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"Other elves". . ."More of us out
there". . ."Why didn't we know?" Words spilled and overflowed from the mouths
of the group of Wolfriders surrounding Rahnee She-Wolf. She stared back at them,
some her brothers and sisters, but all related to her through Timmorn. One voice--the
leader's--stood out: "Nita's told us of the Flight."
But find elves, they did not, though the "expedition"--Nitas, another pureblood, four children of Timmorn, and ten Wolfriders--searched many turns. Instead, they found only remnants of others: a shaped tree, a rock that looked and felt odd, elven jewelry, and, mostly, fragile elven bones. They also found their once-mythical nemesis--humans! The elves fled the humans, going farther South than ever they dared, coming at last to a land of tall grass and the golden sun. Here they stayed a turn of the greater moon to rest. . .and mourn the death of Rushwind, their first chief, though he had never been acknowledged as such. Rushwind's daughter Coldstar became their chiftess, determined to find what had eluded her father. The Wolfriders became swiftly moving nomads; the pureblooded elves continued using their mind-searching skills to look for elves. Another step was added to their search by Coldstar: human slaughter. As with Coldstar's father, her obsession caused her death--not from one of the humans she so despised, but the death-challenge issued by her cousin, Shadorun, over her killing-lust for humans. Shadowrun put an end to their nomadic life. He, with his wolf Thorn, lead the tribe back to the plains, the land the Wolfriders had continued to return to since the death of their first chief, to make it their home. Although Shadowrun did not seek the human genocide as Coldstar did, he allowed the elves to continue killing the humans until there were no more on their land. For the first time, a chief lived to a ripe old age. Shadowrun's son Eagle became both Eagle's Strength and chief in his place. The years of living in the sun and grass had turned the fur of their once-gray wolves into a tawny, grass-gold and the skin of the once-pale elves to a burnished tan. They now truly belonged to the Plains, and, in turn, needed to discard the tents they had lived in during Shadowrun's chieftainship and find their permanent homeplace. With the help of Masnos, the last living pureblooded elf, Eagle's Strength led them far across the plain to a place of plateaus, canyons, and hopefully, peace. The plains elves could feel the past-presence of living elves and their death-presence. Eagle's Strength chose the tallest, most memory-filled place of the canyon and began his work. All at once his budding rock-shaping powers matured, and the rock flowed under his hands like water. He shaped the rock in a frenzy, and no one, not even his life-mate, Morningsong nor his wolf-friend Dragonfly, could understand his work or reach through to him. Whispers of madness began. At the dawn of the fourth day since reaching the canyons, a scream from their chief was heard. As the Golden Wolfriders awoke and rushed to their chief, they saw in the rising sun a great wolf's head shaped into the living rock of the canyon--a symbol of themselves and their spirit--and found the body of Eagle's Strength at the bottom of it. Eagle's Strength's brother, Sun's End, became chief after his death. His was the first truly peaceful time, marred by few tragedies and deaths. Several caverns of the Golden Wolf Holt were explored and a treasure of the High Ones found: a deep, clear well into which the High Ones had poured their memories into at death, to preserve for a time when other elves would find their death-place and understand its importance1. Under Masnos' direction, the Well of Memories was explored, and the Wolfriders relearned much of their once-was. Crimsonfire became chieftess after her father's disappearance. She was the first to drink of the Well of Memories and receive the gift of her elfin heritage: firemaking2, an ability so uncommon that only the Dreamseekers had any memory of it at all. She began the tradition of giving the dead to the Well to add more memories and allowing those coming of age to drink of the Well to take some of the memories and learn who they were. The murder of Crimsonfire ended the Age of Peace and re-began the Time of Humans. Blackmercy, her son, avenged his mother's death and turned the leviathanian holt into something of a fort. Within a hand of hands of turns, the humans were gone from the plains--either killed or banished--but almost half of the Golden Wolfriders, Including Blackmercy, had been maimed--injured beyond the healing abilities of Bluespear--or dead, their memories added to the Well. The time after the Human Battles was known as the Healing as Sleeping Bear, Blackmercy's son, took his father's place as chief. Countless turns passed with Sleeping Bear as chief, humans were a distant memory and Sleeping Bear and his life-mate Brightwater brought a new cub into the holt. Four-eights (16years) later, Sleeping Bear, Brightwater, and seven others left the holt on a moonless night. Their departure was silent and mysterious. Sleeping Bear sent to his sister's mate, Dreamshadow, informing him of their departure and instructing him to aid Lobo in assuming his birthright as chief. Dreamshadow agreed but wanted to know the reason for the sudden departure. Sleeping Bear's only answer was "May the High Ones be with us. . ." and they were gone.
* * * Now, eight-eights and six turns(70
years) later, it is the time of LoboLoco. Will it be a time of discovery, as
with Rushwind's and Coldstar's? Will it be peaceful as Shadowrun's and Crimsonfire's?
Will there be beauty and treasure as in Eagle Strength's and Sun's End's time?
Will there be pain as in Blackmercy's or Healing as with his father, Sleeping
Bear's time? Or will we find more elves as was our first dream? Only the passage
of time will tell.
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