Guardians of Ga'Hoole 08 - The Outcast

for a life spent guarding the ember, after following the spirit trail of stars and resting for a while in the soul cave,a gnaw wolf’s spirit could come back as anything it wanted to be.”
    “Anything?” Coryn asked.
    “Anything.”
    “Do you believe it?”
    “What else do I have, Coryn, but to believe it?” Hamish replied quietly.
    “What would you come back as if you could? A bird? An owl? Maybe a fish?”
    Hamish chuckled softly. “I would come back as a wolf born with four strong legs.”
    The trek was a long one, with the days weaving into longer and longer nights. But the wolves never broke their stride. One night as Coryn was flying overhead, he saw them halt to study something on the ground. Hamish split away from the clan and with his lame leg climbed painfully up a slippery trail to a promontory. He threw back his head and howled to summon Coryn, who had learned some of this strange, untamed music of the wolves.
    He flew down and followed Hamish to the spot where the wolves were examining a paw print in the snow. To Coryn, it looked like an ordinary wolf paw print.
    “Look at it hard, laddie,” the chieftain said. “This is a dangerous sign. Here, compare it to my own print.”Duncan MacDuncan stepped back. Coryn dropped his head down close to the print on the ground. There was a difference, but he would never have noticed it if Duncan had not led him right to it. The four toe pads of the stranger wolf were much more spread out.
    “What does that mean?” Coryn asked.
    “Sick wolf. It is sick with the foaming-mouth disease. Wolves get it, but so can birds and many other animals. It drives them mad and they die. But the real danger is that their bite is like poison. If you are bitten by such a mad creature, you will also get the disease. We must travel very carefully now. And it is our duty to tell other wolves we meet that there is a mad one loose in these parts. You, Coryn, can be most helpful, lad, because you can see far and wide as you fly.”
    “Of course,” Coryn said. “But what should I look for? My eyes are good but I don’t think I could see a footprint like this from so high up.”
    “No, but you might see the wolf itself and you will recognize it quickly. Its stride will be broken and staggering. You will see the white foaming drool from its mouth, and you will hear its panting breath. Not at all like ours when we run. It is a harsh sort of breathing as if it breathes rocks or chunks of ice. It is a terrible sound. We shall be able tosmell it even before you see it. But with your sight and hearing and our sense of smell, we shall know exactly where it is and be able to quickly change our course.”
    “Yes, of course. I shall help.” Coryn was happy to be able to do something for this clan that had offered him sanctuary in this desolate land.
    Coryn was not sure how many days and nights had passed since they had first spotted the paw prints of the sick wolf, but there did not seem to be others. Several times Coryn had flown wide of the byrrgis to look for the deadly wolf but had seen none that fit the description.
    He began to wonder if he had missed something when he saw the chieftain and several of the nobles increase their scent markings and their sniffing. This slowed their progress even more. One evening at twilight, Coryn lighted down as he often did right on Hamish’s back. The byrrgis had stopped and several of the wolves had gone out on scent-marking expeditions. “What’s going on? Are there signs of the sick wolf?”
    “No,” Hamish answered. “We’ve entered the territory of the MacHeaths. They are a dangerous clan, but not as dangerous as the sick wolf. Remember, I told you that some clans are very jealous of the MacDuncans becauseof our clan being in the Sacred Watch of the ember? Well, the MacHeaths are the most jealous.”
    “Will there be a fight?”
    “No. Duncan and his mate, Fiona, and McAngus will go and treat with them.”
    “Treat? What’s that?”
    “They will ask for a peaceful passage. They will promise them meat and hunting rights in our territory.”
    “Is it safe for them to go?” Coryn asked.
    “There are certain rules. You cannot kill or attack another wolf if it is coming to treat. They will obey that, I think. And the MacHeaths, well, they are not highborn wolves. They are easily impressed and very superstitious as well. It makes them in some ways easy to deal with; in other ways it makes them very dangerous.”
    Coryn once