The Wolf Witch

Chapter 6: The Prophecy

"The first vision was of a wolf scorned. He was beaten, bloody, and in a fight he should have won. He was forced to beg for his life... but he received no humiliation for it. There was a greater price to be paid. The one who beat him still lives, and the one who was saved knows naught of this.

"Next I saw the brave coward, the false mortance, as she ran to meet him. They both share an honor they must regain... and thus, both of them have much to gain, and little to lose. The false mortance lies. The false mortance runs. The false mortance brings death... and thrives on it.

"I then saw four mountains flinging rocks at each other. There were two others too, one tried to stop them, to save them, while the other simply watched them tear each other apart. It was sad to see these great forces of nature do nothing but tear each other down... very sad.

"Suddenly the mountains stopped, and stilled. Slowly, they merged into one. Atop that pile of new, old, and colorful rock, she stood. The silver girl. There she stood, triumphant, yet saddened by the pile of discarded rock at the foot of her mountain. She then looked me directly in the eye, and she said..."

"What did she say?" I wondered after Aerya was silent for a moment.

"I... nothing that concerns you."

"If you're hiding something..." Solstice threatened. Her body warmed next to me; this was anything but an empty threat.

"The future is...delicate," Aerya sounded tired. "I fear I may have already said too much..."

"What's the point of knowledge if we can't use it?" I asked.

"We can... I think..." Aerya thought for a second. "There is somewhere we must go. Someone we must see. Though I'll admit, there is little chance he even still lives."

Aerya spoke of an old friend she knew, called Sam. A human, though one shrunken to dwarflike proportions. He was ancient, apparently, and he dwelled in the hills east of Sacreon. "The wisest man who ever was," she said. "Yet Sacreon still exiled him." She would say no more on the subject.

So we traveled north to meet this wise man called Sam. We traveled without rest for the first three days, but the fourth was decided by Aerya to be a day solely for rest. The spider witch spun herself a wed and quickly slept. Solstice and I had taken turns carrying each other as we slept on the journey.

Though tired, we did not rest at first. Solstice invited me to walk with her. She promised we would stay close to Aerya. It was my fault she couldn't keep her word.

"I should've realized it before," Solstice said.

"What? How great I am?"

"No- well, kind of," the blind girl shrugged. "My feelings in general..."

"Oh, those."

"Yes those."

"Feelings are complicated," I agreed. "I likely wouldn't have realized mine without your story. I didn't know..."

"Most don't."

"I can help you feel something more clear... if you like," my hand slid suggestively up her arm.

Solstice glanced around. "I don't know..."

"I don't want to do anything if you don't want to."

"It's not that I don't want to," her voice tightened. "It's just... I mean... what if someone sees us?"

She doesn't want that to happen again. "Another time?"

"Another place," Solstice's face relaxed. "Gladly."