The King made short work of the trip to Livestel. When he reached the outskirts of the town, he pulled up in a huge cloud of dust and trampled grass.
Bounder and Strider were first out of the back, running as they hit the ground. The others followed, even the Rabbits, although they were always uncomfortable in the Wolfoids’ presence because the Wolfoids always smelled of meat.
Braden and Micah hurried toward a commotion in the center of town. The ‘cats, Ax, and ‘Tesh ran alongside. A crowd of Wolfoids gathered around the alpha and his mate, all of them speaking at once. Braden and Micah couldn’t understand any of it.
G-War appeared on a nearby roof as if by magic. Braden noticed him and tried to make eye contact. The ‘cat ignored him. Treetis bolted and took a running leap at the side of the building. He made it halfway up, a valiant effort, but the walls were made of concrete, a New Sanctuary building material.
Treetis’s claws scraped against the unforgiving building. He twisted and scratched on his way back to the ground. His antics went unobserved as all eyes were on the injured Wolfoids and the blood.
Micah slowed, and Braden reached for her hand. He could feel her tremble as the warrior rage rose within. Their friends had been injured. The Wolfoids had been safe on the Traveler. Braden and Micah had convinced them to come to the planet to live. Come to Vii.
Live free as Wolfoids were meant to live.
Strider worked her way close to the most severely injured, an oldster and an older pup, the first born on Vii. Braden thought White Mountain was dead. Strider looked relieved as she touched noses with the sleeping old Wolfoid. Numbweed had staunched the blood flow and begun the healing process.
The young Wolfoid, Cygnus Standing, bared his fangs and growled as one of the hunters deftly sewed up the wound in his side. Bounder was in the middle of a cacophony of yips and barks.
‘Everyone shut up!’ G-War commanded. He didn’t have to say it loudly, but he projected it directly into everyone’s mind at a volume that wasn’t to be ignored. Braden waved to the ‘cat while watching Bounder.
The Wolfoid switched to his thought voice, so everyone could hear and understand.
‘We will go after them. We will recover our property, and with the help of our friends—’ Bounder waved in Braden and Micah’s direction. ‘—we will make sure this doesn’t happen again.’
The Wolfoids howled in a cry for vengeance.
“Look!” a Wolfoid yelled, pointing. Braden took off at a sprint, while two of the hunters raced past him. In the fields, a Wolfoid was staggering toward them.
“Running Stream,” a Wolfoid shouted in his native tongue. The two hunters reached her, catching her as she collapsed into their arms. They picked her up awkwardly between then. Braden soon caught up and cradled her head in his hands as they rushed back to the town. Dried blood surrounded an arrow embedded in her shoulder. The shaft had broken off, leaving only a nub, making it more difficult to remove.
Braden’s blood started to boil. He had met Running Stream, one of the herd’s shepherds. She was a kind soul, who didn’t wish harm on anyone. Her demeanor was more like the Rabbits than the Wolfoids. Stream was an enemy to no one.
And Braden cradled her head as she moaned in pain. From what he could tell, it had caught her shoulder blade, keeping it from going too deep.
They deposited Running Stream next to White Mountain. The oldster who had assumed the role of healer tried to hold the end of the arrow to remove it, but couldn’t grasp it tightly enough. Not to be dissuaded, he gripped it in his teeth. Using his hands for leverage around the wound, he yanked the arrow with a mighty tug. The skin tore around the wound from the arrowhead’s barbs. Numbweed was quickly applied, helping Stream to drift off.
‘Anything?’ Braden asked the Hawkoids, wanting nothing more than to get the raiders into the sights of his blaster.
‘We see them. Looks like twenty-five men, each is carrying a lightning spear, and most have bows, too. They are heading west along the ancients’ road,’ Skirill reported.
Braden signaled to Bounder.
‘We heard,’ Bounder replied. ‘Strider and I will go after them. We will return with our lightning spears or we won’t return at all. No matter what, those men will suffer.’
“I must go, too!” Cygnus Standing said, grimacing as he stood and leaned into his new stitches.
“You cannot. Stay here and heal,” Strider said, putting herself between the alpha and the pup.
Cygnus hung his head. “I called the pups back, but they took off again when my back was turned. They are chasing the men right now. They’ll listen to me, as long as I’m in their snouts. And who else has seen them? You need a witness to be sure, in case they try to join more humans.”
‘Can you see a pack of pups running after the men?’ Bounder asked the Hawkoids.
‘There! Yes, we see them.’
‘Please let them know that we’ll be there shortly and they are to run no further.’
‘We’ll do our best,’ Skirill replied.
The twins were wild-eyed when Braden and Micah swept them up on their way back to the wagon. Cygnus loped after them, being supported by Bounder and Strider, who reluctantly agreed to bring the pup, although they were specific that he was to remain in the wagon.
Aadi had decided to remain in the wagon, then he decided to join the group in the town, and while on his way, they ran past him as they headed back to the wagon. He turned around, just in time for Bounder to give him a push in the right direction.
Brandt stamped and snorted. G-War and Treetis were already lying on his head, looking forward as if the King was already running.
They loaded up, shoving Aadi in last. They yelled for Brandt to take off as they jumped to grab the buckboard and pull themselves into the front seat.
The Chase Begins
Heloysius and Luciana held onto the twins as the wagon bumped across the field. A Rabbit bounced off a Wolfoid. Aadi’s shell smashed into Axial’s head, leaving an ugly red mark. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the back of the wagon.
Shauna and Klytus tried to huddle behind Fea, but she was airborne more often than not from the uneven ground as the King of the Aurochs made a beeline for the remnants of the ancients’ road.
The group breathed a collective sigh of relief when Brandt bumped onto the road and picked up speed when everything evened out.
Braden thought he could see blood dripping from the King’s head where two Hillcats had dug twenty claws into his skin.
Twenty claws each.
‘Let me see that,’ Luciana said in her dainty thought voice. She fussed with the wound on Cygnus’s side. With her small hands, she tightened one of the knots. Cygnus twitched and spasmed from the pain, but no sound escaped his lips. Bounder slapped him on the rump in recognition of the pup’s efforts.
Ahead of the wagon, two Hawkoids were beating their wings furiously, hovering with their claws out as three Wolfoid pups dodged back and forth. Brandt slowed. One of the pups saw the bull and the wagon. He slapped his fellows and they stood up straight, trying to look innocent.
No one moved within the wagon except for Bounder. He nodded to his mate, caressing the top of her head with one hand before climbing out the back. He strolled casually ahead, slapping the sides of the great King as he passed, stopping to stroke Brandt’s soft nose and share some kind words of thanks for his help in righting the wrong that had befallen Livestel and the Wolfoids.
The King nodded, forcing Bounder to duck away from the massive horns. G-War yawned.
Bounder turned toward the pups, who shifted uncomfortably and refused to make eye contact with their alpha. He stopped in front of them.
“Rainy Forest, Wind Runner, and Low Crawler. I should have known you three would show no self-discipline.” Bounder walked back and forth before lunging and grabbing Forest’s ear. “What did you think you were going to do against twenty-five men with lightning spears?”
The pups whimpered.
>
“You’re coming with us, and you’ll get your chance to fight, but you’re going to train. Hunting comes naturally to us, but fighting against an enemy is something completely different. Those two humans in the front of that wagon are experts. You will listen to them and do as you’re told if you want any chance of surviving this. Do you understand, warrior recruits?”
Bounder made up the title, and he thought it sounded good. He couldn’t have the pups running wild. He wanted to harness their energy for the good of the group. They had to come along because there was no time to take them home.
“Get in the wagon,” he ordered. He walked up to the two Hawkoids who had landed and were watching him with interest.
‘Thank you for saving them from themselves,’ he said.
‘They are a determined bunch,’ Zyena replied, bowing her head to the Wolfoid leader. He bowed in response, giving them a big canine smile. It didn’t take long for his mood to darken once again.
The business of recovering the lightning spears was going to be dangerous. He looked at the group. Twenty-five men armed with the spears against him and his friends. A well-laid ambush would destroy Vii’s leadership.
‘Please keep an eye on the men for us. We cannot let them draw us into a trap.’
‘We understand.’ Skirill and Zyena hopped a couple steps and then took off, gaining altitude quickly as they circled to the west under the midday sun.
Braden and Micah had climbed down from the wagon and were walking toward Bounder. They watched the soaring Hawkoids together.
“We don’t want them to know we’re on their trail. The only way we’ll win this fight is on our terms. Surprise is our best weapon. These men are running and they will have to slow down sometime soon. We’ll look to catch them tonight. If not, then tomorrow night. We can rest during the day. They cannot. Our terms, Bounder.” Braden looked up at the Wolfoid alpha. On two legs, he stood taller than the humans.
He rested his front legs on Braden’s shoulders as he leaned close. ‘I know. I want to understand why they did it, find out if there are more of them. We need to prune this tree, cut out the bad branches, reshape it into something that will better reflect the Vii you envision.’
‘They are entering the foothills,’ Skirill reported. ‘They have left the road and are entering the forest.’
‘Don’t lose them!’ Bounder pleaded.
‘Holly, do you have them?’ Braden asked using his link to the artificial intelligence.
‘I am tracking them by the energy signatures of the lightning spears. I will not lose them before the spears lose their charge. I do not believe they took any recharging equipment,’ Holly replied.
“Did they take anything with them to charge the spears?”
‘I’m sorry, but I forgot to check.’
“It’s okay. You had a lot to worry about. Cygnus!” Braden went back to the wagon. “Did the raiders take any charging equipment?”
Braden decided not to refer to them as men because most men were good people. Raiders would be bad, now and forever. Thieves, pirates, and criminals. But not men.
The injured pup thought back to what he’d seen when he looked into the Wolfoid armory. “No,” was his simple reply.
Braden clapped his hands together. “That makes it easy. All we have to do is let them shoot at us until they’re out of juice, and then we let Brandt trample them into the ground.”
“I see one minor flaw in that plan,” Micah suggested. “WE’RE NOT LETTING THEM SHOOT AT US!”
Braden rocked back as if punched.
“Besides that, what did you think of my plan?” Braden replied, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work. “It’s a sorry business that we’re in. I don’t want to be a vigilante or the justice police, but I guess that’s the role we’ve been forced into. Maybe we’ve done it to ourselves because no one else was doing it. We’ve also benefitted from it, although I don’t feel guilty about that. Life in New Sanctuary is better than anything I could have ever imagined. Maybe that’s the trade-off. Live well, but when you have to pick up your blasters, blood will be shed, some of it may be ours.”
“But we will carry arms in defense of Vii,” Micah said. She pointed with her arm toward Livestel. “They need us to protect them, just like McCullough, Greentree, or even White Beach.”
“Why can’t people be happy with free trade?” Braden wondered aloud.
“How much trade have we pushed south?” she asked.
Braden shook his head and raised his hand in the sign for zero.
“People were a little aggressive before trade opened up. What do you say we get some routes open,” Micah said, smiling at her partner. “As soon as we recover those spears.”
‘The men have set up a small camp. It looks like they may be settling in. See for yourself.” With G-War’s help, Skirill shared his view of the men’s position in the woods. They were on top of a hill with a sheer drop behind them. To the front was an open area. As Braden and Micah watched, one of the men torched a tree with one of the lightning spears. A few of the other men fired their spears until one individual made them stop.
“That doesn’t bode well. As long as they don’t fire, the spears will stay charged,” Braden said unnecessarily. “Let’s move closer, just in case they break camp.”
Micah corralled the others, including the three pups, and watched everyone pile into the wagon. Aadi floated over her head and swam toward Braden, who had stopped to scratch the side of Brandt’s neck.
“Thanks for the help, Brandt. We could never do any of this without you.”
‘There is no place I would rather be,’ Brandt replied, the voice exploding in Braden’s mind.
“Whisper, if you don’t mind, big guy,’ Braden requested while scratching the great King’s side. The others were working to get into the wagon. A Wolfoid sat on a Rabbit and that created a bit of a commotion along with some harsh words from Micah. Heloysius was cordial about the intrusion, as Rabbits always were.
‘Master Braden, vengeance is an ugly beast that consumes the vengeful,’ Aadi offered.
“I don’t think that I’m on a mission of vengeance. I only want the spears back. Maybe that’s not all. I want to understand why. Is it the power? Is someone preparing to wage war? Against whom?”
‘Your challenge will be in resolving this without the violence I see brewing.’
‘I am guilty of this, Master Aadi. I see my friends hurt and I feel like I must do something about it. I wish my Queen was here.’
‘We must make do with this group, which means cunning and wiles, Master Braden, King Brandt. We cannot win this by bulling our way through. They’ve shown that they can use the spears. We would all die a fiery death should we attempt a head-on approach.’
“Like the Bat-Ravens. That is not an end that I wish on anyone, even them, but they left us no choice, just like these men may give us no choice. If we must destroy the spears, then that’s what we’ll do. Better no one have them than leave them in the hands of raiders.”
Micah mounted the buckboard and waved to Braden. The smell of the Aurochs’ musk filled the air. Braden looked to the west where the remnants of the road cut a line into the hills. There was no breeze, only the cool of spring. The green of new growth fought for dominance over the browns of winter.
“This morning started out so well. Treetis and G-War both fell into the lake. It was fun, but I never had a chance to heckle them. It seems like that happened a long time ago and no longer matters.”
‘It matters as the goal for the future. To get back where you were and keep your lives moving forward. In between, you’ll ensure that everyone else gets to move their lives forward. This is your gift, Master Braden, replacing war with trade,’ Aadi replied.
“How many people have to die in between?” Braden slapped the Aurochs on the side one last time. “Mount up, Master Aadi. It’s time to roll.”
The twins quickly befriended the pups, although Shauna and Klytus weren’t as quick t
o accept the Wolfoids into the children’s inner circle.
The wagon rested behind a small stand of evergreens, hidden from view, while the others went quietly about their business. The human and Wolfoid adults conferred around a rough map that Braden had drawn on the ground. The Hawkoids watched from a branch nearby while Aadi floated overhead. Brandt tried to see between the others with G-War and Fea perched on his head.
Treetis was nowhere to be seen.
The Rabbits had gone into the woods to find vegetables and tubers to add to a hastily gathered food supply that consisted mostly of smoked meat and jerkies.
The youngsters had been harshly shushed when they started to make too much noise. Even with a large hill in between them and the raiders, Braden wanted to maintain the surprise. They could not afford to let the raiders know that they were being followed.
Ax tripped his sister and Shauna came to her rescue. Klytus joined in. Soon, the four were rolling around on the ground while the Wolfoid pups quietly cheered them on. Precocious five-year-olds? Or were the twins simply active children raised in a loving environment?
Shauna was tossed from the pile, landing in a nearby bush. She vaulted straight into the air as a serpentine head, fangs bared, passed through the space where she had just been.
The Wolfoids grabbed the twins and pulled them from the small opening where the Crawler ended up. It hissed angrily. Klytus headed in, dodging left and right. The Crawler locked its eyes on the ‘cat. Klytus’s movements slowed.
Ax dove in and yanked back on the ‘cat’s tail as the Crawler struck. “Look out, Klytus!” he called while dragging the ‘cat away. The Crawler wriggled toward the spellbound ‘cat. Ax stumbled back and fell.
Runner jumped forward and kicked it. The Crawler turned and hissed. The pup darted away. Low Crawler came in from the other side while Ax climbed to his feet. Klytus recovered his senses and ran around the outside of the ring forming around the snake.
Rainy Forest stomped on its tail when it turned toward ‘Tesh. She stood on the balls of her feet while Shauna crouched, ready to strike. The Crawler curled and headed fangs-first toward Forest’s leg. Treetis bolted in like an orange streak, catching the Crawler by the neck. The snake curled around the scarred ‘cat. Forest pulled his belt knife and started sawing behind the Crawler’s head while Treetis fought the snake.
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