The sleeping wolf's paws twitched into the air, a soft grunt escaping his throat as the pup discovered him. Unknown to anyone else, though, was that in Itheral's head, his previously idyllic dream was becoming a nightmare.
The sun had been shining down on he endless green field, with hundreds...no, thousands of fat, slow bunnies. All for Itheral to catch and eat at his leisure. All was well in this perfect world....until the distant sound of thunder met the prancing wolf's ears. He looked back over his shoulder, seeing dark, ominous storm clouds forming far on the horizon. He knew exactly what that meant. Panic filled the wolf, and he began running as fast as he could. He ran and he ran and he ran. It seemed like an eternity. Every time he looked back, the clouds were growing closer. Soon, the sun's rays were smothered, darkness covering the land. Grasslands transformed into a twisted mockery of a forest, branches twisted and gnarled in unnatural mockeries of their nature forms.
Itheral knew all too well exactly where he was, despite the disfigured trees, which only terrified him more. He looked back behind him again. This time, he caught glimpses of dark, shadowy figures darting through the trees, filling him with dread. They were much, much faster then he was, and were catching up quickly. Looking ahead, the wolf jumped over a small creek, which he recognized immediately from his childhood. Another glance back, and the figures were right behind him. Slavering, twisted mockeries of his former pack mates, closing the gap with unreal speed. He looked ahead, and saw a large, hollowed out log. He knew he shouldn't go for it, knew that he'd never fit. But his paws were not his own here, and he dove headlong into it.
Itheral caught fast, his head and shoulder caught tight. The splinters dug at his flesh, the near darkness enveloping him as he heard the heaving, labored breaths of his demons catch up and begin circling him outside. He begged, pleaded for mercy, but he felt the first set of fangs upon his rump. He yelped loudly, to which he heard unearthly laughing. Another biting sting, then another. One after another, the beasts tore at his hindquarters in a cruel display of dominance, laughing and howling those demonic laughs. This went on and on, Itheral crying and begging for it to stop, until, with a bite and a horrifying tugging...
"It gone!"
The shrill yelp Itheral woke up with caused the nearby birds to fly off in panic. Suddenly free from the log, eyes burning in the light, unsure of what was real and what wasn't, the rotund wolf rolled and slipped to his feet, stumbling around, narrowly avoiding trampling the nearby pup. With his uncoordinated steps mixed with his eyes being shut from the burning light, it wasn't long until the bumbling wolf tripped up, landing headlong into the creek with a mighty splash.
The shock of the water seemed to snap Itheral out of is panic, though he remained where he was: face partially submerged in the shallow water, backside in the air, eyes cracked open ever so slightly as they slowly turned towards the pup, with a glare that could burn a hole through stone.
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