Egfor hiked through the dark, quiet woods, Dem at his side, for once. He peers up through the trees, murmuring, “New moon, how fitting.” He chuckles softly at the look he gets from Dem, “Rebirth of the moon, start of the new cycle.” He nods firmly, then stops at the edge of a clearing, “Here we are.” He turns to kiss Dem lovingly, lifting a hand to touch his cheek, murmuring, “Just… wait here. I will be fine, I promise.” He kisses him again to try and dispel that worried look.
Egfor steps into the clearing. Usually he would light a small bonfire to see what he was doing and make offerings, however it was too risky with the current drought and Egfor was certain the spirits would understand. He would have to work by just starlight, as the moon was in it’s New phase, and did not light up the woods. Egfor pulled up the wolf skin over his head, stopping in the middle of a clearing. Just as well he did not light a fire. He was drenched in enough sweat as it was from the furs and his robes. He will have to convince Dem for a midnight swim after this.
He lifted his drum, facing the East, drumming one heartbeat. He turned, repeating the same beat in each cardinal direction till he faced East again, then he stooped and drummed for the earth, then stood up and raised his drum to the sky, drumming more. Egfor closed his eyes, taking a few slow, deep breaths, allowing himself to focus on himself and connect with the world around him.
He raises his hands above his head, murmuring, “I call upon my ancestors and the spirits to bring me guidance…” He falls silent for a beat, slowly lowering his arms, starting to drum in a fast, steady rhythm, his pace never faltering. He quickly fell into a trance, moving slowly around the glade, around where the ground was scarred from fires previous in times past. Despite the darkness, he was sure of his footing. Egfor delved deeper into his trance, his spirit shifting to take the form of a wolf, stalking around the glade as he traveled to the spirit realm.
The Wolf turned to face a majestic stag spirit that stood in the center of the glade. The stag turned into a fearsome hunter, clad with furs and armed with a spear. Egfor turned on the hunter, baring his teeth and snarling. The hunter spoke, “So I see you decided to listen to me, grandson. Good…” The hunter pointed the spear at Egfor, advancing forward. Egfor growled, his hackles raised.
All of a sudden, he lunged towards the hunter. The hunter struck forward with the spear, impaling the wolf and slamming him to the ground. The hunter croons, “A good start, yes. You have much to work on.” Egfor stood up and shook himself off, spraying ethereal blood droplets. He growled deep in his chest and stalked the hunter once more. He got sliced down with the spear once more, the vivid fear of Dem leaving him vanished.
Another failed pounce and successful jab with a spear and Egfor felt the heavy feeling that he failed their daughters falling away. Each time Egfor attacked and was cut down, he felt things fall off; fear of abandonment, fear of his children hating him, fear of Dem turning against him or not trusting him, guilt of unable to provide for their family, guilt of not being perfect and succumbing to alcohol, the guilt of not parenting their kids as they need to be, the worry that he was never enough. All this and more fell off of Egfor. The battered and bloodied wolf stood in the center of the glade, staggering before falling to the ground on his side, chest heaving, quite exhausted from the fight.
The hunter strode forward and lifted his spear one more time, seeming to kill off the wolf finally. The spear dissipated and seemed to be absorbed into the wolf. The hunter knelt down, laying a hand over the wolf’s chest, “Good… Doing this has made you stronger, killing off what you don’t need, what weighs you down and hurts you…” The hunter leaned down, blowing softly on Egfor’s face.
Egfor gasps to life, his body rising and falling as he breathes once more, his eyes opening. He staggers to his feet and shakes himself out, fluffing out his fur. He sits and bows his head to the hunter, closing his stormy blue eyes, “Thank you, Grandfather.” He looked up to watch the hunter retreat. The wolf sat in the glade for some time, meditating on what happened and what he learned and was feeling. He stood once more, standing at the drum, coming back to reality and his more human side.
Egfor the man shook himself out, sticking his hands in the dirt to ground himself and come back fully into the physical realm, breathing deeply. How much of this ritual Dem could see depended on how receptive Dem was to spirits, as Egfor had no idea. He picked up his drum and stood up, pushing the furs back off his head, signifying to Dem that he was done. He gave himself a shake before striding to find his husband, “Let's go for a little swim, love…
