Elemental Rising

by Toni Cox

  I am going for a walk in the forest. Will you stay close? She gave Midnight a mental picture of where she planned to go and she felt him acknowledge her.

  The fresh air cleared her head and soon the throbbing faded to a dull ache she hardly noticed. Wolf was already waiting for her at the bottom of the steps, wagging his tail, eager to go. Quickly, she crossed the Gathering Grounds and proceeded into the forest on the northern side of the village. It was flatter here, not as mountainous as the forest to the west and south, and would make for easier walking. Wolf was soon out of sight, darting in and out of the bushes, startling squirrels and other small creatures. Maia opened her mind, letting the Eläm of all the living creatures touch her. Although she knew it, the sheer number of living creatures in the forest astounded her and she revelled in the brilliance of their multitude.

  She walked like this for over an hour, more feeling the forest than seeing it. Eventually she came to a small clearing and she sat on a log and drank from the water flask she had brought. Wolf sat down by her feet, his mouth open, panting and his long tongue hanging low, dripping onto the ground. He almost looked like he was smiling. It had been a long time since she had last spent this much time alone with him. She rubbed his shaggy fur and then scratched him behind the ear. He tilted his head, enjoying her attention.

  The clearing was too small for Midnight to land, but she saw him circling overhead and waved at him. Through his mind she saw herself as a small speck in a small space of green surrounded by tall trees.

  She slung her water flask across her chest and dove back into the forest. She followed a narrow game trail that she knew would eventually come out by a lake with a clearing large enough for Midnight to land. As she walked, the woods became denser and the small amount of light that filtered through the canopy was only just enough to see by. The air smelled of pine needles and the hum of beetles and insects was a constant companion to her footsteps.

  She kept her mind open as she walked, aware of the creatures around her, but she knew that Midnight was also scanning the area around her and no-one would be able to sneak up to her. If all the attacks had indeed been Vampyres, then maybe she should not be walking in the forest by herself. Her father would not approve, she knew, but she had Wolf and Midnight with her and she felt safe enough.

  Once, she encountered a deer and her fawn. Both stared at her for a while, before they saw Wolf and took off at a run. They were soon out of sight. She could have calmed them with her mind, letting them know that he meant them no harm, but there had been no need, they would soon settle down again.

  As the morning progressed, the air started to warm up and she started to sweat. She shrugged out of her jacket and tied it around her waist, before rearranging her bow across her shoulders again so it would sit comfortably. It was tedious to carry it around with her, but she saw the necessity for it. If something was around that meant her harm, at least she would be able to defend herself, if Wolf and Midnight did not get to it first. Defence was the only reason why she had decided to take the weapon, as she had stopped hunting once her powers were fully developed. Hunting made her sick.

  She had learned to hunt when she was a child and she was good at it. The only one who rivalled her with a bow was Archer and she still sometimes challenged him on the practice field. Like her, he also preferred the compound bow, unlike most of the Hunters, who had either long bows or cross bows, like Jasmin. But the compound bow suited her. It was slightly smaller and, due to its mechanisms, yielded more power when released than an ordinary bow. She had assisted in the making of it. From cutting the materials, which ranged from wood to ivory to horn and various other things, to curing and drying and polishing. She had enjoyed it, but it had taken over three Moons to make.

  Maia enjoyed the green twilight of the forest and she soon forgot about her headache and her worries of the past few days. Her stride was easy and relaxed and her pace soon lulled her into a dream-like state, seeing only the path in front of her and listening to the soothing sounds of the forest.

  When Wolf suddenly gave a sharp warning yap, she startled out of her reverie, her heart racing. Instinctively, she crouched into a defensive position, looking around for the danger. She briefly thought of Death, but then almost immediately saw the bear. A huge male with a shaggy, brown coat and claws as long as daggers standing not fifty paces from her. He was clearly agitated, roaring his warning at her, spittle flying from his mouth.

  She only had a moment to wonder why she had not noticed his Life-Force in her mind, when he dropped back on all fours and sprinted towards her. Her mind raced. She thought about trying to connect with the bear, but he was so close, she doubted she would be able to gentle his temper before he reached her. Although she was fleet, over a distance, she would probably not be able to outrun him. Bears could also climb, so taking to the trees was not an option.

  Wolf was now growling fiercely, his fur bristling, running towards the bear and then circling him, nipping at his heels. Maia started to run. It was probably not the best idea, but she could think of nothing else. She worried about Wolf. One swipe of the bear’s great paw could kill him instantly, but she dared not look back. Mentally, she screamed at Midnight, relaying her location and situation, although she knew that he could not help her. The woods were too thick. In the distance, she heard him roar.

  The bear also roared again. She thought he sounded closer. She ran faster. The path was at an incline, rising towards a ridge. She knew, behind the ridge the forest would open up and drop down toward the clearing by the lake. She just needed to make it there. Her breathing was coming in ragged gasps by now, more from panic, than exertion. She raced up the hill, her legs burning. Just another hundred paces and she would reach the top. Then her heart skipped a beat as she heard Wolf yelp and the bear roar. She darted behind a tree and looked back. Midnight roared again in the distance.

  Wolf was lying on his side, breathing heavily. The bear had stopped and was now slowly shuffling towards the wolf, grunting. Wolf whined and tried to rise. He yelped again, his legs gave out and he lay still yet again. The bear closed in on him.

  A terrible calm settled over Maia. She knelt on one knee, breathing deep and slow. She pulled her bow over her head and notched an arrow. The bear had almost reached Wolf, who was now still and not moving. She pulled her right hand back towards her face, taking careful aim. The string made a strange twanging sound as she released the arrow. She watched it fly and bury itself deep in the bears shoulder, even as she reached for another arrow. Wounded bears were exceptionally dangerous and this one was already enraged. It roared mightily as the arrow struck and it rose onto his hind legs, turning towards her. She didn’t think. There was no time. He was barely twenty paces from her. She aimed and let go of her second arrow. With a terrible crunch, it hit the back of the bears open mouth, and almost in slow motion, she watched it disappear for a moment and then fly out the back of his throat with a spray of blood. She gagged.

  The bear dropped to all fours again. He shook his head as if to rid himself of an annoying fly. More blood sprayed around the bear’s head. Maia gagged again.

  The shaggy beast took a few steps towards her, he grunted, the blood gurgling in his throat. Maia’s body shook. Midnight roared.

  Once more the bear grunted, then sank down to the ground, shivered and then lay still.

  The world spun before her eyes and before she knew it, she was lying on her side, shaking, gasping for breath. Her stomach convulsed. She only just managed to get up on her elbow, before she noisily retched and heaved, spewing the little bit of water she had drank earlier onto the forest floor.

  After a few minutes, her breathing slowed. Midnight’s thoughts assaulted her now that her panic had subsided. She reassured him that she was all right. Her stomach still hurt, but her legs were steady enough to walk. She picked up her bow and notched an arrow, then walked towards the bear. Carefully she circled him, hoping he was dead and hating herself for it. Once she was past him, she stopped
aiming and ran toward where Wolf lay. Carelessly, she dropped her bow next to him and knelt, carefully examining him. He lifted his head, whined, and then licked her face.

  She felt her tears run down her face as relief washed over her. Wolf had three broken ribs and two nasty gashes in his side, where the bear’s claws had ripped his skin. Bits of flesh were hanging out of the wound and it was bleeding. She swallowed hard, feeling his pain as her own. Then, with one last glance towards the bear to make sure he had not moved, she bent over her wolf and concentrated her energy to heal his injuries.

  Exhausted, she leant against the tree. She watched as Wolf circled the bear carefully, sniffing at the still form. She heard Midnight roar again. He was waiting for her by the lake. She knew he was pacing to and fro where the game trail emerged from the forest. She assured him she was on her way. Wearily, she rose to her feet, her legs still shaking. It wasn’t the healing that had exhausted her so, but the killing. She wondered why it was so difficult now. When she was younger, she had been able to hunt, had even enjoyed it until her powers got stronger. But this…she shook her head, this she would not do again if she could avoid it.

  As she walked past the bear’s prone body a thought occurred to her. At first, she dismissed it, but then she thought about the waste of leaving the bear here. She had killed it and she might as well make use of it.

  “Help me, Wolf.” She motioned for him to come. “Hold this.” She shook the bear’s fur on his neck.

  Wolf cocked his head at her. He knew the motion. It signalled a game of tug-of-war, which he loved. Wagging his tail, he clamped his mouth over the fold of skin Maia held for him and started to walk backwards, tugging on the bear. Maia grabbed hold as well and, with their combined strength, they managed to move the bear.

  Maia grunted. The beast was heavy. The rise was another thirty or so paces away. She would have to get the bear over the rise and then down another twenty paces before the woods thinned out enough for Midnight to crawl underneath the tress to do the rest of the work.

  She gritted her teeth and carried on. Wolf was still tugging on the bear. She worried that he might damage the coat with his teeth, but it could not be helped. Step by step, they came closer to the ridge. Sweat ran down her face, stinging her eyes. She tugged again and the bear moved another fraction. Her back muscles ached from the strain. Wolf’s tail was still wagging. At least you’re enjoying yourself, she thought and pulled again.

  Once they had reached the top of the rise, she straightened up and stretched her back. She saw Midnight’s great head down the path, looking into the forest. A puff of smoke curled from his nostrils when he saw her. He crouched down and moved a ways into the forest, until it became too dense for him. Although the trees were tall here, they were too close together for Midnight to move between them. He had no choice but to wait for her to come closer. Maia felt his annoyance and braced herself for the next effort.

  Going downhill was a bit easier, although the bear was by no means lighter. Soon they were close enough and, with some mental images of what she had planned with the bear, asked Midnight to drag him into the open. The dragon had even sharper teeth than the wolf and he would certainly damage the coat. She had him grab the bear by a hind paw, where he would do the least damage, and drag him out that way.

  Stifling a laugh, she watched her great dragon crawl backwards under the trees, holding the bear as if it might bite him. She tried to hide the image from him, so as not to hurt his pride, but soon tendrils of smoke were rising from both his nostrils, displaying his displeasure.

  Picking up on Maia’s mood, Wolf danced around the dragon and the bear, yapping playfully.

  Finally, they were out in the open. The lake sparkled in the midday sun and Maia wondered how it had gotten so late. Wolf immediately bounded to the water and drank noisily. Maia showed Midnight where to put the bear and then, after a short rest, she bent to the grisly task of skinning the bear. If she wanted the hide, she would have to take it off him now. She had her knife with her and she knew how, but she dreaded it.

  Grimacing, she fought off another bout of nausea. His hide was thick, but her knife was sharp. She slit his throat, then opened him from his neck to his anus. She was careful not to nick the flesh beneath the hide. Skinning would be a lot easier if it was intact. Soon she was covered in blood. She made some incisions along the bear’s paws. She would have liked to keep the paws attached, but although Midnight had tried not to damage the skin, both hind legs of the bear had more holes than a sieve. After another couple of strategic incisions, she started to peel the skin back, severing its attachments to the flesh with careful strokes of her knife. Midnight assisted lifting and rolling the bear as she needed, so that she could remove the skin without damaging it. Once she had managed to remove the bear’s hide completely, she rolled it up and put it to the side. Then she cut a big chunk out of the bear’s thigh and threw it to Wolf, who sat about devouring it immediately.

  “The rest is yours,” she said to Midnight, happy to be finished with the bloody task.

  Midnight’s tail twitched slightly, then, as if the bear was still alive, pounced on it, grabbed it with his long talons and with two powerful flaps of his wings settled a little further down the meadow to eat.

  Maia watched him for a short while. The bear was only about half the size of Midnight’s muzzle and she was sure that, if he had wanted to, he could have swallowed the bear in one great gulp. Yet he took his time, ripping it apart piece by piece and she could feel his satisfaction of devouring the beast that had caused her so much pain.

  She looked down at herself, seeing the blood smeared over her clothes and bare skin and she felt the bile rise in her throat again. The smell of blood was strong in her nose. Disgusted, she stripped off her clothes. Holding them at a distance from her, she walked over to the lake and knelt by a flat stone half submerged in the water.

  Furiously, she started to rub and beat every item of her clothing against the rock. She wet it, rubbed it and pounded it over and over until the last of the blood was out. Breathing hard, she waded back to shore and spread her clothes over the grass to dry. The smell of blood still lingered about her, so she ran back into the water and scrubbed herself with sand from the bottom until she was pink all over. She rubbed her hair and washed it out several times, before she was satisfied that nothing of the bear remained upon her. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was done. Although she had not enjoyed having to kill the bear, she was proud of what she had accomplished. She had saved herself and Wolf and now even had a bear skin to show for it.

  Now feeling better, she swam out into the lake. It wasn’t very large. She could see the opposite shore from where she was. Because it was exposed to sunlight the entire day, the water was surprisingly warm. She squinted at the bright surface of the water, then turned on her back and floated, enjoying the quiet and the great, blue expanse above her.

  Suddenly, Wolf yapped at her from the shore. She turned to look at him. He was standing on the narrow strip of beach surrounding the lake, wagging his tail.

  “Come, Wolf.” She made the motion, but he yapped again and sat down. She frowned and was about to swim towards shore, when there was a great splash behind her, showering her with great drops. She bobbed up and down as a ripple of waves caught her.

  Then there was silence and she watched as the ripples slowly faded around her. Her body tensed in anticipation. She could not see anything below the shiny surface of the water, but she knew he was there. Her skin tingled as she trod water, turning in circles, wondering where he would surface. Then she felt a disturbance in the water and she squealed as Midnight rose from beneath her to lift her into the air, just to drop her back into the water from up high. She came up spluttering, but laughing. Wolf finally decided to join in the fun and jumped into the lake, paddling towards them. Midnight made a sound in the back of his throat, which Maia thought was what a laugh would sound like, if dragons could laugh.

  “You will not do that again,”
Jagaer said sternly. He was pacing up and down in front of her.

  He was visibly upset and Maia understood why.

  “Yes, Father,” Maia said contritely.

  “No-one is to go into the forest alone until these attacks have stopped, not even you.” He turned and paced the other way. “Especially not you,” he glowered at her.

  “Yes, Father,” she repeated.

  Maia had not told him of the bear. Once she had returned and realised that they had all been looking for her, she had decided to hide the skin. Although she would not have lied about it if asked, she felt it would be better if they didn’t know. And no-one asked about a bear, so she remained silent.

  Once her father calmed down, he took her in his arms and held her for a while.

  “You are the only daughter I have,” he said softly.

  Maia made her way through the city with her brother, to join the others in the Elder Hall to discuss the meeting in Braérn. The people of Tarron Heights had decided to stay one more day, adding to the crowd that now gathered there.

  The hall was already half full by the time Maia and Jaik found their seats.

  “You know you can tell me.” Jaik whispered in her ear.

  “Tell you what?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him, but she wasn’t surprised. Her brother always knew when she had a secret.

  “I saw what Midnight dropped off behind the Tannery for you,” he said with a wink, “and I don’t think it was Midnight that undressed the bear before he ate it.”

  Maia grinned at her brother. She knew he was impressed and he wanted the full story.

  “I will tell you later, I promise.”

  Jaik was about to protest, but then Jagaer banged his staff on the stone floor of the speaker’s platform and everyone fell quiet. Jagaer asked Jadae to convey what had been discussed in Braérn, which took most of the afternoon. Then Jagaer called the Commanders of all the Warrior Houses of Shadow Hall to discuss the new security measures he wanted to put in place. Afternoon became evening and Maia was relieved when Jagaer finally announced the end of the meeting.