I'm galloping in a large field, my pack in tow, on our way back from a good hunt. The feeling of the wind weaving through my fur felt refreshing and I knew that nothing could get better than this. Everyone would be taken care of and we could focus on leisure for at least another season.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw something peculiar—one of my packmates fell to the ground. Abruptly, I stopped running and turned around to see what was going on. When I saw, I audibly gasped. The wolf who had fallen was wounded with a thin arrow through its abdomen creating a large gash through its skin. Even with the arrow still in, their grey fur was still being painted with far too much red than I thought was possible. It must be a deep cut.
I swung my head just in time to miss the second arrow that whizzed past one of my ears. Another wolf down. I closed my eyes tightly so that I didn't have to watch another member of my family fall.
"Make sure they're all wiped out," called a voice from a distance. On the horizon were dozens of humans carrying far range weapons—crossbows and such. For a second I thought about how we could attack them, but due to how far away they were and how few of us there were here, it was likely they'd wipe us out with their arrows before we could reach them.
I was conflicted. Either I helped the members of my pack and risked my life, or I left them here to find safety. Chances were, with the size of the wounds that the humans had inflicted, survival was unlikely. They were trained to shoot and their aim was good, most likely hitting vital organs. But I still didn't want to leave so many people behind.
If they all were to die, so would I. I wouldn't abandon them so easily and there was no way I could continue on without them, no family, no pack. So it was decided—I would do all I could to help, and if I died in the process, so be it. In the societal hierarchy, I was quite low anyway so even if I could sacrifice for a beta then my decision wouldn't be made in vain.
When I disconnected myself from my racing thoughts, I looked back to see the field scattered. If I was to do something, I would need to do it quickly. I raced over to the first body I could and felt on their chest but no matter how I positioned my paw, there was no heartbeat to be found. I went to another body, then another, then another, and they all had the same fate. Momentarily I wondered if the arrows had been infused with something—a harmful toxin, or something similar. It was the only way to explain how quickly everyone was dying. A large wound like the ones my pack was littered with was deadly, there was no doubt about it, but it took hours for the life to slowly fade, not the mere seconds that it was taking now.
I began to panic. There was nothing I could do to save the ones I loved and I knew it.
I ran to the middle of the field. If I was to die today, I'd want to be surrounded by the members of my pack. As the humans closed the few remaining wolves that were left, I closed my eyes and waited for them to take me, waited for the pain that accompanied the arrow burrowing its way through my thick coat of fur, into my skin, through my fat.
It eventually came, but it wasn't like I had expected. At first it didn't hurt, yet I knew something had pierced me without even looking. It felt like I was getting a needle—a little poke, if that. What came next was excruciating, however. The pain hit me all at once. It started out from the small gash in my side, then it began radiating outwards and it didn't stop until my entire body was convulsing and I was gasping for air that never made it to my lungs, as if there was a blockage in my throat.
When my body collided with the ground, I ended up opening my eyes. I wanted one more glance at the blue sky and the billowing clouds. If the natural beauty of the world as I knew it became an eternal memory, I wouldn't mind seeing it forever.
With one last look to the side, I noted the coat of fur beside me was a familiar colouring. I looked up to see a dark pair of eyes, unblinking.
"Rose?!"
I scrambled to get away from the dead bodies surrounding me only to find that there were none at all, that it was only a vision. Not only was it beyond creepy to see so many dead animals, but I had recognized those eyes. Perhaps that was the reason she had said we would never meet, was this the way she had died? Surrounded by her pack? That meant Rose was a werewolf too, like Blasius and Menas.
Blasius and Menas!
I looked up to see both of them, plus Silva, staring down at me clearly concerned. I wasn't exactly sure how I ended up on the ground while we had been running as far as we could from the castle walls, but if the vision was any representation I had simply fallen over which was ... more than slightly embarrassing. They had all watched me basically eat dirt just moments before.
Although now that I think about it, it's not like it's the most embarrassing thing that I've done in front of them. After all, just weeks ago I did throw up in the middle of the bedroom with them watching. At this point, I just hoped they were used to the aftermaths of my visions.
"Are you okay, Amicia?" Blasius knelt down and planted a hand on my back, slowly rubbing up and down as he looked me over making sure I wasn't injured.
"Just a vision," my voice came out shaky as I said this. I hadn't even realized how distressed I still was from the gruesome images I saw just moments before. I tried to get up, but Blasius put a hand on my shoulder to set me back down. "If we don't leave, we might get caught."
"Maybe we can find somewhere to take a break for a little bit? It is getting pretty dark out," Silva pitched in.
Blasius and Menas both agreed, saying they knew the area well seeing as we were in Everton, a county known for it's abundance of werewolves. While the two boys scouted the area, Silva stayed by my side. Though it had been a few minutes and my heart wasn't racing nearly as fast and my body wasn't as shaky as it had been, I appreciated her company even so.
Before it could get too dark out, the three of us made our way to a makeshift shelter in the middle of the woods.