"Kristopher came to us a short time ago," Gwen said as she led Jake down the brookside path. "Days? Weeks? I lose track."
Jake paid little attention to the path, to the evening sunlight dancing off the brook, or to the scents of flowers and new spring growth. He struggled to let the White Witch set the pace. He wanted to run, to shift and race on all fours to reach his father.
"Where is he?" he all but demanded as the Glimmerbrook Gate came into view.
He had known already where Gwen was leading him and expected to find Kristopher sitting by the Gate and the waterfall, lost in thought as he often did on the mountain back home.
"Through there," Gwen replied, nodding at the portal.
"Through there?" Jake gasped. "Through... the portal? He's... he's in the Magic Realm?"
"Yes," Gwen smiled. "He said he was very close to a decision and needed a quiet place to think."
"Can I..." Jake started, then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Is... is there some kind of protocol or ritual for asking to go through?"
Gwen laughed, "Yes, but I've never had much patience for formalities. You're with me and have my permission to go on. That's good enough for the Gate. Step through."
"Whoa," Jake gasped, looking around. Inwardly, he winced at not saying something more profound, but really, all his brain offered him was: "Whoa."
Stars wheeled in an otherworldly twilight sky lit by a vast shimmering aurora, and great shattered stones drifted like clouds. The air smelled of unfamiliar spices, of trees that bore both flower and fruit, of wet autumn leaves, the cold whisper of imminent snow... and under it all, a hint of dust and shattered stone. A place of wonder, touched by ruin.
Jake took another breath and, among the many uncanny odors, caught a familiar scent.
Kristopher.
Just as Jake had been expecting, his father was sitting, clearly lost in thought, in this mystical place. Even as Jake saw him, Kristopher's shaggy head rose, and a smile spread across his face.
Jake rushed forward into his father's warm embrace.
"It's good to see you, Jake," Kristopher sighed.
"Father, I'm so glad I found you," Jake said.
"We need you. I don't know where you've been or what's so important, but we need you," he continued. "That wizard, Faust, has the Wildfangs under a spell. He's been playing on the tensions between the packs, and now he's driven Rory to some kind of violent takeover of the town. We have to put a stop to it. I've got the new Wildfang, Demarco, and Claudette... Etta... with me, and Gwen and Cassie. With your help, we can free the Wildfangs and drive Faust out. Come on. We have to go."
"Oh, Jake," Kristopher sighed. "I've been thinking about what you said."
"What I said?" Jake replied, confused. "Said when? Just now... what's to think about?"
"No, no," Kristopher smiled, sadly. "What you said when you and Beth left to follow Miranda... right after poor Nick died. Do you remember?"
"That was like three years ago," Jake said, growing even more confused. "I was angry. I mean... does that really matter now?!"
"It matters a great deal," Kristopher said.
"Three years ago, when the Dark Court attacked the Guardians," he continued, "and Cassandra asked me to protect her daughter, Miranda, I agreed but I insisted that we would not fight in their war."
"I remember," Jake said, solemnly. It has been the first time he had truly believed Kristopher had been wrong about something important.
"You don't remember the first war, the war that created us," Kristopher mused. "My parents and the other Mooncasters had taken on the powers of their wolf familiars to fight against the vampire uprising. I was raised in that war and, as a young man, I fought in it. I saw so many fall, so much horror and bloodshed. When it was over, my parents let old age claim them... and I became the leader of our people. I accepted the burden of immortality, so I could protect and guide us. I brought us back to the Moonwood, where we could make a sanctuary for ourselves. I believed I could keep us safe, from the world and the horrors of war."
"You have," Jake said. "You've been a great leader to our people... and they need you now."
"I have done the best I could," Kristopher replied. "No more, or less... but now... When Miranda came to us," he continued, "I said I would not fight in their war... but she was so brave, so willful... and you and Beth followed her. Nick fought and died for her. I saw the horrors of the old war claim another young wolf. I said, again, that we would not fight in their war! But you said to me...
"Wake up, father! The war is happening, whether you want it or not... We can't be diplomatic with someone who doesn't even see us as people. We can't peacefully coexist with someone who wants to destroy us. People are dying. Nick died! No, he didn't just die... they killed him.
"Nick wasn't part of your pack, father. He was part of mine... and my pack is going with Miranda. We're going to stand against the vampires because it's the right thing to do. Because it's not her war, father. It's everyone's."
"I'm sorry, father," Jake began.
"No! You were right," Kristopher insisted. "I have led our people for a long time, Jake. Hundreds of years, building a sanctuary for us, finding peace with the Wolf within us. and trying keep us out of the world. You showed me that it is time for a new way."
"OK," Jake nodded. "OK, so you'll find a new way. We'll go back, save everyone and then you can lead us into this new way."
"No," Kristopher said, almost laughing. "Not me. You."
"We have to... huh, what?!" Jake rocked back, shocked.
"You, and your sister Rory," Kristopher smiled. "I can see that now, at last. I can't say I was wrong, not even now, but I can say that it is time for a new way. You will find that way for our people, to move forward in this new Age. I am too old, too set in my ways. I raised you. I raised you both... to be leaders, to take my place... so I could finally put down the burden and privilege of leadership. For a time, I thought you weren't ready, like I thought about so many other possible successors over the centuries. I finally realized I wasn't ready. I need to be. I need to step aside.
"I entrust you, Jacob Volkov, with the leadership of our people and with protection of the Moonwood," Kristopher knelt, bowing his head before his new leader.
"... and the Prince comes to Garden," Gwen said softly, "to receive that which he does not want."
"Thank you Gwenivar," Kristopher said rising. "I know I can trust you to keep an eye on them."
"Both eyes, as often as I can spare them," Gwen quoted. "Fair well, Kristophorus Lykos. I hope you find the peace you seek."
"You're leaving?" Jake gasped. "You tell me I'm pack leader, protector of the Moonwood... which has been invaded by an evil wizard in case you've forgotten, and you're just leaving?!"
"You don't need me, Jake. You're ready," Kristopher smiled. "You can do this... and you won't be doing it alone. To be a wolf is to be part of the pack. You said, three years ago, you have your pack, and you have only added to it since. I wouldn't give you this burden if I didn't believe you could carry it."
Turning, Kristopher walked away, and with each step, he seemed to fade.
"Goodbye."
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