-Prolouge To Darkness-
The world was nothing but a blur of green shadows and thick vegetation as it flew past the alabaster wolf. He glanced around wildly, golden eyes frantically searching for a twist or obstacle to hinder the pursuit of those things, whatever they were, even for a moment. The dense, untraversable woodland surrounding him seemed to laugh back at him. There was no escape, no exit; his only choice was to stand and fight. He had already tried to fight them. There was no wolven abroad that could defeat the white wolf, but these things were even more elusive than him. They seemed to assimilate from pure ebonite shadows, uncountable in number and indestructible. Sure, he'd taken a bite or two out of the lot of them, but they didn't seem hindered. They acted as ravenous as starved wolves, tearing and biting at him relentlessly until he was forced to flee or die. They seemed to be after something he couldn't quite give them, and as the snapping of brittle underbrush grew louder behind him, he wondered just what that something was.
The sudden stinging in his thighs and biceps reminded him that he had been running from these things for almost ten minutes now. Strings of liquid fire seemed to braid into his sinew and muscle, searing his poor appendages with a sting he hadn't felt since his pack had journeyed to this place. He needed to loose them, and fast. He began his frenzied observations once more, this time catching a sliver of moonlight from between two far off trees. With a sharp intake of breath, and newfound persistence, he pushed himself even harder, making the fire subside and replace itself with electrifying adrenaline. His legs began to pump feverishly, pounding the soil with a pace that a racehorse would be envious of. As he neared the light, the sounds of his attackers slowly faded. Upon its absence, he glanced behind him, and didn't see the fallen trunk that lay before him.
The canine hit the wooden barricade hard, sent flipping over it and down the hill it rested on with the same speed he'd been running. Pain shot through every nerve ending in his body as he hit a multitude of rocks, indentations, and roots, tumbling violently down the incline. The fall only took about half a minute, but it seemed like hours to him until he hit the bottom. With a sickening sound, he hit the grassy soil of the large clearing at the bottom of the valley. He rolled a few times but eventually stopped near the center. He lay there for a moment, unable to see let alone look around. His breathing came in short, raspy breaths, body numbed by the short-lived but constant battery of the fall. His head spun relentlessly for a minute or so before he finally opened his eyes.
When his honeyed opticals surveyed his surroundings, he saw nothing but the peaceful blackness of a summer's night. He was at the bottom of a large bowl-shaped valley, nothing but dark forest encircling it and moonlight in it. He pushed himself upright, gritting his massive canines at the pain that shot through every fiber of his being. The fire he'd felt only moments ago returned tenfold, burning through the animal excruciatingly. He hung his head in exhaustion, tongue lolling out of his moth as his chest rose and fell deeply. He did not move from that spot for quite some time, crimson streaks intermingling with his bleached coat from the various injuries he'd received from the fall and the fight. A rather large cut above his left eye was the most troublesome. He watched a drop of it slip off the bridge of his nose and splash on to a blade of grass below him. And, for the first time, he also noticed the scurrying sounds that were slowly surrounding him.
Large, yellow eyes stared back into his own. Six of the obscure creatures surrounded him in a loose circle, hissing softly and clicking to each other. They fiddled their fingers and crumpled antennae, looking from each other to the wolf with an emotionless, wide-eyed stare. They were completely obsidian, surrounded by subtle wisps of purplish smoke. The white wolf stared in amazement at them. But soon, that look of wonder turned into one of malice. He folded his ears against his skull, bearing his canines fully and raising the rigid hackles along his spine. A low, deep growl welled inside his throat, resembling thunder more than an animalistic sound. His parted his jaws slightly, letting the sound grow a slight bit louder. He knew that he was going to have to fight again. But this time, he would win…
The last things he remembered were the sudden pain in the center of his back, the heavy weight of the black creatures on top of him, the pain that they caused when they began dug into him, and a grey blur yelling 'Kiba!'