The next morning, a modest feast was prepared and served in the honour of the Wolf Pup’s first official visitors. I stress that this was a modest feast, and that we had to stop the children of the Capital from emptying their entire storeroom onto the table for us to enjoy. The Dead Hollows is no less dangerous than anywhere else in the Abyss, but its name is a bit of a misnomer. Beneath the crimson canopy and the labyrinthine roots of the forest lies a hidden, lush ecosystem of fruiting plants and root vegetables on the forest floor, only accessible via the many criss-crossing tunnels dug by jackhorns, one of the few native creatures small and dextrous enough to move about the Hollows without getting snatched into the hungry maw of a waiting Fool’s Gum false-tree.
The other secret to the Wolf Pup’s continued existence, alongside the bountiful undergrowth and the purified water from Arezza’s enchanted fountain, is the underground jackhorn farm maintained by the older children. Unsurprisingly, the Red Wolf in charge of looking after the farm is Jackhorn himself, who’s been raising the eponymous animals for five years now. Despite their rabbit-like appearance, jackhorns are no less dangerous than any other animal of the Abyss, and even the semi-domesticated ones raised on the farm may still gore you on their antlers if they feel threatened. I’ve eaten rabbit before, but the rabbit-like jackhorns taste far more gamey and… not all that pleasant by any standard, but any meat is always better than having no meat whatsoever.
Despite having their own source of meat, the Wolf Pups were more than happy to accept our gifts of dried meat. The constant, humid state of the caves makes naturally drying foodstuffs almost impossible, on top of the lack of salt and almost any form of spices for preservation’s sake. Their tools are fashioned from wood, stone, and bone, with precious little metal anywhere to be found. Yes, there is the silverware that Arezza had summoned from her home, but there’s no real way for the children to fashion the forks, spoons, dinner knives and plates into anything useful; in fact, the children outright reject the notion of damaging their queen’s personal property dining utensils altogether. The clothes they wear are, for the most part, the clothes they wore when they died. Every Wolf Pup has a long, dark cloak they wear, woven from rough flax-like material that keeps them dry, and protects their clothes for as long as they can.
Yet despite their largely impoverished and rough condition, every single one of them always had a smile on their face, excitedly listening to the stories Rann and Johnny had to tell, looking up in awe at Rob who’s already hit his head on the low-hanging cave roof more than a dozen times, playing hide and seek with a happy Arshiya and a reluctant (but quietly enjoying himself) Arshak, and of course, obsessing over my wings. Touching them all over, being careful round the blade-feathers, and some of them just outright leaning against my wings to feel their soft fluffiness all over themselves. Naturally, my wings love the attention, and pay no heed to the bizarre sensation of feeling tiny hands all over a pair of limbs I’m still not fully accustomed to, and my wings seem to get more attention themselves than I, the person they’re attached to, do. I’m not jealous, for the record. I just don’t know how to describe this feeling.
I could ask the Chief, but she’s been quietly giggling to herself as I’m treated like a human petting zoo with a crowd of children around me at all times. I’ve had the niggling thought in the back of my mind that she decided to bring me along to meet the Wolf Pups, a group made up entirely of children, after seeing how enamoured the children of Haven were with my wings. If this is to be my fate, then so be it.
The festivities and general merriment lasted from the morning until just after noon, when everyone had to get back to work to prepare everything necessary for the Queen’s visit to Haven. Crow had become an overnight celebrity for his time in Haven, even more so than the people actually from Haven, but it wasn’t hard to guess the reason why. The children of the Wolf Pups wanted to know what the children of Haven were like. From what I’ve overheard, the Wolf Pups certainly like the children of Haven for how they helped Crow. It puts the Chief in a bit of an awkward situation; yes, the children all banded together and lied to keep Crow secret, but their earnest desire to help Crow has made her quietly quite proud of the children she’s helped raise.
Given our short stay, getting ready to return to Haven is shortly taken care of for us, leaving us with some free time as everyone runs around getting everything ready for the Queen’s departure. We had not sat idle in this free time, however, as the Chief sat in a quiet corner of the bunkroom the boys slept in with Rann and I.
“Since you’ve been busy, Chief, I’ll give you the honour of starting.” Rann says, leaning back against the wall as he takes a swig from his waterskin.
“Since you so graciously offered, Rann.” The Chief sits up, clearing her throat. “There were a few statements made the previous day that I felt weren’t entirely true, so I’ve done my due diligence of getting some answers.”
“Peacefully, I hope.” Rann mutters into his waterskin.
“Yes, peacefully.” The Chief scowls, before regaining her composure. “In particular, the truth of how this place and the Wolf Pups came to be.”
“The question of where all the adults are.”
“I have an answer to that, Marina. A simple one. They’re most likely all dead.” The Chief answers bluntly.
“At the hands of Harv’s marauding fools, I see.” Rann comments as if this is just a fact.
“Harv… I’ve heard that name before, but I don’t know what it relates to.”
“He’s the leader of the Bone Breakers. The largest and most dangerous group of people in the Abyss. Someone Rann has… personal history with.” The Chief sighs to herself, letting Rann explain.
“Just my luck to end up down here with him… Gods-damned fool got us both killed, and didn’t have the courtesy to end up in some other time or somewhere other than the Abyss.” Rann growls, in the first display of anger I’ve ever actually seen from him.
“Personal history, I see…” I’m hesitant to ask any further.
“That’s not important right now. There’s more to the story of what happened to the adults here, isn’t there, Chief?” Rann brings the conversation back on topic, the anger disappearing from his voice as if it was never there in the first place.
“Last night, I spoke with Bear about the truth of what happened to ‘Wolf’ and the rest of the adults of the Capital. Bear could tell that I knew the story of what happened to them as told by the other Red Wolves was a lie. It’s a secret they’ve kept even from Arezza herself. The older children know the truth, but they keep quiet about it for Arezza and the younger children’s sake. The truth is…”
The Chief sighs, calming herself before continuing.
“There were a dozen adults here, including Wolf, their leader, and about twenty children including the four Red Wolves. The adults would periodically venture out to hunt and gather supplies, while the Red Wolves looked after the children. They reasoned if the hunting party didn’t have any children with them, it was less likely they’d be attacked. They’d done this countless times before without issue, for many years. There was the occasional injury, but they never suffered any permanent casualties. That was, until the day a battered, bruised, and bleeding Wolf staggered back to the Capital, holding in his arms a red-haired girl with pearly-white horns and what was clearly a broken wing.”
“Their luck ran out.” Rann sighs to himself. “It’s only by luck that they lasted that long without losing anyone.”
“It was early in the morning when Wolf returned. Everyone beside the Red Wolves were still asleep. Wolf told them what happened. They found the girl in his arms unconscious on the forest floor. They’d never seen or heard of anything like her before, but it was clear she was injured and needed help. They picked her up and planned on taking her back to the Capital without a second thought. It was on the way back that they were attacked by a group far larger than their own. I needn’t say who their attackers were, I’m sure.” The Chief says. I can hear the lump in her throat she’s trying her hardest to pretend isn’t there. This story doesn’t have a happy ending.
“The Bone Breakers.”
“Their name is literal, if you didn’t know. They break their captive’s legs so they can’t run, or break their arms so they can’t fight. They came from nowhere and savagely attacked Wolf and the others. They were outnumbered four to one. Several of them died in the initial clash, and the rest agreed to split off and run in different directions so at least one of them might live. Wolf took the red-haired girl in his arms and ran. He fought off his pursuers, but he was bleeding heavily by the time he made it back to the Capital, where the Red Wolves were waiting for him. He told them what happened, even as he collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. That everyone was dead or captured, and that they needed to stay underground for the next few weeks to ensure the Bone Breakers didn't find their settlement. To tell the children that although they’d been attacked, they lead the attackers away to keep them secret and safe, and that they’d return one day. And finally, to look after the red-haired girl, and keep her safe as well. Once all that was said…” The Chief pauses, taking a deep breath. “He died on the spot.”
I’m not good with the topic of death, even after experiencing it first-hand. I don’t know what to do, or what to say, so I just end up sitting here silently. Rann sits a little straighter, clenching his right hand and holding it over his heart in a brief salute before relenting.
“I hope whatever comes after death here is better than the Underlands.” He sighs.
“So… even Arezza doesn’t know that the man who saved her is dead?”
“That was a decision the Red Wolves and the older children made for themselves. A white lie to keep some semblance of hope alive for her. None of them knew how to fix her wing, but they did their best to look after her. Of course, once she’d recovered enough, she wanted to help in return for the help she received. It was on that day that this unnamed hole they’d been living in became the Capital, the four oldest children became the Red Wolves, and she became their Queen. They had one mission; to rescue and protect the younger children of the Abyss. In the past three years, their numbers have more than doubled; there’s nearly as many children here as there are people in Haven. Thanks to Arezza’s magic and the Red Wolves’ leadership, as you can see, they’ve done quite well for themselves.” The Chief nods, affording a small smile.
“Do you think she knows the truth, Chief? About all of this.” Rann asks.
“She may have displayed several cases of poor judgement in the short time we’ve known her, but she’s certainly no fool. She likely knows she hasn’t been told the whole story, but feels it’s best not to ask about it. She values the safety and wellbeing of the children over sating her own curiosity.” The Chief answers.
“Well. What have you learned so far, Marina?” Rann turns to me. My turn to speak, I guess.
“Have either of you noticed a dull, distant thudding noise while you’ve been here?”
The two look at each other, then shake their heads.
“A thudding noise? Like someone hitting something?” The Chief asks.
“It’s… a low, deep noise that shakes in your chest, with the rhythm of a heartbeat that isn’t your own. Arza said that only she and the very young children can hear it. When I stop and listen for it… I can hear it too.”
The two of them go quiet, straining their ears to listen out for this distinct noise; to no avail.
“A thudding noise with the rhythm of a heartbeat…” The Chief ponders, furrowing her brow.
“It may have something to do with the idea that the Abyss itself is… alive, in some way. If it’s alive, then it’s not that far-fetched that it would have…”
“A heart.” The Chief finishes for me.
“A heart? A living, beating heart?” Rann blinks, unconvinced.
“Not living in any way we recognise, but if it’s beating… maybe it really is the corpse of a god we’re standing on.” The Chief muses to herself. “Gods, theologians would have decades of material to argue over if they got their hands on this. A god’s earthly remains, to study, research, and venerate. It would certainly throw the schools that insist that the gods never possessed physical bodies for a loop.”
“I’ll leave the study to the priests. If the Abyss is alive, and it has a heart, then… Ah. I don’t suppose you or Arezza knows where this ‘heart’ is, do you?” Rann asks. I shake my head. All we know is it’s probably somewhere underground, near the Abyss’ centre.
“Was worth a shot.” He shrugs.
“Did she share anything else in the time I left the two of you alone?” The Chief asks me.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“She has an admirable sense of responsibility over the children here.”
“I knew that already. Anything else?” The Chief sighs. I have to stop myself from smiling, but a frown from the Chief tells me I was too slow.
“She’s agreed to teach me how to fly, and she’s looking forward to seeing Haven for herself.”
“Good. And?” She nods.
“Uh… her wings feel very soft to the touch.”
“Anything useful.” She frowns.
“Well, most of it was about that noise. It was the first thing she brought up once we were alone, as it causes her a lot of distress being the only one her age that can hear it.”
“It’s understandable that she’d need someone else to affirm that they can hear it too so it’s not just something in her head, but… if we can’t hear it, why can you, Marina?” The Chief furrows her brow.
“I assume it’s just something to do with my wings. They make me a lot more perceptive of my surroundings, so maybe they make my hearing more sensitive, somehow. That’s the only answer I can think of.”
“Your wings can hear, but they can’t fly. Not very good at what they’re supposed to do, are they.” Rann comments.
“With Arza’s help, maybe I will fly one day. At least they’re not totally useless in the meantime.”
“If that’s all, Marina, then that makes it your turn, Rann.” The Chief and I turn to Rann.
“I had Arshak take a look around last night while I had a chat with Bull and Jackhorn about how things are going here. What they said and what Arshak found lines up. They’re starting to hit the limit of what they can do here.” Rann answers.
“They’re running out of supplies? Food, space, clothing?” The Chief guesses.
“They can’t make new clothes, excluding the rough cloaks they stitch together from whatever bit of hide, fur, or feather they can find. Securing more food is a problem as the tunnels around the Capital have only gotten more dangerous over time. Normally, where there’s people, the wild animals flee. The opposite happened here. More predators, things far worse than jackhorns have been spotted in the tunnels. Their foraging paths grow more dangerous by the day. Jackhorn manages the food when he’s not off pathfinding. He’s a smart kid. He estimates that they won’t have enough food to feed everyone within a year, if they keep rescuing kids at their current rate.” He continues.
“What is their current rate?” The Chief asks.
“Two every moon. Sometimes more. They’re nearing sixty people here now.” Rann sits up, adjusting his posture before relaxing again. “We’ll have a lot of work to do back at Haven. Need a second bunkhouse, at least.”
“What’s Haven’s rescue rate…?”
“One every two to three moons. Used to be higher, but now we know where the kids have been going.” Rann sighs. “Though, this means the rate of new arrivals hasn’t dropped like we hoped.”
“No, but at least we know they’ve been in good hands. They’ll be under our care soon enough.” The Chief adds.
“The way things look here, we showed up at the right time. They know they’ll start running short of food soon enough, and we fell into their laps before things got bad.” Rann nods. “Seems their luck hasn’t run out.”
“A rare moment of fortune, given the circumstances. For both parties involved.” The Chief smiles to herself. “I told you everything would be fine if I presented the case for an alliance in person.”
“Everything’s worked out because we brought Marina along. She’s been our good luck charm since the day we found her.” Rann chuckles.
Is that my role now? A good luck charm? A mascot? A familiar? What is my actual role in Haven?
“I deserve at least some of the credit for this diplomatic mission! It was at my behest that she came in the first place!” The Chief protests.
“You made their Queen look like a fool in front of her subjects. I’m surprised you didn’t hold her upside down mid-air.” Rann raises an eyebrow slightly.
“She’s the one that started it with her little parlour-room magic trick. As a Sage of the Order of the Golden Light, I have a reputation to uphold, no matter who attempts to disparage it.” The Chief huffs, crossing her arms.
“Good thing Marina was here. Her wings make a great distraction.” He nods towards me.
“So I am a mascot. I’m just here to carry around the wings all the kids love to touch.”
“You’re not a mascot, Marina.” the Chief sighs. “You’re far more important than that.”
“Then what is my role? My title, if I have one?”
“You’re my right hand, Marina. One of the few people I rely on. You live under the same roof as me. Do you not recognise the special position you hold within Haven? I trust you enough to involve you in important conversations such as this. If you haven’t clued in by now, then I don’t know what will.” She continues, speaking directly to me. She’s trying to play it off and state things matter-of-factly, despite it being obvious how much she cares. For someone so good at reading emotions, she’s not always proficient at hiding her own.
“Heh.” Rann chuckles to himself, taking another swig from his waterskin.
“And what do you find so amusing, Rann Carteren?” The Chief turns to Rann, giving him an annoyed glare.
Rann just shrugs in the face of the Chief’s annoyed look. Tiff told me why Rann brought me back to Haven - he had a hunch the Chief would take an interest in me, even before he found out about my wings. His gut instinct was right, and he wasn’t above a self-satisfied chuckle over that.
“If that’s all, then we should go check how Arezza’s preparations are going. I would have hoped to have left in the morning, but since they insisted on holding a feast in our honour…” The Chief says, standing up and dusting herself off. “I didn’t expect to see Haven today anyway.”
“There was nothing stopping you from turning this morning’s extended breakfast down.” Rann comments as he stands, rubbing his shoulder.
“There was everything stopping me! You never turn down a meal offered by your host, that is the epitome of being an ungrateful guest!” She counters, shocked at even the idea of doing something so rude.
Rann just lets out another self-satisfied chuckle as we head out the door.
Unfortunately, Arezza still wasn’t ready to leave when we went to check on her. She was having a hard time picking which outfits to bring along in the six suitcases she had summoned from her home. The Chief baulked at the sight of this; she then took three outfits, fit them neatly in one suitcase, handed that to Arezza, and told her to be ready to go within an hour. For the journey to Haven, Arezza was wearing the most heavy-duty boots she could find, a long, white cloak that was definitely going to be filthy by the time we got back that covered her wings which hung close to her waist, and a utilitarian, but no less expensive blue dress best-suited for travelling. Most of her wardrobe was blue and white, from what I saw of it. Oh, and her wardrobe was an entire room, bigger than the already spacious bedroom I slept in last night. Only the royal and the obscenely rich could own so many clothes.
The Wolf Queen would not be travelling to Haven without a few of her loyal Pups coming along. It was decided that Crow would remain in the Capital; that way if anything were to happen, at least one person there would know the way to Haven. Griffin would be the Red Wolf accompanying Arezza as her personal bodyguard, leaving the Capital in the hands of Bear, Jackhorn, and Bull. Finally, Rabbit and Mole would be joining us. Arezza and the Chief agreed it would be beneficial to do a trial run, with them spending a week at Haven with the other children to see how they mingle. Rabbit is, unsurprisingly, ecstatic over this, while Mole was surprised he was chosen at all.
With everybody finally ready some time mid-afternoon, we had all gathered before the hidden front gate of the Capital, on the verge of our journey. Our trip today would be a short trip to Mole’s outpost, and tomorrow we would make the rest of the journey to Haven. Arezza told the Red Wolves to tell anyone still awake last night what the plan was, and reiterated the point to everyone this morning during breakfast that she would be travelling to Haven for a week.
Of course, it wasn’t easy for all the Wolf Pups to just accept this. Their Queen would be gone for a week. To the youngest ones, this was the worst thing imaginable. Many of them cried helplessly into the arms of the older children who did their best to console them. The rest of the children, however, did their best to show their steely-faced discipline and determination. They stood in neat, ordered ranks, standing tall and proud to see their Queen off. They’d see her again soon, they told themselves, as they tried their hardest to not betray any hint of sadness. Arezza thanked each one by name, seeing them off personally with a hug, one by one, especially the littlest ones who were crying; she didn’t stop hugging them until they were all smiling again. It was taking a little longer, but the Chief raised no issue and stood quietly by the gate.
“My proud Wolf Pups.” Arezza smiles, turning to face the children. “All fifty-six of you! If our queendom keeps growing like this, I’m going to be spending all morning hugging each and every one of you, and that’s if everybody behaves themselves and nobody tries to sneak in a second hug before someone else has had their first one.”
The younger children giggle, wiping their tears. A few of the older ones look a little guilty - it seems their Queen’s hugs are quite a precious commodity among the Wolf Pups.
“I will be visiting the city of Haven for a week. Haven’s people and their chief have made a very generous offer to us, and it is my duty as your Queen to see Haven for myself before agreeing to their offer. Haven may, one day, be a new home for many of us. A safer home, where we don’t have to worry about food or dangerous animals. Crow told me they even have a waterfall of crystal clear water gushing down the cliffs, filling pools with enough water to drink, clean, wash, and play in!” She continues.
A few children are excited over the idea of a waterfall, while others say that the Capital is safe and already has clean water, thanks to the Queen. What else does Haven have to offer that the Wolf Pups don’t already have?
“The most important part of this journey is the children of Haven itself. Yes, they have many adults, but they have many children too; the same ages as all of you. I’d like to meet them myself, and hear what they have to say about Haven. If they’re as kind and helpful as they were to Crow, then I’m sure that they’d be just as happy to make friends with all of you, too. You are all my loyal subjects… but more than that, you’re my family. You took me in when I was injured, nursed me back to health, and accepted me as one of your own. From what I’ve learned from Crow, Haven’s Chief, and the others that came here, Haven’s family is not that much unlike our own. One day, our two families may even become one.” Arezza looks back at the Chief with a smile, who gives her a nod as she steps forth.
“You needn’t worry about your Queen’s safety, Wolf Pups. I travelled here under the protection of some of Haven’s greatest warriors, and the journey back will be assisted by one of your own Red Wolves. I promise that your Queen, alongside the Wolf Pups joining us in Haven, will be returned safely in a week’s time.” The Chief gives a polite bow, playing along with the ‘regal’ atmosphere to soothe the Wolf Pups’ worries.
Bear, Jackhorn, and Bull step forward from the crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder as their masks stare unblinkingly at the Chief, before the three of them bow in unison.
“We will take your word, Chief of Haven. We entrust you, and Griffin, with our Queen’s and our two Pups’ safety.” Jackhorn says, standing back up straight.
“They’ll be safe in our hands.” Rann says, crossing his arms and nodding. “We should get moving now. We’re burning what little sunlight we get.”
Before we go to leave, a minor commotion breaks out in the crowd, as a small group of kids shuffle through the others to the front, walking up to the Red Wolves while holding something large and dark in their arms.
“Before you leave, Your Majesty, there is one last thing needed to ensure your safety.” Jackhorn clears his throat.
“Yes…?” Arezza turns to answer.
As she turns, Bear and Bull stand on either side of her, draping a black cloak of feathers across her shoulders, not unlike the cloaks the rest of the Wolf Pups wear, with one noticeable difference - every feather is perfectly clean, straight, and glossy, with a delicately woven red rope securing it around her shoulders. While the children’s cloaks are rough and scruffy but no less capable of keeping them dry and warm, Arezza’s new cloak looks fit for a queen.
“What is… you made me a cloak?” Arezza asks, looking down at her new cloak, feeling its fabric in her hands. “It’s so soft, too… When did you make this?”
“A few moons ago. After everything you’ve done for us, we felt it would be important to give something in return. Besides, a white cloak is poorly suited for travelling across the Abyss.” Griffin speaks up. “We saved up the best feathers and the softest fabrics we could find until we had enough to make a proper cloak.”
“For the record, this was Griffin’s idea.” You can hear Jackhorn’s wry grin through his mask.
“I-It was a group idea! Don’t pin it all on me!” Griffin retorts, trying to downplay his involvement.
“Oh, Griffin… Always looking out for me~” Arezza smiles, grabbing Griffin and pulling him into a very, very tight hug.
“W-we all… pitched in, Y-Your Majesty… You don’t have to squeeze so hard…!” Griffin is doing his best to politely yet firmly push Arezza off him, to no avail whatsoever as Arezza’s arm strength is evidently too much for him.
“Reminds you of someone, doesn’t she.” The Chief quietly comments to me. I know exactly which red-haired girl with serious upper body strength she’s thinking of.
After a few more hugs, the gates of the Capital finally rose, and we set out into the Abyss once more. We made it out of the Hollows in decent time, much to our collective relief. This was the first time Arezza had left the Capital since she fell into the Abyss, but it quickly became clear that she was no stranger to adventure. In a way, it’s how she ended up down here in the first place.
After an hour, we made it to the edge of the Dead Hollows, and the leering, sneering Grinning Gums surrounding us and covering the floor with their roots gave way to the less overtly threatening (but no less red) trees common to the rest of the Abyss. There was little conversation as we moved. No order of silence was given, but we all intrinsically knew it was best to keep quiet. There’s many dos and don’ts when it comes to travelling as a group, heavily dependent on the size of said group. A small group can move quickly and quietly, and avoid drawing much attention to themselves. A large group has enough manpower to fend off anything that may intercept it. A medium sized group like ours, with a bit over a dozen members, had none of these perks. Not small enough to quietly escape, not big enough to make someone second guess attacking us. In a worst case scenario, we certainly don’t have a shortage of capable warriors and powerful mages, but it was better safe than sorry.
Just as the last light of day disappeared behind the distant cliffs, we’d made it back to Mole’s outpost, on the western fringe of Dead Man’s Dream. Hound and Magpie were quite exasperated to see that not only had we returned to hole up in their dugout, but a Red Wolf, two of their squad mates, and the Wolf Queen herself had come to stay the night before setting off for Haven in the morning. The thirteen of us crowded in, got ourselves as comfortable as we could, and hunkered down for what rest we could get before the long march tomorrow.