#Please VOTE and COMMENT.

Dakota's POV:

I woke up beside the dying fire. I must have slept at least twelve hours; the sun, which was starting to come out when I had fallen asleep, was now nowhere to be seen. There was a trace of red on the horizon, and I guessed the time was around seven o'clock. Other than a soreness in my back, I felt reinvigorated. Now was as good a time as any to get out of here.

I quickly jumped up and edged closer to the cave's entrance. There was a ledge just large enough to place both of my feet onto. I pulled out the longest dagger I had on me, then reached up and leaned back as far as I dared, tapping to differentiate the clay and stone. As soon as I was confident, I plunged the blade into the clay and let go. It went in smoothly, but didn't fall even when I tried to put my weight on it. I smiled, proud of my competence, and prepared to make my way up. I pulled out a hairband and tied my hair out of the way, then brought out a second dagger. I grabbed hold of the dagger imbedded in the clay and prepared to repeat the process.

By the time I'd made my way to the top, the sun had fully set, and the moon was coming out. The moonlight brought my attention to some movement in the bushes. Before I had time to wonder what it was, a body fell to the floor, mere feet from my face. If my arms and legs hadn't been so tired, I probably would have jumped and fallen back down the cliff.

A shock of chocolate brown hair fell to the ground. "S--Savannah?" I stuttered out.

Savannah pulled herself into a sitting position and leaned against the closest tree trunk. Her eyes were tired, and her lips were pulled apart in a grimace. "Dakota," she said, the usual pretentiousness, specially reserved for me, gone. "I'm glad to see you here," she said, relief flooding her voice.

It took me a moment to get my voice working. "What are you doing here?" I finally said. "You should be helping back at the cabin."

"Helping with what?"

"Whatever they're doing. Fighting, cleaning... I wasn't there."

"I left while we were fighting. More kept coming in, they all but overwhelmed us. I left in the middle."

I scowled at her, and I had to refrain from calling out her repeated cowardice. There was always more to the story.

"I know what you're thinking," she continued. "I just wouldn't have been much help." She gestured to two long, deep gashes in her side.

My eyes widened. "I'm going to get help," I said, trying to stand up. My left arm wouldn't hold under my weight, and my right leg wouldn't move. They must have cramped as I climbed up.

Savannah shook her head. "It's no use. They were from the same sword that cut the chief's head off."

I recalled that she and Blake were only half-siblings. "The chief, dead by beheading. I find that hard to believe."

"You can see for yourself later. Please, just listen to me. There's a reason I came out here. I... want to apologize first." She looked at the floor with a dejected expression. "I wanted Blake all to myself, I guess. Maybe it's 'cause you and Alyssa are too... awesome and pretty and all that." Savannah laughed weakly, blood staining her white teeth red. "Blake did say that would be the death of me."

"What happened?"

"The girl... Really flirtatious and bratty girl, no good for Blake... She had him in a trance. First time, Blake rejected her, we taught him well, huh? Made a move to kill him, and I got in the way, I guess. Told her I'd rather Blake dead than with her, then she changed her mind. Wiped his memory, then made for me. I got away to tell you--" She stopped mid sentence and fell into a coughing fit. As she recovered, her eyes began to close, and she smiled faintly, triumphantly. "I got her name."

"Are you okay?" I asked. When she didn't respond, I got up on my knees, gaze hardening. "What was it? What's her name? That's gonna keep you awake, right?" Still, there was no response. "Savannah, you'd better wake up." I touched her arm gingerly. Already, they were growing cold. "No, you're alive," I muttered frantically, and grabbed her wrist to feel for a pulse. "You're alive. Wake up, Blake needs you!" When I couldn't find a pulse, I dropped her arm. I growled in frustration. I refused to believe she was dead, but there was nothing I could do.

I sat back down, legs outstretched, and rubbed the feeling back into my limbs. I glared at the top of the tree Savannah was leaning against. "I'm going to kill whoever did all of this," I told it. I didn't mean it, however. I hated death, no matter who to. However, there were other ways to exact revenge.

o0O0o

I heard sobbing as I opened the door and entered the dining hall. Everything was ruined. I didn't expect this level of destruction. I was relieved to see Alyssa in Blake's arms. Dave was standing a little ways off, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He had a few scratches on his face, as well as a small bite mark on his arm that he must have taken in his wolf form.

"Oh, stare at me like I killed fifty people. You knew I'd get out eventually."

"You might've killed fifty people," said Dave, "and then washed your hands in their blood."

"What?" I looked down at my hands, and they were indeed red with blood. Savannah's. I looked at Blake, perfectly ready to tell him the news. He already looked broken enough. Just like that, every ounce of courage left me. "This... This will take way too long to explain. I can assure you, I didn't kill anybody."

"I'll believe that," said Blake. He handed me a piece of paper. "This is the list of the missing. I need you to help either identifying bodies or searching for them." I looked at the paper. Savannah's name was at the top of the list.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "You know what I have to..." I trailed off, remembering his supposed memory loss. "You know what, I'll tell you later. I got some information and I'm going to do something with it."

Blake nodded. I was surprised he had no objection. "I have something to tell you, too," he admitted. "Better do it at the same time. Something to do with Alyssa," he said, barely audible.

Dave came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Dakota, we can't. Everyone here is hurt. Our chief is dead. We need you here, helping out instead of starting a war."

"Let me be, I have my reasons."

"Fine then. At least let us come with you."

"All of you?" I scoffed. "That means Blake abandoning his pack when they need him most. And you, Dave. Believe it or not, everyone here cares for you and deeply respects you. And Alyssa coming is out of the question."

"No." We all turned to the sound of Alyssa's voice. "We're getting these fancy Red River wolves back. All this over one girl?" She glared at the door. "They're not getting away with this."

"I'll go with you, too."

"Not you, too," I protested. "Did you not hear me, Blake?"

They all looked at me, defiance in their eyes. I turned away. "Fine, but you have to follow my directions. I have plans for these people."

"Plans?" the boys repeated. "I don't think I like the sound of that," said Dave.

I gave a short laugh. "I have a whole operation going. Why do you think your father made me watchkeeper?" I started walking away. "We leave in two days."

o0O0o

The living area was in ruins. The fire was everywhere but the campfire. Charred fabric replaced the tents, and the log cabins were still aflame. There were a few buildings made of brick and stone, but they weren't for living purposes.

One of the only tents that weren't destroyed was my own. I had built it on the edge of the living area, in dark fabric that would shield it from animal eyes at night. It was built around a tree with high branches, and I'd made it permanent by slowly building up a wall of stones and cement on the inside. The trunk of the tree had hollows and attached shelves, which held many books and weapons.

My prize was under the roots, where the fabric could be pulled away to reveal the hole underneath. In it was a pure silver dirk, one of my most valuable possessions, and a bow and quiver of silver-tipped arrows. In a different hollow, there were various wooden instruments, including a flute, drums, and an out-of-tune stringed instrument. My toys.

I would be needing all of these, but for now I would only need the instruments. I fished them out and set them at the entrance, then covered up the hollow. I laid down on my cot and lit the small fireplace I kept, which was a brick-lined hollow inside the tree trunk.

"This should help me get them out," I thought aloud, then I grinned. "I need to talk to people more. I sound like a lunatic." My thoughts running a mile a minute, I laughed myself to sleep.