The Spirit of the Wolf

Jacy's ability to see at night gave him the name, which means moon. Resting on one knee and feeling the ground, he could sense that it was moving south. He quickly lifted himself, knees slightly bent he sprinted down the hill. A tribal headpiece held the front of his long black hair in place while the back blew in the wind shifting with each movement of his head. He adjusted his feet for the uneven surface of the forest edge. The leaves barely crunched, as his feet seemed to only touch them for a second. The cool of the night air against his bare chest kept the sweat from moving away from his body. His dark eyes were shifting as he entered the forest, lit by the light of the moon, checking for any movement as he ran; he ducked and leapt to avoid the obstacles in his way. His heart was racing faster and faster, more now in fear as he could sense the coming fight. The animal he was tracking moved quicker than anything he'd ever hunted and was much larger than he'd expected.

This was the spirit that took the life of his brother and uncle. They were hunting with two others from the tribe in the moonlight when they were attacked and killed. His tribe believed that the spirit of man was being taken because the spirit of the moon was angry. Jacy would not believe that. What would the moon want with man's spirit? He believed that the spirit was from the wolf and evil. It was sent to feed on the flesh of man. A spirit would not have torn those men to pieces. A few of the bodies could not be found because of how much the animal fed on the men. Jacy's eye's welled with the thought of his brother being eaten. The teeth marks were wolf and the track marks now told him that this spirit was a kind of animal. What he did not understand is how it could have survived the arrows? The bodies were found with bloody arrows lying near by. The smell of the blood was not human it was of another animal. This animal had been shot at least four times at close range and survived.

Jacy was just fifteen but had been taught by the best hunter in the tribe, his dead older brother. He would find this animal and prove it was a wolf spirit so the tribe would send out hunters to kill it. He needed to find its weakness and race back to the tribe. He thought even injuring it would help the hunters track it down. He did not come to die, but the more he ran the more he felt that he was not going to survive.

He stopped quickly and listened. He heard a snap of a stick a few feet ahead. Readying his bow, he slowly moved toward the sound. A faint growl came from just beyond the trees. He felt eyes looking at him, waiting for him, he stopped. His eyes focused hard on the brush, yellow eyes were watching him.

He lifted the bow to his cheek and took aim. The instant he released the arrow the wolf spirit lunged toward him. The arrow pierced its right eye. When Jacy saw the animal yank the arrow out, and the eye heal instantly, he was sure it was a spirit. He readied a second arrow but didn’t fire because the creature was now standing over him. He turned to run but felt claws pierce his arm. The nails dug deep into his flesh, Jacy let out a scream as he was hurled through the air. The crack of his arm, as he slammed into a tree, was muffled under the howl of the wolf spirit. His face clenched and tears rolled down his face from the horrible pain through out his body. He fought back the pain as he reached for the knife that was in his boot.

His last effort to live was to fling the small silver knife toward the wolf spirit’s heart. His aim was true and it surprised him that the spirit howled in what sounded like pain. The body contorted and the fur began to retract. This spirit must have been using a human form but the pure silver blade had separated it from this person. The face was beginning to take human shape and Jacy’s face fell. This was his brother. The knife freed his brother from the spirit but the spirit had taken his life. Jacy tied his arm tightly and slid to hold his brother.