by Natalie Erin
“Then we have to get you out!” Snapfoot barked. “I’ll be right back!”
He ran off, looking for a branch he could lower into the pit. He found a dead tree with several low hanging limbs. He used his body weight to pull one off, charging back to the hole.
Kaliska had managed to get into a sitting position, but she was weak and covered in her own blood. He hoped she’d be able to hold on. “I’m going to lower down this branch! Grab onto it, and I’ll pull you up!”
The second it was within her reach, Kaliska latched on with her teeth. She cried out in pain as Snapfoot pulled her up slowly, over the edge of the pit. She let go of the branch when she was finally out of the hole, gasping in agony. Snapfoot ran to her side. “What happened?”
Kaliska groaned. “I went to set up a guard, and I heard something in the brush. I went to check it out, but by that time, the unicorns had already jumped me.”
“How did they know?” Snapfoot mumbled.
“Know what?” Kaliska winced as she began to lick the blood and dirt from her fur.
“That you were setting up a guard,” Snapfoot explained. “And why didn’t they kill you? They wouldn’t hesitate with any other wolf.”
“They think I’m your mate.” Kaliska went to stand, and yelped as she put weight on one ankle. “They meant to lure you out here and kill you when you came to rescue me, but they didn’t expect there to be so many wolves. The unicorns who were guarding me left to join the others. But they’ll be back soon, so we have to leave.” Kaliska tried to walk, and ended up letting out a small howl of pain.
“Is it sprained?” Snapfoot asked. “Lean on me, and we can get you home.”
He helped her up and she leaned over slightly, putting part of her weight upon him. “You need to heal,” Snapfoot said.
“We have to get back to the pack,” Kaliska gasped. “Try and stop them from attacking.”
“They already have,” Snapfoot said. “They came in from all sides. No one listened when I called a retreat.”
“Then why did you come for me if the pack is suffering losses?” she questioned. “Why leave the entire group for a single member?”
“You’re the only wolf who listens to me, Kaliska,” Snapfoot responded. “I just felt like you mattered more than they did.”
“You’re a strange sort of leader, Snapfoot,” she told him.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked.
“Just that you don’t act like most leaders would,” she said. “Most would’ve let me die and worried about saving the pack.”
“Every wolf matters, whether they are the omega or the alpha,” Snapfoot commented. “I could do nothing for them, Kaliska. But I could do something for you.”
Kaliska’s eyes were full of shock. “Thank you, Snapfoot,” she said. “No one has ever told me that I’ve truly mattered.”
“You do,” he said firmly. “And from now on, don’t ever forget it. Now let’s go. We need to gather those who are still alive and plan some sort of counterattack. What the unicorns did tonight means war.”
Midnightstar watched as Rabika walked in the direction of Valcur’s den, unable to control the frustration welling up inside her.
“Are you okay, Mids?” Adelaide asked.
“I’m fine,” Midnightstar retorted, her voice sounding as if she were far away.
“You don’t look fine,” Tatl commented. “What is bothering you?”
“I told you, I’m okay,” Midnightstar said firmly. “Now stop asking.”
Midnightstar was fuming. Rabika had left the Peaks for her hunt proudly, if Valcur was a small bunny rabbit instead of the most terrifying Ortusan the Lands had ever known. She believed she’d have no trouble taking him down.
To make matters even worse, Dust had vanished. Midnightstar had circled the Blue Sky Peaks several times looking for her, and had even enlisted Xiuh’s help in finding her, but neither she nor the dragon had any luck locating the Changer. She had up and vanished the night after she’d promised to teach Midnightstar how to be a skygazer. Midnightstar hoped she’d come back, but she didn’t think that was going to happen. Dust had betrayed her, for seemingly no good reason. It was too much for Midnightstar to handle.
“Mids, you’re not okay,” Adelaide said, poking her friend with her paw. “I can see it.”
“Leave me alone, Adelaide!” Midnightstar screamed, whirling on her friend with her fangs exposed. “I don’t want to be bothered right now!”
Adelaide’s eyes welled up with tears, and the bow began shaking on the top of her head. Tatl pushed his way forward and shouted, “Midnightstar, don’t snap at Adelaide just because you’re upset!”
“You don’t get it, do you? She was all we had!” Midnightstar screamed.
“What are you talking about?” Tatl said, bewildered.
“Dust! She’s gone!” Midnightstar cried. “We needed her, but she took off! Now everything’s hopeless, do you understand?”
She didn’t wait to explain anything, only stormed off in the opposite direction. Tatl and Adelaide watched her go, the anger on Tatl’s face obvious.
“What is her problem?” he snarled, turning to his smaller sister.
“I don’t know. Why is she so mean all of a sudden?” Adelaide asked. “It’s not like she liked Dust.”
“I don’t know.” Tatl responded. “But it’s ridiculous.”
“Do you think Rabika will make it back?” Adelaide looked up at her brother.
“I don’t know. She’s so hard-headed sometimes,” Tatl said, contemplating. “Maybe I should go and make sure she gets out of there alive.”
“But the Assembly said no one can help her,” Adelaide replied.
“What the Assembly doesn’t know won’t hurt them,” Tatl said, grinning. He nudged Adelaide gently. “I’ll be back soon. Take care of Midnightstar. It looks like she needs a friend now more than ever.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Adelaide nodded as she bid her brother farewell, traveling in the same direction Rabika had. When he was no longer in sight, she turned and headed toward the Cave of Glass in search of Midnightstar, the bow on her head bouncing as happily as she was.
Rabika moved quickly, wasting no time on her way to the ravine that was home to the Ortusan Valcur. As she ran, she prepared herself for the battle to come. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but she was positive that all she had to do was get in one bite, and he would fall.
“I’m going to be the Wolf Queen,” she whispered. “I’m better than all the others. I can be queen.”
She kept moving, her legs pushing her ever closer to the fight of her life. She drew to a halt as the earth before her gave away into a huge, gaping hole. The ravine was disgusting, reeking with the smell of rotting flesh and death. Bones were everywhere, cast aside as if they were toys for some deranged creature. Blood caked the sides of the rocky walls, and the cries of wounded animals as they perished filled her ears.
“This is horrible,” she muttered, shaking her head as she tried to get the stench out of her nose. “How am I supposed to get down there?”
She looked around until a grouping of rocks caught her eye. It was a staircase down to the bottom of the ravine. “I guess that’s it.”
Rabika began to walk down the cluster of rocks slowly. The climb was steep, and she struggled to keep from slipping upon the surface of the stones. The farther down she got, the more blood and bones she saw. After a while, she reached a point where the light from the sun was blocked out against the ravine walls. The area she descended into was dark and bleak.
“Where are you, Valcur?” she called, her voice wavering slightly. “You can’t run from me for long!”
“Who dares enter my home?” a rasping, cruel voice asked. The very sound seemed foreign and haunted. It was the sound of someone who had been completely desensitized to the world around them, and who did not care to return to the grasp of sanity.
“I have come to rid the Lands of your presence!” Rabika shouted. “Y
ou have been terrorizing this place for too long!”
The laughter that came next chilled every bone, sending shivers through her skin. “You think you can take me?” Valcur cackled, still submersed within his hiding place. “You better hope you find me quickly, for I’ve already found you.”
“Show yourself!” Rabika said. She searched the ravine, the darkness throwing off her senses and making it hard to tell what was real and what was shadow.
“Now why would I do that...when I am quite happy staying hidden?” Valcur taunted. Rabika listened closely to his voice, smiling as she identified the murky shape clustered against the ravine wall that was his form.
“You’ve been caught!” she barked, charging at him. In the seconds it took her to reach him, he was gone.
“Not so fast,” Valcur chuckled. “You won’t catch me, because I’ll get you first.”
Valcur emerged from the darkness of the ravine, coming into the light. He was in the form of a blood red wolf, his eyes burning orange, teeth riddled with rotting chunks of past victims. There was no life in his eyes. Though his body lived on, his soul was long past dead.
As Valcur descended upon her, his mouth open wide, Rabika screamed.
Tatl heard his sister’s pleading cries long before he reached the ravine, and he ran as fast as he could to the source. He didn’t have time to stop as he went barreling over the edge of the ravine, tumbling through the air until he struck a ledge of rock. He lay on his side for a moment, groaning, before rising to his feet and shaking off the dust. Beside him was the half eaten carcass of a large buck, with one antler torn out of the side of its head.
“Rabika!” he yelled. “Rabika, where are you?”
Another scream was harshly cut off. Tatl peered around. The cry had come from far below. He needed to find a way down. There was a staircase, but it was too far away and there was no direct path to it from the ledge he was on.
A short ways away, a vine crawled up the side of the rock. Tatl grabbed onto it with his teeth and slowly slid down, the vine tight in his jaws as he rappelled down the side of the cliff.
This method would take time. If he rushed, he was sure to fall to his death. Slowly, he slunk down the ravine, hoping he could make it to his sister before the Ortusan finished her off.
By the time Tatl had finally made it to the bottom, he’d wasted precious time. He bolted towards the noise, skidding to a stop when he saw the horrid battle before him.
Rabika snapped at Valcur, but every attempt she made was thwarted by his quick movements. The Ortusan was in his human-like form, long, knotted red hair dangling in front of his bloodshot eyes, with a nose that was too small and a mouth too large for his oval-shaped face. His skin was beyond white from living in the dark for so long, while his fingernails were overgrown and stained permanently red. His fangs were just as stained as his fingernails were, broken in places and rotting away.
Valcur sat atop Rabika, toying with her like a cat would a mouse. Valcur released his grip slightly, giving her a chance to try and bite him, before pouncing on her and clamping her mouth shut once more.
“You are such a lovely creature,” he drawled, stroking the fur of her head with one bony hand. “So very lovely.”
“Let me go!” she yelled.
“No, no, little wolf. We must stay quiet so no one finds us,” he whispered, cackling. Rabika struggled against him to no avail, and a whine sounded low in her throat.
“Let go of her!” Tatl’s voice boomed from behind Valcur, who turned slightly to look.
“Who are you, to be telling me what to do?” Valcur inquired, never releasing his tight grip on Rabika.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Tatl rushed forward, leaping high into the air and onto Valcur’s back. “Not so fast now, are you?”
“Get your filthy paws off of me!” Valcur jumped up, reaching around to grab Tatl, but the wolf held tightly onto the Ortusan’s shoulders with his claws, digging his grip in.
“Now, you die.” Tatl bared his teeth, the sharp points glittering white in the dim light. He struck once, twice, and a third time, burying his fangs deep into Valcur’s neck. The Ortusan shrieked as Tatl bit down, wailing and hissing loudly. He shrunk to the ground, taking far longer to die than any normal Ortusan world. Finally, he cursed Tatl in a sharp, pitiless voice before giving a wheeze and lying still.
Tatl walked to him, stepping on the Ortusan’s shoulders. He bent down, wrapping his teeth around Valcur’s neck and pulling. After a bit of gnawing, the head finally came free.
“Great, we got it. Let’s get out of here,” Tatl said grimly.
Rabika was lying on the ground. She stared at her brother, mouth slightly open, her expression a combination of horror and rage. “How...how could you do this?” she yelled abruptly. “I was supposed to kill him! I was to be queen!”
“You weren’t doing a very good job of it,” Tatl snarled. “I just saved your life. You could show a little gratitude.”
“I hate you,” Rabika snapped. “Now I’ll never rule.”
“No, but I will,” Tatl commented. “So as the Wolf King, I order you to move it, sister. Before I make you.”
Tatl bent down and picked up Valcur’s head with his teeth, making a face at the taste of the Ortusan’s knotted, dirty hair in his mouth. Rabika huffed and ran in the direction of the staircase, ignoring her brother as he carried Valcur’s head back to the Assembly.
The Assembly talked amongst itself while it waited for the return of the wolf who wanted to join their ranks. Rabika had been gone for quite some time, and although most feared the worst, the heron had ordered most of the Assembly to stay in session a bit longer, until it became obvious that the wolf was never to return.
“They have to be okay. They just have to be.” Adelaide paced about the bottom of the Assembly’s court with Midnightstar standing close by. “It has to be a happy ending. That’s how the stories always go.”
“This is real life, Adelaide. It’s not always happy,” Midnightstar snapped, no longer caring about her companion’s innocence. She had grown nervous as well, and was disguising her fear with rage. What was taking them so long?
“But it has to be!” Adelaide whined.
“No, it doesn’t,” Midnightstar replied. “In fact, it’s more likely to turn out horrible than happy in any way.”
“Why are you so negative?” Adelaide asked, her tail tucking between her legs.
“Why are you so naïve?” Midnightstar retorted. “The sooner you learn it’s not always going to be okay, the better.”
“You’re being so mean,” Adelaide said, her ears flattening against her head. “You’re so much different than you used to be. What’s going on with you?”
“Life,” Midnightstar replied snappishly. “It’s changed me.”
“Well, I don’t like it.” Adelaide grumped.
Just then, soft footsteps could be heard echoing about the chamber. Adelaide poked her head out of the Assembly’s massive doors to see her sister coming. “Look! It’s Rabika!”
“And she’s failed,” Midnightstar commented as she noticed the she-wolf slinking in slowly, her head bowed low. “But at least she’s alive.”
Rabika sat down sadly next to Adelaide, and Tatl walked in behind her. In his jaws he gripped the head of Valcur. The Assembly gasped as Valcur’s pale face swung back and forth in a perpetual state of anger from Tatl’s mouth. The wolf walked to the center of the room and tossed the head on the floor, smacking his mouth. “Here’s your lawn ornament.”
Chapter Nine
Her Dragon
Midnightstar, Adelaide and Rabika waited outside the entrance to the court, behind closed doors. After Tatl had been proclaimed as the new Wolf King, his friends had been ushered out so the Assembly could have a meeting immediately on what was to be done about the unicorn war.
Xiuh was off hunting in the trees somewhere. Just before Midnightstar had stepped outside the door, she had seen the Lands through his eyes as he sat pat
iently in the trees, waiting for something to come along to snack on. Dust was still nowhere to be found. Midnightstar was sure that she had left for good.
“I can’t believe he killed Valcur and not me,” Rabika sulked, sitting in a corner. “I could have been a queen.”
“You also could’ve been eaten,” Midnightstar said. “Stop complaining. We’ve got bigger things to deal with.”
“They’re not going to listen to him,” Rabika said, gesturing to the door.
“And they would listen to you?”
“I can be very persuasive.”
Midnightstar stepped back as the door opened once again. A raccoon led them inside and Midnightstar looked to the tall precipice that Tatl was on. He seemed uncomfortable up there.
“Well?” she insisted, staring at the heron.
“The Assembly has made their decision,” the heron said. “On a majority vote, we have decided that we will not interfere with the war between the unicorns and the wolves.”
“What?” Midnightstar hissed, and her companions began growling behind her. “You will do nothing?”
“It’s no use, Mids,” Tatl called down from his podium, shaking his head angrily. “They won’t listen to reason. I’ve tried.”
“The Wolf King posed some valid points,” the heron said fairly. “But the consequences of forcing the unicorns into submission would be less beneficial than the final result.”
“I’m out of here, and so are the rest of us. See you,” Tatl snapped, heading for the walkway off of his podium.
“Tatl, you cannot leave. The Assembly needs you,” a porcupine added as the wolf jumped to the ground to stand by his friends.
“I owe nothing to you,” Tatl said. “I have vanquished Valcur for you, but you still won’t help us. You will stand by and do nothing until both sides have killed off each other.”
“The Assembly neither has the time nor the resources to invest in this escapade. I’m sorry we couldn’t be of further service.” The heron fluttered her wings and said nothing more.
