Ríoghnach

The she-wolf squinted against the heavy snowfall. Before her lay only hazy shadows; vague shapes that lost their outlines to the relentless flurry falling from the sky above. It had started early that morning. Just a few light flakes, cold on her nose. But by the time the sun usually hung over the far mountains, the world was awash in white - the sky, the ground, the breath that streamed from her nose. Even now, the snow clung to the wolf, turning her sky-dark fur as white as the ground she trod on. But it was not the snow the wolf cared about. It was the scent beneath, familiar and warm, that spurred her deeper into the storm. The scent of family.

In the dip of a dry streambed, she found them. Two wolves, one silver and lithe, the other stocky and starkly black against the snow. They did not hear her approach.

“Brighid! Llyr!”

The two turned, ears pricked at the sound of the wolf’s voice. “Ríoghnach? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?” Brighid asked as she approached, leaping swiftly over a growing drift.

“The hunts are over today, sister,” Ríoghnach said. “The snow is growing too heavy. The rest of the pack is already at the dens.”

Llyr shook the snow from his fur, eyes off somewhere in the distance. “It’s not too heavy, yet. We had planned-”

“Llyr, no. We have plenty of stores left. The snows will end in a few days. Until then… we rest, we tell stories, we guard our pups and our family.”

Brighid and Llyr shared a look, then turned back to Ríoghnach with mirrored nods. As one they turned to follow the tracks Ríoghnach had left in the snow, already half-filled by the relentless storm. Llyr moved ahead, breaking the bath anew with his powerful shoulders. Ríoghnach followed last, her eyes never leaving her siblings’ forms as they began the long journey back to the safety of the dens.

Daughter of Aillil and Fiadh, successor to Aillil