Sanctuary by E. Edgar Price
*****
Sarah yelped and crab-walked backwards in fright. Tyler jumped to his feet, backing away slowly. The thing had to be three times the size of any normal wolf. Its eyes glowed darkly green, glinting in the sunlight as it approached.
Grandpa didn’t move. He sat with his pack beside him on a rock. His wizened face was regarding the animal curiously, but, he didn’t look the least bit afraid. He addressed Tyler and Sarah briefly, telling them to be still and wait.
“What is your purpose in my forest, Keeper?” Tyler blinked. The rough voice came from the wolf.
“We have come to seek your aid, Left Paw,” Grandpa said formally. “If you will give it.”
“Wait—What?” Tyler couldn’t think straight. Neither his grandfather nor the wolf acknowledged him.
“What it your need?” the red wolf asked Grandpa.
“One of my grandchildren is missing,” Grandpa replied gravely. “We believe he ventured into the sanctuary of his own will, but we do not know where he is going or what he intends.”
“I am to seek this child?” Grandpa nodded at the wolf’s question. The beast was quiet for a moment, considering. His gaze traveled from Grandpa to Tyler and then to Sarah. “I will do as you ask,” he said, turning his attention back to Grandpa, “but I require something in return.”
The old man was tense and wary. His voice was deep and disapproving when he asked, “What is your request?”
Left Paw answered immediately. “Lift the boundary on this forest permanently.” The wolf looked keenly at Grandpa. “You will have to do so if you want me to find the child at any rate. I only ask that you do not reinstate it.”
Grandpa’s jaw was tight. Through gritted teeth he said, “You will still be bound by the laws of this sanctuary. That is not negotiable.” Reluctantly he added, “But I can give you the privilege to wander within sanctuary boundaries.”
“That is sufficient,” the wolf conceded. The red furred jaws moved imperceptibly, but the voice was clear.
Grandpa nodded curtly. The wolf sat down opposite Tyler. It stared steadily at him, but did not speak again. Grandpa turned back to Tyler and Sarah.
“This arrangement will do,” he said gruffly. The old man was clearly unhappy about it, though. He addressed Tyler sharply. “I’m not surprised your ‘friend’ never explained the extent of his curse to you. You’d do well to remember this lesson.” Tyler glared at his grandfather. Now was not the time to be patronizing. “I have to lift the boundary before Left Paw can help us,” Grandpa continued. He produced two jelly jars full of purple liquid from his pack. “It should only take a moment. You will be safe here, so stay put.” His last remark was directed to both teenagers.
Sarah looked as if she wanted to object, but she didn’t and Grandpa headed into the forest. She glanced at Tyler and then they both looked to the wolf. It was sitting perfectly still, but kept its eyes on them.
“You came out here in the middle of the night to see a wolf?” Sarah murmured her question.
Tyler shook his head. “No,” he said slowly. “The Left Paw I met was a man.”
Sarah watched him thoughtfully. “Did this man have a black left hand?” she gestured toward the motionless wolf.
At first, Tyler didn’t see why she’d asked such a question. Then he noticed that the wolf was deep russet everywhere except its left front paw. That was black. “His left hand and arm were always bound up, like he had an injury or deformity,” Tyler admitted slowly. He did not want to believe the hunter and the wolf were the same, it was too strange. Sarah raised her eyebrows at him. Tyler realized he was shaking his head in denial.
“So you’re the hunter,” He called across the clearing to the wolf, “the man called Left Paw I’ve seen?” Sarah appeared startled when he actually spoke to the wolf. How else did she think they would get answers?
“Yes,” the wolf said in his gravelly voice. He did not explain. Forest sounds filled the silence drawing out between them. “This is your sister?” Left Paw asked abruptly.
Tyler nodded but decided not to answer. Two could play the silent game, he thought resentfully. Unfortunately, his sister didn’t get the memo and replied in his stead.
“I’m Sarah,” she said. The beast inclined his body toward the ground in a wolfish version of a bow. “It’s our little brother we want you to find. His name is Benjamin, Benji,” she clarified. The wolf didn’t reply. Sarah glanced at Tyler questioningly and he shrugged. Left Paw wasn’t exactly talkative as a human. Apparently being a wolf made him less so.
How could Left Paw have left this part out? Somehow, the wolf before him (Tyler felt he understood the guy’s name a little better) was the hunter he visited at night. Wolf by day, man by night? Like a reverse werewolf. But why hadn’t Left Paw ever said anything? Tyler didn’t like being made a fool of in front of Grandpa. Especially since he was the one who insisted they get Left Paw’s help in the first place.
When Grandpa came back through the trees, Tyler was brooding at the ground, lost in thought. “Your confines are lifted,” Grandpa said to the wolf. “Our plan is to determine where my grandson is going and cut him off before he gets there,” he explained. “Haste is necessary, so I will ask that you scout around the tree line guarding the farm to determine where he has been, and report back here before we go anywhere. I’d like to avoid backtracking, it will waste time.”
“This is sound,” Left Paw agreed. “Do you have—,” he cut off abruptly when Grandpa produced a scrap of dull, white cloth from his pocket. It was a sock. Benji’s sock, Tyler guessed. The huge wolf came close and sniffed the scrap of fabric before bounding away into the woods without a word. Grandpa put the sock back in his pocket.
“Can he really find Benji just by sniffing a sock?” Sarah asked incredulously.
“Left Paw’s curse makes him a wolf in daylight,” Grandpa answered, “but he’s no ordinary wolf.” The old man frowned at Tyler as he spoke. “He is bigger than a normal wolf, as you’ve seen,” he explained. “His senses are keener and, obviously, he can speak. For many years his human mind was buried in his wolf form. It has taken a long time to cultivate control over his instincts.”
“That’s why you said he’s so dangerous?” Sarah prodded. “Because he can’t control himself?”
“Not only that,” Grandpa said. “Left Paw was once a human man,” he told them. “He was greedy and bloodthirsty, a barbarian. He deliberately hunted and killed an animal worshiped by his people with the intent of proving himself a god.”
The old man stopped, fixing Tyler with a probing stare. Tyler refused to take the bait. Grandpa was fishing. He wanted to know just how much Left Paw had told him. Tyler kept quiet and the pause lengthened uncomfortably.
“What did he kill?” Sarah finally asked, impatient.
“A golden deer,” Grandpa answered shortly. “A hind, a female, and the last of her kind. They were sentient creatures that lived centuries ago. In some accounts they even had the ability to see the future. This particular one was protected by a powerful Immortal.”
“So he killed it and the Immortal cursed him?” Sarah postulated.
Grandpa nodded. “The death of the hind was one of many similar instances that led to the split between humans and magic,” Grandpa added.
“Why a wolf?” Sarah wondered curiously.
“Left Paw’s curse matches his human actions. Since he was an animalistic and cruel human, he was turned into a vicious animal with no thought but survival in the daylight and a man who could reflect on his barbarity at night. The punishment was designed to teach him the error of his ways.”
“And you don’t think he’s learned that?” Tyler couldn’t help but ask.
“No,” Grandpa said firmly, “I don’t.”
The conversation dropped off. Tyler began picking at the dirt with a stick. How long would it take Left Paw to find a trace of Benji? What if Benji already reached his destination? Was he in trouble?
Tyler contemplate
Tyler vouched for Left Paw. The hunter had never hurt Tyler. He was an intense guy, but never did any harm to Tyler, just rabbits. However, if Grandpa was right, and Left Paw was actually a violent criminal, where did that leave the three of them? Where did that leave Benji? Tyler shoved his doubts to the back of his mind. Even Grandpa admitted Left Paw was their best chance at getting to Benji before Benji got into serious trouble.
The red wolf raced back into the clearing in an eerily silent flurry of fur. It startled Sarah into jumping again and she watched Left Paw warily. Tyler regarded him with more reserve and caution, too. Grandpa said it didn’t have a fully human mind when it was a wolf. He was a wolf, Tyler corrected mentally. Tyler was still having a hard time reconciling the man with the giant beast.
“Your grandson went north,” Left Paw growled without preamble. “He followed the curve of the enchanted lake and entered the dark forest. Beyond, he traveled westward.”
Grandpa took out a map and plotted the route Left Paw described. “Did he come out of the forest?” Grandpa asked.
“Since time is short, I did not follow his trail directly,” Left Paw reported, “but his scent travels through the stone ring.”
Grandpa folded the map flat on the ground so Sarah and Tyler could see. He marked Benji’s trail with a thick blue marker. “Where could he be going?” The old man shook rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Tyler scoured the map. If Benji was going to see the dragons his path would be further east. His trek took him near Horaque’s cave, but Tyler could think of no reason his little brother needed a wizard who’d likely turn him into toad before Benji could get a word out. “Maybe the Djinn,” Tyler suggested. Benji would have to continue west, cross a river, and then cut south to get to the Djinn’s island. The path fit, so far, but Tyler had to admit he was stumped. Why was Benji running around the sanctuary in the first place?
When Tyler looked up, Sarah was shaking her head. “What is it?” he asked her. “Where do you think he’s gone?”
“Don’t you see?” she whispered. Her voice broke, unnerving Tyler. No, he didn’t see. “Yesterday was Benji’s birthday,” she continued her brown eyes teary with emotion.
“Yeah,” Tyler affirmed, “so?” He wasn’t sure what she was getting at.
“His first birthday without Mom,” she said.
“So,” Tyler said, still thinking of the Djinn, “He could be going to the Djinn, get him to give Marvin some magic, and wish Mom back?” Sarah shook her head again, rubbing the tears from her eyes with her knuckles.
“I don’t think so, either,” Grandpa said. “Marvin would have told Benji genies can’t bring dead people back. They can only restore bodies not souls.” He looked thoughtful then his eyes widened in sudden horror. “No!” he whispered vehemently, shaking his head roughly.
“What?” Tyler demanded. He felt out of the loop. “Will somebody please explain?” Tyler looked at them both in exasperation.
“Yesterday, Benji would have only wanted one thing for his birthday,” Sarah explained softly. “Mom.” She pinned Tyler with her sad gaze. “It’s what I wanted last year, when I woke up and remembered she was gone. You probably had the same thought on your birthday,” She added. Tyler nodded.
“I’m still not sure I follow,” he said, urging her to continue.
“Yesterday, Grandpa taught us about Immortals, eight of which live here, in this sanctuary. But Grandpa didn’t explain everything and he only told us about three living in the sanctuary. The one type he didn’t go into detail about was—.”
“Necromancers,” Grandpa cut Sarah off.
“Necromancers?” Tyler questioned. “Like sorcerers who raise the dead and create zombie armies and stuff?”
“Close enough,” Grandpa wearily replied.
“And there’s at least one living in this sanctuary, isn’t there?” Sarah prodded.
Nodding, Grandpa explained, “There are three.” His voice became sturdier as he spoke. “Three sisters too powerful for their own good who gave each other terrible curses. They went mad and were incarcerated here long before I was born.”
“You think he’s gone to one of them to bring Mom back?” Tyler asked.
“Yes,” Grandpa answered. “The timing fits. And, yesterday after lunch, I misplaced the book I was teaching from. It had plenty of information about Immortals and included the sisters’ story.”
“You think Benji took the book?” Sarah questioned their grandfather intently. The old man nodded at her.
“Will that work?” Tyler wondered. “Could a Necromancer actually bring our mother back?” He met Sarah’s eyes solemnly, but Grandpa was already shaking his head.
“If your mother was resurrected by a Necromancer,” Grandpa told them, “she would be nothing more than a prisoner, a slave. These Necromancers aren’t even sane,” he added. “Whatever they did, you can be sure the outcome isn’t going to be good.”
Sarah went back to examining the map with hurried movements. “If he’s going to one of the Necromancers, we need to know where they are, Grandpa,” she addressed the old man, gesturing to the map.
“Right,” Grandpa nodded. “The sisters live separately, on these three mountains.” He pointed to a trio of peaks. “They’re each confined to their own mountain. “If I were him, I’d go to that one,” he said, circling the air above the last mountain. “Thana resides there. He wouldn’t have a chance with either of the other two. One is mute and the other is extremely dangerous.”
“You’re sure this is what he’s up to?” Tyler asked.
“It would have seemed like too many coincidences,” Sarah said. “Us coming here, learning about magic, and then to suddenly be told that there was actually something out there with the ability to bring Mom back? It was irresistible.”
“Why didn’t he come this way?” Tyler traced out a trail much quicker and more direct than the one Benji was following.
“The trolls are here,” Grandpa pointed at the river due west of their current position. “Their boundary encompasses both sides of the river and they don’t take kindly trespassers.” He air-circled another location on the map. “Horaque is here, at the top of the enchanted lake. If he went as you suggest, Benji would travel very close to both those obstacles. He probably figured it was less dangerous to go around them.”
“He may be irresponsible,” Tyler agreed, “but he isn’t stupid.”
“If he can make it through the Giant Mushrooms without meeting any mice,” Sarah said gesturing to another point on the map, “he’ll probably have it right. The way is clear once you start traveling along the base of the mountains.”
“Mice?” Tyler asked in confusion. “Why would he need to avoid mice?”
His sister gave him withering look. “Acridian Mice?” she said. “Giant mice? They breathe fire? Any of this ring a bell?” Tyler shrugged. Giant fire breathing mice sounded ridiculous.
“The other two sisters might wander into his path, too,” Grandpa interrupted them. “That could be trouble.” Their grandfather was pensively tracing various routes to Thana’s mountain and muttering under his breath.
Sarah suddenly addressed Left Paw who was standing still as a statue a few feet away without adding to their conversation. “Am I correct in thinking that you can locate Benji by just sniffing the air?” she asked. “At least give us a general location?”
“That is true,” the wolf told her.
She put a hand on Grandpa’s shoulder. “Tyler’s right,” she traced a path on the map. “This is the fastest and most direct route. As long as we can confirm Benji hasn’t stopped moving northwest, I think we can assume he’s trying to find Thana.”
“If we take this cour
“It’s too dangerous,” Grandpa protested.
Sarah glared at him. “Are we out here to save Benji or not?” Tyler had never seen his sister rebuke an authority figure before. Actually, he’d never seen her rebuke anyone before. If the situation was less dire, he might be amused.
“It was your plan to try cutting him off in the first place, Grandpa.” Tyler sided with his sister. “This is the only way we could do it. Benji’s covered a lot of ground, we can’t waste any more time or we’ll never catch up.”
Grandpa reluctantly agreed. It was decided Left Paw would scout ahead for trolls and those would be avoided at all costs. Grandpa’s status as Keeper might protect him, but it didn’t protect Tyler or Sarah. Trolls were apparently prone to unprovoked violence. Grandpa could probably secure them safe passage if they ran into Horaque, so that wasn’t as much of a problem.
Before leaving camp, Left Paw approached Grandpa with a small leather bundle. The old man disapprovingly tied the ill formed ball to Tyler’s pack as the wolf asked before going over the map once again. Grandpa reiterated their plan, his impatience and agitation clearly evident. Tyler was grateful when they finally set off. Grandpa set a brisk pace and Tyler and Sarah followed him closely.
They had to stop and change course a few times, but managed to avoid any trolls. Left Paw warned them if the group came close and directed them a different way or bade them hide briefly until the coast was clear. When they passed behind Horaque’s cave, the wolf suggested they walk softly to avoid the Immortal. Grandpa agreed and they slunk quickly around a tumbled carapace of rock, ducking behind the sparse shrubbery. Tyler could hear the Wizard laughing and talking maniacally, but the screwy Wizard never approached them. Again, they proceeded swiftly and safely.
Tyler’s pack became heavier the longer they hiked. It started to feel like he was carrying around rocks strapped to his back, but he didn’t ask for a break. Grandpa wasn’t taking any breaks, even though he was looking exhausted. Sarah was the only one who didn’t seem bothered by the pace or her burdens. Of course, she had the lightest pack. Tyler mentally defended his stamina, hiking the pack higher on his shoulders to redistribute its weight.
The sun was low when they found a good camping site near the river. Grandpa dropped his pack in the clear, pebbled space and Tyler gratefully did the same, stretching his aching muscles. They set about erecting the two tents, which Tyler thought were barely large enough for one person, let alone two. Meanwhile, Sarah collected stones and set them in a circle. She gathered leaves, wood, and sticks, starting up a fire just as the sun disappeared. When daylight abated, camp was set and Tyler collapsed in a heap near the blaze, leaning on his pack.
While his attention was elsewhere, Left Paw apparently took off into the woods with his bundle. In the darkness of the evening, the hunter came into view through the trees heading for camp. Once again, Sarah was startled into a jump when Left Paw showed himself. Tyler couldn’t really blame her. The man’s leather garb and rough appearance were no less intimidating than the wolf was.
*****
Chapter 26: Dying of the Light