Chapter Thirteen, "The Seer"

    “Why does this always happen to us?” Atrix asked with a worried glance toward me. The dogs began to approach before a gruff voice spoke up from the back, “Their ok. Let’s take them home.” a small brown dog appeared in between two of the dogs. I felt a rough coat come from behind and nudge me forward, “It’s not far” a kind voice whispered from behind me. I looked back to see a friendly looking black lab. She had her tail up and wagging and moved her nose to gently nudge me forward. 

“Who are you?” I asked 

The small brown dog turned her head back to respond, “We are the Seers dogs.” 

“Who’s the Seer?” Dagney asked as she looked to me. 

I shrugged my shoulders but saw a smile curled at the edge of the small brown dog’s face, “You’ll see soon enough.” 

    They wouldn’t answer anymore questions from us and soon we heard the familiar sound of waves crashing against the shore. This time I could see dark water light up by a grey foam which bubbled as the water collided with the rocks. A distance away we could see a pale blue light shining from a cave. “Is that where we’re going?” I asked. A couple of the dog’s exchanged uncomfortable glances and before they could respond we heard a rumbling. 

    The dogs who were guiding us instinctively ducked and began to fan out. The dog with the gently voice grabbed me by my scruff and pulled me down, “We need to spread out.” She whispered as she began walking me toward one side of the cliff. 

    “What about the others?” I asked her frantically trying to look back.

    “Their being taken care of.” She growled through a mouth full of fur. 

I was able to wiggle free of her grasp and turn around to see nothing. Blackness surrounded me once again. I felt lost and even though I knew the edge was just a few paws away from me I could barely hear the sound of the water as it was drowned out by the sound of heavy breathing. 

I almost jumped as I felt soft fur rub up against me and a tail was placed over my mouth, warning me to be quiet. Slowly and carefully I began to lower myself to the ground, a guiding tail left on my mouth to remind me I was not as alone as I felt, or maybe to remind the owner of the tail that they were not alone as they felt.

The breathing grew more rapid and hot as grew closer. It stayed there for a long moment as if it was deciding whether it was worth the energy to lash out and eat me or not. Apparently it decided that I was not worth the wasted energy, this time. Whatever it was vanished just as quickly as it had come the first time. 

As the Darkness faded we saw a large Iceberg sitting not far off the shore. It rose far above the clouds and we could see a small fire lit through the fog. 

“Is that where we’re going?” I asked. 

The dog who was next to me nodded, “That’s the Seer’s Castle.” 

As the darkness faded even more the others were revealed and came to join us. When we were all gathered together we continued our journey. 

    It didn’t take long for us to reach the shore, “What are we going to do from here? Swim?” Atrix muttered in protest as we watched large waves crash on the shore. 

The small brown dog from before laughed, “You could try, if you want. You’d probably freeze before you got too far though. If you didn’t one of the fish would likely get you.” 

Atrix laughed, “A fish? Get me? No way! I was the best fisher in my family! No fish. . .” While Atrix was monologuing a massive fish that was as white as snow jumped out of the water snatching a low flying bird from the air. A startled Atrix jumped back his hackles up, “What was that?” He bellowed while the rest of the other dogs began laughing in an uproar.

Dagney leaned over to me, “What is this place, Storm?” as we watched the massive fish flop clumsily back into the water. 

I shook my head, “I have no idea.” I whispered while watching the shadow of the fish as it dove deeper and deeper into the dark waters. 

    The small brown dog shushed her companions, “All right enough fun! Follow us this way to the bridge, be careful it’s pretty slippery due to the water so watch your step.” 

    “A bridge?” Atrix asked surprised a group of dogs would be able to construct such a thing. 

    I shook my head, “I don’t think it’s like that kind of bridge look over there.” Pointing with my nose I pointed to a line of rocks leading to the iceberg, “That’s the bridge their talking about.” 

    We saw several more of the large white fish jump up while going to the bridge, Dagney got the idea that the fish were trying to wave to us so each time we saw one jump up she would also jump up and try to say hello to it. This was much to the dismay of the rest of the group, some of which thought it would draw the darkness to us, some of which thought it was just obnoxious, and others still who didn’t really like the idea of seeing those fish closer.

    One dog said the fish were made of bone, they had no skin or scales and that’s why they were so white, another said the Great Trees put dog eating fish in the waters so they could feed the rebellious dogs to them. The very thought of either of those things being true made me gulp. 

    Instinctively I looked back to the Oak, or where I thought the Oak would be. It was nothing but darkness. I saw something else too, it wasn’t the darkness but it was fog. Fog that was rolling in faster than natural, “Uh, is that normal?” I stuttered as the fog was rolling toward us like a wave. 

    The small brown dog turned and her eyes grew wide, “Run! To the bridge! Hurry!” She yelped as the group went from a playful walk to an all out sprint. 

    The fog quickly caught up to us and I heard a familiar sound coming from it, the snarling of dogs, no wolves. I looked back and saw shiny white teeth reaching out from fog snapping towards us. We made it to the bridge just before the fog washed over us. Out of breath we turned and saw the wolves stopped just before the bridge. Their eyes red like the sky in just before sunrise and though they had not gotten any one of us their mouths foamed with blood. “Come play with us Hannah” one of the wolves politely asked. 

    I saw  the small brown dog’s hackles go up all along her spine as she growled back, “Go catch a fish Haldric.”

Hannah began stepping back slowly, careful not to take her eyes off of Haldric. He was watching her closely and his eyes kept darting back and forth between her and the water. I looked over and saw a dark spot growing larger from the depths of the water, “Hannah lookout!” I yelped 

Hannah looked at me as a fish came flying up out of the water, she looked up and dove out of the way. In the same moment the massive white wolf lunged onto the bridge and towards Hannah. As soon as his paw touched the bridge I heard a sizzling noise. The wolf’s nose scrunched up in pain but he continued to pounce along the bridge getting closer to Hannah who’s back was now flat against a beached fish. I heard Atrix growling from atop my back and I motioned for him to get off as I bent down. Dagney nodded towards me knowing what I was about to do and mouthed “I’ll catch you”. 

I jumped at the same moment the wolf did and knocked my body into his propelling both of us towards the water. I felt a large mouth clamp onto my leg and my leg pulsed in pain. The wolf fell into the water and began to sink and the fish wiggled it’s way off the bridge and into the water. At first I thought it was going to save the wolf as it went deeper and deeper. Then I saw it coming back, “Pull me up Dagney!” I howled in pain and fear. Dagney threw me up just as the fish left the surface of the water. The fish tried to land right on top of me but I rolled away from it and towards my companions. The fish landed, shaking the bridge and then slipped its bony body off the rocks, screeching the whole time, and back into the water. 

By the time the fish was gone the wolves, and the fog, has disappeared too. Dagney again asked while shaking her head, “What is this place?” 

A new voice echoed seemingly from all around us, “This is the Seer’s Keep.” 

A small black lab hobbled along the bridge. Hannah rushed towards her, “Harriet you mustn’t leave the keep! It’s too dangerous for you to travel the bridge by yourself. You can’t see!” She said in a rushed whisper. 

Harriet snapped at her, “I’m called the seer for a reason! Because I can see! Certainly more than you!” 

Hannah tucked her tail in between her legs and slowly moved right behind Harriet.  Harriet then turned her head towards us, “That was a clever idea, albeit risky, not many outsiders remain so calm when dealing with the mist walkers. 

“The mist walkers?” Atrix asked.

Harriet nodded her head, slowly, “Yes. The mist walkers are wolves, descended from the wolves who guarded the elm and corrupted by the darkness they now seek a new tree.” 

I shook my head, “A new  tree?” 

Dagney rolled her eyes, “Who cares about a tree why were his feet burning?” 

Harriet took a deep breath, “We have, inside our home,” motioning to the giant piece of faintly glowing ice that stuck out amongst the dark waters, “a new tree. Of the same breed as the Oak or Elm.” I gasped and Bailee shot me a questioning look.

“But what about their feet?” Dagney implored.

Harriet chuckled, “Follow me and we can talk all about it.” Dagney followed, but hesitated as she carefully placed each step.

 Bailee nudged her and whispered, “What are you doing?” 

Dagney looked, “I saw this movie where someone stepped on a rock and it was like a button that triggered a big rock to roll after them.” 

Bailee slowly nodded her head, “And?” 

Dagney shot a surprised look at her, “What do you mean? That’s why the wolf’s feet were burning.” Dagney then leaped over one rather large rock and nearly fell off of the bridge. I hissed at her to knock it off.

“It’s magic, that’s why the wolf’s feet were burning. He’s not allowed on the bridge.”

Dagney shook her head, “magic doesn’t work here. The Oak can’t reach this far out.” 

I nodded my head, “That’s right, but the Oak isn’t the only source of magic Dagney, but it wouldn’t matter if we were in the Land of the Oak because the Oak doesn’t create magic like this.”

“Then what does?”

A voice came from the front of the group, “A Sentinel”