Tales of the Wolf: Book 01 - The Coming of the Wolf (28 page)

A moment later his blade, known as the Dawnsword, flared to life and radiated a brilliant yellow light. He immediately began hacking away at the chain. The noise of the crowd, the banging of their shields and their constant yelling, all blended together to make a terrific noise. Hal did his part too. Walking and stomping around the Pit, he continued to scream and roar or spit bolts of lightning and crack the floor of the Pit with his tail. In other words, Hal made a terrible racket.

A few moments later, Mortharona came crawling up the back of the dragon. His face was as white as a ghost but he flashed his brother a weak smile. “You make the strangest friends.” 

Since his blade was known as the Darksword and dedicated to Hecate the Goddess of the Night, his whispered a quick prayer to her. His ancient blade began to radiate a soft black light and hum with magical power. He immediately joined his brother at hacking away at the chain. With the two of them striking the chain, the twins severed the first side of the huge chain quickly.

Shifting to new positions on the back of the mighty dragon, the attacked the second side of the chain. They had just hit the new side of the chain a few times when it turned a bright red. Hal and Mortharona screamed in pain as the searing heat penetrated through Hal’s thick scales and the red-hot chain grazed Mortharona’s thigh. The intense heat caused Hal to drop to the ground quickly, throwing off the twins. Mortharona landed on his back hard but Khlekluëllin went into a quick roll and came up standing.

Khlekluëllin glanced around. No one moved or spoke for a moment, even though they were visible to everyone in the cavern since Hal was no longer beating his wings and the cover of the sandstorm had faded. 

Standing slowly, Mortharona made a very rude and crude gesture toward Blackfang. The echo of Rjurik’s laughter filled the immense chamber.

Blackfang pointed at them and yelled at the top of his lungs. “GET THEM!”

Rushing toward the fallen dragon, Khlekluëllin hacked down on the chain one last time with all his might and the huge chain fell free. Leaping onto Hal’s back, he screamed. “Fly Hal, we’re free!”

Feeling the immediate cooling of the chain, Hal didn’t need a second urging. Mortharona scrambled onto Hal’s neck and nearly lost his grip as the mighty dragon shot straight up into the night air. Suddenly, the air was full of arrows.

One large object hit Hal’s tail and seemed to get lodged there. Ignoring it, Hal flew upwards while hundreds of arrows and rocks rained in all around them. None of them scored any type of a wound. As they flew off into the cold night air, one thought ran through each of their minds. They had escaped. They were free!

*   *   *   *   *

Clenching his fists in a barely controlled rage, Blackfang scowled as he watched them fly off into the cold night air. Blackfang almost jumped as two ebony hands gently caressed his left arm and back.

“Are they away?”  Lalith asked in her sweetest voice.

Blackfang nodded. “Yes. All three escaped with the dragon, just as you planned.”  Turning to look at the dark elf, “How did you know that they would be able to communicate with the dragon?”

Lalith flashed him a timid smile. “I didn’t. Clotho did. She told me what to do; I only did as I was commanded.”

Nodding his head, Blackfang glanced up at the empty sky. “I don’t know why I had to lose my dragon though?”

Digging her fingernail into his back playfully, she shook her head. “What Clotho wants, she gets. Remember, ours is not to reason why but to do and die.”

“True but I will miss that dragon. He was a challenge. I swore that one day I was going to break him and make him my mount.”  He shrugged his shoulders. “But I guess not.”

Leaning up, Lalith bit him on the nape of the neck. “Come on lover. Let’s go and enjoy the rest of the night, for tomorrow you march to war.”

Glancing down, Blackfang noticed for the first time what Lalith was wearing or what she wasn’t wearing. Dressed in a white gossamer silk gown, her ebony skin contrasted seductively with the flimsy material. Her shapely legs, firm breasts and tight body were both revealed and covered at the same time. Blackfang felt his manliness begin to rise as he quickly reached out to grab her. With a smooth sidestep, Lalith was gone. Laughing, Blackfang gave pursuit. Forgotten for the moment were his escaped prisoners. There was only the chase, his prey and the promise of a sweet reward at the end of the hunt.

*   *   *   *   *

Grunk watched the escaping dragon with mixed emotions. He was thrilled that they had been able to escape but saddened in the fact that it would only be a brief respite. Everything he had seen or heard since entering the enemy camp foretold the beginnings of war. And in this war, no one would truly be safe.

Moving out of crowd, Grunk found a place to rest for the night, knowing that tomorrow would bring only death and destruction.

On the morning of Hawkeye’s challenge, the snow had stopped falling while the wind had ceased its constant blowing. It was as if nature was waiting and watching in intense anticipation of the upcoming combat. The Tsanahwit was to take place in the wilderness surrounding the village. It was not the type of combat where you walk up and swing weapons at each other until one combatant falls. No, this was a combat of wits, skill and a sense of survival in the wild. The challenger is not allowed to leave the village until after moonrise, while the defending warlords have all day to prepare their combat sites.

There were only three rules to the Tsanahwit; one, if the challenger falls, he must be killed. Two, the defenders must act alone and three, there are no rules.

Hawkeye had spent the three days prior to the Tsanahwit in prayer, meditation or in the sweat lodge. Tatianna didn’t like what he had planned but she had learned to accept it, sort of.

Late in the afternoon on the day of the challenge, she went to see Anasazi. Knocking on the totem pole in front of the medicine lodge, she waited until a young shaman led her in. The ancient shaman was seated cross-legged before a roaring fire. Staring deep into the heart of the fire, he seemed to be in a trance and didn’t show any signs that he knew she was there. Waiting patiently for several minutes, she gently cleared her throat.

Blinking his eyes, Anasazi came out of his trance. “Greetings Red Eagle to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Bowing her head slightly, “Ancient one, I have come to beg you to talk your nephew out of this crazy action of his. I am afraid he will get himself killed.”

Looking at her, Anasazi could tell that Tatianna was about to break down into tears. Rising, he walked over to a small wooden shelf on the far wall. Pushing aside bowls, scrolls and braziers, he pulled forth a small dust covered crystal decanter. Humming to himself, he picked up two small wooden cups and returned to the fire.

Raising one eyebrow slightly, Tatianna fixed the old man with an inquisitive look.

Anasazi kept humming to himself as he placed one hand-carved cup in front of her and the other in front of himself. Placing the bottle in between them, he placed both hands on the base of the decanter and looked at her. Signaling with a nod from his head he waited while still humming.

Puzzled, she placed both hands on the neck of the decanter. She could feel a slight vibration in the crystal decanter that matched the tune he was humming. Not knowing why, she picked up the tune and hummed along side of him.

As their two voices merged and became one, the crystal decanter began to glow. The dust disappeared to reveal a golden liquid, slowly spinning inside the crystal decanter. The vibration and glowing seemed to increase in intensity with the increase in their humming. For several minutes, they continued their humming and the golden liquid continued to spin. The vibration and glow from the decanter flowed up their arms to fill their bodies with a warmth that was strangely invigorating. Soon the vibration had grown so much that Tatianna was afraid the decanter would shatter. Finally, there was a flash of brilliant white light that filled the whole room and threw them back onto the furs. Ceasing its vibration, the glow slowly faded from the decanter.

Gasping for breath, Tatianna asked, “What was that?”

Leaning down, Anasazi opened the decanter and poured some of the golden liquid into each cup.  The fragrant smell of daisies on a spring meadow filled the room. Lifting his cup to his lips, he took a small sip. “That my dear was an ancient ceremony of friendship passed down through thousands of years known only as the Ritual of Elven Mead.”

A confused look crossed her face. “The Ritual of Elven Mead? Why haven’t I ever heard of it?”

Anasazi shrugged. “Because very few elves care for the ancient ways. The only ones that know it are usually scholars and mages and they don’t perform it very often.”  He pointed at the bottle. “These decanters are very rare and quite expensive. The secret of making them have been lost for thousands of years.”

Tatianna took a small sip. A smile spread across her face, as she tasted mead, elven mead for the first time since leaving her homeland. It was delicious. A comfortable warmth ran down her throat and spread throughout her body. It was relaxing. Leaning back into the furs, she let the mead do its job.

Settling back into his own furs, Anasazi sipped on his cup as he talked. “This decanter was a gift from your mother a long time ago. She gave it to me shortly after an encounter we had with a particularly nasty earth dragon. Let me tell you the story, it might help you in your own predicament.” 

Refilling his cup, he gazed into the fire as he began his story. “Many years ago, long before you were born, there was a rogue earth dragon that was terrorizing a small village of halflings in the mountains south of your homeland. This earth dragon had kidnapped every child of the village and killed most of the men folk. The children were used as leverage to make the remaining halflings mine some precious gems out of a local cave.”

Anasazi refilled Tatianna’s cup and continued his story. “We, the Wings of Justice, came to the village to help. It was obvious we could not just attack the earth dragon, as the battle was sure to kill the captive halflings. So, your mother came up with a bold plan. It was simple, yet extremely dangerous. She would challenge the dragon to a duel of wits, a riddle contest. If she won, the dragon would free the villagers and leave the area. If the dragon won, he could eat your mother and we would have to leave the area.”

Leaning forward eagerly, Tatianna’s eyes and mouth were open in excitement. She had never heard stories about her mother’s past. Anasazi, engrossed in his story didn’t notice the look on her face as he continued.

“I was the only one of the group to support her plan. Obviously, we argued. None of the others wanted her to do that, it seemed too risky. But no one could come up with a better plan. In the end it came down to one thing.”  Turning to her, he leaned forward. “Do you know what that was?”

Tatianna shook her head. “No. What?”

“Trust! Pure and simple trust. We had to have faith in that she knew what she was doing. Her argument was simple and straightforward. If we trusted her to guard our backs during combat, then why would we not trust her now? The others could not argue with her logic. So, we trusted her.” 

Settling back into the furs, he pulled forth his pipe and began to fill it.

Her anxiety getting the better part of her patience, she asked, “Well, what happened?”

The old man smirked. “Why, she won of course. It wasn’t easy. The riddle contest lasted the better part of the day but in the end your mother stumped the dragon with a simple riddle.”

Tatianna smiled at the thought of her mother, small and frail, face to face with a huge man-eating dragon and winning a riddle contest. “What was the riddle?”

Pausing long enough to take a drag off his pipe and to complete the pipe ceremony he said, “Let me see, how did it go? I am the constant companion of all, from warrior to thief, from king to pauper, and dragon to otter. I steal the spring out of the elves’ steps and the gleam from the dwarves’ eyes. I am the thief of hearts that wipes the innocence from children’s mind. With my coming, mountains crumble and rivers dry up. All may run, yet none may hide. I am the greatest thief of all, who am I?”

Tatianna sitting back took another sip of the elven mead. The golden liquid traveled slowly down her throat, warming her. Thinking on the riddle for several moments, she shook her head. “If I had to guess, I would say death!”

Anasazi chuckled. “If that was the proper answer, you would have never had been born. For that was the dragon’s answer and it is wrong.”  Shaking his head slightly, “No, the answer is time. Only time can do all of those things.” 

Refilling her wooden cup, he leaned back into the furs and took a sip from his own cup.

Sitting back, Tatianna let her mind dwell on the subject of her mother, the riddle and time. As she drank more of the elven mead it began to work its subtle magic on her. Her mind began drifting across the many miles to the Elfholm, her homeland. In her mind’s eye, she could see the majestic redwood trees, the towering oaks, the beautiful rock gardens of the palace and the seas of flowers that bloomed all year round. She immediately felt at peace. Her mind began to wander through all the places she knew and loved in her youth. Slowly, her thoughts returned to the present. From her vantage point of being completely relaxed and slightly separated from reality, she could see her situation in a new light. The stresses that were bothering her were all trivial when compared to the problems of the world. She realized only three things truly mattered in her life; her dedication to her goddess Aurora; the man she loved, Hawkeye; and her unborn son, the Chosen One. Everything else in her life was trivial when compared to these three things.

Sitting up, she fixed her blue eyes on Anasazi. “You are trying to tell me to trust Hawkeye. That he knows what he’s doing and only time will tell if he was right.”  Rising, she picked up her eagle-headed staff and took a step toward the door. Pausing, she turned back. “Thank you, Anasazi. Your wisdom has helped me see truth in this situation. I love Hawkeye. I don’t like what he is doing but I will have to trust him. The gods trust him, so must I. Thank you again.”