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Slightly uphill, a silhouette appeared in front of the big full moon that shone behind it. 
A wolf, with thick grey fur, was waiting for the other animals to follow him. Once they were all together, he led them up the mountain, over a hidden path, through the forest. 

The Shrine was waiting for them. A circle of large hewn stones, with a stone that could resemble an altar in the middle. At the side of the circle, there were some other stone structures, leaning against the mountainside. Altogether it could remind one of an ancient druidic build. A small sister of stonehenge perhaps. But much less known ofcourse. It was highly likely nobody else but Grimbold and the critter family knew about this place. 
The wolf made a circling movement with his head, indicating the others to form a circle within the circle of stones. 

On the ground around the altar, some lines and circles had been drawn in the earth. Other lines were made up of different kinds of powders. One black, white, oker.   

As the wolf slowly walked towards the altar, he started changing. The fur transformed into a grey cloak. Once Grimbold arrived at the center of the circle, he was completely in human form again. 
On the altar, a swan had been waiting. Not making a sound, not startled by all the movements around her. She just lay there, seeming to be at total peace, while she looked around at the other critters. 

Grimbold wasn't happy with what he was about to do. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. But he did what he had to do. And his pupils needed to learn, because they had a long road ahead of them. While he was getting old. 
He took his dagger out and held it up with both hands, blade pointing downwards at the swan.

[b]"Opako senar, hambra manu, sepa kharta latangra ghudul"[/b]

With one swift strike, Grimbold brought the blade down. It struck the swan on her back, right between her wings. Only faintly, you could hear the swan gasping for air one last time, before she lost strength in her neck, and her head fell onto the altar.
An eerie silence struck the forest for a few seconds. No birds, no insects. No sounds. Nothing.  
Then vaguely, a black smoke started coming from the swan. As if the entire beasts body was evaporating. The feathers melted into a heavy black smoke that was almost liquid. And eventually, the entire swan dissapeared. Thick black smoke rolled over the side of the altar and onto the ground, from where the swan had just dissapeard. The smoke spread across the forest floor, before slowly evaporating into nothingness. On the altar only the skeleton of the swan remained. 

Grimbold muttered some more words in an unknown language, as if he was paying his respect to the dead creature's body. Then he started collecting the bones in a bag, leaving the skull for last. 

He looked around the circle. 
[b]“That was all for today”[/b]

He nodded in the direction of the cabin, the sign to head back.

[hr][hr]
After that Grimbold had changed into wolf from once again, and they all went back to the cabin. He didn't care to explain what just had happened, or even why it had. Once people had dressed themselves again, they started leaving. Heading home probably. Grimbold stood at the door, the same he had when they had entered. He greeted everyone, and watched them leave. 

[hr][hr]
The next day, the sun rose above the horizon, meeting a cloudless blue sky. This time of the year, morning did allow the sun to shine her light on tallshade for a few hours, before the sun dissapeared behind the mountain.