A Wolf Story by James Byron Huggins Read Free Book Online Page A

my son. Our victory has already been promised, an end made sure. Cling to what you have learned, and it will be life for you when death is near. Be strong. Be courageous. Do what you know is right."
    They had returned home in silence that night, Aramus lost in his thoughts. He had traveled close to his father's side, thinking again and again of the malevolent red eyes and hideous face grinning at him from the stygian night. His faith seemed broken, shattered. He wondered if he would ever have the strength to face his fears.
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    Saul ran now with less caution. His old legs were heavy and the cold air tore at his ravaged lungs with each ragged breath.
    Deeper and deeper he had fled into the woods, feeling the darkness thicken as if the night itself were alive and battling in concert with the creature that chased him. He stumbled over rocks and branches, bruised and shaken. He tumbled painfully over ledges that descended into pits of gloom, running, always running.
    The cruel air was colder with every step he took toward the deepest part of this cursed forest. It was farther than he had ever been before. Already he had run for hours through the darkness, using every trick he possessed to confuse his enemy. Three times he had descended into freezing waters and let them carry him downstream. The shock alone had almost killed him. But he had forced himself to remain in the flowing channels until he felt a deathlike cold in his heart. Then he had numbly climbed onto the opposite bank, picking a careful trail, doubling back and circling again in a desperate attempt to confuse his enemy, his strength failing more with each step.
    Now, as Saul crept from the final, freezing stream, the arctic air swept across him with killing cold, stiffening his damp mane with ice, and he knew that he had reached the heart of the Deep Woods, where winter never leaves.
    It was the land of the Dark Lord's servants.
    Now it was tracking him in the forest it knew best. Saul realized that in this evil land there would be no tricks that could deceive that destroyer of lives. But he would never surrender. He would struggle against his persecutor until it fell upon him in its unholy rage, and then, too, he would resist. Though Saul had not heard its infernal howl for several hours, he sensed that it had not lost his trail. It was hunting him with ancient patience. And it would find him, in the end.
    Saul hesitated at the crest of a thorny hill. His old body, slashed and beaten, was failing. He had struggled to run faster, but his legs lifted more painfully, more slowly, with every step.
    He gazed behind him into the darkness and sensed the evil presence tracking him through the night. For a moment he stared into the gloom, but the last of his fear was quickly disappearing. No longer did he look only into the night. For in the passing hours he had begun to sense a new land, where stars shone eternal and green hills rolled forever, a land he had always hoped for, and awaited. As he rested, a silent sense of love warmed him, and he knew that the Lightmaker had not left him alone, even in this terrible hour.
    Saul lowered his head, breathing heavily, perceiving that he was only struggling out his part in some drama that had always awaited him. Somewhere, in the dim recesses of his mind, Saul had anticipated this moment all his life. Raising his head, he gazed quietly, hopefully, at the stars.
    His flesh was hardening with frost, and stabbing pangs of agony made his breath pale and weak. Yet Saul felt strangely alive, ready to fight to the death.
    The stars are so much like us, he thought. Bright and beautiful, full of wonder and light, yet surrounded by such terrible darkness. And even so, the darkness cannot overcome them, for they shine on and on through the painful night, casting light for all the world to see.
    Saul smiled weakly, praying, hoping that the Lightmaker would be pleased with him when the battle was done. Then he staggered