The New Twilight's Mist

The

New Twilight’s Mist

Fractured light;

Caustic hues;

Hunting cues;

A shadowed fright.

-Kiltron

Kiltron

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2022 by Dan Harrington
 
All rights reserved.
 
No part of this publication may be produced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
 
ISBN
(eBook) 9781005715014

They raced through the Autumn leaved woods. It was getting darker sooner. Daylight started its earlier decent along the horizon. This time of year, the sun’s rays caused blinding rays of caustic hues that sent spiraling colours that refracted from the multitude of different colourful leaves. This kind of light played tricks on the eye. Shadows danced about like phantasms with outreached arms that closed in, then retracted to disappear into the darkness.

           Hunters gave chase to the prey on the run. Shots cracked loudly and echoed in the distance.

           A yelp sounded. One of the two wolves on the run had been, hit. He managed to run on through the bush. Leaping over brush and fallen trees. His mate by his side. She glanced at him worriedly. The male huffed his breath harshly. He panted and tired quickly. He was flagging. His pace slowed as he began to limp.

           The female wolf nudged her mate. A sign to stop and move to a place and hide. They went into a large thorn bush that was well hidden near rocky terrain. They crawled into a Bourgh like cave. The male shifted into a human man. The female shifted along side him. Their nude bodies were touching. She examined his shoulder. She used her forefinger and thumb to dig into the wound. The clawed appendages partly shifted to do their gruesome work.

           The man winced and grunted his pain. It burned. There was a sizzling sound as she pulled the bullet from his shoulder. The female growled and flung the metal away. Silver. She was more resilient to it than her partner. He would need time to heal. This metal was a poison to their kind.

           The female wolf woman kissed her lover, her betrothed. It was a lingering kiss. It assured him of her return.

           “I shall deal with these hunters, for good!” she stated. Her eyes went golden. A rare breed had these eyes. She was an Alpha. Strong. Smart. Cunning. She would hunt the hunters.

           She kissed her lover again. “I shall be back, soon,” she said quietly.

           He gripped her arm firmly. Their eyes gazed at one another longingly.

           “Be careful, my love,” he whispered.

           She smiled and crawled out of the tunneled den.

           The air was damp. She sniffed the air and caught the scent of the hunters. Mist began to curl in around the forest floor. The she-wolf smiled thinly. This would give her an advantage against them. Mist mixed with the twilight setting would blind them and confuse them. She just had to wait a little while longer until the mists thickened.

           The Alpha girl stood still and listened to the forest noises. The hunters were nearby but not too close. Good! She could keep them away from her mate.

           With a burst of speed, she rushed out into the woods. Mists swirled at her passing. She shifted into wolf form and trotted to the closest hunter. He stood by a large elm tree, compound bow in hand. She snapped a twig and revealed a part of herself. The hunter released his arrow. Just as she hoped he would. She shifted just before he released his shot and as the arrow flew the she-wolf snatched it out of the air. She threw it back and managed to pin him to the tree threw his heart. There was a gurgle and a look of shock when he died. One down, Three to go.

           She was sick of these pricks. Just because she was a werewolf did not make her the kind of monster that went out and murdered people every full moon. Not, that she has not done horrible things, she has. Mostly out of self defence. When her first change came about, she had no control over it. She did not have someone to teach and guide her. At least she can with her mate. She loved him very much and did not want him to suffer such a thing. She no longer felt lonely now that she had him in her life. Course, how she revealed herself was questionable and how she chased him through these very woods. She flinched at the thought. She could not help herself. His scent drove her wild to the point that she had to have him as a mate. Could say she was in heat at the time.

           She wanted a baby so badly. How could she if assholes like this were to keep hunting them down? These hunters were not going to leave these woods alive.

           A snarl twisted her beautiful features. She then loped off into the brush to stalk the rest. She had their scent. Knew where they were.

           A hunter hid behind a tree. He used it to cover his back. He would soon come to realize that it was not large enough to protect him. Her clawed hand reached around the trunk and dug into the man’s throat. There was a gurgled sound then the scraping of bark as the body fell headless the ground.

           Two losers left to kill, she thought darkly.

           Still. She must keep her wits about her. Not to give in to the savage beast. Must remain focused on the hunt.

           On to the next kill.

           The she-wolf used the refracting light off the mist to confuse and instill fear into her next opponent. Everywhere he looked was whispering shadows and blinding autumn light. The different coloured leaves made things worse. It was like everywhere he looked the sun was directly in your eyes.

           She leaped upon his back and wrapped her jaws around the nape of his neck and squeezed. Cracking and a crunch of cartilage and bone the hunter died. He was nothing but a limp kill in her mouth. On to the final kill to end this.

           A shot rang out. The bullet impacted her chest, knocking her down. The silver burned as it passed right through her. Luck was on her side. The wound healed quickly. She then bolted out into the brush and disappeared from the hunter’s rifle scope. Her sharp hearing heard him curse. The sound of a single shot bolt-action rifle. He was a fast reloader. This was a skilled hunter. The she-wolf used the mist and light to her advantage against him. But there was something else she could use. Sound. These forests could echo sound and make it appear it came from another direction.

           “Over here!” a voice called.

           The hunter swiveled in the direction of the voice. Too late. He dropped the rifle. Horrible pain was, felt in the male’s ribs and chest. A gak of a sound issued from his throat. The voice had come from his other side. The she-wolf knew how to throw sound around in the woods. They were her woods.

           Her clawed hand had imbedded itself through his ribs and the hand gripped the heart within. She lifted the hunter off the ground. The strength the she-wolf displayed in her human form. Her nude body covered in crimson sticky fluids. The hunter gazed into hate filled eyes. Fear was a cold death grip upon him. He tried to speak but no words came. Only blood gurgled up. So, instead he spat it in her face.

           Her lip snarled and a low growl escaped.

           “These are my woods!” she stated matter of fact. Her hand crushed his heart and then she tossed the hunter aside like the dead weight he had become.

           She went back to her mate who was feeling much better and had healed nicely. She cuddled into his ever-loving arms. He kissed her deeply thanking her. She gazed into his eyes.

           “Time to make a litter of pups,” she said with a smirk that said naughty things were about to happen.