Barik motioned for the team to move on, and one by one, they obeyed, their footsteps muted against the damp earth, the oxen's hooves sinking deep into the sodden ground. The hill shrank behind them, its secrets buried beneath the heavy light of morning.
Barik glanced back one final time.
The ancient tree stood as it had fallen, massive, split clean through, its roots still clutching the earth like the skeletal fingers of a buried giant. The core was a hollowed wound, blackened and smoldering, wisps of smoke curling lazily into the dawn. The men saw only a tree violently struck by lightning.
But Barik knew better.
Among the debris, half-buried in the mud, lay several staves: straight, smooth lengths of wood, blasted clean by the lightning's fury. Their surfaces were charred, but within their heartwood, something stirred: quick, silver sparks, flickering like distant stars. Too fast to be seen by careless eyes. This was the storm's own strange alchemy, lightning fused with the silver veins of the Spiral's influence, forging something new. Something alive.
The silver sparks within the wood flickered, and a chill ran down his spine. He had seen what silver could do, how it burned, how it changed things. He wouldn't risk touching it, not without understanding what it truly was.
The team left the ridge, moved in tense silence, the blackened tree and its silver-veined heart shrinking behind them. Barik leading the way, his gaze fixed on the hazy outline of the gorge. The journey required concentration; the acidic rain had destabilized the ground, and deep, shimmering puddles of water still lay pooled in the depressions.
"Remember what I said," Barik called over his shoulder, his voice rough. "Don't touch anything that shines with silver. Don't even kick the soil where it glimmers. That stuff is poison."
Everyone nodded. Even the veterans looked uneasy.
***
Eris knelt by the stone slab they had used to seal the inner hollow. Kaylah placed the last handful of loose soil over it, careful to erase any sign the entrance had ever been exposed.
Eris exhaled slowly. He felt the pull, too, that strange, magnetic invitation from the hollow, but the weight in his chest told him the same truth. "We're not ready," he said. "And whatever's in there… it's not going anywhere."
When they stepped back, Kaylah touched the cold surface, whispering almost to herself, "We'll come back someday, when we're ready, when we understand more. Sleep a while longer, for now we need to go home."
Eris agreed silently. When the barrier was secure, they carefully dragged the two recuperating hunters, Tonovan and Renzo, further away from the hidden recess, depositing them near the cave's mouth. Neither man had seen the hollow. Neither would.
While Kaylah tended to the sleeping hunters, the Beta she-wolf suddenly tensed. Her ears swiveled, her nose lifted, and she released a silent, knowing breath. She smelled them—the approaching groups, both familiar and new. The wolf moved with immediate, low purpose, slipping out into the dawn mist to scout and assess the danger.
Kaylah frowned. "What is she…"
Eris lifted a hand. "Let her go. She smells something."
***
Barik scanned the broken terrain; they couldn't wait. "We keep moving. We recover the company, secure the glass-back remains, and we're gone. Focus, men." They proceeded quickly, the cave entrance finally visible through the thinning mist, a black maw carved into the rock face.
They continued for another hundred paces, the sound of their boots muffled by the sodden earth, until the silence of the ravaged land was broken by a rough, guttural sound.
The team froze.
Cugat immediately halted the ox carts. He drew his bow and squinted toward the sound. "Just one," he murmured, easing the bowstring. "A scout, maybe. Or a young one who lost the pack."
Barik's jaw tightened. A lone scout rarely stayed alone for long.
As he expected, the growl faded as quickly as it came, swallowed by the wind. When they looked again, the wolf was gone, no shadow between the rocks, no footfall, not even the scrape of claws.
"It's gone," Barik stated, though his worry was palpable. He scanned the broken terrain, his hand resting on the hilt of his axe. They couldn't wait. "We keep moving. We recover the company, secure the glass-back remains, and we're gone. Focus, men."
"Eyes sharp," Barik murmured, but he pushed them forward. They couldn't afford to be delayed.
The hunters obeyed, their gazes locked ahead, fingers tight around their weapons.
The mission was clear: recover the team trapped inside the cave, and bring back the remains of the beast they'd killed two nights before. The creature was valuable, dangerously so. Leaving it unclaimed was an invitation to anything with teeth and hunger.
They worked their way down the last bend. The cave's mouth came into view, a dark crescent carved into the cliffside, faintly echoing with the drip of water and the whisper of draft.
They proceeded quickly, the cave entrance finally visible through the thinning mist, a black maw carved into the rock face. They were not two hundred feet from their destination when the morning silence was violently shredded.
Simultaneously, inside the cave, the two playful cubs, entirely oblivious to the human drama, trotted toward Renzo, who lay recovering from exhaustion. Renzo blinked his eyes open, and the sight of the two cubs playfully licking his face was met not with recognition but sheer, blinding terror.
"AAHH! GET OFF ME!" Renzo shouted, convinced the young wolves were trying to devour him. He tried to scramble away, but his wounded thigh and bandaged arms prevented him from doing more than cry out in terror.
Nearby, Tonovan, jarred awake by the commotion, let out a similar howl of panic, believing the pack had finally breached their defenses. "RUN! GET OUT!" Tonovan wanted to stand, but, more heavily wounded than Renzo, he was unable to move; he could only cry out in pain.
Together, their desperate, terrified cries echoed through the cave mouth, tearing through the quiet canyons.
Not too far now from the cave, Joeren stumbled, his face turning instantly pale. "Renzo! That's my cousin's voice!"
He pushed past the man ahead of him. "Faster! They're being attacked! The wolves found them! We have to save them now!"
Barik swore under his breath, then barked, "Go! Keep formation and move!"
The team surged forward, boots pounding the stone, hope momentarily eclipsing the exhaustion and dread. They could still make it. For a moment, they truly believed they could reach the cave in time; that they could outrun whatever horror Renzo had seen, that the wolves hadn't already slipped into the dark to finish what the night before had started.
***
Inside the cave, as Renzo and Tonovan continued to shout, Kaylah rushed to them, slapping Renzo lightly on the shoulder.
"Stop screaming, you fool!" she snapped, pointing to the two confused, whining cubs that were now backing away from the noise. "They're just cubs! They were only playing! Relax!"
"GET... GET OFF... WHAT?"
Renzo and Tonovan blinked, their frantic eyes finally registering the small, non-threatening size of the animals. They collapsed back onto the cavern floor, gasping for breath, shame mixing with the lingering shock.
Renzo stared at her, panting, hair sticking up wildly. "Playing? They nearly killed me with… with affection!"
Renzo and Tonovan collapsed back onto the cavern floor, gasping for breath, shame mixing with the lingering shock. Renzo's eyes, which had fluttered open only briefly during the storm and fallen back into exhaustion the moment the wolves entered the cave the night before, were now fully, terrifyingly awake.
He stared at the Beta wolf's golden eyes, his chest still heaving from the adrenaline of the false alarm. He pointed a trembling, bandaged finger at the entrance where the Beta had been standing guard.
"That's… that's the same pack that nearly tore us apart!" he choked out, his voice raw. The cubs' playful licking was immediately overridden by the nightmarish memory of the pack's snarls.
Eris and Kaylah exchanged a weary glance. The simple joy of being rescued was already proving complicated.
Eris stepped forward. His voice was calm, grounding. "She left that pack. She helped save us before. And now she's protecting her cubs."
Tonovan, rousing more slowly, blinked through the haze of pain as he sat up. "Cubs…?"
One of the small wolves peered curiously at him, head tilting, while the other cub practically climbed onto his chest—tails wagging, tongues lapping enthusiastically at his cheeks.
Tonovan froze.
The cub sneezed.
Kaylah swallowed a laugh.
Tonovan groaned from his side of the wall. "Saints preserve us… someone shut them up before I die of fright."
Eris knelt so their eyes met his level. "They're with us now. If you stay calm, they won't hurt you."
The Beta wolf watched the hunters closely, her muscles taut, but she made no move to threaten them. Her wounded flank was still glowing faintly from Kaylah's healing.
Renzo's jaw relaxed, barely. "I never thought I'd wake up to wolves… and not be dead."
Renzo let out a weak groan. "First the beast… then the wolf pack… and now wolves babysitting us."
The cubs yipped in agreement.
For the first time since they entered the cave, a breath of laughter broke the heaviness.
Kaylah checked both hunters carefully, adjusting their bandages and refreshing the soothing threads of healing energy. "Your wounds are still deep," she warned, "but stable. You'll walk… slowly."
The she-wolf already told Eris what she saw outside. Eris nodded and patted the Beta not to worry. "Barik's team should be close by now," he said softly. "We'll meet them halfway if you can manage."
Thump-thump-thump. The sound of approaching boots grew thunderous, echoing off the canyon walls.
Eris, having watched the Beta slip away, knew exactly what was happening. He grabbed his worn hunting cloak. "They heard the shouting! They think we're being attacked!" he yelled to Kaylah.
He bolted toward the entrance. Just outside the mouth of the cave, the Beta she-wolf stood poised, a silent, powerful guardian. Eris paused, realizing he wouldn't convince the hunters alone. "Come on," he urged the wolf, knowing her presence was necessary to halt the charge.
***
Barik's team, led by the frantic Joeren, rounded the final bend, axes and blades drawn, prepared to throw themselves into a desperate fight against the wolf pack.
Weapons were drawn, shoulders tense; they were a single heartbeat away from assuming the worst.
Barik raised a fist. "Steady! No rushing in blind…"
But Joeren surged forward. "That was Renzo, Barik… let me through!"
Before Barik could rein him in, a figure appeared between the jutting stones ahead.
They skidded to a stop, not two dozen yards from the entrance. The sight that greeted them was utterly bewildering.
The entire rescue team froze. Joeren's battle-cry died in his throat. Blades lowered incrementally, confusion replacing fury.
Eris.
Running toward them.
And beside him…
The Beta.
The wolf kept pace with him like an escort, not a predator. Its injured flank was bound with Eris's makeshift dressing. Sunlight flashed along its eyes, bright, aware, alert but not hostile.
Cugat stumbled to a stop. "Saints… he's walking with it."
Someone whispered, "Is he controlling it?"
Barik didn't move. He didn't reach for his blade. His eyes narrowed instead, calculating, knowing.
"…No," he said under his breath. "He's not controlling it. It's choosing to follow him."
Joeren blinked hard. "What… how?"
Barik, however, reacted differently. He understood something the others didn't, something he'd suspected since they killed the glass-back, when the arrow used by Eris had fried the brain of the beast. He didn't know the whole of it, but he trusted what he saw now.
While his men were puzzled and wary of the silent wolf, a flicker of something in Eris's eyes, a new, quiet confidence struck him. Barik had seen Eris change before. He took one more look at the massive wolf standing like a loyal guard and immediately understood: this wolf was not a threat.
He lowered his axe completely. A huge, bone-deep wave of relief washed over him, making his knees tremble slightly.
Everyone in the cave wasn't in danger.
They were protected.
And whatever he'd done in that cave, it wasn't a threat to Haven.
When they finally met in the open, Eris skidded to a stop, breathless but grinning.
"Barik!" He clapped the older hunter's arm. "You came. All of you—thank you."
Joeren nearly sagged with relief. "Eris, you're alive! Renzo screamed. What happened?"
"Her cubs were just playing with Renzo," Eris said, the absurdity of the panic making him almost giggle.
Cugat's stare flicked between Eris and the Beta. "Cubs? And… the wolf? Should we be... uh... running?"
The Beta simply stood beside Eris, tail low, not submissive but calm. Watching them with measured intelligence.
Eris laughed breathlessly. "It's alright. She's with us."
Barik nodded once. A gesture full of understanding, and unspoken questions he'd save for later.
"Good," he said. "Then let's get everyone out. And fast."
With the cave entrance only a short climb away, the two groups moved as one...
but every hunter kept glancing at the wolf beside Eris, each time with growing bewilderment…
And Barik with something else entirely.
Recognition.
And concern.
Barik gave a curt nod, already shifting into command. "Move. We get your team out, then the carcass, nothing more."
Eris motioned toward the cave. "This way. Renzo and Tonovan are fine, just startled."
A faint smile tugged at his mouth. "Very startled."
A few chuckles from the group eased the tension, if only for a breath.
The Beta beside Eris shifted. Its golden eyes, moments ago fixed calmly on Barik, suddenly narrowed and darted toward the high ridge. A deep, guttural vibration rumbled in its chest, a feeling of warning far more primal than a bark.Eris felt her tense beside him."Jag… what is it?" he murmured.
She didn't move.Didn't blink.
A breath later, the sound hit them.
Not the panicked yelp of a lone scout.
Not the distant, wandering cry of a hungry stray.
Then the sound hit them.
Not the panicked yelp of a lone scout.
Not the distant, wandering cry of a hungry stray.
A howl, low at first, then rising, layered, swelling into a chorus that rolled through the gorge like a living wave.
One voice.
Then three.
Then many.
***