Deeper and deeper into the woods. It seemed as if the flames got narrower as she went closing her in. At least I'm a fire element, she thought while jumping over burning logs.

Most fire wolves can stand very hot temperatures but the smoke can kill. Her orange coat then burst into a flaming force field to cover her from the dusty ash created by the forest fire.

Rubyflame coughed a bit but she'd never stop galloping down the path. And their it was, the willow tree. At first she didn't even notice it. All covered in the bright flames.

Where's the pup? Starrock said by the willow, where is she? Ruby begin to panic, gasping for fresh air, feeling the pain in her paws from the rocky pathway. She then leaned against the tree, her head drooping. She's not here. It was all a lie, just an imagination from an elderly warrior that's all. She sighed.

Just then she heard a small rustling in the burnt willow leaves next to her. She looked down to see a helpless, snow white scrap of fur.
She just died. Ruby thought.

Then she laid her head next to her, trying to hear for a breath. Nothing. Rubyflame then realized it was a new born, probably from Forest or Mountain tribe. She never deserved to die the poor thing. Then a tear rushed down her neck.

She took her paw and then removed the left over leaves on her back and then her mouth dropped in shock. S..she h..has wings! How is this possible! And it was true, on the back of the little wolf was a pair of fragile blue angelic wings.

It's eyes then opened, straight at the stunned mother. What! She's not dead? She's an air wolf! How, I thought they were all gone? The pup then moved her paw over the mothers and started crying.

Suddenly, Rubyflame remembered the fire around her and noticed how she seemed to zone out when she found the pup. She picked her up into her mouth and protected her with the force field they now both shared.

I must go back to the clan! I must tell them what I have found! Just then her mind of ideas stopped and rethought. What if they kill her? What if they think she's a threat from, she paused, then shuddered, a threat from Shadow?

I must hide her, but I will get her out of this place for now. She looked at the tiny thing that somehow came back to life and was born with a power that has died out ten years ago. She looked like a runt, weak and useless.

Is it really Shadow threatening us, warning us about the last air orb? Or is it maybe another wish from Alpha? But how was that possible. None of this is possible without the work of a healer, and only the best trained healers can bring a weak pup back to life.

Ruby took a good last glance at the willow tree, it seemed somewhat peaceful, besides the deadly flames scorching its roots. And then it came to her right away.

"I will name you Willow," she whispered in her cotton-like ear. "I will keep you as a secret to keep you save your whole life, because you are a gift, a gift many wolves will find as a danger. But trust me, you'll be save." The pup blinked a few times and then met the gaze of her new mother with a look of hope.

Rubyflame rushed into camp and took cover in her den while the fire died out. It seemed lonely and quiet in camp that night, no warriors patrolling, or yearlings fooling around in their clearing next door. She almost seemed depressed that they left her. But then the bad thoughts escaped her mind when sleep hit.

In the morning she found the pup lying in one of the grassy nests her own pups lied in. The blue wings glowed in the morning light like they were flames from the ocean.

"Thump, thump," went a noise coming from the pathway. Oh no, the clan has come back, she thought. I must go back to the Willow where I can hide this pup. She couldn't let this gift go. Then she thought right away, she's the last air wolf, I will never get rid of her for anything! I knew there was a reason I came back into that ash-filled forest. 

It was to save this present from Alpha, something she will never let go. Then she rushed into the forest carrying the pup by her neck and hide her in the willow tree.

After that she returned to camp now living in the burnt forest, and lived her life as the mother she was born to be, just she had a new task in mind. When her pups were at school learning about the history of tribes and how to use magic she checked on Willow daily for food and water and always said the same thing, Over and over. "Stay by the Willow tree," and then left to go back to camp.

Months later when Willow was old enough to speak, she often wondered what was beyond the large tree she lived in and on. What was out on that path? And who is this so called Alpha or Shadow mother talked about? Yet she never really knew and never really bothered to stray from her protective Willow tree.

Until one day...