Clash of Fangs Prologue Before the wolves came to Alitar, it was the home to a pride of tigers who wanted to stay together, having been together since birth. Liafear was the leader of this pride of tigers. He was chosen as leader after his father died and he was the only one with royal blood. Liafear's mother had died giving birth to him and his brother, who didn't survive the first two days. Liafear's father, Jafaear, took pride in his only son and never took another mate after his mother. Jafaear taught him how to hunt, fish, swim and be the best king he could be. Now he was king and he dreaded it as well as loved it. He was only two years old and had recently taken a mate, the beautiful Fraila. She was with cubs for the first time. He prided himself on the fact that his cubs would be strong and handsome as he was, or so he thought. He would never guess that his two cubs would be blessed with power beyond what was known. He knew that his mate was due to cub any day now and he was excited. The night Fraila went into labor was the night of a horrible thunderstorm, with winds that ripped and pulled at the trees that surrounded their den. Liafear waited outside the den while Sashteal, the herb tender was inside the den with Fraila. Liafear paced outside the den, his pelt saturated with rain and he growled as the wind tugged at his paws wanting to take him with it, but he would not be beaten easily. He gripped the sand and grass under paw with his claws refusing to budge. This storm was unlike any he had ever surpassed in his now three years. He was a young rather handsome tiger still. His beard not quite fully grown and his stripes not the black they would become. He still had a few years yet. Liafear was deep in thought when Sashteal padded out of the den, the winds making her stumble into him and coward. "I'm sorry my king." She whispered licking his paw. The howling of the wind made it almost impossible for him to hear her. "It is alright Sashteal." He spoke loudly in a rough, rugged tone that was as deep as the seas of Cosmos. "Are the cubs here?" He said, his voice easily traveling through the wind. Sashteal nodded and flicked her tail for him to go inside and see his newborn cubs. She smiled when he did as she instructed. She watched him walk away; sighing as she thought about the #life she would never get with him now. She had always loved and admired him since they were young, yet it wasn't meant to be for he was king. She padded back to her den, head down against the wind. Before she could get to her den however, something rammed into her and sent her flying. Her back hit a tree, causing it to break and kill her. She had roared out but the wind had carried it away and nobody knew of her death except for her attacker, a wolf twice her size that looked over her dead form now grinning. "This will be our land and we will take it by force if necessary." He growled as other wolves gathered around him. He looked to his right and nodded his head, for the wolves along that way to skirt around the right flank and destroys whatever tigers they found. Turning to the opposite direction they had already start to do as instructed. Kilack would have this land no matter the cost. Liafear padded over to his mate, smiling and excited to meet his two cubs. As he got closer he saw that one was white with light gray stripes, but the other had blue stripes which was strange. He was unaware of the eyes that watched them from the den entrance. As he got closer Fraila looked up at him with tired eyes and smiled. "Come meet your daughter and son." She whispered, tired from giving birth. It had lasted all day and had left her drained; however she was proud of the two beautiful cubs that lay nuzzling at her belly. She was unsure of how Liafear would react to the coloration of his son, but she loved him all the same. Liafear bent his head down to sniff his cubs, a deep purr rumbling in his chest. "Have you thought of names for them?" He asked gently, in his deep rugged tone. She smiled and nuzzled him nodding. "The female is Jiace and our son is Firtelion." She purred. Kilack watched the two new parents inside the den cuddling and cooing over the newborn cubs. He grinned already tasting the blood of the cubs in his mouth. Now would be the best time to strike. The queen was weak after giving birth. Kilack looked around his pack now gathered on either side of him. He nodded and padded into the den. "How quaint?" He growled, smiling as Liafear turned to look at him in surprise. Kilack watched him turn back to his mate and whisper something to her. Kilack saw the queen get up tiredly and grab the cubs by their scruffs and padded toward the back of the den. Little did Kilack know, there was a hidden entrance at the back that was well hidden from view. "Kilack what do you want?" Liafear growled his claws unsheathing. "I've come to take what is rightfully the Baltasar Pack's." Kilack stated padding closer to Liafear. "And you plan to kill me to do so? Wouldn't it be fair to ask me and my kin to leave?" Liafear asked narrowing his eyes at the wolf leader. "You would leave willingly?" Kilack asked watching the gaze of Liafear. "I would if it meant my family and I survived." He said sheathing his claws. He hung his head. "Let me go and you can have the land." Liafear pleaded. "Hmmm? What do you think Jastalia?" Kilack said looking back at the female on his left side. Kilack stared at his mate for some time, awaiting her decision, for she was the alpha female in the pack. The choice was hers as much as it was his. After a while she finally said, "Let him go Kilack. He is offering to let the territory go, so let him go raise his two newborns." She told him looking at Liafear. "You may go, however if we catch you on this territory again, we shall not be so forgiving. And to make sure you remember that take this as well." She growled and raised her right leg, claws unsheathed and brought it down over the left side of Liafear's face. Liafear roared out an fled out the back part of the cave. He had to find his mate and cubs. The burn and sting over his left eye caused him so much pain. Blood flowed over his eye blinding him to everything on that side. Fraila padded quickly toward the back of the cave. The need to protect her and Liafear's cubs gave her strength to continue on. She kept her ears laid back against her head, trying to listen to whatever happened to Liafear. Finally reaching the back of the cave she spotted the hole, that wasn't cover by snow. She prayed to Odrun, the tiger god of all, thanking him for allowing her to escape. Slowly she sat the cubs down on the cold stone floor and pushed them out of the hole with her mouth. When the cold snow hit the little ones they started to yowl. As she started to push her way through the hole she heard Liafear roar. Her heart quickened and she hurried out of the hole. Getting out of the hole she quickly found the cubs and grabbed them by their scruffs. She turned to look at the hole once more, then turned her back on it and started to sprint away from den she had claimed with the king. She headed to the south with her cubs, tears brimming at her eyes and threatening to spill over. She had to be strong. She continued on until she heard something on the wind. 'Fraila!' It said. She turned to look around not seeing anything. "Fraila!" The wind called louder. She kept looking around hoping. He heart pounding in her chest. "Fraila!" It called once again and she knew it was Liafear. "Liafear!" She roared out looking all around, searching the blizzard for her mate. He was close she could smell him on the wind. After escaping out of the back of the cave he had found Fraila's scent leading to the south of the den. He had to find her. The storm had died a bit to allow him to see her paw prints in the snow laden ground. He quickly followed them, the snow making his left eye feel better now. He moved quickly, but when he got to the tree line, the blizzard had picked back up and now Fraila's tracks had disappeared by a blanket of snow. Panicking he roared out. "Fraila!" When he didn't receive an answer he called out again, looking all around. On the third time he heard her call out to him, he knew she wasn't far ahead of him. He gathered himself up, having lost quite a bit of blood from his left eye, ear and cheek. He ran to her as quickly as he could. She kept calling out to him, and finally he saw her standing in the snow searching for him. "Fraila!" He called and ran up to her, beginning to nuzzle her but drawing back in pain from his left side. "Liafear! I thought they had killed you and I would never see you again." She cried softly putting her head into the fur on his chest. The cubs were lying at her side, yowling for milk and from the cold. "Liafear we must find shelter for them and ourselves." She said to him looking at their cubs. "I know but we must get off the territory that way the wolves can't find us." He said softly grabbing his son by the scruff and carrying him. He looked over at Fraila, Jiace in her mouth nodding and racing away farther south. They had been traveling for hours when Liafear came to a stop. He had spotted the cave that they would make their new den. Having gotten well out of the territory that was once theirs. It had gotten a bit warmer now that they were farther down the mountain. "Liafear I can't go on." Fraila said behind him. He turned to see that Fraila had collapsed in the snow, exhausted from giving birth and traveling as far as they had. He ran to her side, setting his son down at her side. "Fraila we haven't got much farther. The cave is right there." He said soothingly, but panic edged into his stomach. "Take the cubs and come back for me." She said to him her head falling on her paws and her eyes closing. Panic was starting to grip him tightly as he watched Fraila's sides rise and fall in shallow breaths. He knew he had to carry her and the cubs. But how he did not know. Liafear looked around for something to drag his mate and cubs on to pull them into the cave. Looking around he finally spotted a large tree with all its bark piled in giant chunks laying on the ground around it's trunk. Along with the bark Liafear spotted a piece with a vine attached to it. Liafear knew that it was made by an intelligent being that must have forgotten it but he had no choice but to use it. He quickly ran over and grabbed the piece of vine in his mouth and dragged it back to where his mate and cubs lay freezing to death. He gently lay down the vine, the bark was heavy already, but he had to save them. Gently grabbing his mate by her scruff, he pulled her onto the thick piece of bark, grunting slightly from effort. He padded over to where the cubs still lay and gently picked them up, not wanting them hurt. He loved them far too much to let that happen, no matter how angry he was with Kilack for forcing him, his mate and cubs out of their home. No matter what, he would ask the gods for help and even travel to see the fire beast that lived at the top of the mountains. After getting his cubs and mate into the lightly lit cave he padded back out to the entrance to sit and watch. He was afraid of what would befall his family now. It was hard to find prey but he had to go hunt. Turning his head back he looked over his right shoulder to look at his mate sleeping with his cubs nuzzling softly at her belly. He smiled a bit before going out into the snow, silently vowing to forever protect them no matter the cost. He would have to mark the new territory. He was still so unsure of what had happened to the rest of his pride, but he couldn't worry about that now, he had to find food.