In that long ago time, there were also spirits in the woods. Small spirits…and powerful spirits. They had no shape of their own, so sometimes they slipped into a living thing to enjoy the feel of wind on leaves or water through gills or the warmth of the sun on a furred body. Many of the spirits remained in a small piece of the woods or in the meadows around it, needing the familiar. Others wandered the land, residing in a part of the woods for a season or two before moving on.

One of those wanderers was a very powerful spirit, the oldest and strongest of them all. He did not need a host body in order to have form because he had the power to draw on the branches of the Great Mother to create a cloak of flesh. He needed to slip into a host body once in order to learn its shape, but after that, he could change at will. His favorite form was a stag, but he also walked the woods as a wolf or rode the air as a hawk. The other spirits quickly learned that when he walked as a stag, he was simply there to live among them. But when he appeared as hawk or wolf, he hunted—and when he hunted, he was feared.

One day, he had wandered close to the long ridge of hills and caught unfamiliar scents on the wind. So he followed them, curious to see what kind of creature smelled that way.

They walked on two legs and lived in strange stone burrows above the ground. Smoke rose from the burrows, a warning of fire, but he saw no fire that would be a danger to the woods. The ground was turned in a way he’d never seen before, and plants grew in even rows.

For many days, safely hidden at the edge of the woods, he watched the creatures. Then one morning, just after dawn, he approached the turned earth and nibbled one of the plants. Pleased by the taste, he ate more, forgetting to be cautious—until he heard something running toward him and harsh sounds filled the air.

The scent of female filled his nostrils and delighted him in a way he didn’t understand. What he did understand was the sounds she was making were like snarls and growls. The femalewas not pleased. When she picked up a stone and threw it at him, he bounded back into the woods.

But he kept coming back, day after day, to watch the female and her mate and the two small ones. And because he remained there, other spirits became curious and wandered to that part of the world to watch the strange creatures.