Azerothian Dream Ch. 06

Picturing a small dwarf girl in my mind, I asked if the fox had seen her.

"A short, red-furred, two-legged she," The fox projected back, "Yes, I smelled her going west and south to the home of the mangy moondog."

The fox's mental dialogue was accompanied by memories, and I was suddenly watching the fiery-redheaded Mandalay walk past from my hiding spot. A very ingeniously hidden den. She never even saw me!

But god she was huge!

Then I realized the memories were from the foxes perspective.

Darting out behind the short red-furred, two-legged she, I followed just to make sure she didn't drop something edible, or maybe she would become the moon dog dinner and something would be left for me to steal.

The memory ended and I released the fox from my mental grasp and stopped taming. It yipped once in reproach and disappeared. Having seen where the short red-furred, two-legged she went, I started off in that direction.

The sun sank below the mountains, the sky darkened to a dark indigo, and the moon rose high in the starry night sky before I found the lair of the moonwolf. Blood covered the ground in dark scarlet smudges against the glowing white snow and there was a smell of burned hair and flesh that filled the air to the point of gagging. Images of a little dwarf girl ripped and torn to shreds inundated my thoughts until I kicked off my snowshoes.

Plowing through waist deep snow I broke out of the cover of the tree to find myself face to face with the largest she wolf I've ever seen. Her fur was as white as the snow and glowed faintly, and her eyes were bright shiny silver. Her ears were laid back and long white teeth flashed as she lunged at me.

Jumping backwards saved my face from a horrible scar. Holding out my hands I called out soothingly, "Easy girl! Easy! I'm only here to rescue a little girl. I'm not her to hurt you, or your pups."

Deep guttural growls answered me as a quick fluttering motion caught my eye. Sidestepping to get a better look, I caught a glimpse of long red curls huddled in between two wolf pups just inside the mouth of the cave. Mother moonwolf stepped back in front of me, her lips peeled back in a rectus snarl that reverberated through her chest and body. I had only seconds to react when glowing white smoke-like vapor breathed out of her snout like a hot breath on a freezing morning.

Disengaging more on instinct than anything else saved my life as pure white Moonfire blasted the ground where I stood just seconds before. Next I threw a prepared Frost Trap, its glowing white runes of power flashing to life, as it flew a few feet away from me and activated. Then I reached out to the moonwolf with my hands and mind.

With a snarl she charged at me!

Glowing white Moonfire escaped an open maw filled with long sharp teeth reaching for my throat. She activated the Frost Trap, and a ray of ice shot up completely encapsulating her in my trap.

Our minds touched, and suddenly I was a small white pup. My mother was licking, cleaning the residue off from where I had just been born. My mother. She was white too, her fur glowing faintly in the moonlight, and her eyes were silver!

When our eyes met a warm feminine voice filled my head, "My daughter, welcome to the world. My name is Saelun, and your name is Cyduna."

The world seemed to spin, the stars above moving across the sky so fast they seemed to be streaks, and then I was a young adolescent. I sat out on the mountain ridge and watched the moon. It seemed that I could almost see a woman in it glow. A fair woman with pale white skin and hair as black as the star filled sky behind the moon. A crown of stars rested on her forehead and sprinkled her hair, and she was clothed in a white transparent ribbon of silk. It moved to and fro, covering her nudity, and yet never actually touching her body. I blinked my eyes and the world was spinning once again.

I was running with my long-time lover, my mate, an old wolf whose name was forgotten in the millennia before I met him. Like me, like my mother before me, he was something more than just a wolf, and now my belly was full of the pups I would one day bear for him. I felt warmth, I felt loved, and I felt safe. The world spun again.

This time when it stopped I was alone, for the first time in hundreds of years, so alone. The babes in my belly had grown. It was almost time.

Where had my old wolf gone?

Was he still alive?

I needed to find a new home.

Somewhere safe.

The world spun. When it came to a stop I was just outside the cave. A dwarf and his daughter watched me as I howled in my birth pains. I knew he was there, and for some reason I didn't mind. I knew, somehow I knew, he meant me and my offspring no harm. He could stay and watch just as long as he didn't approach any closer.

The world spun but it was quick this time. The pups had grown, Ealura and Fennic. The old dwarf and the girl came often, but then never approached so close that she had to act on their trespass. Then the day came of the trogg attack.

A very scared redhead red dwarf girl came running out of the forest. Blood covered her face and clothing but it was hers. Screaming and crying she ran straight for my cave. Upon hearing her approach I charged out ready to attack. Surprised by the blood already covering her, I didn't attack. Instead, I watched her stumble and fall, pick herself up then run on, always closer, always heading straight for me.

"Please!" She cried as she stumbled and fell into a snowdrift not far from the cave, "Please help me! They attacked us! My da! They hurt my da! Now they're after me!"

Growling, I prowled over to the girl. She shrieked as I reached down and snapped my teeth, snipping her clothes and easily picking her up. Trotting back to the cave, I let her down between Fennic and Ealura.

"Do not eat her," I sent to them, "She is not food, she is a new sister. She watched over me as I gave birth to you. Guard her, and keep her in here with you."

Fennic and Ealura yipped that they understood and then I left.

The world darkened, and then I was face to face with Cyduna. She was no longer trapped in ice. Her massive head was beneath my hand, and her silver eyes staring into mine, as she sent to me, "Greetings hunter."

More than a little shocked, thinking Coleman and his sending to me, this interaction with Cyduna felt vastly different. Without even trying I replied, "H.. Hello, my name is Hruthgar. Would you be my companion?"

"Yes," Cyduna answered as she lurched forward and licked my face, "I am indeed your companion. Your ice trap was very tricky, but the binding ritual is complete. I am yours now until you release me or abandon me."

"Good," I sent back in a mental sigh, "I'm glad to have you."

"What if my offspring?" Cyduna asked with a backwards glance toward the cave.

"They will come with us," I answered out loud this time.

Cyduna sent the equivalent of a nod and then turned to trot back to the cave. Following behind her, Fennic and Ealura growled at me then abruptly stopped and moved aside so that I could see Mandalay. She was only a little shorter than her mother. She was young, but not a child anymore. She was more of a late teen, more than old enough to travel with her father.

"Mandalay," I greeted as I offered her my hand, "My name is Hruthgar. I was quested to find you. I don't think your mother was aware your father was with you. How was he? Is he still alive? Where is he?"

She was hesitant at first, but then it was as if a dam broke and she was stumbling forward while bawling. She collided with me and buried a tearful, snotty face into my midriff and mumbled, "They hurt him! They hurt him so badly..."

Whatever she said after that was such a garbled mess that I couldn't make it out. Mandalay cried for a long time but then came to a sniffling halt before stepping back and apologizing, "I'm sorry. Thank you. It's been a horrible day."

"I understand," I replied as warmly as I could. She made me think of my own daughter, and how much I missed her. Once she calmed down I said, "It's time to leave this place. The trots will return again once they have licked their wounds from this defeat and bolstered their courage."

Mandalay nodded and together we left with Cyduna beside me and Fennic and Ealura to each side of Mandalay. Not much time had passed. The moon was still high above us, and it was in its bright cool light that we trekked out into the night. Cyduna led the way to Hurnskov, Mandalay's father, and he was indeed dead. Using his own cloak I wrapped him up for transport.

"I don't like this," Mandalay whined, "It's so quiet!"

"I'm not a big fan either," I mumbled, "Just a few seconds more, I'm almost done, then we will be on our way."

Hard guttural barks in a rough uneducated language shattered the muffled silence of the night. More grunts and barks answered the first, off to the right and then again off to the left.

"Troggs!" Mandalay whimpered as she crowded closer to me while trying to look in every direction at once.