Stranger Passing: The Sword and the Flame Novella

Chapter 4

The Wilderness earned its name due to the outlaw nature the people living there thrived under. It also happened to have a majority of its northern territory covered in a thick forest where a myriad of creatures lived. Big and small, weak and powerful were among the descriptions for the beasts waiting in the shadows of the trees, or under the brush for some careless being to wander within easy reach.

Life under those conditions hadn't proven easy for anyone choosing to leave the comfortable confines of the northern kingdoms. Both beasts and people struggled to survive on a daily basis. Nowhere in the forest was that more true than in the area known as Darken Woods. Sitting to the west of the thinnest portion of the forest, Darken Woods derived its name from being the oldest, thickest, and most dangerous portion of the forest, whither few traveled and whence fewer returned. The struggle to survive in the forest was difficult enough without one pushing their luck in such a remote and evil place.

Home to various creatures, the Darken Woods hosted some of the deadliest known in all of Pyrain. The dominant animals were a mix of three predators. The dire wolves, dire bears, and dire cats fought one another for the perch of dominant animal in their dark domain. While wars between the different species were commonplace, the struggle within their societies proved even more complex. Following nature's course, and therefore the path of the Gods, the alpha leaders were challenged on a weekly basis by those wishing to have the power of their kin behind them.

Such an event was nothing new for Cimble, the former alpha of the dire wolves. For more than four years, he led the pack against the other dire beasts for supremacy with marked success. Greater still had been his ability to fend off upstarts and rogues wishing to usurp his position, or cement themselves within the hierarchy of the pack. Without faltering, he held what was rightfully his by defending his position, his right of first selection of the females, and his right to eat fresh kill first. That was all before he lost the challenge to Yuvor, a young wolf that, by all rights, shouldn't have been challenging him for another handful of years.

Cimble failed to defend his position, not because he was overpowered or outsmarted, but because his hind paw slipped and he fell into the river. Seen by the others as a cowardly escape attempt, he was banished without remorse for attempting to flee from a challenge. While he knew that wasn't the truth, none would listen to his pleas to continue the challenge. He left, never to return, under penalty of death.

It was for that reason, and not because of sickness or injury, that he now walked alone through the Darken Woods. While not the most intelligent of beasts, dire animals had a higher thinking process than other beasts in the wild. With the ability to outthink their prey, dire animals adopted an ambush predatory style similar to smaller or immobile creatures when dealing with humans, Elves, and Dwarves. For either of those races, a lone dire animal would often be powerful enough to bring them down, but a predator rarely risked injury to itself for the sake of food. So long as travelers remained wary and aggressive, they faced little threat aside from a group of beasts.

Those thoughts, and other similar ones, floated through Cimble's mind as he stalked his way through the Darken Woods. More out of heartache than necessity, he wanted to put as much distance between himself and the pack as possible. There was a danger of humans in the thinner portions of the forest, but he also knew there would be other prey that would be easier for him to hunt.

Cimble wasn't aware of how long he continued along the path as he was lost in deep thought. The first visible sign of his leaving the Darken Woods was the brightening of the sunlight shining through the canopy above his head. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air. There was something nearby. In an instant, he pivoted and launched through some brush to his right. The high-pitched squealing told him his senses hadn't failed.