Blue Moon-The Tribe of Souls

Chapter Nine-The Tribe of Souls

You must find the Tribe of Souls. You must find the Tribe of Rising Souls. You must...

The leader's words echoed in Reed's head, louder and louder until it hurt. She is rising. She will take over all of us. The story that Ashton had told to Reed frightened him, though he had heard it many times. It was the ending that had frightened him. The Tribe of Rising Souls was nothing but a myth to most wolves, and it was often told to pups as nursery tales. Reed knew that there was the Great Star Wolf that watched over the wolves and protected them, and wolves became the stars surrounding his constellation when they died. Reed again thought of Ashton's words. What did he mean by she? And did he really think that he--- Reed's thinking was cut off. He looked behind himself. The higher ranking wolves were barking sharp commands. The lowest ranking wolf, Siona, came crawling on her belly out of her small, cramped den toward the high ranking wolf Kaden. She began to bury her face in the ground in submission. Kaden snarled and slammed his paw on her face, keeping it there. Reed could barely hear her pained mewl, for it was muffled by the dirt.

Kaden snarled something in her ear and summoned his tail toward Akira, a juvenile male wolf. They were to attempt a difficult and nasty task saved for the lowest-ranking wolves. They were to collect fresh moose and elk scat and dry them to begin a fire in the camp. This was part of a ritual saved only for wolves who had died. Their bodies were to be placed in the fire, for it was believed their spirits would ascend to the stars, carried by the smoke. 

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Reed had a sickening feeling in his belly as he was thinking of what wolf could have died. He had a feeling he knew who it was. He watched Autumn trudged out of Ashton's den, her tail trailing on the ground, her eyes glazed with sorrow. Oh, please, no... Reed, with a sudden pain in his heart, knew exactly what wolf it was. His eyes thickened with salty tears as he watched Brent and Kaden, two high-ranking wolves, carry a lump of limp fur, brown and gray, out of the den. Reed watched as his deceased beloved leader was lain in the middle of the clearing. The sky began to cloud, and moments later it began to rain. It was if the heavens were weeping for the great leader. Reed watched as wolves began to circle Ashton's body. Some sat at his flanks, some at his head, some by his exposed belly, and some along his back. The alpha was soon surrounded by mourning wolves, their heads bowed. The rain began to cease. As Siona began a bonfire, with Kaden carefully watching her every move, a long, shrill, but sorrowful howl filled the clearing. Reed didn't know who it came from, but it was soon followed by many other howls, all long and lonely. The wolves circling the dead alpha raised their heads and howled to the stars beginning to show through the cloudy night. Reed, his ears filled with the sorrowful music, joined the other wolves, tipped his head to the sky, and began howling a song for the beloved alpha who had ruled and watched over the wolves for so many moons.

Gazing in the hourglass of time

As the wheel of life circles by

Without death, there'd be no new life

So it's time to let go of your pain, let go of strife.

Touch your spirit to the sky

And leave the ground from whence you came

Leave your burdens and pain behind

You will forever leave us changed

Worry not, dear friend

For your memories, t'was foretold,

Forever, until the end

Like treasures, we will hold.