Spirit of the Wolves (37 page)

Jlela waited for me at the bottom of the Hill Rock. As I neared her, she flew halfway up the rock. I squinted up at her through the glare of late sun. She clacked her beak impatiently.

“I don't have wings,” I muttered to myself. I also didn't want the Greatwolves to know I was coming. Every muscle in my
body screamed at me to run straight up to the cave to find TaLi, but if I did so, I would be visible long before I got there. If Ázzuen were with me, he'd tell me to find a quiet way up the rock instead of rushing in. I sat and looked up at the cave. I saw that the outcropping in front of it went halfway around the rock. I could sneak up to the very edge of the cave without being seen, then find a way to get to TaLi and Tlitoo. I ran in back of the rock and scrambled up it onto the ledge, then crept along it as quietly as I could. When I neared the entrance to the cave, I lowered myself to my belly and crawled forward, pawswidth by pawswidth.

I stopped at the mouth of the cave and lay flat. Jlela hung upside down under the ledge, opening and closing her beak silently. I rested my head against the stone and listened. I couldn't hear a thing, and the air still smelled so much of smoke I couldn't pick out any scents. I was just about to ask Jlela if she was sure they were in there when hot breath on the top of my head made me look up into Milsindra's smug gaze.

“What took you so long, Kaala?” She smiled. She grabbed me by my scruff and rolled me head over tail until I landed in the cave, splayed on my stomach. Greatwolves closed in around me.

I smelled TaLi and Tlitoo, then, but couldn't see either of them through the fur of what seemed like a hundred Greatwolves. My throat was so dry with fear that I couldn't speak even if I could think of what to say. I'd been in such a hurry to get to the cave that I hadn't thought about what I'd do once I got there. I had been foolish to come alone, without a plan. Now I was trapped, with no way to stop the Greatwolves from killing all of us.

I needed to calm down and think clearly. I closed my eyes for a moment. Shutting my eyes while surrounded by enemies wasn't
a good idea, but I was under no illusions. If the Greatwolves wanted me dead, keeping my eyes open wouldn't help me, either. I took several deep breaths, hoping an idea would come to me. None did. I waited a little longer, then opened my eyes. I would do TaLi and Tlitoo no good lying there like stupefied prey.

I counted eight Greatwolves, not a hundred, including Milsindra and her mate, Kivdru. At first I thought that the other Greatwolves were strangers to me, but then I recognized Galindra and Sundru and several other Wide Valley Greatwolves who supported Milsindra. I still couldn't see TaLi or Tlitoo. I heard a yelp of pain and then another, and a young Greatwolf scooted forward. Tlitoo swayed behind him, his beak full of fur. TaLi sat next to him, curled against the cold wall of the cave.

Tlitoo spat out the fur and what looked like a bit of skin. “You should not have come, wolflet,” he said, “but I am glad you did. We will make them sorry now.” He crouched down low, holding one of his wings at an awkward angle. Jlela flew into the cave and darted between Greatwolves to get to him. She quorked something to him, and he answered with a soft, urgent croak. Two Greatwolves lunged for Jlela. She dove between them and, as they tried to snatch her from the air, swooped past them and out of the cave. They started to run after her, but her strong wings had already taken her beyond their reach. All they could do was growl after her. I took advantage of their distraction to bolt to TaLi. No one stopped me.

TaLi threw her arms around me. Her skin felt damp and cold, and she was shivering. I pressed as close to her as I could and turned to face the Greatwolves. I expected them to snarl at or threaten me, but they just stood watching me. They knew I had no chance to escape.

“What do you want?” I asked Milsindra, daring to meet her eyes for a moment before looking over her shoulder.

“We want to know what you do with these two,” she said. “We know that you enter the realm of the spirits. Neesa said that you can go into the minds of other wolves, and the wolf who can do that can also cross into the spirit world. We have all been told so since we were pups. There are secrets there that belong to us, secrets that can help us stop our kind from dying out, and it has been too long since we have been able to talk to the Ancients. That is what the drelshik does, isn't it?” I couldn't mistake the envy in her voice. “You will take us there or watch your human die.”

I didn't know what the Greatwolves really wanted in the Inejalun, but I didn't want to give Milsindra anything that might help her.

My head pounded, and I thought that if I were any more afraid, it would burst apart. I forced myself to think. I couldn't get past them, and I couldn't fight my way out. I had to trick them. Tlitoo clearly had the same thought.

“It is us,” he clacked. “We are the Neja. You must have me, the wolf, and the human girl.”

I was angry at first that he had included TaLi, but then grateful. If they didn't need her, they might have killed her already. Tlitoo looked at me, blinking rapidly. He was plotting something. “If one of you lies next to us, you will be able to see what we see,” he quorked.

I had no idea what Tlitoo had planned, but also had no ideas of my own. I would follow his lead. Milsindra was watching me. I dipped my head in agreement.

TaLi chose that moment to try to escape. She stood and
took a step toward the cave entrance. Terrified that the Greatwolves would hurt her, I knocked her knees out from under her so that she sat again. Several of the Greatwolves snickered. Then Tlitoo stalked over to crouch beside us. The Greatwolves gathered around us, but none of them came too close to me. I wanted to laugh. They pretended to be so fierce and strong, but they were afraid of what Tlitoo and I could do.

“What happened to your wing?” I whispered to Tlitoo.

“It is broken, wolf. I cannot fly,” he said loudly, then dropped his voice to what was barely a whisper. “You must let a Grimwolf lie next to your girl. I have led them to believe that the human opens the gate to the Nejakilakin so they would not kill her. Now we can use that. But you must allow it.”

I didn't want to let a Greatwolf anywhere near TaLi, but it was our only choice.

“All right,” I said.

“Gruntwolves,” Tlitoo said arrogantly to the huge wolves around him. “One of you must not be a curl-tail. One of you must sit next to the girl. If you hurt her, you will never get to the Inejalun.”

Milsindra stepped forward. She was shaking, and her fear gave me pleasure. TaLi shrank away from her as she drew near. But I nudged her toward the Greatwolf and licked her hand. “You need to sit next to her,” I said to TaLi for Milsindra's benefit. “Stay there.”

TaLi stayed still, shaking almost as much as Milsindra did.

“She obeys you?” one of the Greatwolves asked.

I didn't answer him. It went against every instinct I had to let Milsindra near TaLi, and even the thought of it made me so sick to my stomach I had to swallow to keep from vomiting
in front of the Greatwolves. I dipped my head to Tlitoo. He hopped awkwardly onto my back.

Tlitoo took me straight to the Inejalun. The sensation of falling, the lack of smell and taste, and the shock of the cold hit me so quickly I didn't have time to adjust. My thoughts froze. We landed in the Stone Circle, exactly where we always found ourselves when we first entered the Inejalun. But this time, the Shadow Wolf did not come to greet us. Tlitoo cawed loudly several times, and I tried to put aside my fear that the Greatwolves could hear us and would attack TaLi in revenge. I heard answering raven calls from somewhere beyond the Stone Circle.

“Listen, wolf,” Tlitoo said. “We will escape the cave and then you must follow me. You must not be exhausted and frozen, so there is no time to explain. Will you trust me? Will you do whatever I say?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow move.

“Wait,” I said, stepping away from Tlitoo.

I followed the shadow behind a large rock. The Shadow Wolf was just about to slip into the woods.

“Is it true?” I asked. “Can we bring others to the Inejalun?”

The Shadow Wolf stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I have heard that it is so,” he said, “but I cannot guarantee what will happen if you do. I do not like the solution you have found. I do not like the wolves that are not wolves taking what is ours.” He muttered something to himself, then raised his head. “But we forsook the Promise, and our attempts to fix what we have broken have failed. It is no longer for us to say what is the right thing to do.”

“I need your help,” I said. “You have to tell the Sentinels not to kill the streckwolves.” My tongue was thick with cold.

He shifted restlessly. “I can try,” he said. “But if I do, you cannot falter. If we let the little not-wolves live, it will mean the end of our kind. The humans will be strong enough to kill us. If I agree to make that sacrifice and let the little wolves live, you must promise me you will do whatever you must to honor that sacrifice.”

“I promise,” I said.

The Shadow Wolf lowered his great head. “Then I will try. The time of the Greatwolf is past, but yours may not yet be.”

“Wolf,” Tlitoo rasped, “you cannot stay longer. If you fall asleep we cannot fight.”

“I can help with that, this one time,” the Shadow Wolf said. “You will be weakened, but will be able to go on.” He touched his nose to my chest, and for just a moment I felt warm.

Tlitoo hurled himself against me and I found myself lying on the ground of the cave, which seemed much too warm after the cold of the Inejalun. I was tired, but the Shadow Wolf's touch had made it possible for me to stay awake.

Tlitoo flapped his good wing and looked up at the Greatwolves. “It does not work here, surrounded by rocks,” he said. “The Ancients cannot reach us.”

The Greatwolves grumbled and some of them moved forward, teeth bared.

“I cannot help it, Grumpwolves,” Tlitoo said. “I do not choose when and where the spirits speak to us. There is a place they have always come to us before. I can take you there.”

Milsindra growled low in her throat, but Tlitoo just blinked at her. She growled again, more ferociously. Tlitoo clacked his beak and turned his head from side to side. Then he began poking at bits of dirt as if looking for worms. Milsindra whuffed impatiently,
then led the way out of the cave. If she weren't a Greatwolf trying to kill me, I might have felt sorry for her. She needed Tlitoo to help her save her own pack, and I'd never met a wolf that could force a raven to do anything it didn't want to do.

Four Greatwolves kept close to us as we made our way down the hill and into the woods. Two more herded TaLi, who was limping badly. Tlitoo rode upon my back, holding out his broken wing.

Then, between one breath and the next, Tlitoo took flight, his supposedly broken wing slicing through the wind. I darted to stand in front of TaLi, trying to protect her from the Greatwolves. She had other ideas. She took several sharp rocks from her clothing and threw them, one by one, at the Greatwolves, striking them with fierce accuracy between their eyes. They snarled and stalked toward her. I had no choice but to fight. I bit down hard on Milsindra's leg and she yowled. I grinned in spite of my terror. I'd always wanted to bite her.

I don't think it had occurred to the Greatwolves that we would attack them. Milsindra and Kivdru growled and snapped, but Galindra and Sundru just blinked stupidly. Tlitoo returned to smack the Greatwolves with his wings and stab at their vulnerable eyes with his sharp beak. TaLi and I ran.

We made it as far as a small grove of elms before they caught us. Kivdru tackled me there, knocking the air from my lungs. He laughed, then stepped off me. Two Greatwolves trapped TaLi between them. Before I could get up, Kivdru whuffed a command, and Galindra and Sundru sauntered into the grove. Sundru gripped Jlela between his sharp teeth. Galindra held Tlitoo. She dropped him at Sundru's feet. Before the raven could move, Sundru pinned him beneath his great
paw. Tlitoo croaked in fury. I scrambled to my paws and darted to stand as close to TaLi as I could get.

“I'll go tell Milsindra you found the stupid pup,” Galindra said and trotted away.

Sundru grinned as he tightened his grip on Jlela, his teeth piercing the bird's breast. Jlela kept perfectly still, blood from several puncture wounds—bite marks—dripping from her wings down Sundru's chest and into Tlitoo's feathers.

I was frozen in place, immobilized by horror and helplessness. One bite of the Greatwolf's huge jaws and Jlela would be dead. There was no way I could get to the Greatwolf quickly enough to do anything.

Milsindra loped into the grove. Kivdru whuffed in greeting.

“You will not try to escape us again,” Milsindra said. She didn't even bother to look at me. “You will take us where you go with the Neja. If you do not, I will kill that raven”—she pointed her muzzle at Jlela—“and then the Neja.”