The Forsaken Gates of Baeruqkana was a stretch of land once yielding life and liberty. A place all walks of life came to join in culture and trade now laid simply a land of barren waste. It is a territory of demons where creatures are allowed to shift from one realm to the next. Baeruqkana was not a land of nobility. Instead, it was a land of trickery (one of arid climate and unforgiving judgment). Its copper soils were as dry and cracked as parched flesh; the heat of Drathell below stripping it of nearly all water sources. But even still as lifeless and dull as it had come to be, there were those who made it their home. Those forgotten and cast from the societies like them, to be left for dead. It was here that the forsaken gates of Abizean had come to their aid, had given them hope and for that reason, the Bloodclaw yet remained among the harsh landscape.
Much like the land they had come to claim, the half-breeds known as the Bloodclaw hounds remained looked down upon. They were the disgrace and downfall of the purities of life, or so all made it seem. Alpha Zacura Bloodclaw lead them. She was the matriarch of the pack mother of survival. She had reigned over her family for over seven centuries, and in that time, she came to witness her home slowly changing around her. The skies once swirled a vibrant teal, and now with the cloud of death looming above head, and the volcanoes erupting both air, and sky had turned auburn. The time to adapt and migrate had come and with the sun breaking into view, Zacura made way to alert the others.
She stood seven feet at the shoulders, her onyx black coat tattered from years of battle. She resembled that of a large canine; one with sharp facial structure and muscular tone. Large pointed ears sprang from her skull alert and twitching, her tail of silken fur resting easy upon the ground. Unlike most of her rare breed, Zacura had come to grow larger than any Trivouchion Red Horn ever recorded, and thus was crowned protector of the remaining hounds. Like her father before her, she risked her life daily to see the future generations survive, but now her efforts had been misplaced.
"Alpha, we have secured a kill large enough to fill our bellies for the impending journey," spoke Canavis, a pale black beta of the pack. He was of tall and lanky build—his tail and ears half the size of his leaders.
"Very well, see yourselves fed. We move out when the sun is captured by the hills." She turned to face him with eyes of steel gray exploring those of crimson.
"You are our leader. You take your fill before us."
"I have seen my hunger struck down. The pack needs it more than me, at least for now. There is much land to cross. There will be many days without food or water." Her voice was that of an old hound beyond her years, the tone of a fighter, a killer.
"To where do we travel?" Canavis spoke turning to follow behind Zacura as she took her leave.
"I will lead us into the west it is our only option to cheat death for perhaps a moon longer."
Picking up his pace, Canavis came to block her path; his teeth coming to bare slightly his tail low.
"But the west will lead us into the Skyline territory. We are forever banished from their lands. If they catch us, they will see the entire clan killed no mercy given reconsider."
Pressing ears to skull, the matriarch bared her teeth growling in dominance.
"What would you have me do? Lead us into the north to be swallowed by the bite of bitter cold? Or shall I lead us into the wrath of the east, where the cloud has claimed the soils. To the south lies only what we have already left behind." She looked to the sky and back to her advisor.
"A few purebred wolves should be the least of your concerns." She swayed left bumping past him to make way towards the pack. With persistence he followed."
"They outnumber us, it has always been so. Your father would have never led us into the hands of death on the assumption of possibility." She continued to walk her anger beginning to creep upward."
"I am not my father. Why do you expect me to be anything like a sire I never knew? Whoever he was, left you and the rest in my possession, meaning it is up to me to keep you all alive whatever way possible. And that leaves me one option—to get to land that has remained immune to the sickness of our territory. You will either trust me or be left here to wilt away like the others have." The law had been spoken, her tone had deepened, and Canavis knew not to press the subject further.
They made way into the crowd of hellhounds, each and every one as black as night. Some bared the weight of long fur while others had little to none. They were a family of history clashing together in search of survival; a simple remembrance of the times of old. The entirety of them came to over seventy hounds, young and old, healthy and sick, perfected and scarred.
"Eat as much as you can now. It will be a very long time before the taste of blood is upon your tongue."
Doing as commanded, the pack indulged in the kill.
"How will we defeat the Skyliners?"
"I will brawl with the alpha directly. I do not wish to endanger my pack anymore than they will already be. For over fifty decades, I have been undefeated in combat. I will not ruin my reputation now." She made her way over to a small and shallow drinking hole, taking a few laps before looking to the west.
"See attention gathered. I wish words with my family." "Very well," he spoke, trotting off to do as commanded.
She ascended the hilltops; her claws digging deep to stabilize her. The wind came to blow her thick neck mane swaying as she came to give voice.
"My kin, we have been beaten and driven out of our home, forgotten in the minds of all not bearing our name. I say to you now that it is time we are heard! It is time for the decedents of the great Abizean to be recognized and remembered! We are not lost, and through strength we shall find our sanctuary!"
Maws rich with blood came to rise in admiration and respect. They knew this day would come and now it had, each and every soul living would have to put in an effort to survive.
Zacura continued, "To the north lies undeniable death, to the south our past, the lands we all were born to engulfed in darkness. Let us move to the west to the lands kissed by the rays of the sun. To the territory of our suppressors, those who look down upon us as if because they claim purity to their bloodlines their lives are worth more than ours. They will try to stop us. They may attempt to kill us, and they may succeed, but we will die knowing we gave our full potential to live and honor those like us. The founding eight did not shy away from hardships they came to greet them upon the battlefields and saw it conquered! It is why we stand here today as we are, alive and strong!"
She had begun to pace back and forth; her cool eyes now coming to swirl with her internal flame and her soul igniting with pride and leadership.
"Will you join me in giving our ancestors a war of honor by restoring the power of the brothers and sisters of the Bloodclaw? Together we are stronger than any foe to whom may grant us grief. Together we stand a force feared by the gods themselves!"
The clan burst into a symphony of howls and roars, the song of courage traveling into the wind.
"The wolves that lie ahead of us are no better than we now stand. They are blinded and weakened by their self-absorption. Let us show them the cost of beauty, the cost of ignorance and persecution! We shall march into their lands and take them by force! Are you with me my kin, my brothers, my sisters?"
They replied with yet another wave of roars and snarls. The
Bloodclaws were ready. She turned to gaze upon Canavis. "We move out when the sun is captured."
"Are you with me, Canavis?"
Bowing his head, he gave voice, "Until my last breath I vowed to remain at your side and so I shall."
"Follow me." "Yes, Zacura?"
"I wish to make you understand something here and now before we embark on this journey of suicide."
He came to sit upon his haunches, his claws retracting back
into his massive paws.
"They will not fight fair, they never have. If I fall, do not aid me." He tilted his head, confused.
"But if the combat is agreed upon by both leaders to be among them, they should not interfere. If they attack you we will retaliate, it is our duty and our right." She growled low, the sound rumbling deep within her large chest.
"Your duty is to heed the orders of your leader! I may fall, but I shall rise and when I do, the fear of me will be placed within their hearts. They will either step aside and follow us, or flee."
"You intended on killing their alpha, do you not?" Canavis questioned suspiciously.
"I do, if it must come to it. I know this will not be easy, but it
is necessary. I must have your word that if somehow I die, you will get the pack to safety."
"If you die, all will be lost Zacura. I beg you to reconsider. I am not fit to lead." Relaxing slightly the hound came to brush her snout into his neck fur.
"No, old friend. If you and the others perish, all will be lost. We are all that remains of our race. If they fall, we will be erased from history and that would shame our heritage."
"You have my word, but now I ask that you make a promise to me."
Zacura came to lay beside him in wonder to his words.
"And what could that be?" she inquired, her ears coming to stand on high alert. She could hear something the rumble of soil the calling of the gates.
"I simply wish you to find a mate, to reproduce when the world comes to calm. Your bloodlines are far too superior to allow them to simply fade upon your death. You were made for a reason, and it was not to simply live out your days."
She had come to ignore him. The scent of death had filled the air even within the tight spaces of her den. She rushed to the ledge of the overlook, the ground had begun to split the gates were opening.
"Canavis, go round up the elders and get them out of here now!"
Rushing to her side, the beta viewed the soil beginning to collapse and leapt to a nearby boulder and down into the pack.
An ear-deafening roar came to shoot forth from the alpha; her voice carrying for miles. The clan had already begun to panic, their bodies running straight for Vahlupon, the largest of the three volcanoes in the area. Its vent had already begun to shoot forth smoke, and now the land had begun to quake. Zacura ran full speed alongside the rushing gate of her pack; her eyes set upon the crack growing before them.
"No, get back!" She bellowed leaping down to stop them.
"This way!"
Rushing towards the west, she led them onto their journey; her eye catching a glimpse of Canavis and the elders following close behind. The ground to her right opened without warning swallowing a young omega.
"Keep moving!" She ordered splitting off to retrace her steps. The young pup was left clinging to the edge, his weak bones shaking under his weight.
"Mother!" He screamed his claws losing their grip.
The volcano erupted, magma spewing forth in rivers of vibrant glowing orange. Rocks and shards accompanied it; the force covering the land in a mist of blackened ash. The ground continued to collapse around them, all being swallowed by the hunger of Dovium and his demons.
"Mother, help me!" The young pup screamed.
Just as he was to fall into the fires below, a sharp bite to his scruff came to lift him. Zacura did not speak a word. She held onto him tightly leaping over holes, dodging falling sky until she came to reach the area of rest. The ground came to still. She could see the pack off in the distance. Taking time to look over her home one final time, she sat the young male down.
"Get on, meet up with the others and be careful."
"Ye...yes, Alpha." He replied, his tail tucking between his slender legs. He scurried off, leaving his savior to her memories.
"One day you shall heal as you always have Baeruqkana." She whispered.
"One day I will return to you."
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