Chapter 3
The sky turned deep purple as the sun slowly left its place in the sky. Shadows lengthened, and it was much cooler than it was in the daytime. The trees swayed in time with the slight breeze coming from the north, while the peaks of gigantic mountains loomed silently over head. A river wound across the trees all the way over to the mountains, making it almost impossible for a creature to get to the other side. Strong and icy currents pulled at whatever it could reach, and the fathomless deeps led one to think that once this part of the river had been an abyss, but slowly over age it had filled with water.
A skylark flew wearily up in the night skies, its tired eyes looking down below. It opened its beak and was about to call when something whizzed through the air and hit the skylark. Panic flooded through the dying creature, and it flapped its wings as hard as possible, but due to the loss of blood and the weariness of flying non-stop for so long, the bird soon fell towards the ground.
A stoat caught the dead bird, his eyes glimmering. It had been quite a long time since he had had such a good catch. The vermin looked around him, and suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, three other creatures appeared.
The stoat was not at all surprised. Instead, he smiled, baring his fangs at his comrades.
"Lookit vat I finded!" One of them, a ferret grimaced.
"Aye, congratz, but ye've better gotten over te Lord. 'E's in quita foul mood." The stoat's smile widened.
"Vy's dat?" The ferret shrugged. Behind him emerged a shadow of a fox.
"Come on, 'tis late now, don't keep Lord waitin'." The voice was melodious, but also dangerous. The vermin seemed to respect her, for they all lowered their heads slightly. The shadow disappeared again, followed by the ferret and the other two. The stoat looked at his catch proudly, before disappearing into the dusk's embrace.
Not far away, about nine score of vermin set camp around a large fire in a clearing. The moon peeked out shyly, before showing herself. All around the camp, vermin of all kind scurried around, all busy with their own chores. Some cooked food over boiling pots hung over small fires, some set up tents, some polished their weapons, and some tended to their wounds.
Sitting by the large lit fire in the middle, was a handsome looking creature, who looked similar to a fox, but slightly larger. Lord Theda Tages, wolf and the Cunning One. He was tall and well built, his eyes as blue as the lapis-lazuli, his fangs gleaming in the dark night. Lord Theda Tages came from the northern tundras, where the days were much colder, and where winters were harsh and unforgiving. The wolf traveled south with his father and sister, when they reached the mountains. Giant eagles of all kinds made their homes there, and not many of them were too happy to see wolves where they lived. A bald eagle, who had a terrible grudge against vermin of all kinds murdered Lord Theda Tages' sister, and wounded his father. The wolf and his father traveled on, until the old one could walk on no more, and passed-away.
Lord Theda Tages then started gathering followers, not ones that were just dumb and dumb again, but ones that knew the ways of war and battle. At first, not many vermin wanted to follow a wolf that was quite battered, but soon Lord Theda Tages proved himself to them. Skilled at using almost any kind of weapon, sly and cunning as any of the wisest creatures, the wolf spread word for any creature, strong and willing, to face him one on one in combat, and in anything else.
Many vermin had heard the news of a wolf that had come to their territory. Wolves weren't really seen in these parts, as even the most befuddled vermin knew. A few of them went just to see the fun, though most of them thought that the wolf was out of his mind, and decided to try and bully him to see what he was made of.
Twenty score of vermin went that day into a valley to witness the fight. Most of them tried using their skills to defeat the wolf, but to no avail. Finally, a weasel decided to challenge Lord Theda Tages. It was a brutal fight, for both were cunning and strong too. The wolf managed to outwit the weasel, and he slain him immediately. The other vermin were quite scared and 7 score of them vowed to serve Lord Theda Tages. The rest either left the wolf alone and continued their lonely days, but there were a few who went to serve another vermin, this one a rat. The wolf lord didn't think of it as a menace to himself, so he let them be.
The stoat that had caught the skylark appeared again near the base of the camp. He scurried over to his leader, who was already talking with the fox. He waited humbly for Lord Theda Tages to notice him. The wolf nodded, and looked over to the stoat. The fox turned around and followed her leader, who was walking towards him.
"I've heard you've got a good catch tonight, isn't it so, Goolit?" The stoat nodded. He looked down as Lord Theda Tages looked him in the eyes, "'Tis good, isn't is so, Melvan?" The fox standing beside him bowed.
"As you say, my Lord." Goolit wasn't the wisest of the wise, but he had served Lord Theda Tages long enough to know that the wolf was in a dangerous mood. Why dangerous, he couldn't guess, but dangerous for sure. He gulped.
"Melvan, go fetch my captains. Oh, and fetch Northius for me too." The fox, bowing, stole Goolit a sly look. Then she straightened and left. Lord Theda Tages turned back to Goolit, "What is something that you want the most right now?" It was a pretty wild question, Goolit thought, but he answered truthfully.
"Er- my Lord, er- I'd love te live a peaceful life, vere food eez plentiful an' there ain't no need te fight o'er scraps o', er- everythin'." Lord Theda Tages peered at Goolit.
"Is that what you really want?" The stoat nodded. The wolf smiled. Goolit suddenly felt obliged to hand over the starling. He held out the dead bird towards his leader, but Lord Theda Tages only smiled and shook his head.
"Goolit, my dear friend, I want you to keep the starling." The stoat looked up surprisingly, "I have been watching you. You have proved to be loyal and faithful to your leaders. Therefore, I will reward you with something that you want." Goolit's face lit up.
"Really, Lord?" The wolf's smile widened.
"Of course Goolit. As long as you can stay loyal to your leaders, we will award you. Go now, and bring the starling with you. You deserve to have a good meal." Lord Theda Tages winked and swept his cloak as he walked away to meet his captains. Goolit the stoat stood there, unbelievingly. Not trusting his luck, the stoat looked up at the dark skies. For a while, he stood like that, until the first raindrops fell. The stoat turned around to the campfire, and scurried over to celebrate with his comrades.