Circle Of Sisters
2. In Dreams
The crescent moon hung low in the sky, casting little light through the half open window of the cottage, but it was more than enough for Wolf to see by. Probably enough for his Virginia as well, he thought, feeling his insides squirming at the thought. It was late in the night and some small woodland noise had awakened him as it often did, but he had found himself unable to return to sleep. Far too many things to worry over, his half human mind rebuked him. It had been only a week since Caelum's ill fated naming day and the near constant stress since that night had begun to take it's toll on Wolf. He knew he had dark circles under his eyes, his light beard grew unkempt and his head and shoulders ached from the tension he held in check. His darling Virginia had become so self absorbed in her burgeoning transformation that he doubted she even noticed these things, he thought. But he couldn't blame her, nor carry any anger over it. It wasn't her fault and he had to admit the truth that he really had no idea just what such a change might mean to her, or to any human. He took his natural skills for granted, he knew, as did all half-wolf's, though he could do little else since he had been born with them.
Wolf rolled on to his side, peering through the semi darkness at Virginia. She lay on her back, asleep as innocently as any child. Her face was smooth, untroubled at the moment and he studied it avidly, as if trying to commit her beauty to stone in his mind. Her breast rose and fell with deep even breaths. He wanted to touch her suddenly, intimately, but he withheld his hand, not wanting to wake her. To distract himself, he pictured her as she had been just a few nights ago, lying bleeding on the doorstep of their house. Elsie had scrubbed at the bloodstained cobbles, but the heavy scent was still there, detectable to every half-wolf who crossed the threshold. Wolf decided that he would probably have to replace them altogether. The kitchen table where she had lain for so many hours had already been thrown out and Wolf knew that his brother Willem had been hammering and sawing another one to fill the lounge room. Willem had also fixed the broken windows and had been tending the sheep and chickens. He had overlooked Virginia's vegetable patch, Wolf had noticed, but then, what half-wolf knew how to grow cabbages and pumpkins?
Wolf had been very glad when Willem had decided to stay around for a while. His brother was unmated still, yet he claimed that he had a daughter-cub, Alice, the product of a summer spent with a travelling gypsy troop in the far north of the 2nd Kingdom some five years ago. Willem's eyes had sparkled in much the same way that Wolf's usually did when he descibed his daughter.
"You know, I passed by their camp on my way here, just to see her, how she fares. She's going to be a great beauty, for sure. She's quite tall for her age, with long hair and pale skin. She's the favourite of the camp, a real clown of a cub" Willem had gushed.
"You must miss her a lot"
"Oh yes, of course I do, but I always know where they are and I'm always welcome there. Her mother, well she's the independant type, you know? She has always refused my offers to make our mating more formalised, but then I guess that's just the way of the gypsy folk. No ties, never in one place too long."
"Hmm. So you don't have any other cubs travelling the gypsy pathways do you?" Wolf had asked, fishing for information.
"No, definately not. Why?"
"Oh, just that there was a camp destroyed in the forest here more than a year ago, by the old Huntsman. We met them one night and they had a boy-cub about ten summers old with them. But he didn't know who his father was, so I've never been able to let him know, even if he knew the boy existed"
"I see. It's a great pity when any cub is lost, known or otherwise". Willem paused gravely. "Wolf, the word came back down the line today. James' parents are too grieved to come here yet, but I think that they will, eventually. But they thanked us for performing the rites." Wolf had winced at the memory of the boy's death and Willem had wisely changed the topic, albeit to one equally sensitive.
"Brother, what has become of Virginia? I didn't know her before all this happened, but still, something has happened to her. She's not responding to things in the way human's usually do. She heard me coming up on her yesterday well before she should have been able to, and she knew that I had just been holding Caelum and that Caelum had been chasing the chickens again. I don't know what to make of this, Wolf, but Elsie and I are worried. And we know that you know these things. Will you tell me what is going on?" he had asked. Wolf had sighed. Of course the other half-wolf's would have noticed. He could only imagine what they had been thinking. Trouble was, could he really betray Virginia's confidences to them? She and Wolf hadn't even really discussed it between themselves since that morning when it had become apparent. Wolf had been hesitant to raise the issue. He knew she needed some time and space to digest and process what had happened to her. It was a problem that was uniquely hers, at any rate.
"Yes Willem, something unexpected has happened to my mate. But, forgive me, I cannot go into the details just yet. When, when she confides in me, then, well I may be able to speak about it. But I just don't know so many things. What she's thinking, or cripes, even what I'm thinking about the whole thing. It was no ordinary creature that attacked her, Willem and it has left no ordinary scar upon her. I'm afraid, brother, more than I have ever been. I just can't see the way forward. I feel like I'm about to go moon crazy"
"I can see it. I think you need to force the issue, and soon. Either that, or go out and hunt something big! Yes, we can go together. A good chase and kill is just what you need, little brother" Willem had replied, and Wolf had almost laughed to hear the typical wolfie 'solution to everything' trotted out. Hunt and kill indeed! His brother was right, of course, he did need to let off some of his building agitation, lest he inflict it on those who did not deserve it, those he loved.
His love for Virginia, at least, he had never doubted, nor wavered from. It was as constant as the Moon's cycles. Did Virginia belong to the Goddess now, just as he did? He stirred a little on the soft mattress, breathing deep of her scent. The faint aroma of womb-blood came to him, Virginia's own moon cycles going about their ancient rythum. Would Virginia still want more cubs if she was a werewolf? What would the cubs be like anyway? Wolf didn't know. He really needed to track down Elias again, he realised with a pang of discomfort. He'd been putting it off for too long. The man might even be dead, and Wolf had to admit that deep down he had hoped that might be true. But it was perfectly normal to want to avoid unpleasant and painful confrontations, he counselled himself in the darkness. Yet, he and Virginia needed answers, if not guidance, from the lycanthrope on what lay ahead for them. Wolf rubbed at his forehead in frustration. Stupid! Of course they knew what lay ahead, at least the most obvious part. Wolf forced himself to consider having to lock Virginia up in a cage every full moon. It could be done, he knew, but, would his Virginia survive such an awful process month after month, year after year? Would she grow bitter, resentful, detached from the world as Elias had? Knowing her as well as he did, Wolf thought that very likely. She still doubted her own value, even after all she had accomplished. She would not like Wolf being a part of such a violent life. She would push him away for sure. Wolf dashed away a tear from the corner of his eye, feeling Virginia stir slightly beside him and sigh in her sleep. He turned to look at her again, seeing her eyes roving restlessly under the lids, knowing she was dreaming again. He wished he could wake up himself.
She ran as fast as she ever had before, but it was effortless, like floating above the ground. The trees and undergrowth flew by, blurred, the wind on her face blowing her hair back. The breeze was intoxicating. She felt so alive tonight. The world was her's for the taking it seemed. She felt no fear, and she knew just what an unusual situtation that was. For the female of any species, let alone a small human woman, to run unafraid through the dark forest, well, no one could ever deny the extraordinary freedom of that.
The moonlight lit the way ahead. Her prey was losing speed at last, but it had given a gallant attempt at flight. She salivated at the thought of the fresh meat and blood that would soon be her's for the taking. Ahh yes, meat, warm. The earlier morsel that the prey had tried to hide had been but an appetiser. Now, she wanted to gorge. Wake up, Virginia. The voice floated through her mind and she snarled in response. She was awake, and starved too! She crashed through the trees, seeing her prey once more, but he was no longer the strong, calm one that he had been. Now, he bent nearly double with, what? Exhaustion? Desperation? No, it was grief. How strange, that he grieved. Wake up, Virginia. Did the prey say that? No matter now. She raised her claws to strike. Her claws?
Wake, now! Oh, no, not now, not when she was so close. He had to die. Why? Because it was the natural order of things. Tonight, she was the hunter. But, that face, those green eyes...she screamed, but the only sound that came out...was, a howl.
Virginia screamed herself awake at last. For a moment, she thrashed and fought the strong arms around her, not hearing his gentle but panicked whispers to her.
"There there love, you're awake now, come on, calm now, I'm here, I'm here" he droned softly over and over and she heard her own screams lessening, subsiding to great sobbing gasps as she was rocked back and forth. Her face was damp with sweat and now her tears added to it. Vaguely she was aware of Caelum crying in the next room, wakened by the noise, and she heard Elsie creeping up the stairs and going down the corridor to his bedroom. After a minute, his hiccupping sobs ceased as Elsie likely rocked and sung to him. It pained her momentarily that another woman did for her son what she should be doing. What sort of mother was she? The answer, a very shaken one, she knew, one not able to trust herself to be calm enough to quiet a frightened cub. And she was afraid that Caelum would look into his mother's eyes and see there what she had just done to him in her dream.
She felt her heart beating at an alarming rate. The adrenalin washed out of her body in a great rush, leaving her feeling shaky and sick. Wolf still held her close to his body and she felt him reach for the blankets she had flung wide in her panic, drawing them back up over her trembling shoulders. She heard him growl quietly out the window to Willem and she found herself listening avidly to the language. She still didn't know what they were saying, yet she could hear each and every syllable now in what before had been just a monotone rumble. He was probably telling his brother that everything was alright now. Except that it wasn't. Nothing would ever be alright again. She whimpered and he drew her whole body against his, running his hand through her hair and down her back. Gradually she forced her body to be soothed by his touch as it had been so many times before. She felt his lips kiss her forehead and cheeks. In the dim light she saw his green eyes glowing just a little and saw the fear and worry in them, or was she simply seeing her own expression mirrored in his? Her mouth was dry, but she wanted to speak.
"I don't want this, Wolf" she managed to croak out.
"I know, love"
"I tried, I really did, to think of this thing as a blessing in disguise, a bonus, you know? When I first guessed that this had happened, well, it seemed both horrible and fascinating at the same time. I think I have always envied and admired your wild senses, and for a long time I have felt that a great part of my son's life will be...apart from mine, that he and you will have a whole language and world that I can't ever be a part of. It's stupid, I know, but when I realised that I could at least learn something of what you two were born with, well, it seemed a good thing to me, and I thought that you might be happy too."
"I didn't even guess that you might be feeling excluded from Caelum's life, or mine for that matter. I feel bad now that it never even occurred to me. I'm sorry Virginia, I'm a stupid wolf sometimes. But, surely you must know that Caelum and I love you and always will, regardless. Your being human has never mattered to me and nor would it ever have bothered our son. We both know this, don't we?" Wolf replied, lifting Virginia's chin slightly to look at him.
"Yes, you're right, I know it, Wolf, really I do, it's just..."
"Elias' touch has opened up the world for you. No one could blame you for embracing it. Didn't Elias himself tell us that it was that way for him as well? But something has changed your mind, hasn't it?"
"Yes. I killed him, our own son, and then I hunted you, and, and I enjoyed it, Wolf. In the dream, I was strong, unassailable. I looked on you and saw only prey and yet I still knew who you were. You can't imagine what that's like, or, maybe you can, but at least you have the self control that I didn't have" Virginia said. Wolf's smile was brittle in the gloom.
"Well, most of the time" he replied, huffing quietly, but Virginia could see that he was very disturbed by her dream revelations. Wolf put a lot of thought into the meaning of dreams, she knew.
"But it's all a pointless exercise isn't it? What's the point of choosing when there is no choice to be made? It's not like I can get rid of this thing anytime I want. I'm stuck with it, just like Elias was all those years ago. Magic didn't work on it and it won't work for me either. Maybe I should just take a silver bullet and be done with it"
"A silver bullet?"
"In the 10th Kingdom legends, it's usually the only way to kill a werewolf" Virginia answered, but Wolf sat up in the bed, as horrified as she had known he would be.
"Oh no Virginia! Don't ever think to do such a thing, I beg you!"
"No, not me, Wolf. But, I am going to get one made, and a crossbow or a pistol to fire it, and, if the worst happens and my dream comes true, you will use it"
"Oh Virginia, no, I couldn't..."
"You will! You won't ever let me hurt Caelum, nor you" she said firmly, seeing the devastation on Wolf's face at the thought of doing such a thing. In truth, she doubted if he ever would pull the trigger but she had to have the option in place for them. She watched as Wolf's expression changed from sadness to a grim determination.
"Well then beloved, we really must find another cure, and soon! Surely, there must be one somewhere. Nothing is ever done without there being a way to undo it, excepting death of course. We just have to find the right way, and not ever give up!" Wolf spoke with conviction and Virginia almost smiled to see him so confident. Well, if one of them knew all about following an elusive trail, it was Wolf. Once he set his mind to something, he was not likely to let it go easily. But for Virginia, trying to see a way out of her predicament was similar to staring at four brick walls, like the prisoner in her body she was.
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It didn't hurt so much if he stood upright, Elias realised after a few miles. Except for the fact that standing up meant that one had to face the world as a man. Crawling on all fours suited him much better at the moment, he thought bitterly. Yes, on hands and knees, like the cur he felt himself to be. But he was drawing close to the place, he guessed. The ground had become muddy, damp under his hands and it stank of the typical rottenness of swamps. Elias didn't know who the woman was, nor why she had summoned him here. Only that she had appeared. She had been a beautiful vision, certainly, and she had looked upon him with understanding, not pity. Well, since nature had deemed him to live a little longer, despite his infectious wounds, he could at least seek her out and find out what she wanted. She had left something of a tiny spark in his mind which he had been following like a hound on the trail.
Elias skirted a large slime filled bog hole. At least the ground was softer for crawling on, the sun cooler on his back. A nice dark spot to curl up and die in, this place, he thought idly. He wondered again about the girl, Virginia. She had been floating in and out of his thoughts for days, depending on his level of lucidity. She had stood brightly in his mind today. She would have figured it out by now, he guessed. She would know what she was, definately. A newborn monster, a thing out of fairy tales. She should certainly fit in in this cursed land then, he thought, almost laughing. He should really go to her, he knew. Poor girl, all alone with her new powers. Although Wolf would have guessed by now too, of course. Elias wondered what Wolf thought of his new mate. Did he find himself attracted to the new Virginia, or did she repulse him now? Either way, she was still alone. Did she call out for him? He really should go to her. They were bonded now, the two of them together against the world. Elias felt a faint nudge from the lady in his mind. Patience, she seemed to say to him. She will come to you in time. Yes, of course she would.
After a time, the eerie green gloom of the swamp began to intensify. Elias passed by a small hill covered in singing mushrooms without a backwards glance. The compulsion to reach the lady grew strong and kept his feet to the right paths. Eventually, a small, moss covered hut appeared. The trail led here, it seemed, but Elias was momentarily disappointed in the tiny humpy. Surely such a great lady deserved a palace, no less. He went to the door, pushing at it till he was able to crawl inside. The interior was dry, at least, but there were few signs of inhabitants. But someone had made an effort to clean up a little recently, he could see. In the corner was an open trapdoor of sorts with great iron gates swung back against the wall. Down here. Yes, I am coming, he thought, inching down the stairs. At the bottom he saw that he had come to a large burial vault of some kind. The floor was damp and mushy, the air thick with moisture. In the centre of the floor was the open sarcophagus, and encased within it, a long dark form. Yes, this is how I live my life. The lady's voice spoke loudly in his mind. She sounded both sad and exalted at the same time.
"You live?" he asked, kneeling down at the side of the stone coffin.
"Oh yes, I live. I watch, I think, I plan all things. Do not be deceived, man"
"My name is Elias, lady. Why is it you have called me here?"
"Elias, I am Hera. I have summoned you because I wish to help you"
"No one can help me"
"I disagree. But, all in good time. Firstly, your body, it is sickened with infection. I have sent out my minion to fetch those things that will help you heal. Then once that is done, we will discuss what can be done for your soul. Fear not, Elias. I am Hera, as I have said. I have lain a long time in darkness, and I have learned a great many things"
"There will be a price for all this, won't there?"
"But of course! One must keep the equillibrium, after all. Ahh, now, my servant returns even now. Allow him to minister to you, Elias, without fear. He is totally under my control. I think you'll like him, he's from your own Kingdom, after all" Hera finished, and Elias sensed her withdrawing slightly. He suspected that she conversed now with her 'servant' in the way she had just done with him. He wondered if the blackened, half rotted body in the crypt could move at all. He continued to kneel on the floor of the vault, doubting his own will in coming here when he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs from above. A 10th Kingdom servant, Hera had said. The man came down, bearing a tray on which lay several types of plants and other odd looking life forms. It took many seconds before Elias could focus on the face that floated over him. The red hair, that pale skin, that gashed and ravaged face. The one eye glittered with madness and he walked with an odd shuffling gait, as though pulled by strings. The man giggled ludicrously for a second as Elias felt the darkness close around him finally. He sighed and gave himself up to it, whispering to no one in particular.
"Connor"