Note: This chapter takes place after The Immortals: The Realms of the Gods and before Protector of the Small: First Test. If you have not read those stories, it's okay because any events that took place during those books will be described if need be in this chapter when the time arises.
451-452 H.E. Rescue
He ran, not looking back and barely watching where he was going. It was dark, too dark. It was the middle of the night and all he had with him was a sack stuffed with two changes of clothes (for he only had three sets, one of which he was wearing now), a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, and a small chunk of ham (all of these he had stolen from the kitchens). He had no weapons or money, both of which he had never owned in his life.
He was stumbling along blindly when he tripped over something. His bag of belongings was flung away from him and he fell flat on his face. What it was he had tripped over, he couldn't tell. All he knew, though, was that his ankle hurt badly and that he was stuck here until someone could rescue him. He began to weep, for it seemed that was all he could do at the moment. After a while, he finally managed to sleep.
He woke with a start. There was something rustling nearby. He looked around; daylight was just beginning to come up over the horizon so he could just make out every shape around him. There; that bush was where the rustling was coming from. The bush rustled again. Now he was afraid. Suddenly, a face popped from the bush. It was furry and dog-like (little did he know that it was actually a wolf), and it was carrying something in its mouth. It was his sack.
The dog-thing came trotting over and dropped the sack by his feet, then proceeded to lick his face. He put his arms around the dog-thing as it continued to wash his face with dog-thing kisses. Then, the dog-thing stopped and looked at the boy. The boy was small and his shaggy hair flopped over his face. His clothes were a mess; they were all torn and dirt-smudged. His shoes were in no better condition. The boy now looked at the dog-thing, too. It was brown and gray with a black ring around his nose.
Short Snout the wolf nudged the boy with his nose. He figured that the boy was light enough to rest on his back, so he pushed against the boy's body until the boy was pushed safely over the wolf's back. With that, he picked up the sack in his mouth and walked off.
They arrived some minutes later at the mouth of a cave. Short Snout entered and lay down, letting the boy slide gently off his back. He dropped the boy's sack beside him. Now the boy wasn't scared anymore. The dog-thing had saved him. Now he could tend to his ankle. As he was gingerly removing his shoe, he realized that now it was only bruised. It was not twisted like he had thought last night.
The wolves were looking at him. Now he noticed that besides the one that had rescued him, there were several more in the cave. They were of all sorts of colors: black, gray, brown, and even russet-colored. "Thank you," he whispered to the wolves. He didn't expect them to understand, but they surprised him by bowing their heads for a brief moment in a wolf "you're welcome."
He opened his pack that was beside him and brought out the ham, bread, and cheese. He first offered some to the wolves, who, once again, surprised him by shaking their head. So, he broke off a few pieces of each food and began to eat.
While he was eating, four of the wolves went outside. One was Short Snout. The other three had been in the cave when Short Snout had returned. One of these now stepped forward to speak to the other three wolves. He was gray and black and seemed to be in charge. We can't keep him, he said. We need help. He is not of our kind and he is young. I doubt he is experienced in survival and I don't think we can teach him. Sharp Nose, Fleetfoot, I need you to go find our Pack-Sister. She can help us. She will know what to do. Go now. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can help the boy.
The two wolves, Fleetfoot and Sharp Nose, nodded and left in search of their Pack-Sister. They had not seen her in a while and therefore did not know where she was. Short Snout and Brokefang, the leader, stayed behind to watch them go. We need to hunt. There is not enough food for the boy. He will starve if we do not help him now, said Short Snout. Brokefang agreed and they both went into the cave to tell the others it was time to hunt. Short Snout stayed with the boy.
Meanwhile, Fleetfoot and Sharp Nose had stopped for a break in their search. Suddenly, Fleetfoot had an idea. They were near Maura's home. They could find help there. They began to run towards the castle. They found a small wooden house just outside the wall and ran up to the door. They began to scratch and whine until someone opened it.
"Well, what's all this, now? Callin' on a man during his breakfast?" The man looked out and saw the wolves. "Oh, it's just you." The wolves whined and barked some more until the man finally said, "What do ye want?" The two wolves ran down the path then stopped. Then they ran back a bit to wait for the man. "Ye want me to follow you?" The wolves barked and ran down the path a bit more, before stopping to wait again. "All right, all right. Let me get my bow." The man disappeared into the house for a moment and re-emerged with a crossbow in his hand.
They led the man down the path until they came to their cave. It was empty. There wasn't a scrap of evidence to show that a pack of wolves had been there only two hours before. Fleetfoot whined. Where was the pack? Where was the boy? They began to sniff around to pick up the pack's trail. There wasn't one. The wolves had erased their scent to prevent people from following them. Now how were they going to tell the man to find their Pack-Sister? The wolves had taken her box of things with them so now they couldn't show the man. "What is it, Fleetfoot? Sharp Nose, what's wrong?" asked the man, feeling worried. He bent down to reassure the wolves that all was not lost. Their pack could still be found. They couldn't be too far away.
Meanwhile, the pack was on the move. The boy had told them people would be after him. They had picked up everything that was in the cave that belonged to them and left. They had covered their feet with pine sap to disguise their scent and then had taken to the water as soon as they reached the stream. They knew that Fleetfoot and Sharp Nose would eventually find them so they did not worry. The boy was with them, walking slowly and leaning on a stick so that his bruised foot would not become worse. They were headed for a set of caverns where they could stay for a while. It wasn't too far, just a day or two's walk from their current cave. If they didn't have the boy with them, it would have taken a far shorter time. They could have run the entire way.
Fleetfoot was at a loss. She did not know where the pack had gone. Then she got an idea. They're headed for the caverns! she cried. Of course! exclaimed Sharp Nose. He saw the pouch on the man's belt and pawed it. The man emptied the contents to the ground and Sharp Nose picked up the folded paper that he knew to be a map. As a hunter, this man carried with him all sorts of gadgets to help him navigate. Sharp Nose pawed the map until the man opened it. Fleetfoot pointed then with a claw to the caverns. This was something her Pack-Sister had taught her. She now knew where certain locations were when they were drawn on a map. She barked.
"They're headed for the caverns, are they?" The wolves nodded. "Then I'm going to need more supplies. Wait here until I come back," the man said. He turned and ran back to his house to gather the supplies he needed. Minutes later, he returned, on horseback, to the cave. Together, man and wolves left for the caverns at a fast pace. They would reach the caverns by the end of the day.
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Note: I know there are people out there who read my story who may not review it. Please do review. I promise I won't bite! I promise! Any constructive criticism is welcome, but nothing mean and nasty and hurtful. It will hurt my feelings and I don't want to feel like no one likes me or my stories. So, please, review with your comments and I might email you back with a special thank you! I know people like emails, right? From now on, I'm going to do what so many others do. If I get at least five new reviews for this chapter, I will post as soon as I can. Otherwise, you may just have to wait until I feel like posting again. So, five more reviews or you'll have to wait. Come on, I know you're out there! Until next chapter,
~*Robinwyn*~