Chapter 10- River Riding

James stood in place. The voice chilled him; he could hear it echo in his head. He knew there was no time to think about the voice’s message but to simply obey it. He ordered all the other wolves out of the dead tree’s cavern. Sarina walked side by side with James. He seemed almost unfeeling. James was trapped in deep thought. He remembered something his father had told him, something about spirits. They were known as shades, lost souls of wolves. These shades were violent and evil. They caused one of James’s wolves to go insane and commit suicide. They obviously wanted no living beings inside the cavern and had grown restless with their intrusion. “What happened back there”? Asked Sarina. “Shades, wolf sprits, they caused him to go insane”. “Ah, but why did they do that”? James shook his head. “I don’t know, its best we just keep moving, the pack will become nervous if we show more concern on the situation”. They walked off into the storm.

 

Clouds held a thick fog on the forest. Sapientia was not amused by James leading them into a storm like this. “You idiot, were going to freeze in this rain, you might as well kill us now”. James simply stared at her. She walked off grumbling “What a moron, we can’t live through this”. James had feared freezing but anything to get away from the trees was necessary. The pack had come across another cave that appeared vacant. They climbed inside, the rain bashed down on the ground in large amounts flooding the ground in mud. The night was coming and the rain started to slow. James decided for now rest was the best choice. James lay on the soft sand next to Sarina. He began to wonder of his son. There was a sneaking suspicion inside him that had him wondering if Shadow truly was dead. The more he thought the more it seemed uncanny. It was a silly thought. How could he have not died? But something ached at him, a feeling of hope, it kept him awake yet he decided to ignore it. The light of day would shake him out of such dumb thoughts.

 

“A river”. Shadow said nervously. Crystal looked at him. “We’ll find some other way around”. They walked along the river, searching for any way across without swimming. An almost incomplete beaver dam in the open. There were several holes in-between the logs. They climbed up onto the logs. The dam stretched across the long river. Shadows terror gave the allusion that the river stretched miles. As they moved across the logs the creaking under their feet made Shadow nervous. They traveled slowly so as not to cause the logs to collapse underneath them. “You holding up Shadow”? Crystal asked from behind him. “Yes, for the moment”. Shadow gulped. The logs creaked more and he felt them shift. He stopped for a moment and both he and Crystal remained silent. Shadow continued again and Crystal followed. The logs shifted again and Shadows leg slipped in right between them. He shouted and he fell into one of the logs with its splintery wood digging into his face. He pulled away and the painful sting left his face. “Are you okay”? Crystal asked behind him. Shadow turned himself to look at her “Yeah, I’m still okay”. He tried to lift his leg but it was caught between some other logs that had slid on over his leg. Crystal began walking up to him. “It’s stuck”. Shadow said trying to lift his leg again but it was still caught in the logs. Shadow could hear something approaching, something big. He looked behind Crystal and noticed a large brown figure looming over her. “Crystal! Behind you”! Shadow barked. Crystal turned and faced the giant creature. “It’s a bear”! She said. Crystal ducked just as the massive beast swung its giant paw at her. It missed and rammed into the side of the dam. Some of the logs gave way and the structure began to fall apart. The bear roared at its miss. Logs clattered down into the rushing water below. Shadow started to slip as the logs gripped his leg and pulled him down. Crystal dodged another swing. The monstrous bear slammed its foot hard onto the logs and they broke in half snapping several others and giving way to more underneath. Shadow slipped more now. “Crystal”! Shadow cried but she was caught up with the bear. She leaped up and bit into it massive paw. The angered bear threw Crystal off throwing her onto the edge of the logs. Shadow slipped in-between the logs and held on as they slowly parted. Shadow was dumped into the icy waters and was being quickly carried away by the current. He reached out in desperation trying to grab onto anything. Shadow was lucky enough to have gained hold of a log. He climbed up onto it. He heard Crystal scream and then a splash. Shadow turned his head to see Crystal swimming towards him in desperation. The bear splashed in behind her and was advancing on her. Crystal grabbed onto the side of Shadow’s log. Shadow slipped down to the side due to the rocking rapids. “Watch out”! Shadow shouted. The bear swung its paws down near Crystal’s head. She swung the log as well as herself away from the bear’s clawed paw. The bear started to lose the chase as it fell back in the current. Shadow turned his head to the direction they were headed. “Look”! Crystal yelled pointing out a large rock in the river. The log swerved into the rock splitting the log in half. Crystal suddenly lost sight of Shadow. The bear was now behind her. It swung over the rock and its huge paw slammed down on her log sending Crystal swerving away from it. She was falling under the water as she managed to catch sight of the bear sinking under the rapids roaring loudly. “Shadow”! She called out but there was no answer. Within second she started to sink. The cold water encumbered Crystal and all went black.

 

There was seldom talking of what went on in the tree cave. James knew it was the work of a shade, a dark shade. He knew what shades were. His father had told him before. His farther mentioned wolf writings from ancient Latin. Sarina, Sapientia nor any of the other wolves mentioned the wolf’s suicide. They managed to settle at the end of the forest just at the edge of the sunset fields. During the beginning of the evening Sarina and James were lying together, watching over the fields. James turned to her and looked into her blue shinning eyes. “You feel it too”. Sarina nodded. “I still do wonder, is he out there, did we make a mistake”. James gave a bit of a shrug. “We may never know. Sarina tucked her head under James’s arm and began to cry softly. “By chance, with our hope, we will find him alive”. The sunset ended with the giant sun slowly descending over the hill side.