Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 09:35:04 +0100 From: john aldridge Subject: The Wolf 05 This story contains sexual scenes between males of different species. If this type of material offends then you should not read it. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age--no matter where you live in the world--you are not to read this story by law. This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead or to events that may have occurred, is purely coincidental. The author claims all copyrights to this story and no duplication or publication of this story is allowed, except by the web sites to which it has been posted, without the specific consent of the author. Copyright © 2010 EJA THE WOLF By EJA From Chapter Four: **It might be best if we rested up during the day and only moved at night,** was Davy's suggestion. **It's usually the heat that kills,** he added, **so moving at night would make more sense.** Marrok agreed with his lightweight burden. He studied the terrain, looking for a likely resting place away from the heat of the sun; there was still a few hours to go before it set. Davy pointed to their left. **Over there,** he said, indicating a copse of trees. Marrok moved toward it and, in a few minutes the pair were laying beneath the meagre shade afforded by the trees. Already the desert heat was having an effect on the pair and neither felt like indulging in anything other than sleep. So they slept. Chapter Five Davy was the first to wake after the sun set. For a few seconds he was somewhat disoriented but then the warm body of his companion reminded him where he was and what they were doing there. A slight movement from the furry body indicated that Marrok was awake too. **We must find water,** the wolf told his lover. **That, even more than food, is essential.** Davy nodded. **I agree,** he told Marrok. **I've heard of people trying to cross deserts but dying of thirst. Have you any idea where there is some water?** But Marrok's knowledge of the desert was scant. **I'm afraid not,** was his reply. **I'll just have to follow my nose and hope we strike water.** So, with Davy riding on Marrok's back again, the pair set out to cross the Desert of Bones. At first the going was easy and they made good time; the heat was bearable and the terrain relatively flat. The wolf loped along at a gentle pace, conserving his energy for more arduous portions of the night's journey. Around the third hour of the night the pair crossed into a more arid portion of the desert--if that were possible. Though flat it was more solid underfoot and their steps--Davy had gotten off the wolf's back at certain times to give his mate some relief--raised clouds that got on their tongue. They soon found they were on a salt flat; at one point this must have been a sea but, when the water evaporated or drained away, the flats were all that remained. Salt, such as it is, raised a thirst in the pair that it was with some relief that they left the flat, arid area behind and returned to the desert and the undulating dunes that told a tale of heavy winds. It was on toward morning--in that indistinct time when you could just make out the features of the terrain--that Davy pointed. **I'm not sure,** he told his companion, **but that looks like a dust storm approaching. We'd better find some shelter, pretty quick.** But, on surveying the terrain, the pair found nothing to protect them. **Get on my back, Davy,** Marrok ordered. **We must find a steep-sided dune. That should go some way to protecting us.** Without further ado Davy climbed on and the wolf took off at a lope, hoping to outdistance the storm that had closed the distance by half. Finally the wolf descended a dune, picking his way carefully down to its base. **Get off,** he instructed, **and lay down facing me.** Davy did as he had been instructed and buried his face in the prone wolf's pelt. And not a moment too soon. Above them the dust storm swept the sand into the gully and the pair closed their eyes. **We might as well try to sleep, my love,** Marrok told Davy. **I've heard these dust storms can last quite a while before blowing themselves out.** He was right. All the rest of that day the wind howled and blew the storm over the top of the dune, depositing a thin layer of fine, gritty sand atop their prone forms. Before midday the pair resembled nothing more than a lump at the base. Hours passed and time became unimportant to the huddled pair. At one point Davy began to think he had passed into Death's realm and was merely waiting passage to some alternative reality. It was only the shape and contact of Marrok's weapon that marked his to return to reality. As luck would have it their enforced rest renewed their energy and the day spent at the base of the dune told both how much they loved and needed each other. Finally, on toward evening, the dust storm passed, the howling wind became nothing more than a gentle breeze and the pair were able to stand. Once on their feet Marrok and Davy shook the accumulated dust from their hair and looked about them. The whole terrain had changed out of all recognition. East looked like West as did North and South. Marrok shook his head and said, **I must look at the horizon. Perhaps that will tell me which direction is which.** Leaving Davy in the bowl the great wolf negotiated the sandy incline and reached the top a few minutes later. He took in all points of the compass before speaking to Davy. **Come up,** was all he said. The boy obeyed and was soon beside his companion. The wolf indicated a long blue smudge. **That's where we're headed,** he told Davy. **I fixed that image in my mind before we went in the bowl.** Davy nodded his admiration. **I didn't even think,** he told the wolf. **All I wanted was to get away from that storm. What would I do without you?** **If you didn't have me you wouldn't be on this journey,** the wolf replied with a chuckle. **It's only my desire to investigate the possibilities of you having my pups that has forced us to make it.** As Davy chuckled at this comment the wolf looked around. **Are my eyes playing tricks or does that look like a tree over there?** he said, indicating where the boy should look. Shading his eyes the boy looked and nodded. **An oasis, do you think?** **It's very possible,** the wolf agreed, **and it's in the right direction. Shall we investigate?** **Silly question,** was Davy's laconic reply. Without waiting for the wolf he set out along the dune's top, picking his way cautiously through the slippery material. Marrok gave a nod and followed the boy. True to their thoughts, the tree indicated an oasis and the pair were able to slake their thirst in the refreshing liquid. **Oh bliss,** was Davy's opinion. Finally, his thirst quenched, the boy studied the trees surrounding this part of the desert. He squinted his eyes--by now the three moons had risen--he wasn't sure of what he was seeing. **Does that look like some sort of fruit to you?** he asked his wolf companion. The pair rose and moved around the small mere to the tree on the other side. **Apricots,** Davy declared when they reached it. **How strange to find these growing here.** **Not really,** Marrok told him. **I heard tell that people used to live around oasis and grew such produce to sustain life. No reason that that shouldn't have happened here--for a while, at least.** The fruit was plentiful on the wide-spread branches and it was quite easy for Davy to climb and relieve the tree of a couple of the larger ones. Finally the boy dropped to the ground and the pair studied the result of his plunder. **Nothing ventured, nothing gained,** Davy said, repeating an old adage of his mother's. He took a bite out of the smallest. A few seconds later he smiled. **These are delicious!** he said. **I wish we could take some with us.** The wolf shook his head. **Far better to replenish our supply at whatever source rather than transport them. Less cumbersome that way.** Davy nodded. **Let's finish these then get going.** **You finish them, my sweet. We wolves prefer some sort of meat--cooked or raw.** He took off after a long-eared creature that had just appeared in his peripheral vision. Seconds later there came a squeal then a silence that was chilling to the boy. By the time Marrok returned from his meal Davy had finished his own repast and the boy stood up. He knew he shouldn't comment on the feeding habits of his companion so he kept quiet. The wolf drank from the water--he knew that Davy's stomach would be delicate from knowing what he had just done and didn't want to upset the boy with blood on his muzzle. **Let's go,** the wolf said and Davy climbed on Marrok's broad back once more. Once they had left the oasis the going was swift. Both were replenished and ready for what the rest of the night held. Whoever watched over the pair was definitely smiling down on them that night. On toward morning the pair encountered another oasis and were able to sleep the day away in the shade. Here, too, they encountered other fruit as well as another long-eared rabbit to sustain each of them. By now the blue smudge Marrok had pointed out after the dust storm had by now resolved itself into a distant jungle with a range of mountains beyond it. But they were still several days from its nearest point. **How long?** Davy asked, studying the distant jungle. **How long before we get there?** he added, gesturing at it. **Two, maybe three, days. Who knows?** the wolf replied. **I've never been to this part of the world before.** The next night Dame Fortune didn't smile down on them. They moved from dune to dune with no end in sight. Come dawn the pair were exhausted beyond measure and their enthusiasm for this trek was beginning to wane. Finally the pair collapsed in a shallow bowl, similar to the one they sheltered in against the dust storm, and fell into an exhausted sleep. In a dream Davy was visited by his mother. "Hold this course," she told him, "and you will reach the jungle by morning of the next day." Then she was gone. When the pair awoke Davy told Marrok of his dream. **Do you believe her?** the wolf asked. **Mom always looked out for me when she was alive,** Davy replied, **why shouldn't she do so even after death? I trust what she says.** Davy's mother was off by a couple of hours. The sun had been in the sky for a few hours when they reached the jungle but neither were going to be picky over the time difference, although they were very close to death when they entered the jungle. The pair collapsed against a vine covered tree and fell into an exhausted slumber. ##To be continued.## My apologies for the lack of sex in the chapter but I'm guessing that not many are able to indulge in such activity in the deserts of this world. So, now they're in the jungle and will have to contend with several encounters, one of which will prove especially deadly. I want to thank all of the readers of my story, especially those who suggested names for Wolf. You know who you are. I also want to thank those who encouraged me to keep writing and not finish this story prematurely. Their enthusiasm has given me the necessary impetus to continue. So, keep those comments coming; I will try to reply to them--if time allows. EJA pegasusunicorn52@msn.com