The Blood Clan had come in the night, when the moon was full, and their power was at its peak. The Dream Clan had been unprepared for the attack, being a peaceful pack. No one was able to do anything, and two small wolves that went running into the southwest night weren’t even noticed.

Myrsa had sustained a vicious wound during the escape, bleeding all the way to where they were now. She finally collapsed onto the soft grass, able to run no longer. She looked at her sister with glassy eyes, wheezing heavily.

The wolf cub pushed her paw into her sister’s side gently, prodding her to breathe, wishing they could run together again. She knew what was happening. She had seen the entire pack slaughtered before her eyes, and she would have been slaughtered too, if it hadn’t been for Myrsa. It was her sister’s quick thinking that got them away from the blood-choked screams safely.

As her fur gently rustled in the wind, her eyes raised to the moon, she opened her mouth to howl. The sound erupted from her diaphragm, a powerful cry of sorrow and grief.

Myrsa was gone, and now she was alone. Without Myrsa to get her to safety, what would she do? She could hear the howls now, still miles away, but too close for her peace of mind. She had to run…but where? She couldn’t go back, the Blood Clan was there. She could never go to another tribe. She was unnamed, and defenseless.

The wolf cub had no idea where she was, where she should go. She only knew to run…

After flying through the forest for hours, her feet seeming to not touch the ground, she stopped running away. She collapsed on the forest floor and took in shallow breaths, her eyes getting heavy. The howls of the Blood Clan were far away now, and she was safe.

Jerking her eyes open, fighting sleep, she noticed something out of the ordinary about the large rock she had fallen in front of. Something was wrong about how the leaves fell.

There was a cave, small and barely noticeable, but it seemed like a good place to sleep for now. She urged her body back up, and sniffed around the opening hesitantly. When she deemed it safe enough she pushed through the overhanging of leaves that formed a makeshift door to the cave.

She wandered into it warily, sluggishly pulling herself to the small pond within it. She tested the shimmering water gently, lapping it up with her dry, pink tongue. The water was fresh, almost tasting like the water back home.

The cub noticed a light at the bottom of the water as she was drinking, and it was rising. The wolf cub was not afraid, for it let off an aura of grace and kindness. She continued drinking until it had risen all the way out of the water, and it seemed to uncurl itself, wings unfurling into the night. A fairy floated there, naked yet beautiful, long hair reaching below her feet to touch the water.

The wolf cub looked up into the fairy’s eyes, and saw something she never thought she would see again. Home.

The fairy leaned forward and gently pressed her faintly glowing nose against the nose of the wolf cub, looking into her eyes. She drifted around her for a while, while the cub drank from her pool.

The fairy woman spoke softly and slowly to the cub, “My name is Dahnelle… Do you know where you are?” She flitted around again, excited at the cub’s presence.

The wolf cub looked up at fairy, rolling onto her back and gently swiping at the fairy’s hair. She giggled, almost forgetting how she got here. There was an overwhelming sense of calm in this cave.

The fairy widened her eyes stuck out her tongue, giggling as well. The cub tilted her head at Dahnelle. She licked the fairy’s foot, and rolled over, closing her eyes.

“Well, we have to communicate somehow… Hmm...” Dahnelle scratched her chin and scrunched up her face in thought. “I know!” She was beaming now. “I’ll take you downstairs!” She flew around the cave and clapped her hands.

The cub looked up at the fairy resentfully, trying to sleep. She swiped a paw lazily but missed on purpose, rolling on to her side. She closed her eyes again and breathed in the night air deeply.

Dahnelle prodded the cub up from behind, urging her deeper into the cave, towards a small staircase. “This way, this way, quickly! She will be pleased to see you!”

The cub sleepily weaved back and forth and the fairy’s prodding, stumbling down the tight stairs. Her eyes widened, her mind wakened, as she was pushed through the door at the end of the stairs. It opened into a wondrous workshop full of vibrant colors and steaming potions, as these alchemists’ labs usually are. A soft blue glow was cast over the walls, tables, and doors.

A tall woman, with flaming red hair streaming behind her, stood inside a glowing circle of runes. Her red silk dress glowed violently as she chanted words of a long-lost language.

Her eyes burned a color that only compared to a hurricane on the most violent of seas. The cub whimpered as these eyes turned in her direction, and the blaze of lights slowly faded.

The spell was finished, and the circle diminished. The light was gone, leaving the wolf cub in a black abyss.

But it was only a second, and then bright orange lights were flaring up again from the torches lining the wall. The woman was sweeping her hand in a wide arc across the room, the light following where she would point.

She spun back around to face the cub slowly, the fairy flitting to her shoulder. Dahnelle whispered in her ear, and the woman nodded.

“I see… Thank you Dahnelle.” She stepped closer to the cub gracefully, her dress flowing behind her. She lowered herself onto one knee, and gingerly reached out, her hands beckoning to the cub.

The cub slowly padded forward, her deep gray eyes gazing into the stormy blue of the woman’s.

She wagged her tail a little bit as the tall woman scratched behind her ears and smiled. Soon she was closing her eyes, sleepy again, in the woman’s arms.

“Sleep now, little one… Annabelle will keep you safe.” She smiled, and turned towards another door in her cave. With the wolf cub in her arms, she pushed open the door, walking into a brightly lit room filled with magical artifacts and large tomes.

The little cub regarded this as a beautiful room to herself before falling into a wondrous sleep.

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Well, here you go. This is the final version…I hope. I’ve combined the first two chapters, the prologue and chapter one, into one chapter, and I’m just going to keep it as Chapter 1. I love input, and don’t be afraid to point out my mistakes…I love that.