Legends of the Saloli: Vengeance and Mercy (17 page)

Blaze… No, Vengeance’s heart nearly exploded with happiness. He and this beautiful saloli named Mercy were now bonded together for all eternity, inseparable even by the foulest forces of evil. The names weren’t too bad, either. The two lovers came together and pressed their faces together for the first time as true mates. Tribe custom dictated that they now have the rest of the night all to themselves, outside of the camp. Vengeance looked into Mercy’s eyes, and thought that he would never need anything more.

“Shall we go, my love?” he asked. Mercy nodded, smiling in happy contentment as well.

“Help!”

As one, Icefire turned towards the cry. A startled gasp rang out as a mangled saloli dragged itself into camp. It had deep cuts all over its body, its eyes were nearly swollen shut, and its right ear was torn completely off.

It was Gentletide.

Vengeance ran to her side, afraid despite the previous day’s events, “Gentletide, what happened?”

She dropped to the ground in front of him, unable to carry herself an inch further. She took a ragged gasp, “It was Darkcover!” she exclaimed, her voice weak, “They attacked us when we left the cave!”

“How?” Vengeance demanded, “How did they know where to find you?”

“It was Mordred. He knew exactly where to bring his forces.” She shook her head in despair, “I should have foreseen it.”

“What about the others? Where are the others?”

A sob escaped Gentletide’s throat, “Dead. All dead. Darkcover showed no mercy.”

Fear rippled through Vengeance’s fur. Scratch was dead? “But how?” He asked, “Darkcover shouldn’t have been any match for you powers!”

“They had…” Gentletide paused, shock momentarily preventing her from speaking further, “They had… Phantom!”

The legend of HeartTribe, and the demonic bat that plagued them, instantly ran through Vengeance’s mind. Phantom had been the one who had killed Melody, the founder of HeartTribe. He had been a member of the Black Legion. Nobody knew whether he had died or gone into the Dragon Tree after the great battle. Now the answer was obvious. It also meant that the heir of Sol had discovered his power, at least in part.

“So, it has already begun.” He muttered.

Another shallow breath was sucked into Gentletide’s lungs, “Wait! Scratch!” Vengeance perked his ears up at his former trainee’s name, “He’s not dead! Mordred took him prisoner. He’s in the southern part of the forest, in Darkcover’s camp!”

Vengeance’s eyes widened in horror. Scratch, Goliath’s prisoner? He wouldn’t last a week. He had to save him!

“Blaze…” Gentletide’s voice was growing weaker, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I’m sorry for being such a coward. You were right. You were right about everything. I’m sorry…”

A final breath escaped Gentletide’s lungs, and her head slumped to the ground. HeartTribe’s chief was no more. And HeartTribe itself would be no more if Vengeance didn’t do something to help Scratch! He turned around to look at Icefire, who were all staring at him in shock, with no idea what had just happened. Rust came forward.

“Vengeance, what’s going on?” he asked, “Who was that?”

“It was Gentletide, chief of HeartTribe.” Vengeance answered.

“HeartTribe?” Rust echoed, “But they’re just a myth!”

“No, they’re much more than a myth. At least, they were before today. Darkcover just attacked them, and wiped all but one of them out. That last saloli is being held captive in Darkcover’s southern territory.”

Rust’s eyes widened in alarm. Vengeance was impressed at how easily he was accepting this. Most likely, now that he had named the Sword, not much could surprise him. “I’ll put together an attack force to send there immediately.”

“No,” Vengeance countered, “we can’t cause an uproar. We’d be slaughtered. Stealth is key here. I’ll go, and I’ll take two other saloli with me. That will be enough.” Rust nodded. “Oh, and one more thing.” Vengeance added, looking his chief in the eye, “The saloli we’re going to rescue is Scratch.”

“Scratch?” Rust asked in disbelief, “Razor’s son? The traitor?”

“No,” Vengeance asserted, “not a traitor. A HeartTribe saloli.”

Rust stared at Vengeance for a moment, and then horror slowly filled his gaze, “A HeartTribe saloli?” he whispered, “Of course. How could I not realize it? And I was going to execute him…”

“Rust, we don’t have time for regrets right now.” Vengeance said, “I’ll take two saloli and go after him right now. You can apologize to him when we come back.”

Vengeance turned to face the tribe, “I’m going into Darkcover territory to rescue the last remaining HeartTribe saloli! To accompany me, I need…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Ink ran out to meet him, “Scratch is my brother.” She told him, “If you think I’ll trust anyone else to rescue him, then you’re in for a rude awakening.”

Vengeance was about to argue, but thought better of it. Instead, he turned back to the crowd, and saw Smallthorn making his way towards them as well. “Ink is my trainee, even if I haven’t been acting like it lately.” He said, “I’m going to make up for that right now.” He turned to Ink, “I’ll come too. Consider this your last test. If we make it through this, I will officially consider you ready to be promoted.” Ink nodded her understanding, but obviously had more important things on her mind.

Blaze was about to approve, when Dust, the former Darkcover saloli, made himself known, “I know you only want two others, but insist I go with you. I know Darkcover’s territory like the back of my paw. I can take you to the camp. Otherwise you’ll get lost.”

“Very well,” Vengeance agreed. “We should leave immediately. We’ll formulate a plan on the way there. Let’s go!”

Without another word, they turned tail and dashed out of the camp, heading south towards Darkcover’s territory. They arrived at the border ten minutes later. As they had run, they decided the direct approach would be best. They would cut straight through the center of Darkcover’s territory, to their camp, which Dust had said was towards the bottom end of their territory. Vengeance sniffed the air, and was satisfied that no patrols were anywhere close to them. Without wasting time on subtlety, the rescue party ran straight over the border and into Darkcover’s territory.

When they were only a few steps inside, it became obvious why the tribe was named Darkcover. The tree canopy above them was much thicker than on Icefire territory, and it blotted out much of the light, leaving the floor only dimly illuminated.

Vengeance let Dust take the lead now, and he followed the convert as he twisted and turned. They had agreed this would also be best, in order to throw off anyone who may be tracking their scent. When they had Scratch and were escaping, they would take the most direct route out.

It took them nearly a half hour, but Dust finally motioned with his tail for them to slow down and step quietly. The sound of voices drifted out of the distance, signaling that they were near the camp. Dust poked his head around a tree, looked back at the party, and nodded his head. They had arrived.

Vengeance crept up to stand beside Dust and looked into the camp. Hundreds of saloli milled around, and hundreds more entered and left the camp on patrols and scavenging assignments. Vengeance scanned the camp from left to right. Where could he be? There! Trapped in the middle of a ring of Darkcover saloli, Scratch stood, shivering in fear.

“If he’s a HeartTribe saloli, why doesn’t he just use his powers to escape?” Dust whispered.

“Because there’s too many of them.” Vengeance answered, “He could take out a few, but they’d overwhelm him with their sheer force of numbers.”

“What are we going to do?”

Vengeance went back behind the tree to discuss the situation with the others. It was agreed that there was no way they could take Scratch by force. Taking him by stealth also seemed impossible right now. In the end, they decided to wait for a bit and see if another opportunity arose. Hiding inside a nearby bush, they kept watch.

Three hours passed, and no weakness in the camp’s defenses made itself apparent. The sun was beginning to dip towards the west horizon. A chilly breeze was causing all four saloli to shiver. Still, Vengeance kept a determined eye on the camp.

“All bow in honor of King Goliath!” a voice rang out.

Every Darkcover saloli in the camp bowed their heads as the giant came into the camp. He gazed at them icily, as if he couldn’t care less about his own subjects. Some saloli offered him words of respect, but he ignored them, instead making straight for where Scratch was being held captive.

“So,” he gloated, a smug grin on his face, “this is all that remains of the great HeartTribe? I’m disappointed. I expected the legendary tribe to put up more of a fight than they did.” He leaned in close to his prisoner, “They’re all dead now. Every one of them. You would be as well, but Mordred thinks that we should keep you alive for a bit.” Scratch cowered away from Darkcover’s chief. Goliath continued, “He seems to think you may be useful to us.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Scratch’s eyes flashed defiantly at his enemy, “Then you may as well kill me. I won’t do anything to help you!”

Goliath glared at Scratch, but kept his temper in check, “Oh, but if Mordred is correct, you already are. You’re presence here ensures that Blaze, that blasted outsider, will come to rescue you. When he does, I’ll kill him, and rid myself of the thorn he has planted in my side. Then I’ll kill you, and HeartTribe will be gone forever.”

Scratch obviously wanted to send a cutting remark back at his captor, but couldn’t think of one, so he remained silent. Goliath turned to look at his tribe.

“I have business that needs to be attended to. If the red outsider shows his face, capture him and report to me immediately, and bring the prisoner with you. If you can’t capture the outsider, kill him.”

Without another word, Goliath stalked out of camp and was gone. A plan immediately began to form in Vengeance’s head. He motioned for Dust to come stand beside him.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he explained.

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Vengeance peeked out of the bush, and saw Dust making his way through the camp. Having once been a Darkcover saloli himself, Dust was not given a second glance as he wove his way around the saloli, and stopped before the prisoner’s circle.

“Goliath has sent me to tell you that he has just caught the outsider and killed him.” Dust told the guard, “He wants me to bring the prisoner to him.”

The guard eyed him suspiciously, “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” he demanded.

“Goliath has demanded the prisoner,” Dust insisted, “If you don’t want to hand him over, you can take it up with him. He won’t be happy about it, though.”

A spark of fear lit the guard’s eyes, and he nodded to the other guards. They parted, and allowed Dust to approach and cuff Scratch behind the ears. “Let’s go, prisoner! King Goliath is waiting for you!” Thankfully, Scratch went without protest.

Dust led Scratch out of camp, and Vengeance and the rest of the rescue party crept out of the bush to go meet them. Scratch’s eyes widened with relief when he saw his former mentor, but Vengeance motioned for him to remain silent.

“We’re going to get you out of here.” He pointed at Dust, “He’s on our side. Let’s go, try to act natural.”

The five saloli slowly began to walk north, towards the Icefire border. Ten minutes later, they were somewhere close to halfway across Darkcover’s territory. Dust led them through the forest like an expert, taking them the quickest way they could go to get out. He led them over the crest of a hill, and stopped cold. Vengeance felt his heart sink into his stomach. Goliath was standing before them with a battalion of saloli waiting behind him.

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist playing the hero, Blaze.” He said, his eyes betraying the triumph he felt in his heart. “You couldn’t help but come after this little runt, and now I’ve caught you!”

The red saloli stepped forward and glared defiantly at the evil one, “My name is Vengeance!” he declared.

Goliath’s eyes wandered to Vengeance’s forehead and widened in fear, “It’s… It’s you!” Rage suddenly overcame him, “How dare you trespass on my territory, you filthy vermin!”

“I am the Sword!” Vengeance shouted back, “And if you don’t want to die right now, you will back away and let us pass!”