PROLOGUE

The monster's whine sent a fear for her life from the deepest part of her being to fray her nerves. It made Afena turn around. The night was moonless, and the only thing that kept the darkness from engulfing her were the ensconced torches on the walls of her hut.

She was able to see two dots of reflected light that appeared and disappeared behind the trunks of the trees that stood around her home. The dots swayed slowly with the yellow predatory glint of a nocturnal hunter.

Whatever it was, Afena was not going to figure out exactly what wanted to eat her. She forsook the firewood she'd gone out to collect, and ran to the door of her hut, where the protections she'd set up would keep out almost anything and anyone that wanted to hurt her.

"Inarenta," said a voice behind her. It was femenine, but deep and hoarse. "Please."

The shiver that ran up and down Afena's spine had nothing to do with the night chill. She already suspected what the beast was, but the fact that it could talk confirmed it, so she accelerated her escape.

"Inarenta," the beast almost screamed.

Afena heard it collapse behind her. She stopped and looked back quickly, ready to keep running, but what she saw froze her in place.

The Lorsul, a monstrous being that looked like the amalgam of a bear and a wolf, lay on its side on the ground some strides away from her. Its agitated and shallow breathing caused a wheezing sound, and there was a clear stain of blood on its side that went from its ribs, to its chest.

"Why save evil?" asked Afena. "Let the flame of your life fade, Lorsul. I will provide no aid to you."

"It's not my life I beg for, witch," the Lorsul said. Its lips never moved, but Afena could hear the words as clearly as if they were spoken. "I beg for the life I bear."

Afena had not noticed, but it was true. The monster's womb was swollen.

"You would ask me to allow evil to engender evil?" Afena almost laughed. "My indifference tonight will have freed the world of present and future danger."

"I've heard it said you killed a god, witch. You may have knowledge of occult and ancient magic, but you clearly know nothing of mercy pacts."

Afena did know of such pacts. Or rather, she knew of one story with a mercy pact. That didn't mean they were actually real.

"Do you speak sincerely?" Afena asked. "How do I know you are truthful?"

"The same way you may know that you will not die tomorrow, the day after that, or this night in your sleep."

Afena thought about it, standing in that moonless night, with nothing to protect her from the darkness but her torches. Nothing to protect her from a Lorsul's inherent wickedness but her hope that nothing bad and unexpected would happen.

Dying, the Lorsul never interrupted Afena's pondering.

In the end, Afena approached, her whole body quaking, and cut some hairs off the beast's fur. The monster saw her take the sickle she kept stuck beneath her belt, but did not mind. Unenchanted weapons and instruments did not affect Ubtirs, or magical beasts.

Afena opened the door to her house, rubbed the hairs against the frame of her door so that the protections there would accept the Lorsul, and allow the beast to drag itself into the Inarenta's home.

The only light inside the hut was that of the chimney. The Lorsul was lying close to it, and the orange hues painted the Ubtir's wicked face with harsh shadows. It's breathing was labored, and it was clearly weak from blood loss. Still, it held its head as high as it could.

"You're being hunted by a god," said Afena sitting on a chair at the opposite side of the hut.

The Lorsul didn't answer because Afena was clearly not asking. "Can you heal me?"

"I can. It will take days to gather the ingredients I need."

It snarled. "Why do you not have them?"

"Do you believe I woke up knowing I would need to heal wounds inflicted by a god? Do you think I ever thought I would have to? When gods strike, they usually kill. There is no cure for that."

"And how long will this take you, witch?" The Lorsul lowered its head as if it were getting ready to pounce.

Afena had to gather every ounce of courage she had. Even though she felt insulted by the way the monster in front of her was treating her, she knew that all the beast had to do was snap its jaws leisurely to cut her in half if it wanted.

She stood before answering, "As long as it will take me, monster."

The Lorsul growled, shook its head, and looked away. "Fine. Do as you must. But you will establish a mercy pact with me."

"How so?"

"A promise."

"What promise?"

The Lorsul spoke its next words in a language Afena did not know well. But she knew it enough to understand the promise the monster was making.

"I shall never hurt you, Inarenta. Never will I attack you, and in exchange for helping me to give birth, I offer my life. When I die, you will receive a boon that shall remain a secret until you make your promise, and fulfill it. This is my last wish."

Vexed, Afena cursed under her breath. Making a promise in the first tongue was binding. Not only that, but the Lorsul had invoked its last wish. To refuse it would mean that Afena would have to deal with the Lorsul's vengeful ghost if it died.

Haltingly, having to search for the words before speaking them, Afena said, "I shall do what I can to fulfill your last wish, Lorsul."

"NO," screamed the monster. "YOU WILL DO WHAT YOU MUST TO HELP ME. SWEAR, INARENTA."

Afena looked away. The Lorsul's screams had her trembling, wishing she could run away and hide in the darkest corner she could find.

"I will do as I must to fulfill your last wish, Lorsul. Because you ask for mercy as you die, because I wish to be shown mercy as I die, that your spirit may rest in peace, I promise to do all I must to fulfill your wish."

Those words seemed to satisfy the Lorsul. It closed its eyes, and laid its head down. Its breathing still produced a wheezing sound, but slowed down a bit.

"It shall benefit you, Inarenta," it said dully.

Afena got out, and went into her shop to sleep, which was attached to the side of her house.

The Inarenta didn't live in the middle of a faraway forest without reason. She had many to do so, and one of them was that one of the tallest mountains of her region stood right in the middle of the forest.

Humans did not know how to work metals, and she needed a small metal disk first. That meant dealing witn Eninas. She knew where there was a small cave at the foot of the mountain. Its entrance was so small that only squirrels and mice could have gone through it. But there were days when the full moon shone directly onto the cave, so she left a small quartz crystal near it, and sat down to wait for an Enina to come out and grab it.

She waited the whole night, morning, and just before midday, a humanoid creature came out of the cave. It didn't notice Afena, who was sitting completely still under a tree.

"Greetings," said Afena in an old form of her language.

With its hands on the crystal, the Enina started and turned around. When it saw the human, it blew through its almost closed lips derisively, and took the quartz. "Get out of here before something bad happens."

"Nothing bad has to happen. I know I have to offer magic in exchange for something. I need a round metal token."

"And they're so easy to make." The Enina chuckled cruelly. "But you humans can't work anything harder than stone. What do you offer? I assume you are Inarenta."

Afena nodded to let the Enina know she was a wise woman indeed. "A stone that will not allow the edge of a blade to grow dull."

The Enina crossed its thin arms over its bulky chest, and rubbed its short beard. "I'll be back shortly. Look after the cyrstal for me." It went back into the small opening.

Afena waited for a while neither little, nor long, and the Enina returned carrying a metal disk half its own size. As he approached Afena, the Enina grew until his head was as high as her chest. It extended its closed fist to her, which was the same gray as the stone of the mountain that it called home.

Afena moved her open hand under the Enina's fist, palm up, and received the metal token. Then, she extended her own fist and let a rune-covered stone fall onto the Enina's hand.

"We will surely use this against your kind," said the Enina.

Afena shrugged. "I'm sure you will. But remember that only amongst humans are there Inarentas."

The Enina walked back to the cave, shrinking in size. "Heh. The swords you have, you've stolen from us, humans. You barely even know any magic. And, as I understand it, you're the only Inarenta left in this world."

Deciding it was better to say nothing, Afena left.

There were many reasons for Afena to live in a far away forest. One of those reasons was that she had access to a beautiful virgin spring of clear and pure waters. She approached the pool surrounded by pine trees.

But she crouched and walked with heavy slowness. The guardians of these places were difficult to see, if not impossible. A stone guardian could rise from among the rocks, or a wood guardian could jump out of a tree.

In this case, it was a water guardian. When Afena finally reached the spring, a beautiful, naked woman emerged from the pool.

"Revered guardian," Afena said in the old tongue, bowing her head, "I need water from your spring to heal the deadly wounds of a Lorsul. Please, allow me to take it."

The guardian smiled gently, sweetly, and amicably. It offered its hand. Afena took a step back, knowing this was a trick.

"I beg you," Afena bowed her head even lower. "Allow me to take from your waters."

"Do, little one. Take my water. I allow it," said the guardian.

Afena sighed with disappointment. Had the guardian really wanted to let her take the water, she would have disappeared. But the Inarenta knew that the guardian wanted nothing more than to drown her.

From her satchel, she took out the metal disk, which she'd tied to a thread, and threw it into the water. The guardian could not react in time. Right when the metal touched the water, the guardian dissolved into droplets that splashed into the pool.

Afena took the water skin hanging from her waist, and filled it. When she was prudently far from the spring, she pulled on the thread tied to the token, and took it out. The guardian emerged from the waters again, and screamed curses at Afena.

"Guardian, I could have left the disk in your sanctuary, and left you asleep until the fates decided to release you," Afena claimed.

The guardian became silent, and looked at Afena with piercing eyes.

"I am Inarenta, and I intend to come back," said Afena. "Please, may our future encounters be cordial."

The guardian melted into the pool. Afena untied the disk, and walked away rubbing her thumb against one of its sides.

Afena spoke almost three languages, and this saved her life again.

Returning to her hut with the spring water, at dawn, she crossed paths with a god. The sky was gray, the air smelled like fresh morning, and the wind caressed her white hair.

The god's upper body was exposed, his skin was brown, eyes golden, and his hair was the color of the night's darkness. He carried two axes, a bow, and arrows in a quiver.

Afena recognized Ol immediately, and stuck her hand into a small hidden pocket of her long skirt. One after another, she thumbed the symbols carved onto each of the wooden chips she kept in there, looking desperately for a specific one.

Ol stood before her, considered the woman, and slowly put his hands on the axes' handles. They hung from his waist at each side. "I've heard rumors of an Inarenta in this forest."

Because my feat of killing one of your kind would not be kept a secret, thought Afena.

Ol threw one of the axes. Afena found the symbol she was looking for in the nick of time, and squeezed it in her hand. The ax clashed against an invisible barrier right in front of Afena's head, and fell pathetically to the ground.

"And the rumors are true," said Ol looking at Afena up and down with lust. "And it is a shame. If it weren't because your people almost killed all of us, I would show you what it is to worship a god."

Afena smiled spitefully.

Ol aimed with his other ax in hand. "And you are hiding my prey. Tell me where to find it, human. You won't get rid of me, and I will hound you until you take me to my quarry."

In silence, Afena closed her fist, and raised it slowly to hold it in front of her face and turn it so that her thumb was towards her, and her pinky towards Ol

Ol ground his teeth, making the muscles of his jaw bulk. "Damn bitch."

Afena smiled at him and recited an ancient prayer in the tongue.

"That lore should not be any more. All of you should be dead, rotting, and becoming dust. We thought we'd killed all of you with our fists, like dogs."

Afena continued her prayer. The wind blew, and took a bit of Ol with it, as if he was a weathering, crumbling statue.

"I'll be back, witch. I'll return." Ol's tone left no room for doubting his intentions.

Despite trying to stop herself, Afena trembled. As she finished her prayer, the wind had taken all of Ol away.

Afena breathed for a minute to allow her heart to settle down. When she stopped fearing for her life, when she was able to relax her muscles, when she let a nervous chuckle out, she continued on her way.

The Lorsul could not be saved.

Being an ubtir, it was able to live for longer than it should have, for such creatures could endure much more than any person, animal, or even god could. But its wounds were too severe.

However, the potion Afena had prepared for it was able to keep it alive long enough to give birth. Before dying, it spoke with Afena.

"The mercy pact, Inarenta. My cub will be born, but it will need to be taken care of before it can fend for itself. Please, take it into your care. I beg. Do this, and you may keep my skin."

"Your cub will kill me when it's strong enough," said Afena.

The Lorsul shook its head. "No. Give it food the moment it is born. Meat, it must be meat. It will see you as its mother. Go. Hunt something, quickly. It's coming."

While Afena hunted a hare, she thought about what the Lorsul was offering her. It's skin changed color with the season, and its surroundings. It was an excellent tool to hide. But it also provided other protections. It was not something that could be easily refused.

She came back just in time to see the Lorsul cough, hit its head against the floor of the hut, vomit blood, and die. From behind it, growls could be heard.

She moved to see the cub. It was completely hairless, and looked at her with white eyes that were completely open and devoid of everything but wrath, and bloodlust.

Afena knew how to kill baby Lorsuls. It was only then that it was possible to do so without much fuss. And she'd only ever promised to help the mother give birth. The cub was birthed, and she could kill it without having to deal with the consequences of breaking a mercy pact.

The cub tried to jump at her, but its legs were still too weak. It growled and whined in frustration as it stumbled trying to stand.

The Inarenta threw the hare to it.

Three years passed. Afena kept the Lorsul's skin secure in a chest when she had no need to wear it, and was cutting firewood when the cub emerged from the forest with four big birds hanging from its jaws.

She heard the cub sit next to her, and heard the wet sounds of one of the bird carcasses being torn apart with its fangs. Hoping it would not talk to her, Afena continued cutting wood.

"That skin you wore during winter," said the infantile but husky voice of the cub, "why is it like mine?"

Afena took in a deep breath, and let it out with frustration. She looked at the cub who, sitting, was as high as her belly. It saw her with eyes that were now red.

Afena sat, and told the cub the true story of its birth.