A Country Stroll

Loam swung the ax hard and dug it into the old tree trunk that the kindling was piled near. Wiping his hands on his shanks, he walked over to the water trough and dunked his head. A fine spray was let loose as he shook his mane of silver hair. "I will not kill without cause Carradene. Even one such as he. I am...a wiser man than I once was. No, what I meant was that I know of him and his family. I know what they are like, and I believe that this Lord Fred may be of use to us."

"If he survives the next two nights without going wild," Carradene answered. "More and more of us it seems have joined the packs of the Forsaken."

*************************************************

'For an island, this land of were-men certainly is large,' thought Fred disconsolately. He had been searching for Alicia for over three hours. In all that time he had barely gotten a whiff of her. Or anybody else for that matter. Of course, he had no idea how many people actually lived on the island. It might just be a handful. Alicia and Loam had been fairly vague about that. But every now and then he had gotten the feeling that he was being shadowed, only to find nothing but autumn leaves and empty trails when he turned to look. Was it Alicia playing some game, or one of the others too frightened or embarrassed to introduce themselves plainly and openly? Or was it someone else with a much darker agenda?

Loam had said that they were all equals here. Fred had assumed that that also meant that they were all allies, maybe even friends. But he had been here for only a day and a half; there was too much he didn't know to make too many assumptions. He had to keep his eyes and ears open. 'They're not going to catch me by surprise,' he thought.

It was with profound shock and embarrassment that he found himself rolling down a long, sloping hill. Someone had jumped down from the trees above him and landed on his back. Their grip on him was tight as they rolled together like a barrel down the slope. When they reached the bottom, they smacked into a tree. "Oh, did I catch you cat- napping?" Alicia's very amused voice asked him when he skittered from their entangled limbs. He had prepared himself for a fight to the death. What he got was something worse. More of Alicia's laughter. She lay sprawled on the ground against the tree. And yet Fred knew that he was the one feeling awkward.

"Alicia!" Fred growled, his voice hot with anger. "I have been looking--"

"I know."

"For over three--"

"I know."

"And you think--"

"Yes I do."

"LET ME FINISH A SENTENCE!" he screamed in frustration.

Alicia looked up at him without saying a word, not even letting loose with a giggle. But the grin on her face said it all. Fred looked down at her and...and...and he couldn't think of a thing to say. Not one damn thing.

"That was one hell of a sentence, lover boy," Alicia quipped after waiting as long as she could.

"Stop calling me lover boy," Fred grumbled and reached down to help her to her feet.

"Hey, it's your idea not mine lov-- uh, Fred," she smiled and brushed the leaves out of her hair. "So now that you've finally found me...what do you want?" Her eyes twinkled as she waited for his answer.

Underneath Fred's red fur his face turned ever redder. "I, uh, that is..." He took a deep breath and began again. "I realize that I came on a bit strong this morning. That is the way of my people. We do what must be done before we consider what we would rather do. From highest to lowest we are pledged to serve the common good. But now I find myself here, where I do not know what the common good is, or who it serves. I apologize for my ignorance. But what I told you stands. If you reject my pledge, well, that is your right. I have no authority over you." He paused and thought that now would be the time to ask her out, but the thought of her laughing at his request made him hesitate. She was the one person that he never wanted to be laughed at by. But before he could ask her, Alicia spoke up instead.

"Well thanks for being so considerate." She smiled and then began walking through the open glade. Fred hrumphed and started after her. 'She's always making me chase her,' he thought. "Listen," Alicia said when he had reached her side, "every one here has gone through a great shock. A great change. We all do what we can to hold onto our pasts. And no one is expecting you to stop being you. But the one thing we've all learned here is that we need to come together as one, without reservation or special expectation, or else we won't be able to come together at all. Pride, arrogance, hate, fear...they will destroy us." Fred looked at her and saw for the first time a very serious, almost somber, expression on her face. "You sound like this has already happened," he said to her.

She looked at him and nodded, "It has. In the hills far from here are all those left alive that could not keep the animal out of their hearts, their minds. We call them the Forsaken. Not because we have turned our backs on them, rather it is they who have turned their backs on us and forsaken their own humanity in doing it. The animal feeds off of hate and fear and all the rest of it. And so they run off, less than human, but not just simple animals. A hungry wolf never kills out of hate. Even with a full belly, the things in those dark hills would rip your throat out if given the chance. They hate us most of all, because we remind them of what they have lost." With a shake of her head, she let go of her sad mood and began running along a small stream instead. She seemed most alive when she was running, Fred thought.

They spent the rest of the day talking and laughing and running and did not notice the setting sun or how far it had been that they had wandered. It was with a start that they came upon a dark shape in the dim light of a small clearing. They edged closer, wondering what it was, their sharp fox eyes unable to pierce the gloom. When they recognized it, they both stopped and stood perfectly still. It was a bear. A very, very big bear. Too big. "Forsaken," Alicia whispered. It had been in a terrible struggle, and had lost. Fred automatically reached for his sword and cursed when all he found was his own hairy pelt. He knew that whatever had killed this were-bear was probably still nearby. He knew that whatever had killed it would want to kill again if anyone came too near.

A throaty growl reached his ears before the huge shape of a blood covered wolf came leaping down upon them. Fred thought it odd, but he suddenly wished that Loam was here with them.

1. Forsake me not...

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