No breakfast, no lunch, the triplets were very hungry. This was unusual. For all of the nerve wracking, unpleasant things they were made to witness, Kiam kept the children fed. This morning, they waited for him in their room, as they did every morning. When he came in, he had nothing for them to eat. Instead, he informed them that they were fasting for something very special. Xavier was immediately suspicious. The triplets did not have to say anything to each other to confirm it, but whatever it was, it was not in their best interest to eat it.

Xavier learned to keep his comments to himself. The bear was still volatile, even though he had not yet turned violent. The last time he questioned Kiam, the bear got quiet again, as he did when he was getting angry. The way he squared up his body toward Xavier, it seemed like he was going to strike him. A blow from a bear, even a weird half bear like Kiam, would hurt. Being ten and not knowing what to do, Xavier flinched. Not his proudest moment, but it made Kiam relent. He faked a laugh and went on as if the belligerence never happened.

So, they went about their day. The triplets worked in the garden, pulling weeds and planting. Today it was turnips, for the most part. As they planted the seeds, Kiam went on about all the uses for them. How to prepare the greens and bulbs. Not the best thing to talk about on an empty stomach. Noon came and went and, by that point, Xavier was tempted to eat the seeds. Claudia eyed the speckled yellow apples hanging from a tree. The sunlight filtered through the upper branches. Beams of light illuminated a particularly ripe apple that looked about ready to fall. The light made it look like the apples were for her. Janet was thinking about fish. Not the fish guts they were planting with the seeds; those were gross and smelled terrible. Salmon steaks, seasoned by her mother and grilled over an open flame by her father. Thinking about it was a mistake. Now she was starving and missed her parents even more.

Xavier tried to breathe through his mouth and dropped some fish guts in a hole. Janet dropped in the seed. Claudia mounded dirt over the top. Before moving on to the next hole, they noticed something. Kiam was not rambling. All three looked at him. His eyes were skyward. Peering through the canopy, he was checking the position of the sun. The bear had no time pieces of any kind, so this was how he told time. One of his ears flicked and he turned his head downward toward one of the paths leading away from his garden. The toothy smile that crossed his muzzle made Xavier feel a chill.

“She is ready….” He turned his head towards the triplets. The smile did not leave his muzzle. “Come, kinder. I have something wonderful to show you.” Without another word, he started toward the nearest path. The children followed. What other choice did they have but to follow?

Xavier stayed in front of his sisters as they wound through the trees. Not scared, but nervous. The sense that something deeply wrong was about to happen hung over him like a cloud. Not knowing was the worst part. When lacking details, the mind was capable of filling the spaces with all manner of worst-case scenarios. An empty stomach and memories of Kiam lashing out did not help.

It had to have something to do with his fake goddess. It may have been a fake goddess, but it was a real demon. Xavier was sure of that. The way it made that fruit wither away as if it sucked the life out of it was terrifying on its own. Could it do that to other living creatures? Xavier’s ears folded back at the thought of Kiam offering one of the up to it. He did not want to be a sacrifice to a demon! He would fight if that happened. He would fight even harder if he tried to do that to one of his sisters! If he was going to feed them to that demon….corpse….plant thing, he was going to have to go through him!

No, no, that would not happen, right? Kiam wanted them to be his kids. You do not just kill your kids, right? Was he going to make them eat something weird? His stomach churned hungrily, but soured when his mind conjured up a mental image of the bear stirring a cauldron full of putrid green liquid and bare skulls. With a cackle they would be made to drink every drop so they grow up to be a weird, twisted animal things like him.

Maybe not a cauldron, but something equally disgusting? He imagined a bulbous, pulsating fruit covered in fluid filled sacks. Purple and oozing green things and having nasty insects flying around it to complete the image. Or a big root covered with thorns and fibrous hairs. A cluster of grapes but instead of grapes they were tiny hands that wiggled around constantly, including when chewed on. No matter what horrible fruit he conjured up in his fertile imagination, they all grew out of vines coming from that animal and plant amalgamation Kiam prayed to. If that thing was capable of producing fruit, there was no doubt it would look evil and grotesque.

Xavier was preoccupied with thoughts of just how bad it would be all the way to the clearing. Again, the effigy of the Mutter des Bodens loomed tall over them. It was only the second time seeing the thing and it unsettled him just as much as the first. The smell remained as rank as ever and Xavier had to breathe through his mouth to spare his poor, canine nose.

Standing at the foot of it was a buck. He was a decent representative of his species; the deer having an impressive set of antlers with twelve points to them. When he first saw him, Xavier assumed he was a feral deer, being this deep into Kiam’s territory. He quickly realized that was not the case. His fur was too well groomed and had obviously been brushed recently. Eyes more focused and held that beacon of personhood, even though he was not looking directly at the approaching group. He stared off into space, fixated on a point miles in the distance. The there-but-not-there stare did not hide the spark of intelligence in those eyes, betraying his sentience.

Xavier’s ears folded back. What was the buck doing here? Was he a friend of Kiam’s? It was hard to imagine the hermit-like bear claiming any friends at all, but it was possible. Another worshipper of Kiam’s hideous goddess, perhaps? After so many days of seeing no one but his sisters and the bear, Xavier was a little nervous about seeing a new face. It would not have normally bothered him, but these were increasingly hostile circumstances.

Kiam walked next to the deer and turned to face the children. None of them knew what to expect next, especially due to Kiam’s placid facial expression. Something was about to happen, but they knew not what. He put one of his paws on the buck’s neck.

“I assume you children know what our guest is. A very fine specimen of a deer, yes?” Kiam’s words were met with blank stares from the children. Undaunted, he continued. “I know you are all very hungry, but that was by design. A hungry wolf has a clearer mind. It helps strip away all the nonsense that your modern society trains into you.”

Great, he was bloviating again. Nervous, hungry, and listening to an uncomfortable screed on the inferiority of modern society was not how Xavier wanted to spend his day. His eyes kept flicking to the deer. His body stood motionless since they arrived. The only way to tell he was not a wax figure was the occasional blink and the expansion and contraction of his chest consistent with breathing.

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“Not to worry. You will soon eat. The Mutter des Bodens provides for her followers and will provide our meal.” He turned his head toward the deer and spoke. “Blessings of the Mutter des Bodens to you, who always provides and watches over all creatures, from the grass to the prey to the predators. All belong to her.”

The buck spoke in a monotone, dreamy voice. “I belong to the Mutter des Bodens.” His vocal tone was off. He sounded like he was half asleep, though an adult would think him heavily intoxicated. “I gladly give myself to her, in service of the cycle of life, that I may provide for higher animals.”

Xavier shifted uncomfortably at the scene before him. The events unfolding before him were baffling. He could not determine their purpose. The speech sounded rehearsed and the hollow praise from the buck forced. Why was the deer still there? He should run, as something was not right. Did he know what was going to happen? Even though the young wolf had no idea, something felt very off. There was a creeping, unnerving sensation rippling just under his fur. He felt it standing on end, as if there was energy in the air. He looked up at the effigy of Kiam’s goddess, just to make sure it had not moved. While it was not currently moving, he felt like the arms of it shifted while he was not looking to further wrap around the clearing. They were closed in.

Xavier felt like saying something, but was not sure what. He looked to Janet. She stared wild eyed at Kiam. She was shivering as if cold, but it was fear. He looked at Claudia. Her eyes darted around frantically, trying to take it all in. A terrible state of affairs to be in for anybody. Nothing was right; she knew nothing was right, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Stick together. Everyone needed to stick together. They could get through this, but not if they tried to deal with it on their own. He turned his head to Janet. “Janet.” He whispered. “Stay close.” She snapped her head toward him, suppressing the urge to jump. He was right. She sidled up a little closer, a little behind him to let her brother take the lead.

“Thanks….” She whispered back.

Now Claudia. “Claudia.” He whispered and her eyes settled on him. He nodded once. She nodded back and fell in. Now, all of them were looking at Kiam. Less afraid, but not in a better situation. It would have to do.

Kiam did not notice any of that. He was busy mumbling some incantation in his native language. A foreboding sense hung in the air like a cloud. Anticipation told Xavier something terrible was about to happen.

The bear drew a knife from under his cloak. A foot long, curved knife; the kind one saw in the fish market used to fillet fish. Kiam spoke in English once more. “We thank you for your sacrifice. May you feed our bodies and the soil.”

The gravity of what was about to happen fell on Xavier. His eyes went wide. The buck was the sacrifice! All the talk about sacrifices to his goddess came into focus. He was serious about his goddess demanding them. Although he suspected it might involve sentient animals, the hope that Kiam’s mental state was sound enough to never do this remained up until that very moment.

“Run, deer, run!” Xavier shouted and tried to rush forward.

The young wolf was too far away and Kiam was too fast. In one fluid, practiced motion, he put the blade to the buck’s neck and drew it back. A second mouth opened in the buck’s throat and blood gushed from the wound. It poured down his chest and splashed onto the ground like a waterfall against the rocks. The outpouring of the buck’s life’s blood caused Xavier to skid to a stop to avoid getting drenched. Something had to be done. He was not sure what, but something was better than nothing. Almost ran around to try.

The thing that stopped him was what the soil did with the blood. It soaked in far, far faster than it should have and there was an important reason why. The root like tendrils at the effigy’s feet managed to snake through the dirt and fix themselves in the pooling blood. They drank it from the soil with a hunger uncharacteristic of plant life.

A wave of nausea hit Xavier. He staggered backwards and bumped into his sisters, who managed to catch him. Falling would have been undignified, but understandable.

No falling over for the buck, not yet. He stood there, eyes fixed at a point in the distance even as he bled out. A placid smile on his face. He was not all there; a small mercy for the dying. As blood loss overtook him, his legs bowed and wobbled. No longer able to hold his weight, he collapsed on his side. The smile never left his face, even as the life faded from his eyes. He was dead.

Seeing someone die in real time was a lot to process for three ten-year-olds. They stared agog at the horror show splayed out before them. Death was a distant concept for three so young. They would have to face it someday, but this was too soon. None of them spoke.

Kiam was never one to let silence be. Not when he had children to guide. “There. Fresh meat for my little kinder.” He leaned over the buck’s corpse and moved the legs, letting the children see a side view of it, as if he was on display at a meat market. “Do you have a favorite cut? I’ll let you choose first, young Xavier. I recommend the heart, but that part is mine. The flank is just as good.”

Stunned silence. That was to be their meal. Absolutely not! He was hungry, but not about to resort to cannibalizing other sentient animals. The sort of disgust he felt was similar to if a human was presented with the fried brains of his next door neighbor.

“No….” Xavier said softly at first, not finding his courage right away. When Kiam looked confused, he got bolder. He straightened up and withdrew his tail from between his legs. “I’m not eating that. None of us are.”

Kiam chuckled in response and shook his head. “You prefer it cooked? Rather soft of you, but understandable. You are used to meat butchered far away and sold by men in clean aprons. I prefer it with some of the life’s blood still in it, warm and fresh. You will too, when you grow older and wilder. If you insist, I can cook it for you as if you were kleinkinder.”

“No. We’re not eating it at all.” Xavier’s retort.

“Oh….” The bear frowned. “And, I suppose you speak for your sisters as well? Surely they know better than to refuse. I know you are all hungry.” He looked to Claudia.

“You murdered him. He wasn’t even feral.” Claudia knew when to speak up. Usually the first to do it, but she was particularly fearful around Kiam. Xavier taking the lead gave her some measure of strength. “Thou shalt not murder. And you expect us to eat him too? You’re a monster!”

Kiam’s scowl deepened and he looked at Janet. She did not hesitate. “Not in a million years.”

He threw his hands up. “Soft handed, ignorant little……!” He threw the knife down at the deer carcass. It plunged into his side and stuck there. The violent motion made all three wolf pups take several steps back. The bear had to realize that this was not the way to win them over but, in the moment, he did not care.

“You do not wish to eat like true wolves? FINE!” He roared. “Then you will starve until you eat what I give you! Until you feast upon prey, you will get NOTHING!” He punctuated his last word with a roar. His eyes flickered green and Xavier swore his form seemed to….blur slightly.

It only lasted a moment before he calmed down. In a few seconds, he recovered. A smile on his muzzle again, he moved the knife to open the deer’s chest cavity.

“If you change your mind, I will be here, eating my delicious meal. You are free to join me at any time, little kinder. There is plenty of meat for all of us. You will eat it eventually, so you may as well while it is still fresh.” Reaching in, he tore a section of the fur back, revealing the muscles underneath.

Xavier looked away, then Janet, then Claudia. None of them were interested in the gorefest. None of them looked at the effigy either, but Xavier caught a glimpse of it. He could have sworn that, after the kill, the vine like growths sprouted several new leaves and looked both fuller and healthier.