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Ravenwolf

Mick Stratton

mstratton@hlkn.tamu.edu


Doethblaidd was very happy.  He had heard that Ravenwolf was back from the second part of his Quest and had brought with him his totems.  Doethblaidd was Ravenwolf’s father and had been worried about the second half of the Quest.


This consisted of him having to go back to the valley and retrieve the raven and the wolf.  The father’s fear was that Unulrău would become aware of it and try to kill Ravenwolf when he was in the valley.  He knew that it was in the destiny of Ravenwolf to try it, but in all the history of Corb Lupia, the Quest had only been accomplished three other times.   Ravenwolf’s success was very important because the Land of Corb Lupia was in peril of being attacked by Unulrău, and all the power of The Way that could be mustered was needed.


When one became an Om Intelept and therefore a member of the council, he would have a wolf tattooed on one shoulder and a raven on the other, for these were the symbols of Corb Lupia.  It was because of this tradition that many believed Ravenwolf was destined to become a member of the council, for he was born with a mark that resembled a wolf’s head on his right shoulder and another one that resembled a raven on his left. These marks faded in a short time, but to many they were a sign from The Way.


Ravenwolf was reared as all the children of Corb Lupia, going through the same training and getting into trouble just for being a child; as he, like all children, explored and pushed his limits as well as the limits of his parents.


In the beginning he did not seem to be exceptional.  He was small in size and only average in learning of the needed skills in his studies.  This was confusing to his parents because he was obviously very bright.  But he was a dreamer and often had to be brought back to reality.  He also drove his parents and teachers crazy by asking the most confounding questions.


His parents were worried about his learning, so they went to Corbulom, who was also an Om Intelept, to see what he thought; for he was very wise about the rearing of children and a great teacher.  Corbulom said, “The Way works as The Way works, and you should be patient, but I think within your child is true greatness.”


During his 15th year, he started to grow; soon he was taller than most, and his strength increased rapidly until he was among the very strongest.  As with his size and strength, his skills and learning also increased.  By the end of his 15th year, he was the best student in his age group.  Most noticeable was his ability to communicate with animals which was absolutely uncanny.


By the time he became an adult warrior, he excelled above all others in physical fitness, fighting skills, science and spirituality.   He was the youngest person, man or woman, to become an Om Intelept which he did when he was 22.  His father and mother were not surprised when he announced he was going on the “Quest.” They were concerned and nervous for him but not surprised.  He had just turned 25 years old.


Anyway, Ravenwolf had just returned, and with him were his companions, the raven who was named Corbcer and the wolf who was called Diavol.  He was on his way to meet with the council, and he was taking his companions with him.


He was the only living mortal to have surfed the Cosmic Stream, and in doing this he had learned things that allowed him to enter and exit different dimensions and worlds at will.  This is what allowed him to enter Earth to retrieve his totems.  Some of the knowledge he had obtained he could share with the council, but with most of the knowledge this would not be possible.  Now he needed to find out about the situation concerning Unulrău and see what was expected of him next.


Doethblaidd smiled when he saw his son as he entered the chamber.  They both acknowledged the other with a nod but said nothing.  They would talk that night over dinner at Doethblaidd’s house.


All were totally impressed at how majestic the wolf and raven were.  The most disconcerting aspect of the three was they all had the same sky blue eyes.  In a human these eyes were very striking, but in the raven and the wolf they were downright mesmerizing.  This was a side effect of the unification of the three minds.


All of the Intelepti had an affinity for animals, some to a higher degree than others, but with the unification of the minds, which happened in the quest, it was much more. The raven, the wolf and the man had a complete fusion of the minds.  In other words, their minds were as one.


Whatever any one of them saw, smelt or felt the other two could see, smell and feel if they wished.  This could be shut off when desired but of course was of great value when needed.  For all practical purposes, it allowed Ravenwolf to be in three places at once.


Ravenwolf went and sat at his place at the council table; Diavol laid down at his feet while Corbcer perched on a window ledge.  All that council knew about Unulrău was that the Bivolians were his troops led by this Mysterious Woman from afar, and they had been moving up from the south attacking each land in their path of whom they quickly vanquished.


Because of Unulrău, The Way was out of balance, and the Om Intelepti believed they were being called to put it back in balance by defeating the army of Unulrău when it decided to attack.


Unulrău’s army was now getting ready to conquer Teren de Urs.  The people of Teren de Urs were good people, and they had an excellent military.  For that reason they were rarely at war, but Unulrău’s force had gotten stronger with each land it conquered, and the Consiliu Intelepti felt that Teren de Urs would fall if nothing was done to help.


One of the principles of the Corb Lupians was that they would not go to war unless they were attacked first, and the Bivolians had not shown any interest in doing so at the moment.  However, everyone knew that when they were ready that is exactly what they would do.  Because of this, gathering information would be both reasonable and a smart thing to do.


At the time Doethblaidd was chair of the council.  As such, he addressed his son, “Ravenwolf, we need to get inside the camp of the Bivolians to find out what is going on. The best way to do this would be to send in a spy to gather as much information as possible.  Of course whoever we send in has a very good chance of not returning.  The Consiliu Intelepti believes that you and your companions have the best chance at being successful.  Would you be willing to attempt this?”


As you know, in the land of Corb Lupia, all citizens were completely free to do whatever they wished as long as they did not cause harm to another citizen. Ravenwolf could have simply said no and that would have been the end of it.  He said, “Yes.”


The army of Unulrău had surrounded Oras a Ursului, the capital of Teren de Urs, and because of its size and organization, it looked like it would be able to starve the people of Teren de Urs until they surrendered.


After the meeting Ravenwolf spent the evening visiting with Doethblaidd, his father and Miclupea, his mother. She was also an Om Intelept but had not attended the meeting.  His mother asked him if anything strange happened on the second part of his quest.


“Unulrău was waiting for me.  IT turned ITself into a thunder storm and tried to kill us.  IT was close, but we made it into the Cosmic Stream before IT could overtake us.”  Then with a smile he added, “Just, barely!”


His dad responded, “Be careful my son, you are now very dangerous to Unulrău, so IT hates you above all others and will do whatever IT can to destroy you.  Because of succeeding in the Quest, you now have knowledge and abilities like no other, and IT knows it.”


In the morning he got up early, gathered his weapons and headed for the land of Teren de Urs.


Ravenwolf, as all the Corb Lupians, was a warrior.  Warrior training was very intense and was such as to make each warrior a complete fighting unit. Ravenwolf was the best of the warriors and now, because of his oneness with Corbcer the raven and Diavol the wolf, he was almost unstoppable.


The gear he took with him consisted of a pistol on one thigh adjacent to two throwing knives holstered in one sheath.  On the other side was a large fighting knife adjacent to two more throwing knives.  The throwing knives were 14 inches long with very sharp points and razor edges for the first 2 inches on either side of the point.  A long narrow knapsack crossed his back.  Attached to the knapsack was a collapsible bow on one side, a bundle of collapsible arrows on the other.  Inside the knapsack were various items a warrior would need to make camp including various sized cords.  On both his forearms, were the Corb Lupian Mini-shields.  These were six inches wide and twelve inches long.


Ravenwolf had gotten within viewing distance of Oraș a Ursului without being noticed.  He sent Corbcer to fly overhead so he could observe the army of Unulrău.  The soldiers spread out for miles.  Unulrău’s soldiers, the Bivolians, were large, strong and ferocious.  They were taught from very young not to think but to mindlessly obey orders.  In some ways this was a good thing, but in other ways it wasn’t.  They were virtually useless without their leaders.  Knowing this, Ravenwolf had come up with a plan to cripple the army so the Teren de Urs army could destroy them.


This might be a good time to mention several qualities of the people of Planetă Verde.  They were human as we are but had several interesting characteristics due to a slightly different DNA.  One was they lived much longer.  They reached adulthood at the same rate but then continued on into old age at a much slower rate resulting in most people living about twice as long as a person of Earth.  The average life expectancy was close to 200 years.


Another difference was that they had a genetic distaste for killing another person at great distances.  Because of this they did not use their rifles to shoot each other in war and only used them on animals.  Nor did they have any other type of long range weapon.  Bows and arrows and hand thrown explosives were considered as close range weapons so these were permitted.


The army did have motorized vehicles filled with supplies, living quarters for the officers, and meeting rooms. The enlisted men slept in large tents. (Though the Bivolians believed all were equal, those in the ruling class were more equal.)


What the army did not have was air support. None of the armies including that of Corb Lupia had air support because in the whole world there was no knowledge of flying as a means of transportation.


What Ravenwolf needed to know was where the command staff was located.  It would be where he could steal documents that might give the Consiliu Intelepti the information they sought.  Also, if he disrupted the command of the Bivolians, he believed he could set up a situation where the Army of the Teren de Urs could push back the Bivolians.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  1This may seem strange to you, but people of Earth also have taboos that don’t seem to make much sense when you think about it. Cannibalism is virtually universally abhorred by us. However, this would be an excellent and efficient food source after someone dies. How convenient, a person dies and his body is used as a protein source. There would also be no need to bury anyone or cause pollution (global warming) by burning bodies. (See? You find this disgusting don’t you?)


Well, this is how the people of Planetă Verde felt about killing other people at a distance. If one was to do this he was no longer considered human and became fair game for others to shoot him with a rifle, etc.


2This also may seem strange to you considering how advanced the world was in other technologies. The reason for this is unknown, but we had a similar situation on Earth with the great Native American Civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, Incas and so on. Though these civilizations were familiar with the circle and made large circular calendars none of them used the wheel for any mode of transportation.

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He thought, “Corbcer, fly over the army and observe all vehicles.”  The raven circled three different trailers before Ravenwolf saw the marking on the correct one, the Command Staff Headquarters, which was where the Command Staff met to discuss their plans.  “Corbcer, that is the one. Come back.” Corbcer returned, and the three of them decided to rest up; they knew what they needed to know and weren’t going to do anything until night.  This night would be a new moon, so it would be easy to travel without being noticed.


When night fell, he held out two balls and called Corbcer. The raven landed on his hands: one talon grasped one ball and the other talon the other ball; he then took to the air.  Unlike other ravens, Corbcer could see fine in the night because with the merging he received Diavol’s night sight as did Ravenwolf.  Corbcer spotted the trailer and circled it from high, giving Ravenwolf the eyes he needed to know when all of the command staff were in the trailer.


Like all Corb Lupians, he was excellent at moving silently, blending in with the environment and would have no problem getting through the army guards without being detected.


Once he saw, through Corbcer’s eyes, that all of the commanding officers were together, he and Diavol sneaked through the perimeter and started approaching the officers’ quarters.


Ravenwolf took out his collapsible bow and arrows and assembled them for use. There were 5 guards surrounding the trailer, all facing outward looking straight ahead.  Ravenwolf, in less than a second, shot two of the guards in their brains, and as they silently fell, he and Diavol rushed the other three.  Throwing a knife with his right hand and then with his left, he buried both to the hilt in two of the remaining guards’ skulls.  Meanwhile Diavol leapt upon the last guard and crushed his head with one bite.


He withdrew the knives from the heads of the guards and approached the door with Diavol at his side.  Ravenwolf kicked the door open, and both he and the wolf leapt in.  There were six commanding officers and six aides.  Ravenwolf grabbed the nearest aid, and in a split second, broke his neck; he immediately hit the light switch turning the place pitch black.  Of course Diavol and he could see in the dark.  Between the wolf, the throwing knives and Ravenwolf’s fighting ability, all twelve were dead within less than a minute.


Ravenwolf immediately turned the light back on.  He then looked at the documents on the table, gathered the ones he thought were of value, stuffed them in his knapsack and left with Diavol right behind him.


When he was several hundred yards away, he heard a commotion and knew the dead guards had been discovered.  He and the wolf were sprinting toward the rocks when they were discovered.  The soldiers jumped into two vehicles and took out after them.  It looked like the solders might overtake Ravenwolf and Diavol.


As they closed the distance, the vehicles stopped and several soldiers got out and readied their bows and arrows to shoot the two down.  From overhead swooped down the raven, dropping one ball over the rearward truck and the other over the forward.  When the balls impacted with the vehicles, there were two huge explosions blowing the vehicles and soldiers to smithereens.  Within seconds Ravenwolf and Diavol were past the rocks and into the forest.  When a Corb Lupian was in the woods, he simply disappeared.


As they melted into the night they could hear the fighting as the soldiers of Teren de Urs poured out of Oraș a Ursului and began to decimate the Bivolian soldiers.  This was because Ravenwolf had had Corbcer drop a note into the city explaining that when they heard two explosions that would mean that all the commanders had been killed.  The Bivolians, when they discovered their generals were dead, lost their courage, and fought very poorly.  This massacre should have set Unulrău’s plan of conquest back months if not a year or more.


Unulrău was furious; IT knew this happened because of Ravenwolf and was more determined than ever to completely obliterate him and went about making plans to do just that.


And the Cosmic Stream Flows On…



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