The next morning, Aranea was surprised to see Gin and the shaman furiously cleaning toilets together. Both were without their armors, the shaman was in an oversized yellow jumpsuit, while Gin was in simple brown pants. The young wolfkin refused to elaborate on what happened, just deeply apologized for turning the place into a mess. The shaman just shrugged her shoulders.

"I asked engineers to show me how to repair these devices," The shaman explained, nodding at the toilets while she was busy cleaning up the floor from traces of drool, food, and some other substance, the origin of which Aranea preferred not to know, "I am deeply sorry for causing the scene. I never expected that a male would last so long against me."

"So who won?" Aranea asked curiously.

"He is in the hospital, and I am not. I guess this makes me the winner," The shaman sighed, looking around at the chaos, "Though this victory does not feel like a win."

Aranea asked about the wolfkins, whom she had assigned to cleaning duty before, and the shaman explained that they were in a different wing. Sonya was already out training the first group of the pack when Aranea understood that she needed new scouts to maintain proper control.

The first choice was obvious. Tiny was liked by both warriors and males alike, and even other females never tried to dominate her. Hopefully, her promotion will help to change her pack's perspective on the world. As a result, they will hopefully fight less among themselves. The second candidate was more of a problem. None of her warriors were up to the task as of right now. Except…

Aranea smirked. There was one person. The shaman might be unhappy with it, but it was not her choice. Kate was right—there was no time to give up on the members of the pack. They are all from the state, after all. The wolf hag contacted Sonya, and the former wolf hag approved her choice but recommended putting both potential scouts through the test.

Leila was already in the hospital below the mountain range, so this is where Aranea headed out. Instead of using transport, she ran down on all fours, leaping from stone to stone, taking short cuts along the way.

The military hospital was a two-story gray structure. The third floor was under construction, several tents were located around the sturdy building. Even though no fighting was going on at the moment, there were always sick troops. Some were bitten by spine mites. Some twisted their legs or arms during training. Some managed to get hurt during training with live rounds. Or, most commonly, soldiers often suffer from heatstroke due to the heat.

In a tent close to the hospital entrance, Aranea ran into Janine and Martyshkina. The warlord in charge of the eastern mountain range had her armor stripped off, aside from pants, she was naked. Pus and blood were seen through the stitches on her back, and doctors were currently cleaning her wounds.

"Warlords," Aranea bowed to them.

"At ease, wolf hag," Janine said, waving her paw. She was in a good mood, her body was covered in full armor. "I am here to ensure that Marty will follow the instructions of the doctors this time."

"It's all your fault," Martyshkina snarled angrily at Aranea, "Because the doctors needed to 'fix' me from parasites," Martyshkina frowned as Janine slapped her across the brow. "Some fix this is, my back still hurts!"

"I am sorry, but this is necessary," The wolf hag faced the unblinking gaze of the warlord and tried to explain, "We often operate in cities, among normies now. What would you think if a spine mite from your back attached itself to a normie cub? They are weaker than us. Times change, and we need to change with them."

Martyshkina looked her in the eyes, her paws twitching in anger. Doctors were silently working on her back, opening stitches to clean wounds. Finally, the warlord took two deep breaths to calm herself and nodded.

"Fair point. I will learn how to use the shower. You may consider yourself off the hook for now. Now get away from my sight and forget that you ever saw me like this."

Aranea decided not to question whether the warlord was kidding or not. Surely even such ancient creatures know how to use the shower, right?

She found Leila inside the hospital. The half-wyrm was currently in a restricted area, a place where medics performed minor operations. To ensure that the place was clean, it was forbidden for non-patients to enter this area, so Aranea stood before the glass window, waiting for the moment when Leila would be free and notice her. Leila was technically in charge of their entire pack, but everyone, even local officers, knew that the half-wyrm submitted herself to Aranea. Leila made sure to tell everyone about this in advance. Currently, the half-wyrm was busy assisting medics with injured patients. She left her armor back at the shield station. Despite her oversized clawed hands, she was a surprisingly good helper, from what Aranea could see. She bandaged people with almost blinding speed and, when asked, helped with the transportation of patients. Aranea inhaled air and felt the smell of wolfkin approaching her from behind. Faint traces of Olesya’s smell were in the air.

"Wolf hag?" said a familiar voice behind Aranea, and the wolf hag turned around in surprise.

Tiny was standing behind her, holding a small bottle of pills in her paw. She was dressed in her regular clothes today: brown pants and a black jacket. Near her was a standing, yawning scout from Olesya’s group. Upon noticing the look of Aranea, the scout hastily bared her neck, relaxing when the wolf hag nodded to her.

"Tiny. Great, I was about to find you. I need you in the training area as soon as possible. You and Leila are about to undergo a small test," Aranea smiled, wondering how Tiny managed to sneak up on her. She heard the footsteps of the scout and even smelled her, but utterly failed to sense Tiny. She pointed at the bottle, "What are these?"

"My medicine," Tiny was embarrassed to say, "My bones get brittle without it. Warlord Alpha regularly sends these pills to me. The military also provides a similar product to me for free, but these ones come from Iterna itself, they are supposedly of better quality."

"Why would Alpha help you?" Aranea asked, surprised. Everyone had the right to their own secrets. However, based on what she knew, Alpha was a violent murderer, someone who barely held back her rage, "Everyone knows that she is nothing but a monster…"

"My… Alpha is not a monster!" For the first time since they met, Aranea saw a flicker of anger in the eyes of Tiny as the small warrior stood her ground, looking into Aranea's eyes, "She helped me! When no one bothered to congratulate me on my birthday, she brought me sweets. When I could not pass the warrior test, she gave me advice on how to beat the insectoid warrior!"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Sorry," The wolf hag gave her a quick nod of apology, "I guess I should not believe everything people say."

"This is it for my portrait, then," The scout near Tiny lowered her head sadly, "Oh well, I just go back to drinking."

"Why the abyss are you not with your pack?" Aranea snapped at her, showing the fangs, "While enemies are afraid to attack us now, no one knows what can happen tomorrow. Go and train your pack!"

"You think I don’t know it?" The scout looked at the wolf hag defiantly, "Olesya has changed after Siri’s death. She was lax before, sure, but now she is utterly careless in her approach, just like Siri was. She trains newcomers herself, does not bother with making a proper camp anymore, does not bother to use us for the job… And I thought that she was different from other wolf hags." The scout stormed away from the hospital along with Tiny, who tried to calm her down.

Olesya changed? Aranea turned back to the window and looked at the half-wyrm, surprised. Yes, her friend was more distant than usual these days, but… The wolf hag then saw something that scared her and pushed all thoughts of Olesya from her mind.

One of the soldiers complained of a searing pain in his stomach. Aranea could see what was written on papers near his bed. It will be some time before doctors come for him, as his condition was stated to be non-threatening. The man tried his best to hold on but groaned from pain, despite painkillers. Apparently, he accidentally ate one of the local parasites during a patrol, and now this thing was busy leaving eggs in his stomach. An operation will be needed to heal the man. Leila came to him and took his head in her hands. The same light from before came from her eyes as she commanded the man to feel no pain until evening.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aranea demanded to know, coming into the room. She gave a nod of apology to one of the nurses before turning to the half-wyrm, "You can’t just take people's feelings away without asking for permission."

"He will be fine," Leila dismissively responded, standing up as the man looked at his body in confusion before falling back on pillows. "Now he is no longer in pain and can wait his turn without problem."

"The pain is gone…" The man said in astonishment, "Lady you are a miracle! Thank you so much! Does this mean that I am healed?"

"No, you idiot!" Aranea shouted, calling to the nurse, "Secure this one right here with ropes and ensure that he will stay until the operation."

She grabbed Leila by the hand, literally dragging her by herself to the restroom. Normally, the half-wyrm was stronger than the wolf hag, but in her new armor, Aranea was physically stronger. She pushed Leila toward a mirror on the wall.

"Look at yourself, you idiot! In your opinion, just how much do you know about life? " Aranea growled, wanting to bite the half-wyrm.

"Not enough. This is why I always ask questions." Leila said, checking her face for dirt.

"Then think for once before you act! You can’t just mess with someone’s mind on the fly! What if you permanently damage the mind…"

"My power will not damage someone’s mind. I know it better than someone else." Leila responded calmly.

"How in the world can you even know this!?"

"Because I have lived with two imprints on my mind for more than fifteen years." Seeing the confused face of Aranea, Leila took a deep breath and explained, "Imprints are permanent orders or rules. When wyrms use their powers in full, they can leave an imprint. It can be almost anything, really. I was presented to the old demon at the age of ten. When he saw me, he was angry. That night with my mother was just for pleasure, he screamed. He claimed that she had no right to give birth to me. He looked at me and gave me the order to cease breathing," Leila’s eye twitched, "Naturally, I obeyed. Mom tried to stop him, but the old demon's will was too strong for her. Thankfully, Wyrm Lord was nearby and put his imprint on me, forcing me to "live" so to speak. For years, it was more like a curse, since the old demon always found a way to make my life miserable—he wanted to see me in pain, cause my birth 'disgraced' him, or some shit like this. This is why he kept me locked away all these years, to protect his 'honor'. As if you could take honor from someone who lacks it… Now that I am finally free from him, it no longer bothers me. I have so much to catch up on now!"

"And the second imprint?" Aranea asked, shocked at what she heard. It partially explains why Leila was acting strangely friendly with everyone...

"Oh, that. After my mom died, the old demon put a second imprint on me when he trained me to be his pet enforcer. It made me always come back to him after the mission, no matter what," Leila took another breath, forcing the memories to go away. "Anyway, about the soldier. He was in pain. I removed the pain. He feels better now and can wait his turn…" Leila stopped as Aranea slammed her paw into the wall near the mirror.

"Listen. You told me that your father used his power on you. Why do you think he did it?" Aranea forced herself to sound deadly calm. Kate was right—no shouting.

"I already told you. The old demon wanted to get a reaction. He enjoys when others suffer," Leila hissed, her left eye twitching, "I hate him, but what does it have to do with anything? I use my power…"

"To get a reaction," Aranea took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look in the mirror, saying, "Listen, you want to use your power so others will thank you."

"This is a lie!"

"Really? Then why do you never leave the choice to others? Why force yourself on people? Admit it, you want to get a reaction from people, you want people to thank and worship you," Aranea pressed her snout to the ear of Leila. "You want to get a reaction out of people. A different kind, but you want the same as your father…"

Leila broke from her hold, slamming Aranea into a nearby wall. She breathed air through both her nose and mouth, trying her best to calm down. And yet her eyes were red with rage. Her pupils trembled as she tried to formulate words, her clawed hands pushed Aranea deeper into the wall. The wolf hag steeled herself in order not to blink. The half-wyrm was strong! Aranea assumed that she was stronger, but even now she was overpowered easily, as if she were a cub.

"Never," Leila said with trembling limbs, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes, "Never dare to compare me to him! You want to hit me? Fine, go ahead, as if it would hurt. You want to be angry at me? Feel free. But never, ever, ever compare me to him! I never used anyone, I never left anyone to die! I never betrayed… I am better than him!"

"Then prove it!" Aranea almost pressed her snout to Leila's face, "Let others choose. Warn them about the consequences. Don’t be like your father."

"If you see a boy about to leap from a roof because he believes that he can fly, won't you save him even if he gets angry later?" Leila repeated these words like a mantra, unsure for a moment.

"Are these your words or the words of your father?" The wolf hag asked, and Leila let her go, taking one step back. "This is what he said to you about your power, am I right?"

"My power is not evil. I use it to help people. Unlike the old demon, I do not make them feel bad!" The half-wyrm almost begged, looking at Aranea with a desperate expression.

"It’s fine to use your power," The halfbreed forced herself to say, not fully believing in her own words, "You were born with it, how can it be evil? In battle, your power can save the lives of our allies. But it is not fine to use it on our allies or civilians! Not without asking their permission first. Maybe not even then. Please, just think about what happened! You used your power on Kate, and she suffered. You used it on the soldier here, and he nearly left without surgery. And these are the only instances I know of! Are you sure that you have never really hurt anyone with your power? Use your power, but only if both the doctor and the patient give consent. And never use it on allies or civilians outside the hospital. "

Aranea wanted to add that this was her order, but they both knew that this was not something she could enforce. And yet Leila stepped back one more time, unsure. She raised her clawed hand, looking at the claws, then walked to the sink and cleaned her face before taking a breath.

"I swear that I only want what is best for people. But I will think about what you have said. Can you leave now? I have the wall to fix." She gestured helplessly at the damaged wall, "And I have no idea how to do that."

"Actually, I can’t leave. You want to help, fine. I have a job for you. If you agree, I will even pay for the wall."