Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (11 page)

Blaze decided that he had better tell her. “It was Razor.” He admitted.

A concerned gleam came into Faith’s eyes. “What about him?” She asked.

Blaze told her everything he had seen that morning. A worried expression came over Faith’s face. “You believe me, right?” Blaze asked desperately.

“
Yes, I believe you.” Faith said, looking into the distance. “It all adds up. What better way to wipe out an entire tribe than from the inside out?”

“
What?” Blaze gasped, “What are you talking about?”

Faith hesitated, and then spoke, “A war is coming. I saw it in a dream. If we do nothing, it is prophesized that many terrible things will happen soon, and Icefire will be involved.”

As she said this, Blaze realized something that had never crossed his mind before. Faith had never told him exactly what it was that he was meant to help Icefire do. “Why did you bring me here?” he asked, “What do you need my help with?”

Faith closed her eyes and sighed, “I was hoping we could wait until later to have this discussion, but it seems the time has come for me to tell you everything. After having that dream, I begged Valde Abbas for help. He answered me. He told me that a single saloli would have the ability to change the course of the war and save Icefire, I just had to find him. He gave me a vision of a human being. You. I knew then what I had to do.”

Blaze stood where he was, giving Faith a stunned look. War? Had she said
war
? Images of what war meant flooded his mind. Dead creatures by the thousands lying on the ground. Would he be one of them? No, it had to be a joke.

Reading his expression, Faith said, “I am serious, Blaze. I would never joke about war.”

“
But I’m not a warrior!” He protested.

“
On the contrary,” said Faith, “I think you’re one of the best warriors I’ve ever seen! Your victory last night proves that.”

“
But I can’t fight in a war!” He persisted. He had to convince this saloli how wrong she was.

“
I think you can.” Faith insisted.

Blaze opened his mouth to argue again, but thought better of it. Faith was completely sure in her logic, he couldn’t convince her otherwise with words. Instead, he asked, “But what does any of this have to do with Razor?”

“
Razor has betrayed us.” Faith explained, her eyes suddenly blazing with anger, “Whoever his loyalties lie with now is obviously the one who wants to start the war. You may not know this, but Icefire is known for the strength of its fighting force. If Razor was to show the enemy tribe where our camp is, that tribe would be able to ambush us at any time. This is bad, Blaze.”

“
So you’ll tell Rust then?” Blaze pleaded.

“
No. This is your quest, Blaze. You must be the one to expose Razor for what he is.”

Blaze hung his head in despair. “But I’ve already tried. Nobody believes me.”

“
You need proof. No saloli is going to turn on their own tribemate without some decent evidence first.”

“
Well, how do I do that?”

“
I don’t know. You’ll have to figure that out on your own. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am tired and wish to sleep.” Faith turned and ambled off back towards the camp.

“
Wait!” Blaze called after her, one final question having popped into his head, “Just how many tribes are in this forest?”

Turning around, Faith said, “Four, one facing every main direction. They are Icefire, Cyclone, Groundsky, and Darkcover.”

Chapter Seven

The next morning found Blaze and Slicer, once again, at Acorn Place. Slicer had woken his trainee extra early so that they could get all the remaining lessons in before noon, which was now only an hour away. In that time, Blaze had learned how to efficiently use his superior hearing to his advantage, how to hide his scent from anyone trying to track him, and how to scare away predators by using his tail to make himself seem larger.

“
Good, very good!” Slicer encouraged him, “We’re almost done now. There’s just one thing left.”

“
What’s that?” Blaze asked.

“
Exactly what you tried to do the first day we trained. Leaping between trees.”

Blaze immediately felt a pit form in his stomach. He was still sore from the first time he had attempted that, and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to do it again yet. Obviously seeing this, Slicer said, “Don’t worry. You’ve become much stronger and faster since we started. Those are both crucial elements to doing this.”

“
But what if I’m still not ready?” Blaze protested, “I could die!”

“
You won’t die.” Slicer promised, “I’ve trained more saloli than I care to remember, and I’ve never misjudged when one is ready to do this. Now come, we need to get this done.” Blaze obediently followed his trainer to the edge of Acorn Place, and then made his way up to the top of a tree, and then to the end of the uppermost branch. “Okay, the first thing you need to know is that you never jump without judging the distance first. A simple miscalculation can send you plummeting to your death. The second thing you need to know is that you’ll usually need as much speed as you can get to clear the distance. That was your first mistake when you tried, you didn’t have nearly enough speed.”

Blaze must have looked worried, because Slicer quickly said, “Don’t worry! If there’s anything you’ve improved on since then, it’s your speed. You’re just as fast as any other saloli now. Now, after speed, what you need is strength. If you’re going to jump, you must have enough strength to propel yourself over the gap. If not, you will be sent falling to your death. Unfortunately, only you can judge how much strength you have. So tell me, do you think that you have enough strength to leap that distance?”

Blaze looked at the distance between his branch and the next one. It was only about five or six feet away, but to someone his size it might as well have been twenty.

“
Is there a smaller gap I can jump first?” he asked, wishing he shared his mentor’s faith in him.

“
No. This is the shortest gap in Acorn Place. This is where every trainee learns to jump. Now, do you think you can do it?”

Blaze thought for a moment before answering, “I don’t know. Do you?”

“
Only you can decide that. It’s your choice, try, or don’t try. If you want, we’ll go back down and head back to camp. But no trainee is allowed to be fully accepted into Icefire without learning to do this first, so I would have to tell Rust to cancel your promotion. There is no place in Icefire for cowards.”

If there was one thing Blaze couldn’t stand, it was being called a coward. He didn’t usually care what people thought of him, but if they thought he was a coward, he wouldn’t be able to let it go until he had changed their mind. Without saying another word, Blaze backed up on the branch, and tensed his muscles. Not giving himself time to think, he suddenly dashed forward, top speed, towards the end of the branch. Reaching the end, he launched himself forward, out into the open air, just like before. Soaring high over the ground, Blaze watched as his leap carried him farther then before, way past the beginning of the limb. When he finally touched down, he was more than halfway across the branch!

“
Excellent, Blaze!” Slicer shouted from the other tree, “I couldn’t have done better myself!” Taking a running start, Slicer too hurled himself across the open space, landing neatly in front of his trainee. “Now come, we will need all the time we have left to get back to camp before noon.” With that, he passed Blaze on the branch and began his descent. Following him, Blaze waited until they reached the ground to ask the question that had been nagging him, “Slicer? Why haven’t you been teaching me how to fight at all?” It was a valid question. For all the time they had been training together, Slicer had failed to teach him any new fighting skills.

“
Because,” Slicer said, turning to face him, “I didn’t need to. You already had the skills you needed, all you were missing was the capability to use them to their fullest extent.”

Capability?
Blaze thought,
How can I have the capability without knowing how to do it?

“
In other words,” Slicer continued, “you already knew everything you needed to know about fighting, you just didn’t have what it took to use it.”

“
And I do know?” Blaze asked skeptically.

“
Think about it. You are stronger now, and your speed has improved enormously.”

Blaze thought about it. Slicer had chased him three more times since their first day of training. Although it was too slow to see as it was happening, Blaze realized that he, indeed, had gradually become faster. The final time, his mentor had not been able to catch him once. And all that running had to have made him stronger. “That’s all I needed?” He asked.

Slicer nodded, “That’s it. Your instincts provided the rest.”

For a minute, Blaze stood and thought about this. If Slicer was telling the truth, Blaze had the potential to be as good a fighter as him, and all he had to do was do what came naturally to him.

Slicer nodded in the direction of camp, “Now come, we’re wasting time.”

<><><><><>

Back at Icefire’s camp, Blaze and Jasper stood on the far edge of the camp, on top of a stone that jutted a foot from the ground. Rust stood with them. All of Icefire was gathered in front of them. Rust stood on his back legs and raised his front paws for silence. Once everyone was quieted, he spoke.

“
Today is a very special occasion! It is time for these two young trainees to be fully accepted into Icefire!” The tribe cheered. “I have chosen them for their loyalty and bravery, and have judged them ready. All that remains is for them to prove themselves by taking their first patrols. But first, is there any saloli in Icefire that opposes the decision to promote these two?” Razor stepped forward.

“
I do,” he said. Several saloli gasped. This was obviously not a common occurrence during promotions.

“
Then please voice your concerns to all of Icefire,” Rust said, seemingly unfazed. Razor leapt up to the rock to stand beside Rust.

“
Icefire, do you agree with me that all of our trainees, not just these two, have worked hard during the time that they have been given?”

“
Yes, they have!” one saloli shouted. The rest of Icefire yelled their agreement.

“
Then why is it that these two are the only ones receiving this honor? Why not the others? Surely there are trainees who have worked harder and longer than these two, and are thusly more deserving of promotion! Personally, I have no quarrels with the runt, though I still don’t like it. He has trained for many months, and there is nothing to say that he isn’t ready. No, the one I don’t think should be up here today is Blaze.” Razor paused to let his words sink in before continuing, “He joined Icefire less than a month ago. He hasn’t had enough time to be fully trained! What right does this outsider have to be given what our other trainees are denied? What does he have that they don’t? Answer me that, Rust!” With that last sentence, the black saloli turned to face his chief.

“
I believe that Blaze doesn’t have anything that the other trainees don’t,” Rust said, coolly. “I only think he found it before they did. The others will get their chance when it comes.”

“
And what exactly does Blaze have that my trainee, Thunder, doesn’t?” Razor demanded.

“
Bravery,” Rust replied, “Enough bravery to disobey a direct order to save his chief.”

Razor’s fur bristled, “Are you calling Thunder a coward?” he demanded.

“
Not at all,” said Rust, “I’m just saying that he hasn’t achieved the same level of loyalty and courage as Blaze.”

Razor’s eyes flashed with anger, “I will not have my trainee insulted like this! According to Icefire law, whenever I disagree with a trainee’s promotion, I’m allowed to call the Challenge of Determination!”