The Wolves of Gryning: A Vixen's Tale Pt. II
Interlude
A Vixen's Tale - Continued
Jula leaned back and lit another cigarette. She drew the smoke deep and held it, held it so long that it came out clear, near-invisible. Her ears twitched and she crossed her legs.
"You were right. This is an important story to tell," Jula's voice warbled, a little edge creeping into it from the hours of speaking. She took a sip of her by-now-cold tea. Luna followed suit. She felt her mind racing, for she'd already drunk three cups of the stuff; the brightroot when boiled bore tremendous stimulating properties.
"Vacka was nearly the end of us all," Jula continued. "Very nearly the end of everything. Many beasts still remember firsthand the destruction he and his army caused. But it wasn't his fault."
"Not his fault?" Luna said.
"I don't think I'll be able to forgive him completely, ever, for the things that he did. My people were slaughtered, struck down in their own home. That being said, I know he's not solely responsible for his actions."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"Listen, outlander. Vacka acted foolishly. He made decisions that nobeast should ever make. He made them in pursuit of relief, relief from the pain of mourning. I can understand that desire. But he opened himself up to powers that he should not have come near, and the stories I have told you about the god Kethke, or the immortals Rheuhl and Yhlamora are not fairy tales. These beings are all real, and interacted with the beast in a very real capacity. Their own foolish dealings with the worlds of mortals, and their own predilection towards chaos are responsible for the havoc that Vacka wreaked. The boy was not acting of his own will by the end of it. Even now, the ancient powers play with our fates. They always find a vessel. Now it simply won't be Vacka, but somebeast else. Something else. They're always there, part of our world."
Luna didn't answer that. She stood to stretch and walked to the tent's entrance. She could still smell the salt of the sea sweeping in through the tunnel network.
"The story about Siljna was true too. She was a god, and a real one, though the wolves rarely acknowledge her like they should. They named a part of their kingdoms after her, but have done nothing else to honor her. Yet they honor Valenthi and the Flame with everything they do. Imagine then how it must have felt when Siljna was still alive, and then you may begin to understand why she took her life as she did. But she was real, once, and so was that firstborn child of hers. That child was the god Kethke, for it had been granted a measure of the powers of darkness that had revived its soul from the Twilit Forest. And the god had a real and palpable sway over the mind of Vacka."
"And what of the immortals, then? Rheuhl, Ylahmora?" Luna crossed her arms. "Aren't these just composite names for the gods and devils of each religion?"
"Not quite. Valenthi and Siljna were real gods, but not the only gods. And the immortals were something even older and stronger than that. They are the wills of the universe and the whims of reality. In their sway, it is difficult to pin blame on anybeast for anything they've ever done, or ever will do."
"You think then that nobeast should ever be punished? If nobeast were responsible for the way they were, the things they did, then there's no way you can punish them."
"Oh no, child. Punishment must still be meted out, even if they couldn't help the way they were. They were failed by a flawed system, by the chaos of that which is outside their understanding. But if a beast is the hand of chaos, that beast must accept the punishment as well."
"Vacka never attacked Sonder," Luna said. "But his crimes are well known. My people are not likely to change their opinions of him anytime soon, nor are the attacked kingdoms likely to forget."
"Nobeast breathed a word about forgiveness. It's not forgiveness he deserves. It's recognition."
The vixen sighed and crushed her cigarette beneath her heel.
"Vacka, of course, freed himself from the control of Kethke. It was Rheuhl who sent him to find Morgara, that ancient blade of Valenthi's. I won't speak of that just now, but we'll get there."
"Well?" Luna asked. "If not him, then what's next?"
"Gryning, of course. The king's story is not over - far from it. Besegrare had a hand in more and more of the chaos as time went on. But even his actions would have amounted to nothing in the face of that evil, were it not for the help of another of his loyal subjects. There is one other wolf whose works were just as important. There is nothing left to speak of without speaking of her."
"Who?" Luna asked, hand on her hip. She breathed deep of the sea air then turned and walked back to seat herself across from the vixen.
Jula leaned forward again, lighting a fresh cigarette and clearing her throat loudly. She sucked in the smoke and blew it out in thin purplish streams.
"Valdigt," she said. "The Red Warrior."