User blog:SilverwingPhoenix/Horizon's End: Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Cedar gnawed on a rabbit's leg, chewing and wolfing down the last few scraps of meat. The Darkpack dens were very active today. There was news of Senkah, the Stonepack alpha female, attacking Atra a few nights ago at the border. Atra had been wounded, and Luna, her daughter, was out stirring up trouble and collecting bits of information.

Atra had formed a plan last night and had shared it with her mate, Kodiak. There was much speculation, although no one but the alphas knew for sure what it was. Cedar herself was curious, but she didn't let it occupy her mind too much. I'll find out at some point.

"Hey, Cedar." Akira greeted her a bit gruffly. She settled down to eat a squirrel that she held in her jaws beside her packmate. Akira, too, was a daughter of the alphas. Cedar wouldn't call Akira her friend, necessarily... nobody was really Akira's friend. She didn't like pretty much anyone. But, they did hunt together, so Cedar figured she was ahead of the game there. Cedar murmured a greeting back, but she didn't really talk. She took the bones of the rabbit out of the densite, and buried them, before coming back in.

"Cedar!"

Cedar started, whirling around as she heard Atra bark her name. "Yes, Atra?" she murmured a bit tentatively, and lowered her head in submission. Atra's temper was unpredictable, and after the fight with Senkah, she was especially irritable.

"In my den." Atra's voice was cold enough to make an arctic gale seem warm.

Biting her lip, Cedar followed the alpha into her den with anxiety tingling in her paws. Did I do something wrong? There was a slight scent of wolf blood in here; Cedar guessed it was from her wounds this morning. There had been a battle in the loner lands last night; it had started out with the alpha male of Emeraldpack and a rogue, who also happened to be the brother of Ameroq's alpha male, fighting over an elk. However, it had quickly escalated into a full-scale battle, and Atra had gotten caught up in it.

Atra took a seat on her mossy nest, curling her tail around her paws. The alpha's den was much nicer than the other dens; it was a small cave, made out of small boulders on the inside walls. Moss grew on the walls and boulders, and the floor's soil was softened by all the times it had been walked on. Atra and Kodiak's nests were made out of tender moss, feathers, and dried grass. It was very different than the regular dens; they were like large holes in the ground, with rocks and logs around the entrance.

"Cedar." Atra's tack-sharp voice broke Cedar out of her thoughts on the alpha's den and the battle from the night before. "I'm sure you've heard all kinds of rumors around the dens about my plan."

"Yes..." Cedar listened.

"It is time to execute the first part of it," Atra said. "You've proved your loyalty to me. And now, I have a job for you."

"What is it?" Cedar felt a spark of excitement ignite in her belly.

"I want you to go to Stonepack," Atra began, "and act like you are being chased and fearing for your life. Then, when Senkah and Hades question you, tell them that you overheard my plan, and that I said you couldn't live after hearing it. When they ask what it was, tell them that first, we would start by targeting Emeraldpack first, luring away their packmates that are loyal to them now. Then, I would attack with Darkpack, drive out Pinepack, and take their land. After that, I would kill Senkah myself."

Cedar nodded, listening to each detail closely. "Is this the real plan?" she asked tentatively.

"No, stupid! It wouldn't work anyway!" Atra barked, making Cedar flinch, before she quickly simmered down. "The idea is to make them believe false information, so that they won't be prepared when we attack. You'll stay there until we attack when we're strong enough." Cedar nodded. "Remember!" Atra went on, "you're not really joining Stonepack. Don't get attached to anyone. We're going to be destroying them within the next couple moons or so."

"Yes, Atra." Cedar nodded vigorously. "When do I go?"

"Now."

Cedar nodded, and rose to her paws. They were quivering; not from fear, but from excitement. She turned and pelted out of the den, dashing through Darkpack territory and towards the mountains. Excitement tingled in her belly, and adrenaline surged through her veins.



It took a while, but eventually she reached the Darkpack-Stonepack border. Remembering what Atra told her, she bristled her fur and tilted her head back, sending out an urgent howl for help. She waited for a wolf to come by, glancing into the trees every now and then. She was excited, but... doubt was beginning to latch onto her. What if I should just run? she thought, This is very dangerous... What if they see through the lies and I get caught? Will they kill me? There was an ominous feeling plaguing her mind that she was getting into something that she would probably regret later.

She was jolted out of her thoughts as the sound of thrumming pawsteps echoed through the trees. A gray furred she-wolf with steel blue eyes was coming. "What are you doing?" she barked, as her hackles began to prickle.

Cedar instantly lowered herself to the ground, tucking her tail and acting submissive. "Please don't hurt me!" she cried. She must've sounded genuine, as the she-wolf's gaze softened just a tad. "My pack hates me and they're trying to kill me!"

The she-wolf bit her lip. She glanced into the trees, and back to Cedar again, before she finally murmured, "I'll-I'll go get my alphas." She turned and sprinted back into the woods.

Once she was gone, Cedar stood back up with a bit of curiosity. Perfect, she thought. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, and every instinct was screaming to her, Don't do this mission, but she did her best to block it out. She couldn't go back; Atra would just send her right back here, and would probably even chase her out if she refused to listen. She continued waiting, watching her breath billow out of her nose in small puffs of fog. The air was filled with sound as birds sang their morning songs. It was a cold morning; Cedar hoped that the she-wolf would return with Senkah and Hades soon, as she was longing to be in a warm den. She took a tentative step over the border, when she felt a wolf crash into her. She yelped, tucking her tail between her legs and crouching on the ground in front of it.

She looked up and saw four wolves; the one she had crashed into was a large black she-wolf, with sapphire blue eyes. Beside her was a large, hard muscled brown he-wolf, with brown eyes, brown fur, and a white underside. The third one was another large gray he-wolf with a white underside, and highlights of red along his pelt, and on the tips of his ears and tail. Blood was matted in his pelt; he'd obviously been in a recent battle. Most likely, the one that had happened in the loner lands last night. Cedar recognized the last one as the she-wolf who had found her. "I hate my pack and they're trying to kill me," Cedar whimpered. The gray and red he-wolf lapped at some dried blood on his paw.

"Who are you?" the black she-wolf demanded. Cedar couldn't help but flinch.

It didn't take long for Cedar to recognize that this was Senkah. She wondered which of the two males was Hades. "C-Cedar," she stuttered, hoping to high heaven that she sounded genuine, "Atra keeps talking about killing Emeraldpack but I don't know anything, honest!"

"And how do we know you aren't just some spy?" the brown he-wolf growled, his muscles rippling under his thick pelt. Senkah nodded in agreement, her lips curling in ever so slightly.

The gray he-wolf looked at Cedar, then to the two wolves who appeared to be the alphas. "It's true, 'bout Atra," he offered quietly. The brown he-wolf twitched an ear at him.

Cedar trembled, I knew coming here was a bad idea! What if they kill me? Then running won't even matter! "They're trying to find me!" she yelped, "I heard Atra talking about her plan to target Emeraldpack and she said that I couldn't live after hearing it." Quite frankly, she was terrified; not about what they thought she was scared about, but that this would fail and she would be caught.

The brown he-wolf, whom Cedar was now pretty sure was Hades, opened his mouth to bark something, but Senkah angled her tail in front of him to stop him. Her stone cold blue eyes bore into Cedar's, and Cedar trembled even more. Please don't kill me..!

"Come back with me to our dens," she said finally. "I have some questions to ask you, but not out in the open like this."

Cedar nodded, inwardly sighing in relief. She rose a bit, but kept low to the ground, not wanting to anger the alphas. She could already tell by the tension crackling in the air between the wolves that she was on thin ice as it was, and one wrong move could spell disaster for the mission... and for her life. If she got out of here alive, she'd have to face Atra and Kodiak's wrath, and that was the one thing that all of Darkpack's wolves feared the most.

Senkah turned around and padded through the forest, with Hades, Aki, and Zero flanking her. Once they reached the dens, Senkah padded into the alpha's den and went inside. Hades stood at the entrance, eyeing Cedar distrustfully. "Come inside," Senkah called to Cedar.

Cedar hesitated for less than a second before she went in. She swallowed uncomfortably as Hades sat outside, trapping her in. If she wanted to run, she would be stuck.

Cedar looked around at Senkah's den carefully, searching for any escape routes in the event that things went south. Senkah motioned for Cedar to sit down, and reluctantly, she obeyed. "Now Cedar," Senkah said, her voice serious, "I need you to tell me everything that you heard."

"Atra..." Cedar recalled what Atra had told her to say that morning, "she said they were going to target Emeraldpack first, that they were slowly going to lure in the packmates who are loyal to them now. Then she was going to attack with-with Darkpack, kill Pinepack, and take their land. She said...she said she was going to kill you herself."

Senkah's eyes were grave as she listened, "thank you for telling me this, Cedar." She motioned for Hades to come in, and she whispered to him what Cedar had just told her. "We must warn the other packs."

Cedar nodded, inwardly grateful that they'd fallen for it. Thank goodness. "Atra said she was going to...to make sure you saw all your friends die first. If she's going to attack you last, that means you'll have time to prepare."

"You're welcome to stay here with us." Cedar looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected Stonepack to be this friendly with her so quickly. Senkah offered a reassuring smile when Cedar looked up. "Zero will show you where the dens are."

Cedar nodded, glancing around to see where Zero was, "Who... who's Zero?"

"One of the packmates," Senkah replied. "She's outside." Cedar nodded again, feeling a bit sheepish, and padded out of the den. A slow breath of relief escaped from her chest, and she realized that she'd been holding her breath for a while without even realizing it.

Zero happened to be the gray she-wolf who had found her earlier. She dipped her head in greeting when Cedar came out. "This way," she said, padding towards the dens. "There's a vacant den over there."

Cedar followed her. Senkah's nice for letting me stay here, she thought. She turned her head as she saw a brown and white, golden eyed she-wolf padding over to them.

"Who's this?" she asked Zero curiously, but looked at Cedar with a bit of wariness. Cedar instinctively started to curl her lips at her, but before the she-wolf or Zero could notice, Zero spoke up.

"Her name's Cedar," Zero explained, "Senkah accepted her in."

"Oh," she nodded. Her suspicious gaze faded, and she smiled warmly at Cedar. "My name's Quartz. Welcome to Stonepack."

"Thank you," Cedar smiled back. She felt her guard start to slip, and when she realized that, she strengthened it again. Remember what Atra said: I cannot make friends with anyone.

"There are a few vacant dens over there too," Zero said, pointing at a group of empty dens with her nose.

"Okay," Cedar nodded, and padded over to one.

"Let me know if you need anything." Zero smiled at Cedar kindly.

Cedar nodded, watching as Zero said her goodbyes and went to go hunting with Quartz. She felt a small twinge of guilt within her; Stonepack was being so kind and welcoming to her, and her job was to help find a way to kill them all. But she wouldn't be sympathetic. No, she had a job to do, and she would complete it. She was Darkpack, and she was strong.