Vasi scrambled backwards on her hands and knees away from the old woman who lay next to her in the underbrush. She reached for the silver dagger.
"You have the knife that tasted the blood of a strigoi-viu, little one," crooned the old woman. She stood up from the forest floor and faced Vasi, both grey as the mist surrounding them. One grey with forest mud, the other grey with age.
"Who are you?" asked Vasi, pointing the knife at the crone.
"I am Zora. I was once Zorya. Before that I was Zarinya. Morning Star to Day Star to Evening Star now soon to set upon the land. The plateau - it whispers to you, does it not, child?"
A rustle in the leaves to Vasi's left caused her to whirl around with her knife. A matronly woman emerged from the fog dressed in blue, her hair was braided about her head in a golden crown, but the roots showed through as russet shot through with silver.
"She led you here, warrior," said the woman with the golden braids. "Just as She leads each of us. I am Zorya, soon to be Zora. I heard Her call from the forest when I became Zarinya. Day Star becomes Evening Star. Morning Star becomes Day Star. Do not fear this, little one."
"Vasi," called a voice to her right.
Vasi spun around again as a third woman called her name. She was young and beautiful and dressed in green. Her hair was also the strange golden color with blackened roots falling down her back in a thick braid.
"I was once in your place, not more than ten years hence. She leads us all as we must be led. In a time such as this, She has called you, a warrior from a forest far away to be Her Morning Star. I am Zarinya, soon to be Zorya. Morning Star becomes Day Star. Day Star becomes Evening Star. So it has been since the Goddess set us upon this safe land. Now the land is not safe, so She brings us a warrior and a knife that tasted the heart blood of the strigoi-viu."
These women speak in riddles. What is this? How do they know my name? thought Vasi.
The sound of a hunter's horn rent the silence. She was not as far from the palace as she had thought. Or she had been going in circles longer than she had realized. She looked at the three women and decided to take her chances in the forest.
Run.
Away from the three witches.
Away from the Swarm.
Into the forest.
Breathe.
Into the trees.
Breathe.
Into the mist.
Breathe.
Do not stop.
Breathe.
She could feel the moss and leaves under her feet, the life moving through the floor of the forest beneath her. The terrain began to change. The roots of the forest did not go as deep here before they hit rock. Even inside the white blur she could tell she was closer to her goal of the rocky peaks where she hoped to find a cave entrance. A few steps further and she was above the tree line.
Breathe.
Still she ran. No trees here, only lichen and rocks. Even beyond the forest she could feel the life of the mountain under her. The air seemed thinner, even as the clouds thickened. Vasi slowed her pace. The mountain around her seemed to vanish. She was alone, only able to see as far as her arm could reach in front of her.
Breathe.
Vasi... little Vasi... you have been so brave, my daughter.
Vasi froze.
Mother?
Her mother was long dead, slaughtered by the Swarm in battle, along with the rest of the forest people. Vasi looked about her, and realized she could no longer run. She could no longer see. The white cloud darkened as rain began to condense about her.
Follow my voice, daughter.
"My mother is dead," whispered Vasi. "I saw her body burned with all of my people when they burned my forest. Who are you, voice?"
I am your hope for life, Vasilisa. I am the love that lived within your mother's heart as she held you in the heart of the tree in which you were born. I am the hope she had for you as your grandmother placed you in her arms. I am the All-Mother.
Vasi sat down on the cold rock as rain washed away the grey mud from her robes and face. She wept.
Be strong, warrior girl. I shall sit with you as long as you need your tears to flow. I shall keep you safe inside my dark clouds. No man shall come upon this mountain to disturb you. Here it is safe.
Silence and darkness enveloped the mountain. Even soaked through with rain, Vasi was warm. For the first time in years she felt safe. Safe, inside this rain-soaked cloud atop a foreign mountain hundreds of miles from the tree where she was born.
"I am ready," said Vasi.
This call is not a command, dear one. Will you become my Morning Star?
"What is a Morning Star?"
You shall become one of three. Morning Star becomes Day Star becomes Evening Star, which returns to the earth as another Morning Star rises. The Sisters speak for me when my words need to be heard. Each are their own, but all are each other's.
"Why do you call me?"
My voice requires more than a whisper. You do not whisper. When others were content to hide when help was needed, you offered hope. You cared for the cast-off corpse of a queen you did not know.
"What must I do?"
A single glowing filament appeared before Vasi, stretching out before and behind her into darkness.
Feel the thread. Follow it forward to find my path into the mountain. Follow it back to the forest if you wish to return to face the men of the strigoi-viu. Or you may sit here in the grey wetness and drift into eternal sleep, daughter.
Vasi put forth her finger and felt the thread. It felt taught and light as spider silk.
This is the thread of life that your soul weaves. It is yours to do with as you will, dear one.
Vasi's wet clothes clung to her as she stood. She took the thread between her thumb and forefinger and followed it forward deeper into the clouded darkness ahead.