They all knew the story of Wolfbane’s winter. It was said that if the Evil One ever returned he would bring a terrible winter with him that would shroud the whole earth.
‘So that’s the work Morgra talked of,’ whispered Khaz disgustedly. ‘Stealing humans. Whatever else that cub killer’s done, she’s broken the oldest law.’
‘Then Morgra is trying to fulfil this legend,’ growled Palla, ‘that’s why she took the child.’
‘Stop this nonsense,’ cried Huttser angrily, ‘how do you know it has anything to do with a legend? With Morgra’s tastes, more likely than not she’s eaten it.’
‘They said there was no blood,’ growled Palla. ‘Perhaps it has something to do with us, Huttser. Perhaps that’s why she wanted—’
‘Stop it,’ growled Huttser, ‘if Morgra wants to fool with legends let her. At least it should take her mind off joining the pack. And one thing’s for sure. It’s made up my mind. I’ll drive her away myself if she comes back. Balkar or no Balkar.’
‘But now the humans will want our blood even more, Huttser,’ growled Khaz. ‘We should get far away from this place.’
‘We can’t, Khaz,’ said Palla immediately. ‘They are still too small to travel any real distance. We must lie low until the danger passes. We can’t go back to the cave now the dogs have found it, but at least there’s one boon. If we find a safe enough den, Morgra won’t be able to find us either.’
‘Very well, Palla,’ growled Huttser. ‘We’ll take them into the mountains and then look for another den, until it’s time to find them a Meeting Place, some proper spot in the sunshine for them to play and prepare themselves for their first hunt.’
The children had been fascinated with the news of a theft of a human child, but talk of their first hunt was far more exciting to the cubs. Fell suddenly lifted his head and let out a howl, and for a moment Huttser and the wolf pack grinned.
But suddenly Palla lifted her head too.
‘What is it, Palla?’ growled Huttser, seeing her expression.
‘Can’t you hear it?’
Huttser could hear nothing but it wasn’t long before he caught the scent. He had begun to sniff the air and Fell and Larka both started to do the same. In that moment the still air was woken again with a call. Palla’s tail rose, though not fully, for she had recognized the note.
‘I think it’s my brother Skop.’
The pack didn’t have to wait long to find out. Soon a male wolf came padding up the river bank. Larka and Fell wagged their tails excitedly as they spotted a wolf cub trailing wearily through the grass behind him.
‘Skop,’ cried Palla delightedly, for somehow his appearance had lifted the spectre of the hunt and of this strange legend too. ‘I thought it was you! It’s good to see you again.’
Skop was no bigger than his sister but he had the same strong, intelligent face. The little wolf with him was very handsome, with the beginnings of a true Dragga’s muzzle, though he looked rather nervous as he peered back at them..
‘Thank Fenris I’ve found you, Palla,’ growled Skop. ‘I’ve been hunting for suns and suns. I tried the old den, when I finally remembered where it was. But you’d gone.’
‘Humans have been hunting,’ growled Palla, ‘but where are you going, brother?’
‘North east,’ answered Skop gravely. ‘There’s a rebel pack there, Palla, hiding out near the mountains. They’re preparing to fight Morgra.’
‘Fight Morgra,’ growled Palla with surprise. The whole pack was listening intently now.
‘They’re led by a bold Drappa named Slavka. She has called for the free Varg to join a Greater Pack. To fight Morgra and the Balkar.’
‘A Greater Pack?’ growled Huttser.
‘What are rebels?’ Fell piped up suddenly.
Skop smiled down at the black cub. Skop was a brave wolf and though not a Dragga himself, he was a natural fighter.
‘Rebels are wolves that live free in the hills,’ he said cheerfully, ‘and fight for freedom and howl songs to the moon all summer long.’
Huttser was shaking his tail disapprovingly.
‘A Greater Pack, Skop?’ he snorted, ‘but I thought such ideas had died out long ago.’
‘These are strange times, Huttser. The rumours around our half-sister grow with each sun. Perhaps Slavka is right to call on us all to join her.’
‘But what should wolves have to do with a Greater Pack?’ growled Huttser. ‘Our size should be determined by our territories alone, and by the ties of family and blood. Freedom lies in the bonds of the pack, and the only true freedom runs with the Varg. That is the untameable spirit of the wolf. That is our birth right.’
The pack felt a thrill as Huttser used words spoken to them since their very earliest days as cubs. Skop too knew that the life of a pack was a thing determined by nature alone. A wolf pack’s size normally grew like its boundary, swelling or decreasing according to the amount of game to support a pack relying on it. When game was scarce the territory would have to grow and this naturally increased rivalries between neighbouring packs and competition for food.
‘But why do these rebels want to fight Morgra?’ asked Palla. ‘What is happening?’
Skop’s eyes suddenly grew grave, and they heard the grumble of early summer thunder in the heavens. It made the children’s bellies quiver and, as the pack looked up, they saw that above the castle, storm clouds were ribbing the sky.
‘Children,’ said Skop, nuzzling his young companion forward, ‘this is Kar. Why don’t you take him over there and play for a while.’
‘I don’t want to play,’ said Fell, dying to hear what Skop had to say, ‘it’s silly.’
‘Oh no,’ growled Skop, looking down at him wisely, ‘there’s nothing more serious than play.’
‘I won’t!’ snorted Fell.
Suddenly, Huttser leapt at Fell and grabbed him round the scruff of the neck. He meant it mostly in fun but the cub was not ready for it and, as Fell found he couldn’t escape, he felt a furious anger burning inside him and a pain that ran down his spine and made him feel sick. It was as though a shadow had just passed into him, a shadow of his father’s power. Huttser let go and he was smiling blithely, completely ignorant of what he had just done as Fell glared up at him resentfully.
‘Why don’t you share that hunting call I showed you, Kar?’ said Skop.
At this Fell turned jealously to Kar.
‘He doesn’t look like he’d know a hunting call,’ he scoffed, looking scornfully at the newcomer.
‘Stones are raw, they blunt my claw,’ said Kar straight away, ‘but words will never hurt me.’
Larka liked the look of the newcomer immediately. Kar liked Larka too, for her eyes were twinkling mischievously. Kar was about the same size as Larka and Fell, though his coat had the classic grey colouring of a wolf and he had a long, thoughtful muzzle like Huttser. He stood there, peering timidly between the two of them until Larka suddenly stepped up and touched his muzzle with her nose. The three of them trotted off to play.
It was only when Skop was sure the children were out of earshot that he swung round to address the pack again.
‘Things grow dangerous, Palla. The Night Hunters are crossing heedlessly into pack territories now, breaking Tratto’s Blessing wherever they go. They murdered Kar’s parents.’
‘Poor little thing,’ gasped Kipcha.
‘That’s why I brought him here. I don’t know what else to do with him.’
‘But why are they attacking?’ asked Khaz.
‘To spread hatred and fear among the free wolves. But they wanted the cub too. They took his brothers and sisters and it was only because he was playing beyond our Meeting Place that I managed to get him away at all.’
‘What does she really want with them?’ growled Huttser angrily. ‘It has nothing to do with a census, that’s for sure.’ Palla shuddered as she thought of how close her half-sister had come to the den and her own cubs that night.
‘The talk
gets darker and darker,’ said Skop, lowering his voice even further, ‘of the old evil and of the cult of Wolfbane.’
Bran looked up and they all thought of Morgra and this child. The legend had said that Wolfbane would return. Bran wished he knew what it all meant.
‘What of it?’ growled Huttser.
‘Think about it, Huttser, is not the Evil One said to feed on cubs?’
The pack shuddered as they listened, and now they all turned to look at the children. The three of them were chatting blithely together.
‘Skop,’ said Palla suddenly, ‘Morgra is around here somewhere. She tried to join our pack.’
Skop looked at his sister in amazement and his muzzle curled into a snarl.
‘And now this human too,’ said Kipcha. ‘This legend of the Man Varg.’
‘Hush, Kipcha,’ snapped Huttser immediately, but Skop’s ears were quivering.
‘I know about it already, Huttser,’ growled Skop, ‘word is spreading through the forests.’
‘If Morgra has taken a human child—’ said Huttser. But Skop interrupted him.
‘But I don’t think Morgra has stolen it,’ he said. ‘On my way here I heard a rumour. That a Dragga has taken the child.’
The pack looked at each other in bewilderment but Huttser seemed pleased.
‘I would believe anything of Morgra,’ he growled. ‘But I don’t think this has anything to do with a legend. Brassa says that a wolf with the Sight would steal a human. Even if Morgra did have the Sight she hasn’t taken this child. No. It’s just wolves hunting, that’s all.’
Again came a rumble of thunder, but this time it was more muted and as Palla’s eyes turned to the castle she saw the sky was clearing again. The storm had passed the valley by.
‘Come,’ said Huttser suddenly, as he saw the three cubs walking back towards them. ‘The dogs may come back. Skop, you’ll join us for a while, won’t you?’
Skop nodded and he picked up Kar.
‘But keep a keen eye,’ growled Huttser. ‘Tonight is the full moon.’
It was Kipcha who grabbed Fell in her jaws now, more carefully than Huttser had done and Palla went to pick up Larka, but Khaz stepped forward.
‘No, Palla. You’re tired. Let me.’
As Khaz approached the she-cub, she suddenly looked up at him.
‘Khaz?’ asked Larka softly. ‘Wolfbane and this Man Varg. Are they coming to gobble us up?’
Khaz smiled and shook his head reassuringly. He was looking at Kipcha and, as he saw her holding Fell, he suddenly wondered why he had never told the beautiful she-wolf how much he cared for her.
‘No, Larka. No one’s going to gobble you up. And if anything tries they’ll have to get through us first. For we will all give our lives to protect you. You are the future.’
Next to Huttser, Khaz had the strongest jaws in the pack, but as he bent to pick up Larka, so carefully did his teeth grasp her fur that the cub hardly felt a thing.
But suddenly Skop stopped and put down Kar again.
‘I’ve just thought,’ he cried, ‘this legend can’t have anything to do with your pack.’
‘Why not, Skop?’ growled Palla hopefully.
‘Because I remember now. The story always went that it could only happen in a place where some great crime or injustice had been committed.’
The pack seemed reassured, but Brassa suddenly looked away. There was a terror stirring in her eyes. And a secret too.
The pack had been travelling all day but, frightened of the humans now and their hunting dogs, had threaded slowly east through the forest, stopping often to rest the cubs, and now and then letting them walk along on their own. But at last the wolves had left the cover of the trees and begun to double back.
Though he knew the best spot for a den and a Meeting Place was by the river, Huttser didn’t want to take them anywhere near the cave until he was sure the dogs had gone, so they had taken a path towards the hills, as he had suggested. Evening found the wolves and their cubs high in the mountains. A mist had come down as the night thickened and they were padding along a winding mountain path. It climbed above a ravine, almost parallel with the castle. The ravine plunged towards the river below, and as they walked they heard the distant growl of thunder in the heavens. The storm seemed to be returning. As they thought of this legend and Morgra’s threat to return, their pace got quicker and quicker.
The river had swollen greatly in places as the snows in the high mountains melted, and it rumbled angrily far below. All around the wolf pack the air was sharp with rock and stone and the full moon had risen. They all thought of Morgra as they looked into its sallow face, and in the distance storm clouds began to gather. As the storm began to swell above them, flashes of electricity rippled through the sky, forking and branching through the heavy air and suddenly illuminating the valley in flashes of hard blue light. The wolves’ fur began to tingle with the energy pulsing about them.
The lightning suddenly lit up the castle ahead of them and Bran shuddered as he thought of the stories of Wolfbane living up there in the shape of a Grasht. This news of a Man Varg was already mingling in his mind with tales of Wolfbane and as he remembered Morgra’s blessing to them, and thought of the theft of a human cub, he felt a sickening churning in his stomach.
Around them jagged cliffs and craggy promontories butted from the mountain, among a welter of stranded trees and clinging scrub. In the night they began to take on strange and mysterious shapes. Here they would suddenly seem to see the shape of a wolf or a lynx, there the form of a bird in flight.
The wolves knew this country well. Lying in the Carpathian foothills, it was only an impression of the giant ravines and thunderous, pine-strewn gorges that rucked through Transylvania, growing into towering precipices as the Carpathians curled like a sleeping dragon across the country’s wide, flat plains. Normally the pack would have felt safe here, but they grew more and more nervous as the night and the mist and the coming storm fed their imaginations.
Huttser was leading them in single file and the air had grown strangely still as the mist furled about them. On the wolf pack went. Huttser was peering into the gloom when the lightning flashed again. There, on a ledge above him, stood Morgra.
She was holding a bleeding rabbit in her mouth and the moon was behind the old she-wolf, breaking through the and shimmer as the mist clung like smoke around her head. The she-wolf looked larger than when he had first met her and her eyes glittered savagely.
‘Morgra,’ snarled Huttser.
Kipcha put Fell down in the mud, nudging the cub behind her towards Khaz. Fell blinked up in horror at the strange she-wolf as Khaz put down Larka and stood towering over the children. Skop was trailing behind and as he put Kar down the young wolf tried to crawl under his legs. Fell and Larka were standing side by side now.
In the sky the storm was above them, yet beyond the edges of the cloud the night was still perfectly clear, glittering with starlight, and it seemed for a moment that the heavens had been split in two. They felt the first spatterings of rain on their muzzles and then, the thunder closing around them, the downpour began. Soon the wolf pack was drenched in the deluge and great streaks of livid blue lightning flashed in the sky.
‘I have come again, Huttser,’ cried Morgra, dropping the rabbit, ‘as I promised I would. I always keep my word. Where are you going with the little ones?’
Morgra’s voice was full of cunning as it rang out above them and Huttser gave a dangerous growl.
‘Trying to hide them from me perhaps?’ snorted Morgra, smiling at the threat. ‘It’s impossible, Huttser. I wield the powers of the Sight.’
‘We are not trying to hide,’ lied Huttser angrily. ‘The humans have been hunting and their dogs uncovered our den.’
‘Then let me help you. Against the humans and against the many dangers that face a pack in the wild. For I know much of Man. We shall be allies, you and I, and as an honoured member of your pack your poor, barren sister shall give you Wol
fbane’s protection and aid you to survive.’
Huttser’s eyes narrowed in disgust. He looked over to Palla, who had come up next to him, but he could see that she was confused by her sister’s presence and he turned back to Morgra.
‘You would help us against Man?’ he cried scornfully. ‘Yet you rouse their wrath by creeping through the night to steal their cubs. Where is it now, Morgra? Or are its little bones already whitening the earth to feed the crows?’
As soon as Huttser said it, Morgra’s angry eyes fixed on Palla.
‘What is he saying, sister?’ she snarled.
‘You deny you are a cub killer,’ answered Palla coldly.
‘Are you also denying that you stole it? A human child?’
‘A human child?’ gasped Morgra. ‘When did this happen?’ There was something in the she-wolf’s surprise, some ring of startled truth, that made Huttser wonder.
‘Tsarr,’ whispered Morgra suddenly, lifting her head to the skies. ‘That old fool Tsarr. But he found it sooner than I had imagined. The Marked One. It is the ancient verse. It is the legend of the Sight.’
The rain was stinging Morgra’s eyes and the storm seemed to have reached a fever pitch as rolls of thunder crashed against the clouds. Morgra broke from her thoughts.
‘Well, then,’ she whispered coldly, the rain whipping off her muzzle, ‘you have more need of me than you think, for dark forces are at work, Palla. Forces none of you can understand.’
‘We don’t need your aid, Morgra,’ cried Huttser. ‘We can deal with Man on our own. We just ask you to leave the pack in peace.’
‘Peace? And when Wolfbane comes again, Huttser, when the Evil One returns to summon the dead?’ Bran shivered.
‘What is she talking about?’ growled Palla. Huttser snarled.
‘These are stories to frighten cubs,’ he cried, ‘and my cubs have been frightened enough.’
‘Mamma,’ whispered Larka suddenly, shivering next to Fell, ‘tell her to go away, Mamma.’
‘Hush, Larka.’
Larka’s sudden terror had a quite startling effect on Morgra as she saw the cubs standing side by side in the moonlight.
‘Let me touch them,’ she snarled. ‘Let me smell them. I come to protect the cubs. To help them. To help them grow. Come here, children. Come to a mother worthy of the name.’ Palla could bear it no longer. She sprang forward, her paws splashing though the mud.