Sapphire (22 page)

Lula fluttered down to her shoulder. “I guess
big-lips only uses them to kiss you, and then to yell at you. How
romantic.”

“Thanks for the observation.” She said it with a bit
more spite than she had meant to, but Lula took it graciously.

“Well, I mean,” said Lula, “you are really powerful.
Who am I to say who you can kiss or not. You could turn me into a
gnat if you wanted to.”

“Forget about it. You’re right.”

Lula looked relieved. “Oh good. Not that you
would…turn me into a gnat…right?”

Shawna smiled, then glanced up at Mira a few paces
ahead, and then at Orin. She knew he either hadn’t been telling
them the truth, or didn’t even know it himself. It was apparent he
didn’t know these men, though they knew him and Mira. She watched
them both, and bit her lip.

They reached the village a little before sundown.
Chimneys were just beginning to smoke, and baked fish made Shawna’s
stomach growl. Antares growled in response to the sound and looked
around, ready to pounce, until he realized it was her empty
stomach. She couldn’t help but give him a little amused smile. He
puffed himself up, and swiped a giant paw at Lan who yelped and
stumbled backwards over a log. Antares looked pleased.

All the people seemed to be inside their homes
preparing meals. It wasn’t until Faolan walked up to a large bugle
with a wolf’s jaws opening wide at its other end, and blew a
tremendous sound that everyone began throwing doors open. Families
poured into the earthen square, gathering around Faolan’s company
and the newcomers. Children stared wide-eyed at Mira, and mothers
stared wide-eyed at Antares, clutching their children close. A few
young men were staring at Shawna. She suddenly felt extremely
self-conscious, and was grateful when Orin caught their stares and
they looked away.

“Everyone,” shouted Faolan when about sixty people
had amassed. “Someone has come back to us. Beyond all our beliefs,
he has found his way home.” He clapped a calloused hand on Orin’s
shoulder. “This boy. This is Elias’s son, Orin. Orin has come home,
blown by the fates of the Howling Winds.”

There was a wave of murmuring and pointing. Faolan
raised his arm, and slowly the talking died.

“I know it is hard to believe, but as you can see,
it is true.” He cleared his throat, his voice cracking with
emotion. “Let us celebrate this miracle. Call the wolves!”

Call the wolves?
Shawna looked around at the
tall dark forest beyond the firelight.

“Did he just say, ‘call the wolves?’” Lula said,
alighting on her shoulder. “I suppose you should be grateful for
eating nothing but those skinny rabbits that Orin catches.
I
wouldn’t eat you.” She winked, and Shawna smirked back.

Four men walked over to four smaller wolf-head horns
surrounding Faolon’s, and one after the other blasted hauntingly
beautiful notes. The sound reverberated through the falling night.
A few minutes later, actual wolf howls faintly answered. Shawna
felt her spine tingle at the primal calls.

There was a lot of chatter, and people shoved
forward for a look at Orin and his strange friends, though a wide
birth was given to Antares because he kept growling and glaring at
everyone. One little fearless girl, however, tottered right up to
Antares and wrapped her arms around his leg before he realized what
was happening. She could barely put her pudgy arms around his big
furry leg. She sat down and patted his paw that could have whacked
her into oblivion. He lifted his paw and “
ha’ruffed”
menacingly at her, but she only giggled. He was stunned into
silence and glanced around for help.

Everyone wanted to see Orin and talk to him. Mira,
Shawna, and Lula soon found themselves at the edge of the mob. Not
wanting to create a scene, Antares finally stood up and marched
away. The crowd moved aside like royal subjects, or timid deer. But
he wasn’t going to escape so easily. Something grabbed his tail and
he whipped his head around, teeth bared, to see the persistent
child latched on and scuttling after him like a crab. He tried
thrashing his tail around, but she had a grip like a crocodile, and
only squealed with delight when she was lifted into the air. The
little girl landed in a cloud of dust, hair sticking straight up
from his electricity, and proceeded to yank on his tail. Antares
did not have a cruel nature, but he was seriously deciding on
eating her. He had a toothy scowl across his face when her mother
finally came to the rescue.

“Mia!” she screeched.

THWACK!

The woman’s boot collided with his jaw, and his
scowl was whacked off his face. A wail of disappointment pierced
his ringing head as Mia was swooped away. He blinked. He’d just
been booted in the face by a scrawny human-creature. With a very
prideful, “
harumph
,” and a twitch of his sparking whiskers,
he turned tail and disappeared into the woods, his red glow
swallowed by shadows.

“I really thought he was going to eat that kid,”
said Lula.

“Well, not yet at least,” said Shawna.

“Come,” yelled Faolan from across the crowd, waving
at them. “Follow us to the Howling Hall and share our food. You
must be famished.” His voice was fading as he and everyone else
were dispersing to gather a feast for Orin’s home-coming.

Shawna looked at Mira, who flicked her ears as a
well-why-not
sign. They followed the crowd towards the
middle of town, and Shawna nearly fainted from all the delicious
smells wafting around the night air. Baked plum pies, meat pies,
nut pies, fire-roasted vegetables, cured meats, huge hunks of
pungent cheese, and honey-soaked fruits were laid out before them
when they walked under the huge carved doors into the hall. It was
quite a magnificent hall for such a quaint little village.

Around the entrance must have been a hundred wolf
skulls all decorated with paint and braided leather. It was
stunningly horrific. As she stepped inside, she was further
impressed. The wooden walls inside were completely covered in
carvings. The wood was rich and gleaming, making the reliefs of
people, wolves, and day-to-day scenes look alive. Or were they? She
stopped and stared at a large life-like statue of a wolf and jumped
when it turned its yellow eyes to meet hers.

“Oh,” said Lula, fluttering above their heads. “It’s
a wolf!”

They hadn’t seen the wolves arrive, and the sight of
one made her heart race, not just from apprehension, but also from
their deadly beauty. The wolf was very handsome with golden tawny
fur nearly the same color as the wood walls, yellow eyes, and black
tips on its muzzle, ears, and legs. It was perhaps fourteen feet
away and looked at them without a trace of fear. In fact, the wolf
seemed very interested in them, Shawna especially. She felt the
light weight of her sword and gripped it more securely. Her
attention was caught momentarily by the loud peal of a musical
instrument, and when she looked back the wolf had gone.

As people filed into the hall, laden with delicious
plates of food, music began playing at the far end. It felt primal
and fierce like the wolf howls. Shawna was drawn to it as if her
soul had always been waiting for such a sound. She and Lula made
their way to the musicians and watched as villagers started dancing
a warrior-like dance, even the women. The men, and a couple of
women, played medieval looking instruments to the pounding rhythm
of drums. Then, as the bagpipes, woodwinds, and stringed
instruments thrummed and roared, a group of men started singing in
deep, growling voices. The words were mysterious to her, but she
felt their meaning nonetheless: strength, honor, loyalty, and
fearlessness, like the wolf.

“I’m afraid weapons are not allowed in the Howling
Hall,” Faolan said, moving his way towards her.

She turned away from the hypnotizing music and dance
to face him. “Oh, I-I’m sorry.”

“This is a sacred place of celebration.” His eyes
widened. “But what an unusual sword.”

Shawna saw Lula watching him, probably offended at
the thought of his grimy hands touching her magnificent
creation.

“You have no scabbard.” He said it as a statement,
not a question, and she realized the thought had never crossed her
mind. She had just been using the cloth strap Orin had given
her.

“May I?” he asked, holding out a very clean, though
rough, hand.

She handed him the hilt. The blade flashed in his
eyes by amber torch-light. He examined the clear blade, hilt, and
small carvings with great interest. Shawna noticed there was a new
carving within the blade that hadn’t been there a day ago. The
image of Kryos was now entwined with Karuna. The iron figure of
Karuna, an image of her natural-self, not the monster she had been,
was also rearing and reaching upward.

“Fairy skill,” he said. “Quite powerful as well.” He
glanced up at Lula, and she allowed herself to smile somewhat
smugly. “How ever did you come by this, if I may ask?”

He seemed like such a kind man that Shawna opened up
without thinking and answered, “The Monoliths of Kryos.”

Everyone within ear-shot went silent, and soon it
spread like a ripple until the entire hall was so quiet you could
hear the sputtering of burning coals. Faolan’s eyes widened, and he
nearly let the sword fall before she caught it from him. Orin
shoved his way forward, a fang-adorned goblet in hand.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking at everyone’s
faces before settling on Shawna’s.

She felt hotter and redder than the flames from the
fireplace near them. Mira came up behind her shoulder.

“Does this bother you?” Mira asked of Faolan, her
voice saturated with such tranquility that everyone slowly relaxed
their shoulders and faces. One woman began to smile, looking tipsy,
obviously very easily persuaded, or else very drunk.

He stammered, “Well, no, it’s just…just how did you
get out alive?”

Shawna stood up a little taller, and raised her
eyebrows, daring him to say,
but you’re just a little
girl.

Instead, he said, “There are horrible beasts there.
And you survived? And obtained this sword, the likes I’ve never
seen before.”

“They aren’t horrible,” she said, but thought about
how pants-peeing afraid she had been at the time. “Antares isn’t a
monster, and he came from there.”

This was the wrong thing to say. Mira even bumped
her with her head. “You shouldn’t have revealed that!”

“Yeah, well, too late now. Thanks for not stomping
on my foot,” she mumbled.

She hated being reprimanded, especially in front of
Orin. There was an uproar like tiny flames suddenly gorging
themselves on brittle twigs. Faolan took a giant step back, fear
showing in his eyes this time.

“This is my fault!” he bellowed above the clamor,
raising his arms for silence which took awhile, but when it finally
quieted he continued. “This is my fault for bringing these
strangers amongst us, even though Orin vouches for them. I thought
the creature wreathed in light might have been dangerous, but I had
no idea what he truly was.”

“He’s
not
dangerous,” Shawna said
angrily.

“He’s one of the beasts from the Crystal Valley. Of
course he is!” Faolan was fuming, his chest heaving with quick
breaths.

She hadn’t realized that they had all been slowly
backing away out the door until she heard a chorus of snarls behind
them. She, Mira, and Lula turned around to see that they were
hemmed in by a thick circle of wolves. They had nowhere to go.
Anger welled up inside her from all this miscommunication and
assumption.

“We are
not
dangerous!” she shouted, throwing
her sword to the ground at Faolan’s feet.

He stared at her, then at the sword, his eyes
narrowing before they fell on Mira.

“It seems to me, unicorn, that it has been about
sixteen years since the last time I saw you. Interesting how the
two events followed one another.”

Mira ignored Shawna’s and Lula’s questioning looks,
and steadily returned Faolon’s accusing one.

“I came for a specific reason,” she said, head held
high.

“Did you?” His tone was biting. “All we saw was a
black unicorn galloping towards a cottage in ruins. Next we knew,
monsters seen from the Monoliths attacked our men. Luckily, we had
the power of the Golden One to protect us.”

“We only went there to—” Shawna interrupted,
glancing at Mira, but she saw that she was going to receive no help
this time. “We went there because we’re on a journey, a very
important one. We had to find Sirr…someone who could help us. Kryos
and his clan are
not
monsters. They want to help us
and
you!” Her last words caught their attention. The wolves
were still baring their fangs but had ceased snarling.

“Help
us?
” said Faolan, his chin raised so
that he was looking down his nose at her. “Why would creatures that
have tried to devastate our forests and village want to
help
us?”

“What? What do you mean? They haven’t—”

“Don’t tell me what I haven’t seen,
girl!
”
She jumped at his anger and clenched fists.

Lula clenched her fists as well and looked about
ready to get into a fist fight with his nose. Shawna gave a slight
shake of her head and, with a scowl, Lula reluctantly crossed her
arms. Some of the villagers were murmuring their agreement with
their village leader, their stares accusing. Orin tried to push his
way between them, but others shoved him back. He too looked ready
to fight, yet they were surrounded, and his sword lay secured
within the hall. Faolon’s eyes glinted.

“For sixteen years, dark creatures have come from
the valley of the Crystal Monoliths, and each time the Golden Wolf
has protected us.”

Mira’s ears suddenly perked forward at this and
fixated on Faolon as he continued speaking.