Chapter 12: Rodain.
I stopped in the middle of the path, shaking. Ever since the sun had set on our way to Taiga’s pack these weird feelings had started hitting me. At first I hadn’t told anybody anything, even when I had started –seeing- things inside my mind I hadn’t told anyone, I was afraid they wouldn’t believe me. That they’d think I was nuts.
When I finally told them about it they all blamed it on exhaustion. Which was actually as exasperating as them not believing me. Misty had tried to get me some nasty stuff, but I singed the end of her tail with a fireball and that ended that.
But now the feeling was worse than ever. It was almost nausea at this point. I tried to take a step forward and stumbled. I fell down and rolled onto my back and looked up without thinking.
My eyes caught sight of the moon and I gasped. It was covered in a dark shadow that gave it a red color. Thoughts began to race through my mind and the nausea went away. Images flashed through my head. A war. Fighting. A Wolf the color the moon was now. I closed my eyes and almost instinctively reached for the flow and found it all too readily. I was soon in it again in the ocean. But this time it was pulling me somewhere. So I let it.
Then the waters still around me and I hung there for a moment. Then the waters dissipated from me. Flowing off somewhere else and I was slowly lowered to a soft green grassy ground.
I was standing in something that looked like a meadow without end. Somehow I knew it was the dream plane, or some version of it. It was vividly alive now. I could see a sky of a silvery color, and emerald green grasses that stretched for miles.
I stepped forward and realized in an instant that I still had the flow sort of with me. Except it wasn’t outside now. It was inside me. It was the most wonderful thing I had ever felt.
I looked out over the plains and thought that I could run all of it. That I could run forever with the flow inside of me. So I ran.
I couldn’t explain to myself exactly why I was running. I felt stupid, but it also felt right at the same time. Like I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. So, even though the inner me complained that what I was doing was idiotic the rightness kept me running and running.
I ran and ran and time disappeared. I vaguely remembered how I had run for what has felt like forever in the dream plane before and how sickening it had felt. This time wasn’t like that though. This time was right.
I ran with my eyes closed. Just enjoying the sensation. Then my paws struck something familiarly soft and I reeled back. I jerked my paw out of the softness and my eyes flew open.
In front of me was what seemed to be a sea of blackness. Not a normal black. But rather an ugly color that seemed to be a true void instead of anything else. It made me sick just looking at it. It almost hurt to look at it.
I wanted to run from it but something about it was mesmerizing. I couldn’t get away even though I was as scared a puppy. I put my ears back and whimpered aloud.
A deep voice broke my trance. It spoke a word I didn’t understand and the blackness shrank away from me. Leaving withered grass behind it. I shuddered and turned and saw a huge red wolf standing behind me.
Smaller than a Rowalkin but still huge compared to me. This wolf had a deep red coat the color of fresh blood. His eyes were a fiery orange color. He had no marking on his coat except for a single black stripe running down the length of his back.
He was looking at me the same one some one might look at a particularly stupid and stubborn pup. He spoke again in his particularly deep voice.
“Girl. Get away from that thing. It’s a Cirkee. A thing night mares grow from and feed on. If you get into one it will eat you alive in minutes.” He boomed.
“Minutes?” I asked dazedly thinking of how I had run through the darkness before. I had been in a Cirkee. I backed away from it until I was next to the red wolf.
“ I-I-I think I have one of those…Cirkees.. mad at me. I hurt one the other day. I freed some one from one. And then it chased me and my paws were in it. It didn’t eat me th-th-then.” I managed to get out.
“ Stupid cub! The thing was weak then. You wounded it you said. That is why it didn’t eat you.” The red wolf snapped at me.
I felt stupid. I could feel my hackles rising slightly. I hated being told off like that.
“Well, when I came into the dream plane it was there too! And it didn’t eat me then. I just sort of sunk in it a little.” I muttered in reply to the red wolf. He looked confused for a moment when I said that and then shook his head.
“ Girl, the Cirkee had prey then. It was too preoccupied to care about some pup wandering though it. And it must have been strong prey to last long enough for you to free it.”
“Whatever. Who are you anyway? Coming here to bug me on my trip through the dream world?”
“I’m called Dougal.”
“ Very nice to meet you. Now, I-I must be on my way. Good…er…day I guess it is.”
“ Wait! Girl! I need to- ”
I didn’t hear the rest of what he said. I had already touched the flow and it was surrounding me again as an ocean. The bubble between me and it that had been there the last time I was in the dream world was gone now. I could touch the flow easily. So easily it was scary.
I hovered in the ocean and I could feel the ocean questioning me.
Where would you like to go today?
“Well…I don’t know. Could you take me somewhere there some of this would be explained to me?” I said aloud. Strangely the ‘water’ of the flow’s ocean was as easy to breathe as air.
Yes.
“Then take me”
The ‘water’ around me began to swirl and I felt something like movement but it wasn’t quite movement. Then the water around me melted away and came together in front of my forming a pool in front me. I looked down at the ground surrounding the pool. It was grass, so I was still on the dream plane.
I looked into the pool and saw a scene in front of me. It was a wolf running through field and forest with a bird flying over it’s head. The wolf and bird changed many times. Sometimes the bird was an eagle, sometimes a dove, other times something else. Sometimes the wolf was huge, bigger than a Rowalkin , sometimes it was small as a Pakuna.
At first wolves and birds lived together in harmony. One with each other. As are the sea and the sky.
The image changed to one of what appeared to be a bird creature that stood on two legs but what different from a bird. He was holding out what appeared to look like an odd flat paw to a female Wolf that also stood on two legs. The wolf look his hand and I somehow knew who they were. Father sky and Mother earth.
The birds and wolves cold speak to one another and lived side by side. And the wolves had the ability to shift, and the birds where the most powerful Aldhi to ever live. But the creatures needed each other. At that time the wolves had no control of the magic, and birds could not manipulate things like the wolves.
The image changed again and this time showed a red wolf bonded to a lovely bird that looked to me like a rainbow eagle. The eagle leaned forward to a pile of sticks and instantly they were ablaze. The wolf made a happy sound and then…changed. Once minute it was a wolf, and then in one graceful moment it was not. It was a creature that stood on two legs and looked like Mother Earth had looked in the last image. Then the new wolf creature stroked the eagle’s head.
The birds and wolves lived in harmony for years. Eventually their powers began to cross the lines and brought the two creatures even closer together.
The new image showed the same bird and wolf creature standing side by side. The wolf creature raised its weird flat paws to the sky and in-between them flickered a light, and then that light grew into a flame. At the same time the wolf creature created the flame the bird changed like the wolf originally had. Now the bird was a creature that looked like Father Sky had. It raised it’s flat paws to the sky and formed a flame identical to the wolf’s.
For the first time there were wolf Aldhi and bird shifters. And for a while the world was at peace. During this time of peace the wolf Aldhi grew strong, but very few birds bothered to master the talent of shifting. Out of all the wolf Aldhi eight stood out. The first seven were all of the same litter. An unheard of number in those times, but it happened. Each of the wolf Aldhi from this litter were linked strongly to a single element.
The image changed again. And this time it showed Seven wolves standing side by side. Something about them seemed familiar to me and I leaned in to seem them better.
I let out a little yip of surprise when I saw who they were. They were the sightless, but none of them were blind. And after a moment of studying them I realized they were all slightly different in little ways from the sightless I had always seen. Even so, the whole thing still gave me the creeps.
The eighth wolf was one of no relation to this litter at all. She was one of the first of the kind called the Kyrnin. She was powerful not because of her great strength in any particular element, but rather in the fact that she could equally control all elements. And she could control them all well, so she could be considered the master of any element, even spirit.
The one changed to an Image of a Kyrnin who looked vaguely familiar to me. She looked cool and composed. And just the way she stood told me that some how she commanded great respect.
Her true name is lost, but she has been called Penelope, the dream weaver. She was called this because of her ability to enter the dream plane and command the Cirkees and Dilshees.
Now the pool showed the same wolf standing inside the dream plane. On her left side was something that looked like a wildcat made entirely of light. On her right was one of the Cirkees, except now instead of just being a black pool it held the form of a dark horse. Both the cat of light and the dark horse seemed ready to obey Penelope.
In the time of the eight there was another wolf. Equal power to any of the seven from the single litter. His power lay in the control of life and death. His true name has too been lost. But know he is known simply as Ravensbane.
I saw the silhouette of a wolf standing against a backdrop of a flaming forest. I shuddered.
Ravensbane, for some reason, formed the idea in his mind that wolves were the superior of the two species. He began to grow disgusted with the birds and soon hated them. His hate grew and grew until it was out of control. It was like a disease and spread form him to many wolves. And the Earth and the Sky were severed as the birds were driven from their safe bonds with the wolves. The wolves too the advantage of surprise and used it against the birds. They used their magic to not only drive the birds from them but to wound the birds’ minds. Making them seem like dumb animals. Along with the birds other animals lost their sentience and the wolves rose to what they thought to be lords of the earth.
The scene changed to ones of the wolves using magic to drive herds of birds and smaller beasts away from them. At firs the animals spoke but soon they did nothing but bleat in fear and squawk. I shuddered, horrified at what my species had done.
A handful of birds escaped the wolves and retained their sentience. In desperation they went looking for someone to help them, any one. And they found a small group of wolves who were angry at their own kind for what they had done. The birds begged these wolves for help and the wolves agreed to give the birds the help they requested.
Now the image was one that looked like a group of Songeagles and a few strange looking other birds approaching a group of wolves. Some were in the forms of normal wolves. Others were in the strange bipedal form. I saw the birds speaking silently to the wolves and the wolves’ faces shaping into snarls of disgust. I could tell that the disgust was not at the birds based on the glazed over and far away look in the wolves’ eyes. I felt a tiny burst of joy and pride at seeing some of the wolves there had the red fur and long slim muzzles of Kyrnin.
The band of wolves who had not abandoned the birds was small, but they were powerful. For they were led by Penelope and with her came the liter of Seven as well as the entire packs of the Kyrnin and the Tyr. They turned and fought against the wolves who had wronged the birds. The battle was harsh and many died and although powerful wolves were among the smaller group they were destined to fail. One of the Tyr prophets foresaw this and warned Penelope. The powerful Aldhi thought hard and long and finally devised a plan to not only to bring some sort of justice, but to give a sort of second chance to wolfkind.
She told the seven to wait for her at the field of fire, a field that was called so because it was covered in a plant called brightweed that bloomed red in the spring.
The rest of the wolves she lead into a portal into the Between along with the birds that had come to them for help. And from the Between she lead them to the otherworld and told them to stay there. The packs however were not ready to leave her to fight for herself. In the end Penelope only managed to persuade the birds and half of each pack to stay in the otherworld. The other half returned to the real world with her.
Penelope lead her wolves to the field of fire where each wolf took part in the greatest control of me that has ever occurred. All the wolves merged their powers together and called upon me, and I came as was my duty.
As the flow placed these words inside my head, telling me the story I saw the story it was telling happening in the pool. I saw Penelope form her plan, lead the wolves to the wolves to the otherworld and then return with a small band to complete a doomed mission. I felt a tear roll down the side of my face.
Penelope and the seven shifted to their bipedal forms , because a wolf in bipedal form can for some reason call me much better than when they are in their four legged form. The other wolves started to change after she had but she commanded them to stop. They did so. Penelope gathered as much of me to herself as she could and the others all did the same. Then in unison they released me willing me to do one thing. To seal away the ability to shift from all the wolves on that world.
I watched in fascination as the pool showed all the Aldhi in unison controlling the essences with all their might. On the edge of the red felid I could see other wolves, most of them in their four legged form but a few in their bipedal one. As they saw the Aldhi they began to race across the field. Their faces were full of fear and hate of the Aldhi. Then the Aldhi released their magic onto the wolves and they stopped dead. Now it was clear that fear had taken over and there wasn’t anymore room in them for hate.
So I did.
The same scene continued on. Now hate was again inside the other wolves and they were tearing forward. I saw Penelope yell something to other wolves and they ran as if they had been commanded to do so. But Penelope and the seven remained. The furious wolves descended on them and began to rip at them. I wondered for a minute why they didn’t just shift to four leggers and run away. Then I realized that when the ability to be shift had been sealed it had been sealed in all. Even them.
I heard my self cry out ‘No!’ and almost didn’t feel it. I saw the eight wolves being literally ripped to pieces by the angry wolves. I knew I couldn’t do anything, and that this had happened long ago, but it still hurt. It hurt a lot. I started sobbing uncontrollably and the image of the pool blurred in front of me.
I pulled my head back so my tears wouldn’t fall in the pool. Because somehow letting my tears mix with the flow seemed wrong to me. I swallowed and forced myself to look back at the pool. The fight was nearly done now and the meadow was really ablaze, with real fire. I saw Penelope, the only wolf in the scene that wasn’t dead stagger onto her feet and begin to do what singing. I strained forward and somehow heard the words, or I thought I heard them. They sounded kind of familiar to me and I forgot how sad I was for a moment to let my entire mind focus on where I had heard the words. Then it dawned on me. She was singing the Song of Change, the prophesy I had been told ever since I was little was not true.
But now…Now I highly doubted what I had been told. After seeing this as far as I was concerned the song was true. And from what this picture looked like it was Penelope herself who had prophesied it.
All eight of them died that day. And a bird that was nearby, with still half of its wits carried Penelope’s dieing words to the wolves that had escaped. The escaped wolves vowed to preserve her memory forever until the day her words were fulfilled. And So those two packs even up to the present day still teach their little cubs the Song of Change even though none believe it to be true and they have long forgotten their reasons for teaching it.
And though wolves claim it a fallacy it is true. In my place outside of time I have watched this prophesy be fulfilled a hundred hundred times. Even if had not seen it I would know it to be true. It is needed to restore the balance of this world. To renew the links between the Earth and the Sky.
The images in the pool cleared and the flow broke from that form and surrounded me again. I hung in the now endless seeming ocean of the flow for a moment. I was as silent as a stone.
Did that give you the answers you needed?
“Yes,” I said in response,” Most of them anyway. But you don’t need to answer the rest. I don’t think I want any more answers right now.”
If you do not more answers then where do you want to go now?
“I think I’d like to go back to the real world and leave the dream plane. You can do that for me right?”
Yes.
“Ok then. I’m ready to go any time now.”
I felt the water begin to pull me down. I didn’t fight it. It pulled me far down into it and then it started to disappear around me. To vanish. Within a few moments I was hovering in a beautiful, dreamless, emptiness and was truly asleep.