For those of you who have forgotten, Murakai's voice is the same as Inuyasha's and Damien's is the same as Kouga's from the show Inuyasha. Rogato's voice has change over time so it now sounds like Kai's from Beyblade only slightly deeper.    

Chapter 68

Quest

It was a sunny day in Colorado where the Night Wind pack was enjoying peace after the war with the Dark Moon pack. Well almost everyone. "Why does Lila make me do this every morning?" Rogato said as he push the stroller his daughter was in around the village. Sakura made cute baby noises. "You try arguing with your mom. If I don't do this, I'm stuck on the couch" Rogato said. He hadn't changed at all in appearance. He was in his usual outfit except he wasn't wearing his sleeveless trench coat.  

Murakai watched the whole conversation from a tree. His waist length black hair was in a sleek ponytail. He was wearing a black t-shirt and orange, black, and yellow camouflage pants. He sighed and looked up at the sky. He thought about what a pup with Maya might be like. He was planning on asking her to be his mate on Christmas. Boy would she be surprised.

"I see Lila still has complete control of him" Damien said from out of nowhere. It startled Murakai and he fell off the tree. "You okay?" Damien said from the branch. "Don't sneak up on me like that" Murakai said. "The wind was blowing in your direction. I figured you'd pick up my scent" Damien replied as he made himself comfortable on the spot Murakai was sitting on. He was wearing a green gi with a blue belt around his waist and blue wristbands. On his feet was a pair of black boots. 

Rogato had heard the commotion and hurried over to them. "I've been looking for you two" he said. "What's up?" Damien asked as he jumped down from the tree. "Well you both know Lila's birthday is tomorrow right?" Rogato asked. The two nodded. "I've decided to get her a flame rose" Rogato replied. "Are you crazy?!" Damien said. "You know those only grow on that mountain the golems guard" Murakai said. "But the prize for getting through is worth it. Besides, Sakura agrees with me. Don't you?" he said to his daughter. She was asleep.

The flame rose wasn't really made of fire. It was a rose that with orange, red, and yellow petals giving it a fiery look. They only grew on a mountain not to far from the Night Wind pack's village. The only problem was an army of stone golems guarded it and everyone who's tried to get a rose has either been forced back or killed.

"Are you guys gonna help me or not?" Rogato asked. "Someone has to keep you out of trouble. So I'll go" Damien said. "Count me in" said Murakai. "You know your father won't approve" Damien said. "What dad don't know, won't hurt him" Rogato replied. The other two sighed. "Meet me after lunch" Rogato said before walking off with his daughter. "I know I'm gonna regret this" Damien said before jumping back in the tree. Murakai glared at him before going off to find another tree.

After lunch

Rogato was almost at the door with katana in hand. "Where are you going?" Lila asked with Sakura in her arms. "I've got something to take care of" Rogato replied. "And what's that?" Lila asked. She knew her mate had a tendency to run off and fool around. "My dad asked me to go scouting for food. You know the elk are starting to migrate" Rogato said. "All right, just be careful" Lila said. "I will. Love ya" he said as he ran out the door. Lila sighed and went to the kitchen. 

Rogato ran through the village and found his friends waiting outside the wall. Murakai had his spear in his right hand and a dozen more strapped to his back. Damien had his Ivy Whip hidden somewhere on him. "What took you?" Murakai asked. "Lila wanted to start another round of twenty questions" Rogato replied. "Well let's get this over with" Murakai said as he stared to walk off.

"Where do you think you three are going?" a voice said causing the three the jump a foot in the air. They turned around and saw Mokudo with both arms crossed over his chest. "Hey Mokudo" Rogato said nervously. He'd lost count of how many times Mokudo had ruined some of his scams. Mokudo was over 800 years old making him the oldest in the pack. He was very wise and seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to the pack leader's children.

"We were just going out on a scouting mission dad assigned" Rogato said. "I've been with your father all morning" Mokudo replied. "Really, then uh…run for it!!!" Rogato said before bolting off. Murakai and Damien looked at each other before following. Mokudo sighed and walked back inside. He learned a while ago not to waist energy chasing those three. Though it used to be four with Riku around. Thing's sure are different without him he thought.

"Is he behind us?" "Rogato asked. "I'm not looking. Damien you do it" Murakai said. Damien looked back really quickly. "Doesn't look like it" he said. "Alright then, we'll keep running for five minutes" Rogato said.

After five minutes they skidded to a halt. "Looks' like *pant* we're in *pant* the clear" Rogato said as he tried to catch his breath. "How far are we from the mountain?" Damien asked. "I'm not sure but I think there's a coyote village nearby. They might know" Rogato said. "Works for me" Murakai said. The two wolves started to sniff around. "Got it, follow me" Murakai said before running off. "Wait up" Rogato said as he and Damien ran after him.

They arrived at the village only to find it burning. The bodies of coyote demons littered the ground. "What happened here?" Murakai said. "Check for survivors" Rogato said as he headed into the village. After ten minutes they met up. "Nothing" Murakai said. "The survivors probably fled" Damien said. "Then how are we supposed to know what happened?" Murakai asked.

"Damien go ask one of the trees" Rogato said. Damien nodded and ran to a nearby oak. Being a kitsune gave him the ability to actually talk to plants. He placed his hand on the trunk and closed his eyes. "So what's it saying?" Murakai asked. "There were fifty of them, all wolf demons. They attacked during the night" Damien said. "Who were they?" Rogato asked. "They bore the black moon tattoo" Damien replied. "The Dark Moon pack. When will they learn they're beaten" Rogato said. "They headed east" Damien said before taking his hand off. "Guys let's forget about the rose for now. We got bigger things to worry about" Rogato said. The other two nodded and the three took off towards the east.

"I picked up their scent" Rogato said. "Me to" Murakai said. "Stop you two" Damien said. Rogato and Murakai skidded to a halt. "What is it?" Rogato asked. "The trees are trying to tell me something" Damien said. He listened to the rustle the leaves made as the wind blew through them. This was another way the trees speak to him. "There's a camp up ahead. Two hundred demons maybe more" Damien said. "Great they must be planning an attack on the village" Murakai said. "We should head back and tell everyone" Damien said.

"Wait a sec" Rogato said. "What is it?" Damien asked. "Their camp's at the base of the mountain we're heading for right?" Rogato said. Damien nodded. "I got a plan" Rogato said smirking.

A few minutes later

The Dark Moon pack was busy arming for another attack. "I'm getting sick of this" one of them said. "All we've had to eat is bread and rotten meat" another said. "Quit your gripping, as soon as we defeat those Night Wind weaklings we'll have all the food we need" the leader said. "And women" another said with a smirk.

On the outskirts two guards watched the forest carefully. They didn't notice the seeds being tossed around them. Damien smirked from his hiding spot. He'd been sneaking around the entire camp planting seeds under each set of guards. His hair color and outfit allowed him to blend well with the surrounding plants. "That's the last set off guards" he said quietly. He made a bird noise to signal his task was done.

"Let's give em hell" Rogato said as he gathered energy in his hand. The two wolves leaped out of the forest. "INTRUDERS" a guard yelled. Suddenly vines sprouted up from the ground and squeezed the life out of all the guards. "HOWLING CYCLONE" Rogato's tornado attack blew a few tents away and killed seven enemies.

"Get them!!!" the enemy leader yelled. The entire camp charged at the two. Murakai ducked a swing from one and thrust his spear through him. He jumped into the air while pulling his spear out of the body to avoid another. He flipped and threw it at one. The spear hit the enemy demon right on the forehead and exited out the other end.

He pulled another spear from his behind his back and blocked a swing. He kicked back a demon that attacked from behind and swung his spear so the blunt end collided with the chin of the one he was blocking. He then thrust his spear into the one who tried to attack from behind.

Rogato pushed one away from him and spun around to block another swing. He slashed the demon with his left claws and spun around to slice the other across the hip. He leaped out of the crowd and landed just outside the mass of enemies. They roared and charged him. Murakai appeared in front of Rogato and thrust his spear into the ground. A blast ripped through the ground as it headed for the enemies. It blasted a dozen into ashes.

The two looked to the side and saw the leader charging them. He was stopped when something green wrapped around his neck. As he struggled to get free the green thing tightened its grip until his head was sliced clean off. It pulled back into Damien's hand. "Playtime's over, we have to finish this" he said. Rogato and Murakai nodded and the three ran toward the mountain. "Don't let them escape!!!" an enemy yelled as the Dark Moon pack chased after them. As they ran Murakai threw spear after spear to kill the ones that were gaining. He continued until he was down to his last three. We might need these he thought.

The three were now starting up the mountain. "Now would be a good time" Rogato said. Damien nodded and pulled three leaves from his gi. He handed two of them to Rogato and Murakai. They all placed the leaves on their heads and with a snap of Damien's fingers, disappeared. "My illusion will make us invisible but they can still track us" Damien said. "We don't have to worry about them" Rogato said as they continued running.

The enemy troops were running at top speed to catch them. Suddenly a stone hand shot out of the ground and grabbed one of them. He screamed before being crushed. The rest of the body followed the hand and soon a stone giant rose from the ground. "A golem!!!" one of the troops yelled. Before they could run away more golems rose from the ground behind them blocking their escape routs. The golems roared before attacking.

"Look's like we've killed two birds with one stone" Rogato said as he admired the flame rose in his hand. "Let's head home" Murakai said. They nodded and started down the opposite side of the mountain. 

An hour later

"Rogato" Kovu said standing in the entrance. "Hey dad" Rogato said nervously. "Mokudo told me you ran off again" Kovu replied. "Well I had a good reason" Rogato said. "And what was that?" Kovu asked. "This" Rogato said pulling the flame rose out. "How'd you get that?" Kovu said. "I'll tell you tomorrow dad" Rogato said before running into the village.

He arrived at his house and walked in. "Lila" he called out. Lila came out from the nursery. "Not so loudly, Sakura's asleep" Lila said. "Sorry" Rogato said sheepishly. "What are you hiding?" Lila asked. "I'm not hiding anything" Rogato replied. "I know your hiding something" Lila said.

Rogato sighed in defeat. "Alright I'll show you" he said. He walked closer to her. "I know your birthday's not till tomorrow but I guess you deserve this now" he said pulling the rose out. Lila gasped. "Is that what I think it its?" she said. Rogato smirked and handed it to her. "You don't know how many golems I had to fight through to get it" he said. That was partly true. On the way down he, Damien, and Murakai had to fight a few golems but most of them were busy slaughtering the Dark Moon pack.

"You didn't have to put yourself in such danger" Lila said. "Anything for my mate" Rogato said as he slipped his arms around her waist. "I love you Rogato" Lila said before kissing him.

Murakai and Damien watched from a window. "Oh sure he forgot to mention we had to risk our necks to" Murakai said. "Relax wolf boy. He'll tell her eventually" Damien said. Murakai sighed in frustration. "Well I'd better tell Mokudo about what's left of the Dark Moon pack's been up to" Damien said before walking off.

Murakai stayed a few seconds before he smelled something. "I need a bath" he said. He stood up and ran out of the village. He had a secret spring not to far from the village. He always went there when he wanted to be alone.

As he ran he noticed something strange and stopped. The trees were filled with black birds. "What are all these ravens doing here? There not supposed to be around here at this time of the year" he said as he looked around. He sensed something behind him and turned around. The last thing he saw was a flash.

A few minutes later Rogato started looking for him. "Damn Maya, why can't she go look for him herself. He's her boyfriend" Rogato said angrily. His sister had walked in on him and Lila and demanded he find Murakai. "Probably at that spring of his" he said as he walked.

He stopped when he smelled something. "Blood, and lots of it" he mumbled before heading for the scent. His eyes widened at the scene he found. Murakai was lying in a pool of his own blood. He'd been cut in half from the left shoulder down to his right hip. Rogato dropped to his knees as he struggled to breath. "M-Mura-kai" he said. As tears gather in his eyes he threw his head back and let out a howl.

"That sounded like Rogato" Damien said. "I recognize that type of howl. Get a stretcher" Kovu ordered. A couple of other wolf demons bowed and went to retrieve a stretcher. "Come on" Kovu said as he Damien, and Mokudo ran toward Rogato's howls. The two with the stretcher followed.

"Rogato wha…" Damien stopped talking when he saw Murakai. Kovu growled. "I never expected this" Mokudo said as he walked to Murakai's side. "Looks like he never knew what hit him" he said. Rogato stopped trying to hold back his tears and let them run down his cheeks. "Load him onto the stretcher. And be careful" Kovu said. The other two wolf demons recovered from their shock and did as they were told.

Kovu walked to Rogato and kneeled in front of him. "You know what you have to do" he said. "Why can't Damien do it?" Rogato asked as more tears fell. "Because you found the body, now go" Kovu said. Rogato nodded and with Damien's help got to his feet. "Mokudo, you and I will search for any clues on who did this" Kovu said. Mokudo nodded.

Rogato and Damien made their way back to the village and found most of the pack at the entrance. "What's happened?" Maya asked as she ran up to her brother. Rogato looked at her and threw his arms around her shoulders. She was surprised but gently slide her arms around him. After a few minutes Rogato found his voice. "It's Murakai" he said. Maya's eyes widened. "What happened to him?" she asked. "I'm sorry" was all Rogato could say. "No…not Murakai it can't be" Maya said. But right then the stretcher arrived. A blanket was covering the body.

Maya saw it. "Murakai!!!" she cried as she tried to run to the stretcher. Rogato held her back. "You don't want to see" Rogato said as he held his now crying sister. "I loved him. I was supposed to be his mate" she cried. "I'm sorry sis" Rogato said.

"Find anything?" Kovu asked. He was doing his best to keep his anger under control. Murakai was a close friend to his family and was on the verge of becoming his son-in-law. "Only these" Mokudo said. In his hand were a black feather and an envelope. Kovu took the envelope and looked at what was written on it. The words 'Devil Wolf'' were written on it. "Call Riku" Kovu said.

You all probably know who did it. The next chapter will be up either Thursday or Friday.

Next chapter, Riku and friends head for the pack to find out what happened. Review please.