I mentally sent an I’m-sorry-for-Sage-being-here, and then the magic set me back down and released its wisps from my body.
Something flickered before me, and I blinked rapidly to make sure I wasn’t going insane.
The ghost of a man stood before me. He was tall, with long silky brown hair. When I studied the shape of his face, my jaw opened in shock … I looked like him.
Running Spirit.
He smiled at me, bowing his head deeply before another flicker of light shimmered to his left and Red Moon popped into view. The old man who had saved me from my fall at the base of waterfall mountain looked ten years younger as he beamed down at me and bowed deeply. Another flicker, and then another, as all of my ancestors appeared and each bowed to me before they started to walk in a circle around me. I wept as the emotions all became too much. Everything around me spun as dizziness washed over me. The spirits of my ancestors started to fade and I wiped away my tears.
“Thank you,” I croaked, while the room spun harder, and I wondered if I was going to pass out. There was a popping noise, and then I blinked, confused.
What the…?
I was at the top of the mountain now … standing in front of the large wooden tree trunk with all of the previous names engraved in the roughhewn bark.
Was the cave … a portal? I shivered at the thought. That had been some crazy stuff down there. The magic, feeling Rab and Astra, and then seeing Red and everyone. I did it … I felt my pack, my land, everything. I was their alpha. The trial was over and I was found worthy.
I needed to get back to Sage and Creek, but I knew there was one last thing to do. Bending down, I pulled my hunting knife from my belt and finished carving my name. I’d started the D all those months ago, but knowing it felt wrong I’d stopped, sensing it was something all of the others did only when they had completed their time here.
Demi Spirit Moon. When I was finished, I sat back and observed my accomplishment.
I did it. I found the cave. I was found worthy. Now I got to go home. Tears streamed down my face as I placed my hand on the flat wood and caressed each name of my ancestors.
“Goodbye. Thank you,” I murmured as I stood, preparing to make my way back down the mountain. Then I heard a very distinctive sound.
A wolf’s growl.
More specifically,Sage’swolf’s growl.
“I’m coming!” I took off down the mountain, veering down the path that would hopefully lead me to them. Why was Sage in wolf form? If she was a wolf, where the hell was my baby? As I ran, my own wolf surged to the surface, leaping out of my body and solidifying in front of me. I nearly toppled off the side of the cliff as I ran vampire fast, until I skidded to a stop behind the giant black bear, who reared up on his hind legs and roared.
My breath caught in my throat. He was about to slam down on Sage’s small wolf, Sage who stood protectively over my sleeping baby with her lips peeled back in a snarl.
‘STOP!’I mentally commanded the bear, throwing my hands forward. An unseen force slammed into the giant beast. He shook, and then froze, giving Sage’s wolf enough time to grab the cloth of the shoulder sling and drag my sleeping Creek out of harm’s way. The bear was frozen, standing in an awkward position, and I wondered if I’d done that. I took two steps until I was facing him, and shock ripped through me to find himliterallyfrozen. His eyes moved frantically left and right but his mouth was unmoving, open in a roar, his paws stuck in midair.
I’d told him to stop … but I didn’t think …whoa. Was this some new Paladin alpha power? Or one I’d always had and never knew about?
Then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world.
The drums.
The Paladin drums that would lead us home.
“I said I’m sorry for having Sage here! Now we’re leaving and I don’t want any more trouble while I escort her out of the sacred woods,” I told the bear, the trees, and whoever else was listening.
‘Go!’I shouted, and the bear slammed down onto all four paws and took off running up the mountain and away from us.
When I turned back around, Sage was back in her human form, dressed and cradling my baby to her chest.
“I take it you found the cave?” She looked wide-eyed at the bear now fleeing us.
I nodded, the beat of the drums so loud it practically vibrated my entire body. “And that’s our way out. Come on!”
Sage frowned confusedly, looking at the direction I pointed.
I stopped. “The drums, don’t you hear them?”
Her frown grew deeper as she shook her head.
