Rise of the Underdogs: Jasper

Red Snow

I pawed at the cave, giving the added hint that someone had already tried to get into the debris-filled cave and failed before moving on. Padding around, I dug in the ground as if looking for something. Making a few more rounds, I eventually moved away from the area.

The falling snow had covered our human footprints, filling in the five sets of imprints easily, but I moved through the area to systematically interrupting any scents but my own. There were only five sets of tracks because I hadn’t thought to put Akita down even once. Her scent was that of an Alpha heir, and I had to prioritize her safety first and foremost over the strain on my back and my own comfort.

Putting my 12-year-old sister on my back and making sure her scent didn't touch the surroundings was a survival tactic. A skill taught to my age group by the Elder Forrest. The pack’s Keeper of Foresight (what most called Clairvoyance), and Eileen’s father. Creating deceptions with guidance from the land itself was taught by Elder Arden. A man whose golden eyes saw many paths into the unknown future. A lineage of Celestial Sight brought forth by their inexplicable connection with a Witch coven in the south called Starlight.

Anika, Elder Arden’s daughter, had hopefully escaped alongside Eileen Forrest. Both were the last of their line, and both were desperately needed, though we didn’t yet know why. The Sighted One was born in every generation, but those who commanded Clairvoyance were locked in with one being born every second generation. So, while Eileen didn’t have the Future Sight, she would likely birth the one who would carry the Blessing forward.

Finding a rabbit hole, I sniffed around but found it empty. That was fine. I could deal with that, but my siblings needed food.

Circling back to the fiord, I paused to lap at the cold water, quenching my thirst and steadying my resolve. Knowing that my scent could betray our presence, I sought out a small, muddy area nearby. Without hesitation, I rolled in the mud, thoroughly coating myself to mask any trace of my scent from potential pursuers. This simple act of self-preservation was as much for my siblings’ safety as it was for my own.

Once my scent was concealed, I focused on the next task: nourishment. I tracked a brace of hares to their hidden den, moving with deliberate patience so as not to alert them. My connection with Levi remained strong, reassuring me that my siblings were safe while I carried out my dual mission—confusing our enemies with careful strategy and securing food for those who depended on me.

I sensed a sudden shift in the atmosphere—the air grew tense and cold. A shiver ran down my spine as I became acutely aware of another presence closing in behind me. The unmistakable breath of a Rogue ghosted across the back of my neck, stirring every instinct within me to attention. Swiftly, I pivoted to confront the threat, bracing myself for what might come next.

Standing before me was a female Rogue, her posture aggressive and her intentions clear. Her lips curled back to reveal a set of sharp, menacing teeth, while her eyes glowed with a wild, predatory hunger. The intensity in her gaze betrayed her desires—an insatiable craving for both blood and power, unrestrained and dangerous.

‘Revert.’

‘Who…’ I twisted, looking around as I backed into the water and abandoning my skim findings of hare.

‘Kavik,’ the voice said. That’s when I realized my wolf spirit was talking to me. It was a rarity, but one that came right when I needed it most. ‘Release your consciousness to me. Let me surface fully. You have done well, but you do not yet possess the strength to battle a Rogue on your own.’

The female snapped her jaws with a sickening crack, foam bubbling at the corners of her mouth like a curse made flesh. Her eyes were wild and glassy, pupils wide and unfocused, as if she were staring through me into some fractured world only she could see. Her fur hung in clumps, matted with filth and streaked with blood that wasn’t hers. Patches of skin showed through, raw and inflamed, twitching with every erratic movement.

She growled low and guttural. Her limbs jerked with unnatural rhythm, like her body no longer obeyed the laws of instinct. She lunged a step forward, then staggered sideways, foam flinging from her muzzle in thick strands. The stench of rot clung to her like a second skin—feral, sour, and wrong. Not just death. She was decay in motion.

I didn’t need Kavik’s voice to know she was too far gone. This wasn’t a wolf anymore. This was a vessel of madness, a creature hollowed out by disease and driven by the last flickering embers of hunger and rage. And yet, even in her ruin, she was dangerous. Unpredictable. A single bite could mean the end. Not just of me, but of everything I was trying to protect.

‘Kavik?’

‘Forget all you were told, pup. This is life or death, and I see how much you want to live,’ he answered knowingly.

I hesitated, inadvertently giving the female an opening. Yelping, I dodged left to avoid her already bloody maw and teeth. ‘Fine! Please! Just help me! Take over my body in this form so I can return to my siblings!’

As everything slipped from me, my consciousness began to fade, plunging me into darkness. My vision narrowed, collapsing inward until only a single pinpoint of light remained. In that moment, I felt Kavik take over—his presence overwhelming and absolute. The fight erupted around me, a fierce clash I could sense but not influence. I was powerless, unable to stop the struggle or lend any help. All I could do was surrender to the void and let Kavik guide my body, hoping he could overcome the threat that I could not.

When I found myself once again conscious, panting and shaking from exertion, the snow around me was coloured red and black. Blood and decay had been spilt this night, and a female had lost her life.

‘Her life was lost before you became her target. Lady Artemis desires your family’s survival and that of her Blessed Ones. Focus on the task at hand, and do not hesitate to call upon me for assistance as required. I will otherwise remain as your silent guide.’ Kavik declared before leaving me to the quiet.

The silence was deafening. Once a cacophony of nature’s voice, it was so still that the quiet was disarmingly disorienting. The forest, which had once pulsed with the sounds of life now seemed to hold its breath. The absence of noise pressed in from all sides, amplifying the aftermath of the struggle and the gravity of what had just transpired. Every heartbeat and breath echoed in the emptiness, making the world feel as if it had shrunk to a single, isolated point. The stillness lingered, heavy and unnatural, marking the transition from chaos to uneasy calm.

With no other option remaining, I tipped my head back and released a mournful howl into the silent air. A sound steeped in sorrow and longing. It was not merely the pain of the present I voiced, but the culmination of so many losses that pressed heavily upon my spirit.

I mourned for my parents, whose guidance and warmth had been snatched away far too soon, for the pack that once surrounded me and the friends whose laughter no longer echoed through the woods. I grieved, too, for the loss of my own agency, having been thrust into the impossible task of watching over my siblings, burdened with responsibilities I had never chosen.

Most keenly, my voice carried the ache of losing a treasured female. A soul whose tragic end seemed to go unmarked by all but myself. Though some might have judged her unworthy of remembrance, I knew her soul deserved at least one song of farewell. My lament was for the female Rogue as much as it was for everyone else. A solitary voice honouring a life lost amid the chaos, ensuring she would not be forgotten.

To my surprise, Kavik spoke again. This time, as a messenger of the Goddess herself. ‘Lady Artemis will tend her lost soul, if only to honour the one whose howl led this female back to her Celestial Garden for rebirth. You have honoured the true pact of the tame and the wild, young Jasper. Now, I wait to see what kind of man you become.’

Grabbing my earlier find of hares, I washed them in the river the icy water removing any trace of the Taint that marked all Rogues. Finding a few more, now six total, I dragged my find back to the cave. Each step was a transformation from past to present. My heavy burden weighing me down.

Not just the pups I was guarding – my siblings – but the guilt of taking a life. The pressure of coming to terms with the red that stained my hands at only seventeen. An age when most were just finding their Mates and creating connections.

Glancing around, I caught the fading scent of pack Trackers and Rogues. Our trap, our carefully yet hastily created illusion, had worked. Relief coursed through me as I noted the cave opening intact.

Shoving the brace of hares through, I heard Levi’s wolf, Anuk, sniff the food tentatively. Deciding it was safe enough to use the mind-link, I sent him a message. ‘I’m here, little brother.’

‘Thank the Goddess,’ he whispered back. ‘Jasper, your idea worked. And you brought food?’

Slipping through the hole in my wolf form, I shifted back and gratefully accepted my clothing from my brothers and sister. “They came?”

“Left moving southward, so now they are ahead of us,” River replied.

Levi narrowed his gaze, “There’s something else. I don’t think we’re alone. There was a man who said a bear shifter was seen in the area.”

I nodded, “Prep the food. I’ll stand guard while you five rest and eat.”