She coughs out the smoke as she shrieked, hoping out of her bed. "Fire!" Emma rushes around trying to figure out how the fire started. It was hard for her to hear beyond the loud crackles of the rising fire. For a moment Emma covered her ears but she knew she had to save the horses first.

As if by instinct, Emma bolts toward each horse stall and starts to unlock them. The horses, the moment they were free, bolted from their stalls and run free out of the barn. Emma was not thinking clearly, her mind as thick as the fog around her, but her only thought was to save the horses. The flames seemed to not touch her as he unlocked more stall doors. She slowed her breathing to keep calm.

Her skin tingled with no end. Emma's eyes burned from the smoke that filled the air and her lungs ached from lack of fresh air. She frantically glanced around; all she sees before her is an endless sea of flames.

Emma could hear the cracks and pops of the fire, trying to save Wings, but louder than anything else was the pounding of her heart. With a click, the stall door open, and her horse runs out, leaving Emma behind. She felt her heart torn in half as he left, but as long as he was safe, she did not mind.

Then a beam falls from the roof and lands in front of Emma, causing her to jump. It was there that she then started to cough. Her lungs were filling with smoke fast but she needed to rescue one more horse; Soot. How fitting for a horse inside a burning barn.

A glimmer of hope opened up when a figured jumped from the inferno and joins Emma's side. She blinks through her ash filled eyes. 

"Colm?"

"You need to get out of here!" He screams, trying to pull Emma away from Soot's stall.

I didn't know you cared about me? Emma shakes her head. "Not until we free Soot."

"Your life is more important!"

She shakes her head again, raising her voice. "NO! I will not lose another horse again!" Colm just stared at her bloodshot eyes and seemed to understand her. He nodded and together they unlocked the colt's stall and freed him.

With another beam falling dangerously close to them, the duo finally left the barn. Emma drank up the fresh night air and coughing out the last bits of smoke. As she collects herself, Emma turns to the house and find it too engulf in flames, filling her horror-struck eyes.

Her mind buzzed as she faced Colm, who was coughing. "Uncle Morgen and Aunt Cynthia..." She started, grabbing his shoulders. "Where are they!?" Emma may have mixed feelings about them, but they were still her family.

Her cousin looks away, letting the shadows hide his face. "I woke up to the house on fire.  When I found them, their room was already filled with so much fire that they were already..." He choked on his words as tears flowed down his face.

Everything came crashing down upon Emma, but she didn't have time to grieve as she soon realized that they were surround by wolves. But theses wolves were much larger than any wolves she had ever seen. Her entire body began to shake in fear. Colm rest his back against Emma's as the wolves drew near them with their yellow teeth.

Emma's inside told her to run and when she took a step, she heard a voice rage out, "Stay where you are." She immediately obeyed and leaned her back to Colm's. She trailed her hot eyes to find the owner of mysterious voice came from but all she found were the wolves. Then the voice spoke again, but this time to the other wolves. "Make sure they stay put when Ivenna arrives." Emma's eyes almost popped out of her skull.

"Emma," Colm's speech seeped out of breath before she tried to form words. "Did that wolf?"

The brown hair girl could only nod, not believing herself as well.

The black wolf that spoke in the human tongue stood in front of them and eyed the two with his cold dark eyes. He takes a step to the right, letting a woman walk in front of him. Her hair was pitch black and, in a ponytail, while her skin seemed to be grey in the moonlight. She wore a dark purple leather cuirass and corset with pauldrons joining a fur coat that rested on her back. Her arms were decorated in scars and bracers; to complete her look, she also had black knee-high laced heeled boots to match.

Ivenna twirled her staff around, letting the moonlight hit the red crystal at the end making it appear deadly and stained with blood. Emma looks away, her body tensing up.

With her eyes closed, Emma heard the woman leaning down. Delicate fingers touch the teen's chin and lifted her head, forcing to give the girl her full attention. Dark cold purple eyes met with Emma's; she wanted to look away but the woman's gaze was unbearable. She frowns. "So, you're Sigga's descendent? You are not what I expected."

Emma blinks in confinement, chewing on her lip. What?

Ivenna lets go of her chin and turns to the large black wolf. "This cannot be Sigga's hair! She's too young and looks nothing like the great Valkyrie!"

The wolf growls. "One of my wolves found this in her room. It smells of powerful magic." He lifts his paw to revile a book.

Father's journal! I thought that burned during the fire?

The dark woman glance at the journal and flips throw the pages. Her frown twisted upwards into a snake of a smiles that made Emma's stomach turn. Ivenna, still amused, strolls over back to Emma. "Well, with this," she wiggles the book, "And you, I'll make mother proud that she has to make me the new leader of the Wolf Riders." She giggles to herself.

Emma's head spun. Did she died and now living her wildest fanciest that she always dreamt about? Is this some kind of joke?  They cannot be serious. What is next, is father is acutely alive this entire time? The thoughts in Emma's head scrambling over each other, overwhelming her and all Emma could do was slump over and cover her head. Colm just stood there, not moving.

With a twirl, Ivenna takes a few steps away from the group. She holds her staff out and cuts the air, but as she did, a portal appears out of thin air. It was black and red, as if the fabric of time was bleeding.

Still amused, Ivenna calls out to the wolves. "Bring the Heir to Styginmoor castle." Her tone then shifted to soft instead of cruel, "Remember, we need her alive." The wolves around Emma started to nib at her heels causing her to move, which she did unless she wanted to be wolf food. "Gently now, gently" Ivenna coos the wolves.

Emma refuses to walk to the portal so the girl put up a fight. As she fought, a wolf bit her leg. The sharp pain caused her to call out as she was forced to walk towards the portal. She felt her leg growing warm as liquid trickled down. The wolf lets go and before they could go through the portal, they all stopped when a wolf howled.

"What about this one?" One wolf called out. Ivenna turns around and face Colm with a terrified expression. Emma almost forgot he was here since he was oddly quiet.

"Is he related to the Heir?" She asked as Colm tried to escape the circle of wolves.

"Let me go! I know fencing!"

The black wolf next to Ivenna sniffed. "He doesn't smell of magic unlike her."

Ivenna eyed the boy, curious. She quickly made up her mind "He's useless." She nods at her wolves. "Kill him. He's no use to us. Go, feast."

Emma's scream caught in her throat. She had lost everything within this year. Her father, her favorite horses, her aunt and uncle and now she was about to lose her cousin. She collapses to the ground, emotions flooding over; Emma felt like passing out.

Suddenly, before the large canines could devore the blonde boy, a fiery ball exploded between the wolves and the teens. Everyone was knocked off their feet. Emma dusted herself off, trying to figure out what happen. Before she knew it, this entire night just got weirder.

A silver horse was now in front of her, shielding himself from her and the wolves. Emma's eyes glanced over and saw Soot protecting Colm as well. She didn't know where they came from or why they returned but a part of her was glad to see Wings again.

Then the havens open in a radiant display of colors. The aura borealis. Within a blink, Emma witness purple wings and fire descending from the light display and it was heading straight towards them.

The purple wings belonged to a brown winged mare who's wings dazzled like radiant stars. Her mane and tail were light pink and in a updo, not a hair out of place. She was also fastened in a silver and opal belt that is a flowing gossamer ribbon that drapes around her neck and trails behind her like a rainbow. The fabric also seemed to cover up a scar that snakes around her collar bone and shoulders. Around her forearms were engraved pieces of silver armor.

The moment she lands, another equine burst through the aurora in a ray of light, like fire. The mare was fiery red with a long mane and tail of the same color. Her profile was slightly dished with a round body and an arched neck. Her eyes are warm brown unlike her friend who was vibrant green.

The two equines spun around and started fighting with the wolves who snarled and bite at the horses. The red mare runs and a trail of fire following behind her. To Emma, the mare seemed to be enjoying herself. She turns her head back at the Pegasus who saw herself in a nearby puddle and was checking herself out. A wolf, taking the advantage, jumped from behind her but she swiftly kicked it away without taking her eyes away from the puddle.

The red mare screams at her friend while fighting two wolves at once. "Seven moons, Nike, stop admiring yourself and help me out!"

Nike lifts her head, fixing her mane. "I have to look good in a fight, Fiona. You should know this." After taking one final look at herself, Nike took to the sky and knocked over the wolves like dominos.

Gazing around back into the fray, Nike reached over to Fiona who was biting the neck of a dark grey wolf. Once the wolf twisted herself free from the flame red equine, Fiona then dropped to the ground as Nike jumps over her and hurdled herself at the large canine. The two rolled over each other, kicking up dust. Nike, then, grabbed the wolf by her ears, and slammed her onto the ground. In triumph, the two equines wheeled around each other as if they were one and tossed themselves back at the mob of battling dogs.

Amazed, Emma looks back at the aura and sees a flash of light full of electricity striking the ground, causing several wolves to jump. As the sparks flew, the human girl saw two more equines flying out of the light display and landing with grace on the ground. One was a pure black muscular stallion with feathered hooves and a wavy windswept mane and tail. On his flank, is white decorated lighting. The second was a bay mare with a wavy black mane and tail. Her defining feature was a pattern of diamonds of blue and turquoise in the form of a bridle. Noticing that they were gravely outnumbered, the black stallion and the bay mare joined their two other two friends.

Nike cheered. "Alright! Thunder, Jewel, you finally made it! It's not like we needed help or anything."

With gemstones circling around her, Jewel throw up her head and bounded around as if she didn't have a care in the world. "Oh please, this is a team effort." She then held her ground and threw the stones at nearby wolves, striking them in the chest. They all fall over in pain, not getting back up.

Thunder stood still, waiting for his opponents. Once they were close enough, he lets out a nigh and rears. He then stomps the ground with a mighty thrust, lightning sparking the soil and electrifying the wolves around Fiona. Once the dust cleared, Fiona nodded to Thunder with an understanding and dove back into battle.

Emma heard a grunt and witnessed Ivenna hitting the ground. Her eyes raged in bloodlust at the powerful equines. She stabs the ground, unleashing a powerful wave of magic towards the four horses, who came at her, using all of their force upon her.

Distracted, Wings neighs at Emma. She turns to him, wondering what her horse wanted.

"He wants you to on his back, Em!" She heard Colm yell as he was on Soot. Without thinking, Emma gets on the yearling's back and once she was on, he took off into the night. She and Colm rode side by side when the four large horses joined them and soon, they all took to the sky towards the northern lights.

Emma's mind was unable to take in everything. Her brain and body began to shut down, thoughts disappearing, consciousness falling into a dark abyss haze, consuming her deeper and deeper.

The young, brunette teen fell into her horse's soft mane, into unconscious.

.............................
Fiona

Nike

Jewel

Thunder