I AM THE STORM by Ali Spooner

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The devil whispered, “You cannot withstand the storm.”

The Warrior replied, “I AM the Storm.”

The ground felt chilled as the dried leaves crunched beneath her paws while she trotted, nose close to the ground, tracking the vile scent of a lesser demon. Over the past few weeks, she had encountered several similar scents and their creators had all met a similar fate, death by her claws and teeth. As the seasons changed, Dei-Dar, the Wolf of God, sensed something more wicked brewing. The scent was nearly a week old, so she concentrated intensely on following the vile smell. It reeked of death and she had to sneeze to clear the odor from her nostrils. She longed for the scent of a rabbit or other small game to feed her growling belly. It had been days since she had eaten, and she knew she would need to feed soon. A battle was brewing and she needed her strength.

As the sun began to sink toward the horizon, the scent led her to a high, rocky precipice overlooking a small village. Dar sat and studied the environment, its lack of movement giving her reason for pause. A village this size should be bustling with activity, as animal and human sought safe harbor from the impending darkness, but there was no sign of movement inside the small compound.

The breeze was cool, but it carried the odor of death and smoke. Her keen eyes searched the compound until they found what she was seeking…a funeral pyre. Dar knew something was terribly amiss in the village. When a door was flung open and four men carried out wrapped bodies, it dawned on her what had happened. The plague had arrived. She watched the men carry the bodies and toss them onto the fire, carefully guarding their faces with cloth in their attempt to prevent the infection from entering their bodies.

Her eyes watered from the stench and the knowledge that the entire village was doomed. This was what the demons were doing, spreading the plague, bringing death and destruction in their wake.