Part 5 (1/2)
”I heard some owls discussing it, but the rumor is that the Fengo is calling our clan to the Supreme Raghnaid for a Court of Crait.”
”A Court of Crait!” Dunbar MacHeath shot into the air so high he sc.r.a.ped the stone ceiling of the gadderheal cave. A wailing rose from the a.s.sembled wolves.
”Silence,” he roared. An immediate hush fell upon the gadderheal. Dunbar MacHeath began to pace up and down the length of the cavern. He stopped and rolled his eyes up toward the ceiling, then regained his composure. ”Crait, they say! Crait! Well, we'll show them who's crait and who isn't.
”The little she-wolf la.s.sie has a fondness for grizzly cubs, eh?” he spoke reflectively. ”That could get her into a lot of trouble if it were to be found out. For too long, the clans of the Beyond have been beholden to the Watch. And now they call a Court of Crait to judge us! This is nonsense. It is time to restore honor and power to the clans and their chieftains.”
This, thought Katria, has nothing to do with honor and everything to do with power. Raw power.
Dunbar MacHeath regarded the wolves around him. ”What is honor? Honor is doing the right thing. For years now, the wolves at the Watch have determined our clan territories, our hunting grounds. It was the wolves of the Watch and the first Fengo who decided this. Why are we a Fengo-centered land? The center of the Beyond is not the Ring, but Great Lupus! We shall ask what would Lupus do to restore our honor. We have been shackled to the Ring of Sacred Volcanoes for too long. Our duty is to restore honor!”
There were loud growls and barks of approval until the chieftain snapped the command for quiet. A thick silence settled upon the gathered wolves as their cunning chieftain spun his net of promises. ”This wolf Edme could have offered us a chance for power at the Ring, but she betrayed us. Your first thought is *Let the grizzly mother take her retribution on the faithless Edme.' But what does one wolf killed by a grizzly amount to? Not much. Instead, we'll use this idiot wolf's behavior to spark a war that will restore our honor.”
Oh, so that is what Lupus would do? Katria thought. Start a war?
”What kind of a war?” Blyden asked.
Dunbar MacHeath's paw flashed out and slammed Blyden sideways. ”Do not interrupt! I am speaking of a war between the wolves of the Watch and the bears. There are many bears in the valley near the Sacred Ring. If they rose up, it would be the end of the Watch as we know it.”
”And then what?” the chieftain's mate asked.
”And then, finally, it will be our turn.”
”Our turn!” There was a low murmuring of agreement, which began to swell among the wolves. ”Our turn! Our turn!” The words flowed through the gadderheal like a chant.
Resentment festered like a canker within the MacHeaths, carefully cultivated and nurtured by their twisted minds.
”So what is your” a” It was Malan, the second-highest-ranking wolf next to the chieftain. He hesitated slightly before completing his thought a” ”your design, Lord Chieftain?”
”Simply this: We need a hostage. I think the cub a” the cub Edme played with.”
”And where will we keep this hostage?” Malan asked.
”The Pit with Old Cags,” Dunbar said with a low snarl.
Katria's blood froze. Did this chieftain's depravity know no bounds?
”Aaaah!” The exclamation rippled through the gadderheal.
”Yes, your old chieftain still has a few tricks up his ruff.” Dunbar's hackles stood up rigidly, and he gave a quick venomous glance at Donaidh.
The Pit was patrolled by Old Cags, a MacHeath wolf with the foaming-mouth disease. When a young pup was disobedient, the most effective threat was ”I'll send you to Old Cags in the Pit. He'll learn you a thing or two a” if you survive.” Very few pups ever died in the Pit. Old Cags had barely a tooth left in his head to bite with. It was just that when a pup returned, it was changed. Pups came back in a perpetual daze, frozen into permanent postures of submission. They did not have the foaming-mouth disease, but it was as if they were in a state of brain fever and they tended to die young. Katria's mind swirled, and her gut wrenched with revulsion at the idea of condemning an innocent cub to h.e.l.lfire on earth, a dim world created by her own despicable clan.
A wave of nausea washed over Katria. This would indeed spark a war between the bears and the wolves and even the owls. Total chaos! It was precisely what the MacHeaths wanted, for if they were to be declared crait, they were determined to bring the entire Beyond down with them.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
FIRST WATCH.
”HURRY ALONG NOW. NO TIME to waste! You can't be late for your first night of training.” Twist and Winks had scrambled down the steep sloping entrance of the den.
”I don't suppose you've slept a wink, or should I say a Winks?” The brown wolf squinted with her good eye.
”Probably not,” Twist said. ”I remember how excited I was on my first night here. But you don't want to be late. Snowdon gets incredibly cranky if he has to stay on even a second beyond his s.h.i.+ft, and Colleen, too.”
”Colleen? Snowdon? Are they our taigas, too?”
”Oh, no, dear,” Winks replied. ”We are your taigas. They are just the Watch wolves for Morgan and Stormfast this cycle. The moon claw will be up soon.”
”Moon claw?” Faolan asked.
”That's the first phase of the newing,” Edme said quickly. ”Because it looks like a wolf's claw.”
”Yes, indeed,” Winks replied. ”You must have been studying the Bone of Bones.”
Faolan and Edme followed their two taigas out of the den and began trotting at a brisk pace toward the easternmost side of the Ring. It was a strange and wondrous landscape. There was a brittle crunching sound beneath their feet as they crossed the rivers of lava that had flowed down the slopes and solidified into sheets of black gla.s.s. Flames licked the night like tongues of fire. The wolves on watch seemed determined to touch the sky as they sprang into the air to look for graymalkins.
The volcanoes were becoming slightly more active. The moonless night was scored by the tracery of red sparks. High arcing streams of embers mingled with the ice-bright stars in an astral dance through the darkness. And in the background came the wild music of the Watch wolves baying. Never had Faolan and Edme heard such howling. Each cry, each voice enlarged by the other, gaining a deep resonance. It was as if Faolan's and Edme's ears were being opened to a new universe of sound. Oddly enough, the howling was not nearly as loud as what they'd heard living with their packs. It was of a lower volume but a more powerful intensity, as if these Watch wolves had discovered a voice composed only of the strongest chords.
Both Edme and Faolan felt their throats open up. They longed to howl and yet felt it would not be right. As if reading their minds, Twist turned to them. ”Your turn to howl will come when you mount the cairns. I know it's almost irresistible.”
”But will we ever howl as beautifully?” Edme asked.
”You will,” Winks said softly. ”It takes time, but you will. The music seeps into you and settles in your marrow.”
”Well, it's about time!” Snowdon, an ash-colored wolf, leaped down from the cairn that rose directly in front of Stormfast. At first, Snowdon appeared to be an ordinary wolf with no obvious deformity. All of his legs were straight, no paws were turned, he wasn't missing his eyes, ears, or tail. Faolan and Edme couldn't conceal their curiosity that this perfectly formed wolf was a member of the Watch. ”Can't figure it out, can you?” Snowdon barked in a harsh voice quite different from his howling. Then he stuck his tongue out. Edme and Faolan both jumped back. It was forked, like a snake's. Snowdon laughed.
”He's all about shock,” Winks muttered. ”Loves shocking newcomers.”
”Snowdon's going back to his den, and do you know the first thing he'll do before he sleeps?” Twist said.
”What?” asked Faolan.
”He will gnaw a log to record what he observed on his watch a” any owls coming for coals, any possible graymalkins. And he will also report on the activity of the volcano. But up you go now, Faolan. This is your cairn, and your watch is Stormfast. Winks will lead Edme to the cairn for Morgan. Scramble up, and I will join you shortly.”
There was much to learn that first night.
”I am your taiga,” Twistling said, ”but so is Stormfast.” He nodded toward the volcano, whose crater was belching great rolling plumes of steam that unfurled and stretched across the night. ”You'll learn how the scent of the sulfurous steams varies through the seasons.