EARLANA
Earlana dreamt of wolves.
She was in a clearing, in the middle of a redwood forest. In front of her stood the ruins of a stone house. Low, gray clouds blended into the mist rising from the ground, and a cold rain streaked the air. A pack of large, gray-coated beasts swirled around her, rubbing against her legs, snarling and baring their fangs. They gently pushed her towards the ruins.
Having no desire to play the role of the world's largest dog biscuit, especially since she wasn't a big fan of dogs, Earlana decided to do as they wished.
The earth was spongy under her boots. Chimney flues no longer attached to anything stood like totems. The house must once have been huge, with several storeys, thick log walls and a gabled roof, but today only a stone skeleton remained. Earlana passed through an archway into a courtyard.
In front of her was an ancient water mirror, long and rectangular, now dry. She had no idea how deep it was, as the basin was filled with mist. A path wound around it, and the irregular walls of the house rose up on either side. Wolves came and went under the arcades of red volcanic stone.
At the far end of the pool sat a giant she-wolf, several heads taller than Earlana. Her eyes shone silvery in the fog, and her coat had the same chocolate-brown, almost russet, hue as the stones.
"I know this place," said Earlana, a frown on her face, trying to remember.
The she-wolf looked at her. She didn't speak, but Earlana understood her. The movements of her ears and whiskers, the gleam in her eyes, the way she curled her lips... it was all part of her language.
Of course, she says. This is where you began your journey as a cub, with your sister. Now you must find your way back. A new quest, a new beginning.
"This isn't fair," Earlana replied, but she remembered that complaining to the she-wolf was useless.
Wolves didn't know what compassion was.
Conquer or die. That is our law, says the she-wolf.
Earlana would have liked to protest that she couldn't conquer without knowing who she was, or where she was supposed to go. But she knew this she-wolf. Her name was simply Lupa, the Mother Wolf, the greatest of her kind. Long ago, her wolves had guided Earlana to this place, protected her and her sister, fed them and led them somewhere when they were deemed ready. But if they had shown any weakness, Lupa and her wolves would have torn them to pieces. Instead of being cubs, they would have been their dinner. In the pack, weakness was forbidden.
"Can you guide me ?" asked Earlana.
Lupa let out a growl from deep in her throat, and the mist that obscured the basin dissipated.
At first, Earlana didn't quite understand what her eyes were showing her. At each end of the basin, a dark arrow had sprouted from the cement floor like the drill bit of a large tunnel boring machine piercing the surface. Earlana didn't know whether these spires were made of stone or plant material, but they were composed of thick, intertwined tendrils, which came together in a point at the top. They were both about five feet tall, but apart from that, they differed. The one closest to Earlana was darker and formed a solid mass, as its tendrils were tightly packed together. Before her eyes, it rose further out of the ground and spread out wide.
On Lupa's side, the arrow's tendrils were wider apart, like the bars of a cage. Inside, Earlana could vaguely make out a misty figure struggling and stirring.
"Hera," whispered the girl.
The wolf growled in confirmation. The other wolves circled the pond, snarling, hair bristling along their spines.
CZYTASZ
Bloody Lover | Piper McLean
Fanfiction" Earlana Ramírez Arellano has a big problem. She doesn't remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently, she is best friends with Leo, a young Latino boy, and a sweet half-cherokee beauty, called Piper. The la...
