Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm

by Adam Bolander

  “Well, Faith is nice,” Said Blaze.

  “Yes, but she makes herself useful in other ways,” Chestnut reminded him, rolling her eyes.

  “Well you still shouldn’t make fun of him for his size,” Said Blaze, “it’s not like he can help it.”

  “Hey!” Jasper yelled, eyes flashing with anger.

  “I’m just trying to help you!” Blaze said, instantly regretting what he had said.

  “I don’t need your kind of help!” Jasper said, tears welling up in his eyes. He turned and ran to the trainee’s tree.

  “Now look at what you did!” Blaze said accusingly at Chestnut.

  “There’s no room in Icefire for runts.” Chestnut persisted.

  “Even if that were true, you don’t have to tell him that!”

  “Saloli in Icefire don’t lie!” Chestnut said, “Even if the truth hurts!” With that, she turned and scampered over to her other friends.

  <><><><><>

  “Are you sure you’re not lost?” Slicer asked, irritated.

  “No, no, I’ve got this!” Blaze assured him. In truth, though, Blaze did think he was lost. No, he didn’t think he was lost. He knew he was lost. But there was no way he was going to admit that to Slicer. That would be too humiliating, so, instead, he continued to forge on, determined to find Acorn Place one way or another. It had been almost forty five minutes since Blaze had seen the first landmark, and, he now decided, he must have gone the wrong way.

  “Well, I’ll give you ten more minutes before I take the lead,” Slicer grumbled.

  Ten minutes later, Blaze was still lost.

  “That’s it, I’m taking over,” Slicer said.

  “No! I know where we are now!” Blaze protested. Determined to do the job he was given, Blaze turned around and took off in the direction he thought was the right way.

  “Blaze, no! Don’t go over there!” Slicer shouted after him, but Blaze didn’t listen. He just kept running. Cresting a hill and looking down, he expected to see Acorn Place. Instead, he found himself looking at a small place, devoid of trees, with a little cave opening in the side of the next hill. Scanning the rest of the scene, he nearly jumped out of his fur in shock then he saw a fox standing beside the cave, looking at Blaze, obviously caught off guard.

  “Can I help you?” the fox asked.

  “Um, well,” Blaze hesitated. Oh well, what was the worst that could happen? “I’m looking for Acorn Place. Could you show me the way?”

  The fox’s eyes brightened. “Of course!” it said enthusiastically, “I’m not the kind of creature who will leave a young little squirrel like you to fend for yourself! Come with me!”

  Blaze turned around to look at Slicer, “Hey, this fox says he’ll show us the way to Acorn Place!” Slicer stopped in his tracks and looked up at Blaze with a horrified expression on his face.

  “Blaze, run!” he yelled. Without thinking, Blaze turned back around to look at the fox. He didn’t even get all the way turned around before he was suddenly knocked to the ground with the force of a car running over him. Hitting his head on the forest floor, he almost lost consciousness, but stayed alert enough to recognize the fox’s face looming less than six inches away from his. And he saw teeth. Big, white, sharp teeth, and lots of them. They opened wide, and a large paw was placed on his chest, pinning him to the ground. This was it, he was going to die a saloli! Then, with a loud “yip,” the weight was gone, and Blaze could breath again.

  Jumping to his feet, Blaze shook his head to clear it, and looked at the fox. It was thrashing around, trying to get at something on his back. He could see Slicer anchored to its back with his claws, digging his sharp teeth into the nape of its neck. Not knowing what to do, Blaze sat there, watching.

  “Don’t just stand there, you idiot!” Slicer shouted around the fox’s fur, “Help me!” Hearing this, Blaze snapped out of his daze and jumped at the fox without a second thought. He was immediately knocked back, however, by the fox’s flailing snout. He hit the ground hard. The fox continued to thrash around, but Slicer managed to stay on its back. If Blaze was going to help, he was going to have to think this out. The fox was still jerking around, so Blaze would have to find another way to get close to it. He scanned his surroundings, looking for something that he could use to his advantage. Before he could, though, the fox rolled over, attempting to crush Slicer. Fortunately, the old saloli managed to leap off in time. Getting back onto its feet, the fox craned its neck back to try and see the damage that Slicer had caused, effectively taking its eyes off of the two saloli. Now was Blaze’s chance! Charging, once again, straight at the fox, Blaze leapt at its head! Seeing him out of the corner of its eye, the fox swung its head around again, allowing Blaze the opportunity to claw at the fox’s eyes.

  “Yipe!” the fox cried out, blood seeping from its injured eyelids. Blinded by the blood, the fox turned and ran away. Ecstatic that he had defeated the fox, Blaze scampered over to Slicer, expecting to be praised for his daring deed. That thought immediately left his mind, though, when Slicer glared at him with so much anger that Blaze could almost feel it burning his fur.

  “You idiot!” he shouted, “What kind of saloli doesn’t know to avoid foxes?”

  Blaze was so shocked at this turn of events that he couldn’t answer. Faith had said that he would receive praise when he deserved it. Didn’t he deserve it now? He had just beaten the fox that was attacking them! If anything deserved praise more than that, or maybe even a promotion, he couldn’t think of it.

  “You just put us in grave danger because of your stupidity!” Slicer ranted, “We could have died! Do you understand? Died! What have you got to say for yourself?”

  Hearing this, Blaze felt himself wilt under Slicer’s glare. The old saloli was right, he was an idiot. How could he have forgotten that foxes were carnivores? Had he actually expected it to help them? It was so frustratingly obvious now that Blaze cringed.

  “I’m sorry.” He said, almost inaudibly, looking at the ground, unable to look Slicer in the eye.

  “As you very well should be!” Slicer scolded, “What were you thinking?”

  “I don’t know.” Blaze said truthfully.

  Slicer sighed. “A saloli that doesn’t use his head out here in the woods is a dead saloli.” He explained, less angrily now, “I honestly don’t know how you managed to survive this long as an outsider.” With that, Slicer turned around and began making his way back to Icefire’s camp. Upon arriving back in camp, Blaze looked at Slicer, expecting him to dismiss him. Slicer, obviously sensing this, just shook his head.

  “Follow me.” He said, and began walking towards the tallest tree in the camp. Rust was at the bottom, speaking to another saloli.

  “I don’t care what Razor said.” Rust replied to the other saloli, front paw raised in exasperation, “Just tell him that he had better follow my orders, or else.”

  “Yes, sir.” Said the saloli, turning around and scampering off.

  “Slicer, my friend,” Rust said, turning to them, “you wouldn’t believe how little shame some saloli have today.”

  “I’m afraid that I have something a little more important to report, sir. Flame has been sighted in the forest again.”

  “Who’s Flame?” Blaze asked.

  “Trouble, that’s who.” Rust answered. “Are you sure it was him? There is more than one fox in the forest.”

  It dawned on Blaze that Flame must have been the fox’s name. The irony hit him of what had just happened: he had fought fire with fire.

  “Yes, I’m sure it was him. Blaze and I fought him.” Slicer answered.

  “And you survived?” Rust asked, throwing an impressed look at Blaze.

  “Yes, thanks to luck alone. Blaze managed to attack him when he was turned away. He scratched his eyelids very severely.”

  “Impressive, Blaze,” Rust congratulated him, “most trainees would have just sat back like cowards if they came face to face with a fox!”

  “Oh, he did more than
that!” Slicer growled, “The stupid saloli stopped to ask it for directions!”

  Rust’s face turned from one of respect to outrage, “You what?” he yelled at Blaze.

  “It’s okay, I’ve already taken care of that part.” Slicer assured him, smirking a little.

  “Well I should hope so!” Rust fumed, “Talking to foxes? What kind of a saloli are you?”

  “I’m sorry!” Blaze insisted, tears brimming up in his eyes.

  “I have more important things to do than listen to your miserable apologies. Dismissed!”

  Knowing that Rust would only get angrier if he said anything else, Blaze turned and left, feeling worse than he ever had before. His tail dragged along the ground behind him.

  “Hello, Blaze,” a cheerful voice said behind him. He turned around to see Faith approaching him. “How has your training been?”

  “Terrible,” He answered, “I think you made a mistake choosing me to help your tribe.”

  “Why? What’s happened?”

  It took Blaze nearly half an hour to tell Faith everything that had gone wrong since he had arrived.

  “And now Rust is mad at me too!” he finished.

  “Oh dear, it seems you’re having a harder time adapting to saloli life than I thought you would,” said Faith.

  “What should I do?” Blaze asked.

  “The only thing you can do is keep trying. Don’t worry, you’ll get it eventually. But what really worries me is that Flame is back in the woods. What if he makes an attack on the camp? And what if he’s brought the rest of his family with him? This could mean trouble for us. I’ve got work to do.”

  Without another word, the prophet raced off. Blaze slowly made his way back to the trainee’s tree, where he met Jasper. For a second, Blaze was hesitant about talking to him. What if he was still angry? His doubts were put to rest, though, when Jasper came over to him with a concerned look in his eyes.

  “I heard Rust yelling at you. Why?” He asked.

  All the shame immediately came back to Blaze. “I did something really stupid.” He answered.

  “What? It can’t be that bad.”

  “I- I asked a fox for directions to Acorn Place.”

  “No, seriously. What did you do?”

  Blaze looked at the ground, ashamed. What he did was so stupid that his best friend couldn’t even believe that it was true. Sensing his shame, Jasper realized that Blaze was telling the truth.

  “You really did? What happened?” He asked, eyes wide with shock.

  “He attacked me.”

  “How did you escape?”

  “Slicer jumped on him and distracted him.”

  “You didn’t leave him there, did you?”

  “No, I waited for him to jump off, then I scratched the fox in the eyelids.”

  “Wow, Really? Then what happened?”

  “Nothing, really. He just ran off.”

  “I can’t believe you!”

  “I know I’m an idiot, okay? Don’t rub it in.”

  Looking up, Blaze was surprised to see that Jasper’s expression was no longer one of surprise, but of awe. “No! I mean, I think you’re the bravest saloli I’ve ever met!

  Chapter Five

  It was midnight in the forest. Goliath hurriedly ran across a branch on top of a tall oak tree, away from Darkcover’s camp. He was on his way to the place he went almost every night. He didn’t know what it was called, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that nobody see him going there. It was his little secret. Goliath thought of it as his “evil place.” Then he saw it.

  Though it was still a ways in the distance, it was clearly visible. It was the tallest tree in the forest, easily reaching above two hundred feet. But the height wasn’t what drew Goliath here almost every night. It was the overpowering sense of evil that could be felt there. As if the tree itself was evil, which, Goliath told himself, was a distinct possibility. It certainly looked evil. Its trunk appeared to have been twisted around more than once, and it bore no leaves. The bark itself was dark gray in color. The branches looked like great arms reaching out to grab anyone who came too close. But Goliath was not afraid, he was exhilarated! Nothing could match the feeling of pure malevolence that radiated from the tree! No plant life was even able to grow within one hundred feet of it, leaving the surrounding area gray and rocky. Reaching the base, Goliath began the long climb up. The tree’s bark oozed slippery yellow-green slime, but Goliath didn’t mind. It just added to the experience. It took him over two minutes to climb all the way to the top, but it was well worth it. Instead of ending in smaller branches, the treetop opened up into a massive hole, like a well. He peered down it, and inhaled the addicting scent of death. He wasn’t sure what this place was, but he knew that, once, long ago, many terrible things were done here. It was here, at this very place, that he had come up with his plan to take over the forest. Or maybe the tree had given it to him. Yes, Goliath liked that idea. It wasn’t him, it was the tree. Goliath sat on the edge of the hole, looking down inside it. It was far too dark to see all the way to the bottom, probably even during the day. It was as if all the darkness in the forest congregated there. Still, he would stay there all night, gazing into the tree’s depths, all his thoughts bent on what could be lying down there. Only when morning came would he race full speed back to camp, before anyone became suspicious.

  This was where he belonged.

  <><><><><>

  That night at the Icefire camp, everything was quiet and peaceful. Blaze was sleeping soundly in the trainee’s tree. The branches rustled softly as the wind shook them, creating a soothing forest lullaby.

  “Attack! Attack! We’re being attacked!”

  Blaze immediately jumped up, completely alert, along with all the other trainees. Following the others, he raced down the tree to stand in their normal line. A single saloli came running into the camp, breathing hard. He had a large gash in his side, bleeding profusely. Rust ran up to meet him.

  “What happened?” he demanded.

  “It’s Flame!” the saloli gasped. Obviously it hurt for him to even talk.

  Icefire gasped. “Where?” Rust asked urgently.

  “Heading towards the camp!” the saloli said, “Brought his whole pack!” Having said that, he collapsed in front of Rust.

  Rust turned to face Icefire. “You heard him! Flame is coming to Icefire, and he’s brought his pack with him! Prepare to defend our camp!” The saloli immediately scattered, except for the trainees, who lined up. They were soon joined by Gnaw.

  “Everyone get back onto your branch! Stay there until I say to come down!” he shouted. All the trainees hurried to obey, running back to the trainee’s tree. Once they were safely on top of it, Blaze sought out Jasper and stood beside him. He noticed that the saloli who had reported was still lying where he had fallen.

  “What about him? Why doesn’t anyone help him?” he asked.

  Sadness filled Jasper’s eyes. “Because he’s dead, Blaze.”

  There was now an ominous silence in the camp as everyone waited for the impending attack. It reminded Blaze of the proverbial calm before the storm.

  Crunch.

  As one, everyone’s eyes turned to look in the direction from which the noise had come. Slowly, a single fox walked towards them, eerily coming into focus from the thick forest darkness. Another one came into view too, and then another. Soon, five foxes were standing at the edge of the camp.

  “Attack!” Rust yelled. At his order, saloli began to leap out of the trees, onto the hungry foxes. They bit into the foxes hide, causing them to yip in pain. The foxes reacted, shaking themselves as if they were wet, throwing the defenders off of them. They then darted forward and sank their teeth into the saloli’s bodies. More saloli leapt onto them, doing the same as the first wave did. Four more foxes ran into the camp then, and began picking saloli off of their brothers and sisters with their sharp teeth. Even more saloli leapt onto these foxes, but this only caused them to stop for a couple of seco
nds, before they rolled over on top of them. Some saloli fell off after that, but many managed to stay on. Some of the foxes began slamming their bodies against the trees, jarring the saloli lose. Those that fell off were immediately set upon by the hungry carnivores. Blaze found this hard to watch. All his friends and allies were being eaten! With a start, Blaze realized that he had actually become loyal in the past few days, loyal enough to become extremely nauseous watching these saloli being snapped up by the fox’s canine jaws. There were at least ten foxes in the camp by now. It seemed that defeat was inevitable. But where was Flame? Blaze hadn’t seen him for the entire battle. Blaze scanned the fight for the evil fox. There he was! He was standing by himself, scabs over his eyelids, near the edge of the camp, near the ditch.