“This one,” Torell said, his voice a whispered growl. His eyes flicked quickly over to Pell, who butted Marra’s shoulder and trotted to the other side of the beast’s head.
“When it gets angry, it forgets to look from side to side,” Torell whispered to me. “Remember that.” His bared teeth opened in a wide grin, and the scent of excitement rose from him. He was enjoying himself.
“Now!” he barked.
Pell and Marra darted in at the auroch, stopping just short of its face and snapping at it. Then they dodged out of its way. They ran back in, snapping their teeth together even closer to its face, causing the beast to shake its head back and forth. Then it whipped its head to stare at Torell, Ázzuen, and me. I noticed that it turned its whole body to look behind itself. As soon as it turned away from them, Pell and Marra darted in, biting at its flank.
My fear did not abate, but the thrill of the hunt began to rise in me. The scent of the beast filled me, and suddenly it was no longer just an auroch: it was prey. A moment before it had seemed invulnerable. Now, as it whipped its head back and forth and turned its bulk from Marra and Pell to us and back again, I knew it was ours.
The next time they darted in at the auroch, Marra nipped at its ear and Pell actually took its jowls in his mouth. Pell certainly didn’t need anyone’s help hunting. His gait was uneven as he dodged in and out of the way of the auroch’s horns, but he was as quick and agile as Marra. The auroch shook them off, then stood perfectly still staring at them, his breath shallow. Then his head began to swing back and forth. Pell barked softly to Marra, and the two of them leapt at the same time, slamming into the auroch’s head, then leaping away and running. The auroch bellowed in rage and took off after them, its deadly horns aimed at their soft bodies.
The instant it began to run, the three of us were upon it. My fear became irrelevant as the beast tried to kill my packmates. For in the hunt, Pell had become my packmate every bit as much as Marra and Ázzuen were. I didn’t need to watch for Torell’s signal. He, Ázzuen, and I leapt almost simultaneously upon the auroch’s rump. I bit down hard through its thick hide. The taste of its flesh flooded the back of my throat, and a growl of hunger and greed rose up in me.
Infuriated, the auroch turned on us, kicking up its back legs and throwing all three of us off its back. We sprinted away in three different directions. Confused, it stood and scraped its hoof over and over again in the dirt. Pell growled, and it turned to look at him. I darted forward, diving under its belly, just as I had when Torell was teaching us how to fight. The Stone Peak leader woofed encouragement to me as the auroch tried to turn its large body around quickly enough to catch me. As it did so, Ázzuen followed me under its belly as Pell and Marra leapt upon its rump. They bit into the beast. Hard.
I had never seen a creature so enraged. It kicked and bucked and screamed and tried to attack. But it didn’t do so intelligently. It was so angry it just swung its head side to side and jumped full in the air, trying to gore whichever wolf was closest.
“Together!” Torell shouted. It was the agreed-upon command for all of us to jump at once at the beast. I was near its neck and balanced on my hind legs to lean upon it and sink my teeth into the soft underpart of its throat. I was overconfident. Pell woofed a warning as the auroch swung its head around. It seemed as if it barely turned its head, but when the side of one of its horns caught me, the force of the blow slammed me to the ground. Stunned, gasping for breath, I found myself lying on the ground, looking up at its head and the sharp horn bearing down on me. There was nowhere to run. Just as the furious beast lowered its head to gore me, two wolves slammed into its head, Ázzuen and Pell leaping at the same time, slamming into each other as they collided with the auroch. I heard a scream of agony. Terrified, I leapt up, wondering which wolf had been gored. But it was the auroch screaming, screaming as Torell and Marra bit into its belly. Arrun and Ceela, unable to sit on the side any longer, pelted across the field, jumping on the auroch’s hindquarters and tearing into it. I leapt at the upper part of one of its legs, which was still kicking and threatening to hurt a packmate. Then the hunt frenzy overtook me. Blood, warm flesh, a thrashing prey giving up its life to us. We tore at it until its legs stopped kicking and it gave a deep groan. Pell yowled in triumph and tackled me, rolling me in the dirt in celebration. Then he licked the top of my head and let me up. Gasping, my heart pounding, I got to my paws and looked at the auroch, dead now, its horns no longer a threat, transformed in an instant from a dangerous beast into good meat. We had done that. We had killed an auroch.
Ázzuen figured out how to make the auroch hunt work with the humans.
“They use their two kinds of sharpsticks differently,” he explained as we made our way to NiaLi’s shelter. Now that we had accepted Torell’s offer and knew how to hunt aurochs, we had to tell NiaLi so she could tell TaLi. It would be up to the girl to get the humans to come to the auroch grazing grounds.
“The humans use the thicker sharpsticks, the spears, when they are closer to prey. The lighter sharpsticks are used with the throwers. They have different kinds of blades, too.”
The blades were sharpened rocks, antlers or bones that the humans attached to the ends of the sticks to make them sharp and deadly.
“And different humans are better with different ones,” Marra added. “MikLan told me that he’s still not quite strong enough to use the spears, but he can use the throwing sticks. The Lan tribe doesn’t let their young use the spears against large prey until they are full grown.” Marra had obviously been spending a lot more time with the Lan tribe than she admitted. I had noticed the difference between the two kinds of sharpsticks but hadn’t paid much attention. Now that Ázzuen and Marra mentioned it, though, I remembered that TaLi had used the throwing stick against the elkryn she had helped kill at the Tall Grass battle and one of the spears to kill a rabbit.
“So some of the humans can throw sharpsticks at it from a distance and others can help us up close to the prey,” Ázzuen concluded. “We just have to watch which humans are best with each kind of sharpstick and drive the prey to them based on that.”
I was glad Ázzuen had figured it out. Now we just had to get the humans to follow us to the aurochs. We reached NiaLi’s shelter, and Trevegg came out to greet us. “She’s waiting for you,” he said, and led us inside.
“I told you the prey was gone,” TaLi said, her arms folded over her chest. It was almost a full day since I’d awoken from my journey to the Inejalun and three days since we’d seen the Greatwolves chasing the prey. Half of HuLin’s runners had returned from their search to tell of missing horses, elk, and deer.
“You’d better not take that tone with HuLin,” RinaLi said. She and TaLi were standing next to the herb structure, glaring at each other. Ázzuen and I sat beside TaLi while Marra hid in the bushes surrounding the village. RinaLi had her hands on her hips as she glowered at the girl.
“I’m not stupid,” TaLi said to her aunt. “But the sooner he accepts me as krianan, the less time we’ll waste.”
“Don’t even think of telling him that,” RinaLi snapped. She stopped speaking abruptly as HuLin, two other males, and KiLi strode over to them.
“How did you know about the prey, TaLi?” HuLin demanded. “How could you possibly know?”
“It’s my task to know,” she responded, her voice respectful. I was impressed that she could change her manner so quickly. One instant she was angry and forceful, and the next she was diffident and respectful. She would have made a good wolf. “It’s the krianan’s role to listen to the messages the world around us shares.”
HuLin grunted rudely at that. “We found some giant elk east of the Dry Hills,” he said. “Giant elk” was the humans’ name for the elkryn. “Aln tribe is hunting them. We may have to fight for them. The aurochs are feeding in the Western Plains, but we’re less likely to be able to hunt them. It’s too close to their mating time, and they’ll be aggressive.”
It was the opening TaLi had b
een waiting for.
“We can hunt the aurochs with the wolves.” She placed her hand on my head, and I stood.
“Have you done so before?” KiLi asked, concerned. I walked over and licked her hand; she was a friend to TaLi and I wanted her to know that meant she was my friend as well. Startled, she hesitantly stroked my neck. I licked her hand again and returned to TaLi.
“I know that we can hunt them,” TaLi said, deliberately not answering KiLi’s question. We hadn’t hunted aurochs together yet, a fact that concerned me more than I would admit even to Ázzuen. “And I can take you to the ones that will most easily fall to our spears.”
The other humans were silent, considering her words.
“She was right about the prey being gone, HuLin,” KiLi said.
“It’s almost a half-day’s journey to the Western Plains,” one of the males complained, “and it’s almost dark. The giant elk are closer. And less dangerous.”
“And being hunted by Aln,” KiLi retorted. “The other tribes may or may not know that the prey is gone, and thanks to TaLi’s warning, we do. We can get to the aurochs first.”
TaLi spoke again. “If we have the wolves hunting with us, the aurochs are no more dangerous than giant elk.” She sounded like an adult, like a true krianan, not a child, and I was proud of her.
“We may as well hunt the aurochs,” one of the males said. “It’s no more dangerous than fighting Aln for the giant elk. And it would bring us honor.”
“Why would it bring them honor?” Ázzuen asked me.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
The other male, the one who had protested the distance to the aurochs, grunted in agreement. “I’m not afraid of a good hunt,” he said. “And if game is scarce, I’d like other tribes to know we are auroch-hunters. They’ll think twice before fighting us for other prey.”
HuLin threw an arm around each of the males. “Then we’ll hunt the aurochs and show the other tribes in the valley what Lin can do. TaLi, you will bring the wolves,” he said, as if it was his idea to do so.
“Yes, HuLin,” TaLi said.
HuLin smiled and ruffled her hair, then strode off with the other males. KiLi gave TaLi a concerned look and followed them.
RinaLi watched the four of them leave, then glared again at TaLi. “I hope you’re right about your wolves,” she said, and stalked away after the other humans.
TaLi waited until she was out of hearing range and then crouched down to bury her face in my neck fur. “So am I,” she whispered.
All four of my legs ached and I had bruises along the entire right side of my body. Marra had a cut over her left eye, received when she tried to scoot under Ceela’s chest, and Ázzuen kept licking his right forepaw, which had somehow ended up between Pell’s hip and a sharp rock. Torell had insisted on giving us one more fighting lesson before we hunted aurochs with the humans. He said that we needed to hone our reflexes and learn to pay attention to that which we couldn’t see. He and his packmates had thrown us into the hard dirt again and again until they were satisfied that we were ready.
For some reason, TaLi had chosen the auroch feeding grounds that were most distant from the human village, and told us to meet her there. We were so far to the west that in the distance I could see the hills that bordered the western edge of the valley. I could also see, just to the south, the low ridge of hills that Pell had spoken of. One of the hills had a line of poplars and low bushes across the top that might hide us. It would be a simple thing to get there and look for the Greatwolf hiding place. The hunting ground was also more than half a day’s walk from the human village, and the humans waited half the night before leaving so that they could arrive at daybreak. Which had given Torell plenty of time to toss us around. As a result, all three of us stumbled rather than walked from Stone Peak territory back to the humans.
It was worth it. An auroch lay dead on the ground, and the humans celebrated.
I looked in satisfaction at the auroch and the humans. Torell had done us more of a favor than he realized by helping us hunt the aurochs. The humans prized them above all other prey not just for their meat, which was nourishing and rich, but also for their hides, tough enough to last many seasons. Killing an auroch was seen as an act of great prowess and bravery among the humans. That’s what the human male had meant about the honor of killing one. HuLin was so pleased that he had given us twice as much meat as he had at the horse hunt. I watched as TaLi was honored by her tribe. If she continued to bring them to prey and we continued to help them hunt, they would value us, and her as well.
I looked down the plain to the edge of the forest closest to the ridge of hills. Frandra and Jandru were there, lying on their bellies and watching. Only their muzzles and paws were easily visible, so the humans, unless they were looking carefully, wouldn’t see them. NiaLi had told the two Greatwolves of our plans, and they had wanted to see us hunt the aurochs for themselves. Frandra saw me watching them and dipped her head to me. Then the two Greatwolves slipped back into the woods.
Tlitoo pulled my ear. “The meat does no one any good sitting on the ground, wolf,” Tlitoo said. “Your pack will not care how well the humans hunt if they do not get their meat.”
His beak was bloody and his belly distended. The instant the humans had cut into the auroch, Tlitoo and Jlela had zoomed in, diving for the entrails that spilled from the beast’s belly. The humans swatted them away, HuLin nearly succeeding in hitting Tlitoo with the blunt end of his sharpstick, but not before the ravens had stolen good greslin. The birds had returned twice more, taking care to steal meat as far from HuLin as they could. “If you do not want the meat for your pack,” Tlitoo quorked, “we will take it.”
“I’m surprised you can still fly,” Marra said, eyeing the bird’s swollen belly. “But he’s right, Kaala. The sooner we take meat back to the pack the sooner we show them we can still succeed with the humans.”
I stood, groaning at the pain in my ribs. I had just picked up a piece of greslin in my jaws when TaLi saw me and called to me.
“Silvermoon!” she shouted, and held out her hand.
HuLin stepped up beside her. “Wolf,” he said. “Silvermoon, come over here.”
He had never called me by name before. Curious, I set down the meat I held and trotted over to them. I heard Ázzuen’s and Marra’s pawsteps behind me. I reached the humans and pressed myself against TaLi.
“I thought you’d already gone,” she said, “and I’m going to need you.”
Both she and HuLin were looking across the plain. I followed their gaze and saw a cluster of strange humans emerging from the woods. They strode onto the Western Plains and stopped eight wolflengths from the Lin tribe. Their alder scent was familiar, but it took me a moment to place it.
“DavRian’s tribe,” Marra said.
“Your girl brought us to their territory to hunt,” Tlitoo said smugly.
“Why would she do that?” I asked. Did she want to anger DavRian’s family so that they wouldn’t want her in their tribe?
Sure enough, DavRian was there, along with nine other humans who smelled like him. He still hadn’t come to live with Lin, in spite of RinaLi’s invitation. Probably because TaLi always snarled at him. But as soon as he saw TaLi, he started forward. Another male, tall and rangy with hair the color of Rissa’s fur, stopped him and whispered to him. All of the Rian humans held either their spears or the sticks and throwers used for hunting.
TaLi crouched down to whisper in my ear. “I’m getting rid of DavRian,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked, dread rising up in me. TaLi could be reckless—as reckless as Marra—and didn’t always show good sense. I had no idea what she had in mind, but the determined gleam in her eye made me nervous.
“She wants a challenge,” Marra said, admiration in her voice. “MikLan told me of them. The humans bet, just like we do. It’s risky, but if it works, she’ll be rid of DavRian.”
“BreLan would never let her do it,” Ázzuen
said. But BreLan wasn’t there.
The humans of the Rian tribe hadn’t moved. The white-furred male spoke. “These are our hunting grounds, HuLin,” he said. “You should have asked our permission before killing here.”
The fur along my spine rose. Among wolves, trespassing on another pack’s hunting grounds was reason for a fight. Just two moons ago Wind Lake and Tree Line had fought over hunting grounds, and two wolves had been injured. But the white-furred human’s tone was mild in spite of the challenge of his words. I had the sense he was trying hard not to be angry and trying not to anger HuLin.
“As if they could kill an auroch,” TaLi muttered loudly enough that even a human could hear. I was too far away to see DavRian’s face clearly, but I saw his body tighten. HuLin glared at TaLi, but she ignored him. She folded her arms. “They couldn’t hunt an auroch if it lay down in front of them and fell asleep.” I leaned up against her, hard, so that she stumbled up against HuLin. Tlitoo pecked at her feet. “It’s true,” she said, whispering now. “I’m not joining their tribe. I’d rather live in a tree.”
The white-furred male watched her for a moment, then turned his gaze to HuLin.
“They are contested lands, PalRian,” HuLin said. “I know you and my father argued about them, but he never agreed to cede them to you.” I remembered MikLan mentioning that name. PalRian was DavRian’s father and the Rian tribe’s leader.
“Your father and I had an agreement, even then,” PalRian said. “We would discuss hunting here before doing so, and share what we killed. I know you are new to leading the Lin tribe, but I would expect you to honor your father’s promises.”
“We would be happy to share some meat with you,” HuLin said, opening his arms toward the auroch carcass. “There is plenty more to be had.” I wondered if the Rian tribe knew the prey was leaving the valley. Humans were rarely able to smell lies.
PalRian smiled and gestured to his followers, who lowered their sharpsticks and walked forward until they were within touching distance of the Lin tribe. As he came closer, I saw that PalRian was considerably older than HuLin. His joints did not move as smoothly, and his skin was looser on his bones. But he was healthy and assured in his leadership of Rian.
Secrets of the Wolves Page 25