First Bite
#1 of Radich
Part 1
ch1
Radich often found himself the subject of his tiny village's humor. He was the bastard son of a barbaric raider from the far north whose band of raiders had ranged south to his tiny village in search of food and beer. Many in the town still remember the fur clad barbarians who invaded the single inn on the outside of town; consuming an entire winter's store of beer and mutton. The tiny village of Froigarda would have revoked the brutes, yet they found the ready gold and silver coins of the barbarian's purses much to promising to pass up. There were two consequences of this invasion. The first was a huge explosion of construction on the local inn. The second was the birth of a small quantity of odd bastard children whom were born to an assortment of unwed maidens. These women were mostly shipped off to the southern villages with a decent portion of gold to purchase service in the church of the moon. Most became Sisters of the Moon and devoted their lives to the furthering of the goddess Luna's teachings. Some gave in to the forsaken ways and were banished with their children to the northern wastes of the north. A few even undertook the treacherous journey to the mountains where their baby's fathers had returned to. Only one woman braved the scorn of her entire village and continued to live in their hateful presence. Only Elira Bout continued to till her inherited lands when her mother and father passed away from the Frost Burn. Only Elira raised her son amidst the tall Sinecone groves that grew around Froigarda; she alone wooed the guild appointed blacksmith who came to live in Froigarda, and Elira was the victim of her struggle for 15 years to ensure her eldest son's place in the town. Now Radich, his two brothers, Tarn and Finid, his sister Miria, and stepfather Enridch stood beside his mother's bed as she whispered her dying wishes to her family. "I wish to speak to you alone Radich", she told her family. After the others had left the room she began, "Radich, I leave you with nothing in this world but your good nature and fine health. I studied the ways of the goddess so that I could bless you and my other children with her graces. You must promise me you'll look after your brothers and sisters. Turn not to the mountains for adventure like the foolish men who stop in the inn. You can be happy here only if you want to be", the dying woman whispered. "Live in peace my son. Now please send for Enridch so that I can die in the arms of my love".
"Where are you going?" Miria asked her older brother as he left her mother's room and started toward the door.
"There are chores to do Miria; I'll have time to morn when I'm old and grey" Radich said in his scratchy voice.
Miria hurried to don the warm winter cloak Radich had made for her from the furs of a great elk he'd killed last spring. He had made it for himself, but rarely found need for it despite the powerful cold of winter. Miria never seemed to be warm unless she was wearing the great cloak or being held by her father or eldest brother. As she pulled on the huge cloak she hurried toward the door after Radich. Once outside she hopped from foot print to foot print following her brother with vigor. "Rad? Rad! Rad, please don't walk so fast!" she called after him as he walked toward the distant shed that held her father's many smithing tools.
Miria was so intent on catching up that she didn't see Radich until she bumped into his back. "Miria, don't move" he said and squatted down to right his sister.
Radich hadn't seen the three wolves when he had left the house. They must have emerged from the woods while he had tromped through the snow. Oddly these wolves weren't acting like they should. First, they were impossibly large and had dark red and brown fur. Second, they were padding softly toward him as though they walked about in the open like this all the time. Lastly, they all stopped in front of him and sat on their haunches. "Radich?" the big wolf in leading the other two said.
"A...Are...Are you talking...to me?" Radich said.
"Yes youngling, I am"
"Radich! What are they saying?" Miria asked from behind her brother.
"You can't hear them?" he whispered back.
"Youngling, we have come to give you your birth-right" the wolf said.
"Rad" Miria whispered, "I don't like the way it's looking at you"
"Just stay behind me, I don't think they even know your here" Rad said and turned to the wolf, "Sir Wolf, what birth-right is this?"
"Hold out your arm and accept it my son, allow me to bite you and your true potential will be revealed" the wolf said and took a step toward Radich.
"B...Bite me! I...I don't know, that doesn't sound to appealing"
"Do it, or I might kill the human behind you"
"No! I won't let you! I won't let you hurt Miria!"
"Is that her name? Well then, you better let me give you your gift, I wouldn't want to hurt her..."
Radich held out his arm and watched as the wolf approached. "I...I accept" he said and looked away from the wolf.
"Good!"
In a flash the wolf had leaped forward and bitten into Rad's arm. "Rad no" Miria screamed.
Rad grabbed her and held her still while the wolf's bite sent driblets of blood from Rad's arm down to the white snow. After a painful moment the wolf released Rad stepped away and backed up a few steps. "You'll make a good Alpha, youngling" He said before turning and disappearing into the nearby forest.
"Rad, Are you ok?" Miria asked as Rad let go of her. "You don't look so good!"
"I just got bitten by a crazy talking wolf; I guess I'm just a little shaken up Miria"
"I'm sorry for asking such a silly question lets go to the shack and I'll wrap your wound"
After walking with Miria to the shack that his step father had built for his blacksmithing business Miria found some clean cloth and wrapped Rad's wound. They talked for a while about how odd the encounter had been and, Rad gave a detailed report of the wolf's words. "That's all he said Miria"
"Weird, I wonder what your birth-right is" Miria said as she finished wrapping her brother's arm.
"No time to wonder for me though, I have chores to do". Rad rose and walked outside to a big pile of wood and began to carry it piece by piece into the shack, All the while being watched by his little sister, and though neither he nor Miria knew it a small red furred wolf.
The wolf watched her fellow youngling with interest; here was the single child of one of the greatest Alphas ever known, and he was stacking wood for a human blacksmith. He was bigger by far than any human his age should be, but this was due to his heritage. In time he would grow to be about the size of a full grown frost giant, but that was a long time off. For now she was amazed to see a real live alpha around her own age. Who knew what path he was forging as he began his adventure into the power that would eventually come to define his every living moment? "Hadrach" she whispered in the old tongue. To her amazement he stopped working and looked in her general direction. Could he have such senses so soon? No, she told herself as he went back to hauling the wood about. His brown hair would soon begin to turn red and his fur would start to show no matter what form he chose to hide in. So many changes and so little time; tonight would be his first full moon, and, like all alphas, he'd be starving after his first transformation. He'd want to hunt, and she would be all that could teach him to hunt, to feed, to kill.
...
After finishing his chores Radich carried Miria, who had fallen asleep, into the house. "Radich, I wouldn't have asked you to work on the day of your mother's death" Endrich said as Radich walked in with Miria in his arms. "She's always favored you Radich my boy. How is she holding up?
"Miria is strong of heart Master Endrich"
"Radich, how many times shall I need tell you to call me Endrich, or even Father? I've practically raised you as I did my own sons.
"Master Endrich, What will we do with the farm now that Mother is dead?"
"I will send you and my children to the southern city of Lucavan; there you and Tarn can find work in guild positions. You alone have more than passed your guild tests in your three years of service as my apprentice"
"But Master Endrich, I couldn't leave you, Miria, and Finid alone here! I'll stay and tend the farm next spring" Rad protested.
"Rad... My love has died, and I too will die of the Frost Burn before long... Take my children and flee this god forsaken land of Ice and cold"
"But the spring, it will..."
"There will be no spring Rad! Your mother and I could barely break the ground last year, and you know as well as I do that nothing grew from it! Only those cursed ice flowers and the Sinecone groves can grow here. I'll serve this town as long as I am able son, but you, take your siblings. Take them and seek a life away from the strife that killed your mother and me. Even now you know Finid Is plagued by the Frost Burn. Only the warmth of spring is said to revive the vitality of a Frost Burn victim, and perhaps spring will reach Lucavan this year..."
"We will save him Mast... Father, we will bring spring back one day, you'll see!"
"I can only hope son, but tonight you will sleep, for tomorrow we will pack the sleigh and you four will leave for Lucavan"
...
Something was different about Radich when Miria awoke that morning to his gentle shaking. As she looked into his deep green eyes she saw a glimmer of something new and exciting; like an adventure inside her older brother that was just waiting to leap out into the cold winter light. She didn't understand when Tarn told her to say goodbye to papa. So she just kissed him on his bearded cheek and said, "see you soon papa!" to the smiling man.
"Goodbye my dear..." he replied as he hoisted her into the seat beside Radich in the horse drawn sleigh.
Her brother was already laying in the back of the sleigh under a great many covers, so Miria just snuggled up to Rad as Tarn scrambled to load the last of a few boxes into the cart. Just before the cart was loaded a great red furred dog leaped onto the seat with her and Rad. The dog and Rad exchanged a brief glance before it curled into a ball on the side of Miria that Rad wasn't warming. Tarn pulled the cloth cover over his head and fixed it so no cold air would damage the goods below the thick tarp, mainly Finid, and then told Rad that he was "all set".
Finally her father began to sing an old lullaby as Rad started the horse along the frozen earth road. "Goodbye Father!" She called. Not knowing that this would be the last time she would ever see him.
The cart rumbled on for what seemed like forever. The red dog it seemed was a sleepy companion and responded little to Miria's petting it's head. "Rad, I didn't know we had a dog." Miria said.
"We don't, this is Ambra, and she's a new friend of mine"
"Hello Ambra, That's a pretty name, but Rad? Where did she come from?"
"From the forest"
"What was she doing there?"
"Oh, whatever wolves do in forests"
"She's a wolf!" Miria said a bit surprised. "She looks much to pretty to be like those mongrels that we saw the other day..."
"She's still just a cub Miria"
"What's a wolf cub doing with us?"
Rad didn't respond he just looked down at Miria for a moment and then patted her on the head. Miria looked up into the face of her favorite brother. She had never noticed the dark shadow that seemed to have suddenly spread over his familiar face. She was reminded of her father for a second, but the thought was a fleeting one, for this shadow was a new thing on an old face, and that demanded investigation. "Miria, What are you doing?" Rad chuckled as she rubbed the rough shadow.
"You have a great shadow all over your face brother; I was just feeling of it"
"A shadow" Rad said a bit shocked and reached up to feel his face. "I must be growing a beard?" he said dazed.
Miria giggled at the thought of Rad's face covered in hair. But her frivolity was at last defeated by the cozy warmth of the two protective presences on either side of her.
Normally she'd have slipped off into sleep, but she was awakened by a strange conversation between the red wolf and Rad. _the red wolf said.
"She will be a great woman someday; I will protect her until I can find a mate for her"
"Then you will be surprised when she does not care. Miria is a very special girl who can see the good and evil in a man at first sight. If Miria does not like a person than nobody should"
"I'll arrange to have her trained as a moon priestess, and then she can choose her own path"_