Chapter 5
We moved through the woods at a fast pace, a complete pack of wolves marching like soldiers.
'You interest me. You were the first to ever come to us to negotiate. I saw no fear.'
'Well it was necessary and besides, I had nothing to fear.'
'What made you so sure we wouldn't attack you?'
'I wasn't. I decided to trust in your good will.' The Wolf tribe lived deep inside the woods, deeper than anyone would dare to go.
'All the more reason for my interest. You trust those whom you've never met before?'
'We've met before. But I was still a kid. I went into the woods and ran into a small group of wolves there. They wanted to make me their dinner but you stopped them. Then Loki dragged me back to the palace before I could thank you.'
'You didn't bring it up the other day, why?'
'That was a diplomatic visit. Not personal. Just business.' After walking up a hill I saw a collection of caves and barrows in the valley below where several wolves were walking around and cubs were playing in the grass.
'Well we've arrived. Please make yourself at home.' He was nicer than I expected, of course I'd thought of a worst case scenario. I'd never been to this part of the forest before, I never dared to go this deep.
'We'll have an official ceremony next week.'
'Ah, okay.' I answered absently as I sat down, he followed my example.
'Look, Haylee, we may not love eachother but I'm sure feelings will develop over time.'
'You had to choose someone. That's it, right?'
'My father suggested you. Mainly to form a bond with the Gods.'
'So I'm like insurance?'
'Look, if it wasn't for my father I'd choose someone else. Someone of my race.'
'Can't you talk to him about it?'
'He's not someone you can easily convince. I tried several times but he wouldn't hear of it.'
'What if I try? Maybe he'll listen to an outsider.'
'He won't even listen to his own son, you think he'll listen to someone he's never met before?'
'I can be incredibly persuasive.'
'Well, you can always try but I doubt it'll have much effect. I'll take you to him.' He walked down the hill and entered the a cave. The inside was spacious but cold, then I figured wolves wouldn't decorate their homes abundantly.
'Father.' He halted at the back of the cave. An old wolf was lying on a bed of leaves there. 'I've brought her.' The old wolf sat up, I could hear his old bones objecting to the movement.
'Good.' He turned to me. 'Haylee?' I nodded. 'I am Basil, King of Wolves.' I took a bow and nodded. 'I'm sure Ulfr has already told you this was my idea?'
'Yes, he has.'
'Good. Then this might not come as such a surprise.' Several guards hurled themselves at me and pressed me to the ground. It's not like I hadn't thought of this but I certainly didn't expect it.
'Father! What is the meaning of this?' Ulfr said angrily.
'As a King I haven't done much beside keeping the peace. For a wolf that's unforgivable. We live for war. Killing her gives me the perfect reason to start one.'
'I do not understand.'
'I'll say she attacked me and I'll accept that as the start of war. The troops are already preparing. We'll wait with the execution until tomorrow.'
'You can't do this!' Ulfr yelled.
'Of course I can. Now don't make me imprison you as well.' Ulfr nodded, accepting defeat as he watched them drag me away. Just outside the village was a prison, or something that had to look like one. It was a gathering of cages. They probably stole them from the dwarves as they were made of sturdy steel. They threw me into one and closed the door which locked itself immediately. I changed back to my human form and sighed as I sat down, leaning against the bars. Four wolves stood guard around the cage and I felt more imprisoned than ever.
After sitting still for an hour I got bored and decided to have some fun with magic. As I imagined the fire rune in my head a shock went through my body. The wolves laughed loudly.
'Anti-magic cage.' I whispered as I cleared my mind. I closed my eyes and decided to meditate a little.
My sharp hearing picked up several sounds further away which didn't seem to come from the wolves. I opened my eyes and stared at the shadows, I saw movement there. A few seconds later the guards heard it too. As one of them went to look he fell down and I saw an arrow sticking out of his chest. Just before the others could call for backup they suffered the same fate. As the creatures walked out of the shadows I gasped. Four Elven hunters walked up to me. One of them crouched down beside the cage and opened the door, gesturing at me to come out and follow them. I quietly did so and followed them back into the woods.
Once we were at a safe distance they stood still and observed me.
'Thanks for saving me. They were going to execute me in the morning.'
'What have you done to invoke their anger?' One asked, a tall, slender, blonde elf with bright blue eyes.
'Nothing. They said that they'd attack the villages if I didn't agree with their proposal. So I accepted.'
'Proposal?'
'To become the prince's bride. Then the King of Wolves said he'd kill me and use it as a reason for attacking the villages.'
'I don't get it. Explain from the beginning, please.' Another commanded. He was of the same length as the other one but both his hair and eyes were darker. I nodded and explained my story from the beginning.
'Then we might be a target as well.' A third said after I'd finished. He was a bit smaller than the others but had a more striking appearance.
'I have to get to the palace to tell the King to ready the troops. Shall I ask him to also dispatch some to the Elven district?'
'That would be most kind of you. We're few in number and I fear we wouldn't be able to take on an entire tribe of wolves.'
'Okay then, let's go to the village to get some transportation. I'm Arien by the way.' The smaller one said.
'Durfan.' The first one said.
'Elion.' The third said.
'Tanyl.' The fourth said. He was slightly taller than the others and had a slightly darker skin, green eyes and long, brown hair.
'I'm Haylee, nice to meet you all.'
The village of the elves consisted mainly of houses made by forming trees with magic, it was a slow process but the elves had more than enough time with their immortality. Elven communities were always very secluded so not much was known about them. This was an amazing oppertunity for me so I kept my eyes wide open as we walked past the houses.
'Don't be afraid of them. They're very kind, just like cats.'
'What? Who?' Four huge cats came out of a large tree trunk and charged at us. The cats all had different colours, ranging from red-ish to purple-ish. They ignored the elves and jumped me, licking my face and purring contently. Durfan whistled and they all stood back, allowing me to sit up.
'They're really cute.' I said as I wiped the spit off my face with the sleeve of my shirt. 'Did you mean them by transportation?'
'Exactly. Let's get the saddles and then we'll be at the palace in no time.' Arien said as he walked into a tree and came out with four saddles in his arms. After saddling them up they all got on and I stared blankly at them for a moment. Then Tanyl grabbed my arm and pulled me up on his ride. Before I knew it we were already out of the village and on our way to the palace.
At the front gate the guards gasped at the sight of us and held their swords ready.
'Stand down!' I said as I got off. They immediately did as asked and opened the gate. I walked through with the elves and their mounts behind me. It must've been quite the spectacle as the guards nearly fainted when we marched trough the corridors. When one would get too close he'd get an angry growl from one of the cats. I opened the doors into the throne room and walked in, seeing Odin on his throne and Loki and Thor sitting on the stairs, being bored. They looked up at hearing the noise and seemed surprised by what they saw.
'Haylee! What happened?' Thor asked as he walked up to me, Loki right behind him. The Elves all bowed to the King and the cats followed their example.
'I'll explain later. First.' I scraped my throat and raised my voice.
'King. I advise you to dispatch your troops to the villages and to both the Elven district and the Dwarven districts.'
'Basil decided to attack, didn't he?'
'Indeed. He planned on killing me but these noble Elves rescued me.' I said, gesturing at the Elves behind me. Odin stood and walked down the steps.
'I'm grateful for your courageous actions.' He said to the Elves.
'It was the least we could do, my King.' Elion said.
'I'll send troops to the villages and the Elven district. The Dwarves have an impenetrable fortress, I wouldn't worry about them.'
'Thank you very much, King.' Arien said as he bowed deeper.
'You and your brethren have never given us any trouble, see it as an act of good will.' He turned to his sons and pulled up an eyebrow.
'Step over here for a moment.' They both came closer and Odin took Thor's wrist, taking off the cuff and putting it on my wrist. 'Now you can go prepare yourselves as well.' He turned back to the Elves. 'The four of you can lead the troops back to the Elven district. Come along.'
'Of course, sir.' They said as they stood and followed Odin out the room.
'Well, I'm glad you're okay. See you on the battlefield!' Thor said as he laughed and ran out.
'So, how did things work out without me?' I asked Loki, he had a sad look on his face.
'Is there something wrong?'
'No, nothing. Things went well but it was boring. Let's go get ready too.' He feigned a smile and walked off.
'Loki...' No reaction.
'Loki.' Still nothing.
'Loki!' This time he turned around in surprise.
'We don't have to go to the battle if you don't want to.'
'No, it's fine.'
'Then what's wrong? You seem distracted.' He let out a deep breath and shook his head.
'It doesn't matter anymore.'
'Apparently it does.'
'Leave it.'
'You can't go into battle when you're this distracted.' He let out a yell and pushed me against the wall, pinning my wrists down against it.
'Why did you agree?'
'To save the people.'
'Was that all?'
'Yes! What other reason could there be?' He stared at me for a moment but then looked to the ground. 'Don't tell me you thought I agreed because I wanted to get away from here.'
'To get away from me.' He whispered as he let go.
'Why would I want that when I like being around you?' He looked up, a surprised look in his eyes.
'You like... being around me?'
'Yeah, of course. You're smart and funny and there's also kindness in you.' I held my arms open and smiled as I gave him a hug.
'So you agreed just for the people?'
'Just for them.' I let go and nodded at him. 'Now let's go help.'
As we got on a horse and made our way to the village closest to the forest we found a few platoons of soldiers, ready to fight.
'Ulfr doesn't want this. I have to find and tell him that we're waiting for them.' I said as we got off the horse and walked into the forest.
'But I can't use magic with these things on.' Loki said as he held up the chain.
'But I can.' I grinned and used the magic on both of us, turning me into a gray wolf and him into a black one. We took off towards the Wolf tribe, I was sure Ulfr would be there.