Those who are perceptive about such things will recognize it as the same raven-spirit James Redleaf normally employs to send messages to the Sept--the one with a white patch like a star on his head.
He perches on his usual roost and waits for someone to turn up. Once they do, he delivers the following tale:
"One day, while hunting, Lynx stumbled across a cave. His keen nose told him that the cave contained something foul, and so he went to ground and watched. For many days he watched, and he saw the source of the stench: the cave was the lair of a tribe of vicious Dakkat.
While he watched, the Moon spoke to Lynx and said, << This is a scar on the face of the Mother. It must be made right. You must find a way to cleanse this blight from the land. >> Lynx knew the words were true--the question was, how was he to face so many Dakkat at once? For though he was confident that he could bring down one, two, even three, there were Dakkat beyond count in the cave, and in the end, they would drag him down.
In the end, Lynx realized that one cat alone could not defeat so many. He would need a plan, and he would need allies. And so it was that Lynx went to the place where the waters met the sky to seek Brother and Sister Wolf.
By the time he got there, he had a plan.
"O Brother Wolf and o Sister Wolf," he said, "There is a cave near here which is full of Dakkat, and which must be scourged. I ask you to help me in this task. The Dakkat are many, but if we can bring the cave down on top of them, then we can kill them all."
Sister Wolf was skeptical. "Claws and fangs are fine for battling the foe one at a time," she said. "But how are we to bring down a cave on top of these Dakkat?" she asked.
"I have an answer to that," said Brother Wolf--the one who fought with the ferocity of a cornered rat. "I know the secret of brewing bottled thunder. If we use my brew, we can bring down the cave easily enough."
Lynx grinned. "That's just what we need," he said. "And we can do more. I will ask Cousin Granite to help us by weakening the cave, to ensure that it collapses."
A plan had been made, but it is one thing to make a plan, and quite another to carry it out. So it was that Brother Wolf, Sister Wolf, and Lynx went hunting. Each wore a cloak woven of shadows to conceal them from the eyes of the Dakkat. Quickly, quietly, like the night wind, they slipped into the cave and made their way down into its dark tunnels, with Brother Wolf leading the way, for he was skilled in stealth. Sister Wolf had her bow at the ready, for her arrows flew swift and keen. Every step required caution, for the Dakkat were not blind or deaf, and a misstep would bring them down on top of the little group.
Carefully, they made their way through the lair. From time to time, Brother Wolf stopped to lay down one of his bottles of thunder. Time and time again, the little hunting party was certain that they had been seen--but time and time again, their stealth and the shadows which concealed them were enough, and they slipped past.
Finally, they emerged from the cave--just in time, for behind them, the thunder broke free from the bottles which held it. With a great roar, the cave collapsed, and Lynx and Brother and Sister Wolf fled, for they were certain that the allies of the Dakkat would pursue them. Thus, they retreated towards the rest of Brother and Sister Wolf's pack, the better to face the inevitable reprisal.
To their surprise, when they reached the rest of the tribe, there was no sign of pursuit that they could see. But one of the pack's sentinels spied a flicker of darkness in the sky, and fired an arrow at it. The arrow flew true, and struck a great black Vulture, a servant of the Unmaker, who was spying on the pack from above.
Other arrows flew, and the Vulture was brought down. As it lay dying, it spoke, saying "Why do you still concern yourselves with us? You won the battle against us years ago. And while you concern yourselves with us, the Spider weaves its webs tighter around you. You will win the battles, but you will lose the war."
With those words, the Vulture died--but Lynx was left troubled by the words it had spoken, and the questions left unanswered."
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