“The whole point of a trap is to lull the enemy into it before you spring it,” Charles said. “These things may be expecting all of us in one big clump, why charge in randomly and risk losing all of us. No, I think that if this is a trap, Achelois is the bait. That is where the trap will be sprung. Aceso will arrive untouched.”
Aceso looked at William and Charles. “If you insist.”
William did not feel proud of his victory over his alpha, if anything he felt like he had done some irreparable damage to her and she might never look at him the same way again. Or he could be completely imagining things and Aceso just wanted to keep him safe. She turned to her Sage. “Katherine, without Charles to mask your scent you won’t be able to go to the mountain by yourself, you’ll have to stay here until we get back.”
Katherine jerked her head back as if she had been slapped. “So, you’re what, grounding me?” She stared at Aceso as a sliver of a cold smile pierced her lips. “I would rather go with William than sit here and do nothing.” Katherine shrugged her shoulders. “Besides if it is a trap, they would be expecting all of us and ready to overwhelm us.” She looked over at William. “One more set of hands couldn’t hurt.” She smiled genuinely, “Especially if those hands can cause earthquakes.”
Nicolas looked at everyone in turn. He shook his head from side-to-side. “Youse guys are crazy and if you want to die fine, knock yourselves out. I’m not going.”
Aceso grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. There was steel, and for the first time ever, William heard anger in her voice. “You will take me to Achelois. After that if you want to run, fine. But until then you are not leaving my side.” She hauled Nicolas up off his butt and onto his knees.
“How do we get to this Whyte Plain?” Katherine asked.
“Getting into the Whyte Plain is never the hard part,” Aceso replied with a touch of sarcasm. It sounded harsh and alien to William’s ears. Aceso added in a much calmer, quiet tone, “It’s getting back.”
William scooted his way back into the heart of the wolf den. The rest of the pack huddled around Aceso. “Lie down.” She told them. She kept a firm grip on the nape of Nicolas’s neck.
William laid down flat on his back with his tail resting between his legs. There were so many things that he never thought he would have to do or things that didn’t seem possible to him. Since coming to the City under the Mountain he had seen things that only existed previously in his imagination. Now after everything he had fought for, control over himself and his other, had found something in this world worth fighting for, now he might lose it all. The thought of finding home only to have it be ripped away from him by death was one thing. But he knew that if they failed, they wouldn’t be given a peaceful death. If what Aceso had said was true they would become one of those Shadows, constantly roving the Whyte Plain, constantly hungry, constantly feeding. William closed his eyes and tried to calm himself as he fell into his void.
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Almost immediately he felt that ungodly pressure clamp down around his body. He was being squeezed through an impossibly small tunnel, no bigger than a thimble. He screamed out in pain but no sound escaped his lips. There was no room for air in this constricted space. He felt like he was suffocating. There was no air, no light. He gasped with the pain. His whole body would be crushed to powder. He tried to move, to speed his progress, but it was no use. There was no strength in his body and even if there was, he couldn’t move one way or another. His body was racked continuously with the most agonizing pain imaginable. One more squeeze, forced his body tighter and smaller than before and then he was free.
His lungs filled as he gasped for air. The air here was heavy. His eyes shot open and for a moment he thought he had gone blind. Only white swirling mist met his eyes. His body was completely fine, with no long-term damage or soreness from his ordeal. William looked around at his pack mates. They were lifting themselves up on their elbows and shaking their heads to clear the haze he too was feeling.
Aceso was the first one up, and with her she dragged Nicolas to his feet by the scruff of his neck which she had not yet relinquished. “Which way did Achelois go?” she asked as she let go of Nicolas’ neck. William stood up as Nicolas, having no choice in the matter, pointed off in what might have been a random direction. Aceso nodded and waited for the rest of them to stand up.
“I’m taking Nicolas directly to Achelois,” Aceso said to the group.
William nodded. “If there is some intelligence behind this, we don’t want to give ourselves away.” William threw his head at Charles and Katherine. “Us three will circle around and wait till you stop moving. Then we’ll charge.” William paused a second and looked at Nicolas. “If you force Aceso to stop prematurely and we rush in spoiling the only chip we have to play in this place. The shadows won’t have a chance to kill you.”
Nicolas met the look and the hidden threat well. The only thing he did was nod and started to shuffle off in the direction that he had pointed to moments ago. Aceso grabbed him before he could move any further.
“These things have never shown any sign of intelligence before,” Aceso snorted. “But as Charles said only the ones who think there can’t be a trap gets caught in one.” She placed her claw in the small of Nicolas’s back and pushed him forward to get him moving. She shot a look over her shoulder at her Enforcer. “Don’t be late, William.” She turned her head around and was almost instantly swallowed by the swirling white mist.
William turned toward the other two. “You guys ready?” Katherine and Charles both nodded without hesitation. “Then let’s get moving, and stay close.”
William moved into the mist at an extreme angle to the direction that Aceso and Nicolas had taken. He wanted to reach out and grab for Charles’s and Katherine’s claws but if they walked holding each other’s hands they would never get far enough away or maintain a good distance traveling around Aceso the way they were. He didn’t feel the need to drop to all fours but the added speed of running would make things a lot easier. After a hundred paces or so William felt comfortable increasing their speed. He sped up to a good trot. He glanced over both his shoulders keeping an eye on Charles and Katherine.