//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Carnivore Council // by CreativeOverflow //------------------------------// The wet sounds of tearing meat and cracking bone filled the barren crossroad. Marrok stood watching over the pack ensuring that enough meat was left to take back to the den. Nearby the crows constantly snuck forward to snatch up any errant scraps, often having to be chased away by a pack member. An almost futile endeavor though as this only served to provide an opening for a different crow. As Marrok stood guarding, a thick mist quickly crept in from the surrounding forest. Noticing it, he spun around to face its source. Before him, a giant horned owl the size of a bear stood cloaked in the receding fog, its large wings folded around it like a cape. Marrok bowed slightly in the towering raptors presence, “Oh, Abidah, it’s just you. Care for a rib? We have some spare. This is the first decent meal the pack has seen in weeks.” The great owl towered over the wolf, clearly a being of unnatural size and power. He raised an eyebrow as he looked past Marrok to the pack working on the carcass. “A deer? My, what a rare prize indeed.” Abidah spoke with a voice like rolling thunder laced with a dangerous spark of curiosity. “Why, the last time I saw a deer this far from the thicket would have been oh, five? ten? years ago.” Marrock shifted nervously. “We, er - found her on the edge of the forest. Must have wandered in for some foraging. The pack was lucky to be in the area.” Abidah stepped forward, his giant talons digging ruts into the soft earth. “Just wandered in you say. How peculiar.” He walked a slow dangerous circle around the alpha. “With all the ponies providing her every need, what could she possibly have needed in the forest?” the owl stopped in his tracks, his head slowly swiveled - seemingly independent of his bodies inclination - to face Marrok. His large golden eyes bore down on the wolf. “Are you sure she just ‘wandered’ in?” Marrok shifted his weight nervously, his eyes darted around looking for an escape or option. Abidah just stared with a deafening silence, daring Marrok to even attempt another lie. “Look, she WAS on the edge of the forest, all we did was ‘encourage’ her to enter. We didn’t begin the hunt until she was inside.” - Marrok's excuses poured forth like a breached dam, all the while Abidah continued to lay his soul bare with his unyielding gaze - “You have to understand, we haven’t had a decent meal in weeks. It was too good an opportunity to let pass.” The owl broke his gaze and continued his interrogation with a distinct air of disappointment, “Do you remember the oath?” Marrok hung his head in shame. “Abidah, please, of course I remember.” “And what was that oath Marrok?” Marrok hung his head in defeat. “To hunt only within the forest.” By this time the rest of the pack had stopped their work and watched in empathic silence as their leader was raked over the coals for their shared offence. None dared to speak uninvited in Abidah's presence. “So it’s not your memory that fails you then, only your sensibilities?” Abidah berated as he resumed his march of judgement around the wolf. “We need food!” Marrok pleaded, “We left the pony filly she was with, not a hair on her head was harmed. This doe has seen many winters and the pack needs to survive” Abidah pivoted sharply, turning his full body to face the wolf, his wings flared open in a sudden gust that sent dust and leaves scattering and set nearby boughs to creak and groan with sympathetic disappointment. His eyes fairly glowed with rage. The whole pack flinched and backed away. “A FILLY! You let a pony see your attack? Do you have ANY idea the potential repercussions of your foolishness?” Marrok, just as startled, stumbled back. “I... I didn’t-” “Think!” Abidah interrupted. “You didn’t think! What happens now when she runs back to her family and tells them WOLVES are coming out of the forest?” “She was only a filly, she wouldn’t have even seen ten winters yet. I’m sure the ponies will assume she’s just imagining it, that the doe in her old age lapsed her judgement and wandered into the forest, or that all she saw was timber wolves.” The owl rose to his full commanding height, “That is a lot of assumptions you stake the safety of the forest on. What if the celestial guardian hears of it and decides to enact retribution?” Marrok rallied and let a desperate anger give him spine. His fur bristled and frustration timbered his barks, “And what of it! If we don’t eat, we will die anyway. What would you have me and mine do? Lie down and become grass? We can’t survive on old stories and sympathy. What good is the oath if we all die by it? You can’t tell me you’d keep the oath till your dying breath if it was the cause of your dying in the first place!” Abidah slashed an angry talon in front of the wolf, soil and rocks scattered in its wake. He bowed his giant sharp beak down till it was mere inches from the Marrok’s nose. “THAT IS NOT FOR YOU TO DECIDE!”, his feathers ruffled to inflate his already enormous size, “Who gave you the right to decide when to apply the oath, and when it was convenient to discard? Especially when the consequences of not following it affect ALL the inhabitants of the forest! The council has decided to keep the oath, and as far as I’m aware, we haven’t decided to lift it. Until the council gives you leave, you will obey.” Marrok winced in the presence of the great guardian, but kept his ground. Abidah took a deep breath, smoothed his feathers and rose to his full height once more. “You will be punished for this breach of trust. An offering to Celestia, that she might temper her discontent.” Marrok looked up at the owl, pleading, “Abidah, please, we are desperate.” “Nonetheless, you have broken the sacred oath. None are exempt from its tenets and all are beholden to its judgement.” The owl glowered mercilessly at the alpha and his pack. Marrok hung his head in defeat, positioning himself between Abidah and the rest of his pack. “What would you have of me?” Abidah lowered his voice, his tone cold and deliberate, “The laws are clear Marrok, a life for a life.” A whimper of concern rolled through the pack at his back. Marrok’s expression fell, and with a resigned look he replied, “you would strike me down then?” Abidah hesitated, “No. You are the leader of your clan, striking you down would bring strife to your whole tribe. Instead, another will take your place. One of your own. Hear ye all, as chair of the council of carnivores I Abidah sentence you, Marrok, to pay for your crime with the blood of your kin. This is the will of the council.” The great owl swept open his wings and billows of mist flowed in their wake. “WAIT, NO!” Marrok screamed and ran forward, but the owl was swallowed in a thick blanket of fog and was no more. He glanced back at the equally startled and concerned members of his hunting pack, but an even more fearful desperation filled his eyes. “I have to go,” he blurted out, then he turned and bolted into the forest. The clearing was one of the nicer spots in the Everfree forest. There were sufficiently few trees to provide a sizable patch of warm sunlight. A welcome relief to the normally dim and gloomy forest. Regular foot traffic kept the forest at bay, and the Shadowmoon den guaranteed there was always activity. This morning a few of the older members of the pack were lazing in the sun. One old grey wolf yawned lazily as bees buzzed loudly from flower to flower and jostled with butterflies for position. Birds called to each other while they darted from tree to tree, and small lizards rustled through the undergrowth. High overhead an eagle soared in lazy sweeping circles on invisible air currents. The den itself was a long forgotten dragon’s lair that wound its way deep into the mountain. It now provided a warm dry place to keep the chilly nights and weather at bay. Without warning, the peace and serenity of the clearing was shattered by a shrill howl. A dusty white pup burst from the depths of the den closely followed by a smaller dark grey one. Both raced down the hill chasing and tumbling, yipping and howling like banshees as they went. One unfortunate pack member yelped in surprise as the cubs used him as a makeshift springboard. With a final tackle the two pups rolled away from each other and faced off. The white pup crouched into a low aggressive stance. “Grawr, Faolan the shadow hunter stalks his prey…” he growled at his brother. Lowe, realising the game, turned his aggressive stance into a meek cowering one. “Oh no! A fearsome wolf! Should I flee or should I stand?” Faolan continued with his own dramatic narration. “Faolan stands resolute, eyes piercing, muscles tensed. The predator challenges his prey. Go on Lowe. I dare you, run.” Lowe countered with his own narration, replete with dramatic gestures of despair to add to the melodrama. “Gasp, what should I do? It’s the great hunter Faolan, my only chance… is to FLEE!” An excited yelp signaled the two to start off again on a rag-tag race around the clearing. The older Faolan soon out pacing and out maneuvering his younger sibling. With a final lunge he pinned his brother on his back. The smaller pup giggled and cried out with exaggerated cries of pain. Faolan nuzzled the soft underbelly of his brother, making comical eating noises. “Om nom nom.” Lowe gave a final gasp - and melodramatic wipe of his brow - then he collapsed onto his back, complete with tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. “Erk” Foalan placed one paw on his freshly slain brother and posed to give his victory speech. “And thus the lone hunter has taken down the stag and tonight, will feast with all his family.” Lowe jumped up, reanimated by the haughty claims of his brother. “A stag eh? Quite the mighty hunter to take down a stag on your own. But still, you’d be no match for a Pony.” Faolan's nose wrinkled and he tilted his head quizzically, “A pony? What’s a pony?” A smirk crept its way onto Lowe’s face. It wasn’t often that he got the one up on his older brother, even if he was technically only younger by a few minutes. “I heard it from old owl Hooton. He said, they live outside the forest, they have horns and can fly.” Lowe mimicked the aspects, using his front paws to mime a pair of horns. “He also said they’re as strong as oxes and can shoot lightning from their eyes. He says they’re so strong they never need to hide, so their coats are brightly coloured like a butterflies.” “Oh c’mon.” said Faolan rolling his eyes, “if they’re really real, and that powerful, why don’t we see them in the forest?” “Hooton said, ‘the forest is the only thing that keeps them at bay.’ And that’s why we have to hide inside it.” Lowe explained while doing his best owl impersonation. Faolan snorted with derision, “Pfft, that’s just some dusty old myth, it’s not real. I’ve never heard of such monsters, Hooton is just making fun of you.” Lowe stood up, defiantly defending his prized secret knowledge, “It’s the truth!” Foalan stood equally defiant, “Nah-ah” Lowe lowered his head and stared up aggressively at Faolan, “You callin me a liar?” Faolan pointed his nose up with an air of haughty superiority, “I’m just callin it as I see’s it.” He tried to hold his countenance, but a smug grin quickly overtook his face. He turned to his brother, eyebrow raised in challenge, “whatcha gonna do about it?” Lowe growled and lowered his stance. Faolan also crouched on his paws, ready for anything. The two pups stood facing off in a tense stalemate. Suddenly their game was interrupted by a shout from the nearby forest. Several pack members perked up at the commotion. Marrok burst into the clearing from the bushy undergrowth, relief flooded his face when he saw them. A fleeting hope. Just as quickly, horror and panic contorted his muzzle as he glanced into the sky above. He pelted forward with a howl. Faolan and Lowe both stood stupefied, confused and concerned, unsure what to do. To Faolan, it was as if time had slowed down. His father ran as fast as he could, but could never reach them in time. His muffled cries soon drowned by the rushing sound of wings and wind. It was so fast. A flash of feathers and a blast of wind; something warm splashed on his cheek. Shocked, he slowly turned to his brother, but his brother wasn’t there. Faolan stumbled back, gasping for air, hysteria rising. His head twisted too and fro, frantically searching for Lowe. Tears streamed down his face, but Lowe was nowhere to be found. Marrok arrived far too late and grabbed his remaining son in a desperate embrace. Faolan howled. In the distance, an eagle soared off into the sunset. A limp silhouette in its talons.