Page 26 of Moon Chosen

“It looks like your brave Rigel fought his way through more than our brambles to find you.”

“But will he live?” Even to her own ears, Mari’s voice sounded childlike and pitiful. Rigel whined and licked her face.

“He will live. I will not consider any other alternative, and neither will you—especially as your Rigel knows your fear before you speak it. Be strong for him, Mari.”

Mari nodded and stifled another sob.

“Think of how much you love him already, and not how afraid you are of losing him,” Leda said as she scooted closer to study his wounds. “And also think of what a brave fellow he is.”

“Heisbrave. He’s brave and beautiful and incredible. I know it—I can feel it.”

“He is all of that and more,” her mother agreed, smiling at Rigel, who thumped his tail in response. Leda extended her open hand to him. With no hesitation, the pup licked her and allowed Leda to stroke the sable fur on his head. “Just as his chosen Companion is brave and beautiful and incredible.” Her mother’s voice shook with emotion as she caressed the pup briefly, and then stood, brushing off her skirts.

“But your Rigel is losing a lot of blood. Those chest wounds must be closed so that he may heal.”

He’d begun to tremble and Mari hugged Rigel closer. “He’s shivering like he’s cold, but it’s warm in here.”

“He’s going into shock. You know this, Mari. I’ve drilled you over and over again about how to treat injuries. Now you must act.”

“But this is so different from listening to your stories and answering your questions. And he’s a canine—not an Earth Walker; I don’t know what to do!”

“Mari, pull your emotions together. We have no time for fear. Dawn is near and the sun is encroaching upon the night’s sky, but a full moon cannot be so easily usurped, especially on a morning as foggy as this one. I can still call down enough energy to stop the bleeding and make him comfortable, but only with your help.He’llneed your help.”

“Anything. I’ll do anything to help Rigel.”

“That’s what I need to hear. The first step of a Healer is to—”

Leda paused, and Mari automatically finished the sentence for her, “Take action over panic.”

“Excellent. Then let us act. I don’t think it’s good for him to walk. Can you carry him? We must go above and seek out the energy that sustains us.”

“He’s big, but I’m strong. I can carry him.” Mari scooped Rigel more securely into her arms. Holding him carefully, she used her legs to lift, and stood. The pup made no sound, but rested his head against her shoulder and continued to shiver and pant.

“We’re ready.” Mari panted, too, with effort, but her face was set with determination. She would carry him, and he would heal.

Leda nodded in approval and then moved purposefully to the door, lifting aside the heavy wooden plank and stepping outside.

Her mother took her walking staff. Just as Mari had, Leda used it to hold aside the razor-tipped bramble bushes that thoroughly hid their home. Leda led the way down, around, and then up another winding path, until they came to the cleared circle built into the ridge above and behind their burrow. Here the old, lovingly tended brambles had grown to a height that towered above their heads, exposing a beautiful clearing and a round section of sky.

“Sit here, in the center, in the arms of the Earth Mother,” Leda said. “Hold Rigel in your lap.”

Wordlessly, Mari obeyed her mother and approached the figure that seemed to be a woman emerging from the earth, half reclining in the very center of their cleared circle. This idol was much like the one at the Gathering Site, though older and even larger. Her skin was the softest of mosses. Her hair, a cascade of verdant maidenhair ferns. Her round face was a perfectly carved piece of obsidian, serene and ever-watchful. Mari automatically bowed to this image of the great Earth Mother, the Goddess with which Leda had such a strong connection, before sitting cross-legged facing the figure, arranging the pup on her lap and hugging him closely. While her mother walked around their clearing, picking from the aromatic beds of herbs that grew in such proliferation there, Mari stared at the Goddess’s perfect face, wishing as she had so many times before that she could feel the connection with the Earth Mother that Leda had.

Leda rested her hands, fragrant with protective rosemary, on her daughter’s shoulders, and as if she could read her mind said, “You do not have to hear her voice or feel her presence to know that the great Earth Mother is here. She watches you closely, my sweet girl.”

Mari drew a deep breath, letting her mother’s scent of rosemary calm her, and nodded her head. She may not feel the Goddess’s presence, or hear her voice, but she definitely trusted her mother. Mari leaned back, resting against Leda’s legs and taking comfort from her nearness.

Mari looked up, trying to see through the dawn fog to the sky—trying to get a glimpse of what was left of the night’s brilliant full moon. But all she could see was the bland grayness of a shrouded morning.

“There’s no moon left at all. It’s too late,” Mari said, trying not to cry.

“The moon is there. Seen or unseen, the moon is always there. And with the aid of our Earth Mother, and your help, I can call down her power.”

Leda didn’t waste time seeking that which she knew was there, and Mari didn’t need to look behind her to know what Leda was doing. In her mind’s eye Mari could see her mother spreading her arms, low and wide, and focusing her gray eyes skyward. She knew that, even the slight amount of night not yet chased fully away by the dawn was already causing her mother’s skin to take on the silver flush that cursed all Earth Walkers—except Moon Women—to madness from dusk to dawn. Then her mother began to repeat the invocation in a voice sweet and strong and sure.

“Moon Woman I proclaim myself to be

Greatly gifted I bare myself to thee…”