Minutes to midnight

Red stained the whiteness of his coat. Marring the tones with flashes of bright color. The pain only added to his anger, and he could feel the roar of the beast coiled inside of him. The helplessness, the frustration. From the first day he had arrived on this continent. From watching his parents die, to losing his cousin, and the colossal bear that chased him.

His own fangs pierced flesh, and he tasted blood. He had only a moment to hope there was nothing about this strange boy he could catch, and then suddenly he went flying. Pushed back by a larger, stronger force. He saw shadows as his vision tried to stabilise. A flash of darkness, and pain as a blow landed on his already injured shoulder. He felt the stickiness of blood driven into his coat. His vision cleared at last, and he found the great beast in front of him. For a moment, he thought the bear had found him. It took him another to realise it was a wolf. A large, and angry wolf. At the threat in this wolfs actions and words, Strai bared his own teeth. Rolling the skin past his fangs, and he drove himself upwards. If he could only get his teeth around the black wolf’s throat.

He never found his mark. He saw a flash of movement, felt a roaring pain, and then nothing. He collapsed to the ground with the fullness of a puppet with its strings cut.

"Speech"