Warclaw stood onto his feet. With his pads sinking into the soft ground, he started walking towards the calm blue sea. Although he was still not sure how he was going to get down to the lighthouse, he carried on walking towards the ocean. Warclaw realised that the sea was receding. It acted like it was running away from him, like it was frightened. Warclaw wanted to sprint into the cowering sea. With his mind set on the treasure, he kept heading towards the sea. Underneath him, the rubble from the lighthouse appeared again. He was closing the distance between him and the lighthouse. The rubble started to increase as he closed the distance between them. The closer he got, the more rubble there was. Finally, he appeared at the lighthouse of what was left of it. Walking towards the lighthouse remains, he climbed over the rubble, heading straight for the window that had once been stain glass. Suddenly, as he was about to take the first step into the lighthouse again, there was a fierce growl behind him. There. There stood Wibeke.
Chapter 7: One Wolf’s Stupidity, is Another’s Gain!
The den was quiet. There were no birds singing their chorus in the forest that surrounded the wolves. The trees were quite, too quiet. They didn’t rustle their leaves nor did they rustle in the breeze. The sky was crystal blue and had hints of white fluffy clouds. There was no wind. There was a light breeze but it wasn’t strong enough to lift a strand of fur. The pack had settled down. It was morning and the sun shone brightly from above the trees. It looked like the Earth had stud still from above. It was finally peaceful. Or so it was thought…
******************
Wren searched intensely around the den, looking for Wibeke, but there was no sign of her. ‘Where could she be? Where is she?! I hope she hasn’t done what I think she has! Please let her not of done that and has just gone for a stroll. I swear, if she’s done anything stupid, it’s going to be my fault!’ Wren thought, emotionally. His thoughts wandered and so did he. Wandering about the den endlessly, he searched every nook and cranny where he knew she would have most likely gone to think. But when he got there, she wasn’t. There was no sign of her. There was no sign of her because she had done exactly as he had thought and what he feared!
******************
Warclaw turned around to see that Wibeke was standing at the side of the old lighthouse remains. He started walking down off of the lighthouse and towards Wibeke. Standing her ground, Wibeke kept her eyes trailing Warclaws every movement as he walked towards her. Warclaw jumped onto the smooth soggy sand, before speaking gently “Wibeke, what are you doing here?” Before giving her a chance to answer Warclaw’s voice turned cold. “I know about that storm that hit the pack, and to be honest with you, I had rather hoped that you were among the dead!” Warclaw teased, laughing at his cruel comment. Wibeke took a step back. She was shocked at how a wolf could think such horrible thoughts. “How can you think that? We are your pack! So why do you want us all dead and decomposing?”
“You act as if it was I, whom had created that storm over your den, wrecking your measly little lives.” Warclaw smirked. He walked up to Wibeke and circled her before standing right beside her. “Although...” he paused “Now you come to mention it, maybe I did have something to do with it!” He whispered evilly into her ear before walking around so he was facing her.“Warclaw. I am not here to play your pathetic childish games! I came here to warn you of what is to come if you do not hand it over!” She lifted her paw and pointed it over to where the lighthouse was and to the darkened room where the object laid.
“My childish games?” he said disgustedly at her. Warclaw circled Wibeke again, before stopping at her side again. “You insult me! These ‘childish games’ you so call them, take a great master mind to conger up. But it’s not like you would know!” Wibeke growled at the insult that had just been thrown at her. Warclaw chuckled before carrying on “As far as that pathetic warning you tried to scare me with, whom is it that dares threaten me?” There was a hint of anger in his voice. Moving away from Wibeke’s side, he turned around to face her head on, locking his eyes on hers. Wibeke could feel her heart pound in her chest and her instinct telling her to run for the hills, but she couldn’t stop herself from looking at his perfect blue eyes. ‘Wait. Perfect?!’ she thought, amazed at what she was thinking. “Well?” Warclaw asked again with his voice slightly raised, demanding to know who would want to threaten him. Wibeke felt her lungs start to constrict, as they searched for oxygen that she didn’t have; if she didn’t breathe soon. Taking a consuming breath of oxygen, she filled her constricting lungs with air, before answering “The pack is!”
******************
Wren ran to Will as fast as his little legs could carry him. He knew luck was not on their side and he knew deep down that she had done what he feared. Will was lying down on the dirt next to Winnie. He was listening to one of her many stories that she often talked about. The story was on about how her life was very joyful and how she first met the old Alpha, Waya. Winnie was one of the oldest members of the pack. She was certainly one of the wisest; she was almost as smart as an owl. Winnie talked about freedom and how the wolves used to fight for what they believed in. Also how there was no betrayal of their Alpha, being loyal to a fault. ‘That would certainly get Wibeke down!’ thought Wren. It was one of the stories that the wolves had heard many times, but yet Will took it all in as if it was the first. He didn’t moan at how she talked about the old times. Will had the up most respect for Winnie; after all Winnie was the wisest of them all! Winnie’s fur was a silvery grey, yet she had the odd white spot here and there but still she remained graceful and beautiful.
Wren stopped running when he got to Will. Will looked around to see what the commotion was. He saw Wren standing there, with a look on his face that said that there was something wrong, very wrong. “What’s wrong Wren?” Will asked worried, as he clambered of the ground and onto all fours. “Will have you seen Wibeke?” There was distress in his voice.
“No...” but before Will could carry on, Wren cut him off.
“She has gone missing!” Wren cried. Winnie got gracefully up off of the dirty ground and walked casually over to Wren. “Oh dear,” she said sympathetically. “Well maybe I can help you find her.” Wren looked up at her with doubtful eyes.
“How?”
“Where the ocean meets the horizon and the land meets the gold sands. This is the clue to where she will be!” There was silence again as the two wolves puzzled at her riddle. Wren looked at Winnie with confusion. ‘What does she mean by that? I don’t have the time for riddles!’
“Don’t take too long!” Winnie laughed “That’s a simple one!”
“The beach!” Will shouted. Winnie smiled at Will. Wren’s jaw dropped.
“What’s up buttercup? Amazed at the answer, are we?” asked Winnie, who was quite amused by the two wolves.“No, no, no! It’s not that! I know why she has gone there!” Wren’s heart sank. He knew Wibeke had done what he had feared she would do. Winnie and Will looked at each other before looking back at Wren. ‘For once Winnie’s confused.’ Wren chuckled to himself. Will was first to speak. “Why?”
“Why?” Wren paused. Will nodded. Wren spoke again “Because you complete idiot, she’s gone there to threaten Warclaw on be-half of the pack!” Wren growled angrily at them. Winnie and Will gasped.
******************
Warclaw took a step back in astonishment. They had proved to be more stupid than he first thought. “Why would you want to warn me?” Warclaw was confused. “What would you gain?” He questioned.
“Because Warclaw, we don’t want you destroying more lives than you already have. So give it to me!” Wibeke stated, putting more harshness in the word ‘you’ every time she spoke.
“Why should I?” Warclaw paused, smiling.
“Well, put it this way. If you do give it us, we will leave you alone and not decide to kill you.”
“Oh,” Warclaw started laughing “really? You think that I will simply give it to you? How dumb are you wolves?” He stopp
ed laughing and spoke with firmness in his voice. “And what would happen if I refused to do so?”
“If you don’t…” Wibeke paused. When she was thinking earlier on, she had never anticipated that he would say this. She had to quickly think of what she was going to say. “Well?” Warclaw smirked. He could tell that she hadn’t thought about this earlier and was panicking about what to say to him. “Come on, we haven’t got all day love!”
“First don’t call me love,” Wibeke snapped “and secondly I’ll tell you what we will do if you refuse. We will attack you and fight you until the bitter end, until we have it in our grasp.” Warclaw laughed. ‘They really think that that will stop me?’ He thought dryly. Wibeke looked at him in shock. With such a threat why would he laugh? Warclaw was laughing so much that he was starting to howl with laughter. “For some-wolf who is supposed to be smart, your not are you?” Warclaw said in the midst of laughter. “Wibeke, you don’t know much about me do you?”
“No, I don’t. But why should I?” Wibeke asked.
“Because...” Warclaw paused before smirking “You would know not to threaten me!”
“And why would that be?”
“Well let me tell you a little story...” He paused before taking in a deep breath. “Once upon a time, around eighty years ago there was an Alpha. His name was Wallace. He was much like the old Alpha, whatever his name was...”
“Waya, his name was Waya!” Wibeke had cut him off speaking proudly of Waya.
“Oh yes, well anyway he was smart and powerful but when it came to war, he was naive, very naive. You see...” Warclaw started circling around Wibeke. “There was another wolf called Wasil. He himself was much like me. Good lucking, smart, powerful and wasn’t naive at all when it came to war.”
“Where is this heading Warclaw?” Wibeke asked.
“You’ll see if you let me finish!” Warclaw snapped. “Well about seventy years ago there was a war between the two Alphas. Wallace was preparing the wolves to fight from the ground but Wasil had decided to fight from the ground above. I hear you question, what they were fighting for? They were fighting for a power, no wolf could possess.” Warclaw paused for a dramatic effect before carrying “Magic. But this was no ordinary magic, it was dark magic. But the source of the black magic had fallen into molten lava. The source had sunk deep into the earth and had formed as a crystal many centuries before. However, unbeknown to the two Alphas, another pack had got a hold of it, in its crystal form. But the Alphas didn’t know that another pack had it, so there was a war.
When the war had finished five years later there were only two wolves remaining. Thousands of wolves had been massacred. They laid lifeless on the floor on that miserable day. That was a miserable day indeed. The two wolves that were left were Wallace and Wasil. The two Alphas. They still wanted the power so badly they could see it and feel it. As they fought, each wolf got weaker and weaker, until by the end of the day the battle had been won. Wallace was dead and Wasil had won the battle between them.”
“And the point of the story is?” Wibeke asked.
“That after the war, Wasil went searching for it. He looked to the mountains and to the sea but there was no sign of it until one day he went to the high lands of the high Alpha. There he found the pack that had taken it and battled the pack until he had won. But when he won the crystal, he couldn’t stop wanting to protect it. Wasil could not stop wanting to kill any other wolf that got to it or used it. The power that it possessed made the wolf want nothing else but it. Wasil had never aged once he had the crystal.”
“I’ll ask again Warclaw. What is the point of your story?” Wibeke asked impatiently.
“The point of the story is that...” Warclaw was cut off by Wren.
“Wibeke run! Get away from her!” Wren growled at Warclaw. Wren had been racing down the beach towards Warclaw and Wibeke. Will followed hotly behind him. Wren pushed her to the side of him, standing between Warclaw and Wibeke. Warclaw smiled evilly at Wren. “Oh shame. I was just getting to the point before you interrupted me.” Wren looked at Warclaw. “Getting to the point of what?” Wren was now confused and so was Will.
It was quiet again. This time the breeze was whistling in the air and you could hear the faint sound of the ocean in the background. Will and Wren looked at each other confused, not understanding what had been meant by Warclaw’s comment. But Wibeke looked blankly at Warclaw. She knew what he had meant and she wanted to know what his point was. Finally breaking the ice, Wren spoke. “What do you mean, getting to the point? What point is this? Wibeke?” He turned round to face her. Wibeke looked down to the sand below her. “Wibeke? Tell me!” He walked up towards her. Standing in front of her, he looked into her dark brown eyes. Wibeke took a deep breath. “Warclaw was telling me a story about why we should not threaten him. And he was going to tell me the point of the story when you interrupted us.” Her voice turned cold. “So let Warclaw finish!” She growled. “My, my.” Warclaw chuckled.“Wibeke you can certainly hold your ground. I like that in a wolf!” Warclaw smirked.
“What did you just say to her?” Wren growled before turning around to face Warclaw.
“I simply said that I like that in a wolf. What’s wrong with that? Jealous are we Wren?” Warclaw said mockingly. “No... I... err... am not jealous of it. There... there is... erm... nothing wrong with that at all!” Wren stuttered. Wibeke looked over to him seeing that Warclaw had embarrassed him quite badly. Wren met her gaze and looked away. “Oh what is it that we have here?” Warclaw smiled evilly. “Do I sense a bit of love in the air? Little Wren having little feelings for Wibeke?” He laughed again.
“Warclaw! STOP your games and tell me the point of your story!” Wibeke growled. She was angry. Noticing the harm and embarrassment that Warclaw had made for Wren, Wibeke had lost her patience with him. “Tell me now!” Wibeke demanded. Warclaw chuckled.
“Why should I? Thank lover boy here for stopping me.” He walked over to Wren and started circling around him. His voice turned as slippery as a snake. He whispered into Wren’s ear “It was entirely your fault. You stopped me from telling her. It’s all down to you. Besides what would Wibeke see in such a lowlife like you? You’re way out of her league. You are pathetic and worthless!” Warclaw chuckled an evil chuckle. Wren’s heart was broke and he felt like he had been shoved six feet under, but his mind wouldn’t let that get him down. ‘I’ll show him who’s pathetic and worthless!’
Warclaw had started to walk off, when Wren pounced onto him knocking Warclaw into the ground, hard. Warclaw hit the ground with a thud. ‘Is he really going to do this?’ Wibeke thought. Her heart was once again racing in her chest. She knew what Warclaw could do and Wibeke didn’t want Warclaw doing it again to the wolf she held most dear. Not knowing what Warclaw had said to Wren, she went up to them and started pulling Wren off of Warclaw. “You really want to fight, you pathetic wolf!” Warclaw shouted. Everything had gotten out of hand once again.
“Wren, let go of him. He’s not worth it!” Wibeke shouted trying to push him out of the way. “Will. Come help me!” She shouted over to Will. He came running over and helped her push him off of Warclaw. Warclaw scrambled up onto his four paws. “Come on then! Let him fight like a proper wolf. Not like the measly wolf he is!” Warclaw spat.
“Leave it Wren. We’ll fight another day!” Will shouted.
“I am a proper wolf! Let me go!” Wren howled. Warclaw could see that Wren was getting more and more angry each second. It was most amusing to Warclaw that when he had started messing around with Wren; everything had become a lot more interesting. “Wren leaves it. Let’s go! Leave it now.” Wibeke said angrily at Wren. But he wasn’t listening to either of them. He just wanted to fight Warclaw and prove to Wibeke that he wasn’t worthless and he wasn’t out of her league. Suddenly he was brought back to reality when Wibeke hit him with her paw. “Come on Wren, let’s go!” Wibeke said again, but more calmly this time.
“Oh come on, stay. This was just getting
fun!” Warclaw joked.
“No. We are going! Will, start walking Wren back. I’ll be there in minute.” Will nodded at Wibeke and started to do what Wibeke had ordered him to do.
Wibeke waited for a few minutes until they were out of earshot. She walked up to Warclaw and this time she circled him. “What was the point to that story you were making?” Wibeke asked. “What story? I don’t remember any story?” Warclaw started smiling.
“You know what story I mean. The one you were telling me earlier on.” She stopped circling and stood by his side. “Oh. That one.” Warclaw smiled. “My point was that that Alpha, Wasil, was my father. My father passed it down onto me and I have his power! Unfortunately through some rather horrible events, I had killed my father in order to protect that treasure of mine. And that treasure is so dark that I am not afraid to kill for it as I have done over so many years of my life.”
Wibeke took a step back. What had she expected him to say? “Well what if I was to make a bargain with you?”
“And what would that bargain be exactly?” Warclaw looked inquisitively at her.
“Well. I know you haven’t got a Luna. So...” Wibeke paused. ‘I have to do what’s right for the pack.’ she thought.
“So?” Warclaw asked, intrigued.
“So you could have me as your Luna. Do what you wish with me but you give me your treasure and I shall be yours!” Wibeke smiled, she knew Warclaw wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation. Warclaw thought about it. Her offer seemed fair, but he still wouldn’t allow any-wolf near it nor to take it. “And what if I was to say no?” Warclaw smiled at her.
“Would you really say no to me?” She swayed around Warclaw and brushed her tail under his chin. ‘This feels lovely! No Warclaw. SNAP out of it!’ Warclaw shook his head. He knew that she was tempting him. “Yes I would.” Warclaw moved back out of her way. “If it’s a war you want, a war it shall be!” Warclaw turned around and started walking back towards the lighthouse.
Warclaw Page 4