Halloween with the Wolves

The night was calm and quiet. I walked to my den. All of a sudden, someone jumped out of the shadows yelling, “Boo!” I tensed up, ready to attack, when I noticed Comet giggling. I relaxed and rolled my eyes.

“I scared you, didn’t I?” Comet asked, still giggling.

“Yes, you did. You’re practicing for the Share-a-Scare event tomorrow, huh?” I asked.

“Yep, because I’m going to win!” Comet said happily.

“Come on, my little scare champ. Time for bed,” I said as I entered the den.

“Hey, Solar. Where’s Comet?” Timber asked me.

“Boo!” Comet exclaimed, jumping out from behind me.

“There you are! You scared me, little buddy,” Timber said as Comet ran up to his dad.

“I’ve been practicing for tomorrow,” Comet said with a yawn.

“Well, you’re not going to win if you don’t get to sleep,” Timber said. I circled three times, then lied down. Timber lied down next to me and Comet snuggled in between us. I licked Comet’s head, then we all fell asleep.

“Wake up! It’s Scare Night!” Comet exclaimed.

Timber and I opened our eyes. “It’s not until this evening, kiddo,” Timber said groggily.

“Yeah, but it’s still Scare Day! We should have a party!” Comet said excitedly. I laughed softly.

“Okay, okay,” Timber said as he got up and stretched. He gave Comet tips on scaring. When the full moon started to rise, everyone gathered around at the center of our territory. The pups, along with some adults, played games like Find the Stick, Scavenger Hunt, and the very last game, Hide-n-Scare. When it was Moon High, a chilly wind started to blow.

Nobody paid much attention to it until eerie howls could be heard in the blowing wind. Everyone froze. “What’s that?” Comet asked.

“The Howlers,” Asteroid replied. The pups were confused.

Timber started to explain, “The Howlers are the spirits of past wolves. Every year on Scare Night at Moon High, there is a chance you will be able to hear them howling in the wind. Sometimes it lasts all night, but sometimes only a few seconds.”

“Very rarely will you see a full form of a wolf that could never let go of the world, but you may catch glimpses of orbs or mist,” Asteroid added. The spooky howls grew quiet and the wind slowly died. A blanket of fog rolled in. We gathered close together, alert. A cold chill swept over us, but the air was still.

Whispers that could surrounded everyone. Transparent, fog-like wolves formed around us. “Has this ever happened before?” Comet asked with fear in his voice.

“Nope,” Galaxy replied. All attention was focused on the spirit wolves. Nobody dared to move.

The undead wolves slowly started closing in on us, still whispering. As they approached, their whispering grew louder.

“Death. Death,” they whispered.

“Leave us alone!” Comet suddenly said. The spirit wolves stopped and all grew quiet. Everyone, living and dead, stared at him.

“You heard me. Leave us alone,” Comet repeated, stepping closer to them. All the spirit wolves fell back into one line, except the one in front of Comet.

“You’re only a pup. You dare challenge me?” the transparent wolf said with a deep voice.

“We’ve never done anything to you. Why are you here?” Comet asked.

“It’s been 1,200 moons since my last visit. Surely the descendant of Ealon must know the price of the deal,” he replied.

Timber stepped beside Comet. “So the legend is true,” he said. I walked up on the other side of Comet.

“What legend?” I asked.

Timber sighed and said, “1,200 moons ago, when the Great Wolves lived, Ealon, the Earth Wolf, lost his mate, Loani, the day before Scare Night. The next day, he travelled to the Cave of Mystics, where he went to seek help from Razgard, the Mystic Wolf of that time. Razgard tried to summon Loani’s spirit, but instead he summoned someone else. That spirit made a deal with Ealon. He said that he could bring back Loani once, in exchange for his life. Ealon said that after 1,200 moons, he could take his descendant. So, here I am.”

The spirit wolf smiled approvingly. “Hold on. We’re not just going to let you take him,” I said, walking closer to the wolf. Comet stepped up with me, along with everyone else, so that we formed a defense line between Timber and the transparent wolf.

“I was hoping you would make this interesting,” he said as a dark yellow mist covered him. Moments later, a golden wolf with narrow, green eyes emerged from the mist. He had two dark yellow stripes on his muzzle as well as some dark yellow stripes on his head and cheek. On his back, he had a dark yellow fur going from his head to his tail, outlining his front and back legs. His front left leg had the same colored spots. The strange, golden wolf wore a chain around his neck, a scar on his left shoulder, and a scar left back leg.

Everyone gasped quietly. Never before had any of us seen such a wolf. Golden wolves only existed in tales of the first wolves...until now. “Here is my challenge: choose one warrior who shall fight against me until surrender or death. If I win, I take Ealon’s descendant. If you win, we will leave for another 1,200 moons, but when that time is up, we will be back,” the golden wolf said.

We grouped together to talk. “He doesn’t know that Comet is my pup. Just let him take me so this nonsense will end,” Timber said.

“No way. I won’t let you,” I said.

“Neither will I. I’ll fight him,” Comet spoke up. All of us stared at him and blinked.

Finally, I said, “Absolutely not. I’ll fight him.”

Timber sighed, knowing he had been defeated. “Promise me one thing, Solar. If he is about to kill you, surrender. Comet still needs at least one of us,” he whispered to me as everyone gathered around the golden wolf.

I took a deep breath and said, “I promise.”

“Good. Now go out there and show him that he is out of date,” Timber said. I chuckled softly.

“Alright, goldilocks. You ready to be put back in the grave?” I asked as I stepped into the center of the circle made up of living and undead wolves. I heard some of my pack laugh quietly at my insult and I smiled. The golden wolf glared at me.

“Let’s get this over with,” he growled.

The gold wolf jumped in the air to attack me. I sled under him, spun around and pounced, pinning him to the ground before he knew what happened. “Surrender now, before you die a second time,” I said.

“Never!” he yowled as he shoved me off. “I will be happy to help you die for the first time,” he added as he clamped down on my muzzle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Timber and Comet with worried looks on their faces.

I can’t let him win, I thought.

“Hey, goldilocks, you’re just a big wimp!” I heard Comet call. My opponent let go of my muzzle.

“Now now, young pup. You should know that’s no way to talk to your elders,” the wolf snarled. I knew that Comet said that for me, so I took the opportunity and attacked. I knocked him down and sank my fangs into his neck.

The golden wolf yowled in pain. “Surrender or die,” I said, still holding him down by the neck.

“Never,” I heard him squeak out. I shrugged and cut his jugular vein, causing the body to go limp. I let go and stepped back. The golden wolf lay still as his body was surrounded by the dark yellow mist again.

When the mist faded away, the spirit wolf hovered above the spot where his body used to be. The moon was now sinking behind the mountains. The spirit wolf pack faded as the daylight scared away the darkness that had covered the land. A small breeze blew, carrying the words, “Until next time.” Then, all was silent.

“You did it, mom!” Comet exclaimed as he ran up to me. I nuzzled him.

“Thanks, Solar,” Timber said as he came up and licked my muzzle.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” I replied. I know he won’t be leaving us anytime soon.