Stranger Skies
Fight or Flight
Salia immediately gave the order to retreat; half the pack were already leaping away, heading further into the forest. Thalaea remained transfixed by the oncoming torchlights for another few seconds, until Laeanai bounded up to her and gave her shoulder a tug.
Come on!
She shook herself and got up, following clumsily after the pack. Her leg had fallen asleep.
A few feet later, she stopped, horrified.
My rucksack!
She couldn’t leave without it. So long as she was trapped in humanoid form, she needed the things within it. And she felt oddly attached to her material goods now she was mortal.
She was already back into the cave and searching for her sack in the dark, leaving philosophizing for later. The torches were closer now and she could smell the hunters and their dogs much more strongly. Finding her bag, she swung it onto her back and was running out of the cave and east again, when a sound stopped her. A whimper.
There was an older wolf just behind her, a few feet from the edge of the amphitheatre. She thought it was the Lorekeeper, by his scent. An arrow protruded from his back leg. She hadn’t even noticed the hunters shooting arrows; how could they see enough to hit anything? The wolf was dragging himself as fast as he could but it was obvious he was in too much pain to hobble out of there.
Thalaea didn’t give herself time to think. She crouched down and picked the older wolf up, settling him on her shoulders as gently as she could without losing speed. He yelped once, then settled down; Thalaea was already running through the bush, searching for the rest of the wolves with her nose.
She almost tripped over Laeanai. Her friend had stopped to wait for her and his grey-and-brown colouring made him hard to see. Luckily, his tail had a white tuft and Thalaea could see this just well enough to follow him the rest of the way through the woods.
She didn’t know how long they ran. Her only reality was her legs pumping up and down; fervent prayers murmured that she wouldn’t trip over anything; her rucksack bouncing on her back; the white end of Laeanai’s tail moving up and down, up and down, guiding her through the woods like a spirit; the weight of the Lorekeeper on her shoulders; the beat of six hearts running through her body: hers, strong and fast and keeping her going; his older, weaker, tired. She lost all sense of time. She wasn’t even tired. It was as if her body had reached a zone where it would just keep going, into infinity; where mortal limitations had no meaning, and adrenalin would grant her godlike powers again.
Eventually she came to be aware of the lack of sound: she could no longer hear the hunters. The next thing she noticed was that Laeanai was slowing down, though when she noticed this she couldn’t be sure. It might have been five minutes after she noticed the lack of sound, or five hours. Thalaea slowed her pace accordingly and soon she and Laeanai stopped.
A clearing, she thought. She was panting, breathing heavily, but she could smell the rest of the pack here. They were the last to arrive.
She looked up. The stars glinted in the sky; they were so rich, so vast, they gave her enough light to make out the shapes of the wolves in the clearing. She found an empty space and set the Lorekeeper down as gently as possible. He might have fainted with pain, or blood loss but he was still breathing and his hearts were still strong enough.
Salia came over, sniffing him. Her concern rolled off in palpable waves. She sniffed around the arrow in the other wolf’s leg; the Pack Leader looked up at Thalaea.
You’ve trained with the witch. Can you fix this?
I can try, Thalaea said, though she didn’t feel terribly confident. She hadn’t trained with Enendoa for very long. I need some bloodwort, though.
We don’t know what that is.
Thalaea took off her rucksack and set it down nearby. Had she packed any? She couldn’t remember. Her flight from the cottage was one hazy blur and she hadn’t checked her herb supply when she’d opened her rucksack to get at the bread and jerky.
She unstrapped the top flap of leather and felt around inside the bag, looking for the herbs she’d wrapped in cloth and placed in there. Pulling them out and smelling them, she discerned that she’d grabbed Bluethorn, Eranthis, Dittany, and bloodwort. She had just enough bloodwort to put into the wound tonight, to stop blood flow, and enough Dittany to help prevent infection for a while. She’d probably have to find more by morning.
I’m ready. You need to hold him down. This will hurt and if he attacks me in pain I won’t be able to help anymore.
Salia and Laeanai instantly moved to pin down the front end of the Lorekeeper, where all the sharp and pointy was kept.
Thalaea placed her hands on the wolf’s leg, feeling where the arrow was. It was just beside the bone, which was lucky. She could push it through the flesh and pull it out the other side.
She just hoped he didn’t bleed out before she could stop up the hole with enough bloodwort.
Putting a hand on the arrow to steady it, she broke it mid-shaft, flinging the other half away. She then tried extending her consciousness beyond her fingers, as Enendoa had taught her, trying to see the inside of the Lorekeeper’s leg with her mind.
She thought it worked. She hoped so, because if she was wrong and the arrow was close to a key artery, this wolf would probably die in the next few minutes. That could be disastrous for the pack, especially if he hadn’t trained up a successor yet.
Thalaea took a deep breath and pushed the arrow through the leg.
The Lorekeeper instantly thrashed and yowled; Thalaea had to work hard to avoid injuring him further with the arrow that hadn’t fully been removed.
Make him still! she growled at Salia and Laeanai. A moment later, Salia bit the ruff of the Lorekeeper’s neck and growled like a dam letting a pup know he’s done wrong. The elder wolf instantly relaxed, whimpering a bit.
Thalaea pulled the rest of the arrow out and grabbed her supply of bloodwort and Dittany, crushing the leaves of both and pushing them into the hole in the wolf’s leg. The Lorekeeper whimpered more but did not thrash again and soon she’d stuffed all of the herbs into the hole.
The witch frowned, then, realizing she’d need to wrap the wound with something. She didn’t have any spare cloth, save J’th’s pleated skirt. She really didn’t want to use that. It was high quality and sentimental. Besides, she had the feeling it might come in useful sometime soon.
She sat back on her heels and bit her lip, thinking. With the movement her shirt rubbed against her torso and there came her answer. The shirt was long and made of linen; she could tear off the bottom few inches to make a bandage strip.
She was undressing before she could explain her actions to the perplexed wolves around her; her healing work had gathered a crowd and they all seemed confused as to why she was shedding her fur in winter.
The cold air that hit her breasts as she took off her shirt made her gasp aloud; her skin shivered and flinched involuntarily. She unsheathed her boot knife and ripped off a strip from her shirt as quickly as possible; then got dressed again before she froze to death.
Damn this thin-skinned body anyway.
When she was done wrapping the Lorekeeper’s back leg in the strip from her shirt, she tied it off as tightly as was safe. She hoped it held. A wolf’s haunch was not easy to bandage.
You’ll have to keep him warm all night, she said to Salia. The Pack Leader removed herself from the restraining position she’d been in and started giving instructions to the pack members.
It was decided they would try to get some rest tonight and keep moving in the morning. Several wolves were charged with the task of forming a puppy pile with the Lorekeeper, to keep the old wolf from freezing. Salia set four wolves on watch and four more to relieve them in just over two hours. Apparently it was already nearly midnight; the sun would rise in four and a half hours, roughly.
Thalaea was not set on watch but she stayed up with the sentry wolves anyway. She couldn’t sleep. Adrenalin still coursed through her veins and she wasn’t used enough to her three hearts. It seemed as if they never slowed down.
She sat with her back against a tree, looking back the way they’d come, searching for any sign of torchlight. She wasn’t sure if the wolves would smell the hunters before she saw them. At any rate, she undoubtedly had the best eyesight in this situation. She could see the orange and red of fire; to wolves, flames would appear black.
At some point the adrenalin faded and she dozed. She woke with a start when Laeanai joined the second watch and came to sit beside her. They spoke, softly.
Your mother seems to have warmed to me, Thalaea said. Laeanai huffed with some laughter.
She likes wolves who keep their heads in a crisis.
Not sure why she likes me, then. The witch had frozen back at the den’s home; would have stayed frozen were it not for Laeanai.
You did save the Lorekeeper’s life. None of us would have been able to carry him. I don’t even think anyone else had noticed his injury.
Thalaea had nothing to say to that and they fell into a comfortable silence.
We were lucky, Laeanai said at length. No young pups. Lorekeeper’s the eldest among us and you carried him. We would have had a lot more casualties a few years back.
Thalaea murmured agreement. What about the other packs in Steelmint? What are their numbers like?
Laeanai snorted; the wolfish equivalent of a shrug. I have no idea. We haven’t had much contact with them.
We need to warn them.
You think the hunters will find them?
Thalaea sighed and adjusted position. Her legs were going numb. She moved into a crouch, trying to force feeling back into her muscles. I think they won’t give up this time. I think the stand-off wolves and Minae have had for centuries is ending now.
She heard Laeanai get up and stretch himself; her eyes caught movement as he padded around a bit, working his legs. I suppose we need to warn them, then.
Thalaea nodded, and said nothing. She didn’t speak to what really worried her: the dogs the hunters used. Unless Salia’s pack came across a river in its flight, the dogs would be able to find them. For weeks, probably. If they headed to the other packs right away in the morning, they’d lead the hunters right to the remaining wolves in Steelmint.
She only hoped that the hunters rested tonight, as well, and would wait until dawn to continue the search.
Saeas answered Thalaea’s hopes. The sky started to lighten without smell or sight of the hunters. The witch immediately went to find Salia.
The pack leader didn’t look as if she’d slept, either. She’d stayed next to the Lorekeeper all night. When she saw Thalaea approach she got up and padded over to the witch, far enough away so their conversation wouldn’t disturb the still sleeping pile of wolves. A few yawns stretched the alpha bitch’s mouth wide open, revealing beautiful, gleaming teeth. Thalaea wondered, briefly, what the wolves in Steelmint chewed on to help their dentition.
Witch, Salia said formally and, Thalaea thought, with a bit more friendliness than before.
Pack Leader, Thalaea responded. I fear we are still in deep trouble.
Salia sat and scratched her ear with her back paw. Tell me about it. I think the pack agrees with your suggestion, stranger. I think we must leave Steelmint.
Will you call Council again this morning, then? That would be the right thing to do in peace time, but Thalaea worried that if they did that now, they’d lose precious escape time.
Salia gave her a baleful look. It’s a time of emergency. I have the right to make an executive decision. For someone who knows Wolf and most of our customs, you can be as blind as a days-old puppy.
Thalaea bowed her head in submission, though she smiled inside. She’d be lying if she said her question to Salia hadn’t been a small test — alpha to alpha.
Then might I make some suggestions?
I doubt I’ll be able to stop you, Salia said sardonically and Thalaea knew she was considered part of the pack now. Her hearts leapt with joy.
She spoke quickly, for the sky was much brighter now and they’d have to get on the move again. The witch suggested they find the other packs and try to get them to come with on their flight to Thaen, which Salia agreed to readily. Thalaea then took a deep breath, hating the next suggestion she had to make.
Pack Leader, unless we find a wide river we can walk in for many miles, the hunters’ dogs will continue to trail our scent. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be able to shake them, and unfortunately I will slow us down.
Salia’s gaze moved to the injured Lorekeeper, then back to Thalaea. The alpha bitch looked the witch directly in the eyes. I’m not worried about you slowing us down, she growled pointedly. We never leave anyone behind. And I’m afraid there are no rivers through Steelmint — only ponds and few at that. The closest river is the one that travels beside the Minae-built road.
Thalaea sighed. That was no good. It would be beyond unsafe for three wolf packs and a disgraced, allegedly murderous Minae witch to travel in that river for any length of time. Someone would see them, even if they traveled at night.
Then I fear we must…deal with the dogs.
She hated even saying it. Dogs were cousins to wolves. What she was suggesting was a betrayal of her children.
But wasn’t the breeding of dogs to hunt wolves a betrayal by humans?
The question came unbidden to her mind. She had no answer.
Salia had looked away at Thalaea’s suggestion; the muscles in her powerful jaw working as she worried away at the question. Finally she looked back at the witch.
Do it, then. Laeanai’s trained as a scout. He can help you.
She wondered that Salia would so easily put her own son into danger, but perhaps she knew that Thalaea would have trouble working with other pack members. The witch was new. Still untested.
The witch nodded and Salia went to wake up her wolves. Within a few minutes, the sun was in the sky and the pack was ready to run again.
By the time they found the first of the other two Steelmint packs, Thalaea was beyond exhaustion.
They reached the second pack past nightfall that day. On the first flight, from the clearing where they’d rested, Thalaea had put on her rucksack and carried the Lorekeeper for several more miles, trying to put distance between the pack and the oncoming hunters. Then, at their next rest point, she’d checked the old wolf’s wounds and searched out some more bloodwort and Dittany to pack into the hole in his leg. He was awake now, and alert. She asked him if he could walk.
He could, but slowly. He hobbled, barely able to put any pressure on his back leg. The rest of the pack went on with him, slowed down considerably, and she and Laeanai then ran back a few miles, where they lay in wait for the hunter’s dogs. She knew the canines would run ahead of the hunters — but by how much? Would she and Laeanai make a clean getaway? Or would there be more casualties?
Woods, she prayed they’d both make it. She also prayed for forgiveness for what they were about to do and for the souls of the dogs. It wasn’t their fault they’d been bred by humans to do what they did; yet they were the ones who would pay.
Thalaea climbed as high into a tree as she could, searching through the woods for the oncoming hunters. Looking behind her, to the south east, she couldn’t see their pack anymore. She hoped this was a good sign.
Laeanai stayed in hiding at the base of the tree, waiting for her orders.
They waited an hour. Five dogs came from the northwest. They were fanned out about ten feet apart from one another, sniffing the ground and barking among themselves. Hound-like animals. Probably had an excellent sense of smell. The hunters followed, about a hundred yards behind the dogs, fanned out as much.
North; two; two wolf-lengths apart, she sent to Laeanai. She saw a brief movement in the bushes as he slunk off to deal with the dogs farthest from her tree. The first dog went down quickly; a flash of movement, a yelp, and then Laeanai was moving on to the next dog.
The hounds knew now. Thalaea was already halfway down the tree, heading to the other three that converged on Laeanai as he fought with the second dog. This one had seen it coming, and Laeanai no longer had the element of surprise.
One dog was beyond her tree but she could stop the other two. Incoming, she shouted to Laeanai and dropped down in front of the remaining two dogs.
They didn’t think twice before attacking her. She smelled of wolf too strongly for them to think she was anything but their quarry.
Thalaea already had her knife out; the first dog went for her face, and gave her easy access to its throat. She made quick work of that one, apologizing to the dog as he died in her arms, blood spilling out onto her clothes. She set his body down and turned to deal with the second dog, who had already clamped his teeth into her buttocks.
She twisted and turned, trying to reach the canine, but he had a devil’s grip and her body just didn’t move that way. She couldn’t get at him and she could feel his teeth cutting through the layers of her clothes. Soon he’d shred her skin.
Laeanai ran up just in time. He knocked the last dog from Thalaea’s backside and the witch fell upon the canine, finishing him off. She regarded her wolf-friend; he had blood on his jaws and a new tear in his ear. He panted but his mouth didn’t form a smile.
Thank you, she said to him, feeling the same melancholy she knew he did.
Of course. Laeanai glanced behind him; Thalaea could hear the shouts of the hunters. Let’s go.
He was off, bounding through the woods. Thalaea followed, running as if demons were chasing her.
As far as she was concerned, they were.
They caught up with the pack in mid-afternoon. The wolves hadn’t made much progress, with the Lorekeeper limping along. Thalaea didn’t ask questions; she just swung the old wolf up onto her shoulders again. Then the pack was able to run.
The first pack they reached lived on the far southeast corner of the woods, close to the forest edge. Far closer to the edge than Thalaea would have thought safe. Apparently the edge had been a lot farther away at the beginning of that year.
After Salia had shared formal greetings with the pack’s leader, an alpha male named Ruk, Salia’s pack had been allowed to rest and eat with Ruk’s pack. There wasn’t much; the pack had dragged back a few young deer earlier that day to their den but the pregnant females had eaten quite a bit.
Whatever was left of the deer was for Salia’s taking and she deferred to the injured Lorekeeper. After he had fed, the alphas took turns, each leaving enough for the betas to eat.
Thalaea didn’t eat. Her stomach hurt and she guessed it was from the rabbit she and Laeanai had shared the day before. Her tongue liked the taste of raw meat but she didn’t think her Minae body was up to digesting it.
That could be a problem, later on the road. She was too tired to think about it at quite this moment.
She tried to stay up. Some of the younger wolves of this pack were fascinated by the Minae that came with the western pack, and they chatted with her eagerly. This was how she learned about the dwindling forest. According to these pups, at the beginning of that year they’d had several miles of forest stretching southeast. All summer, logging had gone on from the Minae of Daetus City; the City expanded and the forest shrank. The wolves had been thinking of moving sometime soon but they hadn’t made a final decision. Now they had pregnant females and time was running out.
Thalaea wondered if Salia would ask Ruk to call a council for his pack, to discuss the escape plan. She waited for her pack leader to call her over but Salia continued to confer with Ruk in private.
Eventually, it became too much for the witch to keep her eyes open and she collapsed to her side, asleep before she realized what had happened.
She woke to discover herself the center of a puppy pile. Laeanai was curled up at her front, and surrounding her were the warm, furry bodies of the wolves she’d chatted with the night before.
It was morning. The sun had just risen; she could see it shine through the thinning trees to the east.
Stiffly, Thalaea rose from her position on the ground. She was still wearing her rucksack and it pulled uncomfortably. She took it off and set it behind Laeanai before stumbling to her feet to stretch.
Her head ached; her mouth was drier than the tundra in high summer. The world around her spun. She suddenly realized that she hadn’t had anything to drink since she’d left Enendoa’s cottage, save some blood from the rabbit she and Laeanai had shared.
She needed water, and soon.
Thalaea stumbled around this new den, searching for Salia. There were sentries posted around the edges of the den, she saw. This den was very similar to the last one. A cave, some rocks forming a natural amphitheatre. She wondered if the third pack in the woods had something different in the way of a den.
She found Salia in the cave, sleeping next to Ruk. Behind them rested two pregnant females, the injured Lorekeeper, and the Lorekeeper of Ruk’s pack. Thalaea had briefly wondered about two females being pregnant last night. Normally, in a wolf pack, only one female would be pregnant at a time — the main alpha bitch — and then the entire pack would help raise the pups. The mated pair of alphas were the leaders of the pack but that switched up every few years.
Here, it seemed, there was one pack leader of either sex and more than one female would get pregnant at a time. She supposed it made sense; Ruk’s pack seemed quite a bit bigger than Salia’s. And the wolves here seemed to grow up more slowly than Terran or Cetian wolves.
Thalaea crouched beside her pack leader and put her hand next to Salia’s muzzle. The alpha breathed in the witch’s scent and a moment later eyelids flicked open and green eyes regarded Thalaea seriously.
Morning, Witch, Salia said, stretching and yawning. I take it you slept well?
Thalaea did not say that every muscle in her body ached with intense pain, nor that her head pounded and she felt like vomiting. She merely made a growl in the affirmative. A few moments later, she and Salia were walking out of the cave, finding a place in the den to speak without waking the other wolves.
This was beginning to feel familiar.
On the edge of the den’s space, Salia and Thalaea sat together, speaking while the early morning light warmed them. At least, it warmed Thalaea a bit; she wasn’t sure if Salia needed warming under her thick coat.
Did Ruk call a council last night to decide if his pack would leave?
Salia shook her head, and the skin around her neck shook too, not stopping when she did. I spoke with him in private. He agrees that this is a state of emergency, and he’s making the executive decision as pack leader. He’ll be speaking to his pack this morning, as soon as he wakes up. It was tough to convince him we had to leave today, however.
We may have an extra day or so, Thalaea said, though she wasn’t sure. The hunters had lost their main tracking source, sure, but any hunter worth his salt should be able to follow animal tracks without the help of a hound’s nose. She may have bought the pack time, but perhaps not enough.
I would not feel safe waiting around, Salia said, and Thalaea breathed a discreet sigh of relief. He wanted to give his pack a day to hunt and eat their fill before we left. I told him we could hunt on the way; with our packs combined, we have more than enough scouts to run out and find smaller game. And we wolves are used to going without so others may eat. I’m sure most of us wouldn’t have a problem with letting the pregnant bitches eat most of what we obtain. Salia looked sidelong at Thalaea. Her pack leader had noticed her lack of eating the night before. She shrugged.
I worry more about water. You say there are no rivers, and there is little snow within the forest.
There is a pond nearby. We can go days before we need to drink. There has never been much in the way of water in Steelmint and we wolves have adapted.
Thalaea wished she had that adaptive skill. Perhaps she could fashion something out of leaves with which to carry water, or use something else abundant in the forest.
Laeanai ran up then to tell his dam that Ruk had waked up and was looking for her. It seemed the other alpha wanted her presence while he made the announcement of flight to his pack. Salia nodded to Thalaea and padded off, though not before giving her son instructions to take the witch to find some water.
Laeanai happily led Thalaea to a pond close to the edge of the forest. Thalaea could see it was more than just a pool of stagnant water; it was very deep, and she guessed it was fed by an underground spring. She fell to her stomach and drank slowly but no less gratefully. Her entire body sang its praises to the earth as the water trickled down her throat and into her stomach, re-hydrating the parched flesh.
Laeanai drank with her. Once she sat back to let the water settle in her body, she asked him the question that had been preying on her mind since she met these wolves.
“How long does your kind live?”
Laeanai was absorbed with an itch on his back. Once he’d finished biting at the skin, he shrugged and rolled over, belly to the sky, front paws in the air. I think the Lorekeeper is…two-hundred seventy full moons old.
Thalaea reached a hand out and started to rub Laeanai’s belly. He made a noise of appreciation and arched his back, rolling closer to the witch. Funny how some things didn’t change at all from one world to another.
“How many full moons in a year?” she used her nails to scratch at areas that were hard for him to reach. If Laeanai had been able to purr like a cat, he would have, she was sure.
Three or four…oh, yeah, that’s the spot.
Three or four moons to a year. She knew each moon cycle was about ninety-six days.
Which meant these wolves lived much longer than their Terran or Cetian counterparts.
Interesting.
When they got back, Ruk had just finished making the announcement of their migration. Thalaea and Laeanai stopped at the edge of the den and listened to the alpha male’s instructions to his pack.
We’re going to find the third pack in the forest and ask them to come with us to Thaen, he said. Salia’s pack is worried the hunters might not stop scouring the forest for wolves to kill and the other pack deserves warning at the very least.
He addressed a few wolves directly, and told them to start scouting ahead. Several other wolves he designated as food gatherers. Only smaller game that you can carry back easily. Rabbits, squirrels, even boar, if you can find one. No deer or elk. Our priority is to let Myila and Inarea — here he gestured to the pregnant females — our Lorekeepers, and the elder wolves eat the most. Next, the adolescents. We middle-aged dogs can go lean for a bit. He laughed at this and to Thalaea’s surprise some other wolves in his pack laughed, too. This pack seemed far less serious than Salia’s pack.
It was Laeanai’s mother’s time to speak then. She assigned hunting and scouting to several wolves, and made the same comments about going lean. We’re sharing with Ruk’s pack, as he’s been so gracious to share with us. The only way we’re going to survive this is if we work together.
Ruk picked up where Salia left off seamlessly. Many of you may be wondering why we’re going to Thaen. Perhaps many of you think we shouldn’t; after all, it’s been centuries since anyone has heard from Thaen and they did leave us here alone.
I don’t much fancy heading to Thaen myself. But it’s become clear — if we stay in Steelmint, we will perish. And Thaen is, perhaps, the last place we can go. So in the interest of preserving my pack, I agreed with Salia when she said Thaen was our best bet.
As my pack already knows, continued Salia then, with a look at Thalaea, we have a newcomer who suggested Thaen in the first place. Thalaea the witch has joined our pack and in the past few days I’ve come to rely on her wisdom quite a bit. It’s because of her that our Lorekeeper lives at all; our pack owes her a debt of gratitude. So even though she may look Minae to you, please remember — she’s wolf. Your nose will tell you that as much as it does mine.
Thalaea felt her face heat in embarrassment when some of the wolves made cheering noises. She saw tails wagging, too, from the younger crowd she’d spent time with the night before. They saw her as a wolf. That alone made her indescribably happy.
Go drink your fill of water from the pond, all of you, and then we’ll head out, said Ruk. We’re heading due north. The third pack was on the north-eastern edge of the forest, last I heard. We’ll search for them there.
The packs dispersed quickly. Thalaea found her rucksack and put it back on. She wished she’d taken a waterskin from Enendoa’s. She hadn’t realized there would be so little to drink in the forest.
Salia and Ruk padded over to her. Pack Leaders, she said, bowing her head.
Witch, replied Salia. Do you think you can continue to carry our Lorekeeper? He still walks far too slow.
Thalaea’s shoulders and back screamed at her to refuse but she ignored them. I can. Can someone keep a nose on the scent for more bloodwort and Dittany? I’ll need to put some more on his leg at the end of the day.
Salia nodded. I believe Codiai knows the scents. I’ll ask her to keep her nose to the ground. The alpha bitch padded away.
Ruk was regarding Thalaea frankly. The witch met his gaze without flinching.
He was a large wolf, the same size as Salia. Middle-aged and massive. His colouring was much lighter, however — Salia was grey and brown and red, with a black chevron on her back. Ruk looked more like the goddess Silva, when she’d taken wolf form — almost pure white. His paws were the only exception; they were black, as if he’d put on socks. His eyes were amber — common to most of the Steelmint wolves, she’d noticed, except Laeanai and his mother.
There was something oddly familiar about him. She couldn’t place it.
Do I know you, stranger? he asked and Thalaea tried not to jump. The feeling of familiarity apparently went both ways.
Not yet in this life, she said. Ruk smiled.
We should remedy that on this journey. I shall walk with you, and we can talk.
I would be honoured, she said formally.
Thus began the flight of almost thirty wolves from the southeastern quarter of Steelmint Forest.
Thalaea hoped the third pack would join them and that it wasn’t too big. She didn’t know how they were going to make it across Minae farmland, unnoticed.