Wolves Of The Ravine (abandoned)

Chapter 16

"Ferone."

The soft voice called again, it wasn't Dremre - but it couldn't have been anyone else. Ferone flicked his eyes, trying to summon strength in his numb paws.

"Ferone, please." The newcomer's voice was edged with desperation. Ferone checked his surroundings - but saw nothing except an endless wall of black.

"What do you want?" Ferone yelped.

But as soon as Ferone had finished speaking, light flooded the emptiness - crashing over Ferone, the last thing he heard was a high pitched whistle; as if the stranger was trying to talk. "Wait!" Ferone cried, as he tried to fight his way through the blinding brightness.

He felt a thud on his haunches as soon as he blinked. It was just a dream - Ferone had never felt so relieved.

"You slept for so long anyone would mistake you as a hedgehog - not that we have seen any in a while," Dremre commented, letting out a sigh as she helped Ferone up.

The she-wolf's belly was getting larger, Ferone's heart skipped at the thought of sharing a den with younger wolves. "It shouldn't be long before Tyun comes back from the dawn hunt - why don't you get some fresh air?"

Ferone acknowledged Dremre with a nod, before padding out the den. The pack was lively - Craden and Brincel were debating, Oryan was treating Dusky's bleeding pad, and Amazon was jumping around Eison.

"They're back! Vigille is back!" A loud bark silenced the pack for a few seconds. Flight was standing at the foot of the slope, his brown tail swished with excitement.

"Could it be?" Braca - the golden she-pup squeaked. Ferone let out a confused sniff.

"Ferone, look up." Rift's whisper surprised him, but nonetheless he felt reassured as well. Ferone spotted three pelts making their way down the giant slopes; two of them were sandy and one was grey.

Alpha's low growl silenced the pack, with a flick of his tail - the pack formed a semi-circle, instinctively - Ferone joined them. Three wolves came into clear view.

The one on the left was a she-wolf, her sandy fur was stained with mud and dirt- yet her eyes blazed fiercely, the wolf next to her seemed almost identical, except his eyes were gentler and his build was bigger, and the wolf on the right - was enormous, bigger than Tyun, but his eyes showed no ferocity.

Finally, they stopped in front of Alpha. "Welcome back, Ember, Blaze and Vigille." He greeted, the three wolves looked too exhausted to formally reply. "Amazon and Brincel, may you help them to their nests and treat them with hospitality?"

The two wolves cheerfully accepted, hurrying to the three wolves and leading them away from the giant semi-circle. Ferone noticed Amazon nuzzling the sandy she-wolf - Ember as they passed by.

After a few moments of silence, Alpha dismissed the pack with a flick of his tail.

"I wanted to play with Blaze!" Dusky whined loudly.

"Me too!" Braca winced, pawing her littermate.

Ferone turned to Rift, who were the three newcomers? And what did they come here for? Thankfully, Rift answered his thoughts before he could say them out loud. "The she-wolf is Ember, her brother is Blaze, and their father is Vigille." She explained. "Alpha sent them further ahead to see if there were any prey sources or hazards."

A thought hit Ferone. "Vigille doesn't look like Ember and Blaze, surely their mother would look similar?" He barked, only a few moments later he realised how insensitive his comment sounded.

"Their mother..." Rift trailed off, her soft green eyes lost their sharpness for a few seconds. "She died in the battle with the Parnes."

A horrid feeling shook Ferone, how many wolves were dying over a flat bit of land? This was ridiculous, no wonder why Alpha did not hesitate at the thought of re-challenging the Parnes.

Rift shot Ferone a warning glare. "Please don't mention Ember and Blaze's mother in front of them, they haven't been the same since then." Ferone nodded appreciatively, he respected Rift's intuition.

"Hey Ferone, can you pass me that moss near the kill pile?" Ferone recognised Brincel's voice.

"Sure." He barked, picking up the damp lump. Brincel stood at the sixth den, his eyes lit up as soon as he recognised Ferone.

"Ferone! Over here!" He yelped. Ferone made his way next to Brincel.

"Who's that?" A sharp feminine voice cut in. Ferone recognised Ember, the sandy she-wolf who looked ready to bite off a pelt, lying on a comfortable nest of feathers.

"Ferone, he joined right after you left," Brincel explained.

Ember let out a low growl. "There's not much ravine wolf blood." She harshly commented. Ferone suppressed an angry growl.

"Brincel, you were telling us about something." Another voice joined in, Ferone noticed Blaze, the identical wolf. He gave off a friendly vibe, similar to Craden and Brincel.

"Yes." Brincel barked, his eyes averted to his paws - Ferone knew something was wrong. "We're going... To fight the Parnes."