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The Bad News
“’Kvasir, Loki…’ The children looked up as their father approached. ‘I have something to tell you.’
He knelt down in front of his children, wondering at how much they and their wolves had grown in the months since he had last seen them. He rubbed the back of his wrist across his mouth as he tried to find the right words to explain to them what had happened. In the end he decided to be blunt, should they hate him in the future if he didn’t tell them everything.
‘It’s about your mother and Hati…’ Their eyes widened, making their wolf eyes look impossibly inhuman. ‘Well, there’s not really any other way to tell you this but your mother died not long ago…’ He trailed off.
‘She died?’
‘Yes. She and her squad were ambushed by a horde of orcs. Hati managed to bring your mother back despite her wounds but she was past saving and choked on her own life’s blood.’ Loki sniffed; the great half she-wolf was gone.
Conn watched as his children’s eyes began to well up and his heart tore even more. ‘She won’t be coming back.’
‘Dad?’
‘Yes, Kvasir?’
The grey haired boy stepped forward and held his father’s scarred hands.
‘It’s okay for you to cry, Loki and I are here to hold you.’
Conn couldn’t hold it in any longer. He held out his arms and pulled his children towards him in a choking hug. Together they cried and Bain led the younger wolves in a chorus to aid their lost pack members on their path to the afterlife.”
The Funeral
“Loki looked up at the pyre to see her mother clothed in her war gear with Hati curled around her, her fur and wounds cleaned up as best as possible. Hati’s fur shone in the light of the half moon, black and white hair’s outshining each other. The “whirl” on her head, where her halves came together was caked in the blood of the orcs that had killed her and her rider. Seeing Hati’s eyes closed, Loki sighed at the thought that no one would see those great violet eyes again. She twirled her fingers into the sparse mane of her own wolf.
Hulainn on the other hand was deathly pale, her lips blue. Her black hair moved in the breeze and settled, covering her battle scar that she had received from a fight with an orc lord. Her chest plates were covered in deep grooves and her gauntlets were shattered. Despite this she looked at peace.
Loki flinched slightly as her hand was taken into someone else’s. She looked up to see Cyrus, one of the Omega’s under her mother. He wished her well and went over to place something by her mother’s hand. She remembered that he was the only Omega to survive the attack, along with a handful of Wolves.
Soon after she and Solek were joined by Kvasir and Ragnar. Kvasir was dressed all in black with a black and silver collar around his throat, the emblem of their family name. Ragnar, his wolf, sat next to him and his white fur shone, his red markings and ice-blue eyes standing out. Being a Sabre, his top canines were massive and his size differed greatly from Solek’s.
Loki herself was dressed in a black tunic, her arms bare, ready for the day when she would bare the marks of the Forsaken. She also wore the collar of her family and had had her hair braided by the clans women. With Kvasir sat on her right, their wolven eyes met and if anyone were to look at them they could almost see a wolf’s face.
Silence fell as Conn stood up at the foot of the pyre with Bain. They looked over the gathered riders and their eyes, brown and gold, swept over the clan.
‘Fellow Riders, as you all know Beta Hulainn has passed us by onto her journey to the next stage of all our lives. Thankfully, Hati did not have long to wait and they will journey together as we all should.
‘Hulainn has been a revered member of the clan and has left us her legacy along with her two children, Kvasir, 12 winters and Loki, 7 winters, may they bring pride to her name and hopefully follow her to become great leaders under the Alpha!’ A cheer went up from the assembled.
‘Many of us wish to die fighting in battle like our ancestors, who befriended the great wolves to aide us or to die peacefully as Elders to the clan, sharing with the youngsters our wisdom and knowledge, well, I know for sure that Hulainn would be happy with the knowledge that she died protecting our clan and Alpha from attack, killing many orcs with Hati before she succumbed to death.
‘So let us celebrate the lives of Hulainn and Hati, the Undefeated Half, and may they be unheeded as they chase down the sun and the moon forever ‘til the end.’
With that Conn stepped onto the pyre and pressed his lips to the forehead of his dead wife. Then he got out his dagger and proceeded to cut away a lock of hair from her head and some of the fur from Hati’s mane. He braided them together and called for his children. They came and stood before him as Bain lifted them up one at a time, so they could say their final farewells.
They stroked the ears of Hati and thanked her for watching over them and then they held their mother’s cold hand. They had seen many ceremonies like this and had seen children younger than themselves have to say goodbye to a parent. Before they were helped down by their father each brushed a finger under their mother’s eye as if wiping off an invisible tear.
Once down they watched as their father signalled for the arrows to be shot from the back row. Everyone watched as Hulainn and Hati were devoured by the flames that came up around them, the flames soon becoming so intense that nothing could be seen. Bain threw back his head and led the assembled wolves in the howl of Death’s Passage, the last song a soul hears before they leave on their journey.”
The Inheritance
“The night’s festivities were over and Loki was being carried back to her families tent whilst her brother and the wolves followed on behind. When she was set down on the fur bed that her parents had shared, Conn nudged her awake.
‘Your mother has left you both something,’ he said as he moved over to the chest by the foot of the bed. Kvasir crawled along the bed and sat down beside his sister, cradling her in his arms.
Conn came back and sat in front of them, in his hands were two bundles.
‘For her son, she leaves her prized dagger, Nardil. She killed many an enemy at close combat with this weapon.’ He handed the first bundle to Kvasir, who unwrapped it revealing the red tinted blade.
‘For her daughter, she leaves these, her first pair of clawed gauntlets. Sharp as the claws of a smilidon but as light as a pair of hare-lined gloves.’ Loki smiled as she held the gauntlets in her small hands.
‘Your mother loved you both and wished she could’ve seen you one last time but it seems it wasn’t meant to be. She wishes you both to carry on under the teachings of Gormak and Gristus, so you can both aid others in their time of need, though I know that you’ll be more specialised in the healing of the wolves.’ Conn sighed and stood up. ‘I think it’s time you both went to sleep and tomorrow you’ll be going back to the Healer’s quarters to carry on with Gormak.’
That night they all slept together, wolves and riders, together trying to heal the huge holes torn in their hearts through the loss of their pack mates.”
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