Children Of The Plains

Please Note: All warning for the first half apply here as well.

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The next morning, Raven kept Purple Flower company, while Stargazer coaxed Earth Mother into letting him hold the baby. But they had yet to get him to talk.

Around noon, however, while they were eating, Earth Mother said quietly in a husky whisper to Stargazer, “It was the scavengers that changed my mind.”

Stargazer went on eating calmly, and Raven and Purple Flower tried not to stare. “About living?” He asked.

Earth Mother nodded.

Raven made himself not glance at the scars.

The patter of panicked feet brought all their heads up, even Earth Mother’s. It was Kit Fox, who ran straight to Wolf. Raven stood up, to overhear and to arrive at his mates’ sides. “Sparrow!” Kit yelped, panting, and made the sign for eagle, as he was out of breath.

Wolf’s eyes went wide and he and Raven ran outside the cave. The rest of the adults did as well, into the thin layer of snow on the ground. The adults outside were herding the upset children in, and Raven and Wolf caught Wind Rider up and held her, looking for Sparrow. Kit seemed to have regained ability to speak, and pointed at the sky, a small flying dot in the distance. “There.” He said. Wolf handed Kit the child, and went after Raven, who had begun to run after it.

Stargazer arrived, and shrieked to see Raven and Wolf running off alone at the start of winter. It was due to snow heavily any day now. “What happened?” He asked Kit.

“One of the eagles came from the north, hunting must be scarce. It took little Sparrow away.”

Stargazer picked up Grey Mane, clamoring at his knees, and held the weeping, incohe chi child.

Raven, uncaring that he was improperly dressed for going out in winter, ran toward the tiny dot in the sky that was the eagle that had taken his child.

“Raven!” Wolf called behind him, racing after.

Raven did not answer or slow, eyes fixated on the sky, body moving by peripheral vision through the forest.

Stargazer whimpered as they ran out of sight. “They’re not going to stop. Raven will chase it forever.” He put Grey Mane down, and would have gone after them. Kit, with his arms full of tearful Wind Rider, couldn’t stop him. Earth Mother was there, though, and his strong arms caught Stargazer, just as Stargazer had caught him when he would have drowned himself looking for Sky Scar.

“No.” He whispered. “Let them go. Wolf is with him.”

Stargazer sobbed, and slumped in Earth Mother’s embrace. “He is all I have left of my youth.”

“Shhh.” Earth Mother soothed.

Lots One appeared to prop up his mate, and Kit, whining low in his throat, paced the mouth of the cave, Wind Rider in his arms.

*****

By nightfall it had grown colder, and Wolf was tiring. Raven still kept on, despite the fact that they had lost sight of the eagle hours ago. “Raven, we have to stop.” Wolf pleaded, dropping to a walk.

Raven ignored him.

Wolf walked after him, shivering.

“Raven.” He said again. “Surely it’s too late now.” His voice broecauecause of the lump in his throat.

Raven increased his speed, and Wolf broke out of his walk to stumble along after.

The sun was rising over unfamiliar plains when they reached the mountains, and Raven began to climb the foothills.

Wolf realized that there was no way they would survive to reach the top, where the nest surely was, and that Raven would kill himself trying. “Raven!” He said again, and increased his speed to catch up to his mate. He caught his around the waist and tackled him to the ground, and maddened, Raven turned on him, snarling.

Wolf fought him back, and they wrestled mightily and bit and clawed and scarred one another. Wolf attempted to drag Raven back across the wintry plain, morning sun shining brightly. Raven fought him viciously, determined to kill himself in pursuit of his child. Wolf broke his charges time and time again, and caught him by the arm or leg and tried to drag him back.

Raven snarled and bit, kicked and clawed with fury. Wolf wondered if he even recognized him as his mate. Near noon Raven began to tire and therefore became more vocal. Fearing their fight would attract predator attention or some such, Wolf dragged him into a stand of trees and proceeded to truss him with vines. By nightfall he had Raven tied up, panting and coughing, under a blackberry bush. He sat with him, resting, for a while, and then decided it was time to move on.

He glanced over at his mate. Raven’s eyes seemed to have regained some sense. “Unti.” H.” He said.

Wolf looked at him, suspecting an act. “No.”

Raven snarled and thrashed, furious.

Wolf stepped over him and went to sit a bit away. “Let me know when you’re ready to leave.”

Raven howled at him and kicked sticks in his direction. He raved for a while, and then went quiet, curling up into a ball. He began weeping. Wolf went over to him and held him in his arms, and Raven wept, heartbroken. After a while he went quiet, and brought his head u loo look at Wolf, exhausted. “Take me home.” He requested, and then laid his head back against Wolf’s shoulder.

Wolf complied, but not until the next morning, when they had had a chance to rest.

Shivering, they leaned on one another to walk, all the way back the distance they had traveled. It began to snow, so heavily they could not see in front of them except for trial and error. They were now in danger of freezing as well as getting lost. Lips blue with cold, they took turns making the cry, hoping those at the cave would hear them.

Wolf had grown hoarse, and it was sometime in the night, snow still heavily falling; when Raven’s ragged cry roused an answer. The mournful song that came in reply was not one of their kind, but very like it. Wolf pushed his shivering mate to his knees, and cried plaintively.

Four shaggy forms appeared in front of them and more circled behind. Recognizing the leader, Wolf crawled forward on numb hands through the snow, head lowered, whining. Raven followed suit, his teeth chattering. The wolves looked at them a moment, then the leader stepped forward and sniffed them. The elves allowed this, and in return the leader padded up to Wolf and arched his neck, holding his head proudly over Wolf’s. Wolf lifted his head and gingerly took the wolf’s lower jaw between his teeth.

The wolf seemed to accept their posturing and Wolf’s acceptance of him as leader, and cocked a leg and spd thd them, marking them honorary pack members. The rest of the pack appeared, and surrounded them, going through sniff inspections. Unafraid, Wolf and Raven let them. The leader decided to move along, and howled, ears forward. The rest of the pack took foot, and Wolf and Raven hesitantly rose to their feet. The leader looked them over and growled. Wolf and Raven dropped to a crouch, still on their feet. The wolf seemed to accept this, and herded them along with his pack.

Wolf and Raven stumbled along, exhausted and freezing, and started when the wolves stopped suddenly, slinking quietly into a thick pine grove. Wolf and Raven recognized this as the den area, and crept along with the rest. Puppies appeared and gamboled, frisky, underfoot. The wolves began settling in for the night, their hunt apparently unsuccessful but for the two extra pack members. Wolf and Raven curled around one another, surrounded by furry warm puppy bodies, and sleeping adults.

Gradually, they began to warm. Before falling asleep, Wolf reached out and took Raven’s hand, who smiled gently at him in the dim light, face still harrowed by the trauma of the last two days.

*****

They stayed with the pack for three more days, until they helped make a kill. Using their hunting knives they were able to help the wolf pack bring down a winter stag, mighty and aging. In pack order they were allowed to eat, and by then were so hungry raw meat appealed, especially as it was fresh.

Warmed by the food in their bellies, Wolf and Raven left the pack and headed for home, as the snow had stopped falling long enough for them to recognize the area and realize they were far west of the cave. This time they were not quite so desperate, and only called occasionally as they traveled. For a while the wolves answered, but as they left the pack’s territory, they didn’t answer any longer.

Near nightfall, growing cold again, Wolf and Raven heard an answer: Kit’s high, echoing keen. A shrill version from Wind Rider accompanied it. Wolf and Raven grinned at one another and answered back. This time the reply came from what must have been most of the cave.

The snow was falling thickly, so Wolf and Raven heard someone coming before they saw Kit, Stargazer and Wind Rider on his heels, appear. He tackled Wolf back in the snow enthusiastically, and dragged Raven down too, kissing his mates in joy. Wind Rider was glad to see her parents as well, and Stargazer held Raven to his chest a moment before helping them back to camp.

After being gone for five days in heavy snow, to come back smelling of wolf and wearing evidence of a successful hunt, when all expected them to be found dead, frozen somewhere on the plains, in spring, they were something of celebrities to the children.

Stargazer shooed the clamoring little ones away, fed Wolf and Eyes, Kit and Wind, made sure they were warm, then put them to bed, Wind Rider crawling in between them, Kit sitting guard.

*****

After some of the hubbub died down, there was a lot more respect for the family’s mourning.

Stargazer took care of them for a while, until they no longer needed it, and recruited Wolf and Raven to help him prepare the feast for the midwinter celebration. Stargazer’s latest had taken cold and died while they were gone, so the distraction of caring for Raven and Wolf comforted his loss.

This year the Three Horses could be seen, so they were going to go out on midwinter eve and look at them, then come inside and stuff themselves. This was how it always went.

Wolf and Raven had been babies at the last one, so this was the first in their memory. The holiday atmosphere was enough to cheer them, and even Wind Rider was helping make food and preserve it, declinio plo play outside despite the fact that it wasn’t snowing.

For two days they prepared, doing everything from cleaning the cave to making food and tucking it away to keep. The night of the Three Horses came, and after sunset anticipation grew. Wolf and Raven bundled up, as did Wind Rider and Kit, and they went outside and joined Earth Mother and Stargazer and Purple Flower on the crest of one of the hills.

The Three Horses shone brightly, and for a long time the Elves sang to them, the children playing moonlit games and laughing, dancing to invisible music.

It grew late, on toward morning, and many of the adults went inside to put the children to bed. Raven would have gone, started to get up, even, but Wolf laid a hand on his thigh.

Raven glanced at matemate’s eyes, and seeing his grin, smiled back, and stayed. They sat together like this a long time, and everyone went in, eventually.

Wolf’s grin turned hungry, and he turned to Raven, kissing him heatedly. Raven responded, letting Wolf lay him back on the furs he wore, baring his skin to the cool air. With a bit of shock, Raven realized that he was going into heat, otherwise Wolf wouldn’t get such an enthusiastic response from his body.

“Remember what I said this fall?” Wolf whispered huskily, lips against Raven’s nipple.

“Yes.” Raven moaned, twining his fingers into his mate’s long black hair.

“Let’s make that baby.” The end of his sentence was growled.

Raven took a deeuddeuddering breath, put his hands on Wolf’s shoulders and drew him up, kissing him as if he were starving.

Wolf’s hand wrapped around his cock, and Raven groaned deeply, and then spread his legs wide and reached down between them, taking Wolf’s cock in hand. With matching groans, he lined it up against his opening and Wolf pressed forward, entering him. Their mouths met again, hot and wet, teeth clinking together. Wolf rode him hard, and Raven’s breath hitched with every in stroke, moaned with every slide out. Wolf’s furs fell around his pumping hips, hiding their act. If anyone were watching they would understand what was going on, there under the sky on the frozen hill, but Wolf and Raven were unconcerned.

Raven yelped in completion, and Wolf moaned deeply, low in his throat as they came to a smashing climax. They lay together, panting, after. When Wolf had shrunk and slipped free, they kissed tenderly, and Wolf got up, wrapping himself in the furs. Steam rose from Raven’s body, before he pulled his own furs on, and sweaty and grinning, they kissed again and went inside the cave for the night.

*****

When spring came, the changes to their culture showed themselves in a new way.

It was common for the younger and elder ones without children to keep an eye on Men, across the river, and from watching them Elder One got his ideas.

Before everyone began to leave, he gathered them together and told them his ideas, giving a speech about it.

“The Men who came here on ships build mighty cities, and ride horse-beasts, and speak in languages none of us know. They wear clothes, and learn things in mighty houses. We live naked in summer among the grasses and seek wisdom by eating the crawling creatures. We must try new things, and become stronger, lest they overtake us. I have no mate,” At this he glanced at Earth Mother, who was looking at the ground, “so I ask that you trust yourselves and your mates and your children to me. I wish to build a village in the great green valley, east of here. I have led you well in the past, may I lead you well yet again?”

“Why would we come with you, and build a village? What wisdom is to be gained there?” Red Leaves asked. He and Summer Grass were both pregnant, and therefore would be living with Bear’s Den, Purple Flower and Earth Mother, as usually only one of a pair conceived and for both do so was folly for protective reasons. Earth Mother, by chance, would spend the summer in close contact with his own children, due to the arrangements. Red Leaves, of course, must voice protest, even though it was a perfect solution to their dilemma.

“Understanding with Men.” Elder One replied, and then continued, “And it would be good for our numbers. All the others I have ever known are gone, even before the fire, I know not where. Even though there have been more children lately, we have not been able to protect them so well. In a village, we could have more children, protect them all, and hunt to feed them easier. Living alone on the plain with one’s mate and children was a good idea when Men first came, but now we are at risk. We do not fight for our lands, like bears and wolves. We live on them, peacefully. If we ever needed to defend ourselves, we would flee. And besides, if we lived in a village there would be enough of us to protect it and claim it for our own.”

Stargazer stood up beside Wolf and Raven, who looked up at him. “I will go to your village and support it for one year. Then I may stay, or I may return to my lands.” There was silence a moment, in which Elder One nodded. Lost One rose beside Stargazer. Grey Mane did as well.

Wolf looked at Raven. He tightened his lips, and gave a twitch of a nod. “One year.” Wolf said, standing. Raven rose with him, Wind Rider at their knees. Kit hesitated a moment, then also rose.

Purple Flower stood next, his mates with him. Then Red Leaves grudgingly admitted the solution, Summer Grass at his side.

Elder One smiled at his victory of leadership as the rest rose.

*****

So, that spring, instead of returning to their individual haunts, the elves of the plains founded a city of their own.

Hathil Loth Mahr, they called it: village of the great green valley.

Like the shrs trs they had built on the seashore, they erected mud and grass huts together, and the children ran wild on the banks of the shimmering lake while the adults sweated and crafted, taking time to plot the structures and eat.

Raven discovered he was with child early in spring, Earth Mother a little later. This did wonders to build the relationship between them. Earth Mother began to speak more, and Sky, for he had never renamed his child once Purple Flower had done it, began to speak as well, quickly catching up developmentally where he was lacking before.

Wind Rider disliked open areas of sky now; her favorite games were played in the grasses, not running after her friends out on the sandy lakeshore. Wolf was more alert as well, both to Raven and Wind. When the structure for the large birthing hut was raised, it was just past midsummer, and it was a good task for Raven, Earth Mother, Red Leaves and Summer Grass, as well as three others, to decorate and finish it. Given that they were all rounded by now, they also played at teaching school, in mimicry of the Men.

When fall came and they were gathering stores for winter, Summer Grass and one of the others Raven was not friends with went to the birthing hut and were attended by their mates. They emerged the next day with new little ones, having officially broken in the birthing hut.

Raven felt wearier as his pregnancy progressed, he began to have nightmares. He, Wolf and Kit talked about them by daylight, and decided that Raven’s mind was simply preying on its terrors. The only other child he had borne was dead, so that explained his fear of stillbirth. Stargazer had taken a hard fall early in pregnancy and Raven had not, so that explained away his fear that his child would be twisted and broken like Turtle. But he still could not shake his unease that something was different.

His paranoia grew to such levels that he pretended he was not in labor until his time was very near, then crept off alone to the birthing hut to avoid Wolf’s aid. He didn’t know what was going on, but memories of Sky Scar kept him terrified. He managed to keep his sounds of pain low, and by squatting against the support pole in the center of the hut, supported his own weight during the actual birth.

When the child slid free of him, he backed up in shock, fearing his nagging convictions were true after all. Then he moved toward the infant again, staring. The baby was all white, just pure white, like snow. He lifted it tenderly, wondering if it were just the caul. Grey Mane had been born in one, and Stargazer had told him that it was a sign that Grey Mane was lucky. His infant sputtered, coughed, and began to wail, showing off healthy lungs.

“Shhh.” Raven soothed, tucking the little one in the crook of his arm and laying down. He knew he should tie off the cord and cut it, and clean himself up, but he didn’t have the energy. Perhaps in a moment, when he had rested.

He woke to the baby’s crying. It was still dark and he hadn’t lit a fire. It was quite cold now, and he felt weak. Damn. He reached out the arm not holding the baby and tied off the cord, using his knife to cut it. Once that was done, he wrapped the strange yet healthy little one up warmly and knelt to wait for his body to finish removing the afterbirth. He took a few deep breaths to steel himself; he’d always hated this part. With unsteady hands, he pressed as deeply on his abdomen as he could, and winced at the pain. He must have made some sound, because the infant began wailing again.

He heard footsteps approach warily, as if whoever was outside was unsure where the baby’s cry originated. When the listener was quite sure, Raven heard the feet break into a run, and so picked up the baby and leaned on the post accordingly. He was so tired; surely whoever it was would help him. He was surprised to see Kit Fox’s face appear in the hut doorway.

Kit gasped at the sight of him and scowled. “You stupid, stupid fool, Raven!” He knelt and took the baby from him, admiring the pale one in the dark. “Why did you do this alone? Do you have a death wish?” He didn’t let Raven answer, checking him over. “You are lucky I decided to go looking for you. Even luckier that I heard this one cry and didn’t recognize his voice!” Kit straightened up and looked down at Raven fiercely. “I should slap you, but I think I’ll wait until you feel better. Sit there until I come back with Wolf.”

With that, Kit left, mumbling “Stupid, lucky fool.”

Exhausted, Raven couldn’t agree with that statement more.

*****

Raven opened his eyes to see who had come in.

Earth Mother’s concerned face looked down at him, crouched beside the bed. Kit still slept in his bed with Wind Rider, but Wolf was no longer against Raven’s back.

“I heard what happened. Wolf came by this morning, told me to go to you.” Earth Mother said.

Raven nodded. “Kit’s the only other person who’s seen him besides me, but he saw him in the dark.”

“Show me?” Earth Mother requested.

Raven took the anomalous child out of the warm nest against his belly and handed it to Earth Mother.

Earth Mother gaped ating ing a baby all white, then smiled warmly at the wriggling, whimpering bundle. “He is healthy. You should keep him.” Earth Mother said.

Raven gnawed his lip. “But he is different.”

“He is still one of our own.”

“Why do you think he looks like he does?”

“Perhaps it is because he was sown in the snow. He was frozen in the womb.” Earth Mother leered naughtily, and Raven flushed. So they *had* been watched that night.

Grinning, Raven opened his arms to take the child. “Give me my baby, and get out of my hut. Go.” Raven teased, taking the child back.

Earth Mother snickered and sat down beside him, adjusting the furs he wore. “What will you name him?”

“Well since you say he is frozen,” Raven winked at his friend, “I will call him Frost.”

Earth Mother laughed, then grew serious, face close to Raven’s. “It is a good name.”

“It is.” Raven answered, licking his lips at Earth Mother’s fathomless stare.

There was silence a moment, then Earth Mother leaned in and pressed a warm, solid kiss to his cheek. Then, flustered, he got up. Raven blinked at him, and Earth mother said quickly, “I will bring you some food later. Red Leaves has gone into labor, and I’ve promised to attend him.”

With that, Earth Mother left, Raven staring after him.

*****

When spring came, the air was tense.

The year had passed, and the huts had held warm all winter. New babes had been born, and none lost. All were well fed and comfortable. The village appeared to be a success.

Stargazer made no issue of the fact that he planned to stay, simply going about the motions of seasonal life. This set the stage for the rest to do so, and none returned to their old lands. Hathil Loth Mahr had become home.

Every morning Raven would tie Frost into his sling, even though he had been weaned over the winter, and bring him along thus on hunts and gatherings. Earth Mother did the same with Sky and his new child, Blackbird. They would go to the pond and fish, letting the children play on the sands, Wind Rider and Grey Mane supervising, then go afield and gather roots and grains and vegetables. Those that did not have small children hunted, bringing home deer and other meats.

Raven began to dislike Grey Mane more and more. Wind Rider was growing up; soon she would want a family of her own. Not only did Raven resent this, but he also resented the fact that it appeared Grey Mane would be her choice. Wolf had caught them shyly kissing in the tall grasses one night, coming home from a hunt, and had the poor sense to tell Raven about it, thinking it cute.

Raven had always disliked Lost One, and now that dislike seemed to be applying to his son as well. He had never really considered Grey Mane his brother, not like Turtle. Perhaps it was because Turtle was of the same father, borne by the same mother, who had always honored the memory of their father, even though he had taken a new mate to provide for him.

Raven was terse with Wind Rider more often. She didn’t understand her Sia’s sharpness, and therefore summed it up to: Sia had lost Sparrow’s Nest, and now had a new baby the color of smooth lake stones and therefore didn’t like her anymore. Wolf Hunter was very kind and considerate, and explained to her that this was not the case. Sia simply didn’t like that Wind was growing up and didn’t like Lost One or Grey Mane that well.

Earth Mother also had his own sorrows. His eldest four children, unclaimed by he and Elder One, who were certainly no longer mates, were also growing up. Although he never said anything, Raven knew that deserting them and being unable to return as their Sia hurt him. Earth Mother did, however, confide to Raven, fuming, that Elder One had cornered him and tried to push him to the ground and reassert his old claims as mate. Raven asked him what he’d done to escape, and Earth Mother had smirked, and tapped his knife along his leg, then in the air drew a pattern of a slice going all the way up to the testicles.

Raven had though Earth Mother was joking, but Elder One appeared two days later, having been nursing his wounds in the brush away from camp, limping. Incredulous, Raven had looked to Earth Mother, who simply smiled, looking very smug, tossing his white-crowned hair.

*****

They spent a second year there, which blended into a third. No Men came, but a strange creature in a pointed hat with a staff would travel their lands. He never came close, but he liked to watch them. He ate little creatures and plants, and occasionally hunted the deer. He enjoyed watching them hunt in pack formation, and seemed curious about those who stayed home with the children, and the little ones as well. All in all, he was harmless, and thus they ignored him.

The third summer they held a meeting, and named Elder One their King, and Stargazer Lord, and declared their realm needed a flag. Summer Grass, who was clever with his hands, wove a flag, and Red Leaves painted on it an emblem. Purple Flower made it a tall post and they stuck it in the ground, to be like the race of Men, proud and fierce.

The fourth summer, Raven recognized in Grey Mane the signs of oncoming heat, and was bitterly hateful, as he was now completely unable to deny Wind Rider his charm. Stargazer trod carefully around Raven, knowing his temper.

Wolf tried to talk to his mate about it once, and this had resulted in a fight that put him into Raven’s bad graces. Kit Fox went into heat, and spitefully Raven let him sleep in his and Wolf’s bed, making Wolf sleep with Wind Rider and little Frost, who kicked in his sleep.

Kit, of course, conceived, this being the first time he’d gone into heat and been ready to bear another child after losing his mate and child to the fire. Raven forgave Wolf, but left him on tenuous probation, and did not let him back into the bed.

This was a hot summer and warm fall. The animals’ winter coats came in thin, so the village prepared for a mild winter. All went well, until late fall.

One morning, Raven woke shivering. His first thought was that the fire had gone out, but when he looked over it still burned. Kit sat up beside him and reached for last year’s worn winter furs, tossing them over to the other bed. Frost squeaked thanks, and Wind Rider slept through the deluge of furs landing on her head. Wolf lazily pulled them overtop and went back to sleep.

Kit lay down, unburdened by the unseasonable cold. Raven lay awake, restless. It shouldn’t be so cold. Perhaps it was just the hut; after all, they hadn’t sealed it with fresh mud after summer had baked it off, cooling the inside. After some moments of contemplation, he got up, climbed over Kit, who insisted on a groin-warming kiss, and got dressed, shivering. Wolf watched him out of one eye, used to by now the fact that Kit was in Raven’s better graces.

Kit curled up and went back to sleep in the warm spot Raven had left, and Raven went outside.

His foot sunk ankle-deep in snow as soon as he stepped out, and he was quick to shut the hut door. Several others were up, shivering. Raven made use of the bushes, then went to hunt down Earth Mother. He found him dismantling the birthing hut, along with a few others, for firewood, and began to help.

“We didn’t expect such cold.” Earth Mother said, voice muffled by the deer hide wrapped around himself. “Bear’s Den says the animals are frozen in the field. A heavy snow, while we slept? It is against nature to play such tricks.”

Raven nodded, and took a full armful and followed Earth Mother back to his hut, piling it by the door and going back for some for himself. Earth Mother came along to aid. “We are going to forage later before digging up mud for the huts, so our hands will not be so numb.”

“I will help.” Raven offered, taking a big piece of the hut’s frame and dragging it back to his own.

Earth Mother nodded, shivering.

*****

As the winter wore on, it grew colder, and the elves grew hungrier.

At first they ate the animals that had succumbed to the elements, and stored the rest. But for warmth they had to eat more, and then they began running out of wood for the fires. To combat this, families moved in together, and the overcrowding helped with warmth and less firewood was needed. But tempers were short due the close spaces, and most days were spent huddled for warmth, willing the spring to come.

The winter seemed to stretch for an unnaturally long time, and Raven spent time with Earth Mother in Red Leaves and Summer Grass’s house, away from their mates and children.

When they had scrounged the last of aid the land could offer , wh, when their fires began to die and the starvation increased to the point where the children lay still and did not even cry or beg, Elder One went from lodge to lodge, and they made plans to leave Hathil Loth Mahr. Those who would not be convinced to risk the journey were convinced when they heard Stargazer was going as well.

The morning they were to leave, a stranger came walking into their lands, bearing a message, he said, from Sauron. The message was this: Why take our children on a long trek needlessly? Why risk their lives? He had room and food to spare, come share his tower in warmth, and wait for spring there.

Elder One and Stargazer sent the herald away, and watched him go. Then they argued about the message. Elder One said it was wise, and that Sauron was generous. Stargazer was adamant that they did not trust any they did not know. The matter was settled when the mourning wail of a Sia who had just discovered his child, curled in the corner of the hut, was lost to them.

Scowling, Stargazer backed off. Elder One announced that they would leave in the morning; not for their old lands, but for the generosity of Sauron’s fortress.

And, the next morning, they did leave.

Raven wore Frost in his old sling on his chest, and Wolf carried Wind Rider. Kit bundled himself up warmly, and went along.

There was nothing to carry but themselves, because they had no food. Stargazer and Lost One and Grey Mane walked with them, as did Earth Mother and Sky. Blackbird rode in her sling against Earth Mother’s chest. Elder One carried somebody’s baby on his hip and led the long, slow march through the cold.

They left the valley behind at noon, and came within sight of Barad–dûr. This, in Raven’s memory, would be hailed as the very beginning of the Dark Times.

But he did not know it then. None of them did. They walked into Sauron’s trap on their own feet, shivering at the mighty tower of black obsidian. Sauron sent messengers to greet them warmly and take them down to the dungeons below the ground level of the tower.

When the door shut and locked behind them, a chorus of shrieks rose up, and many set down the children and went to pound ineffectually at the doors.

******

It was perhaps two days before they all realized that they were trapped.

After the initial shock and claustrophobia had abated, families huddled together. Raven rested his head on Wolf’s shoulder, Kit’s face buried in his neck. Wind Rider and Frost hid under Wolf’s other arm. It was night, or what Raven guessed to be night, as everyone was asleep.

“Wolf.” He said quietly.

“Yes?” Wolf answered sleepily.

“I forgive you. If Wind likes Grey Mane she may. I’m sorry.”

“Shhh, I know.” Wolf soothed.

Raven was able to sleep after that.

The ‘morning’ after that exchange marked a blurring of everything together. Raven seemed dazed, as if in a sense of unreality. Events unfolded, and he tried to distance himself from them.

The weak were the first to die. The children, mostly. The Sias and fathers wept at first, but mourning passed. They piled the dead in the corner, and resigned themselves to being forgotten and being the next to join the pile.

As the corpses rotted, rats and insects came to feast. At first they chased them away in respect for the dead, then they began to catch them to eat. Raven and Kit became adept at rat hunting, and Frost and Wind Rider became well enough to chase them themselves, on occasion.

But the rats were not enough for all the elves. The first cannibalism incident went unremarked; except that the elf that did it became sick from the rotting flesh. After that, the idea spread like wildfire, and the elves eyed one another. The next to die was a child, and while the flesh was still fresh, many forced back their sensibilities and choked down the meat.

After that, it was more common. Then it became worse, as the adults hunted the children. Raven and Kit and Wolf kept Frost and Wind Rider hidden and guarded, but it did no good. It was then that Wolf turned on Raven and betrayed his trust. He allowed the others past his guard, and when they had killed Wind Rider he brought the meat to his mates.

“Better for her to live on in us than in them.” Was his reasoning.

And at this point, Raven was still obedient to his mate, and he and Kit ate as they were told.

When the children were gone, they adults began to hunt each other. Wolf Hunter left Raven and Kit to join the group, and Grey Mane was the first adult to be killed. Stargazer made no sound, but crept silently by Raven in the passageway, watching Lost One amid the action avidly. Raven smelled that he was in heat and turned away, sorrowed.

They were all mad creatures now, if Stargazer was. He was the under-leader, the equal to them all, the one everyone had always trusted. If he was mad, then they were all lost to madness.

Kit and Raven began to doubt one another as they grew weaker, not hunting like the others. They crawled around looking for rats and tried voidvoid the pack of vicious cannibals. Raven dug Frost out of each hiding spot Kit put him in and put him in another, not trusting his co-mate. Kit did likewise, as if afraid of another betrayal like Wolf’s.

Due to the stress, Kit miscarried. Unable to hide the smell of fresh blood, he was chased about the dark places, looking for somewhere safe to hide. He evaded them for days, until he slipped on a sharp rock and fell, breaking one of his legs. Then he was no match for them and, shrieking, the mad elves found him. He screamed and screamed as they fell upon him, and it echoed. Crouched by Frost’s hiding spot, Raven covered his ears so as not to hear it.

Cowering in the corridors, Raven happened upon Earth Mother not long after. He had starved to death. This brought to Raven a smile, and he was glad that at least one of them had managed to avoid the darkness’s call, and not fallen on the others of his kind as prey.

He only saw his own Sia one other time, and that was by accident. The pack had made another kill, and were making more noise than usual about it. He crept away from the nook where he had hidden Frost to see, and was horrified at the sight of Stargazer on all fours near a fresh kill, obviously in full-fledged heat, moaning and wailing as he mated with any and every male willing to step up and mount him.

Hurt by seeing his Sia as a pack whore, so reduced from his quiet dignity he had always held, Raven had crept away.

Shortly after this, while Raven was rat hunting, little Frost was flushed out of hiding. He had made no sound to betray himself as he watched Frost, so white in the dark places, run from the hungry pack members, his own father among them.

After that Raven had no spirit left to hide in the dark corridors, but he did so all the same, though he didn’t know why.

The pack cullings ended eventually, as there now were no more to cull, just wary stragglers hiding in the dark like himself. The pack turned on itself in desperation, and in the end broke up once there were only three members left.

They were Stargazer, Wolf, and Elder One.

Raven was never sure who else roamed the tunnels like he until they were killed, after that. He was fairly sure Stargazer caught Red Leaves, but the body Stargazer dragged into the open was hardly recognizable, having weathered an attack by the pack previously, it appeared from the scars.

Shortly after this, Elder One cornered him in a narrow hole, and he only managed a narrow escape, breaking one of his arms in the process.

Then, the doors Raven had long forgotten about, because they had been closed so long, opened. The creature who came in must surely have been Sauron, because he bound Stargazer with spells when he attacked. Wolf and Elder One were warier when they approached him at the door, but he caught them all the same.

Sauron waited a while, then seemed satisfied that these were all that was left, and had them dragged away.

The door was open, but Raven didn’t try for escape. He waited, to see what Sauron’s minions would do.

Apparently they had been ordered to clean down here, and when Raven saw them putting corpses and bones in a rubbish pile, he saw his way of escape. He crawled out to an area a little more open, and lay as if dead, head turned at an awkward angle to fake a broken neck.

It worked.

They picked him up by the hair and hauled him over to the rubbish pile. Raven almost cried with relief when they laid more bones and refuse atop him, keeping his breathing shallow, pretending he was still dead.

He did cry, when they dumped the rubbish pile outside under the dark Mordor sky, for the crows.

He breathed the filthy air, and brushed dirt and death off his skin, and was glad to be alive.

THE END


If you would like to read the rest of this series by Magic Rat:
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-Anu