In the Beginning
The heavy rain had began three days previous and hadn’t let up, though for Mavin Gungshyn and her companions the situation had become somewhat less precipitous as they neared their destination. The clouds had shifted in colour from black to a light gray as the the pelting rain become flakes of snow, dropping lazily from dizzying heights far above the earth.
Mavin looked back every few minutes to make sure the pregnant woman was still holding up. Every time she cast the paling woman a glance, she felt a renewed sense of urgency. Having been pursued for over a week, there was no telling whether or not they have traveled outside the Regent’s influence.
“Let’s take a break!” Mavin called.
The others slowed down, looking around cautiously to make sure they were well-hidden by the rise of the southern bluff.
Goldshock, one of the men, secured the pregnant woman’s cloak before shuffling over to Mavin, who was already standing on higher ground, peering north.
“Surely we’ve reached the Winterland,” Goldshock said.
Mavin tilted her head as though in acknowledgment. “I’m with you. We should have reached their border well before morning.” She sighed, her eyes gazing up at the setting sun.
“I’m not sure how much longer she’ll hold up.” Goldshock arched a long finger toward the pregnant woman. “She’s been groaning for several hours. I fear what will happen if she gives birth before the grandmother arrives.”
Mavin looked at him sharply. “She will not. The prophecy tells us that the grandmother will birth the child personally. She’ll be here soon to take the woman off her hands.”
“And what about us?” Goldshock asked. “As fugitives, how will we return to our homes? The Regent will be watching for us.”
“He must never know what became of the child,” Mavin said somberly. “Our lives must be consumed with keeping that secret. If it should be discovered before the Awakening, I cannot even guess the result, except that it would spell utter disaster.” She paused, a faraway look coming into her eye. “The Regent will soon fall, making our task easier. A new menace will rise out of the east, and he will be terrible, though without knowledge or interest in the child of prophecy, he will pose no great threat to us. Until that happens, we must live as ghosts, vanishing on the slightest wind.”
A low, mournful wailing in the distance cut her short. It was followed by hurried shouts by some of the other men in their party.
“It is the northerners! They are here!”
Mavin and Goldshock climbed down the hill as fast as they could, but even before they could return to the pregnant woman, a half-dozen tall, dark figures were looming over them from the north side of camp. One in particular, an ominous looking woman dressed entirely in white fur, approached them. The stranger’s eyes were fastened entirely on the pregnant woman and seemed to pay no heed to her companions and caretakers.
“You have come to me at last,” the stranger whispered. “As we were told many centuries ago, out of a void of white, and from the south, when the moon had turned on its back on its lover.”
Mavin stepped between the strange woman and the pregnant one. “Stop,” she commanded. “Are you of the northerners?”
“Yes,” the stranger said with a derisive laugh. “Where else would I come from?”
Mavin’s breath caught in her throat as the more important question came to her. “Are you the grandmother?”
“I am,” the woman answered. “Now give me the child or I will take it from you.” When nobody moved, she cleared her throat. “This honour was promised to us at the dawning of the world. We will not be denied.”
As suggested, Mavin and her company had little say in the matter as the other figures stepped in around them, taking the pregnant woman into their arms. Without another word being said, they disappeared over the crest of the hill. Though it was difficult to make out, Mavin was almost certain the strange woman had departed with a shallow bow, as though in appreciation of their personal sacrifices.
Even as the last of the northerners faded from sight, the straggled cries of an infant carried over the crisp twilight air.