As fast as she ran, Lexi couldn't escape her thoughts. They were beads of energy, zipping after her like the lightning she left behind, piercing the back of her head and tearing through her mind with ferocious intent. They wouldn't stop, and so neither could she.

Her paws thumped at odds to her heart, creating a jarred rhythm within her. Nothing was in sync. Her breaths caught like she was trying to inhale smoke.

With every beat, another death rung within her, its sound a hollow din.

Her mother was dead. Her father too, most likely, struck down as she sped away. Toivo may as well have been dead, swallowed by murdering shadows. Her morals, too, seemed to have had the life sucked from them, in the same way a life hung from her claws, ripped from another wolf. Deimos was dead.

Her heart felt slaughtered in itself.

Only when she surpassed Storm did her fellow Thunderwylf enter her conciousness. One wolf that wasn't dead, at least. One wolf to run beside.

The town was behind them now, lost from sight. Trees cramped Lexi's vision instead. Night's darkness dripped through the leaves, casting shade at every turn, drowning the world in an ocean of deepest black.

Black was death's colour, she knew. It always had been a fact to her, echoed in every story she read, but now its origin finally made sense. The night echoed the empty loss within her, devoid of colour the same way a body could lie devoid of life. The darkened boughs of the trees were bones jutting from discarded corpses, gradually crumbling away until they were nothing but dust.

Lexi knew the routes through the forest like nothing else, but in the life-destroying dark, the paths seemed to tangle amongst themselves, as if this new world of night had seen fit to rearrange them for its own pleasure. She battled onwards, ignoring Storm's call from somewhere behind. Its exact words were lost in the irregular pounding of her heart.

Time slipped away as she ran onwards. Her paws ached, but she barely felt it. It simply didn't compare to the pain within.

Twice more, Storm called. The second time Lexi made out a, "Stop!" shaped by her voice. Yet she couldn't obey. To stop would be to let the dark sink in above her, and the pain settle, and everything become real.

The trees fell away, replaced by yet more empty dark. A full night sky opened up ahead of her, studded with stars. Silver eyes of dead souls, peering down at her. Lexi briefly wondered which one now belonged to her mother.

For the first few steps away from the forest, she pretended that she hadn't seen the steep drop ahead. Perhaps if she hoped enough, it would vanish, and she could keep on running forever. But eventually reality, along with the grip of Storm's teeth on her tail, tugged her backwards, and she finally staggered to the stop she'd been fighting against for so long.

Lexi crumpled, the ground a cold press to her flank.

The world danced out of control, spinning in wild circles. The stars blinked at her from all sides. The darkness gripped her throat, forcing her to inhale in short, ragged gasps.

"Lexi," said a voice, steady, firm. She grasped for it. "Lexi, it's okay now. You're okay."

Through the haze of dizziness, Lexi made out Storm's sharp green eyes. A paw, Storm's paw, rested on her side, driving her back to the real world. It was a steel rod, anchoring her in place. Every other part of her trembled on, wracked with draining pain and clawing loss.

Through the blockade in her jaw, she shoved out a reply. "But it's not. It's not okay."

Chasing through the path the words had carved to open air, a sob pushed its way out, choking her. And suddenly it was all emerging. Tears raced down her snout, dripping into the grass, and still there was enough of them to drown her thoughts.

Never again would her mother look her in the eyes and comfort her. Never again would they curl around one another by the fire's warmth. Their late night talks, the jokes they shared, the embraces she longed would last forever, all lost for good. All gone. Her mother was gone.

Nothing could ever be okay, not anymore.

She sank into the earth, burying herself amongst the blades of dulled grass. And her revenge for that act had been so fleeting. One life for another.

Deimos' death was deserved, but not warranted. All wolves had a right to life, including those that stole it from others. She knew that, and her mother had known that, too. But her instincts clearly did not. Now her claws, though clean, stung with the blood of another, and for as long as she lived it would not wash away.

To lose and to take. Both seemed as bad as each other. When combined, they formed the heaviest, most unbearable weight.

Storm's paw slid away from Lexi's side. Gradually, Lexi opened her eyes to search for its whereabouts. She hadn't even noticed them close. The dark was just as suffocating, whether outside or within.

Instead of fixed on her, Storm's eyes were now turned the other way, scanning the line of trees they'd exited only minutes before. Her ears pricked, as if sensing some quiet noise. Though it took great effort, Lexi lifted her own ears, and caught the shifting of bodies Storm must have latched onto. They'd been followed.

Lexi remained rooted where she was. She wasn't sure if she cared.

Soft pawsteps drew closer, and then a black body stalked out of the trees, a tail slowly flicking behind. A second, smaller Shadewylf followed, crouched at the first wolf's side.

Zarola and Acacius, the other two hunters beside Deimos. Perhaps I could kill them, too, a cynical voice commented in Lexi's mind. Complete the set. If she had the will or the energy, she might have laughed at the thought. Instead her humourless chuckle raked her insides, clawing a tunnel deeper into her heart.

Zarola moved purposefully, each step dragged out for painful seconds. She knew that neither of them would run anywhere. Acacius' scamper didn't quite hold the same intimidation, but his glare was enough to make up the difference. She eventually halted a short distance from Storm, head twisted to the side as she examined them. There was dark fire in her eyes.

"Afraid Bidu couldn't join us," she said, staring right past Storm to rest on Lexi below. "She's busy dealing with the other Earthwylf. Your father, correct?"

The heaviness in Lexi's chest grew. She had assumed as much, but hearing it spoken aloud made the blade of the thought all the more deadly.

"Tell me, Thunderwylf," Zarola hissed, "how does it feel to be an orphan?"

Above, Storm stepped backwards, her paw clearing Lexi's chest and setting down on the other side. She sank into a protective crouch, and as Lexi cast a glance to her, she saw the sparks that gathered at the base of her paws.

"What did she ever do to you?" Storm snapped, voice holding together impressively well. Her fangs were bared. "What did any of us ever do to deserve this?"

Acacius frowned at her, his gaze faltering briefly. Zarola, however, didn't miss a beat in replying, "Tell me this. When a Shadewylf appeared in your town, positioned on your righteous stage, how did you feel?"

The sparks faded. Storm's paw shifted, her breath hitching. "Afraid."

"Exactly." Zarola's gaze bored into her. She took a step, letting her claws twist and glint in the moonlight as she did so. "And how do you feel now?"

Lexi's eyes tracked the claws, watching as they tore through the air and impaled the earth below. She caught the edge of Storm's hiss. "You're a monster."

A piece of darkness separated from the sheet of night. Zarola's tail, flicking, lashing out a smouldering fury. "And there lies our problem." She moved forward again, and for the first time, her fangs flashed from her jaw. "We're nothing but beasts to you." Her growl deepened. With it the fire in her eyes grew, a raging flame wishing only to burn, and to destroy. "I'm sure Deimos was just another monster for you to kill."

She pounced.

Storm met her with a streak of lightning, crackling a fork in the space before her, but Zarola twisted away to dodge the trailing sparks. In her stead, Acacius leaped, thumping into Storm before she could switch her focus. The two rocketed away, landing in a grappling heap closer to the edge, leaving Lexi exposed.

A chill swept her fur, as if Storm's sudden absence had left only ice cold behind. The mild touch of the night was whisked away. Only steps away, Zarola rose, her eyes blackened daggers.

Lexi pushed to her paws, fighting through the shakes that gripped her muscles in the exertion. She felt for her Pelt, her lightning, any sort of defensive power she might still hold, but she had nothing. It was simply her, stripped of the fighter she had been only minutes before, facing a wolf intent on a kill.

But she was still something. If there was anything her mother had taught her, it was that anyone, at any time, could still be strong. And strong wolves didn't give up.

Channelling every scrap of energy she could pull from within, Lexi gave the ground a parting shove and pounced. An unexpected move, it seemed, for Zarola wasn't braced for the power she came down with, and offered only a stagger in return. Grasping for the advantage her surprise gave, Lexi clawed at Zarola's side, marking dull red lines through her black fur.

Zarola thrashed. She clung on. If this was to be her last battle, she would match her opponent's ferocity in it.

With every strike, she thought of her parents. Her father's laugh. Her mother's smile. The blood she shed wasn't for them, and for where their spirits rested above, for enough death had already occured in their name. This blood was for her. As her claws sank deeper, she sent them silent apologies for the wounds she left behind.

She would carry their guilt, she promised. Because guilt could fill the emptiness grief sapped away.

As she braced for another swipe, something else met her chest. A paw, shoving the air from her lungs, stealing away her last scrap of power and leaving the faint sting of claws behind. Lexi flew, the world spiralling from her control, before returning to her in the form of a painful collision.

She couldn't rise a second time. She lay, pinned to the earth, barely brave enough to keep her eyes open. The green of the forest had left her vision now. The night sky swooped in to steal it away.

After several moments of skewed colours, she made out Zarola's form pacing towards her, the urgency once again leaving her steps. Her side was painted with a streak of red, but Lexi felt a sticky warmth gathering in the spot where the kick had met her chest. A return gesture, more than equal in the pain it brought.

"Just a pup after all," Zarola spat.

Her paw clasped Lexi's shoulder, pushing her back. Her claws dug trenches in the dirt, but she was powerless to fight her own weakness. Gradually, the ground slipped away, the night air pressing rougher on her back.

Her hind legs kicked out, reaching for something solid to grasp onto. They met only empty air. Her forepaws wrapped around a jut of rock, claws digging in, as Zarola released her grip with a final push. But it was too late now. Lexi's chest fell away from the ground, and suddenly she was dangling, the rock her only lifeline.

Though bending her head to peer downwards was both uninviting and near impossible, she knew the valley waited below. A dark, gaping pit, ready to swallow her whole should she let go.

Her mind flashed back to a time only days ago, when she had chased after Angel and descended into that void, still desperate to save her best friend. Then, Angel had been there to catch her, a flutter of white wings to provide a welcome net.

The night was no such ally.

Neither was the wolf that loomed above her, gaze coldly sharp and posture mimicing her triumph. In one slow, graceful move, Zarola slid her paw forwards, resting it gently where Lexi's grip dug into the cliff's side.

Lexi sank her claws in tighter. But it would make no difference. She knew how this fight would end.

Still, her tongue still clawed at fragments of hope, scrambling for words that just might lock into the hillside and hold her firm. "I didn't mean it," she called, pouring every drop of meaning heavy in her heart into her tone. "I didn't want to kill Deimos."

Zarola's head tipped sideways. Her paw pressed, just the slightest amount, into Lexi's. Lexi had to fight the urge to flinch away. "It didn't look like an accident to me."

"He killed my mother." She met Zarola's gaze. "It wasn't right to return the favour. It is never right to kill. But--"

"But you did," Zarola finished, the words flicking from her fangs. "As much as your pathetic morals may disagree, pup, this is how the world works. A kill for a kill. Over and over, until only the strongest are left. Even you must know it, if you felt the need to continue that chain."

"Why can't we just stop this?" A note of pleading had overtaken Lexi's tone now. She didn't care. She was tired of being strong. "Why cause more death when enough has already occured? Why can't we just live in peace?"

Zarola leaned closer, her snout clearing the cliff's edge to meet Lexi's. Her eyes mirrored the velvet emptiness behind. "If peace were possible," she hissed, "it would have been achieved long ago. A wolf's heart is made for revenge."

Her claws tightened around Lexi's paws. Battling the shot of pain they brought, she clung on, her shoulders bunched with the will to stay alive.

Her hind legs paddled, tredding on stars. Joining the night sky's display seemed so romantic - to unite with her parents, to speak with the gods, to be free from the cage of mortal life. But she knew in that moment that the stars were not what she wanted, not yet. She wanted to live. She needed to live. There had to be something else she was made for.

It couldn't end like this. Not before she'd even seen Toivo again. It couldn't end so quickly.

"Please," she whispered, staring up at Zarola. "You don't need to do this. Please."

But Zarola shook her head. Suddenly, her claws were slicing deep into Lexi's paws. Lexi cried out, the pain yanking her out of control. Her grip faltered. She was suspended only by Zarola's burning hold.

Zarola's eyes were wild, eaten by maddened flames. Lexi fleetingly wondered whether she'd looked the same way when her lightning had taken Deimos.

"This is my vengeance," came Zarola's snarl.

Her paws pushed outwards, out towards the dark, as if offering it a gift. Lexi's claws met empty air.

Then she was falling, the world nothing but streaks of shadow, tugging her away into the stars.