Book 7 Of Wolves of the Beyond
*Please Note: Thi isn't the actual book 7,
just my depiction of what it would be like.
Also, Myrrglosch is referred to as Myrr
and I don't have Myrr react to
them like there his
adoptive
parents.
Chapter 1
Dubarin's MacHeath mussel was covered in snow. His left eye opened slightly, and he saw a wolf he recognized as Faolan. He hated him. While Faolan became one of the most well known in The Sacred Watch to have ever graced the Beyond, Dubarin MacHeath was distant from his family, pack, everyone else. He was so hated that he could've been an outcast, if not for him being next in line to be the MacHeath clan chieftain. That is, before all of this destruction happened. The Ring, the volcanoes that held the Ember of Hoole witch the Sacred Watch protected, was erupting, and each wolf was on their own now. The only clan that was still intact was the Namara clan, yet they were fleeing into the outermost.
Dubarin was a Malcahd. He was deformed on the right side of his mussel. Scars and a ripped out eye restricted him from being socially acceptable. He was lowest ranking in the pack, if the other wolves knew about him. The fact that he was next in line to be chieftain made his family members hide him, so no one knew he existed, except for Gyllizard. Gyllizard was the only wolf he met that wasn't in his family, and she told Dubarin stories about Lupin, the wolf god and tales of glory that different wolves have achieved.
As Dubarin layed on the ground of his family's cave, a surge of energy pressed throughout him.
"Lupin… give me strength!" Dubarin muttered.
Nothing.
Then, as if he was struck by lightning, his legs, his paws, his mentality felt different. He felt full of life. His right face was still scarred, but he felt like a different wolf. Standing up and leaving his family's den, The Ring's Volcanoes were erupting, slowly pouring lava onto the snow covered ground.
Owls hovered over volcanoes, hoping to get a good dive at the Ember of Hoole. He paid no attention to them however. He had to keep his head straight. Wolves, owls, bears, even mice knew what was happening. In those few seconds when he got up, the volcano eruptions were getting worse, and worse, and worse. Ash flew into Dubarin's lungs, almost choking him. Just in front of himself, Dubarin saw a weird looking owl bucket to put embers in.
On the pail, there were weird scriptures on it. Trying to make out the symbols that Gyllizard had teached him, he could make out "Oscar, the legendary smith…" Although he didn't know any context, he knew one thing, this was how he would get back at Faolan. He headed towards the direction of The Ring.
Although he had never been out of his den before, Dubarin didn't need anyone to tell him what a volcano looked like. Red-hot lava shot out of them, and all he could do was wobble over to whatever carcasses remained, trying to get a share of food.
The lava began to slow down now. Dubarin felt relieved. Slowly, he got himself to start to jog. As he passed other wolves, he realized how big The Ring was. He was just feet away from the halted lava. As he pressed on, trying to ignore the heat from The Ring, Dubarin found another bucket with the same design on it. "Oscar, the legendary smith…" It looked impeccable to the other bucket he had seen.
This, he thought, Is how I kill Faolan. As the owls circled ahead of Dubarin, he was already thinking of a way to ask one where Oscar was located. Just then, an ember hit him on the head. He felt on to the snow, and his fur where the ember hit him, on the head, was crisp. If there had not been any snow, his scalp would've been burned off, and he would've died from fire.
Dubarin entered a cave. It was a big cave, and he was just about to leave when he heard a voice. I'm sorry Os. I was unable to get any good emb- Ah! He heard an owl screech, and then nothing. As he walked deeper in the cave, he saw the same owl he saw on the dropped buckets. This was weird for the wolf. How was he able to see this? He knew that an ember hit him, but was he able to see other animals.
How was this possible?
But, as he continued to walk toward where he heard that screech from, that thought barely touched his mind. As he turned a corner, he saw a great forge. Just at that moment, the owl that was called Os by the other owl flew right out of Dubarin's chest. He lept back with surprise, backing into a stack of blacksmithing tools, but they didn't fall over.
What is this? He said aloud. Os didn't look up. Am I in a dream? Can I walk through walls? It was just then Os looked at him and said Don't be silly.
He jumped back, astonished, only to see that an owl appeared. Os must be talking to him Dubarin concluded. No one could see him so far, and if that was true, then he could stay for the conversation.
I got some good rocks for you Oscar. Not easy to find, they were high up high in the mountains. I'll come back later for the talons.
So Os was Oscar, he thought. This owl was the owl that he would use to kill Faolan. This was revenge. There was no kindness to him, so why should he show kindness to the world?
He chuckled to himself. Then he laughed. Faolan's life would soon come to an end. Life was becoming too easy for Dubarin. He would get Oscar to forge him a weapon, kill Faolan, then show the entire MacHeath clan what he did. His plan was impeccable. The only thing he needed to know was where this forge was located.
As he walked out of the cave, Dubarin took note of the trees. They looked like pine trees. Tall, with plenty of places to make a nest. Just when he was going back inside, he saw a great oak tree.
What is a great oak doing here? He thought.
He went for a look around, and instantly realized that the pine trees were grown as a landmark. If any incoming owls got lost in this sea of trees, they could find the pine trees and come back to Oscar's forge.
Dubarin, wanting to go back to The Beyond now, started to freak out. He knew where this place was. Just north of him, there was a vast sea, and he could make out an island. Gyllizard had told him of this place. That was the Sea of Hoolemere. The island must be the Island of Hoole.
Everyone, wolves, bears, owls, everyone knew about that island. Where the legend Soran was. Where he trained. Just then, a thought crossed his mind. If he was north of the Island of Hoole, then he was at the Forest Kingdom of Tyto.
Everything was coming into place. Dubarin acknowledged how lucky he was, and thanked Lupin. With how lucky we were, Faolan and everyone else who left with him would die. They would die to the fangs of Dubarin MacHeath.
It was just then that Dubarin MacHeath woke up, smiling. He knew where Oscar was located, and he was going there. He would make something that could kill a wolf, then follow Faolan to the Distant Blue.
As Dubarin entered silverviel, an owl kingdom, his bloodlust grew. He knew he was weak, though, so along the way he hunted small animals, doing it how Gyllizard had told him. He was becoming stronger with each kill, he became more insane, eating bones, the skin, every part of each animal he killed.
He went from lemmings, to mice, to squirrels, to elk. He was killing everything everywhere. I was when he killed another animal, adding to his blood covered mussel when an ear-piercing screech rang out from the sky. Dubarin could see that it was a big owl, with metal talons to pierce skin.
Dubarin's first encounter with an owl, and it was flying fast. Without thinking, Dubarin went to dodge, only to feel pain on his back. Those talons cut his back. The owl screeched, "You are under arrest, authorized by Silverslide, for over killing!"
At this point, Dubarin was mad. He needed to kill this owl, or he would have hundreds flocking him, trying to kill him. It was at this point when he saw an opening. Whenever the owl attacked, she always scratched her metal talons together right before she jumped.
This time, when she attacked, she wasn't so lucky.
After all the killing, most of the snow by his feet was red. His mussel was red. His paws were red. All from blood. But, that didn't mind the wolf. He liked the smell of blood, thinking that he would only wash it off when he got to Oscar's forge. It was at that point when Dubarin started to see flaws in his plans. He would need to travel an already far distance from The Beyond to the Forest Kingdom of Tyto. Then, he would need to travel from Tyto to the Outermost, or to the Distant Blue if he was late.
After his killing spree had cooled down, he was walking along the barrens, a desert which by now was full of snow. When he had crossed from the snowy Barrens to the Forest Kingdom of Ambala, Dubarin stopped at a stream. Gyllizard had never told him about what streams looked like.
In this particular stream, which pours into the Sea of Hoolemere, the water was really cold, but the reflection looked like it was reality. A double reality. Just then, a snowy owl flew down a couple feet from Dubarin.
"Nice day out." He said.
"It would be, but a wolf killed my best lieutenant."
Dubarin stopped still for just a moment, not long enough to look suspicious.
"Why would a wolf do that? We respect owls."
That was a big enough lie on its own, the MacHeaths hated owls.
"That's why I stopped by. I wanted to ask you that. And, if you've seen any rogue wolves?"
"I haven't seen any wolves."
That was the truth, he hadn't seen anyone science the owls attack on him. Dubarin looked at the owl.
"You must be Silverslide."
The owl looked shocked. In that split moment, Dubarin pounced. Silverslide was quick though. She flew up to the sky, the owl's place where she was safe. Dubarin smiled, "well, we finally meet. I've wanted to kill you ever since you sent that brat to kill me."
Silverslide's face showed different expressions at once. Madness, anger, sadness, sorrow, and in that mess of mixed emotions for killing one of her lieutenants. She tried to fly right at his deformed face.
By now, with a lot of practice timing attacks, Dubarin dodged and caught her neck in his mouth with ease, and bit down.
The sound of bones breaking was only there for half a second, but it was satisfying to Dubarin. He wanted more of that. His lust for blood came back, and he was in hunting mode.
All the way from Ambala to the border of Tyto, Dubarin killed every living animal he saw. This time, he didn't eat them. He was hunting like a MacHeath. He hunted for fun, not for food. He felt alive. He felt like this was what he was meant to do. Whether he was a malcahd or not, he felt like he could see how a normal wolf would say, despite having half the vision. He had only hunted for about ten hours, and yet he had perfected his killing technique.
It was almost the middle of the day, and Dubarin had just passed into the Forest Kingdom of Tyto. As he walked passed trees and trees full of nests, he wondered where everyone in his pack was. He had heard his parents talking about defecting to the Shadow Forest or the Outermost, wreaking havoc on every living thing.
Then, he stopped. Dead in his tracks. He saw something, what were they? As he walked closer, he realized what they were. Pine Trees. If any owl got lost, they could use the pine trees to navigate to Oscar's forge. Dubarin had made it in only about eleven hours of time, and yet he didn't feel tired.
A mysterious energy grew in Dubarin. He was here.
Chapter 2
Duabrin slept on top of a small ridge about hundred meters away from the forge. He just had to kill time until he saw Oscar, his hero, and Dubarin only knew one thing about Oscar. He was a black smith. As he slept, he had another dream.
This time, instead of a cave, he was in a tree. He didn't recognize any part of the tree or where he was, which was a small hallway that led to a round circular room. The hallway smelled like wood. Dubarin looked at his legs. They were smaller than he was used to. Then he realized he must be in the tree on the Island of Hoole. It made sense. Last time he slept, when a flying ember hit him, he was in Oscar's forge. Now, he was in the tree. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
It sounded old and fragile. As Dubarin entered the room, he saw Silverslide's body in the middle. It looked preserved in time, but he knew she was dead. All around the room, owls were listening to an old owl. He looked battle torn, like he was a vetran. His feathers had a brownish tint to them, and the facial feathers looked overgrown. It took Dubarin a short time to recognize him as Lyze of Kiel. In a story that Gyllizard had told Dubarin, she had told him of this legendary warrior. He had created the Glauxspeed Division to win the War of the Ice Claws, a war that took place in the northern kingdoms.
Although Dubarin noticed him, he didn't look like he had aged well. Lyze started a small speech, "My dear owls, this is a terrible loss. Silverslide and Hakson were both part of the patrol squads, and they fought and served with passion. H'hera, another owl in our patrol squads found them. Hakson died by a rogue wolf attack in Silverveil. Silverslide died by a snake attack in Tyto…"
At this point in Lyze's speech, Dubarin was cracking up with laughter. They had known that he killed the owl named Hakson in Silverveil, the closed territory to The Beyond, but they hadn't expected a wolf to travel to Tyto, and kill an important owl, especially in only half a day.
Lyze had stopped his speech, when a young barn owl stepped up and asked "Ezylryb, what are we going to do. If there is a wolf in-"
"We shall send our speed and fighting divisions to Silverviel. They will catch him and escort him back to The Beyond or take him out."
By this point in his dream, Dubarin realized two things. The first was that he was safe from the owls. He didn't know how Silverslide had found him. Maybe owl news spread fast, but he was safe for now.
The second thing he noticed was that Lyze had changed his name. It was no longer Lyze, but rather Ezylryb.
It was at that moment when a small, silver feathered owl burst into the room. Her face was scarred, and her talons were broken. "I need Ezylryb in the astronomy nest right now!" The young owl said it with such a force that it felt like it shook the tree.
Reluctantly, Ezylryb got up from where he was perched in the room, flew out the window, and landed on a small nest. For some reason Dubarin didn't know, he was transported to the small astronomy nest with Ezylryb. From here, when Dubarin looked northwest, the direction to The Beyond, he saw small flecks of orange.
The two owls, Ezylryb and the silver feathered one looked threw two pieces of a clear looking material, shaped in such a way that it made The Beyond look bigger. The owls had far more advanced technologies than wolves. Then he saw it.
Volcanoes were squirting out lava. Although it didn't look half bad, considering how the volcanoes looked when he was close to the lava, Dubarin thought that the cooled lava area had expanded. The moon started to come over the horizon. The other owls started to take flight.
It was at that moment when he woke up. Dubarin realized that Oscar would soon be in his forge. With that in mind, he made the small trek to Oscar's forge and waited outside. It was nearly a hour until Dubarin heard the flapping of wings, when Oscar showed up.
Oscar was not what Dubarin had expected. Most smithing owls are owls with generally dark feathers, brown or black. According to Gyllizard, most of them also have long faces with a lot of feathers. They are lean when it comes to size.
However, Oscar was different. He was a snowy owl, he had a short face, his beak wasn't particularly long. In his talons he held a bucket full of coal. Probably for his forge Dubarin thought, not taking another look at it.
"What are you here for?"
When Oscar talked, it sounded deep, like he was old, but in fact, he was very young.
"I'm here to ask for a piece of metal work, only something the greatest blacksmith could ever provide."
"Well then, young fella, you've come to the right place. Welcome, to my forge!"
When he said the last part, Oscar tried to smile. Dubarin knew it was for good intent, but Oscar looked as if he had just been spooked.
Oscar led Dubarin into a part of the forge he did not see in his dream. It was a more lively room, with kettles boiling, pans steaming, and a small area to eat in the middle of the room. As Dubarin looked across the room he noticed how high the walls were. He was able to sit down and Dubarin would still have about four inches of space separating him from the ceiling.
As Dubarin took in the sights of the stone walls, Oscar was busy getting a leave to write what Dubarin wanted him to create. He wasn't sure what size he would need to get, because he had never gotten a wolf to ask him to make something.
When Oscar reappeared with a leaflet in hand, Dubarin knew that this would be too easy. He would have the owl make a set of bronze fangs that he could take off, so piercing hides of animals would be easier.
The concept was easier than it was to convey the idea.
"You want me to make you new teeth?"
"Yes"
"But you already have teeth."
"I want bronze teeth so it's easier to kill things, like how you owls have metal talons."
"I don't."
"But you get the idea?"
"Yes, and no."
Their conversation went online for about an hour. Back and forth and back in forth. Eventually, Oscar understood the idea. Dubarin wanted metal attachable teeth, to help with hunting.
"To an extent," Dubarin replied.
"As long as you don't kill me, I'll get you your teeth."
All that managed was a chuckle from Dubarin. If the owl didn't give him something good, he had plans for the owl. Most of them involved blood.
Oscar walked into his storage room, where he kept all of his metals. He had bronze, which was used for fake owl talons, which the owls could use instead of using their normal talons.
Iron, which was used for masks or helmets. The only owls who usd bronze helmets were the Guardians of Ga'hoole, but that was just for tradition.
The last metal he used in his metal work was copper. He added copper to the tips of the talons he made because copper could inflict heavy damage when trying to slice someone's body up.
Picking out the finest copper he had gotten, he went to work. At first, he shaped the bronze like Dubarins teeth. Next, Oscar had to hollow out the inside of the teeth, so they could be slipped on and off at times when he wasn't using them.
Oscar didn't like to admit he messed up when he was creating things for his regular customers. When it came to Oscar making teeth, he wasn't great at it.
He messed up around fifteen times, making the teeth too small or too thin, making them too large or small. Smithing is very important when you're an owl. Others depend on it. Owls could be killed if Oscar made a bad bucket or some bad talons.
As he made the teeth, Dubarin waited in the other room with anticipation. He couldn't wait to kill Faolan, the wolf that brought his pack so much pain.
When his metal teeth were done, he would travel to the Distant Blue, and slaughter Faolan. That would be his redemption. He could openly join the MacHeath, for real. He could go into dens and people would love him. People would praise them.
That's the life that Dubarin would love.
Chapter 3
Faolan, Edme, Myrr, Gwynneth, Dearlea, Mhairie, Bells, Maudie, Katria, and Airmead are the only living residents of The Distant Blue who are from The Beyond. After taking the ice bridge across the Sea of Vastness, and onto The Distant Blue, Faolan was the first to come here since their ancestors.
Even though they had only been on the Distant Blue for a day, the snowy island had plenty to offer. Myrr could play tag for as long as he wanted because his silver pelt stuck out in the snow like a sore thumb. There was plenty to eat, and everybody who came over felt good.
They had deserved this paradise for traveling across the ice bridge, where the only thing they had to eat were lemmings, normally only eating once per day.
It was the morning of Faolan's first day at the Distant Blue, as well as everybody else's. Along the way, when running away from the volcanoes, from the savage wolves, not everybody thought they would make it. Now, being at the Distant Blue, it felt like a dream. It was surreal. but Faolan knew that there was work to do.
Along the coast of the most southern point of the Distant Blue, where the ice bridge leads to, the coast has a small hill, then a forest with some mountains to the right. They had all chosen to go to the right up the coast line, where caves that could be used as dens were popular enough that it was a quick sprint to another members den.
It was just a couple minutes after sunrise, and Edme just woke up. The only thing that she knew was going to happen today was that Faloan was going to take some wolves and Gwynneth to go explore the forest. As Edme sat down in the front of her den on top of one of the hills, she could see the snow falling. Unlike in The Beyond, where you could see the snow falling and the sun, during winter in the Distant Blue, the sky was grey. There was no sun, but only snow clouds. Not only that, but the snow looked a lot prettier in the Distant Blue.
It was at this point when Edme saw a figure moving up the steep hill to her den. Even though she could only see their outline, she knew who it was. It was her mate, Faolan. Edme could tell by the way he walked, moving his splayed paw outward then bringing it back in line with his other paws. Although it was subtle, Edme could still see it. She knew how much Faolan just wanted his paw to be normal, how he could be faster when hunting. She knew how much Faolan wanted, but in reality, he would never get any of it.
Although he knew that, he had never lost an ounce of motivation. That's why Edme loved him. That's why every wolf in the Distant Blue wanted him to be the leader. He was by far better than all of them.
Edme had just finished thinning about her mate when he stumbled into her den. He took a seat just next to her, looking out into the never ending snowfall.
"It's beautiful, don't you think?" Faolan asked her.
Edme laughed. She had always loved this view, snow falling on a foggy and misty morning. Nothing could beat that in her book.
"So, when are you going?" Edme inquired, asking about Faolan and him going to see if the forest on the right side of the Distant Blue was safe.
"I was coming to ask if you would go. I'm taking Myrr and Gywneth. Everyone else would stay here."
"What if something happened here? If another clan came, and they weren't friendly, who would help fend them off?"
"I didn't think about that, but I doubt anyone will come. The MacHeaths are too much of a coward to try to cross the ice bridge. The McNamara and Duncans are too loyal to leave The Beyond."
Edme scoffed.
While she agreed with the last part, she knew how much the MacHeaths wanted to survive. They would do anything, even if it meant killing their chieftain.
Faolan gave Edme a friendly lick on the head.
"Don't worry about it. If something bad happens, I trust that my sister will take care of it. And, to be honest, we have barely spent any time together. Myrr needs to practice, and we need Gywneth to scout from above."
Edme thought about this. They haven't spent a long time together, and this was one of the few times they have been completely together. Both standing side by side, looking at the snow falling. Evenualty, Faolan got up, and paced the width of Edme's den.
"If you want to go, meet us where most of the dens are in a short while."
Faolan walked back out into the foot high snow, and started to trudge through the snow. The falling snow beated against his pelt, but he didn't care. Faolan continued to walk forward. He had a feeling he would see Edme in a short amount of time.
Back in here den, Edme sniffed the air. It smelt like hare. When she looked to where Faolan was pacing, she found a small hare lying on the ground. At least she didn't have to get her own breakfast.
The geography of the dens of where the wolves settled down is hard to explain. A clearing was formed in the middle of a very small semi-circular valley. Instead of mountains making the clearing, which was where wolves all decided would be the main meeting spot, three hundred foot hills took their spots. Edme's den was at the top of one of these hills.
Faolan and his sisters were close together at the very bottom of these hills, and most of the time the youngest out of all of them, Myrr the pup, slept with Faolan in his den. In the clearing, there were a couple of small, fifty foot paths made of rocks to get out of.
But, if you looked at it when it was snowing, it was barely recognizable. Faolan already knew this. It would be a pain to get back, but they couldn't stall on finding out what the island had in store for them. As Faolan waited, he could make out a small silver shape. The snow had been so high,and it was still falling, that the pup could barely get his head above the snow. When Faolan looked up into the dark grey snowy sky, he saw Gwynneth the owl flying overhead.
He looked towards the hill which had Edme's den in it. He really wanted her to come. Faolan had barely been able to talk to her since they joined The Sacred Watch. But that was all in the past now. It was all in the past. Faolan looked up to the sky and started to wonder what life would be like bad at The Beyond.
"Are we ready to go?" Edme asked, making Faolan jump and Myrr yell. Her ability to sneak up on people was impeccable, and she had shown a great example of it just now.
"Yeah, just don't scare us like that next time."
"I wasn't scared, I saw her" Gwynneth hooted from up above them. Faolan rolled his eyes, and Myrr started trying to pounce on her every time she flew low to the ground.
"And you didn't try to tell us?" Faolan asked, trying to use his best annoyed tone. But, truth be told, he couldn't wait. Apart from Gwynneth, who would be flying for the better part of the excursion. Myrr, Faolan hoped, would keep up his energetic ways, so he and Edme could have some alone time.
Myrr, Gwynneth, Edme, and Faolan headed up the snow covered stone path to head into the woods. As soon as they left the clearing, the snow started to fall down heavier. Gwynneth had to stop flying and now perthed on Edme's back.
As they just began to head into the forest, Myrr saw a rabbit and started to chase it. Gwynneth perched up. She loved flying after Myrr. He was really fast for a cub, and it was always fun for Gwynneth when she tried to find him.
As the wind picked her up into the air, she immediately saw him crouching, four feet away from the rabbit. Then, he jumped. It was on time, but Myrr missed and fell into the snow. She chuckled. Myrr was just a cub, but he tried to get animals like his life was on the line. She flew back down to Faolan and Edme, perching on Edme's back.
It was at that moment when the area Myrr jumped to try to get the rabbit to fall down a tiny hole. It was only Faolan who noticed the snow falling into the ground.
Panicked, he ran over to where Myrr fell. Edme trotted behind him, sensing something was wrong.
"What is it Faolan?" she asked.
Ignoring her, he looked towards Gwynneth.
"Where was Myrr?"
"Why was I overhead, he was right here in the snow. I thought he would be fine."
Looking into the hole, Faolan exploded with anger towards Gwynneth.
"How could you be so naive. He is just a pup! I-"
"What are you two talking about?" Edme interpreted.
Faolan remembered how Edme wasn't paying attention, probably thinking about something. He sighed, and told Gwynneth to go around looking for him.
"Okay, you need to tell me what's going on!" Edme pushed.
Faolan looked away. How could he have been so stupid. It wasn't Gwynneth's fault for allowing him to go play around when the snow was beating down hard. He finally got the courage to look at Edme. He looked into her eyes, wondering how mad she would be at him.
"Remember how Myrr left to go chase a rabbit?" Faolan asked.
"Yeah."
"He fell into a hole or something like that when the snow fell under his weight."
Faolan looked down, then shuffled over to where Myrr fell down. He felt worse than he had ever felt before. Faolan took him on this expedition just to help him get better at hunting, sneaking, anything. Now, he felt bad. Real bad. It was then when Edme told Faolan something.
"Why did Finbar give him the name Myrrglosch?"
"I don't remember."
But that was a lie. He knew what his name stood for and why Finbar had given it to him. Edme sensed this and nudged him.
"Yes you do," she responded
"It means 'A bit of a miracle'," Faolan replied.
"And we're going to need a bit of a miracle to find him."
It was like light in a dark when Faolan finally found something. A small hole outlined by ice that is big enough for a pup but too small for a wolf as big as Faolan. After talking about it with Edme and Gwynneth, they figured that the snow mustn't have been as packed in that spot and Myrr fell down into the cave like hole.
It was Edme who made the second discovery. She found Myrr's body lying down, unconscious.
"How are we going to get the body?"
"I can fly down there and try to find a way out."
Edme looked to Faolan for this. He was better than all of them when it came to dividing the work so it would be the most efficient.
"Okay, Gwynneth, you'll fly down the hole into the cave to wake up Myrr. Because we can't fly him out, because he's too heavy for you, Edme and I will go find another way to get into the cave. Sounds good?"
They all nodded in agreement. When they went back to see where Myrr was, he was conscious. There was a big, blood drawing scrape along his mussel, and his feet had small amounts of blood dripping over them.
"Where am I?" Myrr asked.
""Don;t worry Myrr, you fell into a hole but we're going to get you out of there," Edme replied.
"What?"
"Just stay safe. Were sending Gwynneth to guide you," Faolan yelled.
As Myrr looked around his surroundings, he found out he was in some sort of ice cave or something very close to that. It was hollowed out in such a way that it made it look like there was some hallway that led to another place.
"Do you guys see that light?" Myrr mumbled.
"There is no light!" Gwynneth said, trying to stay calm.
"Just stay there Myrr! Hang in there!" Edme said.
But he had other plans. When they weren't looking, Myrr started to stumble over to the light. Edme was the first to notice this.
"MYRRGLOSCH! Get back here right now!" Edme roared.
This was the first time she had said Myrr's name like that, but she couldn't take a chance. Myrr was well liked by all the other wolves. He couldn't die right now. Looking at Gwynneth, Faolan told her to fly into the cave and guide Myrr. That was the only way he could survive. Gwynneth was the best at choosing what way to go. Faolan had a feeling that it would help.
Gywneth dived into the cave after Myrr.
Faolan and Edme left. They needed to find the opening in the cave. It wouldn't be easy. The snow halted its fall, but the sky was still gray and cloudy. This made it so none of the snow would melt, and everywhere they thought that they had found a cave, they manually dug it out until they could see the ground and decipher that there was no caves.
For Myrr, everything was like a dase. He followed the corridor, with Gwynneth on his tale, trying to track the light he saw earlier down. Every fork in the road, when Gwynneth called out that they should think about where they were going, Myrr just had a sensation, a feeling that they should be going the way he was going.
They passed corridor after corridor, fork after fork, to finally stop in front of a huge room. Myrr wasn't exactly sure what was the glow that he saw, but in the room, there were a ton of bones. At first, Myrr couldn't believe this monstrosity. At closer inspection by him and Gwynneth found little scratches nicked into them.
When Myrr looked even closer, he found that they were gnawed bones, made by gnaw wolves. The one Myrr was looking at told a story of leaving the Distant Blue, and going across the ice bridge. Not only was it very detailed, but it was on a small piece of bone. He had never seen anyone gnaw as well in his life. It was as if the gnawing tradition had been lost, to be replaced by not nearly as good art.
It was then he saw the exit. It was a small hole, big enough for him to squeeze through that lead to an iced up lake. It was here that he knew what he had to do.
He needed to get out, and also remember this place, so he could come back. Myrr then decided something. He would come back with Faolan, and Faolan could tell him what these stories meant.
On the main surface, Faolan and Edme were panicking. They couldn't have Myrr die because of how ignorant Faolan was. As they continued their search, they found cave after cave of nothing.
Ny now, they must've walked over three miles. As the two wolves continued on, they stopped by a small lake. It wasn't a frozen one, but the water was particularly cold. It was at that time, and it was at that point when Faolan had a feeling that they should ditch their old strategy, and just find cave-like holes to enter. That would save lots of time.
The only flaw in this plan was that they could miss cave openings covered in snow, but they both had a feeling that it wouldn't be the case for this cave. As they searched on, Faolan and Edme went over hills, into caves, and ravines. They needed to find Myrr. They needed to.
They were soon tired out, and it was about noon by now. They stopped on top of a cliff that overlooked a frozen lake. It was Edme who made the discovery. Folan went off to hunt for some food, but Edme sat down in the exact spot where a bone was. At first, when she sat on it, she thought it was just a stick caught in the snow, so Edme didn't care to look at it more closely.
When Faolan returned, the afternoon was in full effect. The snow looked whiter than it had for days, because the grey sky was replaced by a distant looking, clear blue sunny sky. In his mouth, he had two big, plump hares. Both of them he dropped in front of Edme.
In Faolan's eyes, he was the reason why Myrrglosch was lost. He had let Myrr chase after a rabbit, when he knew the snow was pouring down heavily and the wind was blowing violently. The only good thing that he had done was tell his sisters to not worry about them.
"What happens if we don't go back with Myrr?" Edme asked, just to see what Faolan limits were right now.
"I'm not going back until we find him. I don't care what I need to do, I just want to…"
Faolan stopped dead in the middle of his sentence.
He went over to where Edme was, and pulled out a small bone. Although it was hard to see in the reflection of the sun, Faolan and Edme could clearly see that this bone was gnawed, just like how they gnawed bones back in The Beyond.
As Faolan looked over and read the bone, he understood what it meant. While Faolan or Edme couldn't understand how this bone had gotten here, the bone had a story about a cave inscribed on it. It explained how this cave was miles long, dug out by ancient ancestors of the wolves. These caves led all over The Distant Blue. Not just that, but Faolan had also picked up on something. The caves that this bone was talking about, it opened at the edge of the lake.
A little river led into the lake, but the waterfall was frozen. The ancient wolves had created a way that the waterfall parted around the cave opening, frozen or not. The frozen opening, however, would prove difficult to enter. Ad Faolan peeked over the edge, he saw what looked like an opening one hundred feet down. Just jumping to the opening and trying to get in would rip off their paws.
When he explained this fatal error to Edme, she looked down. On the sides of the waterfall, there were rocks big enough to hold a wolf. As Edme took everything into consideration, she wondered if they could hop from rock to rock and get down there.
It was worth a shot.
Anything for Myrr.
Edme, who was more graceful when hoping than Faolan went first. It would take a little amount of time to get to the cave opening from hoping the rocks, but it was something. As Edme jumped from rock to rock to rock, Faolan had a hard time adapting. His sprawled paw slipped on the frozen rocks, and the fact that they were stuck to the side of a waterfall didn't help at all.
Finally, after minutes of uncomfortableness, the cave opening was a jump away. They could see Gywneth nestling her feathers, getting ready to go to sleep. As Faolan made the jump to the final rock, the one where you could see inside the cave, he almost knocked Edme off, but he grabbed her by the staff and pulled her up.
"Sorry," Faolan said, trying to be sincere.
Edme just looked at him, wondering if she should shout at him or get Myrr and Gwynneth. She decided on the latter.
As Faolan readied to jump, the wind picked up a little. there was only one thing racing through Edme's mind at this moment. If we weren't on a resume missio, this would be the perfect time to kiss Edme.
The sunset was perfect, with a small breeze, on a rock fifty feet over a frozen lake. Faolam, however, wasted no time jumping into the hole and into the cave. As he jumped in, Myrr looked up from the bone he was reading from. He first looked past Faolan, not realizing he was there, and saw the snow stopped beating down. Then, he saw Faolan at the cave entrance.
Myrr was in shock and disbelief. They had come, Faolan and Edme. They had come to save him and Gwynneth. But, he for some reason wasn't sure. Not sure enough that this was Faolan.
In Myrr's squeaky and unsteady voice, he could only manage one word.
"Faolan?"
He nodded.
He chuckled. Before him, Faolan, the wolf who had come to save him. The wolf who had risked so much for his family and friends, risked more to save both Myrr and Gwynneth.
Right then,during the time it took Myrr to process this, Faolan moved from the opening and Edme jumped in. They were inseparable. Myrr ran straight to Edme and started to nip at her. A way that wolves show affection to each other.
While Edme and Myrr were talking to each other, Faolan and Gwynneth were talking to each other on how to get out of the cave safely.