The boy's face brightens up. "You really mean it?"
You smile. "We were always told how much the humans hate us. I'm glad to know we were wrong."
Haken groans. "You want me to leave the two of you alone in here, Decaarr?"
Ahote sniffs.
"We need to leave," Haken continues.
Justin nods quietly as he sits down on his cot, lips pressed tightly together in worry as the three of you leave, pulling the door shut behind you.
"A hard decision," Haken says. "But the boy is brave and went without flinching. He deserves more credit than I thought."
"And your men will take good care of him?" you ask.
Haken nods absently. "I have a handful of wolves that I trust with my life. We can keep this within a fairly small circle."
"I'll be back tomorrow to talk to him," Ahote says. "For now, I need to get some rest."
You nod in agreement. It's been an eventful night, and now with its duties discharged, you feel your eyelids drooping as though they have tiny weights attached. Sleep would make for a welcome diversion.
Next Chapter
Chapter 6 Hunters
"We give the gift of water and wolf-song—a pledge of honor and service to the Great Spirit." — Shaman Helki
Next
Moonlight ripples in tiny waves through the clouds, backlighting your mother's red hair in a corona, the details of her face hidden behind the dazzling shattered edges of memory made flesh.
You attempt to speak, to make your presence known, but nothingness pours out in a seething torrent of unspoken wishes and empty promises. You clasp a hand over your lips, forcing them shut lest the deluge sweep you away. The room fills with tangible currents of repressed fear and anxiety.
The phantom shifts, looking not at you but through you, as though your form is a scattering of dust motes, visible only for the briefest of moments as the moon highlights your leisurely feather-fall between the then and the now.
Arms that are not your own reach out through the vision, placing a locket around your mother's neck. She turns her eyes up, looking through you once again to something just beyond.
"You're sure it'll work, El?" she asks. Her voice sounds weak, somehow resigned.
"Quiet your fears, my beautiful Leotie," the familiar voice speaks once more. "You don't want to wake Decaarr. Remember. We're doing this for him as much as we are for ourselves."
"I suppose you're right."
"Of course I am, dearest."
"It has to be during the lunar change? We can't join the others one last time?"
"It's for the best, my love. Soon this place and its rituals will be nothing but a memory."
"The tremors in my arms have gotten worse since the last treatment."
"They'll pass."
"But what if…?"
"I said they'll pass!" the voice thunders, and your mother falls back in her chair, a stubborn but wounded look on her face.
A baby cries, startled by the outburst. Leotie pads over to the crib and bends down to pick up a whimpering pup from the enclosure. Its eyes are wide-open and glittering with the joy of attention.
"How long have you been awake, hmm? Little ears spying on Mommy and Daddy? Well, I have a promise to make you, Decaarr." She turns and gazes in your direction. "Everything will be better soon."
Shadows Fade