by Bolz, Stefan
“You will never reach that rifle,” Grey thought to the man closest to him. Not that the man understood his thoughts but he realized at that moment that he had no chance of reaching the rifle and shooting the wolf in time. He backed away.
The horse pulled his head backwards and the reign slipped out of one of the man’s hands. The other couldn’t hold his either and the horse was suddenly free. He stood up on his hind legs causing one of the men to fall backwards, nearly missing a blow from one of the horse’s hooves. The image of the horse on its hind legs and the wolf standing across from it in the beam of light inside the barn was so powerful and awe inspiring in Joshua’s eyes that for one moment he forgot the terror he felt.
Then all hell broke loose as the wolf charged at the man with the nail gun. Joshua was struck by the men’s screams and fear for their lives. It was equal to the horse’s panic from just a minute ago. As the wolf hit the man and pushed him to the ground, the horse jumped over both of them and bolted through the open door. Joshua thought at first that the wolf would kill the man but then he realized that he was just standing on the man’s chest, his bared teeth only inches away from the man’s face. He was in absolute terror.
“We should go!” Joshua thought to the wolf. “GREY!” He yelled in his thoughts.
The wolf turned his head as if coming out of a trance. “We have to leave. Now!” For a moment longer the wolf looked at the man then he turned and ran outside, followed by Joshua.
They cleared the barn and Joshua saw Grey break through thick bushes and down an embankment to a small stream. “They are going to hunt us!” The wolf’s thoughts reached Joshua as they made their way down the stream. Joshua flew most of the time but he knew he couldn’t keep this up for much longer. “I’m too slow. I won’t make it!” Joshua thought to the wolf. “If they catch me they’ll catch you. You should run, Grey. They won’t have any interest in a rooster if they can hunt a wolf.”
“I will not leave you.” The wolf thought.
“You will have to if you want to live.”
Joshua felt his strength leave him quickly. He wasn’t used to flying or using his wings at all. In the last few days he had used them more than ever before in his life. Now he felt every push as a strain.
“Go!” He thought to the wolf. From a distance he could hear the men yelling to each other. He could only hear a few words. “Hunt. Kill. Wolf.”
“I can take them!” The wolf replied.
“No you cannot. You cannot take three men with rifles. You must go!”
“I will not.” And with that, Grey turned around and headed back toward the voices of the men.
“No, Grey!” Joshua yelled in his thoughts “You can’t do this!”
At that moment, the horse broke through the underbrush just in front of the wolf. For a second horse and wolf looked at each other, a hint of fear in the horse’s eyes. “Jump on my back,” the horse thought to Joshua.
“What?”
“You heard right. Jump on my back and hold on to my mane. That’s your only chance.”
The wolf looked flustered. A rooster riding a horse?
“Do it. NOW! Or you just saved me for nothing.”
Joshua made a conscious choice at that moment not to think about what would happen but rather to just do it. Without another thought he jumped, flew and landed on the horse’s back.
“Hold on!” The horse thought and, with that, turned around and broke through the brush and into the open meadow. What followed was the wildest ride of Joshua’s life. He dug his talons into the horse’s back and if it felt it, it didn’t let him know. He realized very quickly that he needed to stay low if he wanted to stay on at all.
The large warhorse flew across the meadow with the wolf at its side. Joshua felt the sheer power of the horse’s muscles under him but he also felt its utter joy of having escaped certain death; of running fast as the wind, pushing against the earth beneath its hooves. Joshua couldn’t help but be infected by this array of emotions and to his complete surprise he let out a rooster call that was filled with his own joy joined with the horse’s. The call was heard in the farthest reaches of the valley by creatures large and small and some of them felt the joy inside their hearts as well. And for the smallest of moments they were all with him.
* * *
They eventually slowed down into a trot and by nightfall they rested by a small stream that flowed into a still pond. The cover of snow that had fallen earlier made the night even quieter. Joshua sat on a low branch in a large pine tree. Grey lay below him on the pine needles licking his paws. They were raw from the day of running on the harsh ground. The horse stood by the edge of the pond grazing off a small patch that was more dirt than grass. His reins were tangled with small branches and covered in mud from the escape. Joshua could feel the throbbing pain the horse had in his mouth from the metal reins pulling at it all day.
“I can take these off for you if you want,” the wolf thought. Joshua saw in his mind’s eye the image of the horse lying down in front of the wolf and Grey, with his teeth, taking the leather strips of the reins and pulling them over the horse’s head.
The war horse turned his head and looked at Grey for a moment. There was hesitation in his eyes. It was accompanied by another image the three of them shared. It was of such brutality that the wolf got up suddenly, his neck hair standing up and his upper lip pulling back, teeth bared. Joshua let out a terrified rooster call and flew down from his branch. It was a scene from a war. There were dead soldiers everywhere and blood mixed with the dark soil in the ground. A group of eight horses huddled together near a barren tree on the vast battlefield. The tree was their only shelter. They had mud and dried blood all over them. Some of the blood was their own; some came from the soldiers who fought on them or whom they fought against. There were dead horses among the men; their bodies seemed peaceful as if they had escaped the terror of the battle at last. The few soldiers that were left took care of the wounded.
There was suddenly movement on the edge of the field. Something drew near. Through the fog it was hard to make out at first. But then the horses caught the scent and terror spread among them like wildfire. The pack of wolves that came out of the high grass looked like an image straight from the depths of hell. They were starved and starving, filthy, eyes red with blood lust standing clearly in them. Without warning they leaped forward toward the horses. The horses, worn and tired beyond comprehension from days of battle did not have the strength to flee. The wolves moved quickly and Joshua saw their horse. He stood on the edge of the group watching as one of the wolves flew toward him, jumping, mouth open wide with claws ready to rip into his flesh. The only thing the horse could do at this moment was move forward and meet the wolf in mid air. The horse stood up on his hind legs and jumped. He and the wolf met and for a moment, were face to face.
The image of the wolf’s face so close to his own was burned into the horse’s mind and even though now safe and far away from the battlefield, it took all possible control for him not to take off and run—run away from it and never confront it again.
“How did you escape?” Joshua asked after a while.
“I don’t remember,” the horse answered. “All I know is that I never saw the others again. I don’t know if they survived or what became of them.”
“I’m sorry,” the wolf thought into the silence. Then he walked over to the horse and lay down in front of it. His head on his paws he looked up at the large war horse.
“I can help you with your reins,” he quietly thought to him.
As the horse looked at the wolf, the moon broke through the clouds illuminating the snow covered ground and reflecting in the still pond. For a while the horse stood motionless. Then it went down on its front legs and lay on the ground across from the wolf. Joshua watched from a short distance as Grey slowly got up and walked toward the horse. Without hesitation he took the bridle in his mouth right between the horse’s ears and slowly pulled on the leather strip. It slid
off and the horse was free.
“Thank you,” the horse thought.
“No,” the wolf replied. “I thank you.”
“What is your name?” Joshua asked after a moment.
“Krieg,” the war horse answered.
“What does it mean, Krieg?”
“It means ‘war’. Just ‘war’. I was bred for the war, born during the war and trained for battle.
“Is that where all your scars come from?” Joshua asked.
The horse looked toward the dark horizon, lost in its thoughts.
“I have seen death and too much of it. On the battlefields of Toloose where men fought men for land that belonged to neither. For riches that held no value other than a handful of sand that amounted to nothing. I saw blood there that ran like crimson rivers across the charred soil. It spilled from brothers and fathers and sons, from big hearts and small ones and the blood of each flowed into the others’ and in death they became one once again and they forgot why it was they had fought.”
He turned toward Joshua and the Wolf. “I just want peace. I do not wish to fight for my life anymore. I’m too old. Too tired. Soon. Soon, I will follow my fathers’ path into the great vast grasslands where the sun never sets and the water is plenty, and where there is peace for all living things. Until then, I am in your debt, Joshua. In both of yours. Until then, tell me how—”
“You are not indebted to me, Krieg. Not in the slightest,” Joshua answered. “Anyone would have done the same for you.”
“Be that as it may, red one, the debt stands until it is paid. To both of you. End of discussion.”
All was still after Krieg spoke. Joshua looked from the horse to the wolf, letting his eyes rest on each of them for a moment. He realized that the two creatures would probably not be friends under normal circumstances. But under normal circumstances neither of the three would likely be friends with either of the other two.
“I had a dream.” Joshua thought into the silence. “A dream of three feathers somewhere in the depths below the Storm Mountains. In my dream the feathers were so dear to me and I to them that I want to find them. I am not sure what they mean or if they mean anything at all, but I know in my heart that I must find them, even though I do not know why.” As he looked at the others, he knew that they saw what he saw—an immense cave with the three feathers resting on a black, polished cylinder of stone.
“I will help you,” Krieg thought. “Your peace is mine, Joshua of the Great Lake.”
“And mine,” Grey added.
The night held its breath for a moment. The moon stood low and clear in the sky and it seemed as if everything around them became a quiet witness to this pact. And Joshua, for the smallest of instants, had an inkling of what it means to have companions by his side.
6. WATER
They walked for three days, crossing a valley that stretched out for miles before them, and passing through a densely wooded forest where the branches built a thick roof above their heads. They rested by small streams where they stilled their thirst. Grey caught a few large fish and there was more than plenty of food for Krieg and Joshua. And all the while, they shared with each other their stories and their lives as they remembered them. They shared their fears and joys, their shortcomings and their triumphs. But most of all they came to know what each of them longed for. Krieg’s deep wish for peace, Grey’s longing for the love of his dead companion and Joshua’s powerful dream that he felt he could no longer live without. On the end of the fourth day they knew of each other what seldom is known except in long and deep friendships.
As they walked, the weather changed. They left behind the snowy hills and reached an area where the sun lay on fields of grass that was just about to spring up through the frozen soil. Soon the first blossoms would be visible, pushing through the darkness towards the sunlight. The three friends felt that the spring around them that was about to meet the last days of winter, mirrored their own journey, their own leaving behind their past and venturing toward something bigger, still unknown but no longer completely hidden from them. Then the howling began.
They had just settled down for the night when they heard it. First it came from one direction. Then another and yet another.
“Wolves?” Was Joshua’s first thought.
“No,” Krieg answered. “Those wolves I encountered a long time ago were bred for the war, starved by their masters to feed on the fear of the survivors. I have not encountered them since.
“Krieg is right,” Grey thought. “Those aren’t wolves. I would know. What I do know is that whatever it is, it has by now completely surrounded us.
“What shall we do?” Joshua asked.
“Jump on my back,” the horse thought to Joshua.
Before Joshua could follow Krieg’s thought, he saw an image of a pack of Hyenas in his mind coming from the wolf.
“A dozen of them. Maybe two. I can take four, maybe five, but a dozen? I have no chance against them. We have to run.”
“Jump!” The horse thought to Joshua. As Joshua jumped, wings fluttering, onto the warhorses back, the wolf charged in the opposite direction.
“I’ll divert them,” he thought. “I can outrun them easily.” And he was gone—a gray shadow disappearing into the dark of night.
Three of the hyenas appeared and charged toward Joshua and Krieg who went on his hind legs and jumped forward. The hyenas changed direction to cut off their escape path. As they came closer, Joshua saw their large fangs and powerful jaws snapping at the horse’s legs.
“Hold on tight!” Krieg’s thought reached him just at the moment when the horse changed direction as well and went straight into the path of the two hyenas to his right. He trampled them, his powerful hooves crushing them and pushing them into the ground. The third one evaded the hooves, but barely. It held its distance knowing that the rest of the pack would catch up soon.
“Can you outrun them?” Joshua asked Krieg.
“I don’t know but we’ll find out very soon,” he thought.
The howling now came from ahead of them as well. The eerie cries of the hyenas made Joshua’s skin crawl.
“Don’t be afraid,” Krieg thought to him. “They will feed on your fear and that fear will come back to you twice as strong. It will make you weak.”
“I can’t help it,” Joshua thought. “There seem to be so many!”
As they galloped through the night, yellow eyes watching them from all directions and the cries from the hyenas coming ever closer, it dawned on Joshua that they might not make it.
“Follow me!” Grey was suddenly next to them. He turned to the right. Krieg changed direction and followed the wolf’s lead.
Through the pounding of the hooves and the eerie cries of the hyenas, Joshua suddenly heard something else. Something loud and powerful. It came closer fast.
“What is that?” He thought.
“Water!” Joshua caught the glimpse of an image from Krieg.
“Water?” The thought hung in front of Joshua for a moment and through the sheer blackness of the night Joshua suddenly saw a river next to them. It was flowing fast, almost as fast as they ran.
The hyenas closed in on them from the other side. The three companions were trapped between the pack of hyenas and the raging river.
“But why is it so loud all of the sudden?” Joshua was overwhelmed by the deafening sound of the water. The answer hit him an instant later.
“It’s a waterfall. We have to stop! We are going directly toward a waterfall!” Joshua cried out. In his panic he dug his talons deeper into the horse’s back.
“We can’t stop. Not anymore. HOLD ON!” The horse’s thoughts hit Joshua. He felt Krieg’s and Grey’s utter desperation, joined with his own.
Krieg pushed through the last of the high grass bushes and was suddenly suspended in mid air. Joshua let go of the horse’s back, lifting off, his wings unfolding. He saw Grey jump as well. Joshua felt gravity pulling him down. He struggled to land on a small tree-like bran
ch jutting out of the rock. From there he watched Krieg and Grey fall and crash into the icy water fifteen feet below.
Then he saw two of the Hyenas fall over the edge. They couldn’t stop in time and fell down as well. Krieg and the wolf tried to swim to the side of the large pool but the current was too strong. They were inevitably pulled into a second waterfall and moments later disappeared over the edge. Joshua thought about it only for a second before he spread his wings again and flew down. He couldn’t swim so hitting the water was not an option.
When he was above the second waterfall he realized that this one was much higher than the first. At least fifty feet. The noise was deafening. Joshua barely made it over the edge without crashing into the water, nearly missing one of the hyenas. He looked into its eyes and felt his own fear reflected in them. Then it went over the edge.
The mist of the falls clung to his feathers making them heavier as he tried very hard not to lose too much height. There was a rock sticking out of the water far down from where he was. He had to make it there and land on it, otherwise he would certainly drown. He saw Grey and Krieg swimming toward it and hoped they would reach it as well.
He realized that if he stretched his wings just a tiny bit outward he wouldn’t have to struggle so much to stay in the air. “Who says roosters can’t fly!” He thought when suddenly a gust of wind pushed him down and toward the water. He was completely unprepared and could only counter it with one or two flaps of his wings before he crashed into the water. He went under, immediately pushed down by a strong undercurrent. Instinctively he held his breath but it became clear to him that he had only a few seconds before he would pass out.
