Page 91 of Blacktail

Blacktail watched for a moment, his eyes narrow and suspicious. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “I don’t like this at—”

Then he trailed off, his mouth wide open in astonishment.

“Blacktail, what is—” Chester began, but when he followed Blacktail’s gaze he fell silent as well.

Something lived inside the fire.

It looked like a two-legs on first glance, but it was enormous, fully twice as large as any two-legs Chester had ever seen or heard of. That was one thing. It wore long, flowing skins, dry ones that the fire should have eaten quickly. But they did not burn. That was another thing. But the worst of it, the sight that hurt Chester’s mind and made him question whether this was a dream, was that the two-legs floated above the fire, its hands dangling in the flame well off the ground. From its back sprouted two mighty white wings.

As he watched, the wings beat once, lazily, the wind of their passage fanning the flames.

Seeing this, all the two-legs knelt down. They buried their faces in the sand, hiding their eyes.

“Come down, hunter,” the winged creature said. “I have a message for you.”

Blacktail stood up, breaking their cover. “Who are you to summon me?” he asked. “I am no lapdog, to be called at your will.”

“You truly don’t know me? No, I can see that you don’t. I don’t know you, either, and that is stranger still. I am called Uriel, Archangel of the Choir of Virtues, who is the Fire of God. The Lord of Hosts heard you cry out in the night, Blacktail. I am the comfort that is sent to you.”

Something about the way it talked was wrong…off. After a moment, Chester saw why, though he never fully understood. Sometimes it speaks without its mouth moving, he realized. Other times it moves too soon or too late. A thought rose from somewhere deep. Is it really here at all?

“Shit on your lies,” Blacktail said. “You have nothing I could want.”

“Are you so sure?” the angel asked. It did something with its forepaws, something Chester found hard to see. Whining and overwhelmed, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. When he opened them again, a tall black dog stood in the shadows just outside the circle of fire.

Blacktail drew in a sharp breath. “Renren?” he asked in a soft and wondering tone. He cocked his head to one side and scented the night air, then started down the hill toward her. “Renren.”

“Blacktail, what—” Chester began, but the great hunter did not hear.

“What magic is this?” Blacktail was not quite screaming. “What have you done?”

“I might ask you the same question,” the Fire of God said. “My god has given man dominion over the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. Such a decree is not a thing to be broken, as you know. But even now you challenge it. Your face seems familiar to me, Blacktail. I think we may know each other of old. But even I, who have lived forever and forgotten nothing, cannot recall your true name. You are not an angel. You are not even one of the fallen. What manner of creature are you, Blacktail? What gods do you serve?”

Blacktail stopped just short of the other dog. “I serve the god of chewing your heart out of your chest if you do not make that shadow go away.”

“That is no shadow, Blacktail,” Uriel said. “Do you not recognize her scent? The Lord has blessed me with many skills, but even I could not deceive one such as yourself in matters of odor. It is your Renren, come back to you again.”

Blacktail said nothing for a long time. “She lives?” he asked finally, in a small, quiet voice.

“No. Not life. The physical world cannot hold her. Not anymore. But I have called her back from where she was. When I saw that she answered the call, I took us a little of the distance to her as well.” Uriel gestured with one of his paws. Around them, the desert that once seemed to stretch out forever now ended just beyond the light of the fire. Try as he might, he could neither see nor hear anything beyond that.

What is this place? Chester thought. The dirt beneath his paws felt thin, insubstantial, like a crust over…what? The air carried no smell he could detect. There was only one plant in sight, a prickly pear, and it seemed transparent, like muddy water in a stream. Is this all still real?

Am I?

Blacktail saw these things as well. “Where are we?” he barked.

“We are nowhere. These lands lie between life and death, and stand mostly unclaimed.” Uriel’s eyes were sharp on Blacktail. “You and your Renren might build a home here, if you like.”

“This is some trick.”

“No. No trick. I present my offer freely to you. If you accept, there will be no debt, no obligation. I will heal the disease in you—you already feel it working, yes? You can live out your natural life here with your wife. The hunting is good, see?” At this, a fat elk bounded into the circle of firelight, and at the sight of so many fangs and claws gathered there, bounded away fearfully. “There are others like that, as much as a pack could ever eat. No more grubbing for squirrel. The water is clean and pure. When I am gone, no two-legs will ever set foot in this place again.”

“What of my pups?”

“I can call them back to you as well. It will take time and great skill, for they died nameless, but I think I might do it. They were five, three male and two female. Because they do not live, they can never breed, but they can be with you, and grow, and reclaim a measure of the life that was taken from them.”

“How long would I live this way?”