Guardian of Giria

By June Molloy

Felix is in a bad mood. An intruder has visited his private clearing. The only traces are a strange scent and an even stranger set of footprints.

A few days later, a young fox cub goes missing and her frantic mother asks Felix for help.

Felix investigates and discovers two enormous wolves. He realises the residents of Giria Wood are

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adakavas Press
• Release date: May 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781999998127

June Molloy

June Molloy was born in Dublin but moved to Wexford when she was five years old, initially to a small cottage halfway up the Blackstairs Mountain and later to the coastal village of Blackwater. She loved reading from an early age and devoured as many books as she could get her hands on, often reading under the covers by torchlight after lights out. She also loved the great outdoors and remembers happy times chasing lambs around fields and fishing for herring and mackerel from her uncle's boat. In 2013, June took voluntary redundancy from her job and embarked on a three-month tour of Europe in a camper van, ending in her husband's home country of Lithuania. Having lived in Dublin since leaving school, June was eager to get back to country life and so they bought a small house in their village and set about restoring it. They now live as self-sufficiently as possible, growing most of their own vegetables and keeping some animals. June began her blog, www.myfoododyssey.com, to share stories of their travels and food adventures with others. A keen photographer, June loves to capture the beauty of the countryside and wildlife that surrounds them. The idea for this book came to her when she was out taking photos and spotted a fox and a deer running across a field together. She immediately began to relate their adventure to Arūnas, who played along, encouraging the story. Eventually, it grew so large in her head that she had to get it down on paper. To find out more about June and to explore the animals of Giria Wood in more detail, see www.junemolloy.com.

Book preview

Chapter One

Felix stood at the edge of the grove, sniffing the air carefully. Something was not right. There was no immediate danger – the scent was faint, so whoever had been here was long gone. What troubled him was that the scent was unfamiliar. After sixteen years in the forest, he could easily recognise the scent of all the animals who lived there. This animal was new.

He lowered his snout to trace the smell but there were no clear markings. The ground was littered with leaves, the earth beneath still soft from the recent rain. Any prints the animal might have left had now been washed away.

Lifting his head, Felix looked around for any signs of disturbance. His nest of leaves was untouched, though a little sodden from the rain. The berry bushes were bursting with fruit, just as he had left them. At the base of a nearby oak, a miniature forest of large, juicy mushrooms had sprouted.

‘At least there’s some upside to all this rain,’ he grumbled, walking towards the mushrooms. He rummaged amongst them, searching for any tell-tale white stubs where a stalk had been bitten off. Apart from one giant slug feasting on a particularly large head, the mushrooms were intact.

Felix was confused. Why would any animal break into his private grove and not take advantage of the facilities? He downed the mushroom, slug and all, lost in thought. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a tiny mouse sneaking back to his hole.

‘You there, Mouse,’ he bellowed.

The mouse froze. ‘Y-yes, sir?’

‘Who’s been here, in this grove?’

‘Other than you, no one, sir. No one ever comes here. Everyone knows this is your grove, sir.’

‘Someone has been here,’ Felix insisted. ‘I can smell them.’

‘I didn’t see anyone, sir. But now that you mention it, I did notice a strange smell. Maybe two nights ago. There were footprints, too.’

‘Footprints? I saw no footprints.’ Felix snapped his head around, searching the ground again for any sign of prints. ‘Where were they, exactly?’

‘Over there, sir, where you usually come in.’

Felix walked back to the entrance to examine the ground.

‘What kind of prints were they? Human? Animal?’

‘They looked a bit like dog prints, but …’

‘But what?’ Felix demanded. He was getting impatient.

‘But they were very large, and in some places, there were only two prints, not four. What kind of dog walks on two feet?’

Felix’s mind went into a spin. He’d been in this forest for a long time and seen hundreds of dogs, but he had never seen one that walked on two legs.

‘What else did you see? I need to know every detail.’

‘N–nothing else, sir. Just the strange smell and the paw prints. The prints were only in that one spot. Whoever it was, I don’t think they were here for long.’

Felix sniffed the earth thoroughly, imprinting the faint scent to his memory. He wanted to be sure he would recognise it if he came across it again. Behind him, the mouse slipped down into his hole.

Making his way back to the oak tree, Felix took another cursory look around the grove but could find no other sign of the intruder. He paused to munch on a number of mushrooms, then settled down into his nest of leaves, wriggling from side to side to fluff them up. They were still slightly damp, but he didn’t mind. The forest had been too hot recently and Felix had been finding it hard to keep cool. The damp leaves now tucked around him were refreshing.

Closing his eyes, Felix tried to imagine a dog-like creature who walked on two feet. Did it walk tall, like the hunters? Or was it short with disproportionally big feet? If the feet were big, maybe the ears were big too. He allowed his imagination to shape several odd-looking creatures as he slowly drifted to sleep.

When Felix opened his eyes again the sun had disappeared but the grove was still bright. The sky was clear and the full moon beamed down, casting long shadows across the forest floor. Felix did not like the full moon. Some of the animals behaved strangely during a full moon, but this was not what troubled him. The problem was the hunters.

As he lay curled in his nest of leaves, Felix contemplated the number of his offspring he had lost to the hunters. Sometimes they came in the daytime with their dogs, sending the sounders squealing through the forest. Each gunshot indicated the ending of a life. On a bad day (or a good day if you were a hunter, Felix supposed), they could shoot over twenty pigs, mostly young adults. The hunters did not bother with the piglets – these they left for the foxes and martens.

The moon hunts were different. The hunters waited in the open fields surrounding the forest, using the light of the full moon to shoot their prey as they emerged to graze. They took mainly deer and boars, but might take foxes and rabbits if the light was particularly good. Occasionally they would come into the forest and fire shots into the air to frighten the animals out into the open. Felix was not fooled by such trickery.

Though he did not like the idea of his family suffering, Felix often thought the hunters were doing him a favour. They targeted the biggest, strongest boars – exactly those who might challenge Felix for mating rights. The biggest boars also had the biggest appetites – removing them from the forest left more food for Felix. The forest simply could not sustain a large population and the hunters helped to keep the numbers in check. They were overdue a good hunt. Food had been tight recently and winter was coming. Felix stood a better chance of making it through the harsh, snowy months if there were fewer boars competing for the same slim rations. As long as he stayed safely out of sight, tonight’s hunt was a good thing.

The following morning, after a good breakfast, Felix went to check the outcome of the hunt. He found one of the sounders in their usual spot, but from the whining and commotion, he could tell that some animals had, indeed, been killed. He located the matriarch, Katana, nesting on a pile of bracken, six humbug-striped piglets nuzzled at her teats.

‘How many lost?’ Felix demanded.

Katana stared into the distance, indifferent to Felix’s harsh tone.

‘Three,’ she said, ‘including my sister, Alanta.’

Alanta had whelped eight piglets earlier that summer, two of which had already been snatched by a wily fox. The remaining six would now be nursed by the other sows in the sounder. Like Felix, Katana had seen her fair share of hunting and was better at dealing with the losses than the others. In her calmer state, she was taking the first shift feeding the piglets.

Felix noticed a burly male piglet on one of the teats closest to Katana’s shoulder. He knew that piglets who fed from the first teat tended to grow up strongest and often went on to be matriarchs or primary mating boars. He would need to keep an eye on this little chap.

‘How many hunters were there this time?’ Felix said.

‘We only saw two,’ she said. ‘Alanta, Nina and Klara were on their way to the cornfield on the far side of the long lane. The hunters were obviously waiting for them – they shot them when they were about halfway across the field. With the corn now cut, they had nowhere to hide. There must have been more around at the Bite – we’ve heard at least two stags were taken there.’

‘Not the worst moon hunt we’ve seen then,’ Felix said.

Katana ignored him. The piglets had finished suckling for now. She stood up slowly and shuffled off amongst the trees. The recent rain had brought on a swell of mushrooms. She passed a few solitary speckle-tops and made her way to a small cluster of brown-caps. She would eat these first, before they were scoffed by one of the others, and then work her way through the less exciting varieties. She knew there was a large cluster of red caps near the woodpile, but she would save those for another day. Today she wanted to stay close to the sounder. Her sows needed her.

Felix was about to wander off when Blaze, the burly male piglet, scurried over and started to tussle at Felix’s feet. Felix did not ordinarily spend much time with his children, but this guy was so animated and seemingly fearless that he caught his attention. Felix nuzzled down to take a sniff and Blaze began to headbutt him playfully. Felix was taken aback by his audacity – he could crush the little fellow so easily.

But Felix was not drawn to crushing him. Instead, he was amused. He nudged Blaze away, encouraging the tussle, spurring on this feisty ball of energy. Blaze took a few steps back so he could run at Felix. He whacked his tiny head into Felix’s huge snout and immediately fell back on his bum from the force of the collision.

Felix roared with laughter as Blaze picked himself up and shook his little head, dazed and confused.

Let’s see what the little guy’s made of.

Felix nudged him again, pushing Blaze back several feet. Unperturbed, Blaze steeled himself for another rush at the enormous head. Again, he bounced off like rain off a leaf. He jumped up, and after a quick moment of recovery, he ran around to try approaching from another angle. Felix was intrigued by his ingenuity at such a young age. Having crashed and burned a third time, Blaze apparently decided he’d had enough and shot off to join his brothers and sisters. Felix, still smiling from the encounter, turned and trotted off into the forest.

Chapter Two

Indigo stood at the edge of the forest, gazing over the expanse of open fields and contemplating the long journey ahead. He had been to this border many times but had never ventured beyond the safety of the trees. Nox stood at his shoulder, eyes fixed ahead. Although they were twins, the brothers bore no resemblance except for their deep amber eyes. Indigo was pale and had the classic markings of a grey wolf, with a white face and a grey brow. Nox was jet black and was slightly bigger and bushier than his brother. His eyes blazed like fire as he stared out into the distance.

‘Ready, brother?’ Indigo said.

Nox gave an almost imperceptible nod, maintaining his gaze on the horizon.

They had been preparing for this moment for weeks, picking the brains of the older wolves for information that might help them in their quest. There were several large forests to the southwest, they had learned. The weather was milder there, with less snow in winter, but the distance was great and the journey would be treacherous. They would need each other until they reached their new home. There would be no rivalry while they travelled. For now, they were equals.

Indigo took a deep breath and tentatively stepped beyond the border of the forest, the only home he had ever known. Though he did not relish the journey ahead, his resolve was strong. The time had come for them to leave.

As juveniles, they had first enjoyed and later tolerated the leadership of their father and uncle. As young adults, they had become discontented. But since the birth of two litters of pups earlier this summer, the situation had become intolerable.

Both Indigo and Nox were central to the pack’s hunting team. Their abilities kept them amongst the middle ranks – having little power but with sufficient access to food once the top dogs had their fill. Pups, however, took precedence over all pack members when it came to distributing food. With nine little mouths to feed in addition to the adults and juveniles, rations had become lean. Why should they work so hard to feed the pups and go hungry themselves?

Eating wasn’t their only compulsion, though. Both Indigo and Nox had seen the power their father possessed at the head of the pack and they desired that power for themselves. They knew they did not have either the strength or the allies to overthrow their father – if they wanted to become top dogs, they would have to establish their own pack. But this forest could not sustain any more wolves. They needed to find a new forest, far away from here.

They had not said goodbye. Neither brother was particularly sentimental, though Indigo had felt a slight sadness at leaving his mother. Earlier in the day, he had sat with her in the warmth of the afternoon sun, lazily watching the other members of the pack as they played and relaxed, all full from the morning’s hunt.

He had her colouring and shared many of her personality traits. Tierra was a strong wolf, sharp and nimble, but she was as compassionate as she was fierce. She knew when to encourage and when to chide. He could see why his father had chosen her.

Tierra had smiled at him but her eyes were melancholic, as if she knew this would be the last time they sat together.

‘Be patient with life, Indy,’ she had said. ‘You are brave and strong-willed, like your father. Your time will come.’

Uncomfortable with her sudden candour, he had stood up to walk away.

‘Be wary of your brother,’ Tierra had added unexpectedly. ‘He is your friend, but he is also your strongest competitor and he has a cunning you do not possess. Always keep him in your sights.’

Indigo had held her gaze for several seconds before sloping off to join the others.

‘Time to go,’ Indigo said. ‘We have about five hours left before sunrise. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and the pack before then.’

The brothers took off at pace across the fields. There was no cover here – the grass had been cut short by grazing cattle. Their only cover was darkness and tonight wasn’t particularly dark, the full moon being just a few days away. This was unfamiliar territory. They had seen humans in these fields many times – they could only hope they were now sleeping and that the fields ahead would provide better cover.

Chapter Three

Felix was too hot. He had been sunbathing contentedly for several hours, moving only to chase the patch of sun around the clearing. There were not many days like this left so he was making the most of the warmth while he could. Today it was humid as well as sunny, though, and the forest was now stifling. Felix needed some air. He heaved his great weight off the ground and made for a dyke near the northeastern corner of the forest. The dyke frequently became waterlogged when it rained and Felix was hoping to find a muddy patch or even a small pool in which to cool down.

His path took him through a part of the forest filled with tall conifers, the trees planted in orderly rows. Some of the trees were marked with splodges of paint in various colours. Felix did not understand the meaning of the colours but knew it had something to do with their age or health. Those with splodges were destined to be felled. Felix disliked the order and symmetry in this managed stand of trees. It was soulless and eerily quiet. Few animals lived here as there was little protective cover – it was mostly occupied by burrowers and birds. The deer used it as a thoroughfare to the fields beyond as it provided easy passing.

Crows and ravens dominated life within the branches, their caws echoing through the tunnels of empty space. The roar of a chainsaw was enough to keep any animal at a distance, even if the loggers meant them no harm. Sometimes the loggers cleared whole sections, leaving ugly open spaces with no cover. It could take several years for the stumps to be removed and replaced with young saplings.

Felix heard a branch snapping and looked over his shoulder to see who was approaching. A handsome red deer stag was making his way out to the fields to graze. It was approaching rutting season and the stag was in peak condition. His muscles rippled under his sleek coat and his enormous antlers sat like a crown atop his head. Felix grunted a cursory greeting and continued on his way.

‘Did you hear about the hunters?’ Patinas called after him.

Felix paused. He was not in the humour for chit-chat, but he was curious about the hunters.

‘Three sows lost in the eastern sounder,’ Felix said. ‘I hear you lost two stags.’

‘Four,’ Patinas said. ‘Two were caught grazing out in the Bite, but two others made a sprint for it and almost got back to the trees. We thought they might make it, but it was so bright the hunters still managed to see them.’

‘Shame,’ Felix said, unconcerned by the losses. The more deer the hunters took, the fewer boars they would seek out.

‘Looks like another clear night,’ Patinas said. ‘Hopefully, we won’t lose as many tonight.’

Felix didn’t often share the benefits of his wisdom, but Patinas was a powerful stag. Like Felix, he was a survivor, and Felix liked to keep him onside.

‘Keep away from the Bite for a few nights, just to be safe,’ Felix said.

That was enough conversation for Felix, and without waiting for any acknowledgement he turned to continue on his original course.

Oh, the joy of cold water on a hot day. Felix trotted along the base of the dyke, looking for the deepest pools. The dyke was shaded from the sun and the muddy pools were cool and refreshing. Felix preferred water to mud at this time of year. Mud was great in summer, sticking to his coarse bristles as it dried and protecting him from the intense heat. The days were getting shorter now, though, and the nights cooler. He did not need such a long-lasting effect. Water provided instant relief but it dried more quickly than mud, meaning Felix could be toasty warm again by sundown.

The recent rain had fallen in a sudden deluge and had left numerous deep pools that would accommodate Felix’s considerable size. He splashed happily, watching a nearby family of voles going about their business. They kept their distance but otherwise paid him no attention, which was just the way he liked it. Felix was in no rush. Afternoons like this would be rare from now on as the days became cooler and the sun sank lower and lower in the sky. He might have to wait until spring for such a luxurious bath. When he was finally rejuvenated he hauled himself up the steep bank and trotted back into the forest in search of an equally luxurious dinner.

Felix stood beneath a large apple tree, combing the ground for any remaining windfalls. The tree was heavy with fruit but windfalls were gobbled quickly by the hungry forest dwellers and few remained on the ground for long. As Felix snuffled through the leaves he heard a welcome sound in a nearby oak. A small group of squirrels was scurrying from bough to bough collecting precious acorns for their winter cache.

‘Ahoy there, squirrels!’ Felix shouted as appeasingly as he could muster.

The squirrels froze on the branches, their limbs and tails splayed in an attempt at camouflage. Squirrels are alert animals with excellent sight and hearing, but they had been so preoccupied they had not noticed Felix approaching. His deep voice had caught them off guard. Lilly, a particularly doe-eyed girl, looked bashfully in his direction.

‘How can we help you, Felix?’ she said. It always paid to be in Felix’s good graces.

‘Any chance you guys could shimmy up this tree and knock down a few apples?’ Felix said through his toothiest smile.

The squirrels obliged without quarrel. They sprang through the air from limb to limb, sending a flood of apples to the ground. When one apple clonked Felix squarely on the top of his head he heard a small titter from the branch above him. If he did not know better he would swear the little creature had done it on purpose. No matter – they had done the trick. The ground around him was now littered with luscious fruit. Felix settled in for a scrumptious meal.

Chapter Four

Jekis sat in a shady hollow watching two ravens playing in a thick blanket of pine needles. They were circling each other, using their wings like scoops to shower the other with needles, ducking and diving to shield themselves from the tiny projectiles. They stepped towards each other and then away again in a kind of dance, one wing outstretched and the other tucked firmly by their side. When they tired of flipping needles they started to wrestle, somersaulting over each other repeatedly, chattering excitedly as they played. Ravens were not his favourite creatures, especially when they tried to steal his food, but he was enjoying watching them tussle. It reminded him of his own sons, who had been tussling for as long as he could remember.

It occurred to Jekis that he hadn’t seen Indigo and Nox in several hours. He had assumed they were gallivanting about the forest with their younger brother, as they often did, but Luko was now back at the clearing, lazing with his cousins.

‘Luko, where are Indy and Nox?’ he called.

‘Haven’t seen them in hours, Dad.’

That was odd. The pack was due to go hunting soon and those two never missed a meal. Food was tight at the moment, so they were bound to be hungry. They should have been back