Four

Renn looked at Torak, gaping. She quickly wiped the expression from her face so not to give him away. How did he find her? Her mind was reeling with possibilities, each getting more absurd. Thor strode towards Torak and held his knife under Torak's throat.

"Now what do we have here." He said, his eyes glinting. "A spy perhaps, trying to discover our Mages secrets? Or are you a thief, trying to steal our possessions?" His eyes shone red as he grasped his knife harder. "You!" he barked at Renn, making her start. "Take him to your shelter and tie him up. We will discuss his fate." Renn cautiously walked forward and grabbed Torak. She was strongly reminded about how she treated him when they were escaping her clan a few summers ago when they first met. She quickly pushed him into her shelter and tied him to the post, but loosely.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered, making sure no one was eavesdropping.

"I Spirit Walked and saw them torturing you. I couldn't just let them do it to you. I had to help!" Renn cringed. She was grateful, but he had now put himself in more danger than she was in.

"Torak, you've got to get out of here! These Foxes, there not like normal people! They don't follow the clan law. They'll kill you without a second thought. You've got to-" she stopped as a young Fox girl entered the shelter, dragging Wolf behind her.

"The Clan Leader wants to talk to all of us now." She said. Nervously she followed the girl out of the shelter. In the center of the camp stood Thor, surrounded by everyone and as they approached he addressed them all.

"The Elders and I have discussed the boy's punishment. Tomorrow he will be taken to the Thunder Falls. He will be tied to some boulders and will be left to drown." As the Foxes nodded in agreement, Renn gaped at him, horror-struck. What kind of people killed people for being around their camp?

"No one is to talk to him or have any contact him in any way." said the Mage, an ancient man who was completely bald except for a few wispy hairs. As the others prepared for the evening meal, Renn snuck back into the shelter.

"What!" hissed Torak as Renn finished her sentence. She had told him everything the Foxes had said.

"What kind of clan kills people without discussing it with other clans first?" asked Torak, still not quite believing what Renn had told him.

"Well apparently the Foxes do. I asked a girl if they did this a lot and she told me they usually kill a few people a year. No one comes looking for the missing people, thinking they've fallen pray to a bear." Renn was still trying to get over the shock from being told that.

"It's just like their clan creature," said Torak. "It kills for no reason." Renn looked at Wolf, who was licking his burnt paws. It must have been terribly painful. "Renn," said Torak softly, making her jump. "There is no way out. You'll have to destroy the fire opal by yourself."

"No I won't!" she cried. No one would hear her; they were all on a hill entertaining. "I'll stay behind; I'll untie you so you can escape!"

"Renn, they won't let you come, you can't do anything." He said, trying to make her understand. Renn stormed towards the shelter opening. Before she left, she glared at Torak.

"Just you wait and see." She hissed before striding across the camp into the forest.

Torak waited for dawn to come. Outside he could hear the trees whispering about what was to come. Wolf lay whining behind him, every now and then attempting to bite through the raw hide rope that he was tied to. After what seemed like days, the Fox Clan Leader entered the shelter with several large men.

"Gag and blindfold him." He commanded. The men untied him from the post, gagged him and blindfolded him then tied his hands behind his back. Torak shuddered with fear as the men marched him out of the shelter. For a long time they marched, Torak stumbling over rocks every now and then. Once he fell to the ground and one of the men hit him as they roared with laughter. Suddenly, he heard Wolf howl. "Where are you?" he asked, but Torak couldn't reply. He couldn't have told Wolf what was going to happen before because in wolf-talk, there is no future. Soon he could hear the Thunder Falls. His death was approaching. The men stopped abruptly. They removed the scrap of skin blindfolding him. Torak could see the falls in the distance. A few paces away lay the river. It was so deep he couldn't see the bottom. Again he shuddered. Silently, the men gathered four huge boulders. They bound them tightly to Torak's ankles and wrists. The weight of them forced Torak to his knees.

"I doubt he'll need these." Said the leader and, grinning menacingly, he threw Torak's weapons and tools into the river.

"What Clan are you? I'm not familiar with your tattoos." He asked, gripping his spear.

"Wolf." Said Torak defiantly, raising his head.

"They won't miss him." Whispered the Fox leader, pushing Torak into the freezing river.

Torak sank down deeper and deeper. He writhed around in the water, trying desperately to slip the bindings off. He tried to untie himself, but as his hands were still tied behind him, it made it an impossible task. Around him, the Hidden People laughed at him.

"Drift free, boy with the walking souls. Drift free from that heavy, heavy body." Torak's surroundings began to get darker. His lungs were bursting. Finally, he reached the river bed. The Hidden People beckoned him to join them. Just as Torak was drifted off to sleep, he felt a knife whoosh nearby as he was slowly dragged to the surface.