After the elders seem to approve of me, Guru orders Ganzorig to return to the town below, which he seems hesitant about but does so. I can tell from his face that he expected a little more for having brought them 'The White Wolf'. Whatever that means.
Guru comes over to me, appearing to be around the same height as Ganzorig, but slightly hunched over in old age, and leads me to a room further inward from the hall where a woman is making a sort of hearty soup, which smells fatty and like a whole lot of umami. He sits me down on a table next to him as the woman serves us up a bowl each. He tells me to eat it.
"What is it?"
"Cheese, mushrooms and beef," Guru answers as he takes a big slurp.
I copy him and soon find myself devouring the whole bowl. I sit back and feel my aching body rejuvenated by the hearty meal.
"What is my purpose here?" I finally ask Guru.
"You will train with me," he says. "Now that you're here, it's time to start counting down the days."
"The days to what?"
He frowns. "Your Moon Goddess has not told you of the impending doom that threatens to eradicate both our races?"
"How would she? She doesn't talk to us."
"Not even her beloved Lycans?"
"I wouldn't know anything about that."
"But they are your, so to say, leaders, are they not?"
"Just because they're leaders, doesn't mean they divulge every bit of information to the rest of us. Do you tell every citizen here what goes on in your meetings back there?"
"Why, yes."
"Okay." I cross my arms, a little defeated at my argument. "Do you speak to the Moon Goddess?"
He laughs and I hear the faint wheezing in his throat from old age. "We do not speak to the Moon Goddess. We speak to the Sun Goddess."
"Sun Goddess?"
I'd never put much thought into the heavenly realms, to be honest. From birth, we are told about the origins of our race from the Moon Goddess and nothing more. No Sun Goddess, no other Gods or Goddesses. For a second, my mind goes reeling through the possibilities up above. I never assumed there would be others since I know even vampires were her creation and the witches conjure their power from the moon.
"Yes, she created us. Tigers."
I nod as my mind wanders on all the different Gods and Goddesses that could be in existence. Is there a Star Goddess? A God for the elements? Of life itself?
"I'm surprised you don't know very much about tigers," Guru continues, "considering your pack houses a few of us, daughter of Silver Bow."
"How did you know?"
"It was foretold. And you don't have the particular energy or pride that Sigmas possess," he adds.
I scoff in offense. "Well, I am a Sigma."
"If you insist." I observe the faint turn of his lips as if bemused by me. "Anyhow, your past is not important anymore, but you may be our only hope for a future."
"And how do I know anything you've said is true?"
"Would you like to speak to the Sun Goddess herself?"
I blink in astonishment, discerning whether or not the old man is pulling my leg. "Is that possible?"
"Come," Guru stands up, "let me show you."
We make our way back into the hall where the other elders are all sitting quietly in a circle, their eyes aglow like Astrid's used to be when she got very angry. But this circle of elders does not appear agitated in the slightest, nor do they look calm. They just look...blank. Devoid of emotion.
"Meditation," Guru whispers beside me. "But it's not as easy as closing your eyes and sitting quietly for a while. It takes years of practice to truly clear your thoughts and, in a sense, transcend beyond time and space and ascend onto the wavelength of the heavens."
"Could I reach the Moon Goddess then?"
"Yes...after a lifetime of practice."
"So, how do I speak to the Sun Goddess?"
Guru takes my hand and I almost flinch away, but he holds me with a surprising iron grip, and beckons me to follow. We walk quietly towards the circle. As soon as we cross between two meditating elders, I feel a shift in energy, as if they have cast an invisible barrier between themselves. The feeling is minor, although my energy begins to drain and an acute sense of sleepiness hovers over me.
He sits us on the ground, in the middle of the circle, this time holding both my hands. And as we sit, I feel my head tilt over to the side, but the firm guiding hands of Guru keep me upright. I try to fight the feeling of overwhelming fatigue until it is no longer possible and I drift off.
At first, there is darkness all around. In seconds, light floods every inch of my vision, when I hear an ethereal choral humming. And then, they fade out.
"White Wolf."
A feminine voice pops my ears after a minute of silence.
"Who are you?" I ask, squinting my eyes to better see the faint outline that approaches me.
"Listen to me carefully."
Her voice fades in and out as I feel myself on the brink of consciousness and unconsciousness.
"Death plays a dangerous game with the blood of the firsts..."
Even though all I see is light, I blink hard to try to concentrate on her words.
"And destiny plays a part in everything...my sister...selfishly...and...he did this...together...they are coming..."
And then, I slip away.
They are coming.
I bolt awake. I become completely aware of my surroundings as if I'd just had the best nap. I wiggle around feeling the softness of the three layers of blankets on top of me. The room I awake in is dim and bare. I see my belongings neatly stacked on the table at the far corner above which a soft light emanates through the lone window as well as periodic unified shouting from outside.
As I peer out the window, I decipher myself to be on the first floor of some building, while some 30 odd men and women are training in neat formation in the courtyard below me. They all appear to be looking at one person, the old man Guru.
Stepping foot outside, my whole body shivers at the shock of the cold air, regretfully missing the warmth of the small room I had awoken in. Guru notices me and instructs the men and women to continue training on their own. At this, they all turn to see where the elder is headed. Whispers begin to spread among them about the blonde woman standing by, shaking in her boots in the snow.
"You were passed out in a matter of seconds," Guru tells me. "And have been unconscious for quite a few hours."
I look up at the sky to decipher the time and notice the white sky above me just the same shade of grey as it was when I arrived here in the morning.
"It is 4pm, Bianca," he confirms.
"That would explain why I feel quite rested."
"Then shall we do a little training?"
I nod and wonder if this training requires shifting out of my many layers of clothing. Guru urges me to walk with him a few paces first.
"Do you remember what you saw or heard before you fainted?"
I frown as I rummage through my memory. "Yes. I was blinded by light, so, unfortunately, couldn't see much."
"That's how the Sun Goddess usually appears."
I shake my head. "To be honest, it was hard to make out most of what she said."
"Because you do not possess the experience to speak to a deity, but lasting all of 5 seconds was an impressive feat for your first time."
"Will you teach me how to last longer?"
"There isn't time for that."
I sigh and get back on track, remembering the words the Sun Goddess spoke to me.
"A few things stood out," I squint, as if that would help me remember better. "The blood of firsts. Destiny being something important. Her sister? Something about being together? And the most ominous one, 'they are coming'." I shiver.
I look over to Guru whose sparse brows twist to worry and trepidation. He ruminates over my words, giving me time enough to study his features a little more. The depth of his russet skin hides a lot of fine lines and wrinkles when viewed at a distance, but they appear more prominent up close. His nose is big and rather flat. His jaw juts out just a little but is well-defined, and a little bit of extra skin hangs under his chin. From the little hunch in his back, I would wager he used to be quite a tall man in his prime, but now stands a few centimetres shorter than me.
"The blood of firsts," Guru repeats. "Do you know what that means?"
"Should I?"
All the things the Sun Goddess said to me send a slight chill down my spine with their mystery, but I would have thought the last words she said were probably the scariest of them all.
They are coming.
"It means the first of your kind," he says. "The Lycan Alpha, for instance, has the blood of the first Lycan running through his veins. You have the blood of the first Alpha wolf of Silver Bow running through your veins. And then, of course—"
"The First Son."
Even just uttering his name makes me shudder.
He nods.
"But he's dead." I look at the grim look on Guru's face. "Isn't he?"
"One wonders if something so powerful can truly die."
I wish I could have heard the entirety of the Sun Goddess's message. Now I'm left with these cryptic clues, and if I were to try to speak to her again, I bet it would go the same as the first time.
"What about destiny?"
"It's best we spend our time wisely on training and deliberate on this later." Guru turns to face me. "Now," he gets into a defensive stance, "let us begin."
I nearly scoff loudly, but resolve to widen my eyes in disbelief.
"Guru, you can't possibly expect me to fight you."
"Afraid an old man might beat you?" he taunts.
But I'm no man for that provocation to sting my ego.
"No, the opposite."
A short wheeze erupts from his chest. "Ha! I assure you no harm will come to me. But I would like to assess your skills. So, please. Humor me."
I sigh, take off my windbreaker and get into position. Guru beckons a hand for me to move first, like the Kungfu masters in old movies. The only thing he's missing are long white whiskers and brows, and an ornate silk robe over the ordinary hooded jacket and pants he dons.
I step in hesitantly and throw a weak punch. He harshly taps my hand away.
"Do not hold back," he says.
Fine. Let's see how you like this, old man.
I throw a harder punch, which he side-steps, but my reflexes kick in as I swing around to jab my elbow at him. He moves swifter than his old age presumes he would.
"How old are you again?" I ask, impressed at his speed.
He merely shouts, "Again!" with a ring of gold forming around his pupils.
This time, I sneakily crouch to sweep his legs. He jumps to avoid this and lands lightly on his feet and as I follow through, he knocks the side of my head with a counter kick. Luckily, I hold my arms out to catch my fall. The old man smiles a little.
I shake it off, grunt and get back up with a fire in my step as I throw jab after jab which he counters and dodges with ease. This only fuels my frustration. I tap into all my senses to see his counters from a mile away so I don't get unsuspectingly hit again. And it works when I move out of the way of a counter hook, tap his elbow in the momentum of the movement, catch another counter kick as he anchors the other leg to swing, and land a hard blow right on his ribs.
He huffs aloud as the other fighters training in the courtyard look over and call out in concern. Guru bends down and breathes heavily but sticks a hand out to tell them he's fine.
"Good," he says. "Now that you're not thinking about my age, I see you do have the proper training and instincts." He bows to end our session.
"Thanks," I bow back. "I've been training with a tiger my whole life."
"A formidable opponent."
"Yes, she is."
A smile creeps up on my face as I think about the past and how much simpler life was back then. A pang of missing Astrid hits me right in the guts as much as the cold, dry air shocks my lungs. "Weak ass" she would say at the end of our training. Then I would retort, "Slow ass". We both had our advantages and disadvantages.
"Good," he says again. "Then you have been taught to use your beastly instincts in human form. The same cannot be said for many of your wolf compatriots. That is why we train in human form first before shifting."
"Is that the next part of my training?" I ask, a little boastful in my tone, knowing I could easily outrun any of these tigers.
"Hang on," he shakes his head. "You have skipped right to the end, Bianca."
"What's the middle?"
"Tomorrow, you will fight them," he gestures at the fighters behind me, "woman-to-beast."
Some of their ears prick up to hear this as excited whispers pass in the crowd. Are they really that sadistic to fight a lone person in tiger-form?
"Isn't that a little much?"
"How else are we to make a champion out of you?" Guru smirks. "White Wolf."