Without warning, the door of the Great Room banged open, letting in a burst of cold air that doused the candles and caused the fire on the hearth to sputter. All heads turned as one, and there was a murmuring as a cloaked figure entered the room.
“Did you bring a new wolfie up the Sand Road today?” Willow whispered to Nokomis.
“No,” Nokomis replied tersely. Dreamseer glanced quickly at them, as did Crystals, Journey, Swampy, and Selena. The Alphas and former Alphas realized who this uninvited guest was, for she had appeared on the Mountain fromtime to time over the years. And they knew that the revelry of the evening was ended, and that things were about to change.
The cloaked figure walked across the room as if she owned it, her cape swirling, until she stood at the head of the table. Then she removed her hood and all of the wolves gasped. Blazing eyes glared out at them from their sockets within a skeletal face. There should have been skin, lips, lashes, eyebrows, and ears, but the face that beheld them was bone. She threw back her cape to reveal her body was also only bone skeletal from toes to crown.
“So, “ she hissed. “you sit here in your warm den, sharing food, basking in the company of your sisters. It’s all love and light, eh? Well, women,” she sneered, “ that is not real life. There is another part that is not so pretty. That is harsh and ugly, where your illusions of who you think you are get stripped away, until the truth is revealed. I am not talking about what has happened to you. I am talking about the lies you tell yourself about why you are how you are!”
She banged a bony fist upon the table. “The journey with wild woman will take you into the underground, along the River below the River, where you will dance in red shoes, have your hands chopped off, feel your soulskin stripped off, and come face to face with the broken pieces and empty places.”
She glanced down the table. “Some of you have made this journey already,” and she inclined her head briefly toward a few wolfies who simply returned her stare. “Others have made part of it, with more work to do. And others have not even scratched the surface of their dysfunction.”
She reached into a pocket of her flowing black cape, and pulled out a heavy key, tossing it carelessly onto the table with a clang that made the wolves jump.
“This key unlocks the underworld. Is there a woman here who dares to seize it?
And as suddenly as she arrived, the cloaked figure turned and strode from the room, and the door banged shut behind her. All was silent, until…
We looked one to the other, eyes as big as the moon and our mouthes hanging
open.
Then we all began to talk at once,not making any sense at all. " sisters
please!" yelled spiderwoman,we are going to have to quiet down and think a
little.
Well, as you can guess we totally forgot our wonderful meal. While the
other sisters were talking,shehoi had an idea," im new here,and what a great way
to impress the other sisters by bravely traveling to the underworld,and
returning with great tales." So,she waited, nobody wanted to touch the key. they
were afraid of the magic it held.
Later,while the other sisters were
relaxing and talking around the fire in the great room,Shehoi crept up to the
huge dining table and took the key." well ,now what am i going to do?"she asked
herself. the key felt warm and alive in her hand. such strange and new sensations!
" where do i go now?" she thought. I have no idea where the door to the underworld
might be,but I better get the hell out of here before they see i have taken
the key.
So, like she has done so many times before, she acts before she thinks.
The night sky was alive with twinkling stars, and a huge harvest moon cast an orange glow over the land. She walked quietly along the sandy path towards the river, trying to decide what her next step was to be,when a dark figure appeared. She stops dead in her tracks, hackles raised, frozen in fear." come, and warm yourself by my fire" the figure said.
" I don't know you, where did you come from?" said shehoi
" I come from far away, and am known by many names. Please don't trouble yourself about that now. come,you must be very cold." it said.
It sounded to her like a male voice,and as she followed him,she saw he was a wolf. She followed him to a cave,where a great fire was burning.
" I thought I had met all the wolves here ." she said.
As she looked around the walls of the cave, there were strange and wonderful paintings that looked to be very old. It was now that she really wished she had Somawolf with her. She always seemed to understand about the "spirit world",and right now a little guidance would be great! she thought.
He smiles at her and offers her a mug of wine," I have been here for a very long time now,and I've been very lonely." he said. " drink this, it will warm your bones" he asked. "I should be getting back, my sisters will be looking for me" she so nervously said. " I promise to walk you back myself after you rest." he said. The wine was wonderful! she had never before tasted anything like this! and he was right. It was such a long walk back, and so warm here. she began to feel her body relax, and ............ Before she was aware that the wine had a sleeping potion in it,she slept. Lobo watched as the cup slid from her hand and her eyes became shadows.He smiled a toothy smile.The song of the she wolves came to him from memory.During their full moon rituals he sometimes crept close to hear their soulful singing.Closing his luminous eyes he listened to his memory as their many voices sang the haunting words... "Beware of people who's smiles light up quickly and drop away like black eels as soon as you turn away". Hidden he would watch the circle of dancers. He had told the truth when he said he had been alone for a long time.....as he gazed at her sleeping form he wondered why she had ventured alone at night away from her pack.The she wolves had a large den on the top of a mountain called Star.They seldom came into his territory.He lit his pipe and watched her as the smoke swirled and formed the shape of his thoughts. Knowing she would try to leave when she woke,he went down the passageway that led to the deepest depths of the cave. The room that was to be hers had a door made from crude wood bars and two iron hooks as old as time on either side made a cradle for the plank that held the door shut.The cell was dark.Lobo lit the small lamp with a green ember from his pipe.Next he brought oranges and dark bread and more blankets for the pallet on the floor .Her comfort was important to him.Tired of being alone,his hope was she would stay his captive long enough to realize that she wanted to remain with him.He would treat her kindly and perhaps she would stay with him willingly.... Willingly or not,she was his. She still slept and he sat on his haunches and admired her beauty. Her pelt was silken and he could not resist stroking. The Star mountain den was crowded with she wolves. Yips shrieks howls squeeks. What! The key to the underworld is missing? Who would take the key and why?
Euryelia paced,sniffing the table for clues.
The only scent was broth and bones.
A calm voice steeped with authority said... "shehoi".
Nokomis knew this was a rash action taken by a well intentioned and much loved packmate.
Nokomis also knew that shehoi would never find her way back from the underworld alone.
Euryelia swore and strapped on her sword of reckoning.She would need all the skills of battle and her warriorwoman training to find and bring this shewolf back to the den.She selected several other weapons and concealed them upon her person.She alone carried weapons.All the den watched her prepare for battle.One by one they chimed in their willingness to go and help. Euryelia shrugged their voices away and headed for the door knowing they were a ferocious pack but untrained for work such as this.She shut the door firmly and stood in the crisp night.Shutting out all distractions she breathed deeply.Intuition sent her down to the river where the moon shone on the sand.She peered closely at the tracks revealed there .Giving a sniff she recognized the scent of shehoi.As she started the journey that no doubt would be tedious and dangerous,she passed under the Oak.
She Noted the talismans placed upon the alter and the dreamcatchers suspended with the woven hair of the shewolves.
Pausing to fill her waterflask she felt someone behind her.
squirrel was wearing her cloak of invisibility and had her pack and her staff topped with the aurora crystal held firmly in her four fingered hand.
The two looked at eachother fondly.Euryelia hoped the journey to the underworld would not be too taxing for her squirrel.Altho long in the tooth,the rodent still kept a firm grip on her genetic gifts.Euryelia knew that squirrel also was a warrior.Long ago they had served the den as twin guardians.Squirrel was scar clan.When that which she loved was threatened,FangflashR emerged... bearing no resemblance to a rodent.
FangflashR was legend.
The Alphas knew of course,but most of the pack did not connect the rodent that lived in the sacred oak with the mythical hero that fought off the dogusdisgustus alongside Euryelia.
Together the two old friends with the mutual respect started on their mission.Euryelia striding ahead with purpose,squirrel scampering to keep up and trying not to be seduced by the sparkle of moon upon dew or by the whispers of the many animals that watched them from the shelter of the shadows.