by Isaac Alamantus

Created on: July 16, 2008

He fell to his back, mind racing. He had encountered this pack of wolves too often to become their prey now. His hands frantically searched the ground behind him for a stick, a rock, anything to help him ward off the wolves for the fifth time this month. He kept his eyes sweeping the damp forest as he scrambled backward on the ground into a tree.
A glint of light caught his eye. His hunting knife! He had thrown it in an attempt to scare the wolf pack away when this chase first began half and hour earlier. He jumped up and grabbed it just as three of the five wolves emerged from behind the trees and soft underbrush. Two stopped as the largest, apparently the alpha male, stepped forward.

"II don't want to hurt you," the young male Man said, his voice broken and panting heavily.
The wolf snarled.
We hunger! Too long have you Dominants over hunted this forest!' It bared its teeth, showing its dark red gums, while its dusty gray hair stood on end.
The boy had hunted for so long that he had nearly forgotten that the Dominants could understand the broken languages of the animals. Nevertheless, the wolf's comment surprised him.
"Over hunted? Shent Town only hunts for what it needs, and that's only about two deer and a boar each week!"
Liar!'
The wolf leapt at him and the boy shifted to his right to avoid the attack. His hands began to shake as he tried to hold his knife ready. The wolf took another jump at him. This time, the boy could not move fast enough to avoid the blow, and the wolf's claws cut across the top of his left arm. He staggered sideways, holding his arm close to his body, allowing his shirt to absorb the blood.
The wolf glanced at the boy for a moment before taking another wild swipe at the boy. Just at the right time, the boy rolled backward to the ground as the large body of the wolf flew by immediately above him. As the wolf landed just a few feet away from his head, he swung the knife over his head. It stuck on something for a moment, then continued through the swing as a deafening yelp pierced the air, frightening the spectating birds away.
The boy rolled onto his stomach and jumped to his feet before he saw what he had done:
There, in a slowly growing pool of blood, was the wolf's large, right forepaw lying on the ground, and beside the pool lay the once-proud wolf, eyes full of fear as it tried to tend to its stub, which was now adding to the crimson pool. The other wolves ran to their leader whimpering their sympathies.
The boy was shocked after seeing this and was immediately stricken with guilt. He reached for the pack on his belt and removed a large, black leaf with spidery, red veins. In all seven of his fourteen years of hunting, he had never allowed an animal to suffer, and after seeing this, he felt obligated to help. Forgetting the bleeding gash on his own arm, he held out the leaf, offering it to the wolf, and struggled to speak.
"P-please. Take this leaf and c-cover your wound. I-it will help it heal faster"
The fifth wolf jumped from behind another nearby tree and knocked the leaf out of his hand, grabbing it as it lightly fluttered to the ground. The wolf circled around to its leader and put the leaf over the end of the stump. The leaf stuck to the bloody skin and the bleeding stopped.
The lead wolf glared at the boy and said, Beware when you hunt now Now cannot be forgotten'
It then stood and limped away into the forest, tightly surrounded by the four other wolves of the pack.
The boy waited a full minute before he moved again. He walked to the pool of blood and picked up the severed paw.
"No," he whispered, "This will not be forgotten"

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