If you haven’t read Parts One or Two, this story won’t make much sense to you. So what are you waiting for?
Introduction
Return of the boring bit. I’ll try not to keep you too long.
The previous boring bits have established that our eponymous hero Ketrin, raised in the jungle by lupinoids - wolflike but with attitude - is strongly influenced by Rudyard Kipling’s Mowgli. Like Kipling’s original Mowgli (not the Disney character), Ketrin has a taste for raw meat, an instinctive hatred of injustice and no hangups about nudity.
(By the way...Ketrin’s probable father is the late lamented Ruthyar. In other words, in case anyone hasn’t figured it out yet, he’s Ruthyar’s Ketrin, geddit? Oh, well....)
There is one tiny difference that’s possibly just worth mentioning: as far as I can tell, Mowgli is heterosexual.
These are not furry TF stories, since Ketrin never actually turns into a lupinoid. And yet in a very real sense he’s been there and done the whole transformation thing, because he has a telepathic link with his lupinoids. That means that when he wants to, he can experience everything - and I do mean everything - that his furry brothers see, hear, smell, taste and feel. He knows exactly what it’s like to be a lupinoid. It’s figuring out what it’s like to be a human that he often has problems with.
Now a word about this instalment’s plot. [Yes, there is a plot!]
I’ve noticed that most adventure heroes don’t seem to suffer from common ailments. When did you ever see James Bond with the ’flu, or Indiana Jones with a sprained ankle? Unfortunately for Ketrin, things aren’t quite that simple where he comes from. He’s lived with the lupinoids all his life, which means he hasn’t been in contact with his fellow(?) humans, and now that he’s returned to the village several trillion common human-loving viruses and bacteria that he’s never developed immunity to are just dying to make his acquaintance. Oh, dear. (Now that I come to think of it, isn’t it strange that this never happened to Mowgli as well...?)
The story takes place several hundred light years from Earth in about AD 3501, give or take a century or three and a few months....
You can take the boy out of the jungle, but you can’t take the jungle out of the boy.
--Traditional
“My dog’s got no nose.”
“Your dog’s got no nose? How does he smell?”
“Terrible!”
--Traditional, probably 19th Century Earth
Far to the west, in a desolate mountain range, a tree was blown down in a storm. That in itself was nothing unusual, except for one thing. A small object had fallen near the tree and been buried many years before, and had become entangled in the tree’s growing roots. When the tree fell its roots and the object within them were once more exposed to the air.
Some days later, when the weather had brightened a little, a small bird flying over the spot was attracted by a flash of blue. It was a male plumebird, instinctively attracted to any sudden reflections.
To attract mates, male plumebirds danced in cleared circles on the forest floor, displaying the spectacular feathered plumes that gave their species its name, and showing off whatever shiny trinkets they had managed to collect. Females seemed especially fond of blue objects, and so the males’ dance areas were littered with blue berries, blue buttons, scraps of blue cloth, and even occasional items of blue jewellery.
To the plumebird flying over the fallen tree, the shimmering blue crystal lying amid the exposed roots was a treasure beyond price, and it snatched it up eagerly before any rival bird could get its grasping talons on it.
In a nearby cave, sealed in forever by fallen rocks, two more of the blue crystals provided the only illumination for a strange scene. Two naked men, their faces contorted with hatred and given macabre aspect by the blue radiance, stood like statues, unable to move. Their hands firmly and painfully grasped each other’s erections, which were huge and permanent. The crystals were no longer under their control, and they were condemned to remain paralysed in this humiliating position forever. Each man was doomed to stare into the eyes of his enemy for eternity, unless some miracle should set them free.
The jewels’ immobilising influence had in fact become so great that even small creatures that ventured into the cave had become trapped by it. The two human statues were surrounded by hundreds of frozen insects and rodents.
These were indeed the two paralysed men of whom the old sorcerer had spoken to Borvinn. He had told Borvinn the truth, more or less, about how he had come to acquire the crystals. Many years before he had discovered the two men, who had already spent decades in their statuelike condition. Nearby he had found the cache of paralysing crystals over which they had been fighting. Far from attempting to set them free, he had repeatedly raped them for days on end, taking great delight in his ability to take advantage of their helplessness. Then, when hunger and thirst finally forced him to depart, he had posed them in their undignified tableau, stolen the crystals and sealed them in their cave forever.
The sorcerer often looked back on the incident with great satisfaction, chuckling with evil glee as he thought of the two men and their fate. The crystals he had stolen from them had helped him to set himself up in his position of power. The sorcerous knowledge he had acquired since that time had given him almost godlike perceptions.
Yet the old man was perhaps not quite as omniscient as he liked his clients to think. If he were, then how could he have managed to drop one of the crystals without ever realising that it was missing?
And now that crystal was at large once more, in the claws of a small bird that could never have guessed the enormous potential of what it was carrying.
At that moment an almost identical crystal was the focus of Borvinn’s concern, as he sat within the darkness of the sorcerer’s hut.“The last spell was a pathetic failure,” he told the sorcerer. “I don’t see why I should have to pay full price for the new one as well.”
“Your attempt to paralyse Ketrin failed because you neglected to guard your back, not because of any flaw in the spell itself,” the old man growled, pointing a bony finger accusingly at Borvinn. “In any case, you still have the crystal and can use it again at any time, so you can hardly claim to have exhausted its value.”
“The spell’s not much good if the boy won’t wear the damned knife,” said Borvinn.
The old man sighed wearily. “Strictly speaking, that is not my concern,” he said, “but were I inclined to give advice, I might suggest that you manoeuvre him into a situation where he has to wear the knife. You might, for instance, order him to take defensive training for guard duty.”
“Wouldn’t guard training be a bit too public?” demanded Borvinn.
The bundle of rags that housed the sorcerer’s slight frame heaved with another sigh. “It was merely an example, Borvinn. I am not a counsellor, and nor did you come here to waste my time with your quibbling, much as you would undoubtedly like to... were I a more tolerant man.”
The sorcerer’s body was suddenly silhouetted by a lurid green glow. As a display of power it was quite impressive. Borvinn told himself that it was just a trick, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t.
The old man leant forward. “You want something more from me, Borvinn. Something that will weaken Ketrin, perhaps, so that he is unable to protect his friends from you.”
Borvinn merely nodded. Although the chief hunter considered the old man’s prices exorbitant, the sorcerer knew that Borvinn would ultimately pay any price to possess the wild boy, and Borvinn knew that he knew it.
The sorcerer grinned, displaying a horrifying array of decayed fangs. (It occurred to Borvinn to wonder why the sorcerer could not use his powers to fix his rotten teeth, and the rest of his rotten body for that matter.) “Good,” the old man purred. “I believe I have something that will serve you very well.”
The grin widened to encompass two sets of nauseatingly rotten gums, as the sorcerer named his price.
Some days later Borvinn called the men of the village together for an announcement.
“A few nights ago,” he began, “thanks to the courage and diligence of our young guardsman Sherinel here...”
This remark met with some laughter and sneers of derision, which both Borvinn and Sherinel studiously ignored - for differing reasons.
“...our village was saved from an attack by wild lupinoids. Oh, yes, I know that some of us, myself included, have seen fit to question Sherinel’s bravery in the past, but now I have conclusive proof that we were mistaken.” So saying, Borvinn held high the spear that was caked with dried bush-hog blood.
Ketrin and Sherinel exchanged surreptitious, worried glances. It seemed that Ketrin’s plan to make Sherinel look heroic had gone somewhat awry.
“Despite being confronted with a fully-grown lupinoid, our brave guard managed to stab the beast. By some miracle -” here he shot knowing glances at both Sherinel and Ketrin “- Sherinel was able to recover his spear without injury. Unfortunately the beast did not leave a blood-trail for us to follow - which is a little surprising, given the amount of blood on the spear - but I have no doubt that it has gone off to lick its wounds and bide its time for the next attack, possibly bringing others of its kind with it. ”
Borvinn paused for effect.
“If there is one thing I have learned of these beasts -” said Borvinn, favouring Ketrin with another meaningful stare “- it is that they are extremely cunning, and we must be twice as cunning in order to defeat them.”
Then I must be three times as cunning in order to defeat you, thought Ketrin, keeping his face impassive for Borvinn’s benefit.
“And so,” continued Borvinn, “ten days from now the men of this village, under my command, will hunt down and destroy every last one of those beasts that we can find within a day’s march of the village. It is my hope that the men of neighbouring villages may be persuaded to join us in this noble enterprise. Why, with their help we might even succeed in eradicating the unclean creatures from our forests altogether!”
This was met with a cheer from all - except Ketrin and Sherinel.
Deep within the forest, Silverpaw and Shadow received a mental warning from Ketrin, ordering them to flee at once. Though they were unhappy about leaving their brother in potential danger, they knew they could not face the wrath of an entire village.
It seemed that the long-dreaded war with the humans might be starting even sooner than the lupinoids had feared, unless their two-legged brother could do something to prevent it.
Ketrin’s brothers raced off to warn the pack. But conflict with humans was not the only danger that threatened. As the lupinoids sped away from the village they caught the unmistakable scent that told them a striagon had established its hunting territory nearby.
As it happened, Borvinn was also aware of the striagon’s presence. It was all part of the plan he had worked out with the sorcerer.
That evening Ketrin went home with a headache. He thought it was merely caused by anxiety, but the next morning he woke hot and feverish, with a blinding migraine and nausea and aching muscles. As if that were not enough, his skin was covered with red blotches that itched horribly.“What is it?” he asked Mavrida. “Is this more of Borvinn’s sorcery, or have I eaten some poison?”
“Neither, son,” she told him. “You have stipple.”
“Stipple?”
“It is a common children’s disease. Almost all children get it by the time they are ten. A few die, but most recover after a tenday or so, and once they do they can’t catch it again. I never thought you would get it because you’re older, but of course you have never been exposed to it.”
She sighed. “I should have realised that you would be vulnerable to common diseases. It’s my fault for not warning you, though I don’t suppose I could have prevented it. They do say that those who have had the illness can pass it on to those who have not for years afterward. You could have caught it from any of us. The only real surprise is that you didn’t get it sooner.”
“I need to throw up,” said Ketrin, and so, although he had not yet dressed, Mavrida led him outside.
When they emerged into the morning light, Ketrin cried out and covered his eyes.
“Oh,” said Mavrida. “I’m sorry, Ketrin. I forgot that stipple affects the eyes as well. You’d better keep them covered while I lead you to the midden.”
Ketrin allowed Mavrida to lead him blindly to the midden, where he spent several moments heaving painfully, heedless of the fact that passers-by could see him naked and in a weakened condition.
“I will take you back to the house,” said Mavrida. “I think I have some salve that will make your sores less painful. Then you can lie down in the shade while I go and get some medicine.”
“But how can I join Borvinn’s hunt now?” Ketrin complained. “I’m as good as blind in sunlight, and even if I could see I wouldn’t have the strength to run or throw a spear.”
“Ketrin, how can you even think about hunting at a time like this?” protested Mavrida. “Besides, you know very well that Borvinn is only setting a trap for you, so he can kill you the way...the way he killed Ruthyar. You are better off staying home.”
Ketrin sighed. “He doesn’t want to kill me, mother. He wants to kill my lupinoid brothers so they can’t protect me, and then enslave me, to make me his...his...what is the word? Varlet.”
The word had well-known sexual connotations. Mavrida was appalled.
Ketrin continued: “He already tried once before. He used some sorcery on me so that I could not move, but Sherinel saved me. I think Borvinn knows it was Sherinel and wants to kill him for it. And then, once he has me in his power, Borvinn will try to force you to tell him where Ruthyar’s gold is hidden. Then he will find the gold of the lost city as well. I won’t be able to prevent him from making me tell him, not if his sorcery is as powerful as I think it is.”
This was a good deal for Mavrida to take in at once. After fetching some medicinal tea for Ketrin she found the jar of salve and carefully applied it to his sores, grateful for once that he wasn’t embarrassed at being naked. Then she sat and considered the situation, while he lay quietly on his bed and tried to ignore his considerable discomforts.
Ketrin could at least take some consolation from the fact that he was not alone. Stipple was a common, highly infectious children’s ailment, but outbreaks were sporadic and it had been almost eight years since the last, which meant that all of the village children born since that time were susceptible.
Sure enough, within two days almost all the children in the village were affected. The price of salves and medicines rocketed as supplies dwindled. The disease was seldom fatal, although one or two small children became seriously ill with respiratory complications. For most of the victims, as well as their long-suffering parents, it was just a thoroughly miserable time.
Borvinn and his cohorts spent that time spreading rumours throughout the village, suggesting that Ketrin was responsible for bringing the disease, and - even worse - that Mavrida’s relationship with her handsome, wild young son might not be entirely maternal.
When, after a few days, the sickest children began to recover, Borvinn was actually disappointed. That said a great deal about his moral values, and it was unfortunate that most of the villagers remained unaware of his true feelings.
Borvinn had wished for at least one child to die, because then he would have been able to blame that death upon Ketrin for spreading the disease. That was all that an innocent life would have meant to him.
On the seventh evening after the outbreak began Sherinel, who had drawn guard duty once more, heard footsteps approaching. He was afraid that it might be a surprise inspection by Borvinn, but instead he was surprised to see Ketrin approaching, somewhat shakily. The wildling was naked, but was clearly in no condition for sex.
“You have had stipple already, I suppose,”
he said, somewhat hoarsely, “so it’s safe for me to be here.”
“Yes, I’ve had it, but what are you
doing here?” demanded Sherinel. “You’re supposed to
be recuperating. You look as if you can barely stand up. You sneaked away while
Mavrida was asleep, didn’t you? If she wakes up and finds you gone she’ll
be worried sick. She’ll think you became delirious and wandered off into
the jungle.” Ketrin gave a weak smile.“She won’t
wake up for a while,” he said. “She gave me some powder to help me
sleep, and while she was not looking I slipped some into her drink.” “Very clever,” muttered Sherinel. “That’s
almost devious enough for Borvinn. Your mind is obviously all right, I just
wish I could say the same for your body.” “I will be all right,” Ketrin insisted.
“I am tired, that’s all. I can’t let this illness stop me joining
Borvinn’s hunting party.” “Hunting?” Sherinel protested. “How
can you even think about hunting in your condition?” Ketrin laughed wanly. “That is just what
Mavrida said.” “Well, you should listen to her. Just look
at yourself! You still feel dizzy, right? I can tell by the way you’re
wobbling on your feet. Your sores haven’t healed yet, and you’re still
squinting. I bet that means you’re still blinded by daylight. And even
if you could hunt, what good would it do if you kept throwing up every
twenty paces? Come on, Ketrin, I know you’re the tough wild man, the naked
god of the jungle, but even jungle gods aren’t invulnerable. Now will you
please sit down before you fall down?” “I have suffered worse than this,”
Ketrin insisted - although, to Sherinel’s relief, he did finally sit down. “About six rains ago,” Ketrin went
on, “I ate some poisonous berries by mistake. I was feverish and nauseous,
in terrible pain and too weak to move. I think I came very close to death that
time. “There must have been striagons about, and
lupinoids from rival packs, yet my brothers were prepared to defend me at all
costs even though I might be dying. They even brought me water, carried in their
mouths, and when I slowly regained my appetite they brought me fresh meat. I
will always love them for that. I don’t think there are many creatures
in the forest that would show such care and devotion to their sick or wounded.” “Well, some humans do,” muttered Sherinel.
“Most of us, I’d hope. Six rains ago? You would only have been eleven
or twelve at the time. Gods, Ketrin, I still can’t imagine what growing
up in the jungle must have been like for you.” “It wasn’t so very bad,” said
Ketrin. “The jungle can be beautiful and exciting as well as dangerous
and frightening, and I experienced all of those things.” While Ketrin spoke, Sherinel heard a faint rustling
in the bushes. He did not turn to look. Beautiful as well as frightening,
he thought. When, presently, two shadowy figures padded quietly
past him and moved to sit beside Ketrin, Sherinel managed to scarcely flinch.
Ketrin meanwhile continued to speak. “When my fever finally broke and I knew
that I would live, my joy was beyond words. I had never felt so alive, even
though my body was still weak. I felt that if I could survive such pain and
sickness I could survive anything.” Ketrin laughed. “Of course, I didn’t
feel that way for long - nobody can survive in the forest if he thinks he is
immortal! - but as soon as I was strong enough I stood upright, filled my lungs
and howled with joy for simply being alive. And my brothers -” here Ketrin
laid an arm across each of the newly-arrived lupinoids’ broad necks “-
howled with me until I felt dizzy again and had to stop. “I remember that Silvermoon was alone in
the sky that night, and I spent a long time just staring up at it. Looking at
that moon has always stirred yearnings in me that I could not put a name to,
even now. It’s strange, Goldmoon doesn’t do that. Goldmoon is beautiful,
of course, but there is something different about Silvermoon. Don’t you
think so?” Sherinel was confused. “I...I don’t
know, really. I suppose...Ketrin, why are you talking about the moons right
now? What do they have to do with anything?” Ketrin laughed wanly. “I have had nothing
to do for the last few days but lie abed and think,” he said. “My
mind has been wandering a lot. Maybe the medicines Mavrida gave me were responsible.
And yet, I think the moons do tell us something. Something about the
place humans came from before this world, maybe. Sherinel, suppose our human
ancestors came from a place that had only one moon. A silver moon.
Then when they came here, this world’s Silvermoon would always remind them
of their old home, in a way that its Goldmoon never could. I think that’s
why what men call ‘one moon’ is the time it takes Silvermoon to go
from new to new, and not Goldmoon.” Sherinel thought about this. “Well, maybe
that’s true,” he conceded. “It is kind of odd that people
only feel nostalgic when they’re looking at Silvermoon. But I don’t
suppose we’ll ever find out where humans came from originally, so there’s
no proof one way or another.” “Maybe not,” said Ketrin, and would
have said more if he had not suddenly been overtaken by a fit of coughing. The
lupinoids moved aside as Sherinel went to Ketrin’s side and held him until
the spasm passed. “I’ll be all right,” Ketrin insisted. “You’re not fooling anyone, least of
all your brothers,” said Sherinel. “I will be all right,” Ketrin
repeated. “If I could survive being poisoned when I was twelve, then I
can certainly survive a little fever like this one. And when Borvinn sets out
on his hunt three mornings from now, I will be amongst his company.
I have to be there to try and protect you if I can.” “You think Borvinn will kill me?” said
Sherinel. “Yes, just as he killed my father. I don’t
know how he did it, but I have no doubt that he manoeuvred the striagon into
killing him. If he could do it then, he can do it again now. I should tell you
that the lupinoids have scented a striagon near the village. A big male, as
far as they can tell.” Sherinel looked nervously out of the gate, but
nothing could be seen in the darkness. Ketrin continued: “Once Borvinn has killed
you he will try to kill my brothers and enslave me and Mavrida, so that he can
get his hands on...on our bodies.” For a moment Ketrin had seemed about to say something
else. Sherinel was puzzled. It was unlike the wildling to be evasive. “I could almost believe that Borvinn sent
this illness to try and stop me,” said Ketrin. “If he has the power
to paralyse me, who knows what other sorcery he might possess as well?” Ketrin paused for a moment. “There is another thing. The lupinoid memories
tell me that striagons were not always as they are now. In the time of my brothers’
fathers’ fathers, the striagons would seldom attack a man or a lupinoid.
Striagons and lupinoids repected each other as hunters and mostly kept out of
each others’ way. “Then - the lupinoids can’t count time,
but as far as I can tell it was about forty years ago - something happened to
the striagons. They became much more violent and aggressive, and started attacking
lupinoids without reason or warning. Some lupinoids tried to fight back, but
it takes at least two of them to defeat one striagon, so nowadays they just
try to avoid them altogether. And of course the striagons also began attacking
human villages. That is why the humans hate and fear all wild beasts now, including
lupinoids.” “I don’t understand,” muttered
Sherinel. “What could make a hunting animal change its behaviour? It’s
almost as if someone wanted the striagons to become more vicious, almost
like they were being used as a...as a weapon or something.” “As if they were being controlled by sorcery,”
said Ketrin. “Sorcery!” cried Sherinel. “Borvinn
again? No, wait...it couldn’t have been him, not if it started forty years
ago. He’s not nearly old enough.” Ketrin nodded. “So it’s not just Borvinn. If it was
just one man we were up against we might have had a chance, but if there are
more, if they’ve been spreading evil and chaos for decades...how could
we ever hope to fight anyone as powerful as that?” “And yet we must try,” Ketrin said.
“If we do not, who will?” “None of the other villagers, that’s
for sure,” said Sherinel with a sigh. “Just because you work hard
for some of them and fuck hard for others, that doesn’t mean they feel
any loyalty to you. Some of them are just too afraid of Borvinn, but most are
only too willing to believe the filthy lies Borvinn and his friends have been
spreading about you and Mavrida.” “That’s something the lupinoids have
never understood about humans,” said Ketrin. “How they can pretend
to like each other and yet feel no bonds of loyalty. Lupinoids never abandon
each other - until they become too old and weak to survive, that is.” “And suppose you’re still
too weak to survive the hunt? Then what?” “If Borvinn kills or enslaves me my brothers
will kill him, or die trying,” Ketrin replied, rising to his feet, “but
if that happens, there might never be a chance to stop the conflict between
the village and the forest. That is why I have to attend the hunt, whatever
happens. No matter how weak I may feel, I must make myself strong,
for the sake of what is to come.” But in spite of his words, the exertion of merely
standing up seemed to exhaust him, and he had to bend double with his hands
on his knees, gasping for breath. The lupinoids stared at their brother with expressions
that were as always unreadable, but Sherinel was willing to lay odds that they
were worried about him. “If you really want to recover your strength
then go home,” Sherinel commanded. “Just rest. No exertion at all,
otherwise you’ll be no use to me or these two. Now go.” Ketrin sighed and nodded and staggered back through
the bushes in the direction of Mavrida’s house. Sherinel, Silverpaw and
Shadow watched his retreating buttocks. Then Sherinel sat down with a sigh. It took him a moment to realise that he was sitting
between two fully-grown lupinoids, and for the first time Ketrin was not there
to control them. He watched nervously as Shadow moved toward him, trying not
to stare at the carnivore’s impressive jaws...and then recoiled as Shadow’s
tongue rasped across his cheek. Laughing and spluttering, Sherinel fell backward,
only to find himself engaged in a flurry of shoving and buffeting. There was
also some snarling and snapping involved, but he realised that it was intended
partly as a game and partly as a test of strength. He guessed that he had passed
the test when, bruised and nipped all over, he was finally allowed to collapse.
The lupinoids sat beside him and insisted on licking his face again. “I suppose you two realise I’m supposed
to be protecting the village from you,” laughed Sherinel. “Just as
well, too. Most of them could never keep up with you. Gods, look at me!”
he said, examining his arms and legs. “How am I going to explain all this
to Borvinn? Oh - I know. I’ll tell him I was chasing you from the village
and stumbled into a thornbush. What do you think? Does that sound convincing?” The lupinoids did not (of course) reply, but
suffered Sherinel to sit with his arms across their backs, sharing each other’s
warmth and comfort, while the moons drifted across the sky. “I’m worried about him too,” sighed
Sherinel. Two nights later Sherinel drew first watch, ending at midnight,
which would give him a little time to sleep if he could before the morning’s
hunt. Ketrin arrived not long after sunset, looking somewhat stronger than he
had when Sherinel last saw him. As if to prove it, he wordlessly slipped his
arms around Sherinel’s waist and then unfastened Sherinel’s waistcloth.
Before the garment had reached his ankles he was almost fully aroused, and Ketrin’s
fingers had closed about his thickening shaft. “Ketrin” he breathed, “what would
it feel like if I couldn’t move while you did whatever you wanted to me?” “I have no sorcery to keep you from moving,”
Ketrin whispered, as his hands slowly kneaded Sherinel’s quivering manhood. “Oh, but I think you do,” muttered
Sherinel. “Tonight I will be your statue, Ketrin, your doll. Use me however
you choose, and remember that I can not move or cry out no matter what happens.” As a former victim of Borvinn’s paralysing
spell Ketrin might have been expected to object to this idea, but in fact he
was powerfully aroused by it. And so, after bringing himself and Sherinel to
swift and almost simultaneous orgasms by hand (Sherinel had to use all his willpower
to avoid moaning aloud and losing the game there and then) Ketrin gently lowered
Sherinel’s pliant body into a crouching position and spread his legs. This was what Borvin had tried to do to Ketrin,
but of course Ketrin had been genuinely helpless and unwilling. This was what
Sherinel wanted. The guard almost cried out again as Ketrin’s impressive
phallus sheathed itself in his anus, and for the next hour he fought vainly
for control as his ecstasy slowly grew. He wanted to writhe and moan aloud,
and had to keep reminding himself to remain mute and immobile. When at last his sensations blossomed into the
most profound, joyous and beautiful sensation he had ever known he could control
himself no longer but gave voice to a resounding howl of joy. And he was not
alone: Ketrin was howling with him, and in the distance could be heard the full-throated
cry of an entire pack of lupinoids. The villagers, hearing the eerie cries, huddled
in their beds and prayed that the coming hunt would spare them from the threat
of wild beasts (and wild boys) forever. The climax, and the howl, seemed to last for
hours, and when it finally ended Sherinel collapsed and lay spent with Ketrin
lying across him. “That was the completion of my life,”
breathed Sherinel. “You are a god. What mortal could ever have
given me such a gift? If I die now my life will have been worthwhile thanks
to you.” “Don’t talk about dying, Sherinel”
said Ketrin. “I am no god. I am the one who has been given a unique
gift. All I have done is try to pass it on to you as best I can.” “Well, you certainly gave me something
tonight, that’s for certain.” For a while they merely lay contentedly in each
others’ arms, until a nagging sense of time compelled them to get up and
prepare for the future. Ketrin looked out into the darkness and closed
his eyes momentarily. Sherinel realised he was calling his brothers by thought,
and wished he also possessed the wildling’s sorcerous ability. What they
had shared tonight had been wondrous, yet how much more so if they could bypass
words altogether and simply share their thoughts and feelings directly? If only
there were some way, Sherinel thought, if only.... After a few minutes Sherinel spotted the familiar
rustling in the bushes that heralded the arrival of the two lupinoids. But there
something seemed a little different about them. They were moving more hesitantly
than usual, stopping to look around nervously every few seconds. When they drew
close to the gate they slowly edged forward and peered long and hard at Sherinel
as if to be certain of his identity. “What is it?” said Sherinel. “What’s
wrong? Is it something they smell?” “No,” said Ketrin. “Just the opposite.
Something’s affected their noses. They can’t smell properly!” “Oh, gods,” said Sherinel. “I
think I know what’s wrong with them, and I’d wager good money that
Borvinn’s responsible somehow.” Ketrin was beginning to guess what Sherinel was
driving at. Sherinel said, “The lupinoids have caught
your stipple! I don’t know if it makes them feel weak or nauseous like
humans, but it certainly affects their sense of smell. And somehow Borvinn knew
this would happen! All he had to do was make sure you succumbed to stipple a
few days before the hunt, knowing that you’d be in contact with the lupinoids
and pass it on to them. Ketrin, have your brothers been back to the pack?” “Yes,” sighed Ketrin. “They slept
in the den for the last two days.” Sherinel’s expression was grim. “So
now all the pack are infected, and won’t be able to defend themselves against
Borvinn’s hunters.” From their earlier peaks of ecstasy, Ketrin and
Sherinel were plummeted into the depths of despair. They felt like prisoners
facing the gallows. High above, unseen by either of them or the lupinoids,
a tiny bird soared past carrying a small glowing object in its talons. January
- May 2001, mostly Coming
in Part Four: Ketrin red in tooth and claw!
(See what happens when you don’t floss?)