Sino grumbled as he weighed his options. He had been moving on his instincts in his wolf form. Now on two legs, his mind cleared. He focused on his so-called options, and he realized they were about as good as asking an orc to babysit.
He pondered whether to leave the creature with a hobgoblin or maybe the Fae Council for only a moment. His inner wolf whimpered immediately. The idea of pawning the child off to another felt wrong. If it were dangerous, he would kill it if needed. He told himself, but he didn’t believe his thoughts even as he thought it.
Sadness enveloped him, and the child got fussy. “Shhh, little one.” He looked around for danger while digging into his satchel for a plant for the infant to suckle. He felt the long, squishy stick of the oma plant; he bit off one of the ends and placed it in the baby’s mouth. At first, she didn’t latch on. “Please drink.” He kept his voice soft. His thoughts returned to the many days he spent with his own child, trying to get them to sleep in the early waking moments of almost morning twilight just before dawn touches the forest.
Sino’s thoughts went back to his current and previous pack. Maybe he should find a new one? He allowed the pack’s needs to come before his for his entire life. His old pack decided who he should procreate with, and then he lost his female and their pup. They chose his path to being a sentry, which was why he wasn’t there to protect them. After the deaths, they put him on the boundary lines to grieve in peace, but all it did was allow his darkest thoughts to fester.
Instead of allowing warriors and sentries to go to the human world and attack the being that started the Atrocities, they picked politicians. He sneered. Useless. The longer he thought, his resolve hardened. No. He would wait no longer. After ensuring the child is not a threat to the werewolves and that the infant is safe, he would go to the human world to bring the vengeance he promised the moment he held his dead pup in his arms.
He spun at the snap of a branch in the distance, placing the staff in a defensive position. Sino’s sense of smell wasn’t as sharp in this form, nor was his hearing. But he was strong, agile, and would fight to the death if needed. That didn’t mean his senses were inept. He felt the new presence as soon as it was within running distance.
The loud, fast footsteps slowed to a hesitant walk. Sino waited and steadied his mental barrier just in case. Many moments passed as he waited for the creature to approach. He concentrated on the sounds of the forest. The winged beasts still chirped, so they did not feel this stranger was a threat. This notion was confirmed when a light-beige teenage wolf crept into his two-legged presence.
“Go home, pup,” Sino growled.
The ware hesitated but came out from behind a Linden Tree.
A soft voice asked for permission to speak via mindspeak. “I am here to join your path.” It finished through mindslink once Sino allowed it.
“No,” Sino stated succinctly.
“I saw your meeting with the Council; they are wrong. Their rules are stupid. I could help you.” The youngin quickly shifted to standing form. His fur changed to pale pink skin with light brown tresses. The ware wasn’t even at the age of maturity, but it was a clean, quick shift.
“Go home.” Sino turned his back to the teen, an offense to a wolf.
Like many hormonal pups, his emotions were obvious. Anger. Fear. Anxiety. His mind open to every Fae with a basic understanding of mindlink.
“I have information.” The teen tried again.
Sino shook his head but then hesitated. He spun around and scanned the teen’s wide-open mind. The pup’s mental barrier wasn’t even a wall. The boy slung mud up on his mind’s pathways, hoping to catch intruders like quicksand. Sino was able to skip past easily.
“Hey, that’s not fair.” The boy’s voice cracked.
“Fae believe in balance, not fairness. Now go home. Your information is stale.” Sino stretched and scanned one more time, just in case. The kid had nothing of importance.
“Mags said you would help me.”
Sino raised his thick eyebrows. “And why would she suggest that?”
The teenager shifted his weight, moving a pebble with his pink toe. Sino watched the teen correct himself. “I need your help to ensure a safe journey to the oracles. Perhaps she figured you needed some information from them?”
He was about to ask about the oracles when he felt another presence lurking at just the edge of his senses. He almost missed it because the teenager kept most of his active attention. However, as a sentry, he was skilled at multiattention.
The new presence stayed on the edge of his wolf sense which wasn’t easy to judge for most fae. Sino changed their path to intercept, but all he saw was a pale fae running away. Perhaps the being wasn’t trying to stay just at the edge of his senses. Maybe it was trying to avoid the werewolves and was not a threat. He scanned the area again for any other fae and found nothing. The forest was ambling about loudly. Sino turned to walk South back towards the Lore Estate.
A whistling sound cut through the air before Sino detected a presence again. His ears found the noise just as the boy took a step, mouth open, about to say something. Sino yanked the boy backward as a long slender dart sliced past and landed on a Linden Tree next to where they were standing.
Run. Sino mindlinked. The boy shifted to his wolf form and darted northwest, weaving through the trees. Sino turned toward where the dart came from. The attacker wasn’t there, but he pressed forward a few moments, seeing if they were anywhere near them. He looked for any footprint of its presence. Blank. What fae can mask their whole aura? Sino wondered.
Sino ran towards where he saw the young wolf sprint. The youngling’s tracks were so obvious he shook his head. He found him quickly, making sure to mindlink his presence early and often. The boy shifted back to his two-legged form.
After walking most of the day, the teen finally spoke, “Did you see who it was?”
Sino shook his head. “Who knows you left?”
“No one, Mags didn’t even let me say goodbye to my family.” The boy frowned and kicked a rock. When he looked back up, he looked as if he would say something but changed his mind. He cocked his head and then spoke. “Oh, good! We are near the Wisdom Cave. Maybe I will make it to the oracles after all.”
Sino knew of Wisdom Cave but, like most shifters, never visited. One of their pack’s most sacred places that only few have access to begs the question, how did this pup know of its location? HE didn’t even know of it.
“Well, if you are looking for information the council has, you might find it. I went here with Mags to pick up one of her projects. She’s been trying to put it together for a fortnight’s cycle.”
Sino didn’t know much about Wisdom Cave. He knew that it was protected by several spells to ensure only those with pure intention could enter. Was his intention pure? He wanted to learn more about the infant. But why? What would it tell him? Could he really harm the child for the good of the pack?
He shook his head. Maybe looking in for some information would help him make a decision.
“Take me to the Cave.”
The pup nodded. “It’s not far.” True enough, it was hidden behind some nearby bushes. The boy knocked on a rock. A tunnel of rocks formed just enough space for them to crawl in. Sino, careful to keep the child tight to his chest, crawled, barely fitting in the tiny tunnel. The gravel wasn’t easy on their hands and knees, but their quick healing meant they needed to clean it fast, or else the abrasions could heal over the dirt and cause a deadly infection. “You can wash up once inside. We are almost there.” The boy looked back and turned a corner. Sino watched him punch in a pattern etched into a door. It rumbled open. “Just in here.” The boy encouraged.
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Sino’s knees bloodied by the time he crawled into the room. It was a large cavern with a pink pool in the center. The walls were covered in books, scrolls, statuettes, relics, weaponry, and other treasures. “We can wash our wounds in the pool before it heals over.” The boy grabbed a basket with some cloths, dipped the fabric in the water, and started wiping his knees. He hissed.
Sino did the same while looking around the room. It was amazingly free of dust.
“It's wondrous.” The boy admitted. “Let me use my magick. I might be able to find...”
“What magick does a pup have?” Sino narrowed his eyes as he watched his knee’s skin weave back together.
“Umm. I wasn’t supposed to say, but since you’ve already saved my life. I’m an… omega.”
“An omega!” Sino looked the boy over. He had never seen an omega. They were rare. Though he wasn’t sure what he expected, as the boy just looked like a youngling pup.
“Here.” He handed a book to Sino. “This is the book Mags let me read. It talks about my powers and what I am expected to do. I guess I am to help the oracles. I have the power to sense things regular wolves don’t. I could sense you if you would like a demonstration.”
Sino narrowed his eyes but nodded.
The boy closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and slowly released it. He spoke his voice deeper than before. “I see your pain in your heart. You seek… vengeance… and it’s eating you up whole. Your spirit is fractured. But you are intertwined with that child by The Fates.”
Sino growled. “The Fates?” Sino’s inner beast chuffed at the notion. He was in control of his life’s paths. He didn’t believe in something or someone controlling the outcomes of people’s lives. How could he? That would mean they stood by and watched his family and most of his old pack be slaughtered, with the power to stop it, and did nothing. It's a monstrous notion.
The boy frowned. “The Fates are misunderstood.”
“If you believe in such things, they would be immoral…”
The teen looked up, the young boy cocked his head to the side. “Mags explained it like this. The Fates are powerful, but they are limited in what they can do. She said that while The Fates sets paths out for fae to take, it is up to the being to actually choose their life’s journey. Each step they take has its own set of consequences. Because balance is important, every path has its opposite. For joy, there is also pain. For death, there is life. The oracles help The Fates as a voice to the people of Faeland, and omegas like me are the voice for the shifters. Our people are in chaos right now, and most are too blind to see the oncoming… threats isn’t the right word, but maybe it's close enough.”
“You speak like an elder, boy.” Sino looked the teen over. “What is your name?”
“Danada. I’ve always been more mature than others my age. I can’t help it when I see things others don’t. I really do need your help. There have been accidents around me, and I think someone is trying to stop me from getting to the oracles. Mags was going to have me wait until the next cycle, but just before you arrived, another accident happened. My family was hurt very bad. Then you showed up. After she saw you enter the territory, she sought me out. She knew you wouldn’t let me go with you. Said this was my first test. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me. I’m just glad we made it safely here. That means my path to the oracles should be clear now. Did you know there are several tunnels, some of which go under the rivers that intersect near here? The ancients used the cave system to connect to the four main areas of Faeland.”
“You talk a lot.” Sino looked over the book. He was about to ask a question about the roles of the omega when he noticed the boy. He was sitting on a square near the pool. One of his hands was on his chest while the other lay on a knee across his body. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he started murmuring. After a while, the teen sighed loudly.
“That creature's presence is too loud. It's distracting.”
“Infants can’t mindshare?”
Danada shook his head. “No, she isn’t sharing a mind link. She’s just weighing on the room. I feel like she needs you to do something, but I also think she is getting weaker.”
“Weak? Does she need food?” Sino dropped the book and started looking through his satchel for another oma plant.
Danada shook his head. “I’m not sure. Maybe restless?”
Sure enough, though she was quiet, her face tinged redder undertone. Sino touched her forehead. She felt hot. “She’s so hot. We need to cool her down.” He saw something similar. His own pup sick with fevers, and the doctor made them fill a tub with cooling water.
“The pool.” They both said at the same time.
Sino nodded. He unwrapped her from his chest. She felt like a rumbling fire. Sino heard her begin little hiccups. The pink pool was cool. He held the tiny baby in one hand as he dipped her in the water. He used his other hand to cup water and gently pour some over her head. He heard sizzling.
“It's not quick enough. She’s hurting. Dunk her.” Danada said while he searched a rack of herbs. He found his prize- a bright pink dried flower from the Ulpa plant. It was the size of two of his hands. He approached Sino’s side just as the ware dunked the infant. The pool bubbled around the child. Sino lifted the child out of the water; her skin looked like a bellymover detaching its scales. Danada rubbed her face with the petals. “This should be soothing.”
Sino dunked her again. Both stared in wonder as the tiny baby grew. The petals revealed a longer torso, arms, and legs with new paler purple skin. Her chest and back turned darker into a deep blue with sparkling blue scales on either side of her spine.
It was as if she grew in age instead of being just born; she looked at least a few full cycles. Her bright green eyes opened, and she cocked her head aside. Sino felt her forehead. It was cool. She now had a full bushy head of dark purple-black hair. Danada wiped the last of the darker purple skin from her legs.
“Strange,” Sino admitted.
“Very. Is she a shifter?”
Sino shrugged. “We don’t know what she is nor who her people are. Is she still weak?”
Danada closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He shook his head. “She feels really powerful and curious.”
The infant’s chubby hand grabbed out towards Sino’s face as if on cue. He made a face at her like he used to with his daughter.
Immediately thoughts of his pup filled his mind. Sino cooed at his daughter and looked over at his smiling wife. His wife was so beautiful. He remembered thinking that he hoped they might be pregnant again with more pups to add to their family. Not that he wanted a big family, but because she did, he would move the world if it made her day. His wife laughed at his antics. It was music to his ears. “I love you, husband.” Her voice whispered. All the good memories shifted past and then, like an infestation, the worst day of his life. He tried to block out the memories, but it was as if something was suctioning it out of his head.
His wife’s beautiful face morphed into a frozen scream lying on the ground of their hut. She was shielding their daughter, blood pooling around them both.
“Sino?” Danada shook him, hands-on both his shoulders.
“What?” Sino snapped, pushing the teen away and pressing the child to his chest.
“Sorry. You needed to get out of your memory. It was affecting me.” There was a long pause. Sino didn’t want to look at anything but the child he held. Danada broke the silence, “I’m so sorry about your family. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I heard stories about The Atrocities. Have you talked to anyone about it?”
Sino did not answer. Even his inner wolf grumbled in irritation. He looked around for a distraction. “You’ve been here. Tell me if there is anything in here about the Atrocities?” Sino asked while he began busying himself, rewrapping the child. She was larger than before, like she aged a few cycles, so his ropework would need to be redone. He sat down next to the pool, laid the babe back, wrapped swaddled in the beige cloth on his lap while he retied his woven rope to fit the larger child.
The boy wandered around and frowned at each book spine and trinket, sure not to touch anything. “I’m not sure.” Danada finally spoke as he walked the perimeter of the room. “But I’m not sure anything that would be here about that would actually be any use of you. I think there is a list of the known dead and missing. There are also lists of the incoming shifters and which packs took them in afterward. They have books filled with birth records and death records- that type of information.” The teen pointed to a stack of books in the corner.
Sino strapped the child back on his chest immediately; feelings of calm and contentment flushed through his body when her face touched him. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Sino got up and walked around, eyeing some of the old books.
The boy approached and pulled out a thin book. The cover had an old man carrying a baby strapped to his chest. Subconsciously Sino rubbed the baby’s back. She cooed. “This is my favorite. It has all kinds of stories, but they are very short. I memorized them. Maybe you can read them to her? Each story has a theme, like one story is about being stronger by working as a team. It’s a story of a farmer and his sons. His sons fought all the time and couldn’t work together. One day, he gives each of his sons a stick and asks them to break it. Each son breaks it easily. Then he gives them a bundle of sticks and asks them to break it. None could. He told them individually, they are easily broken, but together the family is strongest.”
Sino nodded. It reminded him of a storybook he used to read to his little girl. He slipped the book into his satchel. No one should notice anyways.
“Just bring it back.” The boy frowned. “Mags told me which tunnel to take to get to the oracles. Will you stay with me until I get there?”
Sino, still rubbing the baby nodded. “I suppose I could swing that way before heading where I’m going, but you have to stay out of the way.”
“Yes!” He jumped like he would give Sino a hug, but Sino stepped back and put his hand up, blocking the baby. “Oh, sorry. Thank you.”
Sino waved his hand. “Anything else you think might be helpful?”
The boy looked around. Then closed his eyes. “No, but it's hard. She has a lot of magick. I’m having trouble seeing anything else but that book I gave you. I don’t know if it's because she wants to read it or if it's connected to your journey.” His voice was slow and tentative as if he was worried Sino might yell at him. But the older man just nodded. He was now swaying the baby, trying to encourage her to sleep. The little girl was fighting it like she was afraid she might miss something.
Sino looked at Danada. “Which way?”