Watch Wolf

his sleep that sounded like Old Wolf.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Edme said.
    “You know how she-wolves are about their pups. It’s a thousand times worse with grizzlies. We’re used to aunties and other wolves around. But grizzlies aren’t very social. They lead solitary lives.”
    “I’ll never do it again. I promise.” Edme paused. “But you have to admit they were about the cutest things ever.”
    “Yes, they were,” he said, almost longingly. Deep within him he felt a pang — a pang of regret? A pang of loss? He wasn’t sure.

CHAPTER NINE
T HE H OT G ATES
    AS THE TWO WOLVES TRAVELED, the cones of the volcanoes became clearer and clearer, and they could see that at least three of the five volcanoes were erupting. More and more owls scored the sky. The rims of the craters loomed in the distance like ragged crowns, and from them, towering flames leaped up, raking the pale lavender of the twilight sky.
    Faolan and Edme could just make out the cairns of bones on which the wolves of the Watch perched, vigilant against intruders.
    “Can you believe it, Faolan?” Edme said as they drew close enough to see the wolves leaping into the air, sometimes twisting and flipping themselves about in ways they had never seen wolves move before. “Can you believe that we shall soon be there?” Edme paused. “And we’re not
malcadhs
anymore! We’re true gnaw wolves of the Watch!” Her voice was filled with wonder.
    Faolan felt a shiver deep in his marrow.
Members.
The very word seemed to glow with a noble luster. They were to serve, no longer objects of scorn but as vital sentinels of the Watch. It was their job to guard the Ember of Hoole, the very center of this universe of wolves and owls. For the Beyond to run smoothly, the ember must be kept safe where it lay in one of the five volcanoes at the Sacred Ring.
    “The volcanoes have such odd names, don’t they?” Faolan said.
    “H’rathghar, Kiel — I think those are owl names from the northern kingdoms,” Edme replied. “H’rathghar,” she repeated.
    “Not H’rath … it’s more of a growl at the back of your throat,” Faolan said, correcting Edme’s pronunciation. He tipped his head back and emitted a throaty
hrrr
sound.
    “How do you know all this?” Edme said. When Faolan growled, the volcano’s name sounded awfully authentic — not that she knew exactly what owl speech of the northern kingdoms sounded like.
    Faolan shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He was truly confounded and could not figure out where these wisps of knowledge came from. It was as if they were borne on amaverick river that coursed through his mind. Thunderheart had even told him that she had named him Faolan because “fao” was the word for both “wolf” and “river,” and “lan” was the word for “gift.” In this river that was his mind, Faolan sensed two currents — one from what he thought of as The Now and the other as The Then. The Now was easy to understand. It was The Then that perplexed him. Did all wolves have two currents in their minds?
    “Let’s see … then there are three others — Dunmore, Morgan, and Stormfast. I’m glad there are just five to learn,” Edme said.
    “Some of the names sound like wolf names,” Faolan offered.
    “Yes, Morgan does, and so does Dunmore, but I’ve never met a wolf named Stormfast.” She paused. “Well, I guess we’re about to meet a volcano called Stormfast.”
    A wind out of the east began to blow and both wolves stopped suddenly. Their hackles rose as they tipped their noses into the breeze.
    “That’s it, isn’t it? The smell of the volcanoes,” Faolan said.
    “Not exactly pleasant. Reminds me of some rotten duck eggs I once met up with,” Edme said.
    “Rotten duck eggs?” Faolan repeated and then murmured,
“Tine smyorfin.”
    “There, you said it again!” Edme blurted.
    “Said what?”
    “That Old Wolf thing you said back by the river.”
    “I didn’t say any Old Wolf thing. I just muttered, ‘by my marrow.’”
    Edme tipped her head to one side and regarded her friend.
How odd,
she thought.
Faolan really doesn’t know when he’s saying these things. His mouth speaks in something that sounds like Old Wolf, but his ears hear it another way.
    “Well, never mind. Let’s go,” she replied, trotting on.
    As they drew nearer to the Ring, they began to see strange rock formations that rose writhing like solid smoke. These formations were called
yondos,
and two immense ones