Sophia stood on the pebbly shore, surveying the lake before her. The rising sun cast its rays over the water, turning the waves a beautiful shade of amber-gold. She closed her eyes and sighed, content to bask in the warmth of the early morning, enjoying the peaceful lap of the waves and the faint thunder of the waterfall, far away.

This was her home, the land where she was born and the land that she loved.

The silence was interrupted when a voice suddenly whispered in her ear. Terror is coming...

Sophia's eyes snapped open. Terror? How could there be any fear in this beautiful place?

The voice–deep, soothing, and yet speaking of unimaginable power–spoke again. Merciless actions have angered me. The packs will suffer a punishment. If they heed my warning and prepare, the punishment shall be less. But if they do not know–or do not listen–then the Terror will come and destroy them.

Sophia's eyes widened as the sun darkened. Shadows suddenly sped over the land, swallowing it up. Sounds of a ferocious battle reached her ears; snarls, howls, the rip of fur and flesh, the thud of lifeless bodies hitting the ground. She felt a sticky substance spread around her paws and looked down. With a gasp of horror, she realized she was standing in blood.

Paws have been stained with blood and they shall be that way again, the voice said, this time with the makings of a growl. The packs can be saved, but only if the warning is heard. You must speak.

Sophia spun around and fled, trying to run away from the blood and shadows. Still, the blood flowed around her and the shadows closed in on every corner. She suddenly felt herself being shaken, and her eyes snapped open with a yelp.

She saw the orange-and-white face of her older brother, Bronze, standing over her. "Sophia?" he asked, his eyes dark with concern. "Are you all right?"

Sophia sat up, eyes wide. "Oh, uh, yeah," she stammered. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

"Well, okay, if you say so." Bronze stepped back, still looking slightly worried. He trotted towards the other dogs, giving one last look over his shoulder at her.

Sophia attempted to regain her bearings. What could have caused such a bizarre dream? Who was the voice in her dream, and what on earth was it talking about?

Her thoughts flitted to Siglitun, the mighty Hunter Dog all the packs revered. Every full moon, the packs would gather and have a large hunt to honor and remember their great ancestor; these events were called Hunter's Moons. Could Siglitun be the one who sent this dream to her? What was he warning her about? Why would the packs need a punishment? Her head spinning with questions, Sophia made her way towards where Dallas, the beta, was assigning the hunters to their daily duties.

As she sat down, she pushed the thought of Siglitun from her mind. Of all dogs, why would he send this message to her? She was just a trainee, only a little over a year old. If Siglitun was going to send a message to anyone, it would be to Rowan, Lake Pack's preceptor. It was the preceptor's job to receive messages from the Hunter Dog. If there was actually a threat coming, then Rowan would know about it. I definitely ate too much of that duck last night, she thought.

The Toller focused her attention on Dallas, who had just sent Donovan and Ayla out to hunt. The Large Munsterlander now focused his attention on the remaining hunters. "Cody and Jett," he said. "You'll be training Sophia and Tarragon today. Jarvis and Seth, you'll go out later."

Cody, a pale Golden Retriever, looked at the two and smiled. "Let's go!" he barked. "I want to take you to the far part of the lake today."

The four dogs slid into the lake and started to paddle away from the island which the pack called home. Jett, a Redbone Coonhound, led the way into the lake. "You two haven't had much experience catching fish yet," he said. "So we'll take you to the stream so you can practice."

The two trainees nodded. As the hunting party paddled toward the shore, the dream returned to Sophia's mind. Glancing at Tarragon, a Boykin-Cocker Spaniel cross, she dared to ask, "Hey... Do you ever have dreams?"

The dark brown dog gave her an odd look. "Well, yeah, of course I do. Don't you?"

"Yes," Sophia answered quickly, "but I meant... weird dreams. Where something happens and you thought it meant something, but it didn't."

"Huh?" Tarragon blinked, confused.

"Never mind," Sophia muttered, looking away.

Tarragon gave her an odd look, but then shrugged and faced forward again. Sophia forced herself to not think about the dream and instead looked around herself at the calm lake waters. She breathed in the wet scent and felt the water buoy her up gently, instantly make her relax. Every dog had nightmares. Hers was just stranger than most.

Cody and Jett climbed onto the shore, followed by the trainees. No pack technically claimed this area; Frost Pack rarely hunted there and Storm Pack kept to the forest, so Lake Pack used it to catch land prey when they needed. The hunting party loped down the shore to one of the streams that flowed from the lake.

"All right, line up," Jett instructed as they arrived. Cody, Tarragon, and Sophia obliged, lining up along the bank and peering into the stream.

"The fish are somewhat hard to spot because they're quick," the Coonhound continued, standing at the end of the line. "But if you look closely, you'll be able to see the movement. Cody will show you how to catch one."

He nodded to his packmate and the retriever leaned close to the water, his nose mere inches away from the surface. Cody stood still as a stone, scarcely breathing it seemed to Sophia. Then suddenly, he plunged his muzzle into the water and came back up a few moments later with a wriggling fish in his mouth.

"Wow!" Tarragon barked, his eyes wide. "That was great!"

Cody dropped the fish on the ground and held it until it went still. He grinned at Tarragon and Sophia, barking, "It can be tough to hold your balance and catch the fish when the water's flowing, but if you concentrate you shouldn't get dunked."

"Can we try catching one?" Sophia asked.

Jett nodded. "Yes, but don't be discouraged if you don't catch one immediately. Fishing isn't easy, so that's why we mainly eat the waterfowl. Cody and I have been practicing for years; that's why we're pretty good at it."

"Okay," Tarragon said, turning to face the water again. Sophia did the same and lowered her muzzle so it barely touched the water, like Cody had. She stared hard at the stream, willing a fish to swim by.

She soon discovered that the waiting wasn't as easy as it might seem. She nearly lunged at a reed that floated by, restraining herself just in time. Her back leg was starting to itch when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of gray. Finally! she thought, steadying herself.

When the fish was right under her nose, Sophia lunged, falling muzzle first into the water. Water flooded her mouth and she spluttered, snapping for the fish, but caught nothing. She felt someone grab her scruff and she was hauled out of the water, coughing and splashing.

"Whoa! Whoa! Steady!" Jett growled through her fur. "Don't thrash like that, I'm not a heron!" He dropped her on the bank and she stood up, hot with embarrassment.

"I missed," she mumbled, staring at her paws.

Amusement sparkled in Cody's eyes. "So you did," he said, smiling slightly. "Don't worry about it–nobody expects a trainee to catch a fish on their very first attempt. Just remember what I said about balance and try again."

"But she's probably scared away all the fish," Tarragon complained. Sophia ducked her head, ashamed further.

"They'll be back soon enough," Cody said dismissively. "I thought I saw more than one when I grabbed mine. They were probably feeding here."

After waiting for a little while, Jett told Sophia and Tarragon to try again. Sophia crouched down, determined not to make a fool out of herself again. The lesson continued all morning, and when the hunting party returned, Sophia had completely forgotten about her dream.

Whew! So, a new story that I've been planning for quite some time. It's the first book of a series, but it's kinda different from most book series. If you don't know what I mean, just wait and you'll find out. I have this story mapped out in an outline, so hopefully I won't take centuries to update. :P