It was the morning when the doctors finally allowed Annie to leave. Instead of returning back to the military base, Devourer gave the order for the group to arrive at Refugee Center Gamma. His Excellency left the facility to stand guard while police and military forces arrived to transport prisoners. Upon arriving at the Refugee Center Gamma, Annie and other wounded were locked in a separate wing of the hospital, agent Kassandra posted military police at the doors of each room with wounded wolfkins, fully aware how the Wolf Tribe disliked being treated. Annie tried to explain to doctors that she will cooperate, but they simply strapped her to a chair and treated her wounds. Despite her pleas not to use painkillers, doctors deprived her even of this little shred of dignity and made the scout suffer the indignity of being operated on like a cub, unable to feel pain. Her broken teeth were pulled out, replaced with prosthetics, and regeneration injections were made into the soft tissues of the palate. In a few days, the prosthetic teeth will fall out, giving way to a new set of chompers. Her paws were treated, her claws were deemed to be salvageable. In a few weeks, they will regrow as well.

Upon leaving, Annie went to see Kayleen. The wolf hag was already awake and sour. She was strapped to a bed with chains, her wounds carefully bandaged. Doctors refused to let her out for at least two more days. From the wolf hag, Annie learned that Labiatae, a female member of her pack, was killed. This much Annie saw. Orvin, a male who had his spine broken, was still in emergency care. Kayleen directed Annie to bend over before her snout, biting the scout's neck to the blood. The wolf hag chastised the scout for breaking ahead of the group during the initial charge, for ruining her paws and for allowing herself to explode on a mine. Annie expected to be punished for losses among her pack and for failure to save all hostages, but Kayleen merely shrugged, stating that shit happens sometimes. Before losing her conscience again, Kayleen warned Annie that the scout would face another exam once the wolf hag was released.

Scratching her neck and feeling fang wounds healing under her fingers, Annie left the room of the wolf hag, allowing her to rest. Carty was still being treated in the room to her left, several of her ribs punctured her lung when Alsyn kicked scout through the walkway. Medical personnel, all normies, were hurrying along the corridor, moving treated injured patients out of the emergency care room and quickly moving new patients inside. Already overworked, today's doctors will have neither time, nor the possibility to sleep. Annie saw one of the doctors making an adrenaline injection for herself. The eyes of the woman were red, large black circles were around her eyes. When Annie saw the woman leave to perform another operation, she pressed both paws together and said a quick prayer, pleading with Spirits to help all the people here.

Leaving the hospital wing and walking toward the exit, Annie came face to-face with Lacerated One. The shaman was out of her power armor, in order to prevent blood from falling on the floor, her whole body was wrapped with rags. Once clean, her rags were now soaked in red. Only the amber eyes of Lacerated One were visible, to Annie’s eyes, she looked like a mummy.

"Scout. Dragena asked me to watch over her pack for a few hours," The shaman reached for the pocket terminal on her belt and entered some input. The shaman nodded, looking through the data on the terminal, "Doctors confirmed your release. You are officially on leave until next evening. Get yourself dressed and make sure not to do any physical work for the next five to six hours. Your paws are a mess and in need of recovering."

"Is the warlord fine?" Annie asked before the shaman could storm away.

"Muscles in her shoulder were cut, bones in her leg cracked from a glancing hit. She will recover just fine," The shaman glanced at the door to her left, noticing Ultis and Tegrin walking out of it. Ultis was dressed in a white tank top and black shorts, Tegrin walked around on all four, dressed only in green shorts. Ultis's fur barely grew on her neck, showing the ugly scars beneath. Tegrin’s wounded hand was bandaged, one arm of Ultis was wrapped around his neck, a bottle with something was in her free paw, "Scout Ultis. What are you planning to do?"

"We plan to have a good time." Ultis handed over the bottle to Tegrin and showed her the answer with signs.

"Scout, you are treating this situation too lightly. Rethink your duties before the state and your Tribe." Lacerated One narrowed her eyes.

"I am still infertile. If you are worried about possible half-breeds, I can promise to stick to o…" Ultis squeaked and rolled her eyes, annoyed by the shaman.

"That’s not what I was trying to say!" Lacerated One angrily stared at Ultis, stopping the scout before she could finish her sentence, "First. Visit the doctors and fix your old injury already, the tribe needs a diverse genetic pool. Produce whatever half-breeds you want after that," The shaman growled, seeing how Ultis rolled her eyes again. The low growl made the scout jump in place and stand at attention, "Second. We have reporters from Iterna among the rescued people. Imagine what they will think about us if they see how frivolously you spend your free time in such a situation. And third, mating rituals of orais are known to end violently and in biting…"

"Bullshit they are!" Tegrin exploded in anger, slamming one hand on the floor, "They got it all wrong in that encyclopedia, it was during the ritual of praising the Legend…"

Annie walked past arguing people. The scout noticed the large form of Earless One in the rec room meant for medics. Currently, the room was empty of medical personnel, all available hands were busy. Earless One sat on a sofa, legs crossed, busy watching some historical drama on a TV installed near the ceiling, one part of her head covered with stitches. Streams of blood run from below the stitches from time to time, coagulating on the shaman’s temple and making her scratch away dried blood from time to time. One of the plastic panels on the ceiling of the room was removed, showing the darkness of the ventilation shaft above. The shaman noticed Annie and pressed a finger to her lips, reaching out with her large paw to close the door. Annie raised her brow in surprise, but the door closed without any further explanation.

Weirdo. Annie decided while walking to a locker room on the opposite side of the corridor.

"…They are fine now. But for how long will it last? You put your future c…" Ieshua, dressed in a simple white shirt, brown pants and sandals, went silent when the warlord lifted her finger. Three pairs of eyes looked at Annie.

The warlord, dressed in a black tank top and long black shorts. The tank top strap on her injured shoulder was moved to her elbow, and the area around the wound was cleared of fur to make room for bandages. A rubber ring was placed around one of the legs of the warlord. The burned skin on her paws was already healed, and fur was slowly starting to grow anew on her fists. The warlord sat with her back to one of the lockers, enjoying the cold metal and peering out through half-closed eyes at the people around her. Kassandra, strictly dressed in black and crimson this time, with a cap on her head, was the last person in the room. Even sitting, the warlord was still taller than Kassandra.

"We will speak about this subject at length later, doctor. Trust me, I fully value your input and trust your opinion," Dragena nodded, trying to look amiable. Yet there was something off about her movement, almost as if she was not sure how to make it right. Her nod looked slightly more jerked than it should have been, "Please stay and feel free to use the room, Annie, I have something to talk about with you a bit later." Annie nodded quickly, disappearing behind a series of lockers. She found one with her ID on it and opened it. Since his excellency Devourer was the one who "kicked" wolfkins out of the military base, he was also the one who provided the clothes for the Wolf Tribe. Annie had no idea where Devourer found clothes that would fit her size exactly, how he delivered them, or even how he got her measurements. But the fact remained that her locker was stuffed with clothes her size, far outnumbering the ones she had back at the base. She picked up a green and blue leather jacket, blue jeans, and a purple t-shirt, with the markings of the Second Army on all of them. To her surprise, clothes fit her perfectly, almost like a glove. In the Wastes, new breeds of Wolf Tribe had to place orders for clothes, it was unusual for them to take over a month for orders to be made, due to how varied in size the wolfkins were. And yet, according to the writing on the tag of her new jacket, it stated that this jacket was part of the "winter collection" whatever this meant. Writing on the tag also showed to Annie that these clothes were made by the clothing store owned and working for the Ice Fang order, store that produced goods tailored for the needs of wolfkins. Annie’s eyes widened when she saw the cost on the back side of the tag. This mere jacket cost more than she earned in three months. As a scout, Annie earned four hundred tokens per month. This jacket cost one thousand, two hundred fifty tokens.

Spirits, please tell me they won't deduct this from my earnings. Looking at the number of clothes in her locker, the scout prayed desperately.

"What about cub. You finished his examination?" Dragena asked.

"He will live. Pretty much as expected. Underdeveloped limbs, brittle bones, trouble with learning… He could have been healed by the device he was in. At the cost of his mind, that is." Ieshua replied, sitting nearby.

"Pardon me?" Dragena opened her eyes and looked at Kassandra.

"We asked professors who worked on site. In short, according to the manual found in the museum, this device allows the subject to receive the so-called "living energy" of others. However, with energy comes the memories of the deceased person. While the procedure is being performed, the most powerful feelings, such as pain, circle in the subject's mind. Imagine suffering through the compressed pain of a single life over and over. This was one of the reasons why this device was banned and removed from being sold in ancient times," Kassandra produced papers from her coat and showed them to Dragena, "The life of one person will grant one more year of life at the cost of an incredibly stressful and painful experience that can potentially break the mind of even an adult. Using it on kids, well… It is good that the boy still has the mind of an infant, otherwise he would have gone mad from pain in seconds. And there is more. This device would have "healed" the boy with the lives of the first dozen. Then it would have gone "upgrading" his body. The end result might have been even scarier than what happened with Alsyn, an infant in the body of a fully grown monster, utterly mad from pain and seeking to lash out at everyone. I hope that Alsyn had no idea how the device was supposed to "heal" her child, or else may she burn in the Abyss for all eternity." The perfect features of the agent twitched in barely held disgust and anger.

"Find the person who hired Alsyn," Dragena read through papers with a dead look on her snout, "Iterna has the means to alter or even outright erase memories, right? They can also cure him, fixing problems with his mind and allowing him to learn and live as a normal human being."

"The cost will be impressive, and it is for doctors of Iterna to decide whenever they will use the memory eraser or not." Ieshua warned, "But yes, I saw the results of their work. If anyone can fix him, it’s them."

"It's just one day. Surely, they will see the reason. As for tokens, credits, whatever they use in Iterna," Dragena closed her eyes, lifting her snout to the ceiling, bathing in the electric light, "I will find enough money for treatment. Spirits only know where I will find funds, but I will take a loan if I have too. After living and serving for nearly two centuries, my credit story should be good enough for a bank to give me a loan. "Kassandra, arrange the negotiations with the best clinic in Iterna, please, I…" Dragena took a sigh, looking at the agent, "I never visited Iterna in my life, only fought against them on a few occasions. To be honest, I don’t even know how to contact them in the proper manner. If it cost tokens, just tell me, I…"

"You concentrate on relaxing and resting. I owe you from that time, remember?" Kassandra patted the warlord on her good shoulder, heading toward the exit along with Ieshua, "Zero studied there, am I right? And she is fine. Don’t worry, Iternians are not some child eaters or something," The agent giggled, pressing her gloved hand to her mouth to hide the smile, "I think things will work out just fine."

Once the door closed, Dragena allowed her snout to fall on her chest, letting out a tired sigh. Seeing the worried face of Annie, the warlord gestured for the scout to come closer:

"Sit. We have to talk."

"Warlord," Instead of sitting near the warlord, Annie lowered herself on her knees, showing her bare neck to her master. She forced herself to sound calm, banishing all traces of self-pity out of her voice, "Today I allowed one member of my pack to die, and another was seriously injured. I killed the enemy and felt nothing. I got distracted and arrived to save hostages too late, which led to one of them dying. There are no excuses for my behavior, I am ready to accept any punishment, even dea…"

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Labiatae will be missed, along with other losses. Orvin will spend approximately half a year recovering from his injury, but he will return to the unit fully healed. In our line of work, we can’t save everyone. As a commander, I ultimately bear responsibility for losses, not you. As for killing, I cannot fault you for this either. Whether we like it or not, killing enemies is part of our job, we become monsters so civilians may live. Just never, ever dare to forget about the rules and laws of the state and never dare to kill indiscriminately. Raise your head, Annie, sit and look me in the eyes," The warlord commanded.

"I deserve to be punished for allowing people to die," The scout replied stubbornly, "I cried from pain like a weakling, making a mockery of our pack."

"Annie. There is no point in dwelling on the past. The past exists merely to learn lessons from it, you cannot change it, you cannot return back to it. There is only "now" and what you can make of "now" in order to fulfill our duty better. I don't mind if you scream, cry, or do anything else as long as you complete your duty. We all make our own sacrifices too. Do you think other soldiers in my pack never felt fear or pain? Stop wasting time on self-flagellation and look at me."

Annie continued to look at the floor, waiting for a bite or any other punishment. The paw of the warlord slipped underneath her chin, lifting the snout of Annie and dragging the scout to a seat nearby, pushing her into it and making the scout look into the glowing embers of the warlord’s eyes.

"Today you made some mistakes, true," The warlord said in the same calm voice, "You allowed bloodthirst to take over you and pushed ahead of the group. Kayleen will undoubtedly question you about this and work with you to eliminate such self-destructive tendencies. Aside from that, there will be no further punishment. Your task, as before, is to train Branded. The time of their first combat mission draws ever near. But it will have to wait," The warlord said, leaning back at the locker and looking over Annie from foot to head, "For now, rest and recover, you earned that much. This is your "now" for the current moment."

"Warlord," Annie dared to ask, "Today I saw how you disappeared in the air and reappeared behind the enemy. And how Alsyn," at the mention of the mercenary's name, Dragena's ear twitched, as if scaring away an invincible fly, "redirected other people's attacks back on them..." Annie tried to replicate the motion of the mercenary’s paw with her own paw, making it crude and stupid looking, "Is it possible to learn how to do such things?"

The warlord was silent for a moment. She crossed her arms on her chest, taking up her lower jaw with a paw. Burning eyes burrowed Annie with a questionable glance, while the warlord was thinking about something. Annie was scared that she had angered her leader, but she had to ask. If she can just learn how to do such things, then she will be one step closer to one day getting even with that blasted idiot who left the marks on her face and ruined her sense of smell.

"Flash step, as the rapid movement technique is called, is not something that I can teach. By pushing myself to the utmost limits, I can go from point A to point B while attacking the enemy point that I set in my mind before starting movement. Should the enemy get out of the way or shift, the flash step is far less useful. In short, it is a one-trick pony. It took me twenty years to reach my current level in wielding it, and I am far from mastering it yet," The warlord put both of her paws on her knees, "Annie, techniques are useless unless you incorporate them into your own style, whatever your style will be. You saw me today, after performing a flash step, I was wide open for enemy attack. The flash step puts incredible strain on my body just to pull it off, even when I am in my prime, much less now. One mistake and my muscles would have been torn. Despite the best efforts of my teacher, to this day I have failed to incorporate this technique into my style. As for your other question, yes, it is possible," The warlord said, and the heart of Annie started to beat faster. If it is true, then she can become stronger, she can one day get even… Dragena gently took Annie by her paws and looked them over "If your bloodlust drives you closer to the enemy, we will have to teach you how to use the proper weapons for melee. Knife training will do for now. As for the rest… It will take years, but I will help you learn martial arts, one way or another," The fingers of Dragena pushed on the fingers of Annie, making her unleash her claws. The Warlord critically looked over the broken claws, "Your claws will grow back. I am a bit stingy with money at the moment, but if you want, I can find some way to pay for additional…"

"This will not be necessary!" Annie knew what Dragena meant. Claws meant a lot for wolfkins. During the mating season, females attracted males with the glint of their natural weapons. At least it used to be this way in the past. Nowadays, most wolfkins just date each other or copulate on impulse. Attracting with claws was a thing that only traditionalists still used, and while Annie believed in spirits, she did not believe in all the traditions of the Tribe, "I heard about your problem with tokens. I may not have much, but…"

"I will never extort my own soldiers," The warlord made Annie shiver with a stone gaze, "Your earnings are yours alone. Do not ever dare to offer me tokens. I will find a way to get the needed funds myself… Enter already." Dragena said in a low hissing voice, throwing a glance at the door.

The door cracked and a blonde, handsome man, dressed in a gray suit, stepped inside, holding the back of his head with his left hand. He had a guilty smile on his face, his eyes were closed. Larry chuckled nervously, closing the door after himself and turning to the warlord:

"Sorry to sneak up on you like this," The iternian scratched furiously behind his head furiously. Annie looked at him with suspicion. She was distracted, true, but she should have heard his steps way before he stepped close to the door. The scout decided that she will find a way to train her hearing as well, "I have overheard your speech a bit…"

Dragena appeared before a journalist before either Annie or Larry could even notice or hear her movements. Iternians, along with personnel from the facility, were transported to this center, until the end of the investigation into the facility. Citizens of Iterna were free to leave, of course, but since some of the journalists were roughed up or injured by the mercenaries, the command naturally gave orders for doctors to treat them. The reputation of the World Without Borders was well known, their journalist pushed for every scoop and piece of information that they could get. Devourer contacted the owners of WWB and made a deal with them. The reporters will behave and will not bother the locals too much, and he will give them an interview later. An agreement was made, but Annie clearly saw now that Iterna never intended to honor it from the looks of it.

Jaws, larger than the torso of the scared man, appeared in front of his face. The snout of Dragena lowered a bit, allowing her to sniff the man like a dog. Turning away from the man, Dragena loudly inhaled air through her nostrils, sounding more like a piece of industrial equipment than a human being. Her chest enlarged itself, as air was pouring into the nostrils of the warlord with the sound of a tornado. Annie felt how the sleeves of her jacket were trying to move toward the warlord, such was the force behind her sniffing. The warlord came to a complete stop, charging towards one of the lockers and searching behind it with her paw. She turned toward the man and showed him a small black mechanical ball. It took Annie a good moment before she understood that this was a listening device.

"You dare?" Once again, neither man nor woman saw the movement of the warlord, she appeared before the journalist, two claws pointing at his eyes. There was no anger or fury behind the words of the warlord, merely calm speech with a barely hidden threat in it, "We saved you. We showed hospitality. Our doctors treated your wounded colleagues. Our warlords invited you and allowed your methods, only asking you to respect our privacy. And you repay us by spitting in our faces and ignoring our only rule?"

"Please, be calm!" Larry raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender, "The last thing I want is to make someone in your condition worry, lady." His words caused Dragena to produce a calm growl. To the ears of Annie, not a hint of anger was in this sound. To her ears, it sounded more like a defensive instinct, "Your secret is well hidden with me, this I swear. Even our company has standards. My government will put me in prison for revealing something like this without your consent. No what, I have in mind is something else entirely. A solution to your… monetary problem," The warlord narrowed her eyes, taking the man by his jaw and making him look into her shing eyes. Larry Kosh smiled innocently, covering his face with one hand, "Listen, whatever you think of us, Iterna, do not drop weak when we can to help. I was willing to let go of the interview with big D if it meant saving the life of that little guy. Buuut, since you plan to help him and I want to see him well, how about we join forces? Your pack saved the lives of Iterna citizens. This means that your entire pack can claim our citizenship."

"I will not betray Dynast." Dragena responded in an icy tone. She threw a glance at Annie and continued, "I will announce your offer to my pack and let them choose. But not a single one of them can be a citizen of Iterna and be a member of my pack."

"I deny this offer as well." Annie quickly said.

"I never expected otherwise, dammit," The reporter replied, scratching behind his head furiously. "But here's the thing. You can still claim a reward for rescuing a citizen of Iterna. Just lie that this little guy is your relative or something and that he is in need of treatment. No one will bother to check! And voila! Free medical care is his for a lifetime."

"I will not beg. And I will not give him over to you for life," The warlord hesitated, "I can’t give him what I do not possess myself, but I can at least ensure that he will be properly taken care of here, well fed, healthy, and educated. I won’t give up my kin in the clutches of Iterna to be experimented on or something."

"Well, too bad, because he would have been far happier with us than here," Larry said, pointing out the window at the land outside the refugee center. The warlord let go of the man and folded her arms in thought, "It is true, and you know it! But fine, he won’t be "stolen". Doctors simply fix him and give him back to your Tribe…"

"Back to the state," Dragena corrected him, breathing a bit harder, "He will be given to a proper foster family, one that could provide him with a proper life. Kassandra was willing to… Why do you help me? Iterna will be my adversary for as long as the Dynast wills it. I can think of no way to thank you for your help either."

"Oh please," The reporter waved his hand at these words, "When was the last time Iterna and the Reclaimers even fought each other? A hundred years ago, or more? My parents weren’t even born during the last scramble between our countries! In today's world, we are all but official allies. As for a way to thank me, how about a private interview for the WWB after the "event"? Of course, only with you, I won’t bother the others!" The reporter once again threw his arms up, seeing the look of the warlord. He swallowed quickly and added, "And maybe it would be better for you to sit. You know in…" He stopped, seeing something in her eyes.

Dragena looked at him for a moment, sizing him up as if thinking about the pros and cons of swallowing him whole. She closed her eyes, slowing her breathing for a moment, and finally nodded, baring her neck before the man in a gesture of surrender.

"I agree to your terms. You won," Dragena calmly said, showing her neck to the man, "Please, help my kin, I beg you. Will this sound good enough?"

"Who cares about winning if we both get what we wante…" Larry's speech was cut off by the alarm signal. Annie jumped off her seat, looking at the bright lights that started shining above the entrance. Her ears caught the sound of the moving boots on the other side of the door.

Dragena walked toward the entrance, gesturing Annie to follow her. This alarm signal was meant to ensure that all guests and patients will stay in their rooms, allowing the security force to do their job. But the scout understood the intention of the warlord, if this place came under the attack of the enemy, new breeds could not stay out of it. It was their duty to protect the place. Yet who would be foolish enough to cause problems in this place, with Wyrm Lord and Outsider both nearby?

Gesturing for the reporter to stay behind them, the warlord opened the door, seeing a group of security personnel, led by the lieutenant Angoro. People were busy checking their stun guns, Ieshua, dressed in a brown jacket, was among them, armed with a long tranquilizer gun. The doctor threw a glance at Dragena and continued to put sleep darts into his weapon.

Angoro nodded to Annie and addressed the warlord, "Please stay inside, we need to deal with a few ruffians who are causing a ruckus here."

"The mercenaries managed to escape?" Annie asked, looking around the corridor. While the mercs who were unharmed went straight to prison, those who suffered injuries were brought here for treatment. If they escaped…

"Worse. Some of the wolfkins managed to escape from their rooms, before they were treated properly," Ieshua replied, checking if his gun was ready, carefully keeping one finger off the trigger, "Now we are on a bit of a hunt."

"But aren't you a doctor?" Annie inquired, "What are you..."

"I am also quite a good hunter. It comes with the territory. You really think only your new breeds are so irresponsible about their health? Ain’t none of my patients will run away before we finish with them. Now, let us begin our retrieval agent, before patients manage to hurt themselves more." Ieshua nodded to the agent.

"Ok, people, we've all done this before. The hunt will proceed as such," Angoro addressed security guards, raising his stun gun, "You see any wounded suspicious wolfkin, you shoot her or him, ask questions later. We are looking for scout Carty, shaman…"

Everyone turned their heads when the form of Lacerated One appeared down the corridor. The shaman was busy checking some data on her pocket terminal, clearly heading for one of the rooms meant to keep guests in while the alarm was going on. Hearing Ieshua raise his weapon, Lacerated One lifted her head, looking at the group of people before her with confusion.

"I think there is some mistake here…" The shaman started talking, her rags covered with dried up blood.

"Wounded wolfkin, one, checked." Angoro raised his gun. Lacerated One quickly turned toward Dragena.

The warlord calmly closed the door and gestured for Annie to be silent. She turned around to the lockers and walked to the one marked for her, while Annie and Larry were looking at her back. Scout was unsure if she should have said anything.

"Dragena, you little bitch, I will massacre you for this!" Lacerated One howled when sounds of discharging stun guns were heard from behind the door, accompanied by the sound of jumping and running of the guard.

The warlord ignored all the confusion, calmly opening her locker and taking off her brand new leather coat in a deep blue color and a pair of sandals. Dragena sat near the locker, trying to put on sandals without stressing her leg. Feeling confused looks from Annie and Kosh, she looked up:

"What? I too can hold a grudge. Can’t hold a cub properly, I'll let you know that I read all the manuals…" The warlord grumbled in an utterly calm voice, finishing putting on the sandals, "Besides, you saw her. Someone needs to do something about that level of self-mutilation. Anyhow, Annie, since we are all stuck in her for the foreseeable future, name me the proper rules of engagement during assault. Let us see if you are ready for the exam."

"Yes, ma’am!" Annie saluted, sitting nearby and beginning to give answers.