The Dead Forest - A Spineback Wolf Fantasy Story (Steem Monsters Writing Contest)

I am older than the calendars of man. My packs began life in the woods. It was a wonderful life, stalking prey. Toying with our food, a mere plaything. The woods were bountiful, and from them, we took all we required.

That life seems like it was eons ago.

Then, the flames came. One night, the woods burned. This was not a seasonal fire. The fire raged for weeks, and was unending in its destruction. This was not a natural fire. Fueled by serpents, demons, and abhorrent beetles, this fire endured.

We learned the purpose of this fire. The Kobolds were coming to claim this land, and strip it on an industrious scale.

We fled. We ran to the citadels. We ran to the sea. We ran for weeks. We had nowhere to go, but back to the still burning forest. It was ours. We had to get our land back.

Amid fire, frenzy, destruction, and the crackling of falling trees, I watched my pack mates die.

I too, died that night, lungs heavy with smoke, having watched cubs, females, and our fierce alphas perish in flame.

We didn't all stay dead.

I remember waking up.

It was cold. So very cold. The Necromancer, draped in the flesh of dead serpents stood over my body. "Good. You're back." Green energies swirled around her body. Tinctures, bones, and ash lay about the dim room; I was not the first of her experiments.

I snarled. The Necromancer had read my mind with her next words. "You wanted revenge?" A crooked smile developed at her thin lips as she explained what she required.

"Nine hundred years ago, you died. Mines replaced your lush woods. The Kobolds continue to threaten this land with their greed. Their masters have grown complacent. Tear them limb from limb. You are dead. You cannot die again."

"You leave tonight. I need not give you directions."

My new body was powerful. The bones of my pack mates had been sharpened and fused to my spine. This didn't slow down my sprinting, and I was the perfect size. I could still stalk my prey, and avoid detection. The Kobolds working in the mine shafts wouldn't stand a chance.

---

Little remained of the woods. It gave enough cover to observe the Shamans guarding the entrance to the mine shafts. In the scorched ground, it was easy to stalk. They wouldn't see it coming.

With a leap, I targeted it's arm, severing it at the wrist. Its weapon fell to the ground, still clutched by the disembodied hand. It tasted repugnant, but the deed was not yet done. The Shaman attempted to swat me away with its good hand, impaling it on one of my spines.

Even in death, my pack mates continued to support me. I pivoted, and thrashed my body, tearing the remainder of the Shaman apart with my jaws. It died.

Moist with blood, my spines seemed even sharper.

I entered the mine. The descent was uneventful, and I tracked the Kobolds by the noise they were making. There was no moon down here to howl at, but I would have my vengeance.

A pack of Kobolds stood idle, having a break. They bantered among one another.

I growled.

They seemed unconcerned. Good. I moved in, knocking away their mining axes as I engulfed their ankles in my jaws, leaving them with bloody stubs.

Unlike the Shamans, these Kobolds were delicious. I killed four within moments. I left one bleeding, blithering a language I couldn't understand, as a warning for any others.

I continued my journey down the mine shafts. More Kobolds, this time working, came into my vision. I struck at the first one, unbalancing it as it struck the wall of the mine, and then leaping atop its terrified body. I ripped out its throat, flinging viscera into the eyes of another.

Blinded by the larynx of his workmate, this one was another easy kill. The thrill of the hunt pumped through my veins, but it was not long until the Kobolds became organised. I was surrounded.

Several of their mining axes had become entangled in my spines, protuding outward in multiple directions. They had tried to subdue me, but failed; their weak limbs unable to untangle their weaponry.

They swarmed, piling atop of my body, trying to topple me, to get at my weak underbelly. I gnashed and thrashed, killing more and more but eventually, their ranks thinned, and I grew tired.

The heavy footfalls of something larger boomed and echoed through the mines, a sulfurous stench growing stronger and stronger as it approached.

The dark cavern became bright, and through the mass of writhing Kobolds I could see the fist of a Fire Demon. This would be an intense battle.

The Kobolds that could still do so scattered as they saw their master arriving. A fireball whizzed through the maze of tunnels, and melted a pile of ore. The Fire Demon took up the higher ground.

The fire demon's blasts were powerful, but slow. I dodged them, amid renewed attempts from the Kobolds to impale me with their axes. Up, and up, the Fire Demon fled. I gave chase.

There was less and less room to evade its fiery attacks as I ascended in pursuit.

It stood on a ledge above me. It had a clear shot. I couldn't let it hit me. Smoke began to fill the cave, just as it filled the forest where I died years ago.

On all sides, there was a myriad of caves into which I could pursue the demon, and grant myself shelter. I moved to bound through one, to be met by a Kobold's axe.

It was just as dazzled as I; and I managed to recover first. I snapped at it shoulder, throwing it off the ledge into the depths from which I had ascended. Then, came another Kobold, and another. The Fire Demon spoke in a dialect I could understand. "The Kobolds will turn you to soup!"

They kept coming. I kept killing. The fire demon was unable to target me amid the bloodmist and rising pile of bodies. That pile of bodies would be what would lead me to the Fire Demon. Its wings would be mine. I continued to add to my pile of dead Kobolds, and reasoned I'd only need a dozen or so more to reach the Fire Demon.

That didn't take long.

I bounded up the writhing, wailing and bleeding pile, somehow remaining concealed. The Fire Demon would grant me the taste of victory. It saw me when I mounted its rocky crag, but I was too quick.

I clawed my way up its back, forcing the demon to fall forwards into the pile of dying Kobolds I'd maimed.

Face down, it was defenceless. I took its wings. I took its horns. I amputated its limbs with my jaws, throwing them about to all corners of the mine.

It remained motionless, yet, the fire at its fist still smoldered.

Among the pile of still dying Kobolds, I found its wings. I took them in my jaws, and bounded back to the night, a grin across my maws.

---

When I returned, the Necromancer was sleeping. I placed the Fire Demon's wings down on the floor, and slept at the foot of the bed. In the morning, there would be more conquest. This was not the last chapter in my vengeance. I would serve my queen until the end of days.