Vision for Sight

Chapter: 10 Digging a Hole

Both Callen and Daria now ran blindly as fast as she could keep up. Callen lead the way with Daria following the sound of his heavy steps and scent. "Watch out, tree!" She leapt to the right, avoiding the incoming obstacle. "Callen slow down, you're getting too far!" He shouted towards him. He slid to a stop, looking back to her and beyond to make sure they weren't being followed. They had been going at this rate for the last half an hour, they couldn't stop now, who knew how far behind their pursuers would be.

"We can't stop; we need to get out of the territory."

"Why? You haven't explained yet, what happened back there?"

"Lucas started asking a whole lot of questions, bad ones. "He said and continuing on the move with Daria now just a tail length behind him.

"About what?"

"About you!"

Speaking of the leader wolf, he groggily lifted his eye lids to the sounds of muffled speaking. Before him the blurred shape of his Beta's head started to form, his lips showing he was the source of the shouting voice. What happened? Why was he visually impaired? Why did he feel like he's been kicked in the head by a god damn moose? "Sir?" He voice started to become a little clear. "Lucas…Sir, are you alright?"

"Urgh…I'm fine, I'm ok…What happened?" He said while lifting his head.

"Humans sir, in the territory." He responded. "They made you fall asleep."

"For how long?"

"Nearly an hour." Lifting his head some more, he took in his surroundings and smells, and one thing was missing.

"Where's the boy?" He eyes snapped wide open when realising Callen was gone, one minute he was standing before him and talking, next this!

"He's gone sir, he ran the moment you fell."

"Find him, I don't care what you have to do, just find him and kill them both, the she-wolf has cost me too much to live another day."

"I told you to let me shoot it!" Thomas exclaimed.

"There wasn't time, and I thought I could hit him." The tracker they had been following since the lake was designed to be as comfortable and comfortable as possible, so it wouldn't get in the way and the creature wearing wouldn't notice. They were a new type to tracker that has been proving successful in be less convenient and making life easier for the wearer. With some great convincing and a great amount of effort, they completed their original task and managed to get their skipper to guide them through the forestation. They had tracking equipment with them, hoping that they would get the opportunity to use it. What were the chances of this?! "Were you even sure that it was the right wolf?" Alice added as the team of five continued around the territory of this pack they wondered into.

"I'm sure of it, the tracker was going crazy, it had to be the one that ran off because it looks the same." Thomas replied and scanning the area with the tracking radar. "It's this way." He pointed. "The signals getting fainter, so they must be moving quickly."

"How do you two even know they're still travelling together?" Asked the skipper plodding along behind them.

"Wolves are pack animals; they will always stay together if given the opportunity." Alice answered.

"That doesn't explain it." He replied dumbfounded.

"It's her hunch, but it does make sense if you think about it." Sighed Thomas.

Daria needed to rest, she couldn't exactly say "in times like this she really wishes she could improve her stamina more", but she's never been in a situation like this before! But anyway way, he heart has never beaten faster, sweat has never dripped down her forehead like this before, this was horrid! "I think…we're good here." Callen panted the words she's been waiting to hear. She too came to a steady stop beside him, lowering her head from exhaustion of running at that speed for so long. "Get your breath back and we'll move on."

"Why…did Lucas want me?" She asked between breaths.

"You tell me, he clearly knows a lot about you."

"I've never met him; I've never left the forest before you found me." She retaliated.

"Then how did you get to the forest? He said something about your mom going against him."

"I don't know!" She then shouted. It was right then they began to hear distant barks and howls, alerting them both.

"They're coming, we can't stay here." Callen ushered and grinding his side against Daria's to try and encourage her to follow.

"I can't keep going like this, they'll catch us." She said defeated.

"You can't give up, they'll kill you!" He seethed.

"Lois is back there, Callen she's my sister, she even said that we have a brother. I can't just leave them; they can take care of me."

"You don't understand!" Movement caught his eye, looking behind Daria he could see a number of wolves moving in closer. They had to move, NOW!

He looked around him in panic, he had an idea. He moved towards a hedge, prying it apart. "Come here." He told her quickly. Intrigued by his idea, she did as he said, only to be suddenly forced into the bush. "Stay here and don't say a word, I'm going to lead them away and come back for you."

"But what if they catch you." She said fearfully.

"With some luck, they won't."

"THERE HE IS!"

"Stay here!" He whirled around, his paws struggling to find grip at first as they threw up nothing but dirt first before that's all he left in his wake. She wanted to run out with him, she didn't feel safe here, but she moved back inside when the thundering paw steps of many wolves draw closer. She heard then run straight past her, coming within reaching distance from her. She remained still, even holding her breath; she didn't know how exposed she was here.

Callen sprinted with as much power as he could muster, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if they were gaining on him, he seemed to be doing ok, he remained well aware they had the advantage here, they knew the lay of the land, so he was running blindly. He didn't have a clue what he was going to do, or how he was going to loose them, the only idea he had so far was just to zigzag about, try and break their line of sight on him and even spread his scent around so he couldn't be tracked. That was his only chance at getting out of this. Afterwards however, that was another question, how would he get back to Daria?

"Mom, what do I do?" Daria whispered and hunkering down into the hedge a little further.

"Do as he says and stay here. Callen knows what he's doing."

"Hardly, what if he doesn't come back?"

"Trust him, he will." Clearly she wasn't in a good situation here, and to make matters worse when she inhaled deeply through her nose, she began to realise her scent was building up here. Any wolf that took their time passing would instantly detect she was nearby. She couldn't stay here for long, she needed to move somewhere. "Don't you think about it."

"You need to help me find somewhere else; somewhere I can get rid of my scent." She said and now deciding to step out of the hedge.

"How?"

"If you can make lightening then I'm sure you can find me a river or something." She dipped her head, focusing through her hearing and stretching it out to the best of her ability. She turned her head, away from the direction she could still hear the wolves shouting and barking in. Meanwhile doing that, inhaling through her noise, smelling for a river or a body of water to try and wash away her sweaty scent.

"There." She heard it, running water a little over two hundred paces away.

"Mom you need to take me…"

"Who are you talking to little girl?" She gasped at the deep voice, spinning around in the direction to her left. "Where's your boy-friend now?" It cackled and this time a little bit louder, meaning he was closing in. She new the voice, it was the same wolf that interrupted her and Lois earlier.

"Please…we're leaving, we di-didn't want any trouble."

"Well you've got trouble now, and this time your stupid mother isn't around to save you now." Hang on, what did he just say?

"What…My moth…how do you know my mom?"

"Running, chasing…I remember, he was there, he was with them!"

"You can ask her yourself." He was now right in front of her; she could feel his breath on her face. He unleashed a terrifying growl, emanating deep inside his belly.

"Jump!" She leapt to her right, just barely avoiding his swing for her throat. Obviously the wolf with a little bewildered, how did she know he was about to strike her? Was he just getting too slow or cocky perhaps? Must be, just trying not to ruin the moment.

"Jumpy are we?" He still laughed as Daria started crawling away after stumbling from her jump. "Your mother put up just as much of a fight." He moved closer to her and she continued to move away, eventually getting to her paws and running away. "Oh yes, I remember this part very well!" He shouted before taking off after her.

A chase, something this wolf loved to do with prey just to really get the fear level up and going. There was no chance she was going to get away, how could she? The amount of things he watched her run into or trip over, he found it all amusing as he kept up with her at an easy trotting pace. He mocked and teased her as he run along behind her, continuing to terrify her further for an entire fifteen minutes until things changed.

Daria slipped as she came across a steep slope, enough to make her fall completely and roll violently down the hill, crashing with hedges and leaves. This was torture, at this point she just wanted to die and get it over with, she wished just stayed at home, with Floyd, there was no point in this anymore! The outside world was dangerous; she was never going to forget this. It seemed like an eternity she rolled down this hill when with one final one metre drop, she landed and stop, the wind knocked out of her and her body aching all over. She couldn't go on any more; she didn't want to do this, she didn't want this anymore.

Callen continued his plan of trying to confuse his followers, there had to be at least four of them, and it seemed it was working. By running in erratic patterns, making his every move unpredictable, they lost sight of him, so when they tried to track his paw prints, they overlapped so many time, by scent, it was all over the place, there was no distinct path to where he had gone. All he needed to do no was try and get back to Daria and go around this area. All of a suddenly he was blindsided, sending him sliding along the ground with a wolf's wait on him. He began to fight back, but the wolf stood on his forepaws and brought his head down to his face. "Stay down." He hissed. Callen opened his eyes, he knew the wolf, it was Lois's brother, the one he spoke to today!

"Nathan! Where are you?" A distant voice shouted.

"I'm over here!" He shouted back, lifting his head up as well and peering over the fallen tree Callen lay beside.

"Found anything?" This "Nathan" looked down to him, remaining where he was over Callen and keeping him in place. What was he going to do? He was thinking of something, but what?

"Nothing, his scent goes back the other way!" He shouted and looking back over the tree. "Cut him off by the cliffs, we can corner him there!" After a moment, he stepped to the side, letting Callen stand. What was this, what was this wolf thinking? "Go that way." He pointed towards the north. "There's a river that way, cross it and you're out of the territory."

"Why are you helping me?" Callen asked before he ran away. "What about Lucas?"

"Lois told me everything, and Lucas has hurt my family enough." He smiled. "You need to keep her safe." He then leapt over the tree and started running. "Get her out of here!"

"But I…don't even know where she is…" He sighed, hanging his head.

Daria started to crawl when she managed to recover some strength. She was right about the river, there was one to her right, and to her left was a vertical bank which stopped her from running back the way she came, like she'd want to head back towards that wolf! Without warning, she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck and put against the river bank with a great deal of force, but before she could get up though to run, she was forced down by his paw and body weight.

He moved in with his jaws and at the wrong moment came into contact with Daria's set of left claws when she lashed out. Ok, now he was angry, he placed his second paw on her throat, beginning to choke her. She tried to push the heavy Alpha away, to fight back, but with him cutting off her air she couldn't really do much. "Any last words, little girl?" She sneered and easing up from her throat a little bit, just enough for her to scream at the top of her lungs…

"MOM!" Suddenly, a loud creak and groan came from in front of him, and wrapping around the wolf's body a tree root hooked around him after exploding out from the ground. In disbelief, the wolf was entangled by four of these roots that seemed to have a life of their own. One around his chest, another his torso, one around his left back leg and the fourth around his neck and head. They came at him so fast, first knocking him back off Daria before abruptly, and violently, he was yanked across into the bank at a fast speed. It was unreal, it wasn't normal. He was slammed into the river's bank, the roots settled, freezing again as if nothing every happened; now he was the one who was restrained and now being constricted.

He cried out and squirmed against them as he struggled to break free from the tree roots, but even through his great strength he was unable to break free or squirm out. "What the hell!" He exclaimed. "What did you do, you witch?!"

Daria coughed as she was finally able to reclaim her breath, crawling away from the wolf and a little bit towards the river, just to create some distance from the wolf she could hear grunting. She didn't know what happened, where he was or what was stopping him from ripping her to shreds, but that she didn't care about, whatever it was though was buying her some time.

Callen found his path going downhill, up until it opened up and the river flowed past him. He was guilt ridden; Daria was back in the direction those wolves were running in, if anything Nathan had just made it a whole lot harder for him. Or so he thought… "Daria?!" There she was, crawling along the floor up ahead. How did she get out here, why didn't she listen to him?

"C-Callen?" She sobbed "Is…Is that y-you?" He caught up to her, sliding to a stop at the moment she whirled around and wrapped her fore paws around his shoulders.

"Shh…it's ok, it's alright. What are you doing out…what the heck?" It was right then he saw the wolf behind her after he started grunting again and struggling to break free. How on earth did he get in such a situation?

"Get me out of here or I swear I will be the last thing you ever see!" He demanded. Did he fall down the bank and into it? No, the roots were perfectly moulded to his body, going out and around. Did he walk through? He can't have, if so then he could walk back out. Not to mention it was a pretty stupid move anyway. Daria continued to cry into his neck, holding onto him tightly and seemingly never wanting to let go. Did she do this to him? It was a ridiculous thought, but he couldn't help but think back to their first encounter, the incident with the lightening, this was the second unexplained occurrence. Well…third if you count the time he found her talking to herself, but what wolf hasn't had a moment when they talk to themselves, so he doesn't really count that one.

Daria still clung to him with a tightening grip, weeping loudly into his neck with no sign of it ending soon. The sounds of distant howling and barking soon made him realise that they couldn't stay, maybe they were beginning to realise one of their own was missing and were tracking him now. Callen averted his eyes off the wolf, holding her shoulder to move her away. "Daria, we can't stay here, we've got to keep going. They're going to be here soon."

"There's no point in running." The wolf growled. "Lucas will never give up."

"Then neither will us." Callen replied confidently. "Come on, we've got to move." He moved Daria around to his side, and with her still sniffing and sobbing he lead her away along the river bank to find somewhere shallower to cross.

Same as usual, sorry for the late chapter. I've been given a load more hours at work, which is great for my life, just not my hobbies and interests. Haha

Anyway, leaeve a review seeing as I don't get many of them these days and let me know what you think, this is only just getting interesting. ;)

The FalconWol