CHAPTER 2
Please read prologue and chapter 1 before reading this chapter.
When River was a pup, her father had been killed by a Black Creak wolf. She had felt so horrible sitting in a forest clearing, watching the evil wolf slice a final blow into her dad. Her body could not move, paralyzed by the frightening moment. The wolf had laughed evilly and thrown her father on the ground, howling in the moonlight and then padding away like it was nothing. She was left sitting in fear, crying hard as the warrior wolves around her fought the other Black Creak wolves.
That emotion was almost the same as what she had when she saw Hedge. Her eyes became wide with fear as she stared at his dark body, lying at the feet of several other wolves. She could not process what she was seeing. Hedge was just lying there. His deep wounds were bleeding, and he was not breathing.
Heads turned as Hummingbird sprinted to the gathered crowd. “What is this?!” he yelled, coming to a complete stop in the stained dirt. His eyes wandered across the body of Hedge, and his ears began to droop down. Thrush and Daisy, the two Betas’ of the pack, came over to comfort him. Even when they told him calming words to cheer him up, he still looked sad.
A small chatter began to form, and questions started being asked to Thistle, who had found Hedge on his hunting sweep.
“Where did you find him?” asked Sycamore. Thistle simply lowered his head and stared at the ground. He had also been close to Hedge, but not as close as River.
Pond stepped up and replied for him. “Near the old rotten-bark” she said. The old rotten bark was the place where prey was mostly found. It was a tall dead tree that had been hallowed out for decades by birds and insects.
Bronzewing, the healer wolf and taleteller, stepped forwards and picks up Hedge by his scruff. The old wolf had sorrow in his eyes and weak bones in his body as he dragged the former warrior to the healing stone. The healing stone was the large stone with a cave underneath it where Bronzewing restored wolves to good health. It was also the stone where lost warriors were placed for the next night, before being placed in the river flowing next to camp.
Saddened wolves went up to the body and said their words, as they kept their heads low and their tails wrapped around their tired legs. The moon was showing, and it would be time to sleep soon. Although River wanted to say her goodbyes to Hedge to badly, she could not bear to look at her old friend again.
The sky darkened and wolves started to finish their meals and pad towards their beds. River swallowed a bite of her half eaten sparrow and glared at it. She still couldn’t imagine that Hedge was gone. It was too much to think of. She got up and padded towards her den. Turning her head sideways, she glanced at Hedge, lying on the healing stone. Sorrow filled her eyes, and she continued on inside.
Her moss bedding was cold that night. On any other day it would probably be warm, but it wasn’t any other day. Her ears were almost deaf to the world as she went through her thoughts. Wolves don’t just die spontaneously. There is always a good reason, but River couldn’t think of one.
He could have been killed by a falling tree, she thought. No, his body would have been crushed. He could have been shot by a Tailless. Again, no. Tailless’s never came that far into the forest. The camp was deep in the heart of these woods, and Hedge was killed farther inside the woods.
As River thought, she barely noticed the things around her. Wolves that had been sleeping started to perk their heads up to an unusual sound. Thistle’s eyes opened to the sound too, and he nudged River with his paw.
“What’s that?” he asked. River slowly put her head up from the ground and listened for what he was asking about. At first she thought it was just the rushing water of the creak next to camp, but then she realized it was rain.
“It’s just rain. Go back to sleep.” She said as she lowered her head down. Thistle turned his head and stared at her as if she were crazy. “Did you bother to look at the rain?” he asked.
River tilted her head in confusion and turned her head to face the leaf opening. It was just regular rain, she thought. She turned her head to tell her brother he was crazy, when something fell in the corner of her eye. She turned her head once again to the rain, and looked closer. Her jaw dropped as she noticed that the rain was not clear, but gold.
She padded to the front of the den where a group of wolves were staring at the rain dumbfounded, and squeezed in between Pond and Sycamore. As she looked closer once more, she saw the rain really was a shinning gold.
She turned her head and looked across camp. Everything dripped gold rain. Puddles had formed in the damp grass, and the prey was soaking up some water too. Her eyes led her to the healing stone, where Hedge was laying. Wait a minute…Hedge wasn’t there! The healing stone was empty!
Where was Hedge?!?!
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