Chapter 42
Noticing that the sun was about to set, the pack got to work setting up camp behind a copse of trees. This left them out of view of the town, so nothing inside could see them wile they conversely could not see in. The state that the hamlet they had just passed through had been in discouraged any idea of cooking or setting up a fire. The thought of broadcasting their location out being a move that seemed inconceivably stupid. The buried their tent into the tress, and did their best to obscure the sight and smell of it with dead fauna both from the area and the Soulscape. When they were suitably content with their camouflaging work, they all just gathered into the tent and relaxed. Today was one where they just had the precooked meats that Nat had made up for supper, hare and elk meat passed freely between the pack. It was a fun and homely feeling inside, with Spirit and Hera even fighting over a leg bone covered in meat. The tug of war only lasted a few seconds, before they both lost grip and it went sailing across the tent into Rogue. She then claimed it as hers and enjoyed the meal, ignoring the meat juice now dripping down her side.
Finishing off the food, most of the group laid down to get comfy in the blankets and pillows covering the interior. Edwin and Lucille took their usual places at the door as lookouts for the night. Both seemed content with it, as they look well rested and happy. Probably not having to deal with their own pups endless energy was the cause. Due to them being there, everyone was fine with leaving the door to the tent open so that the coyotes could properly see. Curling up in bed, most of the pack got to sleep fairly quickly. Natalie took a half hour to get to sleep, but that was mainly because the stars dotting the outlines of the mountains were so beautiful that she was distracted. When she finally came back down to reality, she noticed she was one of only three awake. The other two were the lookouts, who took turns looking at her and giggling softly. Snorting at them, Nat finally got settled in to the mound of softness and fur and let herself go to the void of sleep.
Natalie once again woke up in the dream world. Full of questions, she ran back the way as best she remembered towards the mountains. Thankfully, her sense of direction was true, and she quickly arrived at the towering rocky peaks. As she approached them, the caves were there, but none had any canines in front of them. "Hello?" She shouted out towards the caves, "Are any of you there?" The shouts echoed through the mountains, but as they faded no other noise came forward. Repeating her questions numerous times, every time the same response came. Discouraged by how this was going, she turned around to head back into the forest. As she did though, she came face to face with one of the larger wolves, the ones that had approached her for help the night before. As she stumbled back from the shock of sudden wolf, they all the sudden let out a loud howl.
There was not enough time to cover her ears, as instead of a gentle crescendo like last time, a loud and blaring howl came from all of the caves surrounding her at once. The volume of the noise itself dropped her to her knees as she held her head in pain at the sudden increase in volume. The sound finished as soon as it started, fading off without so much as an echo to remember it by. The giant wolf in front of her lowered its head and looked straight in her eyes as another two flanked it. One was the partner the first one had the night before, while the other was similar in size and stature, but clearly different. The three of them started to advance on Natalie chanting, 'Help us. Help us," over and over again. Instead of the dog pile like last time, the two wolves on the lank each grabbed her ankles with their mouths and started to drag her. The one she had initially ran into led the way back and disappeared into the cave, their chanting still ringing in her head. The ground was smooth, and she found no purchase as she was dragged into the cave by the two large canines.
She woke up with a start as she entered the cave. Despite this being the real world and not the dream one, she still felt a tug on her leg. Looking down, Lucille was tugging on her leg to get her attention. Getting up, Nat crept forward towards the door where Edwin was focused on something beyond the trees. Following his gaze, she could not believe what she saw. There in the moonlight plodding along was goblin riding a beast. This goblin however had to have been taller than the other ones she had come across by at least a head. This was shown by the size of the beast it was riding. While they were far away, it was easy for her to know how big each were comparatively to the goblins she had seen before. This was all due to one reason. The beast that this larger goblin rode on was one of the larger wolves from her dream!
What did this mean? Was it working with the monsters? Was it being forced to work with them? Was the dream by chance and nothing in it correlated to what she was seeing? While these and many other questions shot through her head, Natalie was way to tired to actually focus on them long enough to try and answer any. Together with the two coyotes, she just watched as the mounted pair continued on. When they were out of sight, Nat collapsed back on her ass and breathed out a sigh of relief. Their concealment of the tent had worked, and the possible threat passed them by. Thanking the two for their wonderful work, Nat crawled into bed and laid back down to go back to sleep. Right now she needed rest. Any of these questions or concerns that she had could wait until the morning. Getting cozy up beside Kali, Nat drifted back off into dream land.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!