:edited June 12th for some minor improvements: < o.o; >

Chapter One - Dawn

“Rise.”

The gentle voice whispered through the blinding white that assailed her first-seeing eyes.

“Rise, little one...” Again the sound came, so different from the thrum and heartbeat that had been the whole of the world. Everything before her was a blur and there was a biting feeling against her moment-fresh skin that made her shiver and ache.

A warm gentle something touched her head and the newly born fawn tried to blink the fog from her vision. She could see the shadowy shape of her mother, haloed in the dim predawn light of the forest behind her, a soft amber glow hovering just above her ears, singing with a voice almost inaudible what the fawn would come to know as her mother’s name. The song of who she was.

Love, realized the fawn, her song also spoke of love and that love warmed her heart.

“Come now... it is time to greet the world.” The gentle licks began again as the doe carefully washed the life back into her little one. It had been a close thing, this birth. The winter chill was still heavy in the air and the snow still swirled on the ground to cover the not yet awoken life that waited for the sun. She had tried for years to bring life into the world, and yet the two before this child had not even drawn breath before they were ended. The other does of her herd were not nearly ready to give birth yet and still a few months away from it, but the new fawn’s mother was of a different sort than those she called kin and her mate was as well. Now though, this little one had been born earlier than even she had expected. She had not yet reached the glen on the other side of the forest where the woods were sheltered and safe, and her mate would be waiting to help her. It was still many days away. Her child was breathing though, and that was enough.

This winter had again been a harsh one, the wolf packs in the foothills and craggy heights had long run short of game in their own small territories. Even now Walks-with-Heart knew that she and her new born fawn were in danger of discovery, hidden as they were. The wolves were hungry from the long cold, and would likely not have the patience for to allow her the moment to bargain for her new daughter’s life.

The doe nudged and prodded the small infant to her shaky feet and then stood still while the youngling found her first meal.

“Quickly now... I know you are hungry my beloved, but drink swiftly. We must be gone from here.” Her voice was gentle as the light but her ears and eyes were searching the woods around her for the warnings of the hunter’s approach. I hope it will be enough. She thought, glancing down at her own slender sides that were growing gaunt with the hunger of winter.

The fawn drank and delighted in the warm creamy thing that filled her stomach, tinged with the bitter flavors of bark and root as it was. The air was still bitterly chilled and she wondered if this was what it meant to live. Before she was filled her mother began to move, nudging her along as she found within herself the instincts that made her legs work.

The two passed silently through the woodland as the birds began their hesitant calls. Would the sun rise today? Would the spring come? Or would the sky remain the flat hopeless gray that only brightened and dimmed to show them the day had come and gone?

The doe led her child to the edge of the woods and out into the hills, pausing at the border for long agonizing moments as the chilly wind whipped around them. She listened and sniffed, sniffed and listened and the young fawn watched her with eager eyes. Learning.

They moved quickly for a long way until they reached the edges of a steep hill that was oddly more free of snow then many of the others. The doe relaxed then, for she knew the wolves had respect for the sacred places and that here, at least for a time, they would be safe.

The light had been growing steadily brighter behind them to the east and the doe began to hope that today the sun would shine at last. She led her daughter up the steepness of hill and onto the top where the wind blowing cold and strong, was blocked by the towering columns of weathered stone that stood like ancient sentinels in duo, overlooking the landscape to the west. This was the edge of the world as far as the doe knew. What lay beyond this point was vast grasslands that spread without cover until they touched the sharp edges of stone and mountains that were just barely visible on bright clear days.

The doe bent her head and bowed herself before the stones, feeling the familiar warmth wash across her to block out some of the cold, and began her prayers. The fawn shivered in the almost morning light, and watched.

Twin lords of wood and stone... The doe intoned, rolling over the ancient chants she had learned from her own mother. ...my child I bring before you. I beg for blessings for it is still a cold hard world she enters now.

A faint breath of wind reached the fawn from where she stood on the edge of the windbreak that was these odd monoliths. She had been studying the great stone pillars with interest. She could feel the something... a sparkle and a warmth that still sprouted from around them, and had noticed here for the first time sprigs of vivid green. The small flowers and grasses closest to the stones never lost their life here, even in the coldest winter, though this she did not know. She had been fascinated by their scent and also by the faint misty light that now seemed to be slowly forming a halo around the tiny ring of patterns that glowed golden above her mother’s head.

Give her a name, my lords, one that will grant her strength and courage. Bless her with your healing light for it was such a narrow thing that she lived beyond her first breath. The doe continued. The fawn could hear the faint song that was not so much coming from her mother’s throat as from those glowing patterns above her. Then the breeze rustled the grasses again and the fawn caught the briefest moment of scent that drew her attention elsewhere.

Musky and dark and surrounded by something else that seemed to awaken through her instincts all the senses the new fawn possessed. It was gone as soon as it had come, but something in it left a shiver that ran through her and sent her knees wobbling. She sat down in the grass next to her mother’s side as her song-prayer continued and watched the eastward sky as it brightened from behind the woods.

Her mother’s side was warm and windless and her scent growing stronger as the mist-wrapped-halo of her head sang its gentleness. The fawn closed her eyes in that warmth.

The doe paused in her prayers as her child lay beside her, and smiled in her heart. Then, as she turned back to continue, a breath of breeze caught her nose from the edges of the hillside curling from the east though the wind was from the west, and her blood chilled.

She stood straight, mist-wrapped halo still shining softly in the light now on the brink of dawn and turned her eyes and ears to the edges of the woods beyond the statue’s backs.

And she saw it.

Shadow beneath the trees, then slinking through the grasses with great savage nose turned to the wind to catch the warm scent of the fresh fawn and her mother standing so boldly in the open on the hillside.

Surely it would not intrude on this sacred place...

A moment, her breath quickening and hear heart beginning to race, then the great black beast sprang from his cover and began to fly across the space of grassland between them with a speed born of hunger and desperation. Without a pack this outcast had no more patience for the laws of the wood... a meal had presented itself, doe and fawn, and he would feast.

“Rise!” The doe shouted to her nearly-sleeping fawn, startling the youngling awake with a sudden rush of fear. “And RUN!”

Walks-with-Heart shoved the youngling to her feet and towards the west, away from the woods and under the eyes of the Twins just as the sun lifted its first edge over the horizon. In its brilliance she could see the dark shadow of the wolf nearly across the grasses. In ordinary circumstances the doe would have fled, but her thoughts turned to her child. If only she could buy the fawn some time to flee. Let your light guide her... she prayed desperately to the Twins. Lead her to safety... please!

Then the wolf was up the hill and she had no more time to consider. Walks-with-Heart struck out with her hooves as hard as she could and felt them connect solidly with the mangy face that loomed like a demon before her. The wolf fell back with a yelp and confused fury as this doe-meal fought back against his hunger. The doe charged down the hill to the east and whirled around to face him again so her back would not be exposed. He paused, snarling, and then lunged again towards her scant flanks, all thought of the fawn he could not see erased from his mind as the scent of the doe washed across him. His hunger knew only one aim now.

* * *

The fawn tumbled down the westward slope, her fall broken by the drifts of snow at the base. She sank deep and felt the icy cold draw her breath away.

RISE! The voices echoed deep and strong through the wind, intoning like a great bell across the landscape and filling the small fawn with vital power. She pulled herself to her feet and charged off in the direction her mother had shoved her. She flew from what danger she did not know, only that her head was swimming with an instinctual fear that drove her legs into swift motion. She bounded through the snow covered grasses and oddly a path seemed to open before her. The sun was rising swiftly now and as it’s light poured through the narrow space between the Twin statues it lit a pathway of glowing golden hue for the young fawn to follow.

The wind caught her strides and seemed to part around her as she ran carrying the fawn forward as if her fresh new hooves had wings and ever around her the golden glow seemed to spread, shining against the white-and-tan of the prairie, washing over her with a warmth that fueled her speed. Above her head though she could not see it a tiny amber star was blossoming into being.