Dark Skies
an excerpt

*somewhere in the forest*
There was not so much as a sound from her companions. The dark swallowed them all. She ran through the woods at an easy lope, enjoying the sound the the trees in the soft breeze. She could smell the wet earth and feel the dampness from the recent rain. Needles crunched softly beneith her feet and let off a sweet tangy smell. This was her world, her domain. Nothing could harm her here. The pecence of her friends insured that nothing would dare to even try to harm her here. It was a new location she wondered tonight. The stagnant baby bits of trees commonly passed off as a forest near the university just couldn't cut it anymore. She and her friends needed more space and it had been so long since she ran with them. Her friends, her family.
She had skipped her days classes and driven far until she found a place. It didn't quite feel right but it didn't nesessary feel totally wrong and so with her friends to acompany her she set out on her journey. Her freedom was hard won by people who had come before her. And having grown up on their stories, she had taken heed where others hadn't. So she appreciated the freedom hard won. And she tried very hard never to take it for granted.
With a wuff her friends, her family were suddenly surrounding her. They had senced something in the distance. She froze in mid step and paused, waiting. Their noses in the air, sniffed quietly and deeply. What did they smell? She wondered. Into the silence she felt a buzzing. She felt the buzzing before she heard the sound of fighting echoing through the forest from a distance. A cold wet nose poked her in the thigh. She pushed it aside.
“I'm just not sure.” she whispered. “I don't want to break cover. What if they're not friends?” she shivered “what if they KNOW?” another nose poked her from the other side, She turned her him and he pointed in the direction. They were calling her out. She had to lead, or they would. She sighed. “I hope you know what you're doing.” She loped off as they spread out and melded into the shadows. Stealth attack. But they only hunted for food, not for fun. She still wasn't sure this was the right decision but it appeard to be four against one and it would be better if they didn't go in there alone. Sometimes people on their side didn't realize that they were help. After all not everyone expects full grown larger then your average wolves to jump into the fray and help you defeat your enamy. She would never forgive herself if something happened because she hessitated.
She lengthened her pace and quieted her step. Soon they were on the outskirts of the battle. It was spread throughout a semi large meadow. It was quite easy to see who were the bad guys and who were the good. Usually battles weren't always so clear. Everyone tended to have their own reasons for fighting and the good versus evil wasz never so black and white. Usually they were just different shades of grey. But she had listend to the stories told to her as a kid and she immediantly knew that color had nothing to do with alliences. From the large white SUV had come a group of men dressed all in white and crème. They were not good. They were the bane of her kind and the killers of her friends and family. For the first time in her life she wished that they killed for more then just food. But they did. Her kind killed for survival as well. As she went to take a step into the clearing she stopped having caught a wiff of something unfamilure. The smell was cold as ice and chilled her clean through. It was dangrous and death. Not Lord Death, for even she knew that he wasn't nessecarily bad, but death as in the existance that goes beyong mear change and transformation. There, at the far side of the clearing something moved so quickly it was a blur. Out from the forest edge, cloaked in black it came, destroyed its target and disappeared before anyone knew what was happening. That was her technique. Stealth from the darkness. What was he?
“Death,” the sudden voice becider he whisperd.
She whipped her head around so quickly her glued to her head like hair almost moved. “grrrr” she couldn't even formulate words in response to him.
“I am the death of those who seek pain making them pleasure.” He bowed to her. “I am also a friend to you and the Guardians. Help if you choose or leave them to the slaughter, the choice is up to you.” With that he disappeared once more into the frey.