Sky and River both inhaled loudly.
The Night Badger growled, turning his back on Bloodhound.
‘Oh, don’t worry, Nighty,’ said Bloodhound through more whooping laughter. ‘The Council don’t know you’re a coward, yet. It’s just us here.’
That seemed a foolish thing to point out.
‘Perhaps I won’t let any of you leave this ship then,’ grated the Night Badger, before being interrupted by Bloodhound.
‘Then of course there’s Sun Wolf, who’s sure to have informed the entire House of Wolves. No, I’m afraid your only path to removing the stain of coward from your
imperious record is to kill say, fifty Tigers?’
‘Sounds fair,’ agreed the Night Badger as he began to join in with his own throaty laugh, a sound Star never thought to hear from the infamous killer.
Time floated by, for a while, as they closed in on the tracking signal.
Thorn informed them the signal had stopped on Ranae, the Frog’s homeworld. A tropical rainforest world full of exotic and beautiful creatures, they were also poison personified. Everyone knew the Frog world housed all shapes, sizes and colours, a veritable wonder world both enchanting and deadly.
‘Why on Lupus would the Winter Tiger be heading to Ranae?’ said Star Wolf, more thinking aloud than asking a direct question of anyone.
‘Drugs,’ said the Night Badger.
‘He should know,’ chipped in Bloodhound, who seemed to enjoy teasing the Badger, which again seemed a foolish plan to Star Wolf.
‘I don’t understand?’ admitted Star Wolf.
‘Even war generals require a little relaxation,’ informed Bloodhound, who knew an awful lot about Ranae. ‘I visited a few times.’ He confessed, reading Star’s disapproving glares. ‘The Frogs are a little different from most species, they believe in variety and spontaneity. This isn’t a rigid planet like you’re used to. There’s a reason planets like Ranae are surrounded by rocks, empty vessels and all kinds of space junk.’
‘Vessels?’ asked Sky, bolting to the window. Star joined her, and they shared an awkward glance as they brushed fur. Outside the window Bloodhound was right, Star had assumed everything was rock but if you stared hard enough the occasional clump revealed itself as an abandoned spacecraft, most sporting huge scorch marks of breached hulls.
‘What happened to them?’ asked Star.
‘Could be any number of things,’ replied Bloodhound, walking around with an air that implied he revelled at telling the story, his uniform proudly pressed across his broad shoulders, ‘some would’ve owed a debt to their drug dealer — something you don’t want to do on Ranae — or perhaps they took the wrong substance and floated away from Ranae, poisoned, a horrible way to go. The list goes on, so know this. Ranae is not a place for the fainthearted; we must get in and get out.’
‘Or not go at all,’ said Sky.
‘Oh on the contrary, this is the perfect place to strike the Tiger,’ continued Bloodhound, ‘here they will be scattered, on shore leave no doubt. Here we may be able to find and kill the Winter Tiger alone. This is too good an opportunity, wouldn’t you agree Nighty?’
‘Agreed, this is too good an opportunity, and if you call me Nighty one more time I will rip off your ears and feed them to you.’
‘Charming,’ responded Bloodhound, ‘but fair.’
‘Sir, we’re ready to land but we have a problem,’ reported Thorn, his wiry frame didn’t fill the grey House of Wolves uniform. The emblem sagged a little against his scrawny chest. This wasn’t a Wolf born for, or suited, to combat, ‘there are two signals.’
‘Come again?’ asked Star Wolf.
‘I believe its due to all the rocks and debris in the atmosphere, we think the signal is bouncing off and splitting—’ said Thorn.
‘So there’s only one tracker, still?’ asked the Night Badger.
‘You think they’ve cloned the signal?’ asked Ash, his and the Badger’s mind ran in tune well at least in matters of war. That’s what we are, at war.
‘Oh aye.’ The Night Badger fiddled with the handle of one of his glorious, emerald tipped axes. ‘It’s a smart play, if you’ve found the tracker.’
‘And you think they have?’ asked River, his voice pitched a little too high. His eyes
sunk to the deck floor immediately.
‘There’s no shame in fear laddie,’ encouraged the Night Badger, ‘if anything it makes you smart. What kind of idiot would go wandering off without a plan, or alone.’ The Badger’s eyes fixed on Star Wolf, and for the thousandth time an invisible weight of youthful foolishness weighed down on Star Wolf. I’m no leader.
The Night Badger continued, ‘two scenarios here. One, they’ve found it and are laying a trap knowing we have to split our forces,’ is it our already Star left unsaid, ‘or two, they are oblivious, and we still have to split our forces. Either way the decision is the same. Are the signals far apart?’
‘Opposite sides of the planet, which makes us think the signal has split. It’s a near-perfect mirror position.’
‘How convenient, what say you oh great leader?’ asked the Night Badger, his mood had soured since the news of two signals.
‘What are the climates of the two locations?’ asked Star Wolf, ignoring the Night Badger, talking to Thorn instead. ‘Details, please.’
‘Our scanners indicate both are tropical jungles. In general the entire planet is this way.’
‘Is either near a town or city?’ asked Star Wolf.
‘Yes, the southern signal is within the capital, Venenum.’
‘That’s where the Winter Tiger is. I’m guessing the northern signal is in a desolate section of the jungle?’
‘Correct,’ replied Thorn, his smile matched those around him.
‘Very good,’ said the Night Badger.
‘We go to Venenum.’ said Star Wolf.
STAR WOLF ALWAYS PRIDED himself on going primal and accessing his senses the way the Wolves of old did but even he struggled to focus with the ever-changing vibrancy of Venenum. The city was a bustling marketplace, traders in every direction on filthy canopy sheets, selling their wares. Every ten paces Star was approached by a Frog, Toad, Gecko, or another type of reptile. He’d never seen such variety of creature, other than at The Council of Worlds, and yet this was a bustling metropolis. Thousands of species and millions of animals living in harmony, it was the most beautiful chaos he’d ever laid eyes on. He longed to explore the city’s cobblestone streets and white stone buildings. To taste the delicious food and experience the foreign music that blared with such melody from the numerous bars littering the streets.
‘How the hell are we going to find the Winter Tiger in all of this?’ said River.
‘The tracker you idiot.’ snapped the Night Badger.
River said nothing, before pulling a face at Star as they caught each other’s eyes.
Star had ordered two hundred and fifty Wolves spread out around the city perimeter. A thick stone wall that encircled the entire city, a wall with only five entrances out all with draw bridges. The moat running around Venenum was full of algae, dark water that rippled with unseen creatures beneath the surface. Star couldn’t help but crinkle his nose, the pungent, fetid water was overpowering. He wondered how many a drunken or drugged creature had fallen into the murky depths, almost certainly never to surface again.
It was a city with limited access, which suited Star’s plan perfectly.
As a backup, not wanting to go too gung-ho, he left fifty Wolves guarding the ship. If the Winter Tiger resided in the city Star was going to find him and attempt to capture him, failing that he would gladly kill the Tiger leader. It would be the touch paper to war, but it would also be a devastating blow to the Tigers, one all following Star Wolf believed
would cripple the Tiger’s chances of success in the future.
With Lupenroad hidden in the jungle, they had waited. Much to the displeasure of
the entire Wolf pack, the jungle was th
e hottest environment any of them had ever experienced but waiting was the only option. First Star Wolf ordered Bloodhound scope out the city for Tigers. The city was void of Tigers though Bloodhound claimed their scent had been there.
Happy no Tigers roamed the city, Star surrounded it and went in for the tracker, which he hoped was still attached to Darkchurch. Though it begged the question, why was Darkchurch in the centre of the city and where were the Tigers?
‘Stealth first, they don’t know we’re here. Let’s keep it that way until we need to move. Everyone hold and await my command,’ said Star Wolf into the internal communications device on the collar of his thin cotton shirt. He was greeted with hundreds of ‘understood’.
‘Up here,’ instructed Thorn, following the scanner in his left paw, his grey fur was slick under the intense heat, or perhaps he was terrified at being out in the field.
‘Very good, Night, where would someone hide a warship in the city?’ asked Star Wolf.
‘This city has more secrets than a thousand lives could unearth,’ the Night Badger said, his gruff tone startling a nearby market trader, the minuscule blue Frog hopped back behind their stall, ‘most of them underground.’ A hint of devilment etched itself across the Badger’s scarred face. The more Star stared the more scars he noticed, the Night Badger’s face was a knot of grizzled flesh and matted fur.
‘We’re here.’ Thorn pointed at a seedy bar at the end of a filthy street. Brown muck flowed down ditches. The cobblestones were littered with blood and faeces. A Zebra corpse was propped up against a brick wall, which looked less sturdy than the dead animal. Flies swarmed over the exposed flesh on the Zebra’s hind legs. The creature had long been stripped of clothes and dignity.
‘Lovely.’ Sky scrunched her slick black nose.
‘Sky, wait here,’ Star Wolf indicated what appeared to be a questionable waterhole at the end of the street, ‘signal if anyone comes out the front once we’re inside.’
She went to question the order but opted to remain quiet.
‘Bloodhound, Night, you two are with me, and Ash you go round back,’ ordered Star Wolf.
‘I should go with you,’ pleaded Ash.
‘No, two Wolves draws attention, even out of our uniforms we’d stand out. A drunken Badger, Wolf and Dog sounds more like a bar joke than a threat. Trust me.’
‘Very good.’ Ash nodded. ‘Look after him.’ An order of his own for the Night Badger and Bloodhound.
For good measure the Night Badger rubbed faeces, from Lupus knows what animal, onto the side of Bloodhound’s thin tunic, who in turn laughed. Star wondered if his reaction would’ve been so playful if that’d been his Navy uniform. Even thinking of wearing the House of Wolves attire made Star flush. Venenum was easily the most humid and warm climate he had ever experienced.
‘Shall we?’ Star suggested walking toward the Poison Dart, the pubs signage, a blue Frog with black spots covered in wooden darts, swung from a metal bar above the entrance. Propped either side were two sleeping baboons, their nasally sores and fiery-red faces suggested they’d been sat outside for some time.
Once inside Star realised his comprehension of humid had a new nadir, the very air was steam and a wispy, white blanket of smoke. All manner of narcotics were being purchased and consumed in the packed and noisy establishment. Rows of wooden booths housed all kinds of creature, big and small, united by the common goals of alcohol and drugs. Such open disregard for Council laws stunned Star Wolf, why had the Council not apprehended the Frogs in charge?
‘Stay close, drink slowly and keep your eyes peeled for you know who,’ said the
Night Badger. ‘I assume he’s still present?’ a questioned levelled at the hidden communication device in his stained, tatty grey shirt collar.
The signal is close, the confirmation from Thorn, from the other end of the communication line.
‘Excellent.’ Bloodhound barring his enormous canine teeth, they were yellow and covered in thick globules of white spittle. He fit right in with the ragtag clientele of the Poison Dart.
After finding a table in a shadowy corner, near the exit for good measure, they ordered three beers and sat sipping from their tankards. Under the table Star Wolf kept his claw on the hilt of his concealed laser gun, having it out on the beer-soaked table seemed a little too conspicuous.
Time past by at a merry pace and they found themselves three beers deep before an update from Thorn occurred, ‘signal is stationery and still nearby.’
‘I gotta pee,’ said Star Wolf, part telling the truth, he did but he was also going to scope out downstairs.
‘Don’t be long,’ said the Night Badger, with a knowing grunt.
Star Wolf nodded as he descended the thin rickety wooden staircase down into what was presumably a cellar. The pungent aroma from burning grass stung Star Wolf’s eyes and nose. At the end of the corridor a piece of filthy cream cloth covered a doorway, creatures were strewn about all over the dusty floor behind the makeshift door.
Star paced slowly down the narrow walkway, hugging the cool stonewall. As he edged closer, he overheard a familiar, sultry voice.
‘A little more please, don’t be stingy darling,’ said the Winter Tiger.
Star Wolf exhaled as a million scenarios ran through his head; the Winter Tiger was in a drug den and openly using narcotics. He’d breathed too loudly, the curtain snapped open and three Frogs glared at him from their slight frames way down toward the floor. Stood on their hind legs they failed to reach Star’s hips, but they charged nonetheless at the Winter Tiger’s immediate command.
Star Wolf rattled out laser fire, frying the closest Frog who exploded back onto the second and third. Their throaty croaks brought on chaos as upstairs and downstairs Frogs started appearing from every door. Glass was smashing above and splitting wood became frequent as a brawl broke out but all Star focused on was the Winter Tiger who was fleeing through another exit deep within the chamber.
Star killed another three Frogs before reaching the exit. He grabbed a discarded robe and rubbed away as much blood and gore from his fur as possible, who knew how or if the dead Frogs were poisonous or not. Ridding himself of the guts and mess wasted valuable seconds and by the time he bolted through the pitch-black tunnel he was blinded by the piercing light of the sun, back on street level he stood before a raucous market square.
‘Is this city just a giant market!’ he said, eyes darting everywhere for the Winter Tiger, ‘There!’
He bolted forward and leapt, front paws first, pushing off from his hind legs off the back of an empty cart being slowly dragged through the market. His swift movements stirred up commotion from hundreds of animals, most opting to get out of the way of a sprinting Wolf holding a laser gun. The creatures were a blur, most shrouded in thin hooded cotton robes. Mundane beiges, creams and browns becoming a bland canvas on which the Winter Tiger’s lavish robe of blood red and gold stood out all too easily.
‘Stop that Tiger!’ barked Star Wolf, and of course no one listened; well not no one.
The Winter Tiger reached the edge of the market, stood by a terracotta building with wicker baskets neatly stacked around its base, he stopped to turn and regard Star Wolf. A wicked grin spread over his face, his mouth appearing to utter the words ‘catch me, if you can.’
The taunt sent Star hurtling through the crowds, much to the displeasure of three fat brownish-green Toads he bundled out of the way and into a water trough. Wicker baskets tumbled in their dozens, blocking Star’s path, a furious laughter full of mock echoed out down the shadow-filled alleyway.
‘Keep up!’ cried out the Winter Tiger.
Star fired a few rogue shots, missing the Tiger by a distance, exploding a brick wall in the distance. A Doberman jumped in his path; snarling and ready to fight, Star promptly pistol-whipped the foolish black Dog and continued on his way. All the while he wondered where the local law enforcement was? The marketplace was full to bursting of scrapping creatures from at least fifty species a
nd yet no uniformed presence charged in to halt the chaos.
This truly was a unique planet.
The Winter Tiger was making for a drawbridge, or so Star assumed, as that was the direction they were heading in, the horizon showing a turret and thick jungle behind. If the Tiger General made the expansive greenery outside the walls Star would never find him.
‘Come back!’ Star yelled.
‘Good idea,’ said the Winter Tiger, Star was gaining.
As they sprinted, on hind legs, somehow keeping it a civilised chase void of primal ancestry, further away from the crowds, the shadows of the buildings shrouded the path and to Star’s dismay the Winter Tiger turned a few sharp corners and was out of sight seconds later. Star spun at a crossroads of identical white buildings, knowing one path, the one he’d ventured down, didn’t provide a route to his goal. Come on, come on.
He caught the floral scent, among the urine and faeces, all too late.
Searing pain shot through his wrist, causing him to drop his laser gun.
The Winter Tiger loomed over him, and despite his cropped robe he still looked like the most intimidating creature in the galaxy, muscled, scarred and honed to kill. His black and white fur heaved under the weight of his lungs; the Tiger was a little out of breath.
‘No guns, sweet Wolf, if we’re going to do this let’s use our bodies.’ The Winter Tiger regained his composure. The wooden club he held hefted down caused Star Wolf to wince as the crunch bit hard into its target.
The laser gun cracked into a hundred pieces.
‘Keep up, if you can,’ teased the Winter Tiger, his smooth velvety voice betrayed the thunderous gut shot he dealt with the base of the club. With the wind well and truly knocked out of him, Star dry heaved and watched the Winter Tiger skip through the drawbridge and into the jungle.
AFTER THIRTY MINUTES wandering into the jungle Star Wolf realised a few disconcerting, and not breaking trend, utterly foolish mistakes. One, he was lost. Two, the Winter Tiger had ripped the communication device from the scruff of Star’s collar.
Star Wolf: A Space Opera Fantasy (Songs of Star & Winter Book 1) Page 11