Hidden by the Mountain

Chapter 11, Camouflage, Sunlit Blood, and a sleepover

Chapter 11, Camouflage, Sunlit Blood, and a Sleepover.

             Kamatz woke up the next morning to see that Salena and her group were now gone. He awoke his group and they left the den without a word. Aatu, instead of being excited and eager to hunt, looked very tired. But why wouldn’t he be? The past couple days had been rough. Not to mention the previous day when they had eaten so much they must have been tired.

             He felt kind of bad as he stopped them and said, “Keelia, Kawthar, Ryker, talk amongst each other and see what you smell.”

             When they turned and began whispering, Aatu grew sad, thinking his father was mad at him for being too tired to participate much.” Kamatz reassured him and said, “I just wanted you to practice tree-climbing so you can keep up with us. If you do this I’ll give you the easiest job on the hunt.”

             Aatu smiled and listened to Kamatz’s instructions. Then he looked at the nearest tree, about the size of Keelia’s. Then he did what Kamatz had instructed him to and scrambled up to one of the branches. Then he jumped back down, feeling proud that he was at the same level as the others.

             When he reached the ground, Kamatz asked the other pups, “What do you smell?”

             Keelia turned and said, “We think we smell a group of dozens of elk that went that way three hours ago.” She pointed towards the other hunting grounds with her head.

             “Well done!” Kamatz praised, “But since theses elk seemed to have been going pretty fast, we’re gonna have to go pretty fast to catch up to them in less than four hours. Kawthar, Ryker, lead the way a bit less than your fastest speed.”

             Immediately the two wolves raced away, Kamatz and the other pups hot on their heels. Soon Kamatz knew that they were a few hundred feet from them and wanted to make sure the elk couldn’t hear him, so he told the pups to stop.

             Despite their tender age, they were hardly winded, except for Aatu, who began gasping for breath when they stopped.

             “So what are we going to do this time?” Kawthar asked as he sniffed the air for the elk herd.

             “Today,” Kamatz began as he walked over to a mud puddle, “is camouflaging into your environment.”

             The pups looked confused until Kamatz ordered, “Ryker, roll in the mud until you’re completely covered from nose to tail.”

             The pup was even more confused, but obeyed. He twisted and turned until he was completely brown, although there bits around the mouth, nose and eyes so he could still breathe, smell, and see. Then he looked at himself and seemed a little unhappy.

             “Now go stand by a tree in the shadows. Now, Keelia, you roll in the mud,” Kamatz said. He watched Ryker go next to the tree and he was almost invisible besides his tail, but they would fix that later.

             While Keelia was rolling in the mud puddle, Kamatz dug a small pit hidden in the tall grass that was seven feet long and five feet wide and told her to lay in it with her head down.

             “Kawthar,” Kamatz said as he tore up bits of golden-yellow grass. When Kawthar was done, he told the pup to roll in the pile of grass until he looked like a moving field and told him to lie in the grass so he was also well-hidden.

             Aatu stepped up to the mud puddle with a sigh.

             “Nope,” Kamatz said as he ran over and led him to a rock with a few birch trees around it. “You just hide in there like that. Your fur should hide you well enough alone. The lesson today being, use what you have like; grass, mud, trees, and rocks.”