winter wolves and the moth people

2020-10-18

The winter wolves waged war on the moth people.

The wolves were military, aggressive, hierarchical, and followed orders. While the moths were magical, communal, and followed intuition.

And so while there were thriving pockets of resistance, the moths were systemically killed and driven from their homes by the superior power and numbers of the wolves.

An elder and leader of one moth community was lame. He walked with a cane, and even then only with great difficulty and pain. His method of walking was one of throwing and trust. He would throw one leg forward, not having much control of the muscles below his hip, and see where it might land. And then, with the aid of his cane, he would trust that the leg would support his weight as he leaned on it to throw the other leg and start the whole process over again.

When the wolves came, the community organized their entire retreat around the old man. He would not be left behind.

A small middle guard occupied itself with transporting him and the other weak and infirm of their tribe, while a vanguard lead a retreat away from the wolves. In the rear, a small guard made themselves look as though they were leading an attack on the wolves, while their true purpose was to protect the middle and front guards as they retreated.

They suffered, but they were successful.

They set up camp at the base of a large tree dripping in moss. The tree welcomed them, and the moths settled in around, inside of, and high up in the branches of the tree.

The chief enforcer of the wolves found the camp and approached the tree. She stood outside and waited, and soon a couple of moths came out to meet her.

They carried the old man on a litter between them. He had suffered greatly exerting himself during the retreat. His legs were knotted and gnarled. Turned in odd directions and bent in odd places. They caused him great pain, and he ground his teeth and rolled his eyes. They were his world and his prison. He had very little attention left over with which to notice and engage with the real world around him.

Seeing him caused the wolf discomfort and she averted her eyes. Then she approached the old man, took a deep breath, and blew a cold wind from her lips onto and around him. The wind swirled and hugged him tight and when it was gone, his legs had been made right and his delirium was gone. His attendants lifted him to his feet and lead him away as he gingerly placed one foot in front of another, weak as a newborn, but with more control than he’s had in years.

The remaining moths regarded the lone wolf. She had just woven an extremely powerful piece of healing magic known to, and capable of being performed by, none but a small number of moth healers.

She lowered her head in shame under their gaze at the revelation: she was a moth turned wolf, a betrayer to her people.

When the wolves who had followed her without her knowedge broke into the clearing, she turned and sided with the moths against them. She pulled from her pocket a stolen piece of wolf technology: a frosted glass marble the size of a large walnut, etched with lines that intersect each other in complex patterns as each line joins two nodes on opposite sides of the marble.

With enough knowledge and practice, and with skilled nimble fingers, one might trace patterns on the marble to create one of three different effects.

First, the Signature of Soothing. The true source of her ability to heal the old man. Using this signature, one may perform a great feat of healing on an individual, or minor feats on several at once, or may invigorate those who do not need healing.

Second, the Signature of Sight. The user may consider a single decision or action, and summon before them two alternate futures based on that branching point, from which they may choose one to happen.

Third, the Signature of Space. The user may disappear from their current location and immediately reappear in another location of their choosing that they can see. Or, for a brief time, in close proximity, they may be in two places at once, each of their selves acting independently of the other.

The wolf who was a moth who is now a moth again had knowledge and practice with the marble and all its signatures, and her fingers were skilled and nimble. She whirled around the clearing devastating the wolves. There was no pinning her down and no surprising her. She seemed to know their every move before they even made it. The moths who entered the fray behind her were under her protection and found themselves recovering from wounds and never tiring.

After, she returned into the tree with the others and sat down on the ground before the old man.