“What are we going to do?” he asked Jasper.
“Ask Rust,” Jasper replied, fear shining in his eyes.
“Attack!” Rust shouted before Blaze could ask. Doing as he said, Blaze charged! He made straight for the hunter, along with the others. BANG! A saloli on Blaze’s right fell down, dead. With that, the group scattered, trying to make it harder for the hunter to aim at them. Blaze swung to the right, Jasper by his side.
“Let’s get behind him!” Blaze suggested as they raced through the forest.
“Good idea!” Jasper agreed. The two friends circled around, going back towards the hunter. Blaze saw that the only spot that wasn’t covered on the man was a small gap between the collar of his jacket and the bottom of his hat, revealing his neck. When he got close enough, he leapt onto the man’s back and sunk his strong teeth into his skin! The man yelled and jumped up. Raising a hand, he swatted Blaze off of him. Blaze hit the ground hard and almost lost consciousness, but managed to regain his senses and stand back up. Not giving up, he sprang onto the man’s pant leg and dug his claws into the fabric. The hunter began to swing his leg around, trying to throw Blaze off. Blaze managed to hang on for almost five seconds before losing his grip, and was sent flying back ten feet into a tree. Through dimming vision, Blaze saw the hunter aim his gun at another saloli. Looking harder, he gasped. It was Chestnut!
Move! Move! He thought desperately, but fear had rooted Chestnut’s feet to the ground. Blaze could only watch, helplessly, as the hunter slowly pulled the trigger.
BANG!
<><><><><>
“Blaze? Blaze? Are you all right?” Someone asked.
Blaze slowly forced his eyes open, but shut them again when the sun’s rays blinded him. He waited a few seconds, and then opened them again. He saw Faith standing in front of him, a worried expression on her face.
“Are you all right?” she asked again.
“I have a headache,” Blaze said. His head throbbed painfully as he spoke.
“I think you may have gotten a concussion. You hit that tree pretty hard.”
Remembering what he had seen just before passing out, Blaze desperately asked “Where’s Chestnut?”
“Relax, she’s fine.” The prophet soothed him.
“What? But how? The hunter was aiming right at her!”
“It was quite a thing to see.” Faith smiled, “Your friend Jasper pushed her out of the way at the last second, saving her life.”
“He did? He’s okay, though, right?”
“Yes, he’s fine. Both of them came away uninjured.”
Blaze relaxed then, “But what about the hunter? Why did he leave?”
“He fired his stick once at Chestnut, but when he tried to do it again it remained silent. He then simply put it over his shoulder and left.”
“Oh,” Blaze said, feeling his head go light again, “Good.”
With that he closed his eyes again and slept.
<><><><><>
The next time Blaze awoke, he was lying on a branch in Faith’s personal tree. Both the chief and the prophet had trees to themselves. He found he had a leaf on his face, which was pressing some sort of salve against a large bump on his head that hurt when he turned his head. Looking around, Blaze spotted Faith down on the ground, speaking to Icefire. The tribe was gathered around her in a tight circle. Lying next to Faith were the three saloli who had died during the hunter’s attack, inside a ring of white flower petals. The prophet took a smoldering stick in her mouth and touched one end to the petals. Just as Blaze knew would happen, the fire leapt up around them and formed the flaming vortex. When it died down the saloli’s bodies were gone. Even knowing what was happening, the sight scared Blaze, not because of what he saw, but because he couldn’t help but think about what would have happened if he had jumped in like he had wanted.
He shook his head, clearing it of such thoughts and causing his head to throb. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of himself, now was the time to mourn for his fallen comrades. Blaze closed his eyes and bowed his head in respect. He had never had anything against hunters when he was a human, but now that he was a saloli he found it hard to believe what he had told Faith three weeks ago. Seeing your friends and allies killed in cold blood could do that. After the bodies were taken care of, Faith said a few more words to Icefire, then left, signaling the rest of the tribe to disperse. She slowly made her way to the tree in which Blaze lay.
“Ah, you’re awake,” she said as she reached him, “You’ve been asleep for almost two days.”
“Two days?” Blaze asked, shocked, “What- how- why are you just now performing the ceremony?”
“There were a lot of saloli injured besides the three who died.” Faith answered, “It took me up until now to take care of all of them.”
“Who were the ones who died?”
“Their names were Crystal, Leaf, and Speed. I saw you speaking to Speed just before he was killed. Would you mind telling me his last words?”
“Um, he just asked how the food was that day, and then ate an acorn.” Blaze said, slightly confused as to why Faith would want to know something like that. Faith’s eyes welled up with tears, but she quickly blinked them away. “What’s wrong?”
“Speed was my great nephew.” She responded, a slight whimper in her voice, “He was always a loyal saloli, and you couldn’t help but be happy when you were around him. And now he’s- he’s. . .” She obviously couldn’t finish the sentence without bursting into tears.
“He’s with Valde Abbas in his castle beyond the sunrise,” Blaze put in, hoping it would make Faith feel better. It did, and a small smile appeared on Faith’s face.
“Yes, you’re right,” she said, “I shouldn’t be so heartbroken over it. He’s in a better place now.”
A thought occurred to Blaze at that moment. “You said their names were Crystal, Leaf, and Speed, right? What about Razor?”
“What about him?” Faith echoed, confused.
“He wasn’t with the group who protected the camp.”
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of. After all, you weren’t either to begin with.”
“But the thing is,” Blaze persisted, “I didn’t see him at all during the attack. He wasn’t in the camp.”
“So, what? He may have been on a patrol.”
“No, Jasper and I had just got back from ours. There wouldn’t have been another for at least a half hour.”
“What are you saying, Blaze?” Faith asked.
“I’m saying that I think it was Razor who led the hunter here in the first place.” Blaze answered. He expected Faith to immediately reject this idea, but, to his surprise, a thoughtful look appeared on her face.
“You may be right,” she mused, “That would make this his second attempt to destroy Icefire, or at least weaken it. The question is, what will he do next?”
“We need to stop him before that happens.” Blaze said without hesitation, “Next time, he may succeed. Will you help me?”
“I’m sorry Blaze, but I can’t. This is up to you. You alone must do it.”
Blaze clenched his eyes shut in frustration, “But nobody will listen to me! If you say something, they might at least consider it!”
“You’ll have to find evidence.” Faith instructed him, “Good, strong, indisputable evidence. Then Rust will listen. I believe you can do it, Blaze. After all, you were chosen to help us by Valde Abbas himself.”
Blaze kept his mouth shut, but couldn’t stop from thinking that Valde Abbas could have done a lot better job in picking his chosen saloli.
Chapter Eleven
“Attention, Icefire!” Rust called, “Gather around the Speaking Stone!” As Icefire congregated around their chief, Blaze wondered what was going on. “Today is a special occasion.” Rust continued, “Today a trainee has been chosen to perform her first patrol.” Icefire cheered. “Would Chestnut please come forward?”
Blaze heard Jasper, who was standing beside him, gasp softly. A hopeful light
appeared in his eyes. Blaze wondered what had happened between his friend and Chestnut since the hunter’s attack a week ago. After Jasper had saved her, Chestnut had been spending a lot of time with him. There was something going on between them, but Blaze couldn’t tell what. Rust spoke to Chestnut, then motioned for her to go. As soon as she had left, he and another saloli that must have been her trainer went after her. Jasper quickly went over to Blaze, obviously wanting to talk.
“What is it?” Blaze asked.
“It’s Chestnut,” Jasper answered, nervously, “I- I- nevermind.”
Too late, he had caught Blaze’s interest. “No, what? Tell me.”
“Well, now that I’m a full tribe member, I, um, I have the right to choose a mate.”
“So?” this wasn’t news to Blaze.
“Well, now that Chestnut is about to be promoted too, I, um. . . She’s really nice to me now, and I really like her, so I, um. . .”
“What?” Blaze asked, thinking he already knew the answer.
“I want to ask her. . . to be my mate.”
Blaze felt his heart sink into his stomach. He had tried to avoid thinking about it, but he thought he was becoming closer to Chestnut as well. He had never thought to ask her to be his mate, he wasn’t even sure if it was right for him to, but the thought that the chance was being taken away made him sick. But Jasper was his best friend! What right did Blaze have to take away what might be a long, happy relationship from him?
“That’s great!” he said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
“I know! You should choose a mate, too. Why don’t you ask Sunbeam?”
“What?” Blaze asked, shocked and embarrassed that Jasper was able to see how much he liked Sunbeam.
“Come on,” Jasper said, smiling at his friend’s discomfort, “it’s not as if you’re exactly keeping it a secret. I’ve seen the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you. You two would be a perfect match for each other. Why don’t you ask her?”
“It. . . just wouldn’t work out.” Blaze responded, looking away in guilt.
“Why not?”
“It just wouldn’t!” Blaze shouted. In truth, he would have loved to have the chance to get closer to Sunbeam, but how would she feel when he had to go back to his human life? Or if he died? No matter how happy it would make him, there was no way he could do that to her.
“All right, I guess. It’s your life,” Jasper said, giving up.
Eager to get the conversation on another topic, Blaze asked him when he was going to break the ice with Chestnut. For the next hour, the two of them talked about Jasper’s plans and how he was going to go about doing them. Suddenly, Icefire cheered as Chestnut quickly made her way back into camp. Jasper’s eyes immediately lit up and he walked over to the growing circle of saloli as fast as he could without looking desperate. Rust leapt onto the Speaking Stone.
“Attention Icefire! The trainee Chestnut has successfully completed her patrol. Her trainer, Hazel, and I have judged her ready. Chestnut, welcome to Icefire!”
As Icefire cheered again, Blaze glanced around and saw Thunder standing at the opposite side of the circle. Even with his defeat fresh in his mind, and his scars just now starting to heal, Thunder was obviously ecstatic over his sister’s triumph. When the noise lowered, Chestnut stood up and whispered something into Rust’s ear. His eyes opened in surprise. “Icefire!” he shouted again, “Our new tribe member Chestnut has something to say!” Chestnut turned towards her tribe and spoke.
“My tribe, I am honored beyond words by this promotion, and I thank everyone who has helped me to achieve it. But now that I am a full member of Icefire, there is something I want to do. There is a saloli among you that I have wronged. His name is Jasper.” Jasper gasped and looked at her even more intently, “All his life I made fun of him, teased him, and looked down on him. But despite all that, he still saved me during the human’s attack. I feel terrible for the way I used to treat him, and wish to make it up to him. I also see him in a new light. Instead of the weak, tiny runt I used to see, I now see a brave saloli who will not let his size stop him from being the best he can be.” Icefire, warmed by her speech, cheered for Jasper. “But there is one more thing.” Chestnut continued, “After the attack I have grown closer to him, and learned who he really is. He is not only brave, but loyal and proud. Any saloli here would be lucky to be him, or be his friend.” She glanced quickly at Blaze. “But I have realized that I don’t want to be his friend. I want to be something more. I know this isn’t the way it normally happens, here in front of the whole tribe, but I don’t care. So I ask you, Jasper,” She looked directly at Blaze’s friend now, “will you be my mate?”
Jasper gasped with shock for the third time that day. His mouth fell open. Quickly regaining his wits, he ran out into the circle and stood right in front of her.
“Yes!” he exclaimed, “Yes, yes I will!” Jasper and Chestnut leaned in closer to each other and pressed the sides of their faces together, a saloli sign of strong affection.
“Well. . .” Said Rust, who was obviously not expecting this any more than the rest of Icefire, “It seems we have one more thing worth celebrating, a marriage!”
<><><><><>
The sun shined brightly down upon Icefire’s camp, making the day pleasantly warm for the day’s wondrous event. Three days had passed since Chestnut’s offer to be Jasper’s mate. It was Icefire custom that the groom not see his soon-to-be mate for that long before the ceremony. The wedding was only a few minutes away now, and Jasper was nervously grooming his fur. Blaze had been chosen to be his second, which was basically the saloli term for best man. Sunbeam was Chestnut’s second.
“Do I look okay?” Jasper asked, desperately.
“You look fine,” Blaze chuckled. He had managed to throw away his envy and be happy for his friend.
“I want to look my best for Chestnut.” The runt despaired, not able to be comforted.
“She won’t care how you look.” Blaze assured him, Besides, I’ve never seen you look better.”
“She’ll be beautiful!” Jasper continued as if he hadn’t heard his friend, “I want to show her that I care by looking good for her.”
Faith chose that moment to appear, “Jasper, it’s time.”
Jasper took a deep gulp and slowly headed in the direction of the Speaking Stone, Blaze never more than three steps behind him, where the rest of Icefire waited. An aisle formed in the circle, allowing him to make his way to the stone. Rust stood on top of it, waiting for him. He gave Jasper a polite nod when he reached the stone. He barely gave Blaze a glance, which, Blaze reminded himself, was all right. This was Jasper’s special day, not his. As Jasper stood on the right side of the Speaking Stone, Blaze took his place standing behind him. He glanced up into the nursery tree to make sure Talons hadn’t moved. The eagle had promised not to disturb the wedding, and Blaze was going to hold him to his word. Then the saloli circle shifted again, revealing Chestnut. Both Jasper and Blaze gaped at her beauty. She had groomed her fur until it gleamed like a mirror in the sunlight. Blaze sucked in his breath as his jealousy came rushing back to him, but he quickly buried it again. He should be happy for his friend, not envious. What claim did he have to this beautiful saloli anyway? She had the right to choose whoever she wanted, and she had. And it wasn’t him. His envy was forgotten, though, when he saw Sunbeam. She, too, had groomed her fur until it practically glowed and her tail had been fluffed so that it looked as soft as silk. Blaze couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Seeing this, she smiled and winked coyly at him. Blaze began to feel thankful for his saloli body like he never had before, because he knew he would never be able to appreciate her exquisite beauty as a human. Now that everyone was in place, Rust began the ceremony.
“Icefire!” he called, “Today we join together to see the eternal bonding of the two young tribe members Jasper and Chestnut. Jasper, please come forward.” Looking as if his fur would fall out from anxiety, Jasper slowly walked towards the Speaking S
tone. “Jasper,” Rust continued, “you are a brave saloli who is not afraid to protect those who are close to you, despite you’re diminutive size. Do you hereby swear to use these attributes to protect and care for Chestnut?”
Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm Page 13
