All Shall Fall
Chapter 1: Off on a Nightmare
The sun slowly rises over the mountains, turning the sky back into its bright blue with clouds here and there. A white wolf sits by her den, her hazel eyes looking at her pups. Her once litter of four has been knocked down to three, after losing her third born to a coyote. The only remains are two females and a male. The oldest has hazel eyes like hers, and a black pelt like her fathers. The second oldest, the male, has the same color of his father as well, but he has green eyes. And the youngest, the sweetest and most obedient female pup, with pure white fur and blue eyes.
A few minutes later, Midnight, the father, comes rushing back to the den.
"Faith!" he calls to his mate, who looks at him with worry. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"Why? What's the matter?" she asks, jumping to her paws.
"Hunters! I saw them by the hunting grounds! We must leave now!" he replies, picking up the youngest, Bell, in his jaws.
"Where are we gonna go?" the oldest, Grim, asks as she looks up at her father.
"Anywhere away from those humans!" Faith tells her, picking up the second oldest, Broken. Grim was old enough to run, and there wasn't anyone else to carry her. Midnight looks at his mate and nods, running away from the den. Faith follows him as best she can, along with Grim who trails right behind her.
After what seems like forever of running, Midnight finally stops.
"Daddy, I'm hungry." Bell whispers as she sits on the ground.
"I'll go find some food, baby girl." he replies, licking her head. She smiles as she watches him run off.
"Where is your father going?" Faith asks once she sets Broken on the ground.
"Off to find some food!" she replies, wagging her tail with a smile on her face.
"Awesome, I'm starving." Grim barks, sitting on the soft grass to catch her breath.
"What do those hunters want with wolves, anyways?" Broken asks, looking up at his mother.
"They hunt for our elk, and sometimes those grizzlies. They do it for fun." she replies.
"Then why are they after us?" Grim asks, wondering what the humans would want with any wolves.
"Sometimes they want our fur, sometimes it's for some fun as well." she explains. The oldest rolls her eyes.
"I don't understand humans. They're all useless if you ask me," she growls, now standing up. "Can I go look for dad? He's been gone a while."
"No. I don't want you getting hurt!" Faith replies, looking at her pup.
"We're away from the hunters now, mom! We're the hunters out here now!" she laughs, running off.
"Grim!" she calls to her daughter, but it's too late. The oldest pup is already down the hill they were on, heading in the direction of her father.
"Is she going to be okay?" Broken asks, worried about his older sister.
"I sure hope so." Faith sighs, laying a tall tree, Broken and Bell huddled close to her.
Grim jumps onto a rock, looking around the hunting ground. Soon, she smiles as she sees the black wolf. She jumps off the rock, and runs over to her father who is chasing a cow elk. 'I can finally show him I can hunt!' Grim thinks happily, her hazel eyes locked on the elk.
"Grim! What are you doing!?" Midnight yells once he sees his daughter. But, the pup ignores him, running along the elk who doesn't even notice her. Pushing herself, Grim manages to run faster than her target, and get in front of it. In a matter of seconds, the pup has her jaws locked on the elk's throat, biting as hard as she can. The elk makes a sound of pain, trying its hardest to shake the pup off, but it's no use. Grim's sharp, but tiny, teeth are locked into the elk's skin, making it lose much blood.
In a few minutes, the elk is down, and Grim tumbles to the ground.
"Grim!" Midnight snarls, rushing towards his daughter who's laughing.
"That was epic!" she laughs before looking at the dead elk. "And I killed it!"
"You could've gotten yourself killed!" he scolds, golden eyes glaring into hazel ones.
"But, I did kill it!" she replies, smiling at him. He rolls his eyes and looks in the direction of his family.
"Go fetch your mother and brother and sister. I'll wait here." he instructs her, sitting by their meal. Grim nods, standing to her paws and running to get her family. Midnight looks at the elk and smiles. 'Even though she put herself in danger, she did get this elk. Pretty impressive for a pup, but I'll have to keep an eye on her.' he thinks, looking around. Somewhere, far off in the distance, Midnight could swear he sees a hunter, but thinks nothing of it.
"So, this is the elk you two took down, eh?" Faith asks as she approaches her mate who nods. She smiles as she watches her pups eat.
"Faith, may I speak with you for a moment?" Midnight asks, looking at the wolf who nods. They walk away from their pups, Faith wondering what he wants to talk about.
"I'm worried about Grim," he barks quietly, taking a glance back at their oldest pup. "She seems too happy about hunting, like that's all she wants to do. Just kill something. You should've seen the look on her face when that elk went down!"
"It was kind of like her first kill. Don't you remember when you had your first kill?" Faith replies with a faint smile. "She's just happy about it. Don't worry your pretty little head."
"Yeah, but when I had my first kill, I was older than her. Much older than her," he explains.
"Well... maybe she's getting in early. You never know, she might become a great hunter one day. Perhaps even better than those humans!" she laughs, thinking of the hunters that kill for fun. "And they use those stupid little things! They can't even kill like us!"
"That's because they're afraid," Midnight smiles. "They know animals are stronger than they are, so they hide behind those things."
In a matter of seconds, the pups come rushing up to their parents, Bell cowering by her father.
"The hunters are here!" Broken cries, looking back to see if he can see any more humans.
"And they brought dogs!" Grim adds with a snarl, hazel eyes showing pure hate.
"Come on, then! We must get moving!" Midnight says, picking up Bell. Faith grabs Broken and they all set off.
At least seven minutes after they're trying to escape, a gunshot fills the air.
"MOMMY!" Bell screams. Faith falls to the ground, Broken tumbling out her jaws.
"Alright! Now lets see if we can get the rest!" a human speaks. The four look over, only to see males laughing at their sadness. Grim took another look at her mother who lay there dying, feeling something she had never really felt before. 'Kill 'em all!' a voice shouted in her mind.
"Grim, come on! We have to go!" Broken barks, bringing his sister out of her thoughts. Shaking her head clear, Grim follows her family, taking one last glance back at her mothers dead body. 'Someone's going to pay.' she thought, gritting her teeth in pure fury and hate.
