Chapter 5 Storm Prepare

While it seemed like a haven to Kaida, she knew that the cave was nothing more than another hiding spot. Each noise rang outside with threats on their lives as she and Kellan continued to train. The forest whispered all around them, and the dark was ever-present as well, just waiting to return.

Speed and agility next," Kellan ordered with a calm voice that demanded attention. There is what we must ready ourselves for.

The resolve to do this, prompted Kaida to nod and flame ignited in her heart. "I'm ready. No more running."

They started with some drills that took the 2×4's around in their forms throughout the cave. Kaida focused on her actions allowing for her instincts as a wolf to traffic guide of the shadows. The more she shifted, the stronger she climbed and descended upon her wolf.

"Good! "Now let us begin to work on your strength," Kellan told her and changed in his wolf form next to her. His muscles rippling with strength as he faced off to her. "Try to push me back."

Kaida could feel a jolt of energy flow through her. Kellan had always been a rock for her, and now she was going to show him. With a growl, she launched to him, putting all her power behind the motion.

Kellan tensed against her, and when they hit, Kaida could feel the strength of him drive into her. She exerted herself with all her strength, feeling the floor give slightly under their wrestling.

"Not bad!" Kellan cheered, encouragement adorning his tone. "But you need to dig deeper. Feel the power within you!"

Argent filled her voice with a feral growl of power, and drew upon the wolf within. A blur of the world around her surged past and she shoved her way past him, which caused Kellan to stagger back into escape.

Yes! That's it!" He exclaimed, quickly back on his feet. "Now keep going!"

They grappled in the wide, empty chamber, each clash reverberating through the cave like a righteous war cry. She really felt alive, adrenaline flowing through her. Inside, however, an urgency remained - she sensed a ticking clock.

At long last they fell, spent and gasping onto their sides.

"Good job, Kaida," a proud smile on Kellan´s mouth. "Everyday ... Every Day you absolutely CRUSHE IT, You are getting stronger!

Kaida wiped sweat from her brow, "Look, I really appreciate that... it means a lot to me and... umm... would be even more precious when we become friends." "supposing the semblance reappears before I crave it to..."

The seriousness in Kellan hit her. Then we will confront it as one, like the last time. You're not alone in this."

Kaida inhaled deeply and the warm words drooled onto her. I know, but I just can't shake this sense of impending doom. It feels like we are trapped in the dark.

Her words were barely out of her mouth when a howl rang through the forest in the distance, causing a shiver to go downher spine. It was a chilling sound, the proof that whatever figure they had seen before was still creeping around.

"Did you hear that?" Kaida questioned, her heart on high.

Kellan nodded, face somber. "We need to be prepared. It might be a warning."

We collected our things immediately to find a safer nook inside the cave. Their conversation ended there on the shore, and as they walked with tentacle purses in hand towards the first town that welcomed them, Kaida's mind was back on the figure from before and on her role in this prophecy and other mysterious darkness she seemed to wade in.

"What if it isn't only coming for me? Kaida asked quietly. Out for the pack..? What if it wants to obliterate everything we have come to cherish?

"Evening sleep, Virginhead," Kellan retorted. Then we will give them the heads-up and be ready in anticipation. We're stronger as a group."

Kaida nodded and a wave of uncertainty overwhelmed her. What if the pack does not believe us? You know, they might think we are overreacting.

Kellan looked at him with steel in his eyes, "Then we bring the fight to them. "We are going to show the danger that we are in.

When they got to the back of the cave Kaida got an uncomfortable feeling Of this prophecy, I hunger and thirst to know more.RemoveAll the while. "Makes me wonder what it all means.

"Could be that I have a couple of myself," Kellan said, eyeing off a little cove in the cave wall. "Certain old legends tell of wolves who are marked by the moon that-moon touched-are different and have gifts.

"Legends?" Kaida echoed, intrigued. "What do they say?"

Kellan smiled, excited, "The wolf who is touched by the moon knows how to wield both light and shadow. But that, inevitably, comes at a cost. However, it is what the darkness channels that force into it that permits them to balance upon a knife edge -the darkness seeks to taint that power, to unleash it inwards.

"Ungh," Kaida grunted regaining her annoyance. Forsytia Human Beckett→ "Just what I need-more complications.

"You need to listen Kaida," Kellan said in a serious tone. You can face that darkness, you have the power to use it without being consumed by it. You have to believe that."

Kaida inhaled deeply trying to understand what he said "I'll do whatever it takes. I'm tired of being afraid."

"Then we need to tell the pack," Kellan got up. "We can't face this alone."

Kaida could feel a newly found sense of purpose surround her as her group prepared to leave the cave. She wanted to face her fears and reveal the truth about what she was destined to be.

As they left the door, a whisper of wind passed then neutrality and calmness covered the entire living forest in silence. Kaida's alarm went off and look at Kellan still worrying. "Something's not right."

Kellan was about to answer when a frightening wail echoed through the trees once more, much louder and no farther. It rang in her bones, a dread warning.

"What is that?" "Kaida," she whispered, her eyes gaping in terror.

Kellan scanned the treeline, and his expression sobered. "Dammit, no idea, but we have to go. Now!"

They sprinted into the forest with their heart beats pounding in unison and the howl echoing as they ran towards the pack lands. The door closed and Kaida turned her back, racing thoughts about their friends, the community she had enjoyed cascading through her mind.

"What if they're in danger?" Fear clenched her windpipe and she gasped.

"Only if we make it in time," Kellan took a stand, a fire burning bright in his voice. "We have to warn them."

As they ran through the trees, it felt like the shadows were moving and twisting around themselves. She was being hunted, the sense rolled across her nerves as though liquid night touched with a sort of hunger that had her skin rippling even before she dared to open her eyes.

Then they broke out into a clearing and Kaida came to a stop. Their faces showed signs of worry and confusion, everybody had their pack.

"Kaida! Kellan!" Lira cried out, running over. "What's going on?"

"Kellan, we need to -" Kellan attempted, glancing around the group. 'Now, a tower will fall and Humanity must give us the chance to prepare them.'

"What do you mean?" Lira smiled, worry still lingering in her eyes. "What kind of threat?"

The Cavenaugh creature is not only after Kaida. It's coming for everyone," Kellan said, his voice laced with urgency. We must unite and fight it while we still can.

There was a wave of uncertainty that murmured through the pack. Kaida had taken an in-step, her pulse rate quickened. It seems crazy, but I felt its darkness. It wants to control me, and it will do anything in its power to gain control over me."

"Kaida, are you sure?" An older pack member asked, doubt hinting at the edge of his question. That all at least sounds like something of ancient legend.

"Me too," Kaida sighed, but she made her voice sound calm. "But it's real. "We are in trouble, and I want your aid.

With impeccable timing, another howl sounded in the woods around them-coarser and fiercer than the initial warning. The pack stopped their howls, sending chills down their backs.

Booming though the canon walls, the sound came as if from some giant dinosaur or something."It's here," Kellan said in a whisper best rendered with widening of eyes.

Kaida turned to the pack, feeling a pressure that thumped in her chest. "We need to stand together. And we cannot allow it to rip us apart!

As the darkness continued to deepen another shadow stirring around them Kaida sense the darken that surrounds her, it was so thick with tension. A showdown was imminent and she sensed that they had to come together or suffer a fate too horrible to contemplate.

But when the howl raised, echoing through the clearing, Kaida knew this was merely the start of a war that would push them to their limits and where their very core identity was at stake.

In that moment, as the darkness descended around her she realised that the battle for her fate - and for her pack - was far from over.