Third chapter, and a better introduction of the third main protagonist which made a small appearance in the end of the previous chapter.

Enjoy and comment please.

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Chapter 3: Withered amity

The next morning after blissful dreams and aching bodies, Whisper woke first.
“Raven, wake up” she said.
“Didn’t you leave yet, go away” He mumbled in his sleep.
Whisper stayed quiet for a while, feeling a bit awkward and hurt.
“Can you get off me please?” she asked dryly.
“Huh what?” he mumbled again and opened his eyes “Whisper?... Whisper” he shouted and jumped up. “Oh, I’m so sorry. How do you feel? Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.
“Yes I’m fine… Raven. Just a bit dazed. What happened after I passed out?”
Raven looked away not sure what to say, he thought that if he told Whisper her brutal attack that’s going to lead her to her death failed, she might feel pathetic. Then the thought of Whisper’s death shot through his mind like a piercing arrow. She had no idea of her sad fate and Raven had to tell her.
Raven dropped his ears “Well… you see, you didn’t kill it”
“What” Whisper said stunned “How can that be? There’s no way he could have survived my attack, I put all my energy into it”
Raven shrugged his shoulders.
Whisper swung around her fine yellow muzzle and her eyes searched the area for the creature “Where is he then?” as she spoke she saw the impaled body dangling from a big thorn that rose out from the ground.
“Raven… what happened?” she asked blankly.
Raven sat there quiet for a moment thinking what to tell her. “After your attack you stumbled towards me…”
“I vaguely remember that, I fell down in front of you and said something I think” she interrupted.
“Uh… yes… then moments later the creature started to move and I feared for our lives. It moved towards us and I tried to protect you but I could hardly move due to the poison” Raven made a painful expression on his face “the creature almost jumped for my throat when suddenly that spike shot out from the ground, I couldn’t believe my eyes but there it was” he continued.
They both looked nauseously at the spike, still dripping with blood.
“How? I mean, where did it come from, Raven”
“I think it was the spirit we chased. But it wasn’t a spirit; it was a she-wolf. She’s like us, has elemental powers, she’s a nature wolf I think” he said with a shaky voice, still trying to piece it all together.
“She saved us” Whisper said relieved.
“I guess” Raven said. He couldn’t tell her about the poison in her body, he didn’t have the courage in his heart to tell her she’s going to die in less than two days, it’s possibly the worst news anybody could give someone.
“I hope I get to thank her someday” Whisper smiled and got to her feet, she stumbled to the side and gently dropped to the ground again.
“Whisper” Raven yelled and rushed to her side.
“Don’t worry Raven, my body’s still asleep I guess” she smiled and struggle to her feet again. Raven stood against her as she leaned against his weight to get up. Whisper was surprised at Ravens sudden change of attitude towards her and blushed.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
Whisper jumped up and started to spin around like as if she was chasing her tail like a playful pup, in the process she slapped Raven in the face with her lavishing black tail. Suddenly she stopped and dropped her front paws and head to the ground with her tail wagging happily in the air. Raven stared at her blankly.
“Stop staring at me like that Raven. I’m perfectly fine. There’s no way an attack like that can damage me, I’m the master of my element” She proclaimed proudly with her tongue lolling from her mouth. But she could feel something was different. A lightning wolf’s body overflows with pure energy, due to that their heartbeats are incredibly fast, and Whisper felt the slight difference in her own body. She felt the pace of her pulse is slower.
Raven cocked up his ears and looked at her in disbelief. Did the poison not get into her system?
Raven smiled softly and wanted to pounce her out of happiness but held himself back because he didn’t feel relaxed around company just yet. He tried to keep his cool but his tail wagged rapidly behind him. They both smiled happily at each other when Raven remembered what the she-wolf said about them that have to be gone by morning. He didn’t plan on falling asleep, he even thought about ditching Whisper and get himself to safety, that’s what he would have done but he felt bad for Whisper, and a strange new bond with her.
“We have to get out of this forest now” he said.
“I agree, there may be more Tainted in the shadows”
“Tainted?”
“Yeah, there are many names for the creatures but I personally like the term Tainted, since their minds are corrupted by their own bloodlust” whisper replied.
“I like that. But let’s start moving” Raven said and scoped the area.
“Should I take the lead?”
“No. this way” he got up and started walking, Whisper didn’t move and sighed. Raven peered over his back and looked at her, expecting her to follow. She shook her head.
“What?” he asked with a sarcastic tone.
“You’re going in the wrong direction. Or perhaps you want to go deeper into the forest and get killed by squirrels” she laughed darkly “This way” she said and walked next to the stream with its current.
Raven growled and followed behind her.
“Males and their sense of direction” she laughed.
They walked in silence while Whisper looked around at the wonderful scenery, it was still early in the morning but the summer sun was at full bloom. The blue sky reflected in the stream making it look like a sparking river of crystals. This would have eased Raven’s mind but he couldn’t stop thinking about the battle and what the she-wolf said about the poison in Whisper’s body, could it really be true? But she looked plenty healthy to him. Meanwhile Whisper’s heartbeat slowed down even more; it was about the same speed as a normal wolf’s, almost the same as Raven’s. She didn’t know or even consider its poison, she just thought it’s because she exhausted her power a bit too much. But her mind was puzzled at the fact that her paw pads were numb, she couldn’t think of an excuse to relieve her mind, so she was worried. Her powers couldn’t have done something like that, what she told Raven about her being in control of her ability wasn’t a lie. She can’t damage herself anymore with her lighting abilities like she did in the past. Raven noticed the worry in her eyes and gave a low sad yip; Whisper didn’t want him to worry so she smiled stupidly at him making him look away with a low growl. He stepped into the shallow bank of the stream and continued walking forward in it, liking the watery sensation running up his legs. The water in front of him shot up in a small fountain and rained watery mist over his face. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the stimulating properties of his marvelous element. Whisper stared blankly at him and as he saw this he stared back. He smiled mischievously at her and squirted a thin water stream at her face. She didn’t look pleased and shook her head to get the moisture of her fur. Raven laughed and shot another spurt. This time Whisper was ready for it and snapped at the water in the air, exposing her pure white canines in the sun and swallowing the water in one gulp. Raven was mesmerized by her powerful teeth, for he admired a wolf with powerful jaws. Meanwhile Whisper was on a mission for revenge and stepped with her one paw in the water. A spark jumped around her paw and in a crackling sound Raven Dropped in the water. She sent a few volts into the water and paralyzed Ravens limbs for a second. She laughed out of the pits of her stomach as she saw Raven laying flat in the water bank eyeing her darkly.
“Water conducts electricity don’t ‘ya know?” she laughed.
Raven growled but laughed as he got up “Touché”
“I bet I could kick your ass” she laughed and got into a playful position facing him.
“I highly doubt that, your abilities are still immature”
“So is yours Raven” She said dryly.
“So let’s see who’s is more mature” He growled.
With that Whisper’s body was starting to cover with dancing lightning sparks. Raven stared awestricken at the beauty of the sight but he didn’t notice the pain it caused her body.
Raven growled pleasurably and then smiled. Suddenly a big wave crashed over him and Whisper. She stood her ground as she got drenched and Raven fell in the stream again due to the electricity that yet again jumped from her body through the water. He laughed as he got up.
“That was a lot of volts this time” he said shakily.
“That was highly unnecessary, Raven. Now I’m wet to the bone” She said annoyed standing there with water dripping from her drenched fur.
“I don’t want to sound like a pup, but you started it” he said and swung his muzzle to the side, pulling off the water from her fur.
She stood there stupidly with a blank expression on her face with all her fur spiking to the side, Raven laughed at the sight of her and she shook her fur back into place.
“Neat” she sighed sarcastically.
Raven smiled foolishly exposing his teeth.
“Let’s keep moving” he said.

“Do you like your element, Raven?”
“Why?”
“Just curious. You are the only waterwolf I’ve ever met so I don’t really know anything about it. Most wolves don’t like their elements due to the damage it inflicts on the user. But I don’t see how water can have a negative effect on the user, so tell me, do you like your element?”
“Yes, I consider myself lucky to be blessed with it”
Whisper stayed silent for a moment thinking of what Raven said the night before.
“You speak of blessing but you said that you are cursed”
“Forget about that” he said dryly.
“You can tell me Raven, maybe I will understand”
“I said forget about it” he barked.
Whisper dropped her ears.
“Let’s pick up our pace, I want to get out of this forest as soon as possible” Raven said as he suspiciously stared into the trees with the feeling of being watched. Whisper nodded and they began to run. But she didn’t like the quickened pace, her body began to ache at the joints and she felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to say anything because she felt too embarrassed to tell Raven about how she feels. She thought he will think she can’t control her element, and she didn’t want him to feel like she’s inferior. she didn’t want him to try to chase her away again. But if only she knew what he knew, that she’s poisoned. Raven still didn’t know how to tell her, but he was clenching on a small hope that she’s not ill at all, since she looks well.
They kept running in an awkward silence along the stream. Whisper was struggling to match his pace and her eyes were starting to blur in the luminous morning sun, the light gave her a splitting headache and she just wanted to close her eyes. Suddenly her front paw gave in and she fell with a thud to the ground, she cried out in pain and laid there motionless.
“Whisper” Raven yelled, stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her and finally rushed towards her.
“Whisper, are you okay?” He asked frightened.
She didn’t answer but panted heavily.
“Please be okay” he whispered as he knelt down to her exhausted body.
She turned from her side to her stomach and with a lot of effort she positioned her aching limbs ready to elevate her body.
“Don’t tire out your body, lay still and rest”
“I’m… okay, Raven” She said and raised her frail body from the ground, she lifted up her muzzle and gave Raven a faint smile. Raven looked her in the eyes and managed a smile back. Then suddenly she started to cough violently and drops of blood spat on the grass, then she got sick in front of Raven. He stared in horror. She struggled to breathe and kept on coughing out the bit off air she managed to get into her lungs. Tears ran down her muzzle and she whined at the burning pain in her stomach, again she got sick but majority of it was blood. She was petrified at the sight and passed out.
Raven stood there in horror, he didn’t know what to do. Suddenly he shot back to reality and knew the seriousness of the situation, she was going to die. His body was run by pure instinct when he went to the water and covered his paw in a thick layer of water. He rushed back to Whisper’s sick body and padded her forehead with his wet paw, trying to keep her temperature down. He had no knowledge of healing others other than himself, never mind poison infections. He felt a terrible pang in his heart that he’s limited at only healing himself with his ability, he felt useless and weak, if only he was stronger. None of it would have happened if he had been stronger, he could have killed the Tainted with no help if he wasn’t so weak, and now Whisper has to suffer for his arrogance. Whisper moaned and her body shook strangely, she was awake.
“Raven. I’m sorry” she whispered under her rapid panting.
“No. Don’t be. I should be sorry. I should have told you about the poison in your body, I knew about it. The she-wolf saw the fight and said you were… going to die in two days” Raven said sadly and he struggled to look at her.
“At least I don’t have to die alone. You will stay by me right, Raven?”
“Of course I will, Whisper” He said with tears filling his eyes “And I will try to find the she-wolf and force her to tell me about the cure, there has to be one”
“No. please don’t leave me” she whimpered softly.
“But…”
“No Raven. I’m not afraid of death. When I decided to take on the world alone I readied myself for death, I have nothing to live for”
“Live for me”
Whisper’s eyes widened, she had not expected that.
“Raven?”
“I don’t want to be alone anymore, I don’t want you to go Whisper” He cried and went to go lay next to her, he felt awkward at her touch but knew he needed it, and she needed the comfort.
“You’re making this hard for me Raven” She kept crying.
“I refuse to let you die” he barked.
Whisper dropped her fine head on Ravens back and rested it there, she liked the strange cool touch of his fur, it made her feel better. she kept coughing.

She sat silently behind a shadowy pillar, trying not to be seen by the other guards and trying her best to avoid their pointless chitchat and boasting. She sat there getting bored, her paws were twitching and then she started hitting something with her soft pad as if there’s a bug on the floor. She was impatient and started getting agitated; she growled silently under her breathe and then sighed while looking up at the markings on the dark ceiling, trying to figure out what’s meant to be illustrated there, like she’s never noticed it before.
“Has anyone seen Vera?” asked one of the guards.
Her ears turned to face the conversation.
“She’s probably late, like usual” said a different voice.
She sat against the wall and growled softly again. She was usually late for these things because she felt there are more important things to do than reporting in. That day was the only day she decided to come early and get it over with, which she regretted soon enough because she’s bored senseless.
“That girl, thinks she’s better than all of us and that she can do what she wants. Somebody should discipline her for once”
She was tempted to come out of the shadows and make the guard swallow his words, but with the little self-restraint she had she held herself back but growled angrily.
“You want to try?” asked another guard.
“Well...” muttered the guard and looked away. The others laughed.
“Yeah I thought so. Just let her be, we should be glad she’s on our side”
She smiled darkly from within the shadows. The corridor door opened and an old male wolf walked out.
“The Elder wishes to see you guys now”
“Finally” she said loudly and stepped out of the shadows.
“Vera” the guards whispered amongst themselves while looking at her with fearful expressions.
“I thought I will have to ‘discipline’ one of you just for the fun of it” She said darkly with a smile and looked at the one guard as she walked passed him. He shook in fear where he stood and gave a loud gulp. She looked at him from the corner of her eye and snorted.
“Pathetic cretin” she hissed.
She walked though the large passageway and into the high roofed conference room with all the guards following behind her, the scared guard right at the back.
“Thank you all for coming, and nice to see you’re on time for once Vera”
She rolled her eyes and dropped her head in respect, so did the other guards as they lined up next to her.
The Elder sat on a cushion on a higher stone step; he was a grey-green old wolf with dark grey vine markings all over his body that used to be black, his fur was sleek and slightly longer due to the passing years. Next to him sat a young female wolf, she had long dark hair on her head as fine as silk flung to the one side and with a braid hanging by her ear on the other side of her face, the dark green went over her shoulders down to the centre of her back that formed two spikes that curled on her fine light green body. Dark green vine markings crept around her upper front legs. And her back legs, from the knee down to her paw pads were a deep colored green. She had a long lavishing dark tail covered in an array of greens; her tail was longer than average that touched the ground even when she stood. She was the Elder’s granddaughter. Her tail wagged slightly behind her.
“Vera” she greeted with a smile.
“Hazel” Vera greeted back and dropped her head again.
Hazel dropped her ears and looked away, she was irritated at Vera’s formal greeting, but she knew it was the proper custom.
“Can everybody please give their reports, Vera let’s start with you”
“I have nothing to report; all was peaceful in my territory”
“Really? That’s unusual, but I’m glad. No confrontation is the best there is” The elder snickered foolishly.
“I would disagree” Vera said under her breathe.
“What was that, Vera?”
“Nothing sir” she replied as he eyed her suspiciously.
“Ziel, report”
“There was a lone wolf scavenging in the northeastern part of the forest about two kilometers away from the rock fields at sunset. It was a middle aged male but I think he was just lost, so I scared him off without having to use force. I don’t think he will come into our forest again” Replied the guard.
“Good job. Jaze, report”
“There were a group of merchants taking a shortcut through the southeastern part and dangerously close to the North entrance. I tried to scare them away but two of the males got aggravated and started attacking. I made quick work of them, the one male got badly wounded and one possibly died on one of the carts as they fled out of the forest, I followed them till they were out” said the guard proudly.
“We should never resort to violence, yet alone death” barked the elder at the guard and he dropped his ears. “But I guess you had no choice at the moment, just try not to kill anyone in the future. We are not murderers”
“I-I’m sorry sir, I beg for your forgiveness” pleaded the guard.
Vera got bored again and tried not to become restless, she always tried to make it look like she’s interested in these meetings and protecting the village, but she became a guard to be able to roam around in the dark forest freely and cause trouble with trespassers. Hazel saw Vera drawing on the floor with her claw and noticed she was as bored as she was. She gave a noticeable fake cough that made Vera look at her. Hazel implied to Vera to meet outside with a head motion, Vera nodded and Hazel slowly snuck out a door behind the Elder as he and the guards talked. Vera waited till the Elder looked the other way. The guard that stood next to her noticed what she was planning.
“Don’t even think about it”
“Shut up” she said and quickly dashed through the door and it closed behind her.
The room she was in was a smaller rectangular one with ferns and all kinds of plants growing on the walls and ceiling. In the middle of the ceiling was an elliptical skylight where the vines of the plants entered the stone room. In the corner of the room was a small water feature with water flowing down stone leaves into one another. There were many carpets and pillows placed on the rooms floor but weren’t placed in an orderly fashion.
Hazel sat on one of the pillows with her tail wagging furiously behind her when Vera entered, her tongue lolled from her muzzle as she smiled.
“You summoned, successor?” Vera said and bowed her head.
Hazel closed her mouth and stared at Vera with an annoyed expression. Vera lifted her face and exposed a dark look on her face.
In an instant Hazel got up and pounced Vera, They rolled happily around on the floor wrestling and laughing. They stopped. Vera was pinned down under Hazel, Hazel kept laughing but Vera smiled awkwardly.
“Why don’t you visit me more often, I miss seeing you”
“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so busy lately with protecting the village and stuff. And you’re busy as well with your studies, I don’t want to be a bother” Vera replied as she looked away.
“You’re so busy because you take too many shifts; you’re more outside ‘protecting’ the village than inside. What do you hope to achieve Vera? And don’t bring up my studies; you know I always have time for you. I care about you” Hazel said with sad eyes.
“I’m here now, aren’t I?” Vera said and kicked Hazel in the stomach and she fell off her. Hazel gasped as she fell to the ground with a thud as the air escaped her lungs. Vera took the change and pinned Hazel this time, the table was turned. Hazel coughed once.
“What the hell” she barked.
Vera smiled and gave her a quick lick on the muzzle.
“It’s good to see you again” she said kindly.
Hazel looked at Vera confused, it’s rare for Vera to admit her feelings or open up easily. She smiled foolishly at Vera and Vera stared awkwardly. As this happened Hazel’s tail slowly snuck through the air and hovered over Vera’s head, ready to grab her and throw her off. Hazel smiled darkly and her tail grabbed Vera around her waist and threw her into a pile of pillows. Hazel laughed as Vera got up in bewilderment.
“What was that?” Vera asked baffled.
“What? you ask. Well my dear friend was my tail” Hazel giggled as she performed movements with her tail that wasn’t quite possible for a wolf to do.
“That’s so strange, how do you do that?” Vera asked over-excited, then pulled back her curious expression and she looked serious again. Hazel laughed.
“You really should come see me more often. This is something I’ve been practicing for a while now, since I’m insanely bored here. Quite awesome hey?”
“Yeah it is, show me how you do it”
Hazel looked at Vera’s tail and shook her head.
“I’m the only one who’s able to, since my tail is longer than average”
Vera sighed.
“I manipulate my tail with the nature element. I let a thin but strong vine slowly grow inside of my tails length. It hurt like hell but is totally worth it. And now I can freely move my tail any way I want through manipulating that thin vine. So now my tail surpasses the movement limitations of a normal wolf’s tail, like your tail” Hazel explained in a boasting way.
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” Vera asked dryly.
“Depends if it’s working”
“It is”
“Then yes” Hazel laughed.
“Well you can’t do this” Vera said and a vine shot from the wall and grabbed Hazel’s front paw, she stared at the vine wide-eyed and once again fell to the ground as the vine pulled.
They both laughed as Hazel got to her feet again.
“Touché”
“But that tail ability would be useful in battle” Vera thought out loud.
“You’re too dark Vera”
“Yeah well...”
“Life is beautiful and shouldn’t be wasted so easily. You will get hurt or even worst, killed. What should I do without you, Vera? You’re my best friend” Hazel whimper.
“You don’t have to worry about me, I won’t go down easily”
“I worry about you and the others you kill; you shouldn’t take a life so easily. It doesn’t even bother you and I even think you enjoy seeing someone die”
“I do what has to be done. I put them out of their misery” Vera barked.
“The others you kill, the pain doesn’t stop there, it multiplies. Think of the pain their loved ones go through. Think of their loss”
Vera looks away ashamed.
“I know” Hazel said dryly.
Vera looked puzzled at Hazel “Know what?”
“I know you’re hiding something”
“I don’t know what you are talking about”
“I know you Vera, I can tell when you want to tell me something”
There was something Vera was burning to tell her but she knew it would upset her more. She was surprised Hazel could tell.
“Tell me” Hazel continued. Vera lowered her head and there was a short silence.
“I wasn’t completely honest to the Elder” Vera said.
“Go on”
“I found two trespassers fighting a Tainted One, I watched the battle from within a tree but they struggled. I killed the Tainted One before it would kill them”
“That’s a good thing you did Vera” Hazel said surprised. “You saved someone’s life” She continued.
“No I didn’t. One of them consumed some of the Taint’s poison”
“That’s horrible. Did you give her some of your cure?”
“No” Vera said bluntly.
“So you left her to die?” Hazel barked.
“It’s not my duty to save trespassers’ lives. I let them go and told them to get out of the forest” Vera snapped back.
“What is wrong with you” Hazel said dryly. “Why didn't you report this to the Elder?” she continued.
“I- I don’t know”
Hazel snorted in disgust and walked to the door.
“Then I will”
Vera growled and turned away, but she knew Hazel was doing the right thing. Vera felt bad for herself.