WELCOME TO WILDE GROVE

This is where we all begin.

Right where we are.

And what we do is what we must.

The wind up here on the cliffs is strong and cold. I can feel my wolf press against my thigh, and I put down a hand to touch it to his thick fur, even though he is not really there.

Or not there so as those down below getting the boat ready could see. Some might, I suppose, a glimpse or a glimmer, depending on how well their vision is. But the time of seeing is growing to a close. A veil is falling between us and those creatures and peoples of spirit.

The worlds are separating.

They see me, however, the men on the boat at the bottom of the cliff where I stand. One waves a hand in acknowledgement of my presence, but it stutters in mid-air and falls back to his side. Perhaps it has been some time
since they have seen one of my kind, for I can see that their respect is tinged with fear. One day, I suspect, that fear will turn the respect to contempt, and with that turn will go much of our magic.

This is not a journey I want to make. If peace were the requisite for life, I would be content to stay where I have been these many last years. But the boat awaits, and a distant shore, and thereafter I know not what – not with any great deal of certainty. I go where the Queen of the Ways directs me to go. I am in her service, and wearing her antlers is not merely for show. Carrying the staff of my rank as her priestess is not an empty gesture. My whole life has been lived at her direction.

And this is no different. The men lead me in silence to a place on the boat they have prepared so that I may sit in as much comfort as possible for the crossing. These rough men are tongue-tied around me. Fearless against the sea in all her moods, they nonetheless cast only the meekest of glances at my tattooed face, at the bones and feathers in my hair. Perhaps they see my wolf, after all, where he presses against my side.

A young woman meets me at our destination and takes me into the forest. It is well that I have a guide, for these woodlands are still thick and seemingly endless. It is many hours before we emerge from the woods to the protection of her community, where I will spend the night.

The chief is courteous, bidding me sit in the circle with them around the fire. His hospitality is generous, yet he is of the newer breed and I am soon forgotten in preference for feasting and tales told boasting of daring exploits against the land and its people. Come the dawn I am glad to move on.

My guide leads me well this day, but silently, as the sun rises higher above the canopy. Soon, we reach the agreed-upon point where she leaves me, and from here I must find my own way.

Except that one such as myself is never alone. My Lady’s deer comes to me, to lead me. And my Queen herself waits at the entrance to a cave when we come to it.

She beckons me into the darkness of my own destiny.

And into a story that crosses time and lifetimes. I did what I could, and things changed despite my efforts. But my magic holds strong even yet, and I have the ability to cross the veil, cross the years, and reach out to those who must learn what I have to teach.

And thus, I reach out across time to you.