**~**
The next day, Black Scorpion and Raven were following the tracks that Wolf Eyes had left when he was running from the wolves. They came around the edge of the field of the burned out village, just like he had done. They crossed the Yellow Leaf Creek and got onto the trail that ran by the river. They were on his trail and had not missed any signs. They were both concentrating on the signs, looking at the ground. But then the signs stopped, as though the man had vanished into thin air.
They looked up and were startled at the horrifying sight. There, hanging in the trees, were the bodies of the wolf pack. They formed a kind of gate, through which ran the path by the river. The meaning was apparent. Do not go beyond this point.
Black Scorpion said. “The warrior survives. We were warned of his greatness, and now we have witnessed it.”
“The hunted became the hunter,” said Raven.
“There is no use in following him farther today. He may have set a trap for us. Let‘s return to the cave and make plans for another trap for him.”
Wolf Eyes watched from his concealed spot, high in the branches of a tree. He could not hear their words, but saw them talking. Then he saw them turn and leave.
He climbed down from the tree to a campsite he had made. He sat down to ponder what would be their next trick. Knowing their devious scheming, he had no clue as to what they would try next. He had to get them first.
He pulled the predator’s hide onto his lap and began to scrape the inside with the sharp edge of a mussel shell. He removed all of the fat from the inside. With sand and a stone he polished the flesh side, at times he added a little water. Then he put it in the sun to dry. It wasn’t the best job, but he needed it by tonight, so it would have to do. He then lay back to get some rest and wait for the sun to get low in the sky.
When Wolf Eyes woke, he was hungry. He decided to dig some tubers and eat them raw. He found some growing close to the river. He dug them with a stick and his fingers. He peeled them and ate them like nuts.
The sun will be gone soon. It is time to move, he thought.
He picked up the wolf hide and put it over his shoulders like a robe. The hollowed head was now his hat. The upper jaw, still containing the teeth of the predator, stuck outward from his forehead. He checked his knife. The edge was good. He picked up his war club. It was well made and still in good shape.
He left the camp and traveled back in the direction of the burned out village. It grew later in the afternoon and was dark by the time he crossed the Yellow Leaf Creek. He turned northward and followed the creek. The smoke from the cave fire could be seen rising from the hill. It was gray in the moonlight against the dark sky. Wolf Eyes slowed his pace, being more careful, like a cat.
Now he could see the cave, its mouth glowing, as the fire inside crackled. He moved closer to observe what was going on. From his vantage he could hear and see all the activity in the mouth of the cave. He was well concealed and lay there, motionless as a gator waiting for its prey.
An old woman bent over the fire. She was cooking some squirrels over the open flames. There were several pierced with skewers, sizzling over the fire. He could smell the aroma of the meat as it browned. She began taking them off the fire. They were ready to be eaten.
“No!” she screamed, as she jumped up. Black Scorpion, coming from a hiding place, had stolen one of the squirrels off the fire. She picked up a stick from the fire and began flailing with it like a club. She chased him out of the cave – cursing him for all she was worth. Black Scorpion ran out of the cave, laughing, as the old women threw the burning stick. He looked back at her and laughed. Then he picked up the burning stick and walked out to a pile of wood that he had raked together for his own fire.
Black Scorpion’s fire began to burn, and he sat there and enjoyed the old woman’s squirrel. He was soon joined by Raven, who had his own squirrel. It was already on a skewer, ready to be cooked. They sat there eating and lounging.
Wolf Eyes thought he could take them at any time. But he would let them get more relaxed. He waited until they lay back, and the fire had died down some. The moon was coming up over the mountain, in the east. He thought, the moonlight would spoil my attack if I wait any longer.
Wolf Eyes sprang to his feet – His war cry waking the night. Raven was the first to rise. He scrambled, looking for a weapon. Pulling a flaming stick from the fire, he met Wolf Eyes. The stick could not match Wolf Eyes’ war club. It was shattered to pieces in a second. Raven turned to run, and Wolf Eyes turned his attention to Black Scorpion.
Black Scorpion had retreated to the mouth of the cave. Now he was left all alone to face Wolf Eyes. He turned and ran into the darkness of the cave.
Wolf Eyes followed him into the cave. The people there were frightened at the invasion of this warrior. He had the legs of a man, but the head of a wolf. They showed cowardice and retreated against the walls of the cave, but the attacker paid them no attention.
Wolf Eyes’ face showed the strength of his intention. He grabbed a torch from the wall and started down the passageway, looking for Black Scorpion. He could hear Black Scorpion running from him, farther down the path. He could see the faint glimmer of a torch bouncing along. He pursued him into the caverns.
Raven had found a weapon and now wanted back in the fight. He followed Wolf Eyes down into the maze of tunnels. His torch flame was buffeted by the cave winds.
Wolf Eyes knew where this path led, and that his prey was a canny competitor. He was expecting, any moment, to be jumped on from behind a stalagmite as he passed. He had lost sight of Black Scorpion and had to slow his pace.
Patience and caution, he thought, as he slowly moved down the path. He had the sixth sense that he was being followed. He stopped to listen. Hearing the footsteps of someone coming behind him, he listened harder. The man following had splashed through water. The damp feet made a slapping sound on the clay of the path. Ahead of him he could see a mineral formation. It looked like a good hiding place. He ducked behind it and extinguished his flame.
It was Raven, coming to join the fight. Wolf Eyes let him pass. Raven never knew he was there in the darkness. Now he followed the torch light of Raven. They went deeper and deeper into the caverns.
The puddles became a stream, and the stream got larger the deeper that they went.
Wolf Eyes could hear the roar of the torrent waters now. They were approaching the room of the river. He had some difficulty in keeping up with Raven, because he could not follow too closely. When Raven stopped, he stopped. When he moved forward, Wolf Eyes made the same move.
Black Scorpion had entered the room of the river and the great abyss. He knew that Wolf Eyes was only seconds behind. Here somewhere, he had hidden the general’s spear. He had to find it...now here it is, the general‘s spear. He brought it down here for just such a circumstance. Here, at last, would be the ambush that would set him up for eternity. At last, the spirit of Wolf Eyes would be defeated. He picked up the spear and hid himself behind the boulder, where he could see the entrance to the room. He extinguished his torch. He would wait here in total darkness for Wolf Eyes to come into the room.
The short time that he waited seemed like an eternity to Black Scorpion. Now he was there in the door.
He thought, that torchlight is blinding me, but I cannot miss from here. It is now or never.
Black Scorpion threw the spear.
The roar of the water was deafening. Wolf Eyes saw Raven enter the room of the river. The next thing that Wolf Eyes saw was the torch held by Raven hit the floor of the cave.
Wolf Eyes advanced to the entrance of the room. The torch still gave enough light for him to see. He saw Raven slumped to the floor. The man had a spear point protruding from his back. Black Scorpion had mistaken him for me, he thought.
Black Scorpion looked up and saw the hulk form of the man-wolf standing in the entrance to the room. In the torchlight he looked horrifying – the white fangs dripping with blood.
Black
Scorpion turned to run, and as he did so, he tripped over something lying in the floor. He stumbled; trying to keep his footing but could not. He fell, headlong, into the black hole of the abyss. His terrifying cry echoed from the rooms of the caverns above the noise of the torrent.
Wolf Eyes picked up the torch and went to look. He approached the edge cautiously and held the torch out as far as he could. He could not see the bottom of the cavern where Black Scorpion had fallen. Spray and vapor filled the void. Black Scorpion was gone.
“Black Scorpion, you have sought the aid of the Hottuk Ookproose, the devil himself, and now he has called in your soul as payment. This great hole is the passageway to the lair of the devil, from which there is no escape. I will consider you dead in both body and spirit. And I will no longer seek revenge for my uncle Night Walker. Unless I, in the future, learn otherwise, the matter is now closed. The spirit of Night Walker is at peace, and he can fly with Hottuk Ishtohoollo, the Great Spirit of the upper world, forever.”
Wolf Eyes turned to leave, and as he did so, he looked down on the horrified face of a man. The eyes blinked, but nothing else was said. Wolf Eyes looked, but could not find anything wrong with the man. His body was as stiff as a bow, yet the man was breathing.
Wolf Eyes pulled off the wolf robe and bent down by the man. He took the man by the hand and put him on his shoulders. He left the room and climbed to the surface.
When he came to the mouth of the cave, all the people had run away. He put the man down by the fire. As he warmed, the man started to have some movements in his body. Wolf Eyes looked at the man with a smile. “I won’t hurt you,” he said.
The sun was beginning to rise, in the east. The sunlight entered the mouth of the cave. The squirrels on the spits were done and still smelled delicious. Wolf Eyes handed a piece to the man, and the man took it. He is coming around, thought Wolf Eyes. He was paralyzed with fright.
“Your friends will be back after I leave,” said Wolf Eyes. “You will be well now. The evil one is gone.”
With that Wolf Eyes took one of the squirrels and gathered his war club. He walked down the path toward the river, going home.
In the village of Nuktala the people were dancing around the New Fire – a gift from the spirit of the upper world. They did not see him enter the gate of the palisade. He came directly to the plaza. When he walked into the area of the fire, the people thought they were seeing a ghost. The flute quit playing, and after the initial gasp, the people were quiet. Then Waving Willow ran to him.
“Wolf Eyes, I knew you would come back,” she said.
“I am back,” he said. “Uncle Night Walker is revenged.”
She hugged him and squeezed him. He held her tight. Then the village people gathered round to hear the tale of what happened in the cave. It was a tale that would be told many times again by uncles teaching their nephews how to be brave.
As the night got old, most of the people went home, but Wolf Eyes sat and talked with Chief Silver Eagle at the fire. On the opposite side of the fire was Waving Willow with his baby boy sitting on her lap. Wolf Eyes and Chief Silver Eagle were startled by a cougar that walked into the firelight behind Waving Willow. It stood there in the night, looking at them. Its eyes were glowing in the dark. Wolf Eyes jumped up to defend his mate. But the baby boy just smiled.
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– About C.R. Coburn
C.R. Coburn lives a reclusive life for the most part in a small, mountain lake community in East Central Alabama. His loves are boats, baseball, books and the outdoors His first novel Wolf Eyes is about the Indians that once lived in the forest, before Europeans discovered the North American Continent, where C.R. grew up as a boy.
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