The First King

Deep within a forest, the air was calm. There was no wind that rustled the trees, no animals that chirped or whistled. The only movement was in the sky, as dark, billowing clouds swirled overhead. This area was barely forty miles to the west of Thresnora. The land had long since been cleared of humans and wolves. The only ones who dared to traverse this darkened land were the witches—at least, that is all that could be seen.

Hidden away under the brush was Konrad. He laid on his back, with his head resting on his arm. All around him and scattered throughout the area were some of his soldiers. For the last few days, they had been tracking the dark witches, attacking them while they were out on patrol. In doing so, they were slowly learning about their routines and other valuable information. And now, today, they were in a new area, waiting for more witches.

"They should have been here by now," Jude grumbled as he reached under his back, pulling out a stick that had been stabbing him.

"We know they entered the woods and went down this path," Konrad stated as he opened his eyes. Above him, he could barely make out the darkness in the sky through the brush and trees. "Give it some time."

"And your wolves are sure they have not gone a different direction?"

"I haven't been mind-linked, so no," Konrad scowled as he turned his head to look at the witch. "Why so anxious to fight anyway?"

"It's the volcano and those clouds above us," Jude admitted. "I can feel that the energy in the air is off—as if it is dead. I know you cannot understand what it is like to feel things on a magical level, but you have eyes, ears, and a nose. Haven't things felt off since we entered the forest?"

Konrad furrowed his brows as he thought to himself. Jude was not wrong; something wasn't right about these woods. There were no animals anywhere. No birds singing in the trees, no deer crunching the dry leaves of the forest floor. And the smell? Konrad had not thought about it, but indeed, as he took in a deep breath, there was a stench in the air. It smelled like mold and decay. But there was nothing dead around them. The trees were still alive, and the patches of grass were still green.

"They are crossing the creek, my Alpha!" A wolf mind linked.

Konrad rolled over onto his stomach as he sent word to the rest of his wolves. He signaled to Jude, who got the attention of the witches and humans around them. Slowly and quietly, everyone crawled into their positions. Tensions rose as the sound of footsteps filled the air. In the distance, five men came into view.

"That is two more witches than usual," Nero remarked.

"It isn't anything that we can't handle," Konrad replied. "But I am sure that the patrols get larger as we get closer to the volcano."

Konrad's chest quietly rumbled as the witches walked past him. He could not attack them, not yet. There was a group not far ahead who would surprise the men. Konrad and Jude would jump out behind the witches after the first group made themselves known. Finally, the remaining men would converge from the sides, blocking all attempts of escape.

As a whistle went out into the air, the first group jumped into the road, stopping the witches. Then, the second group went out, and finally, the third. This attack, like the others, was methodical and well-planned. With the witches surrounded, all that was left was for the wolves to shift and then attack, making sure to leave only one person alive to interrogate.

But before Konrad and the others could shift, the witches took their cloaks and fanned them outwards. At first, Konrad was confused by the action, but then it became abundantly clear what they were doing. Hidden underneath the shadows of the cloaks were more witches. What started out as five turned into thirty within a few seconds.

Something hard hit deep within Konrad's stomach as he stood there. The witches had known they were going to be attacked. What a fool he was to think he could keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting it to work each time. But it did not matter; there was nothing that he or his people could do other than fight.

"Shift!" He yelled so all could hear.

The air was filled with the sound of chants and the breaking of bones. But the dark witches did not wait until the wolves were ready. Instead, they began their attack, sending out plumes of black clouds towards the group. Jude and his people stepped forward, creating magical shields to protect everyone from the initial shots. But, with each cloud of darkness that hit against the barrier, the magic began to crack little by little.

Jude held out his hands, struggling to keep his shield up. A bit of the corner had already crumbled, exposing the ground around his feet. Thankfully, he did not need to hold out much longer. As a low growl came from behind him, he and the other witches dropped their shields and fell to their knees. With the magical barriers down, the wolves jumped over their allies and rushed toward the center.

Konrad and Nero worked in tandem as they bobbed and weaved through the onslaught of magic. They went for a witch who stood on the edge of the group, sliding under a bolt of lightning to grab his ankle. With his mouth firmly holding onto the man, Nero gave a quick yank, pulling him to the ground. Another wolf came rushing by, tearing into the witch's neck, killing him instantly.

After rising back to his feet, Jude held out his hand, producing a long, golden spear. He positioned it so his hand held the center of the staff. When his arm went backward, he whispered a spell, causing his weapon to glow brightly. With little force, his spear went flying straight through the heart of a dark witch. Once the man fell to the ground, the spear vaporized, and the magic returned to Jude.

One by One, Konrad and Nero were downing witch after witch. It almost felt too easy as they moved from kill to kill. But while the two of them were hyper-focused on the witches before them, wolves were dying on the other side. The first ambush group, which consisted of wolves from different packs, was being slaughtered.

At first, their deaths weren't noticed because of the chaotic fight. With over fifty people on such a small dirt road, it was easy to overlook the bodies of several wolves. But, after a few minutes of nonstop fighting, Konrad glanced up, taking a moment to assess the situation. It was then that he not only noticed the dead wolves from the first group, but he saw a line of witches that had formed further down the road. It caused his heart to stop as he looked at them. Those witches were from Thresnora, but they were not fighting. They could easily come in and overcrowd what remained of his people, but they didn't. It only took Konrad a second to realize what they were actually doing.

These witches who stood in a line were blocking them from going South. Konrad had only traveled with twenty men out of over two hundred. The rest of his army was camped in the South, about five miles away. He turned around, glancing into both sides of the woods. His blood ran cold as he spotted people standing in the shadows. The only direction that was clear was north. The only problem was that this road eventually curved to the East, leading straight for Thresnora. The witches that he had been attacking were weak, and for good reason. They did not want Konrad dead; they wanted to funnel him to the volcano. With few choices left, Konrad frantically shifted.

"Jude! The signal!" He yelled.

Jude froze upon hearing his name, surprised that it was Konrad. But he could not stand there to question the wolf; something had to be wrong. He turned around, locating the woman who held a pouch of powder around her belt. Jude quickly rushed to her, pulling her out to the middle of the road, where no trees were overhead.

"Annie, push the signal now!" He instructed quickly.

As the girl fumbled to untie the pouch, Jude looked back toward the center, where the fighting had been taking place. The dark witches stood still, watching them as Konrad yelled for his people to retreat. It was then that Jude noticed the other witches further down the road. Suddenly, Konrad ran up, using his body to block a cloud of smoke from hitting the female witch. He yelled in pain, but he held firm, giving her enough time to shoot the red powder into the air. Jude and Konrad both looked up, watching as a rush of air left the girl's hands, forcing the red particles high into the sky.

Five miles. Konrad could only hope that the red powder could be seen from that far away. Wincing from his shoulder injury, he pushed Jude and the female witch, ushering them to the North.

"Run! Just run! Get to the clearing, and we will try to hold out until others get to us!" Konrad shouted. Once all of his people were running, he stopped to look back at the dark witches. They stood there silently, watching him. He whispered his incantation, quickly shifting into Nero.

He ran, staying behind everyone else. Five miles. He could cover that distance in 20 minutes, maybe a little less if he pushed it. The problem was that he was an Alpha; Nero could run faster and for a longer period of time compared to other wolves. Realistically, it could take the others 30 minutes to rush over. And the humans on horses would be behind them.

What were they going to do? The scenarios ran quickly through his mind. The best case scenario was that no one would be in that clearing, and what remained of his ambush group could stand their ground, at the very least, buying them time until backup arrived. But it wasn't going to be that easy. Konrad knew this. They would not be funneling him this way if there weren't others waiting on them.

As the road curved to the right, heading toward the East, the clearing came into view. How far away were they now? Seven… eight miles away from his camp? With each step he took, he knew it would only delay help even further. But there was nothing he could do about it. Konrad could not stop running. There were witches all around him, and as his group entered the clearing, more came into view. As Nero came to a halt, his paws sliding across the ground, he looked around. They were surrounded with nowhere to run. Jude created a barrier around everyone, giving them some protection.

Nero let out a low growl as his heart tightened in his chest. This whole thing was his fault. They did not need to ambush another patrol; they had already been successful three times before. But Konrad was too confident, too arrogant to stop. And now he stood there, wondering if this was the end. Was he to die now, or worse, be captured by the witches? There was so much left that he wanted to do. It wasn't just the yearning for revenge that he felt within his heart. There was an emptiness, a void, that he had wanted to fill. But his recklessness, his foolishness, meant that he would never do that. His life, the life of the King of Kings, would end here, on a field. Alone.