Wolves of the Beyond 02 - Shadow Wolf

experience not to. Happens all the time. So don’t worry about it.”
    “When it does happen, it’s not a violation of the byrrgnock , I suppose.” It was not a question. Faolan said this in a flat voice.
    “No, why would it be?”
    “Of course not. There aren’t gnaw wolves running in these positions in normal byrrgises . Why waste abuse on some wolf who isn’t a gnaw wolf?”
    “I don’t think you understand what I am saying, Faolan. You won’t be punished if it does happen.”
    “I understand perfectly. I won’t be abused this time because this is a special byrrgis . But if I fail to be selected and return to pack life, the rules of the game change back.”
    “I suppose so,” Mhairie said. She seemed suddenly nervous.
    “Did you have something else to say, Mhairie?”
    “I do.” She paused and looked directly into his eyes. “Faolan, there are some rumors going around the encampment.”
    “What kind of rumors?”
    “About a bone you carved at a practice session around the time of the Moon of the Cracking Ice. Some say it was…” Her eyes shifted down to the ground.
    “Profane?”
    “Yes.” She swung her eyes toward him again. Her hackles raised and seemed to quiver.
    “I carved a constellation. I carved the Great Wolf only from the point of view of my second Milk Giver.”
    “The grizzly?”
    “Yes. She was the first one who told me about the star pictures. She and the others of her kind call it the Great Bear.”
    Mhairie cocked her head. “That’s very interesting.”
    “Yes, Mhairie, it is interesting, but it’s not profane.”
    “Not in the least,” Mhairie agreed. “But still be careful.”
    A passel of young pups went tumbling by, chasing one another.
    “Time out! Time out!” one pure-white pup said, skidding to a halt. “I don’t want to play tag anymore. Let’s play go-to-the-Sark.”
    Mhairie turned to the pups. “That’s a stupid game,” she muttered, and began to walk away.
    But Faolan was riveted. The white pup was obviously the boss of this gang. She turned to a brindled pup whose pale brown fur had patches of gray and black. “You’ll be the Sark.”
    “But I’m a male.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” the white pup snapped.
    “You be the Obea,” she said, turning to another pup whose fur was the color of a storm cloud.
    “They stink,” whined the pup.
    “No, that’s the problem. They don’t stink at all. They have no scent. Now quit complaining. It’s just a play. And, Bryan,” she said to another wolf, who was also white and most likely her brother. “You be the malcadh . You cantuck your back leg behind you and walk on three like we’ve been practicing.”
    “Sure,” said the white pup in a voice of resignation, as if he was used to being bossed by this older sibling.
    “And I am the mother.” She immediately threw herself onto the ground and began to sob. “Don’t take my pup!” More sobs. “This is my last litter. I promise I shall have no more. Leave me my last daughter!”
    “I’m not a daughter,” the white pup complained. “I’m a son.”
    “For the play, you’re a daughter. Now just shut your muzzle.”
    Then the pup playing the Obea spoke sternly, “I must take this malcadh to the tummfraw . You need to go to the Sark and begin the forgetting. She will brew you a potion.” The pup playing the mother swung her head toward the brindled pup and whispered loudly, “Start mixing up a potion!”
    “I don’t have anything to mix. There aren’t any herbs or grass or leaves or even birch bark.”
    “Just mix up some dirt and stones. It’s all make-believe.” She turned to another pup. “Now when the malcadh survives and comes back to the clan, you canstart kicking him and nipping his ear. But you know, just pretend.”
    Faolan watched all of this mesmerized. Just pretend! This is my life! They are playacting with my life. He was about to say something, but he didn’t know what. Surely a gnaw wolf could not reprimand young pups.
    Mhairie stepped from behind a rock. “This isn’t the time for make-believe,” she said sternly.
    “Why not?” challenged the white pup. “Just because you’re bigger and you say so?”
    “No,” Mhairie said quietly. “Because this is a gnaw wolf.” She nodded at Faolan. “And his life is real, not make-believe. There is no just-pretending when he is bitten and kicked.”
    The pups all grew very still. Then the white one stepped forward. “You’re absolutely the hugest wolf