A/N: I'll keep it short and sweet. I think I beat my personal record for update time. This chapter was double the original previous chapter lengths but all the old chapters have been rewritten (bar one) so this is a little shorter than usual. Also, if you're up to this chapter, this is where the rewriting ends. Happy Reading!
She awoke to howling. It was still dark, and it had started raining, but the moon was low in the sky – morning was on its way. She cursed at herself for falling asleep. She peered out into the darkness, her eyes adjusting quickly to the shadowed scenery.
Aries froze at the sight of glowing red eyes in the rain. And it wasn't just one set. There was definitely more than one of whatever it was. And they were all intently fixed on her. Well, that certainly explained the howls. She pressed herself against the wall of the elevated cave, hoping that they would just ignore her, fighting to keep her breathing under control. Cursed flight instincts, she had to be tough. They would be ashamed of her if he saw her struggling like this. No, she was strong, she could do this. Something about this strange place was undermining her mask and she didn't like it. Steeling herself, she made her way over to the fire, taking a long stick from it, the end still alight. She had her claws, but she felt safer with some type of weapon by her side. She watched as they slunk closer, and started as the moonlight broke through the clouds, illuminating their bony forms. Not as in underweight bony. Literal bones. Skeletons. There were skeletal wolves pacing underneath the ledge. Well shit. At least they couldn't get up to her-
One of the wolf things backed up and took a flying leap, landing with ease on her platform. It's 'face' contracted in a snarl, eyes flashing as it approached her. She held her close to her chest, baring her teeth at it in a sign of challenge. Oh, so now her fight instincts decided to kick in. It lunged at her ankle. She smacked it with the stick, the burnt, still very hot side smacking against its chest. With a yelp, it skidded back. It narrowed its eyes and barked. Two more pack members cleared the jump, sidling up to the other wolf. Aries guessed that it was the alpha. She had seen wolf demons before, none like these, but the leader had always led the attack. They backed her up to the ledge. She let out a feral snarl as the dirt crumbled at her heels.
Taking advantage of the distraction, one of the alpha's flunkies, the smallest of the three (probably a female) lunged for her throat. With a shriek, Aries fell over the ledge, landing on her back in the mud. She clawed at the chest of the hound with a vicious scream. Mud splashed around them as she wrestled with the beast, a blur of motion. Finally shoving the wolf off, she tried to get to her feet, only to be knocked back by two larger wolves. One of them snapped at her ankle, digging its teeth into the soft flesh. Aries let out a howl of pain, kicking her ankle free, nailing it in the face. The other stood over her, scratching and nipping at her arms as she tried to defend her face. The rain had gotten heavier, each droplet hitting her skin like an arrowhead. The water splashed and sprayed, bouncing off and dribbling off the bones of the skeletal mutts. The rest of the pack stood in a circle around her and the two wolves, watching hungrily as the two lupines tore at her skin, leaving deep scratches and claw marks. They howled as one, cheering on her attackers.
The alpha jumped into the circle, barking at the ones mauling Aries. They backed off, dipping their heads in respect. Playtime was over. The alpha narrowed it's eyes at her and she narrowed hers back, a small feeling of satisfaction tearing through the pain when she noticed a crack on one of its ribs where she had caught it with her stick. Her wrist was burning again, a band of pain, but she barely noticed, it hurt no more than anything else she was feeling right now. It didn't even catch her attention when faint glow formed around the burning area. The glow disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced by a small weight around her wrist. A braided circlet of leather now rested at the joint of her hand, a tiny charm made from silver and darkened wood hanging from the loop. She put up her hands to defend her face as the alpha brought his jaws to her neck, her stick out of reach. It bit her hand and by reflex, she cradled it to her chest with a harsh cry, leaving her neck exposed.
Just as it's teeth brushed against her throat, the alpha was interrupted by another howl – less ghostly and more whole sounding, more like the wolves back home. The air filled with shrieks and yelps as the alpha whirled around, facing the new challenge. Skeleton wolves fell left and right as a dark blur smashed through their bones, shattering them to pieces. The Alpha snarled, seemingly choosing to go after the new threat rather than an already-injured-not-likely-to-go-anywhere-any-time-soon meal that was Aries. After a period of noise – muted through her ears, everything sounding like she was under water, there was silence. She was slow to notice that it had gone quiet, her mind fogging up. Something warm was trickling down her body. Oh. That's right, she was bleeding. Was that bad? She couldn't remember. She heard muffled footfalls, and through clouded vision, she a blob of dark greenish-grey and cream fur, but the main thing that struck her were its piercing blue eyes. They were so blue, bluer than the sky, fiercer than the fires that raged through villages in the warmer months. She was scared, but at the same time she felt kind of safe. At least, that's what she thought as she finally gave in to the sea of black trying to drag her away from the world of wakefulness. It was still kind of dark, you were meant to sleep at night, right?
A/N: Hope you liked it! As usual, please R&R - Even just drop me a 'yes' or a 'no' to say if you liked it or didn't. Us author's thrive off of feedback, and it really helps us to feel inspired and give you more chapters. They also help you get better chapters, because if you tell us what you liked or didn't like, we can use that information to improve. The reason I felt like putting my time into updating this story today is because someone reviewed the last chapter (I believe they went by Libby8980 - i dedicate this chapter to you) and it made me really happy and inspired nwn so thanks to all you people who take the time and effort to review - it's much appreciated.