"I told you they would pull back, Alpha," a condemning tone spat at me, letting me know what the Beta-Warrior thought of my plan. My ears flushed with blood as my mistake was mentioned out loud. I shot Verin a sidelong glare, but he was no longer looking at me. I didn't miss smug grin on the side of his scarred muzzle. My eyes fell and searched the ground as I scrambled to get my thoughts together.
	The leopards had pulled out of their foothold on the northern tip of their territory, leaving the route open for my commanding force to push through to the next key point. This was great, except for the fact that I had already sent a support team rather far south. The plan was to cut off the southeast lookout point and flank the cats once we pushed them out of here. Now I had a large force moving forward to carry out a plan that no longer applied. 
	"Arch…" a softer tone cut through my thoughts.
	"I know!" I shot back with too much aggravation, and immediately sent an apologetic look to my friend and gamma warrior, Chance. I let out a long breath and finally sprang into action. I looked over to the brown and tan wolf to my left, crouching atop a fallen log and looking for all the world like a proud strider. "Torun, I need you to send a two-man strider team to intercept Boxer's group. Tell them to hold back--,"
	"It's not going to be enough," Verin interjected, and this time I turned the full weight of my fiery glare down on him. The Beta-Warrior was a rigid, smug man about ten years my senior. As you can tell, he wasn't too happy about my being appointed Alpha Male. He was at the head of a small faction within the warriors who felt Boxer, Chance's father, should have taken over when Kaudi died six months before.
	The thing that made me so angry was that I had actually been doing a good job. Under my direction, the leopards had been pushed back into their territory with almost no resources to pull from. I was expecting an attempt at negotiation any day now, and the Beta-Warrior had the audacity to look smug at my minor tactical mistake.
	"Just tell Boxer to fall back to the rally point and await further instructions," I ordered to the waiting strider, fuming. He gave me a sharp nod and immediately moved in the appropriate direction, grabbing one of his subordinates along the way. I watched them fall into a breakneck pace as they sprinted away, kicking up leaves and loose soil in their wake. 
	I was sure Verin waited until they were too far to call back before voicing his opinion.
	"You have to consider the possibility that they are walking into an ambush, Alpha. If they have not already," he said in a lilted, unconcerned voice. My heart dropped to my feet in a knee-jerk reaction to this possibility, but my outward behavior betrayed nothing of my panic. I shot a quick glance to Chance, still posted against an oak. He was staring intently forward with a concentrated frown on his face, pretending not to listen. I knew he was worried about his father.
	"The only way they could be ready for our attack was if they were informed before-hand," I said, and turned an accusing eye on Verin. I didn't really think he was capable of such betrayal, but I was angry, and he was being a dick. The Beta-Warrior simply looked at me and offered a careless shrug of his massive shoulders. Somehow he knew his indifference would upset me more than anything. Even knowing I was being manipulated, I had to concede that Verin was right. It bothered me that he knew me so well. 
	"You're right, Verin," I let him have his moment of cautious smugness as I moved forward a few steps, in line of sight of all the wolves. It may have been a petty move on my part, but when I took action I did the exact opposite of what the warrior had been hinting at. "Listen up. Verin will take charge and fall you back to the temple," I ignored the confused mumbles and turned to face the Beta-Warrior as he stomped his way over to me. I continued the order directly to his face, though he was several inches taller than me. "I'm going to follow up to Boxer's unit and make sure they make it back safely."
	"By yourself?" Verin asked through clenched teeth. You see, it had been his plan to push through into the feline's territory. I knew damn well he had wanted to follow Boxer into the heart of it. I prepared to give him a condescending knit of the eyebrows, but his expression caught me off guard. I didn't understand the emotion in his eyes. For a moment it looked like panic.
	It made me hesitate, but I decided I didn't care. Verin's mood swings weren't enough to change my plans after I'd already committed. "Yes. You'll be ok on the way back without me, right?" It took great effort to keep from smiling in the face of his frustrated rage. 
	I didn't wait for him to respond. Instead, I turned my back to him swiftly, with an agility that surprised even me. I'd been a fire elementalist for nearly 6 months, but I was still getting used to the physical changes that came with it. The raw energy had a tendency to flow through and strengthen my body any time my emotions ran high. It was also the reason I took no weapons into battle. More on that later. 
	Chance was already facing me, and I met his confused eyes. I had to lower my voice as I approached him. "I'm going to secure Boxer's unit myself. Make sure Verin doesn't do anything stupid," I placed a hand on his shoulder as I passed, satisfied with the silent nod I received in return.
	The claws on my feet tore up the ground as I launched myself forward, darting in the direction of the other group. The fire in my limbs served as metaphysical fuel, easily jolting me up to a speed that was far too dangerous for the thicket of woods I was traveling through. It was the constant frustration of having such an incredible power; my fire was so potent and destructive; the world around me so flimsy and breakable. Not since the power woke in me had I been able to use it to its full potential. I wasn't even sure there was a limit.
	It didn't help that I was the only creature around with an element to control. I was informed, by minds more knowledgeable than my own, that I was one of four elementalists in the entire world. I'd like to tell you why I was chosen among all other individuals among all the other species, but I don't know how that works, either. I had never met or heard of any other.
	I was forced to ease up on my pace as I weaved through the obstacles of standing trees and vegetation. My senses and reflexes became infinitely sharper while the fire was working through me, but the laws of physics only allow for so much defiance. I was a very large male, even back then. Sure, I would only destroy the tree if I ran headlong into its trunk, but I wasn't looking to play chicken with any helpless greenery. Instead, I focused the strength in my body to maneuver through the forest as I headed southeast, achieving a grace and speed in my bounds that any strider would strive to emulate. I ran like this for several miles, never bothered by fatigue.
	So impressed was I with my agility and endurance that I was unprepared for what happened next. I had a fraction of a second to avoid the speeding blur of yellow and white fur that came from my side. It was a miracle we didn't collide, because I'm sure the leopard had even less time to react. Somehow he managed to twirl his lithe frame around the angle of my body, spinning with the momentum to land him somewhere to my flank.
	I pulled a similar number, ducking my head down so I could fall into a controlled tumble on the forest floor. I used the momentum to swing my powerful legs out and land deftly on my feet, standing at the ready before the feline could even lift a weapon. I had no visible weapons, but the sight of me in all my glory and pitch black fur was formidable enough. I was taller than the slender leopard by at least two feet, and justified each inch of height with the muscle and girth of a warrior in his prime.
	Our eyes met across the clearing and we shared a moment of surprise, both of us impressed by the other's speed. I tried to evaluate as much as I could about the feline before it turned ugly, but he seemed to have no such interest. In fact, he looked to be out of breath and extremely impatient with my interruption. His left hand raised to point a closed fist at me. I had no idea what he was doing, but I stepped a foot forward and released a heavy growl, making it clear I was not easily bullied into the defensive. I let the fire course through my body and run rampant on my insides, until my muscles were burning with the need to be put to good use. Unfazed, the leopard glared at me and lifted his right hand to his chest with his fingers contorted into a shape I thought I recognized, but couldn't place.
	The blue light that appeared in my opponent's fist caught me off guard. I had suspected magic, but this was nothing I had seen before. The light formed itself too quickly for my eyes to follow, creating an immense crescent shaped structure almost as tall as his body. Only when the straight line appeared in his right hand did I realize what it was. He was holding a bow and arrow.
	I had barely enough time to identify the weapon before the arrow was let loose, at a speed that honestly scared me. My reflexes served me well on that day. If I had reacted any slower, or used any less of my fire to deflect it, the arrow would have likely pierced the skull between my eyes. I swung the back of my hand with lightning speed, cutting a streak of fire through the air and knocking the arrow out of the way. There was a concussion of impact where my immovable hand met the irresistible force of his arrow, and the resulting flash of power blinded us both. 
	I lifted my forearm to my face and blinked through the pain in my eyes, only to meet his own shielded gaze. We stared at each other over the residual energy in the air. I think it was fair to say that, if only for a few seconds, we were both thoroughly fascinated with each other. 
	A few seconds was all it took to seal our fate.
	The leopard was breathtaking. I had no idea a male could be so beautiful, even when his features and muscle tone made it very clear he was not female. He was wearing pale, deerskin leggings that sat low on his hips, showing off most of his flat white belly and slim hips. His fur was flawless, even in his state of disarray. Dark yellow with black spots, his coat was exotic and drove me crazy from the first time I saw it. My fingers itched to touch it, including the white fur that ran over his chest and down to his groin. On his wrists he wore bracers, made of some metal I couldn't even guess at. I only remember thinking they looked plain, and yet they were like nothing I'd ever seen before. His right ear was lined with a few small earrings, his neck adorned with some pendant I didn't recognize; all seemed to be the same material as the bangles. I'd like to say I wasn't nearly slack-jawed with an ‘Ooh, pretty,' look on my face, but it was as if someone had manifested this feline directly from my most personal fantasies. How was I supposed to react?
	I'm not sure what my expression betrayed of my thoughts while we stared each other down, but he also took a minute to assess me. He looked about as surprised as I did at the display of power we had just exchanged. 
	I felt something sliding down my hand, and without taking my eyes off my opponent I knew it was blood. The impact of the arrow had been violent enough to tear the skin on my hand. So in spite of how attractive he was, I locked my emotions away and maintained my survival mode. It is no small feat to make me bleed, especially when my fire is active and rampant beneath the skin. This spotted enemy, if he was in fact my enemy, was not to be underestimated. At the time I liked to think he was acknowledging the same thing about me.
	"Torul at herrund," he spoke in the language of his people. I stood up a little straighter, surprised by the urgency and the sheer charisma in his voice. It was clear to me that this leopard was a key individual in his society. Even among the cats, low level soldiers did not carry themselves with such a regal presence. Regardless of how impressed I was, my personality shone through.
	"I don't speak kitty," I replied without thinking. He frowned at me and straightened his own posture. For a moment he seemed offended, and he looked rather adorable as he decided how to react appropriately. 
	His small muzzle opened to retort, but he thought better of it and replied in an exasperated voice. "I don't have time for this," he urged, his snake-like tail twisting in agitation behind him. I only blinked at him, surprised that his words carried no accent whatsoever. His face returned to the expression of impatience and concern as he lifted his eyes to the forest behind me.
	"I'm in something of a hurry myself," I offered. The only thing I wanted to do less than just let him go was to actually do battle with and hurt him. He immediately softened and turned his attention back to me, genuinely confused, and I think grateful. It hadn't occurred to him that we could simply continue on our respective missions and leave each other alone. Enemy combatants just didn't do that.
	What surprised me was he actually looked as conflicted as I felt. It may sound absurd, but we simply didn't want to leave each other. I hated the thought of never being able to lay eyes on him again. And whatever important mission he was on, the leopard was just as distracted by me. While he was hesitating, I couldn't miss the way his eyes had a difficult time staying on my face. The only thing I was wearing was a warrior's loincloth. This amounted to a thick strip of cloth on either side of my body, one tailored to fall beneath my tail and the other doing a pathetic job of covering the mass of my sheath and sac. Now, I've been told I am a very handsome wolf. I've also noticed people's level of focus is directly proportional to how much clothing I'm wearing. Needless to say, I was more than pleased that felines did not seem to be immune to this effect. 
	Feeling his sense of urgency, I pulled a dangerous move, hoping to get as much out of this encounter as I could. "My name is Arch. I am the Alpha Male of the Half-Moon Caern," I said in my most authoritative voice. I saw his body jerk in surprise at the power of my voice, and as comprehension sunk in he regained much of his focus. He lifted his fist again in apprehension, and this time I wasn't fooled by the fact that he was holding nothing in it. I'd never forget how quickly that bow appeared in his hand.
	I held my hands out, palms forward, in an attempt to calm him down. "I have no interest in fighting you," I said unbelievably. I couldn't have been more unsure of what I was doing. I only knew I felt it was the right thing to do.
	I almost felt guilty, the feline looked so confused. You'd think I was telling him that rain falls upward. What kind of savage did the cats picture me as? Just as I opened my long muzzle to say something sarcastic, the leopard's eyes suddenly widened and his posture went rigid. Something had occurred to him.
	"Where are your wolves now?" His voice was so full of legitimate urgency that I almost offered up the tactical position of the unit I had just left. I only frowned at him in silence, and though he was annoyed, he understood I wasn't going to answer. He shook his head and took a few steps forward, letting his hands fall back to his sides. "You have to leave here," he nearly pleaded. I didn't understand his behavior. I didn't realize at the time he was trying to save my life. It sounded like a pathetic attempt to get me and my armies to go back home, to leave his people alone. Had I known him a little better, I would have known nothing this leopard did was pathetic. Just as I was preparing to be disappointed with him, I heard a sound that would change my life.
	It was like the moan of a voice that was far too deep to be a real voice. But to call it a moan, or a roar, couldn't nearly describe the unmitigated terror behind it. I had never experienced something so viciously… haunted. My heart jumped in my chest and tripled in pace all at once. My body reacted without my consent, pumping adrenaline into my blood and triggering a severe fight or flight reaction. I spun on my heels, completely forgetting the threat of the feline behind me, to face the direction of the sound's source.
	The feline seemed to be less affected by the sound. That is, he could think clearly enough to walk. He stepped up to my side a few yards away, facing the forest in the same direction. "We have to run," he said, his voice beautiful but faint, almost sad. Defeated. Even as he said it, though, he stood his ground next to me.
	The stench reached my sensitive snout at about the same time I noticed the leaves on the trees changing colors. Or more accurately, losing their color. I coughed at the smell and reflexively turned my muzzle downward, as if to protect it from the invisible fumes. It was unbelievable how quickly the atmosphere went from perfectly fine to utterly inhospitable. I was not prepared.
	The feline renewed his sense of urgency when he saw me react this way, and I didn't understand why he seemed so unaffected. I saw he was terrified, but at this point the stench and the fumes had tears forming in my eyes, and I couldn't stop coughing. "Arch," he pleaded with me, "you have to start running. I can't stop it," he keened. It sounded like he was referring to more than just this encounter. Whatever this was, the feline felt responsible for it. But what mattered to me was that he was trying to save me.
	I doubled over with my arms tight on my stomach, vaguely aware of the drool that fell from my mouth as I endured the sensation. But it was more than pain. It felt like dying; dirty and degenerate. In that moment I didn't know how I could ever feel healthy again. I could feel things inside my body starting to fail, and couldn't think of anything but the sensation.
	I felt a hand on my shoulder, and it was the most comforting thing I could have asked for. I turned my eyes up to see his face, but caught sight of something else instead. I couldn't make out its form through my blurred vision, only a dark shape in the woods in front of us. It was of a color so dark that it seemed to suck in everything light, so that even the air around it was tainted. That's when I got pissed. I decided I didn't care what this thing was, or the feline's involvement in its presence. It was irrational, but I was enraged that this thing could make the feline feel so dejected and helpless. And I needed to show the cat that an alpha male werewolf was not so easily disposed of.
	He would tell me later that it was just like me, charging headfirst into a battle I knew nothing about, just to impress him.
	The fire in my core reacted to my anger, and it was the powerful medicine I needed. It spread from my center with its comforting warmth, burning away the sickness. It healed the flesh it encountered on the way and reached outward from my body, making me strong, focused. Healthy. Apollo snapped his hand back at the sudden surge of heat coming off my body.
	I spit on the ground and looked up again, this time raising to my full height when I did it. It was like coming back to life. The first thing I noticed was that the forest around me had died. Everything green had shriveled and blanketed the ground, painting it an ugly black and brown. The trees had turned white, their bark fallen off, the wood cracking and caving in on itself even as I watched. I understood that I would be laying dead and decayed with the rest of the forest, were it not for the power of the fire that supported me. It made me realize that running from this thing was not an option. My wolves were not far away, and I had no doubts that this being, without even trying, would destroy even my most powerful warriors.
	The second thing I noticed was that the feline was still standing next to me. Well, not right next to me. The heat my body was generating was enough to singe and destroy the dead vegetation that had fallen at my feet, and the cat was smart enough to keep his distance. He was also looking at me like I had just come back from the dead. And, well, I supposed I had.
	Ruson et comme eln, the foreign language was spoken in the same demonic moan I heard earlier, and I cringed. It wasn't loud. In fact I wasn't sure I was even using my ears to hear it. Just the act of perceiving its voice felt utterly unnatural and intolerable. It was like pain.
	The leopard reacted differently, and I realized he understood what it had said. Somehow it didn't seem important enough to ask. His attention was focused on the dark creature in woods before us, desperate but defiant. In spite of the apparent agony on the cat's face, his voice was as impressive and inspiring as ever. 
	"My name is Apollo," he said with grave implications. We understood that this was probably going to be the end of us, and he wanted me to know his name. We'd both had a chance to run. I had no idea what to think of the bond we had formed so quickly, but it was enough to keep me in place; to face an enemy that had already almost killed me. Somehow, we had both agreed to make a stand. More importantly, we decided to make a stand together. 
	I turned my glare onto the darkness in the ruined forest, gathering my fire and feeding it with righteous rage. The stronger it grew, the less I could contain inside my own body. The blanket of dead leaves around me crinkled and popped as it all caught on fire, burning in a neat circle around me. Apollo took the hint. He moved his feet into a more stable position, and lifted his hands in a manner I already recognized. His bangles glowed their beautiful blue light, and I smirked.
	Let it come.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
	Two hundred soldiers, and not a single enemy to face. I'm not the biggest fan of battle, but I understood the necessity behind this war, and it was frankly irritating to find nothing at our objective. I stood a few meters from Boxer, the Alpha-Warrior, absently listening to the brief he was receiving from the scouts. I got the idea from the first few words uttered: they didn't find anything and they had no idea why. I sighed, entertaining my own ideas, though nothing I came up with made sense.
	My name is Reyna, and I'd been the Alpha-Mage of the Half-Moon Tribe for five years at this time. Its not a time I like to reminisce on, or even allow into myself to think about. But then, if there was to be no record, how would I explain to the young ones what happened to their grandparents? 
	Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
	I exchanged a frustrated glance with Boxer, and could only offer him a delicate shrug of my shoulders. He was in charge of this company of soldiers, predominantly warriors with a few of my mages mixed in for support. We were to be the decisive force of this movement against our feline neighbors, but the only wolves seeing any activity were the damn teams of scouts and striders we had brought along for novelty purposes.
	It seems so petty to me now, but the wolves and leopards had been engaged in what we used to call war back then. A dispute over territory and resources. Every time our people met at the border, the violence escalated. Eventually,  both sides suffered losses in one of these unofficial clashes, each side claiming the other had started it. Once it was clear neither side would back down off the issue, war was declared. That was almost a year ago. I did not envy the young Alpha-Male who had inherited a war from his predecessor, but like the other council members, I was more than satisfied with Arch's command. The feline's arrogant leader, Rione, was running out of options and--we hoped--on the brink of surrender.
	If only we could have foreseen what he was capable of… what he was willing to resort to.
	"There's nothing here," Boxer reiterated, startling me from my thoughts with his baritone voice.
	I leaned on my staff in my usual carefree stance, offering to the warrior an intentionally condescending smirk.
	"I noticed."
	Boxer huffed impatiently at me through his broad snout, and I had to smile. Warriors weren't exactly my type, but the large Alpha-Warrior was very cute when he was frustrated with me.
	"So where's the only other place they could be?" he asked, trying to lead me to the conclusion he had already made.
	"You think they're waiting to ambush Arch?" I asked thoughtfully, but it was a rhetorical question. "I'm sure you remember as well as they do what happened the last time they tried that," I explained to his uncertain expression. "For that matter, how could they possibly have known where he would be? I think the only ones in danger of being ambushed was us."
	"Was? Did the threat pass by me while I wasn't paying attention?"
	It was my turn to huff at him, and was immediately irritated by the grin on his muzzle, because I'm sure I had looked childish. "No, but you're implying tactics and a level of military intelligence we've never seen from Rione, in a scenario that wouldn't make sense anyway."
	The grin fell from his muzzle as I spoke. There was no better way to sober up a warrior than to school him in a matter of war. I continued.
	"If Arch hasn't pushed his group down to this point yet, it's likely they ran into a similar situation. I wouldn't be surprised if he was sending Torun down as we speak to let us…" my speech was interrupted by a cutting, urgent voice.
	"Boxer!" Torun called out as he dropped gracefully down the incline to our north.
	The Alpha-Warrior and I looked at each other, and I took a minute to look utterly smug. Gods be damned, I was good.
	Boxer dismissed my uncanny tactical awareness and turned his attention to the approaching striders. Torun, the Alpha-Strider and fellow council member, wasn't even out of breath after his twelve mile run. More impressive was the strider that followed up behind Torun, just a boy. He couldn't have been more than 10 years old, but I could see why Torun brought him. Not only did he keep up with the Alpha-Strider, his skinny little frame seemed even less phased by the run than his superior. I was surprised by his age, but it was not uncommon for the most promising striders to be put to work early in their lives; their greatest asset was speed. I gave this young male a courteous nod as he approached, and he immediately brightened up.
	I listened intently while Torun relayed orders from the Alpha Male. I wasn't surprised by the order to fall back and regroup. We hadn't planned to go any further into the feline territory. I was going over the logistics of moving the company the few miles to the rally point, when a feminine cry pierced my train of thought.
	I looked just in time to see one of my mages, Kalei, sit down so fast that she might as well have fallen. Torun beat me to her side, curling his lean-muscled arm around her shoulders as he crouched to her level. The Alpha-Strider's speed shocked both me and Boxer; we stood for a second with our brows raised in surprise. If it had been a secret that Torun and Kalei were an item, it wasn't any more. Pack gossip aside, I hurried to where the girl was murmuring urgently to some unseen entity. Of course, I knew who she was talking to.
	Kalei was one of my more powerful mages, a mystic we refer to as a Whisperer. A Whisperer's magic revolved heavily around the entities of the higher realm; what most wolves call gods. They represent a very small portion of the mage population and, as in Kalei's case, generally receive attention from a single god. The pit that had already formed in my stomach was more than just a fear that Kalei was hurt. I was bothered because the entity Kalei had such a close bond with was the god of nature. Anything that bothered him so much to cause his Whisperer such distress was a problem far beyond our quarrel with the felines.
	Even as I prayed I was wrong, Kalei spoke to Torun in a weak voice. "Something's wrong. The forest is… dying. Arch is in danger," she sputtered, grasping onto the Alpha-Strider's arm for dear life.
	All of us within earshot reacted as if we'd received an electrical shock. 
	The nameless young strider was the first to say something. "How is that possible?" he blurted with a surprising amount of emotion. Torun turned to glare at him, but he was only saying what we were all thinking. Arch was by far the most powerful of us, none of us knew of anything that could put our Alpha Male in danger, much less destroy the forest in the process.
	"We have to help him," the little strider continued.
	"Slayn," Torun spoke his name with authority. It managed to silence the boy, though Slayn continued to radiate waves of concern for his Alpha. If I hadn't bigger things to focus on, I would have been interested in his behavior.
	"But he's right," Boxer decided suddenly, no doubt worrying about his son. I had been too preoccupied to remember that Chance was with Arch, too. I resisted the urge to argue with him, because I so wanted to agree. I wanted to believe that somehow we could help him. I knew our troops could never stand against something that might kill Arch himself. The only ones that might have a chance at helping Arch on that level was a council member, and three of the four of us were here.
	Each council member was adorned with a gift from the gods themselves, given to us to protect the pack in times of great need. They are abilities, tapped metaphysically from the higher realm, that are designed to amplify our respective positions as leaders of our caste. They are last ditch efforts, mostly because they are used only at great risk to ourselves. Our bodies, without a power as raw and natural as Arch's, were simply not designed to handle such otherworldly strength.
	Torun seemed to have similar thoughts. I saw him stand up, resolve hardened on his face, at about the same time that Kalei frantically grasped his arm. "No," she nearly shrieked. It drew the attention of many of warriors, still hanging back and waiting for orders. She seemed to recognize the need to lower her voice, but her urgency had not lessened. "It will kill you," she rasped with dreadful certainty.
	Torun looked down at her, his resolve torn by her desperate concern. Somehow, we all believed her.
	"What exactly are we facing?" Boxer asked in an effort to maintain authority and calm.
	A high-pitched shriek answered his question, resonating from the mountain base to the southwest. The sound was so offensive that every wolf present cringed in disgust and pain. The more sensitive of hearing had their hands clamped over their ears. The roar was like nothing I'd ever heard before, a raucous vocal that sounded like a hundred harsh voices all mixed into one ungodly chord.
	Kalei tugged on my robes, and I turned to see that she was crying. I hadn't even noticed her stand up. "We have to go," she pleaded.
	I glanced at Boxer over her head, and he met my eyes. No words passed between us, but we both seemed to agree on that point. Whatever we were going up against, the only logical step at this point was to follow the Alpha's orders.
	I could only hope he was ok.