Steem Monsters Common Card Fantasy Story Contest! // Week 15 - The Wolf and the Moon

Here goes my entry to this week's card. Tough one for me! But here it goes:

Flavour text:

Night is our friend. At the full moon we howl: prepare yourselves... we are coming for you.

The Wolf and the Moon

I looked around, looking for a way out of the great hall. But there was none; nowhere to escape. The banshee's screams kept echoing across the stone walls, as the stench of death grew closer and closer. The pain on my back was almost unbearable at that moment, as I faced the entrance ready to meet my fate.
And as the shadow from the corridor kept growing, and growing...

Woke up with a snarl from my mate. I was standing in the middle of the lair, trembling, in a crouched posture again. Our eyes met, and she eased back, lowering her head and curling again.

The nightmares were getting worse, and more frequent. They started in my childhood, only every now and then. But in the last year, they became a real problem. My mate and the rest of our pack were comprehensive, they knew how troubled I was. It's not your fault, they would say, no one could lead us better than you. I layed besidse her and tried to fall back to sleeep.

Although bounded by spirit, they couldn't know how uneasy I was. A feeling of fear and uncertainty was growing in me, and somehow I knew our current situation wasn't the only one to blame.

Truth be told, there were reasons to be troubled. Red wolves were never in such few numbers, only 38 remained in my pack. As the undead rose once again, we were forced back to the inner parts of MorTis, an even more decayed land. Death doesn't trouble us, death keeps us alive. We hunt, we kill. But we need prey to hunt, and prey is scarce here. And the foul smells everpresent in the region weren't helping our hunts, for the last months most of us starved and that meant no offsprings on that year.
That's why we were moving north, in hopes of finding a place were the pack could settle and thrive. But no luck so far.

---

We started our journey again in the early morning; walked for miles and miles, but the landscape didn't changed much. All around us, mountains with arid land, trees with a gloomy look, looking more alive than dead. We managed to hunt a small eloch, the strange deer-like creatures that roamed in this land too, but it was far too small for everyone. I gave up my share and went for a small walk; I wanted to be alone with my thoughts. Walked for a bit while the pack feasted, and ended up in a small clearing, where I layed. Would I be able to lead my pack to brighter days? And what if we didn't found any more food?

Suddenly, the temperature fell. I immediatly stood up. But nothing had changed, nor did I smell or heard anything approaching. Strange. I looked around, restless.

And then, she was there.

Out of nowhere, in the middle of the clearing. Hovering in mid air, swirls of cobalt blue mist wrapping her body, the face with the long white hair and the dark eyes facing me. We stood there, facing each other for what it seemed an eternity. And then, she lifted her arm, her very thin arm, with a long hand and overgrown nails, pointing at me. I didn't saw her mouth move... but her screams were in my head.

The blood moon is upon us. You time has come. Rise, great spinebacks. RISE!

Some of the pack warriors appeared seconds after. They sensed something was not right, and followed my scent. But whatever it was, it had vanished.

What was it, they asked. But I had no clear answer to them. Never had I seen anything like it! Not that those screams were new to me. I heard them over and over again... in my nightmares. But only the screams, never a message. And I wasn't dreaming now.

What could be the meaning of it? Blood moons? Spineback? Nothing made sense to me. I could feel my pack mates concern was growing; I assured them I was ok. But realised no one heard the screams that filled the air and my head. Could I be daydreaming?

For three more days we travelled, eating what we could find, rare as it was. At the third day, we found a small lake. Lakes are good, lakes mean more food most of the time! I decided we should rest there for a couple of days, maybe lady luck was finally coming our way. It was almost nightfall, the sky filled with clouds. There would be a full moon that day; maybe we could hunt bigger game.

And then i heard my mate: Look at the moon, she said. … it's.... red!

It was! As the clouds were dissipating, the tip of a huge full moon was appearing. Red as blood.

Could this be? The blood moon of the screams?

At that time, the whole pack was gathered, looking as the moon made its way high in the skies. Most of it was still covered in clouds... but it was a spectacle none of us had witnessed yet. The red colour seemed to be even more intense, as more clouds parted.

Some of the older males started to howl. I smiled and joined them; what a joy it is to howl at the moon, even in difficult times.

The last cloud parted, showing the full red moon in all its splendor.

And then it happened.

A scream filled the air; a long, sharp scream. This time all the pack heard it.

But only I felt the pain.

The excruciating pain. Pain like I had never felt before, like I was being pierced by a thousand arrows. My howl gave way to frightening growl, as I tried to control the trembling in my muscles. I could feel the eyes of my pack in me, our mental bound showing them a glimpse of what I was passing.

It was too much for me; I had to get away. I darted in the direccion of the lake, trying to get some distance between me and the rest of the pack. But didn't went far. The trembling was to much for me to control, and as I felt to the ground, I saw a blue mist enclircling me. The pain was all over me, and it almost seemed that something was ripping my flesh, coming out of my body. And then I fainted.

---

I don't know how much time I stayed unconcious, but when I gained back my senses, the moon was already as high as it would get.

I felt different. More strong. A whole new range of scents came through my nose, scents I hadn´t felt before. I could hear better too. And when I was able to get on my feet again, I knew for sure something had changed.

I looked around, and saw the pack staring at me, keeping a distance. I could feel their surprise as well, and only when I looked at my body could I fully understand their faces.

Spines!

Most of my back was covered in spines. For a moment I stood there, motionless. And then I remembered the words.

Rise, great spinebacks. RISE!

---

After that night, everything changed. No one could explain what happened, but the pack's mental bound with the Alpha grew even stronger, and altough I was the only one with the spines, the whole pack seemed to gain a new strenght with the blood moon. We resumed our journey, and after a fortnight we reached a place we could call home. Hunting got easier, and when the spring came, so came our offspring.

And how strong and playfull they are, with their red hair waving in the wind... and the little spines already blooming in their backs.