Chronicles of the Wolf: Of Wolves & Spiders

Chapter 19

Perhaps I was looking for companionship by accepting Walker to accompany me. Perhaps, because I never had a pup of my own and it was unknown if my race even existed anymore, and it was unknown if I would ever have a pup of my own that I accepted him to tag along.

“Do you have any other family Behemet?” Walker asked.

This was after a long silence. We had started heading in the direction of this ancient city ages ago it seemed like. It had been such a while ago that the sun of the moon had gone behind the planet off in the distance. It was something that happened every day. The planet was massive and despite it being probably hundreds of thousands of miles away from us it took up roughly one third of the sky for most of the day. At some point of the day the sun would disappear behind the planet for a couple of hours and then reappear before setting off in the horizon. It was called the second twilight or something like this.

“No, I was the single pup of my father,” I said.

“You’re lucky, I have three older brothers.” Walker said sounding annoyed.

“You mentioned one was named Victor, and another named Xavier?” I said, and the boy nodded. “Why would one be named as a winner? You furless creatures have the strangest names ever.”

“How were your race’s names?” Walker said.

“We were named after attributes usually.” I said. “Like my father was named Alqamar, and that was our name for our moon.”

“How about your name?” Walker asked.

“Well it was a postulated future my father wanted me to live up to.” I said. It was true, my name meant literally he who is…or will bring greatness? I don’t remember anymore it had been so long since I was told what my name meant.

“What does it mean?” Walker said.

“It meant something like ‘he who will bring greatness.’” I said.

“Your father must have thought highly of you.” Walker said.

“I guess he did,” I said. “But I didn’t live up to it.”

“So far,” Walker said.

“Come again?” I asked.

“I mean you haven’t lived up to it until now, but you can change your mind about that and live up to it in the future.” Walker said.

“That’s a good point,” I said scratching my chin and then I chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Walker said.

“I wish that I was more like you when I was a pup,” I said.

“I think we should go on for a little bit more and rest for the day,” I said after a while. Walker looked around and looked like he was about to protest but I put one of my hands up. “Before you protest, I do know about that second twilight that happens on this planet, but I have never been this far east before. I am not sure if we will run into any creatures that maybe dangerous to you.”

“I have never seen anything like you on this planet,” Walker said.

“Just because you haven’t seen something doesn’t mean that it does not exist, boy. Believe me when I say sometimes the strangest things that you could even imagine may exist.” I said.

I started grabbing wood. Though I thought it was not a good idea to start a fire especially when that thing flying around the sky was looking for the boy.

“Have you seen something that you never thought you would see?” Walker said, I snorted when he said that. “I mean something that even stranger than what you have seen here.”

I put the sticks down and looked over at Walker.

“Have you ever heard of a race that wears silver body-suits?” I asked.

I went through and told the tale to the boy. I told him of the creatures with those silver suits. They were these massive creatures that had these devices that for all intents and purposes were shooting lightning at us and had burnt several of my friends to a crisp. I told him of the black ships that had appeared, and I told him about the leader. That creature that just left when I used the medallion on Lacia.

“So, boy can you enlighten me on what these creatures where?” I asked.

“I think I might have an idea.” Walker said, and he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a strange device from one of them. He started tapping on it and after a while he walked over and showed me this device.

On the device was a picture. It was a drawing. A full front drawing, a side profile drawing and a drawing of the top torso of a creature. It was the very same creature that I had seen.

“That’s them,” I said looking at the strange device.

“My kind calls them the Eltanin,” Walker said, then he added: “The Dragons.”

“Their leader did say something about, glory to the dragon or something like that.” I said, I had noticed that Walker had suddenly gotten quite as if he was trying to deliberate something. “Does your kind know anything about these creatures?”

“What’s wrong?” I asked after the noticeable silence had prolonged.

“Are you sure that these are the creatures you saw?” Walker said.

“I would not have mistaken them,” I said.

“No…no…no that can’t be.” Walker said.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“This is could not be what you saw,” Walker said pointing at the drawing.

“But I am telling you that is exactly what I saw Pup!” I said.

“It can’t be, what would they be doing here?” Walker said.

“You know something about these creatures?” I asked.

“You can say that,” Walker said. “I have only heard legend of these creatures, my race has labeled them as a space fairy tale creature, a legend of sorts.”

“Then why are you so worried about them?” I asked.

“Because if they are real…they are very, very dangerous.” Walker said.

“I can attest to this validity.” I said.

“If that is true what in the world are, they doing here?” Walker said.

Suddenly the medallion in my satchel became a lot heavier, it was as if I was carrying something that weighed 10 pounds more than it had just a while earlier.

“It was after my friend like I said.” I said. “But you seem to be more terrified than what one would be about something that is fictious.”

“Because, the stories that have been told about these things…” Walker said. “I sincerely hope that they are not real. I think we could learn more about these creatures in the ruins of Rhodesia.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Legend says that the city had been destroyed by the Eltanin, a long time ago.” Walker said. “Perhaps by going there we might find something that would be able to tell us about them there.”

“Well, then now we have a true reason to go there.” I said.

“We should get some rest,” Walker said. “It’s quite a walk to get to the ruins from here.” Walker set up a spot to rest not far from where I had built the fire. I watched him for a bit.

“You seem to know how to survive well on your own, pup.” I said.

“I kind of had you,” Walker said.

“Did your father not care for you?” I asked.

“Baltimore care more about the empire,” Walker snorted.

“Mind your tongue, pup.” I growled at him.

Part of me remembered when I treated my own father with such disrespect. I had learned from my ways and my errors.

“You may dislike your father, but I be damned if you speak ill of him in my presence.” I said. Walker looked like he was going to protest again but he bit his tongue, evidently thinking otherwise. “When I was a pup a bit older than you are now, I treated my father in the same manner.”

“What do you mean?” Walker asked.

“I told you my father was a Supreme Chief,” I started, and the boy nodded. “When I was a pup, I was very rebellious and thought myself better than my father. I thought that I knew what was best for myself, and what was best for the tribes that my father was the leader of, I of course was wrong.”

“What happened?” Walker asked.

“My father and I had a fallout,” I said. “I ran away from my tribe to look for, or so I thought, my own way. So, I journeyed far from my father’s gaze. My father eventually found me. The look of disappointment he had when he found me in the state that I was in, still weighs heavy in my mind. If I could go back and change things and make things different I would.”

“Your situation is different than mine,” Walker said looking up the night sky after a long pause.

“How so?” I asked.

“My father only cares of my older siblings. Xavier, my eldest brother, was the pride and joy of my father, in my father’s eyes he could do no wrong. One day Xavier disappeared and that devastated my father. Victor was the next in line, he and his wife Uriel, are the next in line to the throne.” The boy explained.

“That leaves me as the youngest, the odd man out. If Xavier reappears, he would be the next in line, and perhaps a civil war would break out, factions fallowing Victor and factions following Xavier would appear and they will do battle with each other.” He further elaborated.

“And what of you pup?” I asked.

“That is what I would like to know, what about me?” Walker asked. “Uriel even has a daughter named Selene, she just turned two years old a couple of days ago. She will grow up and be the crowned princess when Uriel and my brother would take over, leaving me out to dry as they say.”

“I think you should find your own way, pup.” I said. “And I don’t mean in the way that I tried to do it. If you live in the shadows of your brothers all your life, you need to pull out of their shadows and live your own way do your own thing, prove to them that you are the better man in the end. One who never was in the spotlight one who was doubted and neglected and show how you got out of that and become even greater than they are.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, actually.” Walker said. “Do you have any children, Behemet?”

“No,” I said. “I thought I said that earlier.”

“Maybe you did,” Walker said.

“Why did you ask again?” I asked.

“I was just thinking to myself that you would be a good father to have.” Walker said, and I looked at him when he looked over in my direction.

“Don’t be ridiculous pup,” I said. “Someone such as I would not be ready for pups of my own, I would not even know where to start how to do things.”

“Says the one who just gave me some very good fatherly advice?” Walker said, and I looked curiously at him.

“I merely told you how I had made mistakes, so you would not make the same.” I said, and Walker nodded.

“That is what fathers do don’t they?” Walker said. “Teach their children by showing them how not to make the same mistakes that they did?”

“I never thought about it that way,” I said I looked up and realized a lot of time had passed, it had passed the second twilight and it was now night. “I think we should get some rest pup tomorrow is going to be a big day.”