The White Knight

The sound of paws clattering against the stone floor echoed throughout the cavern. The sound of pain, exhaustion, and chains swaying back and forth accompanied the clattering. Wolves from all angles were working hard in the deepest part of the cavern system, being forced to dig and move rocks in order to make way for a new room in the cavern. Each of these wolves had scars all over their body and they came in all sorts of different species, except for one in particular. No matter what gender, species, or pelt variation they had, they all suffered the same treatment: torture. Here, you either died a quick and painless death, or your death was so brutal and slow that you begged for your life to end at a quicker pace.

Suddenly, the sound of a wolf falling to the ground and screaming in pain gained everyone’s attention, ears perking up and heads turning to look at the sight. Other wolves backed away to form a circle around the commotion, which was revealed to be some Fire wolf with a Thick Pelt being pinned down to the ground by a Fire wolf with a Thin Pelt. The Thick Pelted wolf appeared to be normal in terms of appearance: no markings, no symbolism, and no mutated colors, but the Thin Pelted wolf had a pelt that was ash-like in terms of color, with his eyes being blue and having near black markings on his back legs and front paws. The Thin Pelted wolf also appeared to be wearing a charm of sorts around his neck. The Thick Pelted wolf continued to scream as he felt the claws and teeth from the Thin Pelted wolf sink deep into his skin, the blood oozing out and dripping onto the cold stone floor.

“Please, forgive me- AAAH! I-I’ll never do it again..!” The Thick Pelted wolf pleaded with his life as the Thin Pelted wolf dug his claws further into the other Fire wolf.

“You fool. You knew the consequences of mating. Now, you’re going to pay the price!” The Thin Pelted wolf snarled deeply in response as he got ready to bite down onto the other Fire wolf’s head, but he hesitated as he saw a figure move through the crowd of slaves towards the commotion. The slaves parted ways like the Red Sea for the wolf as it came into view. “Khaalida, I-”

“Keep those jaws shut for a few moments, Kethai.” The wolf spoke in a calm and feminine voice. Her pelt was black as night, her eyes looking like they were on fire, and she wore a charm around her neck that consisted of a gem pendant. She began to slowly approach the bleeding Fire wolf, walking over to where she was facing in front of him, a cold emotionless expression on her face as she stared down upon him. “Now then, I’m sure you’re aware of what you’ve done to get yourself into this situation, therefore, your punishment is inevitable. However, I have decided to… alter your punishment in a way~. I think you are going to prefer this one much more.” A sinister grin appeared on her face as she turned her head towards the crowd, her voice raising so she could be heard, “Seraphina! Meishi! Bring out the female and her pups.”

The Fire wolf’s eyes widened as the crowd of slaves parted ways for two more of Khaalida’s servants: a Spirit wolf with mutated red symbolism and a standard Fire wolf with normal colors and red symbolism. The Spirit wolf carried three pups by their tails in her jaws while Seraphina pulled a mutated female Fire wolf by a chain attached to a collar around the neck. The Spirit wolf sets the newborn pups down onto the ground, looking up at Khaalida with a proud look on her face.

“My Mistress, we have brought the wolves you desired.” The Spirit wolf responded as Khaalida approached her with a smile on her face, giving the Spirit wolf a slight nuzzle on the neck. At the touch of the nuzzle, the Spirit wolf couldn’t help but shudder in excitement, her fur rising as her breathing began to stutter.

“Excellent work, Meishi~. Now then... “ Khaalida’s voice trails off as she approaches the two Fire wolves again, her eyes looking at Kethai first, to which they were filled with such anticipation and excitement. “Kethai, keep him pinned there. It’s time we punish this male for his actions.” Kethai nodded at the order and placed as much pressure as he could onto the Fire wolf so he didn’t try to get up and do anything stupid. Khaalida then looks back at Seraphina and Meishi, nodding her head as an order to carry on with the punishment.

“No, please..! Take me instead! It was my idea! I’ll do anything!!” The male Fire wolf begged and cried as Seraphina made the first move, the Fire wolf’s pleas fell on deaf ears and silent voices. She lunges at the female Fire wolf in chains, biting down on her throat, to which the female screams in pain. Seraphina suddenly began to rip out pieces of the female’s throat, blood spewing out as the screams turned into gurgles, her eyes rolling to the back of her head to show signs that she was dying. Piece after piece, her throat was ripped open, the esophagus and trachea spilled out and splattered onto the floor in a pile of blood and flesh. Finally, after multiple pieces had been torn off and dropped onto the blood-stained floor, Seraphina finishes the job with a slice using her claws, the female’s head rolling off of her body and onto the bloodied floor, landing on the mound of ripped flesh. This caused blood to splatter, some of it staining the male Fire wolf’s cheeks, to which the male responded by screaming in sorrow, tears flooding down his cheeks. He tried to get up, to do something about this, but he couldn’t do anything due to Kethai keeping him pinned to the ground. “You… you monster! How could you..!?” The male screamed at Khaalida as her ears twitched, her body turning to face him. Her eyes looked like hellfire as she leaned in close, a sinister grin on her face to indicate how she truly felt about the situation.

“Because I can, and because I will.” She responded in a terrifying tone as she nodded to Meishi again, to which the Spirit wolf placed a paw onto one of the newborn’s heads. All that the newborn pup could do was make a soft whimper at the uncomfortable pressure forming at its head, to which Meishi simply smiles at the sight before she smashes the skull of the first pup with ease, blood splattering onto her paw as the skull cracked and crushed into nothingness. Meishi then raises her paw up to lick the blood off of it before she proceeds towards the next pup, which was whimpering loudly for some attention.

“No!! Not the pups! Please..!” The male continued to scream and cry, before Kethai finally pushed a paw onto his snout, shutting him up for a while.

“Stop your pathetic crying and watch.” Kethai responded in a snapping tone as the male was forced to watch his newborn pups be smashes into soup. The sound of bones breaking and crushing filled the air as blood stained onto Meishi’s paws at this point. The pups didn’t even get a chance to react, for they couldn’t even see or hear yet, they could only feel the pressure of Meishi’s paws and make whimpered cries before swiftly dying a painful death. All that remained in the aftermath was a pool full of fur, blood, and crushed bones. Meishi bends down to lick more blood off of her paws while Khaalida grinned at the sight, her attention turning back towards the male Fire wolf.

“Now that was fun, wasn’t it? I sure as hell know I enjoyed it.” Her tone of voice suddenly shifted from a calm to an excited and angered tone as her symbolism began to appear on her rear end, which took on the appearance of roaring flames. This is possible due to the fact that her chaotic side likes to show off her symbols and power around others. Her jaws extended into a crazed grin as she bends down to get right up in the Fire wolf’s face, her words spat out in anger, “But I hope I made myself clear... in that you don’t fucking breed without any orders given to do so!” Snapping at his face, she was so tempted to bite his tongue off, but she decided against it for now, as she could always do it later as a second punishment. She then raises her head up to look at all of the other slaves, huffing a sigh of frustration at the sight. They were supposed to be working, not standing around and getting a free break by just watching a show on display. “And what the hell are you all standing around for? The party is over! Get the fuck back to work!” She shouts at the slaves as they all quickly head back to work, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the pups and female Fire wolf. No one would dare to face an angry Khaalida, for it would mean certain death for them. Khaalida’s tone then shifts back to a more calm and cold one, her symbolism disappearing as well before her eyes gazed towards her servants. She offers them a small smile before speaking to them, “Kethai, release him and go clean yourself up. The same goes for you two. We have a few guests waiting in the meeting room, and I want everyone to look presentable for them, nor do I want to keep them waiting.” All three of her servants nodded in response and trot off to go wash the blood off of their fur, with Kethai releasing the male from his grasp before he went to go join the others.

“You… you’re going to regret doing this... “ The male states in a weakened voice as Khaalida turns to look at him, her brows furrowing into a cold glare as she approaches him. She gets up close to his face, her eyes staring down upon him with such an intimidating gaze that he couldn’t help but cower back in fear, his tail tucked between his legs as his body shudders in fear of being the next victim.

“Unless you want to lose a leg or two, then I suggest you watch your tongue when speaking to me, slave.” She responds before turning around to head out of the work area for the slaves. But before she did so, she turned back to look at him with a slight chuckle, “And clean up the mess from the floor. Or else I’ll consider biting off your paws as well.” She then proceeded to exit the slave chamber, leaving the Fire wolf petrified, horrified, and frightened. He walks over to the bodies of his mate and pups, tears escaping his eyes as he is forced to clean up the mess. His paws gently nudged the beheaded body of his mate, and his tail scraped against the blood-stained floor of where his newborn pups once were. All he could do was cry out tears of sorrow and despair. What did he ever do to deserve a life filled with such misery and pain?

“Father, we have been waiting here for far too long! Who are we even meeting in the first place?” Questioned a young voice in the meeting room. A little figure hopped onto a table made out of stone, the fires from around the room illuminating the tiny figure, revealing it to be a small female Electric pup of sorts. She appeared to have the standard colors of a normal Electric wolf, but with a few extra black markings on her front and back legs and near white symbols underneath her eyes and back. Sitting near the table appeared to be a male Electric wolf with pure horns, a strange white symbol on his chest to compliment his white horns and white eyes.This male also had more white symbols scattered around his body and extra black markings on his front side. The male simply looks over at the pup with a soft sigh, his expression showing kindness towards the pup.

“Patience, Pyua. The wolves that we are meeting today are probably just completing some minor tasks.” The male Electric wolf responds as the pup lets out a small pout before she jumps off of the table. This pup obviously didn’t like waiting, nor did she have the patience to wait any longer. Her father promised her something interesting, but so far, nothing interesting has happened.

“Our apologies for the long wait, Nise.” Hollered out a voice from one of the tunnels through the cavern. The male Electric wolf’s expression suddenly turned from kindness to a more calm and serious expression as a group of wolves finally entered the room: Meishi, Seraphina, Kethai, another Spirit wolf that was a male, a male Shadow wolf, a female Sand wolf, and most importantly, Khaalida herself, who was the one that hollered out to the two Electric wolves. “We simply had to take care of some pests. But now, we can discuss business.” She spoke as all of her servants took a seat around the stone table without a second thought, Khaalida sitting across from Nise with a grin on her face.

“Right… but may I ask why you wanted to form this alliance in the first place?” Nise questioned with a slight hint of confusion in his voice. When he heard of this clan, he thought that they were going to give away Electric wolves to join his cult, but it seems like he was wrong at first, or was he?

“Why, it’s quite simple~. You see, I am in need of a few more wolves to join my side. With the combined efforts of the Shadow and Tanlin clans, my army has dwindled in numbers, and I am unknown to most of those in Delv Ihoo. You seem to be suffering the same fate as I am: we hardly have any sort of influence on the island. So, if we team up, your cult and my army spreads its influence between each other. And with the combined efforts from both of us, we will be able to gain new members at a faster pace. I can even offer up some of my slaves to expand your cult~.” The Chaos wolf spoke with such confidence and a slight bit of manipulation in her voice, something that Nise was familiar with. “Besides, I find it so fascinating that you managed to convince a bunch of wolves that you’re a prophet of the Gods.” She lets out a sinister chuckle as Nise’s brows furrowed a bit, his calm demeanor slowly turning into one who was offended by that statement. Pyua was quite offended as well, as no one was allowed to speak of her father like that. So, she marched up to Khaalida with an angry expression on her face that oddly looked adorable, to which some of the servants tried to hold in a chuckle at the sight.

“Hey! You should show my Father some respect! He is a prophet and he’s the coolest wolf there ever is~.” The pup chimes in with such confidence towards someone that could probably end her life with just one bite. Khaalida turns her attention towards the pup, a bit put off by the sight, as she never really enjoyed pups. They yipped and yapped and were more trouble than anything. But, she had to give the pup some credit for having the audacity to speak to her like that, as usually those that do end up dying a cruel and brutal death.

“Nise, I wasn’t aware that you brought someone else here. It would have been nice to know sooner…” Her voice trails off a bit as she tries to suppress her anger towards her guests, her ears folding back as a sign of frustration as she gazes back up towards Nise, looking very much annoyed by the unexpected guest.

“I wanted to bring my daughter here as part of the discussion, for I have a proposition. My life has gotten busier over the past few months, and I don’t have as much time as I used to. Pyua here is in need of some form of attention and entertainment, so I decided that you could possibly look after her-”

“But Father-!” Pyua tried to butt in to gain her Father’s attention, but all he did was quietly shush her, to which she looked away with a huge pout on her face.

“As I was saying, I need someone to look out for her while I’m gone, and I thought of you as the perfect fit. My daughter means more to me than anything else. So…” Nise’s voice trails off a bit as a confident smile appears on his face, “If you would be willing to be a babysitter of sorts towards her, then my cult will gladly become your best ally. If you refuse, then I shall simply leave and look for someone better.” As soon as he finished, Khaalida’s servants all looked back at her with concern written on all of their faces. Khaalida was aware of the manipulation tactic that Nise was trying to pull, but she simply went along with it. Even if she didn’t like children, it was only one pup she had to look after.

“Mistress, maybe we should really think about this-” Meishi tried to offer a suggestion towards her mate, but Khaalida simply hushed her to be silent, to which Meishi couldn’t help but shudder in excitement. She would certainly be punished later on tonight for sure, and she was already looking forward to it.

“Hmph, very well. I shall agree to look after your daughter whenever you wish, in exchange for the alliance.” She finally responded as Nise looks at her with the same calm expression as before, but Pyua didn’t seem to be very thrilled at the decision. Nor did Khaalida enjoy the decision either, but she was in desperate need of this alliance.

“It is a deal then. I shall stop by later to take a look at your slaves. Some of them could prove to be of some use for us.” Nise stated as he finally stands up. He gives Khaalida a slight grin before looking down at Pyua with a loving expression. “My daughter, I will leave you here for a while, as I have some business to attend to now. I’ll be back soon to pick you up.” He gives her a slight nuzzle before walking around the table and past Khaalida. “If she ever gets bored, just torture one of your slaves that you discussed so much about, for she craves violence very frequently.” Those were his final words before he left the room to exit the cavern. Pyua didn’t want to leave her father’s side, but she didn’t have a choice. She trots up to Khaalida’s side and looks up at her with a demanding expression, thinking that she was the one in charge now.

“You heard my Father, I demand violence!” The pup shouted out as Khaalida stared down at the small figure. While she didn’t like pups, she was quite intrigued that this particular pup enjoyed watching poor souls being tortured to death. Then again, just about anything will do, she just wanted to distract this pup.

“Violence you say? If that is what you desire, then I suppose I can show you multiple ways of torture.” She huffs out a small sigh as she turns to look at all of her servants. “Kethai and Thanatos, prepare the torture chamber. Meishi and Neni, prepare us a fine feast. Seraphina and Erebus, you two are on guard duty. Punish any slave that dares to break the rules.” As soon as she gave out the order, her servants all nodded in agreement, except for Seraphina, who seemed slightly pissed. Kethai and the male Spirit wolf went off to prepare the torture chamber while Meishi and the female Sand wolf went to prepare dinner. Erebus, the male Shadow wolf, awaited for Seraphina to follow him, but she refused to move.

“Hell no, I am not going on guard duty for the hundredth time!” She shouts at Khaalida, to which the Chaos wolf responds by quickly turning to her before showing off her symbolism. She started to slowly approach the Fire wolf girl, her eyes were filled with anger as she got up right at Seraphina’s face, to which Seraphina froze at the sight. Her tail tucked between her legs and her ears folded back as she took on a submissive stance before Khaalida got into her face.

“Seraphina, we have a guest. I expected you to be at your best behavior today. Now, if you want to lose that pretty tail of yours, then by all means, continue spitting out bullshit.” Khaalida’s voice changed to one filled with anger and horror, her voice so intimidating that it left Seraphina speechless and frozen in fear. Meanwhile, Pyua was just waiting in the back, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she witnessed just how scary Khaalida can be. “No? Then keep your jaws shut, or I will shut them for you.” She snaps at Seraphina’s face, to which the Fire wolf was quick to run off and join Erebus to guard duty, her whimpers echoing throughout the cavern. They might be her servants, but even they are not safe from her fury and rage.

“Whoa… you are so cool!!” Pyua suddenly shouted in excitement as she ran up to Khaalida’s side, her tail wagging in excitement as she looked up at the Chaos wolf. “Are you gonna be that scary towards the slaves? Can we see the slaves get tortured now??” The pup began to grow excited at how cool her new babysitter would be. Sure, she was nowhere near as cool as her father, but she was pretty high up on the coolness list already. Khaalida just simply gazed down upon Pyua, her expression turning from a cold glare into a slight smile. She might as well get used to being with this new pup, but it was a good thing that Pyua was tolerable.

“Oh, it’s going to be much more than what I just did.” She responds as she began to lead the small pup to the torture chamber, which was a bit of a long walk, but she didn’t seem to care. “I’m going to be teaching you every possible way to torture a victim, and much more. Soon, you’ll be the one staining the walls crimson red.” As soon as Khaalida said those words, Pyua grew more excited, her tail rapidly wagging even more as she hopped a little in her steps.

“Yeah! I got the coolest babysitter~.” Pyua stated as she looked up at Khaalida with a joyful grin, to which Khaalida couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of her as they both left the meeting room. Khaalida felt as though her heart was slightly melting its stone layer for such a strange pup, to which she didn’t mind. It would be nice to have someone as interested in torture as herself, and maybe, she could train this pup to be like herself one day. Oh, all of the possibilities were rushing into Khaalida’s head, which made her grin madly. This day was about to get a little more hectic than usual, and that’s saying something, considering how hectic it already was.

The sun shines its bright light through the treetops and onto the forest floor, the sound of birds chirping fills the air as water runs smoothly through a nearby river. A loud yawn was heard as something began to awaken from its slumber, that something being an Ice wolf of sorts. By the color of its mane and how small it was, it was most likely a female Ice wolf. Swirls coated her body to represent her symbolism, and her eyes were a pale blue. The Ice wolf slowly began to stand on her feet as she took a look around her surroundings, her expression hardly showing any emotion, but the tone of her voice showed frustration.

“Dammit, we overslept again. Khaalida and her goons are going to catch up to us at this rate…” The Ice wolf spoke to herself as she walked over to another wolf sleeping nearby. This other wolf seemed to be part of the Wind species, and judging on the markings and wing shape, it seemed to be a female Coastwing. “Solana, wake up. We’re heading out.” The Ice wolf states as she nudges the Coastwing using her paw.

The Wind wolf stirred in her slumber for a few moments before she too finally decided to wake up. Her jaws splitting open to let out a yawn as she stretches her limbs, wings included. She looks up towards the Ice wolf with a cheerful smile on her face, seemingly happy to see the Ice wolf. Her tail thumped a little on the ground in excitement to further emphasize her happiness.

“Why good morning, Noelle. Slept well?” Solana questioned as she finally rose on her feet, to which the Ice wolf went ahead and got a move on through the forest, for she didn’t want to linger in the area for much longer.

“Sort of, but it doesn’t matter. We need to start making our way towards the mountain pass in order to lose Khaalida. I would like to not die today.” Noelle states as she huffs out a sigh of frustration, to which Solana begins to follow her without a second thought. The Coastwing took notice of the Ice wolf’s frustration, to which her ears flattened a bit as she tried to think of something, her ears perking right back up as the idea came to her head.

“Hmmm… we could always take a break in the Psychic lands. I heard that it’s relatively peaceful there~.” Solana suggested as she gave Noelle a big smile, to which Noelle just looked towards Solana with a judgemental look on her face. Noelle never enjoyed staying in the territory of others, to which Solana did understand, so her ears folded back again as her tail slightly drooped. “N-Nevermind… it was a stupid suggestion-”

“Only for a day or two, then we head back out. The faster we make it to the mountains, the faster we lose Khaalida.” Noelle couldn’t bear to witness Solana crying and being saddened once more, so she simply complied with hesitation as she continued to trud her way through the forest. Solana couldn’t help but grow excited at her response, her body perking back up with excitement as she ran over to give Noelle a hug using one of her wings.

“Yay! You’re improving so much since we first met~!” Solana exclaimed as she held in the hug more tightly, a huge grin appearing on her face as her tail started to wag rapidly.

“Don’t push it. I might just reconsider my decision-” Before Noelle could finish her, there was the sound of a painful yelp, like someone had gotten injured. It seemed to come from the left side of the forest. Following the sound of the yelp were voices, to which most didn’t sound so friendly. Solana was quick to let go of the hug, her demeanor turning from excitement to concern as the tone of her voice suddenly shifted.

“Oh no… that doesn’t sound so good. Noelle, should we go check it out?” Solana questioned with concern as she turned to look at Noelle. Noelle hesitated with her answer at first, her head glancing over to the side. She usually liked to avoid any sort of trouble, but with the look that Solana was giving her, she couldn’t be bothered to even argue with her. Her body huffs out a sigh as she raises her head up to look back at Solana.

“Alright, we’ll go investigate it. But we won’t just rush in there until we know for sure what's happening.” Noelle responds, her expression showing that she had no intent of saving anyone, to which Solana understood perfectly, even if she didn’t agree with it. As the two began to run off towards the source of the noises, the sound of the voices getting louder as they got closer, with the sounds of fighting starting to accompany the voices and the yelps of pain.

Upon arriving at a clearing in the trees, all they saw at first was bloodshed, an army of Shadow wolves, and one singular Light wolf in the midst of them all.