Ice age: Story of the Wolf (alternate version)

Chapter Eight: Ambushed

The next morning Savage Fire immediately picked up on the tension radiating from Diego. Every thing he said was short and terse, and his shoulders seemed so tense that they were up over his stubby ears. She watched him carefully as they entered the mountain range of Half Peak. Sid was cleaning Roshan to the best of his abilities and asked the saber's opinion. Diego grunted and then looked away.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this."
"Why not?" Sid asked with genuine curiosity.
"Because if we save him he'll grow up to be a hunter. And who do you think he'll hunt?"
"Well maybe since we saved him, he won't hunt us!"
"Yeah and maybe he'll grow fur and a long skinny neck and call you momma!" He threw back. Manny looked at him.
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing. Let's go I'm freezing my tail off." Savage Fire had watched the exchange in silence. Something was wrong, and she felt powerless to know what. She lifted her nose in the air and caught the brief scent of saber. She shook her head and sniffed again. Her nose always played tricks on her when harsh, cold weather set in and this was no exception. It had to be Diego...right? She padded alongside Manny and suddenly realized Diego wasn't beside her.
"Hey Diego! You frozen back there?" Manny called back. The fur on the back of her neck prickled.
"Get down!" Diego suddenly yelled. She immediately crouched into defensive position. "Get down and follow me." He said a little more quietly than last time.
"What's going on?" Sid asked. The saber tooth hung his head.
"At the bottom of half peak...there's an ambush...waiting for you." Savage Fire didn't move. Half of her wasn't at all surprised, she had been braced for something like this the whole trip. But the other half felt betrayal from the cat she thought she had made peace with.
"What do you mean ambush? You set us up." Manny stated lowly.
"It was my job, I was supposed to get the baby but then..."
"You brought us home for dinner!" Manny accused
"That's it, You're out of the herd!" Sid declared. Manny rounded on her.
"And what was your role in this?" He asked harshly, taking the alpha by surprise.
"Manny..." she started to defend but Diego jumped in.
"No! She had nothing to do with this! She was trying to protect the baby from me! Her pack does serve the humans and she's the alpha." He said. Savage Fire blinked at him, still not showing emotion. "I'm sorry." Diego said.
"No you're not! Not yet." Manny threatened, shoving him up and against the rock wall of the overhang with his tusk.
"Listen! I can help you!" He choked out.
"Stay close Sid! We can fight our way out!"
"You can't! The packs too strong!"
"Manny he's telling the truth! The pack may be only half of what they were but all the humans and all my wolves had trouble fighting them off!" Savage Fire finally said, backing Diego up. He had been following his alpha's instruction, and while it was wrong and he should've said no from the beginning, it wasn't all his fault. The demands of a pack from their alpha were harsh, especially for the beta or second in command, who was expected to keep the rest of the pack in line. She always made sure never to give her beta a task that she wouldn't be willing to do herself or that she didn't believe was right for the good of the entire pack.
"You're going to have to trust me!" Diego said.
"Trust you! Why on earth should we trust you!?" Manny challenged. Diego sighed.
"Because I'm your only chance."

The plan was in action. Sid was the decoy with the pretend baby to draw the sabers to Manny. Roshan was hidden safe and her task was to get Soto. He wasn't going to let them go without a fight. As soon as the pack had gone after Sid, she appeared from behind the rocks and let Soto see her. He smirked evilly and crouched down, his body low to the ground in spring position.
"I will have that baby alpha. And I'll take the mammoth while I'm at it."
"You're going to have to go through me to get to both of them." She challenged. He growled and she returned it, her lips curling up in a snarl on her long muzzle. He attacked first and she dodged it, looking for an opening to sink her teeth into his neck. He attacked again and she rose on her hindquarters to meet him, their legs clashing and him bitting at her with his long canines. She bit at his head and managed to tear an ear, making the cat growl in pain. He shoved her into the rocks and dove for her. She hunched down and dove for his underbelly just as he was about to land on top of her. Her teeth sunk into his pelt and he roared. He smacked her off with a powerful paw, causing her to fly to the side and her lower body fell off the side of one of the crests. She scrambled for a hold in the snow but it was futile. She didn't have claws like a sabers to hang on and the snow was powdery and slippery. She caught Soto's triumphant smirk as she tumbled off the crest and landed in the soft snow a good thirty feet below her. When she gathered her strength she hurried as fast as her pulled leg would carry her to where Manny had been. To her horror she found Manny backed into a corner by two of the pack members and Diego and Soto locked in a fearsome battle. Diego got smacked like she just had and went sliding into a rock, his head hitting hard. She sucked in a breath and started running. If she could reach them in time maybe she could break up the pack long enough to let Manny get away. Deep inside she knew she wouldn't be able to. She was too far away, and the pack was too close to Manny. Just as Soto was about to lunge for Manny's throat, she saw Diego jump in front of him, taking the full brunt of Soto's attack. She froze at the sight and felt someone come up next to her. It was Sid and the baby. Before she could move him Roshan squealed, drawing Soto's attention. Manny threw him into a rock wall before he could run for the baby. Icicles rattled above him and then fell, piercing his body. She quickly ran down the slope and made a beeline for Diego. The other two sabers ran away and she nudged Diego with her nose. Manny and Sid joined her.
       "We were...some team...huh?" Diego asked.
        "Were? Come on we're still a team." Manny encouraged.
       "I'm sorry I set you up."
       "Stop talking. Save your strength." Savage Fire ordered quietly. Sid placed Roshan down in front of Diego, who touched his nose with a tiny hand. 
       "Hey knock it off squirt. You gotta be strong. You gotta take care of Manfred and Sid...and Savage Fire...but especially Sid." She looked down at him. That was the first time he had ever used her name. "Listen, you have to leave me. If the humans make it through the pass, you'll never catch them."
       "You didn't have to do that." Manny said.
       "That's what you do in a herd." He replied. Savage Fire lowered her head and nudged him one more time.
       "My birth name is Saskia. It means protector...and I didn't do my job."
        "Yes you did. The baby is safe, and so are you guys."