Stranger Skies (The Borderlands Saga #1)

14. The True Woods

The pointy ends of the weapons seemed to be directed towards Thalaea only. She held her hands up in surrender; Salia, Ruk, and Isuena growled at their packs to stand down, for several of Thalaea's friends seemed ready to leap upon the newcomers and rip their throats out.

The bipeds who met them could only be Thaenites, she decided. They were short, only coming up to her hips, possibly. Their skin was gray and their hair black and abundant, coming down in long waves from the tops of their heads and forming large beards from their chins. Both hair and beards were tightly braided, and the remaining bits of skin that Thalaea could see was quite hairy as well. Not quite the Afghan-hound-type human she'd pictured and definitely not what she expected from the word Elf. Their eye color ranged from white to shale; they were muscular, and their crossbows looked wicked.

And they had wolves with them.

One wolf per biped, standing to the right. Each had a deep gray coat, with some hints of white at different places: one had white paws, another a white blaze on his chest, another with a white chevron on her back, and two with white splotches on their foreheads. Thalaea wondered if the five wolves were siblings.

The wolves growled, ruffs raised at the interlopers. Scouts and warriors of the three Steelmint packs came to the front, meeting the Thaenite growls with equal growls.

If something wasn't done, full out war would break out among the wolves.

Salia growled fiercely at the gray wolves, then: The one you threaten carries our pups — would you kill newborn cubs?

Instantly a shift came over the five gray wolves. Some of the anger dropped, and they looked at Thalaea in confusion instead. One of them tugged at the pants of a crossbow-wielding Elf, and the man looked down into the wolf's eyes.

A moment passed, then he barked an order. Thalaea didn't understand them right away; it was like listening to words one knew underwater. She didn't need to understand, however: the other men lowered their weapons, though they kept glaring at her.

The wolves stood down, though some ruffs stayed up. An uneasy silence settled, and Thalaea waited for the next move. She didn't dare make any sudden movements herself; she didn't want to risk the pups' lives.

As if summoned by her thought, one of the pups woke up, and started whimpering. The gray wolves looked at her sling and whined in response; they felt the primal, instinctual need to take care of the pups, even those of a possible enemy. The five Elves muttered among themselves, and this time Thalaea thought she caught snatches of words: "alpha", "upset", "take them in".

The other pups were waking up now. She would have to let them down to feed from their mother soon. She began to slowly kneel to the ground; the Elves were skittish and they raised their crossbows again. She froze.

Tell them the pups have to feed, she growled at the gray wolves.

The gray wolves looked surprised, then suspicious, and none of them made any move to tell the Elves to lower their weapons. Thalaea's legs shook in her half-bent position; soon she would fall, and they would shoot her full of arrows.

Tell them! Salia growled ferociously, and one of the gray wolves actually jumped.

The five gray wolves exchanged glances, and then the one who had first told the Elves to lower the crossbows — the one with the white blaze on his chest — did so again.

Thalaea gratefully finished her descent to the ground, and pulled each pup out of the sling, setting them next to Myila, who was shaking with fear. Thalaea stroked her friend's head. They won't harm the pups. You're safe.