Working with Still was quite educational. One thing that I noticed instantly was that she was using magic in a far more encompassing fashion than I was, doing things with it that I would have used my hands for with her magic. I learned that she had specifically learned an application of Wind Magic, even without having talent for the rest of it, allowing her to essentially use telekinesis, easily making up for her lack of hands. Her other magic was essentially the opposite of Lenore’s innate abilities, Still was wielding Life Magic. Working with her taught me a lot about the advantages of specialised magic, when I noticed how hard a time she had when it came to directly working on the patients blood and flesh. She was able to throw magic at a problem, greatly boosting the natural recovery ability, even guiding it in ways that were unnatural, but when the problem was one that the body wouldn’t be able to handle, she needed huge amounts of power to compensate for it.

When we talked about the power-requirements of her magic, she proudly showed me to a back-room but only to the door, not allowing me entry. When I looked inside, I saw an altar-like table and on it rested a clearly canine skull and the attached spine. The bones shimmered in the dim light, giving of an almost metallic sheen and inserted into the forehead, between the eyes, was a large, turquoise gem. Not knowing what to say, I looked at Still, wondering what it was. As I saw it, it was the equivalent of me, using a fetish crafted from human, or maybe firn-elf, bones, gruesome and rather worrying.

Still gave a bow to the altar before speaking.

“This, Morgana, is one of the greatest artifacts in the den.” she said and I could hear the reverence in her voice.

“One of our ancestors wanted to help the den even after she passed on, not satisfied with doing her best in life, she wanted more. And more, she did, according to our stories, she created this staff in her death, using her own body and the last flare of her great power to make the Denmother’s Staff.” she explained.

“You mean, that’s her skull and spine? And she did that to herself?!” I asked, trying to keep the disbelief out of my voice. It seemed just too fantastical to be true.

“Yes, according to legend, she had great magical power and had learned some of her magic from the Old Witch of the North, magic that she passed on to her descendents and ultimately me. But you wanted to know how I could power some of my magic, this is how; the staff allows me to cast magic through it and store a great deal of Astral Power inside, for later use. I only use it if the need is dire; doing otherwise would be disrespectful.” Still explained and I barely managed to smother the question if I was allowed to study it. Even showing it to me was probably a borderline-case and she had only done it as a favour.

“Thank you for showing me. It is an impressive item.” I told her, forcibly burying my curiosity.

“I thought you would appreciate it. We wolves have only a few items like that, crafting items is not easy for us, so most of us prefer to rely on our natural bodies and powers. But sometimes, I am just not enough, so using the staff helps to save lives. I wouldn’t be allowed near it at all, if not for the fact that I’m the keeper of the infirmary and one of the few wolves gifted in the healing magics.” Still explained and I realised something important.

I had never quite thought about what it meant to have a relatively advanced culture without the basic ability to craft things and how such a culture might develop. As such, learning that crafted items were the epitome of status-symbols among the wolves was enlightening. It also reinforced the idea that asking to study it would be terribly impolite.

After seeing the staff, she guided me back out but the rest of my group was nowhere to be seen. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, we had spent hours working on the various injuries and there simply was nothing to do here.

Still gave a soft bark and a different, relatively small wolf appeared.

“I apologize, Morgana, but I prefer to stay in the infirmary, just in case something bad happens.” Still explained, “But Fresh Snow here will guide you to your group.” she nodded to the newly summoned wolf, who looked as if she was bursting with pride.

“Greetings, Fresh Snow, and thank you for guiding me.” I greeted her and had to hide a grin when her tail started to wag back and forth at high speed. “It was a pleasure to work with you, Still. Don’t hesitate to call upon me if you need help while I’m here.” I gave my farewell to Still, who returned the gesture.

“I will guide her, Elder.” Fresh Snow told Still and I thought there was some awe in her voice. “Please, follow me, honoured guest.” she told me and started to walk off, looking around to make sure I was following. I caught up and walked next to her, curious about the social interaction.

“It is so exciting to meet you, honoured guest. Is it true that one of your group has Divine Blood?” Fresh Snow gushed, before I ever had a chance to ask about Still. I had to smile at her enthusiasm and it was interesting to feel so appreciated.

“You likely mean Ylva, and yes, she has. But not only the blood of one Divine Being, she was born with the blood of Fenris strong in her veins and a while back, when we fought against the Black Hounds of Odin, descendants of Freki, we managed to capture one of their Alpha’s alive.” I started to tell the tale, using names I had heard from Ylva. Just the names caused Fresh Snow’s hackles to rise and a soft growl escaped her throat.

“After we captured him, it would have been such a waste to simply spill his blood, all that juicy power would just have returned to the Earth. No, I had a better idea, using the Alpha and a few of its powerful helpers, I managed to trap what little Divine Essence they had, condensing it into a small drop of Divine Blood and Ylva ate that blood, devouring the power of her enemies.” I explained and again, Fresh Snow’s tail was wagging in enthusiasm.

“Amazing. I knew you must be awesome when Elder Still allowed you to work with her, even thanked you for helping her, but to capture Divine Essence…” she spoke, the mental transmission almost a squeal of excitement.

“Would you tell me about Elder Still? I don’t know a lot about your Den and pack, just that the Alpha is at the top.” I asked, trying to carefully get some more information from the enthusiastic wolf.

“Of course. The Alpha is the most powerful of the Elders and our leader, but you knew that already. Below him are the Elders, the wolves who managed to cross the first Divide in the older generation. Well, mostly, there are exceptions, for example Still is not as old as the other Elders but due to her special status, we call her Elder, out of respect.” she explained.

“Below the Elder are the Pack Leaders, those who lead the small packs that go out to gather food and fight enemies. Most wolves are part of those packs, others, such as I, are trained directly by an Elder in the hopes that at least one of us will manage to get the needed skills to take over for that Elder in the future. For example, the Elder who is teaching me is responsible to keep new tunnels from caving in.” she continued and we reached a couple of small rooms in which the rest of my party was sitting on piles of fur-scraps, Ylva softly talking to Swiftstride, the others looking a little bored.

I could understand the boredom, especially regarding Rai and Adra; neither of them spoke the local language and, while the caves were marvels of magical architecture, I doubted that Adra was reckless enough to experiment without permission while we were guests. And permission was hard to ask for, if you didn’t speak the language.

“Ah, Fresh Snow, you kept our guest entertained, I see.” Swiftstride said, hearing the tail-end of her explanation. He sounded just a little reproachful.

“Yes, Pack Leader. Elder Still asked me to guide her, so that is what I did. She needed guidance in the social customs of the Den, don’t you think?” she asked, her voice almost teasing. “And they saved you, so I thought it would be good to tell her just where you stand in the pack, that you are important even if you weren’t the son of the Alpha.”

At that, Swiftstride growled softly and without understandable meaning.