and swung his claws violently. Anita moved swiftly, bouncing around too quickly for the wolf to hit. She moved so fast that she was able to climb on top of the wolf and slash at his face.

The wolf howled when blood was drawn. His brethren howled in response.

The lead wolf didn’t slow down. He continued trying to snatch and claw at Anita with all of his might. Just one swing would have been enough to take the smaller fox out.

But Anita fought with the heart of a fox ten times her size. For someone who never engaged in combat, one would have thought she had years of experience. I watched her, knowing she was fighting with the blood of her ancestors that burned within her.

“Come on, Anita! Beat him!”

My fists clenched tight, I urged her on. She fought bravely, swiping and clawing at the wolf with every opportunity.

But with all of the damage she’d done, the wolf kept going. Anita started to fatigue. The energetic fox stopped moving as quickly as she did once before. And with one violent swipe, he knocked her in the head and sent her tumbling to the ground.

“Anita!”

She slid across the snow and laid on the ground. I rushed up next to her.

I held the Alpha fox in my arms and saw her eyes closed. The hit was so violent, she went unconscious in the blink of an eye.

“It is done!” the lead wolf shouted. “I have bested that annoying fox.”

He turned to the other men and women who were standing there.

“And if you don’t wish to join her, then you will surrender the trespassers. Or suffer the consequences.”

The foxes who hadn’t hidden in the underground burrow remained defiant. They stood proudly, Alphas, Betas, and Omegas alike, their chests out and their heads high.

I wanted to believe they could win. I wanted to believe they would beat the fierce wolves and drive them out.

But when I looked down at the Alpha in my arms, I knew that they would only meet certain doom.

They were not fighters and they were outnumbered. All they had was their pride.

After everything they’d done for me so far, I knew I had no other choice.

I carried the small fox over to the others.

“Hide,” I said. “I will deal with them.”

The men and women in the skulk all looked reluctant. But they finally agreed without saying anything, taking Anita from my arms and hiding in the underground burrow.

I stood alone in the clearing with the snow falling down around me. Surrounded by a dozen wolves, I looked around at all of them ready to pounce.

I turned to the lead wolf and stared at him.

“I am the trespasser,” I said.

“Surrender. Let these foxes go on with their miserable existences.”

“I am the trespasser but I will not surrender. I challenge you.”

“Again? You fools don’t know your place.”

“Are you so afraid of a jaguar?”

“Never!”

He snarled at me.

“If you wish to die now, so be it!”

I shifted into a jaguar and roared at him.

Not holding back, I galloped toward him. He moved toward me and leaped into the air the same as me. We collided with a thud, our limbs wrapped around each other.

He slashed at my body, sinking his claws into me and drawing blood. I gritted my teeth and ignored the pain, swiping at him just the same.

We wrestled on the ground with one another, trying to gain the upper hand. I managed to mount him and swipe at his face. The blood he was already leaking from his encounter with Anita didn’t slow him down. Nothing I did slowed him down either.

With a burst of strength, he pushed me off of him. I slid across the snow. I quickly made my way back up to my feet just as the wolf rushed at me. Before he hit me, I ducked underneath him.

The wolf was violent. Aggressive. He used all of his energy with every swipe.

But he was too slow.

I pounced on him before he could turn around. With all of my strength, I swiped at his head with my paws. It landed on his skull with a thud. His eyes rolled in his head. Another swing and his body started to go limp underneath me.

I rolled off of him and finally caught my breath. Blood dripping from my side. Sweat covering my body. Lungs burning. Heart racing.

I looked at the other dozen wolves that surrounded me.

“I am the trespasser,” I said. “And I have bested your Alpha. Leave. Leave or suffer the same fate as this wolf.”

“You are bleeding, jaguar,” one wolf said. “You will not survive another attack.”

“If you wish to fight me, then come. You will not consume me!”

I roared as another wolf rushed up to me. He swiped at me. I was able to get out of the way just in time. But I was unable to avoid his claws again. Another slash against my shoulders drew blood.

I yelled out and swiped back at him in response. My paw collided with his head and sent the wolf flying across the snow.

Before I could bask in the glory of defeating the wolf, another one attempted to pounce on me.

I rolled out of the way just before he landed. He wasn’t alone though. All of the wolves had taken offense to me. They all eyeballed me with the same murderous intent.

“I’ve bested your Alpha,” I said. “Let this end. It is the law of the Timberlands.”

“You are a trespasser,” one wolf said. “You will suffer the consequences.”

They all attacked me at once. They rushed forward and pounced on me. Wolves clawing and snatching at me from every direction. I was fast enough to move out of the way but there were too many of them. It wasn’t long before they were all on top of me.

They swiped their claws at me. They drew blood all over my body.

I closed my eyes and put my paws up to defend myself, listening to the vicious sound of them trying to rip me apart.

Oliver… Oliver…

I cleared my thoughts. I grew comfort in knowing that he was still alive. No matter what happened to me, he would live on.

Just when I thought I would meet my end, the wolves all stopped. They moved away from me.

I was in a daze as I pushed myself back up to all fours. I looked down at the ground and saw my blood. Dark crimson trickling on the snow all around me.

I turned my head up and saw that the lead wolf had regained consciousness. He slowly moved toward me, his stare as sinister as it always was.

“Trespasser,” he said.

“I beat you,” I said. “I beat you and yet you still sick your brethren on me. You are no Alpha.”

“You are from the city. You left behind the laws of these lands when you chose to live in buildings.”

“Leave now. Leave with your honor still intact. Be an Alpha and set the right example.”

I looked into his eyes, trying to get through to him. Despite his nature, I knew that there was some reason in him.

“I beat you,” I repeated.

“Perhaps you bested me. But the rules of the Timberlands don’t apply to a city-dweller, jaguar.”

The wolves started to circle me.

There was no escape. I was too tired. My body wasn’t responding. All of the blood in my veins was on the snow at my feet. I could barely think straight.

As the wolves started to converge on me, I closed my eyes again.

Oliver…

Few Alphas ever found the Omega they were fated to. Even if it were only for a moment, I’d lived a life greater than any other. He was more than anything I could ever ask for.

I listened to the sound of the wolves growing closer to me. They snarled so loud that the earth rumbled beneath me. The trees started to shake.

But the shaking only became more violent.

I opened my eyes and saw that the wolves were no longer focused on me. They looked around just as confused as I was.

The trees were trembling. The ground was moving. I peered into the darkness around the clearing, trying to figure out what was happening.

Suddenly, a loud roar filled the air.

Brown bears the size of the trees jumped out of the darkness. They roared again at the fierce wolves, making them cower in their spots.

I blinked my eyes in disbelief at the sight. I’d lost so much blood that I was sure I was dreaming.

But the bears continued to stalk the wolves in front of them like prey.

“Leave,” one bear shouted. “Leave now and honor your loss like the Alpha you should be.”

The lead fierce wolf snarled in response. But he continued to cower as the bear converged on him.

Eventually, the wolf shook his head and growled at his brethren.

“Free the others from the traps,” he said. “Free them and return to our territory. Let the foxes have their place.”

The wolves did as they were told. Dozens of wolves were helped back up to their feet. I stood next to the bears and watched as the fierce wolves disappeared back into the darkness.

“You have defeated their Alpha, jaguar,” the bear said. “Even the fierce wolves will honor the code of the Timberlands. They will not come back.”

That voice…

Still in a daze, I looked up at the bear and try to figure out who he was.

When he shifted into a man, he looked down at me with a big grin on his face.

“It’s good to see you again, Knight.”

“…Dexter? Dexter, is it really you?”

I looked around at all of the other bears and recognized them as soon as they shifted into the men they were. I remembered all of their faces from the expedition.

“But how did you—”

“You’re bleeding,” he said. “Is there a doctor here?”

“One of the elders. Baron… He’s in the underground burrow—”

“Quickly. We must take you to him.”