The first rays of sunlight appeared in the shelter. Enid sighed. She began to gather up some of the discarded woven and leather clothing. She gathered it and put it together in a folded neat pile. She wasn’t quite sure if the women went topless or not. They had been covered the night before, but it wasn’t entirely warm out either. She shrugged and pulled on one of the woven tops and a hide skirt tying them off. She pulled on the soft hide boots she found. The person who discarded them was a good fit for her Sarah form. Enid shrugged and walked out. She heard movement outside and glanced around as the hunters were getting ready to go on their hunt. The sun was still low on the horizon, but Enid was mortal in its rays.

The women was getting ready to plant or so it appeared. She quirked an eyebrow. She’d expected they didn’t do agriculture. She wandered the makeshift village and started to realize that these temporary shelters were in previously dug areas. As if they stayed here over the summers to farm and would travel for the winters. Enid was bored. If she were at home, she’d been getting ready for school. She glanced at her wrist and blushed when she realized she hadn’t removed her smartwatch. She put it in her pack. Bereft of her supernatural senses she didn’t notice the child on a collision course with her and was surprised at arms wrapped around her legs. She recognized it was the girl she’d helped the night before.

“Hello there.”

The girl started speaking quickly and her pronunciation was rough, so Enid was completely unable to translate a word of it besides a word describing gratitude.

“I am sorry little one, I am still new to speaking. You have to go slower.”

The girl squinted at Enid and nodded.

“Thank you for saving me, are you going to take care of me?”

Enid quirked an eyebrow and looked around for one of the elders. She started walking and felt the girl’s hand slip into hers. Enid closed her hand and smiled down at her. She finally found the older woman from last night who motioned to her. She looked up at the sun and towards Enid.

“I thought you were a night spirit.”

Enid nodded. The woman looked confused. Enid searched for the words before speaking.

“I am like the Earth People in the sun.”

The woman nodded. She motioned for Enid to follow her apparently still having trouble translating Enid’s bastardized version of their language. The woman offered food and water to Enid and the little girl. Enid ate the offered dried meat and cornmeal bread. It wasn’t the best food in the world, but it was better than starving. Enid motioned to the girl who was as close as she could be to Enid without being on her lap.

“Where is her mother?”

“A monster ate her.”

Enid blinked pondered asking the woman to repeat herself. But decided to take the statement at face value.

“She uh, the girl, seems to be, attached to me. I am not sure how long I can stay here.”

“Yes, you can have the girl. She is too young. She is cursed”

Enid blinked. And pondered what she had said that indicated she wanted the girl at all. The girl clutched onto her arm and smiled up at Enid.

“She is of your tribe, should the tribe not raise her I do not know your ways.”

The woman looked confused. Then nodded and started going through objects and speaking their word for them. Enid gave up and listened to the lesson with the girl whose name she did not know. The woman finally touched the girls shoulder and spoke a what seemed to be a name.

“Mitena”

Enid nodded. The woman touched Enid and spoke another name.

“Koko.”

Enid shook her head touching chest.

“Enid.”

The woman shook her head and touched Enid’s shoulder again.

“You are Koko.”

Enid sighed and just went with it.

Ezekiel where the fuck are you?

The woman went about showing Enid how to do some simple tasks around the summer settlement. Mitena never left her side. Everything was new to her. She’d never had to survive as a non-modern mortal. She was starting to realize just how challenging all the cattle she had passed by had for lives. Even her bronze age village had been less harsh. The whole time she was listening to conversations around her. Learning tones and inflections. She loved learning languages as much as she whined about as a child. Enid was finding this exhilarating. Likely a very dead language her father never even knew. She saw the medicine man approaching as she was working at cleaning a fish. He motioned for her to follow him. Mitena stood up to follow but he waved her back. Mitena pouted but let the two go off alone. He motioned for Enid to enter his home. It had animal bones on string along with what seemed like effigies mean to scare away evil spirits. Enid was completely in the dark as to their beliefs. She knew that many of the native American beliefs revolved around spirts and harmony with the earth. So, she made guesses when explaining her presence. He spoke slowly, obviously having discussed her with his tribemates.

“Koko. You seek the evil spirit pit.”

Enid nodded.

“Why?”

Enid searched for the words. They were coming quicker. A month here and she’d be more conversant. She motioned to herself and put her hand on her stomach.

“It is…leaking. Mitena, was…one was inside her.”

He nodded after a several moments as he worked through her rudimentary version of their language. He spoke with gestures which helped Enid understood

“You forced the evil spirit out?”

Enid nodded.

“More… It is dangerous. It needs to be sealed. There is poison in the ground.”

She made gestures with her hands of lifting off the ground. She then padded the floor and held her hands to her throat and made coughing sounds. He nodded.

“It is near our winter home.”

“How…how did the spirt come?”

“It came with Mitena.”

“Her mother?”

“She left seven nights ago. She was not happy with my answers.”

Enid nodded. She tugged on the bottom of her hide skirt.

“Are these hers?”

He nodded.

“Should I use?”

He nodded.

“She is lost to us.”

“And where I laid…it was hers?”

“Yes her man… Mitena…”

Enid could read by his expression what he was not saying was something terrible to him.

“Mitena killed him?”

“Yes.”

“Evil spirt…she..”

Enid searched for the words and then just shrugged and made a wiping motion across her forehead. The medicine man looked confused.

“Forgotten. Would not know. Asleep.”

The man nodded. Enid noticed him reaching for one of the sweet fruits from the area and yanked it out of his hand.

“No. Only meat.”

He blinked at her.

“Your sleeping sickness. The sweet smell when you pee. This.”

She held up the fruit. He frowned and nodded. She held it up one last time before putting it in her pack.

“You will die. If you eat.”

Enid silently pondered if a keto diet would work for him, but its all she had, she couldn’t exactly keep giving him her limited supply of insulin it would last a week maximum.

“I will tell your woman.”

He frowned but nodded.

“You are wise to the way of healing.”

Enid nodded. He spoke a name.

“Chitto”

He paused to confirm Enid understood and she nodded.

“How did you heal him?”

“I…cut the sickness out then took his.. onto me.”

She made motions with her hand then touched her own calf. His eyes went wide and he nodded. He looked at her pristine leg.

“I…heal quickly at night.”

He nodded.

“Mitena, she…why does the elder woman…me?”

Enid touched her chest.

“The tribe fears her. For what she has done. She did it in his sleep.”

Enid nodded and sighed.

“Will you watch her?”

“I will…but… I am not in control of my… destiny.”

He nodded. Enid frowned.

“A spirt may take me away. She is safe now. I…if someone can… watch her mother… mother her… I can search for Mitena’s mother if… someone can care for her.”

He scratched his head. Enid shrugged.

“After dark.”

She heard a commotion outside and Mitena’s name. Enid didn’t wait to be excused and left the home of the medicine man only to find Mitena in the dirt having stones thrown at her. Enid stood in front of her and caught one of the stones as it pelted the pair. The boys that were doing it hadn’t seen what she did last night so didn’t know to fear her yet.

“Stop.”

The boys laughed and continued. Chitto, who recognized Enid immediately as the person who had healed him last night kicked the boys down. He yelled at them and nodded to Enid. The kids scattered. Enid scooped up the girl. She felt blood dropping down her forehead. Mitena was no worse for the ware a few bruises but no cuts. Mitena was crying and Enid held the girl to herself and rocked her gently singing her the same lullaby she’d sung to Eyre as a child. Mitena drifted off to a fitful sleep and Enid gently laid her on the smaller pile of furs. After cleaning up her one injury from the rocks she left her new…home? And looked around. The hunters were returning with fresh game. Enid heard movement behind her and looked down to see Mitena join her. The girl’s hand wormed it’s way into hers. Enid nodded to her and watched and listened to the village as afternoon moved to mealtime. Enid found herself with enough fish, and meat to supply herself and her new charge. She joined the tribe as they gathered to eat a communal meal. Mitena sat on her lap eating. All the while Enid watched and listened. Picking up more of the language.

One of the boys started mocking Mitena and her pale mother. It was after dark so Enid picked up a rock and held it in her fist and crushed it letting the powder fall to the ground. The boy fled very quickly to his mother and father whom Enid smiled innocently at. Mitena hugged her tightly. She noticed the girl didn’t speak much and pondered if that was a change from before the…infestation. Enid held the girl close as the pair ate. Enid found herself greeted several times by various people from the tribe she politely greeted them back.

Mitena eventually fell asleep again and Enid took her back to the home and tucked her in. She found the old medicine man and motioned for him to follow her.

“I will go find her mother now. Could you watch her?”

He pondered for a several minutes and nodded. Enid shifted into her red furred wolf form. Those that still socialized at the center of the settlement pointed and shouted. Enid walked around the outside of the area searching for the scent of Mitena’s mother. She found it and started to follow it. Content she had the right baring she shifted to her falcon form and flew up into the night. She alternated forms to ensure she was still following the trail. She shifted to wolf and the scent was stronger and far more recent. She was picking up a lot more scents and paths. The mix of wolf and human was clear. This was a wolf-born tribe.

Enid didn’t pause. She assumed the wolf-born would find her eventually. She had been right. She found herself swiftly surrounded by grey wolves. They growled at her. She growled back. Then addressed them in their language.

“I am blooded and true-named, Slays-Demons by tooth and claw. I am tracking a human woman.”

Her response to their challenge led to more growling from the largest. Then one of the females snarled at him and nipped at his leg. He made a whining sound. The female was obviously the alpha of this pack.

“I am blooded and true-named Desert-Terror. By tooth and claw. The spirts speak of your deeds with awe and reverence, they call you mother. You are welcome here. The human you seek is this way.”

Enid nodded and followed the pack to their tribal lands. Their habitation was much like the group she had just left. Only with more…wolves. They shifted to their human shapes and Enid joined them.

“You are not what we expected. In your human shape. Godling.”

“I am not from here. My home is far away. I was sent by…a spirit for what reason I do not know.”

“Your arrival is a good omen to us. Mother of spirits. Why do you seek this human?”

“Her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit, I have removed it. She sought a cure for her child but it is no longer required.”

“I fear you are too late for this one. We found her starved and near death. She is one of our kin who joined the tribe. You say her daughter was tainted?”

“No, just a small spirit, I sent it back to whence it came. I know it source and come winter, if I am still here will seal the leaks.”

“You speak of the blighted cave?”

“Yes, it…causes sickness, hair falling out…there is obsidian?”

“We are familiar with it, it is forbidden to us. The spirits say it will not harm you. Why do you wait for winter?”

“I am not sure now, with you here I’m sure you could guide me.”

Desert-Terror led Enid to one of the clay covered huts and motioned to Mitena’s mother. She was skin and bones. Too near death to save.

“You are right. Even with all my power I cannot save her. Her daughter…she isn’t accepted back with the humans. But it is all she knows.”

“Take her to her new people. She is kin, but she is no longer our kin once she joined their tribe.”

Enid nodded and scooped the woman up.

“Return when you can Slays-Demons, we would like to hear your story from your own lips.”

Enid smiled and nodded and flew into the air. She would waste her previous blood flying the woman back. Shape shifting had a fraction of the cost and wasn’t an ongoing drain. She landed in the sleeping settlement and laid the woman in her own bed. The medicine man had decorated it with some of his evil spirit wards. He rushed to Mitena’s mother and looked to Enid who shook her head.

“I can do nothing for her. She is too far gone.”

He nodded. Enid motioned to Mitena’s mother.

“Thank you for watching Mitena. She was with her…tribe.”

He blinked at her.

“I am known to them. They tried their best, but she was too weak.”

He nodded.

“I can wait with them.”

Enid waited for Mitena to wake up. Mitena rushed to her and hugged her but then she noticed her mother and rushed to her. Enid moved to her and kneeled beside the dying woman.

“Can you heal her?”

Enid shook her head.

“It is not within my power.”

Mitena held her mother’s hand. They sat there quietly until after the sun had risen. Enid didn’t need her heightened senses to know that the mother had passed. She had silently hoped she would wake before dying to say goodbye to Mitena. The child started crying and buried in her face into Enid’s chest. Enid stoked her head gently.

“Shh, shh. Death is a natural part of life child.”

Immortal woman who is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, lecturing a child on the inevitability of death. That’s not wrong at all.

Enid carried Mitena with her as she looked for the elders. She found the Medicine Man and he looked at her then to Mitena’s still crying form. He nodded and Mitena’s mother was moved. Enid found herself being pulled with Mitena towards a stone slab where the woman was placed. Mitena and Enid assisted in cleaning her body. Enid glanced towards Mitena often the women sang as they worked. It was a mournful song that would stick with Enid for the rest of her life. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She looked up from their work. Mitena touched her cheek and looked at moistness on her fingers.

“Spirits cry?”

“Everything cries child.”

Enid walked with Mitena and some of the men who put her in a bone grounds. Or that is what she would call it there were a series of parched bones left to nature. Countless ancestors of the tribe lay here. Enid waited with Mitena for a few hours but noticed the scavengers were prowling around so nudged the girl back to the tribe’s settlement. After a communal evening meal Enid put a sleeping Mitena to bed and went back out to the gathering place. The medicine man whose name she still did not know motioned her to sit with him.

“You have been a mother before?”

Enid nodded.

“You handle her well. She is yours.”

“She needs a woman from the tribe I do not know your ways.”

“If not for you, she would be abandoned. Everyone still believes the evil spirit is in her.”

Enid’s eyes narrowed briefly as anger at the inhumanity of it, but then she realized she was applying modern morality to somewhere it had no place. Even as chieftain’s daughter, she was barely accepted in the tribe because her tribe feared her gift. If this was her birth tribe, the girl would likely have been stoned, or dropped off a cliff into the ocean. For fear of the sidhe. She nodded to him.

“I understand. I would like to learn your ways and stories, so I may teach her, and may tell others of you. Would you teach me?”

He poked at the fire with a branch moving and shifting the wood. After several minutes of thinking he finally nodded.

“If the chief agrees. We will ask him in the morning. He is laying with his woman, she was in a… mood.”

Enid nodded she went to stand up put then paused and stayed.

“Why does the tribe feed and clothe me? I am an outsider, I do not look…like you.”

“You saved four of us, we lost our…healer with Mitena’s mother. They hope you will stay and teach someone.”

Enid looked up as the quarter moon that hung low in the dark sky. She noticed the vast sea stars and realized that she would never see this view in the modern world and smiled. She also realized that she wasn’t getting home any time soon.

“I will teach someone. But I will instruct Mitena as well.”

He smiled and pointed at Enid and tapped his head.

“You are wise, tell me night spirit, how many nights have you seen?”

“More than your entire tribe put together.”

He nodded. Enid stood up. He touched her forearm and then retracked his hand quickly and rubbed his face as if he’d seen something.

“You face a great evil that will consume you.”

Enid nodded.

“Yes. But it is I who do the consuming.”

She winked at him. He stared after her as she crossed her arms and walked out of the settlement. Enid looked up at the sky again noticing a couple of stars that were gone in her time and already gone now, but the light still travelled from the far reaches of the galaxy even through the parent stars were long dead.

“And what are we mortals against the immortality of stars.”

I’m going to die in a black hole.

Enid smiled. Glad for the brief reprieve from her impending demise. She thought of Allison and realized that likely once God was done with her here in this time, she would be right back where she left from.

Going back to school after however long this lasts is going to suck.

Her supernatural hearing picked up Mitena’s voice crying out for her mother. Enid rushed to their home. Mitena still slept but she was having a nightmare. Enid picked her up and lay her down beside her in her fur bedding. She held the child close. Mitena calmed in her sleep her small hand pressed against Enid’s cheek.

“I am here child. I am here.”

Enid lay there for the rest of the night holding the girl. She pondered what kind of life the girl would have raised by someone not of her culture. It bothered Enid, she felt she was robbing of her of some vital part of her development. Lilith had managed it, but she feared she could not, and she couldn’t rewind time if she fucked up.

“Mother for the sixth time, what am I thinking?”