Living Legend: Kindred

“Tell me child do you know the story of the lamb and the wolf?”

“Don’t wolves eat lambs grandpa?”

The old man laughs a hearty laugh. “Not this one child, not this one.”

He sighs and strokes his gray mane of a beard. “You see young one this lamb and wolf are one in the same. Two parts of one whole. And this is the story of how a boy met the lamb and the wolf.”

“It all began as a boy was out hunting for game in the woods. Something the boy had done many times before. He would track his prey and chase them down and when the time was right he’d raise his bow and fire a shot. Almost always a clean shot. Almost. But this time was not one of those clean kills. This one lingered. The prey escaped. Wounded and gravely so but not yet dead. The boy was hot on its trail and came to an open glen where he could see the sun just dip down below the horizon. Twilight fell and in that hour something strange happened. The boy was at the edge of the glen where he saw his prey in the middle but something stopped him. A mix of curiosity and fear struck the boy as he saw what looked like a lamb but this lamb was no ordinary lamb. No this lamb bore a mask, a mask that looked like bone and had the markings of what appeared to be a wolf. And around the lamb danced and pranced a black wolf like shadow with another mask that resembled that of a lamb. The demeanor of the two was starkly different like night and day. The lamb stood on its hind legs and walked upright with a bow in hand. It stalked the boy’s prey like a hunter stoic and calm. Moving in for the kill. But the wolf. The wolf was wild and frenzied. It danced about the lamb eager for a meal its tongue lolling out in a state suggesting perpetual hunger.

The boy was frozen, unsure what to do, so he watched and waited. The lamb approached the deer and it was not the boy noticed that the deer had another arrow in it a ghostly pale blue bolt stuck out of it close to the heart. The creatures came over and looked over the deer still clinging to life. The wolf like shadow spoke in an almost jovial tone,

‘Is this it Lamb? Is this one mine?’

The other replied in a quiet somber tone ‘All are yours Wolf in due time and this one’s time has come.’ With that the white lamb ripped the pale arrow from the deer’s chest and the deer shivered and then stopped. No longer did it struggle nor cling to life. It was dead.

The boy watched with grim fascination and unwittingly snapped a twig beneath his foot. The creatures before him reacted as one and immediately shifted their cold gaze in the boy’s direction. The boy knew instinctively that they had seen him and gripped by such instinct chose to flee.

He ran without thought or care beyond getting away from whatever it was that he saw but he knew in his heart that he was now the prey as he heard the howl of the wolf and the soft swift clop of cloven feet in the underbrush.

He ran and ran and ran. Pushing himself, his heart pounding in his ears. His eyes darting from side to side looking for cover or some form of escape. Darkness closed in as nightfall came. Soon he would not know up from down it would be so dark. Up ahead he saw a cave and darted to the left quickly into it hoping that his pursuers would lose track of him. As he stopped he held his breath he did not dare move an inch nor let a sound escape his lips. Again he heard the soft swift clop through the underbrush approach. They stopped, pausing for what seemed like an eternity and then finally moved on. The boy held his breath a while longer till he felt his lungs would burst and gasped loudly for air and sucked it in deeply. He then quieted and steadied himself preparing to venture out again. Slowly he walked out of the cave and slowly worked his way towards home. Then stopping and cursing under his breath remembering his promise to bring home game. Their stocks were low and winter was approaching. With a heavy sigh he worked his way back to the glen hoping to find the deer but not the creatures there. As he worked his way back the darkness grew thicker, he dared not light a torch for fear it would alert his pursuers to his presence. Instead he let his eyes adjust to the dark and slowly worked his way forwards. The boy arrived at the edge of the glen and faintly saw the outline of the deer’s corpse in the middle of it. He waited a few moments to see if there was any other movement in the forest around him but all seemed quiet. He sighed with relief and walked out into the glen. Just as soon as he reached the center he heard the pull of a bow string. Before he could react he felt an arrow pierce his left shoulder just above the heart. Pain seared his body as he fell to the ground he saw a pale blue shaft sticking through him. He felt a presence of glee and overwhelming hunger just out of sight and heard the all too familiar words, ‘Is this one mine little Lamb?’ the voice spoke in a deep cackling tone. The boy felt faint and started to drift off, thinking this would be the end for him and wondering what was next. What would happen to him? His family? Would this thing eat him? He suddenly felt a vague sense of the arrow shaft being gripped and tried his best to prepare himself for what came next. But then suddenly there was a faint glow on the ground and it felt as though rather than the arrow being ripped out it simply vanished into thin air.

The stoic calm voice came next and said,

‘In due time Wolf but not yet. No, not yet.’

The boy felt vitality return to him and gasped. He got up to his knees turned to look at the thing before him and asked shakily, ‘What are you?’

The lamb like creature turned its masked head and spoke in that same calm quiet voice ‘We are Kindred.’ Before the boy could ask anything further there was a sudden flash and the creatures became a swirl of purplish black and pale blue light and vanished into thin air leaving the boy dazed and confused.”

The old man sat back in his chair by the crackling fire and sighed with content. The child curious as children often are then asked “What is Kindred then Grandpa?”

The old man looked down and with a wry smile said, “Well now there’s a good question. No one rightly knows as far as I know. Some say it’s a spirit, some say it doesn’t exist and others aren’t sure what to believe about the whole thing.”

“What do you think Grandpa?” The child asked undaunted.

Again the old man smiled, “I’d have to say there are some things we just don’t know about in this here world young one.” The child grimaced with displeasure at the vague answer but quickly perked up again and asked, “So what happened to the boy?” “Well let’s see, the boy went home and lived his life I would presume. And now that that’s settled it’s time for someone to get to bed now isn’t it?”

“Oh alright grandpa good night.”

“Good night young one.”

The old man waved the child off and then stared into the fire with a pensive look and instinctively reached for and rubbed his left shoulder as if remembering an old wound.