Chapter 18
• Kangon •
The wolf village as Seth put it, was actually a real village. As Gwyl was sitting in a tree looking down at it, he realized that he was half right about his assumption. They were part wolf, like Remus had been, but they were different than Remus as well as every other human that Gwyl had ever met. The village wasn't very complex at all, a few small wooden structures that reminded Gwyl of the hut he'd tried to make, but given up on and some caves in the cliffs that the village was up against.
There were only a few humans walking around, and every single one of them was a werewolf as far as Gwyl could tell. He wasn't positive if all of them were werewolves, and he wasn't about to get any closer to find out. It was lucky enough that they were downwind when they'd approached or their presence would have already been known. Gwyl had been cautious – but not cautious enough.
"They are werewolves," Gwyl hissed to Seth, who was curled around the tree below him. Stray was next to him, but the wolves and leopards were a little further behind them, where Seth didn't bother them as much. Even though he wasn't a threat as they'd originally thought, the leopards still didn't like him much.
Seth nodded again, slightly confused. "You are not one of them?" he asked.
Shaking his head, Gwyl turned back to stare at the village. "They are human, I am not human; I am pack."
"You look human, you do not look like a wolf," Seth pointed out. "You sssmell like... wolf, but you do not sssmell like human. I thought you were one of them. I am sssorry."
Putting away the anger, Gwyl continued to watch, he was curious about their odd behavior. They were not acting like humans, it looked like they were getting ready to feast. He could smell the scent of a kill and there had been a call for all the pack to come in. Most of them had scampered out of the cave. Several adults came out, but most were pups. Few wore more than just a piece of leather hung around their waste or over their shoulders. Most of them had grown long hair, but had tied it back like Stray had once done.
When the food was brought from the hut where it had been kept Gwyl noticed that it was only partially cooked, some of it was still raw. They were not eating like humans either. He did not understand how these wolves could be so different. Remus had acted just like a human; the food he ate, the movements he made, even his speech, yet these werewolves acted more like pack. They howled greetings and ate their food nearly raw. They're movements were much smoother and quicker; Gwyl knew he'd rather not fight these wolves. They were much different than the humans.
Something growled behind Gwyl, something near Dog. Gwyl leapt from his branch and grabbed for another, swinging higher into the trees where he could move better. Stray was close behind him. Seth stayed simply because Gwyl ordered it. As he moved beyond Seth's sight, he didn't want the Leopards hissing and trying to fight; it might give away their position if it wasn't compromised already.
As it turned out, it didn't matter. The wolves and leopards were being attacked by three of the werewolves who seemed to have snuck up on them. When they got there, Dog had been injured badly and Silver was fighting one of the werewolves by herself while the leopards were fighting the other two.
Gwyl was enraged, even though they had been the ones to invade the werewolves' territory they'd meant no harm by it, and had done nothing to elicit anger.
Growling, Gwyl dropped onto the nearest werewolf, the one fighting with Silver. As he dropped he pulled his knife from its holster and before the wolf could react he had it pressed against the wolf's throat, growling.
"We have done you no harm," Stray said, dropping in front of him, whip in hand, and ready to use it on the others. "Call off your men."
The werewolf seemed surprised, and looked to the other two who'd been fighting with him, both who'd faltered and been pinned by the leopards. Stray snapped at the leopards and they backed away, furious that they weren't able to finish off their prey.
"We not so good English," one of the men lying on the ground said shakily. "Need get ... jefe... eh... big man."
"Need translator?" Stray asked, a little confused at what the werewolf was trying to say. The man nodded quickly.
"Gwyl?" she growled under her breath, seeing if he approved of letting one of them go.
Thinking for a minute Gwyl nodded. "Go," he said brusquely, still holding the knife to his prisoner's throat. "Fast."
The werewolf who'd spoken stood slowly, edging around the snarling leopards and took off at a run directly for the village. "They not understand?" Gwyl asked Stray once the man had disappeared. She shook her head.
Nodding, Gwyl pushed the werewolf in front of him to the ground with some difficulty. He growled for Silver and she limped over, having hurt one of her legs. A second growl and Silver put her mouth around his neck as Gwyl pulled the knife away. "I go watch," Gwyl said and with a leap disappeared into the trees.
The two werewolves were more than just frightened; they'd never seen such a sight before. The beast that had attacked them was tiny – almost as small as one of their pups and yet in only a moment it had incapacitated one of their own and turned the fight around in an instant. What bothered them most was that he had appeared, like a ghost, and then a minute later had disappeared almost as fast.
Gwyl had a hard time catching the man who'd run off, but he caught sight of him before he entered the village. The man was so scared he ran right past Seth without even noticing the huge snake. Gwyl thought it was stupid, even when being afraid, one should always watch their surroundings.
The sight of one of their own, running scared and alone, surprised the already gathered pack. Gwyl watched as one of the werewolves spoke rapidly in a language Gwyl could not understand. One of the men, who'd stood immediately upon the wild entry, nodded his head and three more werewolves stood with him. There was a quick bark of orders and two of the men sprinted off to the right, Gwyl knew exactly what they were doing. The three remaining werewolves (one of them being the man who'd returned to get the leader) headed towards the path where Gwyl was hidden.
"Seth," Gwyl said, turning to the snake that had not moved since he'd been told not to. "Go to the pack and stay with them until I come. They are trying to ambush us, so watch carefully, alert them if someone is coming."
Seth nodded and uncurled himself from the tree, slipping down the path before the three wolves appeared.
As quickly as possible Gwyl took off after the other werewolves, they would not sneak up on his pack without him having something to say about it. The two were difficult to catch, they ran almost as fast as Gwyl, but they were not on a path and Gwyl was among the trees, where he had a much clearer path. He did catch up to them and had his rope ready when he did. The werewolf in the rear never knew what hit him. One moment he was running and the next something caught him around the chest, flung him into the air and slammed him into a nearby tree. Regretfully the capture made noise and the second wolf turned in time to dodge a rock that Gwyl had flung at him.
The wolf slipped into the underbrush, looking to the trees because he had judged where the rock had come from extremely accurately. Gwyl moved fast enough to escape his site, but he was sure the werewolf knew he was there. As quietly as possible Gwyl circled around, moving to the tree where the other werewolf had been flung. He was half-conscious when Gwyl slipped down beside him, which amazed Gwyl, but he wasn't conscious enough to realize Gwyl was the enemy. Before he could speak Gwyl had struck him in the back of the head, knocking him out completely. He checked over the man, making sure that he had no wand-stick, though he doubted it. Then, once he'd done that he laid the man out and tied him up with thin vines that had been surrounding them. Gwyl doubted it'd last if the werewolf awoke, but it was the best he could do.
The other wolf had moved when Gwyl made it back into the trees, his capture over his shoulder. So Gwyl dumped the man between two branches, wedging him in, and then moved around again, looking for his target.
The wolf was good, he had hidden in a clump of brush that looked to small to hold him, but he wasn't perfect, and Gwyl caught his scent and eventually got a glimpse of the werewolf. Still enraged that they were trying to sneak up on his pack, Gwyl let two rocks fly, one after another, trying to severely damage his opponent. The man was quick though and dodged both just from the sound they made. There was no way he could have turned fast enough to see them. Gwyl grimaced; he was going to have to do something different.
Slipping down to a nearby tree, Gwyl hooked his rope onto some bushes, and then he moved back into the trees, wrapping his rope around different branches as he did. He scampered along through the trees, keeping out of site, and dropped down opposite the wolf, giving himself a good bit of room. He yanked his rope several times, making the bush opposite him shake. Like he had planed, the werewolf turned away from him. Gwyl waited a moment, letting the wolf focus on the bush before shaking it again.
Immediately the wolf was sprinting forward, trying to catch Gwyl, but Gwyl followed along faster. He sprang to a tree, used his weight to throw himself over the attacker and whipped out his knife, burying it in the leg of his opponent. The man fell, screaming inhumanly, and Gwyl had another knife in his hand instantly, ready to attack.
The movement of the man had made the attack twice as bad as Gwyl had thought it would be, and he could see that the man's leg had been slit well open because of the movement of the knife. He wasn't going anywhere. Grinning Gwyl growled and shot forward, ripping the knife from the man and then heading back towards the pack after getting his bearings.
When Gwyl dropped from the trees he could see that the leader had just barely gotten there, he seemed a little tense, as if he knew his men hadn't made it and Gwyl growled to Silver, warning her that the man may not have good intentions.
Stray had been introducing the pack, but stopped and looked to Gwyl expectantly. Ashes was sitting on her shoulder and Gwyl smiled at the bird, happy it had finally quit sleeping – it had slept through the whole journey in a small box on top of the bag they'd been carrying. He growled a warning again, then hissed it so that Stray understood as best as he could make her. Seth was curled up at the edge of the pack directly across from the leopards, watching carefully.
"Thank you Seth," Gwyl hissed once he'd caught his breath and eyed the men. "I caught the others."
Seth bowed slightly, and then turned his eyes back on the group. The leader of the wolves was staring at Gwyl, wide-eyed, not scared, but extremely startled. Gwyl wondered why so many people did not understand him talking to snakes, but put it to the back of his mind.
"You attack us," Gwyl growled in English to the man. "Why?"
"He is your leader?" the werewolf asked Stray directly.
"He is Gwyl," she answered back.
Not caring for formal introductions, Gwyl growled. "You talk to Gwyl!" he snarled at the man. "You send men to attack us and then we want talk and you send more men to hunt us."
"You saw that did you?" the leader asked, a little surprised, but more worried now. "Where are they?"
"In jungle," Gwyl growled. "Leave alive."
"If you kill either of them..." the man said in a warning tone, the edge of his voice almost a growl.
"They hunt us, so I hunt them." Gwyl replied simply. "Still alive," he added with a smirk. "Hurt, but alive."
The man looked stunned, even more so than when Gwyl had spoken with Seth. He looked to his men, one of which was still in Silvers jaws, and then back to Gwyl. "We are sorry," he said quietly. "we do not usually receive people in this area, and animals are well aware of our hunting grounds and stay clear of them. When they come, we must make them leave, we did not mean any harm to your pack, nor did we mean any disrespect."
"We did not come to fight," Stray said, pulling the man's attention from Gwyl for a moment. "But you injured us..." she paused as the bushes rustled. Two men came limping out into the path, one barely able to walk and using the other as a crutch. Gwyl bristled; he'd hurt the men brutally. They shouldn't be able to stand, let alone walk, but they were there, beaten, but still walking.
One of the men spoke loudly in the same language that the men had spoken earlier. The leader listened until the man had finished and then turned to Gwyl. "You did this alone?" he asked, hesitantly. Gwyl nodded.
The man seemed flustered, as if he couldn't decide exactly how to react, but he finally closed his eyes, sighed and looked directly at Gwyl. "Your grievances are just, we attacked you without warning, you are new to this area and do not know territories or laws and you were coming to us to talk. We offer you a place to stay and food to eat while your wolf heals."
Stray nodded her head to Gwyl who wasn't sure what to say, he didn't like humans, but they weren't just humans either, they were pack and acted like pack most of the time at least.
"Seth," Gwyl hissed. "Can these werewolves be trusted?"
"Yesss," Seth responded, unwinding himself slowly. "They are well ressspected within the jungle."
Nodding Gwyl turned to Stray, giving her the faintest nod. She understood of course, but waited. With a yip, Silver released the man lying on the ground, the leopards backed away from the pinned man and Gwyl sheathed the bloody knife he'd been holding. Both of the imprisoned men backed away slowly, one of them with teeth marks lacing his neck, blood dripping from a few of them.
"We accept your hospitality," Stray said stiffly, holding her hand out. The leopards slipped in around her and the werewolf leader watched as Gwyl moved to Dog, who had been trying to keep from whining, he touched Dog gently, finding all his wounds, and then lifted him.
"You have healers?" Gwyl asked, easily holding dog in his arms even though Dog was nearly the same size.
"Yes," the man said. "We do."
The village was a short walk, but Gwyl had been running around for almost an hour and wasn't up to taking Dog the whole way. Partway there he slowed and one of the werewolves offered to take Dog, Gwyl snarled at them though, only giving him up when Stray growled her disapproval and took Dog herself.
The village was a little uneasy when Gwyl entered flanked by Stray, Silver, Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad, and Seth. They saw their leader following close behind and some seemed a little relieved, others seemed even more nervous about the newcomers. "You may place him on the table," the leader said as they neared an empty table at the center of the encampment. He barked a few harsh words and someone rushed forward, while another person ran off into the cave, presumably to fetch something or someone.
Most of the villagers seemed frightened of Seth more than any of the other newcomers and Gwyl turned to him. "Can you wait at the edge of camp for a while?" he asked Seth.
Seth nodded and turned slowly, moving lazily into a shaded area of trees where he was protected from the sun. Gwyl smiled and turned back to the villagers, he didn't like them very much, but they were much better than normal humans. He would have to deal with it until Dog was healed. He was also glad that Seth had become such a friend in a matter of hours, saving them of a blood bath more than once already, simply because of his threatening demeanor. It wasn't that Gwyl trusted him completely yet, but he trusted him a great deal more than anyone else he'd met so far.
"You control the snake?" the leader asked near Gwyl, his voice not in a whisper, but still just as quiet. Gwyl nodded, he was having a hard time dealing with the man, partly because he was human, and partly because he wasn't human. To Gwyl he hadn't vocally challenged his Dominance, but he had tried to undermine it and now still seemed unable to accept it. Had there not been a village of werewolves that might attack him, or had Dog not been so badly injured Gwyl might challenge the wolf right there.
"He is friend."
"He helped us get away from the centaurs when they threatened us earlier." Stray said, moving to Gwyl now that someone was taking care of Dog. She was still glancing that way, almost afraid to let Dog out of her sight. Gwyl was not afraid for Dog though, he knew that the pack was part wolf, and they were honorable to some degree, the leader had promised to heal dog and would do it.
"Stupid centaurs," Gwyl growled. "Want to kill because old centaurs allow us to come."
"The old elders knew of your coming?" the man asked, surprised.
Stray nodded. "They overthrew the elders and want nothing to do with the things the elders taught. Though we had nothing to do with them other than we had been accepted to enter these lands... well they greeted us with a great deal of hostility. Seth told us to come here, though he obviously was mistaken."
Someone growled and the leaders head snapped to the voice, the growling stopped. "I must truly insist we meant you no harm, we did not realize that the animals had companions, we simply thought they were hunting on our grounds."
"Wolf and leopard hunting together?" Stray snapped, as irritated as Gwyl was.
"Yes, well, those who saw them thought it a bit strange, but did not inform anyone else, they simply took it upon themselves to drive out the animals."
The werewolf who'd disappeared a few minutes before came running out with a cloth and, irritated, Gwyl went to see Dog being treated. He didn't want to be around the humans, or talk to them, but he knew he could not help heal Dog as well as they could, so he had decided to accept it at least until Dog was healed well enough to leave with them.
One of the rags that the werewolf was holding remind Gwyl of something that nipped at the back of his mind, something he'd seen before. They used the rag to dab at Dog's wound and then they used another to place a green substance of some sort onto Dog. It was the smell of the elixir that helped Gwyl connect it with the memory. He too had once been almost as beaten as Dog. It was when he'd fought one of the spiders that was attacking the pack. The potion smelled exactly the same as the one that had been used on him. As the lady went to use a third rag Gwyl snatched it from her, sniffing it, and then looked hurriedly towards the cave. He knew that scent.
Completely catching everyone off guard, and before anyone could stop him Gwyl hurdled the table and darted towards the caves.
Several people where hot on his tail as he entered them, but he kept running. "Firenze!" he yelled several times, trying to catch the scent of his friend again.
He continued deeper, getting into an area where it was almost completely dark and he yelled out again, but this time there was an answer. "Harry!" the voice said and Gwyl could hear the trampling of hooves.
A torch was lit and Gwyl saw that there were several Centaurs, most of them quite aged, standing in the back of one of the side caves, the only one that was moving was Firenze, who looked peaked, but rougher than Gwyl remembered.
They hugged for a moment and Gwyl broke away. "Not Harry, Gwyl now, Gwyl the Wolf-Demon. Herd give new name."
"Well, growing to quite a spry young colt I see," Firenze said happily. "I hear you've cleared my name."
"Firenze save Gwyl, Gwyl save Firenze."
Several of the werewolves that had been chasing Gwyl rounded the corner, some of them armed. "It's alright," Firenze said then turned to one of the other centaurs. "Tell them Gwyl's a friend of mine."
The werewolves had almost surrounded Gwyl when one of the other centaurs spoke, using the same harsh language that the leader and the rest of the werewolves spoke with. The werewolves backed down and several of the centaurs stepped forward.
"You are Gwyl?" one of them asked astonished. "The one who was sent by Chefmith?"
"Father sent you here of all places? What was he thinking?" Firenze moaned, tugging on his ears. "This is the worst place he could have sent you. Why did he do it?"
"Humans hunt Gwyl and Stray."
"Who's Stray?" Firenze asked curiously.
Remembering that Firenze had never met Stray Gwyl turned sharply and let out a bark that echoed through the caves. It took a few minutes, but she appeared. Gwyl was speaking to Firenze about the evil wizards when she arrived.
"Stray, this Firenze. Firenze, this Stray." Gwyl said. Firenze seemed astonished at her appearance, and even went so far as to reach out and touch her hair.
"You're almost a mirror image of Gwyl," he said in awe. He smiled when she nodded furiously and then something dawned on him. "You're a girl!" he exclaimed when he noticed that she was clothed slightly different.
She nodded just as happily, excited to finally meet Firenze, Gwyl's second friend from the forest. He started to say something, but looked to Gwyl and stopped.
"You must return through the caves, go elsewhere, it is not safe here, the herd seeks us."
"They elders?" Gwyl said, pointing to the other centaurs that were watching, fascinated. Few of them spoke English, but they simply conversed between themselves or had one of the elders translate who did speak English. It didn't take long for the whole story to unfold, how there had been a Centaur who'd been abolished from the herd because of his outspoken ways, and he'd taken several with him. They didn't all go though, and after almost a year had passed the centaur had returned with a dragon on his side, easily vanquishing the elders who stayed and fought. The rest of them had fled and found refuge here, in a place where the new leader would not look to find them.
Apparently Dia's father, whom Firenze called Dammel, had stayed to keep track of what was going on, and keep the elders informed. He had been unable to find Firenze when he'd first come and would not leave until he did. The problem was that Firenze was hiding with the werewolves too, long before the young centaur had returned, he'd spent a good deal of time learning about them and their life. Since he'd been cut off from the centaurs he had decided to make the best of his life outside, that had been why he'd come to the village.
"Kangon took me in," Firenze explained, pointing out the lead-werewolf who'd been listening for quite some time. "He helped me keep hidden when the centaurs came looking, I did not know they wanted to do anything other than to kill me. I had disobeyed the herd's rules and when I came to this land I was looked down upon. I knew it was only a matter of time before they decided it was best to not let me live in misery."
"You are the young man he speaks of in his stories," Kangon pointed out. "Had I known such a thing I would have welcomed you with open arms. You are kindred, though how you have become such without becoming a werewolf I do not understand. Even we cannot simply speak with the wolves of the jungle, few as they are, we rarely see them."
"Scare them off," Gwyl said, "kill them, they not come."
"Harry!" Firenze exclaimed harshly and Gwyl growled, partly at his own name and partly at Kangon who was staring at him.
"No, he's right," Kangon said, meeting Gwyl's stare and growling a warning. He knew the challenge, and though he didn't want to kill the boy he wouldn't back down.
Gwyl moved quicker than Kangon could and there was a knife that caught the edge of the cloak Kangon wore, it buried itself into the shelf that Kangon had been standing next to, splitting the clay in half, and bringing a row of pottery down on Kangon's back. Two of the men who'd followed Kangon drew weapons, one of them a sword and another a tiny rod that looked harmless, but Gwyl doubted it was.
Kangon held out his hand and the men withdrew. "I deserved that I suppose," he said after he'd stood again, not angry by any means. He pulled his cloak to the side, revealing the cut that he'd received, it had barely caught his arm in the movement, but it had cut him still. Gwyl was surprised he'd taken the attack so well. "It is customary to allow you to show your anger at me through other means, but that will do." To Gwyl's even greater surprise the wound was already healing, mending itself almost as fast as the blood flowed.
"You have never encountered werewolves?" Kangon asked as he saw the astonishment on Gwyl's face.
"Not hurt them," Gwyl said quietly, watching still. "They move fast, strong, have good senses, not see heal."
"Then you have encountered our brethren."
"Not like you," Gwyl said quickly. "Wizard, Human, not like wolf."
Stray, who'd been quite up to now explained. "Gwyl met a werewolf in wolf form once, helped him escape wizards, but the only werewolf he's known that looked like you was a wizard and acted very much human. He was able to do things humans could not do, but he was very much different from the werewolves who live in this village."
Gwyl nodded, he'd spoken to Stray, mostly in English, but in the wolf language too, explaining what had happened while he was in the castle. He was happy she'd understood how it had happened so well.
"It is a shame there are those who have been given the gift and hide who they are," Kangon said. "It is much harder when you do not accept who you are."
Someone approached and murmured something. Kangon nodded and then turned to Gwyl. "Food has been prepared for your pack, it is available when ever you would like to eat." Gwyl nodded, he was hungry, and the food that their pack had been eating earlier had reminded him briefly of that. Now was a good time to eat.
The leopards and Silver had found a place near Seth to rest. It was in the trees and out of the rain that had started to fall. It wasn't far from the caves and Gwyl marched out to them, happy to see that the group was getting along. He was sure the leopards realized that Seth was the lesser of the two to be afraid of, even if he was an enemy to them. They rose to meet him and Gwyl sent them to the caves where Stray waited, standing over a pile of large fish. The leopards tore into them without hesitation, as did Silver, Gwyl was happy that they were being fed, but he turned to Seth, concerned. "Do you need to eat as well?" he hissed.
Seth raised his head, yawning bearing a row of teeth that looked anything but friendly, he seemed to have been half asleep. "No," he hissed in return. "I have eaten my meal for today."
Gwyl nodded and then returned to eat with the rest of the pack.
•