Watch Wolf

were fast asleep.
    It was as though he were moving through alandscape that was neither earth nor sky. Deeper and deeper, Faolan traveled into a misty place where the seasons of the moons fell away.
I feel as though I am wading through the shoals oftime,
Faolan thought. His pelt felt loose on his shoulders, his bones insubstantial. And yet he seemed to sense a twinkling in his marrow.
I am nothing and I am all.
He trotted on through the banks of rising mist. In the distance, he spied a trail through the vapor made by a very old wolf, an “ancient,” as the first wolves of the Beyond were called. The ancient was nearly toothless, and Faolan could see that his once bright green eyes had turned milky with age.
He must be almost blind,
Faolan thought, and yet the wolf looked down at the trail as if searching for something.
Hoofprints. He’s looking for elk!
Faolan knew that the old wolf was bothered by the same questions Faolan had wondered over — why this scarcity of antlers? The elk had not returned. Why? Where had they gone? The old wolf’s knees began to buckle beneath him. And it came to Faolan that the wolf had come to this remote place to begin the steps of
cleave hwlyn,
the act of separating from his clan, his pack, and finally his own body.
He is dying,
Faolan thought. His life had been fully lived, and now his time had come. Faolan watched as the stars began to break out, his marrow quivering as he saw the first rungof the star ladder that led to the Cave of Souls.
I will see him slip his pelt and climb the star ladder. Should I be watching?
Dying was a private act and yet … it all looked so familiar!
    But Faolan did not see the old wolf climb the star ladder. He woke up just as the last star of the night was dissolving into the gray of the dawn. He sensed he had dreamed a wonderful dream tinged with sadness, but he could remember nothing about it. Not a shred. He felt acertain peacefulness, a comfort. He looked over at Edme, who was still sleeping, and sensed that she was dreaming, too, perhaps of her mother, Akira.

CHAPTER EIGHT
V IEW FROM A R IDGE
    AS FAOLAN AND EDME MADE THEIR way east toward the Ring of Sacred Volcanoes, they noticed an increasing number of owls flying up from the Hoolian kingdoms to the south.
At least,
Faolan thought,
something is moving in the right direction this moon.
    “Faolan, if we climb up this ridge, I think we might get a glimpse of the volcanoes.”
    “Let’s go!” Faolan said. And the two wolves began to scramble up the steep slope.
    When they arrived at the top of the ridge, they could see the cones of the five volcanoes in the distance. A dim rose-colored glow could be spotted over two of the volcanoes. “We’re too far away to see the flames,” Edme said. “But, of course, I only have one eye.”
    “I’ve got two but can’t see any flames. But when we get closer at twilight, I bet we’ll see them.”
    “There are other ridges ahead. I can see them clearly from here,” Edme yipped.
    Faolan had diverted his gaze and was looking straight down. Directly below them he had spotted the river.
“Tine smyorfin,”
he whispered.
    “Huh?” Edme looked at Faolan, whose eyes were trained on the river. “What’s that you said? Sounds like Old Wolf.”
    “What are you talking about?” Faolan asked.
    “That expression,
tine
something.”
    “I said ‘by my marrow,’” Faolan answered.
    “No, you didn’t,” Edme insisted. “You whispered something that sounded very much like Old Wolf. I may just have one eye, but I do have two ears, Faolan.”
    “Well, I was looking down there. See the river.”
    The water was no longer amber but green, green as a wolf’s eyes. But what was more interesting was the scene. In a shallow part of the river, there were two wolves and a large grizzly feeding off the carcass of what appeared to be a moose. The grizzly’s cubs were frolicking on the river-banks. At a short but respectful distance away, ten or so other wolves waited their turn. Periodically, the bear left to regurgitate large chunks of steaming meat for her cubs.
    Faolan was mesmerized by the sight. He had heardthat on rare occasions, wolves and bears shared prey. But he’d been told it was a practice from long ago. He recalled the chieftains saying that the wolves of the Watch kept up many of the old practices.
    “These have to be Watch wolves,” Faolan whispered.
    “Yes, I was thinking the same. I’ve heard they do this. It’s strange, isn’t