Discolored skies had patches of starlight and there were dark clouds that seemed to be stains upon the atmosphere. The sunlight seemed dim, as though weeping at the destruction. Never before had so many died in such a short amount of time. There were whispering ghosts on the breeze, and a pall upon the cold morning.

My memory of the mushroom cloud I had seen the night before disturbed me. I looked out the cabin window and watched animals migrating through the forest in one direction unnaturally. There was a kind of silence, a stillness. To me it seemed as though the day might be the very last day of something, some world that was now gone. I could feel the disturbance, the coldness beneath the winter air that wasn't the temperature.

There came a point when I could no longer watch every bird and beast hopping along the ground, seeking refuge in the deepest parts of the forest. There was a sickness on the breeze, so much death brought it. It was a sickness of the soul, a kind of cruelty that was the only answer to such terror. My eyes could not bear to behold the innocent animals fleeing in desperation, in vain, of the destruction caused by our war.

I went into the darkness of the cabin while the others still slept. I looked at the map, seeing how our path indeed formed a discernable pattern. How long it would take for the enemy to draw a line from our attacks to guess where we would strike next, I couldn't say. It depended on many things, and I hoped our strategy wasn't as obvious to them as it seemed to me. The radio was on, and our leaders were already awake. Two alpha wolves leading our pack, their serious faces and common strength making them seem like siblings to me.

Lieutenant Colonel Rose and Bruna sat near the radio, listening as static and voices alternated. Sometimes it sounded as though the dead were speaking, in brief instants of mourning. As we listened, we learned that more cities were destroyed all around the world. The voice on the radio said clearly, with great sorrow:

"This morning we also mourn the cities of our neighbors, as this unholy war continues with no end in sight. The world has lost Delhi, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Cairo, Mumbai and Dhaka. Over a quarter of a billion human beings are estimated to be dead. God save us."

"They are targeting the largest cities directly. It's genocide." Bruna growled.

"Last night I saw the fires. One of our own." I told them.

"Against the Elders, all of these cities turned to glass, are our own. They are trying to bring humanity to its knees. It is the apocalypse." Lieutenant Colonel Rose reminded me.

"When we reach that first target, it will be a full moon. Let them feel our fangs." I was growling too. The rest of the pack stirred and began to wake up.

"We cannot give in to our hatred. It will weaken us, it will make us more like our enemies and less like ourselves. We become that which we hate. Let us not glorify our acts of violence." Doctor Imbrium objected to the palpable anger.

"There is no glory in what we do. We are from the night, a natural consequence of their evil. We are a part of them already, like a cancer, we will consume them slowly until they die." Lieutenant Colonel Rose promised.

"They will feel our fangs." Bruna reiterated for me.

There wasn't anything else to say. The pack gathered our weapons and supplies and the crate, and we abandoned the cabin. On foot, we traveled through the forests and hills toward our first target. That night when we stopped by a creek, I went to get some water.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"A wolf laps the clean and cold water." I heard a strange and inhuman voice.

I looked up and saw a fox staring at me. I asked the vixen:

"Did you just speak to me?"

"Yes. I can speak the language that is hidden in your wolf blood. I can tell you are really a wolf; inside that man you wear." She spoke, her voice was very soft, like the patter of raindrops on leaves or the whisper of a child.

"Who are you? Why are you talking to me?" I asked in wonder.

"I'm called Swiftly-unseen-mother. It is a name that was also one of my ancestors. I am talking to you because I will tell you something you do not know, and you will tell me something that I do not know. Shall we agree to such a conversation?" Swiftly-unseen-mother held my eyes with hers, and her voice was smooth and almost silent.

"Yes." I agreed. "Tell me why you did not flee these woods with all the other animals?"

"Because I am curious about the change in the balance between nature and the realm of the humans. I cannot figure out what has happened, but all the animals are speaking in their own language about something happening. Will you tell me?" Swiftly-unseen-mother requested.

"A war is occurring, and our enemies are killing all of us as quickly as they can. They have destroyed many cities, the most populous cities. One by one they have turned places and people into glass and they are not finished." I told her. "What can you tell me?"

"What would you like to know?" She asked gently, with a kind of innocent wisdom in her eyes.

"Is there any way for me to remember who I am, or who I was? I feel lost, this war has taken something from me, and I cannot even remember what it was." I didn't think she could actually help me, but it felt good to tell someone of my deepest pain.

"Ah." She said. "But there is a way. I will show you the way. I hope it heals you, brother. You have a kindness in you, and it would be a shame if that became a casualty in your war."

Swiftly-unseen-mother trotted silently along and stopped and looked back, making sure I understood she wanted me to follow her. I got to my feet from where I had knelt by the creek and went with her, as she led me to an answer. The creek had a source, a clear pool, and it was a spring.

It was sunset and the light in the forest was dim. I looked at the water and saw how it reflected the trees like it was showing another time from a younger and cleaner world. I slowly approached and looked at my reflection.

My eyes watered at what I saw. I was afraid it would be the wolf, or a distortion, or my face of scars, but instead, the waters showed me as I truly was. I could not have seen myself in any other way, I did not know I was still in me, that I was still myself. Feeling lost is like that, forgetting oneself against the entity of war. I had worried I would never be myself again, but as I looked at my reflection, I could see I had not really changed. Some part of me was preserved, imprinted on the world, clean and whole. It hurt for a moment, but then I began to feel a kind of healing, knowing I could remember myself.

"Thank you for - " I tried to thank her, looking up and seeing she was already gone. I looked around, but the vixen had left me. She had learned what she wanted to know and given me much in return. I was very grateful, but she had fled from my thanks. I wanted to repay her for her kindness, but I was left holding my gratitude instead.

I returned to the camp under the thick clouds that hid the moon. I could feel its pull, but there was no moonlight to trigger the pack to change. Instead, we slept, and in the morning, we set out again through forests where all the animals were gone.

We stopped at the edge of a remote disease research facility. At first, we had doubts that it was part of the secret army's work, that is, until we saw two transport vehicles arrive and unload many armed National Security enforcers. They were there as reinforcements, responding to the attacks by the pack.

"They have reinforcements now, but we will still attack tonight. We will assault this place as wolves and destroy it. The rest will stay back and cover our retreat and protect the crate." Lieutenant Colonel Rose briefed us.

I stared at the facility, my heart telling me to let the wolf do its work, but to keep part of myself safe from the horrors of my duty. I had only to wait for the night and the moon.