“Ralphie,” she whispered as she stopped him for a moment. “I want you to go first, since you have a good sense of smell and can possibly smell any changes in the cave, such as an opening. I’ll put Sedric and Fira on my back, and we’ll keep the deer between us. Let’s go back and tell the others of our plan.”
Ralphie nodded in agreement.
Jenna and Ralphie joined the others at the back of the cave. They discussed searching for a back exit and needing to stay touching one another so they didn’t get separated. Although the deer were a little afraid, they were glad they would be in the middle, so Ralphie and Jenna would be able to protect them.
The party formed what to Jenna looked like a small animal train. Ralphie was in the front, Evan had Ralphie’s long foxtail in his mouth, Frieda had Evan’s short tail in her mouth, and Jenna had Frieda’s short tail in her mouth and Sedric and Fira were on her back. This was the only way they could keep in contact with each other in the dark.
Off they went into the darkness, with Ralphie’s side pressed up against the right side of the cave. After only a few steps past the curve of the cave, they were in total darkness. Using only their sense of touch to guide them, they followed Ralphie’s lead, with the larger animals leaning against the wall, making sure not to lose contact with each other.
Walking along this way for several minutes, Ralphie whispered, “I think I smell something; not sure what, so I will go a little slower until I figure it out.”
As a group, they moved slower in the cave, leaning against the right wall, which was a little damp now, like a fine mist had been sprayed on it. Jenna started to smell something too, but also was not sure what it was. It was a heavy smell, like hay, but a bit musty, like a stable where large animals are kept. Suddenly Ralphie stopped and started pushing backward, making everyone bunch up in confusion.
Ralphie whispered urgently, “I’ve just touched something that isn’t a wall. We need to get out of here!” But before they could turn around, they heard movement from further ahead of them in the cave.
“Who dares to enter the dragon’s lair?” questioned a low, rumbling voice.
Nobody moved. Total silence and darkness surrounded them all.
“I said, who dares to enter the dragon’s lair?” this time much louder and with the sound of annoyance.
Jenna’s mind was racing. A dragon? Weren’t they just pretend? But she remembered she had seen some half-human creatures and Ituria himself was a mythical creature. Since the dragon knew they were in his cave, they would have to do something, but what? Now they were trapped at both ends of the cave. Jenna tried to think hard. What do dragons eat? She was not sure she wanted to know the answer.
Chapter Eleven
True Identities
Jenna decided the best way was to answer and hope they could get away while they were talking to this creature.
“I am Jenna, a wolf from east of East Forest. With me are creatures from Middle Forest: Ralphie the fox, Sedric and Fira are squirrels, and Evan and Frieda, small deer, also from Middle Forest.”
Jenna hoped what she had heard about Middle Forest was correct, and the animals who lived there did not prey on the other Middle Forest creatures. She waited for a reply.
Instead of a voice, she heard something sniffing the air and moving around in the darkness. Because the cave was so dark, or, because her wolf senses were better than her human senses, she could almost feel this was a huge creature, and it was moving closer to them in the darkness. What should they do now?
“Do you tell the truth?” challenged the voice. “Each of you, identify yourself. Step away from the wall and state your name and where you reside.”
Putting her front foot gently on Frieda’s back leg to keep contact, Jenna whispered to the group, “Each of you, do what it says, but keep part of you touching one of us, so we don’t lose you. Since we are holding onto each other’s tail, Ralphie you go first, with Evan leaning against the wall and holding onto your tail. Frieda, keep holding onto Evan’s tail.”
“Okay,” said Ralphie to Jenna, his voice shaking. Ralphie moved away from the wall, Evan holding onto his tail. Into the darkness he said nervously, “I am Ralphie, I am a fox who lives in Middle Forest,” and started to move back to the wall.
“Wait, stay where you are!” the voice commanded.
Ralphie froze. The sound of something breathing deeply was heard, and they could feel it when the creature exhaled, like a small wind blowing through the cave.
“Greetings, Ralphie of Middle Forest,” it said, “I have smelled you in the forest before, you are safe in my lair.” The voice was gentle as it spoke to Ralphie, but it was not ready to lower its guard against this group. “Next!” it commanded.
Jenna whispered to Ralphie, “Ralphie, when you get back to the wall, hold onto Evan’s back leg. Frieda, find and grab Ralphie’s tail with your mouth, so Ralphie can be touching Evan.”
There was a shifting of positions by the group, and shortly Evan was able to step away from the wall without losing touch with the others. “I am Evan, a deer who lives in Middle Forest.” Evan was trembling, but stood still, now knowing the owner of this cave needed to smell him to identify him. Again, there was a small wind going through the cave, an inhale and exhale from its owner.
“Greetings, Evan of Middle Forest, you too are safe in my lair.” At this Evan quickly backed up, nearly knocking down the others.
After another round of shuffling, it was Frieda’s turn. Frieda, the quietest of the bunch, slowly stepped away from the wall, with Ralphie holding gently holding her back leg in his mouth.
Silence. She was too afraid to speak, the only sounds to come out of her mouth were small breaths and a few squeaks.
Jenna spoke up, “Creature, this is Frieda, she is too afraid in the dark to speak.”
“Silence!” it roared. “Only the one I am speaking to shall speak back to me.” In a much calmer voice, the creature addressed Frieda. “Small creature, please do not be afraid of me. I think I have smelled you here in the forest before, but only want to know your name. Please, what is your name?”
Everyone waited. Slowly, Frieda tried to speak,
“My…name…is…Frieda.” That was all she could say. Again, the small wind went through the cave, the creature inhaling and exhaling.
After a moment it said to her in a quiet voice, “Greetings, Frieda. You are from Middle Forest and you are welcome in my cave. You may join your friends now.” Then, in a deeper voice, it demanded, “Next!”
Now it was time for the squirrels. How would they manage to keep touch with these small creatures yet let them step away from the wall? After a lot more shuffling, Sedric was ready to introduce himself.
“I am Sedric,” he said. “I am a squirrel who lives in the Middle Forest.” Sedric stood there, waiting for the soft wind to come. As with the others, the creature gently sniffed him and responded, “Greetings, Sedric, you are from Middle Forest, and are safe in my lair.”
Another round of shuffling, and it was Fira’s turn. “I am Fira, a squirrel from Middle Forest.”
After sniffing her, the creature responded calmly, “Greetings, Fira, you are a resident of Middle Forest and are safe in my lair.” But its voice quickly changed to a command, “Who is next? Please stand forward and identify yourself!”
Ralphie grabbed hold of Jenna’s tail, and the other creatures held on to him. Jenna stepped forward. Before speaking, Jenna thought, would she be safe if she were not from Middle Forest? What could she say so the creature would understand she was not a threat to it? She responded, “I am Jenna, a wolf from east of East Forest. I have come to Middle Forest to visit with Ituria.” Standing still, she waited for a response.
The small wind of the creature’s breathing swept through the cave: once, twice, three times. Jenna sensed the creature moving closer but did not dare move as it could also s
ense what they were doing.
“You lie!” it shouted. “You are not safe in my lair! Tell me now why I should not eat you where you stand, you have one minute to explain why you would lie to me!”
Jenna thought quickly, what had she said? What was a lie? Then she remembered when Ranco had smelled the cave and could not smell her scent. In the total darkness, the only thing this creature would have to identify her was her smell, and it was not the scent of a wolf.
Jenna spoke to the creature. “Pardon please, but I think I understand. I mean you no harm, nor anyone in Middle Forest. While in Middle Forest, I am in the shape of a wolf, but while living in East Forest, I am a human.”
“Now you tell the truth,” it said softly. “Thank you.”
Jenna did not know what to do next, and she stood there waiting for the creature’s next action. If it chose to eat her, there was not much she could do, she could not see it, and it moved quickly through its cave.
She waited for what seemed like hours, but it was only a minute or two.
“Greetings, Jenna of East Forest. I am Knocker, the dragon of Middle Forest. You are all safe in my cave, but I would like to know why you are here? I usually sleep for weeks at a time, and I was not planning to awaken for another few days. Why do you want to visit Ituria?”
Chapter Twelve
The Dragon Patrol
It was Ralphie who spoke up first. “Jenna helped us rescue Ituria from the hunters. We asked her to come help us, and now we are trapped in this cave by Ranco, who is waiting to ambush Trent, and don’t know what to do.” Ralphie sounded stressed and was talking quickly.
Jenna thought a little more explaining would help, so she added, “We rescued Ituria, who had been injured, from a hunter’s cage. Ranco saw us and got others from his pack and has returned to Middle Forest. Trent, from West Forest, helped us to get Ituria back home, and is walking him through the enchanted path. Now Ranco is waiting outside of Ituria’s path to attack Trent when he returns. We indeed are trapped in this cave, because Ranco will see us if we attempt to leave. We were looking for a back exit when we encountered you.”
“This is indeed a puzzling situation,” said Knocker. “You say Ituria is injured, what happened?”
“He was hit by one of the hunter’s guns in the leg, but is doing much better, thanks to these creatures, who helped save him and got him food and water,” said Jenna.
“I am grateful to all of you,” he replied, “as Ituria is a good friend of mine. As you probably figured out, I am one of the creatures who protects Ituria and Middle Forest from invaders. That is why my cave is near the entrance of Ituria’s home. And it is also why I was concerned about a human claiming to be a wolf and looking for Ituria.”
He continued, “Just so you know, Jenna, I do not eat meat, so would not have eaten you. I just wanted to frighten you into telling me the truth.”
Knocker was much friendlier now, and his voice was calm. “Ituria has arranged several large fruit trees near my lair, so I am never without food. A dragon does need to eat a lot of food, at least one of my size.” The dragon chuckled to himself. “I am a lot larger than you might imagine, if you have never seen a dragon before.”
“Now,” said Knocker, “let’s get to the business at hand. We need to get all of you out of the cave without Ranco or his wolves seeing you, and we need to meet up with Trent before he comes back out of the forest. Any suggestions?”
Sedric said, “We were looking for a back way out of the cave when we found you, is there a back way?”
“No,” said Knocker, “My cave has only one entrance. Keeps it warm and allows me to sleep undisturbed. We will have to go out the front entrance. How many wolves are there and where are they located?”
Jenna spoke up, her voice shaking a little as she remembered the wolves waiting outside, “There are four wolves in all, two hidden on each side of the path leading to Ituria’s home. They are hiding in the bushes and can’t be seen from the path itself.”
“Okay,” said Knocker calmly. “Here is what I propose. I will go out of the cave first, causing a little diversion, while the rest of you go behind me and slip down the rocks, heading south. If Ranco runs, he will go north toward his home. Stay hidden in the forest, but follow next to the path, and I will catch up with you shortly. You will hear me coming, as I seem to knock into trees a bit, that’s where I got my name.” Knocker chuckled again.
Jenna couldn’t imagine what this dragon looked like, and how big could it be to hide them from the path?
“First we need to get to the front of the cave, so we can see where we are going,” noted Ralphie. “Our only connection with the cave is leaning up against the wall. We will need to turn around and start toward the front.”
Knocker snorted. “Nonsense, I will come over near you, and all of you will climb on my back, and I’ll carry you out of here.”
Suddenly, there was a swishing in the cave, and they could hear a noise coming rapidly closer. Jenna was worried about this suggestion.
“Knocker,” she said quickly. “Since you are so big and have a habit of knocking into things, it might be best if we traveled separately. Some of us are tiny and would get hurt if you accidentally bumped us against the wall.”
“I see your point,” he said, and the swishing noises stopped. “I agree. Everyone turn around and grab the one in front of you. Jenna, you and the squirrels are first, then the two deer, while Ralphie brings up the rear. Stay next to the same wall where you came in, and I will keep to the other side, so we won’t meet in the dark. Let’s go!”
Jenna could tell this dragon feared nothing, and she was glad. Shifted around and still leaning against the wall, they started following it out. Soon she saw some light in the distance and could hear beside them movement coming from the dragon. As they got closer to the opening, she could start to see the outline of an enormous creature.
How would she describe the shape she was starting to see? While she had seen drawings of imagined dragons, this was totally different.
It was long and lean, like a large lizard, with four large feet, each with sharp claws. The neck was stretching forward, as if he didn’t want to hit his head on the roof of the cave.
As it got lighter in the cave, she could see it had large, impressive wings. Knocker’s head was large, with a mouthful of sharp teeth, which at this point turned and looked at her.
“Jenna,” he said quietly, “the cave gets a little narrower up here, so I will go first. Gather your group near the mouth of the cave. I will go out of the cave and make what I call my wake-up speech, letting Middle Forest know I’m around, and will flap my wings when you are safe to sneak by to my left and head into the woods.”
Jenna nodded, and Knocker quickly slipped by them, exiting the cave. She thought even though he was so large, he moved quickly. She was glad they were friends. With this thought in mind, Jenna gathered the others near the front of the cave and waited for Knocker to start his speech.
“Greetings, creatures of Middle Forest,” he called out, his voice booming through the trees. “It is I, Knocker, and I have awakened from my nap. I am here once again to protect you. All creatures of Middle Forest are safe, for I am your protector.”
He paused for effect.
“Please be aware I will be patrolling the forest to seek out anyone who might harm you, and I might not see you if you are small, so please call to me or move if you hear me coming, so I do not step on you.”
“To all creatures who are not from Middle Forest,” he continued in an even louder voice, “this is fair warning I do not tolerate anyone who means harm to my creatures. I have permission from Ituria himself to eat any creature I feel to be a threat. Consider yourself warned, as I do not give a second warning once I start my patrol. As an update to all about the human who was wandering around a little while ago, you don’t have to worry about him anymore. He wan
dered into my cave and tried to cook something. He made a wonderful breakfast!”
With that statement, Knocker flapped his wings a few times, as if pleased with himself.
This was the signal to start their descent from the cave, so Jenna and the others crouched along the ground and inched their way forward. Knocker was right, there would be no trouble hiding behind him as they got down the rocks; he had positioned himself to shield the entire rock side from view to anyone on or near the path. They jumped down quietly and headed south into the woods, keeping the path in sight but not getting close enough where they could be seen.
As they left the rocks, Jenna wondered what Ranco would think of Knocker and his speech. She didn’t have too long to wait. Knocker started toward the path after he saw they were in the woods, sniffing the air and ground as he walked.
Suddenly, there was a loud howling from the pathway. Ranco was calling to his pack, “Retreat! We will regroup at the edge of North Forest! Hurry, we don’t want to be his next meal!”
Knocker continued his patrol toward the path, and when he saw the wolves running north, he blew fire at them, scorching the tips of their tails. “Be warned, invaders of Middle Forest, Knocker is on patrol now, and I do not tolerate intruders! Do not come back or you shall be my next snack!”
After they were out of sight, Knocker turned onto the path and headed south.
Chapter Thirteen
Time For A Swim
Continuing down the path, Knocker looked behind him every few minutes to make sure Ranco and his group were not returning.
“Okay, it is safe to join me now.” he called out.
Jenna and the others emerged onto the path, which previously had looked rather large to them. With Knocker standing on the path though, it was quite small, as he took up the entire width and was quite long, stretching far down the path.
Jenna and the Legend of the White Wolf Page 5
