An Unearthing of Goddesses

An Unearthing of Goddesses Part 30

The next morning was spent back at the hunt, but this time with birds of prey. They mounted stallions and Maeve affixed a leather gauntlet to Kate's arm, instructing her in the proper way to hold her falcon, a high-spirited grey merlin. Maeve teased the bird's breast feathers up and tweaked her stern beak.

"There's my love. Make mamma proud, Marta, and bring us back a nice juicy hare." She showed Kate how to throw her arm upward to give the falcon a good takeoff and they followed on horseback as she swept over the fields beyond the forest. Maeve let loose her own peregrine and the chase was on. Kate struggled to stay in the saddle, but her horse seemed to know exactly what to do, following the action on his own accord. Two brown rabbits were quickly brought in by the assassins and bagged by Maeve, whose hawk obediently returned to her gauntlet quietly. Kate's merlin sat in a nearby tree and eyed her defiantly. Kate dismounted and after tussling through a thistle bush, reached the tree's base where she stood holding her arm high, as Maeve had taught.

"Marta! Come girl! C'mon." Kate patted her leathered arm. "Please?"

A sharp whistle screeched from behind Kate. The bird immediately jumped as if from an electric shock and lifted her wings, flying directly to Kate's arm. Maeve rode up.

"Don't ever say 'please' to your falcon. She will never respect you afterward."

She helped Kate back on her horse and they resumed the hunt. After some time, they sent the falcons home and just rode, trotting along the wood's edge. Then suddenly, Maeve reached over and slapped the rear of Kate's horse, sending him into a wild gallop. Kate squealed and held on tight to the reins, squeezing her legs into the stirrups. But then – the reins were gone and the saddle and stirrups too, and she was riding bareback, holding on to his mane with her legs wrapped desperately to his sides. She looked over at Maeve who was bareback too, her red hair streaming back behind her like her own mane. And then – it was her own mane, and Maeve was becoming one with her stallion, her arms blending with his legs and her eyes wild and rolled back with speed.

Kate looked down at her own arms but they were gone too – her torso was blended with the stallion's muscled chest and she felt her horse legs thundering underneath her, her hooves beating the ground and the wind rushing through her mane and tail as she flew across the fields. At times Maeve was so close she could feel her brush against her side, and hear her snorts and heavy breaths. She pressed ahead until she was a length in front of her mentor, exerting every ounce of her strength. Then, they both suddenly broke stride, slowing to a trot and coming to rest in a glade thick with clover. They stopped, to graze a bit and dropped to their sides to roll on their backs, stretching and scratching. It was heaven.

Kate looked down at herself – she was a woman again, wearing a particularly filthy outfit. She rose, brushing off grass from her tunic and hair. Maeve sprang up and went to their horses, now feeding nearby. She retrieved their waterskins and the picnic lunch that Hume had packed them.

They sat on an outcropping of rock and ate their rabbit sandwiches. Rabbit seemed to be the staple of their diet, Kate noticed. She wouldn't mind having some sushi. The last time she'd eaten sushi it had been on vacation with Adam. Adam...

"What are you daydreaming about?" Maeve looked at her shrewdly. "You are a million miles away."

"I want to ask you about – about what we discussed before. How I could be a goddess and earth Elemental and still be connected with Adam. Is there a way?"

Maeve looked away. "Are you sure this is what you want? It's not enough just to be with us?"

"It's not that," Kate said quickly. "I've loved my time here with everyone, I really have. But Adam – he's my soulmate, I think. But I'll never really know unless I try. Try having a real relationship."

Maeve nodded, saying nothing more. She packed up the stallions and they returned home in silence. When they arrived at the treehouse she set Kate to work in the stables, mucking dirty hay and helping a dryad boy rub down the horses. At dusk she retrieved her, and they walked to the aviary where the falcons sat hooded on their perches. Amongst their occasional kaks and feather ruffling, Kate and Maeve sat on a bench carved from an enormous log.

"Falcons mate for life. Hawks too," Maeve said. "It is a good thing to have that kind of love."

Kate looked up sharply. Suddenly the calm was pierced by a single howl, setting the birds a titter on their perches. It was coming from the forest – a wolf. But it was – familiar, somehow? It cried out again and Kate's body felt electric. She felt like she was being called by this soulful wail.

"The wolf is a loyal mate and a noble creature of the forest. They will die for each other, for their mates or family, to ensure the survival of the pack." Maeve had a faraway look.

The howl penetrated again, hauntingly pure. Kate rose suddenly, feeling a compulsion to follow it. What was happening?

"Go to him," Maeve said, reaching out and touching her back.

Kate felt compelled to bend over and felt herself stretching out, hind legs long and nimble, paws as big as her human hands, body streamlined and strong. Her sharp eyesight pierced the twilight, and her acute ears heard the rustling at the forest's edge. The birds in the aviary exploded in distress, screeching their disapproval and Maeve smacked her hindquarters, sending Kate off in her new wolf form.

"Just come back to us soon," she said as Kate rushed into the night, in her body of a large, grey wolf. The howling stopped when she reached the woods. The lone black wolf sat in wait and his dark eyes pierced hers as she approached. Then, another sharpened sense took over. Her nose, a hundred times as sensitive as a human's, was overwhelmed with a smell so captivating she stopped short. What was that aroma?

The black wolf lifted his long nose and sniffed the air, smelling it too. He looked at her with a hungry stare and they circled each other slowly, inhaling each other's scents. Then the black wolf moved close and rubbed against her side. He took her muzzle in his mouth, whining quietly. She looked deep in his eyes and knew it was him. Adam. She saw the recognition reflected back. Then – the smell again. She nibbled at his coat and he sniffed her tail, bowed his head and tossed it – then sprang. Kate yelped and ran into the woods, Adam close behind. They raced through the trees at breakneck speed until he caught her, biting the back of her neck and mounting from behind, both of them drunk on her hormones and their primal animal rut.

Afterward they lay side by side, touching noses. They didn't communicate in human words, but in instinct and body language, sounds, expressions and scents. Sometimes a thought would penetrate Kate's mind, from Adam's wolf being.

"How am I here?"

"We brought you."

"Can we stay?"

"I hope so. I don't know."

"Will you stay forever with me, if you can?"

"Yes." And she meant it.

Then another sensation took over – hunger. The scent of the deer caught both of their noses at once and they rose instantly on the trail of their dinner. They tracked it through the woods and attacked together, bringing it down easily and sharing the spoils. They padded through the forest side by side, so close they touched, exploring the night until they tired. Then they made themselves a cozy den in the roots of a large oak tree where they rested, grooming each other's coats. As the moon rose above them they curled up to sleep, their noses nuzzled in each other's fur, and it was the most serene rest that Kate had ever had in her life. She prayed she would wake up in her wolf form, by Adam's side.

***

Photo by Phil Robson on Unsplash