The Knight in White Fur

Ender had seen his fair share of terrifying scenarios but this definitely topped them all. If his nerves were jittery due to Max's behavior, now they were on fire! His heart came into his mouth when he saw those creatures, as big as a fully grown horse. They snapped viciously at each other, their loud growls echoing in the area. They separated and he got a good look at them, they were tall, their heads shaped like a wolf but wolves were just slightly bigger than dogs, right?

What are these creatures? Overgrown wolves?

The white beast came to stand a few feet away, right in front of their car. Its milky white fur glowed in the headlights, making it look like some angelic creature, but it was far from that. It glanced back at them and Ender saw those red eyes, the gaping maw, and fangs as big as his hands that carried a promise of brutal death. He swallowed thickly, it was surprising that his heart could still beat as hard as it does, given how it had been ramming into his sternum for what felt like hours. They couldn't sit there like a warm meal for these wild beasts, they had to get away.

Kai. The man said he knew the forest by heart. Did that also mean he knew these creatures? Perhaps he could help. The moment that big white wolf moved, Ender jumped on Max, pulling him out from a state of shock, "Put the car in reverse!"

Their ears were filled with growls and snapping sounds as the wolves resumed their fight. Ender cursed when he saw them stand on their hind legs as their fangs snapped near each other's throats viciously.

Max was too stunned to even respond, lips moving around words that never came out of his mouth. Ender clutched his arm and yelled his name, shaking him until he looked back at him. "Move!" he screamed and finally, Max put the car in reverse with trembling hands.

They slowly backed away from the fighting beasts, but the moment they tried to speed up, something big rammed into their car from behind. The impact of the collision was so tremendous, their car lurched a few feet ahead while their windows broke, covering them in glass shards. When Ender glanced back, he got cold feet at the sight of the huge dent, like a massive tree had fallen right onto their car. He peeked out from the broken window to get a good look, but it wasn't the bark of a tree, rather a huge brown beast, similar to those fighting ahead.

It got up on its feet and let out a nasty growl before it lunged on the car. Ender screamed and crawled back into Max's lap when the beast put its snout in through the broken window. It stepped back when it couldn't reach them and began circling the car like a predator that had just found a good prey.

Ender swiftly moved to the back seat before pulling Max with him and squeezed themselves in the legroom space. The car rocked with another impact as the growls grew around them.

"There's more of them Endy," Max screamed, ducking his head between his knees as if not being able to see the beasts is gonna make them disappear. "We're gonna die, Fuck, I don't wanna die" he kept chanting

They couldn't stay trapped inside the car for too long, but if they got out, they would never be able to outrun these wolves and would be killed in an instant. Ender heard the sound of a wail and carefully raised himself up to look out, even the three massive beasts circling their car had stopped to stare at the scene before them. The white wolf from before had its fangs sunk deep into the black one's throat. Ender saw the light go out from the creature's eyes before it sank to the ground.

Although the creature with white fur was slightly bigger than the rest of the beasts, it seemed to be a part of the same species as them and had brutally killed one of its own. If these creatures were so murderous, there was no chance for him and Max to make it through this. For a split second, his blue eyes locked with the blood red eyes of the white wolf and Ender almost pissed in his pants at the sight of its gaping maw dripping with blood. It growled then, a sound so loud that Ender could nearly see the vibrations in the air. A wolf near them snarled before lunging at the other and their fight resumed, going all teeth and claws but this time, the white beast was easily dominating.

Ender was so engrossed in the fight that he nearly forgot about the one's surrounding them until a wolf snapped its teeth right in front of his face making him scream in panic. He wiggled back to lay low between the seats but then, the door behind Max was ripped off and before he could move, one of those gruesome creatures locked its jaws around his arms and he was pulled out.

"No, Max!" Ender tried to grab his legs but to no avail.

A piercing scream left him as blood began oozing out from his arms from where the massive animal held him. Before Ender could go after him, another beast came to block the door, it let out a snarl, eyes gleaming as if it was happy to see his misery. He heard a loud cry of pain and his heart pounded because he knew that was Max.

'Please don't die' Ender prayed

He crawled back, shaking terribly as the creature put its head inside, baring its sharp fangs. His fingers curled around the metal flask he usually kept in the back. He gripped it firmly, his resolve made, and he swung the flask with all his might, hitting the beast right in its eye. It whined as it backed out while Ender took that chance to swiftly open the door and get out with a plan of slipping underneath the car for a while but all of that shattered when he came face to face with the white beast. Sinking down to his knees, Ender kept his eyes on its massive paws, hoping that the animal would take it as a sign of surrender.

The creature drew close until its paws were mere inches away from his knees. It would only take minutes, probably seconds for the beast to rip his head right off of his shoulders. He closed his eyes, frantically praying to whatever God that existed to help him through this, although he never really believed in the existence of the divine. His eyes flew open when he felt something wet near his neck, the beast was sniffing him, its wet nose felt ticklish. Ender tried to focus on his breathing, his body was trembling like a leaf caught in the storm. The beast paused and Ender slowly turned his head to look at it, its terrifying red eyes somehow seemed more round now, as if it was giving him the puppy eyes. It dipped down to nuzzle its face against his chest and Ender gasped at the proximity, daring to raise his hand to touch the pristine white coat. It was massive and so so warm that Ender could feel it from a distance too.

"G-good boy" his voice came out shattered, harsh as he fought against his will to sprint away from the place which he doubted would do him any good. He scratched behind its ears as he would do to a dog and heavens above, the beast purred! Was it friendly?

"Endy!" a broken scream echoed around them and his head snapped in the direction of it. Max. Ender had to help him but if he moved too quickly, this creature right here might rip out his throat within seconds. Tears pooled in his eyes and left a trail on his cheek when he realized he cannot do anything to help the other guy. Even if he had been nothing but a nuisance, Ender couldn't help but feel crushed as he heard the screams. He felt something wet against his cheek and realized rather late that the creature had just licked his face. His heart pounded when it let out an ear-splitting snarl.

"Stop! Please, I don't wanna die" Ender covered his head with his hands, burying his face in his knees in anticipation for an attack that never came.

The creature brushed past him, a blur of white as it tackled the other wolf, grabbing its neck and twisting it, killing it in an instant. By now, it was a miracle that he hadn't fallen unconscious. He took that chance to run around the car on wobbly legs to find Max which further turned out to be a rash decision as he almost bumped into another wolf and fell back on the ground. The beast bared its fangs right in his face, dripping with blood and Ender cried when his mind registered that it could be the blood of his friend. He kept his eyes on the beast as he crawled back, frantically searching for stones he could use to hit.

The wolf lunged and Ender saw black when he felt the sharp fangs break into his skin. Excruciating pain shot up his leg, the same leg that he had previously injured during ballet and he bellowed. He tried to get up, hands curled in fists to punch the beast but it was suddenly ripped from on top of him. His entire body trembled and he could barely see, stomach getting upset when he saw the amount of blood that was now flowing from the wound in his leg. The growls near him were gruesome, sickening even, and Ender swore he heard the sound of bones snapping.

It was the white wolf again, lips pulled back from its massive fangs that dripped with blood and gore. It walked back to Ender and ducked its head so it was on eye-level with him, rather calm after finishing off nearly four or five of its own kin.

Or maybe, Ender thought, maybe this one was different. While the others looked bloodthirsty, and there was no doubt that this white wolf was violent too, it had been friendly earlier.

"No, don't come close!" Ender dragged himself away, whimpering when pain shot up from his injury. The wolf that had begun approaching him, stilled, and kneeled in front of him, whining as its eyes moved to his injured leg.

Ender struggled to get up, balancing his weight on his other good leg before he grabbed on to their car for support. Fresh tears sprung from his eyes from the pain and due to the whole incident that happened. There was no sound of Max and Ender wailed as it dawned on him that the guy might have died.

Maybe he should have left Kai at the beginning of the trail like he had asked. Maybe all of this could have been avoided and maybe Max would have been alive. Behind him, the massive beast whined as if it could somehow understand his emotions.

"I should never have come here" Ender cried, yelping when the wolf crawled over to him and nudged him.

Can it truly understand him? With trembling hands, Ender patted its head and the creature leaned into his touch. He clutched the sides of the car to walk ahead, his only hope was to get back to Kai. A tremor went through his body and he almost fell but the wolf supported him from behind, taking his weight on its furry neck.

"Are you trying to help?" he mumbled before he blacked out.