Chapter Fifteen: Out of the Darkness

Hannah and Nari came back a while later. “It’s time to go,” Hannah whispered as Nari went to wake Bailey. Atrix was already awake at this point, lazily lying on top of Dagney. As soon as he saw me rise up and begin to stretch he jumped onto Dagney’s head and we all heard a loud CRACK. 

Everyone froze and looked towards the mastiff only to see her yawn and in a rather tired voice and say, “Is it time to go already? I feel like I just fell asleep.” 

    Hannah raised an eyebrow and turned towards me, “That dog can sure take a beating.” Hannah begin to rub her head with a paw as she gazed at Dagney. 

    I laughed, “Yea, it’s fortunate for her she can too. Her first instinct is always to run straight into a problem. She’s never really stopped to consider anything else.” 

Hannah grinned, “We have a few dogs who believe the same thing. I’ll see if any of them are available to join us today. Dagney might be able to learn something from them.” She said with a wink.

I gave a warm smile, “I’m sure we would all appreciate that.”  

By this time we were all standing ready. Bailey was chatting with Nari while Dagney and Atrix were excitedly and loudly talking about how ‘awesome’ it would be to face off against the Lion. I looked towards Hannah, ‘It looks like we’re all ready.” 

She nodded, “Five minutes and we’ll go, meet me in the main hall.” She looked towards Nari who flicked her ears as a sign of understanding as Hannah left the room. 

    I walked over to Dagney and Atrix, “What exactly are you two daydreaming about today?” Atrix looked shyly at Dagney who seemed very excited, “We’re talking about how we are going to take down the Lion!” 

“Oh? Is that so?” I asked the mastiff while casually licking my paw, “What do you propose?” 

Dagney sat straight up with a thoughtful look on her face, “Well the Lion is big right? Like really big? Like, wow how can anyone miss something that big kind of big?” 

“Yes?” I said not knowing where Dagney was trying to go with this rambling train of thought.

“Well we just get him to run really fast towards a cliff and then at the last second we move out of the way and he falls down the cliff!” Dagney beamed with pride. 

I couldn’t help but let a laugh escaped from my mouth, “You are very bright Dagney, but I’m not sure this would work.” 

Dagny's excited look was instantly wiped away, “But why?” She said with a face of despair 

    I took a deep breath, “Well what if he doesn’t follow you but sends someone else too? Or what if he knows the cliff is there so he stops before you do? Or what if he sees you move at the last second but he’s able to move too? There’s just too much unknown to risk it.” 

    Dagney looked down at her paws, “So the Lion can’t be defeated?” 

    “He can.” Nari said with a voice colder than the ice, “But, quite frankly, it’s not worth it.” 

Dagney cocked her head, “Not worth it?” She whispered as if she was rolling the words over in her mouth to better understand them, “What do you mean?” 

    Nari frowned, “If someone takes his place he would lose his power.” She looked towards me, “They would also be the ruler of the Desert.” 

    My eyes grew wide, “Is that his plan? To tame it?” Nari shrugged her shoulders, “Harriet has trouble seeing into the darkness I guess. It is said that power is a seductive offer even to the most noble of dogs.” 

    Dagney looked at me and then at Nari, “How would he even do that?” 

Nari shook her head, “I don’t know.”

Dagney collapsed, “Then what’s the point of all of this?” 

I began to walk out of the door, “Because we know of someone who does.” 

    Nari shot me a look, “I’ve heard others talk about her, the queen of the desert? I think that’s what they refer to her as. They say she’s been there a long time Storm. They say her mind, it’s not the same. They say she’s changed.” 

I stopped in the doorway and turned to face Nari, “It’s not like she’s my first choice,” I stopped and looked at the other dogs who were getting ready to follow me and said in a whisper, “It’s our best shot at stopping this before it gets too far.” Without waiting for a response, I turned around and began walking. Moments later I heard footsteps behind me. 

    When we arrived in the main hall Hannah and one other large black lab were waiting by the front door. Harriet was sitting by the sapling which was now standing straight up. She walked over to us, “I see Nari has told you what we know of Kelcy.” Harriet slowly turned her head towards Nari, and though she could not see her it looked as if she was glaring at her for revealing precious information to us, their friends, “I wish you luck Storm of the Oak. I wish all of you luck. May the Great Trees bend towards you and may their light guide you.” I bowed my head towards Harriet, knowing she would never know if I did or not, “Thank you Harriet of New Elm.” Harriet nodded her head towards me and turned to walk away. 

    The big black lab introduced himself as Terry and Dagney immediately gravitated towards him. It wasn’t often she met another dog as big as herself. 

“So Dagney,” Terry says with his chest more puffed out than needed, or wanted, “Hannah tells me you’re a real bull, is that right?” Dagney shook her head, “No I’m a mastiff, I’m pretty sure bulls have horns.” 

    Terry paused for a moment and then begin to laugh so loudly we could hear it echoing in the halls even after we crossed the bridge. 

    “No!” Terry bellowed, “I mean to say you’re the kind of dog who likes to take their problems head on, yea?” 

Dagney lifted her head up thoughtfully before saying, “Yeah, I like the way that sounds, a bull.” 

    Terry shot a worried look at Hannah, “Yeah, uhm. Yea.” 

While Terry was stammering, trying to figure out where to go with the conversation I walked over to Hannah, “I thought you said he could help?” with a playful nudge towards her. 

She shot me an annoyed look as she pulled her lips tight, “I said I thought he could help.” She whispered to me before pushing the large ice door open, “Let’s go” She barked at the group.

    Terry nearly jumped out of his coat seemingly startled by Hannah’s shrill tone. Dagney laughed at his embarrassment. Bailey was asking Nari more questions on what it’s like to know what home is. I walked at the back of the group staring into the water to see several large fish slowly keeping pace with us. I scanned as far out as I could see, trying to see if the strange mist would return. I saw nothing but I did hear things. 

    Wind rolling in from the coast and lashing against us as we traveled along the bridge. The fish’s hushed tones bubbling up from the water as if they were keeping pace  with us just to provide a distraction for whatever nefarious plan fate had in store for us next. I heard a howl come from the ice behind us and many others joined in, including Hannah, Nair, and Terry. It made me smile for their howl turned into a song I had not heard in a long time. 

    A conversation caught my ear as well. One between Terry and Dagney.

Terry quickly ran to bump Dagney towards the center of the bridge as a fish leaped out of the water to grab her. Terry dug his front paws into the rock and swung his hind legs up into the air to knock the fish away from the bridge. Dagney clumsily tried to keep her balance but ended up falling to the ground. By the time she was able to get back up and look towards Terry she saw a fish rocketing away from the bridge like a shooting star flying across the sky. 

“Wow” Dagney said. 

Terry turned around and blushed, “Oh that? That’s not anything” He murmured.  

Dagney pranced over to him, “I’ve never seen anyone be able to do something like that! And that fish is so big too! You must be very strong!” Dagney walked up to him and nuzzled her head against his, whispering something I couldn’t hear.

Even through Terry’s black coat we could see his skin turn bright pink. We tried to stifle a laugh. 

Terry, seemingly noticing the rest of the group for the first time since he kicked the fish, Cleared his throat and took a step forward on the bridge, “You have to be careful on the bridge. The fish are always looking for a stray dog to wander too close to the side.” 

Dagney vigorously shook her head, “Right of course.” 

    I saw Hannah turn around and winked at me, the kind of wink whose only purpose is to convey a simple four word message, “I told you so” I smiled back at her and nodded. She was right, it looks like Terry would be able to teach Dagney something after all. 

    From that moment on Dagney was glued to Terry’s side and Terry soaked up every bit of the attention like a plant yearning for sunlight so was Terry yearning for Dagney’s attention. 

    We made it close to the edge of the bridge and Hannah called for us to rest and watch. She was hoping she would be able to avoid the creatures of the darkness and the wolves of the mist if we waited. 

Terry took first watch and though Dagney was eager to keep watch with him we made her rest, or at least attempt too. 

    “So you’ve made a new friend?” Bailey asked Dagney as we laid in a circle together.

Atrix smiled, “Oh I think their more than friends Bailey!” As he put his lips together and made a sucking noise. 

Dagney, who appeared to not notice anything they said, turned her head enough so I could hear her, but not so much as to lose sight of Terry, “Storm?” She asked.

    I propped my head up on my paws, “Yes Dagney?” I answered. 

“How do you know when you’re in love?” She asked without taking her eyes off of Terry.

We stared at her eyes wide and mouths agape for a few moments before Dagney finally peeled her eyes away from Terry to look at me, “How do you know when you’re in love?” 

    I began to stammer, “Well, I mean, it can be like. Hmm.” Dagney tilted her head and I took a deep breath, “Let me start over.” I smiled at her and took another deep breath. 

    “You just know” Nari said staring back at the ice. All of us turned our heads to see Nari laying by a sleeping Hannah, “I don’t know if it’s that way for every dog, but for me. It was a swelling in my chest and a longing to be beside them at all times.” 

    Hannah’s ear twitched and she yawned, “Love is more than that Nari.” She said while sitting up and stretching, “If it were just a feeling it wouldn’t be such a mystery.” 

    Dagney turned around to face them completely taking her attention away from Terry, “Well how do you know when you’re in love then?” Dagney asked Hannah. 

Hannah shrugged her shoulders, “How do you know when you’re in the water?” she countered. 

Dagney laughed, “because you’re wet!” 

Hannah nodded, “So maybe you know you’re in love because you feel loved?” She said thoughtfully. 

Dagney turned towards me with a plea of help sprawled across her face. I shrugged my shoulders, “Honestly I haven’t thought much about it Dags. I don’t see why either of them have to be wrong.” 

Dagney shrugged her shoulders and a deep voice came from behind the group, “Maybe it’s such a mystery because it’s different for each dog? Maybe it’s something you can’t go to someone else for help with because the only one who can help you figure it out is yourself?” Terry said while walking towards us, “Who’s next for watch?” 

Hannah let out a single laugh that echoed over the water and brushed by Terry as she went to go on watch. 

Dagney nearly fainted probably fearing that Terry had overheard the entire thing. Her face grew bright red, then nearly white, then she fell over and put a paw over her head and pretended to be asleep. 

    Terry chuckled as he walked towards Nari and after a while Dagney gained the courage to remove the paw from her face and see where Terry was. She carefully and as quietly as she could crawled until she was next to him. I saw him smile and lay down with her. 

    “Will you ever get to do that Storm?” Atrix asked from next to me where he was laying.

“What do you mean?” I asked him. 

“Will you ever get to love someone?” He asked me with a little quiver in his voice he clearly tried to hide but was unable too. 

I smiled, pulled him close to me and whispered, “You know some dogs might think taking in a stray fox pup might be considered love.” I nuzzled my snout against his and he did the same. 

“I love you Storm.” He whispered as he dozed off. His paws twitching ever so softly as he dreamt. 

    “You would have been a good mom.” Bailey said softly looking down at Atrix and then back up at me.

“I’d like to think I am one.” I said sharply to her.

Bailey quickly looked down to her paws, “Awh, I’m sorry Storm I didn’t mean that it’s just when you find his family and all.” Her voice trailed off and she looked back up at me, “You are still planning on helping him find his family right?” 

“Where do you think his family is Bailey? Do you think if I knew where they were I would have taken him with us?” 

Bailey shook her head, “What will happen to him then?” 

I placed a paw around him and stared at her, “He is mine and I will raise him as such.” 

Bailey looked down at him to make sure he was still sleeping, “Do you think they’ll accept him?” Her voice shook and broke. 

I glared at her and she shrunk into the rocks, “They have no reason not too.” I said sternly 

   

    The rest of the watch went without notice and finally Hannah deemed it safe to travel. We went quietly through the Darkness until we saw it. A giant cloud of mist making barreling towards us like a tsunami crashing towards the coast. 

It all happened so fast. I threw Atrix up on my shoulders and Bailey climbed up on me too. Holding Atrix by the scruff in her mouth to make sure he didn’t fall off. Nari and Hannah were beside us with Dagney and Terry at the back of the group. I could see the purple light of the Land of the Oak close ahead but the mist was traveling faster than we were. I heard barking from behind me but didn’t stop. Not until I had crossed the threshold back into the Land of the Oak. I was breathing heavily and collapsed from exhaustion. As I faded from consciousness I heard Bailey shriek.