Luc' 1

The mist in the forest was like the cold hand on the forest floor. It clung just like the blood did and it was wet like the dead’s tears. Wolf saw the mist just as he saw the dead below him, unimportant now it existed as it was. Wolf turned. A twig snapped somewhere in the forest and he growled low. All became quiet in the next few moments. There was no scent in the air save for what there already was. Wolf moved on and left the latest person on the ground. He should never have moved close. Wolf turned his snout back behind him. People merely got in the way.

          Morning shone through the mist as he approached the edge of the forest. He raised his snout in the air. Was there something new about? Something…that man made.

          “Daddy, daddy look! It’s a doggy. Daddy can I stroke the doggy?” A child shouted. It sounded excited.

          Wolf growled low. Attack anything. Humans were nothing and they all had to be dead. He leant forward over his front feet. If it came near…

          “Leave it alone son.”

          “But daddy…”

          “Leave it,” the adult snapped. Wolf growled louder. The man was not welcome. He had to be dead just like the other one. Wolf would kill the lot of them. How dare they exist near him? He snarled.

          “Daddy,” the child moaned.

          The man groaned from somewhere. Where was he? The man’s scent was close. It stank invading his nose. His ear flicked and turned. Something stirred near. Footsteps. The man appeared in the mist cutting a shaft in it just like the sun and like the sun something glinted in the light. Wolf tensed wound up tighter than man’s traps in the forest.

          “I’ll teach you,” the man threatened

          Everything about the man said he would come first. Have it that way would he? Wolf leapt forward. He would kill quick. Drive his teeth down and kill, then kill the child.

          In the next instant Wolf yelped. Something sharp sliced down his hind leg and he missed his target. The ache from it invaded, opening his leg and burgeoned onwards. Was the man different? There had never been a weapon before.

          “I’ll cut you again if you come near me. Stinking wolf. Get the fuck out of here,” he shouted. The object in the hand sang in the mist. A claw? Man had claws now? Doubt seeded itself in Wolf’s mind and spread its roots. As the seed burst open it flowered a fear. What was the man? “Get out of here, go,” the man bellowed. The man’s shining claw swung near Wolf’s face. It fed the flower within and new roots delved into his flesh. The man could have the area.

          Far enough from the man Wolf limped. His leg bit him each time he placed it down. Wolf whined. No choice but find somewhere and rest. Surely. He travelled further. There were people about. Rage surged through his veins as fast as his blood did and it was warming. More warming than anything else. Kill them, kill them before they could kill him.