Special Edition

## Prologue

It all started with my original herd. It was called the Herd of the Rising Sun. My herd beleived that us cervitaurs should be able to defend ourselves on our own. They didn't believe that safety was in numbers, but rather in one's self.

When I was two years of age, I started battle training. My teacher was a female named Marcy who was a bit tough on us, but that was the way things were. My classmates' names were Connie, Ellie, Carson, Ronnie, Luna, and Rachel. Luna and Rachel were the oldest at seven years, then Carson at five, Ronnie at four, and Ellie and Connie at three.

Marcy taught us offensive moves and how to make weapons as well as a few defensive moves. We were taught to slam our front hooves down on an enemy that is lower than us and to weild spears and knives.

We rarely had conflicts with the other groups around us, so I really didn't see the point of learning this. Our valley was a peaceful one and there hadn't been more than a simple skirmish for centaries.

What I didn't know was that this was all about to change.

## Chapter 1

I had only just turned three when Ruth left her pack. Ruth was well know to our herd, as she was the daughter of the Alpha of the Pack of the Shooting Star. Ruth was very spoiled by her father and always got what she wanted. However, the life of peace was not enough for her.

She always said that when she was older, she would make the werewolves the feared creatures that they once were, but nobody really thought she would kill to make her point.

She left her pack along with others who disliked they peaceful ways they had adopted. They then began their own pack, the Pack of the Half Moon. Ruth was the Alpha with an older wolf, Midnight, as her Beta.

They began terrorizing all the herds in the area, attacking the weakest members when they strayed. It was at that time which I actually put my ability to fight to use.

Ruth made a huge mistake choosing to attack our herd. They went for Melody, a doe who had a boy my age and a newborn girl. She was very protective of her son, and hadn't let him even start battle training until recently. They wouldn't stand a chance.

I ran at the werewolves and kicked out at them. Most of them were small, so they were quite easy to take care of. The real problem was Midnight, as he was a full-grown adult.

I glanced around, but didn't see her. Connie ran over and helped Melody get her fawns back to the herd.

The next time they attacked was over a year later. They hadn't gotten anyone the previous year, but they weren't going without taking a few of us with them. I hated the idea of killing, but I knew that it was me or them.

I slammed my hooves down on the spine of a smaller ginger wolf, snapping it. It yelped and whimpered, but I really didn't care, or at least I tried not to. These creatures were out to kill, I shouldn't feel pity!

I spotted Midnight latched onto Kenny's shoulder and raced to help. I swung around and gave the werewolf a hard kick to the side of his face, causing her to let go. I chased him off before turning to charge back into the fray.

I froze in horror as I saw my mother in a fight with Ruth. Both were badly injured and I ran to help her. Ruth lunged before I could get there and pushed her closer to the river that ran by our home. I saw the bank start to give way and I shouted, but it was too late. The ground crumbled and my mother fell backwards into the deep river.

Ruth began to walk away and I turned my head to watch her.

"You are going to *pay* for that!" I snarled under my breath. I charged at her without thinking and she twisted around.

"I don't think so!" she sanarled and rammed herself into me.

I faltered and she took advantage, lunging at my throat.

## Chapter 2

I didn't even have time to react, but luckily Mathew did. He rammed himself into Midnight and knocked her off from her target. She ended up nailing me in the shoulder.

He spun around to face Mathew and let out a low growl.

"You are going to *die* for that!"

"I don't think so, look around," Mathew said.

Midnight did, and seeing her pack retreating, smirked. "All the more reason for me to kill you."

I sat, numb, as Mathew fled in the direction of the rest of the herd, only for Midnight to chase him down before he could reach them.

## Chapter 3

The next time Ruth attacked, she had help. She had traveled across the river to enlist help from the Pack of Rock and Streams. Luckily, most of the pack refused to help, but many lower-ranking members left with Ruth, as they were promised high-ranking positions.

When Ruth's pack attacked, they didn't just pick off the staying members, but attacked the whole herd. Both sides had many casualties. Many of the newer members fled when they saw they were outnumbered, but some stayed, determinned to prove their worth.

In the end, the battle was won; Ruth was killed and her Beta, Midnight, called for a retreat. However, we had many casualties, including my mentor and many of my friends.

I decided it wasn't worth staying around anymore. I had nothing left and I knew, eventually, Midnight would come back and attack again. She would lead attacks until either the herds moved or were destroyed. Ruth only wanted for her kind to be feared, but I knew Midnight well enough to know that she *hated* other species.

## Chapter 4

I left that night. While everyone was sleeping, I snuck away. It wasn't easy, let me tell you. I was just a fawn, only five years old.

After leaving the group, I headed north. I knew that there was a shallow part of the river, so I could cross. The only direction I could go was west, as to the east were only mountains.

I was on edge the entire time, I didn't know where Ruth's pack had gone, or were they staying, so I had no way to know how to avoid them.

I was doing quite well, actually. I made it to the crossing, but as I was going across the river, I herd the clattering of a rock from behind me. I whipped around, slipping off the rocks in the process.

I breathed a sigh of releif when I saw it was just Melody's fawn.

"Go home, fawn," I said, but she just looked at me.

I sighed and turned back around. *"If I just ignore her, she'll go home,"* I thought.

Nearing the center of the river, where there were fewer stones above the water, I glanced back again to see that the fawn was still tailing me.

I waved my hands in a shooing motion.

"Go home, you little pest!" I snapped, but she ignored me and came closer.

I sighed as she latched onto my front leg.

"Fine," I relented "You can stay, but don't expect me to go out of my way for you!"

She simply smiled up at me.

After crossing the river, I stopped to rest. The fawn layed down against me and I shook my head.

I guess she was kind of in the same boat as me. After all, both her brother and mother had been killed by Ruth's pack.

The fawn leaned up against me and I glared at her, standing up. I moved away from her, and she watched me, but she didn't follow.

## Chapter 5

I was woken up by the fawn poking me and I glared up at her.

"What do *you* want?" I snapped.

She whimpered and pointed.

I twisted around to see a group of wolves coming towards us. I recognized the black wolf with the white streak on its muzzle; It was Midnight leading the pack.

I quickly stood up and started moving, but soon realized that the fawn couldn't keep up with me.

*"Why should I care?"* I thought *"This just proves she'll just slow me down." I shook my head. "Midnight will torture her, nobody deserves that."*

I decided to stay and fight, but not because I cared about her.