Lupus the Rancid stuffed another mouthful of skylark flesh into his mouth, watching the bodies of three slain squirrels being prepared for skinning. He and his band of ten score or so rats wore the skins of their enemies. Lupus found that it was an effective way to instill fear, or respect as Lupus called it, into beasts who might want to challenge him and his rat army.
The wolf was a barbaric sight. His fur, what was left of it, was mottled grey and white. He was caught in a fire in his cub days and most of the skin on his stomach, chest and front limbs was horribly scarred. No fur could grow on those portions. His burned flesh gave off a foul odor. Over the burns was a crisscross of ugly scars. War wounds from his many seasons of fighting. He was missing his left ear. His eyes were the color of honey.
He had fought his way to the top. Despite his evil and ruthless inclinations, he was a beast of some honor. He respected fellow fighters. Whenever he crossed paths with other warriors, be they mice, squirrels or ferrets, he would challenge them to one on one combat. He had never lost, but a few of the nasty scars across his body were from his duels.
He smirked as the skinning began. The squirrels were young and had courage. They had stood up to the rat horde without fear. But, it was pointless in the end. Nothing was going to stop him on his trek south from his homelands in the northeast corner of the cold Borderlands.
He swiveled his yellow eyes toward the sounds of three approaching beasts. Lupus' highly sensitive nose told him that is was Ranulf, Olgar and Juka, his son, nephew and niece. They walked up to him and kneeled.
"What's your report?" he snapped. They were very late.
"Father, there is a great building four days fast march southeast of here," Ranulf told him.
Lupus nodded once.
"What of the land?"
"Lush and the weather is pleasant," Juka said. "We could make a good life there."
Lupus said nothing. They had spent several seasons wandering in a southwesterly path. Now it was spring time and they were on the flatlands, near the sea. He watched the distant shimmering of the ocean.
"You may have something there. Nothing to lose at any rate. Tell no one of your discovery until I tell you."
