Timber-scented night air greeted and soothed me. I felt at home in the tree line, safe and natural. Sleeping on pine needles under the stars brought dreams from deep within my wolf's blood.

The Ravenrock Pack was vigilant, awaiting pursuit for the crate and a reprisal for our victories. We covered our tracks, learned the layout of the forest and kept our weapons prepared.

Bruna walked up and then sat beside me on a log where I shivered from the cold.

"Atanarjuat, you've not spoken since we came here." Bruna quietly pointed out.

"I have nothing to say. I am learning to accept this new life, more terrible than the one before and far worse than the one before that. I miss my village and the people I loved, I miss Ravenrock and feeling safe." I told her what I felt.

"This is your fate, what you choose to do is entirely yours. Do you choose to oppose this evil we face? You have the power to make a difference. All of those people we saved will speak about what happened to them. Our enemies thrive on secrecy, let us spill their secrets. Make them bleed from their lies." Bruna sounded both zealous and certain of me. I shook my head.

"I have no choice. I am nothing but a soldier now. What choice do I have?" I argued. Bruna said nothing, she did not agree with me. She still cared for me, but our feelings about the war we had started diverged.

We moved our camp every day, and each night I felt the moonlight becoming stronger. It kept snowing, which helped cover our tracks. The discovery of an unoccupied cabin was quite lucky.

At the cabin we found some food, blankets, and an old radio that was picking up a relayed broadcast from a nearby settlement. We listened as the news spoke of the fiery destruction of many cities, including Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.

"The Cabinet's ascent to power is worldwide, but their strongest stranglehold is on our own government. Our leaders are merely puppets of the Elders." Doctor Imbrium assessed.

"They are destroying entire cities, starting a massive war across the whole world. Why would they do that?" I asked, not really wanting the answer.

"Because they intend to wipe out all of humanity. They think by being the only survivors, they will finally be able to ascend to godhood and reshape the world to their liking." Doctor Imbrium looked at me and then stood and pointed at the crate. "We deprived them of their most powerful weapon, and their thrust to power cannot last, so they are desperate. They have resorted to starting a war between the nations of the world, using nuclear weapons."

I felt angry as I considered the millions upon millions of people who were killed by the actions of The Cabinet. I said:

"We must stop them, even if it means killing every last one of them." Were the words I chose, with anger in my voice.

The rest of the pack knocked upon wood, agreeing with me. I noticed Bruna's eyes on me, as well as everyone else. They already felt as I did, but I had clung to a hope for peace in vain.

I went out of the cabin and walked alone through the woods. I felt the monster in me longing for more battle, while my human side began to justify it. Some horror at the change in my heart made my soul feel pale. I would never go back to who I was before I had killed, and I could never again know peace. There was something broken in me, and there was no way to set it right.

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I had made my choice.

It was growing dark, and the light of the gibbous moon made my body ache, and my teeth feel sharp. I stayed under and behind trees, hiding from it. When the moon had set, I saw an eerie glow in the sky. I climbed a barren hill and looked out at the horizon. Far across the lights of the nearby settlement, there was a sunrise where no sunrise should be.

The flames spiraled in orange against the black pillar of ash rising at a greater height than any mountain. It fed a burning cloud above, obscuring the stars like blasphemy. I cried as I realized I was witnessing the annihilation of an entire city from a great distance. It was the work of the Elders, turning all the peaceful nations against each other.

I wondered how we would hunt and destroy our enemy. They had hidden themselves since the beginning of history and had exposed themselves only because they had thought it was time for their ultimate weapon. Except we possessed their weapon.

They would come for it, or rather they would send everything they had to obtain it from us. My instincts told me it would never end. They would not stop until they had their magic weapon. We would fight them, tooth and claw, to the last pack member. It was our way, the way of the wolf.

My return to the cabin was met by a meeting where our plans were being discussed. I sat and listened to a list of targets, starting with the nearest facilities controlled by Grandpa. Evidently, Doctor Imbrium's true research was no longer classified, as they had a map of the region unfolded and suspected locations of enemy activities were marked.

"How did you discover so many secrets?" I asked.

"By cooperating with General Stone. All of these places are connected by the command structure of the secret army and National Security. For the purpose of controlling the Ravenrock Pack, gathering the components of the Majara and supplying the general with information, I was in charge of the network used to coordinate all of this. It is why I had to keep so many secrets." Doctor Imbrium replied.

"You took us to that quarantine camp on purpose. You knew what we would find." I guessed.

"No, that was just very bad luck for the enemy. They situated their remote secret gulag near their caves where they planned to assemble and use their weapon. Their mistake was me; I was never under their control. Their other mistake was Lieutenant Colonel Rose, who brought the pack to them and refused to hand over the crate. They have paid only a small price for their mistake, or so they think, and that is their worst mistake. They will underestimate the Ravenrock Pack, I have made sure of that." Doctor Imbrium sniffed and pushed their glasses with a finger.

Lieutenant Colonel Rose stood up and briefed us on our campaign:

"Grandpa will anticipate our assaults on these facilities when they can follow the pattern of our attacks. We will go from one to the next and destroy everything in our path. It will become increasingly more dangerous as they will soon be able to predict our next move. If a target becomes too hardened, we will have to revert to guerrilla tactics. We will move fast and give them as little time to prepare as possible, and we will stay ahead of the pursuit that General Stone will command. Eventually, we will have to ambush and destroy them as well, but we will wait for the opportune moment when we have some kind of advantage. I do not know what that might be, but we will observe the size and composition of General Stone's forces and try to exploit whatever weakness we can find. In the meantime, we will evade them while striking these stationary targets."

"What if General Stone already knows this is what we will do, and the first place we attack - he is already there waiting?" Abbot asked.

McRaze answered with confidence:

"He doesn't know. General Stone is under orders from someone named Enkbav, an Elder, and the waning magic of the Elders has divined that we are fleeing from them. For now, our plan is the best we can do." McRaze spoke slowly, her voice steady. "I have seen these thoughts when I concentrate on General Stone, reading into Frosty's knowledge of the future. They have no idea we are capable of predicting the outcome. If they did, they would change their strategy and we would be left in the dark fog of war."