Run! Run! Run!

Dogs from all around her were barking and howling in terror as an unknown enemy attacked from the shadows. Fangs flashed and snarls and growls rang in the air as dog after dog fell dead. She ran as fast as she could, but there was no way to flee from this enemy.

Run! Run! Get away!

She dodged between fighting dogs and limp bodies, slipping on the blood that flooded around her. There has to be a way out, she thought desperately. There has to be a way...

There is no escape.

The words made her heart freeze with fear and she stopped short as burning eyes glowed in front of her.

Not unless you warn them.

The howls of wolves rose again, louder and louder, filling the darkness. Fighting dogs pressed in on her from all sides. She shrank back in horror as she began to recognize the faces of her packmates. The wolves set upon them mercilessly, tearing them apart.

"No!" she howled, running forward to protect them, but she was slammed into the ground. She couldn't see the face of her attacker, only it's gleaming fangs as it dove for her throat...

"Sophia!"

Sophia's eyes flew open. She was struggling on the ground, Seneca on top of her. "Sophia--Sophia!" he growled. "Get a hold of yourself!"

Sophia blinked and stopped struggling. Seneca stepped off of her and she shrunk away. "You were thrashing in your sleep," he said, eyes narrowed. "You'd think you were drowning or something."

Sophia looked away, trying to think of a response. She overheard Geronimo grumbling, "Should have known better than to sleep next to her. She nearly broke my ribs."

A dog cleared his throat loudly. Sophia saw Bronze walking towards Geronimo, his lip beginning to curl in a growl. He glared at the silver poodle until he looked away, then muttered something under his breath and trotted over to the other side of the island.

Bronze sniffed after him and then came over to Sophia, touching his nose to her ear. "Pay no mind to him," he murmured. "He doesn't think before he barks."

Sophia smiled halfheartedly, noticing the concern in Bronze's eyes. It had been weeks since her episode with Frost Pack, and since then, she almost never went to sleep without having a nightmare. This made her almost useless hunting, and almost everyone avoided her, probably thinking she had gone crazy. Bronze, Jarvis, and Tarragon had all tried talking to her, more than once, but she had always refused them. How could she explain her dreams? How could she make them understand just how horrifying they were?

After a few moments of silence, Bronze sighed. "The Hunter's Moon is tonight," he began. Sophia's eyes widened. Had it really been a whole month? "And I hope this whole wolf business had blown over. It's just been making everyone edgy."

You don't know the half of it, Sophia thought but she simply nodded and mumbled, "Yeah."

"Will you be going?" Bronze asked her. "It might be good to get off the lake. Storm Pack is hosting it."

Sophia shook her head. "No, I... I don't think Cassidy wants to take me." I wouldn't want to take a crazy dog either. "Besides, I, uh... I'd rather stay home anyway."

"Well, all right." Bronze nuzzled her neck, then trotted off. "I'm patrolling the far border with Sinbad," he called over his shoulder. "I'll see you when I get back."

"Bye," Sophia called back. She sighed and sat down. Though she had just woken up, her body dragged with exhaustion. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten a good night's sleep. Well, I can at least try to be useful, she decided.

She walked over to where Dallas was assigning more patrols. "Cody," he was saying as she approached, "take Sophia and Tarragon for another training session. Make sure they're reading for their assessments."

Sophia's eyes widened. Assessments? She had been so distracted by her dreams that she hadn't even thought about how close she and Tarragon were to becoming full hunters.

She saw a few dogs cast glances at her, muttering in low voices. She could guess what they were thinking; she wouldn't be able to hunt properly to become a full hunter. Sophia shook herself and held her head high. Dreams or no dreams, she would pass her test.

Cody nodded to Dallas and turned to Sophia and Tarragon. "Come on, you two," he barked. "First, we're going to train on your weaknesses. You know them better than I do."

Sophia shoved the nightmares out of her mind and forced herself to think about hunting. "Fishing," she sighed.

"I'm not very good at that either," Tarragon said quickly. Sophia looked at him, confused. Tarragon wasn't a master at fishing, obviously, but he had taken to it much easier than Sophia had.

"Okay," Cody said, nodding. "You head up to the stream and try it. I'll watch and critique if you need it."

The two trainees nodded and entered the lake, paddling to the far shore. Sophia swam next to Tarragon, whispering in his ear, "What are you doing? You're good at fishing."

Tarragon looked back at her seriously. "I know that, but we need to talk."

Sophia pinned back her ears. "I already told you, I can't. You wouldn't understand."

"Yes, I would!" Tarragon growled. "For the Hunter Dog's sake, I'm your friend, Sophia. You can talk to me."

"Not about this," Sophia muttered.

"Listen to me," Tarragon persisted, his voice growing urgent. "The whole pack thinks you're going crazy. You haven't been sleeping or eating right. You can hardly hunt, and if you mess up on your assessment, you won't be able to become a hunter. Cassidy might make you an omega."

Sophia swallowed nervously. Lake Pack didn't normally have omegas--they were considered the most merciful of the packs--but what else would a leader do with a dog that couldn't hunt or fight?

"This is serious," Tarragon continued. "You have to tell me what's going on."

Sophia hesitated, glancing back at Cody, who was swimming behind them. "Wait till we get to the shore," she sighed. She could try to explain, at least.

When the three dogs reached the shore, Cody began walking towards the trees. "I'm going to see what I can catch," he barked. "You start fishing and I'll see what you have when I get back."

"Okay," Tarragon replied as the Golden Retriever loped away into the forest. Sophia silently wondered if he knew that she and Tarragon wanted to talk in private.

The two trainees sat beside the stream, searching for the swift gray shadows that signified fish. "All right," said Tarragon, keeping his voice low so as not to startle the fish. "Explain."

Sophia closed her eyes, shuddering as she thought of the terrible violence of her dreams. "I've been having these... dreams," she began slowly. "Ever since before they started scenting the wolves. They're so awful... Death, and blood, and a voice--always talking about terror. There are wolves everywhere, attacking dogs, killing them..." She stopped unable to go on.

Tarragon seemed to have completely forgotten about the fish. He was staring at her, wide-eyed. "You've been dreaming about all that?" he gasped.

"Almost every night," Sophia whispered.

"But why?" Tarragon looked baffled. "Why would you be having such nightmares? We haven't scented the wolves. I don't think I've ever even seen what one looks like!"

"I don't know. But the voice says I have to warn them. It says if I warn them, then the... destruction won't be as great." Sophia frowned. This was sounding more and more stupid with every word that came out of her mouth.

Tarragon didn't seem to care, however. "Warn who?" he asked. "Cassidy? The other alphas?"

"I don't know that either," Sophia admitted. "I don't even know what I'm warning them about!"

"Well, that's obvious," Tarragon snorted. "We're going to be attacked! By wolves, most likely." He suddenly started in alarm. "Wait--you have to tell Cassidy now! The Hunter's Moon is tonight, and she can tell the other packs."

Sophia's eyes widened. "But--but I don't even know if it's true," she protested. "You're implying that this was from--from the Hunter Dog or something!"

"Well, who else would it be from?" Tarragon demanded. "Dreams like this don't just happen. You had a nightmare before we went to the Hunter's Moon that they mentioned the wolves. You can't be having them just because you're scared."

"But... if there was a threat, why wouldn't the Hunter Dog tell Rowan?" Sophia asked. "That's her job! I'm just a trainee!"

"Well, you know how they say the Hunter Dog has his own ways of doing things," Tarragon said. "Maybe Rowan has been warned, and she just hasn't noticed. It can't be a coincidence."

Sophia averted her gaze, scuffling her paws. "Cassidy probably thinks I'm crazy," she muttered. "Why would she believe me now?"

"Because it makes sense," Tarragon insisted. "What other explanation is there?"

"But--" Sophia's protest was cut off by Cody, who emerged from the bushes with a quail in his jaws. He looked surprised. "Have you two not caught anything yet?"

"Uh... no," Tarragon barked, looking somewhat sheepish. "Sorry... we got distracted."

"Well, get to it," Cody barked, sitting down. "The morning's wasting, and I still need to evaluate you."

The trainees nodded obediently and turned back to the stream. Tarragon shot Sophia a look and Sophia looked away, staring down into the stream. As much as she hated telling Tarragon, she was secretly glad that she wasn't alone anymore.

~

Tarragon and Sophia basically failed at fishing--only one fish each--so Cody took them hunting for birds so that they would have a decent haul to take back to the pack. By the time they arrived back at the island, it was late afternoon.

Tarragon had been giving Sophia looks all afternoon and urging her with words when Cody wasn't listening, but Sophia was still hesitant. Cassidy was a fair and patient dog, but most regarded her as the "no-nonsense" type. Sophia wasn't sure what she would say if a trainee that everyone already thought was crazy suddenly started saying she was having dreams from the Hunter Dog.

Bronze padded up to meet them as they waded onto the island, his tail wagging. "How did it go?"

"Well, their fishing leaves much to be desired," Cody barked, "but they did well with the other prey."

Bronze frowned. "That's funny," he said. "I thought you were good at fishing, Tarragon."

Tarragon shook himself. "I had an off day, that's all."

"Well, I hope you don't have an 'off day' on your assessment," commented Ayla, who was sitting nearby. "I know you can pass it easily."

Tarragon smiled at his mother, but Sophia felt a stone of worry and dread settle in her stomach. She sent a quick prayer to Siglitun that she would pass. Who knew what would happen if she didn't.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, Sophia forced herself to join the others for the evening meal. She hadn't had much of an appetite lately, but she did need to keep her strength up.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the Hunter's Moon?" asked Jarvis as she sat with him and Bronze. "I think it'd be good for you to go. I could ask Cassidy to let you come."

She shook her head. "I'd rather stay home."

"Well, suit yourself," Jarvis sighed, but suddenly, Hurricane, one of Celeste's pups, yelped, "Look at the sky!"

Sophia looked up to see the sun setting behind the mountains on the farthest side of the lake. Gasps of awe and delight sounded from her packmates at the sight before them, but Sophia was suddenly frozen with horror.

The sun seemed to be bleeding molten orange across the sky, staining the clouds behind it with every shade of amber possible. The sky was no longer blue--it had faded to dusky orange, rimmed with red and the faintest traces of yellow. The clouds began to change form, almost, impossibly, taking the shape of flames. Flames, burning in the sky...

The dogs around her marveled at the sight, but Sophia couldn't hear them. All she could hear was the voice in her dream.

If you do not tell them, I will set the sky ablaze.

It's too late. It's too late. I didn't warn them. It's too late...

"It's too late," she whispered out loud. Bronze turned to look at her, confused. "What's too late?" he asked, but she barely heard him. She could've sworn she heard a faint howl in the distance.

Clearly, above all else, she heard the voice. The voice from her dreams, the voice that haunted her for all this time, it spoke in her ear, grim and foreboding.

The Terror has come.