Bane: Preface
#1 of Bane
This piece is meant to be the start of a great project I hope to undertake. The first chapter should be up sometime around Thursday-ish. No later than Sunday night if something goes awry.
I also realize that this is really short. I am aware of this, and the actual story bit will be longer.
Please comment and critique.
Disclaimer: This story is intended to be part of a series, however I realize that there will be times when I cannot deliver. When I'm down I cannot simply pull a chapter out of my husky bum. Thanks for understanding. Read at your own risk. I try my best, but honestly, I'm not that brilliant a husky.
Darkness had settled over the forest. The wind was still like the rocks and the trees were great like mountains. In the distance the great river roared like Fenrir's fury, but from where the dogs sat it was more like a cub's whisper. The Alpha looked back over his shoulders to his waiting comrades. Some of them were nervous or anxious, but most of them were already in a silent snarl, their ears back, waiting for his command.
The Alpha raised his muzzle toward the moon and sniffed at the air. A small gust of wind carried the scent of fresh doe. His maw began to water and a small droplet of drool dripped from his hungry muzzle. He raised his hackles and his packmates did the same. "Ready..." He growled out low, ensuring that only the other wolves could hear him.
"Now!" he barked out as he thrust forward with powerful back legs, seizing the deer's throat between his teeth and clamping down with the full force of his bite. The animal jerked and kicked at the air, his hooves catching one of the wolves before he was surrounded and taken down by the force of them all. Four, five, seven pairs of jaws he felt before his hide was torn jagged and ripped from his body. Only then did the Alpha jerk his head and kill the creature.
"Victory!" he shouted out, wagging his tail proudly behind him.
"Twoclaw, Trifang, drag the beast back to the camp. Whitepaw, Halfsac, Omega, scout ahead of them and tell my female she will not starve another day." He spoke with a firm tone, the Alpha's bark. Once spoken, his orders were very difficult to disobey. Only the Alpha-Female had the power to choose when it came to him. He gave a feral grin as he looked the ragged dogs over.
Twoclaw and Trifang were black like a moonless night. They were named after their sacrifices during battle. It would be hard to believe that they were hunters. They were scrawny and their ribs were poking out of their hides.
His gaze shifted to Whitepaw. His strong form had also been weakened by the famine, but his character had never once broke in the company of the pack. His fur was black like his brothers', but his left paw was tainted white like snow. Whitepaw was the pack's Beta at one point, but he had been challenged and defeated during the winter.
The Omega was named after his place. He was the last born and runt of a litter that should have been eaten during the last famine, but the Alpha-Female had stopped him just in time. It was one of the times the female had decided to fight the Alpha, but he did not let it anger him much longer. Soon after the cub had opened his eyes and crawled out of the mother's den, it was apparent just what he was. He was small and weak like they all were after a month's starvation, but the cub had had his fill of his mother's teat.
Finally the Alpha looked to Halfsac. Halfsac had been taken in from another tribe during the great war that had divided them all. He had given the Alpha the information he'd needed to win a losing battle, and proved himself worthy of packhood. Halfsac was fluffy and white in color, like Snowtribe. During the naming ceremony, he'd almost been called "Noblepaw" until a female had gotten a particular angle on his backside and shouted it out before he was properly named. It had stuck, and Halfsac never seemed to mind his new name. Though he never explained just how he came to be half-sacked.
The Alpha turned his gaze to the youngest in the group, two brown wolves who had just come of age, their muzzles stained with their first blood. Again two brothers who had yet even go through the naming ceremony themselves.
"You two, come with me. We're going to mark this new border before joining in celebration."
The two young males looked to each other and began to waggle their tails as their Alpha continued to speak. "And if any of you encounter a member of Leafwind Tribe, whether it be male, female, elder, or cub...Exterminate them."
The Alpha barked and pivoted on his paws. The sound of wind filled his ears as he bounded off into the night, so far that even the great river ceased to speak.