Hunter's Moon

Round and Round the Circle Goes

  Sliding open the loft door, I blankly looked at the man standing on the other side. He gave a gentle smile while looking down at me, and I glanced at the large duffel bag at his side.

  "I've heard from Scott that you could use some help."

  "Apologies, Dr. Deaton, but I don't think you can give me the help I need."

  "On the contrary." He raised his eyebrows and gestured. "May I come in?" Stepping to the side, I let him enter the loft before sliding the door closed behind him.

  "How is a Druid supposed to help me?" I questioned.

  "Druids have been helping your kind long before we were helping the werewolves." Dr. Deaton replied while setting the duffel bag down in the middle of the floor. I watched as he crouched beside it and opened the bag. "Many things may have been lost to time, but there are still a great number more of things Druids still know of the Fenris. You lost your family and emissary when you were still a child, too young to learn what you needed to from them."

  "So, what, you're going to teach me those things?" The man softly smiled while looking up at me as he pulled a few things from the bag.

  "I'm going to try. First, we need to unlock your repressed memories to see what you do know. I will guide you through it, so as long as you listen to my voice, we can avoid anything too traumatic."

  "If you mean the fire, I already remember that."

  "Well, you only remember what you know you remember. There may be things you've forgotten that you wouldn't know that you've forgotten."

  "....So how does this work?"

  "I need you to sit on the floor while holding this." Dr. Deaton handed me a large animal skull with symbols carved deep into the bone.

  "Why not the ice bath like with Isaac?"

  "You're different from Isaac, Dakota. The same method wouldn't work with you, not with your body being so adapted to both extremely low and high temperatures." He chuckled while setting up a circle of sticks and dried plants.

  "How do you know that this way will work?"

  "I don't, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Now would it?" Shaking my head, I sat in the middle of the circle with the skull in my lap while watching Dr. Deaton finish setting up the circle.

  "Now, I need you to be relaxed. Try to clear your mind." The doctor pulled out a match and began to light some of the sticks. They made a dark, scented smoke as they slowly burned.

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out while letting my shoulders relax. Closing my eyes, I hyper-focused on the man's steady heartbeat to clear all else from my mind.

  "I'm going to count down from ten. When I get to one, I want you to answer any question I ask as honestly as possible. Do you understand?"

  "I do."

  "Good." His voice was utterly calm as the scented smoke filled my nostrils. "Ten....nine....eight....seven....six....five....four....three....two......one." My breathing slowed as I sat up straight and heard the two beating hearts in the room and nothing more. "Is your name Dakota Lycaon?"

  "Yes."

  "Is your father Lucius, mother Mary, and your sister Lisa?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you ever meet me when you were a child?"

  "....Yes."

  "Good. Dakota, I want you to tell me your emissary's name."