Lilau wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she looked up again. Minutes, hours, it hardly mattered. The flood of tears and emotions had left her numb, but no less sad. Nonetheless, her tears were spent for the moment and her mind shared a revelation that made her heart trip. When Raval had died, Mara had sent for the village to enact the final rituals and return his body to the earth. Now that Mara was gone, it was her duty to inform one of the new Elders so they could do the same. Except for the fact that she hadn’t, by the Elder’s decree, had an actual conversation with a single villager in the last ten cycles. She wasn’t sure she knew how, and there was no guarantee they wouldn’t seize the chance to do what they pleased with her now that she had no protection.

She needed to run, but the thought of leaving Mara’s body to be stumbled upon some indeterminate time later didn’t set well. No, she had to tell them. Karsh was the kinder of the two new Elders, a short, round woman who was the complete opposite of Mara. She still didn’t agree with Lilau being allowed to stay in the village. But as far as Lilau knew, she had never borne her ill will, either. Of course, her isolation meant her considerations were based more on guesswork than anything else, still it wasn’t like she had much else to work with.

Steeling herself, she stood. She hated everything about this, but she would do it for Mara. She kept her eyes straight as she moved out of Mara’s bedroom and toward the front door. If she let her gaze drift over the place for what she knew was the last time, she feared the numbness would vanish, taking with it the strength it afforded her.

The damp morning air rushed in as she opened the door, its fresh, earthy scent replacing the smell of sickness and death that had permeated the old house throughout the night. She could hear the animated conversations of the birds and the squirrels all around her, yet the village was silent. Where was everyone? This early, the place should have been bustling with activity, yet there wasn’t a person in sight.

Makotae came up beside her, his harness dangling in his jaws as images flowed into her thoughts. Villagers are at the Trial. We should prepare, then go. Harness me and we will get there quickly.

The Trial! She had forgotten about it. It happened every year and its participants encompassed every whelp who was near or past their eighteenth cycle. Those who could finish the perilous course were inducted into the Wolf Tribe as full-fledged adults, receiving their second Mark. Despite being of age, Lilau hadn’t been invited. Her skin remained as smooth and bare as the day she was born, having received neither the Mark of her mother’s tribe nor the one from the tribe she lived beside. Her absence of Marks all but screamed their lack of acceptance of her, a mentality that would never allow them to entertain the idea of letting her attempt the Trial.

That fact had bothered her when she was a young child, back when she let herself become caught up in the excitement and anticipation that surrounded the rite. Now, her isolation had removed any care of it.

Makotae had the right idea, though. She would harness him and pack some necessities before going to tell Karsh of Mara’s passing. If she packed light, they could outrun the other wolves.

She turned back towards the long hut and froze. The place loomed over her, seeming to grow as it took on a threatening air. She didn’t want to go back in there, to where death had settled.

Makotae dropped his harness and approached the closed door. Open it and I will go.

When Lilau didn’t move, he scratched at it, knocking her out of her dark trance. She shook her head, moved to his side. She opened the door, just enough to let him wedge his head in, before retreating again. They repeated the dance until a small pile of things littered the beaten path that led into the rest of the village. Medicinal herbs, dried meat and berries, basic tools and saddlebags. It wasn’t much, but it was all she needed to take.

She wasted no time harnessing Makotae and tying the saddlebags onto the loops that lined the strips of leather across his flanks. After double-checking the integrity and fit of the ensemble, she fastened her sheathed knife to her waist and her quiver to her back before slinging her bow across her shoulder. She grabbed onto the thick hair at the base of his neck and launched herself up onto his back.

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Makotae waited just long enough for her to distribute her weight before breaking into the ground-eating lope that came so naturally to his kind.

Lilau settled into the motion, using her legs and arms to keep herself centered as her companion compacted and extended through each stride. They entered the forest. The foliage flowing by in a blur of bright colors and saccharin scents. It was the season of new life, born from the ice and snow that had covered the world a couple of moons before. Even the wind that blew against them carried with it a sense of urgent joy, of great things to come. Combined with the exhilaration she felt whenever she rode Makotae, it was a powerful drug. Lilau let her sorrow thaw in the face of the onslaught, if only for the ride.

His lengthy strides carried them northward towards Cross Ridge, where the Trial took place. It wasn’t long before the moss-slicked, jutting rocks of their destination rose to meet them. The ridge had more length than height, with its highest point just reaching the top of the tall conifers that surrounded it. However, its danger didn’t come from the climb alone. Time had worn the ridge into something that looked far too unstable to stand, with gashes cut into its sheer face giving like a well-used counting stick. Loose stones and small plants made the trek across it a trial indeed.

A sizeable crowd had amassed at the northernmost edge of the ridge. The village members chatted with one another as they awaited the Elder who would not be attending, while their wolves weaved throughout. Looking over the mass of people, Lilau felt her resolve shake, but Makotae’s lope brought them within sight before it could shatter. Those who saw the first went silent. They frowned at her approach. Their reaction didn’t surprise her at all. Makotae turned, skirting the crowd as Lilau scanned for Karsh.

Relief washed over her when she saw her target push herself out into the open, brown eyes scrutinizing. “Lilau Noka, what brings you here?”

Karsh’s voice was smooth and steady, a good match for the soft look of her face. Lilau supposed such things contributed towards her popularity among the tribe. Such popularity had made her the candidate for next Elder Woman, despite the difficulty Mara had in teaching her the required medicine and ritual knowledge. Karsh’s pitying look was like coarse sand scratching over Lilau’s skin.

Makotae stood tall and alert, ears twitching as Lilau relayed what she came to say. She took a deep breath before forming the required response. “I have come with the changing seasons. Elder Mara has passed and the long hut lays barren.”

Karsh went still, her eyes widening. Her partner, Elder Nex, had risen to his position upon Raval’s death but had not moved into the Elder’s hut in respect to Mara. With both prior Elders dead, they would take the last step in their succession.

Those people who stood close enough to hear them went still too, a low keen starting as they paid their respects to the lost Elder. The keen was infectious, spreading throughout the group. The wolves joined in and whined, adding their part to the dirge until the very earth quivered.

Lilau’s chest tightened with the finality of the sound. Her own keen joined the chorus, seeking release. Still, the pressure built in her heart until she feared it might burst. When the keening stopped, it left a hole that felt no better. She willed Makotae to turn. There was nothing left for her here.

As they did, they caught sight of a bonfire that was hidden by a cluster of bodies. The Trial Bonfire where each successful participant would jump through on wolf-back to complete their growth into an adult of the Wolf Tribe.

Lilau’s gaze moved past it in disinterest, but was forced back when Makotae’s thoughts lit up.

We are Wolf. We are adults. He tensed, nose pointed at the flames in the distance.

No, we are not of this tribe.

He snorted. Not this tribe, but Wolf.

A thrust of his haunches pushed away further argument as she was forced to hold on or fall off. The crowd behind them broke their reverent silence as they neared the fire, the disdain in their cries making her fear the blow of a stone or spear. But Makotae moved too fast.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tucked close to his body as the flames hurtled towards her, the smell of wood smoke stealing her breath as much as the searing heat. Makotae launched them through. The flames licked at their bodies, the intense heat feeling cold against Lilau’s skin.

The inferno passed as Makotae touched down on the other side, the harsh scent of singed fur and hair rising to grate against her nostrils.

Immediacy filled both of their minds. They took something that the tribe did not want them to have. If they weren’t in danger before, they were now.

Lilau opened her eyes and sat up, looking back to see how close the crowd was. Makotae shot off, forcing her to grasp tighter to his fur as the vision took form.

The bonfire shone a deep crimson, not as she had seen fires do, but as the stars in the sky, its incredible brightness blotting out everything behind it. More shocking still was the figure that writhed within.

A serpent swam through the fire, its golden scales sparkling with their own inner light. As Lilau’s gaze settled on it, it stopped, coiling until only its head stood erect, swaying above the highest flame. It locked eyes with her, the growing distance between them vanishing as it sucked her into its two depthless orange orbs.

Hissing roiled in her head, echoing a warning without malice. Look up, it urged, and follow the sky.