Page 5 of Polar Fates
There were other Gods in Alis’s memories, but Artemis was the one that stood out in all of them. I think there was more between them than just friendship, but Alis won’t tell me. Just like she won’t talk about Raoul, the man she loves. He seems to be still alive, but that’s all I know. For someone usually so chatty, Alis completely shuts down when I ask abouthim.
“Alis?” I ask her in my mind. It’s a strange feeling. I’m not really in my body and yet I still feel it. I feel both my human body and Alis’s bear form. I could probably try and take over the bear, if Alis let me. We’ve now run together often enough for me to know how the four pawsfunction.
Yes?
“You said that Gods once walked on Earth, and may still,” I resume our earlier conversation. “But what about theFates?”
Theydon’t.
I wait for her to continue but she stays silent. “Want to expand onthat?”
I don’t know,she admits.Before I was sent to you, they’d talk to me, but I never saw them. Even back in Greece, nobody knew anything more than rumours about them. We know they exist, we know their names, we know what they do, but that’s about it. And we know they sometimes mess up. Like with the bearshifters.
“So you know for sure that it’s theirdoing?”
Yes, they more or less admitted it before they bound me to you. They sent me to right their wrong. They messed with the threads of the bear shifters and made a mistake which is why no bear cubs are born anymore. But I have no idea what to do aboutit.
“Can’t they just fix itthemselves?”
I don’t know. Either they can’t or they don’t want to. Maybe me trying to figure this out is their way of getting entertainment. Maybe they all see this as one big joke. But I gave birth to the first bear shifter and I’m going to make sure that there will be cubs onceagain.”
“They don’t sound verynice.”
I don’t think they aspire to be nice. If you’ve lived for as long as they have, all you probably want is a way out of the monotony of spinning and cutting the threads that determine ourdestinies.
“I still don’t like the idea of them deciding what we do. What happens to us. It’s wrong. We should have achoice.”
Remember how I told you that some people manage to cut their own threads and determine their own fate? Well, I believe it’s possible. If you can figure out how to do it. Maybe that’s what’s needed. Someone who isn’t bound by theirwill.
I chuckle. “I don’t think Torben would like the idea of not being able to choose his owndestiny.”
Alis laughs.Yes, and neither would his bear. They’re verysimilar.
I like that about him. He can be stubborn, but he’s strong and reliable. Protective. And mymate.
I watch through Ali’s eyes as Torben jumps through the snow, his white fur blending into the landscape. I assume that’s what Alis looks like. Her fur is even paler than his. The other two are running behind us, I can hear their breaths as they try and keep up. Alis is fast and Torben is too proud to let her take the lead. For now, Alis is letting him think that he’s the faster one. I think she doesn’t want to take over from him completely, not yet, anyway. As long as they all know that she’s the oldest and wisest. Which they do. She takes care to remind them at everyopportunity.
That’s because I’m their female. They need to know that we’re the ones who rule thesleuth.
“Stop reading mymind!”
Stop thinking soloudly!
We both laugh. This isn’t the first time we’ve had this exchange. I think she can’t help hearing my thoughts when she’s in her bear form and I’m just the passenger. At least she refrains from commenting on them – most of thetime.
You may want to lookaway.
Oh no, not again. There’s a hare running away fromus.
Lunch.
“Please make itquick.”
I’ve not got used to hunting and killing yet. Of course, the bears need to live off something, and with no other predators on the island, there is an abundance of wildlife just waiting to be eaten. But still… it’s bloody. The crunch when her teeth bite her prey’s bones…Yuck.
I focus on not looking out of Alis’s eyes as she catches the hare. She makes hunting look easy. The others are yet to catch something, but this run isn’t about food. It’s about getting outside and enjoying the wind in our fur, the snow under our paws, the fresh air filling our lungs. It’s about being abear.
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