Be at peace, young one. I have come to speak with you.
“About what?” Blaze asked.
Your friends. Do you care for them?
“Yes, of course! More than anything!”
How much are you willing to give up for them?
“My life,” Blaze answered without hesitation.
Is that all?
Blaze blinked in confusion. What greater sacrifice was there?
There are many fates worse than death, young one. Are you willing to take one so that others will not have to?
“Fates like what?” Blaze asked.
The sacrifice of being a warrior, of being obligated to defend those in need even when you receive nothing for it. The sacrifice of never knowing peace.
Blaze looked around him once again, searching for an answer to the mysterious words Valde Abbas had just said to him. Never knowing peace? Did that mean that he could never rest? What could possibly bring about such a fate?
“What is it you need me to do?” He called out.
Fight for those who can not. You have strength that few others do. Use this strength to protect the innocent, and to dispel the evils that you will someday face.
“Of course I will!” Blaze answered without hesitation, “I would never do anything else!”
You will need more than your own strength to fight these battles. You will need mine.
Again, Blaze blinked in confusion, “How do I do that?”
The answers will come later. Do you trust me enough to dedicate your life to what I desire it to be?
Again without hesitation, Blaze called out, “Yes!”
A moment of silence, then Valde Abbas said, Then awaken and do your duty. I will come again when you are ready.
Chapter Eighteen
It almost looks like night time, Blaze thought as he stood up, stretching the stiffness out of his muscles after a good night’s sleep. He had awoken immediately after the voice of Valde Abbas had commanded him to, and images of the dream were still bounding through his mind. No, not a dream. A vision.
His waking observation was true. Dark clouds covered the sky, blotting out all but the smallest glimmer of sunlight. The air smelled thick, assuring that rain would soon be there. In the distance, the low growl of thunder rumbled. Yes, rain was coming, but it still sounded quite a ways off.
“Blaze!” Rust called from the base of the tree, “I need you to lead a border patrol!”
Blaze nodded, and raced to the ground and began to walk the length of the camp, calling out to saloli who did not seem busy to join him. He was soon accompanied by three other saloli who he knew only by name, Bark, Speckle, and Elm. As Blaze turned to lead them from the camp, though, he was intercepted by another saloli. It was Dust.
“Can I come with you on this patrol?” he asked.
Caught off guard, Blaze wasn’t sure how to answer the former Darkcover saloli. After what Dust had done to help him in the prison, Blaze trusted him just as much as any Icefire saloli, but did that mean it was a good idea to treat him as if he were actually in Icefire? Blaze was saved from the situation, though, by Faith interjecting.
“What is your name again?” she asked.
“Dust.” The brown answered.
“Well, Dust, what reason do you have to be so eager to go on patrol with Icefire saloli?” Faith asked, her tone somewhere between suspicion and mild confusion.
“As I told Rust,” Dust said, “I no longer consider myself a part of Darkcover. I haven’t since I betrayed Goliath. I want to help bring Goliath down.”
“Why? I would think that a Darkcover saloli would be thrilled by the chance to do away with their label as a weak tribe.”
“Darkcover is not a weak tribe,” Dust insisted, “they may be small in numbers, but their skill and determination makes up for what they lack in physical strength. They proved that when they took over Groundsky’s territory.”
The fact that Dust never once referred to Darkcover as “we” or “us,” but as “they” was not lost on Blaze.
“Besides, Goliath isn’t interested in honoring Darkcover’s name. His goals would be the same, no matter which tribe he had taken over. All he wants to do is kill creatures, and rule over those that he doesn’t. I don’t even believe he deserves the title of chief. He’s a tyrant!”
“But why do his goals matter so much to you?” Faith asked, “Surely the outcome is the same, is it not?”
“No, it’s not. What Goliath is doing… It’s just wrong. Icefire may fight Darkcover to defend themselves, but Goliath fights you because he wants to see blood be spilled. Your war is necessary, but his is fought in greed.”
“And you wish to go on patrol with Blaze to help protect us?”
“Exactly. If I’m going to fight against Goliath, then I’m going to aid Icefire in whatever way I can.”
Satisfied with his answers, Faith nodded and turned to Blaze, “Give Dust a chance to prove himself to the rest of the tribe. If he’s already done what you say he’s done then I doubt we will have reason to worry.”
Blaze nodded his agreement and turned to leave the camp, his four companions following him. Before he could, though, a strange scent wafted into his nose. It wasn’t Icefire, neither was it Groundsky. He’d also become familiar enough with the Darkcover scent to recognize it. That meant that this had to be…
“Rust!” Blaze called over his shoulder, “There’s a Cyclone saloli nearby! I can smell his scent from here!”
Before Rust had time to make it to Blaze’s side, a gray saloli with black flecks on his face limped into Icefire’s camp. His left cheek was badly cut, and he held his right front paw awkwardly. Blaze’s eyes grew wide when he saw a splinter of bone sticking out, near the joint. The fur all over the saloli’s body was matted with blood, both fresh and dried.
“Freckle!” Rust shouted, recognizing the Cyclone saloli immediately. Only a few weeks back, Rust had gone to the Cyclone tribe in order to create an alliance. His pleas, though, were met with indifference from Cyclone’s chief, Goldenrod, who would only promise her tribe’s assistance if Rust were to change allegiances. Despite his chief’s pure intentions, Blaze had been led to think that Rust had, indeed, abandoned his tribe, and had nearly killed him in recompense.
Freckle stumbled forward another step, and collapsed, moaning with pain. “What happened?” Rust demanded, “What are you doing here?”
Freckle leaned his head back to look into Rust’s eyes, “Please, you have to help us!” He wheezed, “Darkcover is attacking our camp. They’re slaughtering us! Help us, please!” Having said what needed to be said, a final breath escaped Freckle’s lungs, and his head slumped to the ground.
Nervous mutterings began all over Icefire’s camp. Blaze was shocked. Darkcover was already trying to overthrow another tribe? It hadn’t even been a month since Groundsky had fallen! He looked at Rust expectantly, awaiting orders. Rust’s eyes were clouded with confusion, but there was some anger in them as well. Faith approached her chief.
“Rust, we must help them.” She said, “Send an attack force to Cyclone’s camp immediately!”
“Help Cyclone?” Rust repeated, “After they so happily declined the same help to us? They don’t deserve it!”
Once again, Blaze was shocked. Was Rust really going to let his personal feelings doom another tribe?
“Rust, how could you even say such a thing?” Faith demanded, “What if it was your tribe being overrun by Darkcover? What if it was Cyclone refusing to come to your aid? How can you possibly justify your reasoning?”
Rust averted his gaze, unable to look his prophet in the eye. He was silent for almost a full minute, and then said, “You’re right. We must help them.” He raised his voice so that all of Icefire could hear him, “Half of Icefire is to come with me to help defend against the Darkcover attack on Cyclone! The other half is to stay here and take care of those who are unable to come! Let’s go!” Without another word, Rust ran out of Icefire’s camp, in the direct
ion of the Cyclone border. Blaze was the first one after him, followed by those who were meant to accompany him on his patrol, and then half of Icefire’s ranks.
When the Cyclone border came into view, Rust immediately spotted a band of Darkcover saloli waiting for them. “Take to the trees!” He called over his shoulder, diverting his path and scurrying into the closest tree. Blaze followed, and began leaping from branch to branch behind his chief, passing over the Darkcover guard. Rust angled in a new direction after passing the border, taking his tribe towards Cyclone’s camp.
“Look out!” Someone behind Blaze shouted, just as no less than twenty Darkcover saloli descended upon Icefire’s ranks. They had been hiding in the upper branches, waiting to ambush the rescue party. A black and gray saloli darted in front of Blaze, claws bared and ready to kill. Reacting like a seasoned warrior, Blaze turned his head and rammed into the saloli with all his might. The saloli was forced off of the branch, and plummeted to his death, almost twenty feet below. Blaze didn’t allow himself to comprehend the fact that he had just taken a saloli’s life for the second time and kept chasing Rust, who had also finished off his opponent.
There were no more ambushes awaiting them on their way to Cyclone’s camp. Arriving at the edge of the camp, Rust held up his paw, signaling halt. Blaze looked back, and was glad to see that no Icefire saloli had been lost in the ambush. Looking down into Cyclone’s camp, Blaze felt his heart sink into his stomach. Cyclone corpses lay strewn across the entire camp, and those that remained alive had been grouped together, surrounded by forty Darkcover saloli.
“We’re too late.” Blaze whispered, not wanting to alert the enemy of their presence.
“There was nothing we could do.” Rust comforted him, “What bothers me is the small number of Darkcover saloli that are here right now. Surely they didn’t conquer an entire tribe with only forty saloli?”
Blaze, too, noted this. Looking around the camp, another question arose. “Where’s Goliath?”
Rust scanned the camp from side to side, and saw that Darkcover’s chief was, indeed, not present. How could this be? Goliath would never order an attack without being there to… His eyes widened in horror.
“Get back to camp!” he shouted, “Now!”
Blaze realized what his chief was thinking just as Rust turned to sprint back in the opposite direction. Hurtling through over the branches at top speed, only one thought was able to penetrate Blaze’s mind.
It was only a distraction!
<><><><><>
“Sunbeam, what’s going on?” An infant asked, cuddling up beside the kind saloli for comfort. The child was old enough to speak, but not quite old enough to become a trainee. “Where are they going?”
“They’ve gone to fight the bad guys,” she answered, wrapping her bushy tail around the young one. Ten minutes had passed since the other half of the tribe had gone out to assist Cyclone. Blaze had gone with them. She shivered involuntarily. She didn’t know why, but a pit had formed in her stomach, and it seemed to grow all the heavier when she thought of Blaze. Worry made her fur want to stand on end, but she forced herself to remain calm for the children’s sake.
Blaze, please come back safe, she thought, gazing in the direction he had run off. I don’t know what I would do without you!
It was then that she saw them. At first she thought that they must be Icefire’s attack force returning victorious, but then she realized that there were too many. Far too many. At least one hundred saloli were quickly making their way towards Icefire’s camp. No, far more than that. It wasn’t until she recognized the one leading the charge that Sunbeam realized what was going on.
“We’re being attacked!” she yelled, just as Goliath entered the camp. He immediately lashed out to his right, his claws slicing open an Icefire saloli’s throat. Sunbeam couldn’t believe her eyes. That saloli had only been a trainee! Darkcover’s army flooded into the camp after their chief, each of them engaging the first enemy that caught their sight. “Get into a tree, now!” She urged the young saloli beside her, pushing him away from the fight. His paws were frozen to the ground in fear, though. Sunbeam continued to push him until she saw a Darkcover saloli coming in their direction, claws bared. Fire pulsed through her veins, and anger consumed her.
“Get away from him, you coward!” she screamed, and launched herself at the invader with a ferocity that surprised her. Caught off guard by the female’s audacity, the Darkcover saloli rushed at her all the same. Sunbeam raised herself onto her back legs, and threw her body back down, her head colliding with her enemy’s with a sickening crack. The Darkcover saloli staggered backwards, and fell down dead from head trauma. Sunbeam, fighting to stay conscious, swung around to her right and struck another enemy on the face with her claws, shredding his skin down to the muscle. The saloli, too shocked to comprehend his injury, lunged forward, intending to bite Sunbeam’s throat. Sunbeam, however, ducked beneath his jaws, and thrust her head up into his throat, knocking him onto his back. Before he could retaliate, she leapt onto his stomach and drove her claws into his chest, piercing his heart.
Sunbeam began to pull her claws out of her enemy’s corpse, but was swatted to the ground from behind. Her vision swam again, and she felt herself begin to go under. Looking back to see her attacker, her heart began to beat in panic at the sight of none other than Goliath standing over her, claws raised for a killing blow.
Then she saw no more.
<><><><><>
Blaze was the first to arrive back at Icefire’s camp, having outrun even Rust in his desperation to protect his tribe. He was too stunned to move for a moment by the scene of carnage before him, and then dove into the fight, tackling a brown Darkcover saloli that had pinned down an Icefire trainee. The invader tried to spin around and scratch Blaze, but Blaze lashed out, intending to cut his throat open, but his paw collided with the side of his face, bending his neck sideways with a loud pop. The saloli fell down dead. Blaze leapt over his first opponent, and was instantly set upon by another enemy, a female this time. She struck his cheek with her claws, drawing blood, and Blaze rammed into her, pinning her against a tree before lashing out and killing her with his claws. Given a moment’s respite after his second kill, Blaze cast his gaze around the camp. It was hopeless. Even with the second half of Icefire now in the fray, the odds were still three to one. There was no way they could win this!
Raaaaaawrk!
The shrill call came from the sky, and Talons dove down, plucking two Darkcover saloli off of the ground, one in each claw-tipped foot. The invaders shrieked in terror at seeing the mighty predator aiding their enemies, and many abandoned the attack and ran into the woods. Blaze smiled with grim satisfaction. The eagle’s debt to him had finally paid off. Looking back down, though, his momentary happiness turned to shock, and then horror as he saw Goliath looming over Sunbeam, his claws raised, preparing to slice her throat open.
“No!” he shouted, charging into the battle once more. A Darkcover saloli approached him from his right, but was immediately sent running away, minus one ear. Another moved to block Blaze’s path, but Blaze slammed into him, knocking him onto his back, and ran over him. Leaping into the air, he managed to collide with Goliath just as the giant lashed out to kill Sunbeam. The impact sent Goliath staggering backwards, and he turned to face his new opponent, eyes blazing with fury and bloodlust.
“You!” He howled, and launched himself at Blaze.
Blaze tried to dodge to the right, away from Goliath’s massive form, but the Darkcover chief swung around to follow him and struck Blaze with a paw almost as big as the red saloli’s head. Blaze flew backwards, and then skidded to a stop on the earth floor. He managed to get back to his feet, but Goliath was already in there, and brought his claws down Blaze’s side, cutting through the skin like butter. Blaze felt blood quickly mat his fiery fur, and then another impact to his head sent him spinning away and lying face down in the dirt once more. He tried to pick himself back up again, but Goliath grabbed
his chest fur in his mouth, and ran forward, pinning Blaze against a nearby tree. Blaze felt his breath leave his lungs, and choked. Goliath swung his head to the right, throwing Blaze to the ground again. Blaze struggled to get his paws back underneath himself, but was too weak. His vision became cloudy, and he fought to remain conscious. Goliath raised his paw, and raked his claws down Blaze’s face.
“I can’t believe I was afraid of you!” he growled, and clawed Blaze’s face again, “You’re nothing!” Pain flared from Blaze’s wounded side. “You’re pathetic!” Pain. “You couldn’t stop me if I was asleep!” Pain. “I am king over this forest, but you will not live to see the day that I rule over Icefire as part of Darkcover!” Pain!
Blaze laid on the ground, a shivering mass of fur and blood. He could feel the strength leaving his body, but he did not know if it was death or a blackout that was threatening to take him. Goliath raised himself onto his back legs, preparing to make the killing blow.
Legends of the Saloli: Vengeance and Mercy Page 7