Almost like a championship runner, Tai was weaving in and out of the trees, whizzing by him. It was like the entire forest had been memorized. It seemed like he knew where every single tree and ditch was located. In contrast however, the forest was indefinitely huge. He truthfully had no clue where he was. But he was moving so flawlessly that it didn’t seem to matter.

Tai’s absolute favorite thing to do was to run. It cleared his mind from his dad, and he loved the feeling of fresh air blowing into his face. Coincidentally, Tai’s mother had taught him some techniques to make him better at it. The weird thing was that she had no clue Tai would love it so much. He kept leaping up and literally ran out of the house and wouldn’t come back for more than three hours. Kara thought he did this for two reasons. One, he loved it. That was obvious. But two, he probably wanted to get away from his hating father.

Tai was also recognized by the Wolf Alliance, also known as the WA, to be a certified hunter. The WA was the entire pack of about 75 other wolves that Tai and his family lived with. According to the WA, you couldn’t be a hunter unless you were able to have at least one talent that could be of good use while hunting for prey. They considered running one of them, along with other talents such as strength and stamina.

Racing at more than 30 miles per hour, Tai started to get a little tired. But he could see the end of the forest a few hundred feet away. He gave it all he had and sprinted. He reached the end, and could see the ground ending in front of him. Out of instinct, the sharp claws on his feet extended instantaneously. Tai felt himself slowing down, but automatically knew that this wouldn’t work.

He screamed for help, sliding out of the forest and down a steep hill. He reached down and scratched the ground with his forepaws and tried to grab something. Too late. He felt gravity kick in as he overhung over the edge of a cliff with one paw. If he let go, he would experience at least ten seconds of free fall before dropping to his death.

He felt his grip slipping, and as he let go, another paw caught his grip. Tai looked up in surprise. “Re, is that you?” he asked. He saw the figure above him nod his head.

Named after the first king of Egypt, Re had been pals with Tai since they could both remember. They had met during a WA meeting when they were really bored. Everyone was talking about how to better themselves during battle, and both Tai and Re knew that they could just work as a team.

Re pulled Tai up and over the edge the cliff with fantastic strength. He was also accepted by the WA to participate in melee combat. “Dude! What do you think you’re doing?” Re asked.

This reminded Tai of his dad. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve just…been looking for you…for a really long time.”

“Really, why?”

“Well…it might be a little hard for you to take, but…”

“Re,” Tai said, “You have no clue what I’ve been through for the last 17 years…I can take pretty much anything anyone throws at me.”

“Yeah…I’m not sure, but we’ll see. Walk with me.”

Tai and Re started to walk around the forest toward their home. They walked for a few hours, until the sky started to brighten a dark blue. As they turned the last corner, Re asked him one last time. “You sure you want to see this, Tai?

Tai nodded his head as they faced their town everyone had built together. Or, what was left of it. Tai dropped his mouth and it hung open. Their home, everyone’s home had been demolished. Desecrated. Some homes had been flattened; some were on fire. There were dead wolves isolated all over the town. Red liquid oozed out from all the dead bodies.

Suddenly, Tai’s ears popped up. He heard a voice, a familiar voice. Then, he knew who it was. Re pushed Tai’s body with his nose toward the sound, urging him to go. He ran toward the sound. He stopped at it, and saw his mother’s body decaying before him.

“Mom…what the hell happened?” Tai said quietly, in tears.

“Kyle…” Kara whispered. “…The outsiders…they came…they did this. Don’t let them…kill anyone else…”

“Mom…” Tai was sobbing greatly, but trying not to show it.

Kara raised her paw toward her son, and Tai took it with much affection. “I love you so much, Tai. Good bye.” Tai told his mom it was going to be okay, but he was too late. He let go of his mother’s paw, and it dropped to the floor.

Re looked upset as Tai looked at Kara, completely speechless. He fell to the floor and howled with sorrow and distress. Re slowly walked toward him. He saw Tai looking up at the sky, as if he saw something. Re looked up and saw the sun beginning to rise.