Smoke billowed skyward behind us as we left the disease research facility in flames. I felt that we had abandoned some part of our humanity, walking away without looking back. I remembered what they had done and found no other way in my thoughts - besides to continue to war on them. I detested violence, but a worse way would be to allow evil to remain unopposed. I had to stop feeling sorry for myself, I had to let go of my weakness.
The pack walked towards our next target, and for a distance we followed an old logging road. There was a stillness in the air, as the forests we traveled through had no animals, for they had all fled far into the hills, trying to escape the toxic ash and the moaning of ghosts. Only one creature remained.
I had noticed it before, circling as a dark shape in the sky, watching us. When it had decided we were what it sought, it landed. We passed under it and continued our walk. I almost forgot about it, lost in my own thoughts.
As we followed the old logging road, I heard the cawing of a crow, and I looked up. The bird looked intently at us. Then, to my surprise, it spoke, saying:
"Enemies of the Elders. So, the rumors are true. Truly this marvelous bird has the most knowledge. Not easy to find, but for Cory, they pour smoke into the skies."
"You are actually speaking." I addressed the crow.
"My wolf is listening. That is good. Very good." Cory the crow said and then flew to the ground and landed in front of the pack.
"This bird can talk." Treach grinned.
"I've heard a fox speak to me, but it was not like this. She wasn't speaking any language I could name. You're obviously speaking our language. How is this possible?" I asked Cory.
"An enchantment, knowledge, other words." Cory surmised casually.
"You spoke of the Elders." Lieutenant Colonel Rose said to the bird.
"I did? Oh, that's because I know about the Elders, and I saw what my wolves have done to them wherever they have met them, at least to those who follow them." Cory explained.
"What do you know about the Elders?" Lieutenant Colonel Rose asked.
Cory hopped up and down and then said: "My Lord defeated them before he was taken for his madness. Many adventures I've had since then, and one day I shall find a way to whatever world he is trapped in."
"So, you have seen them, and you know who they are?" Lieutenant Colonel Rose asked.
"They have many faces, and the ones I would recognize are already dead. I see what are wolves, I have seen how in the morning there is a change from wolves into men. So, wolves war on them, but they are coming. That is why I am warning my wolves. My wolves are in terrible danger." Cory hopped up and down and was excitedly trying to warn us.
"We can face them. Where are they?" Halo growled.
"No - no! They come with all of their armor and weapons and many, many soldiers. If the pack were to face them openly, my wolves wouldn't stand a chance." Cory objected.
"Then we must escape." I said.
"My wolves are not hearing my warning. Oh, this is bad. My wolves must listen, there is no escape." Cory flapped his wings, his little crow feet stamping the packed earth of the logging road.
"How could they find us?" McRaze wondered. "We would see them coming a mile away."
"They have already determined where you must be, and they see from every vantage. They search for you here. My wolves must go to ground; to the place where others will hide them. Let me show where such a place is, and to make the introductions that will assure help." Cory flew up to a branch.
"Very well, Cory." Lieutenant Colonel Rose decided. "We will trust you."
"Couldn't this be some sort of trap? This bird has already said he is enchanted." Dreich pointed out. "It seems like an obvious mistake to trust him."
"No, no. My wolves can trust Cory. Is there not some way to make this trust?" Cory sounded worried.
"Frosty senses this bird has good intentions and that it opposes our enemies. I trust him and so does Frosty." McRaze said.
"Yes! This woman is wise. I have met so many wise women, my wolves should be lucky to have a good witch among them. Please, she must already be known to say things that are entirely correct. Is that enough?" Cory asked.
"It is enough." Lieutenant Colonel Rose agreed. "I have already said we will trust you."
"Very good! I shall watch as they search for my wolves in vain. To hide where none shall look and remain hidden, it shall be some legendary mischief." Cory made a noise that sounded like rusty gears breaking down and grinding to a halt. I realized he was laughing, as though he anticipated it would somehow be very funny to see.
"Lead the way." Lieutenant Colonel Rose told Cory.
The crow flew ahead of us and landed on a branch. As we walked in that direction and got near, he would fly again to another branch. From branch to branch he led us into the forest. Soon we had reached a very old part of the forest between two hills. It smelled fresh and untouched, as though it was never walked upon by anyone, although there was a path we found. Whoever had come here was one of the few who seldom did. It was very isolated and there was a feeling of undiscovery.
I smelled campfires and heard the sound of voices and human activity. Just then an alarm was raised in the nearby encampment. Cory flew ahead of us and stated that only friends were arriving.
We followed the trail into the place, and I saw they had built crude structures and had lived there for some time. The people stared with wide eyes at Adam and Frosty and our uniforms and weapons. Lieutenant Colonel Rose put his hands in the air and said to them:
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
"Do not be afraid of us, we mean no harm. We have come here seeking refuge, we are looking for a place to hide."
"Then welcome to Sanctuary." an old woman stood in front of everyone else, as though protecting them. I sensed she was the leader and guardian of the refugees.
"This crow warned us that our enemies were closing in on us and assured us they could never find us here. But I am afraid we have made a mistake. This place is too exposed, for they will employ the use of aircraft when they search for us."
"They will not see us. Sanctuary is part of the older world. You have walked a path through a forest that is untamed, to a place that does not exist to those who do not seek it. There is no way they can come here. This is why we did not try to run or defend ourselves. We were surprised to see you, but I was not worried. You would not be able to come here if you meant us any harm." the old woman told us of Sanctuary.
"See how my wolves will be safe?" Cory sounded pretty self-satisfied. "I am Cory, and when this crow watches the forces of the Elders become frustrated, my laughter will be heard."
The crow suddenly took off and flew away.
"He comes and goes as he pleases. That bird belongs to a man who has accomplished unimaginable things, and the man belongs to that bird, who is extraordinary. I am Buttercup, these are my folk. I welcome you and we will share what we have with you. Rest and be at ease. I can see weariness and broken spirits in your eyes." Buttercup spoke mostly to me, it seemed.
"We cannot stay here." I objected. "When night falls, we will be a threat to you all."
"Why is that?" Buttercup asked.
"Because we are lycans." Lieutenant Colonel Rose answered. "And the moon is still full."
"Perhaps if there is no moonlight, and the tea is made of wolf's bane, there would be no danger?" Buttercup said thoughtfully. The people looked afraid of us, but they had already escaped real danger, and they were patient while Buttercup spoke.
"How?" Lieutenant Colonel Rose asked.
"In the caves where there is no moonlight. In the field where the girls pick flowers. It is easy for us to make this a safe cohabitation. Would my plan work?" Buttercup asked.
"It would." Doctor Imbrium decided. "Without moonlight there is nothing to trigger the change. If the lycans drank a tincture of wolf's bane and it was not too much, the poison would prevent their transformation, so long as they were not exposed to the full moon."
We followed Buttercup to the caves and there we left our weapons. Most of the pack decided to stay there as well. Bruna wanted to meet the folk of Sanctuary, and I went with her.
We saw the girls, the young women, and a few of the boys picking the flowers of wolf's bane. Their harvest seemed plentiful and they stopped when they had taken enough. They took the purple flowers to Buttercup who then used it to brew a similar concoction to the drug wolfbane, and I could tell by the smell that it was almost identical.
"What happened here? How are so many people in this place?" I asked her.
"Years ago, when the law required immunization, many people did not trust the government and refused to accept. They were criminals for that, and it was then that the quarantine camps were made. In the night, National Security enforcers would come and take away people's neighbors. Nobody did anything about it, for it was not their family being taken away. Surely you remember these things?" Buttercup asked me.
"Yes, but my whole village didn't trust the government. Out there, in the rural places, nobody came for us. It all seemed far away." I recalled.
"The quarantine camps were just the beginning. Anyone who opposed The Cabinet was taken away by National Security. They were secret police, arresting people for sedition and treason and for speaking out against the quarantine camps. There were rumors that there were secret camps where they took political prisoners to die." Buttercup continued.
"Those rumors are true." I confirmed.
"Yes, I know. That is why I let those who had nowhere to escape come here. This was always my home. I've lived here all my life, and it took some getting used to. I mean, to have humans living here with me, making noise and burning firewood and eating the food meant for the animals and also eating the animals. I was not happy with it, at first, but they have listened to me and shown restraint in how much they take from my forest. This is a new covenant, different from when I dealt with humans long ago. These are good people, and they do things my way. We have reached a balance."
"Tell me again who you are, for I now understand you are not what you seem." I requested.
"I am Buttercup. An old woman of the woods. What more could I say about myself?" She smiled strangely.
"Perhaps - how old are you?" I asked her.
"Is it not impolite to ask a woman how old she is, if she is a grown woman?" Buttercup said with amusement in her voice.
"Are you really just an old woman, or something more?" I kept asking, but I was getting nowhere. Buttercup seemed to be playing a game with me, and I hadn't asked the right question.
"What more would I be? This is my forest, I am its old woman. Long ago nobody would have questioned this arrangement. Why do you find it perplexing?" Buttercup laughed softly.
"Nevermind." I looked away, feeling flustered.
"It was lycans they wanted most. It is unironic that you ended up here." Buttercup mentioned. I looked back at her, and she nodded to me that there was more to her story.
"What for?" I asked.
"If you are at war with them, I think you must know more about what they wanted with you. Cory told me about the Elders. It is the Elders who are puppeteers of The Cabinet and it is also they who built whatever army you were part of."
"The secret army - General Stone, Wolf Hunt, The Farm, all of that?" I asked. Buttercup shrugged.
"I only know they were looking for lycans, called you werewolves. They went door to door in some places. Those who fought back were hunted down. Anyone the hunters suspected of being a lycanthrope, or who helped hide them or didn't cooperate in any way was marked with a wolf's pawprint on the door of their home. They said the disease was lycanthropy and it was contagious. Again, the quarantine camps were the destination of anyone whose home was marked. National Security would come for them." Buttercup looked around at the encampment in her forest.
"No lycans ever made it here before?" I asked.
"None. Those who hunted them were very thorough. I guess a few had the disposition they were looking for since they used you in their agenda." Buttercup guessed.
"Most of us joined willingly. I had no idea they'd hunted us out here. We lived underground at Ravenrock for years." Bruna sounded upset. I knew it bothered her when wolves were hunted and killed.
"So, the immunizations, the quarantine camps, all of it was a system to eradicate lycanthropy." I added it all up. "They painted a mark of the beast on people's doors."
"I was told many people began dying of mysterious illnesses and that the immunizations were really injections of different diseases. Eradicating lycanthropy was only part of what they were trying to do." Buttercup related.
"And now they have resorted to turning whole cities to glass. They've killed about half a billion people with a war they started. The Cabinet must be stopped." I said. I heard the zealousness in my voice, but I felt no shame, my inner wolf was happy to have my agreement.
"We are safe here, for now. There are places like this where winter never comes." Buttercup gestured at the clear skies. I had noticed there was no snow, but I already had too much on my mind to pay attention to the temperate surroundings. Now that she mentioned it, I suddenly realized we had walked out of a forest of winter into one of spring.
"You are the embodiment of the forest itself, some kind of Mother Nature, or something." I stammered.
Buttercup looked at Bruna and then into my eyes and told me:
"Something like that. I prefer to be seen as an old woman, it suits my personality. I am really here in the flesh, but my mortality is no shorter than the life of the forest, and this is among the oldest forests in the world. I've come to love these humans, for their good nature and their willingness to learn how to live in harmony with my forest. I can also feel my love for you wolves. You have nobleness in you. There is a capacity for anger - true, but we live in a time when someone must fight, and I can think of no better warriors than you."