Teen Ink

Soul Stone! Gone?

Five years later… I am Ler, a grey wolf. I live in the Mobon Pack which is located deep in Death Forest. My father, Loupus, is Alpha and is a solid black wolf. I’m seven (which is about one Huemon year) and each wolf can live up to thirty-five to seventy years (or five to seven Huemon years). And I have a story you’ll never forget.
It was a typical morning in my den when I awoke to the strangest sound. It sounded like a voice. It was a voice. At first it was close, like the wolves of the past were right next to me, but the longer I lay there the softer the voice got and the farther away it went.
“Ler… Ler! Help us… the Soul Stone… save us…,”
I got up from where I lay and ever so gently left my den without a sound. I ran to the center of the plaza where the Soul Stone should be atop a pedestal. The Soul Stone is a glowing blue stone that contains the souls of the wolves that have passed away from the Mobon Pack. If the Soul Stone goes missing, every day that the Soul Stone is gone a little of the wolves’ soul goes with it. Except for the blasted monster that would dare to steal it. As I approached the pedestal the darkness of the night became darker than it had ever been before. I didn’t remember it that way, because the Soul Stone was gone. I stepped back in shock and howled, calling everyone to the site.
I ran to the Great Den, which is where my father lives. I felt the wind rushing past me and I also felt a bit of my soul leaving me, like an ache in my heart. Even though I could not see anything in the complete darkness I could smell the aroma of this morning’s breakfast, deer. I shook my head and concentrated on what I was really here for. As I approached the Great Den, my eyesight began to enhance. The hole wasn’t that big, but it was what was inside that that mattered. It was humungous! I felt warmth emitting from it, warming my soul and my body.
I approached the Great Den’s entrance, but I was stopped by a bone-chilling growl. It was dangerously low and perfect that made me cold and warm at the same time.
“No one is allowed in the Great Den, you must leave at once,” the voice said leaping in front of the entrance, denying entry.
“Xorg, it’s me Ler. I need to see Loupus, it’s an emergency!” I barked.
“Ler! How many times must your father tell you that you are not permitted to come at this hour?” Xorg questioned stepping into a beam of light. He was a husky wolf
And he was almost twice as big as me. He was light and dark grey which was separated like the yin and yang on his fur.
“Xorg! It is an emergency! Don’t call him my father… he hasn’t been acting like one for years,” I repeated stubbornly, baring my teeth.
“Very well, but this is your last warning before you receive punishment,” Xorg said firmly stepping away from the entrance, back into the shadows.
I nodded thankfully and entered the Great Den. The Great Den made all the other dens look like ants. It was well lit with four gigantic chandeliers and it looked like a giant dining hall. There was one long table that led to a desk where a wolf sat. The walls had huge bookshelves to the left and a roof so high it looked like it could touch the sky. Every nook and cranny on the bookshelves was stuffed to the brim with books. To the right was a huge kitchen with several wolf chefs preparing the morning meal, deer. As I stood there with amazement, I didn’t even realize that I had moved to the front of the hall in front of the huge desk.
I thought that this desk was big at a distance, but it was gigantic up close. The desk was about three times as tall and wide as a normal desk. I can’t imagine how tall the chair is.
“Yes Ler?” Loupus said standing atop the desk, raising an eyebrow (if wolves even have eyebrows). He leaped down and landed behind me. I spun around and no one was there, and I slowly turned around and saw him right in front of my snout, literally. I jumped back, startled.
“H-how did you do that?” I asked with a smile as I arose from the ground. My dad was so cool, even though he didn’t spend much time with me. But I still didn’t like him so much.
“It is an old trick my father taught me Ler. I expect that you learn it as well,” Loupus said deeply, with a pinch of guilt in it. I slightly rolled my eyes behind his back. I immediately knew that something had happened because I felt different souls that were present, not his. I got the feeling that I was near the Soul Stone, but I shook my head. He had high expectations of me.
“The Soul Stone has been stolen,” I said changing the subject.
“It has? Any suspects?” he asked suspiciously, eager to know.
“Well, I guess everyone is a suspect right now…,” I answered.
“Even me?”
“Yeah, I guess. I dunno,” I shrugged.
“If it was me would you be surprised?”
“Well, yeah. I mean you are my father… what about Scul? Where is Scul?”
“Ah… he’s busy don’t bother him he’s in the field,”
“Are you sure? Is it okay if I go see him?”
“HE’S BUSY! GO AWAY!” he roared. It echoed through the room and my head as I ran from him instinctively. The chandeliers were still rattling as I ran outside as fast as I could passing Xorg and some other pack mates. What had Loupus been so angry about? I only asked him a simple question. It was still dark, I felt cold. My loneliness sank deep into my heart. The anger that Loupus had emit was different from any other time. Something wasn’t right.