Gunnarr drew Arnora closer while the other two hunters slowly sheathed their knives. "Are you hurt badly?" he whispered to her.
"No, Gunnarr. Only scratches, bruises..." She lowered her eyes. "Norna arrived in time to prevent the worse from... from happening. Norna... she... didn't deserve..." Arnora couldn't say more as tears welling in her eyes and the constriction in her throat caused her to cease speaking. She pressed her face hard against Gunnarr's chest and sobbed.
Gunnarr felt a large, strong hand on his shoulder. "I did doubt you, Gunnarr. Just a little bit, for a short while. I'm sorry, my friend. Truly sorry." Wybjorn allowed his hand to linger on Gunnarr's shoulder for a brief moment of reassurance as Einar stepped forward to make his peace. "Wybjorn speaks for me as well," said Einar. "I was confused and misled."
Gunnarr nodded his head. "We were all confused or misled one way or another. Myself included. It seems only the wolves knew the truth."
"Yes, the wolves..." Einar seemed to lose himself in thought. A moment later he looked in the direction the wolves had taken. "Gunnarr, it seemed the blue eyed wolf, the one who took down Brandr, it seemed the wolf was trying to say something to us, or to you. Did it seem that way to you?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any idea what it meant by the look in its face?"
"I can't be sure. It seemed deliberate in what it did. Brandr was its prey but it did not feed. Wolves, I thought, only killed for food. But Brandr spoke of killing a she-wolf. I wonder if it was a wolf from this pack that Brandr killed?"
Einar frowned. "Revenge? But these are only wolves."
Gunnarr stroked Arnora's tear-wet cheek, brushing back her hair. She withdrew her face from his chest and stepped back to see Gunnarr's face more fully while clasping her clothes to herself. "A wolf indeed," agreed Gunnarr. "But I think I can understand its reason. Perhaps the she-wolf Brandr killed was special in the pack, maybe a mate." Gunnarr looked at Arnora. "Yes, I think I can understand how a wolf might react to the hurting or killing of its mate. But there was more..."
"What more could there be?" asked Wybjorn, following Gunnarr's words but having difficulty accepting these things about wolves. "Like Einar said, these are only wolves, beasts."
"Are we so sure that's all they are?"
"What more can they be, Gunnarr?" said Einar.
"I don't know. But we are hunters like them; we hunt together like them; we hunt the same prey... I just don't know, Einar. It seemed to me the wolf with the blue eyes looked at me the same way I looked at it. Two hunters... But as our eyes met the wolf seemed to be saying to me 'Use our forest as we do, but do not hunt the hunters.' That's what I think it said in its silent stare, strange as it may sound. Do not hunt the hunters."
"Their forest?" questioned Wybjorn.
"Yes, Wybjorn. Their forest. It was theirs long before we arrived. We are borrowers not owners. They permit us to hunt in what they own. We should remember that when we hunt and respect their realm."
Wybjorn looked at Einar, who shrugged his shoulders. "I can do that, Gunnarr, provided they leave us alone when we hunt."
"For good reason I think that is what the wolves will do."
Wybjorn cleared his deep voiced throat with a gravelly, rough sound. "So we are still going to hunt?"
Gunnarr laughed. "Of course, my great big friend. Just like before. And there will be four of us who hunt, except one will be a huntress."
Arnora's eyes brightened and a little color rushed to her otherwise paled cheeks. "Huntress?"
"Yes, young woman huntress of the village. You."
"With you? All of you?"
"No, with me, at my side, on every hunt. That is until children get in the way. Our children."
Arnora's cheeks now turned bright pink. "Children... Do you mean?" Gunnarr nodded. Arnora quite forgot herself and released hold of her tattered clothing as she flew into Gunnarr's outstretched and welcoming arms immediately planting a warm kiss on his lips. Wybjorn and Einar looked away with smirks on their faces. This huntress found her prey on this day, they concluded silently.
"Come with me, Wybjorn," said Einar. "We have the matter of needing some help now to carry our catch and a need to see the elder about all of this. It's an hour to the village from here. Our hunter friends over there (Einar pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at Gunnarr) will be busy for awhile and will be no help to us." Wybjorn laughed, Einar joining in, their laughter fading away with each step they took towards the village.
But Gunnarr didn't hear their words or even their laughter. He was too busy enjoying the closeness he shared that moment with Arnora. "Some needle and thread and you will be ready to hunt again."
"With you?" Arnora said breathlessly.
"Always," Gunnarr affirmed.
"And forever," added Arnora as she pressed her lips to his and kissed him firmly, warmly, deeply until Gunnarr lost all sense of everything in the forest except for her.
THE END
All text is copyright © 2004 by Civis Romanus. All rights reserved.
Posted by permission of HeavenGames LLC. [This message has been edited by Civis Romanus (edited 03-16-2004 @ 10:17 PM).]