CHAPTER 1
Sakari shot up in her bed, a scream catching her throat . She sighed and panted lowly, glancing out of the open window at the perfectly blue sky. Panting lightly to catch her breath before climbing out of bed and stretching, her back popping audibly. The red wolf walked over to a table that held a clay bowl; pouring water into it and started to clean her face and paws. Looking down at her scarred paw, her ears falling back as she heaved another sigh.
Sakari had been having the same dream for weeks now. The memory of that night was burned deeper into her mind than the scars on her paw. Looking into the polished mirror she used for a mirror, the wolfess groomed back her lilac hair. Just finishing off the loose braid, she looked up at her doorway, seeing a tall graying wolf standing and smiling at her. “Good morning, father.” She said, a smile growing over her muzzle.
“Good morning, daughter. Sleep well?” The male questioned as Sakari pulled her gi over her wrapped torso. 
“I did. But I had...I dreamed about him again: Zerataph.” She said as the two canines walked out into the common room. Sitting on the wooden floor, a pot of tea already set on the low table. After pouring the two of them a  cup, she knelt back. “That night at the shrine.” Sakari looked down at her injured paw one last time before sipping the hot tea.
Her father nodded. “I'm not surprised, Sakari, I've been having dreams and visions myself. Of much darker things I'm worried are yet to pass,: The elder wolf drank from his own cup between sentences. “I'm afraid that the legends are coming true.” He hung his head in thought. 
Sakari blinked as she set her tea onto the saucer. “What legends, Father?”
“You don't remember? Well...I suppose you were still a pup when I told you the stories:
Long ago, the land was rued by the dragons that gave birth to the world. Our ancestors worshiped them like gods. But when a king saw the powers that a single dragon alone held, he strove to collect all five sacred dragons that lived in each nation. Waging war until they gave up the dragons or were obliterated by his armies. With all of the dragons under his command, he ruled over the entire land undisputed. 
One day a sixth dragon descended from the heavens. The king fought it in order to add it to his already undefeated army. This dragon, however held far greater strength than even the king knew. They fought and ravaged the land, but ultimately the dragon ended his reign. Sealing the five dragons of the land away so no one could abuse their power, the dragon healed the land before sealing itself away as well.
All legends are grown from a kernel of truth. And what you described a year ago, it loos as if Zerataph is after their power now.” The wolf said and stood up, walking to a dresser against the wall and returned to the table a moment later with a map and inkwell in hand. Rolling it out, it showed the continent of Sippeà. “Each of the dragons would have probably returned to the cities where they were worshiped.” He said, picking up a brush, dipping it in the ink, marking each city with what dragon they worshiped. 
“But I don't see what I can do. Last time I fought him, I didn't stand a chance.” Sakari watched him roll the map back up and set it on the side of the table, returning to his tea.
“You've grown stronger over the seasons, Sakari. But the choice is entirely yours if you choose to pursue him.”
They sat in silence for a long while, finishing their tea before anything else was said. “I'll do it, father.” She put her hand on the map to pick it up, her father's coming down on top of her's gently.
“Are you sure?” He asked one final time. When she nodded, he smiled softly. “I will pray for you, Sakari.” He stood up and walked into a separate room, waving to invite her to follow. He opened a cupboard next to his bed to expose a set of armour. “I want you to take this with you.” He turned around and placed a light helmet into her paws.
She looked over the forest green helmet before she lowered her head and put it on her head. It covered her head completely, her braid hanging out from the bottom of it. And holes on the top let her ears stick out. “Thank you, father. I will take great care of it.” She said as he helped strapped on the leggings while she fitted a pair of shoulders and gauntlets. 
“They're to protect you, not the other way around.” He said, half in jest. “Just be careful out there.” the wolf hugged her tightly.
“I promise.” She said and hugged her father in return. She left the little green village with a large crowd bidding her farewell. Looking at the map, Sakari saw that the next closest town was just north west of her home village. The entire trip was going to take a couple of days; so the wolfess tightened her grip on her provisions while keeping a close paw at her katana. The entire journey was rather uneventful. As the green fields began to fade into the brownish-red HaiKhan mountains, Sakari began to pick up the faint odor of decay. The ground began to slope down, leading her into small valleys and over hills. Coming over the final hill, she saw a modest little city in the center of the valley.
Coming into the boundaries of the city, the stench grew stronger; now she could see why. The further Sakari walked into city, the more the buildings crumbled. The destruction of the town was very little near the edge of the city and got worse with every step. Eventually there was nothing but piles of rubble everywhere around her. Among the giant stones were the bodies of their inhabitants, decaying in the hot sun and being scavenged by birds and rodents. 
Lifting her head, she saw there was still a single standing building at the epicenter of  the chaos: a tower standing above the remnants of the other buildings. She walked up the steps into the open archway, the wooden doors ripped off of hinges. She walked into the circular room, the sun streaming into hall from the destroyed ceiling.
 She walked back to the back of the round room and climbed up the steps onto the altar. Behind a broken table, there was a large carved slab of rock with five dragons carved of an ancient city, flying high with a human sitting on the center-most dragon's neck.  Facing them was a single long bodied dragon. Along the boarders of the slab was tree branches that came down to meet at the center where a pedestal and a sword were carved into the stone. She touched the stone and seconds after a clatter echoing the room, making her jump. Drawing her katana, she spun around to the empty room. “ Who's there?!” She barked out and stepped down from the altar.
From behind a pile of rocks came a mountain lion male, who looked no older than 15 years of age. His golden fur was dirty and tunic was ripped and barely covered his skinny form. His ears were lowered and lowered his head. 
Sakari couldn't help but gasp as she saw him. Lowering her weapon, she walked forward towards the feline. “What are you doing here, little one?” the wolfess questioned him, stopping as he pulled back away from her. “I'm not going to hurt you.” She re-sheathed her sword and showed him the empty paws. “Are you the only one here?” He nodded. Setting her bag down, she dug out a rice cake and offered it to him. “Here, I'm sorry it's not much..”
The cougar stepped forward and quickly took it from her hand, eating it two bites He smiled weakly and thanked her.
“Don't mention it. What's your name?”
The mountain lion was hesitant with giving Sakari his name. “Fer-Ferain.”
“Is this your home town?” He shook his head. “Where'd you come from?”
“I-I'm from Ternal, I ran away from home.”
“Well we can't have that.” She paused in thought, picking her bag back up. “Lets get you home then.” She reached for his paw. Ferain pulled away and violently shook his head. Sakari hesitated for a moment and sighed. “Okay then, you can go ahead and stay here. I've got things to do anyway.” the wolfess said and walked out of the tower. Sakari was looking up at the cloudless sky when she heard Ferain's voice coming from behind her.
“W-WAIT! C-can I-can I come with you?” he panted
“You don't want to go home?”
“No!” He mewed “I-I don't...I can't. And I don't want to say why, I just really don't want to stay here either.”He whined weakly.
Sakari blinked at the kit before her smile returned to her muzzle while she nodded. “Okay, Just watch yourself and don't get in the way.” She warned and set her bag down once more, pulling out another rice cake and handed it to him, digging out a small knife from the bottom. “Use this as needed, it's nothing much, but it's better than nothing.”
“Thank you...” he held the last syllable to inquire about her name. 
“Sakari.”
“Thank you, Sakari. I'll try my best.” He ate the rice cake, slowly this time.
“Good. We failed stopping him here, so our next chance to get him will be north west of here. It's going to be a long journey into the HaiKhan mountains. Are you absolutely sure about this?” Sakari asked one final time.
“I am, I'm ready.” He said and held the knife in his paws as they walked through the ruined streets towards the higher mountains.