Excerpt From Upcoming Book 3
Notice: The following is a sample from One Over X Episode Three: An Extreme Departure. It is presented here for the promotional use of this Blog. It is copyrighted material (c) 2005, Elgon Williams and may not be used except for its expressed purpose without the written permission of the author, Elgon Williams.Mang Bhong
Magus held his head in his hands, wondering what it could possibly mean. Could it be that another Wolfcat had died while accompanying him? Was his presence so cursed? Why did this simulation seem so bent on forever turning against him? How was he ever expected to learn if he was forever repeating the same failure?
He dangled his legs over the edge of the cliff. The spray from the waterfall soothed his sunburned skin. He leaned back on his hands and wrists and half expected or at least hoped to see the flapping wings of a dragon off in the distance. He needed to talk to Master Moe. What did Moe expect him to do now? The Wolfcat had perished once again, this time in a freak accident. As before death had come just before realization of her full potential!
It was his fault. How could he recover this scenario now? There were others of the Wolfcat blood. The Pack would have to choose another and he would have to hope beyond all hope that the next Wolfcat might have enough of the goddess in her to fulfill destiny. She would obviously need help. Somehow he would have to enlist the aid of the Mang Bhong, at least until the Dogs arrived.
Why was it so complicated? There were always variations. Damn Anseil for his attempts at managing the scenarios! He should have killed him. There had been a chance, once.
It was obvious that Moe was not coming. Perhaps the accident was really not intended. It might have caught the Master off guard as well. Magus stood up, turned back toward the mountains. He did not want to cross the mountains or even to negotiate the mazes that the Fenok had constructed beneath them. He withdrew a small Amulet from an inner pocket of his robes and clutched it in the palm of his left hand. He closed his eyes and threw back his head. The tails of his robes fluttered in the swirl of wind that surrounded him.
When he opened his eyes and was where he desired to be. He returned the Amulet to his pocket and continued toward the clearing of that lie just behind past the large boulders. When Magus entered the camp silence fell over the Wolf Pack. Even the young stopped playing to look up. Magus was well known to them even though he was rarely seen. Whenever he was seen, it was rarely for the good. Had something bad happened? Did this have anything to do with Ela’na’s disappearance?
Trip sent word immediately to the cave where Mang held vigil over Red. Mang emerged with Copter knocking out his steps as he came out to meet Magus. Mang had heard of Magus, not always good things though. In fact until he had met Ela’na he had never heard anything good at all about Magus. Like everyone else in the Pack, Mang felt this visit did not bode well. As his eyes met Magus’ his worst fears were confirmed. Magus could not bear to look Mang in the eye.
Magus held out his left hand. Mang just looked down at it. “It is a custom to grasp hands when meeting,” Magus said.
“It is a stupid custom,” Mang said. “Besides is it not the right hand that is custom?”
“So it is. Most respect the custom regardless. As I understand it, a hand that is in the grasp of another cannot brandish a weapon.”
“And if I needed a weapon to harm you, that might be important.”
Magus pursed his lips around a slight smile. “You know me?”
“I know of you. You are the renegade apprentice that likes to be called Magus, as if you are the only such being in the world. You are not even a full fledged Wizard!”
“It is apparently true what I have heard of the Mang Bhong and their conceit.”
“It is hardly conceit if it is supportable.”
“Arrogance then.”
“Arrogance I can accept.” Mang smiled though his face seemed to complain at the effort and emotion.
“I assure you that I am a Wizard.”
“That remains to be seen,” Mang said. “I assume you have news of The Wolfcat.”
Magus lowered his eyes for a moment but it was enough to confirm all that Mang expected, all but how it had happened. “You owe the Pack a story, then. I hope it is the truth.”
“First we will speak in private.”
“What purpose would that serve?”
“I have a proposition for you.”
Mang was intrigued. “Come to the cave, then. Perhaps if you really are a Wizard as you say there are some tricks that will aid Red.
“I have heard of his mortal wounds. He is yet alive, then.”
“Closer to death to be sure, but he is stubborn.”
Magus nodded. “I can do only what I can do.”
“It could do no worse than the c’eun of sitting here watching and unable to do anything. Come.” Mang showed Magus into the cave and bade Copter to remain outside. Copter waited for the others to enter before assuming his usual post across the threshold of the cave.
Magus went immediately to Red, studied the coloring of his tongue and looked at his eyes. “He is very near to death.”
“He waits for Ela’na to return.”
“He will wait for a very long time.”
“She is not dead?”
“I am uncertain. I saw events that must have killed her but there is no body. I searched long for evidence. I felt that the Pack needed to know. I have brought a similar message to them before. In that I delayed beyond need in my grief.”
“It is a story that the Elders often tell. For whatever reason, the Elders do not blame you for that death. It is obvious to me that if you were there, you were involved if not responsible for her death.”
“You are very astute.”
“I will trust you as far only as needs be. If you truly know the Mang Bhong then expect my skepticism.”
“Yet you trust the Wolves.”
“I trusted Ela’na, Red and a few others. Trust is earned. They deserved trust.”
“They trust you.”
“They accept me. Their acceptance was conditional, however. If Ela’na accepted me the others accepted me.”
“The exception was Red.”
“You are also astute.”
“The Cat seems fond of you.”
“Copter is a nuisance. Nothing more. Ela’na felt that he should belong. Perhaps she senses worth in him that I do not see. He is loyal. I will grant him that. In her absence he has seemed to cling to me.”
“Loyalty is important, especially toward a leader.”
“You are suggesting that I lead the Pack?”
“It was my thought.”
“I am neither Wolf nor Wolfcat.”
“You are beyond them yet they are within you.”
“You know the Mang Bhong better than I suspected,” Mang said.
“I have studied the events of Sabat from afar.”
“Their grip on the Mang Bhong is firm for now. It is tenuous, but temporary. The Mang Bhong live long and can be patient.”
“The Mang Bhong think themselves beyond their masters,” Magus said.
“It is obviously the case. The Sabatin surpass us only in their arrogance and numbers.”
Magus smiled. “But they band together to fight a common foe.”
“There is use in the way of the Mang Bhong as well. It is unlikely that there will ever be a last Mang Bhong.”
Magus drew a pouch from the pocket in the lining of his robe. He shook the contents out into the palm of his hand, held it out. “This is a piece of The Foundation.”
Mang cocked his head to one side as he observed it, reared onto hind legs and assumed the form of a very different Beast. Magus withdrew the stone for an instant, somewhat startled by the ease with which Mang could transform. Then he offered the stone for observation anew.
“I have seen this before, “ Mang said.
“You have seen one quite like it.”
“The Wolf Stone that The Wolfcat wears.”
Magus frowned. “Wore.” He returned the stone to its protective pouch.
“You found her Wolf Stone?”
“No.”
“There are two?” Mang asked.
“There were seven. Four are outside this context. Three were resident.”
“I see.” Mang returned to his more familiar form. “Ela’na did not know these things?”
“She knew only what I told Eltath, and more recently only what I told her. Eltath knew the power of the stone upon the Bearer and saw it drain life from me. She also knew its healing powers. Ela’na seemed wise for her tender age. This was also an effect of the power.”
“Wise in Lore not in deeds. Still Red’s wounds were beyond her.”
“She was young after all,” Magus smiled, remembering her fondly. “Do I sense some jealousy?”
Mang coughed. “I had some feelings for The Wolfcat. And her cousin Jade.”
“Both of them?” Magus laughed out loud.
“As you have said there is both Wolf and Cat in the Mang Bhong.”
Magus shook his head. He conjured a comfortable, padded chair from nowhere and fell back into it, resting his hands on the chair’s arms, the stone floating in the air before his eyes, spinning and glowing ever so slightly. “Are you aware of the overall purpose you serve in the balance of things?”
“I am aware that the end times approach.”
“The end of some things but the beginning of others.”
“Endings and beginnings are consecutive points in a circle.”
“Yes, quite.” Magus met Mang’s eyes. “Take the stone, hold it in your hands. Feel its power.”
“It is your power. This is why you want to rid yourself of it. You desire to maintain what is yours not feed the hunger of the universe.”
“Then take it.”
“It will drain me as well.”
“Hardly. You are a Mang Bhong. I am, on the other hand, human.”
“Other than the relative frailty of your body, what is the distinction?”
“The Wizards are selected because the Masters can be control us.”
“The Sorcerers.”
“Never call them that. Yes, that is how some know them.”
“You rebelled,” Mang suggested.
“So I did. I learned much but hardly all that I needed to know. Life since my departing Master
Moe has been a process of discovery.”
“You have discovered what?”
“I have discovered that I am far too weak to be of any use in what I need to accomplish. I have sought more puissant beings to enlist in my cause.”
“Like the Wolfcats.”
“Yes, the Wolfcats.”
“Now you seek to dominate a Mang Bhong?”
“Dominate is such a harsh word. I assure you it would be more a process of collaboration. Your first deed could well be the healing of your friend.”
Mang looked toward the slab where Red’s body lay, nearly lifeless. “This is your idea of a proposal, tempting me with something that affords me no alternative?”
“What I propose cannot be done out of selfishness. This is why the stone drains energy from me. Yet out of sacrifice for the well being of another, your selfless act could grant you access to power beyond your wildest imaginings.”
Mang looked back at Magus. “It is not entirely selfless. Now I am aware.”
“You would do it to help your friend. That is the work of your heart and soul. That is pure. Whatever is done out of that selfless essence cannot harm you.”
“When I do something for myself...”
“You diminish your energy.”
“I see.”
“Now you understand.”
“It explains much. All Wolfcats knew these things?”
“A few. You know more. If you are to be my partner in this, you need to know all of it.”
“And what is withheld?”
“How to destroy me,” Magus said.
“Even so, you know the route to my demise.”
“Everything has a weakness, even the mighty Mang Bhong.” Magus smiled to reinforce his sarcasm.
Mang studied Magus but found no sign that he really knew the secret. It was a bluff, perhaps. Yet he could not see how he could not know. Nevertheless he did not trust this self proclaimed Wizard. It was uncomfortable for him to even be in the cave alone with him. He suspected that he was to blame for whatever happened to Ela’na and was certainly to blame for what had happened over an X’eun ago to Eltath. Still there was no alternative that would aid Red except for what was offered to him. “Will it work?” Mang finally asked.
“I cannot guarantee. I do not know how deeply your heart and soul are involved with this Wolf. If it is truly friendship that you feel, you may well save him. The choice is yours.”
“If I decline your offer?”
“It remains as it is. Red may hang on a few more c’eun. Perhaps I am wrong in assuming Ela’na death. She might return in time and be able to save him. Even if she returned…”
“A small chance.”
“A very small chance, yes. I know that is not what you want to hear my friend…”
“I am not nor will I ever be your friend.” Mang snapped.
Magus stood, and the chair disappeared from beneath him. “ A figure of speech. You may not want my friendship but you can ill afford to keep me as your enemy.” He held out his right hand. “Return the stone to me if you do not accept it.”
Mang stared into the self-proclaimed Wizard’s eyes. What purpose would his defiance serve but to doom Red? “I accept it.”
Magus smiled. “I thought so.” Magus said smugly. “Then, by all means, help your friend.”
“I get no instruction?”
“A moment ago you were so independent, so complete, so above any other…”
“Spare me the sarcasm. I do not know how to perform this level of magic.”
“Magic is illusion. In that sense it will work only because his wounds are as much illusions as his very being in this world. You must believe in the magic you conjure while you disbelieve the illusion. You hold in your hands a part of the Foundation of the Universe. It is what existed before anything that you believe might now exist and it is what will exist when all is one again. What further instruction do you need? The magic is within you and it is everywhere around you.”
Mang held the stone with arms outstretched, focusing in on the stone, concentrating and feeling the strength in his body flow down his arms toward the stone. It glowed dimly, then brighter after a few moments until it radiated so bright that it was like the light of three suns had entered the cave.
Flashes of energy discharged from the stone into the walls of the cave as Magus chided. “You are wasting energy. Direct it!”
The white light turned blood red and the air was thick with the swirling dense vapors that encircled the stone. The thick red vapor suddenly dropped into the still body of Red. Then all was black.
Red opened his eyes, slowly adjusting to being within his body once more. At first he had no idea where he was or how he had come to be there.
Mang stepped back, securing the stone and hiding it in a pocket.
“Mang?” Red whispered as he squinted. “Is that you?”
“Yes, my friend. Rest you were wounded very badly.”
“Wounded? How long have I been…?”
“A very long time, my friend.”
“Damon?”
“Dead.”
“The others?”
“Many died. Many lived.”
Red tried to move but could manage little more than his head. The long struggle had left him so weakened that he could barely even look from side to side. It was all that he could do to even talk. “Where are we?”
“In a cave in the mountains,” Mang replied.
Red closed his eyes once more, took several deep breaths and appeared to have drifted back into sleep.
“He will need food,” Magus said.
“He will need to be cared for as a pup for a while,” Mang said.
“Agreed.” Magus nodded. “In the meantime there are urgent needs to be addressed. First you must assume leadership”
Mang turned back to tend to Red. “I will ask Trip to call the others together. For the time being I will remain here. "
“You will need to come to the Council as well,” Magus said.
“I do not sit in Council. It will be by their decision alone that I will lead. If they do not want me to lead, then so be it.”
“Then the Pack is doomed.”
“How so?”
“There is no one left that can lead them. Do you honestly feel that Jade, Alina, Saffron or Tweety is worthy of the role that Ela’na served?”
“There are many males that …”
“That are not ready."
“And I am?”
“In your favor you possess detachment. To be effective a leader must sometimes take the difficult course that the majority would never choose. When the strongest leaders ruled, the Council defended the leader’s decisions. The Pack cannot always be ruled by consensus. This is the fundamental flaw of rule by Council. There were times like the times that are upon the Pack right now when a strong leader needs to tell them exactly what is necessary. Any of the Council that might be chosen to lead would lead by doing only what is popular. Such will invariably lead the Pack into retaliation against the Hovdin, a move that the Pack is not ready to make. The Pack cannot win against the Hovdin. Not yet.”
Mang turned away, hoping against all hope that the Council would defy Magus. What could he possibly know, anyway? The only thing that he had ever seemed to bring to the Pack was bad news. Still, what if he were right?
Mang did not want the mantle that Magus was forcing upon him. He wanted to be left alone. He wanted to do what he wanted. If that meant staying with the Pack, then so be it. When it came time for him to go he wanted to be free to depart, without feeling burdened with any responsibility.
“You will lead them, then?”
“I am an outsider.”
“Really. Well even if that were true before, that will change now,” Magus said. “I will explain what needs to be done.”
“I am not a Wolf.”
“Technically, neither is a Wolfcat.”
“I do not look like a Wolf. In no way could I ever be mistaken for a Wolf. How do you expect that I will lead them?”
“You made your choice.”
“I chose as I chose for his sake.” Mang looked at Red.
Magus smiled at him. “It was a good and honorable choice. And now you understand the power of an Amulet. In this you are advanced beyond any Wolfcat that has ever led the Pack.”
“They will desire one of their own to lead. Perhaps another Alpha as well as a Wolfcat.”
“I will speak with Gold,” Magus said. “Night and I had an understanding. I am sure that Gold will be as cooperative.”
Mang sat down on the floor beside Red.
“He will be fine,” Magus said. “He needs to rest and finish healing.”
“I will be along shortly,” Mang said.
“As you wish.” Magus smiled. He turned away and stepped lightly over Copter so as to not disturb the large purring Cat and made his way outside. After a time Mang joined him and together they sought Trip to gather the Council for a meeting.
* * * *
Some of the Council resented the presumption of Magus to call a meeting of the Council. Others were old enough to know that it was anything but unprecedented. Magus felt that they were his Wolves and that they did his bidding. For their part the Wolves did not see it quite that way. Even so, the members of Council, what remained of their former number, gathered together at Trip’s request to hear what Magus had to say.
In the absence of a Wolfcat, Gold had carried out the role of leadership for routine matters with the consent of the Council. Magus coming before the Council and in the absence of the Wolfcat concerned all and many feared what they were about to hear. Magus simply did not come to the Wolves unless there was a problem and often as not he brought with the most horrendous news.
Magus needed no introduction. Once the Council was gathered and Magus stood before them, there was silent attentiveness to his every word. “I bring word of Ela’na and a story that is difficult for me to tell. I do not know with any certainty except the circumstances and appearances surrounding the events. It is my fear that Ela’na has tragically died.”
He paused to allow the immediate response of the Council to subside. “How did it happen?” Gold asked.
“Ela’na left the Pack in order to challenge Death’s Shadow for the spirit of Red. This I know because she told me the story. She succeeded only in her own survival, which considering her adversary was quite significant. In due course as she attempted return she lost her way. She ended up on the eastern face of the Mountains, far from here.”
“Why did she not turn back to the West?” Trip asked. “Ela’na knows East from West. Surely she understood where she was.”
“Where she was there was no easy way to turn and go back. She could not return the way that she had come as she did not know the way and she had negotiated the darkness of caverns beneath the mountains to arrive where she was. She hoped to find a pass and was planning to travel south in order to find it when she was captured. She was taken far to the east over the plain and toward the great ocean. By her power and courage alone she survived the ordeal. Her captors tortured and tormented her yet she prevailed.”
“Where were you in all this?” Gold asked.
“I was in Vala’ha. It was there that we met. We left Vala’ha together and I was with her until the accident. It was not an easy course that we took and we traveled through the night to arrive at the cliffs near Mount Fenok. We climbed the cliff during the heat of the day. Something I would not recommend and we did only because of the urgency of our mission, to return here and care for Red. Yet we were successful in negotiating the cliff. Atop the cliff and across the plateau there is a mountain stream near to where we were. We were going drink and then look for a cave to rest. Tragically, the ground beneath her feet gave way and Ela’na fell into the rushing water and was carried downstream toward a great falls. I attempted a rescue but failed.”
“Where is her body?” Trip asked.
“I never found the confirmation of my suspicions.”
“Then she may yet be alive.”
Magus nodded. “It is possible though considering the situation that she was in, it is very unlikely. Even so, we were near to Mount Fenok. It is well known that the Fenok serve the will of Master Gawl. If she were alive and fell into their hands she perhaps would be better off dead.”
“The Wolf Stone?”
“I fear that the Wolf Stone was lost with her and may have found itself into the hands of its former Master.”
Gold shook his head. “Then it is clear that we must choose another Wolfcat to lead us. There are three among us that are mature.”
“If I may impose.” Magus began. “These are perilous times for the Pack. Ela’na told me of the migration and of the Hovdin treachery. The balance has been forever altered. The world has changed and never will it be as it once was. Dammerwald is a charred memory.”
“You tell us what we already know,” Gold said.
“I can only suggest as the Council makes the final determination. I suggest a radical change of thought. There is one that is more powerful among you than any may realize. I have given to him an Amulet very like the Wolf Stone that he may do with it what he will. He has already used it in order to restore the spirit of Red.” He paused for the murmuring to ebb. “Mang Bhong should lead.”
“Mang?” Gold scoffed. “You can’t be serious!”
“Without false bravado, who among you could defeat him in battle?”
Gold smiled. “Mang is a admirable hunter and a worthy adversary in any battle - but a leader? He has always been so, so…”
“Quiet?”
“Aloof is more the word.” Gold replied.
“He is an outsider. Ela’na chose to permit him entry into the Pack. For good reason.” Magus said.
“How could she have known?”
“She did not know. She knew only the quality of character within him. Mang is up to the challenge. Who among you had the faith that Red would hang on until the c’eun of his deliverance?”
“You delivered him not Mang.” Gold challenged.
“I assure you, Gold. The Magic in the event was all Mang’s. I do not trifle with such petty matters.”
“Bringing back the dead is petty?”
“Red was not dead. He was dying, yes. He was nearly dead, certainly. Still he was not dead. Bringing one back from the dead is something that even I will not do. I was tempted once...” He let the though trail off into silence.
“Then where is Mang? If he seeks leadership he needs to be here,” Trip said.
“Mang will come if you summon him,” Magus said.
“I cannot fault him for his loyalty to Ela’na and Red. If he wants to lead us he needs to lead!”
Trip growled. “I for one do not care who the leader is as long as the one that leads will lead in fact, not merely in name.”
There was general concurrence among the Council.
“Mang is such a leader,” Magus promised.
“It is unprecedented.” Trip protested. “I have nothing against Mang. He is without peer as a hunter, at least with the present complement of hunters. He is steady and reliable. To be our leader…”
“Requires what more?” Magus asked. “You want even now to retaliate against the Hovdin. You would not be Wolf to think otherwise. I say to you that to pursue this course is certain death for all. Mang is not Wolf. He is more rational in such matters. He understands that outnumbered is outnumbered.” Magus drew a deep breath, considering whether it was wise to say what he desired to say then, considering all that had gone awry, decided to say it anyway. “Wolf will fight along side Hovdin very soon. The common enemy will determine the alliance.”
A hush fell over the gathering. So silent were they that Magus waited for a good, long time before uttering even another word. He chose exactly what he needed to say. “If you could see the future and still not understand it because of your closed minds, what good would it do. This c’eun all Hovdin are your enemy. In due course they will save Wolf and Wolf will save Hovdin. For it to be otherwise would be disastrous to both Hovdin and Wolf.”
“I will not dispute what you see in the future. What do I know?” Gold said. “If I am to fight beside a Hovdin I would prefer not to know the circumstances just yet as that must be the most dire and desperate of situations.”
The Council laughed although Gold had not really intended anything that he said to be taken in a humorous way.
Magus simply nodded toward Gold. “Support what I request then.”
“I will,” Gold said. “With one stipulation.”
Magus looked deeply into Gold’s eyes. He saw that it was nothing beyond what Gold expected to be salient. “Name it,” Magus said.
“There must be a Wolf in a leadership role. There will be a Wolfcat, an Alpha Female.”
“Of course,” Magus said.
Gold lowered his head. “I love Saffron like a sister but she could never lead. Alina is by far the most intelligent but she is too quick to leap to conclusions and at other times she can still be indecisive. Ela’na was the best choice for Wolfcat. Yet I labored over the decision for a great while. Jade was as good and at times the better alternative. In other considerations Ela’na was best. In my mind Jade is not a second choice but an equal in every way to the choice that I made previously."
“You would have Jade as Wolfcat?” Trip asked.
“There could be no other,” Gold said.
“If there is objection.” Gold challenged the Council. No one spoke out.
“Then Jade is The Wolfcat,” Magus said. “She will rule alongside Mang.”
There was no protest or objection. Magus smiled broadly and he cleared his throat before speaking. “You have this c’eun determined that the Pack will survive in some way.”
At Magus’s request Mang had come forth. He stood before the Council in silence until the remaining whispers of discussion ceased. Every eye was upon him. It was unthinkable. Although a member of the Pack he was not a Wolf at all. How could Mang lead the Pack? Despite the prior determination, some of the Council wished to reserve judgment until there was proof of his abilities. Their consent was provisional, and only because Jade was chosen to stand beside him.
“I do not desire leadership,” Mang said. “There is no ambition in me for a long-term role. I can only contribute what I may contribute. When it is time for me to step aside, I will.”
“Then why lead at all.” Trip asked.
“If any other will lead, then let him lead,” Mang said.
“I chose him. “Magus said. “There are many tests ahead of the Pack. I do not see success without Mang’s leadership.”
“He does not sound like he wishes to lead.” Shadow spoke out. Magus immediately shot a glare in his direction.
“What if Ela’na returns?” Trip asked.
“What if she does not and we are without leadership?” Shadow asked. “If Magus believes that she is dead. That is good enough for me.”
Magus smiled in his direction restoring faith in his secret apprentice.
Mang cleared his throat and waited for the entire gathering to become silent again before speaking. “The moment I fail to lead you challenge me, any of you. I will accept any challenge. If I am wrong I will step down. That is my promise. I will serve well and lead well. I will not be anything that I am not.”
“And if Jade differs with you?”
“That may happen,” Mang said. “She is a Wolfcat. I am not. She may be right. I may not. I suspect this will be a very rare situation. I cannot defer to her in all situations but I can promise to listen and between us we will decide. Ela’na did not always agree with Damon else this Pack would no longer exist.”
Gold smiled broadly as Mang stepped to one side. “We have an Alpha Male and a Wolfcat. Any opposition, speak now.”
There was no debate, no discussion nor any dissent. What had been decided stood. The Council looked at one another and Trip suggested adjournment and even without a vote the gathering dissipated. Mang went back to the cave to be with Red. Magus followed a short distance behind. The only one that was oblivious to the Council’s proceedings was Jade.
When Jade heard she believed that it was a joke. Yet the ‘joke’ persisted and no one was laughing. It was not until that she heard that Ela’na had perished that she believed the rumors. She then sought confirmation. When she approached the first Council member that she found and he bowed down before her she knew that the rumors were true.
Jade cried. Ela’na had been like a sister to her. To have lost a sister…Jade was inconsolable.
Magus had transformed into a Wolf as he followed Mang back into the cave. When they had arrived Red was still resting and so they chose not to disturb him. Even so Mang obtained some milk from a nursing mother and fed it slowly to Red, in hopes that it would help rebuild his strength.
Mang resumed his place beside Red while Magus took up a post near to the cave entrance but away from the swirling breeze that sometimes swept into the entrance. He was tired and wanted nothing so much as to rest. He cared not at all that he had to sleep as a Wolf, on the hard ground inside a cave. He was so tired and so accustomed to traveling that the ground felt as if it might be a comfortable yet firm bed. Moments after he stretched out he was snoring lightly.
When Magus awakened in the morning, Mang was already chatting with Red. As he sat listening it became clear that Mang had not been awake for all that long either.
“Ela’na brought us here?” Red was asking.
“Yes,” Mang said.
“It is good, then. We can plot strategy and we can…”
“You rest. There is much to discuss later.” Mang interrupted.
Magus tried not to speak. He really didn’t want to be noticed. There was a time and a place for everything and he had assured the pack of Red’s survival and of Mang’s leadership. It was time for him to leave. Yet leaving unnoticed was impossible. Red had caught glimpse of him, “Who is that?”
“Magus,” he replied. He returned to the light and he transformed into a human again.
“Magus? Where is Ela’na? Something bad has happened to her?”
“We hope not,” Mang said.
“Something has happened, then.”
“What is important is that you are well now. Rest. We will talk more later.”
“Tell me!” Red tried sitting up but succumbed to the weakness that remained in of his body.
“I cannot say for certain what happened to her. She is missing,” Magus said.
“Missing? What is that supposed to mean?” Red asked.
“We were traveling together. We were coming here to save you.”
Red shook his head.
“Don’t try blaming Red for what happened.” Mang protested.
“I was not blaming anyone. I was stating simple fact. The reason Ela’na left the Pack was to face Death’s Shadow in order to regain your spirit, Red,” Magus said. “The sad truth is that she had it in her power to do that all along and she never needed to leave you.”
Red laid back and stared at the roof of the cave. “She is not dead,” Red said.
“I hope you are right,” Mang said. “But…”
“I am right.”
“We all hope that…” Mang began again.
“Damn it Mang. I know what I am talking about. Ela’na is a goddess. She cannot die!”
Mang stared at Red but when Red felt the heat of his friend’s eyes and stared back Mang averted his eyes.
“You can’t possibly believe that she is dead, Mang.”
“I do not know what to believe.” Mang turned to Magus. “What happened exactly? I have to know.”
Magus untied his robes and let them fall to the floor around his ankles. The scars on his bare chest and arms echoed the agony of unimaginable tortures. He turned slowly to reveal the stripes of the taskmaster’s lashes on his back.
“You were a slave?” Mang asked.
“The Master Moe freed me of the bondage on Ea. So I believed. I was not so young then, when he took me as an apprentice. It is dangerous to teach the art and craft to one as old as I was. I was a willing and eager pupil, though. I learned quickly and learned much. Then I was tempted. I wanted power beyond that of my Master. He possessed an Amulet, what you call the Wolf Stone. He claimed it was the key to unlocking the powers of the Universe and yet he refused to use it. I could not understand. I thought in my youthful arrogance that Moe was a fool. Surely to have the power and not use it was folly!”
“What does any of this have to do with Ela’na?” Mang asked.
“It has to do with the Wolf Stone. The Wolf Stone has everything to do with Ela’na!”
“Let him talk,” Red said. “I’d like to know the secret of the Wolf Stone.”
“I’m afraid you won’t learn the secret from me.” Magus said. “ I do not know it. What I know is that Moe was wise not to use the Wolf Stone. I was the fool. I gained immortality because of the Wolf Stone but I lost my desire to live forever. A cruel irony is it not?” Magus drew a deep breath and the scars on his body vanished. “The scars are no more for any to see. Are they not still there? They are there for I remember each of them too well. What difference does any other’s perception make to me? Does anything exist without someone to perceive it?”
“You teach us philosophy,” Mang complained. “You wish to confuse us until we have forgotten all about Ela’na.”
“Ela’na is important in all this. At least she was. I fear that if she yet lives she lives only to carry out the dark will of Master Gawl.”
“Ela’na evil?”
“Evil is within each of us,” Magus said. “It is a very short path to take us toward serving Evil.”
“Good as well.” Red challenged.
“We exist in a balance between the extremes,” Magus said. “Yet having each within makes the turning toward darkness easier as the universe tends toward chaos and that is the negative direction. Once the turn is toward evil all the ill forces conspire to prevent the recovery toward good. I was evil. I should know.”
“How are we to believe that you have now turned toward the good?”
“I am uncertain that I have turned,” Magus said. “I will not lie to you. I am yet fighting. I will forever be fighting.”
“How can there be uncertainty? You do not know whether you are evil?”
“No. I do not know. The deception can be perfect. Ela’na could serve evil unwittingly. She could have also served it willingly without anyone else knowing. If she lives then she might live to further evil aims,” Magus said. “She might never know. We have both fought the same enemy. I am not sure that I won. I cannot speak for her but doubt that she knows the outcome of her bout, either. Evil covets the Wolf Stone. Possessing it and the potential that it represents would tip the balance in nature toward the negative. So devious was the scheme, and so confusing the maniacal design. For one to believe that progress is moving away might be precisely what serves evil best.”
Mang looked to Red then back to Magus. “How did she get lost?”
“She fell into a river and was carried down stream in the rapids. I tried to save her but she passed beneath a ledge and over a great falls. She must have died in the fall or drowned. I cannot say. I did not see the body.”
“She could live,” Red said, clinging to the hope.
“She could,” Magus confirmed. “It was a terrible fall and surviving it would be a miracle.”
“There is no way to know?” Red asked.
“Or even whether you are evil?” Mang added.
“There is no way except to trust your own instincts,” Magus said. He knelt down to pick up his robes from the floor. “I go now. You have matters to tend to and so do I. You will inform the Council as need be. They will decide what they must decide. In all things Mang and Jade now lead.” Magus stepped over Copter’s purring, slumbering body and disappeared into the shadows outside the cave's mouth, leaving Mang and Red alone to wonder about the future with a different Wolfcat.
posted by Unknown @ 11:04 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home