The Hooman Saga - Book Two, Part 1

Episode 33

(This book is available everywhere online. I'm working as I can to get this posted to Wattpad. if you can't wait to see how this turns out, see https://calm.li/HoomanSagaBk2Pt1 for more information and links.)

SOO-SHE WAS SMILING and went over to give Teacher a hug. "It worked! We did it!"

Teacher's smile quit in the middle of that hug.

Soo-she felt the shift as her body tensed. She backed up, with a hand still on Teachers back. "What is it?"

Teacher stood. "We have to return. Now."

- - - -

AS THE WHITENESS FADED, Soo-she stood up next to Teacher.

The cubs were whimpering and barking, while the female Hunters pushed them behind them and formed a defensive ring around the outside of the old circular barn foundation.

The female Hunters faced an outside ring of feral wolves, coyotes, and coy-dogs who were closing a circle around them.

Soo-she was surprised, and angered. "Teacher, take flight. Show me what you see from the air. I'll deal with these!"

Teacher ran and jumped up, changing mid-leap into a white eagle that climbed rapidly in tight circles above the round ring of stones.

Soo-she raised her arms and face to the skies overhead.

Wind started circling the Probe site, picking up speed and throwing dust into the eyes and noses of the attacking pack. A small, low dark cloud showed up on one side and thundered with increasing volume.

Suddenly a series of lightning bolts hit on that side, shocking the feral hunters there. With a series of yelps, they left that area so it became an open horseshoe shape. The cloud split in two as well as the lightning and the wind cleared out the small area in between.

"Tig-she! Take your huntresses and cubs to safety. I'll hold these for you until you get back," Soo-she yelled. With the powers of the elementals at her control her voice and thoughts were commanding and loud.

Tig-she gave a short series of barks and the mothers left with their cubs running in a thin column between them.

Five female huntresses appeared in the circle to defend Soo-she from attack. They growled their defiance at the motley pack that outnumbered them, another five ferals for every huntress inside the circle.

Slowly the attacking pack crept forward, while the huntresses backed closer to Soo-she, who still had her eyes and arms to the sky. Her eyes themselves glowed white and her hands were small cyclones of energy.

The feral pack knew this was their chance to destroy their enemies for good. Once they dealt with these few females and this weaponless hooman, they'd be able to eliminate the rest of the wolves in this valley. They would run off any that could escape. Revenge would be theirs...

- - - -

One bark sounded from all the huntresses at once and they simultaneously leapt in the air toward the ferals, out of the circle - and vanished.

Momentarily astonished, a bark from the largest feral wolf prompted the entire pack to jump into the circle and attack the single human, who did nothing but keep her hands pointed at the sky.

And as the first of that feral pack started to claw and bite her - they only ran into their other pack mates, biting and clawing their own kind.

The hooman was not where she was supposed to be.

Confused, they all wheeled to find the hooman only to realize that they were now surrounded by a ring of fire much too tall to leap out of, and throwing such heat at them that they all cowered in the center, panting and whimpering.

Overhead, the white eagle circled, seeing everything and sharing her vision with Soo-she - who was standing with her back to a large boulder well outside that circle, her hands and face still to the sky, and a large grin across her face.

When Tig-she returned with her female hunting party, they found the whimpering feral pack sweating from the heat they were experiencing. But to Tig-she, this was most amusing, since the wind had ceased, the sky was clear, and it was a typical fall day otherwise. She saw only a pack of panting, fearful wolves and coy-dogs. All cowed and frightened of their own visions.

She noticed Soo-she and Teacher-as-eagle flying overhead. Sharing Teacher's vision, Tig-she had her huntresses form a horseshoe-shaped ring to allow the feral wolves a single line of escape. Back up the thin trail they had come in on.

Suddenly, the ferals all blinked and saw the flames quit and the huntresses surrounding them. They stayed still for the moment, licking the perspiration off their lips and looking around at each other.

A small dark cloud formed in the next instant, and shot a lightning bolt next to them. The explosion prompted the whole pack to run flat out back up toward the canyon walls. Heading back through the entrance they used to sneak into the valley. Tig-she led her hunting party to nip at the heels of the slowest ones, until the whole scene disappeared up the side of the valley and over its edge.

Teacher swooped down toward Soo-she, who now had her hands down and was relaxing against the boulder, a wide grin on her face. Teacher circled a couple more times to slow her speed, then landed gracefully with a few back-sweeps of her wings. Then shimmered back into a white-grey wolf with a wide grin of her own.

(This book is available everywhere online. I'm working as I can to get this posted to Wattpad. if you can't wait to see how this turns out, see https://calm.li/HoomanSagaBk2Pt1 for more information and links.)