Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm (2 page)

This,
he thought, eyes glowing almost demonically in the firelight,
is how it is meant to be. I will tear the forest apart with my claws, and nothing will be able to stand in my way. Thanks to the Blood Way, and the Tree, I will finally have what I deserve.

The thought of where Mordred might be came to him, but he quickly pushed it away. That old saloli had enough power to take care of himself. When he was satisfied that they were bloodthirsty enough, he raised his front paws for silence. Even in their frenzied state, the near insane saloli were wise enough to quiet themselves and look at their leader.

“
For too long we have been known as the weakest of the four tribes!” Goliath’s voice boomed down, so loud that it was almost able to be felt. He paused so that Darkcover could shout back their agreement. “The plans have already been put in motion! Soon we will have what we deserve!” more cheers. “Soon, very soon, we will go to war! Then the entire woods will belong to us! Then will begin the days of Darkcover!” The saloli went ballistic.

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Jeremy woke up, gasping for air. His head and pillow were both stained with his nervous sweat. A clap of thunder came from outside, but he barely noticed. He had just had the most incredible dream! He could remember every detail. He had been flying through the air. No, not in the air, he had been running across the treetops. It had felt amazing, more freedom than he had ever experienced in his life! He imagined that he had been small, and running on four feet, with a long tail behind him. Taking a deep breath, Jeremy forced himself to calm down. It was just a dream, nothing more. Nothing to get so excited about. Lying back down, he rolled onto his side and fell back asleep. What he never noticed, however, was that a single gray squirrel was standing just outside his bedroom window, watching him.

Chapter Two

Waking up at seven o’clock sharp, something he never did on summer break, Jeremy found that he felt more rested today than he had in a long time. Almost leaping out of bed, he basked in the warm, morning rays of the summer sun coming in through his bedroom window. Today was going to be a good day!

Jeremy nearly leapt down all the stairs at once, but reminded himself that doing so would not be a good idea at the last minute. Running down them instead, he sock-slid over the hardwood floor, into the kitchen, where his mother was making breakfast.

“
So, what’s got you in such a good mood today?” she asked, pouring a spot of pancake batter onto her skillet.

“
I don’t know,” Jeremy responded, “today just feels, I don’t know, different.”

“
It should. You won’t be cooped up in the house all day this time. So, before we head out today, I want you to shower, shave, and put on your nicest t-shirt. Nothing fancy, just enough to make you look like you’re not a bum.”

“
Okay,” he replied, casting his gaze outside, on a whim, to see if last night’s storm clouds were still present.

Five minutes later, just as his mother was putting a pancake onto Jeremy’s plate, the phone began to ring.

“
Now, who could that be?” she wondered as she picked it up. Jeremy tried to hear what the person on the other line was saying, but the voice was too garbled. The face his mother made as she listened, though, told him that it wasn’t anything good. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She hung up the phone.

“
Who was that?” Jeremy asked.

“
Your uncle Steve. Aunt Janice has been in a car accident, and is in the hospital. I’m going up to Oklahoma to be with them.”

“
Am I going?”

“
No, honey, I need you to stay here. I don’t have enough money to fly us both up there. I’ll be back within the week, though, I promise. Think you can handle that much time alone?”

“
Yeah, I think so,” Jeremy replied. He’d spent longer than that by himself on multiple occasions.

“
Good, thank you,” she walked quickly out of the room to pack.

Within ten minutes, Mrs. Lander was packed and on her way to the airport. Jeremy felt strange about it, almost guilty, but he didn’t mind his mother leaving. It just didn’t bother him like it usually did. Buttering his pancake, he tried to figure out why that was. For some reason, he just felt perfect, as if his life were about to take a sudden turn for the better. Shrugging it off, he poured the syrup onto his breakfast, and began to eat.

Two hours later, Jeremy had completed yet another level on Final Fatalities 6, a game he had beaten seven times to date. Throwing the game controller to the floor, he turned off the TV and went downstairs. The good feeling was still there, but that didn’t stop him from being bored out of his mind. Whatever he was feeling, he wasn’t content to simply sit in front of the television and press buttons on a chunk of plastic. He looked around for something that might hold his interest. His eyes landed on the picture window looking into the back yard. It was a beautiful sight, looking out into the forest, especially at this time of summer. The trees were covered with rich, green leaves, and the birds and squirrels were always out, going about their little lives. Once in a while, a deer would even make its way up to graze on their yard. Jeremy swore he had even seen a bobcat before.

Maybe I should go outside for a while
, he thought. What surprised him was that the idea appealed to him. He may have enjoyed looking at the outdoors, but when it came to venturing into them he would hesitate. All he could ever remember doing outside was being bit by bugs, certainly not enjoying himself. Today, however, the thought of doing just that made his heart leap with happiness! He had no idea what he would do out there, he just knew that he had to get out of the house.

Putting his tennis shoes on, Jeremy practically ran outside, into his back yard. The sun’s rays beat down on him, and he found himself enjoying the pleasant burn it produced. The birds sang in the trees, and the sound entranced him. Looking into the trees, he saw a single, gray squirrel wandering around, probably looking for its buried nuts.

Man,
he thought,
it must be nice being a squirrel, always getting to be out here.

His senses almost overwhelmed by everything around him, Jeremy began to walk into the forest. When he was twenty feet past the first tree, he heard a strange chittering noise behind him. Turning, he saw the gray squirrel he had noticed before standing before him. Oddly, it now carried a stick in its jaws. Even stranger was that the ends of the stick were smoldering, twin trails of smoke making their way out and upwards. The squirrel flicked its tail towards him, and a gust of wind suddenly came up, blowing away the dead leaves in a five foot diameter, with Jeremy in the center. He noticed that a trail of white flower petals ran along the edge of the circle.

What in the world is going on?
He thought desperately.

As if waiting for that thought to cross his mind, the gray saloli dropped the stick onto one of the flower petals. It immediately burst into flames, and the rest followed almost instantly. The fire started out short, but quickly grew taller than he was. Then the strangest thing of all happened: the fire began to spin around him! The fiery tunnel closed in on him, until the fire had wrapped itself all around Jeremy. The heat was intense, but it did not burn him. Instead, it felt as though he was shrinking, getting smaller, smaller, and smaller. Then everything went dark.

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The first thing Jeremy felt when he regained consciousness was that he was lying on the ground. As he groggily opened his eyes, he looked around. It seemed he was still in the same spot, yes, there was his house. Still, something seemed different. Casting his eyes to his left, he found himself staring at a fallen log. Wait. No, that wasn’t a log. His eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. It wasn’t a fallen tree, it was a root!

Looking around, what he had feared was confirmed. Everything around him was now bigger. Or had he gotten smaller? The fire, had he imagined that? Was he still asleep and dreaming all this? It had to be! Nothing like this was possible in real life. This thought put his mind at ease. None of this was real. He had obviously passed out somehow when he had entered the forest, although he couldn’t think how. Now he was having a
Wonderland
type dream.

“
Ah, so he decides to join the living,” a voice behind him said.

Twisting his neck sharply to look, he saw the gray squirrel from earlier standing there.

“
What, no white rabbit? I just get a gray squirrel?” he asked.

“
Excuse me?” the squirrel asked, obviously confused by this statement. By the sound of its voice, the squirrel was a female, and very old. Jeremy rolled his eyes. Why should he explain something to a dream? It probably wouldn’t even comprehend it.

“
Nothing. Did you do this to me?” He decided it may be best to play along. Who knows? Dreams could sometimes be very interesting.

“
I did.” She nodded.

“
What exactly did you do?”

“
Haven’t you bothered to look at yourself yet? Try that, and then you tell me what I did.”

Complying, Jeremy turned his head to look at his body. With a jerk of surprise, he saw that he had bright red fur all over himself! Continuing his examination, he saw that, instead of hands and feet, he now had four paws. A strange feeling came from behind him, and he craned his neck back to see a bushy, red tail flicking back and forth. It was suddenly clear to him what had happened.

“
You turned me into a squirrel,” he said.

“
A what?” asked the gray squirrel.

Jeremy ignored her confusion.
This must be a recurring dream,
he thought, remembering what he had dreamt the previous night.
Maybe I should try standing up.
Placing all four paws on the ground beneath him, Jeremy pushed upwards and raised himself onto his four new legs.

“
Good,” said the old squirrel, “I see you have complete control over your new body. That means the transformation went smoothly.”

“
Interesting,” with that, Jeremy took one tentative step forward, becoming used to the way his new body walked, and then another. He soon was able to walk just as easily as he could in his human body.

“
Good, very good. You are taking to your new form better than I would have anticipated.”

Turning his attention to the closest tree, Jeremy began to walk towards it. He had been overcome by the sudden desire to climb it, and do everything he had in his last dream.

“
No!” the old squirrel said, and Jeremy suddenly found his way blocked by her. “You may have good motor skills, but you’re not ready to climb just yet. Give yourself some more time to adjust first.”

“
Whatever,” Jeremy responded. He decided to humor this dream squirrel for a little longer.

“
I must admit, you’re taking this far better than I expected you to.”

“
Taking what?”

“
The fact that you are no longer human.”

“
Whatever,” Jeremy said again, “it’s just a dream.”

Understanding flooded the old squirrel’s eyes, “You think that you’re dreaming?”

“
Of course, what else could this be?”

“
Oh no, I’m afraid this is completely real.”

“
Sure it is.” Jeremy was becoming tired of being with this old squirrel. He wanted to go do something interesting.

“
Perhaps I should explain,” the gray squirrel offered, “my name is Faith. I belong to a tribe of saloli. We call ourselves Icefire. I am their prophet. That means that I am the one who speaks with Valde Abbas on behalf of the tribe.”

“
You talk to what?”

“
Valde Abbas. The being that created this world, and everything on it.”