So I decided to continue the series on Deviantart, starting with where I left off by chapter 10.

Chapter 13 is a direct continuation of chapter 10 (11 and 12 was a spiritual quest where Raven encountered his past)



Chapter 13: Rebirth

Running, they tried to keep out of sight. It would be bothersome if the attackers saw them trying to get Hazel to safety, her life was their top priority. Raven led the group between the dense forest of oak and bushes on at the edge of the village close the mountain protection. Two guards Followed behind them, alert to every movement and sound around them. They came close to the East entrance and had to take a different route since the enemy could be leaking through. Raven saw silhouettes run pass the flames in the distance; they all wanted the help the villagers but they couldn’t clearly distinguish between who was an enemy or not in the dark moonlit night.
Whisper crouched behind Raven between some bushes and panted; they stood behind him and watched him sit motionless. Raven was thinking.
Suddenly he turned his head to look at the others, their worrisome eyes shone in the dark night, and then an ember pair came closer to him, “What should we do Raven?” Whisper asked.
Raven lowered his eyes to think, “We have no choice but to go into the open” he said. He got up and looked down at Hazel “I’m sorry it had to be like this, but it is unavoidable”
Hazel stood up too and met his gaze “Honestly, I am not worried Raven. The two of you are the strongest wolves I’ve ever encountered. I know you will keep me safe”
Whispers face brightened up as Hazel finally acknowledged her ability as well “Very well, Hazel. But don’t have too much faith in Raven” she nudged Raven with her shoulder. He let out a sarcastic cough and smiled, but suddenly gotten serious again, “Come on”
One by one they emerged from the bushes and into the open path, quickening their pace as they travelled alongside it until they ran full speed. Raven’s ears shot to one side as he could hear a battle a few meters away, he turned to look.

Suddenly he was forced into the air and his body hit and rolled to the ground and a tree roared as its support was sliced. It fell to the ground with a loud tremor.
The group was stunned to a standstill behind Raven as they saw the radiant crimson splatter from his body and saw him dragged into the air by the rippling force. At that moment, time stood still. His fading eyes met Whisper’s in mid air; her spirit felt like it was sliced with his own. When he hit the ground a silence fell over them until it was broken by Hazels cry, though she was too scared to move. Whisper walked stiffly towards his body, with her muzzle open but face without emotion. She looked down into his face and his one eye was fixed on her, the colour quickly fading.
“Raven… no” she whispered, “You can’t leave yet. You can leave me yet” she said with her eyes flooding with tears, “Hazel needs you Raven, you are scaring her” she put her paw on his chest and gently shook him “Get up, please. I beg you, please get up Raven”
The blood flooded like a river of red out of the large cut on his back; soon he was surrounded by a pool of crimson that shone in the moonlight that entered through the trees tops. Whisper paid the blood no mind and collapsed on top of him, crying.
“Whisper… He is gone” Hazel cried.
“No. he will heal” Whisper growled. Hazel got up and walked towards them; she tied her tail around Whisper’s waist and pulled her off Raven. She held her above herself and saw the hate and sorrow that glowed in Whisper’s eyes at that moment, Hazel was slightly frightened at the glared.
“Put me down, or I swear to God I will kill you where you stand” Whisper said softly, not letting Hazel’s gaze escape her. Hazel let out a sob and put her down next to Raven’s body. Whisper quickly spun around and put her arm around Raven’s neck. She looked into his eye again and smiled. She gently closed his eye lid with her claw and rested her head on his chest “Three, two, one…”
Hazel collapsed to the ground and looked at Raven’s motionless face through her teared up eyes. Suddenly her eyes widened as she could swear his eyes opened. She rubbed her eyes with her arms and looked again, but this time more clearly. Raven’s eyes were open and it lit up with the moon, his eyes shone an azure light. Suddenly he coughed and let out a soul shaking scream, his body shook in the puddle of blood and Whisper quickly recoiled back. The blood on the ground crawled back towards his body and climbed onto his fur. It turned into a bright glowing liquid as it reached the deep wound and entered. Raven rolled over and jumped from the ground onto his paws. He panted heavily and he panicked and looked around as he jumped around frantically.
“I thought I was going to die!” he barked out “I thought I was gonna’ fall to death…” he mumbled as he looked around and realized where he was, “It was a dream... It was so vivid”
Whisper quickly shook away her tears, “What are you blabbering about?” she hissed, trying to hide her emotional voice. He looked at her and laughed “Whisper… You wouldn’t believe it! I met my mother!” as soon as he said that, his expression dropped, “But she is gone again” he whispered sadly “Assyria and Ezra as well… I remember everything now”
“Raven, what on earth are you talking about? Your mother? Ezra? Who is Assyria??” she cocked her ears forward, greatly confused. Raven paid her no mind; he was still trying to process everything as fast as he could. Then he remembered what his mother had said about the power within himself, that it would kill him if he didn’t tame it. He was sure that he didn’t tame it, nor did he have an idea how to do it, and yet, there he stood – alive and well. But something felt different within himself. A strange sensation he couldn’t explain even if he wanted to.
“How am I still alive? I don’t understand this at all” he said and happily galloped around Whisper, he felt revitalized and full of energy. He saw Hazel lying down on the ground with a shocked expression in her eyes; he walked towards her and lowered his head to get closer to her face, “Haze? Are you okay?”
“You died Raven… how are you still alive? She mumbled, tearing up again, “And how did you know he was going to stand up again?!” she barked out at Whisper as she furiously got up. Whisper shrugged her shoulders. Hazel was about to charge at her with a snarl when she noticed a gray streak of fur on Raven’s back where the giant wound was.
“What the hell is that??” Hazel snapped. Raven laughed at her strange behavior.
“Calm down Hazel, I’m alright”
“But she knew…”
“Stop it” Whisper snapped as she interrupted Hazel, “Raven will never die like that, never without a fight” she growled. Hazel looked away, deeply ashamed at the lack of faith she had.
“Look at that. I have a streak of gray fur. So my appearance really is going to change” Raven said amused and then poked the streak with his nose. Whisper placed her paw on the gray streak and rubbed it vigorously, “What’s this? Raven I don’t know what’s going on. Why are you talking about your mother and falling and appearance changing?”
“Well… to put it simply, my mother who I thought was dead was actually in my spirit. We talked and she taught me about my heritage and a bloodline power I have sleeping within myself that she has been keeping at bay. And she said that I should tame it before it kills me, but neither of us know how to tame it. So she sent me on a like spirit quest thing where I relived a few days of my past where I learnt that I had a sister, a cousin, an aunt, that was the queen of the country, oh and my mother and I were something called The Protectors who lived the protect the royal line. But everybody was murdered by Orion, the current king, and I was the only one that survived but I lost my memory” He said quickly as he sat on the cool soil. Whisper stared at him blankly as she tried to process everything that he said.
“What?” she tilted her head in bewilderment.
“I know who I am now, Whisper”
One of the guards that accompanied them stepped forward, “If what you say is true then you are the last rightful heir to the throne, you are the last of the royal bloodline. Even though you aren’t directly related to the murdered queen”
“I am not” Raven smiled, thinking of his grandfather. Falcon wasn’t there when Orion murdered his family so he had to be alive.
“Yes. But what’s with the gray fur streak?” Whisper asked curiously, too many new information was released for her to comprehend at that moment, she could only wrap her mind around the appearance changing detail at the time.
“Oh, uhm… The essence of my mother’s spirit altered my spirit and my appearance. And now that she is gone, I will get my original appearance back I had when I was a pup. Apparently I was gray.”
“Okay” Whisper said bluntly.
“In theory, will your appearance be the only thing that has changed?” Hazel asked.
“I don’t know” Raven replied. But he did feel different – his spirit was pulsing through his body in a different synchronization that was he was used to, and there was a strange pressure that bulged on his shoulder blades and it felt like something was growing under his skin.

Hazel’s ear twitched as she heard a familiar growl concealed in the fire and barking from the distant battle. She got up and whiffed the air for a scent.
“Vera?” she ran towards the noise.
“Hazel, no!” Whisper barked out, Raven sighed and ran after her with Whisper following behind him.

“How long are you still going to persist you old fool” Vera growled, “just die already” she charged at the male wolf. He dove to the ground to avoid her attack as he panted heavily.
“You cannot defeat me, I am a wind elitist!” the dark gray wolf growled.
“Oh I am shaking” Vera said annoyed “Roshak was it? I don’t know if you have noticed, but I’m barely breaking a sweat here and you seem to be having a heart. Aren’t you supposed to be retired by now? Living by the floating islands in an overly priced cottage you could afford from all the blood you shed in the name of ‘law’ ” Vera laughed and then looked at the white wolf sitting a few meters behind him “Aren’t you going to help your friend? He doesn’t have much time” she asked, trying to get him to challenge her, but he sat there motionless without a response.
She hissed and focused on Roshak again, “You annoy me old wolf, let’s just end this already so I can kill all those in your ranks. You will not threaten my home again after I am done with you”
“Approach me” he hissed.
Vera laughed at his blind courage and did just as he said; open to challenge him on his terms. When she was a few meters closer to him he charged at her in a speedy blur that caught her off guard for she didn’t expect his old limbs to gather such speeds. He rammed his head into her chest and knocked her into the air, he combined it with a quick summon of wind that blew her hard into a tree.
He laughed as she fell to the ground, but his expression dropped as she quickly got up. She stretched out her back leg and then shook her scruff. “You wind wolves can be most unpredictable with your speed, but as I said earlier you and I are on a different scale”
“You talk big for someone that just took a hit”
“You no longer amuse me” she smiled. Roshak stared blankly at her as she took a few steps back and turned around. She jumped up and stood against the tree she was thrown into with her front paws and poured her focus into it.

Hazel got there followed by Raven and Whisper. She looked at what Vera was doing and instinctively took a few steps back and bumped into Raven.
“What’s wrong?” he asked Hazel.
“She’s pouring her spirit into the tree, synchronizing with it”
“Oh, is that a nature wolf thing?” he asked curiously as he watched Vera standing still with her back paws on the roots of the tree. She seemed to look familiar to him, “Isn’t that the wolf that…”
“She’s the one I fought in the arena” Whisper interrupted and started making her way to Vera.
“That is Vera. You really shouldn’t go near her at this moment. She is going to attempt something only higher leveled nature wolves are capable of. The stance seems familiar to me because I’ve seen my grandfather do it once. I have never seen Vera do it. It must be a new technique so it should still be quite unstable, we should stay back”

Vera’s paws started to gather a green shine around them as more and more of her spirit went into the tree, her focus started to fade as she struggled to keep a stable flow. Just as the flow was about to break she sealed it off and got on all fours again. She turned to face Roshak that didn’t move, he was curious to know what she was planning. She noticed that the white wolf got up and had a concerned look on his face. He could sense it? She lowered herself to her haunches and charged her legs, “Resonate with my spirit, earth mother” she whispered and jumped into the air.
Roshak stared blankly at her.
“Run away you fool!” the white wolf yelled at him.
Roshak never stood down from a challenge; he was on a constant journey to prove himself to others stronger than what he was, even though he knew he was too old to become stronger himself. He still trained every day and never gave up on trying to achieve power and recognition. He ignored the white wolf and changed his posture to an aggressive stance, ready to take on whatever was coming. The white wolf was about to run to his aid but then froze in his tracks in fear of his own life, Roshak noticed his struggle and smiled, flattered that the wolf was even considering saving his old life. It was the first time his superior showed any concern towards him.
A thick branch grew quickly out from the tree’s base and caught Vera in the air so she could stand on it. It kept growing at an immense pace and speared towards Roshak. The thick stump branched out until there were various spears that made its way to him. He looked at the sight with fear and considered turning around and trying to run away from the attack, but just as he wanted to the ground under him shook and roots came from it and grew around his body and limbs and trapped him. He struggled to break free but the roots were too solid.
Vera’s spirit grew heavier as the tree under her sucked her energy to fuel the immense growth, she was quickly running dry and growing lame. This technique was still immature so it took a heavy toll on her to use it at such an early phase. The spears grew apart and turned into the form of giant antlers, and then it closed in on Roshak just as the thicker part hit him and pushed him into the air. Each spear pierced his body, missing all of his vital points. Vera jumped down from the thick root and fell flat to the ground as her tired legs couldn’t support her body. She opened her eyes and watched the gored old wolf bleed out and the blood flowing to the ground.

The white wolf, Hazel, Raven and Whisper watched in horror as well as spectators around them as they all were still processing the carnage that had happened in front of them. From Raven’s perspective the wolf’s body was directly in front of the moon. His gray fur covered in crimson gore. Raven walked towards the scene, and subconsciously pulled moisture from the air and dew from the grass and foliage around him. He quickened his pace until he ran and the water formed around him until he was consumed by a water barrier. He jumped up into the air and the water shot him up further into a torpedo of speed and force. He shot and broke through wood antlers that held Roshak in the air and he fell to the ground. Raven landed and turned towards him, as he made his way to the broken body he charged up the excess water with his spirit until it received the familiar azure glow.
“What are you doing?” Vera snarled at him but he ignored her. He reached the old wolf and poured the water over his body. The blood dispersed in the glow and cleaned his fur and the water pushed out the thorns from his body. Roshak’s wounds clogged up with the excess blood but the old wolf didn’t move. Raven knew he couldn’t heal him with his ability but he could at least attempt to stop the bleeding by manipulating the blood that already left his body. Raven stared down at the wolf and dropped his ears, “He is beyond repair” he said sadly.
“Why are you trying to help the enemy?” Vera snarled as she got to her feet. Raven turned his head to her and stared at her with immense detest. Just as he was about to speak his ear twitched as he heard a high frequency making its way to him. He jumped back and saw a massive wind blade, bigger and faster than what he has ever seen zoom past him.

The white wolf walked towards Raven, “I assume you already know we are here to capture you, so, why are you trying to save the enemy?”
“I don’t know”
The white wolf just looked at him, with no expression. Raven’s action didn’t make sense to anyone there; some even doubt it made sense to him.
“Just come with us, waterwolf. Many lives will be spared if you just obey”