Ander - Part 3: Subchapter 3

Story by Contrast on SoFurry

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3

"Looking for me?"

Silence. He should have known better. Humour was never this tribe's strong suit.

Knowing he didn't have much time, Ander swept the crowd from one end to the other with his eyes, drinking in all the information he could as fast as possible.

Every Wolf in the tribe seemed to be gathered here, which was good, because it meant they haven't moved against the Foxes yet. It was impossible to make out their faces in the black shadows thrown by the massive bonfire at their backs, bordering their outlines with a golden, pulsating glow, but the weapons in their hands told Ander all he needed to know.

Clubs, nothing more than gnarled pieces of driftwood decorated with old Wolven symbols and insignias, but hard and heavy, easily capable of cracking skulls with a single blow.

Axes, sharpened metal blades attached to sturdy wooden shafts wrapped with strips of leather to improve the grip.

Spears, long enough to impale a boar from four strides away, their tips piercing the air like the Cora itself.

This tribe was ready for battle and, one way or another, that's exactly what it would get.

Unless Ander could put a stop to it.

"You have some nerve showing your face around here," Garten said, grabbing a spear from a whole pile of weapons at his side. "After what you did to Banno, I should kill you where you stand!"

Ander backed up, his hands raised, carefully judging the distance between himself and that spear. "Peace, Garten. I didn't come here to -"

"I don't give a damn about what you have to say! Banno was my friend, and you murdered him, you traitorous son of a bitch!"

A quick step forward and a shift of the shoulder was the only warning Ander received. He jerked his head back just as Garten made a furious jab at him with his spear, the tip coming to a stop barely a finger's width from his nose.

Ander stumbled backwards, nearly losing his balance. He's never been in a fight with Garten before, but he knew very well what this warrior was capable of, as did most of the younger Wolves foolish enough to accept one of his 'sparring' challenges, which were really nothing more than sanctioned brutalizations.

Garten advanced, his spear held at the ready above his shoulder, and Ander kept backing up, constantly re-evaluating Garten's maximum range. He should be fine as long as he kept out of reach of that spear.

Unless Garten decided to throw it, of course.

"Stop this, Garten," Nilia said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"But he's right there!" he shouted, his eyes unwavering. "Now might be our only chance!"

"He didn't come all the way back here just to run away again, you fool. Now calm yourself."

Garten growled, baring his teeth. One of them was broken, courtesy of a particularly heated bout with Banno, leaving a dark gap in his yellowish maw.

"I'd take just as much pleasure as you in skinning him alive," Nilia said, her deathly calm expression somehow scarier than Garten's gap-toothed grimace. "But before that happens, I'd also like some answers. Wouldn't you?"

Garten considered it, grinding his teeth together in frustration. Finally, with a grunt of disgust and an exclamation of, "Fine! Have it your way!" he planted his spear in the dirt, burying its head completely so that the shaft vibrated back and forth.

Ander waited a moment to see if Garten would step back, but it soon became apparent he intended to do no such thing.

With the spear still waving, as if in sarcastic welcome, Ander stepped through the gates.


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