Catch a Wolf

by A. Katie Rose

  “Rygel,” I said, garnering his attention. He glanced at me, his brow raised.

  “Let Tor in to feed you,” I said. “You’re going to need your strength.”

  A small section of the shield dissolved, leaving the area clear while the thin silvery veil still lay over the rest. Tor gathered his courage with a gulp, dashed inside to dump food and a full waterskin at their feet. He was out within two seconds. The hole vanished.

  Rygel left Corwyn’s share of the food and water in front of him, for later. Rygel chewed on bread and meat, his hand still on Corwyn’s shoulder, his eyes closed.

  “Come and eat, kids,” I said to Tor and Arianne. “Sit here, with me.”

  Obeying me, Tor took a spot opposite me, digging in to his own meal with relish. Arianne sat on the log beside me, only a cup of water and a heel of bread in her hand. Taking some cold meat and cheese from my lunch, I pushed it into Arianne’s hands. “I’ll not have you starve in front of me, girl,” I said, more sharply than I intended. “Eat.”

  Hiding behind her hair, she obeyed, slowly filling her mouth with enough food to feed a small dog. When that was gone, I pushed more on her. I wasn’t going to eat, so she might as well take mine.

  Behind me, Bar rumbled.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Arianne flipped her hair from her eyes long enough to offer me a worried frown. Bar rumbled again, this time with a note of threat. Scowling, I took a chunk of roast venison and gnawed on it. “Happy now?”

  He wasn’t satisfied, but at least he ceased nagging. His tail still lashed in annoyance. The meat sat in my belly like a lump, creating a nasty ache. I chewed on some bread, washing it down with more water. At least the water tasted good.

  Raine and Kel’Ratan reentered the small clearing, hurrying. They trotted across the distance, their swords slapping their legs, identical frowns creasing their faces. I stood up, bread crumbs falling from my skirt to land on the dark sleeping pup. I knew bad news when I saw it.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Not sure,” Raine answered, stopping beside me. “Something is.”

  “Witraz is coming,” Kel’Ratan said, glancing over his shoulder. “Riding hard.”

  Witraz riding hard meant trouble. Damn it, haven’t we had enough problems for one day?

  Witraz loped through the trees, his body bent low over his piebald’s neck. Yuri and Yuras, while clearly wanting to join us, remained at their posts. The twins stood up when I did, their hands on their hilts. Bar also stood, flaring his wings in preparation for flight, hissing.

  Witraz’s usually cheerful expression held worry, his single eye narrowed and his smiling mouth drooped under his thick mustache. He leaped from his horse before it came to a trampling halt, his careless hand on the reins bringing the stallion almost to his haunches.

  “Your Highness,” he said, saluting.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  He glanced around, his single eye wide. His gaze found the two men inside Rygel’s shield first, taking full note the sight of Corwyn’s damaged neck. He couldn’t avoid seeing the stark evidence of a fight on Kel’Ratan’s throat.

  “What did I miss?” he asked, awed.

  “Alun or Rannon can fill you in,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

  “Um, we’ve got company,” he said, his hand on his stallion’s neck.

  “Brutal’s army?” I asked, rapidly calculating the terrain, our small numbers and the possibility of creating an ambush. It might work, if we had enough time. How did they find us? If Ja’Teel didn’t know where Rygel translocated Corwyn, and if Rygel’s shield preventing another tracking, how did Ja’Teel know?

  “Tongu?” Raine asked, his bulk forcing Left, or was it Right? further from my side.

  I glanced up, my jaw clenched. Not them again, for Goddess sake.

  “Brutal has fifty hunters and hounds,” Kel’Ratan said grimly. “They could be tracking us.”

  “How?” I demanded. “We left the flood a mere few days ago. Men afoot can’t keep up with horses!”

  “No,” Witraz said. “Not them.”

  “Then who?” I demanded. “Who’s out there?”

  “Not really a who,” Witraz answered, running his hand through his hair. “More like a what.”

  “Witraz.” I almost screamed.

  “Wolves.”

  “What?” Kel’Ratan demanded. “What wolves?”

  I gripped Raine’s hand. “What do you mean?”

  “Just that,” Witraz said, his hand still restless. “I don’t know much, they disappear as soon as I sight them. Big buggers, from the look of them. Most are as big if not bigger than his dam.” Witraz jerked his chin toward the sleeping pup behind me.

  “I’m not liking this,” Kel’Ratan muttered, pacing about, restless. “What on earth would wolves want with us?”

  Raine’s once open expression slammed shut. His jaw set, his eyes flattened, the icy, deadly chill I thought gone had returned. He wasn’t Raine anymore. The Bloody Wolf had taken his place. His hand dropped from mine. Taking several strides away, he stood with his back to us, facing only trees.

  Kel’Ratan cursed fluently.

  I glanced toward Arianne. Neutrally, she gazed back at me, the only one not upset over wolves following us. Her unperturbed shrug said to me, ‘What did you expect?’

  “How many?” I asked through numb lips.

  “Maybe thirty.”

  “Thirty!” Kel’Ratan exploded. Storming about, flinging his curses and his own hair into a frenzy. “That’s impossible. There can’t possibly be thirty wolves out there tagging along.”

  “You’re right, m’lord,” Witraz replied, frowning slightly and rubbing his hand over his brow, thinking. “It’s not a correct number.”

  “Of course it’s not,” Kel’Ratan growled.

  “More like fifty.”

  “Fifty!”

  “Well, perhaps sixty. There were a lot of them.”

  Fear traced its cold finger down my spine, making me shiver. I glanced from Raine’s stiff form to Rygel and Corwyn inside their shelter. Rygel watched us closely, standing up, obviously on the verge of ceasing his task. I flipped my hand at him, a quick order to carry on. “Sixty wolves and thirteen of us.”

  “Maybe they want their pup back,” Alun said helpfully.

  “Maybe they’re looking to eat us,” Tor offered.

  Arianne drew upright, her eyes blazing fury. “Wolves would never eat a human!” she declared.

  “They might’ve dined on the people who used to live here,” Rannon commented.

  Arianne clenched her tiny fists as though preparing to pop Tor in his grinning face. To keep the peace, I cut my finger across my throat. “Shut up, both of you. Arianne, chill out. If they do intend harm, we’re grossly outnumbered.”

  “They won’t hurt us.” Arianne pouted, folding her arms.

  My lip curled. “Well, maybe they’d spare you.”

  She opened her mouth to hurl a hot retort—

  “Could they be hunting?” Kel’Ratan demanded of Witraz. “Maybe it’s just a big pack, passing through.”

  Witraz frowned. “Maybe, m’lord.”

  “But you don’t think so,” I said slowly, for him.

  He shook his head. “I’m certain they’re following. I tested a few by riding toward a bunch. They scattered but never hid. Once I rode away, they tagged along behind again. They behaved like they wanted me to see them.”

  “Wolves don’t like human company,” Kel’Ratan muttered. “If they aren’t hunting us, then what—”

  His eyes slid, like Witraz’s, Tor’s, the twins and even mine, toward Raine’s huge set shoulders. As though feeling our eyes on him, Raine lowered his head, his chin to his chest. I recalled the shadow in his eyes, the shadow that had appeared overnight. The wolves weren’t interested in us, not in us at all. They were here because of him. And he knew it.

  Under our silent stares, Raine turned back to us, his expression carefully neutral
. “I suspect we’ll be here a while, so I suggest we camp until tomorrow.”

  “What—” Kel’Ratan began.

  Raine’s flicking glance silenced him as effectively as Ja’Teel’s stranglehold.

  Muttering under his breath, Kel’Ratan stalked away, taking Alun and Tor with him. With resounding curses, Kel’Ratan called in Yuri and Yuras, and organized camp. After an absent-minded salute, Witraz took his horse to the stream and unsaddled him.

  Arianne watched her brother with mysterious eyes and a small frown. When Tor came to take her hand and drag her into helping him, she continued to watch over her shoulder for as long as she could.

  Raine finally looked down at me with a sigh.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “Deep subject,” Raine quipped, his handsome lips smiling only slightly.

  “What’re you going to do?”

  What else did I expect? He shrugged those immense shoulders.

  “What can I do?” he rumbled quietly. “Nothing. What will I do? Nothing.”

  “But—” I began.

  His finger over my lips effectively silenced me. That obnoxious shadow across his weirdly ringed eyes disturbed me more than a little. For the moment anyway, the Bloody Wolf vanished along with his mates, and Raine returned.

  “If I ignore them long enough, perhaps they will decide they have the wrong guy and disappear. Leave us in peace.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  His eyes left me and wandered over the vast grasslands beyond the trees. When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. “They’ve no choice.”

  * * *

  Raine was correct about one thing anyway: Rygel’s spell dispersal went on for hours. While Corwyn lay in a stupor, Rygel sat beside him, his aristocratic face set and dark with concentration. Occasionally, he stood up and paced about, muttering under his breath. Then he’d sit again, his long legs crossed under him, chin on his fist, and concentrated again.

  Like Corwyn, Witraz caught a nap under the slowly westering sun, his head pillowed on his saddle. Left and Right tended their black stallions, grooming until their jet coats gleamed. Alun and Rannon shared a watch, standing at the outer ring of trees, conversing in low tones. Against his better advice, I sent Bar scouting the area. Flying low overhead, he’d shriek down his reports: nothing seen. Not even wolves. ’Twas as though Witraz had dreamed them.

  I sat on the ground, leaning against my log, watching Yuri and Yuras tutor Tor in the finer arts of combat. After an hour of swordplay, they taught him some nasty tricks of hand to hand combat. I had to admit, Tor was a quick study. He managed to toss Yuri over his shoulder and send him crashing into the brush. Yuri got to his feet, grinning broadly.

  Near me, Arianne sat on the ground, stroking the wolf pup. After waking from his nap, the baby cried for more food, which Arianne happily delivered. What her thoughts were, I couldn’t guess. She knew things she wasn’t telling. But then, I thought, Raine was as guilty of that as she.

  After gathering wood and setting it afire with his magic, Raine had lain down on his bedroll and, to all appearances, slept. I knew he lay awake. I didn’t need magic to know the presence of those damn wolves troubled him deeply. If the wolves meant no harm, I thought rationally, we would simply ignore them. Perhaps Raine was right, they’d decide they had the wrong gai’tan and run away.

  The sun dropped behind the horizon. Yuri and Yuras stopped the lesson, draping their brawny arms across Tor’s sweaty neck in congratulation. He grinned in delight, mock-fighting the growing shadows with his wooden sword as the trio walked toward the fire. Witraz woke with a snort, rolling to his feet with a huge yawn barely concealed behind his fist.

  Kel’Ratan eyed him with annoyance. “Sleeping beauty here can take first watch tonight.”

  Stumbling to his feet, Witraz made to bow, staggered sideways before catching himself. Once balanced, he offered Kel’Ratan the proper deference and me a half-salute. Making his way into the trees, he stretched, his shadow long against the setting sun.

  Raine, too, rolled to his feet. His balance remained immaculate, his show of yawning a sham. That languid stretch wasn’t the release of sleepy muscles and his weird eyes didn’t hold the after-sleep bleariness of a napper.

  Permitting him his bluff, I merely smiled and patted the ground beside me.

  “Sleep well?” I asked brightly.

  His grey eyes flicked to mine briefly, telling me without words he knew I knew he didn’t sleep a wink. I hugged my knees to my chest, grinning.

  “Why, so I did,” he replied around another imitation yawn. This time, even Kel’Ratan wasn’t fooled. Raine, Goddess love him, couldn’t lie if one held a knife to this throat.

  Tor and Arianne knew their duties well. While Kel’Ratan stacked more wood on the fire, the pair doled out the evening’s ration of food. Dammit, I was getting very tired of cold roast, cheese and bread. Wasn’t there something else in our stores they could feed us?

  Behind me, Rygel and Corwyn walked from the growing darkness into the firelight. Both Raine and I glanced up in surprise.

  Rygel sank to the ground opposite Raine and I, offering us a wan smile and a salute. Raine finally accepted my invitation and sat, cross-legged beside me. As Corwyn slept through the entire event, he appeared to my eyes bright, ready and able. He stood, his thumbs hooked through his swordbelt and watched Arianne work.

  “What gives?” I asked, eying them both curiously.

  “I found his signature,” Rygel said wearily, his shoulders slumped. “He’s very good, but I broke his spell. He can’t find Corwyn anymore.”

  “And?” Raine prompted.

  “Without going into the intricacies of spell-binding,” Rygel replied, brushing his wheaten hair from his eyes. “Ja’Teel has a style about his spells that speak of intelligence and deep subtlety.”

  “Which means what?” I asked.

  “The reason signatures can’t be found is because each spell-caster is unique. No person thinks in exactly the same way.”

  He eyed the twins with humor. “At least most of us don’t.”

  “Go on,” I said.

  Rygel half-shrugged. “So I had to think like Ja’Teel. If I was him, where would I hide my signature?”

  “And?” Raine prompted.

  “He binds his signature very deeply in the spell. It’s not just on the surface; he even managed to create several false signatures on the top, to confound one looking to unravel his work. He wrapped his true identity deep inside, where most don’t look.”

  “You lost me,” I said.

  An onion and his dagger suddenly appeared in his slender hands. He held the onion up for our inspection. “Take this common vegetable,” he said, turning it round and round for our scrutiny. Kel’Ratan even leaned in close, his fierce blue eyes riveted. “Think of it as a magician’s spell.”

  With his dagger, he peeled back an outer skin. “Spells have layers, depending upon the complexity. When I change myself into a dragon, I bind the dragon’s body to my magic. I weave the spell with thousands of layers and knots, each tied uniquely to my way of thinking. Ja’Teel, for his part, would create the same dragon, but with his own perceptions.”

  His dagger scraped back a level. The sharp odor made my eyes water and my nose itch. I rubbed it absently, intent on the magical lesson. “Thus, in order to find his signature, I had to peel apart each and every layer of his tracking spell.”

  Rygel peeled more skin, dropping each to his boots. “I untied every knot, peeked into every corner and ripped it apart.”

  “So did that remove it from Corwyn?” Kel’Ratan asked.

  “Not at all,” Rygel replied. “It’s still there, just exposed. Unless I discovered exactly how Ja’Teel wove his webs, his signature, it’d be there until Ja’Teel removed it or killed him.”

  I exchanged a quick, confused glance with Raine. “Fine, I’ll play,” I said. “What are you talking about?”

  Rygel smiled and pointed with his knife. “
It’s not here—” He split another skin from its mother. “Nor here. Nor is it at the middle, where one might assume it to be.”

  “You got me,” Raine answered, his immense shoulders rising once in a shrug. “I hope you intend to get to the point before we all expire from old age.”

  Rygel grinned and tapped the onion with his knife. “I had to think like Ja’Teel,” he answered. “Putting myself into a trance, I asked myself what I’d do if I were that power-hungry vulture. There it was, right before my eyes. His signature.”

  “That’s when you broke the tracking spell in Corwyn?” Raine asked.

  “I did indeed.”

  “It’s all nonsense if you ask me,” Kel’Ratan muttered.

  “Does this mean you can unravel all his spells?” I asked, leaning forward.

  “It does, Princess.” Rygel grinned. “Unless he changes his way of thinking, there isn’t a spell of his that can’t be undone by me.”

  “Will he know you broke the spell?” Raine asked.

  “I doubt it,” Rygel answered thoughtfully. “When he can’t find Corwyn, he may think I merely put a shield around him.”

  “Why’d he think that?” I asked.

  Rygel grinned wolfishly. “It’s what I’d think if our positions were reversed.”

  “This is all a bit much for me.” Kel’Ratan sighed.

  Rygel tossed the onion to Tor, who caught it deftly. “Add that to our dinner,” Rygel suggested.

  “Tell me something,” I said, leaning toward Rygel. “Why didn’t you take the opportunity to follow him back to his source and kill him? Then we’d be done with him.”

  Rygel coughed delicately. “Um, I couldn’t, Princess.”

  I caught the baffled glance Raine shot me. The same confusion he no doubt saw in my face. “You told Ja’Teel you knew how to track him back and kill him.”

  “Princess, I bluffed.”

  “You—bluffed.”

  “There was nothing I could do if he started killing anyone he wanted to,” Rygel said. “I’d have to transport everyone and he might manage to kill before I could make them vanish. He believed I could reach out and kill him because—deep down—he’s scared to death of me.”