William got up and walked toward Charles, not wanting to wake up the deer. Charles smiled at his friend. “No, it’s all right. I just manipulated some of their body chemistry to put them to sleep.” He glanced at Katherine and said to William, “Pheromones do have other purposes.”
William nodded not quite getting it. He jerked his head toward Charles as the implication of the sentence slammed into him. “Charles, that is not cool.”
Charles shrugged with a grin. “Maybe I should stay away from any future attempts at humor.”
William stood there like an idiot for a few moments. He couldn’t help a small smile creep across his face. He shook his head as soft laughter tried to escape his lips. He glanced over at him and shook his head. Of course, Charles would never actually think about doing what his mind immediately jumped to. Maybe his run in with Tasha had colored his view of Trackers and the amount of power their ability gave them over others. He knew Charles wasn’t like that and would never do such a thing. Still, if power corrupts…? He shook the thought from his head. Charles wouldn’t do that, end of discussion.
“So now what?” Achelois asked as she joined the two males.
“We take the deer back somewhere near the den,” William answered. “Charles, how long can you keep them like this?”
Charles scratched at his chin. “For a few days, I guess. I’ve never tried this particular trick and I have no idea what side effects would accompany these two if held them asleep long term.”
William looked over at Achelois, she stood over the two-sleeping does. “Any thoughts on this?” William asked her.
Achelois remained stationary. “We should get these two back to the den.” She hefted the dead weight of the sleeping animal. The deer’s head hung limply to the side in a sickening way. It looked dead. Achelois unceremoniously threw the deer over her shoulder and walked back the way they had come.
William looked between Charles and Katherine. They all shrugged at each other’s unspoken questions. William took it as being just a part of who Achelois was. There wasn’t any explaining to be done. William knelt next to the other deer and more gently than Achelois had, lifted the deer and set her over his shoulder.
The four of them walked back toward the den in a loose cluster with Achelois in the lead. William glanced back at Charles. He nodded to his silent question. William nodded his understanding. Charles would not make the same mistake he made during their test.
The walk back was pleasant. The sun shine held some warmed and the birds were making their usually musical noise, except for a crow or a raven that cawed at them incessantly. William could almost understand the message. “Wake up, You idiot deer. Your being carried away to be eaten,” William smiled at the ire of the black bird. We’re not going to eat your friends, at least not yet. They have a job to do before that happens.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
The green of the trees was bright and alive. He couldn’t help but make comparisons to the underground forest. Here the pure sunlight seemed to make the trees glow with vibrant color. And even though the underground forest was green and healthy, it could never compare to the green seen in this bright early winter sunlight, there was nothing that could match the beauty of it.
William found himself smiling. He hadn’t been outside in a long time. The sun, even though it was early winter, was warm on his tan fur. He lifted his face toward the yellow light and bathed in it. The sun filtered down through the trees. Every so often William could hear rain drops falling from their places on the pine needles. A brisk wind cut through the forest robbing the sunlight of all its warmth. It whistled softly through the trees. William’s fur coat shielded him from the cold of the wind, but the icy breeze brought portents of the winter to come. He glanced up and scanned the skyline until his eyes rested on their home, Mount Shasta. The looming peak was already covered in pure white snow. It wouldn’t be long before snow fell on this forest as well. William nodded to himself. The Elders were right to send them out now. Winter would be here soon and then hunting would be very scarce.
William hadn’t noticed that they had already made it back to the den. Achelois was looking around trying to find a suitable place to put her sleeping burden. William didn’t wait for an invitation but gently slid the deer off his shoulder and laid her down on the cold earth of the forest floor. William turned around, scanning the surrounding forest for a place to make some kind of a pen or corral for their captured guests.
Katherine began ripping up various tree branches from the ground. The snapping of twigs was thunderous compared to the relative quiet of the walk back to the den. William almost asked her what she was doing. Achelois watched at Katherine dragged a sizable log behind the entrance to the wolf den. William followed her and watched as she placed the log just so between two young cedar pines. She looked up at the Enforcer.
“Are you going to stand their watching me, or are you going to help?” Katherine said with a smile.
A few hours later the four of them had a nice-looking corral built. The logs and branches that met and crisscrossed the five trees were firmly in place. William and Charles had chinked the branches with various kinds of moss and some mud using a stream they had found surprisingly close to the wolf den. The corral looked like a five-sided room with no ceiling. They had tried to build it high enough so that the deer wouldn’t be able to jump over it. But it wasn’t high enough. It came up to William’s chest. Deer would be able to jump that without a second thought. But to build the walls any higher would have required tools that they didn’t have. William had made rope from various strips of bark that he had carefully removed from about four or five dozen branches. The rope was short, but it was enough to wrap around the deer’s hind legs and secure it to one of the tree trunks.
William admired the work that the four of them had done. Achelois had worked with Katherine brining in the largest of the logs to secure the enclosure. She hadn’t complained and seemed to enjoy the work.
William let his gaze move upward as Achelois tested for the twentieth time, the integrity of the southern wall of the enclosure. The sun was already on its way down. William was shocked at just how fast the day had gone by. He looked over at Charles. “Should we try to grab any more before night fall?”