Daughter of the Moon (The Moon People, Book Two)

by Claudia King

  "Has something happened?" Netya asked.

  "Octavia has told Miral of our den. She will depart soon, and the rest of the gathering will follow." There was no trace of fear or anger in Adel's voice.

  Fern's eyes widened. She hopped to her feet, clutching her bundle to her side. "Shall I tell the others? There cannot be much time— Oh! But what about the rest?" She glanced in desperation toward the group of young men lounging several camps over.

  Netya hesitated, chewing her lower lip. "The other packs will notice if we rush to gather them."

  Adel nodded. Her apprentice had come to the same shrewd conclusion as her.

  "Then we must go by ourselves," Fern began, but Adel raised a hand to silence her.

  "No. We will not lose what little strength we have managed to gather out of fear." The den mother fixed her followers with a hard gaze. "Find those who have agreed to join us. Every last one of them. Do so quickly and quietly, and have them slip away through the forest. Tell them to meet us where the river divides to the north. Once everyone has arrived, we run hard for the mountains."

  Fern nodded instantly, taking the shape of her wolf as she dashed away in the direction of the men's camp. Netya lingered a moment longer, looking anxiously at her mentor.

  "If Miral knows where our den is, what will we do if he comes?"

  Adel took her apprentice by the shoulders, leaning down to look her in the eyes.

  "We drive him back."

  —23—

  Homeward

  Upon silent paws they picked their way back through the misty brambles at the base of the hill, braving the more treacherous route rather than drawing attention to their departure by using the cleared path. Netya hoped the stragglers following them would be wise enough to do the same.

  Her wolf was keen and alert that afternoon, focused on the journey ahead of them, but anxious without Caspian at her side. He would catch up to them soon at the agreed upon meeting place, and then they would make for the mountain pass they had taken with Miral. It would mean leaving an obvious trail for far longer than they would have liked, but there was no other way back that did not involve many weeks, perhaps even months, of travel skirting all the way around the mountains again.

  Adel led the way through the dim forest, leaving the musty scents of the sacred gathering place behind them as they traced the passage of the river. Netya did not realise how accustomed she had become to the ethereal atmosphere of the place during her time there, and now that they were leaving she felt a pang of sadness. Despite the tensions they had faced, the gathering had still left her with many new and fond memories. It had broadened her understanding of the different peoples of the world and how they lived together. Everything seemed larger now that she had seen how many of her kin could come together in one place, and it made her mind reel to think that this was still but a fraction of their full number.

  As they arrived at the place where the river forked into two smaller inlets she reverted from the shape of her wolf. Her hand immediately rose to touch the empty space upon her breast, feeling the absence of her pendant yet again. She curled her fingers into a fist and squeezed them tight, shooting one last glance back the way they had come. She could not lie, some part of her had clung on to the hope that she might get the treasured necklace back before they left. Perhaps Caspian or someone else would challenge Miral, defeat him, and demand the return of what he had taken.

  A foolish fantasy. She would be beside herself with worry if Caspian did such a thing. And she would have been the first one to stop him.

  With a bitter ache in her heart, she realised that her token of Caspian's love had probably been cast aside and trampled into the mud by now, or charred to ashes in Miral's fire. It held no value to the rival alpha or anyone else. Only to her. Releasing the painful breath she had been holding, she tried not to think about the faintly cold sensation that now lingered around her neck in its place.

  A handful of people at a time, the pack's new followers slowly trickled out of the trees to join them. They numbered eleven in total. All ten that Adel had expected, and one more. Six young men, four girls close to Netya's age who were to be trained as seers, and a single boy. The youngster had received no invitation from the den mother, and she rose to her feet with a glare as he hurried up the riverbank in the wake of two of the men.

  Before Adel could accost the boy, however, Wren swept forward with a squeak of joy to greet him. Clearly the two of them had become friends over the course of the gathering, but before they could enjoy their reunion the den mother pulled them apart.

  "There is no room in my pack for more children," Adel said. "Go back to your own clan, boy."

  He puffed out his chest, showing more courage than most grown men were able to muster when they addressed Adel. "My name is Pera, and I have no clan."

  "No child survives without a pack. Now leave, I will not say it again."

  Still the boy held his ground. "My mother sent me away to alpha Ulric years ago, and he does not care what becomes of me! His pack have never been my family."

  "Please let him come, Den Mother," Wren said. "He knows all the tales of you, and he can hunt with the others!"

  Adel huffed out a breath through her nose. "Once he is big enough to bring down anything larger than a rabbit, perhaps." She paused, eyeing Pera up and down. "Your mother sent you away when you were young? Then you were born to Octavia's clan, yes?"

  He nodded.

  "And how many years did you spend with my father's pack afterwards?"

  The boy shrugged.

  "How many gatherings have taken place since you were sent to him?" Adel said impatiently.

  He thought for a moment, then held up three fingers.

  "Then you have been with him for at least nine years." She flashed him nine fingers in response. "Clearly he did not teach you even the simplest things you should know."

  "He is an old fool."

  Adel snorted again, though this time Netya saw the corner of her mouth crease with satisfaction. "That he is." The den mother turned away, focusing her attention on the two men Pera had arrived with.

  Wren crept anxiously after her, tugging on the back of her gown. "Can he come with us?"

  Adel glanced back at the boy. "If he can keep pace with us and hunt enough rabbits to feed himself."

  Wren's smile spread into a grin. Had it been anyone other than Adel who granted her request, Netya suspected she would have hugged them. Taking Pera by the hand, she led him into the midst of their small group to meet Fern.

  Caspian was one of the last to arrive along with the final prospective young seer: a girl of the dark-skinned clan who drew many curious glances from the others as she emerged from the body of her wolf.

  Breathing hard, Caspian embraced Netya briefly before turning to the den mother. "That is everyone. Some of the others know we have left, but Miral may not realise it for a while. It is difficult for his people to hear news when they do such a fine job of scaring everyone away from their camp."

  "Good, then we leave at once." Adel turned to the others, raising her voice sharply to drown out some of the men who failed to stop talking when she spoke. "We will travel north to the mountains and keep on going through the night. If any of you still wish to return to your own packs, then I offer you one final chance. You will face danger as part of my clan, but we face that danger with the power of the spirits at our back."

  The talk finally fell silent, then a man with a single streak of blonde hair upon a closely shaved head stepped forward to speak. "Fern says you came through the same pass Miral uses. The one in the northeast."

  Adel gave him a stern look. His half-smile and the swagger in his step did not speak well of the respect he should have shown for the den mother, but he seemed to have something worth saying nonetheless.

  "We do," she replied curtly.

  The man shook his head. "There's a better way to the west. Me and my brothers use it all the time. A good way to stay under the noses of the
bigger packs."

  Adel pressed her lips together, looking him up and down. "This path leads to the same plains? It will not take us to the wrong side of the mountains, near Ulric and Khelt's territory?"

  "No, great sorceress," he shook his head with a grin. "We can be there by nightfall if we hurry. Let me show you the way."

  "You will address me as Den Mother," Adel replied. Then she took a step forward, gripping the young man by the chin. She hovered at least an inch taller than him, and the smile on his lips faded as she stared down into his eyes. "You tell me there is another hidden path, one that will take us home beyond the notice of the other alphas? And this path is safe? Quick to find? A sudden, miraculous gift to us?"

  The man swallowed audibly, trying to nod his head. "It is no lie, Den Mother. My brothers will attest to it. Let us show you the way."

  Adel held his gaze a moment longer, then released him. "I need not tell you what will happen if you deceive us."

  A great deal of nervousness accompanied the man's smile when it returned. "No, Den Mother, I have no wish to wake up under your curse."

  "Then lead us to this pathway."

  He nodded and gestured to his companions, calling them together as they discussed the best way to reach their destination.

  Netya put a hand on Caspian's shoulder, tilting her head to look at him.

  "You look tired. What took you so long?"

  He flinched a little, then gave her a smile tinged with melancholy. "I had to say goodbye to Khelt. Who knows when we will next see each other again."

  She let out a sigh of understanding. She had not even had the chance to speak to their former alpha properly. Their departure had been so sudden and their time at the gathering so turbulent that there had been no opportunity for it.

  "He wanted us to join him," Caspian continued in hushed tones. "He tried to persuade me again when I said my farewells, but I told him my mind was set. I will stay by your side, and I know your place is with Adel."

  She moved to embrace him, resting her cheek against his chest. "Did you tell him what had happened?"

  He shook his head. "Only that we were leaving. If he knew the truth of it he would have done something rash."

  "He could have helped us—" Netya began, then stopped herself. "But not with Adel nearby. They would turn on each other before Miral even arrived, wouldn't they?"

  "I fear so. And Khelt's place is with his own pack right now. He has Alpha Ulric to deal with, and a winter to prepare for."

  "We will see him again at the next gathering. Perhaps, once the pack is safe, we can journey to visit him by ourselves?"

  Caspian smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Yes, once the pack is safe. Come now, the others are leaving."

  Netya squeezed his hand one more time before slipping into the shape of her wolf. It would be good to see the old pack again, even those who had disliked her. But she was not naïve enough to believe in their mutual promise. The pack might not be safe again for many years. Perhaps it never would. Just like the loss of her pendant, she had to accept that some things were just too fanciful to be hoped for.

  The going was hard, but the blonde-haired man and his companions led them north through an area of rough shrubland that stretched between the old forest and the mountains. They followed one of the river inlets for as long as they could, wading through the shallows so that the water would wash away their scent. Caspian took Fern and one of the new girls to leave a false trail leading in the direction of Miral's mountain pass, catching back up again with the main group shortly before nightfall.

  It did not seem as though anyone was following them, but it was impossible to be certain. The girl Caspian had taken with him seemed enthusiastic to assist her new pack, but the anxiety of the other three female apprentices was palpable in Netya's muzzle. They were alone among strangers, perhaps for the first time in their lives, and they had said goodbye to their own clans to venture into a dangerous unknown. Netya was unsure how to communicate her sympathy while in the shape of her wolf, but she put herself close to them and tried her best to offer friendly encouragement whenever she was able.

  Adel seemed far more concerned with keeping a close eye on the group of men leading the way, growling and barking whenever they got ahead of themselves and threatened to leave the rest behind. It soon became apparent that they were frustrated with having to wait for the slower group. Clearly unaccustomed to travelling with a larger pack, they often seemed to forget about the wolves behind them as they made a game of tearing on ahead, challenging one another to see who could race to the next landmark first or scramble up a particularly difficult stretch of terrain. Sometimes they did not even take the paths that were clearly safest and quickest, even to Netya's inexperienced eyes, deigning instead to show off by scaling rocky spurs and sliding down through steep ravines. Thankfully, though, the den mother was able to keep them in check. Every time they seemed to forget about the pack they were guiding, Adel made sure to snap their attention back to the task at hand with a threatening bark. Impatient to hurry on or not, all six men hesitated whenever the den mother accosted them. Netya only hoped the strained atmosphere would disperse once the two groups became used to one another, but for the time being she was left with the distinct sense that they were entrusting their fate to a pack of unruly beasts, and only Adel's tight grip on their tether was keeping them restrained.

  They scaled the lower mountain slopes at sunset, fatigue already sapping their strength to continue as the ground reared upward and challenged their weary muscles once more. The wolves of the Moon People might have been able to run for many hours across flat ground, but uneven terrain broke the natural flow of their footfalls and exhausted them far more quickly.

  Adel allowed only one brief pause half way up the slope for them to eat a few mouthfuls of food before pressing on. At that point it became apparent that hunting and foraging would be yet another problem for them to deal with in the days to come, for their group had more than doubled in number, and yet the young men had given no forethought to packing heavy supplies that would weigh them down.

  "We hunt as we go," their blonde leader, who went by the name of Kin, explained.

  "And you are fortunate enough to happen upon prey every day you travel, are you?" Adel said.

  "Of course not, but then we make a proper hunt of it! We can track down anything in this land, my brothers and I."

  The den mother's eye twitched. "Can you track and hunt while trying to outrun an alpha hungry for your blood?"

  Much to Netya's relief, Caspian had the forethought to intervene before the exchange became any more heated.

  "I am sure you are used to your own ways," he said to Kin, "but when travelling quickly and in large numbers we cannot afford to lose days and nights to hunting. A journey like ours is best prepared beforehand."

  "Wolves were not meant to carry bundles slung across their backs," the young man complained. "We cannot run properly or move with the freedom we need."

  "Then perhaps you will keep a better pace with the rest of the pack when you are bearing our supplies tomorrow," Adel said. "We will have to stop and hunt to keep everyone fed, but not until we cross the mountains. Come, back on your feet. I want to see the plains on the other side before morning."

  It was a wearying journey through the night, but the men leading the way proved true to their word. Fatigue slowed their restless pace, allowing the pack to stay together in a comfortable knot as they travelled. From lower down the slope the mountains above had appeared to be a series of dizzying monoliths stretching high into the sky, but a winding path through a forest of dead grey trees took them between the peaks. The impassable height of the mountains was only an illusion created by distance, with the gap between them sitting far lower than it had first appeared. Unlike the mountains separating Khelt's territory from the place Adel and her clan had settled, this range was thin and quick to cross, and after many hours of trotting numbly through the tangle of brittle trees Netya felt t
he ground beginning to slope downward beneath her paws.

  The first purple haze of dawn had crept into the sky by the time they were free of the forest, and as light returned to the world it illuminated the mountain slopes rolling down to meet the plains ahead of them. Adel finally called the group to a halt in a sheltered crook of rock close to a spattering stream, and many a wolf collapsed then and there to snuggle into the body warmth of their companions and sleep. Caspian had been carrying young Wren and Pera on his back in turns throughout the night once they started to flag, but he still sat up with Netya for a short while to watch the sunrise.

  She nestled back into him as he put his arms around her, lulled by the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back.

  "I would tell you to sleep, but I enjoy a sunrise too," he murmured in her ear.

  "Do you think the sun spirit watches over us during the day, even though we are not his children?" she replied. "I think he is just as pretty as the moon, even now."

  "It is in these moments when day and night come together that the world is at its most beautiful. If there is a sun spirit, then he must be close to his sister moon right now. Perhaps he cares for her children as much as his own while they are together."

  Netya closed her eyes, feeling herself sinking into sleep, but forced them back open to watch the land around them being illuminated for a little longer. From so high up she felt like a bird, seeing the world as it stretched for many leagues to the north and west. Their own den was nestled somewhere in the dark green expanse coming into view in the distance. Somewhere on the opposite side of the river shining its way across the plains was Miral's territory. She shivered in the cool morning air. From their high perch, the alpha's land did not seem so terribly distant from theirs.

  As Netya dozed in Caspian's arms that morning she drifted into the spirit world, dreaming the dreams that held glimpses of wisdom, of lives past and future, and whispers of foresight that took the mind of a seer to unravel. Many of the visions came and were forgotten just as quickly, glimpses of herself wandering the land and speaking with others, back in her village as a child or living among the Moon People of Khelt's pack. Visions of the past, perhaps, though she could recall none of them having happened in her waking memory. Perhaps such dreams were threads of what might have come to pass had things been different? Or perhaps they were nothing at all, figments of the spirit world that her mortal mind could not comprehend.