Legends of the Saloli: Vengeance and Mercy (15 page)

Blaze felt a chill run down his spine. “Why not?”

“I can’t even look at him, Blaze. Every time I see him, all I can think of is Newthorn. It’s too much! I can’t do it.”

Blaze couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Smallthorn, pull yourself together! You are Springthorn’s father. You love him. Are you really just going to hand him over to a band of outsiders?” Tears streaming down his cheeks, Smallthorn nodded. “No,” Blaze insisted, fury welling up inside of himself now, “I won’t let you!”

“Blaze,” Faith said, coming to stand beside him, “It isn’t your decision.”

“But- but…” Blaze stuttered, “You can’t seriously think this is a good idea?”

“What I think doesn’t matter,” Faith advised him, “Smallthorn is Springthorn’s father. It is his decision, and his alone.”

“Smallthorn…” Blaze said, turning back to his friend.

“Blaze, this will bring peace between Icefire and NoTribe.” Smallthorn said before his friend could speak any further, “You know we can’t fight them by ourselves, especially not when we’re fighting Darkcover too. It hurts me to give them Springthorn, but I know that it’ll hurt you far worse to give them Sunbeam.”

“But I…”

“No. This is the way it has to be. Please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

Without another word, Smallthorn walked around Blaze, Springthorn following directly behind. It took all of Blaze’s strength to keep from grabbing the child in his teeth and running away with him. There was no way this could be right! Still, what Faith had said was true. It wasn’t Blaze’s decision. He could only watch as Smallthorn approached Specter.

“His name is Springthorn,” he told the albino, “I will give him to you to take as your own son if you promise me you will raise him well.”

Specter sneered, “What makes you think that I want someone else’s child?”

“Because you said you wanted a son. You only needed a mate to give you one. If I give you Springthorn, you won’t need to take Sunbeam. I hope I’m right in thinking that you don’t really want a war any more than we do. Take my offer, and you’ll get what you want, and nobody will have to die.”

Specter looked at Smallthorn with something between admiration and bewilderment. “Why?” He asked, “Why would you be willing to give me your own son for someone else’s sake?”

“Because one life is not worth the lives of hundreds of others,” Smallthorn replied, and a fresh wave of tears cascaded down his face. “I don’t like doing this, but I will if it means that my tribe will live on.”

Specter seemed slightly unnerved by this. Instead of speaking to Smallthorn any further, he turned to look at Springthorn. “Come here, child.” He ordered.

Slowly and tentatively, Springthorn came to stand before NoTribe’s chief. Looking at him, Blaze realized that Springthorn was no longer a baby. In fact, he was very close to being old enough to become a trainee.

“Who’re you?” Springthorn asked.

Specter did not answer, only looked all over Springthorn, evaluating him. Finally, he looked back at Smallthorn.

“Very well, then. I will take him.” He turned back to Springthorn, “But the name Springthorn will not do. It reeks of tribal customs. From this day forth this child’s name is Fury, because I will teach him to hate the four tribes in this forest like I do.” He looked up, sending a mocking grin towards Rust. “Who knows? He may even be the one to finally bring your flawed society falling down.”

“Do I have your word that he will be raised well?” Smallthorn demanded, ignoring the insult that had just been thrown.

“I am the chief of NoTribe,” Specter answered, “He will be given every luxury that I am given, though it isn’t nearly as much as you spoiled tribe saloli are used to. In the end, he will grow up to be three times as strong as any of you, just like all NoTribe saloli are.”

Smallthorn hung his head, “Very well.” Coming to stand by his son’s side, he looked down on his son for what may have been the last time. “Springthorn, you need to go with this saloli.”

“Why?” Springthorn asked.

“Why isn’t important. Just go with him.”

“When will I come back?”

“I… I don’t know.” Smallthorn answered.

“Okay, daddy!” Springthorn agreed, smiling with delight at the thought of meeting someone new. He quickly brushed his cheek with his father’s, the final display of love that he would ever give to his father, and turned to face Specter once more. “Where are we going?”

For the first time that day, Specter’s face spread into a real smile, not mocking or cocky, but genuinely happy.

“You’ll see soon,” he promised. “Follow me.”

At a swish of his tail, NoTribe turned and ran out of Icefire’s camp. Specter turned and walked away slowly so that Springthorn could keep up with him.

No,
Blaze thought,
Not Springthorn. Not anymore. His name is Fury now.

Without a word spoken out loud, Blaze sent a prayer to Valde Abbas, begging him to watch over the innocent child in the nonbelieving tribe.

Don’t let him forget where he came from, or who he lives for
.

Once they were out of view, Smallthorn turned and slowly walked back to the Common’s Tree, head hung and tail dragging on the ground behind him. Some of Icefire were looking at him with pity, others with disgust, and still others with admiration for doing what he did.

“Faith,” Blaze said, turning to face the prophet, “How could you let him do that? Springthorn was the only family Smallthorn had left!”

“Because it was the will of Valde Abbas.” Faith said, simply.

“But why? Why would he ever want Smallthorn to do something that hurt him so much?”

Faith looked Blaze in the eye, “Because,” she said, “Valde Abbas has a plan, and that plan sometimes calls for us to sacrifice what is most important to us for the good of others. Earthly happiness is seldom worth fighting for, because it will always go away sooner or later. The only thing on earth that is worth ending lives for is love. Always remember that, Blaze.”

Without another word, Faith turned and walked away, leaving Blaze to think about what she had said. Love is the only thing worth fighting for? It couldn’t be true. Yet, at the same time, it made sense. Blaze fought Darkcover because he loved his tribe, his friends, and Sunbeam. Goliath killed because he wanted power, and loved no one. Nodding to himself, Blaze understood the difference between himself and Darkcover’s chief. Blaze hated killing, but did it because he had to protect his tribe. Goliath loved to take lives, and would do so simply because it made him feel superior. What greater power was there on earth than the ability to end a life? Killing, Blaze surmised, must make Goliath feel as if he were Valde Abbas himself.

Chapter Twenty Six

Despite the previous day’s miserable events, Blaze couldn’t help but feel happy at the thought of what tomorrow would bring. His heart soared every time he looked at Sunbeam. He could hardly comprehend the idea that she would soon be his mate, his to love from then until the day he died. When he closed his eyes, he would see her beautiful face before him, her fur golden as the sunlight she was named for. Her soft, soothing voice would whisper imaginary words into his ear, causing his heart to beat as if it wanted to crawl out of his chest.

For now, though, he was forced to keep reminding himself, he had work to do. As the Sword, it was his duty to further the efforts made by the other saloli to keep Icefire safe. For every patrol that was sent out, Blaze would make the rounds twice. If something was reported as out of the ordinary, he would be the first to arrive and straighten it out. He wasn’t sure if the actions he took did anything to protect his tribe, but he felt as if he needed to do something, or else he would be neglecting the responsibilities given to him by Valde Abbas.

It was nearing noon, and Blaze was returning from a lone patrol once again. Not a single Darkcover saloli had been sighted after the attack on their camp, but this did not inspire peace within Icefire’s ranks. They knew now, more than ever before, what they were involved in. To see Goliath’s brutality firsthand confirmed their situation more than anything else could have. There would be no truce, no surrender. The only way this would ever end was utter destruction of one tribe or the other. Still, hope prevailed. After all, they had the Sword.

“Blaze!” Blaze turned to see Faith coming his way, Ink right behind her.

“Yes?” he asked. Despite his new status, there was no saloli in Icefire he trusted and admired more than the prophet.

“With everything that’s been happening lately,” she told him, “I think it’s time to finally reveal the existence of the hidden tribe. They may be willing to help us in our fight. You should start with Ink, since she has the closest connection to them.”

For a moment, Blaze was confused. Hidden tribe? Did she mean NoTribe? They weren’t hidden anymore. And what connection did Ink have to them? Ink was his former trainee, Scratch’s, twin sister. Instantly, understanding filled Blaze’s head. Without another word, he nodded to the prophet and motioned for Ink to follow him.

Blaze led the trainee out of camp, halfway to the Groundsky border. It was wrong that she was still a trainee. Scratch had been ready to be promoted a month ago, and the only reason Ink was not as well was because her mentor, Smallthorn, had been neglecting her in the wake of all the tragedy that had befallen him. Not that Blaze blamed him, but good reasoning didn’t help Ink. She was full grown now. It must be humiliating for her to have to sleep in the same tree as the tribe’s children.

Blaze turned to face her, but she spoke before he could, “You don’t have to tell me, Blaze. I’ve already figured it out.”

Blaze must have looked confused, because she continued, unbidden, “I worked it out in my head. Rust talking about how Scratch has strange powers, and then his sudden disappearance. Then Faith begins talking about the Black Legion.” She looked Blaze in the eye, “Scratch is in HeartTribe, isn’t he?”

Blaze was shocked by Ink’s perception. She had figured this out all on her own? Incredible.

“Yes,” he answered, “Scratch is in HeartTribe now. They’ve been living very close to us for a long time, in this very forest. It’s always been a secret, but now Faith seems to think it’s time they were revealed.”

“I always knew something was different about Scratch.” Ink reflected, “I’ve been able to feel it. I can’t describe it; I could just tell he wasn’t like the other saloli. As if there was something he had that the other saloli didn’t. Or maybe it was the other way around.”

“You could feel it?” Blaze repeated, “Could you feel anything else?”

“Sometimes.” Ink admitted, “Sometimes I could tell whether he was happy or sad, and sometimes I could even tell why. That day you were attacked by Scarlet, I nearly had a nervous breakdown because of the fear Scratch was feeling.”

Blaze silently contemplated Ink’s words. Was it possible that she had special abilities like her brother? It was a possibility. He would have to speak to Faith about this.

“I don’t know if you know where they are,” Ink spoke up again, “But if you do, would you please tell them that I would like to visit him?”

Blaze did not know where HeartTribe lived, except that they were within this forest. Instead of telling Ink this, though, he nodded his head. It was not an unreasonable request. She would, naturally, miss her brother. If he could find HeartTribe, he would ask. And speaking of finding them…

“Ink, let’s keep the truth about HeartTribe to ourselves for now, okay?” he asked. She nodded, and Blaze motioned that she could leave. When she was out of sight, he began to contemplate what he had been thinking. If Faith wanted HeartTribe to be revealed, then he should really take it up with them before he did so. The fact still remained, though, that he had no idea where to find them. If he were determined to hide from someone on Icefire territory, where would he go? There was always the old fox cave. Unable to think of a better solution, he began to make his way towards it.

Ten minutes later, he stood outside the cave’s mouth. He remembered what had happened the last time he went in there, but reminded himself that Razor was now dead. Once again, he went inside.

“Hello?” he called, “Is anyone in here?”

Nobody answered. Blaze wasn’t surprised. HeartTribe would never choose such an obvious place for a hideout. Glancing at the wall, he spotted the drawing had glanced at before. Going closer, he looked at the sword. Why would a sword be drawn in this old cave? And who drew it?