20 YEARS AFTER REAPPEARANCE
Parts 1 - 23

Wild Hunt Part 1 (Metamorphosis)
Ember leads Mender, Scouter, Dewshine, Tyleet, Pike, Krim, Yun, Tyleet's cub Pool, and Krim's cub Sust. Near the town of Port Bane, they rescue a boy and his family from one of Winnowill's creatures.

Wild Hunt Part 2 (EQ2 # 1)
Ember's tribe searches for one of Winnowill's monsters that Pool sensed. A child playing sees Sust. Later, the elves see the child tied up and led to the beach. Pike and Yun go looking for dreamberries. The humans say the child's soul was eaten by the spirit and his body must be purified. He is sacrificed to a monster in a cave. Pool says it's the same monster he sensed. Ember realizes Pike and Yun are missing and now knows what will happen if they are seen by humans.

Wild Hunt Part 3 (EQ2 # 2)
Pike, outside a human house, hears men talking. The dead child's father thinks they should feed an elf to the Redeemer (the monster). The elves attack the Redeemer. Dewshine and Ember are wounded so they all flee. Yun and Pike are discovered. Yun escapes, but Pike is caught.

Wild Hunt Part 4 (EQ2 # 3)
Ember's tribe goes to the trolls, where Drub is Queen, for help. They need a way through rock and water. At Howling Rock, Teir shares a kill with the Wolfriders' wolves. The trolls agree to help. Yun sees Pike unconscious. Soldiers tie up a woman screaming, "I didn't see his eyes!"

Wild Hunt Part 5 (EQ2 # 4)
Pike, and the old woman who saw him, are locked up. The elves and trolls burrow through to connect with the Redeemer's cave. Pike and the woman are blindfolded and led to an altar, where a ceremony takes place. Pike discovers Winnowill made up a story about the Redeemer to tell to the villagers.

Wild Hunt Part 6 (EQ2 # 5)
Pike and the woman are led to the Redeemer, while the elves and trolls come in the back. They kill it with the trolls' help. The elves try to convince the humans Winnowill lied. Some believe, some don't. The wolves arrive and break up the humans. They are led by Teir, who wants to rejoin the tribe.

Wild Hunt Part 7 (EQ2 # 6)
The tribe returns to Howling Rock with Teir. They hunt a herd of shagbacks with Teir's help. Ember tells Teir what happened since he left (HY # 29): the birth of Pool, Pools magical ability to hunt down twisted magic, the death of Choplicker, and her new wolf Patch. Teir says he's been watching her over the years. Mender interrupts. Teir returns to his den, but finds Yun there watching the stars. She wants to share his den with him but Teir says not yet.

Wild Hunt Part 8 (EQ2 # 7)
Gromul Djun sends his son out to find something to prove his worth as Dominance-to-be (Djun is sick and dying). At Howling Rock, Pike teaches Sust to use a spear. Teir teaches Pool to use a bow. Mender and Teir are not getting along. It looks like jealousy over Ember on Mender's part. Scouter, Yun, and Teir go hunting for cuphorns, and Teir makes it easy. Angrif, the Djun's son, discovers them.

Wild Hunt Part 9 (EQ2 # 10)
Mender's jealousy of Teir continues. Gifa, the Djun's daughter, talks to her father, asking why women are considered useless. The cuphorns are brought back to Howling Rock, where they howl. Yun has a roll in the furs with Mender and convinces him to deal with his problems. The next day, to prepare for an early whitecold, a tribehunt is organized. Mender decides to pair with Teir in the hunt, to see what he can learn from him. After they depart, Angrif enters one of the dens and steals a sword to bring back to his father.

Wild Hunt Part 10 (EQ2 # 12)
Angrif returns home with the elven sword he found, to show it to his father. After their tribehunt, the elves return to discover traces of humans (they don't know how many) in their dens. Scouter discovers his sword missing. Mender knows the human's smell. Angrif tells his father that they could kill them all, but Djun knows it's not so simple. Angrif gets a little too snotty and the Djun has the guards take him away. Gifa asks her father if she could go to the elves and befriend them and then kill them. She tells her brother and he's furious. The Djun decides to allow Gifa to do this. He believes he has nothing to lose if she dies. She is to act as if she's running away. Angrif decides to make it look like his sister has something to run away from. He plans for one of the guards to surprise attack her.

Wild Hunt Part 11 (EQ2 # 15)
The tribe's sense of shelter and security is gone after the presence of humans in Howling Rock. They remain extra alert. Tyleet and Teir find a human girl after a group of human men ride off. She's beat up pretty bad, but alive. Tyleet takes her back. Mender goes to heal her and senses the Djun's blood in her. The others want to get rid of her, but Tyleet says with humans getting closer they'll need allies. Scouter says the human smell in his den is the same as the girl. Ember says she can stay, but must not be healed. Wounded, she's harmless. The guardsman, Rowb, tells Angrif it's done. Angrif threatens him not to tell Djun. He gathers the others to his side, planning to betray the Djun. Gifa begins to earn the trust of the elves. Mender and Ember go out and find Gifa's clothes and jewelry. They bring them to her. Gifa takes the poison out of her bag to poison the tribe's food.

Wild Hunt Part 12 (EQ2 # 18)
Tyleet shows Gifa how to tan a hide. She lost her knife and has no way to poison them. She rips the leather in frustration. Tyleet tells Ember it sounds like the knife is important to her. Gifa has earned their trust. Ember and Tyleet take her out to the site of the attack. Gifa searches. Ember slips and is attacked by a snake. Gifa hits it with her knife. Soon Gifa is alone and puts some poison on some leather. A cub grabs it. Soon the cub comes to Teir, sick. Mender heals it. Teir thanks him and goes to search the dens. Mender tells Yun they've made up. The mountains: Angrif is with Rowb and another guardsman. Fledar will make a noise in the stable. Djun will get up and Rowf and the other man will attack. They head off. Fledar walks past and takes an arrow out of Rowf's quiver. Gifa doesn't want to work on hides. She doesn't want to like them. At night she skins a kill and poisons the meat. Sust gets curious and Gifa tries to hit him. Ember assumes this is because it was done to her. It's not their way. She wonders how they can always be so kind. She tells herself she wants to be their friends because she's weak. But she wants to be Djun.

Wild Hunt Part 13 (EQ2 # 20)
Three guardsmen are in the northern mountains. Rowf feels caught between the Djun and his son. He enters a cabin to see Angrif. They're hunting tomorrow. There's new quarry in the hills. Rowf leaves and is met by the Djun. He wants Angrif to ride to the demon's lair. Every rider must be brought back. If he tells Angrif they spoke, Rowf's baby son will die. Dawn: Rowf tells Angrif his father knows nothing. At the holt, Gifa has the meat ready. She saved a clean one but someone grabs it. Around the howlfire, Ember tells the story of how Gifa saved her. Gifa walks away, tired of them being so nice to her. Ember calls her back and gives her some meat. She turns and they're all on the ground groaning. Mender heals himself and asks Gifa to bring the others. He's healing Teir when Gifa tries to stab him. Teir takes the brunt of it. Gifa runs. Poison was on the blade. Ember sends Tyleet after her, but she must be able to kill her. It's the only way. She follows and watches as humans find Gifa.

Wild Hunt Part 14 (EQ2 # 21)
Angrif faces Gifa. She did everything right, but they had a healer. Only girls have gotten into the demons' good graces. She recognizes Rowb as one of the ones who beat her up. They were Angrif's orders. She attacks him with her knife. He fights back and knocks her off the cliff. She's dead. Tyleet is horrified. She feels she will never understand them. She returns to Howling Rock and tells the others. Ember is concerned the humans will return with a hunting party. The humans remember the battle over the shards. Weapons must be prepared. Krim and Mender send to Ember and Teir about the war with the Djun. Humans kill anything different, they crave power, they're greedy for treasure. Some are better than the rest. Angrif carries his dead sister back to the city. He says demons did it. He brings her to the Djun, who says she was expendable anyway. He shows Angrif the heads of his partners. Gifa is carried out. Djun knocks his son to the floor. He gets up and they fight with swords. The Djun is knocked down. He says, "I made you in my image." Angrif cuts his head off. He tells the people the demon sword made his father its servant and drove him mad. He killed his own men. Angrif was forced to kill him. They must prepare to destroy all the demons.

Wild Hunt Part 15 (EQ2 # 22)
A month later: Angrif is not grown enough for his father's armor. Venovel (Winnowill) had shape-changing powers. Can the demons' healer give him warriors flesh. He's obsessed with this for days. Soon he's ready to strike. They must find the healer and kill the rest. Howling Rock: Scouter is sick of waiting. He argues with Yun for playing a flute rather than catching game. Ember breaks it up. They need every hand at work. Scouter and Yun are sent to sniff out the humans. Ember tells Mender they have to throw out all of the meat. Teir and Pike are training Sust and Pool in throwing spears. Ember remembers fighting humans with Redlance. But now humans can fight. Pike notices how the cubs don't squabble when Tyleet is around. Three nights later, Scouter and Yun find a human camp nearby. Scouter sees Angrif with his sword. They douse their fire and run for the holt. A hunter, with his dog Morri, find traces of them. The humans are two days away. Their holt is done for now. Ember sends to Suntop to have the Palace sent. But Skywise and Timmain left days ago. They're too far to send to. They decide to go to Drub's people near Port Bane. The humans won't expect it. They head out to the plains. Ember is sorry for taking Teir from his home. He says he follows his chief. At sunrise the humans are ready. They fire a volley of arrows into the holt. They go over the rise and find no sign of demons. Angrif wants them tracked down.

Wild Hunt Part 16 (EQ2 # 23)
A hunter shows Angrif his trophies from elves he hunted. He fought them on all lands. He must go after them alone or he promises nothing. Two assassins attack but he easily evades them. He must capture the healer alive. He can kill the others. He must take men or it's off. For recruits, the towns along the central coast have no love of elves. Rowb, Shikar, and Geretch go with him. Morri follows. His name it Lehrigen. Outside Port Bane, the cave where they fought the Redeemer. Ember and Mender go in. A flood trap starts filling up. They jump to a ledge. Soon they slip and are pulled under. Ember hauls Mender through a tunnel. They spill out into a chamber full of trolls. Drub picks them up. Soon, they share dinner with the rest of the tribe. They'll lie low for the winter. From then on they do anything to pass the time. Teir is uncomfortable. They go out in hunting and scouting parties. The further south they scout, the more humans there are. They're not considered 'good spirits'. The elves' living conditions start to get to them. Ember and Mender make a hunting wager. Flam wants to prove that trolls can hunt. Teir comes with them. The three elves bring down a kill before Flam even notices. He wants to get a bear. Mender will be the bait. Teir is unsure. Mender pokes it with a stick, but it doesn't attack. Ember tells Teir to stop manipulating the bear. Mender runs from it. Ember and Teir pull him up to the branch. Flam kills it with a hammer. Mender heals his bear wound. Humans are coming, so they leave the bear behing. It's Lehrigen's group. He finds the bear and smells traces of elf blood. He looks up in a tree and sees Ember.

Wild Hunt Part 17 (EQ2 # 24)
Lehrigen sees the elves in the tree but leaves them. The humans take the bear but he leaves the heart as a token. Flam, Mender, Teir, and Ember return to the cave. The hunter was different than other humans. Scouter recalls the comfort and safety of Father Tree. When can they have that again? Drub won't allow new tunnels to be dug. For a while the wolves do the hunting. In a few days Scouter takes his wolf-friend Scrabble above. He watches through a window. Muldav wants to be in the hunting party to get vengeance for his son (parts 1-5). He won't hunt for vengeance. Rowb offers Muldav vengeance on demons and Lehrigen. Morri attacks old Scrabble. A boy, Bokko sees them. Both wolf and dog are hurt. Scouter and Scrabble go down the hole. Lehrigen fixes up Morri in an inn. Bokko tells him how digger folk steal pigs by the shore. Maybe their tunnels go down to the beach. Mender, Tyleet, and Dewshine find Scouter. As Mender heals him they hear blast-rock and run. Scrabble is buried in the explosion. Scouter tells what he saw. Ember and Mender cuddle. Teir wonders how he can matter to her. Yun says she can cure his mood with a roll in the furs. Humans begin mapping the tunnels. Rowb's group plans to find the elves first. Flam and Ember locate a safe tunnel that opens near a forest. The Wolfriders head out and Rowb's men attack. They ride underbelly but Pike, Krim, and Ember are hit. As they near the woods, Lehrigen's group block their path.

Wild Hunt Part 18 (EQ2 # 25)
The Wolfriders head for the hunters. Nearby, Rowb's group plan to kill the demons, then Lehrigen. Teir uses his magic and the horses bolt. The wolves split in two directions. Lehrigen hits Teir with an arrow. The horses run into trees and branches. Lehrigen will have dead and wounded seen to first, to Rowb's annoyance. The Wolfriders find dens below trees. Mender sees to the wounded. Dewshine finds Teir badly wounded. He's out of danger by early morning. They wonder if Lehrigen or Angrif want Mender so they can make a fortune. Ember won't have humans killed. Scouter challenges her but her sending is too powerful. The humans rest in town. Lehrigen's going with four hunters, not Rowb. They enter the forest at dawn, hiding their scent with oilberry. At night, Dewshine tempts one of them away from camp. Soon the others find him hanging from a rope by his feet. Pike spikes the wine of Rowb's camp with dreamberry wine. Soon they're all sick. They do it in the hunters' camp but Lehrigen smells it. The Wolfriders decide to use wood from itchleaf. It will make their throats close, but shouldn't kill. Teir throws some in the camp Rowb's men left. Lehrigen's men pick it up out of convenience. When it burns, Veser can't breathe. He's dead by the time they get him away. They show Lehrigen where they got it. The remaining four go after the soldiers.

Wild Hunt Part 19 (EQ2 # 26)
Rowb's group is camped out, a week since they trailed Lehrigen. Lehrigen's hunters kill his soldiers. Yun, Krim, and Mender watch. Mender sneaks over to the hunters and uses magic. Their heel strings are torn. Lehrigen spots Mender. He tells Rowb to get the wounded boys to town. He finds traces of the elves. Rowb reaches the cabin and writes a message that Lehrigen killed his men to claim the creature for himself. A pigeon will fly it to the Djun. Dewshine kept watch over Lehrigen. Ember finds she likes the challenge. Scouter thinks that's Bearclaw at his worst talking. Yun watches Lehrigen play a flute and throws the tune back. They continue for hours. He says 'sleep well' in their language. She tells this to the tribe. He could be an ally. Ember remembers asking her father why elves and humans don't get along. A few do. She's upset that humans leave messes. That's just how they are. Lehrigen left them alone for eight days. They go to seek the truth of him. They see Lehrigen setting up a trap. It closes on his leg. Krim runs out and many more snap shut, one around a wolf's leg. Morri kills it. Both Ember and Lehrigen prevent any more violence. She asks why he doesn't trust them. He says the direwood killed one of his boys. They are cold and inhuman. "It's you or me when next we meet." Ember calls council. Mender says the boys will heal. For the itchleaf incident, she pins Teir to a tree. If it happens again they'll drive him out.

Wild Hunt Part 20 (EQ2 # 27)
Tier says in his tribe, elves came and went. His father felt pain for all who died. He starved for love. Eventually Tier was alone. Now he has the Wolfriders. He kept the bear from Mender and left the wood because he can't lose them too. From now on he'll do nothing without her say. At night Pool comes to Tier, asking if he wants revenge on the near-wolf for killing his wolf-friend. Tier won't go against Ember. Pool walks off grumbling. He won't tell Scouter, Tyleet, and Dewshine what's wrong. He takes Sust's bow and sneaks up on the hunter's dog. A boy comes to Rowb saying there are riders. They bring a message: "His head or yours, one month - Angrif." Lehrigen grabs Pool from behind and ties him up. He tells him to call his kinfolk but he refuses. Dewshine wakes Ember and heads off after Pool. Dewshine fires and hits Morri in the leg. Lehrigen lifts a spear up as she jumps at him. The side of it hits her in the side. Her thrown knife frees Pool, but Morri holds him down. Dewshine's ribs are broken, a lung may be punctured. Ember, Skywise, Mender, and Tyleet arrive. He'll trade these two for the healer. Mender will be allowed to heal Dewshine. Ember says no. Lehrigen will trade nothing else. They have a short time to decide, and withdraw. Ember says Lehrigen could be a valuable ally. Tyleet says they can't kill in hate. Scouter attacks Ember and she fights back, for her life. He says if she can't keep the tribe safe he will. He disarms her and knocks her down. He cuts her chief's lock.

Wild Hunt Part 21 (EQ # 28)
Scouter is now chief. Pike ties the chief's lock. They must trade Mender for Dewshine and Pool. When they're gone, he's to snap the hunter's heelstrings permanently. They leave Ember and go to Lehrigen. Mender heals Dewshine. Lehrigen frees Pool, who runs to Scouter. The hunter assumes Scouter's his sire. Mender is tied and led away. Ember awakes bruised and bloody. The tribe and her wolf-friend are gone. She finds two trails leading away. She can't go back. The tribe heads off. Yun scouts for Lehrigen. Teir and his wolves wait. Ember makes a fire. Her right arm is injured. She looks at a braid of Cutter's hair. She lost he and the tribe. Suntop senses her agony and comes searching. She doesn't want him to know yet. She howls. The Wolfriders feel anguish but keep going. Teir and his wolves walk into the forest. Scouter says if he follows Ember he can't come back. His leadership is slipping. Lehrigen makes camp. Mender says he can heal Morri. If he tries anything he's dead. He heals the dog, astonishing Lehrigen. The Djun wants his power. Mender plans to make a friend of Lehrigen. Ember is useless at hunting. Ember dreams of fighting creatures of cold and ice. Lehrigen and Morri fight their own demons. She fights her way to him. He cuts her chief's lock. She must fight Scouter to get it. A wolf comes to save her. Teir calls her back. She's relieved. He followed, waiting for her to find her own strength but he couldn't let her give up. They'll face everything together now.

Wild Hunt Part 22 (EQ # 29)
Rowb rides out of Port Bane with a new regiment. They camp for the night. Rowb is told new troops are being trained back home and one has the Djun's approval. He tells them the demons are nothing to fear. Yun is watching nearby and reports to Scouter the Djunsmen are back. Scouter decides they need to get the humans before the humans get them. They'll kill them all. Tyleet's upset. Pike and Dewshine feel the same way. Sust and Pool are excited. Tyleet says it's not a game. She doesn't want their youth torn away. She tells Scouter she feels wrong about it and goes off to hunt. Soon she sees Ember and Teir from the branches. Ember's got her arm back and is healing. They'll rescue Mender. Scouter's breaking the way. When Cutter was chief there were not too many humans. Now they're surrounded by humans. Cutter taught her to see ahead. She must prove to Scouter the now isn't where the answer lies. Tyleet's heart leaps. At Lehrigen's camp, Mender gets Ember's sending, then Scouter's. The wind shifts and Scouter gets Ember's scent. He and the tribe will side trail them. When all are in the open they'll take them down. Lehrigen and Mender head out. Teir's power makes Morri turn on the hunter. They free Mender and he numbs Lehrigen's legs. He's an ally they can't waste. Ember shares meat to show this. He looks at her and is forced to admit he doubts his own convictions. Suddenly Rowb and his men attack.

Wild Hunt Part 23 (EQ # 30)
Scouter and the tribe will take the Djunsmen first. They jump out of the trees, hitting them with arrows. Teir sends three wolves out to attack. Pool is forced to take a stand, killing a young soldier with an arrow. He finds it's nothing like hunting. The man's brother attacks the cub, but Lehrigen fires, killing him. Scouter has scores to settle. Rowb runs at Lehrigen, but the hunter pulls him off his horse. He tells Teir to keep Morri out of it. Both fall to the ground. Rowb's sword pierces Lehrigen's leg, pinning him. He knocks Rowb off balance and stabs him in the chest. Mender goes to him but Scouter orders him back. He aims his bow, but Ember stands between them. Tyleet joins her. Pool says Lehrigen saved his life. Ember says his path would destroy the Wolfriders. She doesn't want Pool to become used to killing. He removes the chief's lock and ties it in her hair. Ember tells Lehrigen the humans never knew the Wolfriders and never will understand them. He says all that he is is based on a lie. He agrees to take the path away from killing. Mender heals him as best as he can. Lehrigen will leave to think about his life. Scouter will trust Ember to find a better holt. She's glad he challenged her. When they returned to Howling Rock she stopped asking for help. Now, she had to earn them back.