Lira awoke in the morning with her cheek nestled in heather and fern.
"Merlin" she half growled with a sly smile. She could still feel the ribbons
of his magic, swirling through her.She choked back a laugh (Wolf would be very put out if she actually LAUGHED at him.)
Lira chalked this one up to fate and with a wry grin,
she broke camp and they began the journey down the rutted carriage track.
It was quiet, peaceful. The rocks that had been blocking
her at every turn seemed to disappear,
it was survival that mattered now, she felt it coursing through her blood.
Survival and the driving need to see whatever strange
force drove her forward to it's end,
no matter the
odds-it was always there,
In the ensuing miles Lira shed her "masque" of culture and pretention of "society", the material ideas and
the baggage dropped away. It was Lira and Wolf;
all they had was each other-just as it had been from the night
Merlin asked Wolf if he would fulfill his promise as a friend.
As the miles began to dissolve under their ground-eating trot,
her blood began to hum
in synch with everything around her that mattered to her.)
"GO HOME!" echoed in every fiber
of her being.
As the miles fell away, Lira and Wolf renewed their lifelong
joy of roaming the open spaces and existing on the trust they put in one another.
In the city, Lira was in control of situations. When they were "running" they were as one.
The landscape was changing now, the heather and fern had
given way to woodland. Trees and lush vegetation growing in
wild abandon.
The smell of the forest so strong, Lira impulsively lay down and rolled in the tall grass bordering the glade.
Lying on the crushed grass Lira looked at the impatient wolf but decided this was enough for the day.
"Well? I think this is a perfect place to bed down, agreed?"
Standing tall and pointing his muzzle into the air current, Wolf gazed at her with disapproving eyes.
Shrugging, Lira said, "hey, I gotta get used to this again ya know?"
Wolf took two steps back and sharply turned, heading for the forest.
Begrudgingly picking herself up from her comfortable nest, Lira stood and looked at the surroundings they would be spending the night in.
She promptly uttered a gasp and sat back down
to soak in the magnificent surroundings.
Mountains surrounded them on three sides,
with a torrent of water running through the center two peaks,
cascading down to pool in a vast loch at the bottom.
The woodland behind her was healthy and young, thick growth providing homes for any and all.
The crystal air carried on it various hints of life in this place and time.
Bitterroot and Pine, flowers, greens all had distinctive aromas
Which they set sail in the windstream to announce their existence.
and the musky odor of it's inhabitants,
of which Lira feared there would be one less this beautiful day if she knew any better.
The setting sun was a disc of incandescent orange. Lira felt the level of awareness Wolf presently had of his surroundings
Where shall we go from here traveler?
she cleared her mind of everything save the soft undertone of the waterfall.
She giggled, sinking into the moment
and allowed the sun streaming through her eyelids to coalesce
into vivid blue ribbons of bonding. Gently, she sent the ribbons searching towards the hunting Wolf.
Feeling the tickle of acceptance as Wolf allowed her to join with him,
Lira smiled and hugged him in her mind. The returning flood of joy and love (what Wolf referred to as "One")
made her heart race and her senses tingle with a higher level of awareness.
In her mind, she stowed away the moment.
It was during the lean times; she picked through these moments and found the strength to continue.
and knew he was waiting patiently by a rabbit's path he had found sniffing under some brambles.
Cabot Trail,
Nova Scotia
