Elsa used her uncle’s shaving mirror to take stock of her injuries. She lifted her tangled and knotted hair away from her face. At her temple flowered the beginnings of a great purple bruise and on her right hand a string of fat blisters. No wonder her uncle had gaped at her. No wonder he’d thought the worst. She looked…damaged.

Elsa washed away the mud and grit and pulled on a dress. The soft material settled comfortably against her body, and the peach colour brought out the warm tones in her pale skin and lightened her mood. She thrust her hands into the pockets and her fingers found bits of thread and other knickknacks she used often in her repairs.

Clothed and clean, Elsa tamed her hair into a plait. She pulled on socks and a dry pair of boots and left the alcove. Her uncle sat before the fire, leaning back in his armchair while he smoked his pipe. The Blood Wolf stood nearby. His face was pained and his body tense. He looked like a spring in one of her uncle’s clocks, wound tight, full of potential energy waiting to be released.

Noak spoke, continuing their conversation, “Our position is precarious. Finn is too weak to travel the path to the surface and might be for days yet. And now your guards are in the Darkzone asking questions. It’s only a matter of time before a connection is made between Elsa and the escape. That will lead the guards here.”

“I think that time has already come.” Her uncle pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Can you read?”

Noak nodded. He scanned the contents of the letter and returned it to Amos. “This only reinforces the urgency. You want us gone and we need your help to leave.”

Her uncle slipped the letter back into his shirt pocket. “If I am going to give it, I need to know more about your reasons for being here. Why all this effort for one boy?”

“He’s one of our own. Is that not enough?”

“I need more,” her uncle said. “I understand Melker’s motivations. He wants the boy for his strength and healing, but Elsa tells me you also possess these abilities. To you he’s the norm, one gifted boy among many others. Why have you risked your life, and my niece’s, to rescue him?”

Elsa read Noak’s internal battle in the subtle changes sweeping his face. He looked up from the fireplace and his blue eyes met hers across the room. His brow furrowed and his mouth set into a determined line.

“I cannot tell you everything,” Noak said. “I’m under…orders.”

“We only want enough to understand,” her uncle said, “we don’t need specifics.”

Elsa moved into the room and took her chair. There was a long drawn out pause as he gathered his words. The fire crackled and the clocks continued their rhythmic tick. Noak added his deep voice to the sounds of her home.

“The others, Roan and Ysolde, they look to me for orders, but I am not their leader. There is another more powerful than me who rules over the Blood Wolves.”

“Your master,” her uncle said. “You’ve spoken of him before.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Yes. This man uses pain and fear as his weapons and crushes all who oppose him.”

“But you’re strong.” Her uncle’s hands went to his neck, where the dark bruises still lingered. “I’ve felt your strength.”

“It’s not enough,” Noak said. “Yes, we can draw on a power to enhance our bodies, but my master has an even more extraordinary power over us. One I cannot fully explain because I do not fully understand it myself. All I can say, is we are tied to him through an invisible chain. It compels us to do as he says. We obey him no matter the personal cost.”

“Why not leave?” Elsa asked.

“The simple answer is we can’t. Countless times we’ve tried to rebel, to run away or fight, but the chain always, always pull us back to him in the end.” Noak rubbed his chest. “Even now I feel it, urging me to return.”

Her uncle tapped his pipe against his bottom lip. “How does the boy fit into this story?”

“Finn is special. The one Blood Wolf who feels no need to obey. He can draw on the power, but he is free of the compulsion. There are other gifts he possesses…” Noak grimaced. “I’m sorry. I can’t say more. Just know, he is immune to our master’s commands.”

“Does your master know of his immunity?”

“No. Finn would never have made it this far if the truth were known. He is our master’s son, though he has never been acknowledged as such. As a baby, he was small and sickly. Weakness is not tolerated amongst our kind, so we hid Finn from his father and those loyal to him. And Finn fought on and grew stronger each day.”

Noak paused, searching for more words. In the brief silence, Elsa wondered at the burden Noak had taken on. To raise a small child when he would have been only a child himself. It was unthinkable! There was so much more to this Blood Wolf than she'd first assumed.

Noak continued, “We discovered his immunity, as you call it, by accident. One day, my master surprised us at our sleeping quarters, so that we only had moments to hide Finn beneath a bed. My master was angry with me. I don’t remember why. He ordered everyone else to leave the room. I held my breath, waiting for Finn to emerge from his hiding place and exit with the others. To my surprise, he didn’t come out. He stayed beneath the bed, quiet and still, the entire time. I kept waiting. And let me tell you, my terror that Finn would be found was worse than the pain I endured from my punishment.”

Amos cleared his throat. “Okay, I see now.”

“I don’t think you do,” Noak countered firmly. “This discovery was everything to us. There are ways for us to twist our master’s words when they are general and unspecific, but Finn, a six-year-old, had disobeyed a direct order. From that moment, we realised he was our way to freedom.”

“So, you sheltered him in the hope he would one day challenge his father?” Amos asked.

Noak frowned. “We protected Finn because we loved him, not just because we thought him useful. Over the years, we’ve taught him how to hide his ability. We’ve made him pretend to be like everyone else.” The Blood Wolf hesitated. “He’s had to do and witness things.” Noak shook his head. “So, you see, Finn is more important than any one of us. Help me get him out of this place.”

Elsa could read nothing of her uncle’s thoughts on his face.

Amos cleared his throat. “You have my word I will see you safely to the surface, but not Elsa. You’ll release her from her side of the bargain, and you won’t involve her any further.”

“Okay,” Noak said. “I agree.”

“Uncle!” Elsa protested.

Amos turned in his chair towards her. “This is for the best.”

“How? You’ll need me.”

“No,” her uncle said. “Taking you to the entrance would be a mistake. Melker has an interest in you. No doubt his guards would report back to him the second it was known you were leaving the underground. Your presence would draw his attention straight to us.”

Elsa tried to find an argument against this and failed. “So, what now?”

“We have two obstacles,” Noak said. “Getting to the surface with an injured boy and getting past the armed guards stationed at the main entrance.”

They settled into a discussion of options for escape. After a while, Elsa only half-listened. Her fatigue had caught up with her. She angled her body towards the fire and let her face soak up its warmth.