Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Rising Moon

The following night, Ellis gathered all of us in the living room, he was incredibly nervous. “You’ll do great. Just breathe,” I encouraged him. He took a deep breath and I joined Quinn on the couch. “Thank you for coming, everyone. Reese asked me to spearhead this assault. I have asked Goliath to be my advisor.” Goliath nodded respectfully to us. “Goliath and I have devised a sound strategy to help us achieve victory over Dakota and Tate,” Ellis continued, “We will gather intel on the enemy encampment, once we have enough information, Goliath and I will design missions using guerilla warfare tactics. Most of them will be stealth missions to cause chaos and disorder for the enemy.”

“We will take turns operating in small teams of two or three. The teams will prioritize stealth and the mission objectives. The success of our campaign depends on the continuous successes of the missions. Thanks to Reese, we know the location of the enemy stronghold. They are holded up in a cave system to the west. Now the first order of business is to watch them and see when they resupply. We will hit the resupply team, kill the enemy, and take the supplies. I would like volunteers to monitor the enemy tonight.” Cordelia and I raised our hands. Ellis nodded and dismissed the group.

Cordelia and I readied ourselves and dashed off into the woods. My paws churned the dirt as I ran. We reached the dense woodline where the gargoyles first lost the enemy wolves. “Stay with me Cordelia,” I called out mentally. She sent a low rumble in response, I grinned and slowed to jog. I strained my ears for any sounds, not even crickets called. I knew I was close. I came to a full stop and sniffed the air deeply. Cordelia’s voice echoed in my mind, “I see nothing. No landmarks, nothing to identify their position.” I smelled wolf, I stalked slowly forward and followed the scent.

I saw a large hill in the distance. The crest of the hill seemed to barely rise above the treeline. The wolf scent grew stronger with each step. I had to be very careful to avoid detection. I silently padded toward the hill and listened for any indication of detection or presence. Cordelia circled overhead, “Talk to me, Reese.” I bared my fangs, “Give me a moment. I’m trying to focus.” I may have been over cautious, it took me a good thirty minutes to travel the distance to the hill. I saw a wolf-sized crevasse in the hillside. I poked my nose inside and took a whiff, it reeked of wolf. I had found them.

I circled the hill to make sure there were no secondary entrances. I was glad to find none. Cordelia sent me waves of frustration. I rolled my eyes and made my way up to the top of the hill. Howls of anger pierced the beautiful night’s silence. They had found me. I whipped my head around and saw four wolves race up the hill. “Cordelia,” I mentally screamed. She spied my silver fur and dove hard and fast. She snapped her arms around my chest and flapped her wings. I managed a quick glance behind us, the wolves roared in rage. “Please tell me you are able to find the hill again,” I mentally begged.

“Yes, the grass atop the hill is just slightly darker than the treetops. It is easily missed but you provide an excellent landmark,” I chortled, “Is that a fat joke?” Cordelia sounded confused, “What is a fat joke?” I grinned, “Don’t worry about it. You can set me down now. I don’t think they are following us.” Cordelia heaved a sigh of relief, “You are one fat werewolf,” her gravelly laugh echoed through the air. “Very funny,” I muttered. “Did I, as you say, ‘Nail it’,” she asked between giggles. “Yep, you nailed it,” was my response.

Cordelia never showed signs of fatigue as she flew us all the way back home. “If it’s easier for you, I can run on the ground,” I offered. “It makes no difference to me, you weigh as much as elder hatchling.” I was in shock, “I had no idea how strong gargoyles are.” Cordelia smiled and chuckled, “I must share the enemy location with Goliath and the clan. It is good to work with you again.” She set me gently on the ground and took again to find her clan. I transformed and stepped into the house to report to Ellis of the night’s activities.

After my debrief with Ellis, I plopped down on the couch with Drew and Kai as they watched a romantic comedy. It was nice to unwind and laugh with them. Quinn joined us with mugs of hot cocoa for the four of us. It reminded me of the time a couple of us watched movies in the theater room of Quinn’s parent’s summer home. In fact, it was closer to a mansion, not a summer home. Quinn and her family were filthy rich. She was able to build our house for us because of it. The movie ended so Quinn and I went to bed.

The sun dropped and the moon rose high in the sky. It was Goliath and Dylan’s turn to monitor Dakota and Tate’s cave. I decided to go with them, Ellis reminded me that I was part of a team and I didn’t need to do everything. I thanked him and encouraged him. Goliath, Dylan, and I arrived at the woods that surrounded Dakota and Tate’s cave. We cautiously stalked the trees and kept to the shadows. The perfect opportunity presented itself as we saw four people, who stank like werewolves, pulled four heavy camping wagons full of food and various camping gear.

I launched myself at the first unsuspecting person and snapped his neck with my powerful jaws. The body landed with a thump on the ground, the other three instantly phased into their wolf forms and attacked me. Goliath leapt down from the tree tops while Dylan raced in from behind the wagons. Goliath bashed two wolves’ heads together with a sickening crunch. Dylan was locked in desperate combat with the fourth and final wolf. I watched carefully and monitored the noise levels. I seriously didn’t want to bring more wolves, simultaneously, I wanted to give Dylan a chance to prove himself.

The other wolf was large and overconfident. Dylan was small and fast. He weaved in and out of the larger wolf’s attacks. He jumped high in the air, twisted himself, latched on to the larger wolf’s neck, and used his momentum to hurl the wolf into a tree. The lager wolf landed with a crunch; Dylan dove in and bit down on the fallen wolf’s neck. A stream of blood spurted on Dylan’s snout, he whined softly but held on until the larger wolf ceased its struggle and lay still. Dylan and I phased back to our human forms while Goliath hid the bodies in the treetops. The bodies would be discovered eventually but we didn’t want to make it too easy. Dylan and I took one wagon each and Goliath tossed the last two on his shoulders. We hurried back to the house as fast as possible.