Callidus Rising | Complete ✔️ | Book 1

40: Toke

I'm surrounded by darkness.

It's everywhere. I spin around, searching for an escape.

Right above me, there's a pinprick of light.

Grrrrrr.....

I freeze, my nerves tense.

Grrrrrrrr.....

Behind me.

Again. Beside me.

Then, in front of me.

Awooooooohhhh!

I flinch back, feeling a creeping sense of dread in my stomach.

Footfalls. Coming straight for me.

Bright teeth and flaming orange eyes flash in front of me as I'm swallowed by darkness.
*****
I flinch awake, sweating. I exhale.

Just a dream. That's all.

I begin to calm down and shift a little bit to get comfortable again when I realize James has fallen asleep as well. His head is resting on his fist which is digging his elbow into his left thigh in a sitting position.

I shake my head and sit up. I pull his blanket off his lap gently and wrap it around his shoulders. I'm about the lay back down when I hear it.

A snarl.

I freeze up. There's no possible way. It must be my imagination generating this figment because my mind is overactive. I go to place my head down one more time, but another noise sounds.

The snap of a twig.

My nostrils flare and I push up from my resting position to my feet. I tug the blaster from James' waist band and grip it tightly.

I turn and tap him on the shoulder once, and he jolts awake. He grits his teeth and meets my eyes in the darkness. I think one of his eyebrows is raised.

I lean down to him and whisper.

"We have company."

He doesn't respond, but instead he moves silently over to Ryker and wakes him.

This time another snarl sounds. Louder this time. I look over at where Ryker and James are. Ryker moves over to me, and towards to door.

He puts his fingers in his mouth, and gives an almost silent whistle.

Outside, I hear the grass shift. I also hear a yawn. He's woken the dire wolves.

I grip the weapon in my hands even tighter as I see movement through a fairly close bank of trees through the one-way tent material.

A flash of white.

Then it's gone.

My breathing accelerates and James comes to stand beside me in the darkness.

"What is that?"

"That's Toke," Ryker says with disgust in his voice.

As in the wolf that basically mauled Walton?

Great.

The two wolves in front of our tent stand, shaking out their fur sluggishly from the abrupt awakening.

They're about the lay down again when Remi tenses up, his spiking dark fur illuminated by the moonlight. His dark eyes shine as he watches the trees.

Beside him, Shiva crouches with her ears pasted to her skull. Her flaming yellow eyes are narrowed as she pulls her lips up into a snarl.

Her tail is rigid.

As white fur begins to push through the branches, Shiva backs into the darkness until she's unseen. Remi stands his ground and his claws are gripping the fertile ground. In front of him, a massive white wolf appears.

It's barely larger than Remi, and it's orange orbs are relentless. Remi hunches slightly, exposed teeth gnashing as his ears lower slightly.

Toke advances with a rigid figure, head held high. His teeth are barely exposed in a quiet growl.

His ears are raising into a tall stance as well. For a moment, it looks like Remi is going to bow. Before he gets the chance to, Toke turns towards the camouflaged tent and raises his nose.

His lips climb his teeth until they're fully exposed. He snarls as his nostrils flare, drawing in the familiar scent of Ryker. Toke turns towards Remi and practically roars, spittle flying.

Remi untucks his tail as his ears begin to rise. He flicks his ear as he stalks toward the larger wolf. Their noses are only inches away from each other as Remi gives an earth-quaking snarl.

The white wolf doesn't flinch.

Instead, he lunges for Remi's throat. The multi-colored wolf leaps back, narrowly missing death. They wrestle around in the moonlight with fur and spit filling the air. Remi strikes to the huge wolf's shoulder.

Blood is staining the white fur and Toke begins to bend in what seems like a bow. Remi raises up, standing tall with his ears forward.

Just before Toke reaches the bottom of the bow, he leaps upward, jaws wide open; around Remi's neck.

Toke is flying through the air in what seems like slow motion to me as I run to the front of the tent and throw it open, aiming James' blaster at the white wolf.

Right before I can pull the trigger, a flash of yellow and darkness smashes into the white wolf.

Shiva stands over the bloodied snowflake with a small, but heavy paw pressed to its throat.

Her large claws flex over his throat as she snarls and flattens her ears. She presses her face close to his and gives a loud cry. This time, he winces.

Behind he, Remi stands proudly, his eyes locking with Shiva's for a split second before she resumes her position on Toke.

Ryker tugs the weapon from my hand and approaches the Dires.

He grips it and approaches aggressively. He holds the weapon only inches from Toke's head. My eyes widen and I sprint outside, ignoring the gash on my thigh, and catch it in my hands just before he can pull the trigger.

I meet his unmatching eyes in the light of the stars.

"He know he's been beaten," I say and slowly take the weapon from his hands. The battered wolf is watching us with his teeth still showing.

Shiva presses her paw even deeper, and Toke chokes.

James moves up behind us and looks at the scene with concern. He meets my eyes as Ryker whistles to Shiva, and she steps off of the larger wolf, and it scrambles to its paws.

Toke begins to back away slowly, then turns and runs into the trees.

Ryker watches beside his two Dires with an angry look on his face. James finally coughs to break the silence and we both turn to him.

"I think we've slept enough," he says.

We all turns back towards the tent and begin packing up in the middle of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

How about that scene? Too crazy? Maybe? I don't know. I do know Shiva is a total badassssss. Do you think they should have spared Toke? Tell me!
Thank you for reading!!! ♥️♥️♥️