Wolves Den: Book 1 of The Keeper of Balance - Earth

By T J Paget

Who in their right mind would want us! What will happen when they realize that we can do Magic. Will they understand! Why are we even here! Was I abandoned? Why would we be abandoned with both weapons and supplies? Why can’t we remember anything? I love Thor with all my being as he loves me, but I need the love of a family. They keep coming after us, we are only helping people that need help and yet we are chased all over the forest. What will they do with us if they catch us? The one thing we do know, they must not take us alive!

"The wolves covered the distance in only two great bounds and placed themselves between the captives and the youths. Their ferocious growls, snarls and snapping of jaws caused all the youths to jump back. I released my first shaft. It struck Anthony in the elbow, splitting the elbow joint lengthways in two. He screamed as his knife went spinning to the ground. From behind him, Thor tore at the back of his right knee, ripping through trousers, tendons, muscle and sinew with a single savage bite. ... They tried to run, but outrunning arrows is a trifle difficult."

"Amelia said, “That was awesome, when you all came out of the forest, well, it was like a scene from a really good movie, better even. It was awe inspiring.” Chrissy was giving the Pack Leader a big hug telling him how brave and noble he and his pack were. Amelia joined in as well, then both girls moved to Thor and hugged and patted him as well. The Pack Leader looked at me and thought, “I like these two puppies. They are very polite and they have honour. I must be getting used to these cuddles, they are pleasurable.” I said to the girls, “I hope you realise that you can’t walk up to any wolf and give them this level of trust. If you try to hug any other wolf, you would forfeit your life.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781626758131

Book preview

9781626758131

Chapter 1 THE AWAKENING

Thor and I were exploring the old growth forest that completely surrounded our new home. I stopped to look around and just take in our surroundings. It was a beautiful cold spring morning. We were surrounded by huge ancient trees splendid in their diversification, their leaves filtering the bright sunshine. Water trickled nearby. Natures music cascaded around us emanating from a plethora of birds and a few scurrying animals. A slight breeze wafting around me bringing lovely smells of earth and flowers. I had a lot of questions on my mind but it was very relaxing being at one with the forest. I sent my mental awareness flowing outwards sensing the tranquillity of life all around me. I switched to mind vision and living auras sprang out. Rainbow patterns, all in the content range, were given off by every living entity in the forest.

Through my heightened senses I sensed rather than heard whimpering. It was barely perceptible. As I became aware of it, my mental link to Thor brought it to his attention. Without any discussion we headed for the whimpering and eventually came across a quite beautiful she-wolf. Her right front paw was caught in a small metal trap that was fixed to the ground by a metal stake. One does not approach a she-wolf without pause. Thor sat down and I knelt on both knees. I think I have always known the ways of the wolf. Most humans do not understand wolves, thinking of them as vicious predators. I knew differently and so did Thor. Wolves are intelligent and have a language easy to decipher if one knows how. It is based on verbal, body language and telepathy. Their tail movements, though subtle, are critical as they convey the emotional content. Not being a wolf, I had to communicate telepathically, so I sent my mind into hers and said, "You are hurt little mother". She replied "Little?" Hmm, my first mistake. I projected into her mind Would you allow me the honour of assisting you? At this point Thor gave a low growl. It was only a growl of warning. I looked up and saw a very large male wolf approaching. His size matched Thor’s and his aura marked him as a Pack Leader. I projected to him Greetings Pack Leader. This mother is injured. May I assist her as I do not believe you could free her from this trap? The Pack Leader sat which in wolfish indicates a willingness to discuss non aggressively. The Pack Leader thought You have been hunting in our range, why do you do this? I replied My apologies, we were not aware that this land had been claimed by others. Thor made me aware of the location of the remainder of the hunting pack. There were four others who had surrounded us but remained about fifty metres away. I thought to the wolf "You have a strong hunting pack and while I have no desire whatsoever to engage you in combat, six wolves are not a match for us. It would sadden me greatly if I was forced by circumstances to end the life of your hunting pack." The Pack Leader raised his tail just a fraction, it was very subtle. I knew this meant surprise. The Pack Leader said Your friend would be a good adversary and I am still puzzled by the fact that you are neither terrified nor running away. I thought back May we strike a short term bargain? What do you have in mind? He thought. I sent, Let me assist this beautiful mother and then you and I will engage in playful combat, I am after all a puppy. His returning thought was of amused agreement.

I released the she-wolf’s paw from the trap and held it in my left hand. Somehow I knew that she would not rip my throat out while I was helping her. I projected my mind into her paw. Thor walked over and did the same. The trap had caused a great deal of injury. Her paw was simply crushed. Using empathy I detected great sadness in the Pack Leader. Such an injury to a wolf is always a death sentence. Using my mind I thought of how I might fix this? The answer came back in quite some detail in the normal fashion. I was getting to really like this gift of mine. Almost every time I thought about something, the answers would simply appear in great detail as if I had always known. For the first time I tried using Healing Power. I was joined almost immediately by Thor’s mind and the detail he had of the paw was greater than mine which seems eminently sensible since his paw is the same as the She-wolf’s. I sent healing energy into her paw. It started glowing a lovely pale green color and the broken bones and torn skin gradually started flowing back where they belonged. It took a great deal of concentration to restructure the damage. When Thor and I were finished, the paw was like new with one slight change. Where her colouring had been silver grey her paw was now pure white. I wasn’t sure why that had happened. I thought to her I hope you don’t mind the color, I think it makes you even more striking than before, if that is possible. She replied It is healed, I am grateful. You flatter well for a puppy. I thought to her Why did you not sense the trap? This question was echoed by the Pack Leader. She put her tail between her legs, lowered her head and replied I erred. The Pack Leader gave a small growl. Thor looked deeply at the trap and I felt his mind forming heat. He directed this energy at the trap. The trap quickly increased in temperature until it was molten red hot, then it simply collapsed onto itself. The trap was now a useless piece of junk.

The Pack Leader moved away, turned and waited, I felt a little washed out from using Healing Power, but recovered quickly. I was beginning to realize that using Power, or, as I like to think of it, ‘Doing it the other way’, takes energy from the body and mind. I would have to think more on this, but now was not the time. I stood, patted Thor on the head and moved towards the Pack Leader. I bowed respectfully and waited. He lunged forward, leaping high. I quickly moved both forwards and sidewards. The lunge missed as the wolf passed close to my right side. I was now in position to execute a side kick on the meaty part of his right hind leg. His hind quarters partially collapsed sideways under that load and he went skidding to the ground, off balance. I threw myself on his back wrapping both hands around his neck, my thumbs over his spine and my fingers digging in to the tender parts of the throat. The weight of my body threw him completely off balance and we rolled sideways with his body almost rolling onto mine. This allowed me to wrap my legs around him just forward of his hind quarters in a scissor lock. I changed my hand grip to a choke lock and waited. So far we had been fighting for three point eight seconds. I had no doubt at all that he could escape, but he simply waited without struggle.

I have never come across one of your species who could even begin to engage a wolf in unarmed combat, you are a credit to your Pack Leader. Even more unusual is the fact that you are still a puppy! I released the wolf, rolled away and stood up. He obviously did not intend to continue the mock combat, I had proven my abilities to his satisfaction. Thor placed in my mind the exact location of a large male deer two hundred and twelve metres range through the trees. I walked over to Thor, took out my bow from his saddle packs, assembled and strung it. I notched an arrow and sighted. I couldn’t see the bloody deer. I projected my mind into the forest and located it. It was blocked from sight by two large ancient elm trees. I thought I’d try something interesting. I formed a tiny invisible tunnel of force, like a small tunnelling shield between the end of the arrow and the back of the deer’s skull. It wasn’t a straight line. I drew back the bow and using my mind, added more power. I released the arrow. It surprised Thor and I must admit it surprised me. The arrow flew very, very fast in two graceful curves, following the inside of the tunnel and slammed into the deer’s head.

May I give your pack a gift? I asked. He looked confused so I explained what a gift was. As I was explaining this we were walking towards the fallen deer. The Pack Leader walked over sniffed the deer, sniffed the arrow and looked back along the path that the arrow took. He thought to me How did you do that, there are trees in the way and there are no holes in the trees. I thought back to him I went around the trees. He gracefully accepted both the impossible explanation and the fallen deer and offered to share it with us. I explained that our bellies were full and he had other mouths to feed. He said This land is generous and provides more than the Pack needs, we will share our range with you. I thanked him profusely in the manner of wolves, recovered my arrow and Thor and I left. Thor thought to me You did that very well, I am proud of you, I could not have done better myself. It is good to have a friendly pack of wolfs nearby and much good may come of this day.

We continued exploring, returning home near sundown. It was a cold night. Thor and I sat on the floor in front of the open fireplace in ‘our’ temple. To think that someone had built this temple 1700 years ago was inspiring. What was even more amazing was that it was as good now as it had been when new. The reason for that, was that it had been built underground. Well, the soil had been excavated, the Temple built and then the soil had been hard packed over the Temple, forming a small hill. I was a little emotionally upset. I linked with Thor’s mind as I stroked his head in my lap.

Thor Thought, It would help if you thought through those things that make you upset. I thought, Well, about the only thing I know for certain is our names, Tez and Thor, a human boy and his dog. But are we? Dogs don’t talk. Humans can’t use Power as I can. Are you a dog and for that matter am I a human? Thor thought, More or less, yes to both questions, I think we are special, you as a human child and me as a dog. I know I am your protector. I am your companion as you are mine. We have a great unbreakable bond based on pure love. I acknowledged and affirmed our bond. It was the anchor to our existence, short as it was.

I continued to review our short existence trying to see the positives rather than the myriad of questions, but it was difficult. I thought, I am twelve, you’re almost two, yet neither of us have a single memory prior to becoming aware of ourselves in this forest. We know it is early spring. The small stream we came across had sweet and pure water, but it was very cold snow melt. Many of the trees have smallish new growth that only occurs in early spring. We have met our immediate needs. We have water. Food is in abundance although I will need more than just meat and fish. This Temple provides shelter and the wolfberry thicket that surrounds this hill provides adequate defence. Hell, the thicket is ten metres thick and full of thorns. A human couldn’t get through unless they came prepared for a great deal of manual labour. Thor added, "They would need tools as well, unless they found the entrance maze and we have your pile of river stones at the door for that eventuality. Stones were the first weapon used by man and still make for good deterrents. Tez, consider what we have achieved!"

I tried to but the questions still bombarded my mind. Yes, we have achieved much. We dug the doorway out to find the Temple. It was hard and sweaty, we did good." Then I decided to be difficult, it felt right. Thor’s mind sent love and amusement as he thought, Go ahead, I do not mind. It is healthy to express your feelings, go ahead, and be as difficult as you need to be. I replied, We awoke in the middle of a forest. Not 100 metres away was a defensible thicket, within that thicket were both our scents. We find the entrance maze and oh, yeah, you have a set of saddle bags and I have two huge backpacks just sitting there. You had never laid eyes on yours and I had never laid eyes on mine and there they were, just like we were supposed to find them. I was on a role, "If that wasn’t enough we find a 1700 year old Temple in pristine condition and all we have to do is a day’s digging to unearth the door and a little more work to unearth the original pathway. Hell, the bloody doors still work." Thor interjected, Well, they do need some oil! I laughed. It was that or cry and I preferred laughter. I continued, Oh dear, remind me to tell whomever put us here that that was a grave oversight, yes indeed, they should have left us a can of oil. Some bloody matches would have been good. Imagine, we find twelve candles in my smaller backpack and no matches. Thor responded, If matches had been provided you may never have tried to bring fire forth from your mind. You did not need matches so you were not provided with any. I wasn’t finished yet, so I continued, Then, you find a secret stash of gold and silver Roman coins under that flagstone in the storeroom. That stone hadn’t been moved in 1400 odd years. That was very convenient. I even know the age of this Temple. I also know it was dedicated to the Roman God Mithras. Every time I think of something the answers just pop into my mind. I find a metal can and suddenly I know what a soft drink is. Just picking up rubbish, I already know a great deal about the society that surrounds us. Thor thought, I thought you liked that ability. I smiled, Well, I suppose I do, it is pretty cool. I wonder how far it goes. I also know that many of our abilities and all of my weapons are not known to the surrounding people. I know I have to keep things secret. My weapons are Lethality Blades, they are sharp at the atomic level. My bow comes in sections, hell, I can’t use it yet in its larger form. It has blades so it can be reversed and wielded as a bladed weapon. We both have cloaks that render us near to invisible, keep us warm and do a hundred other things. I would love to know how they erase our scent trail. I love our cloaks and my weapons, they’re so cool, but none of this tells us what we are doing here or why we were left here. Then there is that golden sphere, I have no idea what it is and every time I look at it my mind seems to be in a rush to think about something else. Obviously we weren’t just left behind. So why are we here and why this country? I don’t mind being in England but why England?

Thor asked, Do you feel better now? I smiled and thought, Yes I do, didn’t solve anything though! Thor responded, Yes it did, you released your emotions, which is always good. Most of your thoughts were very logical. The first thing I noticed is that we both have an urge to explore, to learn and to understand. This is what we must do. I know with absolute certainty that we are here for a reason and that reason is vitally important. I do not know what that reason is and not knowing does not bother me. I suggest we simply be ourselves, we have patience and patience we must have. You are enjoying yourself as I am, just enjoy and see what happens. I nodded in agreement and I did feel better. I laid down next to Thor and eventually fell asleep.

Next morning we crawled out through the wolfberry and went down to the stream. Thor approached the water’s edge of the still pond. Using the pond’s surface as a mirror he studied his reflection. I walked over to watch. First he turned his head this way and that and then he lifted his upper lips to bare his teeth. He started what seemed like a rehearsal of being vicious and went from bared teeth with warning growls to a full snarling frothing attack on the water’s clear, still surface. Well it gave me pause for thought. If that snarling frothing attack was directed at me, I think I would poop my pants. His canine teeth were five centimetres long and very pointed. His natural blue eyes had a brightness that was unnerving. Thor thought, I would never direct such feelings toward you, neither would you toward me, I love you as you love me. We are together, as one. This practice is necessary, humans and animals alike would have second thoughts about closing in battle when faced with the prelude to attack that I can project. Well I certainly would, and yet his thoughts meant a great deal to me, especially after our conversation last night. To be lonely and without such love, can lead to the destruction of the spirit. We were both blessed by the love that we shared. It was at this time that I noticed my own reflection in the water. Not overly tall, about one metre twenty five, short red hair, blue eyes and a scattering of freckles over my short nose. My body was wiry with light to medium build. My face was a pleasant combination of rounded and angular features. I felt something bump against my chest.

Around my neck was a chain, hidden from view by my clothes. It had hexagonal links and was quite chunky. It appeared to be made of gold yet its weight suggested something much lighter. Hanging on the chain was a pendant. It was a stunning likeness of a dragon in flight. The chain was connected to the dragon’s wing tips. All four legs of the dragon were clutching a large round flat crystal in a deep blue. The crystal seemed to shimmer. How I had not noticed that before now was ridiculously strange. It was not exactly tiny, very hard to miss. The crystal alone was sixty two millimetres round and eight millimetres deep. More mysteries. I put it back under my clothes. I quickly splashed some water on my face and washed my hands. The water was far too cold for anything serious.

As we re-entered the Temple I marvelled again at the workmanship. A marble altar was at the far end of the large chamber and was always the first thing to catch my eye. It was two metres wide and the front had a carving of the Roman God Mithras slaying a bull. The room was six point three metres wide and eight metres deep and the barrel vaulted ceiling averaged about three metres high. The walls were made from cut stone blocks as was the ceiling. The floor was paved and very smooth. The sheer size of the temple explained why nothing large grew on the hill. Behind the altar and to one side was the fireplace and on the other side was a doorway. This led to two smaller chambers, the first I thought of as a store room, the second contained a single huge squared off rock that had a water basin carved into it. It stood upright against the wall so while it may have been a water basin, it had obviously never been used as such. The only thing the whole temple needed was a good clean. It was on my to do list. I also sensed Power. Real Power. I could not as yet sense more and was a little apprehensive at trying too. It could wait.

We set off again to explore further out. We were now coming out of the old forest and into land that was populated. The forest started to become as much a park as a forest. There were walking trails, bicycle trails, horse trails, lots of park benches and even barbeques with table settings. We continued exploring and discovered the location of such things as a place of healing called a hospital, a police station, two schools and premises that seemed to sell anything that you wanted. There were of course people but we stayed away from them most of the time.

Thor was extremely good at finding money, most of it small coins, but late in the morning he found a note that was worth twenty pounds. There was an entire strip of shops that sold something that was fast food. The first fast food we tried was called a hamburger. It was from a place with two golden arches. I could barely eat it, it was as if somebody had deliberately removed all of the flavour. Thor ate his without much enjoyment. Around tea time we started looking for food again. Thor pointed out to me that since I picked lunch he would pick dinner. His method was quite simple. He would push the door open, sniff the air and announce the food in this place was bad. We decided that fast food was not good food so we continued walking around the edge of the forest for a short time until Thor stopped and put his nose in the air. He thought to me Now that smells nice. I followed him and we came across a lone store. The sign said Luigi’s Pizza Parlour. Luigi was obviously the proprietors name and pizza was obviously a food and when I thought of the word ‘parlour’ I came up with many meanings dependent on the noun used in front of it. Obviously pizza parlour and massage parlour were very different places to visit.

We walked in the pizza parlour and there was a big gentleman behind the counter. His hair or what there was of it was black and grey. He said ello ima Luigi and dats a buitiful doggy and I likea bigga doggies. But doggys haf to stay outside of da shop, I dona care but eva body elsa doesa care. Thor let himself out and sat down next to the door way. I took out the remaining money I had and put it on the counter. I said We have never had a pizza, is their enough money here to buy one? He said Whe ave youa been a livin dat u ave never had da pizza before? I said We live in the forest. He said Where ya Mumma anda Pappa little bambino? I said Don’t know. He said Who looka afta you? I replied We look after ourselves He said What are ya names? I said I’m Tez and my dog is Thor. He looked at the money on the counter and said itsa not really enough but umm Marika my wife she maka mistake tonight on da order and maka da extra pizza, you can have dat un for free thatsa Marika over deir shesa my wife, isn’t she buitiful? I smiled as an answer, but my thought was, ‘I suppose she could be.’ The shop was very, very clean and Marika was just putting what must be a pizza into an oven. It seemed that the pizza travelled on a belt to come out the other end. I couldn’t see a spare pizza anywhere and since I got the pizza that came out the oven that Marika had just made I realized that they were very nice people. Luigi asked You want a drink froma de fridge, maybe some nice milk? I replied That might be interesting, I’ve never tried milk. He said in astonishment You’ve a never tried de milk, you lika chocolate or da strawberry or maybe de coffee, but ur a bitte too young for de coffee. I’ve never tried chocolate and I’ve never tried strawberry either. He said I dona believe yu. I could see that he was very perplexed. He said Whena was da lasta time you ate? I said This morning, we had something called a hamburger from the place with two golden arches and it was foul, so Thor decided to pick the next thing we would try. Luigi walked over to a cold storage area and the name fridge came to my mind. It had clear glass doors. He handed me a large container that looked as if it was made out of paper. I shook it and it was certainly full of liquid. I examined all six sides. On what was obviously the bottom was some lettering that said use by fourteen slash zero three open other end, see side panels for instruction. I looked at the other end trying to work out how to open the damn thing and Luigi gently took it from my hand. He said Firsta you shake ita lika dis, and den it depens on weder your really thirsty or da slightly thirsty, ah, we do a both. With that he expertly opened the container and he also pierced the side of the container with a long tube, ah a straw and he handed it to me. He said Go ona havea a little try. I identified some of the components in the drink but the overall flavour was very different. So this was what chocolate milk tasted like. I looked at the top and worked out how to fully open the container for next time, there would be a next time. I went to the door, opened it and Thor stood and poked his nose through the door. I said, Try this. He took 2 laps out of it. He was obviously puzzled by the new taste but did identify that it was likely to be very healthy due to its high calcium content. I looked at Luigi and said He’s still thinking about it although, he thinks it would be good for me because it’s got lots of calcium. I took another long swallow and for the first time Marika joined the conversation.

She said Mamma mia You cana dinka outa da sama containa as wata da doggy dinkas outa. I looked at the lady and said Why?" then I looked at Thor Why can’t we share a container? and he replied No reason I can think of, maybe just a strange idea of this society. Marika picked up a small plastic container, filled it with white liquid, walked over to the door and put it on the floor. Thor stepped over to it and lapped it all up. Marika said Itsa very nica doggy, dona giva doggy chocolate, itsa no good for dem, where in da forest do yu liva? I said, In a really nice place, nice and safe. Luigi took the pizza out of the oven and used a strange rotary blade to slice it. He then gave me a piece and said hera trya luigi’s pizza. I took the slice from him, blew on the end of it and took a reasonable size bite. There was pastry on the base, different types of meats, vegetables and even a fruit. It was good. I took a second slice from the box, folded it over and gave it to