Chapter 3. The Rescue Mission

Being one of the chiefs of the white wolf clan came with many responsibilities. Making sure peace reigned in the town of Rim as well as acquiring adequate weaponry for the youths to train was the least of Janga’s duties. Brokering peace talks amongst the other three towns – Crom, Bram, and Tram – that made up the totality of the white wolf clan, which included liaising with the other chiefs, was almost too much of a feat for him.

He plied the other three towns every other day in order to meet with the other chiefs about the other three existing wolf clans and how they could all come together to make a unified front. About fifty years ago, to be exact, the wolf clan was just one large mass, until the moon goddess got it into her head to divide them into four clans. They were the white wolf clan, the gray wolf clan, the black wolf clan and the blue wolf clan. All the colors that characterized the moon.

The chiefs of the three other clans had argued some years ago, during one of their meetings, that the color black was not part of the colors of the moon and as such, that particular clan had to be disbanded and integrated into the other wolf clans. One of the mages, who was always in attendance during their meetings, had replied that even though black was not part of the color of the moon, it nevertheless dwelled high in the sky, surrounded by the darkness of the night, and as such that color was integral.

So the black wolf clan had remained.

Janga always transformed into his wolf in order to travel to the other clans for their many meetings. It was faster that way instead of going on horseback, but recently, it had taken its toll on him because he was not getting any younger. He had lived over two hundred and something years and even though the lifespan of a wolf was long – transcending far into five hundred years – he did not feel as sprightly as he once felt when he was still a youth.

Amongst all the myriad of Janga’s duties, the security of keeping Rim’s citizens safe, seemed the ultimate. Lately, it had not gone well. There had been strange sightings of humans from another world with ghostly faces. It was rumored these creatures had hawk-like nails that could ignite a fire inside the body of a wolf, and long canine teeth that were able to snap them in two. The implications of this was evident in the dead wolves strewn around in the woods every other day. It was getting increasingly worse and Janga was tired.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. When the daughter of the blue wolf clan turned up dead and a few days later, the son of the black wolf clan did as well, a pattern as well as a theory emerged. The chief’s kids were a target for the human-things. Perhaps Janga felt he was immune as well, he probably felt these human-things had feelings, or maybe it was just a coincidence.

Whatever the case was, it certainly did not prepare him for what happened when he left home that day. The thing – for that was what he called the human with sharp claws and teeth – had struck once again. This time, it was too close to home. It was his darling daughter, Tekenna, his last and only living legacy who had been snatched from him. When he heard the news, he did not know what to do or if he could even believe it.

They tried to keep him from going home, from being alone in order for the grief not to engulf him and probably turn him mad, but he had refused. Once everyone’s back was turned during the passing away ceremony for the dead wolves, he slipped away and walked home. He had refused to cry because he did not believe it, he would not believe it was true.

He paced in front of his house refusing to go in. He stared straight ahead at the path that led into the woods, and waited. Someone walked onto the pathway towards his house, and his lips stretched in a wide smile. He even barked out a laugh, but when the person took a turn that led to another path, his smile faltered, giving way to a scowl.

After about a few minutes, it looked like something crossed his mind as he craned his neck and cupped his hand behind his left ear. As if on cue, a bird chirped from one of the fig trees in his backyard, so he knew it was time for some tea. His smile widened and he waited once again. This time, he waited for Tekenna to call him in that chirpy voice of hers, exactly like a bird’s, to come inside and have his midday tea and snacks, but she didn’t. Everywhere was quiet.

He frowned and stood. This was very unlike her, unless maybe she was sleeping. He sighed and walked inside the house. His first port of call was the kitchen where he knew the stove would have been lit, warming up the atmosphere and certain parts of the house as well.

Disappointment licked at him when he found out it was empty. There was no water on the stove, neither was Tekenna anywhere to be seen. He frowned deeply, then began peeping into the three rooms that made up his cottage. One by one, they all turned up empty. At this time, he began to breathe deeply, taking great gulps of air through his mouth so as to furnish his lungs with more air, but by the time he had come from the backyard and did not see Tekenna, his chest began to heave.

He charged out of the house and raced to a dry spot at the corner of the pathway where he heaved up the contents of his bowels. Nothing came out because he had not tasted a morsel of food that day. Once he straightened, the gravity of what had just happened, slapped into him.

So it was true. Tekenna was the next victim. She had gone. Died by the hands of this human-thing. She had already been burned and he would never see her again, at least not in this lifetime. He would never experience any of her forehead kisses or her warm hugs that filled him with love and hope for a better tomorrow.

Tekenna had been a bright young enterprising wolf. All she had ever wanted to do was serve as a warrior for the white wolf clan under their leader, Keratin. She had always loved that boy and had never been shy in saying so. She told all and sundry he would be her mate, and when it was time for the ceremony and she found out she and Keratin were indeed mates, she had been beside herself with joy.

The mating ceremony had taken place shortly after, and against her father’s wishes, she and that Keratin lad had mated. Luckily for him, she had not yet moved into his cottage, nevertheless, they had been stuck at the hip ever since their bonding. Anywhere you saw Keratin, Tekenna was not far behind, and vice versa. He had told her to be careful and to stand down from her warrior duties, at least for the meantime, but Tekenna was adamant and stubborn as usual.

Now look at the steep price she had to pay because of it. He felt the first real tear slide down his cheeks but willed himself to stay in control. There would be no crying. He sat outside for a long time, way into the night, pondering on what he would do, how he would go about getting his vengeance, and who to exact his vengeance upon.

One thing was sure – someone had to pay.

Long after the sun came up, he came to the decision. He would hold Keratin for the death of Tekenna. He was the cause of this whole mess, the cause of Tekenna’s death. If she had not been with him, she would have still been alive. He sighed and got up, his back protesting badly. He stretched and a few bones that were displaced popped into place. As he turned to go into his cottage, voices railroaded him. They were coming from inside of him but they were jumbled and distorted at best. He knew why. He was upset and that was what usually happened.

He breathed in deeply and shed all his thoughts, focusing only on receiving messages from members of his clan.

He smiled as words sailed into his mind.

“Galieel, Keratin is missing, we can’t find him anywhere.”

“Have you checked the town hall? I know he’s in mourning, but he probably went to train the upcoming warriors.”

“No, I have not, but when I asked around, I was told he was seen racing into the woods.”

He was not being directly addressed, but as one of the chiefs, he could hear every word his people spoke. It afforded him the opportunity of knowing when they were in danger and if they needed help. While that in itself was a good thing, it was mostly a nuisance because most of what they spoke about was inane talk. But not this time. He listened carefully and decided to go to the town hall to see what all the ruckus was about.

***

They were hulking, fierce looking and stealthy. Most importantly, they were invisible. Lady Lucia had imbued them with an invisibility spell, such that no one could see them. Galieel, Verag, and Janga, the chief of Rim, were on a mission to rescue Keratin. He had reached out to them barely an hour ago saying he was alive, but he sounded weak. He had been kidnapped and was held hostage by the human-thing and did not know where he was. All the mages had come together and cast a location spell in order to find out where he was being kept.

Three men had volunteered, but the chief had told one to stand down, he wanted to take his place instead, and he did, much to the surprise of the other two. His reasons were twofold. First, he wanted to see this human-thing and kill it. And the second one, which he did not mention, was to kill Keratin himself.

A portal was opened and the three men stepped inside the golden halo cast by the mages. It lit up the otherwise dark horizon. With one last look behind them, they stepped inside and were enveloped by a blinding golden light. They all closed their eyes against the brightness. When next they opened them, everywhere was dark. They stood uncertainly trying to make sense of where they were. Janga put two fingers up indicating they should keep moving. As they walked, they noticed a red mist hung, like a large cloak, in the air, casting everything in red hues.

One look at the alien-looking place, and they knew they were no longer in Rim. It was stark and devoid of life and the atmosphere was hot and oppressive, especially the ground they were inching slowly across. It had large open crevices from which red steam seeped from, making it almost difficult for them to breath. As they walked, they were shocked when they encountered gigantic volcanoes, as far as their eyes could see. Some were larger than others, and had begun to spew out hot larva, while others were still festering.

Janga’s forehead creased as he looked around in awe. “This place… I’ve heard of it before, I just never believed in its existence,” he said to the other two telepathically.

“What is this strange place?” Galieel jumped away from a smoldering volcano that had just popped. Lava had almost landed on his feet.

“Be carefree here, lads, this place is a void, it doesn’t really exist.”

Verag snorted. “If it doesn’t exist, how are we here then?”

“Because it was called forth by powerful magic, the type that distorts and… poisons.”

He sensed they were about to ask further questions but he repressed a shudder. “No more! We cannot tarry, let’s look for Keratin and get him out.”

They kept walking forward and swinging their heads left and right. They noticed something that laced their insides with fear. The faster they walked, the faster larva exploded around them so they had to slow down. Not far in front, a barn suddenly appeared sitting in the middle of two particularly large volcanoes. Fortunately, they had not yet erupted.

“Be careful, now,” Janga sounded a note of warning. “Someone could be around watching, or worse still, these volcanoes could explode and we’d all be dead before we even get to see Keratin.”

“But, chief, what if as soon as we step through the door, these volcanoes become activated?” Galieel asked, warily eyeing them.

“Well, we’ll never know if we keep standing around.” Janga made to walk inside but Verag stopped him with his next telepathic words.

“I say two people go in and one person stays here to watch. If anything happens, I could always reach out to the two of you.” He shrugged and looked apologetically at Janga.

“I take it you want to stay here while Galieel and I go inside?”

Verag shrugged once again and smiled sheepishly. After a few seconds, it was settled, Janga and Galieel looked around before they both slipped inside. It took them a moment to adjust to the darkness once they got inside the barn. Once their eyes did, Janga decided it was time to communicate with Keratin.

“Where are you, Keratin? We are inside the barn.”

At first, there was no reply, and then Keratin’s voice sounded loudly in his mind. “Chief? That you?”

“We are in the barn now, how far are you?”

“Moon goddess above, I’m sorry, chief, but I can’t see anything, everywhere is dark.”

“We will look for you,” Janga sighed and he and Galieel surged forward.

Now, more than ever, they needed to be careful and at the same time, make haste. Galieel switched on the headlamp on his head and it provided a weak light in front of their path. The barn was massive, it was also acres and acres wide and long. It would take almost forever to search for Keratin. Whoever kidnapped him obviously created it this way so as to make it difficult, or near impossible for his rescuers.

They would definitely need help if they were all to come out of this alive. He closed his eyes and focused. “Lady Lucia, if you can hear me, we need your help. Keratin is stuck in an enormous void, and without a locator spell, we would not be able to save him, or ourselves, for that matter.”

There was no reply, but within seconds, a light appeared in front of them. At first it started out as minute, until it grew into a purple fist-sized glow. It glided forward, and they followed. For a full two good minutes, they kept following it until it stopped and surged to the ground. There, on the floor, Keratin sat. He was gagged and bound hand and foot.

His eyes widened as soon as he saw them, and then they took on a rounded look as he shook his head furtively. “I must warn you, chief, these bindings around my hands and feet have been spelled. I’m sure of it, so the moment you release me from them, I’m sure whoever captured me will appear, or something bad will happen.”

Galieel assured him they would be careful. They immediately cut the ropes around his hands and legs, but he could not stand straight as his legs were weak, so they stuck him in between them and supported him by snaking his hands on either side of their shoulders. Barely had they made their walked some feet, when Verag rushed in with a look of terror on his face.

“We can’t go out, the volcanoes have begun to erupt.”

Galieel snorted. “Surely, we can sidestep them, and-”

Verag shook his head, a look of fear snaking into his eyes. “All of them are erupting. We need another entrance now, or else-”

A great shuddering noise rent the air, and the barn began to shake violently. They looked at each other, fear and alarm, resplendent on their faces. They all backed away from the door. Janga and Galieel could not go fast because they had Keratin in between, so he got it out and threw it on the floor. Immediately, the barn lit up with a golden arc and they all stumbled inside, just them.

Lady Lucia had given Janga a white marble when coming through the golden arc the first time. He was to throw it onto the floor and the arc would reappear once again. The roof of the barn began to cave in as larva poured inside.

Janga fumbled with his pocket but it was difficult to bring out the marble seeing as Keratin was leaning heavily on him. After some furious seconds of fumbling as the whole roof of the barn caved in.