The Way of the Ram Read online

  “Yes, your place of worship isn’t designed for people who can’t fly.”

  “We have a fix for that.” The blue jay turned to yell over his shoulder. “Over here! Bring more rope if you have it!”

  Five more brightly colored birds appeared next to Wender, carrying lengths of cord in their beaks. They fluttered down into the shrine and landed around Dreamer. They began looping the ropes around her shoulders and hips.

  “Get her out of here!” Wender called down from above, flapping his wings to take off. “Get them both down the mountain!”

  “‘Them both?’” Dreamer repeated, her breath catching in her throat. “Caper?”

  “Caper’s just fine, love,” said a bright green macaw as she looped a rope around Dreamer’s chest. “He needs medical attention, but he’s alive.”

  Dreamer’s heart soared along with her body as the five birds lifted her into the air. They struggled with the effort, but they were joined by many more as soon as they exited the shrine. Nearby, Caper was being hauled away from the mountainside in the same way.

  Wender flew out in front of the group, guiding them down toward the forest. “Come on, everyone! That’s it! The Flaxers carried Ponder the Prophet! We can certainly carry the Professor and the Goddess-Eyes! For the glory of Optera!”

  “For the glory of Optera!” the rallied birds shouted back to him.

  Before they descended into the pine forest, Dreamer took one last look at the storm clouds above them. She could have sworn she saw a pair of violet eyes staring back at her from the clouds.

  Chapter 87

  Still riding the adrenaline rush from his victory, Pincher watched his soldiers swarm the two sheep and drag them to the ground. Boxer’s pitiful attempt at insurrection had been an amusing sideshow, but a temporary one. Other than that interruption, this operation had gone remarkably smoothly.

  His smile fell and his brow furrowed with annoyance as he noticed some of his dogs fighting amongst themselves. He approached the brawl and shoved his way through the group of sheep that had gathered around. Once he was closer, he realized what was happening.

  A smaller group of dogs had arrived and was attacking his men, pulling them away from the two rams. A heavyset brown dog grabbed hold of the younger sheep and pulled him to his feet.

  “Berger,” Pincher rumbled, mostly to himself. He saw the proud Tooth & Claw medallion glimmering on the older dog’s chest. In fact, all of these interloping dogs wore the same token. He recognized Ledger, Tuxer, and the black and white shepherd brothers among the crowd.

  “One more duel!” Berger barked. The rest of Boxer’s students took up the cry, repeating it over the commotion of the fighting. “One more duel!”

  Pincher took a step back as it dawned on him what the Tooth & Claw dogs were doing. They were forcing his men back. Shiver got to his feet and joined in, warding the snarling dogs off with his horns. Gradually, an empty circle formed on the plains. This circle expanded as Shiver and the students shoved Pincher’s men back among the watching sheep. By the time it grew to about ten feet across, Pincher himself was sitting in it.

  “This is a waste of time,” Pincher roared with his impossibly loud voice. “Who else wants to die at my hand for a bunch of dullard sheep? Ledger?”

  The challenger who stepped into the circle was not Ledger. It wasn’t even a dog.

  The general threw his head back and laughed. “The son of the Trampler wants a piece of me too, eh?” He addressed the crowd of sheep. “Very well. If this is the champion you choose, I’ll be more than happy to bleed him out in front of you all. That’s what it takes for you to understand the price of rebellion, it seems.”

  Chapter 88

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Shiver whispered.

  “It has to be this way,” Healer said. “We’re outnumbered otherwise.”

  “It should be me.”

  “No. I wouldn’t be able to keep you healed during the fight. They would consider that interfering. They’d rip us all apart.”

  The older ram sighed. “Just be smart. Remember the training we’ve done. Everything I’ve passed to you was taught to me by your father. You’re on the road to being as good as he was. You can take this chump.” Then he stepped away and returned to the edges of the circle, leaving Healer across from the general.

  “What are you thinking?” Pincher roared.

  “Your betrayal of the sheep ends here,” Healer responded in kind. “I’m going to save my people… and you’re in my way.”

  “Come on, then. Die like your father did, stupidly facing down an opponent he couldn’t possibly overcome.”

  Healer lowered his head and charged at the insult. At the last second, though, he regained his senses and pulled out of the rush. He braked hard and skipped to one side so that Pincher’s swinging paw missed his head. Healer leapt in and out, probing with his horns, trying to draw blood.

  “That’s it!” Shiver bellowed. “Stay out of his range!”

  “If he hits you, you’ll hit the ground!” Tuxer called.

  But Healer moved too slowly. During a jab, the old wolf caught a horn in his jaws. The sudden stop severely jarred Healer’s neck, sending a spasm of pain through his head.

  A follow-up hit to the chin sent Healer spinning to the ground. Pincher stood over him, pinning his chest down with his two front paws.

  Healer blinked slowly, opening his eyes wide to try and clear the spots floating across his field of view. All around him, past the dogs holding the circle, he could see the scared faces of his fellow sheep. They were all looking at him.

  “That’s the one with the clinic. The Healer.”

  “He doesn’t want us to go to the Megatropolis, that’s for sure.”

  “Maybe he’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t.”

  “I don’t know, maybe we should. That’s where they told us to go, after all.”

  “But look at how he’s fighting to keep us from going. Does he know something we don’t?”

  Healer felt his blood running hot, the same feeling he had experienced when he was growing his horns. This is what Dad was talking about. These people are looking to me, out of everyone else, for guidance. It’s fallen on me to lead them out of this.

  Healer trapped Pincher’s forelegs with his own before kicking hard with both rear hooves into the general’s abdomen. Pincher’s hind legs left the ground and Healer twisted over to one side, slamming the dog to the grass. Healer took the opportunity to scramble away and get some distance.

  Pincher shook his head as he got to his feet. “You took lessons from Boxer, it appears. You can fight from the ground. That was his game. But, as you just saw, no one is as proficient in the dog style as I am. You won’t surprise me like that again.” He advanced, baring his teeth.

  Healer smirked. “General, when I was young I wanted to be you. I dreamed of fighting like a dog and having teeth like one. It was a long time before I realized I could have something better than teeth. So let me ask you, how good are you at fighting like a ram?”

  Chapter 89

  When Pincher darted forward, instead of meeting it on all fours in the dog fashion, Healer stood up on his hind legs and threw a foreleg out in a lashing punch. His hoof came down on Pincher’s snout, making him snap his teeth shut on his tongue. Healer pressed the assault, jumping up again and again onto his hind legs to attack with his hooves and keep his face and neck out of range of Pincher’s jaws.

  Bleeding from the mouth and ears, the old wolf struck out, catching Healer’s foreleg in his teeth. He yanked the sheep to the ground and broke the leg. He let go, using his paws to hold Healer’s head so that he could go for the fatal throat bite.

  Healer’s eyes flashed green. The leg that Pincher had just broken realigned itself and threw a shattering blow into Pincher’s chin. The dog yelped and jumped back just in time to avoid the horns aimed for his chest. Both combatants stood again to face each other.

  “Flesh-Mender…” Pincher grumbl
ed. “Don’t think your blessing will carry the day. I killed Boxer in an instant and I can do the same to you.”

  “Better do it quick, while you still have some teeth left.”

  Snarling, Pincher went low and came in. Healer stood up again to attack with his hooves, knowing that Pincher only had one real counter to this.

  Come on, he thought as he gritted his teeth, battering the infuriated dog with his forelegs. You want to get to my throat, you’ve only got one way to do that.

  Then Pincher lost his patience and finally did what Healer had been baiting him to do: he stood up on his hind legs himself in order to grapple Healer to the ground. Healer turned and slammed his shoulder against Pincher’s, locking them together. They leaned into one another, each standing on two legs.

  Pincher turned his head to lock his jaws in the ram’s neck, but Healer was anticipating that. He planted both front hooves on Pincher’s chest and shoved, forcing them apart. When the dog charged, Healer went to stand up again. Pincher, expecting that, was already on his own hind legs to counter.

  But Healer had only feinted. He dropped to all fours and threw himself forward.

  They crashed to the ground, Pincher on his back, Healer on top, his horns buried in Pincher’s abdomen. Healer withdrew with a sideways rip and stepped away, facing the crowd.

  Pincher tried and failed to get to his feet. “You’re making a mistake.”

  Healer did not bother to look at the general. “No, I made my biggest mistake with you a long time ago.”

  “Did you?”

  “Yes. If I hadn’t given you back your spine, Boxer would still be alive. I should have known better than to give you a chance.”

  “Then maybe I have taught you something, ram. Don’t be like Boxer. Being soft never did anyone any…” Pincher seized and choked, still trying to talk. He made one more effort to stand, expelled a mouthful of blood, and collapsed.

  The dogs around Healer stared in disbelief. One by one, they began to approach.

  Chapter 90

  Shiver, Ledger, and the other Tooth & Claw dogs dashed to Healer’s side, forming a circle around him.

  He wasn’t paying attention; his thoughts were on the volcanic shrine directly below them.

  “Karkus, Mauler and I won an audience with you before by beating the strongest dog. I’ve done it again. Show yourself.”

  No answer. Healer’s focus finally turned to the dogs drawing close to him and his allies. But their demeanor was not aggressive.

  “A sheep beat a dog.”

  “A ram has defeated General Pincher in a duel.”

  “What does that mean? Is that ram our new general?”

  “For tonight, that’s exactly what it means!” Ledger shouted. “This is a crisis. You will all listen to what the Healer has to say, or you’ll answer to him and us!”

  Emboldened, Healer stepped out of the protective circle and came toward the nearest dogs and sheep. “How many sheep are left in the city?” he demanded.

  “A lot,” one of the sheep answered. “There’s a monster in there, eating whoever it can catch. It’s destroying everything. These dogs weren’t letting us out except for a few at a time. We felt trapped.”

  Healer rounded on the dog next to him, a copper-colored retriever. “Why are you restricting access to the exits?”

  “General Pincher’s orders… sir,” the frightened retriever replied. “He said to keep control of them… let them out in small groups and march them to the Megatropolis.”

  “Well, there are new orders,” Healer said. “Open up every exit gate. No one goes to the pig city. Let everyone escape into the plains.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll pass it on.” The retriever sent up a howl, which spread to the other assembled dogs and then to those stationed around Fleece City’s border fences. The sheep began to disperse into the darkness, many running to the river in their desperation to cool off or soothe their parched throats.

  Ledger and the other students gave Healer a respectful bow. “You’ve done a great thing here tonight,” the old Dane said.

  “Not yet, I haven’t.” Healer looked toward the Fleece City gate.

  Shiver came to his side. “What are you thinking?”

  Healer put a hoof on the older ram’s shoulder. “Stay here and wait for Dreamer. When she returns, let her know I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He indicated the gate. “Karkus won’t answer me, and someone’s got to stop that monster. I’m going in.”

  Chapter 91

  Screaming sheep ran past Healer on all sides as he walked into the city square.

  “The gates are open!” he called. He was not sure anyone could hear him over the chaos. “Escape from here any way you can!”

  He had seen this place nearly every day of his youth, but never like this. The residential area and most of the businesses were ablaze, sending columns of yellow and orange into the sky. The black smoke hung low in the air here, and the heat was so intense that breathing was difficult. Glowing ashes drifted through the air all around him.

  The tortured squeal of twisting metal got his attention. Across from him, the sign for his old school, This Little Piggy Primary, was collapsing off the front of the building. The roof caved in before his eyes. He scanned every direction looking for more citizens, but the ashy haze nearly obscured his vision.

  He caught a glimpse of movement across the square where it met the residential area. Healer ran in that direction in time to see a house falling in on itself. The smoldering wreckage sent a new cloud of black smoke drifting up into the sky.

  When the smoke faded, the creature was standing there. Healer got a clear look at it for the first time. Its appearance caused all of his courage to fail him.

  It moved so much like Mauler that, but for its warped and mismatched form, it could have been mistaken for him. Its ugly pig-dog head looked too small for its massive body. Strings of drool hung from its sagging lips. In its teeth it clutched the back half of a freshly killed sheep. It flexed its engorged throat muscles and swallowed its prize completely.

  Healer recognized the insectoid yellow eyes from the sacrificial statue in Chugg’s office.

  “That’s it!” he shouted, getting the monster’s attention. “I was wondering how the Hogdogger scheme would work without Durdge’s brain to use. It’s you, isn’t it, Toxid? You’re in there possessing that empty body, aren’t you?”

  The Hogdogger’s face twisted into an angry sneer. It cleared the fence bordering the residential area with a single leap and then it was less than ten feet from Healer. The acrid scent hanging in the air did not mask the creature’s rotting stench.

  “Well, here I am,” Healer said, backing up. “I’m the one who forced you to do this. I’ve caused the death of every major player in your big plan. My friends are busy stopping your project as we speak. So if your need for sheep blood is so urgent… why not get some revenge at the same time? If you can catch me, that is.”

  Lowering itself to all fours, the Hogdogger let out a deep belly roar that trailed off into a high-pitched pig squeal. Then it came for Healer, bounding in that long-armed, loping fashion peculiar to Mauler. The ram executed a twisting turn and ran across the square. Hearing the stomping footfalls behind him, Healer took a curving path back around to the gate to the residential area. The Hogdogger gained on him and nearly caught him until Healer started weaving between whatever houses still stood. Crashing through the homes slowed the beast down, but it pressed its pursuit.

  “Run for it!” Healer called across the neighborhood, hoping he would be heard. “All gates are open! Get out of the city!”

  As Healer had hoped, the monster ignored the terrified, fleeing citizens in favor of chasing him down. He ran across yards and through open doors, maintaining his lead by forcing the Hogdogger to fight its way through spaces too small for it. Every time he passed close to a resident, he shouted at them to find an exit gate and tell everyone they could. But he was running out of endurance and cover.

&nb
sp; His path took him back into the square, where he ran in a wide circle around the fountain of Optera and Arghast in the center. Rather than chase him, the Hogdogger grabbed the fountain and upended it, tossing the heavy metal figures into his path. The separate pieces of the kneeling Optera statue and the five-petaled figure of Arghast tumbled away from the bowl.

  Healer made a hard stop to avoid being crushed by the falling statues, and he was caught in an arcing slash of the Hogdogger’s claws. He felt a hot splash of blood down his side as he fell. He kicked and thrashed his head, but he had no way of contesting the strength of the monster that held him down. He tried to summon up his power, but then he was stunned by a blow that bounced his head off the sidewalk. The Hogdogger bit into his back and ripped with its long teeth. The hot sensation was replaced by a terrible cool, like a breeze.

  My ribs are exposed, Healer thought. His strength and his eyesight started to shut down, the pain giving way to a strange calm.

  “Healer! Healer?!”

  In spite of the teeth and claws tearing into him, Healer smiled. He imagined he could hear Dreamer’s voice calling out to him.

  Well, there are worse ways to go.

  Chapter 92

  Dreamer waded through the smoke and unforgiving heat, shouting directions to the panicked and confused sheep running around her. Her stomach twisted up in knots at the sight of so many of her fellow citizens not even doing that much—instead cowering in place under fallen structures or against the fence.

  “Head for the gates! Any of them!” she called. “The dogs are standing down! You’re free to go!”

  She stopped in place in the middle of the square. Ahead of her loomed the hunched form of the monster. It was crouched low to the ground, its face buried in the unresisting body of a sheep she recognized.

  Her eyes began to glow and she raised a hoof to point. “THERE!” she screamed with all of her strength.

  The Hogdogger raised its head. The light of its yellow eyes met the violet of hers. Its face twisted with a new rage.