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Shadow Wolf
Shadow Wolf Cover
Author Kathryn Lasky
Publication date October 2010
Publication Order
Preceded by
Lone Wolf
Followed by
Watch Wolf

Shadow Wolf is the second book of the Wolves of the Beyond series, written by Kathryn Lasky, and picks up where Lone Wolf left off. It follows Faolan as a gnaw wolf, where he proves himself as a gnaw wolf and attends the gaddergnaw and the court hearing for the murder of a malcadh pup. It was released October 1st, 2010.

Preview[]

Return from exile.

Beyond the owl world of Ga'Hoole, a wolf named Faolan has made it back to his clan. He was born with a twisted paw and cast out as a pup, abandoned in the forest to die. But with the help of a grizzly bear who raised him as her own, Faolan survived.

Now he's a gnaw wolf, the lowest-ranking pack member, destined to eat last, sleep far from the warm wolf den, and endure endless abuse from the wolves around him. And the hardships are just beginning. A wolf pup is murdered and Faolan is framed for the crime. Faolan's survival is once again on the line. He must hunt the true culprit... while his own pack hunts him.

Plot[]

The plot begins with Faolan, who at last feels that he is home, even though as a gnaw wolf, he must sleep alone. He dreams about the wall of fire he jumped, and wakes up in a fright.

It is early fall, and Faolan is getting used to life in a pack, constant abuse, and eating last. As a moose hunt is about to begin, Faolan is abused by one of the lieutenants of his pack, Flint. His pack lord, Bhreac, stops him to save Flint's energy. Faolan plans to shock the wolves with his speed and talent for running and possibly walking on his hind legs. However, another gnaw wolf, Heep, tells him gnaw wolves never run in a byrrgis, but only sniff the prey animals' waste to check their health. Faolan immediately notices Heep's over-attentive displays of humility, though the chieftains call him a model gnaw wolf. Heep is disrespectful to Faolan and refuses to call him by name or acknowledge Thunderheart's role in his life. Faolan notices a tawny she-wolf his own age watching him. She offers sympathy for him, and Heep reveals she is an outflanker from the Carreg Gaer. Soon, the time comes to find the moose.

Faolan and Heep are both required to sniff waste on the hunt, and Heep continues to irritate Faolan, insisting that he report all scents. When Faolan watches the young tawny outflanker, Mhairie, racing ahead, he longs to join in the byrrgis. Sneakily he joins in the group, running with a pack for the first time. When they execute a crimp, a maneuver Faolan is unfamiliar with, he mistakenly believes the moose might escape. Faolan leaps ahead, and Heep spots it, quietly letting the silver wolf break the laws of hunting. Unaware of this, Faolan races in front of the moose and rises up on his hind legs. The moose turns and rips through the byrrgis, ruining the hunt.

Later, it is told that Faolan's punishment will be a bone of shame recording his misdeeds, gnawed by Heep, as well as a gnaw bite also delivered by the yellow wolf. While Faolan waits to be called to the raghnaid, Mhairie finds him and scolds him harshly for ruining her chance to prove herself. Overcome with shame, Faolan confesses his desire to run away, but Mhairie berates him for trying to get out of his trial, snarkily calling attention to Faolan's ignorance of the wolf ways. But unexpectedly, she reveals that their chieftain, Duncan MacDuncan, is gravely ill. About to leave, Mhairie warns Faolan that the superstitious clan wolves believe Faolan an ill omen because he jumped the wall of fire. She urges the gnaw wolf to stop thinking about only himself and start thinking about the pack.

When the time comes for Faolan to be bitten, Heep is led forward, smiling secretly. Faolan nervously waits for the bite, promising to endure it for Thunderheart. Unwittingly he paws the mud with his splayed foot, making a print of his spiral mark. When Heep sees it, he is too frightened to touch Faolan. Their pack lords pounce on Faolan while they discuss his visit with the chieftain.

While Faolan waits to see Duncan, he watches the stars but is distracted by Lael staring at him, then is pestered by a group of curious pups. Watching the pups of the pack, Faolan wonders what it would have been like to grow up with his family. Soon, he is fetched by two lords. When he enters the gadderheal, he sees fear in the eyes of the raghnaid, as Mhairie warned him. The ailing chieftain opens Faolan's trial by asking one of his lords, Lord Adair, to read Faolan's charges as gnawed by Heep. Duncan calls Faolan close for a private talk, asking him what he thinks of Heep's carving. Faolan reports that it is not particularly good. Faolan worries that he is not a good enough pack wolf to stay, thinking he must go into exile. Duncan tells Faolan about the gaddergnaws, explaining how a gnaw wolf can participate to be selected for the Watch, and confides that Faolan may be chosen if he only acts more sensibly. Finally, Duncan concludes Faolan's trial by ordering him to carve a bone of contrition and travel on the "Trail of Shame" to bring the bone to the outflankers of each MacDuncan pack. He also announces that there is to be a gaddergnaw the next spring, hosting a private fear that the winter will be harsher than usual.

Mhairie enters her private den she swaps with her sister Dearlea while the other helps their mother, Caila, with her new pups. The young outflanker curses Faolan for ruining her hunt and her big chance. She seethes with conflicting feelings of wanting to protect him and kill him.

Faolan sets off to begin the Trail of Shame, but is quickly stopped by the skreeleens howling the news of Duncan's death. The contrition rituals will be delayed, so Faolan takes this time to find Thunderheart's paw bone and look at it. He reads the stories of his life with his second Milk Giver and howls a song for how much he misses her. The next night, Duncan's mate, Cathmor, sees his spirit climb the star ladder.

While traveling to the Blue Rock Pack, Faolan meets The Whistler out hunting for small game. Noticing how thin his fellow gnaw wolf is, he decides to join him in a lichen eater hunt. Just when they find a target, a large healthy buck comes charging out and challenges the wolves. Faolan leaps onto the lichen eater's back and clings on, sinking his teeth in and killing him. After their meal, the Whistler confesses that he was in the byrrgis that drove Faolan into the wall of fire. Faolan asks him about the gaddergnaw and the Whistler says that during the competition, the gnaw wolves are treated with respect, but it goes back to normal for the ones not selected. The two gnaw wolves strike up a fast friendship. They continue to the pack, where Lord Dain reads the bone of shame before the pack and Faolan is given an apology bone to carve for the outflankers Lachlana and Tamsen. The Whistler spots the mist of Duncan and startles Faolan with his uncommonly beautiful howling. While Faolan carves his apology bone, the Blue Rock wolves start whispering about his carving, wondering if he could be from the Dim World.

Near the end of his Trail of Shame, Faolan starts to feel the mist of Duncan following him. He spots Lael taking a malcadh to a tummfraw on a ridge. He climbs up to have a look, noticing that although she is not deformed, she was born too early and won't survive. For the first time, the young gnaw wolf truly confronts what happened to him as a newborn. Feeling pity and regret for the pup, he howls a prayer to Lupus that snow will cover her and leave her hidden from hungry predators.

Meanwhile, the mother of the malcadh goes to The Sark of the Slough to forget what happened and recover from her grief. Once she is treated and falls asleep, Faolan arrives in her den. He quickly notices the sleeping she-wolf and confides in the Sark about meeting her pup. He asks if his mother went to her after he was taken away. The Sark tells Faolan that she does not know who his mother is. Faolan expresses his loneliness in the clan, but the Sark only half listens. He tries to talk to her, but getting straight to the point, she sharply tells him that she does not know his family. Faolan notices her memory jugs, and asks if she might have any advice for the upcoming gaddergnaw, desperate to get to the Watch. The Sark tells him leaving is a stupid reason, sending him out of her den before the malcadh's mother awakes. She advises him not to search for his own first Milk Giver. At the same time, Gwynneth, flying over the ridge, hears the sounds of a wolf pup being murdered by another wolf. Just as she dives through the clouds, the murderer runs off, leaving the torn body of the malcadh Faolan encountered. The Masked Owl grieves heavily for the horrible incident.

That winter, as Faolan becomes obsessed with his family, his mother, Morag, finds herself unable to stop dwelling on his scent and the memories it unlocked. Her memories seem to grow so strong that she finds herself going blind. On her last hunt as an outflanker, she can barely see the herd of musk ox her byrrgis is chasing. She falls to the ground, ending her career for good.

At the end of the long, cold winter, Mhairie and Faolan are once again called to the same hunt, chasing a herd of red deer. Both young wolves do their jobs this time. Heep runs with them again and makes a rude remark, pretending it was an accident. Faolan wonders at the mysterious offense Heep gives despite his apology. After Mhairie proves instrumental on the hunt, she officially proves herself and rewards Faolan with a watered-down thanks and a bone to carve telling the story of her first successful hunt. Faolan sneaks away to find out what became of the malcadh, intending to build her a drumlyn, only to discover her bones chewed up by the murderer. Horrified, Faolan decides to bring her bones to Thunderheart's paw bone to rest. As he starts to carve one bone, he feels uncomfortably that something else about the little pup is yet to be told. After he carries some of her bones to Thunderheart's paw, his carved bone vanishes. When a thunderstorm strikes, the skreeleens Alastrine and Greer sing a story about a dead wolf pup arguing with Skaarsgard to return to earth. Faolan feels uncomfortable by this tale, and begins to imagine the little pup coming back to earth to avenge her own death.

Morag's mate, Brangwen, notices something is wrong when she bumps into a rock. Back in the den, he notices something is wrong with her eyes. She finally tells Brangwen the whole story, now that her forgetting has stopped. Brangwen accepts her story, sensing instinctively how much his mate loved her malcadh. She tells him about her eyes, deciding she must go to the Sark. Brangwen agrees to accompany her. Meanwhile, Gwynneth flies to the Sark's camp to discuss the murder of the malcadh with her. Horrified, the old wolf resolves to travel to the ridge to sniff out the murderer with Gwynneth's guidance. She warns the Masked Owl that they might pick up Faolan's scent, though she has proof of his innocence. Suddenly, they are interrupted by approaching visitors.

Faolan, Heep, and the Whistler travel to Crooked Back Ridge to practice gnawing for the gaddergnaw with three other gnaw wolves, Edme MacHeath, Creakle MacDuff, and Tearlach MacAngus. Tearlach tells the story of how the old Fengo Hamish had his crooked leg healed, and Heep defends the legend fiercely. When Faolan carves an image of the Great Bear constellation, Edme notices his beautiful carving. Heep grumbles that it resembles a bear and might be blasphemous, and Edme and the others defend Faolan. When Edme speaks up again, the grumpy Heep bites her ear. The other gnaw wolves spring to her defense. Faolan calls the tailless wolf out on his pride and humiliates him by pressing him down with his forepaws. The other gnaw wolves follow suit, with Edme coming last and reprimanding him for his cruelty. Enraged, Heep leaves the practice session. The yellow wolf swears to get revenge by letting stories of Faolan's "blasphemous" carving leak out. That night, he decides to stalk Faolan to see where he goes in secret. Faolan returns to the ridge to find more bones, continuing to bury the chewed remains of the pup and traveling back home afterwards.

The Sark is shocked to find Morag entering her den, realizing she must be Faolan's mother immediately. Shaking, the Sark starts to prepare medicine for her, advising Morag and Brangwen how to take care of Morag's eyes. She tells them that if the treatment does not work, they must seek sanctuary in the MacNamara clan. When they leave, she whispers about the incident with Morag into a memory jug. The Sark and Gwynneth travel to the ridge to look for bones and smell out clues. The two quickly find a bone marked with a multitude of teeth slashes, but due to the tangled web of scents, the Sark determines five wolf scents, not all of them having actually been there, but is unable to tell which is the murderer's or which wolf it is.

Once spring arrives, the gaddergnaw is about to begin and all the clans have gathered. Mhairie catches up to Faolan to wish him luck and warn him about the rumors Heep has been spreading since the practice session. The two are interrupted when a group of pups decides to play "go-to-the-Sark". Mhairie scolds them for making a game out of a gnaw wolf's life in front of Faolan. The Fengo Finbar and the taigas from the Watch soon arrive, and Mhairie introduces Faolan to her sister Dearlea. Their conversation makes Faolan long for his real family again.

The first event is a byrrgis in which gnaw wolves are allowed to run with the group. Gwynneth shows up to talk to him, but the wolves are called away before she can say what she wants to tell him. She quickly advises him to watch the signals carefully. Heep realizes that the clicking sound his nicked back tooth makes on bones irritates Faolan, and develops a plan to sabotage him. The byrrgis takes off and Faolan truly experiences the joys of running with the pack for the first time, becoming part of something larger. Heep suddenly begins to grind his teeth, and Faolan stumbles as his concentration is broken. He spots Heep grinning as he gnashes his teeth, realizing the yellow wolf is cheating. As Heep moves in to make the sound even more unbearable, Faolan misses his signal to leap and falls. When Faolan meets up with Gwynneth again, she confirms his suspicions that the pup had been murdered. He is shocked to hear that a wolf killed the pup. Gwynneth warns him not to be caught with the pup's bones, because of the superstitions of the other wolves and their fear of him.

After the byrrgis, Creakle places first for no faults, and Edme second for her quick thinking when Faolan was distracted. Tearlach and the Whistler come next, Heep gets a low score for his lack of attention, and Faolan places last. Mhairie and Dearlea find him to ask what went wrong. Faolan reveals that Heep was cheating by grinding his teeth to annoy him. The sisters decide to come to the next gnaw circle to listen for it, reassuring him that he can catch up. When they do come, Faolan is unsure if they can actually see what he meant. Soon, Finbar stops by the gnaw circle to advise the gnaw wolves on their upcoming story bones. When pressed for an example, he tells them about Hamish's story bone of how he met his closest friend, King Coryn, and the deep friendship that developed between them. While the gnaw wolves work on their story bones, Faolan finds himself distracted by the gruesome fate of the pup, and while he sleeps in a tree, he dreams about walking through the stars in search of her spirit. The clicking noise of Heep's teeth in the dream wakes him. Faolan realizes that the teethmarks on the pup's bones might identify the murderer, and leaves in secret to examine them.

Heep grows desperate to win the gaddergnaw now that Faolan might catch up, get on the Watch, and as soon as a new owl monarch retrieves the Ember of Hoole, grow a tail. He comes up with a plan to eliminate Faolan from the competition, and sneaks off to pick up a bone he carved regarding a gnaw wolf killing a malcadh, as well as a bone containing the evidence. Mhairie wakes Dearlea to tell her that Faolan sneaked off where she couldn't follow. The two sisters wonder why they feel the need to protect him. Mhairie reveals that she spotted a mysterious wolf watching him leave. The two worry about potential sabotage.

Faolan looks over the bones of the pup, seeking the clues in the wild flurry of slash marks. Suddenly, he spots a nick, and realizes that Heep killed the pup, and his nick marks are all over the bones. Infuriated, Faolan races back with the evidence. However, he is too late, as when he returns, he is captured and accused by Liam MacDuncan, the new MacDuncan chieftain, of the malcadh pup's murder, with evidence bones provided by none other than Heep. Faolan is outraged by this sudden and incorrect accusation, and loses his head during the trial, shouting at the clan. The silver wolf tries to present his evidence, but no one listens. Heep is called up to read the story bone he carved about his version of the murder, which is filled with obvious lies. Liam tells Faolan that as punishment he will be slowly torn apart by all the clans. Just in time, the Sark arrives and explains that Heep's story bone and the pup's bones have the same nick mark, exposing his guilt. Gwynneth, Mhairie, and Dearlea back her up. Once Heep realizes he is caught, he flees, escaping to the Outermost.

The next day, Finbar announces Edme and Faolan as the winners of the gaddergnaw. That night, after the ceremonial reading of the winning story bones, Liam and Cathmor apologize to Faolan for how badly he was treated. Meanwhile, Heep sneaks into the Beyond with two outclanners to steal Thunderheart's paw bone. Gwynneth spots them and quickly warns Faolan before reporting it to the clans. Faolan arrives before they do and confronts the crazed yellow wolf. The Sark arrives in time to witness an army of lochin appearing behind Faolan, and the sight frightens them back to the Outermost. That night in her den, she whispers the story into a memory jug, and wonders if Faolan might be a Gyre Soul. For the first time, she also prays that Morag will travel safely to the Cave of Souls when her time comes.

Release Date[]

Shadow Wolf was released in hardcover October 1, 2010, and in paperback November 1, 2011.

Excerpt[]

(Excerpt from Chapter 28: Testimony)

A silence had fallen upon the gadderheal as Faolan spoke. The wolves were not sure what significance the nick held, but Faolan had at least caught their attention. Then came a rustling, and wind seemed to blow through the room. Hoarse whispers started up. “The Sark. The Sark. What’s she doing here?”

The Sark lurched through the ranks of lords and clan officers. She began pacing back and forth in front of the chieftain.

“It might pay to attend to the words of the gnaw wolf Faolan.” She swung her head abruptly around and stepped close to Heep, who shrank back into a posture of submission. “Your ‘evidence,’ Heep, is very interesting."

It was only because of the mystique, the aura of unnatural power that always seemed to surround her, that the Sark was not instantly removed. The same sergeant who had body-slammed Faolan started to move forward, but Cathmor gave a silent signal and he immediately stepped back.

“Might you be so good, Heep, as to let me examine your story bone?” Heep was writhing in submissive gestures, which the Sark completely ignored.

“I offer this bone not only as art but as a testimony of a heinous crime.” Heep said in a somewhat strangled voice.

“Ah, yes, testimony. You know what the word means, I assume?” The Sark continued to walk back and forth, swishing her raggedy tail. Her ruff looked as if it were being lashed into a froth by its own private typhoon from the Sea of Vastness to the north. Her bad eye had settled into a slow spinning motion while the other held steady on the floor.

“Yes, I think so,” replied Heep. “I mean a humble wolf such as myself might not have the wits to appreciate the… the…”

“The subtler nuances, shadows of the word? Is that what you were about to say?”

“Yes, yes, that’s it exactly.”

“Well, let me enlighten you. Testimony offers evidence of the truth. The truth, I repeat. The truth itself is not nuanced or shadowed, but evidence can be subtly altered if worked, gnawed, or manipulated.” The Sark paused dramatically and then, as if she had not a care in the world, said casually, “Might I see the bone--the story bone?”

“Of course!” Heep got up and dropped the bone at the Sark’s front paws. The hush was so thick in the room, one could have heard fur shedding.

“Ah!” said the Sark, rolling the bone under her paw. “A nice bone, a rib, I believe, of a moose. Generous expanse of working surface, offering a good spread for your narrative”--she paused to correct herself-- “oh, pardon me-- your evidence.”

“Yes, evidence, Madame Sark. Along with the bone of the malcadh, carved by Faolan,” Heep said.

“Yes, and I see here a very distinctive tooth mark made by a right lateral carnassial.” She paused. “A nick! Indeed, as Faolan pointed out, the same mark as on the bone with the exquisite carving by Faolan. So both the bone you carved for your story bone and the one carved by Faolan have the same nick. Now, how could that be possible? For your story bone is a rib of a moose never touched by Faolan. But all the bones that Faolan brought have this same nicked tooth mark, if one examines them carefully.” The Sark looked about, her whirling eye picking up a bit of speed in its spin as she continued to speak. “ ‘Carnassial’ is a fancy word for those back teeth of ours that are so efficient in slashing and shearing.”

Faolan had begun to feel his marrow tingle and his heart race. Where was the Sark going with this?

“Almost, one could say, your trademark, right, Heep? Interesting!” The Sark paused again. “And I am sure, Heep, that you thought your biggest problem was not your teeth but your tail-- or lack thereof.”

Heep began to tremble.

The Sark wheeled around and faced the more than three dozen wolves packed into the gadderheal. “I have in my possession a tiny bone from the malcadh slain on the ridge. I would beg the indulgence of the raghnaid to please allow me to submit this bone for their scrutiny and to notice the nicked carnassial. There is a flurry of marks, so I ask that you look carefully.” The Sark waited as the murmurs from the wolves in front of her to die down. When she was sure all eyes were on her, she flashed a Sarkish grin. “But aside from all this, I tell you that the gnaw wolf Faolan visited me a short time after he had passed the tummfraw where the malcadh had been abandoned. He came with the scent of a live pup on him. I saw not a trace of the malcadh’s blood. That fact and these bones prove beyond a reasonable doubt that--“

“What? What?” Heep leaped up.

“Hold him!” the chieftain ordered

A gust swirled through the gadderheal as Gwynneth flew down from the shadows in which she had buried herself. “I was a witness to this crime. I heard the screams as I was flying overhead. There was a cloud cover, but I heard the breathing of a wolf tearing apart the pup on the tummfraw.”

“But you didn’t see anything! You didn’t know it was me! It could have been any wolf!” Heep shrieked.

“Not any wolf. I heard the clicks of a fractured tooth,” Gwynneth replied. “I thought nothing of it at the time. My mind was filled with the horror of the murder. But I heard that click.”

“And so did we!” Dearlea and Mhairie stepped forward.

“You?” Heep gasped. “Where were you?”

“At your gnaw circle four days ago,” Mhairie said. “Faolan told us how the clicking of your gnawing teeth annoyed him during the byrrgis, how you could make this sound even when you weren’t gnawing. He said it was as bad as mosquitoes buzzing during the moons of the flies.”

“And,” continued Dearlea, “he said you did this on purpose during the byrrgis and that was why he stumbled and missed his cue in the kill rush.”

Faolan could not believe what was happening. His eyes filled, and everything before him turned wavy in a scrim of tears. His ruff quivered as his hackles rose and he felt his tail actually begin to wag. The very motion was strange and wonderful at the same time. He had friends, friends who were standing up for him, coming forward to offer the truth!

“But I would never do anything like this. Never!” Heep protested.

“Yes you would,” said the Sark. “There was a tangle of scents at the site of the murder, some more pronounced than others. They were scrambled, and it took me a while to decipher the one of the murderer, for it was mingled with that of the malcadh. You see, that brave little malcadh had fought, and as weak as she was, she drew blood, a tiny scratch but blood nonetheless. The blood of the murderer!” The Sark tipped her head toward Heep and inhaled deeply. “I’ve found the scent.”

“The scent… scent… the Sark… a scent.” Like a hissing spark from a coal, the words “Sark” and “scent” spun through the cave.

“And the scent I found was--”                              

Chapters[]

Lasky katheryn lg

Kathryn Lasky wrote the Wolves of the Beyond Series.

  • The Darkest of the Dark
  1. Caribou Moon
  2. Challenging the Order
  3. The Outflanker's Rage
  4. The Print in the Mud
  5. The Last Words of a Chieftain
  6. Mhairie's Den
  7. The Paw of Thunderheart
  8. The Trail of Shame
  9. The Mist of MacDuncan
  10. The Sark of the Slough
  11. "She'll Know Me!"
  12. An Abomination!
  13. The Dark Vale Descends
  14. The Red Deer of the Yellow Springs
  15. One Tiny Bone
  16. The Haze of Morag
  17. The Gizzard of Gwynneth
  18. A Standoff at the Scrape
  19. The Bone Turns
  20. The Sark's Visitor
  21. The Stranger
  22. The Gaddergnaw Games Begin!
  23. Gwynneth's Advice
  24. The Byrrgis of the Gnaw Wolves
  25. Last Place
  26. To Gnaw a Bone
  27. Ghost Wolf
  28. Testimony
  29. A Wolf of the Bone
  30. A Churning Gizzard
  • A Prayer

Characters[]

Trivia[]

  • The book was originally called "Gnaw Wolf".

Gallery[]

Covers[]

Pictures[]

Japanese edition[]

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