Hunter's Moon by Garry Kilworth

Author:Garry Kilworth
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780575114302
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Published: 2013-02-18T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

In the Beginning, that time which all the canid mythology shared, after the Firstdark, the wolves ruled the forests. They were swift to organise themselves into packs, with leaders called Strongones, and quickly parcelled out areas of land for the separate packs. While the foxes were able to remain in these territories by virtue of their ability to ghost past the packs in singles or small groups, the dogs were driven out on to the unsheltered plains, where the horses grazed in their herds. The dogs, too, found security in forming themselves into packs, but being weaker than wolves were unable to match the grey ones in battle. A resentment built up amongst the dogs, against the wolves who had the choice hunting grounds and kept the dog packs on the move. The dog packs, by necessity, had to become nomadic, fearing the sound of the Howling Master, which was the name given to the wolf of each pack who had the most resonant and far-carrying call, and warned its fellows of any interlopers in the pack’s territory. The Howling Master would position himself on a high rock, where the breeze was strongest, and would keep his nose tuned for any intruders. When dog was scented, the high crooning note would go out over the forests and surrounding plains, and the wolves would gather and storm on any unfortunate dog pack that was trying to wrest a meagre existence from the treeless wastes.

So, despite the fact that overall there were far more dogs in the world than wolves, the latter had managed to gain supremacy over the former by virtue of their ability to create an organisation, at the heart of which was good communication between wolf packs and a clear understanding of their need to remain on good terms with one other.

Some time after the Firstdark the dogs, who were now close to starvation, set aside their individual differences and gathered on the great central plains to form a single mighty pack that would sweep the wolves from the forests and into the sea. In hound mythology, this was called The Season Of The Dog, and it was their finest time outside the beginning of their pact with humans. All quarrels and arguments between separate packs were placed aside and Skellion Broadjaw, the leader chosen as king-hound in the coming battle, invented the saying which was to be their watchword during the struggle for supremacy over the wolf packs. The saying went thus: I am against my brother dog, but my brother dog and I are against our cousin wolf. In this way their petty jealousies, their rivalry against each other, could be contained without being dismissed. One of the reasons the wolves had been successful in driving out the dogs was because the wolf packs respected each other’s territory, conducted discussions over their differences in dignity, and recognised a need to regard each other as equals. The dog packs, on the other hand, squabbled continually, called each

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