Chapter 3 - Desert Dire Wolf

A deep sorrow seeped into Destro's eyes as he reminisced about his brothers life that had been mercilessly stolen, however an indomitable steely determination surged as he stared at the prone dog laying in his lap destroying any sorrow left in his eyes. "I was powerless to protect my little brother, but I won't allow myself to fail twice I promise you that" mumbling to himself Destro swore a promise both to himself and the dog who's life was precariously balanced in his hands. The heavy somber atmosphere surrounding the boy quickly evaporated as he laughingly turned to the dog "I suppose that's what I'll call you from now on then, Leo"  With a gentle smile he started caressing Leo's head as he continued to feed him.

As Destro was feeding him Leo's eyes fell upon the youths face, appraising the boy whom had taken in him. Distrust was the most prominent emotion within Leo's eyes however he gratefully eat the meat delicately placed in his jaws. Creatures with Fiend Beast lineage were innately intelligent, possessing feelings and morals, it wasn't entirely unheard of for such animals to follow complex commands and orders. Fiend Beasts themselves possessed at least the same level of intelligence as humans and as for of the strongest Fiend Beasts, well to compare their intellect with the intelligence of a common man was like comparing the sun to feeble candle. Such knowledge was common in Shuda and Xiandem, so when Destro observed Leo looking at him so appraisingly he fully understood that he was being sized up and analysed by his canine patient.

Destro finished feeding Leo the entire Burrower at which point he cast a glance and the slightest of sniffs towards the leg that Destro had put aside for himself in the morning. Watching this Destro couldn't help but chuckle, elated with the rate Leo was recovering from whatever had been plaguing him. Tentatively placing Leo back down by the rock wall Destro turned and creeped outside of the hut to resume watching over his trap.

The next three days and nights were spent in the same way. Each day he fed Leo a single bowl of water in the morning and at night as Destro woke up, he would then settle down inconspicuously outside his hut for the night to stealthily watch his trap. Every single night he caught one Burrower, which was enough to feed both himself and Leo over the three days. On the third night Destro observed that more Burrowers would come to drink before anything was caught however the moment a Burrower was caught there would be an immediate decrease in the numbers of Burrowers whilst there was a greater influx of fox numbers. After pondering on it for a while he shrugged it off assuming it was something to do with the distressed squeaking Burrowers made when they were caught.

With a content look Destro sat outside the hut skinning the latest Burrower his trap had caught. Destro's spirits were at an all time high, he enjoyed eating raw meat far more than the bread he had lived off for three years and watching Leo recover a little more every day felt intrinsically good to him. Getting up he slipped past the rag door and went to sit against the rock wall, before lifting up Leo's head and resting it on his lap. Taking a large bit of the freshly caught Burrower meat he placed into Leo's jaws, at which point Leo slowly chewed on it before swallowing it all down. Over the past four days Leo had gone from being completely and entirely paralysed, unable to move at all to being able to feebly move around. Such a recovery rate might of ensured that Destro was grinning from ear to ear however on the second day he had the horrid realisation that after putting food and water in, it had to come out at some point. Unpleasant as it was he could only grit his teeth and curse before beginning to wash the blankets Leo was wrapt in whenever it started smelling pungent.  

The distrust that had been so blatantly stark in Leo's eyes whenever their eyes had met had been partially eroded away over the past four days, to Destro's pleasure, a slight sense of familiarity was starting to replace it. On two separate occasions now Leo had attempted to get to his paws. The first time he had struggled for a while but had eventually clawed to sit upright before collapsing back down. The second time was only a few hours ago and he had meekly made his legs stand below him, just standing there shaking and wobbling dangerously. Shock had been plain on Destro's face as he saw Leo standing upright however he didn't have long to admire his feat, Leo's legs gave way and before he could hit the floor Destro had dived across the hut and caught him, delicately lowering him back down to the ground.

As Destro knelt over him Leo let out a minuscule whimper in what Destro guessed was gratitude. Shock at the speed of Leo's recovery wasn't the most prominent thing that struck Destr, shock at Leo's height and size was what left a lasting impression from that event. As Leo stood his shoulder was around seventy centimetres off the ground, that was with his legs bowed and wobbling, to put that in perspective whilst Leo was crouching his head came up to Destro's chest. Although Destro realised Leo was large he hadn't fully comprehended just how large he actually was whilst he was lying down, despite most of his height being attributed to his sleek elongated legs. Destro's shock was quickly replaced with glee as he thought of the innumerable desert foxes Leo would be able catch with such powerful long legs, that could obviously reach their maximum potential for speed.

Like the deserts arid breezes three more days passed rapidly. Leo was now up and fully mobile. Destro was still awed every time he viewed Leo's magnificent stature. Destro sat on the roof of the hut with his legs crossed, completely relaxed and savouring the serene environment. Leo majestically stood facing the sunset to Destro's left twenty metres or so in front of the hut. He stood completely upright framed by the desert sand that sparkled crimson in the setting sun. His pointed ears stood to attention whilst he's eyes glittered with a surprising intelligence, his head was supported by a burly neck that was ramrod straight and attached to a deep muscular chest that looked like a sculptor had carved it out of obsidian. Sleek slender front legs held up his powerful chest whilst bulky muscular back legs were attached to a wiry thin waist by fearsome hip muscles. Complementing his majesty was a slender tail that curved upwards. He had a small spear shaped patch coloured a dark rustic red in the middle of his chest, all four of his paws shared the colour, apart from those splotches of colour his entire coat was a glossy black.

The first time Leo got to his feet and unsteadily walked outside Destro's heart had been palpitating with nervousness. He squatted upon the balls of his feet ready to chase after Leo and drag him back into the hut if he made to get away. However after wandering a few metres outside and solemnly looking towards the pool for a few minutes Leo had turned around and shakily meandered back into the hut. As the rag flapped shut Destro collapsed flat onto his back as profuse sweat rolled down his forehead. "Looks like this is his home now" Destro said it shakily and as the words came out he felt as if a titanic weight had been lifted off his shoulders now he knew Leo wouldn't be running off as soon as he recovered. Thankfully as soon as Leo was able to walk freely Destro's excrement cleaning duties were liberated.

Anticipation bubbled in Destro's belly as sat atop the huts roof contemplating the ambitious plan he had for tonight. Looking at the pile of Burrowers innards he had stacked in the distance a slight smile played at his lips. Leaping down from the roof of the hut he strolled back in it to wait for the sun to set for him.

Yesterday night after catching a Burrower Destro didn't feed all of it to Leo instead he diced some of the meat up and placed it in his pockets. Throughout the day he had called out "Leo" after whistling then holding a bit of meat out to him. The first time Leo had hesitantly padded over and cautiously took the piece of meat from Destro's hand, however after the tenth time Leo would head towards Destro with out any hesitation, with his level of intelligence he soon realised that when the boy called "Leo" and whistled he was getting meat if he went to him.

Sitting with his back to the rock wall he let his eyelids slide shut savouring the heat that caressed and tried to subdue him into a slumber. Destro pursed his lips and let out a low whistle before calling "Leo" Hearing the rags rustle Destro waited expectantly. The few days Leo had regained mobility he had slept beside the rock wall whilst Destro gave him his room, sleeping by the door. He had waited for Leo to go out before purposely coming in and sitting by the rock wall and calling him. After a few minutes Destro felt a body slowly and cautiously come lie beside of him. Smiling inwardly Destro gingerly stretched an open hand out that held meat whilst keeping his eyes shut, he felt a wet nose brush against his palm and then the meat was gone. Smiling Destro gently moved his hand and delicately placed it upon Leo's back, he felt Leo tense up instantly. However after a few minutes Leo slowly relaxed and Destro's inward smile turned into a scream of triumph. Settling down, euphoric with the progress he'd made with Leo Destro sunk into the embrace of sleep.

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Groggily blinking the sleep out of his eyes Destro awoke feeling refreshed. Hurriedly getting up he crossed over to the other side of the hut sitting down, then peeping out past the rags, checking on the pile of stinking Burrower innards he'd placed fifty paces away. Ever since he started catching Burrowers he had been at a loss as to what to do with the guts and bones, the skin he could make use of, skin and fur could always be used for insulation and clothing. However four nights ago as he was watching his piping trap he saw a fox sniff in the direction of the guts he had been piling up outside of the hut before warily making its way over. However as it got around twenty paces away it had suddenly turned tail and backed off. Seeing this a flash of inspiration had hit Destro. From that night onwards every morning he placed that nights kills guts fifty paces away, foxes would come the very next night and devour everything he left out. Tonight he'd take advantage of that.

Looking back into the hut he softly whistled and called out "Leo" Leo's head slowly rose as he looked at Destro before he got up, took a few lazy strides over before flopping down beside Destro's right hand side. Leo's big eyes looked up expectantly at Destro as if to say "I'm here, now make moving worth my time" Chuckling Destro flipped a bit of meat out and chucked it to Leo. Snatching it out of midair Leo snaffled if quickly before letting out a satisfied snort whilst dropping his head to the floor contently. Chuckling at the canines antics Destro shook his head before starting his watch.

Hours passed and the moon got higher and higher in the sky as it followed its destined path across the heavens. Destro was wide awake after sleeping for most of the day so he saw the silhouette of the fox climbing the up dune early on. Watching the foxes path intently he grinned as he saw the fox wasn't heading to the pool and was instead heading straight for the pile of innards. It obviously wasn't the first time this desert fox had feasted on the guts as it wasn't as skittish as most of the others that Destro had seen eating his bait. As the fox got closer and closer Destro got more and more excitable, glancing to his right he saw that Leo was fast asleep, breathing deeply. The fox was only a few paces away from the bait and Destro couldmt wait any longer, he swiftly jolted Leo awake. Leo's head was pointing outside of the hut in the direction of the fox so as soon as he jerked awake the first things his eyes alighted upon was prey.

Destro had been ready for Leo to react however he was still left floundering as Leo's body hurtled forward like a black arrow flying in the direction of the fox. Destro rapidly got up and chased as fast as he could after his dog. Leo was closing in rapidly on the fox however as soon as Destro rose to his feet the fox spooked, turned tail and fled back down the sand dune. Leo was tearing after the fox, every muscle in his body was perfectly synced as he pounded upon the trail of his prey, every step he took he gained on the fleeing fox.

The predator and prey couple reached the bottom of the sand dune and had started flying across the flat desert sand long before Destro was even halfway down the two hundred metre tall dune. Leo's advantage of having longer legs wasn't as pronounced on the flat sand surface, he stopped gaining so rapidly however he was still drawing closer and closer to the fleeing prey.

As Destro finally reached the bottom of the dune the shrill sound of a foxes dying shrieks momentarily rung across the desert before being cut by Leo's clamping jaws. Laughing as he ran Destro carried on sprinting as fast as he could. Leo and his trophy soon came into sight at the foot of another smaller dune. Leo stood over the dead fox tearing away at it consuming the fox where it was killed. A smile spread across Destro's face and he picked up the pace, intent on getting some of the meat for himself.

His eyes happened to stray upwards and what caught his sight froze his blood. Framed by the moonlight at the top of the dune was the solitary silhouette of the peak predator in the desert. Cold white light filtered down onto a Desert Dire Wolfs raised hackles, snarling lips and bloodthirsty eyes. As soon as Destro caught sight of it it flickered into the shadows provided by the dune. Destro knew exactly where it was headed and panic and fear exploded in his head, had it not been for Leo sitting unaware of the imminent danger he was facing Destro would've turned and sprinted straight back to his hut to hide in his blankets. But he couldn't leave Leo, he didn't want to leave the only friend he'd ever made to die behind of him, he had a future if he had Leo.

Raggedly drawing air into his lungs Destro sprinted onwards. He saw Leo look up from the fox and he watched as two blood red dots charged down the dune drawing closer and closer to Leo. Destro pumped his legs harder and roared with all of the air his lungs could spare "LEO!" Like a dam breaking its banks the Dire Wolf charged out of the shadows and collided with Leo who was crouched defensively growling throatily over his kill. Sand was kicked up everywhere as the canines collided, tears streamed down Destro's face as his legs screamed in agony "LEO!" His pain filled scream was drowned out by heart chilling snarling and heart wrenching squealing echoing from within the sand cloud. He was getting closer and he could see the furry limbs thrashing about with each other on the floor, the impassive white moonlight glinted off a fang before it pierced through both fur and muscle. Crimson blood sprayed staining the disturbed sand, Destro's heart clenched as he saw the sand turn scarlet and heard a pained howl. More sand was kicked up obscuring his vision further, Destro frantically tried running faster, charging straight for the sand cloud metres in front of him. His worry and grief transformed explosively into an uncontrollable fury as charged ahead intent on killing the Dire Wolf with his own two hands.

Time suddenly slowed down as a two grey shaggy paws emerged from the sand cloud. Two paws emerged and a ferocious rabid head followed. Foam mixed with blood frothed from the pouncing Wolfs mouth, a terrifying rabid insanity was stark in the Beasts blood red eyes. The Dire Wolf was leaping out of the sand cloud its two bloodthirsty eyes entirely intent on killing its prey, the prey which had never been Leo but in fact was always Destro. Destro realised it, before he had even seen the Dire Wolf it had seen and targeted him. Time started to speed up again and Destro could only watch as the vivid stationary claws turned into grey flashes of light. Searing heat bursting into existence on the left side of his face and a large impact was all he felt at first. Then the pain hit and his conscience wavered. He couldn't see anything he could only feel the sand beneath him and a weight on top of him stopping him for breathing. Distantly as if it was happening a few miles away he heard some howls and snarls and growls. Then the weight was taken off him and he found breathing a little easier. The snarling and growling and howling kept going but he wasn't sure what was making the noises all he knew was that it worried and scared him. Then all the snarling stopped. After the snarling stopped he felt gentle heat washing away the intense painful heat on the left side of his face. He relaxed then, he didn't know why but the gentle heat made him feel safe and secure. Feeling safe he happily felt the heat and sound and the touch of the sand get further and further away until it was all just a distant memory.