Sorry this has taken so long, It's hard trying to pull it all together in
the end, which this is it apart from an epilogue which I'm working on right
now. Hope you enjoy it.
- - - - - - - - -
Mira had been laid to rest in a family barrow at the northwest corner of the Thousand Mile Forest – the traditional pack grounds. The dragons had obligingly taken the wolves there to save time but left them in privacy until the tomb was resealed. A new torch was lit amongst old burnt-out ones on top of the grave to mark the passage of another pack member into the skies.
* * * * *
Weeks passed and Luna showed no change or improvement. Her numerous broken bones mended slowly including a broken jaw, shoulder, collarbone and countless fractured ribs. Her teeth, however, were a sadder story. There was not one in her mouth that wasn't damaged in some way, although the left side had fared better due to the majority of the impact being on the right. Only one canine, the upper left, was relatively intact, the others had been smashed to smithereens. Her already emaciated body grew gradually thinner over time until she looked like a skeleton with fur. Raisho had flown to follow his beloved storms with good wishes and blessings on all.
The light glaring through the tall window was obscenely bright to eyes that were used to darkness. Full summer sunlight settled on Luna's gaunt face and she blinked owlishly as she adjusted to the new radiance. As far as she could tell it was high summer and the sun was at its zenith. A slight breeze blew through the open balcony doors and whisked the thin, gauzy curtains across the doorway, shielding the wolf from the full brilliance.
She ached terribly, her muscles were dull and wasted from lack of use and her bones were still not fully healed and gave her occasional sharp twinges. Then again, she smiled ruefully, it was only nature reminding her that she was on her last chance. If she would continue on her self- destructive mission she couldn't expect help from the fates all the time! Twice in one night was a bit much, she had to admit.
She gently sat herself up on the bed and rested her stiff back against the copious amounts of pillows before examining the room. It was tastefully, yet opulently, furnished with dark wood and fur rugs. Fur rugs that stretched and groaned? Try a brother and a mate sleeping away the heat of the day and she was getting nearer the mark.
Only one pair of eyes watched her, beautiful blue eyes, and she rilled in delight when she saw them. Shuffling to the side of the bed she reached into a white painted cradle, the one thing she thought distasteful for it was far too gaudy, she would have preferred the rough coney-skin one that Arc made for her, but it did not matter. The real treasure is always to be found inside the chest, no matter how finely decorated it was.
She lifted her son onto the bed, and then her waking daughter, and placed them on her knees and hugged them close. They had grown so much while she had been in limbo. Their little tails thrashed with happiness and they smiled and laughed now as she held them. She ran her tongue along the contours of her jagged teeth and winced as blood beaded up on it from cutting it on one of the razor-sharp edges.
'Luna?' It was a voice she never thought she'd hear again.
'Tamm?' Her voice was croaky and her throat sore, 'Oh, my love.' Her voice broke with emotion.
The family embraced as one before another awoke, his dark features creased in mock annoyance, 'Keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep. You might have had your fill of it, Lu, but I certainly haven't!'
* * * * * Over the next few weeks Luna slept much, ate more and was visited many times. One of the most enlightening was a conversation with her mother about her children. Their teeth had begun to erupt from their tender gums and they crawled about on hands and feet playing with each other. But although they had tails they did not look like wolves and this concerned Luna.
'I thought with both me and Tamm being of equal blood that they would be too, but they are almost human.'
Luna tutted as Luath sank his sharp little incisors into Miran's tail, causing her to yelp with pain, but the little female turned and nipped him hard on the nose in just retribution.
Ara had asked a similar question when her four had been born and could think of no better answer than the one Altair had given her, 'Wolf blood is a very strange thing. It is like quicksilver. If you drop it on the ground it will shatter but merge into different sized puddles. Different sized but no less complete or perfect. These two might only appear to be small pools, but who knows how much flows inside? Who knows if they are a Draco on the inside?'
* * * * *
Almost a year had passed since Luna had awoken back to the living world. The whole family had stayed at the palace while the wolf had regained her strength. Much had happened; Luna and Tamm had married in a most peculiar ceremony presided over by both Polaris and Arc and witnessed by wolves who'd mysteriously appeared on the morning of the event. She'd commissioned a portrait to commemorate the occasion and this now hung in her private gallery.
Their children were growing up well, Luath by far the bolder of the two, whilst Miran was far more patient and less inclined to complain.
Luna herself, ever graceful, now carried with her an air of dignity and respect that is only earned through sacrificing everything and living to tell the tale. Not that she did tell it. On one of the few occasions that she did speak of it she replied to one cryptic answer:
'I have seen the greatest darkness and come out the other side, seen both light and dark and embraces them as one. Suffering is a gift terrible to comprehend and yet great in its offering and if seized can lead to great insight, but at a price. I have lost so much but gained so much more from it. Only Mira knows how much, Lady rest her soul.'
It was both enigmatic and beautiful to the Queen, but it was the haunting depths of Luna's eyes that told the real story and her inner peace seemed to lend an air of benevolence and tranquillity to the castle, which suited the Queen perfectly as she knew that her time was almost done. Arc had been missing for weeks and only she knew why – he was preparing her tomb.
* * * * *
One morning she awoke and knew that the time was near at hand. Her affairs were all in order and all she waited for was the right time, and Arc's return.
The air was sweet and crisp as she walked the grass at the edge of the forest, birdsong rich in the grey light of dawn and Snow White revelled in it.
From the shadows of the trees came a figure as white as the driven snow and with eyes as clear as the morning. Snow White turned to her most faithful servant and oldest friend, 'You're back then.'
Arc smiled gently, his friend seemed to have grown so old while he'd been away, 'So it would seem. If you're looking for them, they've gone.'
'I thought something felt missing, they didn't say goodbye.'
'No... no, it's not their way. They thought if you didn't know how they felt already then a few words wouldn't change that.'
Snow White felt their loss keenly, they had become like her own family, 'Where did they go?'
'To whichever forest it is that they call home, where Luna can raise her cubs in safety.'
'She could've done that here.'
'You couldn't keep her caged forever. Luna is the spirit of the wild, the more you clipped her wings the more she'd try to fly, even if it killed her. She's grateful to you for making her see the truth of herself and to appreciate the freedom she took for granted. Here, she left this for you.'
Arc handed his friend a charm made of some rough bone beads and... chicken feathers. Snow White laughed at the irony of it. Didn't these wolves ever do anything without some deeper meaning?
'And that's not all. They left a legacy of their stay...' Arc rolled his eyes upwards to the covering canopy of the trees. Snow White followed his gaze and covered her mouth in shock, and a deeper feeling of delight. Perched on every branch was some exotic type of bird, all singing and creating the richer sound than she was used to. As one they beat their wings and created a rainbow of colour against the sky.
'She didn't feel right leaving them behind bars. They've all gone.'
'She should've known I'd do it myself.'
'Perhaps she wanted to make sure. People's hearts can be very fickle.'
They wandered towards the menagerie and found it completely bare and barren. The doors were bent and twisted beyond recognition so they could never be used again. Only one creature she knew had the strength to perform such a feat, but she didn't blame him for it. It was a fitting end to the place that now she could only contemplate as a prison, a gilded prison, but a prison no less.
She picked a late red rose from a bush that was already beginning to grow over the ruined place. There was nothing left to do now, but for one thing.
'Are you ready, Milady?' Arc bowed low, every part of him exuding respect for his Queen.
'I have one last thing to do, Arc, I must see Wendell.'
Arc nodded his assent and waited patiently until Snow White had finished her farewells.
'I am ready now, Arc.'
'Your Majesty.'
With an elegance surprising in one so aged, the first Queen of the Fourth Kingdom climbed onto the dragons back and held on tightly as he began to wing his way towards the Dragon Mountain, his ancestral home. The fate of the Kingdom lay in her children's hands now and she felt a great feeling of relief that her task was finally over as the white dragon glided silently over her realm, now bathed in a serene light.
- - - - - - - - -
Mira had been laid to rest in a family barrow at the northwest corner of the Thousand Mile Forest – the traditional pack grounds. The dragons had obligingly taken the wolves there to save time but left them in privacy until the tomb was resealed. A new torch was lit amongst old burnt-out ones on top of the grave to mark the passage of another pack member into the skies.
* * * * *
Weeks passed and Luna showed no change or improvement. Her numerous broken bones mended slowly including a broken jaw, shoulder, collarbone and countless fractured ribs. Her teeth, however, were a sadder story. There was not one in her mouth that wasn't damaged in some way, although the left side had fared better due to the majority of the impact being on the right. Only one canine, the upper left, was relatively intact, the others had been smashed to smithereens. Her already emaciated body grew gradually thinner over time until she looked like a skeleton with fur. Raisho had flown to follow his beloved storms with good wishes and blessings on all.
The light glaring through the tall window was obscenely bright to eyes that were used to darkness. Full summer sunlight settled on Luna's gaunt face and she blinked owlishly as she adjusted to the new radiance. As far as she could tell it was high summer and the sun was at its zenith. A slight breeze blew through the open balcony doors and whisked the thin, gauzy curtains across the doorway, shielding the wolf from the full brilliance.
She ached terribly, her muscles were dull and wasted from lack of use and her bones were still not fully healed and gave her occasional sharp twinges. Then again, she smiled ruefully, it was only nature reminding her that she was on her last chance. If she would continue on her self- destructive mission she couldn't expect help from the fates all the time! Twice in one night was a bit much, she had to admit.
She gently sat herself up on the bed and rested her stiff back against the copious amounts of pillows before examining the room. It was tastefully, yet opulently, furnished with dark wood and fur rugs. Fur rugs that stretched and groaned? Try a brother and a mate sleeping away the heat of the day and she was getting nearer the mark.
Only one pair of eyes watched her, beautiful blue eyes, and she rilled in delight when she saw them. Shuffling to the side of the bed she reached into a white painted cradle, the one thing she thought distasteful for it was far too gaudy, she would have preferred the rough coney-skin one that Arc made for her, but it did not matter. The real treasure is always to be found inside the chest, no matter how finely decorated it was.
She lifted her son onto the bed, and then her waking daughter, and placed them on her knees and hugged them close. They had grown so much while she had been in limbo. Their little tails thrashed with happiness and they smiled and laughed now as she held them. She ran her tongue along the contours of her jagged teeth and winced as blood beaded up on it from cutting it on one of the razor-sharp edges.
'Luna?' It was a voice she never thought she'd hear again.
'Tamm?' Her voice was croaky and her throat sore, 'Oh, my love.' Her voice broke with emotion.
The family embraced as one before another awoke, his dark features creased in mock annoyance, 'Keep it down, some of us are trying to sleep. You might have had your fill of it, Lu, but I certainly haven't!'
* * * * * Over the next few weeks Luna slept much, ate more and was visited many times. One of the most enlightening was a conversation with her mother about her children. Their teeth had begun to erupt from their tender gums and they crawled about on hands and feet playing with each other. But although they had tails they did not look like wolves and this concerned Luna.
'I thought with both me and Tamm being of equal blood that they would be too, but they are almost human.'
Luna tutted as Luath sank his sharp little incisors into Miran's tail, causing her to yelp with pain, but the little female turned and nipped him hard on the nose in just retribution.
Ara had asked a similar question when her four had been born and could think of no better answer than the one Altair had given her, 'Wolf blood is a very strange thing. It is like quicksilver. If you drop it on the ground it will shatter but merge into different sized puddles. Different sized but no less complete or perfect. These two might only appear to be small pools, but who knows how much flows inside? Who knows if they are a Draco on the inside?'
* * * * *
Almost a year had passed since Luna had awoken back to the living world. The whole family had stayed at the palace while the wolf had regained her strength. Much had happened; Luna and Tamm had married in a most peculiar ceremony presided over by both Polaris and Arc and witnessed by wolves who'd mysteriously appeared on the morning of the event. She'd commissioned a portrait to commemorate the occasion and this now hung in her private gallery.
Their children were growing up well, Luath by far the bolder of the two, whilst Miran was far more patient and less inclined to complain.
Luna herself, ever graceful, now carried with her an air of dignity and respect that is only earned through sacrificing everything and living to tell the tale. Not that she did tell it. On one of the few occasions that she did speak of it she replied to one cryptic answer:
'I have seen the greatest darkness and come out the other side, seen both light and dark and embraces them as one. Suffering is a gift terrible to comprehend and yet great in its offering and if seized can lead to great insight, but at a price. I have lost so much but gained so much more from it. Only Mira knows how much, Lady rest her soul.'
It was both enigmatic and beautiful to the Queen, but it was the haunting depths of Luna's eyes that told the real story and her inner peace seemed to lend an air of benevolence and tranquillity to the castle, which suited the Queen perfectly as she knew that her time was almost done. Arc had been missing for weeks and only she knew why – he was preparing her tomb.
* * * * *
One morning she awoke and knew that the time was near at hand. Her affairs were all in order and all she waited for was the right time, and Arc's return.
The air was sweet and crisp as she walked the grass at the edge of the forest, birdsong rich in the grey light of dawn and Snow White revelled in it.
From the shadows of the trees came a figure as white as the driven snow and with eyes as clear as the morning. Snow White turned to her most faithful servant and oldest friend, 'You're back then.'
Arc smiled gently, his friend seemed to have grown so old while he'd been away, 'So it would seem. If you're looking for them, they've gone.'
'I thought something felt missing, they didn't say goodbye.'
'No... no, it's not their way. They thought if you didn't know how they felt already then a few words wouldn't change that.'
Snow White felt their loss keenly, they had become like her own family, 'Where did they go?'
'To whichever forest it is that they call home, where Luna can raise her cubs in safety.'
'She could've done that here.'
'You couldn't keep her caged forever. Luna is the spirit of the wild, the more you clipped her wings the more she'd try to fly, even if it killed her. She's grateful to you for making her see the truth of herself and to appreciate the freedom she took for granted. Here, she left this for you.'
Arc handed his friend a charm made of some rough bone beads and... chicken feathers. Snow White laughed at the irony of it. Didn't these wolves ever do anything without some deeper meaning?
'And that's not all. They left a legacy of their stay...' Arc rolled his eyes upwards to the covering canopy of the trees. Snow White followed his gaze and covered her mouth in shock, and a deeper feeling of delight. Perched on every branch was some exotic type of bird, all singing and creating the richer sound than she was used to. As one they beat their wings and created a rainbow of colour against the sky.
'She didn't feel right leaving them behind bars. They've all gone.'
'She should've known I'd do it myself.'
'Perhaps she wanted to make sure. People's hearts can be very fickle.'
They wandered towards the menagerie and found it completely bare and barren. The doors were bent and twisted beyond recognition so they could never be used again. Only one creature she knew had the strength to perform such a feat, but she didn't blame him for it. It was a fitting end to the place that now she could only contemplate as a prison, a gilded prison, but a prison no less.
She picked a late red rose from a bush that was already beginning to grow over the ruined place. There was nothing left to do now, but for one thing.
'Are you ready, Milady?' Arc bowed low, every part of him exuding respect for his Queen.
'I have one last thing to do, Arc, I must see Wendell.'
Arc nodded his assent and waited patiently until Snow White had finished her farewells.
'I am ready now, Arc.'
'Your Majesty.'
With an elegance surprising in one so aged, the first Queen of the Fourth Kingdom climbed onto the dragons back and held on tightly as he began to wing his way towards the Dragon Mountain, his ancestral home. The fate of the Kingdom lay in her children's hands now and she felt a great feeling of relief that her task was finally over as the white dragon glided silently over her realm, now bathed in a serene light.
