Chapter 21

"Forgiveness"

I am slowing the pack. My energy was not replenishing as fast as it once did. Separating my mind and Spirit from my body had taken its toll. Such a magnificent feat had consequences. I hoped this would not happen, but with experience came age, and age, lesser vitality. I would not be balanced otherwise. Exile and his Shaman were hunting us. Engaged and humiliated, they would seek us out in order to enact their revenge while we were still close, destroying everything in their path as retribution. Total war was upon us. To survive, we must reach the grasslands before the first snow, timing it as perfectly as possible. We had spent nearly a whole season on our hunt and the weather grew colder the closer we got to our homeland.

If we managed to beat the first snow, Exile and his pack would have to wait until spring to launch their attack. Many of his allies could not withstand the cold. With the manes on our backs, we Mighty Hena suffered little from it, and although Exile had some Hena in his ranks, they were nothing compared to a true pack. We had the advantage in winter, but we, too, needed rest from our long arduous journey across the land. We must check in on the Rivers pack. Just because we brought them into our territory did not mean they survived. The wild was not forgiving. Neither of us would risk attacking if we were not at full strength, so we raced the sky and the lurking shadows for home.

Had that been our only goal, I would not have worried. But what I saw at the temple, the sacrifices polluting the waters of the riverlands, they could not be left alone. The Shaman would only continue to grow stronger in her new burrow. The riverlands cooled in winter, but not enough to force her into hibernation. She would simply build taller, hotter summoning fires. The longer she stayed there, the harder it would be to remove her. We must warn Brother of the threat to his waters and the curses that would eventually flow down his river.

This task would bring us away from the grasslands, and at this pace, we would surely fall behind winter's frigid breath. We would never make it in time. Exile would catch up to us before we left the riverlands. So I told Alpha to leave me and continue for the river so that he may meet with our allies while I continued for the grasslands alone. I was not strong enough to beat winter and go to the river. Alpha must meet them on my behalf while carrying my blessing. For I was not their future. Omega would take my place. They would need him to translate. He agreed on one condition.

"We will return swiftly and find you on our way back," Omega promised, his head over my shoulders one last time.

I did not realize how tall he had become.

"Follow the Great Star and we will cross paths again."

If we followed the Great Star, we would inevitably find our way back to the den. I already knew the way, but some habits were hard for him to break. He pulled away with one last look, eyes so fierce and determined that, with the pack waiting behind him, I could see he had finally taken his place among the Blessed.

Now, he was the one waiting on me.

"Go," I commanded of him, because I knew better than to make such a promise.

And so they left me for the river, running to the limits of their endurance to fulfill their purpose. It was easier than expected to watch them go. The pack left me behind many times before. Normally, the pups were with me, but the thought of seeing them again at the end of the journey was enough. The pack's mission was much more important. I was relieved to free them of their burden. So I journeyed for home, lighter than before. Traveling alone was dangerous, especially without my usual strength. Then again, I was Mother, so I was never truly alone.

And lately, the wild seemed to acknowledge that more than it ever had before.

Along the way, I came across a disturbance. A small herd of stantler were grazing nearby when a shriek shot up from the grasses. It sounded like the call of one of their fawns in distress, but it was strange. Fawns would not be hidden and so far from the herd at this time of year. Unseen in the dark, I stopped to watch as a doe, one that probably had a fawn late in the season, sprinted over and began stomping the grass to kill whatever it thought was attacking its kind. Its own fawn was probably much older than that age now, but a mother's instinct was strong.

More shrieking pierced the night. This time, of a different sort. It was avian in nature and coupled with much frantic flapping. A Ring Tail rushed away from the scuffle, bloody and frantic. Their hatchlings were known to imitate the distress cries of other creatures due to their nervous nature. With rings on their bellies, they stood on thick long tails to look over the grasses. If they saw something, they would cry out to alert the rest of their mob of danger. The Ring Tail must have been attacked by a bird of prey and used its abilities to call for whatever help it could.

Such misunderstandings were common in the wild, but I was interested now, and after seeing so much death in the heart of the riverlands, I did not care to see anymore. My interference here was just as easy to misidentify as that which started the incident, so I did not worry of balance. If I charged, it still might take some time for the Stantler to see me, and by then, it might be too late for the bird, so I raised a howl instead. Loud and crisp and close, the sound hit the herd like a thunderbolt, causing them to flee and scatter as if many Mighty Hena were on their way to hunt them. It shocked the closest Stantler out of its attack. Suddenly realizing its mistake, it abandoned the creature under its hooves.

I picked up into a trot as the Stantler bounded away out of sight. I headed to where the grass was flattened. It was possible the bird was already dead. Stantler hooves were as harmful as any claw. If so, I would not let it go to waste. The grass rustled. Something brushed the earth. I slowed and walked up to the spot. A Brown Owl awkwardly flapped its way to its feet. It was in pain, but given its movements, nothing was broken. Only a few ruffled feathers were scattered about. It was a surprise given one well-placed stomp would have ended him. Both his beak and talons had blood on them. The Ring Tail was probably the most injured out of all of them. If not, I could always follow the trail and make it so. The few Chatter Rats I caught along the way did not go far.

The owl held out his wings for balance, bending and testing them. I waited for him to see me. Owl eyes were the keenest of all night creatures. And when he finally did, he was startled, but only slightly. Odd given the circumstances. Then again, I saw owls across the starry sky for many moons now. Perhaps it was the very same owl I glimpsed gliding through the starlight just the other night. I pinched my gaze at him, remembering the two owls that haunted Omega at Castle Rock. The pests. Despite their meddling, I also remembered the Sky Shriekers that mysteriously disappeared in the night. I suppose this made us even. So, I trotted past the owl to continue on my way. Every predator had their scavenger. It was a great testament of the Mighty Hena for theirs to be one as well.

"Wait, you must," the owl suddenly cried, breathless.

The inflections of his words moved up and down like the hooting of his kind. It may have been a side effect of sharing my Spirit so closely with Omega or the owls' prowess for intelligence and psychic gifts, but I understood him.

"Responsibility for me, you must take. Saved my life, you did!"

I stopped and glanced back with a slight arch of my brow. No owl had ever addressed me like that before. Their language was just as peculiar as his claim. True as it was, I had no such obligation. I picked up my paws again. But the ways of owls were not so easily dismissed. He flapped his wings, gaining air, but wavering, and landed on my back. I instantly whirled around in a snarl that threw him off. Had he been any lower on my back, he would have met my teeth instead of the ground.

"Carry me, you must!" he explained, flipping over. "Until my strength regains!"

I did not stop to listen, so I did not see him take flight again. But I did feel him when he landed on my back once more. Curse his silent wings. I whirled around again, left and right, but the owl had positioned himself high up on my shoulders behind my head where I could not get to him. He was well versed in the art of Mighty Hena movement. I could have thrown him off with a pulse of energy, but I did not want to waste the precious stock I regained on such a frivolous task. I did not save his life only to end it myself.

"Away, beast!" I yelled at him, bucking a little more.

The bird remained where he was, gripping my mane and leveling his wings to keep balance. He would not be moved. Just where did he learn such rebellion? I stopped struggling. This was wasting too much energy. I still had a long ways to go to reach the grasslands. Growling out my frustration, I stilled. The bird flapped his wings again and settled, brushing off the indecency of it all as if all creatures took great pleasure and purpose in perching on a Mighty Hena's back.

Clearly, the owl meant no harm. In fact, he acted as if I owed him something. Remaining on the ground was a danger to him. He did not have the same buoyancy on the ground as the little owl hatchlings that sprang up on one leg to see over the grasses. He was not especially large for a full grown Brown Owl. The ones in the woods grew to stand at impressive heights. Thus, his weight was not overly burdensome. He might have stood near the bottom of my chest when on the ground, but carrying even just a little more than usual would take that much more of my strength and speed over the distance I must go.

I stood there, battling the urge to throw him off before ultimately deciding it made no difference. My mane was as thick as his talons so he did not hurt me under his grip. The owls had proven themselves nothing but symbiotic thus far, so I would not be the one to unbalance our developing relationship. I was the one who choose to intervene to begin with and this was the consequence. Besides, he had bestowed some sort of owl ritual upon me and it was unwise to disregard such things.

"I do this and the debt is paid?" I asked of him.

The owl looked at me, turning his head one way, then the other. Almost all the way around. He was thinking very hard about something. It made me uneasy. The Spirit tickled the bottom of my paws. The owl remained quiet and I growled out a huff. At least the Mighty Hena's simple voice was complimented with complicated body language. All the owl did was stare. No sense asking anymore questions. Better to listen to that which I was familiar with.

Satisfying the itch in my paws, I started walking. Despite the annoyance of my burden, I did not want to jostle him with the usual traveling trot Hena tended to have. The faster he recovered, the faster he would leave. So, I walked at a casual, but steady pace. The shadow above now perched on my back, quite literally. I thought of the story I told at Castle Rock about the fallen star. How many creatures could I fit underneath my shadow? I debated asking the owl about their involvement at council and their purpose in following the Mighty Hena, but that would mean many words and I still had too far to travel to fill the night to the brim with them. My voice would never hold out.

The owl remained content with my pace. After a while, he turned this way and that, watching and looking and waiting. Always thinking. The night ended, yet my charge did not leave. He shifted every time I did whether it was to sit or sleep or walk. By the second night, I forgot he was there until he finally spoke again.

"Followed, you are," he said, turning his head to watch the darkness. "Go, I must."

He then took off with a gentle bat of his wings against my head and hips. Neither banking nor wheeling nor turning back, he left. Gone much faster than he came. I had no complaint. His leave was all the help I needed. I watched him go, still curious as to whether I fulfilled my obligation to him or not. My trust in the spirit never disappointed regardless. With the owl's sight, he saw something following me before I did. Which meant it was still far away or had not happened yet. If Doom Seers were masters of premonitions, Brown Owls were experts in clairvoyance. Had it been my own pack following me, they would have howled by now. It was also much too early to reunite with them. Which meant a predator or scavenger or enemy followed in my shadow.

I could wait and hide to see who it was or try to outpace them. Both posed their own risks in energy and endurance, so I settled on neither and continued on my way as I did before meeting the owl. Only when the sun began to rise did I stop and look for this uninvited guest. As Day Breaker, I could outlast whoever it was in the day to attack or run as necessary. A head floated over the grass. Two black points raced back from his forehead. They blended into a black mane that made it difficult to distinguish the creature from the black sky and the lighter grey of the land below. All telltale signs of a Mighty Hena.

It stopped and lifted its head, realizing I too had stopped. He knew at once he had been spotted but did not run away. Instead, he ducked his head and folded his ears, changing the way he moved to lead with his nose. He then began to move side to side, taking a few steps forward with every change in direction. Tail always tucked. He meant to approach me. Cautiously, he closed the distance. His Spirit was small, but excited. Yet ashamed. Naked in its openness. A bit confused, but desperate for the encounter he was so afraid of. It was the Mighty Hena with the grey paw I saw at the temple. Alone and a big ragged, he must have abandoned Exile after seeing the Shaman's true nature and fled with only the Spirit to guide him.

Yet it brought him to me and not the pack?

I let him approach, careful not to lose sight of him even for a moment. A single young one was no match for my experience, but I was still not at full strength. I would also not be fooled by a mere tucked tail and bent head. When he finally got close enough, I tested him like all Mighty Hena do one another. I slammed my body into him, throwing him to the ground and wrestling him onto his back with much snarling and growling and showing of teeth.

He relented easily. Always intending to submit. But the force of my test surprised him so that he kicked and fought a little. He could not have survived Exile's pack without some backbone. But I was the one he was searching for. He had no intention of hurting me. When the test was over and I had proven myself of greater rank, I let him up. He continued to show his submission, crawling close and periodically flopping over as I taught him the threshold of my patience.

"Why have you come?" I demanded of him.

I wanted to hear his reasons. He glanced around, unsure of what to say. Outsiders were either accepted or they were not, regardless of their reasons. But to come to me alone, and not to the main body of the pack, was for a very special reason. He would be a liar to claim sanctuary or service.

"Speak!"

I lunged at him. He rolled over to show his belly.

"I come because you call," he quickly answered, bracing himself tightly for the blow I was prepared to give him should he hid his true intentions.

But his answer was enough. I held back my bite, snapping it early. My intuition about him at the temple was right. When faced with the light, he followed instead of fleeing. The exchange at the temple opened his senses, and with them, he followed the very frail trail I left behind when my Spirit returned to my body. It was a very advanced type of sight. He would not have been able to follow it had I not led the way so purposefully. I eased away, showing him my acceptance.

"You are an Echo," I sternly told him.

For he had not yet earned himself a place in our pack. I may have given him permission to be in my shadow, but Alpha would make the final decision. Until then, he had no voice of his own. He could only continue to follow mine.

"Do you know who I am?"

He bowed his head respectfully. Even Exile's blasphemy could not taint the name I carried among our kind. Echo had seen what I was capable of himself.

"Then you know I cannot spare your life if they decide to kill you."

My words in the pack carried great weight, but the pack decided who belonged and who did not regardless of their intentions. I would hold nothing back from them. I would tell them where Echo came from and how he came to me. They may kill him for it. As a traitor and a spy and a rival, but the threat of death was nothing new to our kind.

"I understand," Echo answered.

He was good with words. I would use that to my advantage.

"What happened after I disappeared?" I asked, referring to the last time we saw each other at the temple.

"Your promise was fulfilled," he said. "Many fled under the wrath of the Shaman. Some died at her hand to try and find you."

Just like a Shaman to sacrifice others to obtain taboo knowledge. If she had not found me yet, she would soon. And if not me, then the pack. She was strong enough to find and follow my Spirit trail. My paws began to itch again. I turned away, but Echo quickly stopped me.

"I was not alone in my regret," he said. "There were others like me. Others who want to meet you, but could not find the way like I did."

This struck a chord within me and it did not sound like the howl of the pack.

"Others?" I questioned, whirling back.

I did not feel nor see nor hear any other.

"They are here with me," he turned and looked at the land behind him.

My eyes darted past him. Three shadows started running through the grasses towards us. Mighty Hena. I would have never noticed them if Echo had not revealed them. They were upwind, staying close to the shadows, careful to maintain their cover. Heads low. Eyes fixed.

"They said they were too ashamed to approach you, so they asked me to go first," Echo went on. "That they could not wait to meet Mother of the Grasslands."

They hid their Spirits from me. Rather, something kept them hidden. Even now as I reached out to them with my own. I could see, but nothing else. Not even the faintest whisper of Spirit escaped. Echo was just a distraction. The bait to lower my guard, for if he had been concealed I would have recognized their trick right away. This was the Shaman's work. She made a great sacrifice for such an advantage. The only thing I could tell from the advancing pack was that they were not here to greet me like Echo. This was no reconciliation, but a nasty plot to kill me. An assassination. And I was at my most vulnerable. Weakened and alone. I braced myself, hardening my coat. Energy coursed over me as they came in fast and close. The lead had jagged lines on his face and legs. He bared his teeth before kicking into a charge.

In the brief moment I had between us, I wondered if Omega would forgive me if I was unable to meet his promise.

The Alpha of the hunting party launched himself at me. I jumped and turned to meet him, colliding in a way that spun him away from me. The second, his Beta, blew past Echo's stunned expression and grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and shoulders. He threw me onto my back. In my last glimpse of Echo, I saw the third, likely a lower rank Delta, jump him. Alpha then blocked my view as he came snapping in for my belly. I kicked him in the face, adding a new set of jagged lines to his marks. He yelped, calling Delta over.

Echo struggled to his feet, confused and bleeding. I thrashed out of Beta's mouth. My fur was too slick to hold with only teeth and tongue. A maelstrom of snarls and squeals went up around us as I snapped at Alpha's returning face. I planned to stich his ripped skin together with my teeth. Hackles and fur went flying. My tail lashed out behind me, batting away Delta with saw grass sharp hairs. My mane and tail extended, long and waving like a whip. They floated dangerously about me before settling. The three, pausing to watch, growled at me. Red eyes shining with cursed energy. I darted at them first, spitting fire between my teeth to startle them apart so I could tackle one while biting the other and whipping the last. They darted and nipped around me, trying to catch my back while occupying my jaws. I chased them, whirling back and forth every time they got too close. A double would do me no good in close combat. It would disappear the moment it was struck.

And these were no young ones. They killed together before. One scratched my shoulder. The other nicked my leg. I caught the ear of one and tore through the lip of another. Echo paced wildly back and forth, unsure where and how and who to help. His loyalties, torn. Every time he came too close, Delta pulled away to snap and nip him back into place. The distraction was enough to keep Delta and Echo on the outskirts of the fight. I tackled Alpha, ramming him into the ground, and disappeared with the power of darkness when Beta thought he had me. I reappeared beside him and bit down on his neck. Sparks jolted down his muzzle from my thunder infused fangs. But I held him a second too long while trying to implant paralysis.

Alpha was up. He jumped on top of me, wrestling me to the ground. He was big and heavy and strong, using his weight to pin me until Beta could join him. We slapped muzzles, exchanging a fit of snarls. I meant to blow him away with a pulse of energy before they could entrap me, but it was then that Echo finally took his stand. Seeing me belly up, he surged in to help, biting and pawing at my attacker, but his heart was not in it. Our bond was not strong. He still thought there was room for redemption. That noise and presence were enough.

It might have satisfied the usual workings of the wild, but not the bloodlust of killers.

Delta crashed into him, knocking him away. Echo bit down on the leg that came close to him. A true squeal finally cut through the night. Alpha darted away and joined their fight, surprising Echo with a bite to the neck. It twisted Echo's head under his own. Echo gurgled an awful sound as Alpha clamped down again and again on his throat. Echo kicked and thrashed, but could not find his way on top. He did not know how to collect his paws under the chest and push like me. I kicked Beta off of me when he tried to take Alpha's place. I then streaked over to Echo in a wisp of shadow, pulling the night with me, and struck Alpha. He went flying.

The Spirit was about me now, my red eyes burning, but my darkness would have little effect since we were of the same kind. So I finished Echo's work and crunched Delta's legs to splinters, ripping his belly open with my claws. But these assassins were relentless. They were ruthless. Alpha and Beta abandoned their weakest to his fate and desperately went for mine. They dodged me and attacked Echo who was still trying to get up. Another wrestling match pinned Echo on the bottom between them. Only Echo's squeals rattled off after each attack. The other two had too much flesh and fur in their mouths to make noise.

I rammed myself between them, cracking Beta's teeth against my skull. It gave Echo enough time to try and get up again. With blood darkening his grey neck, he staggered, drool dripping from his wide hoarsely panting jaws, and fell back to the ground. I stood over him, shielding him from Alpha and Beta's attacks until my protection finally shattered. From then on, my body took the blows. Again and again, I pushed Alpha and Beta back with pulses of energy, but it was only a delay. A gust of wind against their cursed protection. The smell of blood became strong beneath me. Echo's breath wetly rattled with every draw.

He tried to lift his head and it thumped back to the ground. My energy waned as he weakened. Until finally, the Spirit around me vanished. It could not last when the meager temporary pack that sustained it was dying. Brief as it was, I accepted Echo under my watch. My heart tightened and twisted with his anguish. Thus was the power of the Spirit. No matter how small it may seem, it was just as potent as if it were the size of a mountain. I could not bear to lose it. I howled, trying to call Echo back to me, hoping he could still hear my voice and follow it like he did before.

Alpha and Beta backed away, lifting with an invisible tingle. My voice would not empower them like it would my own pack, but they could still feel its strength. It kept them at bay until I was finished. We stared at one another afterwards, breathing heavily, exhausted after such a prolonged fight. Alpha and Beta glanced at one another. I was more experienced, but they had the numbers and youth. We were all tired and wounded, but they were bigger and physically stronger. If they chose to keep fighting, one of them would join Delta in death. Maybe even both of them, but I would not get away either and that was the point of all this. To get me to lay my head in the dust and return to whence we all came. All because I was Mother. They only needed to target Echo before he drew his last breath, and I would prioritize protecting him over anything else because he was my pup in Spirit. It was the balance of my blessing.

Alpha and Beta once again lay their hate on me. They pulled back their lips and growled.

Then came the rush. The pound of rapid paws. The flurry of movement as another rushed to our aid. He burst through the grass in a great leap, the highest I had seen, and landed with a delicacy that betrayed the power behind it. With high marks, slim form, and a ruffled coat, it was none other than Jumper. He came between me and the others, dragging a shadow briefly across the sky above him. A Brown Owl. It was as if they materialized at my howl, giving shape to the Spirit I called. I immediately strengthened the impact of his appearance by creating a double.

Alpha and Beta knew it was a trick, but given the way they glanced between us, they could not tell which was real. Jumper flawlessly took on the bluff and charged the enemy with my shadow in tow. Already weakened and now standing in the morning light, the darkened Hena could not risk it. The addition of a single Mighty Hena to a fight, no matter its strength, had the power to change the tide of battle. They quickly turned and fled. Jumper and my shadow raced after them to ensure their retreat. I remained and turned my full attention to Echo. He lay on his side, jaws wide, unable to raise his head. Blood splattered his teeth and tongue. White rimmed his eyes when he looked up at me. His front paws and legs weakly smacked mine in an attempt to hold me.

"I'm sorry," he coughed, tears running from his eyes.

I didn't know, they said. I trusted them. I trusted that they sought redemption like me. I promise. I didn't know.

And how could he? He had been too blind with the light to see. He was no different than a young one on their first hunt, determined to prove themselves. The Shaman did not need to place a veil over him when I had already done so. Echo began to shudder and shake and weep. I shushed him, coming down to lay beside him. The blood crawling around my legs was warm. There was too much of it to sink in the soil right away so it caught in my fur. The bite to Echo's neck had gone too deep. He did not have long left. So, I laid next to him, using all the strength left within me to stay steady. If Echo were to die now, he would do so with the pack, without curses, under a Mother's love. I wanted him to feel it at least once.

He deserved that much.

I laid my head across him to help him fall to rest. Echo smiled lightly despite the short sharp breaths he began to take. I closed my eyes as a gasping rattle shuddered through his chest. Then, the noises stopped. The struggle ended. His body sank under my weight, and I opened my eyes, looking up at the sky without moving my head. Tears shined in my eyes despite myself. How could they not when Echo's death reminded me so closely of Father's?

I thought I would never experience such pain again. Not even in the River's graveyard did I gather such tears. The Hena beneath me was nothing but an echo of a pack. A remnant of a lost cause. A fleeting shadow of what he could have been. But what he did and what he sacrificed to help me was nothing less than mighty. The Shaman and Exile had used him. He was innocent. Despite this, he begged for my forgiveness.

"I forgive you," I whispered, collecting myself. "Rest now."

I pulled away from yet another fallen Hena covered in their blood. I stood there, looking at him, trying not to remember his grey paw or the way he submitted to me so easily when he felt my rest. But I was Mother. So, I dropped my head and accepted the burden.

It was getting harder and harder to leave them.

The grass rustled behind me. I turned and looked back. It was Jumper, slathered in a wash of spit and a little bit of blood that smelled like Beta. Alpha must have been the only one to escape. Now that the fight was over and the danger passed, I looked Jumper over. He seemed older. The time away from the pack had aged him with many trials, but he had healed. His leaping prowess was just as magnificent as I remembered. But when he stood still, he did so while leaning off of his once injured side. A scar had closed around the wound. The skin was still soft. He lost much speed and agility, but he had survived and that was more than enough to lift my head again.

"Jumpy Jump sees Mother?" he asked of me, unsure if I was myself or a shadow, prepared to go back on the hunt after Alpha if needed.

"No shadow," I warmly confirmed, and he pulled back, jaws smiling, ears flat, and tail wagging.

He raced up to greet me with a skip like trot, but suppressed the reunion when he saw Echo on the ground behind me and his blood soaked into my fur. Jumper restrained himself with the reverence of death. It did not matter that he did not recognize Echo's marks, only that I tried to protect him.

"Mighty fight," Jumper solemnly commented, looking from the blood to the dead Delta and the marks of battle all around.

His gaze fell on Echo again. He held his head higher in honor of him.

"Mighty Hena."

I agreed, but like all echoes, they must fade.