“There must be a reason,” J.B. said grimly.
Blood-sniffer uttered a low bark. He was sniffing the wind, then he whined, lifted his head and voiced a loud howl. A few moments later the howl was answered from deep in the woods.
“He’s warning his pack of something,” Ryan muttered. He glanced behind him but saw nothing but the nighted plains. The wolf trotted toward the forest. They followed him, the wolf loping ahead. All through the dark forest they heard howls, an alarm spreading up the ridge, across the river and to the encampment. Krysty’s hair was coiled. She felt the fear rising on the wind. Ryan told his friends what transpired at the encampment, and of Pizi’s and Sisoka’s beliefs regarding the Cavern of Creation.
“So your vision of the wolf as your animal totem came true,” Doc commented.
“Especially,” Krysty said, “if what Joe said about a seduction has any foundation.”
“It doesn’t,” Ryan muttered.
When they struggled up the hill to the crest, they found Pizi and Sisoka waiting for them. Before Ryan could make introductions, Sisoka said, “It has begun.”
The wind brought the first, faint taint of smoke. Looking back in the direction they had come, they saw pinpoints of flame dancing at the far edge of the dark forest.
“The doom you helped bring here is sweeping toward us, outlander,” Pizi said somberly.
Ryan didn’t know what to say. He simply stared at Pizi and Sisoka. She waved a hand toward the distant crags and peaks.
“You are free to leave Ti-Ra’-Wa,” she said. “All of you. The packs guarding the pass are being recalled, so none will molest you.”
J.B. gave his pony’s reins a jerk. “Let’s get moving before that crazy Joe sets the whole valley on fire.”
“I’m staying,” Ryan said. “I’ll try to undo what we helped do here.”
He gazed at his friends. “This is my decision alone. The rest of you can get to the pass, and I’ll join you when I can.”
“You can’t make that decision only for yourself, Ryan!” Krysty said angrily. “Anything and everything that any one of us chooses to do affects the others. You know that. We came here together and we’ll leave together or not at all.”
Everyone murmured in agreement, though J.B. and Doc sounded a little unsure and uneasy.
“Long as we don’t have to fight wolves,” J.B. said softly.
“They’ll fight with us,” Ryan told him.
He looked toward Sisoka. “Won’t they?”
Her eyes searched his face, seeming to search his soul. “Yes, Ryan Cawdor. They will be your allies. Your help can be valuable in this hour.”
Blood-sniffer voiced a staccato series of yelping barks and then a few howls, almost like a vocal Morse code.
“He tells the pack leaders that the outlanders fight with the Wolf Soldiers,” Pizi said. “They will pass it along to those beyond hearing range.”
Ryan looked again at the forest. He could see tendrils of smoke curling into the sky and dancing orange flames. “That fire will be here in a few hours, and Touch-the-Sky and his warriors will come after it.”
Sisoka nodded. “We hope to stop it. While you were gone, our people have labored to cut a firebreak on this side of the river.”
“If those dry woods get going,” J.B. said, “no firebreak will stop it. It’ll jump it, mebbe even jump the river. You’ve got to start a backfire.”
“Use fire as a defense against fire?” Pizi looked worried and surprised. “Our people will not like it.”
“Either that or the blaze will burn your encampment to the ground by midnight,” Ryan warned.
Sisoka nodded and said, “I will give the order.”
They started down the ridge toward the river, leading their horses. Sisoka and Pizi walked ahead of them.
“Joe said he could put only about three hundred warriors into the field,” Ryan said to J.B. “What’s our ammo situation?”
“I checked on the way through the woods,” J.B. replied. “All of us, except your pistol and my Uzi, average about twenty shots per blaster. Joe and his idiots burned up a lot of rounds today.”
“Doesn’t sound like we can afford to fire warning shots,” Mildred put in.