Hey there! I just come with another chapter, hoping you like it...

However, I just want to make a special thanks to KingAzxoll9 to his sincere criticism and i recommend you to read his story...

although I haven't read it yet, i'm sure it deserves so much to be read. I think i'm just gonna start read it after i posted this chapter

Chapter 10: The nightmare begins

A month passed since Grin's training had begun. He was two months old… He wasn't anymore a pup, he infact began to take forms of an adult wolf. During this month, he achieved lots of progresses, and his physical appearence changed visibily: now he was about half of Valen's size, and a white mask was beginning to appear on his face. What haven't changed at all in him were his thoughtlessness, his joy and his smile, almost present on his face.

During this month, he learned a lot of things: he sharpened his sense of smell, coming to surprise even his teacher; he learnt how to locate water, and understand if it's drinkable; he also learnt how to use cardinal points obtainable ,such from sun, stars and tree's moss, to orientate oneself into a particular direction.
His final test was to be escorted to a safe den far away from their den, sleep there the entire night while Valen reached his den, and, after he slept, trying to find a way home in the morning, putting into practice everything he learned in that month, and he successfully passed the test, not that Valen didn't expect it.

However, this first month was regarded as a sort of preliminary test, to assess the attitudes of the puppy and to see if it responds well to spurs.

The hardest part began now.

"Okay, well done, you've pass your final month's test…" Valen said slightly annoyed to an happy Grin, who was howling in happiness, "Now, calm down… This was a walk… We're gonna get to the most difficult transition of this training… This part was almost much theory and little practice, about surviving skills, but next step will greatly test your physical ability and your resistance…

Next training step is Agility… you're gonna improve your stamina, your speed, your endurance…we are going to do lots of excercises. But we are going to start tomorrow… I admit that you have earned a well-deserved rest for today… And then the sun is setting, so we won't still have time to do anything… Go take a nap while i'm gonna procure dinner" Valen said, and then left.

Grin nodded, and went into the den. "Home sweet home" He thought to himself "Aww, how i missed my favourite, soft spot tonight…It was a torture to sleep in that rocky den…" After a couple of seconds, he fell into a deep slumber, clearly he reached his limit with today's examination.

Valen come back into den after an hour with large marmot in his jaws. He temporarily placed his pray on the ground, trying to wake Grin up and start dinner, but he was snoring loudly, signal that was fast asleep and that, perhaps, it was better to let him rest.

So, Valen ate his portion of the marmot, leaving some for him if woke and was hungry, and drifted to sleep, too.

Grin's P.O.V.

It was pitch dark around me… to turned around, trying to realize what was surrounding me, but nothing…Present in the air around was the stench of sulfur mixed with blood… Demonic laughters filled the air… Then a rather familiar voice began to say: "You cannot fight forever…sooner or later you will succumb to its power… you will not be able to contain it anymore…when it will unleash its wrath…then, you will become one!" This voice finished the speech with a mefitic crazy laughter, one that makes skins crawl and living being stiffen in fear.

Frightened tremendously by that voice, scared to death, he began to run aimlessly, trying to get away as possible from that voice. But the more he ran, the more it seemed to get closer to the voice… or the voice was getting closer to him?

"Stay away from me!" Grin managed to scream, while running, but he was going shortly to run out of breath.

"You could run from me, boy, but you cannot hide yourself forever from madness …" The voice said, as it was getting closer and closer

He turned his gaze to the sky, that suddenly turned a deep red and clouds were forming very quickly over his head. Lightnings, followed by thunders, pierced the climate, roaring menacingly.

After few second, something plopped on Grin's muzzle. He used his paw to wash it off, and he saw what it was: blood. Rain became, second by second, more intense… It was raining blood.

Grin so decided to move forward, but all that blood was beginning to weigh on his fur… blood was making him slow.

Step by step, he seemed to climb a mountain, due to extreme difficulty to go on. He then saw a light flashing behind him, and turned his head.

Two bloody red eyes were floating into nothingness, getting closer and closer to him. Achieved a certain distance from him, under them appeard out of nowhere an extremely large mouth, with a grin that somehow reminded him of his, but it was different at the same time… This was really… maybe the sickest smile in the world.

"Don't be afraid of me… I'm a part of you… just like you're a part of me" The floating mouth said while keeping its devilish grin, getting more closer to him.

Grin tried to retreat slowly, scared by the situation, but with all that blood's weight was really difficult .

"Come on, don't be shy… let me eat your…pure… SOUL!" Then that being began to run toward him.

He was getting back, but he slipped on something and fell down, into what seemed a never ending darkness.

"-AAAAAAAAAH!"

Grin screamed and jumped up into the den, nearly hitting the ceiling. It was still night. Everybody in the den was awake. Grin's breath was irregular, sweat all over his fur. His throat was dry and pasty.

He had a bad dream.

Yeah, he had few, but this one seemed too…real for him. He could still feel bad feelings of that dream: heaviness, the uncontrollable fear, the encounter with that…devil.

But the thing that disturbed him most was when he said that one was part of the other…

Valen was concerned about him: he never saw him like that before. Yeah, he had few bad dreams before, but nothing too serious…

But this time, he could see nothing but pure terror in his eyes…

"Boy, what happened…?" Valen asked him, slightly shocked.

Grin was staring an empty space into the void, his eyes opened wide, his jaws opened, tears quickly falling from his eyes.

After he heard Valen's voice, he began to shake uncontrollably and collapses on the ground, starting to cry as if there was no tomorrow.

Valen decided to comfort him somehow, so he embraced Grin, trying to soothe him.

"Hey, hey, don't cry, i'm here, boy…" He whispered to him. Grin's weeping slowly faded away, turning into some sniffles.

Grin tried to stutter something to Valen, but he was too shocked to say anything intelligible:

"He…demon…one…soul…blood…fear…"

"Shhh, it was just a bad dream…" Valen said, but it was clear: something had left a deep scar in his mind to make him babble like that.

Valen was dying to know what had he dreamed of, but this moment seemed to him the less appropriate.

While he thought all of this, he noticed that Grin fell again into a deep slumber. Relieved from that, he decided to stay beside him anyway, in case this happened again.

He relaxed, laying on the ground, and went back to sleep.

Hours passed, and night was finally turning into day.

Valen was the first to woke up, as usual, but this time didn't mean to wake Grin up immediately, after what happened the night before. But to his suprise, Grin woke up almost immediately after him; he streched his still small (if compared to an adult wolf) limbs, and the thing that surprised him most was that he seemed excited to begin his new training session.

Valen, noticing his good mood, decided to ask him about his recent nightmare, but he has promised to himself not to insist if he didn't want to tell him, maybe it would bring an emotive shock to him.

"So… what did you dream last night, boy?" Valen began to ask.

Grin, heard his question, tilted his head to a side, and said "Why do you ask me?... Well, i don't remember anything of what i dreamed of…" and then he tried to remember, squeezing hardly his brain, but nothing came to him.

Valen was astonished and fascinated: he had heard of some defense mechanisms linked to brain, memories and shock, but this was the first time that he was in front of such a situation.

Basically, Grin unwittingly triggered a defense mechanism act to guarantee brain's integrity: he removed completely the memory of that shocking event, in his case, his nightmare.

Valen, although curious about his nightmare, was extremely relieved to know that nightmare had not had a serious impact on him… at least not anymore.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter, now we have to focus on something more important…we have to do our training session, remember?" Valen said, while going out of the den.

After those words, Grin rushed out of the den, longing to begin their second session of training.

They got into their favourite training spot: a clearing.

"Okay, now i want you to test your base speed, so I can keep track of your progress… Basically, your first challenge is to race…against me"

"But…aren't you too old for a thing like that?" Grin asked, almost snickering

"Yeah, yeah, have fun now…because you're gonna bite a lot of dust… however, we're going to start our race here and and end it… hmm… let me see…" Valen looked around there to see a reference point "… at that peak over there"

"But…but…this is insanity! It will be at least ten miles away!"

"is about fourteen miles ,precisely, and…Let me clear up this to you… You have to do it, otherwise…No dinner tonight for you!" Valen said

"Grr… Now i know why you didn't teach me how to hunt yet…" Grin said, muttering under his breath

"Okay…here we are…READY…SET…GO!"

Both wolves sprinted in direction of the peak, each one determined to win the race.

Unknown P.O.V.

A wolf was dipping some leaves in water… she indeed looked beautiful…she was not massive, she had a pure white fur with some magnetic, hypnotic lavender eyes…a very rare look among wolves.

"I'm so… happy… that you slayed them…they were such a pain in the ass…

'Oh, why don't you wanna stay here?' 'Why don't you find a mate and have pups togheter?' 'Don't do THIS' 'Don't do THAT'… They were driving me crazy!" Said the female wolf.

"…"
"Yeah, yeah, i know, wait a-" A crack, followed by a loud yelp, were coming from a den far away.

"…"

"Here, it should be fine...oh come on, say something… even a word…don't be offended…"
"…"

"Oh, maybe he passed out from the pain…what a shame… and I thought that we could deepen our mutual understanding…" She began to laugh uncontrollably.

...

...

Did you just recognize HER? (Damn, i shouldn't put a suggestion in the intro)

However... if you wanna know the truth
you have to stay tuned!

GrinWolf here...over and out.