The Book of the Barghest

PROLOGUE

Thunder without rain crackled in the sky above, dark clouds looming over the cliffside as the dark hound was backed to the edge by the four snarling maws. Even at the edge of death, the hound was smiling a crooked smile as it looked upon its work. The timid mahogany wolf was limping from a deep wound to his back leg. The silver she-wolf that stood next to him

had a gash running down the center of her skull. The slate wolf with striking eyes had a set of claw marks on his stomach. They were already dead, the hound knew, the large golden wolf in the lead, however, had yet to be marked.

“So,” the grinning hound chuckled. “This is how it ends?”

“I told you, Barghest,” the golden wolf snarled, “Your reign of terror on these packs would end with your death.”

The Barghest shook its head. “My ‘death’ will only be the start of a new era of pain.”

“Noon, shut its mouth already and let this be over!” The silver wolf snarled, wincing at the pain in her head as she strained herself.

The slate wolf nodded, still maintaining his composure though gushing blood from his belly. “I agree with Dawn for once. Just kill him so we can all go home.”

Noon glanced at his allies before looking back at the hound, who only laughed at the threat. “Well,” the Barghest said with a cocked head, “What do you say you and I have one last dance?”

Noon took up the offer without a word, leaping at the hound and tumbling until they were both dangerously close to the edge.

The Barghest struggled for only a moment, feigning weakness as the golden wolf towered over it. “This ends today,” Noon snarled.

The Barghest’s grin grew wide. “Oh, I wholeheartedly agree.” It wrestled a paw free, digging its claws deep into the place that housed Noon’s heart. The golden alpha howled in pain, pulling away from the hound before pouncing down on it and slamming the beast’s head into the rocks. A long wheeze followed by a hair-raising cackle emanated from the hound’s maw.

“I fail to see the humor in your demise,” Noon growled, his eyes narrowed. The Barghest’s eyes widened as it continued to laugh in the grave wolf’s face. “You just don’t get it, do you? You’re already dead, all of you!”

With that, the slate alpha wobbled on his legs a bit before dropping to the ground. The others turned back to look at him. “Midnight!” Noon shouted, without a reply from the slate wolf. Noon turned his head to the timid red alpha. “Dusk, get him back to his pack.” The shaky wolf nodded frantically before Noon turned back to the hound. The Barghest’s laugh had been reduced to a chuckle now. “He won’t get far, believe me.”

Noon had lost all patience for the hound, grabbing the beast by its neck and hauling him further over the cliff.

“Die,” the golden alpha growled as best as he could with his mouth full before releasing his grip and letting the Barghest fall to the jagged rocks below. A crack of thunder sounded in sync with the snapping of the hound’s spine as it broke over two of the pointed rocks, one stabbing through its lumbar and the other through its throat. The pain lasted only for a moment before its legs went numb. Impaled on the spikes, the Barghest continued to laugh maniacally. “You … you should have

listened to your oracle,” it howled up to Noon. A sickening tearing sound could be heard as the three portions of its body were slowly and painfully pulled apart, and still, it continued to laugh.

“Rot in the Shadow Seas, monster,” Noon hissed down to him.

“When I come back,” the Barghest grinned. “I’ll escort you there myself. That’s a promise.” The numb sensation in its back legs became something else entirely, and in an instant the hound knew that the back half of its body was gone, falling into one side of the dark abyss below as the rest of it tumbled in the other direction.

“What have you done?!” cried a voice from behind. The golden alpha turned his head to face the elderly, half-blind she-wolf staring down at Midnight’s shivering body. Dusk hadn’t had the strength to take the slate alpha back down to where the members of Pasture Pack were waiting. “Oracle,” Noon breathed, his voice hitching a bit. He knew he was wrong; he knew he had blatantly disobeyed the Oracle’s command, and yet he couldn’t help but hope. He hoped that, for once, the

wise elder wolf could be wrong. “It’s dead. The hound is gone; we vanquished it.”

The Oracle only shook her head, her eyes narrowing in a fit of rage for a moment before quickly becoming a look of mournful disappointment. “No, you didn’t.” Her voice grew quieter and broke as if she were on the verge of tears. “You’ve only doomed us all.

~CL1 was gracious and fixed the spacing.