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‘Brokefang!’ Daine yelled. ‘Numair, it’s the pack!’ She ran to them and vanished in a crowd of yelping, tail-wagging animals. Delighted to see her, they proceeded to wash her with their long tongues.
Standing at the cave entrance, waiting for the reunion to end, the man saw that the rain was coming down harder. ‘Why don’t we move the celebration inside?’ he called. ‘You’re getting drenched.’
Daine stood. ‘Come on,’ she told the pack, speaking aloud for Numair’s benefit. ‘And no eating my friends. The man is Numair. He’s my pack now.’ Two wolves – Numair was touched to see they were Fleetfoot and Russet, his companions on their journey here – left the others to sit by him, grinning and sprinkling him with drops from their waving tails.
Once out of the rain, the newcomers greeted Cloud, sniffing the gray mare politely. Brokefang gave the mare a few licks, which she delicately returned. The pony, the sole survivor of the bandit raid on Daine’s farm, had stayed with Daine in the weeks the girl had run with the pack. In that time, wolves and pony had come to a truce of sorts.
Next Daine introduced her pack to Spots, the easygoing piebald gelding who was Numair’s mount, and Mangle, a gentle bay cob who carried their packs. The horses quivered, whites showing all the way around their eyes, as the wolves sniffed them. They trusted Daine to keep the wolves from hurting them, but their belief in her couldn’t banish natural fear entirely. Once the greetings were over, they retreated to the rear of the large cave and stayed there.
‘Kitten,’ Daine called, looking for her charge. ‘Come and meet the wolves.’
Knowing she often scared mortal animals, the dragon had kept to the shadows. Now she walked into the light. She was pale blue, almost two feet long from nose to hip, with another twelve inches’ worth of tail, a slender muzzle, and silver claws. The wings that one day would carry her in flight were, at this stage, tiny and useless. Her blue, reptilian eyes followed everything with sharp attention. She was far more intelligent than a mortal animal, but her way of knowing and doing things was a puzzle Daine tried to unravel on a daily basis.
‘This is Skysong,’ Daine told the pack. ‘That’s the name her ma gave her, anyway. Mostly we call her Kitten.’
The dragon eyed their guests. The newcomers stared, ears flicking back and forth in uncertainty, tails half-tucked between their legs. Slowly she rose up onto her hindquarters, a favourite position, and chirped.
Brokefang was the first to walk forwards, stiff-legged, to sniff her. Only when his tail gave the smallest possible wag did the others come near.
Once the animals were done, Daine said, ‘Numair, the grey-and-black male is Brokefang.’ When the wolf came to smell Numair’s hands, the mage saw that his right canine tooth had the point broken off. ‘He’s the first male of the pack, the boss male.’ Numair crouched to allow Brokefang to sniff his face and hair as well. The wolf gave a brief wag of the tail to show he liked Numair’s scent.
‘The brown-and-grey male with the black ring around his nose is Short Snout,’ Daine said. ‘The tawny female is Battle. She fought a mountain lion when she was watching pups in Snowsdale – that’s how she got her name.’ Short Snout lipped Numair’s hand in greeting. Battle sniffed the mage and sneezed. ‘The brown-and-red male is Sharp Nose. The grey-and-tawny female is Frolic.’ The girl sat on the floor, and most of the wolves curled up around her. ‘Frostfur, the boss female, and Longwind stayed in the valley with the pups.’
Greetings done, Numair sat by the fire and added new wood. ‘Has Brokefang said why he needs you?’ he asked. ‘His call for help was somewhat vague.’
Daine nodded. ‘Brokefang, what’s going on? All you told Fleetfoot and Russet was that humans are ruining the valley.’ As the wolf replied, she translated, ‘He says this spring men started cutting trees and digging holes without planting anything. He says they brought monsters and more humans there, and they are killing off the game. Between that and the tree cutting and hole digging, they’re driving the deer and elk from the valley. If it isn’t stopped, the pack will starve when the Big Cold comes.’
‘The Big Cold?’ asked Numair.
‘It’s what the People – animals – call winter.’
The man frowned. ‘I’m not as expert as you in wolf behaviour, but – didn’t you tell me that if wolves find an area is too lively for them, they flee it? Isn’t that why they left Snowsdale, because humans there were hunting them?’
Yes, said Brokefang. They wanted to hurt us, because we helped Daine hunt the humans who killed her dam. They killed Rattail, Longeye, Treelicker, and the pups.
Daine nodded sadly: Fleetfoot and Russet had told her of the pack’s losses. The older wolves had been her friends. The pups she hadn’t met, but every pack valued its young ones. To lose them all was a disaster.
Brokefang went on. We left Snowsdale. It was a hard journey in the hot months, seeking a home. We found places, but there was little game, or other packs lived there, or there were too many humans. Then just before the last Big Cold we found the Long Lake. This valley is so big we could go for days without seeing humans. There is plenty of game, no rival pack to claim it, and caves in the mountains for dens in the snows.
Scratching a flea, Brokefang continued. The Long Lake was good – now humans make it bad. They drove us from the valley where I was born, and my sire, and his sire before him. Before, it was our way to run from two-leggers. Yet I do not run if another pack challenges mine – I fight, and the pack fights with me. Are humans better than another pack? I do not believe they are.
Will you help us? Will you tell the humans to stop their tree cutting and noisemaking? If they do not stop, the Long Lake Pack will stop it for them, but I prefer that they agree to stop. I know very well that if the pack has to interfere, there will be bloodshed.
Daine looked at the other wolves of the pack. They nodded, like humans, in agreement. They would support Brokefang in the most unwolflike plan she had ever heard in her life. Where had they got such ideas?
Will you help us? asked Brokefang again.
Daine took a deep breath. ‘You’re my pack, aren’t you? I’ll do my best. I can’t promise they’ll listen to me, but I’ll try.’
Good, Brokefang replied. He padded to the cave’s mouth and gave the air a sniff. The breeze smelled of grazing deer just over the hill. Looking at Daine, he said, Now we must hunt. We will come back when we have fed.
They left as Daine was translating his words. She followed them to the cave mouth, to watch as they vanished into the rain. It was getting dark. Behind her was a clatter as Numair unpacked the cooking things. Thinking about the pack and about her time with them, she was caught up in a surge of memory.
The bandit guard was upwind of a wolf once called Daine. The night air carried his reek to her: unwashed man, old blood, sour wine. Her nose flared at the stench. She covered it with her free hand. The other clutched a dagger, the last human item she remembered how to use.
He did something with his hands as he stood with his back towards her. She slunk closer, ignoring the snow under her bare feet and the freezing air on her bare arms. Forest sounds covered the little noise she made, though he would not have heard if she’d shouted. He was drunk. They all were, too drunk to remember the first two shifts of guards had not returned.
She tensed to jump. Something made him turn. Now she saw what he’d been doing: there was a wheel of cheese in one hand, a dagger in the other, and a wedge of cheese in his mouth. She also saw his necklace, the amber beads her mother had worn every day of her life. She leaped, and felt a white-hot line of pain along her ribs. He’d stabbed her with his knife.
Brokefang found her. She had dragged herself under a bush and was trying to lick the cut in her side. The wolf performed this office for her.
It is dawn, he said. What must be done now?
We finish them, she told him, fists clenched tight. We finish them all.
‘I think I know why Brokefang changed so much,’ she said. ‘I mean, animals learn things from me, and probably that’s how most of the pack got so smart, but Brokefang’s even smarter. I got hurt, when we were after those bandits, and he licked the cut clean.’
‘It’s a valid assumption,’ agreed Numair. ‘There are cases of magically gifted humans who were able to impart their abilities to non-human companions. For example, there is Boazan the Sun Dancer, whose eagle Thati could speak ten languages after she drank his tears. And—’
‘Numair,’ she said warningly. Experience had taught her that if she let him begin to list examples, he would not return to the real world for hours.
He grinned, for all the world like one of her stableboy or Rider friends instead of the greatest wizard in Tortall. He had begun to cook supper: a pot of cut-up roots already simmered on the fire. Daine sat next to him and began to slice chunks from a ham they had brought in their packs. Kitten waddled over to help, or at least to eat the rind that Daine cut from the meat.
—This is very nice,— a rough voice said in their minds. —Cozy, especially on a rainy afternoon.—
They twisted to look at the cave entrance. It shone with a silvery light that appeared to come from the animal standing there. The badger waddled in, the light fading around his body. He stopped at a polite distance from their fire and shook himself, water flying everywhere from his long, heavy coat.
Daine fingered the silver claw he had once given her. She liked badgers, and her mysterious adviser was a very handsome one. Big for his kind, he was over a yard in length, with a tail a foot long. He weighed at least fifty pounds, and it appeared he could stow a tremendous amount of water in his fur.
When he finished shaking, he trundled over to the fire, standing between Daine and Numair. Seated as Daine was, she and the badger were nearly eye to eye. She was so close that she couldn’t escape his thick, musky odour.
‘Daine, is this—?’ Numair sounded nervous.
The badger looked at him, eyes coldly intelligent. —I told her father I would keep an eye on her. So you are her teacher. She tells me a great deal about you, when I visit her.—
‘May I ask you something?’ the mage enquired.
—I am an immortal, the first male creature of my kind. The male badger god, if you like. That is what you wished to ask, is it not?—
‘Yes, and I thank you,’ Numair said hesitantly. ‘I – thought I had shielded my mind from any kind of magical reading or probe—’
—Perhaps that works with mortal wizards,— the badger replied. —Perhaps it works with lesser immortals, such as Stormwings. I am neither.—
Numair blushed deeply, and Daine hid a grin behind one hand. She doubted that anyone had spoken that way to Numair in a long time. She was used to it. The badger had first appeared in a dream to give her advice sixteen months ago, on her journey to Tortall, and she had dreamed of him often since.
‘Another question, then,’ the mage said doggedly. ‘Since I have the opportunity to ask. You can resolve a number of academic debates, actually.’
—Ask.— There was a studied patience in the badger’s voice.
‘The inhabitants of the Divine Realms are called by men “immortals,” but the term itself isn’t entirely accurate. I know that unless they are killed in some accident or by deliberate intent, creatures such as Stormwings, spidrens, and so on will live forever. They don’t age, either. But how are they “lesser immortals” compared to you, or to the other gods?’
—They are ‘lesser’ because they can be slain,— was the reply. —I can no more be killed than can Mithros, or the Goddess, or the other gods worshipped by two-leggers. ‘Immortals’ is the most fitting term to use. It is not particularly correct, but it is the best you two-leggers can manage.—
Having made Numair speechless, the badger went on. —Now, on to your teaching. It is well enough, but you have not shown her where to take her next step. I am surprised. For a mortal, your grasp of wild magic normally is good.—
Numair looked down his long nose at the guest who called his learning into question. ‘If you feel I have omitted something, by all means, enlighten us.’
The badger sneezed. It seemed to be his way of laughing. —Daine, if you try, you can learn to enter the mind of a mortal animal. You can use their eyes as you would your own, or their ears, or their noses.—
Daine frowned, trying to understand. ‘How? When you said I could hear and call animals, it was part of something I knew how to do. This isn’t.’
—Make your mind like that of the animal you join,— he told her. —Think like that animal does, until you become one. You may be quite surprised by what results in the end.—
It sounded odd, but she knew better than to say as much. She had questioned him once, and he had flattened her with one swipe of his paw. ‘I’ll try.’
—Do better than try. Where is the young dragon?—
Kitten had been watching from the other side of the fire. Now she came to sit with the badger, holding a clump of his fur in one small paw. She had a great deal to say in her vocabulary of chirps, whistles, clicks, and trills. He listened as if it meant something, and when she was done, waddled over to talk with Cloud and the horses. At last he returned to the fire, where Daine and Numair had waited politely for him to end his private conversations.
—I must go back to my home sett,— he announced. —Things in the Divine Realms have been hectic since the protective wall was breached and the lesser immortals were released into your world.—
‘Do you know who did it?’ asked Numair quickly. ‘We’ve been searching for the culprit for two years now.’
—Why in the name of the Lady of Beasts would I know something like that?— was the growled reply. —I have more than enough to do in mortal realms simply with keeping an eye on her.—
‘Don’t be angry,’ Daine pleaded. ‘He thought you might know, since you know so much already.’
—You are a good kit.— The badger rubbed his head against her knee. Touched by this sign of affection, Daine hugged him, burying her fingers in his shaggy coat. To Numair he added, —And I am not angry with you, mortal. I cannot be angry with one who has guarded my young friend so well. Let me go, Daine. I have to return to my sett.—
She obeyed. He walked towards the cave’s mouth, silver light enclosing him in a globe. At its brightest, the light flared, then vanished. He was gone.
‘Well,’ said Numair. She thought he might add something, but instead he busied himself with stirring the vegetables.
Suddenly she remembered a question she had wanted to ask. ‘I think he puts a magic on me,’ she complained.
‘How so?’
‘Every time I see him, I mean to ask who my da is, and every time I forget! And he’s the only one who can tell me, too, drat him.’
Kitten gave a trill, her slit-pupilled eyes concerned.
‘I’m all right, Kit,’ the girl said, and sighed. ‘It’s not fair, though.’
Numair chuckled. ‘Somehow I doubt the badger is interested in what’s fair.’
She had to smile, even if her smile was one-sided. She knew he was right.
‘Speaking of what is fair, what do you think of the advice he gave you, about becoming a magical symbiote?’
Most of the time she was glad that he spoke to her as he would to a fellow scholar, instead of talking down to her. Just now, though, her head was reeling from Brokefang’s news and the badger’s arrival. ‘A magical sym – sym – whatsits?’
‘Symbiote,’ he replied. ‘They are creatures that live off other creatures, but not destructively, as parasites do. An example might be the bird who rides on a bison, picking insects from the beast’s coat.’
‘Oh. I don’t know what I think of it. I never tried it.’
‘Now would be a good time,’ he said helpfully. ‘The vegetables will take a while to cook. Why not try it with Cloud?’
Daine looked around until she saw the mare, still at the rear of the cave with Mangle and Spots. ‘Cloud, can I?’
‘Cloud, may I,’ the man corrected.
You can or you may. I don’t know if it will help, said the mare.
The girl went to sit near the pony, while Mangle and Spots ventured outside to graze again. Numair began to get out the ingredients for campfire bread as Kitten watched with interest.
‘Don’t let him stir the dough too long,’ Daine ordered the dragon. ‘It cooks up hard when he forgets.’ Kitten chirped as Numair glared across the cave at his young pupil.
The girl closed her eyes. Breathing slowly, she reached deep inside to find the pool of copper light that was her wild magic. Calling a thread of fire from that pool, she reached for Cloud, and tried to bind their minds with it.
Cloud whinnied, breaking the girl’s concentration. That hurt, the mare snapped. If it’s going to hurt, I won’t do it! Try it with less magic.
Shutting her eyes, Daine obeyed. This time she used a drop of copper fire, thinking to glue her mind to Cloud’s. The mare broke contact the minute Daine’s fire touched hers. Daine tried it a second, and a third time, without success.
It’s the same kind of magic, she told Cloud, frustrated. It’s not any different from what’s in you.
It hurts, retorted the pony. If that badger knew this would hurt and told you to try it anyway, I will tell him a few things the next time he visits.
I don’t do it a-purpose, argued Daine. How can I do it without paining you?
Without the fire, Cloud suggested. You don’t need it to talk to us, or to listen. Why should you need it now?
Daine bit a thumbnail. Cloud was right. She only used the fire of her magic when she was tired, or when she had to do something hard. She was tired now, and the smell of cooking ham had filled her nostrils. ‘Let’s try again tomorrow,’ she said aloud. ‘My head aches.’
‘Come and eat,’ called Numair. ‘You’ve been at it nearly an hour.’
Daine went to the fire, Cloud following. Digging in her pack, the girl gave the pony a carrot before she sat. Numair handed over a bowl of mildly spiced vegetables and cooked ham. Kitten climbed into the girl’s lap, forcing Daine to arrange her arms around the dragon as she ate. Between mouthfuls she explained what had taken place.
Cloud listened, nibbling the carrot as her ears flicked back and forth. When Daine finished, the mare suggested, Perhaps I am the wrong one to try with.
‘Who, then, Cloud?’ Daine asked. ‘I’ve known you longer than anybody.’ She yawned. The experiment, even though it hadn’t worked, had worn her out.
But I am a grazer – you are a hunter. Why not try with a hunter? It may be easier to do this first with wolves. You are practically a wolf as it is.
‘And if I forget I’m human?’
(‘I wish I could hear both sides of this conversation,’ Numair confided softly to Kitten. ‘I feel so left out, sometimes.’)
The man said you won’t, replied Cloud. He should know. Brokefang is part of you already. Ask the stork-man. He will tell you I am right.
