Berrich cuddles the small pup to his chest cooing softly as the creature drinks milk from a leather satchel.
“You should have killed it” Rhonen, General to the King says, eyeing the pup with disgust.
The statement was firm yet it held a note of desperation. Berrich Evanstrand was the king of the Dark Weald Wolf Tribe, situated in the most northern part of the Dark Lands. As Alpha it was his duty to protect his tribe, but what he has done today went against every rule of a wolf king, but he will be damned if this pup is to die at his hands.
Berrich sighs, “I know that bringing her here was irresponsible and will cause concerns…”
“Concerns? For goddess sake Berrich, she is the pup of a Lich!” Rhonen roars at his king, “she…that thing… will be the destruction of this tribe.”
“We do not know for certain that Stellengraffe fathered her.”
“Berrich, open your eyes. She has his mark.”
Berrich's shoulders sag. Yes, it was true. The small fragile newborn pup had the mark of Stellengraffe’s crescent moon on her shoulder. Berrich closes his eyes. He could still hear the screams of Estrilda as she had given birth. There had been two pups and during the desperate fight Estrilda had forced the female into his arms and had teleported them to safety. He had cursed Estrilda for denying him the opportunity to save her and her other pup, but with her last words seared onto him, he had shifted into his wolf and with the pup dangling carefully in his huge jaws he had fled from the Red Caverns.
“I know Estrilda was your sister but”
“Don’t you dare speak her name” Berrich’s voice was soft but the threatening undertone caused Rhonen to back away in fear. Rhonen was a large wolf in his own right, but his king was a formidable beast. The largest Silverback Wolf of all the wolf tribes in the Dark Lands.
“I apologize, my king. But the pup…she can’t stay here, if she was to be discovered…”
Berrich knew Rhonen was right. If word was to get out that there was Lich in the tribe it would not only cause a riot but also demand the death of the pup he has just gone through hell to save. A pup this young cursed with Lich powers will have no control and will be a danger to everyone. Hiding her in the settlement was not an option.
“Call Rhihanna.”
Rhonen nods and bows before exiting the king’s bedroom.
“Estrilda, take my hand and hold onto me”
“Berrich…they are coming…I can’t wait any longer…”
“Just hold onto me”
“Berrich…I am scared. He is going to take them from me…please, you need to save them.”
“Everything is going to be okay, Estrilda…just”
“I…can’t…they are coming, Berrich!!”
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door.
“Enter”
“You called for me, my king?” Rhihanna, a tall slender woman with long flowing black hair enters the room, her head down as she gives a small curtsey. Rhihanna, like most Dark Weald women, was dressed in a brown and green tunic with brown leggings. They were tree dwellers and wearing dresses was not practical no matter their station or gender.
“I need you to do something for me Rhihanna. I need your complete obedience and trust.”
Rhihanna frowns, “you have always had my complete obedience and trust, my king.”
“I need you to swear your loyalty, Rhihanna. What I am going to ask of you…I have no right, but I have no choice. You will have to leave the tribe…for a very long time and you cannot tell anyone. No one.”
“Berrich?” and for the first time Rhihanna looks at her king and sees the small bundle in his arms.
“Estrilda? The rumors? They are true?” she whispers in disbelief as Berrich walks to her holding out the pup to her. Rhihanna takes the sleeping pup into her arms.
“Rhihanna…I…”
Rhihanna lifts a hand and touches Berrich with her fingers lightly on his forehead just above his brows, closing her eyes. Rhihanna was a gifted telepath and she had felt Berrich’s distress the moment she had entered. Her king’s need for her was great, and even though he was a great king with the strength that could destroy a thousand leagues of enemies, his heart was fragile. After several minutes Rhihanna opens her eyes.
“It shall be done.”
“Rhihanna”
“Berrich, you are doing the right thing” her voice was comforting as she stroked his cheek gently, “I will take good care of her and when it is time, we will return.”
Berrich could feel Rhihanna lifting the heavy burden he had been carrying, only to leave the ache of a sister’s death.
“You have my oath, I will protect her with my life. By the goddess you have my obedience, trust and loyalty…now and forever.”
Berrich removes his ring bearing the king’s seal and gives it to Rhihanna.
“You and the pup are under the protection of the Dark Weald’s Silverback King. If anyone dares challenge that, this should prove it.”
Rhihanna nods, tucking the ring into a little pocket on the inside of her tunic.
“Rhihanna…if there was any other way….”
Rhihanna smiles sadly, she knew there was no other way. Berrich has taken her devoted love for him and used it to ask for the impossible. The path ahead was in no doubt going to be hard and challenging, but she has accepted it willingly.
“May the goddess be with you, my king.”
“May the goddess be with you, Rhihanna”
Rhihanna cradles the pup against her and with one last look at Berrich disappears from the bedroom through a secret passage behind a large golden framed mirror next to his bed.
“Take her, Berrich, she’s the one. Save her, save her!”
“Estrilda! No!”
“Save her!!!”
Rhihanna stares at her home from the shadows on the ground behind the large dark oak trees on the western side of the stone walls that surrounded the Dark Weald wolf settlement. Rhihanna has accepted her king’s request without hesitation, even though it meant she will be away from her family, her mother and brother. The pup stirs against her breast and she lovingly strokes the soft white fur. Her moments in Berrich's mind had been heart wrenching, she had seen it all and she had felt his pain. Rhihanna hugs the pup to her, but wherever her path leads her to now she knows it has been laid out by the goddess. The birth of this child has already set things in motion that cannot be undone. Rhihanna turns and disappears into the black darkness of the forest.
Berrich sits on his bed, his head in his hands. He has done what Estrilda had wished of him, saved her daughter. Only time will tell if his actions will come back to haunt him, but for now he is still king, Alpha to the Dark Weald Wolf Tribe, Silverbacks of the North. Goddess help him if what he has done will be the ultimate destruction of them all.
---
Deep in the recesses of the Red Caverns the whimpering of a pup still slick from birth echoes through the damp hollows. The old hag wrinkled and deformed from age soothes the pup’s small head with a bony hand.
“Hush now, Agatha will take good care of you” she grins with crooked and broken teeth, “you are special you are.”
She brushes a long finger over the crescent moon on the tiny shoulder. This pup should be dead. It was a divine blessing from the Goddess and the protection his dead mother’s body had provided him that he was still alive. But, sadly, the pup has not come away completely unscathed. He will have more than just a mark of the undead scarring his body.
Agatha huddles the pup in a tattered blanket she takes from the broken and shattered bed. After scrounging through the debris on the floor for any usable or valuable items, she slings the pup onto her back and with a twirl of her finger the room sets ablaze as she exits through a small opening leading to a narrow tunnel.
Agatha heaves heavily as she finally breaks free of the winding tunnel. She inhales fresh air standing on the narrow edge sloping around the side of the mountain home to the Red Caverns. The pup was restless and kicking furiously against her back.
“There, there, we will soon be home. I know you are hungry” she whispers, starting to hum a melody as she moves slowly sideways along the edge making her way down the mountain. Although hoarse and unrhythmic, her humming seemed to calm the pup and soon he was fast asleep.
---
‘And so the goddess weaves the threads of two lives.
Born together, but ripped apart by a choice of fate.
Will their threads forever be weaved apart
or will they be entwined?’
