(William)

William awoke feeling sore and disoriented. He pushed up from the bed and winced. Pain shot through his left arm. He cradled it gingerly while hazy thoughts drifted through his mind like fog through the forest.

He rubbed his face and glanced around with a blank look.

What happened?

He was back in his bedchamber in Lord Tepi’s palace, and he had no idea how he had gotten there. The last thing he remembered was setting one of the enemy warships ablaze, the sharp pain in his arm, and… Lin’s furious face.

Ugh, not again. He groaned.

He tried to recall how many times he had found himself in similar situations. He had nearly drowned in the Lonely River when a tree had smashed into the bridge. He had knocked himself out for days with the Fairy Bee concentrate during the battle for Pike. He had awoken in the healer’s tent with apparent memory loss after chasing a slithering monster into the depths of the Lonely River. Just a few days ago, he had collapsed from magical exhaustion on top of the Dark Tower after duking it out with the Shadow Queen.

His latest misadventure had been a raid on the Shadowcloaks with his pack. He had been the fulcrum of Rulan’s attack strategy. His code name for the night’s mission had been Snuffer.

Memories from last night’s attack flashed through his mind. He closed his eyes and replayed the events.

I joined the pack in the Redwood Forest. I was with Frostborn and Nightfang, who were chomping at the bit to kill the half-moons.

Snuffer, take out those fires! He recalled the command given by the alpha. He shifted and took to the sky.

I was the one-man two-leg vanguard for the real Wolf division.

In his owl shift, he lost connection with the wolves. Still, the excitement of a hundred packs pumped through his veins. He silently glided over the forest, heading toward the enemy encampment. He snuffed out half of the campfires with Advanced Levitation before the alarms were even raised. The pack descended on the clearing behind him as he extinguished more fires. With his job done, he landed near the Lonely River and shifted back into a Saberwolf.

His mental connection was flooded with waves of violence and rage. He staggered! The bloodlust was overwhelming. He wanted to charge in and tear through the vile half-moons. He snarled and looked around for enemies. He noticed the massive warship anchored near the east bank of the river. He shifted his eyes.

It looked deserted.

He transformed into an owl and shot toward his target. He blasted the ship with Light-bolts. The sails were set ablaze, and the mainmast was engulfed in flames. His heart pounded in his chest, and he felt invincible.

That’s when things turned sideways. He frowned. Those stinking archers shot me through my Light Shield. Stupid enchanted arrow.

He grimaced as he examined his left upper arm. It was tightly wrapped with multiple layers of gauze. He moved to the edge of the bed, shifted his index finger into a talon, and carefully sliced the bandages with his claw.

“Ouch!” He winced as he tried to remove the ointment compress over the injury. “Scraps, be careful.” He transformed his hand and carefully removed the bandages.

To his surprise, the arrow injury looked much better. The gaping hole that he had seen in his arm last night had mostly closed.

They must have used an expensive elixir.

William took a deep breath and exhaled. He tried to calm himself and concentrated on the injury. He closed his eyes and cast a healing spell. The tingling sensation of magic spread throughout his arm and slowly mended his flesh. He ignored the itchy sensation as the injury healed.

He examined his arm and waved it around. He nodded. “Eh, almost as good as new. Now, where’s the food? I smell something delicious in the other room.”

He bounced off the bed and ran to the main chamber. The table was covered with mouthwatering goodies. Cheese pastries, honey-glazed rolls, and meat pies sat atop the table.

That’s what I’m talking about. He descended on the table like a starved bear.

“Good morning,” a gentle voice startled William. Zuzu, the Prime Healer’s apprentice, got up from the corner sofa. She stretched her arms and yawned. “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” She rubbed her eyes.

“Oh, I didn’t see you there… Umm, why are you here?” As soon as he asked the question, he realized that the answer had been obvious.

“Oh, hmm, I’ve been replacing the bandages on your wound, and I’ve been adding leach root sap every few hours.” Zuzu smiled shyly. “Rose gave us the last of her leach root sap. I’ve never seen such a potent remedy. Oh, and Rose wanted me to warn you that the sap might have some minor side effects.”

He recalled what Birk had told Rose when he was snooping on them. Something about the sap making you younger, changing your hair, or even altering your eye color.

Yikes!

William’s eyes widened. “Please tell me that my eyes are still blue, and my hair is still brown.”

“Yeah, no changes so far,” Zuzu reassured him. “Everything looks great. Right, everything looks good so far… Though Rose did tell me that Birk told her that her eye color changed a few weeks after she used the sap. So, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Hmm.” William stroked his chin. “Blue hair… yeah, changing the color of my hair to match my eyes might be nice.” He ran his hand through his hair.

“William!” Zuzu cried out. “What happened to your bandages?” She rushed toward him and lifted his left arm to examine it. “Wow, you healed it completely.” She gawked. “That’s incredible. I wish I had healing magic.” She paused. “So, there was a burned hole as big as my finger all the way through your arm. How did that happen?”

“Oh, I got skewered by an enchanted arrow,” William admitted sheepishly. “My Light Shield was hit by a bunch of arrows and one of them punched through my defenses. The Shadow Queen must have ordered the William shish kebab special.”

Zuzu burst out laughing. “Oh, William! Come on, give me the scoop.” She leaned closer to him. “All of the healers in the girls’ quarters are dying to find out what happened last night. I had to fight off Dahlia for this assignment. You remember her, right? She helped you when the dragon statue fell on you at Tinbury.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Oh, yeah.” William’s face lit up. “I remember Dahlia. She liked all my jokes.”

“Come on, spill the salt,” she urged.

“Well, I befriended a pack of Saberwolves. We had a common interest. We all hate the Shadowlanders. So, when they asked me to help, I offered my paw. They wanted me to keep the attack secret, but now that it’s over, I can let the fox out of the sack.”

“Ooh, what happened?” Zuzu brimmed with excitement.

“Well, my job was supposed to be simple and safe. All I had to do was swoop down and snuff out the fires on the northern side. My wolf buddies were gonna follow me and wipe out as many Shadowcloaks as they could. You see, they wanted revenge. Many wolf packs have been slaughtered since the invasion of the Nature Kingdom and the King of the Wolves, Rulan, was out for blood.”

“Woah…” Zuzu’s eyes widened. “Yeah, I’ve heard that the Shadowlanders kill animals for sport, and they don’t even eat them.”

“Things were going as planned until I noticed the warship. It caught my attention because I didn’t see anyone on the main deck. I used one of my flashy new spells.”

“What spell?”

“The Light-bolt.” William grinned mischievously. “I mastered that spell after the Spirit Competition and it’s perfect for setting things on fire. So, I sped over, dove down to the warship, and blasted it with Light-bolts. The next thing I knew, a dozen sentries popped out of nowhere and peppered me with arrows. I hightailed it out of there, but they shot my wing.” He scratched his head. “I’m not even sure how I made it back.”

“Wow, you do the craziest things! Wait until I tell this to the girls. Dahlia is going to be so jealous.”

“The last thing I remember from yesterday is Lin’s angry face.” He winced. “What happened after I passed out?”

Zuzu recounted the events from last night. She had been working the graveyard shift with Dahlia and a few others. William had been taken to the infirmary where the Prime Healer had treated his arm. After being patched up, he had been moved back to his room in the palace.

“You’ve had several visitors. Rose brought the leach root sap, your aunt was here for most of the night, and even Lord Tepi came to check on you.”

“Wow… Lord Tepi came?”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Zuzu slapped her forehead. “Once you’re finished with breakfast, you need to head down to the War Council.”

He wolfed down several more slices of meat pie, stuffed a roll in his pocket, bid good day to Zuzu, and dashed out of the chamber.

He headed toward the west wing of the palace.

I hope that I’m not in too much trouble for what I did last night.

He had left the city without telling anyone and had been reckless… again.

He considered different excuses that might have the best chance of getting him out of trouble.

The wolves made me do it? He tilted his head and snorted. Nah, that won’t work.

I just followed the pack.

He snickered. That’s better.

He ran out of time to come up with a good excuse as he reached the hallway leading to the War Council.

The hairs on his neck bristled. He had the uneasy feeling that he was walking into a trap. He slowed down, but it was too late.

A hand shot from one of the side rooms, clamped onto his wrist, and yanked him into the chamber. A moment later he stared into the face of his worst nightmare.

It was Lin.

She growled at him between clenched teeth. “What were you thinking?” She stomped her foot. “You almost got yourself killed… again!” She fumed. “Over ninety thousand people in this city rely on us.” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “Many of them are children and elderly. We’ve got just a handful of shifters and you’re the only one that can counter the Shadow Queen’s lightning storm.” Lin crossed her arms and stared daggers at him.

William opened his mouth but swallowed his reply. He wilted under her icy glare.

“You have to consider the consequences,” Lin continued through gritted teeth. “You need to make better decisions. I know you. Behind that goofy exterior, you’re an intelligent person. We don’t have the excuse that we’re only children. We don’t!” She clenched her jaw.

William gulped.

“With our magical powers we have the duty to protect our people. Your decisions have consequences that could affect the entire kingdom.”

William considered what Lin had said and felt conflicted. He had given his word to the King of the Wolves to keep last night’s attack a secret. Yet, everything that Lin had told him rang true. He had taken unnecessary risks and had left the cover of the forest after putting out the fires.

Why did I go after the stupid warship? Why didn’t I at least follow Rulan’s plan? Lin’s right. I keep making bad decisions, he chided himself. If I had insisted, Rulan might have allowed Aunt Lisa and Rose to help. After all, he knows them.

After a moment, William looked up. The intense look on Lin’s face and her ire had melted away. She examined his recently healed left arm and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You lost a lot of blood last night. You could’ve died…” This time, her voice was quiet, laced with worry. She turned her gaze toward the window and surveyed the vast city. “Believe me, I understand the burden on your shoulders, probably better than anyone.”

William looked at Lin, as though seeing her for the first time. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “When I woke up this morning, I went over some of my recent mishaps and the list was so long. I’m beginning to realize that others depend on me. I’ll try to do better.”

Lin nodded and gave him a genuine smile. “You can explain everything that happened at the council. I wanted to check on you and handle your reprimand in private. It wouldn’t be good for morale if you were scolded in public. People look up to you and I don’t want you to lose face.”

Lin embraced William and gestured for him to follow her.

Lord Tepi’s meeting hall was packed with commanders, city officials, casters, and many others that William had never seen before. He was glad that his aunt and brother were in attendance. Their presence was reassuring.

“William, glad you’ve recovered,” the Lord Commander said. “Please have a seat.”

With knots in his belly, he walked over to a chair and plopped down.

Lord Tepi leaned forward. “So, young man, tell us what transpired between you and the wolves that led to the attack on the northern slope.”

William squirmed and fiddled with a small pebble in his pocket. “Err, yes. Umm, I’ll have to go back to our trip to Scar when we first met the wolves.”

He described his first encounter with the Saberwolves and explained their unique method of communication. He told them about King Rulan and that he had been accepted into his pack.

“I even became friends with the king’s son, Frostborn,” William boasted.

“Our reports indicate that the attack last night was carried out by Saberwolves and regular wolves,” Rob interjected. “Does King Rulan reign over all wolves?”

“Absolutely.” William nodded. “He’s the strongest. He’s the alpha.”

“I see…” Rob leaned forward. “Where do the Saberwolves come from?”

“Somewhere beyond the Frozen Mountains with some other frozen things. I don’t know much because they shield their thoughts about that place.”

“Very well.” Rob gestured. “Continue.”

William shot his aunt a sidelong glance. “I’ve kept in touch with them in secret since we reached Scar.” Aunt Lisa’s eyes narrowed, and he gulped.

“They call the Shadowcloaks the half-moons since they wear that symbol. They were mad that the gray wolves were being killed for sport and they had a blood debt to settle.”

The assembled group listened with rapt attention as he outlined Rulan’s attack plan. The fight with the Shadowlanders had been brief but brutal.

He had swooped in and extinguished all the fires on the northern hill, while thousands of wolves had descended on the encampment.

“After I completed my assignment, I landed at the edge of the forest, next to the Lonely River. That’s when I shifted back into a Saberwolf. With my job done, I just wanted to check on the pack. They had already killed a bunch of half-moons. I didn’t realize that the bloodlust would be so overpowering.” He cleared his throat.

“That’s when I noticed the warship. I didn’t see anyone on the main deck, so I shifted into an owl and flew toward the ship to set it on fire.” William shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Long story short, I set the ship aflame, got hit by an enchanted arrow, and flew back.”

At the end of the report, he explained that Rulan had told him to keep their plan a secret. The King of the Wolves did not trust the two-legs and feared betrayal.

Lord Tepi whistled. “Preliminary reports show that the enemy had lost a few thousand soldiers and that does not include the wounded.”

William’s eyes widened.

“Hah, they’ll bleed more by the time we’re done with them,” Commander Craw growled.

“William, can we coordinate another attack with the wolves?” Rob asked. “We can be quite effective if we work together.”

“I’m afraid not. They settled their blood debt last night.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Rob sat back and crossed his arms.

People continued to pepper William with questions, and he answered them as best he could. By time the meeting was over, he felt exhausted.

He got up to leave the meeting and glanced at Lin. She nodded and smiled at him.

He smiled back, feeling encouraged.