The Wall of Mist

Chapter 3

The men sat opposite to the women around the fire. She watched as the men drank water from a shared stone bowl that the sharp-minded Elvina recognized as her own skilled work.

The men's laughter echoed through the village center as she observed them under lowered brows while she slowly ate a slightly cooked piece of meat.

The entire village was feasting on the fresh meat of the killed seals that the women had prepared.

The older girls around her laughed at each other's jokes. The girls were dimmer than the lemmings that threw themselves off the cliffs in mass every spring or so myth claimed.

None of the other girls wore the names of proud hunters and few had the names of great stags. All of them were moon berries and bushels of white flowers. Like for some strange reason they were all destined to be lollygaggers or just plainly fit into the feminine mold.

The men howled like mad wolves they shared and recounted their numerous hunting trips to each other. They fusilladed into laugher at each other jokes the filled the conversation between stories.

The young men, yet to have stories of their own, listened and watched the older men like hawks. Their blissful wishing and desires lit their faces with focus. They observed their elders in the hope of gaining valuable knowledge that they could use when their fist hunts came around.

The White Wolf was aware of every word that was spoken around the campfire. She caught sight of every movement and emotion. She was the greatest predator of them all. It made her preceptive and probing then her peers.

There were faults to her shrewdness as it made her much more sniffing and awkward than most. Her keen desire for knowledge had to lead her to sneak about and be caught snooping on people. Awkward had those encounters been.

The Crow Master was as silent as she was, even more so. He was even more observing than her. He was doing the same thing she was doing, only she was the one mimicking him. The only difference between the owls was that he was much more experience.

He was never caught when he engaged in meddlesome behavior. Unlike his protégé, he knew how to get away with his busybody actions.

And for a moment they caught each other's gaze. Just a moment, one breath.

As quickly as their eye had met they were once again roaming the various sights the social gathering offered.

The jolly dining and conversation around the bonfire lasted for what seemed to be an infinite while to the White Wolf.

Stories upon stories of almost mystical kills and adventures were shared between the men. The younger women shared endless amounts of gossip, nothing that Elvina found to be of great interest. She could not have been more bored than any other creature in the world.

"It is great to be all together," the Great Bear announced.

All the members of the village went mute as a single entity. All of them fixed their eyes on the village chief.

He stood and said, "I am endlessly grateful to be among all those that are familiar, once again. To be in the company of you all. To be near my most wonderful daughters."

The chief's eyes met with Elvina's eyes and then he directed his gaze to his eldest daughter. He then surveyed the entire gathering.

He continued, "I am so honored to be blest with such joyous friends, warm-hearted family, and virtuous daughters."

He was charismatic, and his words were calculated. Every word he spoke was chosen with more care then a great white bear mother had for her cubs.

Whispers of approval flowed from the women and men excluding the White Wolf and the Crow Master who never spoke in social situations.

The chief rose his arm to silence the gathering. Within a few minutes, only the warm wind could be heard. "The days have begun to shorten, and the stag has started to migrate south. Soon the first snow will begin to fall, and the endless night will follow shortly." The light tone he'd had prior was now replaced with one grave and heavy, but his voice was ever smooth and honeyed. "Thus, we must begin to prepare ourselves from the upcoming winter. Together we will be efficient in our preparations."

Her father paused, deeply breathing in the cooling air, his chest expanded, and tranquility settled on his sharps features. "Before we busy ourselves with such, we will be honored with the visit from one of the great Watchers."

A wave of awe spread across all the village members' faces, including that of the Crow Master and his protégé. Watchers never visited villages for the joy of it. They only visit if they had close family within a village if there was a threat involving a spirit or they were to choose a new watcher.

It was a rare occasion for a new Watcher to be chosen. There were only five Watchers who had the honor of protecting their people at one time.

There was nothing more frightening than the thought of watcher binging chosen for Elvina.

How rare it wasindeed for a watcher to be chosen as it had not happened in ten years.