by Claudia King
Even though she knew she was going home, Netya still felt desperately weary. Her journey to the lands of the Sun People had once again made the world seem so much larger than she had once believed it to be. So much had been changed there, and so much had been lost. There was a pang in her soul whenever she thought of her brief, bittersweet reunion with Sayla, and thinking about Adel hurt her even more. She felt as if she was adrift in the racing river again, and this time she had no fallen tree to cling on to. The person she had become as an adult woman had drawn so much of her strength and stability from Adel. The den mother had been an inspiration, someone she cared for, and a voice to whom she could always turn for advice. It was difficult to focus on anything else besides how empty the pack would feel without her. Netya was not even sure whether the others would accept her as Adel's successor.
Yet when she shared these fears with Caspian, Fern, and Kiren, all three of them helped put the worries to rest. The pack would be different, but it would still be theirs, and Netya would not have to shoulder the burden of leading it alone. She had decided that she would leave most of that to Caspian and Orec for the time being and focus on being a good mentor to Kiren. She owed her apprentice the same attention that Adel had given to her. Once she was comfortable that Kiren was on the path to becoming a good seer, then she would turn her attention towards matters of leadership. She had wondered often on the journey home just what sort of a leader she would be. Not like Adel, but perhaps like Atalyn. Soft and considerate. She would listen to her pack and try to see things from all sides. It was not in her nature to lead with stern authority, so perhaps she could cultivate respect through understanding and endearment instead.
Netya reverted from the shape of her wolf and shielded her eyes from the rays of sun spilling through the gap in the clouds. Caspian came up beside her, then Kiren and Fern.
“Is that it?” Caspian asked, once he had wriggled out of his carrying bundles and reverted from the shape of his wolf.
Netya nodded. “I've never seen the valley from this direction. It looks different.”
“Perhaps you're looking at it with new eyes.”
“A den mother's eyes?”
Caspian smiled. “I didn't say that.”
“What will I say to them? How will I explain everything that has happened?”
“You'll find the words. And if you falter, I will help.”
Caspian's reassurance was always had a smoothing effect upon the wrinkles of her worries. As much as she doubted herself, in moments like these she believed that Adel might have been right. With the right companions around her, she could rise to more than she believed herself capable of.
“I don't know why you're so worried,” Kiren said. “The pack will like you more as their den mother than they did Adel. Everyone is fond of Sister Netya.”
“Den Mother Netya,” Fern corrected her.
“Of course, Den Mother.”
Netya smiled at her apprentice's playfulness. “Adel would have punished you for being so familiar.”
“But you won't,” Kiren said. “That is why the pack will like you.”
Fern grabbed Kiren and tousled her hair. “Then I will have to punish everyone instead.”
The four of them looked out toward the valley, trying to plot a path through the forests and hills that would take them there. Netya suspected that if they were quick they could reach it before nightfall. She would have preferred to arrive fresh and rested the next morning, but the desperate weariness within her longed for home. The thought of falling asleep in her own cave that night, with Caspian beside her, was too tempting to resist.
“Come on,” she said. “Fern can lead the way. She knows all the hunting paths here.”
Fern did, and as they ran Netya realised that she had just made a small decision of leadership without realising it. She knew her packmates well, understanding what they excelled at and what they struggled with. Was that something that everyone saw, or was her perspective unique? Perhaps it was time that she looked upon herself with an outside eye and tried to understand what it was that had given Adel faith in her. Once again her life was entering a new era, and she would become a slightly different person than she had been before. Yet this time there was a sense of finality about it. No seer could aspire to anything greater than the status Adel had gifted her with. If fate had destined her to become anyone in this life, it was Den Mother Netya.
The thought was a daunting one. It seemed now that any mistakes she made would be hers to bear for the rest of her life. There was no more shelter, no hiding within the shadow of her mentor, no dismissing her faults as the fumblings of an apprentice trying to find her way. Yet as intimidating as the thought was, it did not frighten her the way it would have in the past. Did that mean she was ready? Only time would tell. For Adel's sake, Netya would strive to be a den mother worthy of her legacy. Their path was clear now, their destinies certain. It was to be Netya and Adel's work to bring the Sun and Moon together. It was a task they would pass on to their children, and their children's children. How ever long it took, they would not rest in their efforts to unify their people. If it had been the spirits' will for Alpha Khelt to take Netya from her people all those years ago, then it had been for this purpose.
But it was not for the spirits that she would follow this path, even if they were responsible for beckoning her along it. The spirits had always been close to her, sometimes kind, sometimes cruel, but their realm was the world beyond Netya's. It was people, women like Adel and Netya, men like Caspian and Jarek and Atalyn, friends like Fern and Kiren, and even foes like Vaya, that made the waking world what it was. She would always look to the people around her first, for it was them, not the spirits, that had made her who she was. The spirits were their guides, yet they alone could walk the paths laid out for them.
Late in the afternoon they slowed to a gentle trot as the twin ridges of the valley rose into view ahead of them. Netya fancied she could already see the faint mist of the waterfalls painting thin rainbows of colour across the sky. Her heart swelled with relief, and this time there was something more to it. Relief was all she had known over the past season. Relief to be alive, relief to be reunited with her packmates, relief to be going home. Relief was not happiness, only the alleviation of worry. Yet this time there was happiness. Deep within her soul it flickered, warmed by the thoughts of meals around the fire with her fellow seers, mornings walking the valley with Kiren, and nights in her cave with Caspian's arms around her. No amount of hardship could ever spoil those things for her. In fact, it seemed only to make them more precious.
She watched her companions as the paws of their brown-furred wolves beat the ground around her. Fern led on with a huntress's natural confidence. She was flighty, playful woman who had been evened out by years of providing for her pack. Kiren walked alongside her, a youthful echo of the same spirit. There had been something very resentful in Kiren when they first met, a rebelliousness born of a lack of trust for those around her. Their journey through the lands of the Sun People had shaken that sentiment loose from Kiren. She too had matured, learning that trust and resentment were things to be earned by those who deserved them, not assumed out of hand. Netya looked forward to training Kiren again. With her huntress's heart, she would grow into a very interesting kind of seer. New and unusual types of people were perhaps something the Moon People needed right now. Kiren would follow in her mother Octavia's footsteps in that regard, and one day she might lead a great clan of her own.
Caspian, unlike the others, had noticed that Netya was watching them fondly. He looked back at her with warmth in his wolf's dark eyes. Inquisitive and patient, he always saw the world more clearly than anyone else. He saw the things in Netya that even she was blind to. He came to find her when she was lost, and he picked her up when she fell.
She had lost her family, she had lost her home, she had lost Sayla, and she had lost Adel, but in the company of her friends she could not be distraught by those things. Throughout
the years that had cost her so much, she had gained even more. A life rich with people, wisdom, and love. Now it seemed like that life was only just beginning, as one great journey ended and an even greater one stretched out before her.
Alpha Orec's scouts spied them from afar as they approached the valley. The moon's face brightened as the sun fell, and mother Syr's pale light welcomed her children home. A familiar sound echoed off the chalky rocks of the twin ridges. It was the gentle song of the Moon People, one that had frightened her when she was young, and now felt like the embrace of a loving family.
Netya returned home to the howling music of wolves.
The End.
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Claudia King is a writer based in the United Kingdom, she studied Creative Arts at university and continues to maintain a passionate interest in storytelling across many forms of media. She owns a banana plant.
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