***
Ana
***
That moment when I stood on the rock with my brother, staring out at the many packs, was a moment I would never forget. There were twelve I had seen, as they had grouped themselves together so that each pack had it's own members together. I was surprised by not only the number of each of them, but how different they were. The wolves from sheer were taller, with light colors and slightly thinner, lighter frames. The wolves from the mountains on the complete opposite side of Dugrai (separating Cozner from the humans) were somewhat shorter and thicker, with heavier fur of dark browns and greys.
Even while the shifters were very different from the real wolves, they stayed together like family and the shifters took on the characteristics and adaptations of those native. I realized that most of the wolves there were shifters, and Tami explained to me that the majority of the real wolves had remained where they were for the balancing purposes of life in their respective territories.
After sorting through every difference between the animals in my mind, I watched how their eyes tracked me. Finding it interesting, I stepped forward on the rock, one step from jumping off just to look at them. I wanted to leap down there and talk with each and every one of them, not stand up there for them to see me.
I stole a quick glance at Erin next to a grayish wolf, his second, and Tami, one of his next highest ranks, before leaping off.
The moment I landed on the ground on my four paws, every body leapt up to their own. At first a knot built up in my throat and I felt intimidated. So many eyes on me at one time, each of them waiting for some kind of command or just showing respect....
I slowly stepped forward. Every pair of knowing eyes followed my steps. I wanted them to come to me, to surround me, and I wanted to give them each my friendship, my familiarity, and my loyalty.
When none of them moved, I swerved my head over to look at one wolf in particular. She was a mother, I knew, and one of her pups had come with her. She was a shifter in a pack from nearby. It must've been close for her to have been able to bring a pup. Her build and color told be that she was from there, also, with her brown and grey fur and large frame.
Hello, I greeted, showing my best smile in my shifted form.
Her ears perked forward a little higher. One of her dainty paws stepped to me, and suddenly I was being nuzzled by her large neck. It is good to see you and see that you are well, Daughter.
I am glad to be here, I replied, elated that she'd approached first.
Her son bounded forward, about a third of my size as he was just under a year old. He ran between our legs and yipped happily to his mother, who in turn looked over her shoulder to the rest of the wolves.
When she gazed back at me, her face lit up and she said, You resemble your mothers so much. Go on, greet the rest of your family. They seem to be waiting.
I whined happily at her reply and moved around to see the rest.
***
Hours later I had leapt and woven through many meetings, greeted many wolves, and spoken with as many of them as I could. With some of them I played and nipped as if we had known each other forever. We jumped and tumbled together, throwing snow everywhere and just having fun.
With the Sheerian wolves, I snuggled up into their sides as they were practically shivering out of their fur. Quickly after seeing me do that, many of the others trotted back into each other's packs and mingled. Somehow I had attracted a few pups that followed me around as I walked, playing and speaking with each animal.
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."
She stood right after the last words came from her mouth. Soundlessly she walked away, snuggling deeper into her cloaks and stepping directly into the forest.
I sat there puzzled, staring at the snow that had just begun to fall again.
A warm hand draped over my shoulder. I smiled before turning, and jumped up on the rock to snuggle into Zanek's arm, all confusion forgotten. I felt tall as I was able to curl my shoulders around him to hug.
"Hello, love," I whispered, feeling his warmth spread through my arms.
His arms only hugged me closer. He nuzzled my neck with the side of his face and held us there, me soaking up the heat.
"Zanek, I saw nothing," Erin said to him, interrupting our silence.
"I know, Erin. I wouldn't have come if anyone had," he said into my hair.
I smiled at the feel of it, then frowned at their exchange. I leaned back from Zanek. "What are you talking about?" I asked.
Instead of answering, he looked up at me and asked another question. "Would you mind if we left, Ana? There is something we must speak of, and I am afraid we have to see Tailin."
"Of course." He must have seen the disappointment in my face, however. Of course I would go with him, but I wasn't horribly inclined to leave this setting for the cold halls of... what Zanek had called Tailin before – a shriahk.
The slightest of smiles pulled up on his tired face as he caught the meaning. "I'm sorry," he told me. "It's important."
With a sigh I leapt down from the rock, holding Zanek's hand on my way down. "Alright...." I turned to my brother. "Is it alright if I go?"
He nodded his head. "They will understand."
"Okay," I said with a nod, then turned with Zanek to leave.
***
Zanek explained to me what happened on the way to Tailk. Two of the Vari met up with us and I recognized them as two of the three I had met after my challenge in the Kiask.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have been there!"
"You needed your time with the wolves. I understand what kind of connection you have with them," he said softly. "The problem now isn't that he was there as much as what he brought with him."
I had been puzzled at first until he told me of what he'd said. If Grimmer were rising to be worse than they had been before, we needed to do something.
And so there we stood in front of Tailin. The bored expression on her face pricked my mood like a thorn; it was best for me to stay a couple paces behind Zanek.
She tapped her long nails rhythmically on the arm of her chair, slouching low in it. "The man said you had weeks before he even reaches Eritt's camp. I do not see a reason to help with that. Are you telling me something with no relevance?"
"I'm telling you of what has recently occurred. He seems to think that there are many more grimmer than have shown themselves in the past. A number strong enough to reach us so far north, and the people who lie between us are the humans."
"So?" she asked, raising her eyebrows high in question.
I crossed my arms at the carelessness she was showing while Zanek worked at keeping his face level.
"So whether the humans ask it or not I intend to help them. If this war is ready to intensify they will need the help. Camps have been falling at quicker rates and they are unable to reestablish them. While human soldiers are dying it seems the Grimmer are only growing stronger in numbers. After the last of the camps fall, they will tear through Kail unless something is done early on. We already know their final target."
Tailin huffed out a sigh. Her eyes moved around the room, looking as if she were trying to find some way of stopping Zanek in his determination. I watched that look on her face and was ready to strike at whatever excuse came out of her.
"Grimmer won't attack in the hard winter that is coming," she said matter-of-factly.
"Grimmer jump in the coldest days. They live in the mountains. They thrive when the humans are slow," I cut in.
Both she and Zanek turned to stare at me, so I stepped forward to stand next to him.
"The way I remember my winters, there was no sleep for us. Between the illnesses and the frequent attacks, everyone was on their feet. The colder the nights, the stronger the attacks. Everyone knew that. The opposition is practically designed for it. Zanek is right; the humans can't recruit fast enough. With the way it looks now and the information we have, victory... survival...."
I let my words hang in the air. Just thinking about the number the Grimmer must have scared me.
Tailin let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Do what you want. Go on and kill yourselves on the word of the man who once killed you. Kill yourselves for those humans."
I growled as she said that, staring straight into my eyes. Not wanting to stand in front of her any longer, I spun on my heel to brisk out of there.
I briefly heard Zanek and Tailin throw a few heated words between each other, then the soft sigh of a chain met my ears. After that he was right by me again.
After one look at each other, we knew that she had ruined both our days.
"We can't do anything before I speak to the Vari," he told me.
I nodded. "Would it be possible to take a few?"
He sighed, then placed an arm behind my back. "We'll see. Let's go plan for what is next. There are some things that we will need to do before going to Eritt's, if that is the destination you had in mind."
"Alright, let's go."