The Journey, Chapter 46 = previous chapter
Chapter 47, Wolves
Nekonata saw Kimbo and ran straight for him, jumped in the air and landed in his mount's saddle. Cole ran on putting his foot in the stirrups of his horse to pull himself up.
They raced on through Edena, Neko shouted “Move out the way!” The people of Edena quickly moved out of the way, surprised to see them charging through the city and through the portcullis and down the cobbled path, Nekonata heard a loud whistle coming from behind, he saw Jason on Malhela. Nekonata slowed down:-
“I can take you to where you need to go, the root has been seen inside a cave at the cliffs, I know a more direct route.”
“Lead on Jason,” Nekonata called out.
Jason swiftly turned on the horse and started galloping round the side of Edena..
“We need to make haste!” Shouted Nekonata, “No rest tonight!”
The group followed in close formation, Nekonata rode at the head with Jason.
Slowly the terrain started to turn from grass to gravel and rocks, they slowed down so they didn’t hurt the horses. “Single file here!” Jason called out. Nekonata turned and nodded and the soldiers fell into line.
Suddenly Neko heard howl's coming from the woods on their left. He raised his hand to signal everyone one should stop.
“Damn they are big!” Whispered Nekonata. He looked down to his girls, their ears pricked up, fur standing on end, after a moment they both snarled viciously.
“Mountain Wolves,” Jason told Nekonata. “They are much bigger than your girls,” He said looking down. “Not long ago Vivi made a pact with them, that he would offer them wards of protection if they kept the perimeters of the city clear of danger. Their chief has passed away and there has been some upset about who should be the next in line.”
Nekonata nodded, “Do they speak our language?” Jason nodded his head. “Do you know the mechanics of how they would choose their next leader?” He shook his head and Nekonata nodded again. “We move slowly, make sure your weapons are at the ready and do not draw unless danger is imminent!”
Jason nodded and started to lead the way again, they arrived at the cliffs to find that the mountain wolves had made it their den. “The dragon's root you need is inside the cave… there is like a rock pool in the middle of it and inside that is an island where the flower grows… you’d have to swim to reach it.” Jason whispered.
Nekonata nodded. He moved slowly forward towards the cave entrance. The wolves were protecting their mates and their cubs. One of the female wolves was moaning and complaining of severe pain. Neko quickly decided to take advantage of this. He turned to Jason, “Stay back with the troops, be on alert. DO NOT attack unless I give the thumbs up signal.” He nodded and moved back slowly and cautiously under cover of the tall grass.
Nekonata sheathed his sword and stood up with his arms raised, the wolves reacted quickly, surrounding their families in a semi-circular formation. “Mine being is here to help, I mean you not any harm. All I ask is for help in return.”
A white wolf stepped forward. Santaya and Kristolia moved forward and bowed to the wolf. “What help could you possibly want from us human?” Snarled the White Wolf.
“The dragon root, it is part of a curable remedy I need for a very very dear friend. If you help me, I can help her.” Nekonata nodded towards the wolf in pain.
The white wolf growled and the rest of the wolves moved to make a path for Nekonata to walk through. He slowly walked forward and knelt down. “May I ask your name?”
“Auburn is her name.” The white wolf answered.
“Auburn I am going to touch your stomach, you will feel a warmth from my hands, it will ease your pain and relax you.” Neko touched her stomach and his hands glowed purple. Auburn relaxed immediately, a cub's legs appeared from her rear end, and then slowly a head started to show.
“Auburn the only way for me to help you now is if I pull, I need you to take a deep breath and to push then I will pull.” Auburn nodded faintly and did as she was asked to the best of her ability. Nekonata pulled as she breathed.
After a short while, Auburn’s baby was born. “It’s a male ” Nekonata said quietly, placing the cub in front of Auburn. The baby cub was white and light brown in colour, it also had purple eyes, he felt a strange connection with the cub, one he did not understand.
“He is bigger than all the other cubs. He looks stronger and healthier.” Commented the white wolf.
“He has a good, strong life ahead of him. He will make you proud. He will grow to be the biggest of your kind ever to exist.”
Nekonata stood up slowly and stepped back away from Auburn and looked at the white wolf. “The dragon root please? May I swim through to get it?”
The white wolf looked behind him. “Walk… Trust in your instinct and you need not swim.”
Nekonata unclasped his cloak and let it drop to the floor. He walked forward slowly, testing his footing on the water. He slowly moved forward the water crept over his feet but he didn’t sink, it was like he was on an invisible path. He reached the island in the middle of the cave lake, and Nekonata knelt down and dug into the soil with his hands until he found the dragon root, it was strangely shaped, kind of resembling a claw with a black and red hue to it. He carefully lifted the root from the ground and placed it into a small satchel.
“I will name him Tunstall!” The white wolf said to Nekonata. “You have done a great service of my kind today. We will forever be in your debt. If you ever need help, send one of your girls and we will come.”
“Thank you!” Replied Nekonata bowing slightly. “I must be on mine way, mine friend is in dire need of this cure, I thank you once more.”
“Human!” The white wolf called out. Nekonata stopped. “My name is Convel.” The great wolf bowed slightly.
With that Neko ran through jumping over the wolves that were laying down, he met his group, and together they all set off.
“No rest!” Nekonata shouted. “Straight back to Edena, stay in formation!”
Nekonata and Jason stayed at the front to lead, the rest of the troops fell back into columns of 4 abreast.
The sun started to rise and Edena could be seen close by. Nekonata saw something shimmering flying towards him fast, he turned his body slightly to the side, using his reflexes his arm shot up in the air stopping it before it hit him. It was an arrow:-
“ON YOUR GUARD!!!” Nekonata looked in the direction the arrow came from. “Jas, yellow banner with a snake?”
“Humans from the Baylon Plains.” Pat replied. “I have no idea what they are doing here though, we need to send a message to Vivi.”
Nekonata found a scrap of parchment from inside his robes, wrote a message and put it in a thin leather tube. “Santaya you are the fastest, straight to Master Vivi, then back here, I need you at my side, beautiful.” Santaya growled wagging her tail and shot off towards Edena.
“The arrow came from the forest over there, they have strong archers for it to make this distance.” Nekonata looked around at the soldiers with him. “I can’t see how many there are hiding behind the tree’s. I need to find out somehow;-“
Just then a small swallow hurtled from the sky flying fast towards him, the bird spread its wings to slow its descent landing on Kimbo's head.
“Saluton, well met, Meera the Swallow!” Said Nekonata smiling.
“Althor is coming from the North to meet Vivi, he will be here by this eve. Gabija will be riding with him. Vivi told me to bring this message.”
“Thank you Meera, but right now we have a problem. Could you help me with something please?” Meera nodded. “In the forest humans are hiding, they’ve made their presence known by firing an arrow. Problem is we’ve no idea how many there are, could you have a look?”
Meera stretched her wings, “Of course.”
“Ok, we move back out of their range. We wait for Meera to return, then we will make a decision on our next course of action. Keep your eyes peeled and be on guard at all times. The horses need to rest, stable boy you're up.”
Nekonata dismounted and walked forward, he looked to his right and saw Edena. It was now noon and Santaya would be back any moment. Kristolia lay next to him in the grass whining. Neko noticed a small shadow from the corner of his eye, he looked up to see Meera was on her way back. He held out his hand so the little bird could land.
“Sorry I took so long.” She said panting. “There are at least 700 of them…”
Chapter 47, Wolves
Nekonata saw Kimbo and ran straight for him, jumped in the air and landed in his mount's saddle. Cole ran on putting his foot in the stirrups of his horse to pull himself up.
They raced on through Edena, Neko shouted “Move out the way!” The people of Edena quickly moved out of the way, surprised to see them charging through the city and through the portcullis and down the cobbled path, Nekonata heard a loud whistle coming from behind, he saw Jason on Malhela. Nekonata slowed down:-
“I can take you to where you need to go, the root has been seen inside a cave at the cliffs, I know a more direct route.”
“Lead on Jason,” Nekonata called out.
Jason swiftly turned on the horse and started galloping round the side of Edena..
“We need to make haste!” Shouted Nekonata, “No rest tonight!”
The group followed in close formation, Nekonata rode at the head with Jason.
Slowly the terrain started to turn from grass to gravel and rocks, they slowed down so they didn’t hurt the horses. “Single file here!” Jason called out. Nekonata turned and nodded and the soldiers fell into line.
Suddenly Neko heard howl's coming from the woods on their left. He raised his hand to signal everyone one should stop.
“Damn they are big!” Whispered Nekonata. He looked down to his girls, their ears pricked up, fur standing on end, after a moment they both snarled viciously.
“Mountain Wolves,” Jason told Nekonata. “They are much bigger than your girls,” He said looking down. “Not long ago Vivi made a pact with them, that he would offer them wards of protection if they kept the perimeters of the city clear of danger. Their chief has passed away and there has been some upset about who should be the next in line.”
Nekonata nodded, “Do they speak our language?” Jason nodded his head. “Do you know the mechanics of how they would choose their next leader?” He shook his head and Nekonata nodded again. “We move slowly, make sure your weapons are at the ready and do not draw unless danger is imminent!”
Jason nodded and started to lead the way again, they arrived at the cliffs to find that the mountain wolves had made it their den. “The dragon's root you need is inside the cave… there is like a rock pool in the middle of it and inside that is an island where the flower grows… you’d have to swim to reach it.” Jason whispered.
Nekonata nodded. He moved slowly forward towards the cave entrance. The wolves were protecting their mates and their cubs. One of the female wolves was moaning and complaining of severe pain. Neko quickly decided to take advantage of this. He turned to Jason, “Stay back with the troops, be on alert. DO NOT attack unless I give the thumbs up signal.” He nodded and moved back slowly and cautiously under cover of the tall grass.
Nekonata sheathed his sword and stood up with his arms raised, the wolves reacted quickly, surrounding their families in a semi-circular formation. “Mine being is here to help, I mean you not any harm. All I ask is for help in return.”
A white wolf stepped forward. Santaya and Kristolia moved forward and bowed to the wolf. “What help could you possibly want from us human?” Snarled the White Wolf.
“The dragon root, it is part of a curable remedy I need for a very very dear friend. If you help me, I can help her.” Nekonata nodded towards the wolf in pain.
The white wolf growled and the rest of the wolves moved to make a path for Nekonata to walk through. He slowly walked forward and knelt down. “May I ask your name?”
“Auburn is her name.” The white wolf answered.
“Auburn I am going to touch your stomach, you will feel a warmth from my hands, it will ease your pain and relax you.” Neko touched her stomach and his hands glowed purple. Auburn relaxed immediately, a cub's legs appeared from her rear end, and then slowly a head started to show.
“Auburn the only way for me to help you now is if I pull, I need you to take a deep breath and to push then I will pull.” Auburn nodded faintly and did as she was asked to the best of her ability. Nekonata pulled as she breathed.
After a short while, Auburn’s baby was born. “It’s a male ” Nekonata said quietly, placing the cub in front of Auburn. The baby cub was white and light brown in colour, it also had purple eyes, he felt a strange connection with the cub, one he did not understand.
“He is bigger than all the other cubs. He looks stronger and healthier.” Commented the white wolf.
“He has a good, strong life ahead of him. He will make you proud. He will grow to be the biggest of your kind ever to exist.”
Nekonata stood up slowly and stepped back away from Auburn and looked at the white wolf. “The dragon root please? May I swim through to get it?”
The white wolf looked behind him. “Walk… Trust in your instinct and you need not swim.”
Nekonata unclasped his cloak and let it drop to the floor. He walked forward slowly, testing his footing on the water. He slowly moved forward the water crept over his feet but he didn’t sink, it was like he was on an invisible path. He reached the island in the middle of the cave lake, and Nekonata knelt down and dug into the soil with his hands until he found the dragon root, it was strangely shaped, kind of resembling a claw with a black and red hue to it. He carefully lifted the root from the ground and placed it into a small satchel.
“I will name him Tunstall!” The white wolf said to Nekonata. “You have done a great service of my kind today. We will forever be in your debt. If you ever need help, send one of your girls and we will come.”
“Thank you!” Replied Nekonata bowing slightly. “I must be on mine way, mine friend is in dire need of this cure, I thank you once more.”
“Human!” The white wolf called out. Nekonata stopped. “My name is Convel.” The great wolf bowed slightly.
With that Neko ran through jumping over the wolves that were laying down, he met his group, and together they all set off.
“No rest!” Nekonata shouted. “Straight back to Edena, stay in formation!”
Nekonata and Jason stayed at the front to lead, the rest of the troops fell back into columns of 4 abreast.
The sun started to rise and Edena could be seen close by. Nekonata saw something shimmering flying towards him fast, he turned his body slightly to the side, using his reflexes his arm shot up in the air stopping it before it hit him. It was an arrow:-
“ON YOUR GUARD!!!” Nekonata looked in the direction the arrow came from. “Jas, yellow banner with a snake?”
“Humans from the Baylon Plains.” Pat replied. “I have no idea what they are doing here though, we need to send a message to Vivi.”
Nekonata found a scrap of parchment from inside his robes, wrote a message and put it in a thin leather tube. “Santaya you are the fastest, straight to Master Vivi, then back here, I need you at my side, beautiful.” Santaya growled wagging her tail and shot off towards Edena.
“The arrow came from the forest over there, they have strong archers for it to make this distance.” Nekonata looked around at the soldiers with him. “I can’t see how many there are hiding behind the tree’s. I need to find out somehow;-“
Just then a small swallow hurtled from the sky flying fast towards him, the bird spread its wings to slow its descent landing on Kimbo's head.
“Saluton, well met, Meera the Swallow!” Said Nekonata smiling.
“Althor is coming from the North to meet Vivi, he will be here by this eve. Gabija will be riding with him. Vivi told me to bring this message.”
“Thank you Meera, but right now we have a problem. Could you help me with something please?” Meera nodded. “In the forest humans are hiding, they’ve made their presence known by firing an arrow. Problem is we’ve no idea how many there are, could you have a look?”
Meera stretched her wings, “Of course.”
“Ok, we move back out of their range. We wait for Meera to return, then we will make a decision on our next course of action. Keep your eyes peeled and be on guard at all times. The horses need to rest, stable boy you're up.”
Nekonata dismounted and walked forward, he looked to his right and saw Edena. It was now noon and Santaya would be back any moment. Kristolia lay next to him in the grass whining. Neko noticed a small shadow from the corner of his eye, he looked up to see Meera was on her way back. He held out his hand so the little bird could land.
“Sorry I took so long.” She said panting. “There are at least 700 of them…”
