Stars Rising (and None Falling)
Eyes High stamped her foot angrily. “You can’t! I’ve been in that nest for a full moon-dance. You can’t take me away from there! I promised my cub he would be born as close to the stars as possible. What am I supposed to do, crawl into my den and give birth like a troll, locked away from the stars?”
“That’s exactly what you are supposed to do,” Joyleaf said evenly.
“Because of some human spoor?”
“Yes! Eyes High – show some common sense. Crescent was taken by humans while she swam inside the Holt’s boundaries. One-Eye was blinding when he strayed too close to a human’s game trail. Our wolves have been poisoned and butchered. I did not challenge Bearclaw two turns ago – and cast my own lifemate out of the tribe – so you could risk yourself and your unborn child by climbing Tallest Tree when we know there have been humans snooping around.”
Eyes High turned away angrily and crossed her arms over her swollen belly. Joyleaf touched her shoulder. “Please, Eyes High. You are days overdue. This stress cannot be good for the cub. Accept this. Stay here in the Holt and give birth in safety, not all alone, far too close to human territory.”
Eyes High hung her head. “I hear the words of my chief.” Then she glared up at Joyleaf. “But I won’t like it!”
She stalked away. Joyleaf heaved a sigh.
**Not so easy to be chieftess, eh, sister?** Treestump sent.
Joyleaf glanced back at her brother. **I won’t lose another elf. If I had let Bearclaw, he would have rushed into battle with the humans and we might have all died. Do you think I challenged Bearclaw lightly? But I did what I had to. I still do. And if that means Eyes High will hate me for a few days, then so be it.**
Eyes High hiked to the end of the creek, then struggled to sit down without tipping over. The cub kicked inside her. “Restless, are you... cubling? Ohh... I’m tired too.” She began to rub her abdomen. “There there, it will be all right.”
She heard the faintest sound of feet padding on grass. **I can hear you, Zash.**
Shale sheepishly drew up to her side. **I didn’t want to disturb you.**
“You already have. What do you want?”
He flinched at her tone, and Eyes High sighed. “Oh, I’m sorry, Shale. I’m just furious at everyone right now. Can you believe she ordered me out of my nest? Bearclaw never would have.”
“Joyleaf is our chieftess now.”
“Don’t remind me. She wants us hiding in burrows like trolls.”
“If she and Brownberry found human tracks near Tallest Tree, then she was right to order you back to the Holt. Eyes High, you’re about to give birth to our cub! You can’t keep taking risks. Suppose it started while you were in the middle of climbing back up into the nest? You’d lose your grip and fall! What if the humans decided to start throwing rocks at a snake-tailed possum that took refuge up Tallest Tree? High Ones – what if the humans saw your nest and realized it wasn’t just for eagles? Please, Eyes High. Come back to our den.”
“I promised Skywise he would born under the stars, and as close to them as possible.”
“You can’t risk your health. Or our cub’s.”
“You can’t understand. I need the stars, Shale. I need to be under them, and I need my baby to be born under them. I want him to see how bright and beautiful all those lights can be on a clear night. I want to hold him up and show him the entire valley from a bird’s eye view.”
Shale was silent a moment. Then his gray eyes lit up. “Hey, I know. What if I get Redmark and Foxfur and Pike and we build you a new nest, right now, on top of Father Tree. It’s not as high as Tallest Tree, I know. But you’ll be safe inside the Holt, and you’ll be close to the stars.”
Eyes High continued to stare sullenly into the water. Then she glanced up. “You would really do that? For me?”
**Koei... we are lifemated. Of course. I would do anything for you and our cub.**
Eyes High wrapped her arms about his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. “Maybe this Recognition thing can be as cozy as all those elders say, hmm?”
Shale helped her to her feet. “Come. We’ll take you to my father, and he’ll make sure the cub is still healthy and strong, and then I’ll round up Pike and the others and we’ll build you a new nest.”
“Ahh,” Eyes High put a hand to her sore back. “He’s kicking. I don’t think we need Rain to tell us that this baby is strong.”
“All the same, he’ll be glad to see you. This is first grandchild, after all.”
Pike shimmied back out of the root burrow, clutching a hysterical chipmunk. “Agh, too small to eat,” he laughed, and let the chipmunk escape. Redmark leaned across the thick root, watching his friend’s failed hunt. Rain positioned Eyes High to lean against the root, and Redmark moved to help steady her. She was so large now, that she tipped over at the slightly imbalance.
“Are you sure she doesn’t have two in there?” Pike teased.
“Be quiet, Squirrel-cheeks,” Eyes High said wryly.
“No, it’s just one cub, Pike,” Rain laughed. “But don’t worry. When I’m done with the tribe, we’ll all be hip-deep in cubs.”
“Careful, sire Rain,” Pike winked. “I was your first try, and look what you got!”
Rain reached over and ruffled Pike’s hair affectionately. “Oh, I trust I’ve improved my healer’s skills since then, Pike.” He glanced over at Shale. “Not that your Recognition needed prompting Shale.”
“Neither one!” Pike laughed. “You and Mother Recognized to have him at the drop of leaf, and he and Eyes High met-eyes even faster!”
“Come on, get on your feet, big brother,” Shale slapped Pike’s backside. “We’re going to build Eyes High a new nest on top of Father Tree. You coming, Redmark?”
Redmark climbed over the root. “I’ll go get Foxfur and Brownberry. Maybe Woodlock’s around too.”
“Better hurry,” Pike said. “Eyes High looks ready to pop any moment.”
“Shoo, Squirrel!” she laughed, calling him by his old cub name.
Rain’s smile began to fade. He forced Recognition once with his firstborn son. But he still could not claim to be able to substitute for eyes-meeting-eyes. But the Wolfriders needed cubs. The tribe was too small. And since Bearclaw left, they were all the more aware of their small numbers. Eyes High’s baby was strong – he could feel it even inside the womb. They needed more like little Skywise.
Joyleaf stayed hidden inside Father Tree’s main door, quietly polishing her arrow. Eyes High seemed resigned to acceptance, but she was not going to push the woman by confronting her so soon after their fight. The chieftess slipped over to one of the window-hollows and watching Shale and Pike gathering branches for the new nest.
Joyleaf’s hand drifted down to touch her flat stomach. How she had hoped she might Recognize Bearclaw. But he was gone now, driven out of the pack like the mad dog he was. And she would never take another lifemate. She had loved him too much, and she had been so cruelly betrayed by her “Old Badger.” It seemed she would have no child, no little Blood of Chiefs.
But Recognition could not be anticipated. It came at any moment. Who knew – she might Recognize old Longbranch or One-Eye, or gentle Rain or even little Redmark. There was still hope that she might one day have a cub of her own.
Pike and Redmark tied the last branches into place with thick dried vines, while Foxfur and Rainsong stuffed soft grasses and fern leaves into the hollows. Shale himself brought up the soft deer hide on which Eyes High wished to give birth. It was approaching sunset. Eyes High was pacing restlessly below, like a mother wolf about to den.
**All set, Koei,** Shale sent. **No, don’t try to come up. We’ll come down and help you.**
**Do you have more food?**
**Don’t worry, greedy. I’ll bring some up as soon as you’re settled.**
Redmark and Pike hurried down, then helped Eyes High climb up the stout branches into the velvet oak leaves of Father Tree. The tree was much easier to climb than the spindly conifer on which she had built her first nest, and soon Eyes High was safely amid the oak-leaf canopy, in her dish-shaped nest.
“The wind is up,” Shale said. “The clouds should be gone by the time the stars come out. Here, you sit back and relax. I’ll be right back with food. Come on, everyone, shoo. Eyes High wants to be alone.”
“And don’t you all camp out under the tree trying to get a look!” she warned Pike and Redmark. “You can all see the cub afterwards, but this, now, is our time together.”
Shale turned to leave, and Eyes High caught his arm. She pulled him down to sit next to her. “You know... Shale. I think it will happen tonight. And... I’ve decided... you may stay... if you wish.”
Overcome, Shale wrapped himself around her swollen belly. **If I wish?! You know it’s what I want, more than anything!**
**I always liked being alone... but not now.**
**Thank you, Koei.**
She touched his face and lifted him up. **The sky will seem a bottomless pool tonight. It will be just us... and our little Fahr.**
**Fahr....** Tears welled in his eyes at the sound of his son’s soulname.
Impulsively, Eyes High kissed him. He slipped his arms around her and held her fast against him.
And her stomach grumbled.
Shale laughed, releasing her. “I’ll go bring up that food. I hope you’re in the mood for ravvit.”
“Don’t be too long,” she called as he slipped over the edge of the nest. Eyes High sat back in her deer-hide lined dish. No, there wasn’t as good as Tallest Tree. She could even hear whispers from the other elves below.
But Shale and Joyleaf were right. She had to think of her safety.
She felt a slight twinge in her abdomen. No, not much longer now.
The two human youths trekked down the worn game trail, in search of their lost snake-tail. “Hah – tonight they will sing of us around the fire,” Ehok said. “Stones are as true as arrows in our hands!”
“Yes, we are the best! We disguise our body smells after Demontricker’s ways..”
“And we do not kill,” Ehok continued. “We take tokens to shame the point-ears.”
“But... should we do it alone?”
“Only you and I know where a demon’s nest lies. We have already scouted it carefully. It is ours by right,”
“Still, we have shirked Father’s hut-tasks. Are you sure he will not beat us for our disobedience?”
“Hah! He will forgive us – the whole tribe will forgive when they see that Demontricker lives again... in us! Come, brother. Let’s find the point-ear in its nest. We will take its ears and send it running, naked, back to its demon pack. Then all will know that it is the heirs of Demontricker who rule the forest. Even that old shaman will cheer for us.”
The boys followed the trail towards the stand of conifers, pausing occasionally to rub more tusk-hog musk on their limbs. “The demon’s wolves will surely be on the lookout,” Ehok said. “More musk, Taf. The wolves will never attack a thorny humped mud pig, and that is just what he will smell when we are through.”
“Nothing will keep us from the nest,” Taf agreed.
“Look, there is it,” Ehok pointed to a mess of branches set atop the tallest evergreen.
“But... where is the wolf guard?”
“Probably gone hunting a scent. Come on, Taf. We will climb up to throwing height.”
Taf gamely followed Ehok up the thick tree branches as he struggled to balance his leather sack of pointed rocks. “I don’t see the demon.”
“It is in the nest. We just need to be at a height.”
Ehok seemed so confident. And so Taf obediently followed.
So they were parallel to the nest. “We are within throwing range. But I cannot see anything. Ehok, are you certain that the demon is there?”
“It must sleep. Throw your duller stones, Taf. We will shake it awake.”
They threw their rocks, which soared across the gap on the wind. Stones bounded off the edge of the nest, and shook the tree trunk. But no demon head poked out of the branches.
“I’m worried, Ehok. The demon has left.”
Ehok sulked. “It is hiding. Come. The wolf guard is not there. We will climb up the demon’s own tree and drive it out.”
“I don’t know...”
“Come, Taf. Don’t tarry. We cannot return home empty-handed.”
The boys climbed down to the forest floor, then began a careful pace over the leaf litter, towards the base of the tallest evergreen. The brush rustled and the boy leapt into the air. But it was not returning wolf, just a chipmunk.
“Come on, trembly-knees,” Ehok chided Taf. “We will find that hiding demon.”
They climbed up the branches, searching for some sign of the point-eared demon. But there was nothing, no shreds of leather, no stray hairs stuck to the branches. Ehok began to climb faster and faster, spurred on by his growing frustration. At last he reached the apex of the tree. The nest lay abandoned.
“Where is the demon, brother?” Taf called up from among the branches.
“Bear shit!” Ehok shouted. “The double-poking thing is gone!”
The birth was quick, as all elfin births were. At the first stab of pain, Shale helped Eyes High into a crouching position to ease the cramps in the abdomen. Soon the urge to push became unbearable, and Eyes High rose on her feet and hands, bearing down as hard as she could while Shale waited, hands outstretched holding a soft blanket made of rabbit skins.
The last light of the sunset had retreated in the west, and the sky was darkening from indigo to pitch black. And suddenly a soft cry rose up from the nest.
Exhausted, Eyes High slumped onto her side. Shale held out the little steaming bundle wrapped in rabbit fur, and Eyes High clasped her son to her breast. Pain was still shooting between her legs, and she pressed her thighs together to try and dull the sensation. Shale was already tying off the birthcord.
Eyes High brought the baby up to her face. The little pink elf-cub was clenching his fists in outrage at being so cruelly thrust into the world. A chubby hand caught her bound forelock and he tugged on it.
Eyes High had the strength to chuckle softly. “Yes... howl my wolfling,” she whispered. “Isn’t this exactly what I promised you? Look up, Skywise. Look up at the stars. They are all shining for you. Can you see them?”
Shale sat back. **I’ve cut the birthcord. Koei, does it hurt?**
**A little.**
“You’re still bleeding. You have to pass the afterbirth.”
“So tired...”
Shale helped her sit up. “Come, beloved. You have to sit. It’s almost over.”
Eyes High smiled. “Thank you... for being here.”
“I would not miss this for anything.”
Eyes High wrapped little Skywise tightly in the rabbit-fur blanket. “Ohh, isn’t he perfect?”
Shale smiled. **He is our little Fahr.**
**He has your hair.**
The wolves began howling below. “They’ve heard us.”
“They couldn’t fail to. Skywise has your set of lungs.”
“Are you saying I’m too loud?” she teased.
“No, beloved.” He kissed her fevered forehead. “You’re just loud enough.”
The demon-wolves were howling in the distance when Ehok and Taf limped back to the village, their heads hung in shame. “So, Ehok, Taf... you were hunting on your own...” their father growled down at them. “And with nothing to show for it.”
“Father... we had good cause–” Ehok began.
“Silence! You will both be thrashed for your insolence.”
“We were stalking demons –” Taf said.
“Tall tales told by foolish boys afraid of a well-deserved beating. Now get inside the walls. The demons are restless tonight. We must stoke the fire twice as bright to protect our families!”
Rain stepped back from the new mother, now safely on firm ground, wrapped up in a bearskin blanket with her newborn. “All the bleeding has stopped,” Rain told Shale. “The afterbirth just tore a little, that’s all. But it is a good thing that the birth was no longer. It could have been serious if little Skywise hadn’t been born so fast.”
“He was in a hurry,” Eyes High said with a tired smile.
Joyleaf beamed proudly. “Our tribe is one stronger! We welcome young Skywise to the Wolfriders. May he run with us always!”
The Wolfriders howled anew. Eyes High was too tired to howl, but Skywise cried lustily, as though he understood the ritual and wanted to join in.
“He saw the stars...” Eyes High said when the howls had diminished. “He looked up and he opened his little gray eyes so wide. It was perfect.”
“Mmmm.... looks like he picked the perfect time to come out,” Treestump said, as he watched the sky. “We might have rain in the morning."
“You aren’t going to be going back up into the nest, are you?” Pike asked.
“Oh... no...” Eyes High shook her head. “I’m too tired...”
“She is not going back up the tree,” Shale said firmly.
“No... I’m staying on firm ground... for a while at least.”
“Uh-oh,” Pike laughed. “It won’t be long before she’s up in the clouds again. And if my little nephew’s anything like his mother, you’ll have your hands full, Shale.”
Shale smiled. “Ohh... I think it will be worth all the trouble.”
Eyes High leaned back against the tree, then let her head fall on Shale’s shoulder.
There was water... rushing water. And blood. And Tears. Shale was dead. She was watching him die, skewered by a human’s spear while he lay paralyzed on the ground. Now she was alone, floating on a raft... drifting... where.
Skywise lay in her arms, covered in blood. There was blood everywhere. She had held the cub inside her too long. Now the afterbirth had torn, and she was bleeding to death.
Was this better that dying on the altar, flat on the hot rock as the humans cut open her belly and tore the baby out of her womb, then dashed its brains on the sacrificial pillar as the bonfire raged?
The drums beat on in her head. The flames licked all around her.
So much blood. So much death.
She was drifting away. At least she would be with Shale again. Beyond all the blood. But Skywise. What of him?
He was floating on the water, wrapped in her oiled cloak. Would he float or sink? The waters were rising, mingling with blood. “Farewell... my cub...” Eyes High whispered miserably. “Live. Live!”
The waters were rising... swallowing up the baby.
“Skywise!” she howled.
* * *
Eyes High jolted upright. “No!” she screamed. “Skywise!”
**Koei, what is it?** Shale sat up. **It was all a dream.**
“Skywise!”
**Shh... it was all a dream. You’re in the den. Skywise is right here.**
Eyes High looked around frantically. She was lying on the floor of their den, amid the soft hide blankets. Shale was at her side. And Skywise was lying in the little deer-hide hammock they had strung from the ceiling, just above the furs that might prove suffocating to a young baby. The baby was beginning to mew in fear. Then the gurgles turned to a rising wail.
Pike stuck his head in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Shale said. “Eyes High had a bad dream, that’s all.”
“Whew. All right, have a good sleep.” And Pike pulled himself back into his own den.
Eyes High crawled out of the furs, and retrieved Skywise from the hammock. She held him against her breast, and he began to nurse, his fear immediately dispelled by a mother’s touch.
Eyes High heard the water rushing. She glanced outside. It was pouring rain.
“What did you dream?” Shale asked gently.
Eyes High closed her eyes tight.
**Shh... Koei, it’s all right. You can tell me.**
**You were dead... the humans killed you.**
“What?”
**Bearclaw was never overthrown by Joyleaf. He was chief. And he let me stay in Tallest Tree. And you came to be with me during the birth. And the humans came back. You fell... you broke your back. And then I was captured. The baby was coming, but I couldn’t give birth. And then I was on a raft... and the water was rising. I couldn’t hold the baby in. He came, and there was blood everywhere. I was bleeding to death, and the waters were rising, drowning Skywise. And there was blood everywhere. Blood and fire and death...**
“Shh... it’s over. It was all a dream. A nightmare...”
“It’s what would have happened! I know it.”
“But you didn’t stay in Tallest Tree. You came down when Joyleaf ordered it. And you had Skywise safely. We’re all safe.”
Eyes High looked down at her nursing infant. “Our Skywise. Our little rising star.”**Fahr.**
She swore she heard the baby calling her own soulname back to her. **Ko....eh...** seemed to echo inside her head, then drifted away. Maybe it was only her wishful thinking.
“What is it?” Shale asked.
“Oh... nothing,” she smiled. “Just... just a dream, like you said.”
Shale slipped his arm around Eyes High’s shoulders and drew her close. “I’m right here, beloved. I’ll always be here.”
**I love you, Zash.**
**And I love you, Koei,** he kissed her forehead. “Here, let’s lie down. Maybe Skywise would like to sleep with us for a while.”
“But... what if the furs smother him?”
“They won’t. Don’t worry.”
Eyes High settled back down against the furs, clasping Skywise close. The baby nursed for a few more minutes, then nuzzled against her collarbone and drifted off to sleep.
Shale soon fell back to sleep, his cheek against Eyes High’s. For a while the images of blood and fire haunted the elf-mother, and she stared up at the ceiling in fear. But gradually the steady breathing of Shale at her side and the warm of the cub against her skin lulled her back into dreams again. Again there was water, but this time it watched away all the blood and flames, until all that remained was a laughing child with white hair and silver eyes.
“Look at the stars, Mother! Can you see them all?”
Elfquest copyright 2014 Warp Graphics, Inc. Elfquest, its logos, characters, situations, all related indicia, and their distinctive likenesses are trademarks of Warp Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Some dialogue taken from Elfquest comics. All such dialogue copyright 2014 Warp Graphics, Inc. All rights reserved. Alternaverse characters and insanity copyright 2014 Jane Senese and Erin Roberts.