Byna's Blessing

She made herself known to me again only when I was about seven.

The winter of that year, I had sheltered against a rock in yet another roaring blizzard. I had begun to eat some bread I’d taken with me; it looked like I’d be stuck for a long time.
Now older and more experienced, I went to hunt alone on occasions. I took it as ‘alone time’ where I could forget about other things.

It was Byna’s own advice that told young people to never hunt alone. Somehow, I never felt alone. And, it had been lone hunting that had sharpened my brother’s senses to that extent; out in the fields by himself, Cadace had only two eyes, two ears, one nose, and one mind. He had to be sure of everything, so his senses heightened so he could have the best grasp of his surroundings.

Those were the kind of expertise I wanted.

While sheltering against a rock, a wolf had come to me. Wolves were vicious, to be avoided at all costs, but this one was thin and mangy, snow settling heavily on its ragged coat. It was not in the least threatening, but I shook slightly as I threw a crust some way off. It turned its head, looked at the crust, then back to me.

The snow had stopped swirling, and the wolf stood and came towards me. I shivered as it sniffed around my feet and lower legs, and gnawed playfully at my boot. It sat back on its haunches and looked at me, head cocked inquisitively to one side.

For a long time, I looked at it. It looked back at me. Its eyes were deep and brown and familiar.

Reaching out a hand, I feared it would be mauled and bloody by the time I got it back. I stood, my eyes closed, my breath tight. When I opened my eyes, my hand was fine. The wolf licked it. I laughed, and reached out to stroke it.

My hand was still intact. I laughed again. Had I tamed a wolf? I stroked it again and again. Its fur, that that remained, was sleek and soft.

It lay down for me. I stroked it for a bit, but decided to leave it and go and get something, which was the reason why I’d come out. Perhaps, if the wolf followed me, I could use it as a hunting dog, and, if we could bring down a foal, or even maybe a doe, we would be set for a couple of days.

The wolf stayed where it was. Well, it could wait; I had a more pressing engagement. Hare and rabbit were small game, but they kept us fed, and that meant we did not have to pay for meat.

It met me the next time I went hunting, and the next, and each time, we played for longer amounts of time. Then, it started bringing things when nearing the start of spring. Usually, it was a rabbit, but occasionally, it would bring more exotic things like a stoat, or sometimes even hens.

These made a welcome change, but, more often than not, Cadace and I would have to deal with the hen on our own, and eat as much as we could, and salt the leftovers beyond recognition. We did not want father to find out. He would have gone mad if we’d stolen other people’s animals.

Towards the end of spring, the wolf started following me. If I beckoned, it would follow until I turned my back on it. After a while, it followed for a couple of steps before walking away. Eventually, if I ran, it followed for a couple of steps before wandering away. Eventually, if I ran, it would pursue me until I stopped. I laughed at this.

My favourite trick became to run and run, then turn, whereupon the wolf would stop in its tracks. I still wanted to use it as a hunting dog, but it did not know what to do (or, perhaps, feigned ignorance), and I did not go about training it, so I just played with it. I could put my head in its mouth and know it would not do anything, though it could have cracked my skull like an egg.

When the days were getting warmer, I became happier and more high-spirited, and impossible to keep inside the house. Usually, the summer work of someone such as me was to tend the fields, but, it was impossible to set me upon one job. Father let me hunt, because that was all I wanted to do, and so I would charge around the fields from morning to dusk. There were precious little hunters as good as me, and I revelled in the fact. All the countryside was mine in the long summer months. I felt like a warrior, running everywhere in my glorious summer clothes.

The wolf appeared less often, but, every time I saw it, I devoted some time to it, playing games and feeding it scraps, though it was not often that it was humble enough to take them.

It was, while making it pursue me, that I turned around, to see a woman standing in the place of the wolf.

“Byna! You tricked me!” I drew my blade and went to slice her. The blade wouldn’t penetrate her skin. Immediately, I went to stab her. With the force I’d put behind it, I rebounded and fell to the floor.

“You can’t hurt me. I’m immortal.” Byna paused while I recovered myself. “I could make you immortal too.”

She waited. I looked at her. She had been born many, many years before. Still, she looked young enough to be a sister of mine.

Byna seemed able to read my mind. “Take me. I have been living for thousands of years. Look at me. There is no way for me to die. How would you like that? You could live forever, always beautiful, at the peak of physical fitness, and you would never become old or decrepit. That is what I could do for you if you so choose. If you were to be my daughter…”

The goddess paused again to regard my look. It was cold and offended.

“If that were so,” Byna continued, “you could live among mortals if you wish… You’d always have a home in Heaven, though.”

Seeing my unimpressed look, Byna said to me, “Do you know what Heaven is like?”

“No. Of course not.”

“You live among the clouds, and you can see any mortal you like from up there; they won’t know. You could have any single thing you want, all the money in the world, any food ever, and go to any part of the mortal world you wished in a single moment.” Byna paused. “Plus, if you were a goddess, you wouldn’t feel the cold; you could run around in your red tunic, all winter, barefoot, and wouldn’t feel a thing. What do you say?”

There was a quiet period. All that was incredibly tempting, and it would sound so to an adult, but all I could care about was hunting and eating, my two favourite pastimes. The last point almost turned me…

But, there was nothing wrong with furs. My summer tunic deserved the sun of summer; it was an insult to even wear it in the snow.

“I say your bribes are pathetic.”

The goddess sighed. She ruffled my hair. “I’ll see you again, Latro.”

Then, she was gone.