Wolf Heart: Moon Born book 1

by Dallas Jessica Owen

  Alice felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat fast. Then a smile spread across Sasha’s face. “So, I have to ask. Are you ready to get a little wild Alice?”

  She wouldn’t hurt me, I know it. The gaze kept steady upon her, drawing her in, challenging her and with a defiant nod Alice threw back the blankets. Then with a gasp, she pulled them back. “Gods it's cold, how do you stand it?”

  “Here,” dropping Alice a set of the Walker clothes onto her blankets Sasha turned to go. “You will soon warm up once the sun is higher. It is set to be a hot day. Now get dressed and I will go and find you some breakfast.”

  As Sasha walked away Alice watched her go. She had seen others of the Walker family move and thought nothing of it. Sasha was different. She walks like there is too much poured into her. Like the animal will burst out at any moment. The way her legs move, the way her hips sway slightly as she walks, the way she almost bounces as she moves away. Then Alice smiled, the way her hair falls down to her back and moves with the wind.

  Her face flamed and she felt cold inside. What am I thinking? Gods help me. Quickly she pushed the blankets back and let the cold air caress her naked arms rising goosebumps. I cannot go down that road. She is my friend and it is wrong. Reaching for the clothes she started to pull them on.

  Reaching for the green shirt she gasped and held it in her hands. The material was so soft, so slick it felt like it would fall from her hands. “That is silk, made from spider’s webs. There are places in this world were the spiders grow as large as a horse.” She looked up and saw Markus standing over her. “When we go to these places, we spend some time collecting the silk. For the few traders willing to trade with us, they make fine trade goods. That Walker outfit and shirt is a gift to you, from Pyter.”

  “Why?” Alice pulled on the shirt and shivered at the feel of the silk against her skin. “I thank him and you all for these gifts but I am just a village healer, no one special.”

  “Pyter sees someone who risked all to save his daughter. I see a chance to gain a new family member within you. Sasha sees a friend within you. You are more than a village healer Alice.” She saw Sasha coming back and Markus shrugged. “Enjoy today but look after her. Don’t let her do anything stupid.”

  As he walked off Sasha came back, her eyes on his back scowling. “I do not like the way he hangs around you,” Alice heard her say fiercely before she was passed a plate. “He wants something.”

  On the plate was some cheese and bread, a small piece of meat. As she started to eat Alice mumbled, “It was nothing. He was just seeing how I was,”

  “Still, he is not partnered yet. If he says something to upset you or offend you I will gut him like a deer.” There was an undercurrent of anger in the young woman’s voice and Alice watched as her face turned an ugly shade of red.

  Reaching out Alice lay a friendly hand on Sasha’s arm. “Sasha, men do little for me. I have no interest in him so you do not have to do anything to protect me.” Placing her plate down Alice pulled on the leather jerkin and stood. The leather boots felt strange, but they fitted her tightly and she took a few experimental steps. “So why don’t you show me what you do? Introduce me to your way of life.”

  Sasha turned her eyes on her and there was something frighteningly intense within them. They bored into hers and she felt a sliver of danger she had never felt before with the Walker woman. Then it was gone and Sasha nodded. “Yes, come. We will walk the forest and I will show you what we do.”

  Moving off towards the trees, Alice followed Sasha as she passed by the glades tree line. As they did the sunlight all but disappeared and she found herself in the gloom. Only streaks of the sun that broke through the tree cover illuminated the area and she whispered, “How can you see in this?”

  “The trees will thin out later. They crowd this close together here to protect us.” Sasha stopped and waited for Alice to catch her up. “Keep your eyes on me and you will be fine. I won’t let you get lost.” The dark hair twitched as Sasha looked over her shoulder. “Here is Walker lesson number one though. If anything does go wrong, come nightfall, the family will track you by your scent, so get safe and stay still until we fetch you.”

  Then Sasha pushed onwards, sliding through bracken and stepping across fallen branches and Alice struggled to keep up with her. As they moved Alice heard a slow rhythmic wordless song being gently sung and it took her a moment to realize it was Sasha singing it. As she walked her voice began to rise and as it did Alice felt a shiver amongst the trees. Groaning echoed around them and she saw the forest begin to move around the young Walker woman as it did with Markus.

  “You don’t have the innate ability to bend nature around them that other Walkers do, do you. So your mother taught you how to do it using magic.” Alice whispered and instantly the song disappeared. Sasha turned around, her face white and Alice suddenly understood. “That was what she meant when she said “when I saw what she was” isn’t it. You have her power of sorcery, don’t you? She’s teaching you to use it.”

  Sasha nodded almost imperceptibly. “Please don’t hate me.” Sasha took a step towards her, “I know magic is hated and feared by your people. I promise you, she only teaches me enough to fit in with my family. She teaches me nothing bad I swear.”

  “Sasha, I have been in your memories.” The young woman blinked as Alice took a step forward. “To save you we needed to see what attacked you and you would not let your mother in. So she used me. I saw what she saw. I know you are not bad.” Reaching out she lay a hand on Sasha’s trembling arm. “I can’t hate you, Sasha. You are my friend.”

  “She comes to me in my dreams.” Sasha whispered, “No matter where I am she can do that. Father does not know. She says it would worry him,” Then Sasha looked at her with a worried look. “But she’s my mother. I should know her, shouldn’t I? Please do not tell him.”

  Alice sighed, “He already knows. Sera told him as much and you called out to her when you were delirious. You two really need to speak to each other. But I promise you this. I am your healer. Anything you tell me when we are alone, stays between us and us only. You have my word.” Instantly she was caught up in a hug and she hugged the woman back, feeling the smoothness of her cheek, smelling the scent of her hair. Her breath came fast and then she stepped away. “Come on, you have things to show me right?”

  Sasha nodded and turned, “Come, I will make the way easier for you.” Once again she began to sing but this time she sang as if she were alone. Her voice reached into the forest, caressed the trees around her and started to walk. As she did, the vegetation around her moved, faster and more powerfully than any Walker she had seen and Alice could not help but smile as the notes swirled around her.

  The way was easier and they walked in peaceful song, stopping every so often so Sasha could rest her voice. Then she stopped and nodded to sunlight that shone from between trees. “There is the glade where I was wounded.”

  Alice nodded. “I recognize this place. I saw it in your memories.” Pushing forward the pair reached the tree line and peered out. “Is it safe to do this?” Alice whispered and she felt Sasha move closer to her side.

  Strange stone formations littered the small forest glade. Carved and angular the stones looked like building blocks that had been devastated by some extreme event. Some looked like they had fallen from larger pieces whilst others were cracked and damaged. Blue sparkling lights still streaked those pieces and the ground was disturbed from where the worm had come.

  “Yes, we will not enter the area. I just had to check to make sure the worm was no longer here. Later, after I have reported back, members of the family will come and do a full sweep of the area. The magic that operates here still exists and needs to be hidden away. The trees will help us in that.” They looked out into the glade once more and then Sasha whispered, “Come, there are other places to check this day.”

  The sun was fully warming the forest now and as they walked away, once more between the tree
s Alice began to feel the heat. “Now where?” she whispered as they walked.

  “Walkers are under a geas to keep the old magic’s hidden from people so that they will not harm themselves and the world with it. But they are not the only things in the wild places that can harm. I will show you one of those things next.”

  Once more they began to walk and Alice felt the forest around her as if it were alive. For two hours they walked and she could see the sun high in the sky overhead until once again Sasha called a halt. Going to her haunches she pulled Alice down beside her and reaching out she pushed a branch out of the way.

  “Gods,” Alice exclaimed and felt Sasha place a finger against her lips. The woman’s eyes flicked to the creature before them and Alice saw it looking back at her. It’s so beautiful she thought as Sasha carefully took her finger away.

  In front of them, she saw a fallen log and on that log lazed what looked like a large cat. Its coat was a rolling tide of yellow, like a field of wheat and as the breeze caressed it, the yellow turned into a fiery orange before ending in blazing red before returning to yellow once more. “It’s called a forest whisper.” Sasha’s breath tickled her ear and for a moment she could not concentrate on the scene in front of her. “Watch its fur.”

  The cat’s ears pricked up and its eyes never left their hiding place. Lifting its head it yawned and she saw a row of very sharp teeth and slowly claws slid from its paws gripping the log and sliding into the wood. She gasped, as quietly as she could as its fur began to ripple and slowly it disappeared before her.

  “It can disappear into the background easily. Fortunately, they are solitary creatures but if just one of them got into your village, it would easily kill everyone within if it needed to. We keep an eye on wildlife like this and try and stop people encroaching on them. Thankfully it will not hunt us. It recognizes the wolf in me and it looks well fed so it would be a battle for food it does not need.“

  “And the forests are full of things like this?” she whispered feeling cold. All the times I have gone into the forest to get herbs I have not seen anything like this.

  “The world is bigger than you can imagine and the old magic we work to keep at bay can sometimes cause problems with the wildlife. This forest is relatively peaceful, others, not so much.” Alice watched as a slow smile crossed Sasha’s face. “Now, do you want to see somewhere really special?”

  The young woman stepped closer to her and she felt her heart flutter like a bird against her chest. “Will it be dangerous?” she whispered, her throat suddenly tight.

  The Walker woman shook her head, “No. It is a place my mother showed me,” Holding out her hand she smiled awkwardly, “Come, I want to show it to you.”

  Alice reached out and felt her hand slip into the young woman’s before she was being pulled through the forest. Slipping between the trees Alice knew she was going into uncharted territory but the fear she felt had nothing to do with the forest around her and everything to do with the woman whose hand held hers.

  Chapter 20

  “Your mother showed you this place? Why?” Alice wondered aloud as they walked through the forest. It had been an hour and they were still walking.

  “She thinks I need someplace to go and be alone. She spent a lot of time alone before Sasha found her and I think she has forgotten how lonely it is, being so close to people and yet not being the same as them.” She turned and smiled sadly, “I don’t need a place to be alone. I am alone all the time.”

  “Anyway,” she said brushing the question away, “Not too much further.” Alice watched as Sasha pushed a branch out of the way, ducking underneath it with practiced ease. Holding the branch out of the way for her the Walker girl waited for Alice to duck underneath it before smiling at her. “Trust me. If this doesn’t explain to you why we prefer out here to villages and cities, nothing will.”

  As they walked the tree’s seemed to thin out and here and there she saw chunks of rock, to angular, to squared to be natural. Worked like the ones she had seen earlier, without the sparkling blue lines that had marked those stones out. Still, there was something eerie about them and Alice whispered, “These rocks look too worked to be natural. This is another settlement, isn’t it? Were there so many then?”

  “Markus is right in one thing. You would make a good Walker. This was once a slave settlement. Close enough that the first races slaves could easily service them yet far enough away that they were not within eyesight. It is completely safe though. No need for magic to keep their slaves in line. They were bred for it.” Alice saw the Walker woman’s ear’s twitch and then her finger went to her lips and she crouched, holding out her hand for Alice. “Come, you will want to see this,” she whispered, her hand waiting.

  Alice looked at the hand, her heart beating just a little faster. Reaching for it her palm touched Sasha’s and she felt the warm skin send a flush across her body. Thankfully Sasha did not notice, and Alice bit her lip hoping the blush that scalded her face would go. Pushing apart some fronds Sasha pointed and Alice peered through the undergrowth only to gasp in amazement.

  It wasn’t the clear and settled pool of water that stretched out in front of her that made her gasp. Nor was it the tall pillars of stone, replete with carvings that made no sense and yet pulled at her eyes. It was the strange deer-like creatures that stood at the pool, their strong necks lowered as they drank.

  With coats of mottled brown and green, they seemed to shimmer in and out of sight as she looked at them. Antlers that were small and impossibly glowed faintly to her eyes rose into the air and their legs were placed perfectly still even as their eyes swiveled around searching for danger. They looked alive, more alive than anything she had ever seen and Alice found herself holding her breath, not wanting to breathe lest she disturbed them.

  “They are called Severine, deer of the dryad realm that occasionally stray over to our side. If they are here then there is a dryad’s tree close by.” The soft whispering voice in Alice’s ear tickled and she turned her head, felt breath on her cheek and green eyes staring into her own. “It is said to see one when alone is a blessing, but to see one with another is life changing.”

  What is happening to me? Alice felt her heart beat faster than ever before, so fast that it felt like her chest would explode. Mother, help me she begged but her thoughts did nothing to quieten then longing she felt burst forth from her heart. She could not think, could not move as she stood as still and as nervous as any deer. “Be very quiet and look,” she heard Sasha say and a gentle finger placed against her cheek swiveled her head around to the Severine deer once more.

  They drank, beautiful and graceful and as she watched she felt the forest expand. Come, she heard in her head, come and meet my friends. From the trees came a woman, a woman unlike any other she had ever seen. Her skin was the green of leaves, yet looked rough and bark like. The effect covered her entire body for she wore no clothes, no shoes or apparel of any kind. Her hair grew like ivy down her back and as she walked slowly towards the deer she held out one hand towards Sasha and Alice.

  She felt Sasha’s hand in her own pulling her up and together they went out to meet this strange woman. Slowly the approached and when they got close enough Sasha stopped and whispered “Greetings tree mother, my respects to you, your tree and your clan.”

  “Greetings Walker,” Alice blinked as the dryad’s voice was more musical than she would ever imagine. It rang as water bubbling over roots and as the dryads eyes roved over her she caught a slight smile cross the woman’s lips. “It is a strange day when a Walker walks hand in hand with a human. Are old alliances shifting then?”

  Alice felt Sasha’s hand squeeze her own as the Walker shook her head. “No tree mother. We still hold true. The first races magic will not taint the world once more.”

  The dryad looked at Alice and she felt her stomach swirl. “Then will your companion take my boon? Come share with me the grace of the Severine.”

  She looked towards Sasha who smiled e
xcitedly. “I cannot go to the Severine. It would smell the magic in my blood and I would frighten them.” Sasha whispered carefully, quietly and let go of Alice’s hand. “You, however, are not tainted with it. You might be able to with the tree mother’s blessing.”

  Slowly Alice moved forward, her hand trembling as she reached for the deer. They started, their eyes staring at her and their noses sniffing the air for danger but the dryads hand on their flanks calmed them and Alice gently stroked their leathery hide. She could feel the strength under her hand, the pure animal power and as she stroked the sun broke through the treetops illuminating them all like the blessing Sasha had mentioned.

  Then they were gone, following some unknown signal they bolted from the forest pool and disappeared into the forest. “Wow,“ she turned to Sasha and then the dryad. “Thank you,” she said.

  The dryad grasped Alice by the arm and her bright green eyes went black as peat. Images filled her head, faster and faster and she could do nothing but let them go. Be careful healer. Your future branches soon and the choice you make will follow you for the rest of your life. The dryad’s voice broke through the images and they shattered flying apart and the dryad dropped her hand breaking the contact.

  Alice fell to the floor, her knees hitting the soft ground and instantly Sasha was there. “Alice, what is it.” She fought to grab her breath, fought to make sense of what she had seen but could not do it. Even now the images were slipping from her, disappearing as if they were a dream and she heard Sasha say hotly, “Tree mother, what have you done. She has the protection of the Walkers.”

  Looking up she saw the dryad walking away and Sasha fussing over her. “Are you ok? What happened? What can I do? Speak to me Alice,” Waving the Walker woman’s worries away she got to her feet and coughed lightly.

  “Nothing, It was nothing. I think she tried to communicate something to me but I wasn’t able to deal with it.” She saw the worry within the Walker woman’s face and smiled. “I’m ok, honestly.”