“It was a company of nearly two hundred soldiers, sire,” Rick said, enjoying the warmth of the roaring hearth. Robert had the servants move his chair beside it, and he was grateful for that. Because right now, he needed the warmth more than anything. Even for him, it was his first brush with death. If at that time, Sena had not…

His attempt at gritting his teeth brought with it a burst of searing agony. He shivered, resting an arm on the bandage wrapped around his face as he began again, “We had nowhere to escape from. They surrounded us from all sides.”

Robert poured three tankards of firebrine, handing the injured man one of them. The ale, although cheap enough to be a daily consumption of the labourers and bottom feeders of the whole land of Clover, had another reason for its ubiquitous popularity despite its pungent taste too harsh for the palette of a nobleman. Its ability to ward off both pain and cold, and sometimes, the suffering of the heart, was unparalleled even amongst high-class wines. That is why, as a warrior noble house protecting the border, the people of the Moras house preferred it over its more expensive cousins.

“Are you sure the army belonged to all three kingdoms?” he asked, handing Laureen another tankard before taking his seat directly opposite to the young man.

“Fairly certain, my lord,” said Rick as he took a sip from the tankard. The feel of the pungent liquid travelling down his throat, spreading fire to his veins, was satisfying enough for him to let out a groan of relief. “And although we have not confirmed yet, the news sir Morgan gained in exchange for his life is also likely to be true. There should be thousands more that we have yet to see.”

“No need to confirm anymore.” Robert sighed. “If unfortunately, I am not wrong, we should see them soon. The only thing left to confirm now is how large exactly is this army,” he said, the wooden tankard creaking under his grip. The bad feeling he had since the anomaly at the border came to fruition after all. Undril. As he thought, as long as something had that thrice-cursed man”s shadow lying on it, every bad thing imaginable was a possibility.

“But, my lord, the three kingdoms have always been at odds with each other, haven’t they? Why would they ally against us all of a sudden?” Rick frowned. “And how would such an army pass unnoticed by anyone inside our border?”

“As long as Undril was involved, anything is possible,” Robert said, shaking his head. “There are some secret passes here and there, and although most of them are either unusable for huge armies or closely guarded, sometimes secrets leak out.”

Laureen’s heart pattering like the wings of a hummingbird inside her chest as she listened to their conversation. War, she had only been in the middle of one in her entire twenty years of life. And that was seven years ago when Shaela took over the kingdom. Still, at that time, even as a citizen of Valar, where the main conflict took place, she had felt much safer than she did now. And what about Sena? Rick had said more than two hundred soldiers surrounded the carriage. Yet they were here, and Sena was not. What happened to her? Although she knew from story and legends knights would rather face death than give up on their duty, she couldn’t help but be apprehensive. What if they did abandon her?

“How did you manage to get away from the army?” she asked, not phrasing the question she wished to ask directly. She did not want to offend them, if possible.

Rick gave her a long look of understanding before taking another sip from his tankard. “The reason we managed to get away...” he paused, fighting back a chill creeping up his spine as he recalled the moment. Not the moment of the battle though, rather of the reason they were still alive. If at that time, instead of Sena, it had been Laureen, then...

“The reason we are still alive was because of lady Sena,” he said, at last, sighing.

----------------------------------------

The soldiers of three kingdoms, each always carried a distinguishing feature of their own, courtesy to the habits of their rulers. Ruthberk for example had a ruler who quite valued justice and code of honour, and as such the army under him carried that value as well. They would rarely involve the ordinary citizens and villagers of a kingdom in the war, for example, but the other two kingdoms had no such qualms.

Not to mention Undril of the kingdom of Undreil, who pretty much did not hesitate to do anything, no matter how heinous, as long as it served his purpose, the kingdom of Ragha’s ruler loved combat, being a bandit leader in his earlier life, he loved looting and pillaging too. And as such, any kingdom that had the bad luck of being a target to his army had to be extra cautious and move the citizens away from the warzone.

The different kingdoms, carrying three different policies, had always been locked up in a perpetual state of war, never to ally with each other even as they had fought the geographically superior kingdom of Robera, that had recently become a queendom. Not until now. But for some unknown reason, they had now decided to set aside their differences and unify against the queendom. And as luck would have it, this time the army leading the expedition was the army of Ragha. And so, the Briggs village, their first victim, had suffered a terrible fate.

The small scouting company of two hundred soldiers this time was led by commander Vigo Flameheart from Ruthberk. Following the injured rider one of the Raghan soldiers shot before he could order otherwise, they had stumbled upon the carriage and pretty swiftly surrounded it.

“No more reckless attacks!” he said to his captains, looking pointedly at a large muscular man in particular. “They have a high-class carriage with them. So they must be escorting someone. Probably a nobleman. So we want to avoid causing harm to it as much as possible. First, we will give them a chance to surrender before taking any action, understood?”

“What is the point?” said the muscular man, Agon, the captain leading the close to a hundred or so Ragha soldiers of the group. “There are just ten of them. Yes, they may be knights, but with the number we have rushing them and leaving the carriage alone would be easy. So why should we go through all the trouble?”

Vigo glared at him. Spurring his horse closer until his nose almost touched the other man’s nose and growled. “because I am leading the army, and whatever I say, you follow.”

“Now, now, there is no need to get heated, commander Vigo,” interrupted a bald man, a captain for the Undreil troop. “You have a point, but so does captain Agon. That said, I do agree that it would be better to capture at least, some of the knights along with the noble. The noble would make a nice hostage, and from the knights, we can know much information about the castle of Brigsar.” He pointed at the knights below the cliff. They tightly encircled the carriage, their weapons drawn, faces tight with grim determination. “But those don’t look like people who would surrender without a fight.”

Vigo nodded. “That may indeed be so, but the same is true if we attack directly. They would rather die than get caught,” he said, his gaze falling on the carriage that within the encirclement of knights stayed. “And if the noble is as honourable as I, rather than surrendering, he too would choose to die.”

“There indeed is some truth in your precious words. And I may have a solution to the dilemma.” The bald man smiled. “We offer them a choice.”

“Surrender or die!” the loud shout startled both Vigo and the bald man, and they and their eyes snapped towards the cliff below. A group of fifty or so cavalry, all soldiers from Ragha, had already started their charge towards the knights. Vigo’s shock lasted only an instant before transforming into a white-hot fury. He turned around and grabbed Agon’s collar.

“How dare you!” he snarled.

The muscular man looked totally unfazed as he spread his arms carelessly. “I hardly did anything. They charged forward on their own.” a lazy smile hung over his face as he looked at the Ruthberkian commander in front of him. “Do not worry. I will inform general Fargo of this transgression personally and have them punished.”

The bald man shook his head. Both regret and annoyance and annoyance coloured his voice. “Now that this has happened already, the only choice we have left is to charge. I hope some of the knights are still alive afterwards.”

----------------------------------------

Her heart drummed louder and louder against her ears, towering over the battle outside. The shouts of her knights, the desperation in their voice, the clinging of their blades, her own boiling blood, all called her to battle.

And somewhere out there, beyond the scope of this battle, something coming closer, calling out to her, beaconing her over.

She gritted her teeth as a sound came from the depths of her throat. The growl of a beast.

Her claws reached for the door of the carriage, itching to rip the wood apart.

Her palm shivered, and she clamped it shut. She could not! She could not let it take over now, lest she lost herself. She did not want a repetition of the incident at Robert’s study. Those are her knights fighting against overwhelming odds with their lives on the line. They were fighting to protect her. Yes, they may think of her as Laureen, but she knew, if they realized her identity, they would only fight harder.

As her fingers finally closed on the handle of the door, they were a lot stabler. She inhaled deeply and pulled the door open.

----------------------------------------

Rick’s heart nearly stopped beating as the veiled girl stepped outside. The sword in his hand paused its movement as he looked back at the vehicle. But his distraction came with a price. The soldiers fighting him were not about to let such an opportunity slip from their hands. Especially against trained knights who were difficult at best to defeat. They attacked more aggressively. And although he dodged most of them, he still could not avoid the deep, bleeding gash below his eyes.

“Curses!” he ducked below the line of their swords and slashed forward. His blade struck flesh, slicing through bones. It relieved one of those soldiers of his legs, and for a moment, the battle crazed soldiers of Ragha could not help but back away.

“Lady Laureen!” Rick shouted as he put his sword through the limbless soldier’s heart. “It is not safe out here. Please go back to the castle!”

Disregarding his words, the girl slowly stalked towards the field of battle, her body hunched over like a predator, a wolf, about to jump into a flock of sheep. A chill swept through the hearts of hundreds of soldiers as they laid their eyes on her. But in an instant, a surge of morale washed over them at the sight of their goal.

The noble they had to capture, their goal, was right before their eyes! And it was a woman!

They burst forth with renewed ferocity, the aggression in their blades nearly overpowering the ten knights that had been holding strong until that moment.

“Damn!” Joevan cursed aloud as a sword pierced through his sides even as he beheaded its wielder. “Tighten the encirclement!” he roared. “Protect the lady!”

But his warning came a bit too late. One of the enemy soldiers, less a man and more a bear, pushed through the knights, completely brushing off their attempts to stop him with a swing of his huge sword. He hulked over the girl and reached his hand towards the hood of her cloak, and she reached out at the same time.

To him, her movement felt sluggish, but his own hand moved even slower, and before his hand could reach her, her fingers had already clamped on his throat. His eyes bulged from shock and the need for air as they tightened even more. He was taller than her and far heavier, but that did not stop her from lifting him off the ground. He looked at her eyes that were now more gold than grey and fear gripped his heart, coiling around his mind, constricting him like an ancient python. Fear to desperation to disorientation, his mind seemed to lose as tried to swing his sword in an attempt to strike her, but another one of her hands closed on his wrist like a vice, stopping any movement he could make. Her grip got tightened more and more, squeezing until he felt his bones crack, felt the darkness swallow all his senses. And in that darkness, the last thing he saw were two shining golden eyes, looking down at him without mercy.

All signs of battle seized as she pried the sword off the limp fingers of the soldier and threw him away. The enemy soldiers and her own knights all could not help but stare at her in shock and wonder. A wayward gust of wind tugged at her golden-red cloak, blowing away her hood, and revealed to everyone her head full of golden hair. Reaching up, she pulled the veil away and looked towards the army.

“Lady… Sena?” Rick gulped. The one under the veil was actually Sena! He had suspected something was wrong with Laureen from the moment she stepped out of Sena’s room, but he never suspected she was not Laureen at all. For an instant, his spirit lifted, a renewed confidence blowing away the fear of death. When he was a knight, Lady Sena had always been the one to lead their team, and now she was here.

“My lady.” He and the knights took a step towards her, but Sena held up her hand as she hefted the sword she took, a weapon bigger and heavier than the basket swords she had once used, but now felt almost weightless. She looked into the eyes of the remaining seven knights. Each holding the desire to die protecting her.

“Move!” she said. The sound of her voice strangling any protest the knights had inside their hearts, compelling them to part from her path despite their clear unwillingness. But Sena did not care about their feelings. She could not let them waste their lives here. Not when they could live. And they could, she was certain. As certain as her belief that help would soon arrive. She could feel them, hundreds of them, getting ever closer to them. They would come.

Because the Shadewolf would not let her have such an easy death.

----------------------------------------

“When she joined the fray,” Rick shook his head as he sipped on his firebrine, “the flow of the entire battle changed. With the sword in her hand, she was like a raging tempest tearing through the enemy soldiers like puppets of straw,” he said, his voice carrying a tone of disbelief as he looked at Robert. “I have seen her fight before, but never like this. It was like all the refined elegance she used to have when she fought was stripped away, and what was left, was a more primal form of battle. A different kind of elegance, just like… like…” his eyes shone for a moment. “like a wolf fighting against rats.”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Laureen stared wide-eyed as she listened to his words. It was like listening to the stories her grandparents used to tell her, of brave heroes battling giant Nightmares or men and women standing against an army alone with only a sword in their hands. But this… somehow this felt more vivid, maybe because it was told by someone who had experienced the event himself, his expressions when he described it… it was like she was there watching Sena fight the army. A visceral experience.

“And she fought all two hundred soldiers alone?” she asked in wonderment.

Rick raised his eyebrows, looking at the girl for a moment. What was she imagining exactly?

“That is impossible, lady Laurania,” he said, chuckling. “At first, the enemy soldiers had some reservations, clearly unwilling to hurt a noble, but as some of them died under her sword, they also gave up on that notion and attacked back. They were attacking us too, but because of the overwhelming harm she caused them, they started concentrating more and more of their effort on her. And...” a frown of confusion appeared on his face. “Something peculiar started happening. The more they fought, the more aggressive they became! Especially the soldiers closer to her. Their attacks became... frenzied. Even we felt a wave of unnatural anger consuming our minds. A strange craving for a battle that was hard to ward off.”

Robert’s face grew grim with every word. He had thought of it since that day in his study, but all those signs, they weren’t good at all. It was as if...

“And in the heat of battle we did not realize it then, but due to the direction of their leaders and the overwhelming advantage in numbers they had, had been tiring us out,” Rick said, putting a halt to his thoughts. “Even lady Sena was starting to look exhausted, suffering injuries. Even sir Joevan lost one of his arms. The situation was already hopeless, but the hopelessness actually started to become apparent. We were all about to die.”

“Then… then what happened?” Laureen clutched onto the armrests of her chair and leaned forward. “Lady Sena… what happened to her? Is she alright?”

Rick nodded. “We were, or rather, she was... rescued. Although their coming did rescue us, I am fairly certain that they came for her.”

“What do you mean?” Laureen asked. “Who came?”

----------------------------------------

Sena parried the blade hacking towards her and kicked its wielder in the guts, sending him flying into his companions. The little bit of time that gained her was not enough for her to take a breather, however, because what followed immediately was a searing pain in her back. She took a sharp breath and turned around, lopping off the head of her attacker in one clean stroke. But even though the bloodlust clogging her mind, she was acutely aware of how precarious her situation really was.

The clothes she wore might have been the perfect attire for travel, but for a battle, the protection they offered was dubious. And now, little trace of their former colour remained. Instead, they had turned red from the blood seeping out of her cuts and scratches, making her exhaustion worse. But even though most of the enemy soldiers concentrated on her, the seven knights and one future steward of the Moras house still had it a lot worse. Especially after Joevan lost his limb, the decrease in their battle strength pushed them towards death little by little. They fought desperately, but the hopelessness of the situation was clear to them. Their eyes full of acceptance turned towards Sena, but in her eyes, they saw no signs of giving up. Instead, as her eyes turned towards the rising moon, they saw relief in them.

Her wait had ended.

A howl pierced through the night. Loud and clear, the omnipresent note shook through the air, turning the moonlight viscous as it drowned the sound of the battle. But the sound had barely quietened when the sound of howling filled the world again. Tens, hundreds, thousands, an uncountable number of howl tore the air apart. They shook through the hearts of everyone, regardless of which kingdom they belonged to or how battle-hardened they were. It was like a pail of cold water dumped onto the emotions and battle lust raging within everyone, calming them down immediately. The swords in their hands stopped as they stared at the all-around them with a sense of awe and wonder.

Everywhere their eyes landed, whether atop the cliffs or above the boulders, wolves emerged from the darkness. Black, grey, silver, red, of all colours and sizes and shapes. Hundreds of them surrounded the army. So still, that one might mistake them for sculptures. Their heartless, impassive eyes sent chills down everyone’s spine.

Everyone’s except Sena’s. She ignored all of those wolves and gazed only at one of them on top of a cliff in front of her. The creature that stood there was small, no bigger than a few month old cub. Its eyes full of golden fire met hers, and a sense of relief washed over her. But with it came resignation. The time for her departure had come. But before that, she still had some task to complete.

The little wolf stared at her for a moment before it howled once again. A deep, sonorous noise that did not seem to fit its small body, but as soon as it did, the hoards of wolves advanced. Howling and snarling, they attacked. They pounced on the soldiers, fangs and claws tearing at them, ripping their skin and flesh, breaking their bones. Now, out of their frenzied state, most soldiers were too terrified to put up any resistance. A blaring horn sounded from the middle of the army, an attempt to retreat and regroup, to fight back against the beasts, but the sheer number of wolves surrounding them made their attempts useless. The more they killed, the more wolves came out of the nooks and crannies of the mountains. Hundreds became thousands, an army of wolves against an army of men. And this time, the men were on the losing side.

The knights stood flabbergasted at the mayhem in front of them. This… was this a luck or misfortune? Instead of dying in battle, would they have to die under the beast’s fangs?

“Lady Sena!” Rick gasped. His eyes snapped towards where she had been fighting in the middle of the army, but no matter how much he searched, there was no trace of her.

“What happened to the young lady?” The same desperation burned in Joevan’s and every other knight’s eyes as they scoured the army for any trace of Sena. But amongst the panicked soldiers either trying to fight back or run from the beasts, they couldn’t see her at all. Their hearts sank. Had the wolves…

Refusing to acknowledge such a thought, Rick took a step towards the chaotic enemy army, and as soon as he did so, a deep growl shook his heart. One by one, the wolves closest to them turned their heads, finally paying attention to the group of knights who had yet kept themselves out of their way, and thus, out of their notice.

“Come back here, boy!” Joevan sheathed his blood-soaked sword and reached out, grabbing Rick’s collar with his remaining arm, and dragged him back. “Listen, Rick!” he said to the boy he had once taught the ways of a knight to. “Things are not looking so bright for us here. But regardless of how many of them died under these beast’s claws, there are still thousands of enemy soldiers still camping somewhere within our borders.” He looked directly into Rick’s eyes. “Someone needs to inform the lord.”

Rick’s heart sank to the bottom as he understood Joevan’s meaning. “But—”

“No buts. You need to take our fastest horse and make a run for it. The rest of us will hold back these beasts.” Joevan chuckled. “These old bones should have enough meat in them to keep them busy for a while.”

“No, I can’t…” About to shake his head, Rick’s eyes fell on the grim determination set on every knight’s face. He was a knight no more, so at this moment, he had no right to accompany them to death. His duty as a future steward lay with the wellbeing of house Moras. He gritted his teeth, nails digging so deep into his palm that they drew blood. “But the lady...”

Anger and frustration gripped the heart of every knight as their gaze slid over the field of battle. Most of the wolves were still occupied with battling the enemy army, but slowly more and more of the creatures, now done with the soldiers, started encircling the knights. In the moonlit night, their eyes, fearless and hungry, burned brighter and brighter like tiny marbles of flame. But amongst the sea of wolves, Sena should have already…

“What happened to her is unfortunate.” Joevan sighed. “But if the city is not prepared for the invasion, that is a greater disaster waiting to happen,” he said, once more sliding his sword out. “We will take down as many of these animals as we can and avenge the lass. So do not worry and go”

A grimace of bitterness deformed Rick’s visage as he turned around and plodded towards Morgan’s horse. The creature was yet unharmed and being the mount of a scout, one of the fastest horses around Birgsar. It stood near its master, silent, even though the other horses around it looked decidedly restless. Maybe it mourned its rider’s passing, Rick didn’t know, but the creature did not protest his attempt to mount it.

Most of the knights including Joevan had lost their horses, however, as such, he climbed up the heavy carriage with the other four injured knights.

“Go!” he shouted, as he charged the carriage towards the cage of ever-increasing numbers of wolves standing approaching them, intending to slam it into the beasts and give the other two least injured knights behind them enough of a chance to escort Rick out of the encirclement. Challenged, the wolves snarled and howled. They bared their fangs and claws, rushing at the knights as they roared their will to tear them apart.

“NO!” A violent roar full of an indomitable sense of command shook through the valley, forcing both sides to halt in their tracks just in the brink of clashing with each other. A shadow swooped down from the sky, it crashed into the ground, raising a shower of debris and rock fragments as it sank halfway into the earth before the wolves. Moonlight shone liquid silver streaks on the blood-soaked steel of the sword Bloom had taken to battle.

The wolves growled. From deep within their ranks, they started parting, making a path for a figure limping towards the knights. The torn edges of her cloak waved around her in the wind, writhing like tendrils of shadows deeper than the darkness. Her eyes shone golden, like two flaming suns in the night, complimenting her golden hair whipping around her; and even battered and bruised, a strange charm enveloped Sena, like the terrifying shade of a beast, lurking, waiting for its chance to pounce. The wolves backed away from her as she walked until she slowly came to stand before the knights, who stared at her as if they had seen a ghost.

“My lady!” Rick hurried down his horse, running towards Sena. His eyes grew wider as he observed Sena. “lady Sena, this…”

“Leave this place,” Sena said through her teeth, gritting them hard as if she bore enormous pressure to hold something back inside of her.

The knights came behind Rick. Sena could see both worry and fear in their eyes. Worry not for their lives, but her fear not of the wolves, but her.

“What is happening to you, my lady?” Rick asked, his voice fearless but full of worry, as he reached out to her. The sight of his extended hand, a strange, animalistic sound came from the back of Sena’s throat as she revealed her clenched teeth. Even the wolves behind Sena snarled at Rick. His pupils shrunk as he flinched back and looked at the girl in shock. Sena… for a moment she had looked like she would bite his hand off!

“Leave! Now!” Sena growled. Her golden eyes fell on the injured knights. “Take them home. Tell father…” She fell silent before shaking her head and turning around.

“Come!” her voice rumbled, holding that strange sense of command that shook through the hearts of the listeners, but this time, she had not aimed it at the humans. As she walked back, walking deeper into the hoards of wolves, those beasts turned around without even glancing at the knights, and surrounded her, walking with her as if she were one of their own.

“Lady Sena!” Rick called out after her, but no matter how many times he shouted her name, he only received silence as an answer. At last, the last sign of the wolves had disappeared from the valley, only leaving behind the mangled bodies of the enemy soldiers in their wake. Of the beasts who had died in the battle, no sign remained either, vanishing entirely as if it had all been an illusion.

----------------------------------------

“After that, we gathered a few horses scattered throughout the battlefield and came back. As for what happened to lady Sena…” Rick sighed, lowering his head.

Robert's brows furrowed as stood from his chair and paced around the room. As for Laureen, her mouth remained slightly opened throughout the whole narration. Fighting with wolves, talking to wolves, she found all these things highly unbelievable. Could Rick have made this all up? But from the way he spoke, he did not seem to be lying.

She turned around and looked at Robert for help, but from his difficult expression, he did not seem to doubt Rick’s words. But if she had to believe this, frankly, quite outlandish tale he told, then Sena… What was she?

Suddenly, her eyes widened. Was Arakan’s premonition because of this? Because Sena possessed strange powers that she had only ever heard in her old grandma’s stories?

“Sir Robert,” she called out, prompting him to look at her. “What happened to lady Sena?”

Robert shook his head. “I do not know, but whatever it is, I do not think it is anything good. Most likely,” he sighed, “she was cursed.”

“C- cursed?” Laureen’s eyes widened. “Th- then did I make a mistake by letting her go?”

“No, I think letting her leave was the correct decision,” Robert said. “If her curse had such power as Rick described, it might have brought disaster upon us. And if such circumstances were to arrive,” Robert’s face grew grim as clouds before a thunderstorm, “I might have had to take her life with my own hands.”

“Sir Robert!” Laureen sprang up from her chair. “She is your daughter!”

“Yes, and that is why—”

A knock at the door interrupted his words. Robert inhaled deeply and asked, “Yes?”

“Sir Mehran has returned with the scouting party, sire,” Hubrik said from the other side of the door. “He requests your audience.”

Robert nodded. It was about time, too. “Send him in.”

The door opened and a short man with a jet-black moustache walked in with Hubrik. Bornique Mehran, one of the elites of the Valiar. After Morgan, one of the best scouts, died under Raghan arrow, Robert would not have trusted another man to do the scouting now. He waved his hand, doing away with the Valiar’s attempt to salute. “Formalities could wait,” he said. “Tell me, how is the situation.”

“It is dire, sir,” said the man without many expressions to express the truth of that statement. “When we scouted the campsite, they were, at least, eighteen thousand strong. But more and more are arriving even as we speak.”

He took out a scroll from within his cloak and spread it on the work desk. A map observed Robert as he walked closer. Mehran jabbed his fingers at a few locations on the chart as he spoke. “The army of the three soldiers is coming from three different passes. The Urmen pass and the Monq pass are the ones you have shown me, besides, there is one other, most likely, new pass. At the completion, we can expect them to grow up to thirty thousand, which could very well be a conservative estimation.”

“Thirty thousand…” Robert breathed out, pushing his hair back with his palms. “And that is a conservative estimation?”

Mehran nodded. “If they completely give up protecting their borders against each other, then this number could increase close to fifty.”

“Oh!” Robert’s lips twisted. “Then I hope none of them would be foolish enough…” he stopped, noticing Laureen try to peek at the map from behind them, he turned towards her. “Miss Laureen, Rick, please excuse us.”

After Laureen lowered her. Heand followed Rick out of the room, Robert returned his attention to the chart, especially the new pass marked in red that Mehran showed him. “Is it the Undreil or the Raghan that are using the new pass?”

“The Undreil, sir.”

Robert nodded. That much was as he had expected. “By your judgement, any of this pass we could cut off while they are passing?”

“It would be hard since they must have already destroyed our outposts before passing, but if we were to have a chance, it would be the Monq pass the Raghan soldiers are using.”

“That is my judgement too,” Robert said, turning to Hubrik. “Call Corvin here immediately. It is high time we started our countermeasures.”

----------------------------------------

Sena and the little black wolf faced each other on the cliff, its golden eyes studying her with some amount of curiosity, as well as anger as her eyes, still with a touch of grey in the gold, stared at it with all the determination she could muster.

“This is something I need to do,” she said in a quiet voice. “And I won’t go anywhere unless I accomplish it.”

The little wolf tilted its head, and suddenly, the wolves who had surrounded Sena as if she were one of them, snarled at her, baring their fangs, and growled. The desire to kill burned in their fiery eyes. They just needed one signal, and not a piece of her would remain intact.

Sena did not flinch from their glare, but just then, the voice inside her head increased tenfold, trying to cloud her thoughts with its unquestionable authority. She grit her teeth, bearing the barrage of emotion hammering against her mind like the waves of a stormy sea against a small boat, ready to sink at any moment. But she persisted.

“My family, my home is in trouble. And I cannot leave them be,” she said through her teeth.

“Your family?” The little wolf opened its mouth at last. Its voice, sounding both young and ancient, echoed in both her ears and mind. “After you killed my sister, do you think you have the right to mention their wellbeing to me?”

Sena was not expecting it to speak. But she did not let the surprise show on her face. “Maybe I do not,” she said. She gestured at the snarling wolves around them. “But even if you have them tear me apart, I will not back down from my decision.”

The little wolf looked at her eyes, and suddenly, even though its little frame still remained the same, somehow, to her, it seemed giant like a mountain. The snarling of wolves also grew more and more menacing, pressing down at her heart. “A mere human like you dares to bargain with us? My mother is waiting and you have no right to choose when to go.” It took a step towards her. “You will come with me, now!”

Sena’s knees bent from the pressure, almost touching the ground, but her eyes never looked away from the wolf’s. If she did, she knew she would lose. And no matter what, she could not lose here. Her breathing grew laboured as she struggled to push the pressure away.

“Come,” the little wolf said, and Sena’s own shadow betrayed her, wrapping around her body, trying to push it forward.

“NO!” she roared, stomping her foot down so hard that the rock bed beneath her feet cracked. The chains of shadow binding her down tore into pieces. Even the wolves surrounding her stopped snarling, cowering back in fear. “until I have completed my goal,” she said, looking straight at the golden eyes of the little wolf, “I. Am. Not. Going. With. You!”

The wolf cub was taken aback. For a fleeting instant, its golden eyes lit up as it sensed something for her. After considering for a moment, it let out a low growl from its throat. From within the horde of wolves, something walked closer to Sena. Something big. A silver furred wolf as large as a horse. The strength radiating from each step it took sent shivers down Sena’s spine. Sena’s lips twisted as a bitter taste rose to her mouth. The wolf had decided to kill her then. She did not have a sword with her anymore, but she still took a battle stance, refusing to die without a fight.

“What are you doing?” the little wolf asked as he turned around. “Hop onto her. She would take you to your destination far quicker than a horse could.”