Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (21 page)

An understanding look came into Faith’s eyes. “Blaze, do you love your mother?”

“
Yes, of course I do!” Blaze said, insulted she would even ask such a thing.

“
That explains it. You should have realized by now, Blaze, that Valde Abbas is not heartless. Far from it. If something happens that is so important to you, like saving your mother, he will give you the strength to do it.”

“
How does that explain what happened?”

“
Valde Abbas felt your love for your mother, and returned you to your human form long enough to do what was needed.” Blaze looked away from the prophet. If what she said was true, then that meant that he could change back any time he wanted to! “Don’t try to change, though,” she said, as if reading his mind, “The only way for your love to interrupt the miracle is for you to see her being in danger, like she was today. You don’t want to endanger her like that just so you could see her again, would you?”

“
No, I guess not,” Blaze admitted.

“
Now, more importantly, did anyone see you?” Faith asked, the gleam in her eye turning deadly serious.

“
Yeah, just one.” Blaze answered, “It was Slicer.”

Faith’s eyes widened in alarm, “Slicer saw you change? Blaze, this is bad! What did he say?”

“
He wanted to tell Rust and have me banished, but I convinced him not to.” Blaze answered.

“
Is that all?” She prompted.

“
He said that he would kill me if I ever betrayed Icefire.”

Faith breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good. We are blessed that things went that smoothly. Thank Valde Abbas for that.”

“
You’re glad that he threatened to kill me?”

“
Only if you betray Icefire,” Faith reminded him, “And you won’t do that, will you?”

“
Of course not!” he glanced around to make sure no one was listening before saying, “I may not have always been a saloli, but I’m still just as loyal to Icefire as everyone else. Besides Razor.”

Faith leaned in close, “Speaking of which, how goes the hunt for evidence?”

“
Still nothing, but I’m trying.” Blaze reported.

“
Well, no sense wasting time here. You may as well go out and look some more.”

Blaze nodded and climbed back down the tree, where he immediately ran out into the forest. Smallthorn and Newthorn still hadn’t come back from their patrol, and he was becoming worried. As he trekked through the woods, he tried to catch their scent. Nothing. Wait. There
was
something. It smelled familiar, but it wasn’t one he was around a lot, so he couldn’t quite place it. If he just gave it a moment. . .

Razor!

Blaze hurried after the scent, hoping he might finally find the proof he needed. He slowed as the scent grew stronger, signaling that Razor was close. Just like last time, he heard voices in the distance. Peering around a tree, he saw the traitor facing the same dark grey saloli as last time.

“
You have failed again, Razor,” the grey saloli growled.

“
I swear, Goliath, it isn’t my fault!” Razor pleaded, “That blasted outsider and his runt friend got in the way again! I did my job, leading the hunter into their camp, but that was all I could do. After that, it was out of my hands. What we need to do is kill those two, and then we’ll attack again.”

“
You will kill no one without reason,” Goliath ordered, “The last thing we need is a murder that points towards you. You need to keep as unnoticeable as possible.”

“
But…”

“
Do
not
disobey me, Razor. You’re in deep enough trouble already. Now, I’ll give you one last chance. You will kill Rust yourself.”

“
But, Goliath!”

“
Do as I say, or I will kill you and do it myself!” The giant roared.

Razor cringed in fright. “Yes, my chief,” He said meekly. With that, Goliath turned and ran out of the clearing, leaving Razor alone.

Just as Blaze was about to race back to the camp to tell Rust about this, another saloli appeared in the clearing. This time it was Seedpicker, Smallthorn’s old mentor. Blaze gasped. Could there be two traitors in Icefire? His fears were soothed, however, when he saw the shocked expression on Seedpicker’s face. Razor still had his back turned.

“
Razor, what’s going on here?” Seedpicker asked, “Who was that?” Razor still didn’t turn around. “What were you telling him? I heard something about killing Rust! What’s going on?”

It was then that Razor spun around and lashed out at Seedpicker, claws fully bared. They caught him in the throat, ripping the flesh free. Blood came rushing out, spilling on the ground.

“
No!” Blaze shouted, jumping out from his hiding place to confront the murderer. Razor simply glanced at him, then turned and ran into the forest. Blaze briefly considered chasing him, but decided against it in favor of helping his tribemate. He hurried to his side, “Seedpicker? Are you all right?” he asked desperately. The saloli didn’t move. Blaze poked him, but received no response. Hesitantly, he reached out and hooked a claw over his eyelid and pulled it open. Seedpicker’s eye rolled back into his head. He was dead.

“
No!” Blaze said again. This time Razor had gone too far! He had to tell Rust about this, and he would make him believe him if he had to! He turned and sprinted back in the direction of the camp. As he ran the only thoughts filling his head were s
ave the tribe!,
and
your friends are in danger!
, spurring him to run even faster. Blaze burst through the underbrush, into the Icefire camp. “Rust!” he shouted, looking around for his chief.

“
There he is!” someone shouted to his right, “He’s the one!” Blaze spun around to face the one speaking, and saw Razor pointing a paw at him. Rust was by his side, a shocked look on his face. “He killed Seedpicker!” Razor accused him.

“
What?” Blaze asked, startled at the accusation, “No, no, you did!”

“
Liar!” the traitor shot back, “Look, he’s got the poor saloli’s blood all over his paws!”

Blaze looked in horror at his paws. Indeed, they were wet with Seedpicker’s blood, from checking on him.

“
No!” Blaze insisted, “I swear, it was him! I would never kill another Icefire saloli!”

“
Murderer!” Rust accused, leaping at him. He bowled Blaze over and stood on his stomach, claws extended, preparing to execute him.

“
Rust, stop!” Someone shouted. Faith came running out of the crowd of saloli to stand beside them.

“
Stay out of this, Faith!” Rust ordered, “I’m going to take care of this traitor like I should have the moment you brought him here!”

“
Rust, use your head!” Faith admonished him, “By the laws of Icefire, you can’t execute him for three days!”

“
That would put it on the day of the Lord’s Feast,” Rust argued.

“
Which means you’ll have to wait four days. Do not violate the law, Rust.”

Rust glared down at Blaze for a moment before saying “Very well, you have four days left to live, Blaze. I’d spend them praying to Valde Abbas for forgiveness.”

“
But I didn’t. . .”

“
Silence!” Rust roared at him, “During that time you will be guarded by five saloli. If you so much as twitch your tail at them, they will kill you. Understand?”

“
But…”

“
Blaze, this is no time to be arguing!” Faith interrupted, “Just agree with him for now.”

“
Fine, I’ll be guarded by five saloli who will kill me if I move.” Blaze relented.

Rust slowly got off of him, but still kept his claws bared. Without taking his eyes off him, he motioned with his tail for five saloli to join him. They formed a circle around Blaze, surrounding him. Among them was Slicer. They moved as one, forcing Blaze to the far side of the camp, and then they all turned to face him, making sure he didn’t run. Faith walked up to them.

“
Faith!” Blaze said desperately, “You don’t think I did it, do you?”

“
No, Blaze, I believe you, but this is out of my paws now. I’ll do what I can, but I don’t know how much that is. I’m sorry.” With that she turned and walked away.

Chapter Thirteen

The days went slowly after Razor framed Blaze, and Blaze was still surrounded by an ever changing assortment of guards. Smallthorn, Newthorn, and Sunbeam were all chosen to guard him at different times, but both females wouldn’t speak to him, and Smallthorn would only glare. Blaze sympathized with him, knowing that he thought his best friend was a traitor, but it did nothing to help prove his innocence. The one thing Smallthorn said to him was “You killed my mentor, you tailless murderer!” Tailless was the worst insult a saloli could give. Slicer had done nothing but look at him, pure hatred radiating fro his eyes the entire time. Razor, too, had been assigned to guard him, which he spent every moment of giving him smug looks.

When the sun rose on the third day, the day of the Lord’s Feast, Blaze awoke with a pit in his stomach. If he couldn’t prove Razor guilty today, he would be out of time. But no one was allowed to work today, so it was almost pointless to even try. Blaze felt himself begin to give up, falling into a spiral of self pity, when the image of Sunbeam, lying dead and bleeding on the forest floor, just as Seedpicker had, flashed into his mind. Anger flooded into his veins, and his will to persevere returned. He couldn’t and wouldn’t give up! He was the only one who knew the truth, and he had to convince them, whether they were willing to listen or not. Rust was taking his turn at guarding him, so Blaze decided to try his luck again.

“
Rust,” he said, “You have to listen to me! You’ve got this all wrong. Razor murdered Seedpicker, not me!”

“
Shut up,” Rust ordered.

“
No! You have to believe me! I even remember the name of the saloli he was speaking to this time. It was. . .”

“
Rust, it’s time to bless the feast,” Faith said, interrupting him.

“
Very well,” Rust said, “Get Smallthorn to take my place.”

As he walked off, Blaze saw, for the first time, the size of the food pile. It was taller than the Speaking Stone now, with hundreds of acorns and other nuts stacked almost two feet high. Rust climbed on top of it, and looked down at his tribe.

“
Icefire!” he called, “Today is a day of celebration! A day of relaxation! A day of socialization! But above all, it is a day of thankfulness! Today we thank Valde Abbas for everything he has given us. For the food we eat. For the land we live in. For the friends we spend our lives with. Everyone bow your heads in reverence as I give thanks.” All of Icefire bowed their heads, except for Blaze. He kept his eyes on Rust. “Thank you, Valde Abbas, for everything,” Rust began, “For the food we eat.” That was when Blaze saw him. Razor was making his way to the front of the crowd. “For the land in which we live.” He had reached the food pile now, and was silently making his way up it. “And for the friends we have to love us and protect us.” He was almost to the top. “We take today to be thankful for all that you have given us.” He had reached the top of the food pile, and was standing on his back paws, claws extended. “Let us not forget everything you have done for us.” His arm stretched backwards, preparing to strike. “Please protect us from evil, and…”

“
Rust, look out!” Blaze yelled as loud as he could. Rust’s eyes shot open in surprise, just in time to see Razor’s claws coming at him. He ducked instinctively, and the paw swept over him, missing him by less than an inch.

“
Razor, what are you doing?” he asked, shocked. For an answer, Razor lifted his paw and lashed out again, this time catching Rust on the side of the face, knocking him off the food pile. He quickly jumped back to his feet and turned to face his attacker. Razor crouched to leap at him, but was suddenly bowled over from the side, knocking him off of the food pile as well. Slicer stood on top of him, claws digging into his shoulders.