@MadEmperor[M for probable violence]
It had been over three weeks since the attack on the Blackpaw and Longfang packs, and the Howlers still hadn't settled on a course of action. There were two main factions in the group: one wanted to reinforce their stronghold in the mountains, such as it were, and prepare for the next possible attack. The other wanted to take the fight down out of the mountains and ensure that there
wasn't a next attack.
Of course, there were dozens of ideas about just how each of these goals could be accomplished, but first they had to actually
pick one.
That was Aeris's job, and Shyla couldn't say she envied it. Her foster brother had been trained to take his place as their pack leader since he was a child, and she whole-heartedly believed in his ability to make the right decision--but that didn't mean she thought it was easy. He had to manage both the safety and the expectations of just about every member of their family.
Well. All the ones who were left, anyway.
"You're going to call for recon, aren't you?" she asked in the wolfman's direction, not taking her attention off of the task in front of her--which in this moment was using a mortar and pestle to blend a poultice of feverfew and a sharp-smelling mountain berry called frostfell. Technically, she could have been doing this anywhere, but she'd made up some excuse as to why she needed to be in Aeris's command tent while she did. "Felan said they lost track of the zealots near the base of the mountain--we need more information."
The boss himself was conflicted on the issue. On the one hand, if they focused solely on preparing themselves for a possible counterstrike, then they left a lot of innocent wolves to the slaughter. On the other hand, if they crossed into northern Connloath to hunt the rest of the zealots down, then they risked not only an ambush but also the ire of the Connloathian military. Having soldiers hunt their kin was an even worse situation. It seemed like either way, there were going to be more attacks.
"Of course. If we do go after them, I'm not risking everything by going in blind. The last thing we need is to accidentally start a war with Connloath that we absolutely cannot win."
Aeris sighed. "Gods, I hate this job."
"No you don't," Shyla responded easily, if dryly. "You'd go mad from boredom without it."
She finished her poultice and began moving the mixture into one of the small empty vials from her field kit. "You could send me," she noted, deliberately casual. "I could use a bird. Or even just ask around--no one would suspect the little blind girl to be running recon for a mercenary group."
It wasn't the first time she'd offered to go on a mission for the pack, but it was certainly something that she was doing more frequently in the last year or so. She knew why Aeris was protective of her, but she so desperately wanted to be useful to her family, to do something for them that wasn't just patching up wounds after a fight.
Aeris frowned, not liking where this was going. She has been relentless lately about going on missions. He knew why; she wanted to be more than just their best healer. But that was exactly the problem. It was bad enough that she was his little sister; he'd be damned if she didn't outlive him.
He groaned. "Shyla. We've had this discussion more times than I can count. You're too valuable to risk losing. Nobody else in the pack is half as good at keeping the rest of us alive. You are useful."
"I'm not suggesting you send me into battle, Aeris," Shyla exclaimed, with all the not-inconsiderable indignant exasperation of a stifled teenager. "I wouldn't even have to go far, just poke around a few villages in the foothills and see if I can get any information."
Huffing, she crossed her arms and glared in his direction. "Besides, we have plenty of medics--you know as well as I do that anyone could do this job, if you forced them to sit out every damn fight and learn."
"Fine," he half snapped, half sighed as he stomped over to her. "You want the truth? I can't risk you. If anything happened to you I'd..."
His face fell, voice growing distant. "I don't even know what I'd do. At best I would be so grief-stricken that I couldn't lead. At worst, I might get everyone killed in a mad quest to avenge you, and everyone would go along with it because they love you too."
Shyla was so familiar with his gait and the layout of the command tent that she could anticipate where he would stop as he approached, despite not being able to see him. She stood with a sigh of her own to bring herself closer--if not by that much--to his height and tipped her head back toward where she knew his face was.
"...I get that." She reached out to touch his arm. "But I love you all too. And these people are a danger, to us and anyone else in the mountains they think are "heretics"." Her eyes were fixed on a spot just beyond his shoulder, but it was clear she was trying to hold his gaze to the best of her ability. "I'm not asking you to do something stupid, Aeris. And I'm not just suggesting this because every time you all go out to fight and I'm left behind it drives me mad. I'm suggesting it because it makes sense."
She squeezed his arm lightly. "They'll know about us--about the pack, what we look like, how we operate. They won't know anything about some waify half-elven girl just asking questions."
The wolfman let out a long, drawn-out huff. She was right. He hated it, but she was right. Strategically, it was the right call, and he had no logical counterpoint. And he had denied her too many times as it was.
"Promise me you'll retreat if you even think you might have been found out." It was clear that on this he wouldn't budge.
Her ears perked up as he started to soften his position, and she was already nodding quickly. "Absolutely. Send me down with a squad, if you need to; they can hang back and keep an eye out while I ask around. That way I'll have backup if things go sideways--which they won't," she added hurriedly.
Her whole face was lit up as she turned it toward him, though she was clearly trying to keep her expression sober so he knew she was taking this responsibility seriously.
"Take Felan and a couple of his best scouts," he answered, relieved to see her taking the matter seriously.
"But he's in charge, not you. Understand? If he says it's time to leave, you leave. I can't have you using your importance to me to pull rank." He clearly wasn't her brother at that moment; he was her commander.
"Yes, ser." She nodded sharply, every inch one of his soldiers. "Understood."
She tried not to let it rankle her that Felan would technically outrank her--the wolf was just a little over a year older than her, and it was difficult to see him as anything but one of her--occasionally irritating--childhood playmates.
Of course, that was part and parcel of being an Ulfar. Their childhoods were short, but always close behind them. They didn't live long enough for it to be otherwise.
"How long do we have?" Shyla asked, determinedly putting that thought from her mind. As much as she could, anyway. "And when should I tell them to be ready to leave?"
"You'll have until the next full moon. Including travel time, that should give you about half a week to investigate. Unless you think you'll need more." He seemed to take comfort in being able to make a decision with less riding on it than all their lives. Not just theirs; every shifter in the mountains was in danger.
"I can do that," Shyla replied quickly, not wanting to risk him changing his mind. "I'll go find Felan; we can be on the road in an hour, if he's got his scouts ready."
She started toward the entrance of the command tent, then hesitated. Turning back to Aeris, she added more softly, "I'll be fine. And back soon. I promise."
The young squad leader prepared quickly, waiting for her eagerly at the edge of the encampment. He acted like he was playing it cool, but everyone knew Felan had a thing for her. Hell, half the boys in her age group have had a crush on her at one time or another. Of course, Aeris would go berserk if any of them hurt her in any way.
"Ready?" It was a rhetorical question; the Howlers were nothing if not efficient, and if they were told to be ready by a certain time, then they would be ready.
Shyla was doing her best not to seem too eager, though she knew her group would be just as aware as she was that this was the first time she was going on an away mission without Aeris.
When Felan gave her an affirmative, she nodded briskly. "Right. We moving out then?"
One of Felan's scouts—a cousin or second-cousin or something—reached out as though to offer Shyla a guiding hand as she shifted her satchel.
The young healer snapped her head toward him with bared teeth, and he yanked his hand back quickly. She turned her head in Felan's direction, clearly with something of a dawning realization.
Right. The Howlers were a big enough pack that not all of them were familiar with how competent Shyla was, and sometimes saw her only as the sickly girl that the old Alpha had taken pity on. In her excitement to be out on a proper mission, she hadn't really considered how some of Felan's scouts might react to her presence.
Felan laughed out loud as Shyla put the scout in his place. "Careful Logar, or she might just take a finger next time!"
"Now if we're done baring fangs, let's be off!" he commanded, back to business. With that, the small team headed south.
Aeris watched from a distance as they departed, praying that this hadn't been a terrible mistake.
Shyla nodded briskly, deferring to Felan's position of command in the group despite still being a little peeved, and quickly mounted up. While the fully lycan members of the pack--those who were born Ulfars rather than marrying into the family--could easily outpace a horse if they put their minds to it (not to mention how most equines were skittish around large wolffolk), the Howlers did keep a small pack of riding dogs to hand for those who might need them.
Shyla's mount had a coat in varying shades of tan and gray that she'd dubbed "Whiskey" as a pup, when Aeris's uncle had gifted her the animal and allowed her to use his eyes to see him. The massive canine seemed just as anxious to be on the road as his mistress, huffing and pawing at the ground before the group set out.
There was a moment when she paused, hanging to the back of the group, and twisted in the saddle to turn her upper body toward where she knew Aeris would be standing. Despite not being able to see him, she raised a hand in farewell.
Getting down into the foothills took the better part of the day, so their first night on mission was spent camping at the edge of what most of Connlaoth would dub "civilization". Felan's team were clearly used to this sort of work, setting up their camp with the ease and speed of much practice, while Shyla found herself at something of a loss as to what to do. Normally, in this sort of situation, she'd be prepping healing supplies or finding nearby creatures with which she might be able to utilize her Sight--because normally, she would have been staying in this camp while the rest of the group went off on the mission.
It was...strange, to have the roles reversed.
The reversal of roles was not lost on the young squad commander. In fact, though he'd never say it to his alpha's face, he thought it was due time Aeris stopped treating Shyla like she were made of glass. She was, if not as capable in a fight as the rest of them, far stronger than she got credit for. But then, he'd had a crush on her for years and was hardly impartial.
Approaching her, he asked, "So... what did you say to him to get him to finally give you more responsibility?"
For lack of a better idea, and for some familiarity, Shyla had settled herself on a scrubby stump and was dusting her fingertips over the variety of vials she kept in her kit. Each lid had a slightly different embossed pattern, allowing her to read their contents without having to borrow someone's eyes or uncap and sniff each vial.
She tilted her head slightly in Felan's direction when she heard him approach, recognizing the rhythm of his footsteps, then huffed quietly at his question. "I pointed out how much easier it would be for me to run recon in one of the foothill villages than it would be for any of you," she replied with a shrug. "Who's gonna suspect little ol' me of relaying information to anyone, let alone the Howlers, right?"
She flashed a half-smirk in his general direction. "I actually offered to go alone first, though I didn't expect him to take me up on it. Kinda surprised me he named your squad immediately to come with me though, Fell." It was light, innocuous teasing, the same kind they'd all tossed back and forth as children; unfortunately, while Shyla could be scarily observant about many things, noticing interest in herself was not one of them.
"Oh? And why is that? Did you not want the best?" Fell countered, playfully smug. "Seriousy, you could have gotten stuck with Zell."
Though he knew the real reason he was chosen. Aeris knew he'd do anything to do protect her, but without treating her like a caged bird.
"The best, he says," Shyla scoffed as she finished her supply inspection and tied down the opening of her satchel. "Like I don't remember every stupid move you've made since you were ten."
Whiskey, settled half curled next to the half-elf, chuffed something that almost sounded like a laugh and flopped his head into Shyla's lap.
Sobering a bit, Shyla turned her head more fully toward Felan and added a little softer, "Seriously though...thanks. I appreciate you not being, y'know--weird about this."
"Not you too, ya big mutt!" Fell laughed, giving the creature a scratch.
Shyly, but gently, put a big hand on her shoulder. "Me? Weird? I was afraid you'd be weird about taking orders from me. Though, for what it's worth, I'm really hoping this will go smoothly enough that I won't have to give any."
Whiskey thumped his tail against the ground twice and lapped at Fell's clawed hand.
Shyla exhaled and nodded heavily when the hand moved to hers shoulder. "Yeah. Me too."
Just because she knew she could handle herself if it came down to it didn't mean she wanted this mission to go sour enough that she wound up in that kind of situation. Especially not if it put any of her packmates in danger.
Shaking herself, she said with only slightly forced brightness, "Well, we've got our best shot at that happening if we're well-rested. We should probably turn in--who's on first watch?"
"That would be Riza," he answered. "She may not like you, but she's good at what she does. Besides, you're still family."
"Oh, I like her fine," the gruff female interjected, smirking slightly, "It's that damned pedestal Aeris puts her on that I don't like. He plays favorites and we all know it."
Shyla stiffened and had to bite down on a growl--even though she wasn't a wolf herself, she'd been raised with them, and certain mannerisms had worn off on her. She took a breath and forced herself not to react to Riza's baiting.
There was no good reaction to the situation: if she sunk to her own jabs, she came off as exactly the immature, inexperienced kid she was trying to prove to Aeris she wasn't. And if she was too swift to defend his commanded decisions, it made it look like she was fighting his battles--or like he was doing exactly what Riza accused, playing favorites.
So instead of snapping back something about how the only reason Riza was even in Felan's squad was because her sister had nagged Aeris for months to get her there, Shyla just nodded in the wolf's direction and said coolly, "Thanks for the watch. We're depending on you."
With Shyla not taking the bait, Riza lost interest in the game. With a curt grunt, she went back to watching the horizon.
Fell resisted the urge to laugh at how Shyla put Riza in her place with gratitude. "Well, like you said, time to get what sleep you can. You'll head into town in the morning."
"Ser, yes, ser." She shot him a quick smile and a theatrically severe salute.
She settled in to sleep curled toward the fire, with Whiskey's large body arced around her back.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, she was on her own. Properly on her own, for the first time since...well. Since she could remember, really.
...Weird.
"Town" was on the generous side of what qualified as civilization. Sure, it had buildings and walls, but anyone willing to live this close to the mountains was going to be a tougher, wilder kind of Connloathian. That, coupled with distance from both secular and religious authority, was the perfect breeding ground for superstition and zealous, unsanctioned practices. No doubt some of those who attacked the mountain wolves hailed from it. And sympathy was not with the victims.
Shyla left Felan and his scouts at the edge of the trees and made her way into town alone. Well, except for Whiskey--riding dogs weren't common, but they were prolific enough this far north that he shouldn't draw too much attention.
There was a community stable near the tiny inn at the edge of what could be called the town proper where she paid a hostler to take care of the animal. She unloaded a walking stick from her pack--a tool she didn't usually need in the Howlers' encampment, but definitely came in handy in new environments--before making her way into the inn itself.
Immediately, she was assaulted with the noise. And then the smell--human bodies and alcohol and food and worn wood all blending into a veritable wall of sensory information. She actually swayed in place a moment, then forced her shoulders to straighten and started making her was cautiously toward the densest cluster of sound--where she assumed the bar was.
She kept one hand on the wall to help orient herself as she moved; she didn't see it, but a few of the patrons who glanced over and seemed to realize why she was moving in such a way actually gave her some room. Whether that was out of courtesy or superstition about conditions like blindness was unclear.
Eventually, she felt the edge of the bar and stopped. She didn't quite want to risk finding a seat, so she just cleared her throat and called a cautious, "Excuse me?" and hoped that was enough to get the barkeep's attention.
The barkeep, a hard-looking man with a full beard and a fuller gut, paused in his cleaning of the counter to look at her. With what she could only assume was a frown of disapproval, he asked, "What can I get you, miss?"
"Cider, please." She smiled in the direction of his voice and hoped the faint nervous waver in her voice would help sell her bit rather than make her seem suspicious. "I'm, ah, not exactly from around here, but I'll have whatever's local."
She waited a beat, then put forward cautiously, "Do you happen to know where I could find supplies in town? I'm...planning to travel through the foothills, but I'd heard there was some...trouble in the mountains recently."
The man began pouring her some apple cider as he contemplated her question. "Trouble is putting it lightly. The damned shifters are on the warpath, killing every hunter they come across. But don't you worry little lady, the militia will take care of the monsters soon enough."
The zealots, it seemed, were not above using misinformation to get the locals on their side. But, one supposed, they were hunters. Just not innocent ones.
"As for supplies, the general store is a few buildings further into town."
"Oh?" She carefully reached for the glass of cider--sniffing it before she sipped to make sure it was, in fact, cider--and worked to keep her face in an expression of nervous curiosity rather than rising anger. "Perhaps I should wait, then," she murmured. "If you say the...the militia are going to handle the problem."
She took anther sip. "Any idea when the roads might be clear?"
"You didn't hear it from me," he said, leaning in conspiratorially, apparently quite the gossip. "But they say our stalwart defenders brought some species of nasty up from Draconi that just loves the taste of wolf."
"True or not, Father Nazan's been preaching an imminent holy judgment of the mountain heathens. And it's about time if you ask me. The disappearing travelers have to stop."
Of course, it couldn't just be that the Kilanthros were incredibly treacherous.
Resisting the urge to snap something about gullible, bigoted idiots, Shyla breathed, "Disappearing travelers?" She widened her eyes. "Oh my. Well, yes, I hope that does stop soon--are the, uh...the reinforcements from the Draconi already here? Or might we be waiting a few weeks before it's safe to travel?"
She didn't think she was pushing too hard--if she really was just a traveler assessing the safety of the roads, it would make sense for her to be concerned about when her own journey might take place. "Perhaps this--this Father Nazan might be able to tell me more?" she risked asking.
The man grew slightly suspicious of the strange half-elf girl in front of him. "Where did you say you were headed? And I hope not by yourself."
"Oh, no, of course not by myself!" Shyla said quickly.
Damnit.
With something of a sheepish laugh, she tried to backtrack. "I'm meeting the rest of my party here actually, tomorrow. I just thought I should see what the general feeling around town was about mountain travel." She ducked her head and reached for her cider glass—intentionally missing the first time—and brought it to her lips. "I just want to be as prepared as I can be."
There. Just a nervous girl unfamiliar with the area, asking questions to try to find her feet.
She hoped.
That seemed to satisfy him. After all, what harm could the girl cause?
"Well, I suppose I can respect that," he allowed. "Travel can be dangerous for anyone, not least of all the blind. It's definitely best to be prepared."
"If you're really worried about the wolf situation, you should ask Brother Lukas; the Father is a busy man. Or possibly Eglin. He runs the militia."
Shyla nodded quickly, shooting a grateful smile in his direction. "I'll do that, thank you." She sipped at her drink again, mind whirring through the options in front of her as she tried to seem outwardly unbothered.
"Where might I find Brother Lukas?" she asked after a few moments. That seemed to her the best first move; this Eglin likely knew more about the tactical moves of the "militia", but if she wanted to know how deep the rot of zealotry ran, than a religious figure was who she should be talking to.
"He should be in the chapel, cleaning up after this morning's mass. If you hurry, you should catch him before he's on to the next task," the man informed her, suspicion all but forgotten.
"Thank you." Shyla smiled at him again, paid for her drink, and then made her way back out onto the thin road that ran down the center of the village. She had to ask a passerby just where exactly the chapel was, but once she had her heading she set off--carefully, using her walking stick and keeping close to buildings so she could orient herself. It would have been easier to navigate if she had found a local bird or similar animal to use her Sight, but she hadn't wanted to risk drawing more attention than necessary by bringing a wild creature into town with her.
The chapel doors were open--she could hear the general soft noises inside too easily for it to be otherwise--and she made her way in cautiously.
"Ah, hello?" she called in the direction of the sound of sweeping. "I'm looking for a Brother Lukas?"
"You found him," a friendly voice answered from the same direction.
"Oh, good." She smiled and took a few steps toward the voice. The end of her stick fetched up against a pew and she corrected her course to walk around it. "I spoke with a man in the tavern who said you or a--a Father Nazan might be able to tell me a bit about when the mountain roads might be clear?"
The portly man paused in his sweeping, finally deciding to take in the girl who had approached him. After a moment of thought, he answered, "That's a more complicated question than you might think. The wolf shifters of Kilanthro are a wily breed, and even without them, the roads will never be exactly safe. Though, they're a sight safer than hiking across."
"If it's not rude to ask, what business does a blind half-elf, slip of a girl have in Hyoite? There's nothing but snow and barbarians there."
Shyla ducked her head and shuffled her feet, trying to look as sheepish as she could manage.
"My--my ma had another little one this last winter," she murmured. "It's too many mouths under one roof, and my--a boy sweet on me is apprenticing with a fur trader up north." She scuffed her foot against the floor again. "We, um, moved the wedding up, so they could get me out of the house."
It wasn't precisely an unheard of sort of tale; especially with the disruption stirred up by the civil war, there were plenty of poorer families who would shuffle their elder daughters off to the first man who might be able to provide for them, so that they in turn could focus on providing for the family's younger children.
It was a little odd to send a blind girl to meet her new husband in Hyoite by herself, but... Well. The reality was that Shyla had been left to the mercy of the mountains as little more than a toddler, so clearly it wasn't outside the realm of possibility for people to be so callous.
The man's voice grew sympathetic and more than a little outraged. "And they send you on such a treacherous journey alone? How callous."
"Perhaps some of our militia boys would be willing to escort you, at least part of the way," he said thoughtfully.
"Oh no, that--"
...May not actually be a terrible idea.
She would have to get a message to Felan, make sure his squad was ready for it, but...
Well. An ambush would certainly take care of at least some of these zealots.
"I--I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone," she told Lukas, ducking her head again. "But, if you're sure it would be alright... Might I think on it?"
"I'm sure Elgin can spare two or three men. But, of course, take all the time you need."
He frowned. "Well, perhaps not too long. Elgin may be difficult to get a hold of once his plan is underway."
"Oh?" She blinked and chewed at her lower lip nervously. "When--when will that be?"
Not suspicious, not suspicious, she told herself. If she really was hoping for an escort, it made perfect sense for her to what to know by when she need to make a decision.
"Can't" or won't"say for sure, but I'd wager a guess it won't be at least until the weekend. Perhaps not even until the full moon. Wolves are quite active then."
Oh great. That old superstition--sure, there were lycanthropic shapeshifters who were affected by the moon cycle, but very few, if any, of the Kilanthro packs fell into that category.
"Thank you, Brother," Shyla said with a bright smile. "I know I've already taken so much of your time, but if I was, ah, to speak with Elgin, where might I find him?"
She shouldn't push--she had the information they needed, and even a little more. But...she couldn't shake the idea of doing something more. The opportunity had presented itself, after all; it would be foolish to waste the chance.
She would just have to ignore the tiny, disapproving Aeris on her shoulder.
The monk squinted in slight suspicion, but her story was, at least, plausible. It just barely tinged his voice as he replied, "He should be at the wooden fort just outside of town. If you follow the road upslope, you can't miss it. Just tell the guards that Brother Lukas sent you, and he should agree to meet you."
"Thank you." She smiled in the direction of his voice again and dipped her head respectfully before making her way back out of the church.
Once outside, she used her previous method of navigation to make her way back to the stable where she'd left Whiskey. Thanking the hostler, she took the massive dog's reins and started back down the road she had used to get into town.
As they moved, she had drawn a stick of charcoal and sheet of parchment from her small satchel. Whiskey walked slowly, allowing her to use his eyes so she could scratch out a quick message: They're going to make a move before the full moon. Priest offered me an escort by the militia—I'm going to talk to the leader. Be ready to ambush.
She tucked the message into Whiskey's halter, then sent him off into the woods with a pat on the shoulder and whispered instructions to go back to Felan. Whiskey was well-trained; without a rider, he would return to the Howler's last set camp.
That done, she started up the slope toward the fort that Lukas had indicated. She made sure to walk in the middle of the road, so any guards could see her coming a long way off and wouldn't think she was trying to sneak up on them.
The pair of guards at the gate cross their spears as the strange girl approached. "Halt! Identify yourself!" the one on the left demanded.
She stopped and raised her hands to show that she was unarmed--well, except for the walking stick, but they didn't need to know how potentially deadly that was in her grip.
"M-my name is Millie," she called in the direction of the guard's voice, though she made sure not to show just how well she knew where he was, aiming a little to the left. "Brother Lukas sent me. I--I wanted to speak with Elgin."
"What about?" the man asked impatiently.
"Forgive Walt's lack of manners. No one ever taught him how to talk to a young lady," apologized the other.
Walt quietly muttered something impolite about half-elves.
The more civil guard continued, "However, we do need to know what this is about."
Well. That was actually a new one.
Shyla was quite used to people treating her differently because of her blindness--even some Howlers--but her bloodline had never been an issue. For a moment she was genuinely thrown, and didn't have to put much playacting into her "Millie" persona as she replied cautiously, "I, ah, I'm traveling north, and--well, I spoke to some folks in town who said it might be safer with--with an escort."
"Ahh... and Lukas directed you here. That makes sense. I'm sure Elgin will want to at least hear you out."
A runner was sent to inform the commander of his visitor, and word quickly returned to show her to his command tent. Once inside, the guards were told to wait outside by a man with a raspy voice.
"So... I'm told we've been volunteered to help you," the commander chuckled, though it was clear he was irritated by Lukas' presumption.
"Oh, well, I wouldn't say that exactly," Shyla told the commander hurriedly. She hovered near the entrance of the tent, trying to keep an escape route in easy reach without seeming too obvious about it. "Brother Lukas just said I might talk to you about it, if--if you've any men to spare."
She bit at her lower lip nervously, trying to channel fresh-from-the-homestead "Millie". "It's just, I'm expected north, y'see, but I'm...worried about traveling through the mountains on my own..."
Elgin made a "hrmmm" sound as he mulled over the idea. "Sending a blind girl through the mountains alone? Disgraceful..." he said with pitying distaste, but with a hint of sympathy not directed at her.
Once she repeated the rest of the story she had told Brother Lukas, he said, "I think I can spare a few of my boys for such an endeavor. Mind you, they cannot accompany you all of the way to the other side, but it would be the right thing to do to at least get you past shifter territory."
"Oh, thank you!" She beamed toward him, clutching her staff a little tighter. "I--I promise, I'll be as little trouble as possible. I can be ready to leave as soon as you need! I, ah, I'd heard you might be...busy soon, I don't want to take more of your time than you can spare."
Maybe, just maybe, she could get him to confirm when exactly their attack was planned.
If that had raised any red flags, he did a good job of hiding it. "No stopping the rumor mill, it seems," he said with a weary sigh. "Don't you worry your little head about it. If you leave within the day, you'll be ahead of any chaos we stir up."
She nodded again. "Understood." Shit. That sounded too martial. She had to hope it was more obvious to her than to him. "Thank you, serrah." She adjusted her grip on her staff and worried her lower lip again before asking, "Should I...wait outside the fort, then?"
"Yes. An escort will be with you shortly."
He smiled with a wink, "Don't let my boys get away with any untoward comments. The young do get carried away."
"O-oh." Shyla swallowed, cursing inwardly. Just great. Well, she had got herself into this situation--she would just have to make sure it was worth it. "I'll...keep that in mind."
She gave a small smile to the direction of his voice and nodded again before ducking back out of the command tent. Without a guide this time, it took her a little longer to get to entrance of the fort than it had to make her way in.
Once she was outside again, she leaned back against the splintery wall and sighed, closing her eyes.
Felan would have got her message by now. She would lead her "escort" upwind of their camp, allowing the pack to scent them well in advance so they could set up an ambush.
The three men that showed up to escort her didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about the assignment, but they didn't seem hostile either. They led her north in relative quiet, eyes alert for any possible danger. They even managed to fend off a mountain wildcat that got a bit too curious about potential prey.
But before the ambush could be sprung, the one in front stopped and said, "That ought to be far enough." Any guise of tolerance was gone, replaced by something predatory.
Shyla walked along with her escort in relative quiet, trying to ask a few nervous questions once or twice, but abandoning attempts at conversation when they seemed unwilling to give her more than single-word responses.
That was fine; it wasn't like she was trying to actually make friends with these people, just keep them at ease enough that they wouldn't be expecting Felan and his squad's attack.
Or at least, that was the plan.
Every single hair stood up on the back of her neck at the shift in her escort leader's tone. She'd drawn up short when she heard his footsteps stop, and shifted her grip on her walking stick subtly away from "used to aid in navigation" and toward "I know how to hit you with this and make it hurt".
"Far enough?" she asked slowly, still clinging to her "Millie" persona. Damn. Damn, damn, double damn.
This was not good.
"This is as far as we go," he answered as he turned to face her. "We aren't risking our lives for some half-breed that we don't even know."
He grinned. "But we will be taking all your valuables, won't we, boys?"
The others chuckled as they rushed up in an attempt to grab her.
"Hey!"
Shyla skittered away from the sound of the approaching men, swinging her staff in a wide arc to clear the area in front of her--to someone familiar with such weapons, the move was done with far too much ease to not be practiced. "I don't have any valuables," she snapped, swinging her staff again. She raised her voice, hoping Felan or Riza or someone was close enough to hear. "You just stay back!"
This was bad. While she could fight, she'd never actually participated in a skirmish where her opponent was actively trying to harm her--practice bouts with the Howlers didn't count.
"You have training," the next speaker observed.
"Well, boys, I think we have us a spy," the third said, eager for blood. "We definitely can't let her leave alive now."
A sword flashed in her direction from behind; the ringleader had somehow slipped around her. The others drew their own blades but held their attacks for the moment.
She knew where they all were, she could hear them, could pinpoint their positions. But the usual tactics a melee fighter would use to anticipate their opponent's next move weren't exactly available to her--she couldn't see a shift in someone's grip or the way they might telegraph a swing.
So her best option was to continue using her staff as a blocking weapon, sweeping it back and forth in quick, wide arcs that were more meant to prevent any of the three militia members from getting close enough to hit her than they were to cause damage of her own. It was why she'd trained with a staff, after all, even aside from its doubled use as a walking stick.
She just barely turned in time to avoid the strike from behind, and by the time she had the third was darting in toward her left. She pivoted, cracking her staff across something solid and earning a yelp of pain and a moment of respite as the three fell back a step and evaluated.
But she couldn't keep this up. She had to keep in constant motion, staff a blur around her, and there were three of them. She couldn't block every side at once.
A blade bounced off of her staff, but the next blow came too quickly to completely avoid it. Pain blossomed as the strike opened up a gash in her side. It didn't feel all that deep; however, it was hard to tell in the rush of combat. They weren't going to give her a chance to find out, either.
A cry of pain burst from her, instinctive, and she gritted her teeth as her footing suddenly became more precarious. She could feel blood coursing down her ribs with every move she made, and years serving as the Howlers' field medic had her trying to evaluate the wound automatically.
But she didn't have time for that. The three swordsman pressed the opening that her now injured side afforded them, and she heard the whistle of metal through the air come far too close to her cheek.
She backed up one step, two. Another blow--she couldn't tell if it came from the same sword that had slashed her side or not--landed on her upper thigh. This one was deeper, and her leg threatened to buckle.
She knew if she went down, it was over. With three of them, pressing closer now, they would be on her before she could right herself.
A menacing, furious snarl cut the air. "Get away from her!"
Felan rushed from the trees, tackling one of the men to the ground. He sank his teeth into the man's throat and tore it open with a spray of blood. He growled at the others as he rose, daring them to make a move.
Oh thank gods.
Shyla could have cried with relief, but she managed to keep the reaction under tight lock as she automatically fell back toward her packmate.
The two surviving swordsmen swore, and she heard their footsteps stumbling back in surprise and fear. Even those who knew the shifters of the mountains were often thrown by an Ulfar's appearance.
"Monster!" one of the men suddenly shouted, and charged forward toward Felan with his blade high.
Except now it was two against two--and Shyla knew Felan well enough that she could extend her Sight. "I need your eyes!" she called to the wolf as she reached out with that extra awareness.
It wasn't exactly a perfect system; Shyla's Sight allowed her to share another creature's vision, but she couldn't control it. She saw what Felan saw, whatever that happened to be, piggybacking onto his senses. It would have been easier--and clearer--if she could touch him, but the pitch and roll of battle didn't exactly allow for that.
Not to mention, since she was seeing through his eyes, she could only view the world from his perspective. Which meant she was watching herself fight, too. One of the main reasons she didn't typically use her Sight in combat situations was because it was simply more disorienting than fighting with her usual senses.
But she need an idea of where the two men were, just a better sense than the noise of battle permitted her. One to her right--there!
She cut off her Sight and snapped her staff into the man's throat. As he stumbled and choked, she spun and brought it down hard across his spine, sending him to the ground.
"Careful to leave that one alive!" Felan called to her as he locked swords with the last ma. The wolfman's sword was larger, though, and with his physical superiority, there was no contest. Within moments, he had cut down the man who had first attacked Shyla.
Struggling to catch his breath, the survivor scrambled in an effort to get away from the monster the half-elf witch had conjured. "St--stay back!" he wheezed as he scrabbled back.
Shyla stalked forward and drove the butt of her staff down into the man's chest. "I'd stay down if I were you," she told him, teeth bared.
Turning her head slightly in Felan's direction, she offered a tilted smile. "Thanks, Fell."
It wasn't nearly enough, but it was the best she could do just now. She quite literally owed the wolf her life.
Felan rushed over, checking her wounds like a mother hen. "Thank me later. Right now, we've got to get you patched up."
He howled, signaling the others to come running.
"Aeris is going to kill me for this. You know that, right?" He sighed.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." She sighed, trying to bat his hands away and then wincing as the gashes on her side and thigh protested. "Just gimme some bandages and I'll be alright," she amended in a grumble.
Smirking a bit, she added, "He's going to kill me first. If you're lucky."
She was so relieved he'd come, and still coming down from the adrenaline rush of the fight, that she didn't notice the way their last opponent was stirring until it was too late. She heard foliage crunch beneath him, realized what was happening, and her eyes widened and she tried to shove the wolf back. "Fell--!"
Too late. The swordsman surged to his feet, driving his blade up between Felan's ribs before Shyla managed to smack her staff down over his wrist. He screeched, and she heard the crunch of breaking bone as he collapsed back, but the damage was done.
With a wordless cry, she swung her staff around to crack against the side of his head--she honestly didn't care if he was dead or unconscious as she caught Felan around the middle with one arm and felt for the wound with her other hand.
"Oh gods," she whispered. "Oh gods, are you okay?" Stupid question, stupid, stupid, stupid!
"It's not that ba--" Fell coughed up blood, his legs collapsing beneath him. His sword clattered to the ground as his full weight settled on her.
"Okay... maybe it is..." he admitted, wheezing between words.
"No no no no no no no." Shyla knelt with him, unable to support his full weight with both of them standing. "Hey, Fell, c'mon, you're okay," she muttered, pressing her hand against the wound and wincing as she felt the flow of blood.
Oh, damn. This was bad. This was really bad.
"Just hang on," she muttered to her friend, carefully maneuvering them so he was half cradled in her lap as she twisted to try to reach her kit. "You're--you're gonna be fine, okay? Just keep--keep talking to me."
Gods, she had to hope the others had been close on his trail. They needed to get him back to the rest of the pack; she could slow the bleeding, prevent infection, but he needed proper care: stitching, and probably magic.
"Shyla... I have to... tell you something important..." He coughed violently.
"I..."
Logar and Riza galloped into view, moving much faster when they saw what had happened. "What the hells happened here?!" the usually angry shewolf asked in shock.
"Shhh." Shyla laid a hand on his cheek. "It's okay, Fell, it's okay." Desperately trying to keep him conscious, she tried to lighten her voice and asked, "What do you need to tell me, huh?"
Then Riza and Logar were there and oh thank every watching god.
"He was stabbed," she said quickly, looking in the direction of their voices. "We have to get him back—get Whiskey, he can carry us both!"
It would be a hard ride for her dog, but she knew he was up to it. And they didn't have the time to hike back up to the Howlers' command base, not with Felan in the state he was.
"On it!" Logar responded quickly. He immediately broke into a run to go retrieve the dog.
"What do you need me to do?" Any hint of antagonism was gone from Riza's voice as she spoke; she was all soldier at that moment.
"Bandages," Shyla said quickly. "And here, hold him so I can get some salve on the wound."
She passed Felan's upper body to Riza's hold and moved down to probe at the edges of his wound with her fingers. "Keep talking, Fell, keep talking..."
Fell's eyes fluttered back open. "In case I... don't make it... Shy... I want you to know... I love you... I have since we were kids."
"You're not going to die on us. You hear me?" Riza sternly chastised him for even thinking it.
She didn't have time to parse through the burst of emotion that confession sent flooding through her.
"You--" Swallowing thickly, Shyla glowered at him as she spread an antiseptic salve on his wound and began bandaging it. "You listen to Riza," she ground out. "You are not dying, Fell."
Logar returned, Whiskey in tow, and Shyla got quickly to her feet. "Help me get him up," she told the other two wolves. In most situations, it would have made sense for her to ride behind Fell to help secure his seat--but considering how much smaller she was than most Ulfars, they would have to secure Felan to her back while she road front. That would also let her use her Sight with Whiskey to get them back.
"I don't know if he's alive," she added as she mounted up, gesturing in the direction of the man who had stabbed Felan. "But if he is, bind him and bring him back for questioning. I'll get Fell home."
The wolf's weight against her back was both a comfort and a terror as Riza and Logar fashioned a makeshift harness to keep him secured to the saddle. "Just hold on," Shyla murmured to him. "Pleae, Fell, just hold on..."
It was a long and terrifying trek back to the war camp. Fell kept talking to the best of his ability, but he was making less and less sense as his blood loss took effect. And the constant movement didn't help much in keeping the rest of the blood.
Fell was still breathing by the time they returned to camp; however, the exhaustion of the ordeal had caught up to him, and he had fallen asleep. Her fellow medics instantly rushed into action, asking what happened as they helped whisk him to the medical tent.
Shyla was near frantic by the time they made it back to camp, but she relayed what had happened as concisely as she could.
Automatically, she tried to follow them to the medical tent but Jennah--one of their few other healers--stopped her.
"You have to report to Aeris," the wolf said pointedly.
Shyla swallowed and nodded. Right. Right, with Felan unconscious, she was the one who had to make the report. "You--"
"We'll let you know if anything changes," Jennah confirmed briskly.
Word traveled fast in such a tight-knit family. And so, having heard of the emergency, Aeris had already stormed out of his command tent and was halfway to the medical tent by the time Shyla emerged to come and find him. Abandoning decorum, he swept her up in a great, big hug.
The young medic went stiff in his hold for a moment--and then she sort of collapsed in on herself, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging tightly as the storm of tears she'd been holding back since realizing how badly Fell was injured surged to the surface.
"I-I'm sorry," she gasped out, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. "I'm s-s-so sorry..."
She'd just wanted to help. But she'd made a stupid decision, and now her friend might be dying. He might be dying after he'd said that, and she might never get to talk to him about it.
Tears streamed down her face, wetting Aeris' fur, and she held on tight; it was oddly reminiscent of when she was a little girl with a skinned knee, running back to her big brother so he could tell her everything was going to be okay.
Except he couldn't tell her that. Not this time.
Aeris wished with every fiber of his being that he could tell her just that. It broke his heart that he couldn't, almost as much as the thought of burying his younger cousin. They died young enough as it was; dying as young as that, though, was excessively cruel. It was enough to make him question the family business, a business that sent the young to die.
"Shh... Shh... I know you're devastated, but I need to know what happened."
Shyla swallowed thickly and nodded. She was still shaking a bit, but she forced herself to step out of the hug and draw her shoulders back into something like proper attention.
"Yes, ser." She swallowed again, then launched into the story as professionally as she could manage--her voice still wavered a bit, but she managed to keep herself from dissolving back into tears.
She told him what she'd learned in the village: how the zealots seemed to be part of a local militia, led by Elgin and egged on by the local churchfolk--specifically a Father Nazan. How the innkeeper had said the militia were bringing up something from the Draconi with "a taste for wolf", and how all signs seemed to indicate the next attack would come before the full moon.
She stammered when she got to the last bit--how she had had such a clever idea of leading an "escort" into an ambush from Felan's squad. But she got the words out, the slight tremble to her frame the only betrayal of how scared she still was.
"I made a bad call, ser," she finally murmured at the end of her report. "I made a bad call, and Fell got hurt. It's my fault--he...he protected me."
Aeris took in the story like a professional, keeping his temper from exploding at how she had ignored his order to be careful. And his anger at Felan's failure to never turn his back to an enemy. But, more than that, he was disappointed in himself. He should never have allowed her so much leeway on her first mission. She was lucky she was alive, and Fell would be lucky to survive, let alone ever fight again.
"This is why I told you to be careful and to keep to your role. That said, Fell knew the risks when he went along with your plan. However, right now I'm more interested in his survival than trying to assign blame; the gods know I bear my share of it."
That had been exactly what she was worried he would think; that he would blame himself when she knew this was her fault. Part of her wanted to argue with him--but she was too tired, guilt-ridden, and terrified herself to put any real effort into it.
"Can I--?" She took a breath, forcing the threat of tears away. "Do I have your permission to assist in the medical tent, ser?"
She knew the packs' other healers would be doing all they could, but if she didn't do something to try to help Fell she was going to burst.
"Can you keep it together if things get worse?" he asked, watching her closely. He would know if she was lying to him. "If you can't, he's safer if you sit this one out."
"I--" She swallowed and licked her lips. "Yes. I can."
Though she wasn't using her Sight, she was nearly able to meet his gaze with hers, expression open and pleading in a way it rarely ever was. "And if that changes--if something happens and I can't handle it, I'll leave. I know better than most how important a clear head is for healing work. I won't--I won't put him in more danger than I already have."
She took a shaky breath, forcing her pounding heart to quiet. She could do this. She could be calm, she could help.
"Then go. I'm sure Lira will appreciate your expertise. If anyone can keep him with us, all of you can." He gently wiped a tear from her cheek. "Now go; time is of the essence."
Shyla spared one moment to press her cheek into his hand, grateful for the contact, the support. Then she nodded quickly and turned to race to the healers' tent.
"Oh!" She didn't pause, just shouted back over her shoulder, "Riza and Logar have the man who stabbed him. They're probably a couple hours behind us."
Poor Whiskey would need a good long rest after a run like that--but the massive canine didn't seem all that much worse for wear, sprawled out on the ground not too far from Aeris and waiting patiently for someone to remove his saddle while he panted.
"What can I do?" were the first words out of Shyla's mouth as she ducked into the tent, followed quickly by, "Jennah, I need--"
"Of course," the other healer said quickly, easily accepting that Shyla would be most useful if she was allowed to use her Sight. "My eyes are yours."
She let out a quick, short breath, extending her senses into Jennah's and then taking a brief moment to adjust to the new perspective before she crossed to Felan's beside. "Thank you."
Jennah nodded, already handing her a full mortar and pestle. "We need more feverfew salve, start with that."
"We've already cleaned the wound. He's incredibly lucky the blade missed anything vital aside from collapsing one lung," Lira, an older healer who had married into the pack, reported briskly. "Do you want to use my eyes to look at it before we proceed?"
Shyla nodded quickly. "Please." Passing the mortar and pestle back to Jennah, she shifted her Sight and took the breath she needed to adjust again, then nodded to show Lira she was ready.
The wound was deep, but clean. And Lira had been right about how lucky the placement was--an inch to the left and the angle might had allowed the tip to pierce his heart.
Shyla's stomach rolled at the thought. She took a breath. "We need to stabilize his lung before we can stitch anything." The easiest way to do that would be with magic, and Lira was the only one among them who had any--but Shyla knew her energy reserves were modest. Healing a collapsed lung would likely drain her enough that she would be unable to assist with the more mundane healing.
"Then let's count our blessings that I have the rest of you to pick up the slack when I'm exhausted." They had worked together enough that they could practically read each other's minds. Without waiting for a response, the woman began casting a restoration spell on Fell's collapsed lung.
"Don't be alarmed when he starts coughing," she told one of the newer healers. "That just means it's working and he's clearing out the blood from his airway."
Under usual circumstances, Shyla might have been able to actually help coach the new healer--Raleigh, she was almost positive his name was Raleigh, a Kilanthro shifter whose sister had married an Ulfar not a month ago--but as it was she could just barely hold herself together enough to move to Fell's head and help steady him as Lira worked.
Though she knew it was unlikely he could hear her in his current state, she murmured anyway, "I'm here, Fell. We're gonna fix you up, okay? You're gonna be fine..."
A few minutes later, Fell's golden eyes shot open as he suddenly took a deep breath. He started coughing thickly, expelling blood and phlegm onto the cloth by his mouth. The wolf seemed to be looking at her before he fell back asleep.
His breathing eased, sounding far better than it had. They weren't out of the woods yet, as the next few days would see whether or not he developed an infection. Lesser injuries carried enough risk of that, as things were. They weren't true werewolves; they didn't heal any more rapidly than any other shifter.
Shyla stayed in the healers' tent with Fell as long as the others let her--barring a brief respite to allow Raleigh to clean and bandage her own wounds—but eventually Jennah pointed out that it was nearing midnight, and Shyla looked exhausted.
She gave a brief protest that she could sleep on a cot in the tent, but the idea was summarily refused and she was shooed back to the tent she shared with Aeris' family. She stumbled in well passed midnight, dark shadows under her eyes and her skin pale--well, paler.
"I'm going back as soon as they'll let me," she mumbled in her brother's direction, and decided she was too tired to address just how adamant she felt about it, and if that determination was due solely to her sense of responsibility in the situation.
Aeris approached, worry in his gait and in his voice. And more than a little fear. He clearly hadn't slept either; Fell was like a little brother to him.
"How is he?" he asked with a heavy sigh.
"Stable," she sighed, rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes in an effort to dull the headache she could feel coming on. "As long as we can keep the wound free of infection, he should be alright. Mostly. Just--" She took a breath when her voice shook. "I don't--I don't know how long it might take him to get back to fighting shape. Or...if he'll ever be in the form he was..."
Wounds that deep often had lasting consequences; and for the Ulfars, their ability to fight was more than just pulling their weight in the group. It was their livelihood, it was survival.
"Whatever happens, we won't abandon him. You know that, right?" he said, placing a large hand on her shoulder. Past generations might have been unwilling to spare food for someone who couldn't pull their own weight, but not under his leadership. To him, the life of every Ulfar had value. Being heartless is what got them cursed in the first place.
She bit down hard on her lower lip and nodded. "Our strength is the pack; the pack is strong," she recited. An oath of sorts that the previous Alpha, Aeris' uncle and the man who had taken her in, had used often.
Some of the older Ulfars--those without the curse, the ones who got old--said that it meant that a single weak link to could break the chain. Aeris had taught her otherwise: their family's strength came from their bonds to one another, and abandoning those bonds could only ever weaken them.
She nodded again. "I know. I just..." Tears welled up in her eyes and she scrubbed at them furiously. "He--he said something, and I just...I didn't even get to talk to him about it, and I'm so mad at him and I'm terrified and I j-just want him to be okay, and--and--"
She gulped a breath, crying in earnest now but refusing to release the sob that clogged her throat. Stars, she was a mess--she'd be lucky if Aeris was the only one awake in his home. His mate would hardly be thrilled with her for causing a ruckus at this hour.
Aeris fell back into what he had always done to calm her down when she was little. He held her hands between his paws and, in a soothing voice said, "Just take a deep breath." He breathed in. Breathing out slowly, he said, "And slowly let it out. Okay?"
Shyla instinctively fell into the rhythm he was coaching, drawing in a slow, deep breath before she let it out in measured heartbeats. In...out...in...out...
"...Thanks." Her voice was very small, slim fingers wrapped as tight around his paws as she could manage. Then, after another moment of steady breathing: "You were right. I wasn't ready for this. And I got someone hurt."
She swallowed thickly. "I--I'm so sorry, Aeris."
"Fell wasn't ready either," Aeris admitted. "Being ready is a luxury for us, even those not bearing the weight of this curse. But he's alive, and right now, that's all you should be focusing on. We can play the game of who blames themselves more when he's through this."
"Now," he asked calmly. "What did he say that has you so conflicted?"
Ah.
Right.
That part.
Despite the situation, Shyla rather abruptly looked like any embarrassed teenager caught out by an older sibling. "He, uh..." She cleared her throat. "He said that...he loved me. That he had since we were all kids."
She coughed, scuffing one foot back and forth over the ground. "Like...y'know. It didn't sound like he was saying the way we all do, because we're pack. Not that kind of love." Though she wasn't using her Sight anyway, she still had her head ducked as though she didn't want to meet his eyes, and her cheeks had gone rather red.
Aeris knew enough to at least pretend that everyone but her already knew that. The boy wasn't exactly subtle about the way he looked at her. But he was equally clueless if he thought then was the right time to confess his feelings. Although he supposed he wouldn't want to die with that on his chest either.
"Ugh. Stupid, selfish boy. That's nothing to burden someone with." He sighed heavily. "But at least he may yet live to make future blunders of the heart."
"I don't--" Shyla started, then sighed. "I shouldn't be mad at him about it, but I am," she mumbled, rubbing at her arms as though chilled--an old habit when she was uncomfortable. "And I just want him to be okay so I can yell at him about it."
The movement of her arms tugged at the stitching in her side and she hissed, going still. Yet another reminder of how foolish she had been.
"Anger is easier than sorrow and worry," he said, quoting his wise uncle.
He frowned when she hissed. "As is picking at your wounds. Anything but the pain."
Shyla sighed and gave a rueful look in the direction of his voice. "I hate philosophy."
She knew he was right, though. The other healers had sent her home to rest, both because she was exhausted and because she was still injured herself--if she ignored the order, it would take her longer to heal, and then she wouldn't be any use to Fell in his recovery.
She sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck before starting to move to her little corner of the multi-roomed tent. "Did Logar and the others make it back with that militiaman?" she asked over her shoulder as she felt her way tiredly toward her sleeping mat.
There had been five wolves in Felan's squad, including Riza and Logar, and she hadn't heard any of their voices since emerging from the healers' tent.
"The patrols sent word that they should arrive shortly. I was actually about to go meet them," he answered. "Though all I'm going to do is put the prisoner under guard and tell them to grab some shut-eye while they can. Something tells me things are about to get very busy."
"Then, I'm going to try my best to take my own advice."
"Good." Shyla nodded as she climbed stiffly into bed, trying to avoid aggravating her wounds. "Nobody said anything specific, but I really didn't like the sound of "something special from the Draconi"." She shuddered. "He said something with a taste for wolf."
None of that boded well.
But Aeris was right--they should rest while they had the chance.
Aeris really didn't like the sound of that either. He would have to sit in on the interrogation. Assuming Realta let him.
"Sleep well, little sis." With those gentle words, he left the tent.
"G'night." Yawning, Shyla buried herself in her furs. "Tell Rae I'm sorry about the noise..."
She was practically asleep before the words were fully out of her mouth.
She didn't know how long she slept--long enough that sunlight was streaming through the walls of the tent by the time she swam toward consciousness. She could feel thin lines of warmth over her face from the cracks between tent-hide that formed their individual rooms.
Oh shit!
It was passed dawn.
She bolted upright, stumbling from her bed and nearly running into a wall in her haste to get back outside and head for the healers' tent.
"Auntie Shyla? Dad said to tell you to eat before you leave," said Aeris' young son, Gauwyn, from where he was playing with a wooden toy.
"Oh—" She bit down on a curse—though she knew her nephew would hear worse before he was too much older. She certainly had, growing up among mercenaries. "Er, thanks, Wyn."
She sighed and made her way to the table, feeling around for whatever she knew would be left of the rest of the family's breakfast.
Trying to keep her tone light—she didn't know just how much Aeris had told his son about what was going on—she asked, "Do you have your lessons with Meerin today?"
At twenty-eight, their cousin was one of the members of the blood-Ulfar part of the pack, and was considered most useful sharing his hard-won wisdom with what pups there were while he still had the chance.
The boy nodded, before remembering she couldn't see and saying, "Yeah... I'd rather play though..." His tone, though, was one of resignation and not defiance.
"Hey."
Snatching up a piece of bread and cheese, Shyla wolfed it down quickly before shifting to kneel beside the boy.
"Tell ya what, pup," she said with a smile, "I've gotta help out in the healers' tent most of today, but when I get back tonight we can go play in the field with Whiskey. Sound good?"
Gods, she loved the kid so much. Every Ulfar trained to become a full member of the pack from just about the time they could walk—she had been no exception, nor had Aeris. But she knew it killed her brother and his mate to watch their son have so little of a proper childhood, just as it killed her.
Wyn's eyes widened with eager anticipation. "You mean it?!" he exclaimed happily.
It was hard to imagine the sweet little wolf trying to harm anyone, let alone take a life on the battlefield. But that was the only life the pack knew. Maybe one day, if the curse is lifted, pups like Gauwyn could choose their lives.
Shyla laughed and ruffled his ears. "Yes," she promised with a grin. "Yes, I mean it."
She placed a kiss on top of his head before she stood. "Be good," she told the boy half-teasingly as she slipped back out of the tent.
Almost immediately her expression hardened. She needed to be clear headed if she wanted to do anyone any good today.
Aeris cast a dangerous look across the council table. "I'm afraid you'll have to repeat that?"
It had already been a stressful morning, even before the council had been called for an emergency meeting. The last thing he was willing to put up with was the suggestion that his precious sister was only worthwhile as a broodmare. Especially given the fact that she technically succeeded in gathering intel, though the cost was too high.
The wolf who had made the insinuation--Meerin, as it happened--wilted just slightly under his Alpha's glare, but didn't back down.
"I mean no disrespect," he said carefully, "but I'm afraid your affection for the girl has clouded your judgement. We all know her place in the pack; she is most useful here, where she can tend to the wounded. Her failure, and Felan's injury, has more than proven that." He hesitated, then added, "She is not a child any longer. She has...other responsibilities. You were only a year older when you were expecting your first pup, Aeris."
Seated beside her mate, Raelta narrowed her eyes and reached under the table to grab Aeris' paw. It seemed to be less a gesture of comfort, and more an effort to keep herself from launching an assault at Meerin. The runaway mage was one of the few non-lycans at the table, and she knew that, though the Ulfars loved and respected those members of the pack who were not related by blood, in conversations like this their voices were often considered to carry less weight.
It certainly didn't help that one of the council's oldest members--Gerhardt, a human who had been mated to Aeris' great-aunt--was nodding along with Meerin's assessment.
His mate's touch was the only thing that prevented him from leaping across the table to punch Meerin in his passive-aggressive face. As it was, he released a low growl. "I seem to remember your first mission faring little better."
"But this is..." He sighed, calming himself. "This is not the time to decide her future, unless questioning my judgment is the reason this meeting was called?" The question was squared directly at Gerhardt.
Gerhardt shifted uncomfortably, not quite meeting his eyes, but answered, "That is...not exactly accurate. We called the meeting because many members of the council are...concerned with the lack of direct action that has been taken about the zealots in the foothills. And--"
Realta's glare deepened. "And what precisely would you call Felan's mission," she demanded, interrupting him, "if not direct action? Yes, Shyla made a reckless decision, no one is disagreeing with that assessment. But the fact remains that she did gather valuable information, as well as bringing back a prisoner to interogate--and with six wolves at her back, it is not actually all that shocking that she might have thought an ambush would work, especially if her escort had not suddenly attacked her." She scowled around the table. "What did any of you expect? I know most of you are used to seeing a non-lycan and assuming we will never understand an Ulfar's true quest, but Shyla has been with the pack since she was three. She was raised just as much a mercenary as any of you."
"And that is the true reason for this meeting," Gerhardt cut across her, glaring in turn. "Shyla disobeyed her Alpha's orders--she was told Felan would have tactical control of the mission, and yet she made a tactical decision. By our own laws, there must be consequences for her."
"No one is arguing the contrary," Alfric, one of the oldest blood-Ulfar, chimed in in defense of Aeris. "But I believe we have more urgent matters to discuss; do we not? Such as, from what I gather, an imminent attack involving some kind of monster. I can't be the only one of us whose priorities are in order."
"Thank you, Alfric. That's what I've been trying to say," Aeris responded, glad someone other than Raelta was being reasonable.
Gerhardt looked like he wanted to argue further, but Meerin nodded at them. "Very well. We will let the matter rest until the immediate danger has passed--but this will need to be addressed, Aeris. Sooner rather than later." Shifting his attention to Realta, he asked, "What did you learn from the prisoner?"
She straightened her shoulders. "The rank-and-file haven't been given much information about the monster, but they know it arrives before the full moon--that's when they've planned an upward push from the foothills. They seem to believe most Kilanthro shifters are werewolves." She looked to Aeris and said pointedly, "I was just going to suggest that we send a runner to the nearby packs and warn them to withdraw uphill when this meeting was called."
"And I would have agreed immediately. The only question now is whether we lay a trap and hope this beast isn't as formidable as they seem to think, or attack their fort and hope Connloath doesn't want to start a war over a rogue operation run by what they'd probably call heretics," Aeris said. "Needless to say, the best we could do in that situation is head north and abandon this place."
"You would have us flee like cowards and abandon the home we've fought for generations?" Berholt, another elder-blood on the council, scoffed disbelievingly.
Aeris sighed, discretely rolling his eyes. "Only as a last resort. Fighting to the last man for a lost cause isn't valor, it's ego."
There were discontented murmurs after that sentiment. Clearly some disagreed.
"Look what happened to the Blackpaw pack," Realta pointed out. "They didn't have time to prepare--they were forced to fight to the last man, and now they're all but gone. Is that really what we want for us? For our children?"
The malcontents on the council frowned, exchanging glances, but no one argued with her. Though not a wolf by blood, there was not a member of the Howler pack who doubted the ferocity of Realta's protectiveness over her own pup--and her consequent determination to rid the Ulfars of their curse.
Something they certainly couldn't do if they fought a heroic last battle against these zealots.
Looking to Aeris again, she offered, "I can return to the interrogation, but I don't know how much more we'll get out of him. Are you sure Shyla gave you all the information she had? She was exhausted when she got back."
"I can fetch her," Alfric offered, not unkindly, with a nod to his cousin to defer to the Alpha's authority. "If you think she needs to be here for this?"
"As long as we remain on topic. This will not be a hearing about her disobeying orders. We don't have the time right now," Aeris said in warning. His tone suggested that anyone trying to make political points about his leadership or judgment would answer for it. And among wolves, that usually meant in blood.
Murmured agreements around the table, and Alfric stood with a nod. "I'll be back in a few minutes, then."
Realta looked to Aeris "Should I stay until she's given a full report, or do you want me back on questioning duty?" Given her druthers, she rather would have preferred to stay and offer Shyla some sort of moral support--but she knew the members of the council who were currently causing a fuss would know that, and she didn't want them to use it against her mate or sister-in-law.
"We'll call you back if anything new comes up," Aeris answered with a curt but somehow loving nod. He had become quite good at sneaking in affection during council meetings. If anyone else noticed, they hadn't said anything.
He had to remind himself that he was Alpha first and brother second. If he couldn't remain professional, someone would see an opening to challenge him for the position. At least non-bloods weren't allowed that privilege. That might be the only thing keeping Gerhardt in check; the man had no position to ascend to.
Realta returned his nod, squeezed his fingers gently under the table, then stood and left the tent.
She passed Shyla on her way in with Alfric and reached out to give the girl a quick, one-armed hug. "It'll be fine," she assured her quietly.
Shyla swallowed, clearly still nervous, but nodded. A council summoning was always nerve-wracking, and she knew very well just how many members would have been opposed to sending her on a mission to begin with--let alone one that had ended as this had.
"I told Wyn I'd take him out to play with Whiskey tonight," she whispered back. Rae grinned, taking Shyla's hand and raising her fingers to her lips so she could "see" it.
"Off with you then," she murmured, shooing her through after Alfric. "You've a promise to keep."
That left a hint of a smile on Shyla's lips as she ducked through to where the council sat and automatically shifted into attention, head up and shoulders straight. She turned her head toward where she knew Aeris was sitting.
"Alfric said I should report to the council, ser?"
If she could see, Aeris would have given her a quick look of apology. He had to hope that she knew he wouldn't push her if it wasn't necessary.
"Yes, Shyla." He was all business, as separated as he could be from being her brother. "Now that you've had time to gather your thoughts, we need you to go over the mission again. This isn't about your unsanctioned actions, not today at least; this is simply to make sure we know everything we can."
He hoped she knew to watch her words carefully; there were those who would catalog every misstep she made.
"Of course, ser." She nodded once, professional, and launched into the story again.
There was significantly less weepiness than there had been when she told Aeris what had happened the night before—and Realta had been right to point out that she'd given her initial report while wounded and exhausted. She remembered a few more details, some of the exact phrasing the men she'd spoken with had used—and when they'd seemed to be suspicious of her questions, which she relayed despite knowing there were some on the council who would latch onto that.
"From what I gathered, the militia is serving as an unsanctioned army under orders of an isolated branch of the Church," she summed up. "Unfortunately I wasn't able to speak with Father Nazan, but he and Elgin seem to be the main leaders."
She hesitated, then offered an opinion, which she knew was risky: "I won't say the zealots would just disappear without that leadership, but...the men we fought weren't real soldiers. They want to claim they're defenders, heroes, but they're little more than angry civilians who someone handed a sharp object and pointed at a target. Without the structure Elgin and Nazan are providing, they'd likely be much easier to deal with."
Gerhardt frowned at her, but without any other outward signs, she simply didn't notice his irritation until he noted, "Not soldiers, you said. And yet they got the better of two trained Howlers."
The words were meant more for Aeris than Shyla, but she still winced.
Aeris wanted to strangle the old man for forcing him to formally recognize Felan's mistake. "You told me that Felan turned his back on his enemy before ensuring he was unable to continue the fight. Is this correct?" he asked her.
"He—!" Shyla started to defend Felan, voice rising in irritation, before she caught herself and forced one breath, two, hearing Aeris' voice coaching her through it in memory. Reacting emotionally would only weaken whatever standing she had in the council's eyes.
"Yes," she admitted, jaw just a little tight. "But only because I was injured—and I was the one with my weapon on the enemy. I—I was the one who let my guard down."
Aeris had broken his own rule, and he knew it. And if he knew it, others did. He had to get back on topic somehow.
"Exactly who bears what responsibility is a subject for another day," he assured her.
"So, from what you observed, could taking out Elgin and Nazan in advance be a viable option?"
"...Maybe." She frowned as she thought that through. Really thought about it—the last thing she needed to do was make another reckless decision. Even if that decision was only to give an opinion on the information she'd gathered.
"The priest...I never actually spoke with him, just a Brother Lukas. It seems like Nazan sequesters himself when he's not giving sermons. And Elgin..."
Her frown deepened slightly. "When he...agreed to give me an escort, he said something about how I should ignore "anything untoward" that his men might say."
She tried not to let her discomfort show on her face—other than Felan's dramatic confession, she had absolutely no experience with someone directly expressing that sort of interest in her in any way, good or bad. In a way, and in any other circumstance, she would have preferred the whole attempted robbery to what Elgin had been implying.
"I don't think he trusts his own soldiers," she said after a moment. "He might have formal training, but his men don't. The fort itself is well-guarded, but...if he could be lured out, I don't know if his men could properly defend him. Not against trained Howlers."
"Was there anything you heard or observed that might suggest a method of luring him out?" Alfric asked.
Aeris was glad to have the older wolf in his corner. He didn't know what he'd do once the curse took Alfric. The voices against him were getting bolder by the day, already competing over who would replace him. And he feared a return to the more savage ways his uncle fought so hard to change. If they did, then they'd never beat the curse. Why couldn't they see that?
She thought about that hard.
"He seemed...frustrated, when I told him Lukas had sent me to speak with him," she said slowly. "I don't think he always agrees with how the clergy, er...volunteer his time. It--it might be possible to lure them both somewhere, a place they would consider neutral ground, under the pretext of discussing just who exactly has ultimate authority over the militia's time and resources."
She swallowed, then admitted, "That's just a general impression from what I observed though--I don't know these men well, I wasn't down there all that long."
"Thank you, soldier. You've given us much to discuss," Aeris said, prepared to dismiss her. "Unless anyone else has further questions, you are free to return to your duties."
He cast a questioning glance around the tent.
A few of the council members looked very much like they would have preferred to continue the questioning--or better yet, turn the whole thing into a formal disciplinary hearing--but Aeris had made the purpose of Shyla's summons quite clear, and she had fulfilled it. If they continued with innocuous or leading questions, it could be taken as a challenge of authority. And it seemed no one was quite willing to make that play just yet.
When no one else spoke up, Shyla nodded respectfully to her Alpha. "Yes, ser." Then she smiled at her brother, a quick, grateful look, before turning to leave the tent and make her way back to assist her fellow healers.
Aeris suppressed a weary sigh. He absolutely hated having to treat those he held dearest just like everyone else. But he couldn't show any more favoritism, not anymore. His critics were gaining support.
"I've weighed the options long enough. I propose we set a trap for the leadership so we might end this before it goes any further. Should that fail, our best option is to draw their forces into an ambush. Even with this unknown beast, we have a better chance of victory than if we threw ourselves at their organized defenses."
There were murmured agreements from the council; even those who may disagree with Aeris' leadership knew that the strategy he outlined was sound.
"Want me to mock up some plans with some of the others?" Alfric offered, echoed by a few of the other council members. "Give us a couple hours and we can have some options for you by nightfall."
Back in the healers' tent, Shyla did her best to put the whole audience from her mind as she moved through the familiar routine of patient care. Felan was still unconscious, though thankfully there had been no complications in his condition as of yet.
So, with nothing for her to really do for him, she found herself falling into the rhythm of her usual work--albeit more subdued than was typical for her.
"Shy?" a familiar voice asked weakly.
Felan was awake, even if not entirely alert.
"Fell!"
She practically teleported across the tent to kneel beside his cot, hands fluttering anxiously before she clenched them into fists and dropped them back to her sides. "Oh that the stars you're awake," she whispered fervently. "How—how do you feel?"
"Like I got stabbed," Fell chuckled with an attempt at humor, but was cut short by pain. "Ow..."
"Shhh." She put a hand on his chest in gentle reprimand. "Steady, yeah? You're still healing. You'll probably be in that cot for a few more days."
She smiled at him—or as close as she could manage without using her Sight—but there was a sour twist at the edges of the expression.
"Fell, I—" She swallowed. "I...I'm so sorry..."
The wounded wolf took a moment to breathe. "Not your fault... I... I should've been more careful..."
"Should've pulled you out earlier..."
"No." She shook her head. "No, I...I shouldn't have tried to set up the ambush. I didn't even think those men might turn on me—I just knew the six of you could take them if I got them close enough and—"
She took a breath. "Gods, Fell. I'm just so sorry."
Her voice had gone thin and tight, and she cleared her throat. Trying to lighten the mood, she huffed, "You're lucky you're still healing you know. I've half a mind to make sure you stay in that cot until spring."
"I'm... sorry I scared you," he answered, looking away guiltily. That was the only thing he could think of for her to be mad about, though the events after getting stabbed were hazy at best.
"...It wasn't your fault," Shyla sighed. She was familiar with the way a person's memory could fog around a traumatic injury—and now didn't exactly seem like the time to bring up his confession.
She knew they'd have to talk about it eventually, but to be perfectly honest she was quite alright with pushing that eventually off into the future.
"I'm just glad you're okay," she murmured with another small smile, giving his hand a squeeze. "How are you feeling? Oh, wait, I'll get you some water—you haven't had anything to drink properly since you've been out."
Fell returned the squeeze with a tenderness she had likely once mistaken for him treating her as fragile. "That would be great." He smiled.
After he had moistened his throat, it became a little easier to talk. "Thanks."
"No problem." She took the cup back when he was done with it and carefully set it on the small stool beside his cot. "What else is pack for?"
She hesitated, automatically starting to reach out to touch his arm, then pulled her hand back again with a slight flush. "If, um..." She cleared her throat. "If you think you're up for it, I could go get Aeris? He's been really worried about you too..."
"I think I am," he answered. "I'm a little scared though. I... we really let him down."
"...I know." What else could she say to that?
She reached out to pat Felan's shoulder lightly. "Well, at least you didn't disobey orders. And...you did save my life, Fell."
She smiled almost shyly at him "...Thanks."
Her hand lingered on his shoulder perhaps a moment longer than necessary, then she turned quickly. "I—I'll get Aeris. Be right back."
Moments later...
When Aeris saw Felan awake, he released a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "You had everyone worried, Fell. I'm... glad you're pulling through."
Fell sighed slowly, heavily, and guiltily. "I'm sor--"
Aeris cut him off. "Apologies and discipline can wait. Right now, all you need to care about is getting better."
"And that means doing everything Shyla and the other healers tell you. That's an order," he added.
Fell nodded. "Ser, yes ser."
Shyla hung back as her brother went to Fell's bedside, but she smirked a bit at that last.
"Oh sure, it's "ser, yes, ser" when he's here," she joked lightly. "The second he leaves I'll be having to sit on you to keep you in that bed."
Aeris laughed out loud. "I think she's got you pegged, kid," he smirked, ruffling Fell's fur as if he were more than a mere five years older. Ulfars had to grow up fast.
Fell felt his cheeks burn. "I'll behave. I promise."
"Good man." Aeris smiled.
Shyla smirked again, but the expression faded slightly as she turned her head toward the sound of Aeris' voice—away from Felan so he couldn't see her mouth moving—and mouthed, Thanks for going easy.
She'd never expected her brother to be overly harsh with his cousin, but she appreciated his demeanor anyway. Both she and Felan would have to face the music eventually—but not just yet.
"Oh! Shit, what time is it?" She turned back to Felan, apologetic. "I promised Wyn I'd take him to see Whiskey tonight—you'll listen to Jennah while I'm gone? "
"Yes, ma'am," Fell responded, looking every bit as pathetic as a scolded pup.
Aeris chuckled, shooing his sister off. "Then off with you. We can't have you breaking a promise to my boy."
"Good boy." She shucked Fell lightly under the chin before reaching up to pat Aeris' shoulder as she slipped by him with a chuckled, "I wouldn't dream of it."
Keeping her promise to her nephew was hardly a chore; she enjoyed time out in the paddock with Whisky as much as he did. And she owed her loyal mount a good play session after the hard ride of getting Fell back to camp.
After about an hour though, she knew it was approaching the boy's bedtime, and started walking him back home. She was actually so pleasantly distracted that she didn't recognize the rhythm of a familiar gate until it stopped in front of them.
"Shyla." Gerhardt's voice drew her up short. "May I have a word?"
She tightened her grip on Wyn's hand. "...Sure. Lemme just get the pup back to his mother, alright."
She hoped her discomfort didn't show in her voice—she didn't want Gauwyn to pick up on any distress.
Wyn was blissfully ignorant of any negative implications of Gerhardt talking to his aunt behind his father's back. Instead, he simply smiled and waved at one of his many, many uncles.
Aeris had been careful not to push his own increasing dislike for the man onto his son without just cause. The boy was too young to have to learn that family wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. But the day would come soon enough when he'd have to let the boy grow up.
"Of course." Gerhardt nodded. "I'll walk with you."
The man was kind to Wyn, she'd give him that, and he didn't try to use the boy as a manipulation tactic while they walked back to Aeris' tent—but she didn't like the tone he'd used with her, or the tension she'd heard in her brother's voice during her brief audience with the council.
"Alright, you go on in to your Mam, yeah?" Shyla said with a pat on her nephew's shoulder as she sent the boy inside, waiting until his footsteps were well inside before she turned to Gerhardt.
"Yes, ser?"
"Perhaps it's best if we walk and talk."
"Aeris!"
Realta all but exploded into the command tent, teeth bared in a positively lupine expression as she looked for her mate. "Aeris, Gerhardt took Shyla off somewhere and I can't track by scent—Wyn told me he stopped them on their way home, but by the time I'd got out of the tent they were gone."
Aeris broke the wooden figurine he had been turning in his hand as he tried to design a battle plan. His posture tensed with rage as he imagined what Gerhardt might be trying to pull. Whatever it was, he would answer for it.
"He what?!" he snarled. He rushed to her side, trying to collect himself. "Let's go."
Outside the personal tent he and his immediate family occupied, he sniffed around anxiously.
Realta was on his heels—she'd made sure Wyn was in bed and had put Alfric on guard outside their tent. It was a measure they didn't normally take, having a formal guard, but tonight it seemed like the thing to do.
Shyla and Gerhardt's scents outside the tent were intermingled, showing that they'd been walking closely together, but there was no strong fear-scent in Shyla's natural signature. Not until its end.
The trail led toward the east edge of camp, where Gerhardt had a blade out and Shyla backed against a tree. The half-elf girl was panting, holding one arm in tight to her chest and clutching at her staff with the other hand. Blood was in the air. Her blood.
Aeris couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew Gerhardt was capable of many things, but this... this was beyond anything he had feared. Murder within the pack was practically unheard of save the crime that cursed them to begin with.
"Gerhardt!" The Alpha saw red, charging in and tackling the man.
Shyla's eyes widened. "Aeris--!"
Realta was only a step behind her mate, grabbing Shyla by the shoulders and frantically looking her over. "Ancestors preserve us, are you alright? What did he do?!"
"Y-you have to stop Aeris!" Shyla stammered out, panicking. "He said--he called it a culling right, it--it's pack law!"
An old law, one that hadn't been invoked since the first time of the curse--but pack law nonetheless.
Realta didn't recognize the term, but she knew that the law couldn't be whatever Gerhardt had told the young half-elf it was. That said, she didn't trust that the old bastard hadn't put some sort of contingency in place--he had to have known Aeris would find him out.
"Aeris, hold!" she called to the Alpha desperately, clutching Shyla to her chest protectively. "She's alright, I've got her, hold!"
Aeris stopped, inches short of tearing Gerhardt's throat open. A culling? No. That was not happening again for the first time since the Dark Days. Not under his leadership.
"I wasn't aware we were starving. Because if merely disobeying your Alpha was enough, I'd have killed you already. So what is this really about? Tell me, or I might make an exception." He was beyond furious and looking for any excuse to end the old man.
Gerhardt bared his teeth; despite not being an Ulfar-wolf himself, the expression was distinctly canine. "Disobedience to the point of danger," he spat, curling his fingers tighter around the hilt of his blade--though he had the sense not to try to raise it. "Felan could've died. As it is, he may never be the soldier he was. That's more than enough cause to initiate a culling."
Shyla, clasped tight in her sister-in-law's arms, whimpered quietly as her elder said exactly what she'd been afraid to think properly since Felan's injury. She hadn't just disobeyed orders--she'd proved herself a danger to her pack.
"You bastard," Realta snarled at the man, holding Shyla closer. Blue-gray eyes shone nearly silver in the dark as she snapped, "You know that will never stand with the council."
"Maybe if she wasn't also a drag on resources," Gerhardt spat back. "She barely pulls her weight as a healer--she never should have had her head filled with thoughts of being a proper soldier."
He jerked his head in Shyla's direction. "Ask her, then, Alpha. Ask your sister what she said to me before I drew my blade."
Aeris snarled and slammed the man against the ground. "She's the best healer we have, you moron! But all you see is her blindness, and assume the rest. Worse mistakes have been made than on her mission, and yet we've culled none since before the curse."
"It's the fucking reason we're cursed!"
His head snapped towards Shyla when she spoke. "What did he say?"
That was new information--to Shyla, at least. Realta closed her eyes and bowed her head for a moment. Aeris had told her the truth behind the curse when he'd become Alpha and learned it himself.
"Wh-what...?"
Shyla shook her head. No, not the time. "He--he said that ignoring the old ways hadn't done anything to end Ulfar suffering. He said th-the law--the culling--was for the good of the pack." She swallowed. "And I said...I said, my strength is the pack. The pack is strong. Even if--" She took a breath. "Even if I'm not in it."
Gerhardt met Aeris' eyes fiercely. In the broadest possible sense, that could have been read as an acceptance.
"You know that's not what she meant," Realta snarled at him. She moved Shyla behind her. "She's barely more than a child! She's not prepared to take her life into her own hands that way, even if you had explained it to her!"
"She's old enough to get Felan killed," Gerhardt snapped back. "The same age you were when got with your precious pup. By all our laws, she should know her place."
Aeris' eyes narrowed. "As should you. You do not have the authority to reinstate a defunct practice that was ended for good reasons! Not without me being consulted!"
"You are not now, or will ever be, the Alpha! And after this, you won't even be an Ulfar, even if the council convinces me to let you live."
"I'll get Alfric and his scouts," Realta offered, still glaring at Gerhardt. "It's been a long time since we've had an internal arrest, but I'm sure he'll be perfectly happy to make the exception, once the situation is explained."
Shyla had gone quiet in her sister-in-law's arms, but Realta could feel her shaking lightly. "C'mon, let's get you home," she whispered to the girl, looking to Aeris for acceptance.
Aeris acknowledged by roughly forcing Gerhardt to his feet. "Walk," he ordered with a growl, keeping the man's arms locked behind his back.
Another emergency meeting was called before the rumor mill got out of hand. Gerhardt, naturally, was conspicuously absent.
Standing just to Aeris' side, Shyla was pale and quiet, her expression vacant, though she did occasionally lean into the arm Realta kept around her shoulders.
Though she knew it was necessary, Realta was loathed to have Shyla there at all. She had to be here to provide testimony, but clearly the girl was in shock.
Alfric was one of the last members to gather, his own expression thunderous. "He's in a holding cell," he told Aeris bluntly when he arrived. "I've two guards on him." He'd also stationed another wolf at Aeris' family tent to look out for Gauwyn, but he didn't say that publicly.
Meerin frowned as he looked around the tent. "Is anyone going to explain what is going on? Some folk in this tent should be on watch--or asleep. What's so stone-damned important?"
Realta bared her teeth at the wolf and held Shyla a little tighter.
"Good. That's everyone," Aeris said, causing murmurs throughout the tent.
"I assume you are all wondering why Gerhardt is not here. And that is precisely why I've called this meeting." He looked to Realta for support before exhaling his nerves. "Less than an hour ago, Gerhardt took it upon himself to reinstate the policy of culling by luring Shyla into the forest with the intent of killing her in cold blood. Luckily, he was caught in the act before he could succeed."
He sincerely hoped his critics weren't in on it. Still, he watched everyone's reactions carefully.
The council was hardly ever a completely united force: this seemed to be one of those rare moments, as every pack member present surged into a single cry of disbelief and outrage. Some seemed to be doubting Aeris' claim, demanding he present proof, while others were cursing Gerhardt for an old fool, and still others weren't saying anything specifically but howling angrily.
Realta stepped closer to Aeris' side, touching his hand lightly with hers in a silent gesture of support. Her eyes cut across the assembled Ulfars calculatingly, trying to discern if any reaction wasn't entirely genuine.
Shyla whimpered and shrank back into Realta's side until the older woman shifted her slightly so she was tucked protectively between herself and Aeris.
"You want proof?" He gestured to Shyla. "Have I once lied to this council? Are her wounds enough? Or do I actually need to force her to relive it and give you every terrible detail?!"
Alfric's cold, seething fury, at least, was beyond question as genuine.
Other faces, however, could have been angry that Gerhardt was caught just as easily as upset about the crime. If they even agreed that it was a crime.
"Peace, peace," Meerin cut in as a new round of shouting went up. Realta's eyes narrowed suspiciously at just how quickly a few of the council members seemed willing to fall in line when he spoke. "Very well, Alpha, the council hears you," he continued, meeting Aeris' eyes across the table. "What do you propose? Has Gerhardt been disciplined?"
Realta tightened her arm around Shyla, reaching out to grab Aeris' shoulder instinctively with her other hand. Careful. He had made the case to delay Shyla's disciplinary hearing until the zealots in the foothills were dealt with--no matter how much more heinous Gerhardt's infraction was, if he changed that policy now, she had a feeling there would be members of the council who would take it as a weakness.
Aeris' own eyes narrowed. More deferred to Meerin than made him comfortable. He had underestimated how many of them lusted for a return to the old ways.
So that was their play... to try and force me to contradict myself by harming my family. Do they really see me as so easy to manipulate?
His eyes locked onto Meerin, expression showing that he knew the older wolf was part of this. "No. Gerhardt will stay under guard until there is time to hold a formal hearing. I, for one, will not sidestep the council to further my own agenda."
"Here here," Alfric called clearly, and was echoed by a few other voices, though none quite so strong.
At least those who might be disappointed with Aeris' answer kept it to themselves, which meant they didn't feel quite emboldened enough to challenge him directly at a council table.
Meerin himself held Aeris' eyes for a long moment before he nodded formally. If he felt any malice about the decision, he hid it well. "As you say, Alpha."
"If that's settled," Realta said into the sudden quiet, "I'll take Shyla home. Unless anyone here needs to hear her testimony?" Her tone, and the threat of magic behind her eyes, made it very clear that while challenging her mate just now would be dangerous, challenging her would be deadly.
When no one spoke up, she nodded and turned to lead Shyla from the tent. "Be home soon," she whispered to Aeris as she passed, and his sister reached out to drag two fingers over the back of his arm for a brief moment.
Aeris returned home later with a sour look on his face. He wasn't going to get much sleep that night, either. There was just too much on his mind.
When he saw Realta, he tried to force a smile.
"I'm losing them, Rae," he sighed heavily.
It had taken her a while to convince Shyla to go to bed--the girl was determined to stay up until Aeris returned. But she was well and truly exhausted, both physically and emotionally, and Realta had told her she could talk to her brother in the morning.
So it was just the Connlaothian woman awake when he returned, sitting at their small table with a cup of tea long gone cold in front of her. She'd settled herself directly between where both Gauwyn and Shyla slept, so that if either needed her she could be there quickly.
She stood when Aeris entered the tent and crossed to stand in front of him, eyes searching his face. "What happened?"
"More and more of them believe we were cursed because Ivar was weak, that a nature spirit couldn't possibly value anything other than strength. I can see it in their eyes," he answered, sounding more weary than angry.
"I still have Alfric, and the young ones are with me, but the Lorik faction is growing there too. If this strategy of mine fails... I fear I'll lose them all, and we'll go back to what we were before Uncle Thrydwulf."
He looked deep into her eyes, looking for reassurance. "And even if I beat all challengers and keep my position, I don't have time left to win them back."
"Yes, you do." She reached up to take his face between her hands, voice firm. "Because I am not going to lose you to this, Aeris. Not to these warmongering idiots, and not to the curse. I refuse."
Her eyes were fierce but wet when she added in a softer, rougher voice, "You can do this. I know you can, because you promised me once that I will not watch our son die." She smiled a bit and stroked his cheek. "And I have never known you to break a promise."
With a quiet sigh, she pulled back to glance at the curtain that divided Gauwyn's small bed from the rest of the tent, then the one behind which she'd left Shyla. "...He didn't get her too bad," she murmured, "but I couldn't convince her to go to the healers' tent. She's...shaken. And I think she feels ashamed of the whole thing, like it was somehow her fault."
Realta gritted her teeth as she looked back to him. "I know why you can't, but stars I wish you could just exile Gerhardt now. What was he thinking?"
Her reminder of the promise he had made pulled him back from the brink. It also reminded him of something he didn't want to say: Rae and Wyn wouldn't be safe either.
"He and Meerin think they can use my fondness for her against me. They want me to be unbalanced enough that someone stronger than they are can challenge me and win."
Aeris sighed worriedly. "I just wish I knew who they were grooming to be the next Alpha."
Realta frowned. "I know. If we had an idea it might make it easier to spot their next move..."
She shook her head with a sigh. "Gerhardt's been a bastard as long as I've known him, but I never would have thought he'd do something like this." Another frustrated sigh. "Of course they had to be doing this now. It's not like we have any other problems to be worrying about.
"If I didn't know the kid so well, I'd suspect Felan. He's still green, but he has the potential to be an amazing fighter. And Gerhardt's his grandfather."
Aeris frowned. He did not like where his mind was going. "Unless... You don't think...?"
It would explain the timing. If they had hopes of turning him against me, his injury would make them desperate.
Realta followed his train of thought quickly, then growled. "They'd better not have even thought it," she muttered. "Gerhardt may be his grandfather, but you practically raised him just as much as you did Shyla--and anyone with sense could tell the kid's been sweet on her since they were knee-high! How would..."
Another uncomfortable thought occurred. She almost didn't even want to say it, but... "Fuck. They were also both getting unusually invested in the idea of Shy settling down with someone, even before all this..."
"And now that Fell's future is in question, their only option is to undermine me enough to inspire someone else to challenge me," he said, thinking aloud.
"I fear how far they'll go to force us to give up hunting these mad bastards and leave the other packs to fend for themselves." He looked her deep in the eyes, his own full of worry. "Maybe I... Maybe I should send you away until this is settled. If anything happened to the three of you, I'd..."
"Aeris..." She pulled him down until his brow rested against hers. "...As an absolute last resort," she murmured after a few moments, "I can take them north. We've helped packs up there before, I can find someone to look after them. But then I would come back."
She nuzzled her nose to his. "I won't leave you to deal with this on your own."
Aeris made a contented canine grunt, but then sighed frustratedly. "No, that won't work... it would look like I'm only willing to put other families at risk."
"Unless we let every child and noncombatant that wants to go retreat into the mountains. But I worry Meerin would be emboldened by that too."
Realta sighed, nodding. He was right--there were no good options. "You don't have to make that choice yet," she pointed out gently. "If you can cut the head off the snake...maybe Shyla's right. With their structure gone, the rest won't be difficult to neutralize. And then you can deal with Meerin and his lot."
Of course, that meant that they had to actually succeed at cutting the head off the snake, which was always a thing easier said than done.
Aeris exhaled slowly, lowering himself enough to put his forehead against hers. "I don't know what I did to deserve you."
"Saved me from a work camp, for starters," Realta noted dryly, before her voice and expression softened and she pressed her brow back against his. "You don't have to deserve me, Aeris. That's not how love works."
She knew he knew that, but it didn't hurt to remind him. Much as she loved her pack, she knew they'd had...something of a skewed view of affection that had been handed down amongst them for generations. Aeris and his uncle had done much to change that, but--as the very existence of Meerin's faction proved--it was a hard lesson to unlearn.
He didn't know how he'd navigate his role as Alpha without her by his side. He certainly wouldn't have built up the courage to fight for what he believed instead of simple survival or dominance.
"I know. I appreciate that you make sure I don't forget. "
He sighed. "I should get some rest while I can. It's going to be a busy day in the morning. Alfric and I are going to have to counter any subversion by the traditionalists if we have any hope of pulling this mission off."
In the back of his head, he wondered if the traditionalists would go so far as to leak information to Elgin. Scheming and infighting were one thing, but treason? He wasn't prepared to start thinking that way. Alfric, on the other hand, wasn't putting anything past them.
"Of course, love." She drew him into a brief, tight hug before releasing him to make her way toward their own bed. "I think maybe I should...stay back and keep an eye on Wyn and Shyla tomorrow," she murmured as she climbed into bed. She didn't say it out loud, but the worry under her tone spoke volumes: the traditionalists had made it clear just what sort of lengths they were willing to go to in order to achieve their goals.
She knew Aeris would be unwilling to think that badly of those who were, after all, still family--but she didn't trust Meerin and his ilk not to make another try for something with Shyla.
Or, stars forbid, their son.
Aeris climbed in next to her. "I think that's an excellent idea." He gave her a quick nuzzle and yawned before sleep took him. The wolfman almost never fell asleep so fast; exhaustion tends to do that.
Aeris and Alfric, along with his squad of elite soldiers, were crouched among the trees on a hillside, overlooking the site where their infiltrators were to lure the zealot leaders. There were two other squads waiting in the wings, but they were only there in case the unexpected happened. He didn't trust their allegiance enough to count on them.
"Have I mentioned that I don't like this?" Alfric muttered, running one hand absently up and down the length of his bow. "Because I really don't like this."
He made sure to keep his voice low enough that the rest of the squad couldn't hear him--and it wasn't like he was saying anything Aeris hadn't heard already. Multiple times.
It wasn't the plan itself that he objected to, or even Aeris' decision to bring along extra wolves that he didn't entirely trust. In fact, he thought that was quite clever; it would force them to show their hand, whatever that was. So no, he didn't object. He just didn't like it.
"I know it's a risk, but it's a calculated risk," Aeris reiterated in a whisper. "I need to know how far they'll go."
He had secretly put the shadow twins, the pair of stealth-focused mages he had tasked with setting up this ambush, in with the suspect squads. If anyone tried anything, they would hopefully catch it before it became a problem. He hadn't lied to the council; he merely kept the fine details to himself, as was his prerogative.
His ears perked up as the sound of hoofbeats approached.
"Sounds like our first guest has arrived."
The first guest seemed to be the military man--Elgin, according to Shyla's report. Alfric gave his alpha a nod and sank back into the shadows, moving into a better position to make most use of his bow.
Above him, a mountain raven--larger and less glossy than their lowland cousins--fluttered from its current perch to a branch diagonal from Aeris' current position. It clucked and shuffled its wings, cocking its head as it eyed the open stretch of land that sprawled out from the trees where Elgin drew his horse to a halt and looked around.
"Okay, you psychotic priest, where are you?" Aeris whispered to himself. They needed both of them for their plan to work. The priest, left alone, could just rile up the rest of the militia enough to do something extreme.
As if in answer, more hoofbeats brought with them Father Nazan and his own small entourage. He counted nearly a dozen men in total. Larger than Alfric's squad alone, but between the element of surprise and superior training, they shouldn't need backup. He just had to time it right.
There! With the group all in one place, Aeris howled, signaling the squad to attack. The zealots shouted in alarm as they were quickly surrounded by the team of wolves and mages.
"Men! To arms!" Elgin ordered. The entourage raised their weapons but was too afraid to make the first move.
"So the filthy mages are taming monsters now?" Nazan spat, assuming that one of the humans was in charge.
Aeris snorted. "The only monsters here are the ones I see before me."
"Orders, ser?" One of the pikemen who had arrived with Nazan seemed to be wavering, looking between Elgin and the priest as though not entirely sure who to defer to.
It was a question echoed by one of the Howler mages, making a point to highlight Aeris' authority in the group--though whether that was to throw off their quarry by pointing out their incorrect assumption or to make Aeris a prime target was unclear.
"Exterminate them," Nazan spat, at the same time Elgin called, "Hold your ground!"
Both men glared at each other.
Back in the trees, Alfric smirked. Well spotted, Shyla.
"Exterminate us? You can try," Aeris said, voice cold with loathing. He signaled for his ranged attackers to launch a volley and drew a pair of Essyrni khopesh.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the trees, a Howler aimed a rifle at the gathering. And not at the zealots.
Alfric let his first arrow fly, and the bolt skimmed Elgin's cheek as the man wheeled his horse and shouted for his soldiers to fall in and form a phalanx between the two zealot leaders and their attackers. He cursed, nocking another arrow to the string--then froze as an unfortunately familiar voice rang out from the trees behind him.
"Alfric! Rifle, on your left!"
"Damnit, girl!" the wolf spat, though he looked automatically where Shyla was indicating. His eyes widened as he saw the hidden Howler raising his weapon and aiming at...
He loosed another arrow, catching the assassin in the shoulder with the bolt.
The assassin yelped and twisted, his rifle discharging harmlessly into a tree. Abandoning the weapon, he attempted to run. But directly in his path, Sevrin, the male shadow twin, resolved into visibility.
"Going somewhere?" The young man smirked. With a flick of the mage's wrist, vines erupted from the ground to ensnare the treacherous wolf.
Aeris surged forward, his blades cutting down a man before he could mount a defense. He locked blades with the next, but his superior strength and reach were more than a match for the amateur soldier. His squad found itself similarly superior, mowing down the defenders like so much wheat.
Aeris licked blood from one blade and bared his teeth in a silent snarl. "Any last words before I send you to whatever hell you believe in?"
"Oh, shi—"
It was all Magnus got out before the vines wrapped around him. One went around his neck, not tight enough to choke, but enough to cut off his voice.
The soldier at Aeris' feet stared up at him in hazy terror. But before the blade could fall a final time, there was suddenly a broadsword blocking its path.
"Stand down, demon," Elgin snarled. "I don't know what foul spell you creatures came from, but it ends today."
"Demon?" Aeris snarled in righteous indignation as he pushed back from the unexpected level of resistance. "That's rich coming from the one burning innocent men, women, and children in their homes because you don't understand what they are."
"You're lucky that it's only your heads I want. If I were a demon, the snow of your little town would be red already."
He dashed sideways, making a series of lunging strikes as he probed the man's defenses. "If this weren't personal, I'd almost be having fun."
Elgin might have replied, but another arrow came flying toward him, cutting across the edge of his neck. He reeled back with a hiss of pain, eye flicking briefly into the trees in an effort to find the archer.
The archer in question had dropped down to the ground and was searching for quarry of his own in between firing arrows off at the militia in the skirmish.
"C'mon, Shyla, where are you?" he muttered. It seemed like she'd had the good sense to stay hidden, but he wanted to be sure.
"Eyes on me!" Aeris seized the opportunity to pierce Elgin's guard in an attempt to finish the man off.
Alfric wasn't the only one searching for Shyla. One of Magnus' allies sought to salvage their failed plot by taking her hostage. The scarred wolf creeped through the trees, following her scent like a bloodhound.
The militia commander cried out in pain as one of Aeris' curved blades sunk into his side. The shout alerted his nearest guards--the ones left--and they converged on the combatants.
Shyla knew very well that she had taken a risk by following the ambush party, but she'd be damned if another wolf got hurt because of her.
The raven she had been using to observe the battle had fled in the commotion, so she was navigating by her usual senses as she sank back into the thicket where she'd hidden herself, hardly daring to breathe as footsteps approached.
She could tell the difference in gait between just about every member of the Howler pack. She knew this wasn't Alfric. She knew he was tracking her. She knew she had one shot.
The scarred wolf crashed into the thicket with a snarl, and she struck.
It was the abrupt noise, and the even more sudden absence of it, that brought Alfric as much as her scent. When he found her, she was kneeling over Magnus' wolf--Sigrus, an absolutely ancient Ulfar at twenty-nine--and her front was covered in blood.
It wasn't hers.
She swallowed thickly, turning her head in Alfric's direction, and dropped the knife. "H-he isn't dead," she gasped out. "I didn't--he tried to grab me and--help me stop the bleeding. Please."
Alfric nodded in wordless understanding. He pulled off his scarf and used it to tie off the wound on the wolf's leg.
"Gah!" Sigrus cried out, snarling, "You bitch! We should have ki--"
Alfric knocked him out cold.
Aeris freed his blade with a twist, spilling Elgin's insides onto the snow as his men met similar grisly fates. That left Nazan and Lukas, unarmed but strangely unafraid. The truly zealous feared not death.
Nazan spat on Aeris' face. "Celebrate this victory while you can, beast. For my flock has a beast of it's own, with claws and teeth of silver and whose breath is death to all creatures of the night."
"We aren't werewolves, you moron." Aeris let that sink in before finishing the terrible business of vengeance.
"Aeris is gonna kill you."
Shyla sighed, finishing tying off the tourniquet on Sigrus' leg. "I know..."
Alfric let that sit for a moment, then admitted, "You did probably save his life though. So maybe he'll just confine you to your room for the rest of your natural life."
She actually laughed a bit at that.
As the pitch of the battle died down around them, the Howlers took stock. They hadn't lost a single soldier--unless one counted an incapacitated Magnus, and...
"Where's Sig?" one of the scouts called, even as Alfric emerged from the trees with the unconscious and now bound wolf over his shoulder. Shyla trailed awkwardly behind him, feeling the sudden pressure of eyes on her even if she couldn't see them.
"And why are he and Magnus tied up?" another asked.
Aeris barely heard, preoccupied by giving his disobedient sister an angry, disappointed stare. There was no avoiding a disciplinary hearing this time, even if she turned out to have helped. Even if certain members of the council were arrested beforehand.
He turned toward his men. "Because they are traitors, working for those who would dishonor themselves through deceit and manipulation. I wish to save us from Lorik's dark legacy, but they are so afraid of change they would abandon what honor even he had."
Magnus sneered. "We only seek to strengthen the pack by cleansing it of your naive version of honor before it dooms us all!"
Though she couldn't see the look he was giving her, Shyla was positive she could feel his glare.
It didn't feel good.
"Right now, I don't give a damn what your motives are," Alfric snarled at Magnus as he dumped the unconscious Sigrus onto the ground. "You would have shot your alpha. With a Connlaothian rifle."
Veri, the other shadow twin, kicked the offending weapon out in front of the bound Magnus. The Howlers who hadn't been privy to this information shifted and murmured uncomfortably.
"Trying to make it look like part of the skirmish," Alfric said in Aeris' direction. Lowering his voice, he added, "If I hadn't heard Shyla's warning, you could very well be dead, ser. Or at the very least in no fit condition to lead."
Aeris took in the information with a deepening scowl. He really hadn't wanted to think that the traditionalists would sink so low as to assassinate him. They truly were lost.
He stepped up to Magnus and, in a cold monotone, said, "If you were truly strong, you would challenge me like a true Ulfar. Instead, you have forfeited that right. I suggest you think about that."
To Alfric, he said, "We'll have Realta take a crack at making them more cooperative. And then we end this farce."
"Yes, ser." Alfric nodded sharply, then whistled to call their soldiers to attention. "Form up, everyone! We're heading back. Gerlyn, Adra, get a stretcher together. We'll drag the prisoners back."
The two Howlers he named nodded quickly and set to work. Alfric started to move to load Magnus and Sigrus, but paused just long enough to murmur to Aeris, "She kept herself out of the fight, much as she could. I'm not saying go easy on her, just..." He shrugged as he trailed off, not completing the thought.
That left Shyla to face her brother as the Howlers around them prepared to move out back to camp. She swallowed and scuffed a foot against the earth.
"Ummm...hey?"
Aeris pinched the bridge of his snout.
"You know I can't let you off the hook just because you saved my life with your little stunt, right?" he asked.
"Gods, Shyla, what am I supposed to do with you? You don't listen; you don't seem to even value your own life. Don't you know how much it hurts to have you constantly put me in a position where I have to choose between duty and family?" he continued, his tone getting more and more heated with each word.
"Look. I get that your heart is in the right place; Moon knows I do, but you can't keep doing this."
"I know," Shyla said quickly, hands clasped in front of her body. "I know, I do--but I couldn't just...I had to help." She licked her lips, swallowed, then straightened her shoulders and said with a little more confidence, "But I did this knowing the consequences. I don't want you to choose between duty and family, Aeris, I know...I know what has to happen now. I know I disobeyed orders."
She lowered her head slightly. "I will accept whatever disciplinary action is deemed necessary. But I couldn't not come. After Gerhardt--" Her throat closed up momentarily and she shivered, expression going briefly haunted.
"Maybe I'm not a proper member of the pack," she whispered, "but there are things I can do that no one else can. And I knew I could help. I--I had to keep you safe."
Aeris deflated a little. Every time she said that, it was like an icicle in his heart.
"Damnit Shyla, you don't have to prove yourself to be a proper member of this pack. You're just as much an Ulfar as any foundling or in-law. If I can't get you to believe that, how can either of us get anyone else to?"
"I do believe it!" Shyla suddenly exploded, color high in her cheeks and pale eyes overly bright. "But it doesn't seem to matter! I've tried, Aeris, my whole life I've tried, and I can't seem to get it right! No matter what I do, it's not enough for them. I know I screwed up, I know what happened to Fell was my fault, but I didn't--I didn't think they'd...he'd..."
She clenched her jaw, tears welling up but she refused to let them fall. "He wanted to kill me, Aeris. Because I'm not enough." She tsked and turned her face away from him, arms folded tight in an effort to hide the way she was trembling. "I thought...I've always thought, if I could just prove that I can do things the way they want, if I can be a fighter, a Howler then...then maybe they'd see that I belong." She swallowed. "But they don't. They won't. It doesn't matter what I do, I'll never be enough for them. So fuck them, and fuck what they think, and fuck their stupid, old, backward rules. I could help you, so I did."
"Oh, considering the shit they just pulled, the traditionalists on the council are done. The crisis isn't quite over until we deal with the monster, but there is going to be a reckoning the first chance I get. You won't have to listen to them ever again, because I'm exiling Meerin, Gerhardt, and anyone who would still follow them," Aeris responded darkly. And in the event he couldn't accomplish that without splitting the pack in two, he had another idea.
Shyla swallowed thickly, then nodded once. "Good," she muttered. Then again, "Fuck them."
She scowled down at the ground, arms wrapped around her middle. Then, after a moment, she sighed and seemed to deflate a little.
"...I am sorry, Ari," she whispered. It was a childish nickname she hadn't used in years. "I mean...I'm sorry I disobeyed orders. I'm not sorry it maybe saved your life." She swallowed again, then lifted her head slightly. "I know I'll have my own reckoning, when this is all over. And I'm sorry I--I've put you in that position."
Aeris sighed slightly, appeased. "Thank you; I appreciate that. Really, I do."
He lifted her chin higher with the side of one finger. "Rest assured, saving my life will go a long way in reducing your punishment. I do wish I could consider the debt paid."
She half smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah. I know."
A soft clearing of a throat behind her made her start slightly and turn her head toward Alfric.
"We're ready to move out, ser," the older wolf told Aeris with a nod. "Just waiting on your word."
Aeris nodded. "But before we return to the war camp, there's a small change of plans."
"Ser?" Alfric asked.
"Sevrin and Sybell found our werewolf killer. What do you say we return with its head as a trophy?" The Alpha smirked.
Alfric grinned and nodded. "I'll give the order."
"Ahh..." Shyla turned slightly toward her brother. "Does...that include me?" she asked cautiously. She had a feeling the answer was going to be, No, get your ass home.
But it didn't hurt to ask. She hoped.
Aeris huffed. "Well, you're safer with us than on your own. So I might as well use you.
He locked eyes with her, his tone severe. "But you will do exactly what I order, understood?"
She straightened up quickly. "Yes, ser!"
Oh thank the stars. She was not looking forward to returning to camp and facing Realta for sneaking off. Aeris was her Alpha, but if she was entirely honest with herself, between him and his mate when they were angry...
Yeah. She'd take the wolf.
"Where do you need me?" she asked Aeris as Alfric called the rest of the pack in line--save for the two being left to guard their newly taken prisoners.
"You're with Sevrin. Use your gifts to help us find Sybel's current position; their mindlink isn't so good at precise details."
He looked to the mage. "I'm trusting you to keep her out of trouble. Don't let me down soldier."
Sevrin gave a jaunty salute. "Try not to make me work too hard, kid."
Kid? Sevrin was even closer to her age than Fell.
"Yes, ser." She nodded first to Aeris, then to Sevrin. She didn't even roll her eyes at being called "kid" by someone barely fives months her senior, which spoke volumes to how intent on her given job she was.
"Right." Alfric looked to Aeris and quirked one eyebrow, ears perked up in anticipation. "We ready to move out?"
"Move out! We need to hit them before they reach the fort!" Aeris commanded.
The squads lied in wait along the road to the fort, their eyes, ears, and magical gifts alert for enemies.
Horses could soon be heard from up the road, along with the steady creak of wagon wheels. Said wagon soon materialized, a dark form slumbering within the cage that rested upon it. It may have been asleep, but the two dozen men escorting it were another story.
"Looks like it's a good thing we brought backup," Sevrin whispered to Shyla.
Shyla nodded, Seeing the procession through Sevrin's eyes. "Any idea what that thing is?" she whispered back. Her grip on her staff shifted restlessly; to the best of her knowledge, all they really knew about the creature was that it was tailor-made to hunt werewolves.
Not the the Ulfars were werewolves, but still...anything that was literally made to hunt such creatures couldn't be easy to take down.
"I heard them refer to it as a nachtjaeger. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine," he answered. "With any luck, it'll wake up and fight the escort for us. Then we'll mop up the rest if they don't flee. That's your brother's plan A, at least."
Aeris signaled for Sybel to move in and invisibly unlock the cage. When she was clear, he nodded to Alfric to take the shot that would hopefully wake the beast.
"Night hunter" did not sound encouraging, but Shyla refrained from pointing that out. "Here's hoping we don't need plan B," she murmured, rocking her weight back onto one heel as she prepared for the skirmish.
Alfric's arrow caught the creature just under its left shoulder, and it came awake with a roar that sent every nearby forest animal scattering in terror. The escort soldiers shouted and scrambled to fall into some sort of defensive position as the cage shuddered with the beast's raging.
The beast shoved its way out of the cage, midnight black scales glistening in the sun. It lunged at the nearest man, biting clean through the poor soul before anyone could react.
The other militiamen pulled back, opening fire with arrows and bullets. They were completely unprepared, their attacks only serving to enrage the monster further. The creature barreled into the fray on its eight thick legs, out for blood.
Clearly, they weren't the ones to capture it.
The Howlers watched the carnage with the grim hope that whoever or whatever came out alive would be weakened enough to easily mop up the battle without meaningful resistance.
Shyla was so startled by a full view of the creature that it knocked her out of her Sighted connection to Sevrin. She had to reach out and touch the wolf's arm briefly to reinstate it.
"That...is bigger than I thought," she muttered, hoping the fear didn't read in her voice.
The many-legged beast tore through the unstructured militia members like they were paper. Despite all they had done, all the innocent lives they had taken, Shyla almost couldn't bear to watch as this creature that had intended to loose on her family shredded them into bloody pulp.
Almost.
As the militia fell one by one, Shyla realized with growing horror that...the creature didn't seem to be losing steam. It was bleeding from numerous wounds from bayonets, rifles, swords—but it wasn't slowing down.
"Oh...shit."
Aeris, too, felt the dread that, just maybe, his ambition had led him to bite off more than he could chew. Yet, there was no choice but to push ahead and slay the beast or die trying. It couldn't be allowed to run rampant and put even more lives in jeopardy.
As the last of the militiamen either fled in terror or fell to the monster, the Alpha motioned for the squads to creep into attack position. Then, once prepared, he sprang out of the trees with a signaling howl.
The melee trained Howlers rushed forward as one at their Alpha's signal, while the archers let fly with a volley of arrows. Most seemed to bounce right off the creature's scaly hide, but one shot lodged in the joint behind one of its middle legs. It was enough to give a hint as to a weakness in its natural armor.
Shyla darted around the edge of the clearing, Sevrin and his magic on her heels keeping them hidden. Still Seeing through the mage's eyes, she muttered, "Can you cover me? I need to get to those bodies."
The slaughtered militiamen were scattered about the battlefield--but she had a bad feeling about the way that creature's teeth glistened, and she needed to examine one of the bodies to be sure
"I've got you. Just make it quick." Sevrin nodded, moving with her until they reached a corpse on the fringes of the battle.
A Howler spearman lunged forward to stab the creature behind a leg, but it was faster. It twisted sharply, smacking the human Howler away with its tail. The distraction, however, gave Aeris the opening he needed to leap onto its back.
Shyla nodded and crouched next to the body, intently examining the bite would that had nearly torn it in half. She didn't need her Sight for this—there were no visible markers.
But there was a faint scent amongst the iron-rust of blood, and a thinness to the liquid seeping from the wounds. It was enough for her to be sure.
"Venom," she said shortly as she got back to her feet. "That's how it takes down weres. It's teeth aren't actually silver—they're coated in poison. And if it's got venom, then likely it's..."
Raising her voice, she shouted over the noise of the battle, "Don't let it bleed on you!"
Aeris hesitated just before he would have stabbed the beast behind the shoulders and no doubt been caught in the spray of blood. That moment was enough for the monster to violently buck off the young wolfman. He landed in an undignified roll.
When Alfric moved in to pull his Alpha to safety, Aeris groaned and took the wolf's hand to pull himself up. "I'm fine, old friend. I'm just going to be sore in the morning. I'd be worse without that warning."
Somehow the beast knew now which of its attackers was the dominant one, as it locked eyes on Aeris and roared a challenge.
Aeris glanced to Alfric. "On second thought, move!" Both Howlers dived out of the way.
Shyla spent another handful of precious seconds gathering samples from around the edge of the fallen militiaman's wound—if someone did end up exposed to the venom, she would need something to try to formulate an antitoxin. She just had to hope the venom was slow-acting enough that she would have time to do it.
The creature roared again and lowered its head to charge; luckily, it's bulk meant that when Aeris and Alfric dove to either side it barreled right passed them.
Unluckily, it meant that the beast crashed headlong into a tree, and it's weight and velocity cracked the trunk right down the middle. The tree creaked, swayed, and then began to fall.
Howlers scrambled out of the way, losing their tight formation as they rolled or leaped to avoid being crushed by the falling timber.
"Stay behind me," Sevrin told her. Immediately, he dropped his cloaking spell and turned towards the fight. Throwing out his hands, he caused a net of vines to tangle around the falling trees, slowing their fall and tangling up the beast.
Dusting himself off, Aeris watched the carnage with a pit forming in his stomach. They couldn't win; not without losses. Not even the best strategy he could conceive could achieve that.
No. I can't think like that. There has to be a way I'm not seeing.
Having thoroughly learned her lesson about following orders in combat, Shyla hung back behind Sevrin and continued to watch the fight through his eyes.
There was...something about the way the creature thrashed in the wreckage it had caused, something about the way it tossed its head from side to side with nostrils flared... Something almost familiar.
Her eyes widened and she grabbed for Sevrin's arm. "Can you get a message to Aeris?" she asked quickly. "Quietly. I think—I think that thing is blind. The tree sap in its eyes or something. If we can get our soldiers to go quiet, it won't know where they are."
"I can tr--" Sevrin was cut off by a voice from behind them.
"That won't be necessary." The voice was kind but commanding, carrying the weight of centuries, perhaps even millennia. The man was clad in furs of the white Kilanthro tiger, his bright blue eyes vibrant against his otherwise pale features.
Sevrin dashed around her to put himself between Shyla and the stranger, taking a fighting stance as he drew his daggers. He wasn't used to being the one sneaked up on; he didn't much care for it. "Who the hells are you?" he demanded.
"I have a feeling you know, adopted children of the Ulfar," Zephyr answered.
"...Holy shit."
Shyla grabbed for Sevrin's arm and pulled him with her as she bowed toward the figure.
"We, ah--we are honored," she stammered out. "But I'm afraid you've arrived at something of a bad time?"
How did one address a nature spirit? Particularly in the middle of a battle?
"I generally do not intervene unless it is, in fact, a bad time," Zephyr answered with a small smirk. "But this beast will disturb the balance of nature until it is dealt with, and I would prefer not to let Moon's children die while she sulks."
Sevrin's jaw hung open at the familiar way he spoke of the pack's patron spirit. He certainly could never have gotten away with that.
"Stay back. This shouldn't take long." As he passed by them, he burst forward, leaving a gale in his wake as he sped to the Howlers' aid.
Mid-stride, his form was replaced by that of a giant Kilanthro tiger with ornate blue stripes. The massive cat crashed into the nachtjaeger, the pair tumbling back towards the road as they bit and clawed at one another. Aeris was as dumbstruck as any other Howler, having only enough clarity to order his soldiers to fall back.
Shyla was just as stunned as Sevrin, but she managed to snap out of it more quickly. "Come on!" She started to fall back toward the trees as the other Howlers obeyed Aeris' order. With the sudden chaos and the sound of the spirit and the nachtjaeger fighting, she couldn't properly orient herself.
"Aeris!" She tried to pinpoint his gait, but there was too much noise, all too close together. "Aeris, where are you?"
"I'm here!" Aeris huffed as he made his way to her. "I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm here."
"What even is that thing and why is it helping us?" he asked, not expecting answer.
Sevrin coughed. "How is it I know the stories and you don't?"
Aeris took a second before gasping. "Oh! Oh shit! It is him! By the Moon... Borai'us in the flesh." He laughed disbelievingly. "I wasn't sure he was even real!"
Shyla resisted the urge to throw her arms around him once he was close enough that she could pick him out of the crowd.
She gave a short, breathless laugh and nodded in agreement. "Today cannot get any weirder."
But she didn't have time to linger in the craziness—not just yet. "Aeris, did anyone get bit? I need to check them over—I'm not sure how strong the venom is, the—the militia were too ripped up to tell."
"I don't think so. Just claw wounds, though you should check to be sure those aren't poisonous as well," he answered.
Glancing down, he stared at the spot on his arm that he nicked on one of its spines. He sighed worriedly, telling her everything she needed to know before he spoke. "And... one who was cut by the spines on its back."
"Shit." Shyla frowned and reached for her kit. "Sevrin, give anyone who was clawed some of this, just to be safe—I don't think the claws had poison on them but it can't hurt." She passed him a vial of a very minty smelling tincture before turning to Aeris.
She held one hand out to him and said briskly, "Show me where you're hurt."
It was her turn to leave behind the role of sister and enter into something more professional. Her voice had gone quick and clipped, and she was already running through potential scenarios for treatment if he had been poisoned.
Aeris guided her hand to a spot on his forearm. Though it wasn't bleeding particularly badly anymore, the cut was moderately deep. It did, however, have a suspicious odor. But that by itself was no guarantee he had been poisoned.
"It's really not that bad, all things considered. It doesn't hurt any more than the rest of me after the tumble I took."
Shyla frowned as she felt lightly around the edges of the wound. "You should still take some of that tincture, too," he muttered. She fished through her Kit and came up with a bandage roll that she set to wrapping around his arm while she cleaned the wound with the other hand.
"Aeris, I know you're not exactly happy with me, and I know I haven't been a great soldier recently," she muttered as she worked, "but I am a good medic. And I need you to tell me if you start to feel anything weird. I'm gonna stick close, but you may start to feel symptoms that I won't notice unless you tell me: dizziness, lingering pain, that sort of thing."
Aeris resisted the urge to compare her to his mother. Instead, he merely nodded. "Understood."
He looked back at the battle to see the wind spirit pin the monster and bite down on its neck. It flailed violently, fighting even as the life drained out of it. Then it went limp.
"I sure am glad he's on our side," he commented, marveling at the spectacle as Borai'us roared in triumph.
"I think we all are," Shyla muttered wryly. She finished cleaning and bandaging his wound, tying it off gently but firmly, and pulled back.
"Anyone else need immediate attention?" she called to the rest of the Howlers. Then, nervously, in the direction of the wind spirit, "Or, ahhh...do you need assistance...ser? M'lord?"
What in all hells was she supposed to call him?!
The spirit stepped away from the dead creature. The bloodless gouges left in his side by the beast closed up before the Howlers' eyes. Once again, he took the form of a man. There was neither a scratch nor a drop of blood upon him.
Zephyr shook his head and smiled, and, though she couldn't see it, she somehow felt the kindness in it. "Please call me Zephyr; it is the name I give those I meet in my travels. I find it suits me."
Her features reminded him of the daughter he had never expected to enter his life. He hoped Asta was well and perhaps had built up the courage to not be alone. Above all things, he wanted her to find happiness.
Though she couldn't actually see him looking at her, Shyla could feel the spirit's attention like a weight around her shoulders. She found herself ducking her head slightly, feeling strangely bashful.
"Well. We, um... Thank you, Zephyr," she murmured, voice uncharacteristically contrite.
Aeris gave a reverent bow. Clearly, Zephyr didn't stand on ceremony, but actually meeting a nature spirit face-to-face left him reeling. "We owe you our lives, gre-err, Zephyr, ser."
Zephyr chuckled lightly. "Rise, Aeris Ulfar. I am neither god nor king, merely a servant of nature's balance... and occasionally, her fury."
"Besides," he added, "It is high time I spoke to the one who may well return his people to their rightful place as guardians of the mountains"
Aeris looked up sharply, a surprised look on his face. "Are you... Are you telling me that I'm right? That we were cursed because we became arrogant and selfish?"
Zephyr nodded. "Trust your heart, noble wolf. It will not lead you astray. And it just may open Moon's heart once more."
Aeris was speechless. He knew he was right, but to have all doubt removed was overwhelming.
Shyla had always believed in her brother's vision for the pack--but it was something else to hear that belief validated by a creature like Zephyr. She reached over to take Aeris' hand and gave it a brief, tight squeeze.
"You, ahh..." She turned her head toward Zephyr, then back to Aeris, then to Zephyr again. "I--I don't wanna be rude here, but...we've got injured wolves that we should be getting back to camp. I don't suppose...you could talk to Aer--to the Alpha there?" she suggested carefully, and just hoped she wasn't risking offense.
"Very well," Zephyr answered with a small smile.
He turned to Aeris once more. "I shall find you there."
Aeris nodded. Had the spirit known that he wouldn't want to have him arrive with him? After all, he wanted to pull the pack together with his own hands and not through the mandate of a higher being. "I look forward to what counsel you can provide."
Aeris let his voice carry. "Alright, Howlers, move out! We have a conspiracy to disappoint!"
Shyla couldn't help grinning at that, just for a moment. But then she was darting through the pack, making sure everyone was fit to move out before they got properly underway.
"All clear, ser," she reported as she slipped back to Aeris' side. Now that the pitch and roll of battle was over with, it was much easier for her to orient herself even as the Howlers began their March back to camp. "We've got a few deep gouges, but no bites."
"Good. And I still feel alright; worn out, but alright," he responded dutifully, like a good patient.
As her brother, he begrudgingly admitted, "I'm still upset with you... but you proved to be essential in the end. None of the medics I brought with us spotted what you did. In this one particular case, I'm glad you disobeyed me."
Her chest swelled a bit, but she coughed and ducked her head, appropriately sheepish.
"You, uh...mind keeping that in mind and telling Realta when we get back?" she muttered. "I think she might actually kill me..."
Stars knew that she'd caused her brother and his mate plenty of minor headaches over the years, but this... She'd be lucky if her sister-in-law didn't give her a cold shoulder for weeks.
"You may win some extra lenience, because I might need to use you as a stalling tactic while she works on flipping Sigrus or Magnus. I hate to do that to you, but my plan doesn't work without one of them testifying."
"Can I count on you to play along?" he asked, not as her Alpha but as her brother.
"Yeah," Shyla sighed, then gave a wry half-smile in his general direction. "Don't I always?"
She rubbed at her arms. "I do feel bad about ducking out on her. I'm sure she's worried," she muttered guiltily.
But Realta was a tough woman--she wouldn't have ended up with the Howlers if she wasn't.
"She'll get over it if you help me end the curse and this rebellion once and for all," Aeris assured her.
He let out a long breath. "I can't believe I'm finally so close to achieving the future I promised when I became Alpha. I was starting to lose hope."
Shyla turned her head toward him slightly, then shuffled a step closer so she could reach out and squeeze his arm briefly.
"I never did," she said quietly. "Neither did Rea. Or Fell. Or most of the pack. We believe in you. These...dissidents, or whatever, they aren't us. Don't let them get in your head."
He smiled warmly. "And I love you all for it."
Aeris called a council meeting before Meerin or any of his supporters could even attempt to check on the status of their two agents. It was essential that they wonder what the two might have said or how much Aeris could prove. They couldn't make a fuss about it without admitting a connection, which gave the Alpha a clear advantage.
As he watched them file in, he wondered what their first move would be.
Shyla was not technically a member of the council--and she was in more than a little hot water for her disobedience. She knew she couldn't actually attend the meeting, but she did find herself lingering outside the command tent, ostensibly there to greet council members as they filed in.
"What is the purpose of this meeting, Aeris?" Meerin asked once they were all assembled. His tone wasn't challenging, but he didn't seem happy.
"First, I wanted to be the one to inform you all that the zealot leadership has been eliminated and the militia's pet monster has been dealt with, all without death or debilitating injury on our side." Aeris gave everyone a moment to react. Even the traditionalists had to give him credit for a job well done.
"Second, with the crisis under control for the moment, I am bound to lift the moratorium on disciplinary hearings."
"On the subject of Shyla: While she was ultimately essential in bringing everyone home alive, she has..." He sighed. "I regret to say she has once again defied my orders by joining in on an operation she was directly ordered to stay out of. As her Alpha, I can't overlook that. As her family, I only hope this council takes her contribution to the overwhelming success of the mission."
There were murmurs, of course--most surprised but pleased at the success of the mission. If the dissidents were upset by the outcome, they gave no sign of it. The tone shifted some when Aeris announced the official reopening a of disciplinary hearings.
Merrin spoke up on that point: "If that is the case, then why is Shyla not here? I assume you called this meeting also to serve as her hearing?"
"She is waiting outside as we speak. But, don't forget, she is but a prelude to dealing with higher crimes." Aeris was deliberately vague, hoping to make Meerin's faction squirm.
After a moment, nodded to the guards to show Shyla in. It might be noted that all of the guards were from Alfric's elites. It was unorthodox, but it was the only way to be absolutely sure there were no divided loyalties when the time came.
There was just a bit of surreptitious, wary glancing back and forth among the council members; Meerin himself didn't seem to react, but a few of those who had deferred to him in early meetings seemed uncomfortable.
Shyla kept her chin tilted up as she was escorted before the council, and she gave a firm, professional nod in Aeris' direction. "Ser."
Aeris recounted the events of the mission and Shyla's unauthorized involvement, conveniently omitting the attempt on his life. He was sure, however, to mention the second time she had saved his life and that of whoever else might have been fatally dosed with poison before symptoms showed up.
"These are the facts of the case, as I myself witnessed. Soldier, please tell the council what possessed you to defy my direct orders to rest and recover, putting not only your life at risk but the lives of every soldier out there, including your Alpha."
Shyla stood stock still while Aeris talked, though she desperately wanted to shrink into herself. When it was her turn to speak, she tried to straighten her shoulders out a bit and lift her chin a little higher.
"Ser, I understood your orders and knew what the consequences of disobedience would be--but I believed I have an ability that would aid the pack in their mission that no other soldiers present would have been able to do. With my Sight, I was able to survey the battle from a vantage point none of the rest of you had. And, in all modesty, I'm the best medic we have. If there were any fatal injuries, I knew it was unlikely the wounded soldier would make it back to camp in time to be helped."
One of Meerin's supporters finally spoke up. "Do you not think your Alpha is capable of making sound tactical decisions? Or is his judgment merely flawed when you are a factor?"
Shyla's jaw clenched, but she managed to keep her voice mostly even. "I trust our Alpha's judgement." She put a subtle emphasis on the word--much like she had quelled Riza with a compliment, she allowed simply the inflection to highlight how Meerin's man had not claimed Aeris as his own leader directly. Whether that was intentional or not she couldn't say, but she wanted to be clear that she had noticed it.
"It was not a question of Aeris' judgement--I made a call. It happened to work out for us this time. I know it's not my place, and I accept whatever punishment is deemed appropriate."
The man, Wymond, winced at his small but meaningful misstep. Normally such a comment wouldn't land on a member of the council; Aeris was definitely making the traditionalists nervous. The plan was working.
Another, a non-blood named Lambert, asked, "And what punishment do you expect? You know our laws as well as any of us. And you know you are not above them."
It took essentially all that she had in terms of willpower for Shyla to keep her head up and her spine straight, but she did it. "You're right, of course. Ser." She turned her head toward Lambert, somehow almost exactly managing to put match her gaze to his despite not using her Sight. "I'm not above our laws. I would never claim to be. I expect my punishment to match my crime."
She turned her head toward Aeris, and her voice softened just fractionally. "But I know we do not cull. Not anymore."
"No. We do not," Aeris answered, "and members of this council would be well advised not to suggest it. After all, who among us has never had a moment when ambition has clouded our judgment, and in far greater ways?"
The implication was clear to Meerin's faction: if she deserved death for her insubordination, what would they then deserve?
Alfric spoke up. "Besides, two incidents of insubordination wouldn't warrant that anyway. By my understanding, her first offense calls for no less than a week suspension, with an exception to be made for medical emergencies. Her second, a demotion to trainee until such time as her training officer decides she is ready to follow orders."
One or two seated council members shifted uncomfortably, but the motion was subtle.
Shyla drew in a careful breath, nodding in acceptance of her Alpha's judgement. A suspension from her duties wasn't actually all that bad--minor acts of insubordination were frequently discouraged with such methods. And, technically, though she had acted without direct orders from her commanding officer on her recon mission, the idea of an ambush was within the parameters of the mission itself.
Being demoted back to a trainee was a little rougher, though entirely fair. A Howler's competency was paramount to their social standing in the pack; being made a trainee again was a firm statement.
"And who will serve as her training officer?" Meerin suddenly spoke up. "With all due respect, Alpha, you should understand why taking on the task yourself could be...viewed as problematic."
"I hadn't even considered that as an option," Aeris answered evenly. "Nor will it be Alfric. He has more important duties, and it, too, would look like favoritism. If no one objects, I believe Riza may be a good choice. She is no fan of mine, but she is loyal and honest—brutally so."
He kept the entrance in his line of sight, eagerly awaiting Realta's signal. He wanted to get this charade over with before he had to call on Gerhardt. The man had a way of avoiding consequences for his actions, thanks in no small part to his allies on council, who unscrupulously twisted the laws into whatever shape they needed.
He hated even partially sinking to their level; scheming made him feel unclean. But there was no other way.
Shyla winced a bit at that, but made no protest. No one on the council seemed willing to argue the pick either--none of them had real reason to, and they all knew it.
Not entirely sure what her next move was supposed to be, Shyla waited a moment longer before putting forward cautiously, "If...that's all, should I be dismissed, ser?"
Through the entrance, behind the rest of the council, Realta could be seen slipping quietly into the command tent. She met Aeris' eyes and nodded.
Aeris nodded to Shyla. "Yes, you are dismissed."
As she exited the tent, she passed a pair of Alfric's Warhounds escorting Sigrus into the tent.
But before anyone could speak, Aeris said, "Next, we will be holding a hearing to decide the fates of the enemies within. Should anyone try to sway the upcoming testimony away from the truth, I will only be able to assume they are among them. Are we clear?"
When nobody had spoken by the time Sigrus was seated, Aeris cleared his throat. "Good. Now, Realta, ask your questions."
Shyla nodded back and made a concerted effort not to essentially flee the command tent. Realta touched her arm lightly as she passed, a silent gesture of support--despite the anger she knew her sister-in-law must be feeling toward her for running off on her watch.
Realta clasped her hands behind her back as she stood before Sigrus. She really wasn't a particularly imposing woman, but there was a reason she was often used as an interogator--the same reason Aeris had found her in a northern work camp that the Howlers had liberated years ago.
Magic.
She sketched a few glyphs into the air behind her back, whispered the incantation, and a soft bubble of shimmering light flickered into existence in about a four foot diameter around her, encasing everyone close enough. It was entirely intangible, and once the spell was cast the light faded until only the barest shimmer was left in the air, but she could feel the active magic tingling on her skin.
It wasn't a coercion--she couldn't force someone to speak. But if they did speak within the magical field, they could only speak truth. Silence in such a case could be just as damning as a full confession.
Not even everyone on the council knew she could do this, and it was certainly a risk to reveal the ability now. But if Aeris' play worked, then the dissidents would no longer be a threat soon enough.
"Did you participate in a plot designed to kill your Alpha?"
Sigrus bared his teeth, opening his mouth to spit a denial--and choked as the lie died in his throat. His eyes widened, and for the briefest moment flickered in Meerin's direction before he caught himself.
Aeris put his hands on Sigrus' shoulders from behind and leaned down to say, "Oh, by all means, tell us who your co-conspirators are. I mean, other than the one you just indicated. Tell us his name, for those who didn't notice your clumsy attempt at being surreptitious."
When Sigrus said nothing, Aeris tried an angle he discussed with Realta. "How about a deal? Cooperate, and you won't be exiled with the rest of them or executed like your friend Magnus. As much as I loathe the idea of harming a fellow Ulfar, there's only so much leeway I have to be merciful."
Between that and what he heard about Borai'us' appearance before his Alpha, Sigrus' resolve buckled. "Meerin told us we were saving the pack and that with you gone, we could return things to their proper order. The curse would end, and my children wouldn't have to die."
Half the council rose to their feet, an instinctive move of outrage, and Realta cursed silently. Half. Meerin had more on his side than they'd realized.
Her chest was tight, but she kept her expression blank. She couldn't say she didn't understand that--the desperation to ensure that your children would live more than three decades. And Sigrus was nearly thirty himself. Clearly, Meerin had targeted the old guard.
"Fools," she said quietly, almost lamenting.
Aeris gave those standing a commanding glare. "Sit your asses down while the lot of you still have them! Refuse this order, and I won't need a truth spell to know the traitors from the fools."
When people began to sit, he turned his eyes on Meerin. "If you're going to seize power, you should have done it like an Ulfar, not like some damn Connloathian noble. You go on and on about me being soft, hiding your own weakness behind posturing and deception."
"You are no blood of mine." The statement was the ultimate rebuke one blood-Ulfar could give another. Doubly so from an Alpha.
Meerin bared his teeth, and Realta instinctively moved to stand in front of her mate--despite the fact that Aeris easily had a foot on her and she was presently unarmed.
"Our people are dying," the older wolf spat. "Your father knew we must face this curse as we always have--you and your uncle urged a different path. Where has it gotten us? We are still cursed! Our children will still die! Your son will still die!"
"You really don't get it, do you? My father was a fool. If we do things as we've always done, we can never get a different result. At least I'm trying to end the curse!" he argued, getting heated.
He exhaled slowly, maintaining his composure. "Talking in circles will never get us anywhere. So I'll make you a deal, even though I'm within my rights to end your miserable life. For now, you and your co-conspirators will be placed under house arrest while I take the pilgrimage to make my plea to Moon. If I fail to end the curse, as you presume, you will all be set free, and I, my family, and whoever else refuses to live your way will depart, leaving the Ulfar name to you. But if I succeed, you will be exiled. And anyone who still believes in Lorik's ways will be free to follow, but something tells me that number will be vanishingly small."
For a moment, it seemed like Meerin might lunge across the council table at him. But even some who had clearly thrown their lot in with the old guard suddenly seemed uncertain. Realizing that he might not have the numbers at his back that he would need, the older wolf simply growled where he sat.
"And how will you enforce this, Alpha?" he demanded caustically. "If you make your pilgrimage, how will you ensure those left behind do as you command?"
Aeris kept his voice even, not rising to the bait. "Know that I'm in Realta's truth field when I say this; if there's any attempt to seize control from Alfric in my absence, a... friend has been authorized to punish treason in any way he sees fit."
"Besides, neither of us wants a civil war, now do we? Because that's what you'd get by taking power illegitimately."
Meerin's teeth remained bared, but he fell silent. Realta glanced toward Alfric's men who had escorted her and Sigrus in, but she left the command to Aeris to give.
The entire council was frozen in their seats; clearly even those loyal to their Alpha weren't quite sure how to react to what was happening. And then there were those with their eyes downcast, neither glaring at Aeris or looking to him for leadership--those who had joined Meerin's faction in fear and foolishness, and who felt the weight of it now.
"If you're right, you have nothing to lose by cooperating," he told Meerin again before directing Sigrus to name the other conspirators that he knew about. With that done, the arrests began.
When Aeris and Realta were finally alone in their tent and away from unwanted attention, he sighed with all the weight of his position. He hated that he had let things deteriorate to this point. No Alpha had ever had to arrest nearly half the council for treason.
"Easy, easy." Realta moved to brace her mate's shoulder, the way her brow furrowed showing that she could at least take a very good guess at what he was thinking. "That's it. The worst of it is over, yeah?"
Aeris exhaled his nervous energy and met her gaze. The wolfman shook his head. "The worst will be when I get back and have to mete out punishment. Meerin and Gerhardt will be easy. But the others? The ones they roped in with them? That won't. Least of all, Magnus; there's no option but to take his life. Maybe if he hadn't pulled the trigger, but he did."
Fear of death wasn't a luxury Howlers could afford, but nearly being shot in the back by one of his own had left him shaken. It wasn't until now that he could let it show. "I'm lucky that Shyla is so stubborn."
"I suppose we are," Realta admitted, the words half sigh and half laugh. "Though stars help me I've half a mind to tie her to a post in the healers' tent at this point." She dragged a hand down her face, shaking her head. "Damned girl scared me to death when she just disappeared like that. I thought maybe..." She shook her head again.
It was an ugly thought, and one she didn't like to harbor about an Ulfar but...with the measure Meerin and his ilk had taken, she'd been scared someone really had tried to follow through on the idea of culling Aeris' little sister.
"Sometimes I swear she has a death wish." He let out an exasperated sigh. "She behaves like she's a blood-Ulfar approaching thirty with nothing left to lose. I know she just wants to help me achieve my dream, I just wish she had one of her own."
"Maybe she can start thinking about herself once this curse is behind us," he added hopefully.
"Can you blame her?" Realta smiled sadly as she reached up to cup his cheek. "I know she was too young to remember, but...she knows her parents just left her out there. And then you and your uncle took her in, and were kind to her. And then she learns you're supposed to—to die so young?"
She shook her head with a small sigh. "She had two choices, Aeris: to accept that, or not. And she didn't. Just like you didn't." Lips twitching up on one side, she noted dryly, "You call her stubborn, but you know she takes after you in that."
Aeris chuckled despite himself as he leaned into the touch. "I can't exactly argue with that."
His ears suddenly twitched, and he sighed. "You might as well join the conversation if you're going to spy on us anyway," he said to their unseen observer.
Realta froze, then closed her eyes and cursed quietly as Shyla came sheepishly shuffling out into the main section of the tent.
"...Sorry," she muttered toward the floor, scuffing one toe against it.
Realta turned toward her, frowning slightly with her hands on her hips. "Shy," she sighed, tone both frustrated and worried.
"I didn't mean to!" Shyla protested. "I wanted to come ask what happened, but then you two were already talking and..." She shrugged.
Aeris regarded his little sister for a long moment before he decided something. She deserved to be there when he ended the curse. Realta did, too, but someone had to watch out for Wyn while he was gone.
"How much have you heard about what happened in the council meeting after you left?"
"Only what Alfric told me," she replied quickly. After being dismissed from the council, she had been unofficially assigned to watch her nephew--a task that passed to Alfric once the meeting was over. "That the dissidents are being kept under guard until--until you get back from your pilgrimage."
She tipped her head up slightly in Aeris' direction. "You're...really going, then? To--to talk to her?"
"I am. And you should know... I've bet everything on what Lord Borai--Zephyr told me. If I fail to sway her, then I will no longer be considered an Ulfar, and Meerin's faction will be free to lead the pack however they wish." His voice betrayed his doubts, but at the same time, it was full of faith that he would prevail.
"What I ask of you isn't an order or even a mission. As my sister and as my oldest and most faithful ally in this, I want you to come with me."
Realta looked at him sharply, but didn't protest; that was his choice to make. She just worried for them both—by all accounts, the moon spirit wasn't exactly happy with Ulfars.
Shyla fully gaped at him for a long breath before she managed to snap her mouth closed and nodded jerkily. "I—of course! I mean, yes, ser. It would be an honor." Despite his assertion that he was asking as family, not her commander, she found herself automatically defaulting to the language she would have used if given a mission. It just felt too important not to.
"At ease, soldier." He smirked with amusement. "If you keep acting like that, nobody will buy that I'm not technically violating the terms of your punishment."
"Seriously. Relax. If I wanted a soldier, I could have taken anyone. I want to show Moon that's not all we are. I believe that's the key to ending this."
Her shoulders relaxed a bit and she smiled sheepishly. "Right. Okay."
Realta looked back and forth between them, still frowning just a bit. "When will you leave? Alfric and I will need to prep."
Shyla winced. It was so strange--not to mention heartbreaking--to think of her brother's mate and son needing protection from their own pack while he was gone.
Aeris regarded his mate thoughtfully, considering her question. He had kicked the hornets' nest, and time is of the essence if he was going to resolve things peacefully. "How long do you need? The sooner we can leave, the better. I don't want to give Meerin's sympathizers time to regroup and attempt something foolish before I can pull the rug out from under them."
"At minimum, an hour," Realta replied promptly. "I don't want Wyn staying in our tent with just me--I'll move him into the medics' tent, tell him we're going to keep Fell company for a bit. But I'll need to brief the healers we have on duty, and hopefully it won't be seen as too paranoid for Alfric to station a man or two with the medics."
Her lips twitched up on one side wryly. "You did just route those zealots, after all. Won't be that weird to play it cautious for a few days."
Aeris sighed, looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry to have to leave you in such a dangerous position. I knew there would be pushback from following Uncle Thrydwulf's ideals, but I never thought things would get this divided... not so divided that it would put Wyn or either of you in danger."
Realta shook her head. "Don't apologize--you need to do this. And...honestly, I'd rather stay here with Wyn. Just in case--" She took a breath, clearly struggling to keep her voice even. "In case something happens."
She didn't want to say it aloud, but they all knew dealing with nature spirits could be treacherous. There was always the chance something could go wrong.
Aeris scooped his worried mate into a hug, as much for his own benefit as hers. He loved her with all of his heart and always would, for she was his moon and stars. "You already know that I'll do anything in my power to return to you. I always will. And even... even if the worst happens, I'll watch over you until the day we're reunited in the next world."
Gods, why did they always get so sappy before he left to do something dangerous?
Though she couldn't actually see what was happening, Shyla still turned her head away from the private moment, chewing awkwardly at her bottom lip.
Realta returned the hug tightly, pressing her face into the curve of his neck and shoulder for a moment while her own shoulders shuddered. But when she pulled away her eyes were dry, and she gave him a firm nod.
"I'll see you soon," she said, and it sounded almost more like a command than a farewell. Looking over to Shyla, she reached a hand out to the girl and added, "Both of you."
Shyla allowed herself to be drawn into a hug, if a little awkwardly. "We'll be careful," she promised.
"You'd better be," Realta replied, lightly scolding. Over her head, she caught Aeris' eye and--though she knew she didn't need to--mouthed, Look out for her.
Aeris silently nodded in return. He always looked out for Shyla, even when she didn't want him to. In every way but blood, he was her big brother, and that was what big brothers ought to do, doubly so if they had to fill the role of parent as well. Shyla just had to accept that.
A few days passed before the dangers of the mountains presented themselves in earnest. A pass that would have shaved days off of the trek had been buried by a small avalanche, forcing the pair to take the long way around a mountain. And then, the snowfall began to become thicker as the temperature dropped.
"Tell me the instant the cold starts getting to you, and we'll find somewhere to wait this out. Okay?" Those with fur were terrible judges of how much protection others needed from the cold.
"I'm f-f-f-f-fine," Shyla replied, perhaps less than convincingly. Late winter storms were the worst--they always seemed to happen just when she was starting to get used to the gradually warming weather.
"I can k-k-keep going a b-bit longer," she amended. Walking close to Aeris' side helped block the wind somewhat, at least.
"Your chattering teeth aren't very convincing," he answered. He threw an arm around her to cover her with his large cloak as they trudged through the increasing winds.
"Better?"
"...Yeah." She tucked herself closer. It slowed their progress, but then, so would frostbite. "A b-bit."
She managed to push through until the falling and drifting snow was nearly up to her thighs before she had to call it.
"Aeris." Her voice was gaspy, despite her best efforts to keep it steady. "I'm...not gonna get...much further in this."
"There... should be a cave somewhere around here," Aeris responded, the cold finally beginning to get to him.
It took longer than he liked, but they eventually slipped inside a cave on the mountainside. He quickly threw his cloak over her and directed her to sit down while he made sure nothing else had the same idea. Once satisfied, he started a fire.
"You warming up yet?"
"S-s-s-sure." Shyla huddled under the cloak, shifting as close to the fire as she could reasonable do without setting herself alight. "Just need...a few minutes," she mumbled, rubbing her hands together before holding her palms out toward the flames.
With a dry, quiet chuckle, she muttered, "Suppose it would be a pilgrimage if it was easy."
"No, I guess it wouldn't," Aeris chuckled in return, his own hands towards the flames.
"And this isn't the most treacherous part. Moon's Peak isn't an easy climb, and the trail to it is frequented by snow tigers and common wolves alike. But don't worry. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
"I can keep myself safe," Shyla protested with a small frown. "This is too important for you to spend all your energy worrying about me. I'll be fine."
It was maybe something of a bold claim, considering the circumstances. Even under the best conditions, Aeris was right--it was a treacherous climb.
"You just can't let me just be the dutiful big brother, can you?" he huffed with a smirk.
He sighed. "I do forget sometimes that you aren't that scared little girl anymore, but you'll always be someone I want to protect, even if by some means you become immortal. You're just going to have to accept it as much as I have to accept you're an adult now."
She smirked a bit and tipped her head toward him. "Rea might disagree with you there." She hesitated a moment, then clarified, "I...heard the two of you talking, the other night. When you thought I was asleep. About how...the council was saying stuff about me before all this. How I need to--to settle down and all that."
Her expression soured a bit, but then she gave herself a quick shake and joked wryly, "Rae seems pretty convinced I'm not nearly adult enough for that, anyway."
"They don't know you like we do, so all they see is that you can't. I know you have more to contribute than just bearing pups. Maybe once the curse is gone, they'll let themselves see you like I do, or even just as much an Ulfar as anyone brought into the pack," he answered.
"And eighteen is an adult to us. Hells, I wasn't much older when I became Alpha. But we're on our way to change that, so Gauwyn and children like him have a chance to actually be children."
Shyla smiled in the direction of his voice. "I know. And we will--he will."
She went quiet for a moment, simply absorbing the warmth of the fire, then said quietly, "He's a good kid, Aeris. I know you know that, just..." She exhaled quietly. "He's a good kid."
It was something she never let herself think about, not really--that if something went wrong, Gauwyn was just as cursed as any Ulfar. The nephew she'd held as a newborn would die well before she was even middle aged.
She didn't say that was a large part of it, why she hadn't "settled" the way some of the council had wanted her to. Because admitting she was afraid of that--afraid of bearing children she would have to watch die before their time--meant admitting she was afraid maybe there wasn't a way to break the curse.
And she refused to do that, not even to herself.
"He's an amazing kid," he corrected, smiling warmly even though she couldn't see him. "I still can't quite believe I had a part in bringing such a bright light into the world. He shouldn't have to dim that light by growing up too fast. No kid should."
"I just... I hope things change fast enough to let him choose for himself. We've become accustomed to living fast and hard, and I'm afraid we won't be able to let it go so easily."
"It won't be easy," Shyla agreed quietly, "but we can do it. After--after all this, the pack will see you were right. They'll believe in you more than ever. So no, it won't be easy. But we can change."
"We're supposed to be more than swords for hire. Moon didn't bless us for that or to dominate the other packs. I shouldn't have to prove that to them, but here we are."
He sighed. "Anyway, we should get some sleep while we can. Waxing on about the future can wait until we get ourselves a better one."
Shyla grinned and nodded tiredly. "Good idea. Plenty of time for that once we're back home."
She said it firmly, reinforcing the idea--for herself as much as for him--that they would be going home with that better future secured. With a yawn, she curled up on her side next to the fire, scooting closer to his side so she could offer to share the cloak he'd wrapped around her as a blanket.
Aeris nestled himself against her and the two rested.
With the storm having abated, they continued on their way. And after a few more days, they reached the forest at the foot of Moon's Peak.
"Stay on your toes," he warned. "This is a wild place. More than one Alpha has met their end here."
"Noted." Shyla gave a quick, sharp nod as she kept close to his side. She hadn't been bothering to really use her Sight as they traveled, considering Aeris was the only really compatible creature around and she trusted him to keep a better lookout than she would have been able to through his eyes.
Still, she found herself debating whether she should ask as the forested terrain beneath their feet grew thicker and more winding. She didn't need to See to find her way, but she'd admit to some curiosity about their surroundings. Not many Ulfars had passed this way, even before the curse.
As if reading her mind, Aeris chuckled softly. "Go ahead and look. I would want to if the situation were reversed."
When she borrowed his sight, she would see a snow-laden pine forest almost like any other. But something about it was just a little otherworldly, as if the proximity of the great moon spirit caused moonlight to glitter from every remotely reflective surface, even in the day. The result was a subtle, ethereal glow that would doubtlessly become something truly breathtaking at night.
Shyla smiled a little sheepishly, then reached out and took his hand.
"Oh." She blinked, despite it not being her eyes that she was using. "It's beautiful..."
She bit her lip and held his hand a little tighter. "It's...I didn't expect it to be so clearly hers. Do you think—" She lowered her voice, as though that would actually do anything. "Do you think she knows we're here?"
"I would suspect so," he answered. "I wouldn't be surprised if some of the challenges we will face were her doing. The climb may test our resolve and the wild beasts our courage, but she surely will test our nobler aspirations somehow."
"Or test me, at least. Though no Alpha has brought a companion in a long time, so it could be both of us."
"Oh, good." She rolled her eyes theatrically. "Now you tell me."
Not that he could have told her anything back at camp that would have made her stay behind.
She hesitated, then asked quietly, "Did they... I mean, I know I'm not supposed to know the whole story, but..." She shrugged. He wouldn't have brought her along if she didn't know what had brought the curse down on the back, so he must have realized she'd pieced it together. "When she cursed the Ulfars...they were the last two to make this journey together, weren't they?"
"Yes, because neither trusted the other to ask her the right questions. She has appeared to no Alpha since," he answered.
As he started walking, he watched the snow fall from an overburdened branch and continued. "And at the top, the brothers were given a final test. The exact nature of the test died with Lorik, but whatever it was, it led to him pushing Ivar off of the peak. In a proper challenge, he claimed, but the next Alpha discovered Ivar's frozen remains, and he had been stabbed."
Shyla shuddered. "...Culled?" she asked quietly, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
She could see that being an excuse Ulfars had used to remove those that they found...inconvenient.
"That was what Lorik's supporters chose to believe." Aeris shook his head pityingly. "Even though that would have been a cowardly way to do it. The culled was supposed to get a chance to fight back."
He refused to speak of culling in any way other than historical. After all, his policy was that the practice was a relic of the thinking that got them cursed.
"Even with that caveat, it was too easy to use to silence opposing voices. Lorik used it more than any Alpha ever had, and, as a result, our numbers dwindled even faster. They call him strong, but to me, he was the weakest of all. The role of Alpha isn't to dominate like a king, but to lead like a father."
Shyla shook her head. "I can't even imagine—I mean, even after the curse?" She frowned as they walked. "It just seems stupid. Wasteful. I mean, they were losing so much of the pack so young...how could anyone think culling was a good idea?"
She knew how, of course. If they'd genuinely believed that strength was their only path to salvation, and that keeping the "weak" within the pack would doom them, then...
She sighed and shook her head. No point dwelling ; the past was done. But Aeris was going to fix it.
"They were hard times, and in hard times, people do desperate things," he answered.
Suddenly, they felt like they were being watched. Even though the feeling vanished just as quickly, she could tell Aeris was much more tense. It seemed that the time for relaxed talk was over.
He frowned. "Something tells me that was no rabbit. Be on guard."
She tensed when he did, quickly dropping her Sight so she could rely on her own senses without the confusion that came from seeing the world in that just-a-bit-off perspective.
"Wild animal?" she asked quietly, shifting her grip on her staff so she held it less like a walking stick and more like a weapon. "Or do you think it's...something else?"
"Hard to say," he answered, sniffing the air. "It's difficult to smell anything other than the trees."
"We should keep moving anyway." He led the way onward, ever vigilant for whatever was keeping an eye on them. Whether beast, monster, or man, the Howlers' top dog wasn't going to show fear. That would mark them as prey as much as the scent of blood would.
Shyla nodded and crept along behind him, matching her footsteps to his as best she could--she even placed her feet in the tracks he left when she could. It wouldn't do much good if they were directly being watched, but if they were being tracked it might confuse the tracker into thinking there was only one of them.
The forest was eerily silent and deathly still. That made it all the more chilling when the growl broke the silence. It was too deep to be a wolf, but it didn't sound like a mountain cat either. It was... something unfamiliar.
Aeris turned towards the sound, feeling an involuntary shiver when he could see nothing. "Where..?" he whispered, trying to find their stalker.
Shyla froze, automatically turning to put her back to her brother's. It was Ulfar training; you always tried to minimize your angles of vulnerability.
She shook her head slowly, ears straining. "I can't tell..." Though her senses were better than a humans, they weren't on par with a lycan's. If Aeris couldn't figure it out, she certainly couldn't.
Wait.
Maybe she could.
She'd never tried to use her Sight for the first time with a creature she couldn't touch--even after years of knowing someone, she'd only ever used her Sight within a few legnths, maybe a dozen yards at most, like with her scouting birds. She didn't even know if it was possible to implement the initial link without touch. But if it was, now was the time to try.
She drew in a deep breath and reached for that extra sense, throwing it out like a blanket in her mind's eye, pushing pushing pushing as far as she possibly could...
Pain lanced through her skull, red-hot and echoing, but it came with an image. Just the barest second, a flash of herself and Aeris as seen from--
"On your left!" she shouted, whirling toward the creature and sweeping her staff around into a guard position.
Aeris pushed Shyla out of the way before throwing himself aside as an exceptionally large snow tiger leaped straight at them with a roar that shook snow from the trees.
He drew his blades as he rose, snarling at the beast as he entered a battle stance. It responded in kind, but it sounded wrong somehow. Then Aeris noticed the old wound on its throat.
"Go! Get out of here, beast!" he shouted, trying to intimidate the animal. "I would rather not kill one of Moon's children this day!"
Shyla kept low when he shoved her down out of the way, hoping her coloring and small stature might help her blend into the snowy terrain. She was tense, waiting, not sure if the animal would respond to Aeris' threat display by fleeing or attacking.
The animal didn't seem to be entirely sure itself; it paced back and forth in front of him, tail lashing and lips curled back in a rolling snarl--a territorial display of its own.
Aeris clanged his twin khopesh against each other in hopes the sound would push the beast over the edge into fleeing. As he did this, he stalked forward as if he might attack at any moment.
"C'mon, kitty, run away and leave us be," he muttered through bare teeth.
The snow tiger snarled, prowling back and forth--but it was injured, and a predator was good at sizing up its options.
It hissed at them, one last territorial display, then wheeled about and dashed back into the trees.
Shyla waited until the sound of its passage through the foliage faded before she risked straightening up. "Think it...will stay gone?"
Aeris relaxed, mostly, and put away his weapons.
"At least for a while. We'd do well to get out of its territory; it's an old wound, but even that makes it unpredictable."
He looked her over for injuries. "Are you okay?"
Shyla rolled her eyes at him. "I'm fine--it didn't even get near me." She gave him a wry look and added, "Any scrapes I have thus far come solely from you shoving me into a snowbank."
It was clear she was joking though, as she didn't have so much as a bruise.
"Snow is soft," Aeris answered teasingly as he started walking, "I knew you'd be fine."
Time passed as they trekked deeper into the forest. The trees grew thicker and were becoming oppressively close. To make matters worse, the magic of the place had begun to play tricks on their senses.
"Gods, how many of us have just gotten lost here? It's hard just keeping up with what direction we're going."
Shyla cocked her head at him. "Really? I thought we just...kept going north." She pointed toward the path she'd thought they were following--a subtle curve under their feet that couldn't actually be seen, but had to be felt. It didn't seem to occur to her that someone who could see their surroundings would inevitably be confused by the way the trees seemed to bend the wrong way, or the moss growing on the wrong sides of their trunks.
"Then maybe I should rely on your senses for once, because my usual ways of navigating a forest aren't working here," he half joked and half complained.
Then his ears perked up. Had he just heard... no, it's just this place messing with me. Rea would never let that happen.
Shy would notice the sudden tension in his grip on her hand.
Shyla chuckled a bit, stepping slightly as head of him. "Well, follow me then, I suppose." She snorted. "Can't say I'm used to being the one to say that."
She felt him hesitate and turned her head back toward him fractionally. "Ari? Something wrong?"
Aeris shook his head in an effort to clear it. "No, everything's fine, Shy. I just... I thought I heard Wyn calling to me."
"That's... impossible, right?" he asked with the uncertainty of a worried parent.
Shyla frowned and hesitated, cocking her head to listen. After a moment, she shook her head slowly. "I don't hear any—"
"...Da!..."
Her eyes widened. "H-hold on, I—I think I heard something." She wavered, then gave herself a brisk shake. "No. No, Rea is with him. He's safe, Ari. Your mate is a force of nature when it comes to that kid."
"...Da! Help!..."
Aeris let out a worried sound before shaking himself. "I know it can't be real, but every muscle in my body wants to run to help him."
"I don't know if I can ignore it much longer." He knew it would be the end of them both, but he could barely stop himself.
"It's not him." Shyla reached to take his hand, squeezing tightly. She could hear the voice clearer now, too, and was trembling slightly.
But it had to be a trick. Didn't it?
"Let's--let's get moving. Quick," she muttered. "We'll run if we have to."
"Yes. Let's... get out of here." He practically trembled with doubt as they ran. If he was wrong, Wyn was in danger. He could never forgive himself if he was—no! He couldn't let himself be fooled.
The phantom Wyn's voice seemed to get more and more insistent as they ran, but the distance never changed. It wasn't until they broke the tree line at the base of the mountain trail that the voice faded away.
Aeris huffed, pausing to catch his breath. "Gods above... I thought it would never stop."
Shyla was shaking as well when they stopped, gulping air in an effort to hold back irrational tears.
If it had been real... If it had been real, and she had been the one to pull Aeris away, whatever happened to Wyn would have been her fault.
Again.
But it wasn't real. It wasn't, it couldn't have been, it wasn't, it wasn't.
She swallowed thickly and nodded toward her brother. Reaching out to place a hand in his arm, she asked in a small voice, "You—you okay?"
Aeris took a deep, shuddering breath. "I... I think so," he answered, his voice raw with suppressed doubt.
He hugged her all the same. "Thanks for keeping my head on straight. If I hadn't brought you, I'd surely never have escaped that maze of illusion."
Shyla hugged him back, grateful for the comforting contact. "You'd have managed," she murmured, then added with a small smile, "Maybe not as quickly, though."
She chuckled wryly as she pulled away. "Not gonna lie, a part of me wishes I could shove that in Meerin and the rests' faces. How many of them could have made it this far, huh?"
Aeris responded with a wry chuckle of his own. "None, by my reckoning."
He started up the trail, which wound its way up the mountain in a series of treacherous switchbacks full of loose footing and sharp spires of rock. "We should keep moving. We really don't want to be caught on the trail after dark."
"I, ah, I assume that's for the usual reasons it's a bad idea to be caught in the mountains after dark?" Shyla asked hopefully. "And not because there's some specific spooky thing we should be anticipating?"
Hells. Who was she kidding?
"The night is when Moon's influence over the mountain is strongest. She wouldn't let anything truly vile take root here. So, as far as I know, just the usual reasons," Aeris responded as they walked. "But that doesn't discount that some dangerous animal may have taken up residence since the last Alpha passed through here."
"Oh. Good." She stepped a little closer. "What are our odds of finding a conveniently located cave around here, do you think?"
Aeris rubbed the back of his head. "I believe there's one about halfway up. So, tomorrow, we'll have to camp out at the peak until nightfall and hope Moon graces us with her presence so that we may plead our case."
"As many nights as it takes, short of breaking our promise to come back alive, we're going to end this. Agreed?"
Shyla nodded firmly. "Agreed. As long as it takes."
She'd been waiting for this almost as long as she could remember. She would wait however many nights Moon demanded more.
By the time they reached the cave she was quite thoroughly exhausted, though doing her best not to show it. "Up with first light?" she asked, covering the beginnings of a yawn with her hand and trying to swallow down the rest of it.
She needn't have bothered trying to hide it. If he was exhausted, she must be dead on her feet.
"Yes," he agreed.
"And you don't need to pretend with me. I know your tired because I'm tired."
"Fine." She laughed a little breathlessly and dropped her travel pack onto the cave floor. "I'm wiped. Happy?"
She started rummaging through her pack. "Think we can risk a fire in here? It's getting colder by the minute, with how high we've gotten."
"It's less risky than the cold," he answered as he unslung one of the bundles of sticks he gathered as they trekked through the woods.
After finding a suitable spot, he started building the fire. "How are we doing on rations?" he asked casually as he worked.
"If we're careful? Better part of a week," Shyla answered, before coming back up from the pack with flint and stone in hand, which she passed over to him.
Her mouth twisted a bit and she added, "That's...not including the trip home. But leaving has to be easier than getting here, right? Should be quicker."
"It'll be fine," Aeris responded with a shrug as he took the flint and stone. "I can always hunt for food if need be."
He summoned sparks from the flint with a practiced hand, then gently blew into the kindling to coax the fire to life. "I might even get to do it as a wolf. Won't that be something?" he chuckled.
Shyla smiled a bit at the thought. "It sure will be," she murmured. She was quiet a moment, then chuckled and noted, "Y'know, I was about to say something about I'll be curious what your wolf looks like, but I don't think the vernacular is quite accurate."
She shrugged, smiling crookedly. "Do you think it'll just...happen? Like, back at camp, the whole pack will just...suddenly be unstuck?"
"I honestly don't know," he answered with a shrug of his own as he sat back to enjoy the warmth. "If they don't suddenly lose their stuck forms, they might not even think to try. Or Moon may decide to change her blessing into something else."
"We're so used to being this way that I don't think I'll be the only one to take time to readjust. The children will have it easier in that regard." He had to smile at the idea of Wyn growing up able to shift.
He sighed. "I'd love to be there to see what my boy looks like the first time he takes a human shape. Or his wolf shape, for that matter."
Shyla reached over to squeeze his arm gently. "Soon," she said. With a little smile, she added, "And Rae will be with him. I doubt she's let him out of her sight once since we've been gone."
A vaguely teasing lilt came into her tone as she said with a small smirk, "Besides, you'll be there for the next one, right? And the next, and the next..."
She knew Wyn hadn't exactly been planned, and that as much as Rae and Aeris loved him, they weren't really planning on having more pups while there was a chance Raelta would just have to watch them all die so young. But she'd also overheard her sister-in-law talking to friends in the pack about how much she'd always wanted a big family, how most aspects of fitting into pack life had been easy for her because of that.
"Yeah, I know... It just feels like just another milestone I'll be too busy to witness." Aeris sighed regretfully.
With a crooked yet somehow sad smile, he said, "I swear, every time I turn around, he's a little more grown. At this rate, he'll be a man before I know it."
"But I'm sure every parent feels that way, if they care at all."
"But at least you'll get to see that, right?" Shyla half-smiled in the direction of his voice. "See him grow into a man."
Too many Ulfar parents had died before they got that chance. But not anymore. Not after this.
"You're right," Aeris answered with a happy sob. "That's absolutely the best way to look at it."
It was as vulnerable as he'd ever been with her since becoming Alpha. With nobody watching him, probing for every weakness, everything he might regret not saying if the worst happened just... flooded out.
"I love you, Sis. I don't tell you that enough. You've never lost faith in me—never so much as expressed a single doubt in what I'm trying to do. You can't possibly know how grateful I am that you came into my life."
"Whoa, hey now." Shyla blinked, for a moment entirely unsure how to react to the sudden vulnerability. It had been...a long time since he'd been so open with her.
But she only hesitated that single moment before scooching closer and tucking herself up under his arm so she could wrap her own around his chest. "I love you too, Ari," she mumbled, stilted but genuine. "Of course I believe in you. You saved me, didn't you?"
However grateful he was for her, she was for him, and more. While she didn't remember being abandoned to the elements--she'd been so young--she knew Aeris had been a child himself when he found her. And he hadn't hesitated a moment before bringing her back to the pack with him. As far as she was concerned, he'd been saving people his whole life: of course he could save the pack.
"What kind of monster would I have been to leave a child to die?" he asked, downplaying the nobility of the act. But he knew too well that many in the pack saw bringing in a blind foundling as an undue burden that weakened them. They wouldn't have saved her.
"Sometimes I wish I could find your birth parents and beat the shit out of them for doing that to you. But then you wouldn't have become my sister. So in some perverse way, I'm glad they did. Besides, if they could do that, how good parents could they have been?"
Shyla snorted quietly. "That's what I tell myself." Most of the time.
She didn't think about her birth family often; as far as she was concerned, they didn't deserve her time. When she did think of them, it was usually with anger, or maybe a little hurt.
Once or twice there had been curiosity. When she was younger, when Aeris' uncle had explained to her what a half-elf was, exactly. But she'd long moved passed that.
"I'm glad I have the family I do," she murmured after a few moments. Meerin and his ilk notwithstanding; the pack was her family, and she loved them.
"Me too." Aeris smiled warmly, returning the hug.
In the afternoon of the following day, after an arduous final climb, the pair finally reached the summit. The highest cliff--the place they sometimes called the Temple of the Moon--was cold, with only a small, shallow cave providing any protection from the elements. The nights were going to be brutal unless Moon chose to appear.
"We won't both fit in that cave, so we should find somewhere to secure the tent," Aeris said as he surveyed the area.
"Maybe pitch it outside the cave entrance?" Shyla offered dubiously. She paced the small space, getting a feel for their surroundings. "We could set it up with three sides, help keep the wind out of the cave and keep a fire going in there..."
Gods, it was freezing. And she wasn't exactly thrilled about how little "padding" space there was between them and a sharp fall.
"That's what I was thinking." With a nod, he proceeded to hammer pitons at strategic points where they would secure their tent. And, together, they made short work of making their shelter.
"This is a little better, right?" he asked as they sat inside the tent. They hadn't started a fire yet, though, as they might run out of firewood if they tried keeping one going all the time.
"Much." Shyla huddled down next to him, sharing his body heat. "Though I imagine the coat of fur helps more than flimsy skin," she added with a small chuckle, pinching lightly at her own arm.
She was quiet a moment, then asked in a softer voice, "What do you think she looks like?"
"Beautiful, I imagine." He smiled, trying to picture her. "A pale woman in a flowing, luminous gown of starlight. At least, that's how I always pictured her."
"How about you? What do you think she'll be like?"
"Well, I can't say I picture things all that much," Shyla noted with a small chuckle. "But I imagine...cold. She might feel cold. Not the way winter is, not necessarily harsh, more like a north wind at the end of spring."
She flushed a bit and laughed again, rubbing at the back of her neck. "Does that make sense?"
"I guess?" he chuckled with a shrug. "I always thought she'd feel like a cool, night breeze, which I guess isn't too far off."
He exhaled slowly. "Gods. What am I even going to say to her? I've gone over it in my head time and time again but nothing ever feels right."
"Well...what did Bo--Zephyr say? Something about her holding a grudge for too long?" Shyla shrugged. "Maybe just...tell her why we're here. Because you love your pack, and you can't bear to see them suffer anymore."
"So, just be open and honest, and trust her to listen?" he asked, surprised by the simplicity of the approach. "And trust myself to find the right words."
"Do you really think it'll be that easy?"
"You assume being open and honest is easy," Shyla noted. "Something tells me Moon is more than familiar with the idea of misdirection. Maybe just...being upfront with her is actually unexpected."
"I love my family, but I can see Ulfars trying everything but showing her their bellies," he admitted with a slight chuckle. "It's just not our nature to lead with our feelings."
"Exactly." Shyla nodded. "I mean, it's gotta be worth a try at least, right?"
A chill wind swept over the peak--nowhere near as strong as it would have been in full winter, but still bitingly cold. She shivered violently and huddled down closer to where their tent connected with the small cave entrance, trying to find the best place to block the wind from multiple directions.
Aeris did his best to shield her from the elements. "I agree."
By the time night rolled around, they had started a campfire to fight the worst of the chill to come. Aeris watched the rising full moon with both hope and anxiety. He didn't know what would happen if the spirit visited them. For all he knew, her grudge could demand a price be paid.
Despite her best efforts, the climb and the cold were taking their toll on Shyla, and her eyelids were dropping heavily by the time to moon actually rose. She lulled against Aeris' side, head falling onto his arm as she struggled to stay awake.
Not even Aeris made it all the way to morning that night. The next night wasn't much better. However, on third and final night of the full moon, Aeris suddenly grabbed the hilt of sword.
"Shh... Someone's here, and it's no spirit," he whispered before slipping out of the tent. With nowhere to run or hide, his only choice was to face whoever it was.
"Wha--Aeris!" Shyla scrambled to her feet after him, but she had the sense to hover in the entrance to their shelter, listening intently before she ran headlong into an unsure situation.
If she'd run out and whatever was out there didn't kill her, Aeris would have for being so stupid.
There was movement in the treeline just below the peak: organized movement. No wild animal this time, though the possibility remained that it was an illusion of some sort.
"Who goes there?!" Aeris demanded with a commanding growl. "Show yourself!"
He creeped closer to the edge for a better vantage point, his blade at the ready.
The movement in the trees stopped.
And then a howl went up—a howl any Ulfar would recognize, not quite wolf but not quite not. First one, then two, three...at least half a dozen.
Shyla felt a chill that had nothing to do with the mountain wind trickle down her spine. "Aeris," she hissed, as though he didn't already know. "Aeris, what—what do we do?"
"Grab your bow. Use whatever eyes you can. They wouldn't have followed us to talk," he said without turning his head. He had underestimated the traditionalists again, or perhaps overestimated them. He thought they would have believed that he would fail, not that they would attempt to guarantee it on Moon's doorstep.
He drew his other khopesh and took position at the most likely approach. "Do not think that I will hesitate to bathe the mountainside with blood if that's what it takes to end this!" he shouted.
Shyla nodded, snatching up her staff and quickly moving to stand beside her brother. She allowed her Soght to bleed into him, but kept most of her attention on her own ears.
A voice—Meerin's voice—echoed up from the trees in answer to Aeris: "Spilling blood would have ended this years ago! And only now will you be brave enough to do it?"
Aeris cursed under his breath. Of course the snake found a way to slither free. He prayed his mate and child were unharmed by whatever transpired to free him. "Unlike you, I only harm family as a last resort. And if you truly had faith in your cause, you would have no reason to be here to sabotage me," he answered with cold anger.
Meerin didn't reply. It only took Shyla a heartbeat to realize why.
"Left!" she shouted, dropping low and sweeping her staff out as a wolf lunged from the trees, two more rushing up from further down the slope.
"The only heads that will roll tonight are going to be yours!" he yelled with a snarl as he rushed to intercept the first attacker. Though he had fought and bled with each and every one of these traitors, he didn't hesitate to come out swinging. It broke his heart, but they had left him no alternative other than rolling over to die. And he would never do that; no Howler would.
His blades sparked against his first opponent's weapon, and in a flurry of motion, only Aeris was left standing. He gazed defiantly at the oncoming pair, teeth bared in challenge.
Shyla spun, holding her staff out to create as much space around herself as possible.
A blade cut down toward her as the two wolves closed in. She managed to catch it at an angle, sending it glancing to the side, though splinters sprayed through the air.
Another Ulfar sprang from the trees, leaping for Aeris' back while the first came at him from the side.
Aeris sidestepped the leaper and spun to kick him into the other attacker.
Shyla's opponent snarled and came in with another slash, not giving her a moment to breathe.
Shyla spun her staff up again, low block, high again, again. With every desperate block she was forced back a step, boots crunching in the snow—until suddenly there was nothing beneath her heel.
She froze at the edge of the peak, and the cry that came from her was instinctive: "Ari!"
Aeris snapped his head towards Shyla's position, and his eyes went wide. "Shy!" he yelled in alarm as he ran back up the trail. He threw himself onto the cliff just in time to see her attacker raise his weapon for a final strike.
Unfortunately, Aeris had left himself wide open.
Shyla ducked down, making a desperate bid and rolling directly into her attacker's legs just as he brought his weapon down toward her.
It was enough to stagger the lycan, and she scrambled away on her hands and knees through the snow just as she heard a familiar gait racing up the slope. Not Aeris.
Meerin.
"Ari!" she yelled again, trying to get to her feet. "Behind you!"
He whirled around just in time to awkwardly parry a blow from Meerin's sword, only taking a scratch on the arm.
"Why am I not surprised you have no qualms about making your backstabbing literal."
Meerin only growled in response, jerking his blade back and then coming in again, again, seemingly intent on driving Aeris back to the cliff edge.
Shyla just barely managed to get herself out of the way; luckily she'd kept a grip in her staff, able to throw it up into yet another block as one of Meerin's men charged her.
Aeris regained his focus and, with it, the martial prowess that made him Alpha in the first place. Blocks became strikes as he delivered a flurry of slashes designed to push the older wolf back and hopefully create an opening to do some actual damage.
Shyla's opponent sneered and used his off-hand to thrust a dagger at her. Honor was the last thing on their mind.
Shyla ducked low again; she knew the Ulfars, knew how her pack fought, and one martial quirk they all seemed to share was their sheer size. Too many of them overlooked an opponent coming from below.
She shoved her staff upward as she ducked under his guard, catching his jaw with a sharp, sickening crack. The wolf fell back, clutching his face and howling, and she turned.
She knew Meerin. She'd known him all her life. She didn't need to be touching him to use his eyes with her Sight.
She blinked, and then she was watching him attack her brother, watching from his own viewpoint as he parried and spun and wove around Aeris, no longer gaining ground but refusing to give it either.
She Saw what was off; it was almost imperceptible to an outside viewer, especially in the pitch of battle. But Meerin must have been hurt in his escape--he was listing just a fraction to the left.
"Ari! His right side!"
Aeris immediately acted on her intel without hesitation. She had never steered him wrong in a fight. He blocked Meerin's blade with one of his and slashed at his right side with the other. With any luck, he'd disable the older wolf's injured leg entirely.
Meerin snarled, the sound both pain and anger, as his injured leg buckled and he sank to one knee. Still, he glared up at Aeris defiantly, blade bared.
"Do it then," he growled. "End it."
Aeris knocked the blade away, sending it skittering down the mountain. His immediately went to Meerin's throat. "Something tells me you'd rather die than face the shame of exile. I can think of no better reason to let you live. With that leg, you aren't going to be much of a threat."
"Now tell your men to stand down. No one else needs to die tonight."
Meerin continued to glare for a long moment. Then his shoulder slumped slightly and he closed his eyes.
"Stand down!" he barked. He may have been a traitorous ass, but an Ulfar's duty was always to protect the pack—sparing his men was as much ingrained in him as his belief that Aeris should have killed him.
The other wolves hesitated, but slowly lowered their weapons.
Meerin chuckled angrily and shook his head. "Exile," he spat. "Even now, you've not got the stones to end me yourself."
"Still, you mistake mercy for weakness when just killing you would be so much easier." The Alpha shook his head pityingly. "But this is your last chance. Test me again and you'll find the limit of my mercy."
He let his voice carry. "Run. And if I see any of you again, exile is off the table!"
There was another moment of hesitation—but finally Meerin's men seemed to see the reality of the situation. With a few growls and snarls, they dispersed back into the trees.
Shyla slumped a bit in place, dropping the Sight she'd been using through Aeris. "Fucking hells," she muttered, starting toward her brother. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just a nick on the arm, but you should take a look at it anyway," he answered.
Looking away from Meerin for just a moment, he did a quick visual sweep of his sister. "You?"
It was the same mistake Fell made.
Shyla reached forward automatically, thrusting the butt of her staff into the snow beside her. "I've got a disinfectant back in the tent—"
Her voice cut off in a hollow gasp as pain sliced up her side from the small, hidden knife Meerin had jabbed between her ribs.
The older Ulfar's lips were twisted in a snarl, staring at Aeris even as he drew the blade back.
Choose, Alpha.
The world seemed frozen—no, it was frozen—but in his panic at seeing Shyla's fatal wound, he didn't realize that.
Choose? he asked, wondering where the voice came from, How can I choose? It's too late...
"Choose," the voice repeated, clearer this time.
There was a light around Shyla's frozen form, soft and silver. A light that grew gradually brighter, until it was nearly blinding--and then it separated from her, taking the form of a tall, willowy figure just beside her as the glow began to gradually fade again.
The figure grew more solid as the light faded, until she was revealed to be a woman with faintly glimmering golden skin and snowy white hair that fell nearly to her waist. Despite the chill of the mountain, she wore only a pale shift that shimmered with its own kind of starlight.
Her eyes, when they met Aeris', were twin silver disks. No pupils, no irises, just pale moons in her golden face.
"You were brave to come here," Moon noted, her voice soft and shivering. "Or perhaps simply foolish."
Aeris could hardly believe what was happening or who was before him. But there Moon was, every bit as coldly beautiful as they had imagined. He would have bowed in reverence if he had the ability to move anything but his mouth.
"The two aren't mutually exclusive, I find." Wait, why was he making small talk? Shyla was dying. "But how can I choose? What am I choosing?"
"To break your curse," Moon answered simply. She looked at Shyla for a moment, the girl's expression frozen into shock and pain.
Stepping away, she moved around to examine Meerin: on his knees, bloodied knife still clenched in his fist and a snarl etched onto his muzzle.
"It's a simple choice," the spirit told Aeris as she straightened up again to circle both before coming to a stop in front of him. "One life for the sake of your pack."
A look of agonized conflict conquered his features as her meaning sunk in. Even Shyla would say there was no choice at all, that she wasn't worth the lives of every blood Ulfar—that she wasn't worth Wyn's shortened life. But she was family too—blood be damned—and how could he abandon her when she needed him most? What being worth following would even ask such a thing?
"I don't... I can't..." His eyes practically begged not to have to choose.
Moon tilted her head, expression placid and unmoving. "Can't you?" she asked quietly. "Why? Because she is pack? You told him that was not enough protection for his treachery."
She laid a hand on Meerin's frozen shoulder as she stepped around him. She paused again in front of Shyla, and reached out to brush a lock of the girl's hair back from her face. There was something...almost maternal in the gesture.
She looked back to Aeris. "One life. Your sister for the rest of your family. I can save her--but if I do, you will die. Your nephews, nieces, cousins, your son will die. And none of you will ever know the freedom of your true shapes." Her head drifted the other way, considering him. "Is it worth it? Is one life worth that?"
Aeris could no longer look at the spirit with anything but horror. No one should be made to decide such a thing. How could he choose to sacrifice one child for another?
That was also what she was to him—not just a sister. He had raised her more than anyone else had, and he loved her as such. She had become his responsibility, and there was no way he could turn his back on her.
Finding his resolve, he answered, "It is. She is as much my family as my child is, and, in every way that counts, she is my child. So, no, I will not accept an easy solution if it means she has to die. I will not accept that Lorik's way was right."
"Are you sure?"
Though Moon's voice remained as placid as ever, there was a hint of a new intensity to her gaze as she stared at him. "This choice is final--once it is made, it is made for all time. This is the Ulfars last chance to free themselves. Are you sure?"
"I won't throw away who we are like he did. If we remain cursed and if I suffer exile for my failure, so be it," he answered, no matter how much it broke his heart to prevent his son from living a full life. This was the right thing to do.
Moon stared at him for a long moment, eyes shining with a light of her own.
Then she sighed quietly, head bowing forward. "The choice is made."
Once more, she was a creature of light, that glow spiraling around Shyla's form until it seemed to seep into her skin, then disappeared entirely.
The young woman gasped, staggering backward with a hand pressed to the wound in her side. A hand that came away free of blood.
"Wh-what--what?"
Despite his incredible relief, Aeris felt a profound sense of guilt eclipsed only by his righteous anger at her would-be murderer.
"That was your last chance." Aeris snarled and ran the doubtlessly surprised Meerin through.
Meerin gave a sputtered, choking gasp before collapsing onto his side. The soon swiftly began to turn crimson around him.
With his last, rattling breath, the Ulfar laughed: better death than dishonor.
Shyla was just standing there, still feeling at her side where a wound should be. He'd stabbed her. She'd felt him stab her but then it was just...gone.
"Aeris, what..." She swallowed, turning her head toward her brother. "What happened?"
Aeris removed his blade from Meerin and averted his gaze from Shyla. "Moon happened. She saved you," he answered, but she knew him well enough to know he was hiding something important.
He didn't really think he could keep the cost from her for long; he just needed a moment to get his head straight. He had failed; the curse would never be gone, and he had split the family irrevocably for nothing. Could she forgive him for choosing her?
"I...don't..." Shyla finally stopped poking at her own side, and took a cautious step toward her brother. "She was here? I don't even...it was like I took a breath and everything just...changed."
She shook her head, overwhelmed but definitely noticing he'd left out the most important part: "You talked to her? What did she say? Are you--is it...?"
"She... She made me choose." He agonized over every word, still unable to believe Moon could be so cruel. "Your life, or an end to the curse."
"Gods, Shy... I couldn't do it. I couldn't let you die. And now... Gods... I just sentenced Wyn to an early grave..." Caught between two conflicting promises, any choice he could have made would have broken his heart.
Shyla's stomach dropped. She shook her head, unable to do anything for too long but to mouth the word No.
"She—why would..." She swallowed. Grief and despair and rage all bubbled up in her chest and she made a sound that wasn't quite a howl, but wasn't a human cry either.
"Why did you pick me?!"
"Because then I'd be no better than Lorik!" Aeris answered more sharply than he intended.
Taking a second to compose himself, he continued, "If we can only be free by sacrificing the people we're supposed to cherish, then we don't deserve it. We are more than killers, and if that is truly what Moon wants, then she can stay angry for all I care."
Shyla just stood there, panting. She wanted to yell and scream--at him, at Moon, at everything.
He'd chosen her. Over himself, over Wyn, over everyone. And she could hear the conviction in his words, she understood it... If Moon forced his hand so the Ulfars could only be no better than Lorik...
She shook her head, swallowing painfully. "I--this..." She swayed, then sank down onto her knees in the snow, buried her face in her hands, and wept.
Aeris kneeled down to hold her, joining in on the weeping with heavy sobs.
Had he truly been wrong about everything? It didn't seem real that Moon would test him in such a horrible way, not after Zephyr urged him to seek her out.
If you're still watching us, please tell us you were only testing my dedication to my beliefs.
Shyla hid her face against his chest, hating herself for how much she needed his comfort, even now. Even after he'd had to make the worst choice anyone could possibly make and he'd chosen her. If anyone should be giving comfort, it should be her to him.
"I'm sorry, Ari," she whispered through tears, burrowing into him. "I'm so--"
She suddenly stilled, then pulled back. One hand went under Aeris' chin, lifting his head to meet his eyes with hers--actually meet them, though the pale, clouded blue of her eyes was replaced with shining silver disks. There was a faint glow around her, a halo of moonlight.
"Forgive me, Alpha," she murmured, and her voice was doubled: both Shyla and Moon, speaking as one. "I had to know. I had to be sure. I could not risk bestowing my favor once again only for you to break my heart."
She smiled, smoothing one hand back over his head in that maternal gesture she'd used with Shyla. "Be at peace, Aeris Ulfar. Have courage, and be kind." She leaned in to kiss his brow, and that shivering chill of the mountain air swept down from the contact to cover his body. "You are free."
She pulled back, the glow faded, her eyes dimmed back to Shyla's pale blue. The girl blinked, weaving back and forth. "What...the..."
She swooned into Aeris' shoulder.
Aeris started laughing hysterically. He had actually done it! The curse was gone. He could feel that it was gone.
"She came back! It was a test, Shy! The curse... It's gone! I can feel my other shapes again!" He hugged her tight as he continued to rejoice. "We did it!"
"She...you...what?"
Shyla gaped, still struggling to focus after what had felt to her like an odd dizzy spell, and then suddenly Aeris was laughing where before he had been sobbing. "She—she did?"
She blinked. "Oh gods. Oh my gods!" A cautious smile started to curve her lips, then she was laughing and crying herself as she threw her arms around Aeris' neck.
"Nobody else has to die for Lorik's misdeed. My boy has a future!" Aeris started to get teary-eyed again, but this time it was out of joy. "Oh, Shy, my boy has a future. We all have a future."
But his work towards building that future had only just begun. Adjusting to life without such a hard expiration date wouldn't be easy; they had become accustomed to fighting like they had no tomorrow. There will likely still be those like Meerin who resist change, but their tune will change when the first of them survives past thirty.
"Aeris, you have a future!" Shyla exclaimed, breathless with excitement.
Of course it wouldn't be easy, of course--but the thing she'd never allowed herself to properly feel, that fear that her brother's end was drawing closer with every passing day, was suddenly gone. She was both lighter without it, and adrift; she didn't exactly know what to feel.
With a little half-laugh, half-sob, she fell against him in another exuberant hug. "Oh gods, I wonder if they know. Do you think they all felt it, like you did? Rae is going to be beside herself!"
Aeris grew contemplative. "I think they did. It's... hard to explain how it feels."
He screwed up his face in thought. "It's like I've been missing a limb all this time, and suddenly it's grown back. I haven't moved it yet, but I know it's there."
"Does that make any sense?"
Shyla chuckled and shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know if it does, and I don't care. I'm just—"
Her throat tightened and she coughed. "I'm just...really glad you're okay, Ari."
Aeris ruffled her hair as he stood. "Me too, Shy. Now, we should get back to the tent before we freeze. We still have to get home in one piece."
"Go. I'll join you as soon as I do something with Meerin's body." He sounded remorseful. Meerin may have given him no choice, but spilling the blood of family made him feel dirty.
"Yeah. Okay." She felt guilty—she felt like she should offer to help him, but...
She'd never been particularly close with Meerin, but she'd never expected all of this from him either. He was pack. He was family.
And he'd decided his "honorable death" was worth killing her. Hells, he'd been fine with the idea of her being culled.
She couldn't do it. His corpse could freeze in the snow as far as she was concerned.
She swallowed thickly, nodded at Aeris, and hurried back to the tent.
Aeris couldn't very well bury Meerin and he wasn't about to haul him down the mountain with them. He silently apologized to the fallen wolf before tossing him over the edge in a grisly echo of the crime that started all of this.
"Shy! Wake up!"
The morning had come with another surprise. During the night, Aeris' fur had changed from brown to a silvery white. And, around one eye, a dark crescent moon.
"M'up, I'm up," Shyla mumbled, shaking her head as she forced herself to sit upright and yawned extravagantly. "We ready to break camp?" she asked around another yawn, turning her head in Aeris' direction as she groped sleepily for the edge of her bedroll.
Without imminent danger, she didn't have much use for her Sight, and didn't notice anything unusual about her brother other than the energy in his tone—and she rather attributed that to all the excitement of the previous evening.
"Borrow my eyes, quick! You've got to see this!" Aeris insisted, staring at his reflection in his khopesh.
"See what?" Shyla reached out to take his hand with a frown, extending her Sight along with her hand.
She gasped, snatching her hand back quickly. "Oh my—holy hells!"
Aeris chuckled in disbelief. "It seems I've been marked."
"Gods. Rae is going to tease me mercilessly for going white early," he laughed.
"Oh she definitely is," Shyla agreed.
With a sudden burst of excited energy, she sprang to her. "Well, come on then! Let's get moving so she can get started."
A few days later, a curious sight came to the temporary war camp. Upon a silver-white dire wolf rode Shyla Ulfar. Those who bore witness were stunned into silence for several moments before breaking out into cheers. Clearly, they knew the curse was broken.
It seemed like half the pack came running to meet them as soon as Aeris broke through the tree line at the edge of camp. Grinning, and then laughing, Shyla swung down from his back and wrapped an arm around his neck in a tight hug before she stepped back to give them room to greet him.
Voices clamored over each other, laughing, crying, rejoicing. And then they suddenly went quiet as a small Connlaothian woman came forward. The crowd parted around her automatically, a few heads dipped in respect even as they smiled playfully at one another.
Realta stopped a few lengths away from her mate, smiling, eyes filled with tears...and a human child on her hip, who seemed to now share his father's silver-white hair.
"Da!"
She let Wyn down to run to Aeris, and another cheer went up from the pack.
Aeris, mindful of his lack of shifting clothes, changed back into his humanoid wolf form. He caught his son in a tight embrace, kissing him on the forehead with wet eyes.
"You're perfect, my beautiful boy."
He sniffed back tears before addressing those present. "A new day dawns for the Ulfars! No longer must we be chained to one shape or stalked by death at every turn! With Moon's blessing returned, we can again build towards a better future! We are free to be what Moon truly intended—protectors!"
"That is not to say our days of mercenary work have ended. It is still the best way to maintain our skills and put food in our bellies. But now our children will be able to choose a life other than that of a warrior."
The Ulfars set up a howl—some in human shape, some as wolves, some still in their lycanthropic half-shift, but now because they chose to be.
Shyla beamed, and when she felt Realta move in beside her and turned into a tight hug.
"I'm so proud of you both," her sister whispered in her ear, before turning to Aeris and pulling him into another hug—this one accompanied by a cloak wrapped strategically around his waist.
"I'm glad everyone's okay," Aeris said as the hug broke. "When Meerin ambushed us, I was terrified that something horrible had happened."
"Vengeful bastard almost got Shy. If Moon hadn't intervened, she'd..."
Rea's jaw tightened and she wrapped an arm firmly around Shyla's shoulder, pulling her into her side. "We sent a squad after them—I'm surprised you didn't run into them on the way back," she told him. "We're still not sure how he managed to escape—he had help from the men with him, obviously, but still..."
She shook her head. "We can talk about this later. For now, we should celebrate. You're home, you're both safe. Everyone is safe."
"You're right, as usual." Aeris smirked. He hugged her to his side and raised his voice so that all might hear. "As soon as we get back to Ulfarsheim, a feast!"
Another howl arose, more joyous than before. He had never been one to relish being the center of attention, but this was beyond a special occasion. His promise to free them all from the curse had finally been fulfilled. Just this once, he allowed himself the privilege of feeling pride in his accomplishment.
Rea laughed, Shyla cheered, and Wyn scrambled down from his father's arms to hug his aunt's leg, asking delightedly if she needed her Sight to look at Wyn and Aeris' "new hair".
Shyla chuckled and bent to scoop the boy up. "I'll go start helping pack up the medics' tent," she started, when Realta cut her off.
"You most certainly will not. We can make ready to leave in the morning--for now, you two should get some proper rest."
"Consider it an order, if that helps," Aeris said with a canine yawn.
He looked at Rea. "You don't need to tell me I need rest. I don't think I've ever been this beat without a battle being involved."
Before the Howlers left camp, Aeris visited his would-be assassin to show him some mercy. He could choose to die for his shame, or he could live in exile; Aeris had killed the true mastermind of the plot, after all. The wolf, now with something to lose, chose exile.
Then came Gerhardt.
Aeris, in rather handsome human form, ducked into the tent where the man was being held. "Are you prepared to admit your folly?" He looked unfamiliar, but his voice was unmistakable
"...I'll be damned."
Gerhardt stared at him, then shook his head. He didn't seem likely to admit anything, face set in a stoic mask. "So what happens now, Alpha? You kill me? Will that make your victory complete?"
"I've spoken with the council and I have convinced them to extend the same offer I gave Meerin's trigger man. You can choose to die, or you can be permanently expelled from the pack. Meerin learned the hard way that I will kill my own if they prove to be a threat. But I still prefer not to if there is an alternative." Aeris answered. "This is not mercy. Any true Ulfar would prefer death by the sword."
Gerhardt lifted his chin. "Everything I did, everything, was for the sake of this pack. I will die with honor."
"Shy."
She jumped, spinning toward Realta's voice. She didn't need her Sight to know the expression her sister was making--the tone said it all. "I just--"
Realta sighed and knelt down where Shyla had tucked herself surreptitiously close to Gerhardt's holding cell. She put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "I know," she murmured. "After what he did to you...you do have every right to know his fate. But you have to trust Aeris here."
"I do trust him," Shyla protested, quietly but vehemently. "It's Gerhardt I don't trust."
"For whatever it's worth in the next life, I believe you," Aeris said as he drew the one blade he brought with him.
As he came close for the strike that would end the man's current life, he added, "I wish we could have seen eye to eye at least once. Then perhaps things wouldn't have ended this way."
"Perhaps. Clear journey, Alpha."
He met the blade with his eyes open.
Shyla winced slightly, her keener-than-average ears catching the slice of metal into flesh. Realta, with her arm still around her, felt the slight twinge and held her a little tighter.
"Come now," she murmured, pulling her mate's sister to her feet. "We need to finish our preparations to return home."
Fresh cheers erupted as the war party passed through the outer gates of the once-abandoned mountain fortress that had long since been made into their home. No messenger needed to tell the waiting Ulfars that the curse had ended. And they all knew why: Aeris had done what seemed impossible.
The Alpha looked over to his mate with an uncertain grin, unsure if it was a good thing that he was enjoying the adulation he was getting. He had always downplayed the loyalty and faith he inspired, especially in the younger generation Shy was part of, for fear that he would let it go to his head. And, of course, now he was practically branded as some kind of chosen one.
Realta beamed at him in wordless response; as far as she was concerned, he could bask in the adulation for a while. He'd earned it. She reached up to loop an arm around his neck and pull him down for a quick kiss, which inspired another round of cheers and laughter from their pack.
"I could get used to that," she laughed lightly as she pulled away. The way Aeris looked had never had any impact on how she felt about him, but...the human kisses were nice. She'd admit that.
Shyla made a gagging sound behind them, one that Wyn mimicked delightedly. "I don't need to see to know the two of you are being absolutely revolting," the medic remarked dryly.
Aeris smirked as the kiss ended. "I could too."
"You'll feel different when you find your mate," he told Shyla knowingly. She had at least one boy enamored with her. Imagine if she tried.
"Who says I'm looking for a mate, much less finding one anytime soon," Shyla scoffed in response--but there was perhaps a hint of a blush to her cheeks.
She hadn't really had a chance to talk to Fell since she and Aeris had returned. Alright, that was a lie--she'd had chances, she'd just made up excuses to avoid them.
"While I fought for you to be free not to be forced into a relationship, you don't find love as much as it finds you," Aeris said warmly, taking Rea by the hand as he gazed into her eyes.
He hadn't been looking for a mate either when he met Realta. His heart didn't care. It may not have been love at first sight, but it was damn close.
Raelta smiled and squeezed his hand, leaning into him a bit.
Shyla and Wyn rolled their eyes and empathically muttered, "Yuck," at the same moment.
"Oi! Don't you turn my son against me," Rea chuckled, pausing to reach a hand back for the boy.
Wyn dutifully moved up to his parents' side.
"Don't let your Auntie Shy make you cynical, kiddo. You're going to make someone as happy as we are someday," Aeris said in a fatherly tone.
Wyn nodded. "Okay, daddy." Immediately, he looked up at Rea to ask, "Mommy? What's cymicle mean?"
"It means your Auntie Shy has a very bleak view of the world," Rea chuckled. "Not like your Da, hm? He knows how amazing the world can be—and where it isn't, he'll make it."
"I also think the world is amazing!" Shyla protested, laughing. "I'm just realistic about my own love life, thank you very much."
"'Realistic' says the girl with at least one lovestruck boy dying to be with her," Aeris teased. Then he winced; that was a really poor choice of words. "I mean, who would give anything to be with her."
He hoped Fell would be better enough to at least join the festivities for a few moments from the safety of a chair. The boy deserved to celebrate too, with or without Shyla acknowledging his feelings. If she didn't feel the same, he had a right to know.
Shyla winced a bit too, though partially because, well...she really hadn't been thinking about that.
Deliberately.
She still didn't know how she felt about Fell--at least, not when it came to that. He was her friend, and part of her pack, and she loved him. That part was simple. But love and love were suddenly two different things, and...
Gods. She didn't want to think about this.
Realta shot her a brief, sympathetic look before saying brightly, "Come on, Wyn, let's get you settled back in your room. It's been a while since we've been home, huh?"
She looked up to meet her mate's eyes and then flicked her own back toward Shyla, mouthing, Talk to her.
Wyn happily toddled off with his mother as Aeris regarded his sister. He nodded towards a reasonably private corner of the inner courtyard the procession had passed into. Once there, he sat down on a bench and directed her to join him.
"I believe we're out of excuses not to address the elephant in the room. And, keep in mind, this isn't me pressuring you to find a mate. But this thing with Fell is something that will only get more complicated the longer you don't talk about it with him. I don't want you to find out you actually like him that way the very moment he moves on. That wouldn't be fair to either one of you."
With a bad feeling that she knew exactly what was about to happen, Shyla trudged over to sit beside her brother and drew one knee up in toward her chest, resting her chin on it a little sulkily.
"I know." She sighed and nodded, scrubbing a hand across her face. "I know, I do, I just...I don't know, y'know." She winced, hesrunf the words out loud, and groaned quietly. "Uuuhhhg. I mean, I—I never even really thought about any of this before! I was always so focused on helping you, and being useful, and it...I just..."
She didn't know what she wanted. She cared about Fell a great deal, but she didn't even know if she wanted a mate, as the pack defined such relationships. But she didn't want to hurt him either.
Aeris put a supportive hand on his sister's shoulder. The fact that it was a smaller, human hand made it no less reassuring.
"I know. It didn't seem important in the face of everything. But I've always wanted you to be happy and now it's my turn to help you find your own dream, whether or not that's with a romantic partner by your side. Because when I say mate, that's what I mean—not just someone to reproduce with."
"But what if—"
Shyla bit her lip, letting her head dip forward so her hair fell to curtain one side of her face. "What if it...doesn't work?" she whispered, sounding more vulnerable than she had in a long time. "I mean, what if—what if we did...try, and it didn't work?"
She sighed, reaching up to rub at the back of her neck. "You and Rea just...you two just fit, so quickly. You make it seem so easy."
"Oh, I know I'm lucky to have found such an easy fit," Aeris chuckled, smiling. "But relationships are always work, even ours. You should know; you've been present for enough of our conflicts. Everyone has them."
"But don't let the fear of failure stop you from trying. Of course, don't force yourself either. I'm just asking you to talk to him about how you feel, even if how you feel is that you don't know how you feel."
Shyla sighed, then let her shoulder lean into his with a quiet huff. "I will," she mumbled. "I just...I will. But I'm worried he--I mean, he's my friend. What if we...can't be friends, after this?" she mumbled, for once sounding like a girl her age and not a pack soldier.
He gave her a one-armed hug, in full dad mode. "I know it's scary, but avoiding him indefinitely is worse for a friendship than exploring the possibility of more. Trust me on that."
"Fiiiiiine." She huffed again, but leaned gratefully into the hug. "I trust you."
She was quiet a moment, then snorted quietly. "Soooo...can we be done with feelings now? It's making me itchy."
Aeris laughed heartily as he gave her one final squeeze before letting her go. "Go. Get yourself cleaned up for tonight's feast. I need to do the same."
"And talk to Fell," he reiterated.
"Cleaned up?" She sniffed haughtily. "I am a epitome of grace and sophistication, thank you very much."
She stood and theatrically brushed at the travel dust on the hem of her tunic--which also covered just about every visible inch of her.
He snorted, smirking. "I think you missed a spot, m'lady."
Then his attention drifted to his collection of travel detritus. "Well, I'm in need of a bath, whether you are or not."
Shyla chuckled and waved him off before heading for the communal baths, which were essentially a half-indoor mountain hot spring.
Pretty much everyone who had been in the trek up from the war camp seemed to have the same idea, so there was a bit of jostling for room, but she scrubbed quickly before slipping back out and up two flights of stairs to the Alpha's family quarters.
She hadn't been in her room in months; the air was stale, disused, but familiar. Not a thing had been touched in her absence.
She dressed herself in "festival" clothes: a bone-white tunic and soft gray breeches, all picked out in silver embroidery—courtesy of Realta.
As she emerged from her room, her sister-in-law noted as she coaxed Wyn out in his own finery, "It looks good on you."
Shyla half-smiled in her direction. "I'll take your word for it." She didn't bother asking to borrow Rea's eyes as a mirror; she trusted the older woman's aesthetic sensibilities more than her own.
"She looks like a ghost," Wyn observed with the brutal honesty of a child.
From inside the master bedroom, Aeris barked a laugh and called out, "I told you she needed darker colors!"
Shyla laughed, unoffended. "Maybe I want to look like a ghost," she told them, playfully defiant.
Realta huffed and rolled her eyes. "Not a ghost, but...perhaps a bit ethereal."
"That is a lovely way of spinning it, thanks, Rae," Shyla chuckled, rolling her own eyes. She didn't particularly care what she looked like, she was at least properly clean for the first time in...too long.
Aeris had never been entirely comfortable showing off the perks of his position. It was only due to Rea's encouragement that he donned his finer attire. Being in human form, at least, made wearing it seem less unnecessary.
He stepped out in his very best outfit, freshly modified to fit his human form. The outfit consisted of an embroidered silver tunic over a pale gold undershirt, pale gold trousers, fine fur boots, a leather belt with a silver and gold clasp adorned with moonstones, and a fine red cloak clasped at the shoulder with a silver brooch shaped like a wolf's head. The Alpha wasn't any kind of lord or king, but he looked the part more than ever.
"Well? How do I look?" he asked.
Rea smiled and moved in to wrap one arm around his waist lightly, her other hand smoothing up to fiddle with the clasp of his cloak, making sure it lay flat. "Like a prince out of a storybook that I would have been wildly infatuated with," she told him.
Shyla screwed up her face dramatically. "Okay, ick. And on that note, I'm gonna head down! Leave you two to...whatever this is." She gestured at them vaguely.
"Would have been?" Aeris asked with a confident smirk as he pressed his forehead to hers. He was, rather transparently, angling for a kiss.
Wyn looked at Shyla imploringly and whispered, "Take me with you."
"Mmm..." Rea smiled and tilted her head to meet him easily in the kiss he was clearly aiming for.
Shyla chuckled and held a hand down in the direction of her nephews voice. "We are leaving you here," she announced loudly to her brother and his mate, who were still locked in an embrace.
With a smile for Wyn, she started back down the hall and asked, "Are you excited to see the other kids?"
Most people with children as young as Wyn hung back in the keep when the Ulfars made a war camp—not all, but most. It had been just Wyn and a boy called Dieren this last trip, and that was only because Realta refused to stay behind or to let her son out of her sight...and both Dieren's parents had fallen to the curse in just the last month. They'd still been trying to figure out who could best care for him.
Shyla shook the dragging pinch of despair from her mind, though not the grief.
Never again. It would never happen again.
"Yeah!" Wyn grinned eagerly. "War camp was so boring. Momma wouldn't let me do anything and Da was never around."
The frustration was understandable. He had parents who fought tooth and claw for him to be able to be just a kid while simultaneously being so protective that he couldn't. He didn't understand the danger he had been in.
Ignoring the slight pang in her chest, Shyla squeezed his hand as they started heading down the enclosed stairs toward the main hall. "Well, we're having a big celebration tonight," she told him with a small smile. "I but your Mum and Da will be more than happy to let you play with your friends--maybe even passed bedtime, if you're lucky."
The chatter and laughter of the preparations for the feast reached them just halfway down the stairs--as did the smell of food, which made Shyla's stomach sit up and beg in a decidedly canine fashion.
One of the cooks spied the pale girl and quickly excused herself to excitedly approach the pair. "Oh. My. Gods. You both look so adorable!" Hilda, a girl no older than Shyla, squealed. She was one of the few non-blood girls Shyla's age, so being friends was a natural fit.
Shyla groaned theatrically, but extended her free arm to accept the hug Hilda always insisted on giving. "Adorable," she huffed. "Fantastic."
Kneeling, she took Wyn's shoulders in her hands and told him firmly, "If you promise to behave yourself, you're free to go and play, alright?" She smiled and ruffled his hair before she stood again to face Hilda.
"How're things going down here?" She needed to figure out how long she had to follow her brother's advice... She really should try to talk to Fell before the whole party started.
Hilda watched Wyn run off with a warm smile before turning her attention back to Shyla. "Between the feast preparations, all the emergency tailoring, and getting distracted by all the cute Ulfar boys... Busy."
"Seriously. If I knew there was such eye-candy under all that wolf, I wouldn't have taken nearly as long to get over my dad marrying an Ulfar and making me move into a snowy fortress."
Shyla snorted and rolled her eyes heavily. "I'll take your word for it," she chuckled. Her packmates' appearances had never much matter to her—for perhaps the obvious reason, but even when she used her Sight she couldn't say she'd ever given it that much thought.
"I suppose you'll be trying to find a proper mate for yourself then?" she sighed, leaning theatrically back against a wall. "Moon save me, I'll be the only spinster in the pack at this rate."
"Don't say that," Hilda chided, joining her against the wall in solidarity. "If I had a boy look at me the way Fell looks at you, I'd already have someone. Besides, now that your brother has all but guaranteed his position for life, boys are going to be lining up to court you."
She sighed dreamily. "Lucky. I wish Hrothgar would notice me."
Gods, had everyone but her noticed?!
Shyla huffed again. "Lucky," she repeated, with significantly more sarcasm. "Far as I'm concerned, Hilda, you can have them."
She elbowed the other girl gently and added with a lopsided smile, "If you're that interested in him, make sure he knows who cooked the shepherd's pie--if anyone can be motivated by food, it's Hrothgar."
Hilda laughed. "Gotta be jealous of that shifter metabolism. That boy can eat. If we ate like that, we'd be gigantic."
The head cook stepped out of the kitchen to glare at Hilda. The girl sighed. "Looks like my three minutes is up. We'll talk more later."
"Later," Shyla agreed with a smile and a nod.
As Hilda sauntered back into the kitchen, she sighed and shrugged away from the wall. Well. No more putting it off then.
Feeling like she was about to head into battle, she started making her way toward the infirmary; now that they were back home, they had a much more permanent and proper set-up than the simple medical tent. And while Fell had actually been recovering quite well--as far as she knew--he was still technically on bedrest.
She entered as the healers finished changing his bandage. She, of course, couldn't see this, but she could smell the fresh medicine they had applied.
Fell, in the form of a handsome human teenager with golden eyes and sandy brown locks, smiled as he noticed her. "I was... starting to think you'd forgotten about me."
Shyla winced a bit at that, but moved quickly to sit by Fell's bed. "Who, me? Nah, just...busy," she said lamely, then cleared her throat. "How are you--I mean, how do you feel?" She had to resist the urge to check his bandaging--she wasn't the only competent healer that the Howlers had. She settled for wringing her hands in her lap. "I mean, I heard you've been mending pretty fast but... How do you think you feel?"
"I feel better now." Fell smiled softly. "I—err... I mean, I'm almost mended. I won't be up and about for another week, at least, but..."
He grinned. "Shy, I can shift now! I mean, I could if they let me more than the one time so they could treat my wound without fur getting in the way. I'm fantastic. And it's all thanks to you and your brother."
Shyla smiled slightly, vaguely. "I mean, I didn't do anything but get stabbed," she huffed, then winced. She hadn't wanted to linger on Meerin and his faction, but...
"Listen, Fell, I--" Oh fuck this is not what I came here to talk about, shut up shut up! "I'm sorry about Gerhardt," she found herself saying in a quiet rush.
She had no lost love for the man, but... He had been Fell's grandfather. Even if Aeris had more of a hand in the younger man's upbringing, that still--she felt like she had to acknowledge that might mean something to him.
Fell averted his eyes, not that she could tell. "Don't be. Not after what he did to you because of some insane dream of making me Alpha." The emotions in his voice were conflicted, but the hurt was stronger than any filial piety.
"I would never have gone along with it. You know that, right?" he implored. "I always had faith that Aeris was right; that he would save us."
"Oh, of course I know, Fell," she assured him quickly. "I just--Look, he might have been a bastard, but that doesn't mean...you're allowed to miss him, is all. The parts of him that were kind to you."
She shrugged awkwardly. "I...don't even know what I'm trying to say. Forget it." She gave herself a little shake with a small, dismissive snort.
"So! How does it feel? Being able to shift, I mean--aside from the whole still on bedrest part."
"Oh, it's amazing." He grinned excitedly. "It feels like there's this part of me that was always just out of reach, but now I can finally grasp it. I'm being dramatic here, but imagine if you suddenly weren't blind anymore; your eyes were always there, but you couldn't access their gifts. It's like that."
She smiled softly. "I'm glad. I mean--mostly about the whole not dying early part, but...I'm glad."
She hesitated a moment, then shifted slightly to better face him and asked cautiously, "Can I...see?"
She held her hand out to him; she wasn't asking for his eyes to use her Sight, but to "see" him the way she would normally experience the world. Touch, sound, and scent were how she best identified her pack members, and it was...strange, to have them all suddenly able to be something different that she hadn't yet gotten to experience.
Fell smiled warmly, smirking. "And let you see how much of a hunk this 'big fuzzy oaf' really is? Of course."
Gods. How did she not notice when he said things like that?
Shyla huffed and rolled her eyes at him. "You're an idiot, is what you are," she chuckled, but there was a faint hitch to her voice that wasn't usually there after he said something like that. What she'd always assumed was simply teasing felt...different.
With his permission, she reached up to let her fingertips find the edge of his jaw. A tiny, sharp breath drew in between her teeth as she felt skin instead of fur; of course she'd known logically that was what she would feel, but it was one thing to know it and anther to experience it.
She drew her fingers upward in a feather-light touch to trace the shape of his face, the planes of his cheeks and jaw, the arch of his brow, the shape of his nose. She hesitated when she reached his mouth, feeling her breath catch as it abruptly occurred to her how...intimate this could be.
She snatched her hand back quickly, swallowing. "Th-thanks," she mumbled toward her lap, cheeks warm.
"I'd ask if you like what you se—feel, but I guess you don't really have much to compare it to," he answered with a smile.
But, when he noticed the color in her cheeks, his own reddened. Had she finally realized he liked her? The thought made him feel incredibly awkward. "I wish I could join the festivities... with you."
"I..."
Shyla wet her lips nervously. Her moth was suddenly very dry. "I, ah...me too," she mumbled. "Doesn't seem fair, everyone having this big feast and you being stuck in..."
She swallowed. That wasn't what he meant and she knew it.
"Fell, we—I— Did you mean it?" she blurted out suddenly, and immediately wished she could snatch the words out of the air and stuff them back into her mouth. That was not how she'd intended to broach this subject.
Fell's momentary silence was more than enough to tell her that time had brought back the memory of what he had said at death's door. "Shy... I... I shouldn't have told you that way. It wasn't fair. I just... couldn't die without finally having the nerve to say it. And yes, Shy, I meant it. I'm ridiculously in love with you and I have been for a long time."
"No, I--I know." She twisted her fingers together in her lap. "I mean...I'll be honest, I was furious with you about it for a while, but mostly just because...I was worried about you. If I were in your place--well, I wouldn't have wanted to go out keeping something like that a secret either."
She took a careful breath. "I...care about you a lot, Fell. You're one of my best friends, but I...I've never really thought about this before. About...you. Like that." She cleared her throat. "I actually--I made a point not to think about it. For a long time. For...always, really. Because if I let myself feel l-like that about someone and things went wrong It..." She swallowed sharply, eyes starting to prickle. "I couldn't let myself think about that sort of thing, with the curse. I don't think...I couldn't stand to have kids just to watch them--"
She had to cut herself off, turning her face away and trying to steady her breathing. She knew this probably wasn't what Fell had been considering when he delivered his confession--in fact, it wasn't what most Ulfars thought about. They couldn't afford to; they had to marry young, to bear pups young, just to keep the pack alive.
But...for her, and people like her, like Raelta... How could they not think about it? About outliving not only their partner, but their children? Until a week ago, that had simply been their reality. It would take a while before she could even broach that idea in her mind without it tangling up in grief and confusion.
Fell placed a tender hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. "I get it. I do. My mother was always terrified, knowing that I would almost certainly die before her. But none of us have to fear the curse any more. We can think about more than producing the next generation; we can think about being happy and I can't think of anyone that would make me happier than you."
"But how do you know that?" Shyla asked, tone caught between disbelieving and confused. "I mean, it just--what if I didn't? What if we--if we were together, like that, and it...didn't work?"
She let her head drop forward with a sigh. "I don't want to lose you as a friend, Fell..."
"Never," the young man answered fervently, completely confident that could happen.
"I know that the same way I know your brother would succeed. I have faith. And, even if I didn't, the only way to ever be happy is to risk heartache."
She could see where he was coming from with that... But it just wasn't so easy for her. She honestly didn't even know why, it just...wasn't.
"Can you...give me some time?" she asked softly after a long moment. "I know it's not entirely fair to ask, when I'm the one who came to talk to you, but I just...Fell, I don't know what I want anymore. The curse is gone, and now I—I don't know what to do if I'm not fighting for that exact thing to happen. I don't know what to do, I don't know what I want..."
While his disappointment was palpable, he nodded with a sigh. "I get it. You've never let yourself really think about what comes after the curse. You let the struggle define you and now you don't even know who you are without it.
"You're far from the only one. I may daydream, but I don't know who I am without the fight either. So... maybe we both need time."
Shyla started to reach for him, hesitated, then carefully put her hand on his arm.
"You know I love you," she murmured softly. "I just...it's a different thing than being in love. I just need some time. To...figure things out."
She tried for a smile and squeezed his arm gently. "But I promise, once I've got my head on straight about this stuff, you'll be the first to know."
Fell smiled and reached up to stroke her arm in return. "I'll hold you to that."
The healer on duty cleared his throat. "I hate to break this up, but Felan needs his rest if he's going to get better."
"Oh! Right! Of course."
Shyla shot to her feet, cheeks warm, and nodded in the direction of the other healer's voice. "Yeah, I'll just, um...see if they need anymore help setting up. I'll see you later, Fell."
She arrived in the outer bailey just as the music began. The space had been converted over the years into the tiny village where the pack primarily lived; the keep had long since become too small for all of them to live comfortably, even with their reduced numbers. The square all the way to the main floor of the keep had been decorated and was already full of merry revelers.
Wyn came running up from among the throng. "Auntie Shy! Auntie Shy! They have candy apples!" he beamed, holding up his half-eaten confection.
"They do for now," Shyla laughed when she heard her nephew's voice and automatically knelt to be closer to his level. "Something tells me they won't last long with you and the rest of the pups running around."
She chuckled and reached out to shuck him lightly under the chin before offering her hand. "C'mon, why don't we see if we can find your Mum and Da? They should be here by now."
"Mum and Da are at the Alpha's table. I think they're waiting for you," the little boy answered as he took her hand. "I bet it's for something boring."
"I bet you're right," Shyla laughed, allowing him to lead her through the throng to the aforementioned table. They were stopped several times so those members of the pack who had not yet been able to speak to Shyla since her and Aeris' return from Moon could enthuse their thanks and congratulations.
Luckily, she was able to use "I'm sorry, my brother wants to speak with me," as a get-out-of-this-conversation-no-questions-asked card, and Wyn would happily back her up with a child's absolute lack of guile.
When they made it to the Alpha's table, they found the happy couple engaged in conversation, with one of a line of Ulfars expressing the same thanks as those who had stopped her. He hid it well, but she knew as well as Rae that he hated every second of being put on a pedestal.
Wyn looked up at her and said, "Yep. Boring."
With a sinking feeling that her dear brother was about to throw her to the wolves—literally—Shyla nodded agreement with her nephew.
"Thanks, Pup." She tousled his hair and gave his hand a little squeeze before letting go to approach the table properly. "Gauwyn said you wanted to see me, Alpha?"
Aeris loudly patted the empty seat next to him. "Yes! Come, sit; you have as much right to a seat of honor as I!"
He didn't sound drunk but he did sound a little tipsy. It was good that he felt he could actually enjoy himself for once. Either that, or he was trying to drown out the effusive, unwanted praise he was getting.
Shyla snorted quietly, but took the seat. "A right to it, or you just want someone else to split all this attention?" she muttered to her brother under her breath.
Realta, on Aeris' other side, snorted quietly as she pulled out a seat for her son—who seemed just as happy to be there as Shyla, and was even worse at hiding it.
"It can be both." Aeris smirked and, though she couldn't see it, it was the only possible expression he would show.
"They deserve to be heard, even if it makes us uncomfortable. This is a one-of-a-kind occasion and if expressing gratitude lets them share in the victory, it's a small price to pay."
"Yeah, yeah." Though she grumbled, Shyla smiled and accepting the pack's praise and gratitude with surprising grace--it seemed she'd learned something from shadowing Aeris all those years after all.
Finally, blessedly, it was time for the actual feast. And if there was one thing that could distract an excited Ulfar, it was food. The wolves--humanoid, canine, and lycan shapes alike--all scurried to find seats of their own or begin helping to pass roast-laden plates amongst each other.
Aeris, like any good Ulfar, was all wolf as he tore at his leg of lamb. Table manners were not among the virtues of members of the Ulfar bloodline. They preferred to bite and tear their meat over the more civilized utensils provided for those married or adopted into the pack.
There was precious little conversation, as even Wyn was rendered unable to speak by mouthfuls of food. The humans, likewise, focused on eating, taken in by the enthusiasm of the moment. But it wouldn't last long; Ulfar feasts always ran dry quickly.
Shyla tucked into her own food eagerly, with the same enthusiasm as any proper wolf--considering she'd been with the pack essentially since she could walk, it was hardly surprising.
In a pause to sip at a cup of dry ale, she tipped her head fractionally toward her brother and asked softly, "Have you thought about when you'll have to deal with the council?"
Aeris frowned. He had hoped to avoid the subject a little longer. He was supposed to be enjoying his greatest victory, even if there were a few loose ends remaining. "We'll have to select the new members before any new business, and that includes sentencing for the traitors we haven't dealt with yet," he answered discreetly.
"Then, maybe we can truly put the dark times behind us," he added hopefully.
Shyla smiled slightly and reached over to touch his arm. It was still a small shock to feel skin instead of fur. "They will," she murmured. "We can."