Interspecies Love: An Echo Valley Story

The refurbished Town Hall was packed, which was unusual.  But considering the circumstances, thought Clark, maybe not.  One of the older locals was up on the podium, declaiming.

'And I say we get a posse together, and go hunting.  I don't know about you, but for me, the safety of the children is more important than the law.'

Lex strode into the hall, like a king about to reclaim his throne -- though in Lex's case reclamation was unnecessary, as he hadn't lost the throne in the first place.

'Mister Matthews, your children are all grown up and have left home for the Mainland.  What's your real agenda, here?'

'Agenda?  I don't have an agenda.'

'Everything and everyone has an agenda, from birth to the grave,' said Lex.  'I ask again, what's yours?'

Mathews shrugged.  'I don't have children living at home, that's true.  But other people do have children. Should they live in danger?'

'Danger?  Danger of what?  Of being eaten by a wolf?  For one thing, wolves don't just go around eating people.  For another, I don't believe there is a wolf. Certainly I haven't seen it.'

'With all due respect, Mister Luthor,' said Matthews, hanging over the edge of the podium to eye Lex up and down, paying particular attention to his Italian loafers. 'Would you even know a wolf if you saw one?'

'I watch the Discovery Channel,' Lex snapped.

'Well,' said Matthews. 'If you spent less time watching TV, and more time outdoors, you might have had the opportunity several of our residents have had -- to see a wolf, in the flesh.  Then you might be singing a different tune.'

Lex smiled.  'I spend plenty of time outdoors,' he informed the room.  'I was out in the vineyard for some hours this morning. Clark and I walked here from the Castle.  We didn't see any wolf.'

'Oh!  Okay, then. Case closed. Let's all go home, and forget about it.'

Lex laughed.  'Slow down,' he said.  'I'm not saying we should forget about it.  I'm saying I don't believe there's a wolf.  I think it's just a big dog, perhaps abandoned by its owners.  Other people are of a different opinion, clearly.  But if we get up a posse, as you're suggesting, someone might get hurt.  We should call the Fish and Wildlife Branch.  Report a possible sighting.....'

'And in the meantime, someone might get hurt.'

Lex walked closer to the podium.  'I ask once again, Mister Matthews, what is your agenda?  Posses?  Hunting parties?  You'd think this was the American West, in the nineteenth century.  Frontier justice was never part of the Canadian ethos.  Maybe you're the one who's been watching too much TV. I'm issuing fair warning.  If any posse of peasants with torches and pitchforks and hunting rifles ventures onto the Castle grounds, it will be welcomed accordingly.'

Matthews spluttered something, and climbed down off the podium to take a seat along the wall.  Lex mounted the podium to replace him.  He took off his expensive leather driving gloves and smiled at the room full of Thetis Island residents.

'Hello,' he said.  'Nice to see you all here, bright eyed and bushy-tailed.  I have an announcement to make.'

One of the newer residents standing near Clark muttered to his neighbour.  'Who does he think he is?'

'Lex Luthor,' the neighbour told him, wryly.

'Well, yeah, but....  you'd think this meeting was called specially for him, or something.'

Lex tapped his gloves on the podium, imperiously.  'I want everyone to pay attention to this, because I'm only going to warn you once.  Joy has gone into oestrus.  Heat.  She's only a year old, and I'm not planning to breed her until she's two.  That's a year from now.  And when I do breed her, it will be to a Newfoundland Dog of appropriately elevated lineage.  In other words, if anyone owns an unsterilized male dog, they had better keep it locked up for the next few weeks.  I'll let you all know when she's no longer fertile.  In the meantime, any dog that shows up near the castle will be shot on sight.'

'Hey!' said the new resident.  'That's not fair.'

Lex chuckled.  'And if you have a dog, sir,' he went on.  'And it manages to bypass my security team, and it lays so much as a paw on Joy, I will sue you within an inch of your life.  Consider whether or not that is fair, after I've left the meeting.'  Lex nodded to the rest of the room.  'Any other complaints about the fairness of Lex Luthor?  No?  Good.  If verified wolf sightings do occur, let me know.  I'll expedite a report to the Fish and Wildlife Branch, and the matter will be dealt with quickly and safely. The wolf will be caught and returned to its home in the wild.  In the meantime, keep an eye on your children and your pets and your livestock.  That's always a good idea, at any time, though I doubt the wolf, if it exists, poses any real threat. Goodnight!'

And Lex strode from the podium, pulling on his gloves.  As they left the building, Clark could hear the new resident complaining to the room at large about arrogant billionaires.  He was pleased, however, to note that the room at large seemed to be on Lex's side.

**************

'I'll be happy when Joy is out of heat,' said Clark as they walked home.  'Because it's really making you grumpy.'

'It is not,' Lex snarled back.

'It is, too,' said Clark.  'Anyone would think you were the one not getting any.  And, if you don't settle down, I'll head back to the dorm sooner than I'd planned.'

'Hey!  You can't do that.'

'It's just a threat, Lex.  An empty threat. I don't want to go back to Victoria, okay?  I want to spend the whole long weekend here with you, and Connor.  We're having my folks over for Thanksgiving Dinner on Monday.  Mom is making pumpkin pies.  It's all set.  I don't want anything to spoil that.'

'Okay, okay.  I'm smiling, see?'  Lex beamed at him.

'That's good.  You don't have to smile every minute though, just not be such a grouch, that's all.'

'I'm practising,' said Lex.  'For Monday, when your parents come for dinner.'

'My parents love you.  All you have to do is be yourself.'

'Uh-huh,' said Lex.  'But myself, right now, apparently, is a grouch, according to you.'

It was a cool, crisp October evening, not quite yet dark.  Leaves crackled under their feet as they walked through the woods.  The moon was rising, as the sun was setting -- the Guardian of Night replacing the Guardian of Day.  Clark turned his hearing outward, checking to be sure his entire domain was safe. Just off the shore, he could hear whales spouting, diving deep to catch fish, rising to spout again.  He heard dogs barking off in the distance, and hoped their owners would keep them locked up for the next few weeks, as Lex had so kindly suggested.  A few cows lowed nearby.  A squirrel scampered up a tree. No cars, since most Thetis Island people had taken up bike riding, these days.

He heard a rustle in the underbrush. Something pacing beside them, curious, but not threatening.

'What's that?' asked Lex.  'I saw something white and furry... and then it disappeared.  Better not be a dog.'

'Maybe it's the wolf,' Clark suggested.

'There is no wolf,' said Lex, his tone suggesting Clark had lost his mind.  'Really, Clark.  A wolf, on Thetis Island?  Since when?'

'There are wolves on Vancouver Island.'

'Canis lupus crassodon, yes. A sub-species of the Timberwolf.  Very shy.  Not at all aggressive.  I don't know what everyone is so upset about.'

'Old myths die hard,' said Clark.  'But maybe one swam across.'

'Why would it do that?'  asked Lex.  'The tourist season is mostly over.'

Clark scanned the woods nearby, but saw nothing.

'Well?' asked Lex.

'No wolf that I can see,' Clark replied.

'There you go.  If you can't see a wolf, there's no wolf to be seen.'

'Your trust in me is amazing,' said Clark. He pulled Lex close, rubbed his hands up and down Lex's arms.

Lex shivered, and pressed even closer to Clark's warmth.  'My trust in you is absolute,' he whispered.  'Don't ever betray it.'

'I would rather die,' said Clark, and he kissed Lex's earlobe, gently.

'It's too cold for this, out here,' said Lex.  'Let's get indoors.  Curl up by the fire.'

'Listen to Joy fretting because she doesn't have a boyfriend... Hey, I sympathise, okay?  I have tons of sympathy. It's just....'

'It's distressing, I know.  It will be over soon, though.  At least with dogs these things don't drag on for years.  In a year or so, we'll find her a boyfriend....'

'What if she doesn't like the one we find?'

'We'll keep trying until she makes her choice.  I'm not about to force her to mate.  I won't allow that.  But I think most dogs are happy with whoever shows up to the party.'

'Not always,' said Clark.  'Some dogs are fussy.'

'Well, if Joy's fussy, I'm fussier.  I can imagine the perfect mate for her.  Strong, quiet, commanding, but not bossy.  He'll be tireless, and inventive, and he'll make sure she has a good time.... Hmm.  A lot like you, I guess.'

'I'm not sure if I'm flattered, or offended,' said Clark.

The Castle was bright, lit up from within, warm and welcoming.  It was home.  Connor heard them come in the door, and ran up on his tiny baby legs to greet them.  Lex looked around for Joy, but she didn't follow Connor, as she normally did.

'Where's Joy?' asked Lex.

'Out,' said Connor.

'Out?  Outside?  Who let her out?'  Lex's voice rose exponentially with each question.

'I did, Daddy,' said Connor.  'She wanted to play.  Play with the big doggy.'

*************

The entire Castle was in an uproar.  Lex was organizing search parties worthy of a major crisis like an earthquake or tsunami.  Clark had one eye and ear attuned to him, while the other eye and ear were conducting his own search of the surrounding area.  He kept expanding the search outward, further and further, but to no avail.

'Lex, I can't find Joy anywhere. Your searchers are wasting their time.'

'What am I supposed to do, then?  Give up?  She must be somewhere, even if she's... even if she's....  Even if we just find a body, it must be somewhere.'

'She's not dead.  Don't freak out like this.  She's only been gone a short time.  There's no traffic on the roads to worry about.  She's young, but she's a big dog.  Nothing serious could have happened to her.'

'Then where is she, Clark?  Kidnapped by aliens?  It's not like there's a shortage of those around.'

'Why would an alien....'

'I don't know, you tell me.  To experiment on, maybe?'

'Lex....'

'Just stop arguing with me and help me find her, okay?'

'Maybe all this racket is scaring her off, did you think of that?'

'Oh, now it's my fault?  Thanks.'

Sometimes Lex could be a big pain in the ass, thought Clark.  And not in a good way, either.

In the midst of all this rampage, a little voice piped up:  'I'm sorry, Daddy.'

Lex turned, big and angry and scary.  Connor was standing in the middle of the room, his eyes huge, watching as Lex advanced on him.  Clark had seen grown men cower at that sight, but Connor never flinched, not even as Lex swept him up into his powerful arms.  Connor wound his own arms around Lex's neck, and snuggled in close as Lex stroked his dark hair.  'Don't be angry, Mama,' Connor whispered.

'I'm not angry,' Lex whispered back.

'I know,' said Connor.  'You're scared.  Joy isn't gone.  She isn't hurt.  The big doggy didn't hurt her.'

Lex settled on the sofa, with Connor in his lap.  'Tell me what happened?' he asked.

'Joy was lonely.  I could tell.  She wanted another doggy to play with, 'member?  You told me.'

'Yes.  I remember.'

'A big doggy came to the window.  Joy was happy. She asked me to let her out to play.  I told her no, but she cried.  She did, Mama.  She cried and she looked so sad, and the big doggy looked nice not scary, so I got a chair, and got up high and opened the door, and she got out.  She's not lost, she's just playing.'

'Okay,' said Lex.  'I'm not angry, but I'm still scared. Like I'd be scared if you ran off to play, and didn't come back when I called.'

'You love Joy,' said Connor.  'I love her too. She'll come back.'

************

Lex closed the door to Connor's nursery.  Clark followed him down the hall to their bedroom.  The fire was burning brightly, and the French doors were open, making the room a beacon into the night. A beacon to call Joy home.

'She'll come home, Lex.  I have faith, just like Connor.'

'You're young,' said Lex.

'What does that mean?  And I'm not that young.'

'It wasn't a put down,' said Lex.  'I just meant that young people -- most young people -- think love has power beyond its real capabilities.  If you love someone, they won't die. They won't leave you. They won't change...  I know better.'

'You don't believe in the power of love?'

'I didn't say that.  Love is powerful.  The Song of Songs says that love is strong as death.  As strong, you note, not stronger.  Love and death are equal.  Death cannot conquer love, but love cannot conquer death.'

Lex sank into his chair by the fire.  Clark sat down at his feet.  He rested his arms on Lex's knees.  'But you're a Christian,' he said.  'Don't you believe in sacrifice?  In sacrificing yourself, I mean?  Isn't that a way for love to conquer death?'

'What do you mean?' asked Lex.

'I mean, that if someone isn't afraid of death, and they sacrifice their own life to save others, isn't that love conquering death?'

Lex gazed into the fire for a long time.  Clark wondered what he saw in the flames, and was about to ask him, when Lex spoke.  From the tone in his voice, Clark thought he might have forgotten that he wasn't alone in the room.

'Sacrifice.  Martyrdom.   Perhaps they create ripples of change in heaven, for a time.  Echoes of a brave new world, with such people in it who can stand up to death, unafraid, and not merely bow to necessity.  Some martyrs even effect changes here on earth.  Hmmm.... John Brown at Harpers Ferry.  He claimed God told him that his death would end slavery in America.  And it did touch off the Civil War, which did end slavery, so perhaps he was right.  Harvey Milk.  He knew he would die, too, and his death helped to change the world for gay people.... for us,' he added, turning to Clark and smiling.  So he did still know Clark was there.  'But plenty of people die martyr's deaths and change nothing.  Sir Thomas More, for example.'

'He fought with Henry the Eighth over Anne Boleyn, right?'

'Right.  Over the sacredness of marriage.'  Lex believed in the utter sacredness of marriage, so he spoke of it in tones of cynical scorn.  'And he said that no mortal man should have absolute domain over spiritual matters, but he supported the Pope, whose domain over the matters of spirit was absolute until people like Martin Luther and King Henry challenged it.  More was a bit of a hypocrite.  More than a bit.  He burned heretics.  He was scarcely lily white.'

Clark wondered where all this was tending.  'I suppose if Thomas More's sacrifice had been successful, the Roman Catholic church would still rule the world.'

'Yes, and you and I might still be outlaws, and even heretics. That was one reason the church oppressed gay people,' he said.  'It claimed that same-sex love was heresy.'

'But now we can marry,' said Clark.  'Here in Canada.  A few other places.  It's growing.'

'Yes,' said Lex.

'I would marry you,' said Clark.  'I would marry you tomorrow.  You know that.'

'I know,' said Lex.  'But I don't know.  I still don't know it here.'  He touched his chest, over his heart.  'I don't feel it yet.  I don't know.'

'I know what you're afraid of, but I'm not him.  I'm not that boy.  Not that other Clark.  I would never betray you.'

Lex smiled a sleepy smile.  He smiled a bit like he had smiled at Connor when he agreed Joy would come back.  Lex knew Clark loved him, and he wanted to be married, but he was waiting. Waiting for a sign, thought Clark.  Lex needed proof that the cosmos was with him, that they were in alignment, and that God approved.  Stepping off a cliff blindfolded was not for him.

************

It was the hour before dawn.  The hour when those upon the verge of death gave up the ghost.  The hour when vampires and demons began to find their way back to the safety of their lairs of evil.  The hour when Lex Luthor began to plot his next foray into the unknown to search for Joy.

It was the smell of brewing coffee that woke Clark, seeping into his subconscious and warning him that the game was afoot once more.  He reached across the bed, but the sheets were cold.  That was another clue that roused his sleepy mind.  Lex was gone.  Lex was worried about Joy.  Lex was brewing coffee.

Lex was in the library, coffee cup in hand, maps spread over his desk.  Gina, Mercy and Hope were filling thermoses with coffee while listening to Lex issue orders.  'I just want Joy found,' he was saying.  'This is no one's fault.  It was bound to happen, because you can't fight nature.  I'm sure Joy is fine, if maybe a little pregnant by now, but I want her found.  If she's hooked up with a male dog, and they're still together, and they're... playing, don't try to interrupt.  Just call me and let me know you've found her.  Don't, for God's sake, shoot the dog. It's not his fault either.  He can't help it.'

'You wanted him shot before, Boss,' Mercy pointed out, with her usual cool logic.

'That was before,' said Lex.  'Once he's mated with Joy, it's a bit too late isn't it?   And shooting him would be traumatic for her.  I don't want her frightened and traumatized by her first mating.  We'll let nature takes its course now, and find out who the male dog is.  Where it came from.  Notify its owners.  Lecture them on controlling their dog better. Get a court order to have him neutered.  Sue the owners for child support. That sort of thing.  The puppies will be crossbreeds, most likely, but they'll be Joy's puppies, and so we'll take care of them.  Find good homes with suitable people who will be suitably grateful to me for noticing their existence and who wouldn't dare mistreat the puppies.  But first, let's find Joy.'

'Child support?' muttered Clark, heading for the coffee machine.

'Why should we bear all the burden?' Lex responded.  'Even if we are billionaires?'

'You're a billionaire,' said Clark.  'I'm just a poor student.'  He took a gulp of coffee.  'Aw. That's good.'

'Well, don't just stand around drinking coffee, Poor Student.  Make yourself useful.  Go talk some sense into your son.'

'My son?'  Clark looked around, and there indeed was Connor, sitting in a quiet corner, drawing.  'What the... Isn't it a little early for you to be up, young man?' Clark did a good impersonation of Jonathan Kent, when he felt like it.

'Hi, Daddy,' said Connor.  He looked sleepy, but determined to stay awake.  'I want to help.  Help look for Joy.  I'm sorry I let her out.'

'That's okay, Connor.  We're not angry at you.  You can go back to sleep, okay?'

'I want to help.  I'm drawing.'

Connor had Clark's dark hair, but Lex's piercing gray eyes.  He could play, but mostly he was serious.  Even, sometimes, solemn.  He picked up a crayon, studied it, then put it back, and picked up another.  His crayons were neatly organized in a box, not spread out all over the carpet.  The crayon he had chosen was bright gold.

'I can see that you're drawing,' said Clark.  'But why?'

'I saw Joy last,' said Connor.  'I'm a... a wit... less.'

'I think you mean a witness,' said Lex, very gently.  'No Luthor could ever be called witless.'  Lex gave Clark a wry look, as if to suggest that a Kent could be so accused.  Or perhaps it was an El, in which case Clark was inclined to agree.

'That's a hard word,' said Connor.  'A wit-aness?'

'That's better,' said Lex.

'I'm a wit-aness, so I have to help.'  With that pronouncement, Connor went back to drawing.

'Joy will probably show up on her own,' said Clark.  'When she gets tired.'

Lex glared at him.  'I can't sit back and do nothing,' he said.  'She's mine.'  He went back to studying his maps.

Connor put down his crayon, looked at his picture, and nodded, as if satisfied.  He got to his feet and trotted over to Lex's desk.  'Daddy?  I have a picture.'

'That's good,' said Lex, in a distracted voice.

'Daddy, please look at the picture,' said Connor.

'I'm busy right now, Connor.  What did I tell you about not bothering people when they're busy?'

Connor sighed, looked down at the ground, and seemed to think deep thoughts for a moment. Then he looked back up at Lex and said,  'Mama!'

That term of address always got Lex's instant attention.  He dropped his map, turned to his son, his face softening, his eyes deep and stormy.  'What is it, Baby?' But Connor put the drawing in his hands before he could finish.

'Please look, Mama,'  he said.  Lex looked down at the picture.  Connor had used blue construction paper for the background. In one corner, he had drawn a big, black blob, with a smaller blob on top, and a long tail.  'That's Joy, you see, Mama?'

'Mmhmm,' said Lex.  'That looks like Joy, true enough.'

Connor had used a white crayon to create an even bigger white blob.  'That's the big doggy,' he said.

'It's big,' Lex agreed.  'And I see it has yellow eyes.'

'The doggy had yellow eyes,' said Connor.  'Big eyes, just like that.'

'That's helpful,' said Lex.  'You are very observant, and that's good.  Why don't you go back to drawing now?'

Connor nodded, his mission accomplished.

'Come here, Clark,' Lex continued.   'Take a look. What does this make you think of?'

'A big white doggy with yellow eyes?'

'No,' said Lex.  'Not at all.  This makes me think of an Amarok.'

'A what?'  But the name did ring a bell in Clark's mind, once he thought of it.  'That's some sort of mythological being, isn't it?'

'A legend,' said Lex.  'A legend of the Inuit.  A giant white wolf, that hunts alone.'

'Well, but....'  Clark looked up, suddenly intensely interested.  'The Inuit,' he said.  'The Arctic.'

'The Inuit, the Arctic, a mythological being....'

'The Fortress,' said Clark.

'It could have got here through the Fortress, yes.'

'Let's not jump to conclusions,' said Clark.

'Who's jumping,' said Lex.


************

Lex was running from shelf to shelf, pulling down books -- books on the Inuit, books on the Arctic, books on mythical beings, books on genetics and archaeology and....

'The Inuit are great artists,' he was saying.  'But their art isn't photographic in its detail.  I doubt I can find... but here.  Here's a somewhat bad representation of an Amarok.  Connor's sketch is rather more vibrant, wouldn't you say?'

'Lex, what is it you think happened?  The Fortress sent the Amarok to mate with Joy?  Why would it do that?'

'Who knows why the Fortress does anything?  But no, that's not what I think happened, necessarily.  It could have been an accident.  Maybe from the very beginning it was an accident.  You know the AI is still working to warp reality around it.'

Clark gazed off into the distance for a moment.  'I can't see into the caves,' he announced.  'The cloaking device is up again, so I you may be right about that. You think maybe Joy is there with her new boyfriend?'

'It's a distinct possibility, but before we go running off, let's think this through.  As I said, it's possible this was all an accident.  The Amarok is created by the AI.  It comes through the gate to the cave, goes looking for a new mate, and finds Joy, and...  Aha!  Here we are.  A much better picture of an Amarok.'

Clark looked down at the drawing.  A wolf of some sort, but huge.  Much bigger than contemporary wolves.  Longer legs.  Big head, fierce eyes, almost sabertoothed mouth.  Ugghh.

'Why would Joy be attracted to that?' he asked.

'Well, who knows.  But then, she was desperate, and we've been keeping her locked up at the Castle like a nun.  She hasn't had much experience of any kind with the opposite sex.  And maybe he looks dangerously attractive to her, like a biker, or an outlaw.  Females can be attracted to males like that, when they aren't looking for long-term mates, but just quick sex.  So can some men, for that matter.'

'Okay,' said Clark.  'I'll take your word for it. But you're jumping to a lot of conclusions, here. We don't know any of this.'

'I'm connecting the dots,' said Lex.

The thing about Lex, thought Clark, was that when he connected dots, sometimes no one else could see how they could possibly be connected.  Like now, for instance.  'I wish you'd let me destroy the AI completely,' he said.  'Then we wouldn't have to deal with problems like this.'

'Not a good idea, Clark.  It's your only link to your heritage, and we may need that link, warped as it is, many times in the future.'

'I think the AI is more trouble than it's worth,' said Clark.

'You're probably right,' Lex agreed.  'But as much trouble as it is, where shall we find a replacement heritage?  It's not like we can order one online.'

'Why does my heritage really matter so much?  We can deal with stray Kryptonians just fine without a heritage.  Beat the crap out of them, and send them packing.  I mean, you mostly hate my heritage, anyway.'

'Hate it?  Hate it?  Is that what you think?  No, no, Clark.'  Lex sat down across from him, and took his face in his hands.  Gently.  Lovingly.  'I was raised to fight Kryptonians when they showed up to conquer Earth,' he said.  'But I never turned to hate.  I don't hate Kryptonians, I hate the arrogance of all the Kryptonians I've met so far, except for you.  You give me hope that some day another Kryptonian may arrive here who isn't made of arrogance and superiority and the desire to conquer our world.   We have to be ready for that day.  Ready to forge an alliance.'

'Big words, Earth Boy,' said Clark.

'I can back up my words with actions,' said Lex.

************

They stood on the bank of the river, not far from the caves.  Lex was wearing a wetsuit, and scuba gear.  'I'm tired of nearly drowning every time I visit your daddy,' he had said.  'I've been hearing all my life that in-laws are nothing but trouble, but this is ridiculous. And even worse than that, my clothes keep getting ruined.'

'You can afford new ones,' Clark had pointed out.

'That's not the point,' said Lex. 'And in this new modern economy, I don't want to appear too wasteful.'

'Well, you'll be safer, that's the important thing.'

Now Clark dived into the river, and Lex followed.  He'd learnt to scuba dive many years before, but never thought he'd find it this useful.  Clark zeroed in on the entrance to the cave, unerringly.  Lex grabbed hold of Clark's bare foot, and let himself be tugged along, until they were inside the cave, and Clark pulled him up onto the sandy floor.  Lex spat out the mouthpiece of his scuba tank, but kept the tank itself safely attached to his back.

'Can you hear Joy?' he asked Clark.  'Or... or smell her?  Anything?'

'Nothing yet,' Clark confessed.  'Let's go visit my daddy, as you put it.'

Clark was dressed only in one of those new racing swimsuits, that covered most of his body, but looked pretty sexy, nevertheless. Lex felt a bit ridiculous padding after him in full scuba gear, including fins, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

They paused before the wall to the Chamber of Solitude, as Clark liked to call it.  Clark pushed against the stone wall, and it swung open for him, easily.  Lex tugged the waterproof flashlight off his utility belt, and shone it around the chamber...

And there they were, the miscreants.  Joy curled up, looking all sleepy and satisfied, and the huge white wolf beside her, looking all oily and smug.

'Joy!' Lex exclaimed, trying to sound firm and parental and scolding, but sounding, in his own ears, like a frightened parent who has just found his lost child safe and sound against all hope.

Joy looked up and woofed at him, as if nothing much had happened.  Perhaps nothing much had happened. Perhaps the wolf was a eunuch, or gay?  Or they didn't believe in sex before marriage.  At one time, Lex would have scoffed at that concept, but he was in the process of reconsidering the value of such a prohibition.

He opened his mouth to ask something foolish like, 'Are you still a virgin?'  And then something so horrific happened that Lex came as close as he ever did in his entire life to passing out with shock...

The huge white wolf rose up on his hind legs, and his fur began to... to melt, to morph, to vanish. His face changed from that of a wolf, to that of a human.  Front legs turned to arms, and at last he stood there, in all his naked humanity. A man.  A man who may have just been....

'No!' said Lex.  'No, no, no.'

****************

Clark leaned his elbows on the table, and studied their new guest carefully.  Lex had taken Joy off to have a bath and be fed, muttering dark words about Morning After Pills For Dogs, and that Clark had better find that werewolf something to wear or he, Lex, wouldn't be able to account for himself.

Clark loaned the Amarok one of his sweatsuits, and pulled another on over his own swimwear. The Amarok had not spoken a word since they found him, and at first Clark wondered if he were at all human. But he studied the sweatsuit carefully, and watched Clark put it on, then followed suit.  Now he sat across from Clark, with his long white hair, and long, sharp fingernails.  His eyes were black, and Clark fancied he could see thoughts swimming in them, like fish.

Clark was just about to ask, 'Who are you?', but the Amarok spoke first.

'Kinauvi,' he said.

Kinauvi?  The word sounded familiar, at the same time Clark was sure he'd never heard it before.  Strange.

'I... speak... mikittok, mikittok... small English.'  The Amarok held his thumb and index finger close together for Clark to see.  'Small,' he said again.

'Little,'  said Clark.  'You speak little English.'

'Yes! Little English.'

'Do you speak the Inuit language?  What's it called again?  Inuk....'

'Inuktitut!  I speak Inuktitut.  You?'

Something was stirring in Clark's mind, like a memory.  'I speak a little Inuktitut,' he told the Amarok.  'You speak a little English.'

The Amarok nodded and ventured a smile.  Then the smile froze on his face, and Clark turned to the door in time to see Lex sweep in. Lex had changed out of his scuba gear, and into one of his hideously expensive but breathtakingly sexy Armani suits.  His feet were clad in Gucci leather instead of scuba fins, but he still moved as if he were floating in water.  His eyes were as deep and dark as were those of the Amarok, and he kept his eyes on their guest, even as he spoke to Clark.

'I got Joy settled down.  She's fine.  She had something to eat, and I told her she can cry all she wants, but she's staying where she is for the rest of the day.'

Clark laughed.  'What a hardass you are,' he said.  'Poor Joy.  Never has any fun.'

Lex hadn't slowed his advance one iota.  Now he was nose to nose with the Amarok, who had risen to his feet to meet Lex's attack.  'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you?' he asked.

'Lex....'

'No, Clark. I don't want to hear your reasons.  I don't want to hear ethical reasons, or moral reasons, or legal reasons. I want to hear this... this creature's reasons. Why should I, according to him, allow him to go on living? Does he have good reasons?'

'He probably does have reasons,' said Clark.  'But he may have trouble explaining them to us.  He speaks Inuktitut.  And little English.'

'I speak Inuktitut,' the Amarok agreed.  'And little English.'

'Wonderful!' said Lex.  'If it's true.'

'Why should he lie about it?'  asked Clark.

'I can think of lots of reasons for that,' said Lex.

'But, Lex,' said Clark.  'I'm learning Inuktitut...No, I am.  Remember how the AI downloaded all those languages into my brain?  Well, some of that was Inuktitut, and it's coming back to me, a little.'  Clark thought for a moment, and then said, 'Kinauvi!  That means, who are you?  That's what I was going to ask you,' he told the Amarok.  'Who are you? Kinauvi?'

'That is a long story,' said the Amarok.

'Tell him I have plenty of time,' said Lex....

The Amarok's Tale
*********************

Long ago, I was the Shaman of my tribe, and I had an animal familiar -- a great white wolf.  I was a good Shaman and our tribe prospered.  We lived and hunted as our people had always done.  But then, one day, the White Man -- the Kapluna --  came to us, and they told us our way of living and hunting was wrong.  And they took away our children to teach them the right way.  I tried to fight them, but my powers failed me.  I began to spend more and more time out on the tundra with my wolf familiar.  One day I came home, and everyone in the village was gone, and I was all alone. I tried to find my friends and family, but they were gone beyond my vision.

And so I began a new life with the wolves. My wolf friend and I shared our minds and our thoughts and our visions, until we became one.  One being, one mind, one body. We shared our space. We lived long, long years.  I would live as a man for a time, and then, when I felt old and tired, would let the wolf take over.  One day, I came back to the pack, and they were all dead, poisoned by the Kapluna.  Now I was truly alone, and I felt hujuujaq -- great unhappiness because I was alone.  For a time, I became wild, wilder than any wolf.  I became the Amarok.

But then, a little time ago, I remembered I was a man, as well as a wolf.  I wondered if there were still people in the world like myself.  One day, I was running on the tundra, and I saw a great wall of ice, like I had never seen before, with great spears of ice, jutting out all over.  I studied it, and realized it was a door, a door to another world.  I thought perhaps there may be people there, and I would not be so alone. And so, I went through the door, and I found myself here.

I went into the door as a man, and came out a wolf, and could not seem to change back, though I wished to do so.  But as I walked about this new place as a wolf, I learnt that here there was a great Shaman, and he had bound to him a familiar from another world, with stupendous powers.  I followed you about, and learnt something of your life.  But then, a door opened and an animal familiar came through the door, in the form of a dog, and she offered me love.  Or, rather, she offered love to the wolf, the Amarok, and we were both so lonely, so lost, so far from those we loved who are forever lost to us, and so we accepted the love.  

But you are angry, Great Shaman.  Why?  Because I encroached upon your territory?

*************

'No,' said Lex.  'I thought that you were a trickster, a man who took the form of a wolf to abuse my beloved.... animal familiar.  She is an innocent.  I think it is vile for humans to have sex with innocent animals, to use them that way.  But if Joy offered you her love, who am I to judge.'

'It was the Wolf who was approached by your familiar,' said the Amarok.  'I could not control the Wolf, who had not had a mate for years.  I was weak, Great Shaman.'

'Why do you call me a shaman?' asked Lex.

'Do you not know what you are?  You have been to the depths of the darkness, and fought your way through to the other side.  You have bound to yourself powerful familiars. What are you, but a shaman, like myself...  Ah, I see, you are young and untrained and cannot control all your powers.  If you like, I will repay you for any harm I have done to you and yours.  I will work for you, to teach you how to use your powers.  Do you accept me as a teacher?'

Clark translated this last phrase, and then realized what he had told Lex.  He turned to Lex, met his eyes, wondered if such a thing would be wise, and then saw that Lex was seriously considering the Shaman's offer.

'Yes,' said Lex.  'Tell him yes.'

*************

Lex was sitting out on his bedroom balcony, watching the October moon float by.  Joy was sitting at his feet. Lex rubbed her ears, and she whined softly.  'Sorry I interrupted your honeymoon, girl,' said Lex.

'She's okay,' said Clark, coming out on the balcony to join them.  'She shows signs of not being fertile any longer, so perhaps she's pregnant.'

Lex sighed, and gazed up at the moon, but said nothing.

'Does that disturb you?'

'No,' said Lex.  'I think I was just hoping for something a little less problematic in my life.  Something simple, and straightforward, such as beautiful, purebred Newfoundland puppies from Joy. But I was fooling myself. What in my life ever was, is now, or ever will be, simple and straightforward?'

'Well, my love, considering that you yourself just made a pact with an ancient, shapeshifting Inuit shaman to teach you shamanism....  How could you trust him so much?'

'Do you think he's untrustworthy?  Do you think he's lying?'

'He doesn't seem to be lying. But it's not that....  Lex, he's dangerous.  I don't mean he's evil, but who knows what his motives are?  Why he's really here.'

'I don't care about his motives.  Everyone has motives. Everyone has an agenda.  He has his agenda, and I have mine.'

'What's your agenda?  Why do you want shamanistic powers?'

'You think it's for the power, Clark?  What won't you do for power, Luthor?'

'No, Lex.  Not like that.  I'm not that Clark.'

'It's not about power.  Listen.  This man survived, when everyone around him died, or surrendered.  Everyone he loved is gone, and he's surviving, still.  What gives him that strength?  That's what I want to know.  I want that strength.'

'You won't ever be alone like that,' said Clark.  'I won't allow it.'

'You can't promise, Clark.'

'Yes, I can.'

'No, because your trust and love is based on feeling.  I trust you, and I love you, by an act of will.  My trust and love doesn't depend on the changes of circumstances....No, please listen to me, Clark.  I wake every morning, and I make a vow to love you and trust you that day. For me, love and trust are actions. But you love me and trust me because of some bond you think was made between us years ago.  You see love and trust as feelings.  What if I were to change? What if I were to do something irrevocably evil?  Something to change your feelings?  Then what?'

'What if you woke up one morning and decided not to love me any longer?' asked Clark.  'What then?'

'Why would I do such a thing?' asked Lex.  'Unless I changed.  And if I changed, you might stop loving me.'

'No, I wouldn't turn against you if you changed,' Clark vowed.  'No, listen to me now.'  Clark reached up, and gently put his hand against Lex's mouth.  Lex licked the palm, seductively.  'I know who and what you are,' Clark went on.  'Why would you change?  You are a rational being.  If you changed, it would be for a reason, even if that reason was madness.  I'd stand by you, try to learn the reason. I wouldn't turn against you.  I wouldn't betray you. Suppose... suppose you suddenly went insane, and thought that Joy and Connor were your enemies, and you tried to attack them with an axe.  In your right mind, you wouldn't do that. So, if you did, I'd stop you from hurting them, because I know you love them.  I'd love you, and care for you, and  protect  you.  I'd try to find a cure for your madness.  I wouldn't let you hurt other people, but I wouldn't let you hurt yourself either.  And I wouldn't betray you. I would never turn against you, never let other people hurt you, no matter what the cost to me.  Not if the whole world turned against me, Lex, I swear.'

'You are so very wise,' said Lex.

'You think I can be a great hero,' said Clark.  'No one can be a hero if he betrays his friends to save himself.  So, you see I have motives, too.  I have an agenda, too, like everyone else.'

'And your motives are that you want to be a hero.'

'Mmmm.  Yes. And my current agenda is that I want you to fuck me.'

'I might be convinced to do so,' said Lex.  'But inside, where it's warmer.  You don't feel the cold, but I'm just human and I shrivel.'

Clark reached down, and gently cupped Lex's groin with his warm hand.  'I won't let you shrivel,' he said.

They lit the fire, turned the lights down low, opened the drapes to let the moonlight shine in.  Clark drew Lex deep inside his own body, and then let his lover take control.  Lex fucked the way he loved and trusted, with total concentration, by an act of will.  He never lost that concentration, even at the moment of orgasm.  Clark was all feeling, all ecstasy and burning flame.

'This is why I believe in our bond,' he told Lex after.  'We fit together, here, at our cores.  We fit together, body and soul.'

Outside, a wolf howled.  Joy answered from the balcony.  Clark looked in time to see Joy leap from the balcony to join the Amarok in the garden below.

'Let her go,' said Lex.  'It's a bit late to stop her now.  Besides, she gave her love and trust to the wolf. Who am I to judge?'

'She still loves you and trusts you,' said Clark.  'She'll come home in the morning.'

And, a little later he said, 'If you wake up some morning, and decide not to love me or trust me any more, I will blame myself.  I will look inside myself for the reasons, and not blame you.  I will do all I can to win back your love and trust, to the end of time.'  Lex didn't answer, but Clark expected no answer.  Just let him be here with me, in the moonlight, he thought. That's all I ask.

*********

'Welcome, Mister Wolff,' said Martha Kent.  'We've heard a lot about you.'

'Thank you, Mrs. Kent.' said the Amarok, carefully.  'Thank you for inviting me to share your Thanksgiving Dinner.  I am sorry that my English is still not good.'

'Your English is fine, Mister Wolff,' said Martha.  'Would you like some tea?'

'Yes, thank you very much.  But please, call me Mannik, if that is allowed.  It is my first name.'

'Call me Martha,' she replied.  'Clark tells me you are a shaman.  What a very interesting life you must have led.'

'Interesting, yes,' said the Amarok.

'You are doing so well, learning our language and our customs so fast.'

'It is one of the things that shaman do.  We travel the worlds, learning of their ways.  At one time, your people did not believe in such things, and they tried to stop the shaman from practising their arts.  But now, you believe in us, and we are honoured.  This is interesting.'

'Some teachers of the shamanistic arts are fakes,' said Lex.  'But Mannik is the real thing.'

'And Lex tells me that this island is the best place for me to live while I learn about your world,' said Mannik.

'Yes,' said Martha.  'We try to keep Echo Valley a safe haven for those who need one.  Please, have another piece of pumpkin pie.  Before Clark eats it all.'

'Mom!'

***THE END***

Echo Valley Homepage