A/N: Okay, here we are. The last chapter before the WR guys show up! I can't wait, and that's why this chapter is so damn long – I wanted to just get all the rest of this up here so we can get right to the good stuff next chapter. So please bear with me and review! Also, the chapter title has a double meaning – can you figure it out?

Moon's Herald

Chapter 5: Gravity

About a half an hour later, I came to in a small, enclosed space which was so dark that I felt the walls around me more than I saw them. There was an overwhelming smell of rust and oil, with a bit of paint mixed in. I tried to lift my head and look around, but the movement caused a splitting pain in my head and I relaxed back onto the floor. My skin still stung from the cuts and my mouth felt raw. I could taste blood on my tongue, mine and someone else's . . . the wolf's!

The memories came rushing back and I groaned. For a moment I had actually forgotten and thought I was having a nightmare. I had thought I was waking up in my usual spot in the house, safe and warm. But it was cold, and the house never smelled or felt like this. Where was I? I could just barely make out a few dark, hulking shapes nearby, but they told me nothing. I had to get up.

Bracing myself for the pain, I lifted my head, rolled onto my stomach, and raised myself little by little to a sitting position. I took my time, as even the smallest movement was unbearable. I could just feel my scabbed-over wounds reopening and bleeding anew and I cringed, wondering why I still felt so dirty and why there didn't seem to be any bandages on my body. However, I was a bit distracted in the next moment when I realized that from this new angle, I could see some tiny cracks in the walls that let in a faint light. I put my eye up to one, and through it I saw a window lit from within, with a few human silhouettes moving around behind the curtains. The window was only a few feet away and set in a white wall.

And just like that, I knew where I was. I was in the old tool shed out behind the house. The window I saw through the crack was the kitchen window; I recognized the curtains. I pulled back from the hole, feeling very puzzled. Why was I out here instead of on my pillow, resting and recovering from my wounds? Suddenly, my thoughts broke off, because as I shifted my weight I heard a strange rustling sound. When I squinted down at the floor in the dim light, I was shocked to see a rope leading from my chain collar to one of the dark shapes – the rusty remains of an old lawn mower, I realized. I was tied up! I moved again and the rope rustled once more, pulling a bit taut as I backed away.

I was definitely tied, but it made no sense; my humans hadn't tied me up since I was a pup. And they had definitely never put me in the tool shed. Something was very wrong. I started to pace and whimper with growing distress. Small spaces didn't usually bother me, but now I was starting to feel scared and claustrophobic. I tugged at the rope as my mind began to race with all kinds of wild worries – why had the humans brought me here instead of to the house when I was so badly hurt? Did someone beat the farmer to me and put me here? Maybe my family didn't know where I was.

I started barking and scratching the walls, hoping that if the humans heard they would come to investigate and rescue me. The walls shook a little as I scratched harder and harder, making the tools and paint cans on the shelves and hooks over me rattle. I stopped at that, afraid they'd fall on my head, and let out a tremulous howl of distress. Where was everybody? The human shapes behind the curtains paused for only a moment before returning to what they were doing. If they heard me and paid so little attention, they couldn't be my humans; maybe they were intruders. With panic rising in me, I let out howl after howl for a good five minutes before I was cut off by a very familiar and welcome voice coming from right outside the back wall, behind the mower.

"Shhh," hissed the voice. "Shut up, Red! You're scarin' 'em and makin' it worse."

"Thorny!" I cried, eagerly clambering over the mower and pressing my eye against another crack in the wall. I could see his brown eyes, ringed by gray fur, looking at me worriedly.

"Hi, Foxie," said another, smaller voice from Thorny's left and lower to the ground than I could see.

"Tsuta?" I gasped. "What are you doing here? You're an indoor cat."

"They won't miss her with all the commotion goin' on in there," Thorny assured me, sounding tired. "We've got big trouble."

"Tell me about it," I said. "I'm all torn to ribbons, and what am I doing in here? Is the farmer okay? And Michiru? Because I think someone might've broken into the house while I was knocked out and -"

"No, no, girl. No one broke in and the humans are all fine. In fact, that's actually what we have to worry about. The danger's from them."

"Say what?" I blinked.

"They're mad at you, Foxie," the kitten piped up. "They brought home a dead, torn-up sheep on the flatbed truck and they said you killed it."

"WHAT?" I think my heart almost stopped at that moment, and in any case I felt like retching.

Tsuta continued unperturbed. "And also, the ram's hurt real bad and they may have to kill him, too. So now they're all in the kitchen talking about what to do with you, and Michiru's upset but he's trying to stick up for you and get them to give you another chance. But the lady says you're too dangerous and you might have babies, so they put you in here."

"Not babies, you fool cat," Thorny growled.

"Thorny," I whimpered, "I didn't kill anything! The black wolf came back and he did it; I did try to kill him, but he got away . . ." I trailed off to concentrate on fighting off the sickness that was rising in my throat.

"I know," said Thorny soothingly, "I know you, Red, and I believe you. I know how you care for those sheep. Trained you to be that way myself, didn't I?"

"But Mr. Thorny said it's gonna be hard to prove anything without a witless, and nobody's seen the big black dog but you," Tsuta put in.

"That's witness," Thorny sighed, "and will you please hush up for once; you're not helping at all."

"The sheep saw it," I said, feeling a little hope rise in my chest. But Thorny sadly shook his head and replied, "No, Red, I mean human witnesses. It's the humans who hold the power on this farm, and anything we animals know about you or what happened is no use unless they know it, too. All they have to go on is the material evidence left around the farmyard, and it all seems to point to you."

"But there must be some way-"

"There isn't," said the old dog. "Humans don't even believe in wolves, remember. They found you stuck in the fence, obviously desperate to escape, covered in blood like both the fence and the carcass. There were bloody paw prints in the pen, those of what they would consider a huge dog, and none outside the fence to indicate that you chased anything out there. I believe they're even assuming that you chewed through the fence to get in, and only got stuck once you were leaving."

"That's crazy!"

"Not to them. Humans are scent-deaf and trust only their eyes and the reasoning of their brains. They think you're sick, Red, that you killed an innocent animal for no reason. They think you're a danger now and unless we act fast, they'll kill you." There it was, the truth of the matter laid bluntly at my feet, and it proved to be too much for me to handle at the moment. Nausea swept over me all at once and I puked into a rusty bucket that was standing conveniently nearby in the dark shed. My friends outside didn't wait for me to recover before they started making plans.

"First thing's to get her out of there," said Thorny. "Go around to the other side and see if the door's there, cat." A few seconds later, Tsuta's lisping voice came from the opposite side of the shed. "Yup, it's here. But there's a real big lock on it, sir."

Thorny growled in frustration. "Figures. Well, I think there's a loose board on this side, but it'll take a few minutes to find it and break it off. You go and keep watch and tell me the instant there's any change with the humans."

"Yessir, captain!" cried the kitten, and then I heard her run off toward the house. I almost laughed through my dizziness; even now, Tsuta was having one of her pretend games. Thorny's voice broke into my thoughts then. "Are you alright now?" he snapped. "Then don't just stand there, girl. Push on this board." He pressed on one of the boards and I saw it give. Hobbling over, I leaned my weight on the board and began pushing while Thorny squeezed his paw around into the space and pulled.

"Sorry, Thorny," I grunted, coughing because of the paint fumes, "but I'm really scared and it smells so bad in here. Are you sure all this is true? Is there really no hope?"

"Only one thing we can do now," he said, "but we gotta get you out of there first. Push!" After a few minutes of struggling with the board, it began to crack and groan as it gave way. The wood splintered as it came away from the wall with a final loud crack. Thorny threw the broken piece of wood aside as I peered through the hole into the yard, which was still illuminated by the light of the full moon. "Come on through!" the old dog urged.

Not eager to add splinter wounds to my list of injuries, I hesitated before finally crawling out of the shed. I managed not to get caught on the splintered wood and was relieved until a sudden cry from Thorny made me jump. "Hell's hounds, girl," he said, using his favorite curse, "they tied you up, too! Ugh, more time to waste." I looked around and saw the rope trailing behind me. I bent to try chewing through it, but Thorny stopped me.

"Don't," he said, "your mouth's already a wreck. Let me." I stood still, though trembling, while my teacher began gnawing the rope as close to my collar as he could get. My mind was racing. This was no dream, no nightmare. I had really been framed for this heinous crime and was staring death in the face unless Thorny's plan, whatever it was, succeeded. I had to trust him completely. I felt sick again as I thought of my beloved humans in the house, hating me and fearing me and planning my death. How could the whole world turn so upside-down in only the space of a few hours?

But it was about to get worse. When Thorny had finished with the rope, leaving only a few inches of it hanging from my collar, he stared at me intensely and said, "Now we have to talk, very quickly, before we can do anything else. There's something you should know before you leave the farm."

"LEAVE the-"

"It's the only way. All that's left for you here is an early death and a bullet in the brain. It's farm protocol, girl; kill an animal or (God forbid) a person, and you are no longer fit to live here. You're a dangerous, wild animal no better than the beasts of the forest, and they will kill you to protect themselves and their way of life."

Thorny had never spoken to me like that before. I whimpered, and if dogs could cry I would have. "But I'm not any of those things, Thorny."

"And all of us know that except the ones that matter. We all love you, Red, and none of us wants to see you die. But the only hope you have is in a place other than this."

"B-but . . . where will I go? I don't know anything about anything out there."

"You could go to Stonewall. There are stray dogs there who could show you how to get by, or maybe another human will take you in. The danger is in the woods between here and there, and the best advice I can give you for that is to be vigilant and avoid all strange animals. . . . Red, have you ever wondered about your past, before the farm?"

The sudden change of subject almost lost me, but I replied with an emphatic "No," because as far as I was concerned, my life had started the day the farmer found me, and I couldn't even remember much of that. Thorny shook his head slowly. "I thought not," he said, "and I really didn't want you to, either, at first. It seemed that you had come out of something horrible, and I didn't want you to have to think about it. But I wondered, as did my brother. Red, when the humans brought you back out of the fields, they had no idea what they were doing, but Briar and I could smell the strange, foreign scents on you. Flowers and trees from some faraway place we'd probably never even heard of, and you yourself smelt like no dog we had ever known. To this day, I don't know what those scents meant. But there was one scent on you that we both recognized immediately – that of an illness."

"I . . . I was sick?" I had known I was scrawny and malnourished back then, but not that I had had an actual illness.

"We thought you could be," said Thorny, "so we watched very closely for the whole first year you were with us; this illness can lie dormant for a long time before it ever shows itself. I knew that sickly-sweet smell right away, but it was so strong that I couldn't tell at first if it was on your breath, which would mean you were infected, or if it was just on your fur, which would mean you were near a sick animal."

I was a bit afraid to ask, but finally I peeped, "What kind of sickness was it, Thorny?"

"A terrible disease called rabies," the Border collie replied. "The symptoms are just like the ones the wolf in your dream exhibits – blind rage, the need to attack everything, foaming at the mouth, no distinction between friend or foe . . . . Rabies can be spread by just the tiniest bite or scratch from an infected animal. All kinds of animals can get it – dogs, wolves, skunks, possums, raccoons. Possibly more than that, even. The sick animals are tormented by pain so that everything is driven from their minds except hate and the need to kill. And eventually, they themselves are killed by the disease."

"That's awful!" I gasped.

"Yes," said Thorny, "and that is what the humans think you have now. That kitten got the name wrong, but she's the one who heard them say it in the first place. When she told it to me, I was reminded of your dream. It's true that I wasn't sure what the dream could mean when you first described it to me, but I had a suspicion; I just didn't say so because I didn't want to worry you."

"Well, you're worrying me now, so spit it out."

"Alright. I don't think that dream of your is just a dream, Red. I think it's a memory."

"Memory?" I asked stupidly.

"A repressed memory from your early puppyhood, before you came here. I think that seeing the black wolf shocked it out of whatever corner of your mind you stored it away in, and now it's able to find its way into your dreams."

I snorted. "No offense, Thorny, but that makes no sense. I didn't even know what a wolf was till last spring."

"You didn't remember, you mean. You weren't a newborn when the farmer found you. You had another home and another life before then, and I think this scene you dream about is quite real. Why else would it come back night after night? It means something. I believe that you really were confronted by this animal when you were a pup – in which case, you're very lucky to be alive – and that the memory of the wolf that almost killed you was so traumatic that you simply forgot it, along with everything else from your past."

I just stared dumbly for a moment, letting this all sink in. Thorny was wise; he always thought hard about things before he said them, so I knew this wasn't just random speculation. "I . . . guess that makes sense. But wolves are so rare. Where would I have come into contact with one?"

"That, I don't know," replied my teacher, looking me in the eye. "After we realized that you were perfectly healthy, Briar and I could relax again. But he still though there was something odd about you, and while I was trying to help you get settled in on the farm, he tried to provoke you to do something with his insults and beatings. I don't know what reaction he was looking for, but he died still looking; you were always such a good dog. My brother obviously had his suspicions about where you came from, but he never told them to me."

We were silent for a moment before Thorny said, "I just wanted you to know that little bit about your past, Red, because I think you have a right to know. And also, I want you to be very careful of the animals in the woods on the way to Stonewall. If you see any of them acting like the dream-wolf, don't fight. Run as fast as you can."

"I don't want to go, Thorny," I whispered shakily. "This is my home."

Thorny, eyes concerned, looked about to speak again when a piercing shout rent the night air and we both turned to see a tiny puff of calico fur bounding toward us from the house. "They're comin'! The humans are comin'!"

"How soon?" Thorny asked urgently as Tsuta skidded to a stop beside him. She looked terribly frightened, as if the gravity of the situation had finally caught up with her. "Now!" cried the kitten. "The farmer has a rifle and Michiru's cryin'! He tried to change their minds, but they won't listen. They think Foxie's too dangerous!"

"This is it, Red," said Thorny, turning to me rapidly. "You have to go now. Go through the forest behind the pasture and don't stop for anything. I'll come with you as far as the gate."

"Is Foxie leaving?" piped Tsuta.

"She has to," the old dog replied.

"I wanna go, too."

"No. Stay here and stall the humans as long as you can."

"How?"

"I don't know! Use that imagination of yours. Come on, Foxfire!" Thorny rarely used my real name, except in very serious matters, so I knew all this was for real. The old dog roughly nudged me to my feet, bumping painfully against my torn skin. The next thing I knew, we were running like the wind across the farmyard with Tsuta's tearful farewell cries echoing behind us. At the pasture gate, Thorny stopped and said, "I have to go back now and help that addle-brained kitten stall the humans. Get as far from here as you can; they'll search the woods for days after this. Just remember what I've taught you and you should be okay."

"Th-Thorny, I-" A gunshot suddenly rang out and we heard the whiz-bang sound of a bullet ricocheting off a tin pail nearby. We both started and looked to see a group of humans approaching rapidly. "They're close!" cried Thorny. "Go! Get on my back and I'll boost you over the fence. And, Red . . . make me proud." He licked my nose affectionately and bent down so I could climb on his back. When I hesitated, he growled at me impatiently and I finally jumped up and launched myself off the Border collie's back and over the fence. I would have turned to look back, but a yell and another gunshot sent me fleeing across the empty pasture.

My brain was numb with fear as I ran. I heard Thorny barking and people yelling behind me, and up ahead the fence and the dark forest were coming up fast. This fence wasn't as high as that of the sheep pen; with a running start, I knew I could jump it. And I did, sailed right over with the ease the black wolf had shown in jumping the taller fence. I landed a bit badly on my right front paw on the other side, but I quickly recovered and raced into the forest with barely a thought, my fear and bewilderment over all that had happened behind me overriding any fear I had of the woods. I ignored the screaming protests of my wounds and the utter darkness all around me, pierced by only an occasional moonbeam that managed to get through what remained of the leaves. I kept running past all of my and Michiru's childhood haunts, past the old log and the blueberry thicket, across the babbling stream and beyond everything I'd ever known.

Before long I was hopelessly lost and unbelievably tired, so I lay heavily down on the ground among the twisted roots of an old tree. My heart and body were in so much pain that I unwittingly gave ardent thanks to the moon when I felt myself slipping into blissful, forgetful sleep.


The woods seemed very quiet the next morning, with only the occasional chirp of a bird or the rustle of a beetle crawling through the fallen leaves. The sky was cloudy and everything seemed bleak, matching my mood perfectly. After rising from my sleeping place and eating some berries I found still clinging to a bush, I continued walking in the same direction I had run last night, away and away from the farm. For a second I considered going back, but the memory of the flashing rifle and the exploding gunshots turned me away once again.

As the morning whiled away and I walked as if in a daze, I had a lot of time to think. I though about all that had happened and what could happen now, about what I should do and if there was even a point in trying. In the end, I decided to follow Thorny's advice and go to Stonewall. I walked silently and cast many anxious glances over my shoulder for the black wolf or other imaginary, rabid animals that haunted my steps. About midday, I stopped for a rest by a pond and drank deeply from the cold water. Then I curled up on the bank and lay for a while, trying not to think of anything at all.

I listened to the rumbling motors of a few cars rattling by on the road nearby. I had stumbled upon the road earlier in the day and was using it to guide me to the town, though I stayed hidden in the trees a safe distance away. Suddenly, the relative quiet of the forest was upset by the sound of a snapping twig. My head shot up and I looked around, but I didn't see a soul anywhere. In spite of that, I rose quietly and dashed back into the trees and loped quickly alongside the road for another little while, head down and ears alert.

When I felt I had gone far enough, I stopped and listened again. All was still and I began to sigh in relief when – "So, we meet again," said a voice deep and smooth as a river's roar. I spun around to face the speaker, and lo and behold, the white-eyed wolf was perched on the huge root of a fallen tree nearby and grinning at me in a most annoying fashion. The daylight showed him more plainly than the moonlight did, so he didn't glow now although he still had an otherworldly beauty. And his white eyes shone with amusement now, not hatred. But that didn't change my feelings about him one bit. "You!" I growled vehemently. "You evil, loathsome, slimy, vicious CREEP! I am so sick of seeing your face! How dare you come near me again?"

I would have liked to come up with a more intelligent bunch of insults, but nothing better came to mind. "My, my, Foxfire," said the wolf coolly, "I didn't know you had such a colorful vocabulary. Is that what they teach you on those human farms?"

"How do you know my name?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"I know a lot about you," he replied. "I've been watching you, remember, which I wouldn't have needed to do if you'd be a little more cooperative. But after that outburst the first night I came to get you, and after I saw that you'd never leave the humans willingly, I knew drastic measures were called for."

"Why would you want me to leave?"

"You are needed. You have a destiny to fulfill, due to a promise you made years ago. The humans were only meant to raise you until you were strong enough and until the proper time was at hand. I was ordered to fetch you back from them, because that time is now."

"What? What promise? What destiny? Ordered by whom? You can't hold me to something I don't even remember."

The wolf laughed. "Of course I can. It's much too important to let a little thing like a bad memory get in the way. But that's the humans' fault, not yours, and it will soon be fixed as I said before. I'm sorry, but I can't tell you anything more right now simply because you don't remember. You're going to have to go along as best you can and regain your memories yourself. For me to tell you would be too much of a shock and I doubt you'd believe me. It's like waking a sleepwalker, you know; you shouldn't do it, it's bad for their minds." He swished his tail elegantly and added, "But that's neither here nor there at the moment; I'm just here right now to tell you not to follow this road."

That was the last straw. "The hell I'm not!" I blurted out. "I'm not getting lost again, pal. I'm going to Stonewall to find myself a new human, so you can just leave me alone before I tear your ears off! I don't trust you, I don't believe you, and I wouldn't follow your directions to save my life." The wolf just sighed and looked up at the sky. "You see what I mean?" he said to the cloudy air. "She's impossible to reason with." I took that opportunity to turn and creep away down the road, but I hadn't gotten very far when the wolf suddenly bounded in front of me, blocking my escape and locking his eyes with mine. He was so close I could smell him – clean grass and rain clouds and several other mysterious, but not unpleasant, scents I couldn't identify.

"Get out of the way," I growled in a tense voice, paralyzed by his eyes.

"But this isn't the way," he said softly. "You must go away from the road, into the hills. You're a very clever girl, Foxfire, but you can't fool me. You're going where I tell you whether you like it or not, and it can be painless or difficult. You choose, but I recommend you just go along quietly." We just stood there staring at each other for many minutes in a silent battle, during which even the birds and cars seemed to cease their noise and wait tensely, until I felt my head nod slightly, once, twice. The wolf grinned again and swished his tail in triumph, releasing me from his gaze. We both relaxed and I felt like a stupid sheep who'd just been tricked by a cunning shepherd, but I still had a few tricks of my own left, if I could regain my wits fast enough.

"Good girl," said the wolf. "Now follow me." He turned and took a few steps before I got my voice back enough to speak and buy myself some time. "Who . . . who are you, anyway?" I asked with an effort. The wolf stopped and looked at me over his shoulder for a moment before saying, "I have many names, but you may call me . . . Getsuei." Getsuei. Moonlight. Somehow it fit him perfectly. Having said this, Getsuei turned back around and continued on his way, obviously expecting me to follow. I hesitated a moment, torn between my desire to escape the wolf's thrall and fear over what I was about to do, but since I realized this was my only chance, I threw caution to the wind for once and jumped onto the wolf's back, sinking my teeth into his shoulder.

It wasn't one of the smartest things I've ever done, I admit, but hey, I was desperate and he wasn't just going to let me run away. I had to deal with him first. Unfortunately, this wolf was not so easy to overcome. He flipped me almost without trying onto my back and pinned me, his paws and all his weight bearing down painfully on my bleeding flesh. I twisted madly and tried to bite him, snarling as if crazed. "Let me GO!" I cried. The movement and the weight hurt me so much that I broke off snarling for a second to let out a sharp whine as my shoulder throbbed. Getsuei grinned and said, "It's always got to be the hard way with you, doesn't it? You're really in no condition for a fight."

"Let GO!" I cried again, and gathering my little remaining strength, I put all my paws under the wolf and shoved upward with all my might. I didn't realize that he was way too easy to throw off, so glad was I to be able to bite him again in the other shoulder. Getsuei yelped and struck me hard in the face with a strong forepaw so I stumbled, then turned and ran into the denser trees away from the road. I gave chase, not realizing where we were going or that my gums were bleeding and all my other wounds were open again. I chased the wolf for a great distance, dodging trees and bushes and kicking up crackling brown leaves. Sometimes I caught up to him and pounced again, and we would tumble along in a ball of teeth and claws and flying fur till one or the other broke away; other times he was a few feet in front of me, white tail like a flashing beacon, leading me on. But always we were traveling in about the same direction.

We were running alongside a huge, almost vertical rock face that rose up out of the forest floor when Getsuei effectively ended the chase by crouching and jumping, or should I say practically flying, all the way up to the top of the rise. I tripped and went rolling through the leaves before struggling to my feet and glaring up at him. It was ridiculous. How had he done that? The wall was easily as high as the farmhouse stacked on top of itself three or four times. More wolf magic? "Hey," I shouted up at him, hobbling over so I was below the wolf and favoring my right front paw, which had gotten hurt when I fell, "get back down here!"

Getsuei just stood looking down at me smugly. "Gotcha," he called down.

"Oh yeah?" I shouted, voice echoing off the rock. "You just wait. That wall's not so steep, I can climb it! I'll be up there in, uh . . . a few minutes, so get ready to have your ass kicked!"

I started toward the wall when Getsuei's voice made me pause. "Uh-uh, I wouldn't come any closer if I were you. Just stand there and wait. You'll be sorry if you don't."

"Really?" I asked sarcastically.

"Really."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't care for your threats. You may have a height advantage, and you can come down here and kill me if you want to, but I'm gonna take at least a few chunks outta your flea-bitten hide before I go!"

"For the last time, I'm not going to kill you." He should've realized he could say that all he wanted and I still wouldn't believe him. "And I really think you should reconsider."

"Oh, you do, huh?" I yelled up at him. "Well, too bad!" I ran toward the wall on three legs, fully intending to claw my way up there if it killed me (and it probably would), when ten feet away from it, I felt the ground give slightly under my paws and groan under my weight. I stopped dead still with shock written all over my face and Getsuei began to laugh. "You bastard!" I yelled at him. "What did you do!"

"I warned you, is what I did," he replied. "I told you to take the easy way, Foxfire, but you didn't listen." He swished his tail again and cocked his head at me. "Well, my work here is done for now. See you later."

"Don't you dare leave me here, you . . . you," I sputtered, trailing off as the black wolf seemed to dissolve into a cloud of smoke before my eyes and was blown away by the wind. Don't ask me how that's possible; I'm just saying what I saw. In any case, I was now alone. I continued to stare dumbly at the spot where the wolf had been until the ground suddenly gave way a little more with a louder groan. My gaze snapped down to the ground and I saw how it dipped and shuddered. I stood tense and still, but it wouldn't do any good.

"Shit," I said simply, and a moment later the earth gave way completely and I was falling among a cloud of debris to my death. That damn wolf had tricked me again.