by R. L. Wolf
"Frogs breathe on the outside of their skin," said Austin. "We should wet his skin."
"He's pfot a fog," said Wes, lying down on his back.
"Wes, save some of your water and take another drink," said Colt, pouring the water from his own flask into the hole.
Wes wiggled his jaw and tried to get his tongue to work right. "Sworry, I'm fom the fountains, pfis is foo phot, fake it sfop."
The boys kept the blanket over their heads to keep the sun off. Toran's eyes fluttered back to normal, and held his hand up and raised his head above the water. He turned over and coughed, a flow of water ejected from his lungs back into the hole.
"Are we there yet?" croaked Toran.
"Not yet, you passed out," said Colt.
"Fike a floppy foldfish," said Wes.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Toran.
"Same thing that’s wrong with all of us. He's on the edge of heat stroke, or sun stroke, I can't remember which it is. You should stay under the water for a while longer," said Colt.
Toran sat up and moaned. "How much oxygen do you think is in that little bit of water? Are you trying to drown me? We should stick Wes's head in the water."
"Pweety birds gonna feat me," mumbled Wes, waving at the vultures circling above.
"Toran, will you be okay now?" asked Colt, pouring a handful of water over Wes's face.
"Yeah, my lungs dried out. Help Wes."
“I fuv you guys,” slurred Wes.
"Okay, Wes, just rest," said Colt.
Garth tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and dipped it in the water and placed the rag over Wes’s forehead.
"Give me a hand with this," said Colt. "We can't lose any water."
Garth and Colt poured the water back into the drinking flasks.
"Fe gonnafrink fish fater," said Wes.
"I'm not poisonous inside, now shut up before you pass out too," said Toran.
Wes closed his eyes, but Colt wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or passed out. "Everyone try to sleep a little. We can't move again until it cools off," said Colt. "Austin, what are you doing?”
Austin looked up from a notebook he was furiously jotting notes in. “We could die out here. I’m writing down everything that happens, so there’s a record.”
“We aren’t going to die,” said Colt.
"Tanner did this to us," said Garth, his voice low and sounding like a growl.
Colt nodded. Tanner was not to be trusted and likely headed for serious trouble. Colt slept and dreamed he was back home and walking in the cornfields. A cougar was tracking him, Colt ran, the cougar howled. Odd, thought Colt in his dream, Cougars don't howl. The cougar was in front of him now, its fangs bared as it howled.
Colt opened his eyes in time to see a wolf grab one of the water flasks and bite it. As the water poured on the ground, Colt drew his revolver and fired at the wolf. The wolf jumped back and ran off. Other wolves Colt hadn’t seen ran away as well, and he fired two more shots after them. The boys jumped up, startled at the sound of shooting. Toran pulled his revolver, looking for the danger.
"What's going on?" yelled Toran.
"Wolves," replied Colt, still aiming into the darkness. "They got one of our water flasks."
"Oh ancestors," cursed Wes. "That was my water flask."
Colt stood and walked around their small camp. He knelt and laid a hand on the faint paw print of a wolf, other tracks crisscrossed in the hard-packed salt, it had been a pack of wolves. They had gotten off easy only losing a water flask. It could have been much worse.
"No telling how long we slept, or how much night is left," said Colt. "Let's move out."
The boys picked up their belongings and repacked them into the saddlebags. Colt eyed up the shape of the mountain range in the distance and headed towards it, and the others fell in line next to him. They walked in silence for a long time, the night air cooling as they walked. Colt picked up the pace to keep them warm. The cold desert night was proving to be as brutal as the blazing day had been.
"I'm starting to think I might not like the desert very much," said Toran.
"Oh toughen up Fish Boy," said Wes.
"If you call me Fish Boy one more time, you'll be sorry," warned Toran
"I’m right here, Fish Boy," taunted Wes.
Toran lunged at Wes, and the boys wrestled to the ground, rolling in the sand. The others grabbed the two boys and pulled them apart. Toran and Wes scrambled to their feet. Toran broke free of Austin's grasp, pulled his revolver, aimed at Wes and fired. The crack of the revolver firing sounded like an explosion across the desert.
"NO!" yelled Colt.
Toran fired again.
A wolf fell on top of Wes and pushed him to the ground. The wolf didn't move. It was dead. The others stared at the dead wolf while Toran turned and fired again, and again. Gun flashes lit up the shadowy figures of the wolves as Toran fired. Toran hadn't been shooting at Wes. He had been shooting at the wolves. Colt drew his revolver and fired at the attacking wolves.
"I'm out!" yelled Toran. "How do you reload this thing?"
"Switch guns!" yelled Colt, throwing his gun to Toran.
Colt reloaded Toran's gun while Austin pulled his hunting knife and swung wildly at the wolves. A large black wolf leaped past Colt and landed on top of Austin.
"Colt, help!" shouted Austin.
Colt aimed and fired. The wolf rolled to the side, and Austin plunged his knife into the wolf's neck.
Garth threw rocks the size of cannon balls at the wolves, and when another large black wolf landed on Garth's back, he cried out as the wolf raked its claws over his shoulder. Garth rolled and crushed the wolf under him. He rose to his knees and smashed the wolf on the side of the head. The wolf got up and tried to stagger away. Garth jumped on it, hitting the beast again with the rock. The boys continued fighting until the wolf pack gave up and ran off yelping. Five dead wolves remained on the ground.
"You want to get this off me, Fish Boy, I can't breathe," said the muffled voice of Wes from under the dead wolf.
"Why do you keep calling me Fish Boy?" shouted Toran.
Colt and Garth pushed the wolf off Wes, and he sat up, glaring at Toran.
"Because you're my brother, you goldfish for brains, I'm allowed!" yelled Wes.
Toran's mouth opened to say something, and then closed abruptly. He stared at Wes for a moment before responding. "I'm your brother?" asked Toran.
Wes stabbed a finger at Colt. "I’m calling him Farm Boy, and I call you Fish Boy. I still working out what to call them two."
"I thought you were insulting me," said Toran.
"I was insulting you, trout face, that's how brothers talk to each other," said Wes, pulling his hunting knife out and kneeling next to the dead wolf. "This one's mine."
"What are you doing?" asked Austin, stepping back.
"You're from the city, huh?” asked Wes, driving his hunting knife into the wolf's belly.
"Yeah," replied Austin, slightly horrified, killing an attacking beast was one thing, but gutting them was a little disturbing.
"Okay, City Boy, find something to wrap the meat in, this is going to be our dinner,” said Wes. "
The gory display of gutting the wolf didn't affect Colt. He had helped Pa butcher enough cows to be long over squeamishness.
"We should get moving," said Colt.
"No," replied Wes, working on the carcass. "We are starved, weak, and the wolves are hunting and aggressive. We won't get lucky again. Let’s start a fire and wait it out."
"He's right," said Garth. "In the jungle, you find a tree and wait until the predators are done hunting."
"It’s not exactly a jungle here, but yeah, same thing," said Wes. "We are so tired we didn't see how close we are.” Wes grabbed a handful of dirt and held it up. “See, it’s normal dirt, we aren’t on the salt flats anymore. The mountain is only a couple miles. If the camp is up there, let's not let them think they got to us."
Colt looked up at the mountains and saw the outli
ne of the trees. They had walked farther in the night than he realized. He laughed and dropped down next to Wes. "Let's find something to burn and eat some dinner."
"There's some scrub brush over there we can burn," offered Austin.
Wes and Colt skinned the wolves while Austin collected the scraggly looking firewood, and Toran started the fire. Garth lashed a spit together and put some meat over the fire to cook. Wes and Colt worked on the wolf hides while the meat cooked. Wes tossed one wolf skin at each of the boys and took a place at the fire grinning, a wolf fur draped over his shoulders.
"What are you grinning about?" asked Toran, pulling some meat from the spit.
"Well, I figured out what our House Crest can be," replied Wes.
"A wolf?" asked Toran.
Colt wiped his greasy fingers on his britches and held up his wolf hide. "It's a great idea," said Colt.
The boys laughed and ate as much meat as they could stuff in their mouths.
Gunslinger Team Rex Robertson
Rex and his Merits were at the bottom of the hill from the Camp collecting firewood for their cabin when a group of boys appeared from the desert.
"Hey Clint, what's that?" asked Rex, pointing down the hill.
"What in the blazes?" asked Clint.
"The new Gunslinger team is arriving today," said Zeke, walking up with an armful of firewood.
"Yeah, but what are they wearing?" asked Clint.
"They look like wolf hides," said Rex.
"Which one is the Gunslinger, there are two of them wearing Gunslinger belts?" asked Zeke.
The group of boys approached Rex and his merits and stopped.
"Howdy, I'm Colton Cyness. Could you tell us which way the Gunslinger Academy is?"
Rex's mouth dropped open, and he pointed up the hill.
"Mighty obliged," said Colt, and moved off with his team.
"Rex, that's the kid from the Four Corners Ambush," whispered Zeke.
"I know, come on, let's follow them," said Rex, throwing his armful of firewood on the ground.
Gunslinger Team Brock Hunter
Brock drew his revolver and fired at the target.
"Not bad, that was .47 seconds, but your aim was off by eight inches," said Gabe. The rest of Brock's team occupied the other firing positions, practicing with short rifles.
"Just gotta keep practi…" Brock broke off what he was saying and pointed. “What is that?”
Gabe turned around to see five big wolves walking past the firing range, followed by Rex and his team. Zeke ran over to the wooden fence that marked the firing range.
"Hey guys, it’s Colton Cyness!" shouted Zeke.
"Grab the team, Gabe, let’s go," said Brock.
Brock's team cleared their weapons and ran out to join Rex's team following the wolves."
Gunslinger Team Duke Dire
"When was the Battle of Tarine?" asked Duke. The team was sitting at one of the picnic tables scattered throughout the woods for study time.
"Wait, I just read that," said Gideon. "Umm... Yeah... Chapter 8, page 32."
Duke looked up at a parade following a group of wolves. "What in the name of the Dragon is going on?" asked Duke.
Duke's team turned and stared at a group of wolves walking up the hill, followed by Rex and Brock's teams. Gideon got up and ran over to ask Brock what was happening. He returned a moment later, his tail quivering with excitement. "It's the kid from the news, that Colton Cyness guy, he just came in from the long walk."
"The Dragon has favored him," said Duke. "We were gazing into the eyes of the Dragon when we arrived in these hills near death, but they have been on a pleasure hunt."
"Yeah, but they made us do The Long Walk during the winter when it was freezing, that wasn't fair," said Gideon.
Duke arched his tail and slammed it on the ground. Gideon dropped his eyes in submission. He knew it had been fair not to let them have the advantage of the gentle desert heat of summer when the temperatures were closer to their home world of Daemia. The Long Walk had to be a challenge, and winter was a challenge for their species, not summer.
"Can I follow them, please?" asked Gideon, keeping his eyes on the ground.
"Of course, we will all go. I wish to see this famous Colton Cyness as well," said Duke.
Gunslinger Team Cora Carson
"The intent of the law-making body is as important as the interpretation of the law and must be considered during enforcement," said the Gunslinger. The Deputy Law Instructor was lecturing, and Cora was bored. She knew all this, but the class was mandatory and accounted for half their overall grade. Cora glanced at Ella and laughed to herself. Ella, her First Merit, was trying to pretend to be following in the book, but Cora knew she was asleep. All of Cora's Merits were nodding off, except for Nora—for some reason, she liked this stuff. Cora would rather be at the range practicing. The door to the cabin serving as the classroom banged open and Zeke stuck his head in.
"The new Gunslinger is that Colton Cyness guy. They just arrived from The Long Walk!” shouted Zeke.
Any excuse was good enough, and Cora flew out of her seat and out the door, her Merits only a moment behind her. The Instructor didn't try to stop them—he wanted to see this famous kid too.
Gunslinger Team Colton Cyness
Colt and his Merits had the wolf furs draped over their heads as wolf hats and a long wolf cape. Colt kept the wolf fur low over his eyes and ignored the Gunslinger Teams following. One of the teams was girls! He hadn't known there was girl Gunslingers, but it made sense, why not?
"Hey, did you notice that one team was lizards?” asked Wes.
"Stop calling them lizards,” said Garth. “I don't feel like getting into a fight with a Daemi on the first day."
Colt ignored Wes's foolishness. Wes would have to learn the hard way to show respect to other species. Colt led the team up the hill. He didn't know it yet, but he was about to make history again. Colt walked past the Hospital Cabin without so much as a glance at the Doctor standing outside to receive the boys—no team had ever done that before. Colt saw the Dining Cabin and the Cook standing at a butchering table outside preparing some chickens for dinner. He stopped at the Cook's worktable and heaved the extra wolf meat his team had carried in from the desert. The cook lifted an eyebrow and stared at Colt.
"It's fresh, Sir," said Colt. "We want to share it with everyone. Could you tell me where to find the Marshal?"
The Cook pointed at a cabin off to the side of the open area in the middle of the camp. Colt thanked the Cook and headed for the Marshal's Cabin. Almost every student in camp was following Colt and his team now.
The Marshal's Cabin had a wide porch wrapped around the cabin, and a Deputy was leaning next to the door waiting. The Deputy opened the door and announced Colt's arrival. The Marshal came out a moment later and stood on the top stair looking down at the five wolf-clad boys.
"Cyness Wolves reporting for training, Sir!" shouted Colt. The rest of the team lifted their heads and started howling. Colt took a deep breath, lifted his head, and howled with his Merits. A few kids in the crowd around Colt started howling, and a moment later, the entire camp was howling.
The Gunslinger Marshal allowed himself a small grin at the corner of his mouth. Colt was far exceeding the expectations he had for the boy. Colton Cyness and his team arrived at the Gunslinger Academy with a style that would never again be matched by any team.
CHAPTER SIX
Oath Rock
The boys followed a path next to a rocky creek. The pleasant scent of pine hung in the warm mountain air, a stark contrast to the dry, dusty desert. They walked past rustic cabins scattered through the forest, and other kids running along pine strewn trails.
"Hey, there it is," said Wes, pointing at the first glimpse of their new home for the next year. "It looks just like my cabin back home."
Toran ran ahead to a sandy patch along the shore of the water. Garth ran to catch up with Toran.
"I think there’s somethi
ng down there," said Garth.
"I see it. I’ll go take a look,” said Toran, tapping the water with his foot, and pulling his shirt off.
"Hey, what are you doing?" asked Wes. "There’s girls at this camp!”
The rest of Toran's clothing joined his shirt and Wes's eyes widened.
"I thought you were a boy," said Wes, throwing his hands over his eyes.
Toran gave Wes a glare and jumped into the river.
"He is a boy," said Austin, walking past. "He's Carinian. Everything is on the inside, like the Daraians, and the Daemi."
"Are you sure? It's weird," replied Wes, peeking out from between his fingers.
Garth held a hand up in warning. "I told you about that. You're heading for trouble."
"It's not my fault I've never seen a Carinian before, and it's not proper to take your clothes off in public," said Wes.
"It is for a Carinian. They only wear clothing on land, and my people don't wear much clothing either. The jungle is too humid to swath yourself from toe to neck," said Garth.
Wes shuddered at the thought of seeing Garth naked.
"Hey, what's this?" asked Wes, forgetting his discomfort now that Toran was safely at the bottom of the river.
A pipe with a handle stuck up out of the river. Wes poked at the pipe, turned the crank a few times in both directions, but nothing happened. A moment later Toran's head popped up out of the water, he spat water out of his lungs and took a breath.
"Stop that," said Toran. "I'm not deaf."
"What does it do?"
"That's a water horn. You crank it twice and speak into the pipe, and I'll be able to hear you."
Wes stuck his mouth to the pipe and shouted. "Hellooo Fish Boy, put some pants on."
Toran climbed out of the river, stepped back into his britches, and tucked his shirt and boots under his arm.
"Are you sleeping in the river?" asked Wes.
"Naw, that habitat down there must have been built a hundred years ago, it’s falling apart,” said Toran.
Garth shoved Wes again and headed to the cabin. The door stood open, Colt and Austin were already inside. A wide porch wrapped around the cabin with chairs and tables placed along the wall. The railing and support posts were carved with the names of boys that had lived here before them. Tall pine trees shaded the entire cabin, and an old broken picnic table leaned on its side against the railing. Wes jumped up the three steps to the porch.