Warclaw (10 page)

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Warclaw woke up with a pounding headache. As he opened his eyes, he tried looking around but his vision was still blurry. The first bit of light his eyes had taken in had caused Warclaw to wince in pain. He shut his eyelids quickly before reopening them to his surroundings. He shook his head trying to get rid of the blurriness, but it wouldn’t go. As he put his front paws out in front of him to stand up, his balance was off and he fell back to the ground with a bump. As his hearing came back, he could hear the clunking of metal chains. He waited for a few minutes to make sure that his vision was clear. And when it was, what he saw shocked him. Looking down to his paws, he saw silver chains wrapped on them. When he got up, with his balance insured, he tried to move forward but he could feel something tugging at his back legs. All four of his paws had been tied with these chains and the thick metal chains were heavy. He looked up around him to see where he was and he saw that he was at the back of the cave. There was a hole to his left. Walking over to the hole, he felt the chains dragging behind him, pulling him back. When he got to the hole he looked out of it and as he scanned the area he realised that he was alone. There was no-wolf in the area.

Whilst he looked around outside, he heard some-wolf come up behind him. Turning around Warclaw looked at whom it was that had come to see him. He looked into the red eyes of the wolf in front of him and the wolf looked back into his eyes. “Why?” Warclaw asked confused.

“It’s simple really, Warclaw. We need you here because we want you to see the destruction of this land. Besides when they do find you, they will blame it all on you.”

“But how can they blame it on me if I am chained up like this?”

“Well don’t worry about that Warclaw, everything is in order.”

“But why would you want to blame it on me?”

“Because you have had all
that
power and have destroyed so many lives with it. So why should you continue, when some-wolf can make you have the comeuppance you deserve!” Warclaw stared blankly at the wolf in front of him. “Obviously you have been told wrong as that was not happened!” Warclaw shouted.

“Oh, you have a different side do you?”

“Can’t you see that you have been brainwashed?!” Warclaw shouted at Marko.

“I don’t know what you are on about Warclaw.” Marko plainly stated.

“Oh come on Marko. You’re supposed to be the smart wolf! Remember what we talked about earlier?!”

“We never talked earlier. How long do you think that you have been out for?” Marko laughed slyly. He knew he had one over Warclaw. Warclaw didn’t know how long he had been out. “How long have I been out?”

“You’ve been out for a few days.”

“Well, remember when you brought me here. About always wanting to know the answers? Well I can give you all of those answers. And remember the offer I made?” Warclaw felt like he was at the stage of begging for Marko to remember. “You only offered that because you wanted some-wolf to blame.”

“That was not the case Marko! You are better than all these wolves. You could be Alpha! Not some sidekick, who has to do all the dirty work, for some-wolf that doesn’t even care about his own son! You should be ruling the world or at least roaming free!” Warclaw shouted. “They do respect me!”

“Well then prove it to me!”

“And how do you propose I do that then?” Marko questioned.

“By you setting me free, telling the rest of the pack that it’s a mistake and that I am on your side.”

“How do I know that? How do I know that once I let you out of those chains, you won’t turn on me?”

“Well that’s a case of trust isn’t it?” Warclaw sighed, losing patience. Time was slipping away. “What about my father, Mathew?”

“Let me deal with him, Marko. Now are you going to set me free?” Marko walked forward towards Warclaw and undid his chains. Walking forward from the back of the cave, Warclaw looked over to Marko and spoke with kindness. “Thank you, now are you going to prove the pack wrong or not?” Marko nodded. “Good. Now let’s get going if we are going to catch up with them.” Marko nodded again. “You’re not saying much Marko.”

“Sorry Warclaw” Marko said deep in thought. “I just don’t know if killing my father is going to work.”

“Marko, if you don’t want to do this then that’s fine, but it would be better if you come with me just in case any-wolf comes back here and sees me gone. What are you going to do then?”

“I see where you are coming from. I’ll come, but when you and my father do fight then I don’t want to be anywhere near.”

“That’s fine.” Warclaw started to walk forward and out of the cave. ‘Well at least I got him on side. He’ll do as an ally for now.’

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Wren looked around him. All the wolves that surrounded him were fighting against wolves that he had never seen before. What was he thinking? It was obvious that Warclaw was going to send these wolves to fight for him. Warclaw’s too cowardly to face them alone. “Hey! You!” Wren shouted to a wolf that passed him. The wolf turned around. Wren noticed its blood red eyes. “Why are you working for Warclaw?”

“We aren’t!” Then the wolf ran off to fight a wolf that had just killed one of theirs.

“What was he on about? ‘We aren’t’? So who are they working for?” Wren said to himself quietly before running off into another fight.

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Warclaw and Marko ran down the beach as fast as they could, heading in the direction of Wayland. As they ran, sand flew up behind them creating a small sandstorm. With the sea rustling quietly to their left, they were closing the distance between them and the pack. Over to the horizon, the sun was slowly falling down behind the sea and as it fell, they could hear the cries of wolves dying slow miserable deaths. “We better hurry.” Warclaw said distressed. Both Marko and Warclaw could hear the cries of the wolves in the sunset. The sunset looked like blood spilling itself over the land. Marko shivered as he realised by putting Warclaw in the heavy metal chains, he had doomed both his pack and Warclaw’s pack.

It was night time before they got to the packs. As they walked, they noticed that there was blood everywhere. But as they walked around they saw none of Warclaw’s pack, but only Marko’s pack. His pack littered the floor. As they both walked around the den, Marko looked down to the wolves he knew and had once loved. “Why hasn’t any of your pack died Warclaw?” Warclaw turned round and looked over to Marko. “I don’t know. It might be because my pack was simply stronger than yours.” They continued walking through the bodies that littered the ground below them. Warclaw walked round the corner when he noticed more bodies littering the floor. “Hey Marko, you might want to come over here.” Marko walked over to Warclaw. “Oh. My. High. Alpha.” Marko was shocked at what he saw. Bodies were laid on the floor as far as the eye could see. Warclaw walked up to one that was near him and noticed that it was one of his. The wolf was fairly young.

“Hey Marko, I think I just found my pack!” Walking over to Warclaw, Marko looked down on the floor and saw the wolf Warclaw was looking at. “So I am guessing that this wolf was one of yours?”

“Yeah it was. I can’t remember who though.” Warclaw said slightly concerned. “I can’t see your father anywhere Marko.” Warclaw was more concerned this time. “Well we shall have to keep looking for him.”

“Okay, we may as well start looking now.” They looked at each other and Marko nodded to Warclaw and spoke with calmness “Agreed.” Walking forward, they started walking towards the horizon checking each dead body that they walked past.

After some time, they came across six dead wolves. These were the last wolves to have died in what looked like a death war. Warclaw looked down to the first wolf and noticed that it was one of his. Walking passed the wolf; he looked at the next wolf and noticed that the wolf was one of Marko’s. Looking at the eyes of the wolf, he saw that the eyes were not a red colour but a brown colour. ‘Why were all their eyes red when they were alive and now are back to their original colour when they are dead? It must have something to do with the crystal.’ Warclaw thought to himself. Looking over to Marko, Warclaw looked at his eyes and saw that they were a blue colour. “Warclaw, come over here. I found him.” There was sadness in his voice. Warclaw walked over to where Marko was. Looking down to the ground, he saw that this wolf looked old and drained. And to be honest it looked like he had had a horrible death. Warclaw felt sorry for Marko, as he had to see his father like this. “Sorry Marko.” Warclaw said sympathetically. He patted him on the shoulder and walked to the other wolves that were on the floor. “He wasn’t as bad as you think he was Warclaw. My father was great once, but that stupid Atlas Crystal corrupted him and then it just went cold. We all became so empty. I knew I had to do something but I couldn’t. It felt as if I was being restrained. I found a way around the barrier though and I pushed past it. I managed to find you, although my father had ordered me to come and get you anyway. Why did it do this? Make us all mad?” Marko questioned.

“Marko remember when I said to you when we were walking down that beach that there are some things that you cannot understand, will not understand? Well this is one of those answers you don’t want to find out or know.” Warclaw plainly stated. He had spoken with the upmost command in his voice. “Fine but still, it wasn’t nice.” Marko shivered. “What now then, Warclaw?”

“Well by the looks of it, none of your pack has survived, whereas the majority of mine has. I’ve seen hardly any of my pack lying dead on the ground, so I think it’s a case of going to Meg Mell to look for them. I need to know how many of them have survived. So you can either stay here or come with me to Meg Mell, Marko. It’s up to you.” Warclaw went to walk off when Marko spoke quite timidly to him. “Can we at least dig a hole and bury him? Seeing as he is my father, could you do that, please? I know you did it with Willow so could you? Please?”

“Yes I did it with Willow but that was different but if it what you want then yes I will.” Warclaw walked up to the lifeless body of Mathew. He picked it up gently with his teeth behind the shoulders, before moving it over to somewhere where it was clear of the littered wolves. Placing Mathew gently down on the floor, Marko started to dig a hole. After placing him down on the ground, Warclaw walked over to Marko and helped him dig down into the earth.

When the hole was finally deep enough to fit Mathew in, Warclaw went over to the body and picked it up. He then carried it over to the hole before dropping Mathew into it. Warclaw walked into the trees to let Marko have some time alone with his desist father. Warclaw came back a few minutes later, and as Marko said his final goodbye, Warclaw started to cover the body with dirt before walking away. This was an end of an era for Marko. His father and pack were dead and now he was all alone. Marko walked next to Warclaw. It looked like he was going to have to take up on Warclaw’s offer and join him. What choice did he have? He had nothing to go back to or any-wolf to help him except Warclaw. “Warclaw is it okay if I take up that offer? You know when we were walking to Manto the other day? Do you mind if I take it up now and join you?” Warclaw looked at Marko and smiled. Being happy was now something Warclaw enjoyed and he was sure that having Marko as a disposable asset was a big advantage if he ever had one. “Sure Marko. Welcome to freedom.” Warclaw said happily.

Warclaw’s plan had started to take shape now. Warclaw had decided on the best way to get rid of his pack, but unknowingly to Marko, he was going to be the bait for Warclaw’s master plan. Marko still believed that Warclaw was pleasant and that he would never harm him but that was not the case. No, in fact Warclaw only thought about protecting himself and looking after himself. Marko was going to have to come up with a good plan if he wanted to survive and live a lot longer than Warclaw. But for the mean time there was peace in the land. Or so it was thought…

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“Where the hell did those wolves come from?” Wren shouted.

“I don’t know Wren. I honestly don’t!”

“Well they aren’t working for Warclaw. I asked one of them.” Wren huffed annoyed. “Well I am sure we’ll have something soon Wren.” Will said empathetically. There was movement behind them. Will turned around and looked towards the movement. The bush rustled and then it stopped. “Come out!” Wren shouted. There was more movement. “NOW!” Wren shouted again but louder. Slowly a wolf came out from behind the bushes. “Quicker.” The wolf picked up pace and kept their head hung low. “Wibeke?” He asked confused. There was silence. The wolf slowly raised its head. Their body was weak and their fur was covered with bits of bush and dried blood. Wren walked up to the wolf and looked into its eyes. “What happened, Wibeke?” Wren instantly knew who this was. He could tell by her weakened posture and her eyes. “Where have you been?” Wren embraced her in a hug and then stood back to look at her. “Are you hurt? Have you eaten?” Each time a question was asked Wibeke said nothing. She was ashamed to have left the pack like that. It was wrong of her to do such a horrible thing. “Wibeke say something?”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was just as weak as her body. Wibeke’s body started to sway from one side to the other before finally falling onto Wren. Seeing that Wibeke was going to fall to the ground, Wren ran up to Wibeke and caught her just before she fell to the floor. She lay across his back and he then gently rested her against a rock, before lying in front of her. “Why are you sorry?” Wibeke didn’t say anything. Walking up behind Wren, Will gently placed his paw upon his back before saying, “Wren let her rest.” Will advised. Nodding his head, Wren pulled Wibeke over his back and took her to where she could rest. She looked torn and broken. It broke his heart seeing her like this. The row they had had days ago had caused so much destruction to the pack as Wibeke was their leader and some-wolf that they could trust, but then she had just vanished into thin air. And now she was badly hurt and broken. As Warclaw had said, it was all down to Wren.