Wolfpack Chronicles
by
Bolt Greywing
The Dragon and the Wolf
A lone wolf was out on a spiritual journey of self discovery. If he wanted to lead the pack of wolves that awaited him back home, then he would need to find his own strength. His family back home was dependent on him to become the alpha of his clan for time back at the pack was not a very pleasant one. The that was brought back was only given out to the strongest and very little was left for the weak to munch on. He knew that if he didn't succeed in his quest countless lives would be affected. There was no way he could potentially turn his back on them now. He would have to fend for himself now and potentially hope for the best.
Daren the gray wolf had never been much of a skilled hunter as he always wound up coming up short compared to the other wolves who were much more skilled then he was. Yet despite that setback he was always more willing to share food with other wolves who were less fortunate then he was. He was for the most part a good wolf. He looked out through his blue eyes hoping to spot something of worth that he could share with the colony when he got back. This part of the forest as far as he could tell contained good amount of game. There was lots of leaves, berries and grasses, and a small watering hole perfect for all kinds of prey.
Somewhere nearby to Daren was a wild hare with long fluffy ears and a white tail. This was almost too perfect of a chance for him to miss something like this. He sprang at the rabbit with his jaw wide open, but caught nothing but air. The hare was no longer in the same spot that he originally was in. Daren spotted that the rabbit was a few more inches away from him and continued to increase the distance. He decided to try again once more but only wound up empty handed. The rabbit was taunting him and continued to hop away. Daren being tired of these types of games decided to just run off after the cottontail and so the great chase began.
The chase went through many parts of the forest and Daren quickly become lost. None of these particular woods and grasses he knew much about, but one thing was for certain he was going to have that rabbit for dinner. As the sky steadily became darker the rabbit began to lose much more stamina than the wolf. Daren knew he had to quickly end this or he would lose his prey. He put the last spurt of his energy into one final sprint to gain an advantage on his prey. He snapped his jaws quickly shut on the rabbit's neck before the rabbit could even register its doom. Exhausted and quickly spent from the long chase Daren collapsed to the forest floor. Daren growled at himself for being so stupid as to have wasted all his energy in the attempt to catch his prey. He knew that anyone could make an easy meal out of him if he stayed out in the open but he was too exhausted to even move.
Somewhere in the forest around him he could sense that someone else was also in the vicinity by his sense of smell. He heard the grass began to sway as though pushed by a mighty beast but it could have been almost any type of dangerous creature for the grass was quite tall. Daren hoped that whatever came out of the tall was definitely not a snake cause he was poisoned by one as a small child. The rustling eventually stopped and out of it popped the head of an unknown beast. Its face was black but its eyes glowed emerald green. It was small in size but it was most definitely female. As more of it came into the dim light of the moon Daren could feel himself tremble in fear as his Dad's old tales slowly came to life. The tale of beasts who could breath fire and fly on wings made of leather, terrible tales. He always thought they were just myths, but now that he saw the horrible beast with his own eyes he believed it. The most dangerous creature of all the land was looking directly at him as the word he dreaded to say crept quickly to the top of his tongue.
"Dr... Dr... Dra... Dra... gon." Daren cried out loud amidst terrible fear knowing the doom that now awaited him. His own father was never the same after he had spotted one or more of them while he was alone in the woods at night. The experience made his father crazy and he quickly left after spending some time with his family. Daren hoped that wouldn't happen to himself for he had a family to look over and he hoped that whatever it did to him would be quick and without pain. The dragon began to slowly circle around him as if deciding what part of him to eat first. Around she went until finally she decided on the wolf's tail and chomped down on it hard causing Daren to yelp out in pain. "Owwwww."
The dragon made several more crunchings before taking her new found meal with her. She dragged the wolf behind her in an undignified way as she traveled deeper into the forest away from more familiar settings that Daren was used to. As he began to be dragged further and further away he tried to get his feet under him so he could fight back, but it was no use as he was still too drained from chasing the rabbit. He knew now that he would never be able to see his family ever again and worse he was going to be someone else's meal. When she finally stopped in front of a large pine tree she began to back in to her den taking the wolf with her. When she was fully inside the den with the wolf itself she began to dig a large hole to bury the wolf in.
Though she was relatively inexperienced at catching food she knew that her cache had a couple of mice to settle her stomach for a bit. However she would have to go hunting again.
The wolf would make a delightful feast but how would she ever catch another one? She wondered to herself.
She had found one that was relatively worn out but it would be unlikely the next one would be as easy.
Daren began to whimper at the hole knowing that he would soon be buried there. "Please don't put me in there, please don't..."
Just her look at him was enough to put him to silence. No one ever dares argue with a dragon. The young dragon girl had lived underground most of her life since her mother left her. Though she waited for her mother's return she knew staying out in the open forest was dangerous. The scar on her right leg was a reminder of the time she left herself vulnerable. She had been surrounded by a pack of wolves one night and she had been lucky to escape with only the one scar. After that time she built a den in the ground where she could keep herself safe.
The dragon nudged the wolf into the hole and buried him in there covering him with dirt. Daren was then shrouded in darkness as the dragon walked off to eat. Though he was under the ground there was still plenty of air pockets for him to breath. Daren finally passed out from the exhaustion of both the fright of the dragon and the energy that he spent in the chase. The dragon decided to come back with one of her mice from an older cache and promptly settled down on top of the place where the wolf was buried. She steadily began to rip apart the mouse and began to chew the meat. The mouse tasted pretty good, but still it felt like it was missing something. She continued to chew on it until she was finally finished with the first one. She then went off to fetch the second one, but this time she took a bit more time because she felt a bit choosier. After she decided a nice brown one she went back to her nice spot that she had settled down before. As she began to tear into the second one she looked down at the mound where the wolf was buried as though considering upon releasing him or not.
The dragon growled at herself for considering unburying the wolf but she knew it would be rude not to at least offer him at least one last meal before she finished him off. The dragon began to start digging up the hole that she had dug earlier. Daren didn't know how much time had passed since he had been buried under ground but he could hear the rustling of dirt. After a while he soon spotted claws and finally the dragons face. He watched her in fear as she began to dig him out clearing all the dirt around him. When she was finally done she sat back down on top of him showing him that she was the dominate alpha of the group. As he tried to shake her off she growled at him menacingly causing him to sink down into the ground meekly. Daren now knew there was no way he could be alpha now while she was around. She began to chew a bit on the mouse before dropping it to the ground in front of the wolf.
The wolf wanted nothing to do with the mouse at first till she smiled at him and pointed to the mouse. Daren was too hungry at this point to refuse the dragon's mouse and ate it quite greedily. Slowly he began to recover some of his energy and mumbled a weak thank you to the dragon. The dragon just smiled and went off to fetch another one. Daren watched her leave and upon her returning with another mouse he began to whimper loudly. She growled at the wolf causing him to back down as she climbed back on to his back again. She knew that she had the upper hand over her prey but was still slightly peeved at being out one mouse. She couldn't let him go hungry but she was not yet ready to risk another mouse on him. She wondered if it might be possible to use his great sense of smell to help her find her mother. She knew that sh could probably go off on her own to hunt on the journey but she probably would be able to make it, and mice though plentiful are not that easy to catch. To make matters worse she was barely hanging on as it was. The wolf had caught a rabbit which was a lot more then what her skills could possibly do.
Deciding that he might be worth it she gave him another mouse to eat at which Daren ate it smiling just a little. The dragon then offered him many bugs to eat at which Daren turned up his head in disgust. The dragon growled at him causing him to change his mind and eat the bugs in front of him. Daren hated the fact that she had essentially forced him to eat the bugs in front of him but he felt much more clear headed and healthier then he was before. After he finished his meal he decided to step closer to the dragon only to receive a growl from her. Whatever the case she was certainly not pleased with him. Whatever the case would be, for better or worse the two of them needed each other in order to survive.
The dragon looked at the wolf in contempt. "You doggee bad. You chase Mommie away. Hate you I do."
Daren looked quite surprised. "I didn't even meet your mother and certainly I would not chase her away."
The dragon growled once more. "You lie!"
Daren shook his head. "No I don't. I came to this part of the forest to help my family, but since I got lost it seems that I won't ever find my out."
The dragon's eyes widened. "You... family have? Dwaggy help doggee find family. Know forest well I do. Find mama too?"
Daren agreed. "I will help you find your mother. I promise."
(Author's notes: So what do you think of my wolf story? I know it is a bit rough as I don't all of my characters back story as of yet but I will get better with these characters as I continue to write.
So guy and gals please tell me how you liked the story so far. Also please feel free to leave a comment or review to this story if you like. Bolt)