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#7
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It was lucky for him that this new mentor was as sharp-witted as the others. The boy Ezekiel had once been had change somewhere out in the wilderness, after his ribs had been broken and his face scarred, after his sister had fled from the shadows that chased her still. He smiled a reptilian thing (though he was nowhere near as cold as his cousin in this respect) but it was a smile that hid so much. Responsibility, built out of ghosts whose heredity piled on his broad shoulders, had brought so much depth to an otherwise light-hearted child. It showed in his eyes, which were old in a still young form.

Of course, he was not so wounded as to forget his age, and he found great joy in the company he kept. This was a limited bunch though, consisting mostly of beasts who were separate from the world of canines. Alaine was an exception. Even if she often scolded him, and even if her children disturbed him, the coyote enjoyed her company immensely. Yet the motion she took was so sudden and so surprising that his body betrayed him; hackles rose along his spine, puffing his tail out to a brush-bottle. Instinctively, he tensed. His face turned owlish and wide-eyed—as soon as he realized this, he forced it to change. Her hand left him.

Nervously, the coyote adjusted on the railing. “I can talk to most animals,” he explained, ears back slightly. “It’s easier with these two because I’ve raised them. That one is Ibsen,” he motioned to the larger of the pair. “And his brother, Zola. We lost their father in the rockslide,” Ezekiel added forlornly, though he no longer grieved for the raven. The wilderness had taught him to be cruel, and he knew Marlowe would not want him to weep. After all, he had a much more important task at hand.

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