Page 31

Nugai tossed a mixture into the fire and the air filled with the pungent scent of incense. "You must leave now, Bryan. This is a realm that only the shamans and the afflicted can tread."

He nodded and whispered to his father. "I'll see you soon."

Munok was outside sitting in wolf form by the entrance to the den, deep in concentration. Bryan sat next to him, watching him silently. The rest of the village gathered around the structure and contributed a low and resonant howl that reverberated around the forest. It became like a song, a haunting operatic that could've been mistaken for the voice of the forest itself.

The ceremony continued on through the day. Without knowledge of the ritual Bryan could only watch, but he refused to move from his place outside the tent even after the hours moved on and the sun dropped in the sky. He felt like his presence might contribute somehow, and he didn't want to stray far from where his father was. As time wore on, thoughts and worries began to fill his mind. He was terrified to lose his father, and only now did the brunt of that potentially reality break on him.

"Stop," Munok growled.

Bryan looked over at him in surprise. The Alpha had been in a silent trance this entire time. His eyes were still closed, but he spoke again. "You're thinking too much. Stop it. It's not going to help. You understood the risks. So did he."

"I don't know what to do. I can't help it."

Munok grunted. "I'll teach you how to call to Uri. Shift. Now close your eyes and clear your mind."

In his wolf form, Bryan closed his eyes and did his best to blank out his thoughts.

"Now imagine a howl that can reach the moon. Listen to the voices of the wolves around you and using your mind, project out with that howl."

Bryan tilted his head back and howled.

"No! Yourmind. Howl with only your mind."

"And that's it?"

"Don't stop. Not until they emerge from the den. It won't be as easy as you think. This is shaman knowledge, Bryan. Only few can learn how to use it. But I believe you can. Now howl."

He closed his eyes and imagined as Munok had instructed. He was right—it was more difficult than he expected to sustain the howl mantra for an extended period of time. His own intrusive thoughts continued to interrupt, but he didn't give up. Time went by, and eventually the low droning howl in his mind became something outside of himself, something that he wasn't creating but that justwas. It permeated through him and thrummed from his body like ripples on the surface of water. He could feel everything and everyone around him, and he felt his father's life force from inside the den.

He no longer had a sense of time. When Nugai and Gan emerged from the tent and broke his meditation, he discovered that he'd been in his trance for over seven hours. It was near morning.

"It's Uri's choice now," Gan said. "We sleep. Tomorrow, we'll know."

But Bryan couldn't sleep. He couldn't bring himself to even leave the entrance of the sacred den, so his Alphas brought out furs and lay with him on the ground outside. He continued his meditation, and they stayed awake with him despite their exhaustion and together watched the sun break through the canopy.

When it was finally time to enter the den, Bryan found himself free of the anxiety he'd had before. He was tired, but his mind was clear. He was ready to face whatever reality might greet him inside.

The village had gathered again and waited around the sacred den. Back in human form, Gan entered first and was followed by the trio. The fire had reduced to coals and a haze hung in the air. The four of them knelt at the side of a motionless figure that lay beneath the skull of Uri. Bryan leaned forward. His father's face was painted with red ochre and other pigments, and his eyes were closed.

"Father?" He slowly reached out to touch the man's shoulder.

His father stirred, his eyelids struggling to pull open like he was coming out of an impossibly deep sleep. "Bryan?" he murmured.

Relief poured into Bryan's heart. He was alright.

Nugai brought over a bowl of steaming liquid and Munok helped him sit up. "Drink this tea."

It wasn't long before strength and clarity returned to him, and though he was still an old man, Bryan saw a vitality in his father's eyes that had been absent for a very long time.

"Can you stand?" Gan asked.

"Let me try," Bryan's father replied.

His legs shook and he held his arms out to balance, but after a moment of adjustment he was fine. He was standing, and he looked just as shocked about it as Bryan did. Munok offered him a wooden cane, and he took it and used it to walk around the room.

"Uri has granted your health," Gan said. "You will recover."

Walking with his father from the forest back into town was a moment Bryan would never forget. From the looks on the loggers’ faces, it was like they'd seen a ghost. Bryan knew that everything was going to change now. The door had been opened and he would take the steps to walk his people through it. He would do everything he could to heal the wounds that had been caused over the last 50 years, to work out some way the Xyletians could live with the Uridimm. He believed it was possible, but he knew that in the end it wouldn't be his battle to win. It would fall into the hands of his child, the Alpha he knew was growing in his belly.

This was the destiny he ordained for his son. It would be his precious mission; the extension of the prophecy that had bound him eternally to his three fated Alphas.