RoD Chapter 2

Cainu woke up the next morning just in time to hit the wall of the den. He grunted in pain and opened his eyes to see Lalan grabbing Gannon by the scruff as well. He then threw him against the den wall to wake him the same way he had woken Cainu, who leapt to his feet and ran over to his brother, nudging him to his paws before turning and facing Lalan. He did not attempt to hide the anger in his eyes but Lalan just smirked at him. “Rise and shine pups, it’s time for training.” He sneered at them before wrinkling his nose at the den. Cainu saw his mother lift her head but she said nothing. “Hurry your furry little tails to the camp entrance. I want us out by dawn so no one sees us leaving.” With a wave of his tail Lalan turned and left the den, walking over to the entrance where he sat to wait for them. The brothers looked over at him and saw his ear twitching impatiently.

Cainu let out a small growl once the male was out of hearing range and Caerwyn let out a soft chuckle. “I do not envy you having him as your teacher.” She said softly, “But at least he didn’t hover and continue to heckle you. Go quickly to the kill store and grab a few bites to keep up your strength. Then you can go meet him.” Cainu nodded to her and nudged Gannon, who nodded back at him. They both leapt out of the den and raced across the camp. Even though he was dreading having to learn from Lalan of all wolves, he was excited to actually be training. If he could just learn to use his demonic powers, he felt that there was some way he could make his mother proud of him.

 

They ate just a few bites each and then hurried to where Lalan was waiting for them. “Took you long enough.” Lalan scoffed at them as he turned and raced out of camp at full speed leaving Cainu and Gannon to try and catch up. They ran until the sun had risen well above the horizon. Cainu had felt like he was going to drop multiple times on the way there but Lalan made no allowances for the shorter legs and low endurance of the two brothers. Gannon fared worse than Cainu, who was determined to not show weakness in front of the irritable wolf set to train them. He forced his tired legs to keep up, and as Gannon began falling behind, he moved behind his brother, giving him the occasional nudge to help keep him moving. They finally stopped in an area the pack called the Burnt Forest. The boys had never seen the place but they were able to recognize it easily enough from what their mother had told them. They were in a forest where all of the trees were burnt and there were ashes all over the ground. Every time the wolves moved, the movement sent up little poofs of ash. The ash cloud made Cainu and Gannon, who were still panting heavily from the run, have coughing fits but Lalan just laughed at their misery as he walked slowly through the trees, catching some of them on fire as he passed. Watching him, Cainu realized why the trees here were all burnt and ash was all over the place. ‘This must be where the fire elementals practice.’ The thought went through his head as he forced his achy and shaking legs to move, following Lalan into the open area in the middle of the burnt trees. Gannon shakily followed him, allowing his back legs to buckle and his rump hit the ground in a poof of ash the moment he stopped next to Cainu.

As the boys tried to recover from the long run, Lalan laughed again. Cainu looked up to see that the wolf had moved around the side and was now on his left. He was surprised to see a look of malicious glee in the male’s eyes and fear coursed through his veins. He tried to face Lalan, but he had not recovered enough for his legs to obey his wishes. Without warning, Lalan leapt forward and slammed into Gannon, who squealed in pain and fear as he was sent flying through the air. Cainu watched him, his eyes tracking his brother’s motion. “Gannon!” he cried out in fear for his brother as the silver pup crashed hard into a nearby tree, which shuddered and lost a branch from the impact. A crack sounded across the clearing as Gannon landed in a cloud of ash. He did not move.

Cainu made to run to his brother when a dark chuckle sounded in his ear. “Are you sure you have the leisure to look elsewhere?” Lalan whispered and the next second Cainu felt teeth in his shoulder. He whined in surprise and pain as Lalan lifted him off the ground and shook him a few times before likewise throwing him into a tree. As his spine made contact with the bark, a yip escaped through Cainu’s teeth. He heard Lalan’s laugh flow through the clearing once more and Cainu knew the wolf was enjoying torturing him and his brother. He rose to his paws and shakily turned to face him. He met Lalan’s eyes and growled at him. Seeing the pleasure in Lalan’s eyes at his response, Cainu made a decision. If this was what Lalan was going to call training, then at least he would go down fighting. As that thought went through his head he thought he heard a whisper of a small chuckle and his ear flicked back as if there was an itch. He felt energy sweep through his body and his legs stopped shaking. With the distraction of his aching legs gone, the pain in his back seemed that much sharper but that only made Cainu angrier at Lalan. He could hear nothing from where Gannon was and if Lalan had hurt him he was going to pay. He leapt forward to attack Lalan, who didn’t even flinch. Lalan easily sidestepped Cainu’s attack and took advantage of the opening to grab Cainu again and throw him into another tree.  As his spine made contact, Cainu heard a crack as his back popped and he collapsed in a heap on the ground.  He lifted his head and glared at Lalan. Seeing the look on Lalan’s face made his anger flare even hotter and he forced himself to his paws. He rose to his full height and snarled at him before leaping forward. He only made it two steps before a wall of flames sprung up around him. He spun quickly in a circle but there was no gap for him to escape. He stood there as the flames started moving in towards him. He knew there was no way to avoid being burned if he stayed there. Desperate, he leapt forward through the ring of flames. The heat singed at his fur and he rolled as he landed, stopping in a heap at Lalan’s paws.

Lalan just smirked at him there as he struggled to get up. Cainu fought to find his paws but his strength failed him. After that long run and then immediately trying to fight, his body had given out on him. He laid there on the ground, panting. His legs were aching from the effort and his fur was singed and smoking. Lalan kicked him again, but he was too exhausted to even make an effort to dodge. The older wolf huffed at him as he stepped over Cainu’s shaking form and walked over to Gannon, who still had not risen. Cainu fought to raise his head and locked his eyes on Lalan’s form. “Don’t…. Touch… Him!” He managed to bark out but Lalan paid him no mind. He walked over to Gannon and lifted the motionless pup off the ground by the scruff, slamming him down once more. Gannon bounced and settled once more in a cloud of ash. “Gannon!” Cainu cried out breathlessly. He tried to find his paws once more, but all he could manage was to sit up. His head hung low and he growled weakly in Lalan’s direction. He watched, unable to do anything, as Lalan reached down and bit into Gannon’s shoulder.

Out of nowhere, a black flame sprung up around Gannon, radiating from his sigil. Lalan was forced to release the silver pup and jump back to avoid being burned. Gannon rose slowly to his paws, and Cainu watched in shock as the flames moved to surround Gannon’s paws like gloves. Gannon’s head lifted and Cainu saw that his usually green eyes had turned a brilliant red. He gasped in shock at the sudden change in his brother but Lalan only laughed. “It’s about time one of you awakened! I was getting bored!” Gannon didn’t reply. He just leapt forward, lashing out with one of his flame-wrapped paws. Lalan whipped his own flame forward to block the attack and sparks flew out from the point of impact. He flipped away from the wall of fire and circled around to attack from the back. Lalan had no trouble dodging the attack. All it took was a flip to the side and Lalan was ready for him. The flame wall shifted, forming a whip that lashed out at Gannon. The whip hit Gannon hard, making an impact that Cainu could hear all the way on the other side of the clearing. It was if the flames were solid. The whip then curled back, wrapping itself around Lalan’s paws to make gloves similar to the ones on Gannon’s paws, only Lalan’s flames were red instead of black. The two males leapt at each other, the flames acting as claws to slash at one another. They fought furiously and the only sounds besides the flames were Gannon’s growling and Lalan’s chuckles. The trees around them began catching fire although neither one seemed to notice. The trees Gannon ignited were surrounded in a flash of black fire that immediately turned orange, turning to regular flames.

Eventually the two broke apart and faced each other. Gannon was panting heavily but Lalan seemed unfazed, still chuckling under his breath. The red light in Gannon’s eyes began to fade, returning to the green they originally were, while the flames remained. Gannon blinked, seeming to return to his normal shy self and he looked around, gasping in shock when he noticed the black flames around his paws. “Congratulations for releasing your demonic powers for the first time.” Lalan said from where he was standing as he extinguished his own flames. The tone in his voice was more patronizing than congratulatory. “Remember this feeling well, for you will need to know how to reach this state of your own free will. Unless you learn to control it, it will control you, and the moment that happens those around you will get hurt.” Gannon nodded as the flames died out. He stumbled but managed to keep his feet and shook his head. Lalan turned his back on Gannon and turned to Cainu. “You on the other hand are a disappointment. After all that fight you showed, you never even once showed any signs a single flame.” Lalan looked through the smoke rising from the trees at the sun which was now high in the sky. “It is time we returned to camp. I have my own things I need to do. Try and keep up. I will not make allowances for you being tired.” With that Lalan turned and trotted out of the clearing. None of them noticed how Cainu’s shadow was shivering and waving or the demonic energy radiating from the edges of it.

They arrived in camp panting heavily, but they somehow managed to remain standing after that long run. Cainu had heard about the burnt forest and how it was on the far side of the territory, but he had never imagined that the territory was just so big. Lalan just huffed at them and walked away to a group of young wolves that was gathering nearby. They greeted him with wagging tails and laughed at someone’s joke. Cainu recognized them as the group of friends that Lalan always tagged around with and winced visibly as one of them glanced his way. The group included Akantha, a female who always went out of her way to bully the two when Lalan was nearby, and Banji, the pack’s current heir. Cainu and Gannon forced their tired legs to move and they skirted the group, taking the long way around camp in an effort to avoid them. Their path took them by the healer’s den just as one of the healers, a male named Basel, walked out. His sharp eyes immediately noticed the fang marks that Lalan had left on their pelts and he intercepted them, herding them into the healers den. Cainu complained about it, saying they needed to return to their den to avoid trouble. “You’re both injured and knowing Lalan you will go through training just as harsh tomorrow. Put your stubbornness aside and take what I’m offering or you will regret it later.” Basel countered Cainu’s argument easily as he would any other pack member. The fact that the two brothers were omegas did not affect the way he treated them. His tone never wavered and his words were commanding but kind and there was no malice in his eyes. He saw them settled into some spare nests and gave them something to eat while he prepared their herbs. Cainu was unused to kindness from anyone besides his mother and brother so it made him a little uncomfortable to be cared for by someone else. He chewed at the meat as he watched Basel call over two other healers. One carried two small bowls, which she set down in front of Basel, who was busy tearing the leaved into small pieces. The three worked together to make the medicine. Once Basel drew water out of the soil and filled the bowls he had placed the herbs in, the third wolf brought the herbs to a boil with her fire before the young female who had brought the bowls used her ice to cool them to a safe drinking temperature. She then brought the herb mixes to the boys, being the youngest. “Drink that.” Basel ordered them as they watched the two females who had assisted him leave. “Drink and rest, and you will feel better soon. In the meantime, I will prepare something to put on your wounds so it doesn’t get infected.”

“You do too much.” Cainu muttered under his breath but Basel, who had overheard him, only smiled and shook his head.

“I am doing this because I want to, no other reason.” He said seriously. “You may be omegas, but you are wolves like anyone else and your body has the same needs. No matter the rank it is my job to keep the members of this pack healthy, and I intend to do just that.”

Cainu wanted to argue more but kept his mouth shut. He knew he had already crossed the line of what he was allowed to say as an omega, and he was afraid if anyone saw him he would be punished. As it was, he was already afraid of being bullied for being in the healers den for injuries as minor as these.  He looked over at Gannon and realized his brother had already fallen asleep. Seeing his brother peacefully sleeping made him realize how tired he himself was. He laid his head down on the moss as close as he could get to Gannon and closed his eyes. In that position he fell asleep to the steady sounds of Basel working nearby. Basel had just started applying the medicine to his cuts when the darkness washed over him.