★ Grass Fire

The land that Kore and his siblings had been calling home since their family struck out from Fireside had suddenly been snatched out from under them. The trio of star-touched siblings had set out together in search of a new place to settle while sticking close. They are inseparable in their bond but they are still their own individual wolves and, in short, the siblings often separated with a promise to meet up later.

Today is one of those days and Kore slowly walks through this land he has seen before. He can practically taste the old blood spilled from the wars that had been fought here and his paws carefully pick their way around the strange metal objects. A summer storm darkens the sky, making the air feel like thick soup every time he inhales. Water molecules weigh down his fur, making him feel sticky and damp at the same time. His tongue slowly emerges as he pants in an attempt to cool himself off quickly.

Thoughts become sluggish and move at a snail’s pace as he squints against the sudden darkening of night, trying to remember where he is. An errant paw steps on one of the pieces of metal that jut out from the earth like broken bones and the boy lets out a loud yelp of pain as he recoils. Bring the paw toward his face, Kore narrows his eyes to see through the dark at the blistered pad, his mind trying to fit the puzzle pieces of some foreign problem together and failing.

Blue eyes move from the injured pad to the scorching hot metal he had touched, a vague sense of dread growing deep in his belly. Looking up, he spies horned figure for a split second between the black rolling fog and Kore opens his mouth to shout at them. However, as he sucks in a lungful of the thick air, Kore doubles over in a fit of racking coughs. The air feels like sandpaper on his throat and that strange puzzle that been unfocused finally comes into full view.

Panic grips his heart as the black smoke rolls over the land, obscuring his sight and making his eyes water. Lowering his head toward the ground, Kore sucks in a deep breath and the fog that had settled over his mind clears a little more as he gets so clean air in his lungs. Shit! It is a fire! There is at least one other wolf here too! Keeping his head low, the boy howls out a rallying call, urging any and every wolf in the area to gather on him. Maybe they can figure a way out of this together. The sky rumbles a deep, throaty warning to the wolves below, an ominous sign in this dark time.


"Kore Regni"