Ash: The Wolves of the World's End

Chapter 16

Ash slowly felt his senses return to his bitter cold body. The warmth spread at a meandering pace out from his heart, warming his legs and his tail, and gradually spreading down towards his toes. Blinking groggily, he opened his eyes to a dark, dreary cave with the only light coming from the faint efforts of the moon to peek from behind the clouds. The blizzard. He could remember Selena calling out his name as he fell. It took a moment of extreme effort to lift himself onto his toes again.

     “You’re up.” Bard’s voice was neutral, but Ash sensed the relief in the dog’s voice. Ash walked toward the source of the sound of his friend, but felt himself stumble as a pain shot up his right fore-leg. “Don’t exert yourself too much, “ Bard warned. “Selena was licking that wound all night; you wouldn’t want her hard work to go to waste, would you?” He looked down and felt a sense of nausea at the cut. It may not have been that big, but it was deep. Already, the skin was beginning to heal itself, and soon, he knew his fur would protect it again. “Where are the others?” he asked.

     “Selena and Jet are hunting for you right now. I warned them to be careful though, the blizzard is only now beginning to ease up.” Ash hobbled out to the mouth of the cave, only to shy away from the torrent of snow falling and the howling of the wind. How would they be able to find their way back? “They insisted,” Bard continued. “Selena wanted to stay until you woke up, but Jet needed her strong nose to have any chance of finding prey at all. And besides, there’s some things you need to know about your father.”

     Ash’s eyes brightened up; this was one of the reasons he had bothered saving Bard in the first place. Bard laid himself down on his stomach and began. “I only knew your father for a couple weeks, so most of the information you know about him I’ve already told you. But Fang did tell me a lot of things while I knew him: strange things indeed.”

     “Like what?” Ash pushed.

     “You don’t have to leap all over me to tell you.” Bard shook his head. “Your father was obsessed, almost mad, with the aurora. He said they were special. Obviously, wolves and dogs alike have known the aurora were special for a while; there’s nothing like them in the world, there’s no way to describe them with words or smells.” Ash nodded; he already knew all this. “But Fang thought said that they led to the World’s End.”

     “The World’s End?” Ash had a quizzical look on his face. “What did he mean?”

     “He told me one of your legends. When the world was first made, it was snowless and iceless. The wolves weren’t living here then, they had left to what he called the ‘Other Side’. When the frost came, it began to spread over all the domains; beginning in the northernmost part and slowly spreading southward. The wolves received the blame from the inhabitants, and they were forced across a narrow strip of land onto this world. And soon after, the land bridge was destroyed by a flood. The wolves were trapped here.”

     “So what?” Ash didn’t want to be lectured on fairy tales; he wanted the truth. “How does this connect to the aurora?”

     “So? Is that all you can say?” Bard was almost livid. “I’m telling you something that your own father entrusted with me, and all you can say is ‘so’?” He began to cool down. “Lupa, patron of the wolves, had compassion on her people. So she gave us a prophecy. The Prophecy. She created the aurora to lead us back to the bridge, and it is said that someday, the wolves will cross over the ocean, back to their homeland. Fang believed it was true, and him and a pack of wolves are searching for the crossing point.

     “Somehow Ash, somehow, he knew that you were still alive. He somehow knew that you would find you way off your island. He’s survived off the hope that somehow, you were still alive after that fire.” Bard stood up and began to pace for the entrance. Ash scrambled after him.