Grimmer (Sequel to Kailin)

Chapter 2: Meetings

A couple times I would whip around, leaping into the group of little ones which would cause them to erupt in a fit of puppy noises and a whole new onslaught of bounding little paws crawling all over me. I snorted air through my nose in laughter, rolling along with them in the snow.

Two little pups shifted into their Elven forms to grab at my fur, and before I knew it I was being attacked by babies. I realized that they could easily become sick in the cold, so if they shifted I would pause to wrap around them and be sure they were warm without shifting, myself. Sometimes I would nudge my muzzle into them until they shifted back. It was too cold for them. 

Wolf after wolf, shifter after shifter approached me while I entertained the pups. They would share a few words or jump in to play with the cubs. Everyone was running around, wrestling with each other or sharing short yips and conversations among packs. I had never been so comfortable surrounded by so many bodies. 

Erin stayed up on his rock, laying with his front paws crossed over the edge to watch everyone. More than once he made eye contact and smiled, observing every wolf and figure as they moved around.

A couple of the Eastern Mountain pack wolves helped me by giving me an opportunity to slip away from the pups. The lot were engrossed by the twitching of the elder's tails, and each took turns trying to snatch the tips underneath their paws, much to everyone's amusement.

I slipped away from them and out of the ring of onlookers. Wherever I looked wolves were moving around with each other, until my eyes settled on one woman sitting on a tree stump. Shifting to stand straight again, I approached her.

She turned to look at me as I walked forward, and I knew from that look that she was alone because she had no pack to be part of. She seemed fairly old, too. Older than any elf I had seen. Lines and wrinkles were clearly visible in her worn skin in a way that I had never seen in the seemingly flawless race, yet she wasn't so old that she seemed she were disabled. She was there, after all, sitting straight, hands folded, under layers of thick black cloaks.

I sat on a somewhat large stone across from her, crossing my legs at the shins. "How are you?" I asked her.

Without even the slightest of acknowledgments, she turned her head back to stare off in the direction she had been looking in before. Could she hear?

"Are you alright?" I asked, keeping my voice at the same level.

Again there was no answer.

"What's your name?"

Slightly she turned her head, as if he were checking to see if I was worth telling. I half expected her to give me the same statement I'd heard more than once before: a name is very strong in someone else's hands. 

"Rajah," she replied, without argument.

I smiled as I got an answer. Her voice was scratchy as if unused, and probably dry from the cold in the air.

"It's nice to meet you, Rajah. My name is Ana."

Her head jerked in a short nod. "I know who you are, Daughter of Marza. I only find it interesting that you come to speak with a shriahk."

My brow furrowed at the word. "Excuse me?"

Rajah turned her head slowly, staring into me with grey eyes that matched the color of her hair. "Shriahk. A lone woman, one whose ability is hidden."

Her answer didn't help me at all. I frowned at my hands folded between my legs. "I apologize, I--"

"Your mother was a smart woman," she interrupted. "Keeping you away from Dugrai was best."