The room Azee found herself in was well-appointed and comfortable, illuminated by the glow of two oil lanterns and a small fire crackling away to itself in a fireplace. The bed was large and soft, with fresh linens and fluffed pillows, and the floor was covered mainly by a plush red carpet. A bouquet of lavender and lilies set in a beautiful porcelain vase filled the room with a pleasing scent.

But despite the comfort of her surroundings, Azee simply could not relax.

The door had been locked behind her when she'd been pushed into the room, and no amount of comfortable surroundings were enough to erase the constant feeling of being trapped. For the dozenth time, she started pacing from one side of the room to the other. After a few minutes of pacing, Azee paused for a moment to glance out the window, watching as the raindrops ran down the glass in wild, twisting patterns.

Azee had seen some terrible things in her life, even at the Windhill plantation. She'd witnessed killing, torture, beatings, and even rape many times over, she'd seen her friends die, and she'd seen her sister sold and carted off like an animal. And yet, something about what she had witnessed in this house surpassed the casual cruelty she had previously encountered. Each time she sat down and tried to rest, images of the stuffed pelt heads would flash through her mind.

"I can't believe Luke would be friends with a lunatic like this..." Azee muttered. After a moment, she suppressed a sigh, her ears drooping. "What am I thinking, of course I can believe it... all these humans are the same."

Stepping over to the bed, she sat down. Azee knew that what she was saying wasn't true. Luke was an ass, that much was certain. But she also knew he tried his best not to be cruel. He failed, but at least he tried.

'That's almost worse...' Azee thought to herself, flopping onto her back and closing her eyes. 'He tries to be a good person... he tries to do the right thing... Dammit, Chara... if you hadn't tried to fight... then none of this would be happening...'

She let out a long sigh, rolling onto her side and gripping a pillow. 'What am I thinking? I'm a slave, Chara is a slave, of course we should fight! It doesn't matter if he's trying to do the right thing, he's in the wrong!'

'But what choice does he have?'

Azee groaned in frustration, her claws digging into the pillow.

'He could give it all up, he could leave, he could... be with me.'

Again, Azee shook her head. 'He'd never give it all up. Why would he? I just... I wish.... I wish it would have even crossed his mind...'

She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't hear the door behind her quietly unlock.

***

Outside the Johnsburg Manor, the rain and the wind continued to build. The trees bent and whipped about like frenzied dancers caught up in an intoxicating melody. Thick torrents of rain drenched the lands, turning the roads into rivers and the surface of the nearby lake into a frothing cauldron.

Luke stood at one of the library windows, watching as the rain pounded against the glass. His hands were clenched tightly behind his back, his jaw set and brow furrowed.

Behind Luke, Eddie Johnsburg leaned back in his chair, observing his friend. After a few moments, he spoke up, "Listen, Luke, you're my friend. The way I see it, we're comrades, fighting the same fight. But you got yourself a problem, brother, a problem I can help you fix," There was a note of condescension in his voice.

"What problem exactly?"

"You've let yourself become too attached. You've lost your authority."

Luke glanced over his shoulder. "If you're trying to accuse me of violating the canon..."

"No, no, no, my friend." Eddie shook his head. "Look, the canon is all well and good, but it can't account for everything that goes on out here. The Lord herself was a warrior; she didn't have to deal with the pelts on a daily basis the way we do. She didn't know what it was like to really have to live and work with them."

"You do have a point."

"Being around pelts is like being around unruly children every damn day. They whine and complain, they resist and they struggle to make as much of a mess of things as they can so that you wanna wring the life out of them. And then, all of a sudden, they give you a look that pulls on your heart and makes you want to forgive them, just like a child would. They're children, all of them, a whole race of spiteful, arrogant, uneducated, and unintelligent children."

Eddie glanced at Luke, noting the distaste on his friend's face reflected in the window. "Now I know that sounds awful harsh. But think about it. Really, take a moment and think about it: are they really, truly, that different from children?"

"There... are times when, yes, they remind me of children," Luke admitted.

"Which is a good and fair thing. They are under our care. We protect them, look after them, train them, and, yes, command them. We are parents to them, stern parents perhaps, but that is necessary." Eddie paused to take a drink. "And... like all parents, we have our favourites, hard as that is to admit. My father favoured me, his father favoured him, your father favoured your brother."

Luke stiffened but did not reply.

"And you favour that pretty little canine you brought with you. And I'm willing to bet she has managed to worm her way into your heart. She's got her claws all dug into you, but no matter how much love and care you give her, all she wants is more."

Still Luke said nothing, but the look on his face told Eddie all he needed to know.

"You know, I had one like that."

Luke's silence broke as he glanced over his shoulder again, raising an eyebrow."You?"

"Mhmm."

"With a pelt?"

"Yep. Pretty little vulpine, cutest eyes you ever did see, with this big ol' fluffy tail. She was a real sweetheart." Eddie paused for a moment to swallow his drink. "Leese was her name, an' I'll never forget the first time she looked at me."

***

Azee tried to scream, but a pair of strong hands forced her head down against a pillow. She thrashed about, trying to break free, but the hands holding her were too many and too strong. Azee swung her arms wildly, trying to catch her assailant with her claws. For a moment she was sure she felt her claws strike flesh, but a moment later her wrists were seized and bound behind her.

Again, she tried to scream for help, but a firm hand clamped down on her and roughly tied a strip of leather around her muzzle.

Amidst her terror, Azee found herself dragged backwards through time. Her mind spun, memories of being pinned, her muzzle clamped shut, rough hands on her, holding her down, forcing her legs apart. She could almost feel that hot, aroused breath and the drool that had dripped onto the back of her neck.

'I'm gonna make you my pet now.' Hawk's voice echoed in Azee's mind as her heart beat so fast it felt as if it would burst.

"Is she secured?" A familiar voice called out from behind Azee, breaking her from the memory.

"Yes ma'am," A pair of dull, lifeless voices replied.

Azee's eyes widened as the large canine woman from before stepped around the bed.

After testing to make certain Azee's muzzle was cinched shut, the canine woman nodded. "Hold her still." From a pocket of her apron, she withdrew a leather collar, with a brightly glowing rune. "Can't let a wild thing like you run around my nice, clean house."

With a fresh burst of strength, Azee tried to fight as the canine woman brought the glowing collar closer, but the hands holding her were like cast iron.

"No! No!" She tried to scream, as she felt the collar loop around her throat, but she could only make muffled groaning noises. She thrashed her head from side to side, until another hand seized a handful of her hair and pulled hard.

"Oh hush, foolish child."

***

"I bought Leese just after you and your father came round these parts." Eddie stared into the fire, his fingers slowly drumming on the arm of his chair as Luke returned to his seat.

"She was pretty as a picture, gentle eyes, beautiful soft fur. She was smart, not just for a pelt, but by human standards too." He chuckled to himself. "She had this... way about her, you know, this... liveliness that made you feel like humming a tune. I knew she was trouble from the moment I first set eyes on her, but that didn't matter, I had to have her. Ended up paying the full asking price for her. Thank the Lord my father was already dead, he'd have whipped me from here to Legacy if he knew that."

Eddie turned to look at Luke. "I presume this pelt of yours was much the same."

Luke shook his head. "Azee and I... I grew up with her. We went everywhere together, played together. She is... was, my best friend."

"Just friend?"

Luke shot Eddie an unpleasant glance. Of course, Luke's lack of denial was all Eddie needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Well, regardless, it's a little different, but the effect is much the same. They get under your skin and make you feel all warm and fuzzy. Then, the moment they have their hold-" Eddie snapped his fingers, "-that's when the demands start."

"What happened to Leese?" Luke asked.

A peel of thunder shook the windows as Eddie leaned back in his chair. "Well like I said, she got her claws into me, and then suddenly, nothing was good enough for her. Oh sure, it started out small, more food for the slaves, giving the children easier jobs, more sleep, more and more and more. Course I did it. I wanted her to be happy, wanted her to feel like I understood her. But, then the inevitable happened."

"She made a run for it?"

Leaning forward, Eddie tossed another log onto the fire. "Took off not two hours after she convinced me to take the collar off her. All that talk of love and loyalty, all those things she wanted me to do for the others, it was all just a play, a comedy where I was the fool."

"I'm sorry." Luke sighed, staring down at his glass.

"Sorry? Luke, she did me a favour, a service! She showed me what I had forgotten, that these are animals. What we had was a fantasy, a lovely dream, but a dream was all it was. It was never going to work. Once I realised that, once she showed me that, I was free. I met Theresa, married her, and set about creating a real life. Frankly, my friend, you should do the same."

Eddie leaned over the side of his chair and put a hand on Luke's shoulder. "They ain't like us. They don't get things like 'love' or 'loyalty'. Someday, maybe, they will understand these things, as the canon says, but for now, it's up to us to educate them."

"So what happened to her?"

"Leese? Oh, she's hanging around here somewhere." A subtle smirk crossed Eddie's lips at his private joke. "But that's beside the point."

"And just what is the point, pray tell?"

"That you don't owe your pelt anything. She belongs to you. She exists to serve you, not the other way around. Not only is it a waste of time to treat them the way you would treat one of us, but it is cruel. It's not something that their brains are made to handle."

Luke shook his head. "If there is one thing I have learned, it's that the pelts are much smarter than we give them credit for."

"Oh no doubt, but it isn't the same sort of intelligence that we have. It makes them... makes them grasp at things they can't have. Equality, freedom, independence, they think they want these things, but when they get it, what do they do? They demand more, they turn to violence, they complain, and they are just not happy. Just look at all the problems that the so-called 'free nations' have with their pelts? Look at all the crime, and disease they create. And look at Graize, the paragon of equality, they still enslave pelts they just call it 'employment' instead. Were I a pelt, there is not one bit of doubt in my mind that I would prefer the warmth and safety of one of my barns to the horror of one of Graize's slums."

As Eddie spoke, a war was raging within Luke. He'd heard all of this before; he'd even told himself some of it over the years. And yet, Luke found himself struggling against it. The logic of Eddie's words was strangely intoxicating; it pulled at him.

'Azee... No...'

"When we give them tasks, when we command them, we're giving them purpose. They should be grateful to us."

Luke's eyes narrowed. 'No...'

"Which is why I am doing you a service."

Immediately, Luke snapped out of his thoughts. "Service?"

Eddie swirled his drink around in his glass before taking a swig. "Ginni noticed that your slave was a little... willful. She thought that perhaps the control rune had failed."

Luke felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. "D-did... did you-"

"I told her to put a more powerful collar on her. Free of charge, of course."

Without a word, Luke leapt to his feet, his glass tumbling to the floor and shattering. He took off out of the library, ignoring Eddie's calls for him to stop.

Luke tore down a short hallway towards the main staircase. He vaulted the stairs, three at a time. Raw panic gripped him as the threat Eloise had made when she had first activated the runes embedded in his chest echoed in his mind.

'If he attempts to place you under another control spell, or seeks to take your will from you, or if your life should end in any way... he'll die.'

Reaching the upper floor, Luke sprinted down the dimly lit hallway. He could see an open door up ahead and could hear voices from within.

"Azee!" Luke howled.

Almost immediately, the large canine woman from before stuck her head out of the door. "Sir! The children are asleep! Would you please-"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Out of my way!" Luke commanded as he reached the door and shoved the canine aside. As he stepped into the room, he caught sight of Azee, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Luke breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Azee... you're-" He paused as he noted a second strip of leather around Azee's neck, thinner than her normal collar. Luke's hand shook as he stepped forward and reached out towards her. "Azee... are you..."

Slowly, as if in a trance, Azee turned and looked over her shoulder. Her eyes were dull, her face expressionless. She stared at Luke as if she only half recognised him.

"Hello, Master," She said, her voice flat yet calm.

Luke stepped around the bed and knelt down in front of Azee. "Are... are you hurt? Are you alright?"

"Hmmm? Yes... I'm fine. I was scared before... I can't remember why." She tilted her head a little. "Where are we?"

"W-we're at the Johnsburg Plantation... d-don't you... remember?"

"I can't... remember much at all."

Luke stared wide-eyed at Azee, his hands shaking.

'How.... how am I still alive?'

As Azee spoke, a tall, blonde human woman dressed in night clothes appeared at the door. "What is going on here?!" She demanded.

"It's alright, my love," Eddie said, jogging down the hallway towards the door. He gestured at Luke. "This is my friend, Luke Windhill. He and his... companion arrived shortly after you and the children went to bed."

"What's he doing, screaming and running down the hallway like a madman at this hour? Lord's sake, he woke up the children!"

"Just a little misunderstanding." Eddie smiled. "Now head on back to bed, darling. I'll join you shortly."

"I... fine." As the woman turned, she gestured at the canine woman. "Gini, the children are awake, go downstairs and make some warm milk for them."

"As you command."

As the canine woman and Eddie's wife departed, Luke looked up at his friend. "What right do you have to do this to her?"

"Right? She might be your slave but this is my house."Eddie stepped into the room, his voice ringing with irritation. "I have every right to protect my home and my family, and that includes making certain there isn't a potentially dangerous pelt running around without a proper restraint."

"But this-"

"So long as you are on my property, that collar stays on." Eddie's eyes narrowed. "My hospitality has limits, Luke. If you want to galavant around the country with an unrestrained pelt, that's your business, between you and the Lord. But here, on my property, in my house, it's my rules, understand? You don't like it, leave now."

For a few moments, Luke was silent. He stared down at Azee, who looked up at him with an utterly placid, almost curious expression. A howling gust of wind struck the house, the rain driving down hard against the windows.

"Fine." Luke got to his feet and nodded at Eddie. "But she is still mine, and I won't have her mistreated."

Eddie's face broke into a smile once more. "Mistreated? My friend, I would never hear of such a thing, you are both guests here." He gestured for Luke to follow. "Now, will you join me for one last drink before bed?"

"I... Suppose I will."

"Oh, but there is one thing." Eddie nodded at Azee. "You have to give her a command; otherwise, she'll just sit like that all night, staring at the wall."

"Right... I understand."

As Eddie turned and departed, Luke put a hand on Azee's shoulder. Her head turned slowly to look at his hand, then back up at Luke.

"Azee... go to sleep, alright. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay, master." Azee nodded slowly, before turning and laying down, curling up into a ball with her tail wrapped around herself.

"It doesn't make any sense to leave tonight, not in this weather," Luke muttered as he pulled a blanket up and over Azee. "Don't worry... everything will be alright."

"I understand."

As he turned to leave, Luke paused for a moment.

"Azee..."

"Yes Master?"

Unconsciously, Luke reached up and touched the crystal embedded in his chest. "Did... Eloise, give you a way to release the spell over me?"

Azee sat up a little. For a terrifying moment, Luke was certain he saw a flash of resistance in her eyes, but it faded quickly.

"She said I just had to will it released."

His heart beating fast and hard, Luke nodded. "Could you... do that?"

"I..." Azee paused for a moment. She looked down at her hand, a look of confusion on her face. "I... Yes... Yes, I can."

"Then... do it." Luke nodded. "Release the spell."

"I..." Again, there was resistance in Azee's voice.

All of a sudden Luke could feel the rune in his chest start to burn. An intense pain shot outwards from his heart, threatening to engulf his whole body.

'Dammit... Eloise's magic is too strong!'

Azee looked up at Luke, unaware of his agony. "I relea-"

"No!" Luke gasped, holding up a hand as he dropped to one knee. "Stop!"

Azee fell silent. Slowly, the burning subsided.

"Are you alright, master?"

With a panting gasp, Luke nodded his head. "Yes... Yes, I'm fine. Just.... Go to sleep."

"Okay." Azee turned over and curled back up.

Taking a moment to catch a calming breath, Luke got to his feet. He leaned over and pulled the blanket up over Azee's shoulders.

'We'll have to try something else, I suppose.'

With a final glance down at Azee, Luke turned and left the room, shutting out the light as he went.

***

In the last century, few names had carried as much weight in Halcyon as the Aikens. With an agricultural empire that spanned an entire province, the Aikens had been almost impossibly wealthy. They'd contributed generously to lavish projects all across Halcyon, building great theatres, libraries, train stations, cathedrals, and more. To this day, one of the most important streets in Legacy carried the name 'Aiken's Way'.

And then, at the height of the Aiken's power, along came Beckett Aiken. Over the years, many different theories surfaced regarding Beckett, that perhaps he had been dropped on his head as a child or that he had been the product of some indiscretion between his mother and one of his uncles. Others came to believe that Beckett Aiken was, in fact, an imposter, a Northern agent sent to Halcyon to sabotage the once-great family.

Regardless of the reason, the one thing that most folks could agree upon was that Beckett Aiken was an almost impossibly cruel monster. Even by the brutal standards of Halcyon, the way Beckett had treated his slaves and many of his employees had been horrific. He had been possessed of a particular fascination with the moment just before death, the moment the 'light in the eyes went out' as he phrased it, and would indulge in his curiosity as often as he could. He'd often wear clothing that had been made from the skins of his slaves, the hides taken from the victims while they were still alive. Many slaves were made to fight one another for his amusement, and the combatants were often siblings. Fancying himself a man of science, Beckett invited Doctors from all over Halcyon to experiment on his slaves. The more perverse and painful the experiment, the better, so long as he was allowed to watch of course.

After a time, Beckett Aiken's cruelty and depravity made him a pariah amongst his peers, and even his own family. Unfortunately, there was little that could be done, after all, Beckett Aiken was the first and only child of the previous head of the Aiken family, and he was the heir to the vast majority of the family's wealth and power. Of course, his money and his privilege protected him from any real consequences for his actions, even those taken against his employees and fellow Halcyon citizens. It did not, however, protect him from his own slaves.

"See, that was the thing-" Eloise poked at the campfire she'd built in the remains of a fireplace. "- Beckett's slaves were able to get their hands on a bunch of tools and weapons, probably from overseers that were just as fed up with the maniac."

Reaching over her shoulder, Eloise picked up a few pieces of a wooden chair she'd already broken apart. All around her, the shell of the old Aiken Mansion creaked and groaned as the storm outside threw itself against the walls. Occasionally a gust would let out a mournful wail as it ripped through the decrepit structure, like the disembodied voice of one of Beckett Aiken's victims.

Tossing the chair pieces onto the fire, Eloise glanced over her shoulder. Her half-Drathian captive, Wolfe, sat a short distance away, their hands bound up tight with rope.

"As the story goes, once they'd breached the house, this house in fact, the slaves dragged Beckett out into the main yard. Apparently, they couldn't think of a sufficiently cruel punishment for him, so they decided to quite literally tear him, his wife, and his sons, to pieces with their bare hands."

"I see." Wolfe said, watching as Eloise fed a few more pieces to the fire.

"No one was sad to see Becket dead, of course. After the uprising was put down, the Order culled most of his slaves, and what was left of his family's wealth was seized by the federals. There are a few Aikens still about, but they are a shadow of their former selves."

"Is there a point to this... historical indulgence?" Wolfe asked.

"You don't see the parallels?" Eloise sighed and shook her head. "A powerful family, or group of people, who indulge in cruelty, and it leads to their destruction."

Wolfe scoffed. "Are you trying to draw a parallel between this one family and the Drathain?"

"The Drathain, or Halcyon itself."

"This isn't one of your better attempts at getting me to cooperate, you know."

"We can skip the preamble then." As Eloise spoke, she picked up a poker sitting against the fireplace and placed it in the coals. "Do you work for Halcyon? Or do you work for Legacy Runeworks?"

"We've been over this. I'm not going to tell you anything." Wolfe raised an eyebrow. "Why does it even matter?"

"Because if you are working for Halcyon then you are just an idiot. If you're working for Legacy Runeworks, then we have a more serious problem."

"So there's not much incentive for me to tell you that I am working for Runeworks then, is there?"

Eloise fiddled with the handle of the poker. "True, unless, of course, you understand just how dangerous lying to me is."

"It doesn't matter who I am working for! I'm just a scientist, an engineer."

"Which means you are far more likely to simply be working for Halcyon. Odd for a Drathain halfbreed."

"My mother was the halfbreed, I'm only one-quarter Drathain."

Eloise nodded to herself. "Well, that does explain a few things."

"Like what?"

"Why you would help Halcyon destroy the world."

A single bead of sweat ran down Wolfe's face as they watched the metal poker start to turn cherry red. "Halcyon isn't trying to destroy the world, that would be insane."

"They may not be trying to do so, but it is the end result of their meddling. You can put a gun in the hands of a deaf and blind man, and he might still end up hitting someone."

Wolfe snorted and rolled their eyes. "You're insane. What we are doing is research, nothing more."

Eloise glanced over her shoulder. "You're building weapons and murdering thousands of pelts to do it."

"I-" Wolfe paused for a moment and looked away, unable to meet Eloise's gaze. "I have nothing to do with that."

"Could have fooled me."

"The humans-" Wolfe caught themselves, shaking their head. "Halcyon would have killed their pelts anyway! Our research means that their deaths at least have some meaning! A war with the Federation would be a thousand times worse."

"That thought must give them a great deal of relief from their suffering. Tell me, did you ever watch one of those horrid matches? Did you ever see what you were a part of?"

"It... it wasn't my choice! I'm just an engineer! A researcher! I don't make the decisions."

"Yes, and I am sure that distinction helps you sleep at night. But you didn't have to help, did you? You could have walked away, but you made a choice about who and what you were willing to sacrifice."

Wolfe fell silent, Eloise's words burrowing into their very soul.

"Do you have any idea how many pelts were sacrificed for these weapons, these experiments, this 'Project Harrow'? How many of them have died screaming, in terrible pain, to help you build your weapons?"

"None of that is my fault!"

Eloise shifted the poker around in the fire before piling a few more pieces of the chair onto the coals, thick smoke rising as the wet wood hissed and popped. "Perhaps, but this has gone far beyond fault."

"Who are you to judge me?" Wolfe demanded, more fear than anger in their voice. "I saw you kill in the cavern, I saw you gun down those agents like they were nothing! So who are you to judge me?!"

"Who am I? I'm a witness."

"A... what?"

"Tell me, that ring around your eyes, that pale blue glow, do you know what it means?"

Wolfe blinked in surprise. "Wh-what?"

"The Drathain call it 'lo'ta kona tau', or 'the ring of shame'. I don't know how much of your Drathain heritage you are aware of, but that ring is important. It's a reminder."

"It's not as if the Drathain are particularly welcoming to people like me. Why should I care about the Drathain, or my 'heritage' as you call it?"

"Because whether you realise it or not, you are walking the same path they did."

Screwing up their courage, Wolfe scoffed. "This again? I already told you, we took great care not to repeat the same mistakes of the Drathain. We're drawing power from the pelts, not from the plane itself."

Seizing hold of the glowing poker, Eloise spun around and came face to face with Wolfe. The poker's glowing tip lit up Wolfe's face, the yellow glow reflected in their terrified eyes.

"I felt the air in that cavern," Eloise snarled. "It was cold, freezing, all of the energy drawn from it! Whether you meant to or not, you were drawing energy from the plane. You were doing exactly what the Drathain did! Exactly what caused the Cascade!"

Wolfe's breathing was fast as their eyes flicked back and forth from Eloise's face to the poker, trying not to tremble in fear. "Th-there was s-some overdraw, but it... it's nothing compared to what the Drathain did prior to the Cascade!"

"And when those weapons are used?"

"Th-they aren't going to be used! They're only meant to threaten Graize into backing down and not closing off access to the gate!"

"Houndshit!"

"A weapon like that isn't p-practical for the battlefield!" Wolfe insisted as Eloise brought the poker ever so slightly closer to their face, the heat from the glowing metal making them sweat profusely. "It's only true purpose is-"

All of a sudden, Wolfe threw their head forwards. The bony plates on their forehead, just under their skin, crashed against Eloise's skull and sent her toppling backwards. The poker spiralled out of Eloise's grip and clattered to the floor.

Moving as quickly as they could, Wolfe leapt towards the fallen poker and brought the rope binding their wrists together down on the red hot metal. The rope sizzled and sputtered, and after a few seconds Wolfe had succeeded in burning through enough to get their hands free. They leapt to their feet, grabbing the poker and spinning round to face Eloise.

Eloise was already moving. In one swift motion, she swept Wolfe's legs out from under them, while at the same time twisting the poker from their grip. Wolfe fell heavily, the air whooshing out of their lungs as they landed flat on their back.

Coughing raggedly, Wolfe tried to get up, only to find Eloise standing over them, glowing poker aimed at their throat.

"So, you think that the mere threat of a weapon is enough to stop it?" Eloise demanded, blood dripping down her face from a cut just above her eye. "Then tell me, did my threat stop you?"

Wolfe swallowed hard, the heat from the poker making their neck sweat. "That's different!"

"How?"

"What do you want from me?!" Wolfe howled up at Eloise, terrified tears forming at the corners of their eyes.

For a moment, Eloise's eyes darkened, before, with a disgusted snarl, she tossed the glowing poker away. The red hot metal sizzled and spat as it rolled into a puddle.

"It's not what I want from you, it's what I need you to understand." Eloise knelt down in front of Wolfe, staring directly into their eyes. "I was there, I was on the Drathain Plane when the Cascade occurred."

Wolfe's eyes widened. "Wha-but... but that's impossible... That was three hundred years ago!"

"My comrades and I, including June, your boss from New Burleigh, we were all there."

Thunder roared in the distance as Eloise spoke. "It was just after our victory at Kanter Valley. We'd pushed through to the Drathain Gate, we thought that perhaps we could... could cut the Drathain army off, attack them on their own soil. It didn't make a great deal of sense but...we were fighting to avenge a comrade who had fallen during the battle. But when we passed through the gate... when we saw what was on the other side..."

The haunted look in Eloise's eyes struck Wolfe more than any of her words could. Behind Eloise's gaze was a yawning chasm of horror and fear, memories almost too awful to describe, etched into her very soul.

"The Cascade had already begun when we set foot on the Drathain Plane... their world was in the middle of tearing itself to pieces. They'd been drawing power from the world for years, believing there would be no consequence... they were wrong. It's why they attacked our plane in the first place... they knew their world was dying, they needed a new home."

"You... you actually saw it... the Cascade..." Wolfe shook their head. "That... that's... What did it look like?"

"The sky was red and full of... it looked like flames, but it was cold... so incredibly cold. An entire world drowning in cold fire. There were lightning bolts that cut from one horizon to the other... The land buckled and tore apart..."

Eloise turned to look down at her hand. "The runes that had been used... to augment us during the war, they seemed to attract the energies of the cascade. We were the ignition point, the spark that set off the final death of their world. The moment we set foot on that Plane... we destroyed the Drathain race. It was only after it all that we realised what Kanter Valley had been. It hadn't been some great gathering of the Drathain army, not some grand plan to defeat us; it was a last-ditch evacuation. The only Drathain that survived were those that made it to this plane before we went through."

A mix of sadness, and horror crossed Eloise's face as she looked back at Wolfe. And yet, there was also steely determination flashing through her eyes.

"The cold I felt in the cavern beneath New Burleigh... it was the same, the same cold I felt that day... the day the life energy of an entire world burning alive in ice-cold fire was poured into our bodies. It was also the day that that blue ring appeared around the eyes of every single Drathain, a reminder of what their foolishness had cost them."

"The cascade... it extended your lifespan. Since you were the ignition point... all of the energy overflow..."

"Was poured into our bodies."

"That's how you and Lady June were... were able to tear at each other like you did and survive."

Eloise nodded slowly. "Yes."

"How.... how much time did you..."

"I don't know. It could be hundreds of lifetimes, thousands, millions even, I don't know." Eloise's gaze hardened again as she leaned forward. "What I do know is this, the power that you and Halcyon are playing with, it has to be stopped."

Wolfe swallowed hard. "But... the Federation..."

"Halcyon and the Federation can tear at each other all they want. Go to war, don't go to war, I could not possibly care less. But those weapons you were helping to build could do damage that you and I can't even imagine. Politics be damned, there is nothing worth risking the life of every person on this plane for."

"I..." Wolfe looked away, unable to meet Eloise's gaze. For a long moment, Wolfe was quiet, staring at the fire. Finally, they spoke, their voice low. "If what you are saying is true-"

"It is true."

"-Then you can prove it to me."

"How exactly?"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Wolfe closed their eyes and took a deep breath. "Ardenvale."

"What?"

"I don't know where all of the Project Harrow sites are... but I know there is one at Ardenvale. It's where I started working."

"Then that's where we are headed."

Wolfe tilted their head a little. "We?"

"Yes, 'we'." Eloise raised an eyebrow, "What, you think they'll let you live if you try to go back?

"I suppose not..."

"Then we're in this together." Eloise lowered herself to the floor in front of the fire. "I'm going to get some sleep. Ardenvale is a long way from here."

"What about me?" Wolfe demanded.

"That's right, Drathain don't sleep... Neither do Drathain hybrids, it seems." Eloise shrugged. "Keep the fire going and keep an eye out for intruders."

"What if I try to run?"

"We've already been over that. And even if you don't think your bosses would kill you, it's a long walk to the nearest town. Assuming you survived the storm out there, I have had a lot of experience with tracking prey far more elusive than you. And, I would remind you, you would have to kill me thousands of times over to stop me from coming after you."

Wolfe sighed heavily and dropped down beside the fire as well. "Fine."

"Oh, and one other thing." Eloise opened one eye and looked up at Wolfe. "I've killed scores of Drathain, and there are over a dozen blades hidden on my body."

"Uh... I..."

A small smile crossed Eloise's face as she folded her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. "Just something for you to keep in mind."

END OF CHAPTER 41