An Extract from This Month's Release: A Meeting of Wolves
A Meeting of Wolves
Written on October 17, 2015, for the March 4 entry of 366 Days of Flash Fiction, this science fiction piece returns to the theme of werewolves in space.
Moonlight touched the silver grass, tainting it with orange fire. Refracted light danced along each glimmering blade, and the glitter wolves crept through the stems. Each strand of fur shone silver and orange. Each eye gleamed. Tonight, the humans would die… or they would surrender what was not theirs to own.
Above them, in the trees, the humans watched. While they bore the wolves no ill will, the creatures were asking them the impossible. Once the wolves had moved far enough, they dropped down from the trees, activating interlocking shields that bore the brunt of the first lupine charge.
“Now we can talk,” the humans’ leader said. “We will not give you our children, and we will not leave them alone on this world.”
“Then you will die, and they will be taken.”
“Will not!”
The new voice made them all turn. With horror, the humans realized they’d missed one important thing about their ambush site—the children had been hiding in shallow trenches around the perimeter, beneath the refractive foliage of the sweet-scented silver grass. And there’d been enough scent in the area for the glitter wolves to overlook them.
The pack leader raised a lip.
“Keep the shield up!” the little girl ordered, raising a hand as her father moved uneasily on the other side of the line. “They will not harm us.”
“Mariam—”
“Don’t argue!”
That tone of voice came straight from her mother, and they’d talk about it, later, Tars decided, giving the order for his men to hold. It was a big ask, given how many had sons or daughters outside the circle. Mariam turned to the pack leader.
“We cannot leave; our ship has crashed. Our parents must stay. It is the way of our pack.”
The leader bounded over to her, bending to bring his face level with hers.
“And that means what to us?”
“It means they stay. We seek sanctuary in the pack.”
Tars opened his mouth to protest, but the words died on his tongue as the pack leader glared at his daughter and then stalked past her. Rising on its hind legs, it stood before Tars, and then shifted into an almost human form.
“Is this true, human leader?” it asked.
“Yes,” Tars replied, and, signaling for his men to lower their arms, he deactivated the shield.
“Then we will speak.”
The wolf turned away, dropping to all fours and shuddering back into its furred form.
“Tomorrow. I will send you a summons. You will bring your daughter to the negotiations.”
Cover art is by Jake at JCaleb Design, and links to 366 Days of Flash Fiction can be found on Books2 Read at: https://books2read.com/u/b6MrN0
Comments
Post a Comment