Wolf Moon

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Book excerpt

Prologue 

Yssalithisandra sat in her study in the house she and Carthinal owned in Hambara. In a cradle at her side slept their daughter, Starralishinara, known as Starr. She rocked the cradle absently as she waited for the arrival of her two new apprentices.

She shifted, stood and walked over to the window. Starr moved in her sleep and Yssa turned to look at her daughter, but the baby did not wake. Yssa brushed her long golden hair from off her face and went back to her chair.

Carthinal sold Mabryl’s house in Bluehaven. As Mabryl’s heir, he inherited everything Mabryl owned. The older mage had never married and had no children of his own, and so he had adopted Carthinal, an orphaned street child with a talent for magic. Mabryl sadly died in the flood on the Bramara the previous year when he and Carthinal travelled from Bluehaven to Hambara for Carthinal to take the tests that would end his apprenticeship. Yssa said that they could not live in the apartments in the mage tower and bring up their daughter and so they had bought a house in the town.

Now she waited for Tomac and Emmienne to come down for their first lesson with her. They had been Mabryl’s apprentices and she agreed to take them on. She and Mabryl had once been close friends, and she mourned his death, even though they had seen little of each other since Mabryl moved to Bluehaven. She turned from the window to return to her seat at the table, brushing a tear from her eyes and banishing thoughts of Mabryl.

Suddenly the door flung open and fifteen-year-old Tomac rushed in. He stopped just inside the threshold, brushed his unruly dark hair out of his eyes and stammered out an apology.

‘Sorry for bursting in like that. I thought I was late.’

Yssa smiled. She liked this young man and his exuberant spirit.

‘No, you’re not late, Tomac. Emmienne isn’t here yet.’

Just a she said this, the door opened again and a rather plain girl with wavy brown hair entered.

‘I’m not late am I?’ she said, sitting down at the table.

Yssa took her place alongside the others.

‘I thought we’d start with a bit of astronomy today,’ she told her charges eliciting a groan from Tomac.

 ‘I don’t know what you’ve already learned about this topic, of course, but from Tomac’s reaction, I gather that you’ve done something.’

‘Phases of the moons.’ Tomac cast his eyes upwards ‘I still can’t work them out properly.’

‘You didn’t try,’ Emmienne told him. ‘It comes eventually if you concentrate.’

Yssa smiled at the young man.

‘Some people find it easier than others and some never really manage. I always had trouble and now if I need to know I look it up in an almanac. I don’t really understand why it's given such prominence when people cleverer than I am can do it and put it in a book for the rest of us to look up.’

Tomac looked impressed that Yssa should admit to finding something hard, but then his face fell as he realised that their teacher still intended to press on with the lesson on astronomy.

‘But today we’re not going to consider phases of the moon, but something that neither you nor I are ever going to need to calculate.’

Tomac breathed a sigh of relief and Emmienne looked at him in disgust.

Just then, Starr began to stir. Yssa went over to the cradle and rocked it, hoping to get the baby back to sleep. After about five minutes, she decided her daughter had settled again and she returned to the table.

‘Today I'm going to tell you of a phenomenon that's due to happen later this summer. It's a very rare occurrence and the complicated calculations to establish when it will occur are not for the likes of us to perform.

‘Have any of you heard of a Wolf Moon?’

The pair shook their heads.

‘A Wolf Moon, as I said, is a very rare occurrence. It's a bit like an eclipse, but happens when both moons are full and so it doesn’t look like a dark shadow passing in front of one of the moons or the sun.

‘As you know, Lyndor is smaller than Ullin and is nearer to Vimar. Sometimes it passes in front of its bigger sibling. If this happens when both moons are full, we get a beautiful phenomenon. Lyndor, the golden moon, appears to be surrounded by a halo of silver.’

Yssa went on to explain the phenomenon by using a lamp and an orrery, showing how the sun shone fully on the moons and so they showed their full discs as one passed before the other.

‘How often does this occur?’ asked Emmienne, fascinated by this.

‘Not even once in a human’s lifetime,’ replied the teacher. ‘Even in my long life, I’ve never seen it. I’m just hoping the night's fine and that clouds don’t get in the way.’

‘Why is it called a Wolf Moon?’ asked Tomac, interested in spite of his dislike of astronomy.

‘Superstition has it that, on that night. the hunting wolves are watched over by a celestial wolf whose eye the moons are. This ‘wolf’ will protect its corporate protégés against any harm. For this reason, people have come to believe that on that night the wolves lose their natural fear of people and will attack anyone whom they think is interfering with their hunting.’

‘So people don’t go out on that night?’

‘Not in the countryside. The towns and cities are different, of course. There aren’t many wolves here. Having said that, there are still people who believe that wolves will come into the cities on a Wolf Moon night and stay firmly in their houses.’

‘What do you believe, Yssa?’ asked Emmienne.

‘I am an elf and was born in Quantisarrillishon. The elven homeland is kept as natural as it can be and so wolves roam around. I was brought up to stay indoors on the night of a Wolf Moon, although I’ve never lived through one.'

Yssa smiled at her two charges and then continued. ‘However, I'm a mage and have learned much since my childhood. No, I don’t believe the superstitions.’

Just then, Starr began to cry.

‘I’ll have to leave you for a bit,’ Yssa told her charges. ‘Starr is due for her feed. I’ll be back as soon as we’ve finished. There are some books on the shelves about the Wolf Moon if you want to read some more while I’m gone.’

She picked up her baby and left the two apprentices to their own devices.

‘A Wolf Moon. And happening in our lifetime. Fantastic,’ said Tomac as Emmienne got up to look at one of the books. ‘I wonder where Carthinal is and if he’ll see it?’

Chapter One - On The Run

One morning, as chance would have it, Captain Ellint decided to split each patrol of the Battalion, in which the members of Wolf found themselves, into two. The soldiers had started to become restless and bored in spite of the entertainment supplied by Wolf Patrol, as they had now become known. The battalion waited for the arrival of another one in order to continue the manoeuvres, and time weight heavy on them.

Captain Ellint spoke to the whole battalion. He stood on a rostrum erected for this purpose.

'Sometimes,' he began, 'in a battle, when people have been captured or killed, it will become necessary to amalgamate two separate patrols. You must learn to work with others whom you don't know, so today’s exercises will be with mixed patrols.

Wolf Patrol split and joined with the Griffin Patrol. Carthinal, Randa, The Cat, Davrael and Kimi stayed in the camp, along with half of the Griffins, while the others went off to take up their positions as though in an ambush. Shortly after, those who remained behind set off to act as a battalion passing by. They would not know exactly where the others had set up the ambush, so there would be some element of surprise.

Just after the group, with Fero as acting sergeant, left to join up with the half of Griffin Patrol, the expected second Frelli Regiment arrived. A large, fierce-looking hobgoblin appeared to be in charge and he carried a swagger stick that he looked as though he would use on any who did not obey him quickly enough.

This did not cause any comment, since all of the first Candor regiment, of which the Wolves now formed a part, expected non-humans in the second Frelli. Captain Ellint warned them of this before hand, and told them anyone who caused trouble with the non-humans would suffer for it.

The fact that this hobgoblin captain had a wooden leg caused some comment and stares. No one who had received such injuries in the past had continued serving in the army The hobgoblin captain marched over towards the tent of Captain Ellint, barking orders to his lieutenants to halt the march and to set up camp. He passed close to Carthinal and his company as they prepared to march out on their manoeuvre.

The others having left the camp had got a little distance away, but the arrival of the new regiment caused all to pause. No one had seen an active soldier with a wooden leg before, and not a few people whispered questions as to why he had not been retired.

Fero saw the hobgoblin march past the others, and then he saw him turn and look back at them. The hobgoblin hobbled towards them and appeared to speak to Carthinal and then Randa, eyeing her Sword suspiciously. He turned to his men and barked an order.

Several hobgoblins came running over, along with some humans. The captain gave another order that Fero could not hear, and then he saw the hobgoblins and men seize the others. They searched them and removed their weapons, He felt Asphodel come up beside him. 

‘It’s Khland!’ she exclaimed. 'The Sword must have damaged his leg more than we thought, and he had to have it removed.'

With her superior elven eyesight she had been able to recognise the cruel hobgoblin leader who had captured their little group after they found the Sword last summer.

Fero scowled, then an anxious look filled his eyes. In spite of the argument he had with Randa, he still loved her and made to rush down to her rescue. Grimmaldo came to his side and put a restraining hand on his arm.

‘Getting yourself killed in a rescue attempt will serve no purpose, Fero,’ said the young mage. ‘Our best bet is to get away from here and try to rescue them later. They'll surely know that you, Bas, Thadora and Asphodel won’t be far away. They’ll come looking soon, mark my words.’

‘How can we sneak away with all these people to see us?’ asked Thadora.

Grimmaldo thought for a moment and then said, ‘I’ve a scroll that may come in handy for that,’ He scrabbled amongst his things. ‘Invisibility that will act on everything in a ten foot radius. It bends light rays, much the same as a normal invisibility spell, but bends them more, so more is invisible. Ah, here it is. The only problem is sound. It doesn’t stop people from hearing things. Anyone around here will hear us moving away and probably put two and two together.’

Asphodel looked at him. ‘I think I can help there,’ she said. ‘I can cause sound to be silenced in the same area.’

‘Excellent,’ replied Grimmaldo. ‘Now get close and hold on to someone else as we’ll not be able to see or hear each other. Let me cast first, Asphodel. It'll be no use if I’m silenced.’

They crept close together and each one held the belt of the next person. Fero grabbed Bramble by the scruff of the big, black and tan dog’s neck. He yelped as Fero dragged him close. A man from Griffin patrol looked round at the sound, then looked back at the “arrest” being made in the camp, which he found much more interesting. He turned back to ask Fero to confirm what he thought he saw, that the new arrivals had dragged the rest of Wolf patrol none too gently away, but to his surprise, the five had disappeared.

‘Where in the name of Kassilla’s tits ’ave they gone?’ he asked the air.

‘What the heck are you gabbing about now, Grondo?’ asked his friend. 

‘Fero and the others. They was ’ere a second ago, now they’ve gone.’

‘Seen their friends bein’ arrested I s’pose,’ replied the other. ‘Run away. Allus knowed they must be spies. ’Alf of ’em was Grosmerian. Cowards all Grosmerians are. They’ll find ’em an’ ’ang ’em. I ’ope they does it in camp so’s we can watch. I likes a good ’angin’ I does.’

OoOoOoOoOo

Bramble felt Fero grab him by the scruff of his neck. He yelped in surprise rather than pain. After all, his mother had carried him like that as a pup, but he knew Fero did not intend to carry him, and he thought the man rather rough. The dog looked at his master with an expression of accusation and anxiety mixed. He heard Fero’s apology, and although he did not understand the words, he understood the meaning behind them.

Fero had looked and smelt anxious ever since he saw what had happened back at the camp. Bramble had looked too and saw the hobgoblin approaching the rest of his pack. He knew it meant danger for them and he itched to go to their aid, particularly the pale female. The dog thought of Randa as Fero’s mate, and Fero was pack leader as far as he was concerned, so she was the alpha female. He did not know those terms, but he knew what every dog or wolf knew about pack hierarchy.  He whined his anxiety as he looked at Fero for the command to go to their aid. A command that never came.

Then, suddenly, he could no longer see Fero and the others. He could smell them, hear them and feel Fero’s hand on his neck. He could see everyone around, but not his companions. He let out a small whine as his tail crept between his legs. He felt his limbs begin to tremble.

‘Quiet, Bramble,’ whispered Fero.

He heard chanting coming from the dark haired female they called Asphodel, then suddenly it seemed as though he had gone deaf. He shook his head, but still he heard nothing. The dog had no understanding of deafness though, and he whined again. He felt the vibrations in his throat that came when he whined, so he knew he had done so, but no sound came.

Fero’s still had his hand on his neck. He knew his pack still surrounded him because he could smell them, but all sound and sight of them had gone. He tried barking, with the same result as when he whined. His tail went further between his legs. This was beyond his understanding and he did not like it at all. Then he felt a tug on his neck and he followed Fero’s scent, staying close to the ranger’s heels as the group slunk away from the rest of the army. He looked back towards the camp. They walked in the opposite direction from the rest of the pack who seemed to have been taken prisoner by the hobgoblin.

Once they left the vicinity of the camp, they speeded up, as the silence and invisibility wore off. Bramble shook his head once more as hearing and sight returned. One moment, he could see nothing of his companions, nor hear anything, then they all reappeared again, and the sounds of the mountains seemed to hit him. He whined again, and licked Fero’s hand for reassurance.

The ranger bent down and stroked his ears saying, ‘Sorry about that, boy. We had to get away. I wish I could explain to you, but you wouldn't understand if I did.’

Fero turned to the others and said, ‘We must move away from here quickly. As soon as they get Carthinal and the rest of them somewhere safe, they’ll be coming after us as Grimmaldo said. However, we must take a few minutes for me to ensure that following us will not be easy. I’ll try to cover our tracks a little way back, and then we must move quickly. From here, I'll obliterate as much as I can, but if they get the dogs out, anything I can do will be in vain.’

Fero walked back the way they had come with Bramble pressing close to him for reassurance. Every so often, Fero paused to stroke the dog and speak gently to him until he had calmed down. The dog slowly lifted his tail as things returned to normal and he watched as Fero continued in his task of straightening a bent branch or rubbing out a footprint.

Bramble and Fero arrived back within fifteen minutes and Bramble went round them all to check that no one had disappeared in his absence. He looked at Fero as if to say, ‘Let’s go then.’ He now felt much better, and although he did not like the idea of leaving half the pack behind, the pack leader said to carry on and he would follow him anywhere, even into the underworld itself.

The small group walked up towards the mountains that surrounded the valley in which the Erian troops had their camp. The dog followed his pack leader but kept pressing close He had still not got over the confusion of the deprivation of sound and sight and felt relieved to feel Fero’s hand caress his ears every so often. The dark man understood his fears and gave him the comfort he needed. However, he still did not like leaving the rest of the pack, and kept stopping and looking back.

Whenever he did so, he whined and looked at Fero, but the man said, ‘Don’t worry, boy. We’ll rescue them.’

Of course, he did not understand the words, but he interpreted the body language and tone enough to have a hazy idea of the meaning the ranger wished to convey. He knew the captors of the others were not human, and he knew that all the members of their pack were not human too, although he did not know those words. They smelt different somehow. He liked Asphodel. She smelt of woods and soil, of growing things and the wilderness. He liked that and had done so from the start.

The small, hairy one they called Bas, or sometimes Basalt, smelled of metal and deep places. He did not know how he knew such things, but he felt sure that the places lay deep under the ground. It made him a little uneasy, but he the dwarf  was part of the pack to protect and he respected the dwarf even if he did not feel the love for him as he did for Fero.

The others had unmistakable smells, too, which, although he did not realise it, was human. Each had their own individual scent, but the underlying scent smelled the same, with the exception of Carthinal who seemed to have a scent between that of the humans and Asphodel.

The dog looked back once more and then trotted off after Fero. He kept looking behind, and sometimes ran ahead to scout the land, but he saw nothing amiss and so the pack continued onwards and upwards towards the higher reaches of the mountains.