An Unearthing of Goddesses

An Unearthing of Goddesses Part 28

Kate reached the dryads waiting at the wood's edge. Kitsune bowed briefly and Maeve saluted sharply. With a toss of her red hair, Maeve silently led them into the trees. Kate struggled to keep up with the lithe duo and several times almost tripped over tree roots along the way. They followed the mossy inclined ground sprouting with ferns, weaving between trunks until they reached a canopied glade deep within. Here they stopped and Maeve turned.

"Hold out your arms – like this." She thrust one arm out straight and pulled the other back in a graceful bend. Kate mimicked her and immediately felt the weight of the bow she was now holding. It was long and sleek, carved of a willow bough, and her fingers curled around the nock of the silver arrow that was mounted against its crest. She felt the arrow's cold shaft close upon her cheek and its sharp head in her eye's sight. Its feathers brushed gently against her ear. It felt so natural, like she was holding a baby.

"The Elemental bow – we all have the ability to call it at will. Bend your arm slightly," Kitsune instructed, brushing Kate's left elbow "Focus on your target – that fruit hanging just so – " she pointed to a dangling red orb on a tree ahead of them – a pomegranate.

"Imagine you are reaching out for it. This arrow is your arm. You want the fruit – yes?" She looked at Kate hypnotically from beneath her thick black fringe of bangs.

"Yes," Kate said breathlessly. She'd hardly wanted anything more.

"Then take it. Stretch a bit, arch your back, hold steady and – release."

Kate's fingers opened and the arrow shot. She felt as if her heart was leaving her body as it flew to its prize – and it exploded into the fruit like her own chest exploded with excitement.

"I got it – did you see that?!" Kate squealed in triumph.

"Good start," Maeve said cooly. She took the bow from her and put it over Kate's head, resting it across her chest. Then, she set off through the woods again at a trot. Kate jogged after her and Kitsune followed behind. Kate was soon panting, yet she kept up until she had a stitch in her side and then stopped, bending over. It seemed this part of her training was going to be less existential and more physical. Kitsune stopped beside her and handed her a waterskin. Kate drank deeply and stood up, breathing hard. A thick whooshing cut the air in front of them as a streak of silver flashed by.

Maeve appeared. "I saw her!" She tossed her red air in excitement. "The hind!"

The light was fading around them quickly. Kitsune pulled out torches and handed one to Kate; it ignited when it reached her hand.

"Welcome to the night hunt," Maeve said.

"What exactly are we hunting?" Kate asked. "I'm sort of a pacifist."

Maeve raised her brows. "The hind is a dappled doe, with horns of gold and hooves of bronze. She is swift. I only just saw a golden shimmer in my eye. She is my quest – until I find her, I will remain unsure of my skill." Maeve turned and disappeared behind a tree.

Kitsune raised her torch, leading Kate in the twilight. "She won't kill her you know," she said. "She will graze her side only. It won't even harm her. But when her arrow touches the hind's flesh – the hind will reward her."

"Reward her?" Kate picked her way carefully through the undergrowth, illuminated brightly by her torch. "With what – a wish?"

Kitsune laughed, like a tinkling bell. "She's not a djinn. The reward will be what Maeve most desires – prosperity for her fields and woods. Fertile earth, pure rains, bountiful harvests."

Kate nodded. They wove through the forest, their torches bobbing, the occasional owl's hoot or fox's yip breaking the silence. Maeve and Kitsune stopped from time to time and listened, cocking their arrows. They had their own silent language, with nods and blinks and gestures.