Blade of Queens

Chapter 4 | Jash

JASH

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With the youngling sitting on his back, Jash circled around the pack.

His dark-yellow almond eyes squinted under the moonlight as he howled again. One by one the other wolves joined in his song. Jash turned and crouched on his forelegs. He pounced as began to run across the warm sand. Jash's heartbeat pounded the same tune like his paws when his legs hit the ground.

Unlike the supple grass from the Sacred Forest, the gritty sand stuck to his paws as he sprinted through the desert. Surprisingly, the hot desert air felt cool underneath his fur.

Jash loved being in wolf form. Running through the wild as an animal gave him freedom from his own mind. Dekle relaxed on the back of Jash. The boy's heart, mind, and soul matched Jash's—the tell-tale sign of their wolf bond.

Their breaths synchronized in harmony and only broke when the fun-loving brown wolf ran into his black counterpart playfully. Jash pushed him back and laughed to himself. Jash was the happiest around the pack. Dekle bobbed up and down on Jash's back.

"Turn here,"

The pack passed the southern mountains.

Jash forked off the path into a broken bush field. The wolves weaved in and out of the spiny trees, making sure to be careful to not get the thorns stuck in their fur coats and paws.

Through the barren desert into the Dread Cape, the wolves ran for twenty minutes without so much a break, not even for water—even if they had found a freshwater source. When they finally made it to the cape, their fur coats blew in the saltwater breeze almost ominously-like. Glossy glass sand covered the beach, they had to watch their steps, still. 

Dekle jumped off Jash's back and unstrapped the rucksack attached to him. One by one, the wolves transformed back into their human state.

Naked and cold, Jash abruptly stopped in the middle of the rocky shore. In front of him, the Dread Bay rocked back and forth and docked on its shore sat a ship. The large ship moaned lowly in the salty waters. Jash had to look up to take a glimpse at its jolly roger. The cloth imprinted with an ophidian waved against the wind.

It wasn't just any ship. The vessel belonged to the infamous Tiad pirate crew.

The bane of his existence.

He turned to the youngling. "Stay on top of those pillars and don't move," Jash signaled to the obsidian pillars above him.

The youngling stared at him.

"Now!" Jash said impatiently.

Dekle scurried off without a sound.

Myles walked up to Jash, fully clothed with his bow and quiver ready. He handed over the leader's daks and weapons.  "Just say the word."

"Yeah, what he said." Voe grumbled as he positioned himself next to Myles. He held one tomahawk resting upright on his shoulder. Jash saw the glimpse of vengeance in the blade.

At that moment, Jash froze up. He fumbled with his clothing. His hand shook vigorously as he tried to clasp his buckle together. Jash thought he'd buried his past a long time ago. Jash shivered under the salty bay breeze as he closed his eyes. His eyes moved rapidly back and forth as memories flooded back into him.