THE WOLVES OF MISTWOODS
Short story
It was a clear cold autumn night. There
would be frost tonight. Thames padded his way down the beaten path that led to
a clearing. The others would be there. The Pak had to regroup and learn about
the disruptions in the Mistwoods forest. Rivalries were attacking and claiming
territory. They had to be stopped.
Greystone, the leader was going to tell
them what more was happening on the east side of the forest. Thames was
expecting the worse. They hadn’t lost anybody yet but he knew if this kept up
that there would be a loss. The scent of the Pak told him he was almost there.
Yips and howls filled the air in the distance.
He was home. Thames had been born and
raised here in this forest. He would die here as well. But not tonight. There
was much to do. The first one to greet him was one of the small ones, Brutes.
Despites his size he was fearless and that was why he was one of the top guards
of the Pak.
Thames could tell right away by the way
Brutes was pacing that trouble had erupted again. “What happened?” He almost
didn’t want to hear the answer but he had to know.
“They attacked at the edge of the forest.
They are getting closer.”
Thames let out a huff as Brutes led him
the rest of the Pak.
Greystone was already on top of the knoll
looking out at everyone. When he noticed that Thames was there, he called
everyone over to him.
“We gather here tonight to talk about our
intrusion of another Pak that is looking for their own territory. We have to push them back and the sooner the
better. Their leader however has agreed to meet us. I’m leery of this and I
think he will use it for an opportunity to attack. I have not given an answer
yet. I want to hear what you all have to say.”
Mumbling and growls circulated in the crowd
until finally one larger wolf stepped forward. It was Blackpaw, one of the
older ones. Everyone silenced and waited for what he had to say.
“I think we need to tread carefully before
assuming they will attack. Let’s meet them in another location where we know
the land well. So, if anything does go wrong, we can be prepared.”
More mumblings erupted and Greystone
yipped silencing everyone. “That might be a good idea. I was thinking the same
thing but we could have to be careful. I was also thinking of just a few of us
going to meet the leader in that same location.”
Some were shaking their heads in
disagreement. They all wanted to be there to defend Greystone. After a few more
discussions, it was confirmed that everyone would meet with them.
The other Pak agreed to meet at the familiar
location. Thames was ready for anything and decided to scout out the area where
the wolves had staked out. He stayed back far enough to keep his scent out of
reach.
“What are you doing?”
Thames jumped and bared his teeth. The
other world did the same. Thames noticed it was a female, light grey in color, Thames
backed up and looked at her. “Are you from the Pak?”
She stopped growling. “No, I’m a loner.”
Thames eyes went wide. He had never met a
loner. “You don’t belong to a Pak?”
She tilted her head at him. “Not all of us
feel the need to be a part of a Pak.”
“You’re not afraid being alone?”
“No, why would I? I would be more afraid
to be a part of a Pak.”
That took Thames by surprise. Some yips
and howls took both of their attention to the Pak. “They are on the move,”
“I’ve been watching them. They have moved
into this territory and it appears they are going to try and claim it.”
“They are indeed. Out leader and the rest
of us is meeting with them.”
“I would be wary of that. They met with
another Pak the other day and it didn’t end well. The other Pak lost their
territory.”
That
wasn’t good news. He would have to tell Greystone. “Thanks for telling me
this.”
Their howls were getting louder and
closer. “We have to get out of here. I think they sense us.”
“Let’s go this way. We can lose them.”
Thames didn’t hesitate, he followed her.
There was something about her that told him he could trust her. They went down
into this narrow path in the forest. They were making a lot of noise and Thames
thought for sure they would hear them and soon be chased. It wasn’t long when
Thames could hear water running. She was headed for the stream that ran through
the entire forest. A riverbed of stones led over to the other side. She stepped
out onto them. The cold water rushed over her feet and the stones underneath
were slippery. She slipped a few times. Thames stepped lightly watching that he
didn’t falter. He took one glance behind him and could movement. He feared now
they were being pursued.
Thames picked up his pace and soon was
right behind her. They had not far to go to reach the other side. His chest was
pounding to get to the other side. They made it. She didn’t stop once but
bounded into the dark forest. Thames did the same thing. He glanced back and
saw one loan wolf looking around sniffing. Thames almost froze on the spot. He
was huge. But he knew better than to stay. He quickly took off catching up to
her.
Now they were far enough away that they
could take it easy. They were heading towards Thames’s Pal territory. She
stopped right at the edge. “I will go no further. You can join your Pak.”
“But what about them. They might chase
you. They had caught our scent back there. Maybe you should…”
But before he could finish, she had disappeared
before his eyes. He could softly hear in the distance getting farther away. He
didn’t bother to chase after her. He just hoped that she knew enough to lay low
for a bit.
He joined his Pak and told them what had
happened. Greystone decided then to not meet up with them. He would not put his
Pak in danger like that. He said if they came here to their property they would
defend it.
That night, Brutes who was on patrol came
scampering into the field. “They are on the other side, heading this way.”
Greystone let out a howl and everyone took
their stations. They were ready. Thames waited for them to appear. Three small
ones came into their clearing. They sniffed around and then each let out a yip
in a different tone. That sent the hairs on Thames’s neck standing up. It was a
code for something.
Greystone came into the clearing by
himself. The three young wolves started to growl and Thames thought they were
going to attack him. Greystone held his own. ‘Where is your leader?”
The three of them backed up and one
howled. In mere seconds, a large black wolf came crashing through. Thames
instantly recognised him from the creek. He was the leader.
The big black wolf came forward and
greeted Greystone. There were no words exchanged when the big black world let
out a loud howl. The whole area erupted into growls and yips. His own wolves
were coming out of everywhere. Thames wondered where his own Pak had gone but
they soon appeared. Now they were all fighting. Thames had to join in but he
felt he had to do something quick to end this before it became a bloodbath.
Thames possessed a special magic that was
rare and Greystone was the only one who knew about it. He raised his paw and
just as he did, a sound from behind him startled him. He remembered her scent. “What
are you doing here? There is a battle raging.”
“I saw them coming and came to warn you.
What were you going to do?”
“This.” Thames raised his paw. This blue
glow erupted from his paw and filled the entire open field the blue light. The
wolves all froze down on the field and looked toward his direction. The big
black wolf let out a howl and his Pak took off into the forest in all
directions. The big black wolf looked into his direction and backed up and then
bounded for the forest. His own Pak chased him.
When he dropped his paw, she came up
beside him. “You are like me.”
“You have magic too?”
She held up her paw and pale green glowed.
Thames shook his head. “We are rare you know.”
“Not as rare as you think,” She nudged him
and that is when Greystone came up to him. “Thank you for saving us. They were
very aggressive and would have maybe defeated us.”
Thames shook his head. “Never.”
Greystone looked over at her. “I see she
is like you. We find another wolf mage.”
“She says there is more like us.”
“That is interesting, I would be interested
in meeting some more. But come both of you. Join in the victory.”
He spun around and yipped and the rest of
the Pak joined him. When Thames went to talk to her, she was gone. He let out a
howl. He waited and in the distance, he could hear a faint howl in response. He
wondered how she had made the distance so fast. Maybe there was more to know
about this mage wolf. Hopefully one day he would find out.
