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"And what is the price of a Soul? Tell me pup, what can equate a sacrifice so great if not only the price of another soul?"
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[Master Greygory]
Before the Evernight, there were signs.
Signs written down and recorded through time.
Before me, I see them. Stronger than before. More than mere changes of the wind in the air these last few months, but the whispery echoes I hear within these walls at night-
—they can not be of this realm.
Shadows are not meant to be heard, and yet their voices resound, almost inaudible but so close I could swear I hear the victorious banter. Stronger than ever through the storms of this morning.
"Master Gregory."
I turned slightly as the door opened watching as a King's guard saluted. His eyes remained straight ahead, the scent of his wolf submissive beneath mine.
"Speak."
"The King summons you, my lord."
My gaze shifted away from the soldier, sending him away with a wave, "acknowledged. I will serve."
He saluted once more, closing the door behind him as he left.
I glanced down at the small paper parchment between my fingers, my gaze darting up and out into the darkness of the window open before me.
Only little lights could be seen in the far distance. Random lads with lanterns maneuvering below in the dark day.
The dark day had just stormed and thundered for hours as the echoes of the Night Wolf's haunting howls filled the empty sky, hunting in his forest.
It was only a few hours ago that lightning had roared as if weapons thrown by the gods themselves, striking down trees that now littered the courtyard.
The guards and soldiers moved with lanterns in the now-still darkness, cleaning up the aftermath of the shift.
So much destruction and it was only becoming worse.
The darkness was growing, the storms were stronger, and the Lightning more furious.
The day of the mating could not come sooner.
His loneliness would incage us all in an Ever Night if he chooses to yield to the endless.
And past that.
Past the worries that littered the Night court came notes by bird, letters about the darkness spreading. His rage was now so close to Yulis that it could be seen in all its fury from outside the city gates. Daunting and haunting.
The people feared soon the city would be enraptured in it. Yulis would be the first city to fall.
I glanced down at the parchment in my hand again, finally crumbling it up.
Borrowed time.
That was what this was.
Something was coming, something I couldn't quite understand. And it carried the scent of war, the taste of tears, and the feel of a deathless kind of dread that chilled my very bones.
My wolf could feel it even stronger than I was.
The coming of woe.
Ancient forests dying. Bodies disappearing, Elders with visions of wars far from that of resources. All this was proof.
I moved to the candle alighting the note until it burnt to ash.
Selene save us.
Clenching my jaw, my gaze traveled off the small stains of ash across my desk. I blew out the singular candle, surrounding myself in darkness.
"Selene save us all," I muttered.
With that, I turned to leave.
--------------
Minutes later, I came to a stand a few feet away from the familiar large oak door.
My gaze shifted to the king's guard who guarded the door. The boy's frame was strong, his build as only that of a warrior of Beta bloodlines could yield.
"Has he spoken since his turning?"
Elias shook his head. A tightness in his jaw when he spoke uniformly. "Not a word, Master. He returned after the storm, very calm with a bird trapped in a cage." he explained, "he then left and returned a few moments later, seemingly in deep thought."
My eyebrows arched at the absurd statement.
2 things were inherently wrong with that statement.
Firstly, Birds were delicate creatures. Beings as hard and dark as the Night Wolf would not waste a moment to capture a single bird, nor would a bird fly too close to the Nightwolf.
Birds were like all other creatures, humanoid or beastly. They knew that they prey to the Night Wolf, and they knew when to take flight.
Secondly... Calm?
—that was not a word spoken about the Night Wolf after a Storming Dark Day.
The Night Wolf was normally at his worst after a turning.
Brooding and angry were the only words fitted to describe being in his presence after a shift.
"Was the bird harmed? Injured perhaps?"
"Afraid. But I saw nothing wrong physically." Elias replied, his eyebrows creasing slightly.
I nodded at this, wheels turning in my head.
"Thank you, Elias."
"Master Gregory," henodded, before looking forward and out, remaining in his military stance.
I turned away from him approaching the door. Letting a loose breath I recaptured composure, knocking firmly against the door.
I didn't need his verbal response to know his invitation. A low hum that echoed to my wolf, was enough for that.
I opened the door, walking into the vastness of the King's study. His third favorite place after the Library and the Hall of Thrones.
The Night Wolf sat on the large throne-like chair behind his desk, an open birdless cage near the window, his frame hidden by shadows all except his face where a small candle burned, illuminating his most dangerous features.
Eyes that shifted to mine as I entered.
Standing before him, I awaited his words.
He leaned back in his chair, not bothering for a greeting. There has never been a greeting offered. Always straight to the point.
"I received word."
Ah, a word from his shadow demons.
"From my investigations. Vaeln is not stupid to worry about his forests."
I listened carefully.
"They are truly dying, rapidly and the scents that surround them are non I can recognize."
He sees things through his shadows. But he also smells them. Perhaps he's seen them now. The room smells of oak and redwood.
Redwood is only found in the Light Wolf territory.
If so, Then he shadowed this morning, after his turning. Yes, he must have shadowed to the Light Wolf Territory. This is where he went after Elias saw him leave.
"Certainly not even Firdon is capable of this much damage."
"Do you think that perhaps the humans are truly behind this?" I asked, careful with my words, tucking my hands behind me. "I would not have thought them that brave, your majesty."
His gaze shifted off me with an approving grunt. "I know scents of men. They're plain and horrid. No- those scents are... Different." he seemed lost for a moment.
My eyebrows arched at this. He seemed lost in thought.
One thing the Night Wolf isn't is unfocused.
"Your majesty-"
"What do you know about the faerie folk, Gregory?" he suddenly asked.
The abrupt change from issues of a potential war with a dangerous unknown enemy to that of an extinct race only remembered by dying myths surprised me.
"F-Faeries, your majesty?" I repeated, unsure if I heard correctly.
His gaze snapped to mine. "The small sprites and Woodfolk. Do you not know the stories of the Fae, Gregory?"
I quicklynodded, collecting myself and clearing my throat.
"Indeed your majesty, I know of the tales of the small folk. Most are only stories, stories of magical folk that kept the ancient forests alive, pure and green."
When he didn't reply, his eyes steady on me, as if waiting for more, I continued I felt rather out of place, unsure of when I became a story teacher instead of the Royal Advisor.
"The books say that they died out after the old war. When the Elves diminished."
"The books.." The Night Wolf trailed off, "What if the Faerie Folk still live?"
I raised an eyebrow at this, ready to chuckle but the dryness in the air stopped me from making that brutal mistake.
"Had they survived, they would be no threat. They were known for peace. Additionally, I think they would be too small to kill a dozen packs of rogues and somehow dispose of their bodies. Since Faeries are the spirits of the forest, they were meant to heal and not poison them."
"Gregory, I am well aware Faeries are not the enemy." He grunted, looking away, "I am familiar with their scents now."
I froze at that statement, watching as the NightWolf stood up, pacing in the darkness. Confusion spread through me.
"Now?" I echoed.
Had he seen a faerie? That could not be possible. T-they were extinct.
Gone for more than five hundred years- Surely, he could not have seen one?
My mouth remained agape at the revelation, unable to fathom what was being spoken but the Night Wolf seemed to be in a world of his own.
"What would enslave a faerie to a wolf or man?" he asked.
My eyebrows arched at the statement. Swallowing blankly as I thought through. I was much too taken by the revelation but through the chaos I arrived at the answer.
"A faerie....slave to a mere being?" I echoed, "Perhaps anything that would cause a great debt For even wolf to wolf, or man to wolf, enslavement by choice should be as a price of something nearly un-repayable. A life-saving deed perhaps," I hypothesized.
Silence loomed between us, the Night Wolf slowly turning and glancing at me for a moment. I thought he would expand more on this question. But he went cold, his gaze switching back to the singular candle.
"Send word to Vaeln. Let him know I have done my investigations. We shall speak when he arrives at the council of courts."
I am at a loss for words. Many things I wish to ask. But I know a voice of finality when I hear it.
A wise man knows there is a time for everything. A time to listen and a time to speak.
The Night Wolf has discovered something. Something I need to discover also. Alone.
I bowed low, "I will take my leave as your highness pleases."
With that, I turned and walked out the door.
Nodding to Elias, I loved through the dark hallways, thoughts swirled inside my head.
Something had occupied the mind of the Night wolf. Nothing takes his mind away from matters as important as the looming danger grazing Valcane.
He spoke of scents that killed the ancient forests. Forests that carve out every being. Forests are where we hunt and survive. Where are wolves roam free and howl at the moon?
For what would our wolves be without the trees around us and the animals that serve us?
And yet, he seemed to care less about a matter so important. For if it is true that the Faeries still live, and he knows their scents are not the reason for the deaths of rogues and the ancient forests then why does he ask questions of these beings?
How a faerie can slave to a wolf?
Ideas and hypotheses slid in and out of my mind. Faeries were once known to be kind quiet creatures. How did he catch one? My mind slipped to the cage. They were known to take shapes- could it?
My eyes slightly widened at a particular thought stopping in my footsteps.
Surely his cruelness was not as evil as to slave a faerie?
For what reason would he wish to do this? For if the forests are truly dying, then there is no need for torture.
A faerie will give his life to save a singular tree. They are spirits of the forest, aren't they?
No- there was something else. Logic told me this was something else. The purpose was telling me to look deeper.
Something else also occupied his mind.
Could it be the Keffer?
I nodded to a couple of matching guards, moving across hallways whilst I delved into narrower stairs to my study.
Only candles illuminated my way in the coldness of the dark day.
The keffer.
He did not mention her, not once.
However, was it not she who had been on his mind just yesterday? Could it be a mere coincidence that it is only after her arrival that he is suddenly calm after a shift?
I pushed the doors to my study open, freezing in the doorway of it.
There was a person here. Someone hiding in the shadows.
A scent caught my wolf, painfully familiar but different.
I grunted at the emptiness before me, closing the door quietly behind me. I knew this person. I knew the pain and anger in he was holding in his presence. Nearly 3 days in the endless would drive anyone insane. Unless the Night Wolf.
"You never t-told me the price I would have to pay to pledge." A shattered voice spoke.
I let out a breath, shaking my head. I could not tell him. It was not the way. Each man must see for himself.
"I told you it would cost you everything to learn the truth. That was warning enough." I replied.
Turnjng around calmly, my gaze fell upon the hunchedshadow that hid near the window.
A dry sigh was heard accompanied by a low whimper, "Look at me Uncle!" it broke and broke and broke until there was nothing, "I -I am empty. I am nothing. My soul has been ripped from me. Mercilessly."
I blinked in the darkness, understanding the pain hidden in the shadow.
Walking calmly toward the figure, I laid a hand on his shoulder, the clank of his metal uniform ringing as he slouched forward.
"You still have the soul you were born with. It was only the other was what was taken from you."
I moved from him, lighting a candle and placing it on the desk until the room was lightly illuminated.
I turned back to my nephew, his pale blue eyes watching me with a gone look I had once mirrored once a time before.
"Y-You've taken her from me, uncle" he spoke, his voice a broken wimper. "She can not be felt. I can not Feel her."
"The connection." I stated, my case falling, "The feeling that your other soul is out there is gone?"
He shook in the light of candle, body a slight quiver.
"You've pledged your soul to the purpose. The purpose of the Mage Wolf. You have no loyalty but to her. To your other soul whoever or where ever she may be can not exist anymore. Your loyalty is now pledged to the Purpose."
He looked at me in horror. A horror I understood. A horror I knew would one day turn to clarity as it had for me.
"You stand there and lie?!" he yelled, his voice quivering in unshed tears, "you pledged and still have your soul! Why was mine taken?" he growled.
I watched him in amusement. I understood his vision. He saw what I wanted to be seen. What I had to create around me so I could protect the order.
"You see me smile." I began carefully, "You see me hold my other half, kiss her hand, and think I have a bond with another soul? None of us have bonds, Liston. None of us are whole until we meet our Purpose. Till we fulfill it."
He looked at me in confusion, "Aunt Drisha-"
"A pledge," I spoke.
I put a finger to my lips drawing him closer to the candle, "Only speak near the light. Shadows linger in the darkness." I warned lowly.
He looked at me, a broken face only a few inches away from me. Grief in his eyes, and fear.
"I-It was horrible-" he stuttered, "the endless..." he trailed off.
I nodded, knowing even after many years I had nightmares of that place- "But here you stand."
His eyes searched mine, shifting in glitching waves.
I knew what he was searching for. I searched for the same thing once upon a time in different eyes.
Truth.
Truth is what he found, for truth was all there was.
He let out a breath. One I knew held shock but yet some kind of relief, a slow small step to acceptance.
"Aunt Drisha, Y-You-"
"Not truly bonded." I whispered, "bonded to each other out of service to the Purpose. We would not want to raise suspicion if we neared 35 and remained unclaimed." I chuckled.
He studied my face, his own expression stoic.
"You do not have to worry about that quite yet. You are still young, and other pledges will need to be hidden in bonded service." I explained.
My hands rested on his shoulders, "I will not lie and say you have not sacrificed much. In honesty, you have sacrificed all for the truth. And with the truth, you are free. You know the secrets, you know what must be done."
He searched my eyes but after a moment nodded slowly.
I patted his cheek, drawing him in for a hug,.
He could not hold on. His body was much too shaken.
"It is a slow process to acceptance." I breathed slowly, "But it will be acceptance, once you understand the importance of the purpose."
I pulled away from him and he stepped back, still in a short daze.
I glanced at him. "Have you seen her yet?"
His gaze slowly trailed back to me, nodding, "Twice. Last night and this morning."
"What do you think of her?"
He paused, blinking softly, "B-Before I could see nothing special-"
"And now?" I asked eagerly.
I knew It was different for him. He was a new pledge. Blessed with a gift by Selene to see clearer than the average as all who pledge are.
My gift is old, his is stronger and newer.
He seemed to go off in a lofty daze.
"Her gaze is wise.." he trailed off, "she is peaceful, but full of mischief. Scared but stubborn. She has secrets she whispers in hushed tones to her friend. Secrets she fears others may hear. She is vigilant and keen on detail. I-I think She sees me, just as I see her." he breathed out
I nodded at this, taking all his words carefully.
"You understand your role?" I asked.
He nodded, "The Elder was clear."
Humming to this, I moved back to my seat.
"Then it is best you begin. The Elder has lived long, but time will always be precious."
With a nod, his gaze slowly fell from me, a tick in his jaw before claiming his leave.
I watched him go, the door closing behind him.
I stared at the oak for a moment, a chill passing through my bones.
A dear price he paid. A dear price I paid.
A price so precious for a play so righteous.
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I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a comment below and vote! Do you have any questions you would like an in-depth response to/ just to banter about the book? Join my discord channel where I associate actively. All links are in my bio! Here's a sneak peek of the chapter [24.1] A KINGS GUARD.
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Word count- 3224