“What does that have to do with Blaze?” Rust asked, more confused now than angry.
“I’m not sure, but during the entire dream, I could see only an image of Blaze. Perhaps he is the one who will find this sword, or maybe it means something else entirely. Only time will tell.”
“Well,” Rust said, sniffing the air, “perhaps we should ask Blaze if he knows!”
Blaze nearly fell out of the tree. How did Rust know he was there? He just sat there for a moment, hoping that Rust might just be spouting stuff to spite Faith, but then Faith, too, sniffed the air.
“Come on out, Blaze,” she said, gently “It’s okay.” Blaze slowly climbed up to the branch where the two other saloli sat, ashamed at having been caught. His ears and tail both drooped in embarrassment.
“How much did you hear?” Rust asked calmly. This surprised Blaze, as he had expected his chief to completely explode with fury at him.
“All of it,” he answered, “Why do you want to banish me? I’m completely loyal to Icefire!”
“You were raised by humans!” Rust said, accusingly.
“So? It’s not like I can help being born where I was!” Blaze retorted.
“You were brought up by the most dangerous creatures on this planet!” Rust shouted.
“But I made the choice to leave when I had it! And I saved your life. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Rust obviously couldn’t think of anything to say this time. He just glared at Blaze for a moment, and then said, “All right. I’ll let you stay. For now. But it’s not because I trust you, it’s because I trust Faith.” He came up closer to the young saloli before whispering into his ear. “If Faith is right, then you hold more responsibility to this tribe than you could possibly imagine. Even more than me. If you let Icefire down, or if you betray them, I swear I will make you pay.”
Blaze gulped. Suddenly his task seemed much more daunting then before. He had hoped that he could, at least, have Rust’s support in this, but now it seemed that the Icefire chief was determined to be his enemy. Without another word, Rust turned and leapt off the branch, vanishing into the night.
“Don’t worry, Blaze,” Faith consoled him, “Rust will see the light eventually.”
“What does he have against humans?” Blaze asked her.
“Humans are considered by many saloli to be vicious killers.” Faith explained, “They come into our home, bringing those metal sticks with them.”
“Metal sticks?” Blaze asked, confused.
“The ones that explode,” Faith continued, “They come here and kill us and carry us away. And not just saloli, they will kill all the creatures in the forest along with us.”
“Hunters,” Blaze whispered to himself, then spoke louder to Faith. “Faith, I don’t expect you to understand this, but many humans don’t have the money to buy food for themselves.”
“What is money?” Faith asked.
“It’s something humans trade for things they want and need,” Blaze informed her, “And you have to do work to get it. Lots of people don’t have very good work, so they don’t make much money, so, to keep themselves and their families fed, they have to hunt. Just like the foxes that invaded our camp. They’re just doing it so that they can have food.”
“But can they not live off of plants and seeds like we do?” Faith asked, “Why must they take the lives of others?”
“Because humans aren’t made that way. They’re made so that they have to eat meat, along with vegetables. They need both, or else they won’t be healthy.” Faith paused, not able to think of a solution for that. “They’re not evil,” Blaze insisted, “It’s just the way they’re made.”
“This knowledge conflicts with many things I have always thought to be true.” Faith admitted, “If what you say is true, it may have the ability to change many saloli’ opinions on humans.”
“Then let’s tell them!” Blaze suggested.
“We cannot,” Faith said regretfully, “If we did, they would wonder how we knew this, and we would have no choice but to reveal your true past to them, and we’re not ready to try that yet. It very well may turn the whole tribe against you. It would certainly turn Rust against you.”
“I thought Rust was already against me,” Blaze grumbled.
“No. Rust may not like you, but he will do everything in his power to aid you if he really believes that it will help Icefire. No matter how stubborn he is, he was telling the truth about only caring about Icefire’s well being.”
“But how do I gain his trust?” Blaze asked.
“By proving that you’re true to your word,” Faith informed him.
Looking in to the darkness into which his chief had vanished, Blaze couldn’t help but think that was a lost cause.
<><><><><>
Ratty awoke with a start, heart racing and fear pumping through his veins. He had to find Goliath! Scrambling to his feet, he scurried down his tree to seek out his leader. Luckily, he didn’t have to wake his irritable chief this time. Instead of sleeping, Goliath was on his branch, pacing back and forth.
“Goliath!” Ratty squeaked.
Goliath whirled around, glaring at his tribe’s prophet. “What is it?” he demanded.
“I- I just had another dream,” Ratty explained hastily, “From Valde Abbas! He says that you should beware the Sword of Icefire, for it has the power to stop you.”
Goliath stopped pacing for a second to think. Then he broke out into an evil grin, “Again you bring me good tidings, Ratty!” he laughed.
“Sir?” Ratty asked, confused.
“It means that no one can stop us! Think about it, Icefire has no sword! No saloli does! So how could the Sword of Icefire stop me?”
Ratty still had his doubts, but he kept quiet. It was best not to upset his chief when he was evidently in such a good mood.
Chapter Nine
“Your first duty as a full tribe member will be to keep the food-pile stocked,” Slicer instructed Blaze and Jasper, “From now on, you’ll both be able to go back and forth from Acorn Place alone, though we strongly advise bringing a companion with you, in case something happens.”
“Yes, sir,” the two friends said together.
Slicer chuckled. “And don’t treat me like I’m your superior anymore! Remember, we’re equals now.”
Grinning ear to ear, Blaze and Jasper turned and ran into the woods towards Acorn Place. “I can’t believe this!” Jasper said once they were a fair distance from the camp, “I’ve waited for this my whole life. I can’t believe it’s finally happening!”
Blaze knew what he meant. Ever since he had turned fifteen, the one thing he had wanted above anything else was to move out of his mother’s house and do something. Living as a child was fun, but it could not compare to the freedom of being an adult. He may not have been eighteen yet, but he was still being considered full grown by Icefire, and it gave Blaze a sense of meaning that nothing else had ever given him. The two friends remained quiet the rest of the way to Acorn Place, savoring the thought of their new positions. When they arrived, Blaze dashed off to climb up one tree, while Jasper headed towards another. Scaling the wooden behemoth, Blaze scurried out onto a branch and, leaning over the side, plucked an acorn from its stem with his teeth. Dropping it to the ground, he hurried to another acorn and did the same to it. Once he had done that five times, Blaze descended the tree once more, Jasper arriving at the same time he did. Picking up their acorns, the two friends began the trek back to Icefire’s camp, where they dropped their gatherings into the food pile. They did this seven more times throughout the whole day, making the food pile bigger every time they returned. The sun had just begun to set when they returned the seventh time.
“One more trip ought to do it,” Jasper said. Before they could leave, though, they heard a voice calling.
“Jasper!” It was Gnaw, “We need you for a patrol!”
“I was just going to make a last trip to Acorn Place!” Jasper called back.
&n
bsp; “Go ahead,” Blaze encouraged him, “I can get there myself.”
Watching his friend scamper off to join them, Blaze set off to make the last trip to Acorn Place alone. Leaving the camp for the eighth time, Blaze headed down the now familiar path. He didn’t get far, though, before he heard talking in the distance. Strange, there shouldn’t be anyone out here talking at this hour. He changed his direction to go towards the noise. The sounds got louder as he got closer, but he still couldn’t understand what was being said. Fear began to grip him, telling him that he should remain quiet, not be heard, so he stepped as softly as possible, trying not to make a sound. Peering through the branches of a bush, Blaze stifled a gasp. Razor stood on the other side of the bush, along with a gigantic dark gray saloli. The gray saloli was at least twice the size of Razor, even more to Blaze, and had a black patch of fur over his left eye.
“Yes, Goliath,” Razor said, “The plan is almost ready to be put in motion.”
Goliath. Even the name sounded like bad news.
“Good,” the giant approved, “Succeed and you will be honored beyond your wildest dreams.”
“Thank you, sir.” Razor bowed his head respectfully.
“Beware, though.” Goliath growled, “If you fail me, then you will be punished severely.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then go and serve your chief well.”
With a final bob of his head, Razor turned and raced away from Goliath and into the undergrowth. Taking a last look around, Goliath turned and rushed out of Blaze’s sight as well.
Blaze whirled around and sprinted back in the direction of the camp. He had to tell Rust! Whatever Razor was planning to do next, it sounded as if it was nearly ready. He wasn’t even halfway there, though when Blaze skidded to a halt in front of a large, black roadblock. He had nearly run straight into Razor himself!
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” the traitor asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“B-back to camp.” Blaze stuttered.
Razor, sensing Blaze’s fear, walked forward and sat on his back legs so that he towered over him, “And what would make a brave young saloli such as yourself run so fast? Not afraid of the dark, are you?”
“No, I just- just wanted to talk to Rust about something.”
This was obviously the wrong thing to say. Razor narrowed his eyes at him. “Talk to him about what?”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Blaze felt a small spark of bravery light up inside him. Was he going to let this traitor scare him? No he wasn’t! “None of your business!” He spat.
Anger flared in Razor’s eyes. “You’d better tell me, or you’ll really get it!” he snarled, claws flexing out of his paws.
“What I want to say to my chief is no one’s business but mine and his!”
Then Razor lost his temper. Lashing out with his paw, claws sheathed, he knocked Blaze to the ground. Placing that same paw on top of Blaze’s throat, he slowly extended his claws. “Now are you going to tell me?”
“Hey! What’s going on here?” someone shouted. Blaze tried to turn his head to see, but stopped when Razor’s claws poked his neck.
“This outsider picked a fight with me!” Razor lied, “He insulted me!”
“I will not stand for fighting within my own tribe,” whoever it was said, “Let him up.” Razor reluctantly retracted his claws and raised his paw off of Blaze’s throat. Jumping up, Blaze saw that it was none other than Rust himself who had come to his rescue.
“Now get back to camp.” The chief ordered Razor. Giving Blaze one last venomous glare, the black saloli grudgingly obliged.
Blaze hesitantly approached Rust, remembering how angry he had been the night before. What if he was still mad? Would he listen to what Blaze had to tell him? He had to! The fate of Icefire could very well depend on it!
“What do you want, Blaze?” Rust asked in a tone that told Blaze that last night hadn’t been forgotten. Hopefully, though, he wouldn’t let that blind him from the danger that they were in.
“I-I need to tell you something.” Blaze began, “It’s about Razor.”
“Razor again? I told you, Blaze, Razor is a loyal Icefire saloli.”
“But he’s not!” Blaze insisted, “I just saw him! He was talking to another saloli, a huge one!”
This seemed to get Rust’s attention, and he looked at Blaze with a new interest. “A giant saloli?” he asked, “What did he look like?”
“Um, he was at least twice my size, dark gray, had a couple of black spots,”
“Could have been any saloli.” Rust said, though he seemed a bit uneasy now.
“He said he was the chief of another tribe.” Blaze continued.
“Nonsense. No saloli goes onto another tribe’s territory, much less their chiefs. It just isn’t done.”
“He told Razor to go serve his chief. He said his name once. It was, um, it was. . .”
Rust shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of unwelcome thoughts. “I don’t have time for this! Razor is not a traitor, and that is final! Do not bring this up again.” He was about to race off when he added, “And don’t let me hear you spreading rumors around Icefire.” With that, Rust turned and raced off into the darkening forest. What was Blaze going to do? Razor was a traitor, but nobody believed him! And now Rust refused to even listen to him anymore. What to do, what to do? The only thing he could do, he decided, was keep a close eye on Razor. A very close eye.
<><><><><>
Blaze did, indeed, keep an eye on Razor. The traitor did not do anything suspicious, so far as Blaze could tell. He simply went along with tribe life, acting as natural as a saloli could. It wasn’t until another week had passed that something happened. Blaze was walking down the path to Acorn Place with Jasper by his side. Honoring Rust’s request, Blaze still hadn’t told his friend about Razor. Jasper was bragging about a particularly long leap he had made between trees.
“I just. . .” He wasn’t able to finish, because, at that moment, a large shadow blotted out the sun. Looking up, Blaze gasped. Swooping down on the two of them was the biggest bald eagle Blaze had ever seen!
“Look out!” he warned his friend, before shoving him out of the way and ducking. Just in time, too, because the moment his stomach touched the ground Blaze felt the air above him lurch as the eagle swept over them, missing him by mere inches. It flapped until it was back in the air and turned around, preparing to make another go.
“Jasper, move! Get under a tree!” Blaze ordered his friend. The runt obeyed, and was soon safe from the predator’s eyes. Blaze, however, was still out in the open. The eagle angled itself downwards again, aimed right at him. Seeing nowhere to run, Blaze had no choice but to stand and watch as the deadly bird raced through the air towards him. When it was only a foot away from him, Blaze leapt at it! The eagle squawked loudly when Blaze landed just above its beak. It was big enough for all of Blaze to fit on its face! It reacted quickly, pulling itself back into the air, flailing its head around, trying to throw the brave saloli off. Blaze managed to hang on, though, by digging his claws into the bird’s beak. Confused, it stopped for a moment, giving Blaze the chance he needed to act.
Letting go of the beak, the young saloli leapt up and dug his claws into the eagle’s eyes! He was only strong enough to pierce the eyelids, but it still caused the giant bird a massive amount of pain. No longer able to see, the eagle began flying in circles, trying to find a place to land. Blaze saw his chance, and leaned to the right, hoping the bird would follow him. It did, and, unable to see where it was going, flew straight into the trunk of the tree that Jasper was hiding under! Squawking loudly, it began to fall. Blaze leapt off of it and onto a nearby branch. The bird hit the ground, thirty feet below, with a loud crunch. Blaze scurried down the trunk.
“Jasper!” he called, “Are you okay?”
“I should be asking you that!” Jasper said, coming out from under the tree, “I saw the whole thing! That was amazing!”
Too winded to respond to
Jasper’s praise, Blaze turned to look at the eagle. It twitched, showing that it was still alive. The young saloli inched closer to it, hoping it would be too injured to try and attack him again.
“Rawrk!” the eagle said weakly, “Talons defeated! Talons killed! Killed by stupid treemouse!” Its left leg was twisted at a very unnatural angle.
“I don’t think you’re going to die.” Blaze reassured it, “But your leg is broken. Stay here, I’ll go get help.”
“Blaze, what are you doing?” Jasper demanded, eyes wide with shock.
“I’m going to get Faith. She can heal him.”
Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm Page 11
