Written by Amberle de Aquila





'a moor cat?' the wolf asked, surprised. 'is one insane?'

Amberle gave the wolf an odd look. 'maybe.'

The wolf snorted. 'what causes so much pain for one? this one does not like the magic, it is not good for one if it makes those kind of emotions.'

Amberle sat up again then, knowing she wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

'did one see what this one saw in the sphere?'

'no.'

'then let this one show one.'

Amberle brought the magic forth again. She had never tried to show another what she saw, and she wasn't even sure she could do it. She began to sing again, a low, poignant song that began to weave a spell around the wolf. The wolf shook her head, bringing her paw up to her

head.

'don't fight it, tama. it's hard enough as it is.'

The wolf sat still then, and as Amberle brought the sphere forth again, she directed the song to a certain memory of her own past...

*It was a dark and cloudless night, and the sky held no moon. The roads were oddly silent, but a thrilling sense of anticipation seemed to permeate the very air. The stars shone with eerie brilliance in the black velvet heavens, and the breezes that swept across the land and through the city streets blew with chilling crispness.

Three horses walked slowly down the street, the steady clop-clop of their shod hooves echoing as the sound bounced off the walls of closed shops. Their riders tried to remain inconspicuous as they rode through the city, using back alleys when and where they could. They each had thick, dark cloaks drawn closely about them to ward of the night's chill, and their faces were buried in the depths of their hoods. They passed slowly by a well-lit tavern, and one of the horses nickered softly in response to the bawdy singing and loud voices of the drunken people within. The light that poured out from the windows glinted on the silver spiral that arose from the head-stall on the last horse's bridle.

The lead horse, a huge bay, suddenly hesitated, bringing those behind him to a stop. The rider of the last horse, an athletic black stallion, brought her own mount around the young gelding in the middle to come stand next to the large bay.

"What's wrong, Karhes?" she asked his rider.

"I don't know, Amberle. Whatever it is, Barak here won't take another step."

Amberle looked cautiously about her. "I wonder..."

Suddenly the bay next to her reared to his hind legs as he was suddenly attacked from the left side. Amberle's own horse jumped in startled surprise, whinnying in fear and nearly dumping her from his saddle-pad. Only pure luck kept her precariously perched on his back.

"Amberle!" the gelding's rider screamed as she, too, was attacked, and Amberle whirled her mount around the moment all four of his feet hit the street. Amberle was at a loss, she had no weapons beyond a small dagger she kept in her belt.

"Karhes!" she cried, pointing to the gelding and his rider.

"Here!" Karhes tossed her the sword from his belt, and she barely caught it by its hilt before it could clatter to the ground. She looked at it wide-eyed.

"Karhes, I don't know how to use a--"

"Just do your best, love," he called to her as he began to fight back at the men who were attacking them.

Amberle kicked her mount's flanks, rushing to the gelding's side. Wielding the sword before her, she used it in a hack-and-slash fashion which resulted in a lot of pain, but inflicted little damage. Guiding her mount with her legs, she made him bring the silver horn on his head-stall into play. Karhes had trained this horse for her, and trained him to use the horn when Amberle gave him certain signals, like now. She nudged her booted toe into his right shoulder, urging him forward with her knees, and he started forward head down into a charge. He flung his head upward, skewering a man on the spiraled horn. Shaking his head free of the body, the stallion reared, and Amberle was prepared for it this time. The stallion's thrashing hooves did a lot of damage as well, driving their attackers away and making them keep their distance.

"Run!" she called to the gelding's rider as she tried to cover their escape.

The rider turned the gelding and fled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Karhes pulled from from his bay, bleeding profusely from a dozen wounds. She desperately tried to make her way to him, then knowing she couldn't help him, turned her horse around to see how far the gelding and his rider had gotten. She cried out as she saw the gelding being chased by a huge horse and a cloaked rider. She rode after them as fast as her mount could go, but she didn't catch up in time. The cloaked horseman intercepted the fleeing rider and pulled her from her horse with practiced ease, laying her across his saddle like a sack of grain.

He turned and faced her as she continued to race toward them. Pulling up short, she raised the sword.

"Let her go," she said coldly, her sapphire eyes almost burning through this.

The man laughed, and the frightened blue eyes of the girl looked desperately up at her. Amberle brought her horse forward menacingly, then whirled around as she heard another rider come up behind her. The diversion gave the man his chance, and he kicked his horse in the flanks. The horse whinnied and took off at a full gallop.

"Amberle!" the girl cried as she was whisked away.

"Kiarra!" Amberle cried after her. She hauled her mount back around to go after her, when she was suddenly pulled from her horse's back. Her head hit the ground, and dark oblivion consumed her.*

Amberle returned to the harsh reality of the present for the second time that night, tears coursing down her cheeks. She wiped them away and found herself staring into the sorrowed depths of Tamaraka's golden eyes.

'one sees now. one understands. one lost a mate?' the wolf asked

softly.

Amberle smiled sadly at the wolf. 'yes,' she replied simply. 'one later learned about his death, but they wouldn't let this one see him--what they had done to him.'

'does one think they should have?'

'is one sure one's a wolf?' Amberle asked instead.

'it is a common misconception that all the races think animals are dumb and stupid. the reality of it is that it isn't true at all, we think much the same they do. our intelligence levels are generally lower; but creatures like us, the hunters, have more intelligence than we are given credit for. we are not so different, the only thing that makes us "lower" is the fact that we cannot speak to each other.'

'this one thinks that is the most she's ever heard one speak before.'

The wolf gave a mental shrug. 'so be it. who was kiarra?'

'kiarra was this one's sister.' Amberle sighed heavily. 'come, let us walk the halls until morning.'