Challenger

"A challenger comes, a challenger comes!"
The whisper leapt from tree to tree, filling the evening air with quiet noise and sudden tension
"Tell the prince a challenger comes to take his throne!" The forest whispered, glee dripping from the words like sap from an ax blow
Leaves dance throughout the trunks that densely pack the land as far as one cared to look, searching through the old ones, searching for the prince that ruled this forest
A lone wolf rests in a rare clearing, resting his massive bulk on the soft earth, his paws kneading the rich loam below
His ears twitched and nose wrinkled as sounds and smells reached him at his hard earned resting spot
"A challenger waits! He comes to steal your food, to claim your land, and mate with your females and kill your young!" The forest cried out in a voice molded from smell and sound, calling the alpha to his feet and to action
The great wolf leaps into the surrounding forest, leaving behind his quiet resting place and instead taking to the trees that surrounded him, for the promise of either another victory or a lost throne made from the bones of his murdered pups lent speed to his gallop as he charged through his kingdom
The enormous canine raced through the forest, his steel gray fur hiding muscles that bunched and knotted underneath restraining flesh, before releasing and bursting, sending the wolf barreling even faster toward the unseen entity that dared to challenge the prince of this forest
Soon, the forest revealed the challenger, in all his chaotic glory
An gargantuan wolf stood tall, just outside of the forests edge, his head thrown back to let loose a chilling howl, one that shook the very bones of the forest, the chaos it threatened brought a hush to the forest, ending its whispering and mocking mutterings
In the seconds following the call, the prince burst from within the forest, lips pulled back in a feral snarl, revealing glistening white canines, coated in saliva that dripped in long rivulets to the churned up dirt bellow
The challenger snarled his challenge once more, hot breath that stank of rotten meat gushing forth from his maw, his eyes now focused solely on the prince, his prize in sight
The two paused for only  a moment before they began, the doughy soil beneath trembling as the two colossal beings battled for its possession, teeth sinking into hard flesh, tearing of skin, muscle, and fur,  claws leaving great furrows that bled precious life onto the greedy earth
In the end, the victor stood above the others corpse, muzzle coated in already drying blood, the forest already cheering and lamenting the outcome of the titanic struggle
"All hail the prince of the forest! All hail the prince!" The forest sang in a voice sounding like a strong breeze through saplings branches, the forest wept with a wail that gave memory to a morning overcast and full of pregnant clouds
The prince paused for a moment, before sweeping his head back and letting loose a howl that enraptured even the moon that now shone so bright in the sky, bringing even the all-knowing spirit down to acknowledge the prince of the forest