Chapter 4: Making Alliances
The climb up the cliff was easy enough when you found the correct route. Once Jaceb and I were in the cave the smell of blood seemed to seep out of the walls. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching us, but the feeling was immediately replaced by fear.
'CHAZLER!' Jaceb was barely hanging on to the edge of the cave. I ran to him and grabbed his paw in my teeth. His weight started pulling me down with him, 'I'm slipping!'
'Jaceb calm down! The more you struggle the more you will slip! Dig your back claws into the cliff face and push as hard as you can!' I heard his nails scraping rock, trying desperately to find a hold. I tried to pull him up but I could feel his skin start to rip. I quickly let go of his paw and grab the extra skin at his throat. Pulling as hard as I could I finally got him onto the ledge. He scampered farther into the cave, 'Jaceb are you ok?' he put weight on the paw I had between my teeth.
'Yeah it will be ok in a minute I just have to let it heal.' After the adrenaline rush passedI was immediately furious.
'What the hell is wrong with you?! We both almost died!' I was snarling at him.
'I got a strong whiff of poison and it started burning my nose! Lay off it!' His remark infuriated me more. I swung my paw into to the side of his head pinning him to the ground.
'Don't you dare talk to me in such a fashion! I will put you down like a rabid bear, do you understand that Beta pup?!" With a whimper he replied.
'Yes Mistress, I'm sorry. Don't you smell it?' Removing my paw from his head I raised my nose.
I could smell substantial amounts of venom mixed with the smell of blood. The smell was so overpowering, I gagged, 'Ok, I will give you that, but it doesn't change the disrespectful remark and surely doesn't make up for it.' I looked at him and felt guilty for using such force. Without thinking I licked the side of his snout in apology. I could almost see his grey fur turn red. He bowed his head and gestured me to move forward.
As we ventured further into the cave, the knots in my stomach grew tighter. I started to turn back, but Jaceb caught my attention, 'Chaz, look I found it, uh, or him really. I think he might be dead.' I trotted over to Jaceb's side and first I saw a foot. The father up I looked the more the body started to take shape. His body was mangled and he was bleeding profusely from his stomach. I reached my paw out and gingerly swept his hair away from his face.
'Oh gods Chaz, he's a Hut, no rephrase, he is THE Hut! That's Zion Kashlik!' I couldn't take my eyes off this beautiful being that lay, almost dead in front of me. His hair was a raven black , His cheek bones were defined and his body was chiseled out of marble. I looked at Jaceb.
'Help me get him down the cliff.' I was surprised when my order was met with resistance.
'Don't you know what he is? How could you possibly help him after everything his kind did to our clan? Do you not remember the War of the Gods? The reason that river we crossed is named Red Water?!' I growled at him, the sound coming deep within my chest.
'And he's still just a man! If you let him die we could both be in serious shit and that war has been over and done with way before our time! It is not our grudge to hold, so help me now GODDAMNIT!' I watched as the grey wolf went beside the young man with his stomach dragging along the ground.
'I'm sorry, I just...what do you plan on doing with him?' I nudged his foot with my paw and his face twist in pain.
'We have to get him on my back and down the cliff side. He must have been strong to get up here with that kind of injury,' I saw Jaceb's eyes roll, 'But never the less we need to heal him, or better yet get him back to his clan.' I saw Jaceb's head touch the ground and grab Zion by the shirt, in one swift movement we had Zion on my back, but not with out his screams of pain that made bile rise in my throat.
'He doesn't look good I think that last jolt of pain was all he could take, he's passed out.' I moved fluidly to the side of the cliff.
'Damn that means we won't be able to get him into his own form so he can heal. I'm no healer either.' The only difference between the warrior clans and the assassin clan is that though we have a constant wolf form the assassins take a form known as shadow. In this form the can heal, but this is also the form they use to take down a target. When they go into their shadow form, there isn't a twig to hear nor a man to see, which in turn makes them the deadliest force of our world we know, short of the elders.
'Well, let's just get him down and find a safe spot so we can at least try.' I narrowed my eyes at him.
'What happened to just leaving him here to die?' Jaceb shot down the cliff face and I fallowed trying as much as possible to not jostle Zion, further the already leathal amount of blood he was losing.
We tried to get a few miles down river, but that proved to much for Zion. We found a safe spot under the cover of some pine trees that had grown together near there tops, my granddad called them Hallowa' Tah Nian, life that has connected.
My granddad always told me the story of lady Gaea and her only love, Humanity. He would take me to these woods and explain to me why the trees did what they did. He told me that when lady Gaea saw man kind for the first time, she was so confused as to why she needed one more thing to look after, but as the centuries went by she fell in love with us. She taught us to love the trees as if they were infants to be raised and to make sure her beauty flourished in all places. Soon, though, humanity started to question her, when their crops did not grow, they blamed her for infertility, but it was not her fault.
Soon humanity left her behind and started to tear her down. Tree by tree the ripped and tore at her most sacred places. Her love for humanity did not falter, she believes that we will come back to her one day and help her to prosper once more, but as more of us turned away from her, her heart, the trees, twisted in her pain and connected with each other to in turn make themselves stronger. I remembered the story, let it race through my mind to take it off of the bleeding man in front of me.
"Chazler, go get your clothes and come back, I will stay with him. The bleeding has slowed enough for you to go and get the things you need." I nodded and ran. My nails dug deep into the dirt and my heart raced, pumping adrenaline through my body. I came to my knapsack quicker than I expected, I believe in all it took me 30 minutes for the round trip, though something smelt different on the way back. I knew if I wasn't careful that being in no mans land could be more dangerous than being in the clan territory. The rules didn't apply here and I knew it.
Once I was back and changed I could heal him better. For hours I was pushing and sewing and pushing and stitching, the blood caked my forehead where I would wipe the sweat away from my eyes even though it was barely 45 degrees outside. It was well into the night when he started to be responsive. I knew I had smelt venom in the cave, but his body had rejected it. Seeping out of the puncture wounds the animal had made to inject it. That sight only clarified what I already knew. I was stoking the fire when he sputtered to coherence. I grabbed his waiving hand and looked into his eyes.
"Zion Kashlik, do not fear me, I'm here to help you. I need you to tell me what happened in that cave? What was it that you encountered?" I held his head to look at me, "Zion please do not fight me. I am not here to hurt only to help!" Zion's hand came to the side of my face, stiffly, but not to inflict pain. I felt a warmth flow through my face and into my torso then to my limbs. There was nothing that I had ever felt that felt quite like this. it wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasing either.
In a flash I was seeing things, people, blurred faces, figures moving in darkness. I could hardly feel his hand on my face when a stronger hand pulled me away. I laid on my back gasping for air, my heart was beating out of my chest. I regained my strength in time to see Jaceb's hand pulling Zion up by his throat.
"Jaceb," I coughed, "Stop, I'm ok." I gasped and waited for Jaceb to release the poor boy.
"He could have killed you Chazler that is not to be taken lightly!" Jaceb's hand was empty and a figure appeared behind him, driving a heel into his kidney. Jaceb stumbled and I was on my feet immediately. Zion had drawn a knife and was ready to fight.
"Who are you? Why are you here? Have you come to kill me?" Zion was breathing hard, not fully healed from his wounds. Jaceb started running at him, but I stepped in his path and muttered an incantation throwing up a physical shield. Jaceb was knocked back.
"Everybody just calm down!" My voice was firm and low. I caught Zion trying to run and held up my hand in time to see a tree limb strike him in the stomach, "WHAT did I just say?!" with the two boys on their backs, I walked over to Zion.
"He is a Hut, I told you we should have left him to die!" I grabbed Zion's blade and it seared my hand, with the blade tinged with blood, I shoved it in Zion's face.
"You have magic?"
"You see this? It's burning my hand, but still I hold on. I show you this to gain your trust and to prove to you that I am stronger than you may think. Can I please have your undivided attention?" Zion narrowed his eyes, but nodded, "Good, now get up and sit by the fire." I threw the blade into the ground and offered him a hand. He hesitated for a moment, but the grabbed my offer.
"Even after he tried to kill you…" I cut my eyes at Jaceb.
"As for you Jaceb, you STOP when I say so! Do not test me any further!" Jaceb sat down with a huff.
"Guess we know who has you by the balls." Zion was cleaning his knife on his jeans. Jaceb's amber eyes cut to the young Hut; his canines growing along with his growl. I raised a hand and Jaceb ceased, Zion merely chuckled.
"I am Chazler Fra' Mulan, mistress of the warrior clan and this is my second Jaceb Kah' Lun. We found you in a cave, up that mountain face with venom pouring from your stomach. All I want to know is what happened." Zion sheathed his knife and ran a hand through his hair.
"I was scouting and ran into an over grown snake." The boy's sarcasm was wearing on me.
"Scouting? In no-man's-land? I don't think so and a snake that left half an inch diameter holes in your side, I think not." I waited.
"How am I suppose to trust you? You are obviously a freak, there hasn't been a clan with even one person who had magic in a thousand years."
"I didn't let you die." I narrowed my eyes and crossed my legs. The Hut laid on his side and lifted a knee while resting his head on his hand.
"I was in the cave looking for a bear to take home, our food is now being rationed to feed you people and my clan is now suffering." I shook my head in confusion.
"What do you mean rationed, by who?"
"A fortune telling monkey, who do you think?" I gritted my teeth.
"Your elders?" I pierced my lips
"No, by your beloved Kasleris." I thought for a moment. Nothing he was saying made any sense.
"That's impossible! Kasleris is our elder, he doesn't control your land that's a lie!" I cut my eyes at Jaceb.
"Jaceb is right, you have your own counsel, why would he assume control?" Zion sat up and narrowed his eyes.
"You don't know? Your father is the alpha, Kasleris assured us you would know!" I closed my eyes.
"Know what, Zion?"
"Our elder was killed three days ago." I looked to Jaceb who sat awe struck.