The Wolven

    It had been a beautiful spring morning when they set off. Now icy needles of rain from a sudden late spring storm stung Madrigar’s face as she struggled up the narrow, muddy path. Clammy fog rolling down the mountainside reduced her vision to a few yards. Pebbles bounced off into grey silence below as she slipped. Groping along the slick rockface with her fingertips, she suddenly fell into emptiness, landing hard on her knees. Recovering her breath, she realized she was in a small cave. Grateful to be out of the biting wind, she sat shivering with her back to the rock wall, her heartbeat gradually slowing to normal. She had lost sight of her companions in the scavenging group a while ago. Dragging a ragged blanket out of her heavy backpack, she wrapped herself in it and huddled down to wait until the storm passed. She hoped the others turned up.  

        Sitting in the gloom, she thought about the city as her parents described it before the Catastrophe, teeming with people, vehicles, even those machines that flew. Born and raised in the cave where her parents had fled after the Catastrophe, those tales had always seemed farfetched, especially having seen the city’s ruins of crumbing concrete and rusting metal for herself. Now the human population was reduced to a few groups living high in the mountain caves, growing their own crops, raising the descendants of the few livestock that had survived. Every now and then a group would venture to the ruins of the city to bring back any useful objects they could find.

     Her mother’s tales about how her embittered, angry father used to be a handsome, happy charmer before the Catastrophe seemed even more unbelievable. This was the first time he’d allowed her to go on a scavenging trip, muttering that she might as well be out of his way. Her mother, recovering from yet another miscarriage and taking care of Madrigar’s only surviving sickly little brother, nodded, pleading silently for her to go. It gave them all a respite, Madrigar thought bitterly. She wasn’t sorry to be away from her father for a while.  

    She fumbled in her pack for a candle, grateful that the matches were still dry. Weird shadows danced on the cave walls in the flickering light. The rain was still pouring. Securing the candle on a ledge, she unwrapped some bread and meat. Suddenly she heard whimpering in the dark recesses of the cave. She put the food aside and listened. The noise died away, then resumed more loudly. Holding the candle in a shaking hand, she crept towards the sound. Amber eyes gleamed in the dim light, unflinchingly returning her gaze. Closer inspection showed a bundle of thick greyish fur with a little wet black nose that blended into the shadows.

“A baby Wolven!” she said in awe.

The whine morphed into a low growl.

     The cub’s absurd ferocity made Madrigar smile until it occurred to her that its mother might be nearby. She glanced around nervously. Wolven, a legendary hybrid of wolves and dogs, were reputed to be ferocious in defending their young. The terrible contamination of the Catastrophe that had caused mutations, deformities and death in many species, had enhanced the hunting skills, intelligence and stealth of the Wolven. They were so elusive that little was really known about them, but every child was brought up with the threat of being thrown to the Wolven for bad behavior.

     The cub whimpered weakly. It did not resist as Madrigar picked it up. Its heart was hammering against its ribs under the thick fur. She carried it back to where she’d been sitting, carefully set the candle down, and laid the cub on the blanket. It sniffed the air. Madrigar realized it could smell her food. She tore off a tiny morsel of meat and offered it to the cub who snatched it greedily with sharp white teeth, gulped it down and looked for more.

“Your mother’s been gone for a while or you wouldn’t be this hungry,” she said, gently stroking its soft thick fur. She fed it the rest of the meat, ate some bread and sat back with the cub in her lap. The warmth of its furry body was welcome in the cold dampness of the cave. It licked its whiskers and fell asleep. Madrigar carefully pulled the blanket around them both and dozed off.

     She woke with a start. The candle had gone out. In the darkness, she heard the occasional drip of water fall from the ceiling, and then a soft, rhythmic sighing. It seemed to surround her, rising and falling irregularly, getting closer. She tried to remain motionless but could not help trembling. The cub awoke and squirmed, giving a little yelp. Yellow, grey and icy blue eyes gleamed intermittently like fireflies around her. As her vision adjusted, she saw a semi-circle of adult Wolven sitting silently staring at her. She bit back a scream of terror as one lunged towards her. It grabbed the cub from her lap by the scruff of its neck, dropped it and began to nuzzle and lick it. The cub yipped in ecstasy.

       The Wolven were magnificent in the weak daylight that was beginning to illuminate the cave. They watched quietly as the cub’s mother completed her inspection, shook herself and looked from the cub to Madrigar. She approached Madrigar slowly, gently sniffed her hair and licked her hand. The others kept their sharp, intelligent gaze on her. She held out a hand cautiously and one by one, they sniffed it, looking from her to each other. As if coming to a decision, they relaxed, lying down around her. Madrigar stroked them, admiring the silky fur and graceful bodies. The cub tumbled around happily and the Wolven laughed. Madrigar joined in and then stopped. How could she know they were laughing? Somehow, she did.

They were amused by her bewilderment. Finally, the leader of the pack, looked at her intently.

“We know you humans tell legends about us, but you know only a fraction of our powers. We do not often choose to reveal them. Most humans would have killed this cub out of ignorance and fear. You are different.”

Madrigar understood him clearly, though she could not have said how.

Suddenly all the Wolven, even the cub, froze in position and listened intently. Motionless, they blended into the shadows.

“Your kind are near, the ones you were traveling with. We must leave quickly before they see us.”

They began to file towards the rear of the cave, vanishing into the darkness.

Madrigar heard the voices getting louder in the distance. Loneliness overwhelmed her.

“Wait for me,” she called, scrambling to her feet.

The leader of the Wolven stopped, emerald eyes gleaming.

“Come now,” he said.

Madrigar scrambled to her feet and vanished into the darkness with the group.

The Wolven leader followed silently.