The Grassland Shadows

You race through the rocky terrain, jumping over smaller rocks and swerving round the larger ones. You're scouting the Mountains... and a pack of hyenas are chasing you. You pant heavily and realise you are almost walking now. I'm going to die, you think. But then you turn round a corner of a cliff-face and you are faced with a vast expanse of grass. It has what seems like thousands of hills, swelling and falling like a great, green sea.

You look nervously behind you into the Mountains. If the hyenas catch up, you'll be dead meat. You barely have enough energy to pad along, let alone fight. Then you see a brown head. With dark splotches. A hyena.

You try to run, but it seems like you're stuck in glue. 

" Kill! Kill!" That's the hyenas.

You take a few stumbling steps, then collapse. You hear a few shouts and whimpers, but then everything blacks out.

When you wake up you're on firm, springy earth. You shake the last pieces of sleep from your head then walk to a tunnel. You follow it to a huge hollowed out space, at least the size of 15 adults stood on top of each other. Various wolves of different ages play and eat all around you. A black wolf with white markings comes up to greet you.

" Hello, I'm Ilomilo and I'm the leader of this pack, the Grassland Shadows!"

She asks you how you came to the Grasslands and you explain about the whole scouting-Mountains-hyena thing. She is very sympathetic and gives you amazing information about the Mountains. Then she passes you a beaver carcass.

" We've got more then enough food."

.She sends Crow, a scout, with you. 

" Just in case," was all she said, but you catch her winking at Crow. Then you are on your way.