Her Mantle Upon Your Shoulders: Part 16


 * This story is from Old Age Canon. Some of the lore may have changed. Author: WinterAnswer

Previous: Her Mantle Upon Your Shoulders: Part 15 | Sequel to "His Shadow Upon Your Fate." "Come," Kusno said, Drig at his shoulder. "This is the place."

The place was a rectangle doorway carved into a wall of rock. Beyond it was blackness. Kusno and Drig entered without any hesitation while Akuna, Rupland, and Brunka held back. Though they now had freedom to roam, Akuna still felt as if harm lurked down every hallway, inside every darkened room. It had been a courtesy of the blond-hair commander after her confession, but it couldn't keep her from pondering the severity of her actions. She tried to focus on the good that had come from it. Her love and cub had been returned to her unmolested from Vok's own keep, all through the actions of that girlish servant, Blax, and a guard she'd never met before. Northerners like her. Agents for these Reonos. Traitors to Rain's cause. Traitors like her. She couldn't endure the thought any longer and once again stuffed it away in a room in her mind as black as the one before her.

Suddenly the black room was bright with light. Kusno and Drig looked out at them from within, beckoning the three to enter. Akuna went in first, Rupland at her tail with Brunka in his arms.

"This is where they train," Kusno said as they entered.

The room was circular and very wide, the ceiling high and domed. Bulb-lights lined the curvature of the ceiling, spiraling up towards the dome's apex, donating equal lighting to the entire room. But what was most striking and more alluring were the murals painted on the curved walls.

Akuna and her mate and cub turned about, finding themselves surrounded by scenes of both war and peacetime:  Southerners harvesting fruit from trees of a rustic orchard, a marketplace filled to the brim with people, stalls, and merchant carts, a caravan moving over massive dunes while backlit by the rising sun, armored southerners battling against northerners, charging at one another as friend and foe laid dead at their feet. Other scenes were obscured by bundles, crates, and other supplies stacked upon one another. Training weapons were readily available nearby in their racks.

"It's pretty," Brunka said, eye glittered with bulb-light.

"Aye," Rupland agreed with her, eyes as wide with wonderment as the cub's.

Though she was impressed, Akuna kept silent. She could not admire the southerners, neither in battle nor in their more creative fortes. Though Vok was surely an usurper, she had sullied herself by confessing. In the day she could hardly keep herself from smashing her fists against the rock walls with rage and regret. At night, she always felt on the verge of tears at her betrayal, clutching her mate and child harder and closer as they slept more soundly than her.

She scoffed at the murals and spat at the bare stone floor.

"The southerners spent more time painting than preparing for the battle to come."

Rupland and Brunka replied with silence, along with Drig while Kusno just grunted.

"I can hear the jealousy in your tone," someone said from the doorway. Turning, Akuna locked eyes with the one-eyed stare of Glass-Eye, whom was leaning against the open doorframe. Instead of his cloak, he wore just a brown roughspun kilt around his hips.

"Go away, Half-Blind," Akuna told him, lips curling back to show her teeth. She still didn't know his name and didn't care to know. Like they had done for her, she had crafted a name for him, one fit for a southern welp like him.

"I would say the same to you, Storm-Cloud" smiled the southern solider, "but my commander still seems to enjoy your company for some odd reason.  Even then where would you go?"

He stepped into the room, his gait relaxed even though he was just one southerner among a room full of northerners.

"North, I'd think," Glass-Eye continued, striding towards Akuna. "Back home, but what bastard-filled tribe would ever admit a traitor like you among them?"

Rupland leered at the southerner darkly, holding Brunka closer as the girl hid her face against his chest.

The rage burned like a fire behind Akuna's eyes, but she fought against it. He's just a cock-less wretch trying to spark my ire, she said inwardly, feeling her claws unsheathe themselves from her fingers and toes.

Glass-eye looked about the room, at them, at the murals. "Jealously," he said, walking away now, spitting the word in Akuna's direction. "Aye, true enough your brood is great in battle.  But that's the only talent your mongrel race was best at.  That and building huts with shit and grass."

The southerner showed a coy grin, another piece of kindling to invoke Akuna's angry, but she resisted once more, letting the rage knot in her stomach and pump through her heart.

"You see what we're best at?" Glass-eye asked her, but it seemed like a question for all of the northerners to consider. "What we fight for?" His hand waved around the room, over the painted scenes drawn with such precision and care, their colors bright and eye-catching.

"Art," he pointed. "Trade," he pointed to the next. "Commerce.  Farming.  Though victory is out of grasp, we stand against the tide of filth that was once Silves' united army, shattering it to die of starvation and thirst across our burning fields of sand." He turned back to Akuna, his smile so wide she could see the tips of his white teeth. The hate boiled inside Akuna's skull. She wouldn't be surprised if blood began to slurp from her ears. She wanted to do a hundred terrible things to this southerner's face. All were tempting, all felt right, but none felt worth endangering their lives for. Except one perhaps.

"Fight me," she said. It came out as little more than a hiss.

"What?" asked Glass-eye. Smile gone, confusion in his expression.

"Fight me.  Here.  Now.  Weapon or no, fight me!"

His smirk returned, coy as ever, now hinted with an air of arrogance. "Oh?  A little tussle?  With me?  That's surprising, Storm-Cloud.  I'd thought you'd lose all your vigor once you had said all you could about your Great and Grand General Vok."

"Not my General, you cock-swab.  Fight me or I'll boast you wet your kilt when I challenged you."

That only made the southerner laugh, his gawks clashing into echoes against the stone walls. "And who would even lend an ear to your boasts?  Not here, northerner!  There are no friends for you among these halls.  No friends for traitors.  None for you.  But aye, let's have a go."

He walked away from her, towards a rack of training spears on the other side of the room, right under the mural of the traveling caravan.

"Catch, Storm-Cloud!" he yelled as he tossed the first spear across the room, his voice bouncing up towards the domed ceiling. The spear sailed through the air but fell short, clattering at Akuna's feet.

She scoffed. Can't even throw right, she thought, picking up the training weapon. She gripped the shaft with both hands, getting a feel for it, readying herself.

"Akuna, please," she heard Rupland say at her back. "Let's just go."

When she turned back, the worry was plain on her mate's face as with Brunka's, muzzle buried in his chest fluff.

"Please," Rupland repeated.

Akuna growled lowly at their fear. "The welp must be humbled.  Did you not hear him?  Talking of our race as if they were-"

"Watch out!" she heard Kusno bark at her. Drig gasped.

She whipped back around and there was the welp, leaping. His spear was raised with both hands, ready to bring it down on her. Reflexively, Akuna brought up her own spear, horizontal. Glass-eye's spear creaked against hers, the blow reverberating painfully through her hands. Then, now landing, the southerner whipped his spear in an arc to have it smash against Akuna's face.

Akuna's yelped, stumbling back, cheek stinging along with her pride. Nothing more than a slap, she told herself, putting up her guard.

Glass-eye stood before her, laughing, spear held down in an unguarded position.

"It appears the Storm-Cloud has a bit of lightning in her," he prattled in his thick accent. "Did I bless you with another scar on that face of yours, my maiden?"

Akuna hissed at him, feeling her face swell up. She jumped forward, sweeping her spear at him, hoping to slap that smile right off the bastard's face. The southerner leaped back and out of range, taking a more aggressive stance.

They circled each other, Akuna's stance rigid and strong while Glass-eye's remained fluid and relaxed. He strolled around her, playing with his spear. Twirling it masterfully as the air whistled against it.

"With honesty, I don't understand why we keep you and your kin alive.  Your confession was all we needed of you and with it, you became a turn-tail.  It would be a mercy to kill you now along with the rest of you thick-furred animals."

"Shove it down your throat and out your bunghole," Akuna sneered at him, teeth bared with her spear pointed forward. There was no spearhead like she wanted, just a bag stuffed full of straw, one tied at either end. Attack me, she screamed in her skull. You caught me unawares last time. Next time, I'll turn your arrogance into regret.

"One of my own men suggested you should be made to walk the molten sands of our desert with nothing more than a canteen half-filled with piss and a moldy piece of bread."

Glass-Eye giggled, twirling his spear around him again, keeping his one eye strictly on her and her alone.

"No, I think," he continued. "There are better ways to deal with a clan-less whore like yourself."

One moment, the southerner had been still but a second more and he was upon her, spear spinning, striking out at her with such ferocious speed. Strikes caught her in the knee, the forearm, and the face again. The strawbags did nothing to soften his blows. In fact, they seemed to be putting more weight into them.

Glass-Eye backed off, circling Akuna once more, like a tiny rodent teasing a much larger beast.

"My commander would have you protected.  I would have you chained, your lower tongue and lips flayed," he went on. "Your mate's cock and balls would be cooked and I'd be the one to stuff them down your throat.  You would swallow them willingly, glad for a meal after weeks without any."

It was hard to listen to his taunts, but Akuna kept herself guarded and waiting. He wants to spark my rage, she knew and it gave her some satisfaction to deny him that. Again he leapt at her, striking like lightning and dodging with grace. Akuna struck back, but her attempts ravaged only the air. Glass-eye was intent on bruising her everywhere. He even caught her in the groin. That stung more than most, but she tried not to show it. Her eyes only showed the spitefulness that swelled within her.

"Your friends there, the old man and the boy, we'd do the same to them.  Cocks and balls too.  Wrap you up in their guts and give you cups of their blood.  Aye, you'd like that too.  You'd be very thirsty after a month of my men fucking you raw night and day."

Another attack, his strikes losing none of their sting or speed. The southerner panted, but he didn't seem to tire. His grin was ever present.

"But to you, it would only feel like night.  We'd keep you in that dark for a long time.  The sun would become like a dream.  Another dead friend for you to mourn over."

He hit her in the belly, thigh, and throat. She spat blood on the floor as she chocked. His laugh was a terrible sound in her ears.

"We would cook your daughter too after we'd skinned her naked," Glass-eye then said. "We'd cook her on a spit and I'd make certain her cries carried down to your cell.  But her meat that would be a meal for just me and my men."

That was more than she could endure.

The roar that Akuna had kept silent til now tore through her throat, propelled by the rage that could no longer be tamed. Too long it had been quiet, threatening to boil away her blood and explode inside her skull. Ever since she'd been taken from Wevren. Ever since she had to tolerate the presence of these light-furred inbreds. It ran wildly through her now, burning her lungs.

She took her spear and snapped it across her knee, the wood cracking like bone. Akuna's patience had left her, especially with two sharp shanks ready in her hands.

The southerner's eyes turned wide as she rushed at him, stabbing with both ends of her broken spear, intent on skewering the bastard. He jumped back, dodging her strikes towards his belly, throat, and groin. In between her thrusts, he assaulted her with his own strikes, but none seemed to have an effect. She kept coming, relinquishing any effort to dodge or parry, putting all her focus in the hopes of poking the blond-hair full of holes.

Glass-eye's spear slammed against her fingers on her right hand. She grunted at the pain, her fingers opening by reflex. The shiv fell from her grasp. She replaced it by grabbing the blond-bastard's spear when he tried to hit the back of her knee again. With one good yank and it was out of his hands, right when he kicked the other half of her spear out of her left hand.

Akuna launched herself at the southerner, tackling him to the ground. Glass-eye grunted as she landed on him, trying and failing to push her off. She didn't just want to crush him under her, she wanted to smash his cocky smile first. She lifted up her fist high, ready to come down on him like a boulder tumbling off a mountaintop, but the southerner was quick and he knew just where to strike.

He struck out with his right fist right at her throat. Knuckles smashed against her windpipe. Akuna gagged then, chocking as she tried to draw in air, wrapping her hands around her throat, but Glass-eye had already buried his fist in her belly, wrenching out more air from her lungs. With a shove and a strike across her muzzle, she tumbled off him, trying in vain to breath.

The southerner was over her now, she knew. Ready to pummel her and he did. Her face was the first place his fists fell, knuckle and claw crashing against her scarred cheek. She could hear Rupland and Brunka crying out, calling her, but the fight was gone from her as she tried to take in just one breath. Then came Glass-eye's foot kicking at her stomach, stealing any air she had left in her lungs.

"Get up and take what you deserve!" he yelled at her as she gagged, coughed, and chocked on the ground. "Get up and take your just rewards for your service to your dead whore general.  Die for her!  Die for the blood on your hands!  Die for the innocents you've devoured!  Just die!  Die, you clan-less, northern cunt!" Again and again and again, his foot embedded itself into her belly. Her vision clouded, darkened, and for a moment consciousness threatened to leave her, but then it all stopped. The kicking, the yelling, everything it seemed. Except the beating of her heart. And the veins in her head pulsing painfully.

With her focus returning, she looked up, expecting to see Glass-Eye leering, gloating over her as the blue swirled with the white on his false eye. Instead, she looked upon someone's back towering over her, their grassy-colored mane falling between their shoulders. Rupland, she knew. Trying to protect me. From his shoulder, Brunka's head could be seen, peering down at her mother. Her eyes sparkled like jewels, Akuna thought, knowing they did from her tears.

She went under a coughing spell, drawing in lungfuls of air. Her shuddering breath sent echoes up and through the room. The murals, having witnessed the brawl, kept silent and still. Once she was conscious enough, Akuna sat up. Rupland and Brunka held onto her like she meant to turn into smoke and escape their hold. Kusno and Drig looked down at her, stoic expressions on both their faces. But there was no Glass-eye to be seen.

"Wh-where-"  She coughed. "Where is he?"

"Gone.  He was complacent with pummeling you and left," Kusno said, none too pleased with the outcome.

She didn't say anything. She didn't want to say anything. She caught her breath and weathered the pain. But once it was gone, it's void was filled with a deep dark shame.

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Shisys was with her today. He was her favorite boy and they were doing their favorite thing together. He was very skilled and very blessed, in both tongue and loins. All she had to do was lay back on her daybed and let him do his work. But today felt...

His thrusts were powerful, tirelessly, and full of want. The daybed shook with each, his front slamming against her. He leaned over her, eyes closed in ecstasy while his hot breath blew against her chest. Vicris moaned with claws embedded into her sheets, but mainly for Shisys's benefit. She didn't want to discourage his rampant effort, but the act was failing to enthrall or even distract her.

"Stop," she finally said, deciding she was no longer in the mood.

Shisys continued, striking deep into her cunt.

"Stop," Vicris repeated herself, louder this time and yet the boy continued onward, his back arching now.

"Oi!  Stop it!" she yelled out.

Startled, the boy whore opened his eyes, locking them with Vicris'. His thrusts slowed to gentle bumps before they ceased. Confusion painted his expression.

"Enough," Vicris told him. "Off of me.  The rains aren't coming today."

The boy whore's ears dipped with disappointment, but he nevertheless exited her tender place and lifted off the daybed.

"Was Missy not happy with me?" he asked as he walked away to find a rag, wiping his cock clean.

"Your efforts were valiant as your cock is thick, but my head is not with me today," Vicris assured him, irritated with herself. She scoffed, scratching along her muzzle and brow, brimming with frustration. She wanted nothing more than to fulfill her need and feel this boy whore's hot seed drench her womb. But her mind was elsewhere.

"Come," she invited Shisys. "Lay with me."

"Ready now?" the whore asked, delighted. He drank red wine from a bulbous glass cup, licking his lips noisily.

"No, just...lay with me."

"Lay?" He looked at her, confused. "You mean lay down?"

"Yes, lay down," Vicris reaffirmed, staring up at the ceiling of her cluttered room.

Shisys lingered. "Just lay down?"

"Yes, damnit!  That's what I said!  Lay down.  With me.  Here!" She patted the sheets next to her.

Shisys lingered further. He went back to wiping his cock which was snug in it's sheath by now.

"Missy pays me to fuck her good and sore.  Not to lay with her."

"I pay you for the company and I can do whatever I please with you as long as I don't scratch that young hide of yours.  Come, I want to talk." Again, she patted the sheets.

Throwing the rag aside and finishing his wine, Shisys relented and settled himself down beside her. Bringing her arm around his neck, Vicris pulled him closer and squeezed him tightly. A gentle hand placed itself on her stomach and stroked her there. She purred at it, glad to have Shisys's warmth mixing with her own. She relaxed, tension retreated from the muscles in her neck and shoulders.

He was a little thing. Half her height and thin as a pole, but that's how she liked them. Small, skinny, big cock, and gifted with the knowledge on how to please a female's deeper wants that seemed evasive to most other males. Though her wants tonight were different, she felt. A headache was brewing beneath her skull.

"So...you wanted to talk..." Shisys said beside her, boredom on his face and yet he continued to stroke the fur on her belly.

She needed to be discrete with her words.

"I miss a friend," she confessed, swallowing. She closed her eyes.

"Where is your friend?"

"Gone.  Dead." She paused, remembering her non-truths.

"Oh...how did she die?" There seemed to be genuine curiosity in the boy whore's voice.

"Killed.  Slain by the southerners.  Reono spies.  You might've heard of her.  She'd fought in the sewers and died there...fighting them."

"You were friends with her?"

"Aye, that was I." Perhaps I feel like I still am. If she lives. She had asked Vok why they would claim Akuna dead. Would it not be simpler to claim her missing in the hopes of returning her to them?

"She was suppose to die in those sewers," Vok had told her the day Akuna had disappeared. "By our hands.  For her transgressions against our cause.  The Brethren's Cause.  The masses will be lead to believe it was the southerners.  It will be tinder for the fire we're brewing.  Best they believe her a martyr than a dense fool whose throat we meant to slit."

The words had been daggers in Vicris' heart, summoning a pain she'd dared not show on her face. She had known of Akuna's disagreements with the Grand General's methods, but she had never expected such a dire action from her superiors.

"Oh, I remember hearing about that a few weeks ago," Shisys commented. "There was a riot in the slave district and a few buildings were lit on fire with blond-hairs inside.  I heard they were cooking corpses by the fire of other corpses, eating them.  They melted chains and poured it on the heads of the living."

Akuna's false death had indeed been tinder and Vok had anticipated how quickly the flames would spread. Northern civilians had taken it upon themselves to enact some form of vengeance. Vok hadn't stopped them. "The smell of the bonfires will carry throughout the city.  It will remind our people of grander times, invoking a hunger that will summon their sleeping warrior spirit."

When it was believed enough blood had been split and enough bodies had been cooked, the city watch was unleashed to quell the onslaught.

Vicris felt Shisys shiver beside her.

"Can you imagine?  Burning to death?  Your fur aflame, your hide turning black as if it were parchment.  Your bones...melting..."

Vicris chittered with laughter. "Bones don't melt."

Shisys turned to look at her, confusion in his beautiful blue eyes. "No?"

"They just burn and if the fire is hot enough, they turn to ash.  Everything else...aye, that melts."

"Who was she, your friend?  She must've been well regarded to cause such an uproar."

Vicris scoffed. "I'm sure if you asked any of the rioters today, none can recall why they cooked all those blond-hairs.  I'm sure a handful were roused by the news of their fallen sister, but most couldn't care less.  They wanted to burn and kill and maim and murder, and nothing is more tempting than a reason to burn and kill and maim and murder."

She grunted, shaking her head in disgust.

"She rests now," Shisys said in a reassuring way. "She sleeps and lives upon the nether-plains.  Where no pain can reach her while the southerners suffocate and melt in the molten veins of the earth."

Vicris gave a soft sigh. "Yes," she replied. "She lives..."

When Shisys touched her tender spot, she inhaled sharply. Sneaky welp, she thought, but didn't stop him. He stroked her lower tongue, his touch ever so gentle. As her lips were caressed, she pulled him closer, her tunnel turning wet. She didn't know where her arousal had come from, but it was a blessing, a heat burning in her slit and belly. There was no worry of Shisys's claws. They had been snipped off long ago. Pleasure workers had no use for them.

Her heart quickened as Shisys dug into her. First with two fingers then with three, each knowing where to press and where to stroke. Deeper he went, firmer he became, all the while Vicris's lower tongue wriggled against his palm. She gave a soft howl when she came, hips churning as her back lifted off the bed and her toes curled.

Night was close and so would be another meeting with the Brethren, but there was still time to give Shisys a bonus for his services before he departed.

She traveled a new route to their secret place. Down and through and down further. At times, she waited, listening to see if she was followed. She was alone. She was the fifth member to arrive. After Drenvan and before Amalio. When they all convened, tidings of their search for their astray sister were discussed. Questions asked in one village, parties dispatched to another town. Bribes given, assassins hired, and hovels ransacked. Nothing much more discovered. Milko had news that they may have found some possible Reono hideaways, but there was little else to her report.

Next came talk of their progress with completing their divine mission. Each member took turns relying news of steps taken forward and delays to be endured. From the mood inside the chamber, Vicris could tell these delays weren't of small consequence.

There is little reason for me to be here, Vicris thought to herself sourly, half-listening as the others discussed certain details. She didn't possess the connections or the influence like her peers here, and had little news to rely to them. Nevertheless, Vok insisted that everyone should be present for these meetings.

"The Brethren is united in purpose, in strength, and in presence," he had reasoned.

It was not her place to disagree with her General, but she was just a pit fighter. An entertainer. One that renewed the moral of the masses with each victorious and bloody bout. Even so, Vicris felt the scope of her power was limited.

She flexed her shoulder, still feeling a slight twinge of tightness in the muscles on the right side of her breast. Nothing more than a nip at my hide, she thought. I can still kill any gutless welp they send my way, be they a green spearlancer or a renowned chief.

The taste of Shisys was still on her tongue. His essence was very potent. It tasted of berries.

Two names grabbed Vicris's attention just then:  Akzla and Cagost. Era was speaking, revealing the progress they've had interrogating certain guests. Several had been tortured, confessing half-truths and total lies before succumbing to their wounds. Little to nothing of use, Era confessed. Both Akzla and Cagost had come under that leatherworker's techniques as well. The Brethren concluded that if these two were of any value, the kidnappers would've taken them along with Akuna's mate and child. These two were nothing more than a bitch of a captain and her worthless lover.

"They're wasted space," Era concluded. He gave each of them a glance from his place, standing at Vok's side. "Best to be done with them now.  Two more corpses for the ditch."

Highlen nodded along with Inkmaster Drenvan, the others either waving their agreement or voicing it. Vicris was struck silent, but for just a moment.

"So they're just to die?" she asked. The question was pointed at Era, but she felt like it was a question for the entire assembly to consider.

Their heads turned to her all at once. Suddenly she felt very alone, looking from one cold set of eyes to the next. Uncertainty clenched around her throat.

"What else are we to do with these potential traitors?" Era asked. His posture had stiffened, words without any warmth. Vicris half-expected him to suggest she be thrown in the ditch along with them.

"How are they traitors?" she asked, finding her courage. "The others before them I can agree, but what has these two done to be branded traitors?"

"They spoke with our missing guests just before they were taken," Era reasoned. "They are unremarkable in every way.  That in of itself is worthy of suspension.  An unremarkable spy is the best sort of spy.  Even if they're not spies, they're of no use to us.  Best to deal with them in the most permanent of ways."

Heads around the stone slab nodded, grumbles of affirmation.

"I spoke with our guests before they were taken as well and yet I've not been questioned."

"Are you suggesting we should?"

A giggle escaped one of them, but Era's tone was not comical. His face was a grave mask.

"Gods help you if you try," Vicris retorted. "Why are you so quick to condemn these two?"

"Why are you so insist to vouch for their innocence?" Era asked, hands on his hips, full of defiance.

"Because no one in this assembly has the spine to do the same," Vicris growled out. She cast a quick look at Vok, realizing her mistake. "No offense towards you, my General," she quickly said to save face. "But haven't enough died?  Haven't we done enough?  I see little reason in undoing the lives of these two...guests and even littler reason in suspecting them as spies."

"If you cannot see the reason in our decision," Era spoke up, "then you are as blind as you are dense.  The reason aside, they can condemned as gluttons.  Terrible gluttons not worth the shit that spews from their asses.  They have no place within our clan, especially within the one we hope to create."

Amailo barked a laugh before Vicris could argue that point. "If you're so against gluttons, Era, then am I here?" Their heads turned to see him leaning in his chair, fingers woven together and hands resting on his bulbous stomach.

Inkmaster Drenvan and Highlen laughed openly while Milko remained stone-faced. Era obviously was irritated. Vok was ever stoic though it seemed he was humored by the sentiment. Vicris smiled, happy to have what seemed like an ally.

"Mayhaps I take your tone for guilt and you wish to step down from this assembly," Era shot back, putting his hands behind his back, most likely to hide his peeking claws.

"If I was being serious, which I'm not, I think you would have to assist me in stepping down, seeing as I am quite heavy.  A trait you seem to dislike.  But to the point, Vicris's reason is sound.  Let's allow these guests to go their merry way.  If their lives matter so little then it shouldn't be so difficult letting them live.  Gluttons or not."

Amailo showed a teasing smile, one to invoke Era's wrath and from what Vicris saw, it was working. The older advisor had only started a hot retort before Inkmaster Drenvan interjected.

"I add my name along with Amailo's and Vicris's.  Enough of our own people have bled from this awful incident.  All we're doing now is adding to the delight of our enemies as they watch us sever our fingers in spite."

Other heads around the table nodded in agreement, washing away Vicris's unease. The shock was plain in Era's face before it turned to boiling anger. He snarled out a rebut but he was interrupted yet again. This time by the Grand General himself.

"Enough," he demanded, his voice raising echoes from the darken walls of the chamber. Orange light played with the shadows.

A tense silence lingered between the members of the Brethren and their leader. He met their gazes with unflinching fortitude, all awaiting his judgment.

"The woman and her lover will leave Wevren.  On the morrow.  Alive and with an armed escort."

He turned his eyes to Era and Era looked back at him. The disapproval was apparent on Era's face.

"It isn't a simple task watching my staff, guards...comrades taken away to be questioned.  To have their hide flayed, their bones broken, all under mere suspicion.  Even those that I knew by name are suspected of betraying our clan.  For a few I'm tempted to give my word for the sake of their lives and innocence.  But I hold fast.  My word would be the ultimate cover for a dissenter.

"So I've kept silent and I've waited.  A sacrifice must be made.  Even if potential innocences must suffer.  A small price, a small sacrifice.  These two lovers would be a small sacrifice too, but needless."

Vok turned, his gaze falling upon Vicris. The pit fighter held her breath and her back stiffened, apprehension flooding her nerves. "I pray you're right about these two," her General said before returning his eyes to the rest of the council.

Graciously, Vicris bowed her head. She paid Era a glance. Ears dipped in disapproval, a frilled brow, and eyes so full of disdain she thought it likely they would pop out of his head.

"Other news to discuss?" Vok asked the assembly, cutting the quiet air like a knife through silk.

Muted noes and shaking heads were their response.

"Without any further discussion left, I announce an end to this meeting," Vok declared, Vicris glad to hear it. Everyone rose in unison, making for the exit. Vicris was behind all the others. Behind her were Era and Vok, waiting near the stone table, watching the others walk out through the opened false wall.

Out in the hallway, Vicris's heart was just now calming to it's regular pace. Then something made her stop. The others walked ahead, around the corner, and out of sight. She lingered in the dark, stone floor cool against her callus pads. Looking back, she could see the false wall was still open, orange light spilling out from the secret chamber beyond.

While the others quietly walked off to their own places, Vicris stood there alone, unsure of herself. Summoning up her courage, she turned back, striding towards the open door with her feet falling silently. Approaching, voices from within reached her ears. Vok's. Then Era's. Coarse snarls and rough growls. At first, the words were hard to catch, but as Vicris neared the door's edge, they came clearer.

"No more killing.  No more deaths," Vok could be heard saying, echoes floating out into the hallway. "I gave my word and my word is steel."

A pause and then came Era's voice. "Should I just keep quiet next time and not burden you with the details?"

"You've already tried once.  Dare to do anything like that again and I'll do much worse than what you planned for Akuna in those sewers.  Your tongue ripped from your throat, your eyes taken from your skull, cock and stones taken.  I'll hang your corpse in one of Wevren's squares.  Like any common vagrant, but I'll have you flayed first.  All expect your head so they'll know your face."

A brief silence again. There might have been shock or anger in Era's face, but Vicris didn't know. She dare not peek and see.

"You wound me, my General," Era finally said with a pained tone.

"And you annoy me.  I had the grace to untangle your tail, keeping your embarrassment unsaid, and yet you're as arrogant as before."

I shouldn't be listening to this, Vicris realized and suddenly ashamed. Summoning up the rest of her courage, she turned the corner and walked into plain view. Immediately, they stopped talking. They stood there, silent and still with Vok's fur raised in anger and Era's ears low and twitching. Suddenly rage flared in both their eyes and Vicris began to regret her decision.

"State your business, High Captain," Vok growled with irritation.

"Sir!  My General, I-"  She stammered, realizing she had been holding her breath. She took in a lungful of air. "I wanted to speak with you.  About a personal matter."

Vok swallowed, seemingly recomposing himself as Era did. Stoic. Calm. That's how he was most of the time, and no doubt how Era taught him to be.

"I shall leave you two to yourselves then," Era said, taking the opportunity to escape this awkward moment.

"Did I give you permission to part?" Vok asked with a hard tone.

Era stopped, turned, and looked at his General. His expression was agitated. Even when he spoke there was a hint of frustration in his voice. "May I go then, my General?"

"You may," Vicris answered and Era turned for the exit. He left with a brisk walk, no doubt propelled with anger.

"Approach and speak now, Vicris." Vok's gaze was now on her. Vicris walked forward until there was less than an arm's length between them. His stance was strong and she tried to mirror it despite her anxiety.

"Sir, I wanted to thank you for considering my argument.  About the two guests.  I'm happy to know they will be returning to their homes unhar...well, alive thanks to your judgment."

"No need to thank me.  I wouldn't have agreed if your argument had not been convincing.  Give thanks to your deft words and to your fellow council members.  They were willing to listen and alter their conclusions.  That was impressive."

"Thank you, my General," Vicris bow her head, pride swelling. "I would also like to ask you about another matter."

"About what you heard when you were eavesdropping?"

Vicris gaped, struck as silent as a desert night. Vok's eyes stared into hers and she was unable to look away. Fear quickly crawled back into skull. He must've seen the nervous twitch her ears made.

"How much did you hear, High Captain?" he asked. His voice was unabashedly relaxed. "We weren't being particularly quiet.  There had to be something you overheard."

Vicris took in a mouthful of air and swallowed it.

"My intention was never to eavesdrop, My General," she began, straightening her stance as she found her boldness. "I had stumbled into the conversation and heard...a few sentences." She waved her head in a gesture, trying to make it seem like it was just a small thing.

"Repeat what was heard," Vok demanded from her.

Vicris swallowed again, recalling the words. "Something about having Era's eyes taken, his tongue ripped out, cock and balls taken, then hanged and flayed in one of Wevren's squares.  Before that it was something about Akuna.  Era had wanted to do something with her in the sewers.  What did he-"

As the words left her mouth, the lights in her mind suddenly revealed the things hidden in darkness. The little piece of information and her own thoughts breed together to birth new clarity. There was also uncertainty and doubt, but the strongest feeling was curiosity. But the sudden rush of lucidity flooded her expression and Vok took notice.

"Your face tells me you might have realized something," he said plainly and without joy. "About Akuna?"

"Yes...and about Era." She chewed on the question that burned inside her skull. She wanted dearly to ask it...but towards the person that had been mentored and groomed by Era?

"Ask it, Vicris," Vok demanded of her. "I despise being made to wait..."

"Yes, sir, I...Era...was it him?" She looked up at her General, feeling anxious and bold all at once. "Pardon my brashness but was it him that tried to kill Akuna in the sewers?"

Vok said nothing at first, wearing his face like a stone mask. That silence was enough for Vicris's fears to mount. Had she discovered some secret meant to remain undiscovered? Was he silent because he was offended? Angry? Or deciding her fate? Despite her respect for him, she was ready to defend herself if she could, but she wouldn't strike out for a first blow. Vok would have that honor.

"Yes," was Vok's answer. "Era had been the one to push Akuna into that trap.  Alone he had acted and without my permission.  There were no southerners in that sewer.  None we were aware of.  She'd been sent down there with an armed escort and Era had tasked them with the job.  If the ruse had gone well, I don't know if he would've confessed to me like he had when he found out events had not turned out in his favor.  I spared him the embarrassment of revealing his failure to the others, but I made him personally confess Akuna's false death to her mate and child.  It truly didn't seem to have an effect on him.  But another act of insolence like that and I'll do to him the very things I said I would."

"Then why do we hunt Akuna in secrecy?" Vicris asked. "If I have leave to ask, sir."

"Because Era was right about her," Vok told her. "His doubts about her lingered even when she joined the Brethren of Unity.  She believed in our cause and the cause of her race, but she placed her loyalty in Silves alone, someone that might be dead as dust for all we know."

He looked at her then, eyes thoughtful with his jaw twitching minutely. "She said she would follow my orders, but she didn't trust me.  Her loyalty was not mine to hold.  I can't have that within my circle.  I had plans to deal with her, but Era went ahead with his own.  And in his haste he has endangered this council and our grand mission."

"My General," Vicris said, trying not to sound timid, "Another question presses me..."

"Ask it, High Captain."

She swallowed. "It's been on my mind...why haven't we enacted our mission?  The Instigation.  If Akuna is captured, if by southerners, they will soon learn and our time will be very limited."

Vok gave her a hard look. "Did you not listen to what we discussed today?  Agreements have been made, but our plan is still a seedling.  Our mistake was reveling in our cunning before acting it out.  Amalio's connections are proving more troublesome than before.  Southerners quarreling amongst themselves, companies of bandits refusing to cooperate with one another while demanding to see their pay immediately.  Highlen's troops have made progress, but they are still not ready to unleash.  Milko's pieces have found their own obstacles to overcome in Gold Ring while Drenvan has been slacking in his duties.

"Again, our mistake was being proud of a plan that was not ready to be put into action.  Regardless, it proved to be a good test for Akuna.  We just should've kept quiet about it for a bit longer..."

"What now then?" Vicris ventured. She felt fear again. Fear for the future they'd been meticulously cultivating for their brothers and sisters and generations beyond.

"We moved forward," Vok replied, his voice devoid of any uncertainty. "Whomever has their claws in Akuna, perhaps they won't share her confessions.  Perhaps they won't believe her and nothing will change.  Even better, perhaps later, even tomorrow, a newer, more refined idea will emerge within our minds.  Whatever our enemies do to counter our efforts will be undone by our adaptive will.  Our cause is a righteous one that will embolden our entire race for a thousand years and more."

In the presence of Vok's rousing tone, Vicris's anxiety was evaporated. Doubt left her mind and her spirit was reinvigorated. She stood straighter, head held level, proud to be standing there beside her commander.

"And I'll be there with you, my General," she said to him, finding it appropriate to salute him then.

"I know," Vok said. "You are worthy of that honor, High Captain.  Never forget it, but never take it for granted."

=
========================================================================

He was on the verge of a dream when the noise awoke him. Movement. Snarls. Growls. He shot up with a start, finding their cave alit. Too bright. He blinked at the light before realizing what it was: a candle sitting atop a small table. Then he turned his attention back to the noise that had brought him out of his sleep in the first place.

The candlelight held back very little of the dark, but it was enough for Rupland to see Akuna, jabbing and kicking at the shadows. Her grunts and snarls raked against the rock walls, disturbing what had once been silence.

Beside him, Brunka's sleep had been disturbed as well; candlelight glittered in her eyes. It was difficult to see her face, but he could see her dipped ears and that was enough to know of her discomfort.

Across the room, two pairs of tiny discs floated in the dark, flashing from candlelight:  Kusno and Drigg. Like with Brunka, he couldn't decipher their expressions, but he could only guess at their annoyance. He felt the same as he turned to Akuna.

Akuna didn't pay any mind to him. She continued to combat the dark, grunting as she kicked and clawed at empty air.

Rupland said nothing at first, anger mixing with his annoyance. She'd been reluctant to come to bed. After her bout with that one-eyed southerner earlier, she turned obsessive. All through the midday and night, she stood and fought in solidarity. Her evening meal turned cold long before she ate it, retiring only because she was exhausted. Once full, she returned to honing her skills before Rupland finally convinced her it was time to sleep.

Rupland waited, saying nothing, hoping his mate would realize her foolishness and come back to bed. He expected Kusno to say something, but he too remained quiet. Little time passed before Rupland's patience ran out.

"Akuna," he said softly, treading gently. "Love?" He sat still on the bed, watching her.

Akuna neglected to say anything, continuing with her exercises.

"Akuna?" he tried again.

"Shut it," Akuna growled without looking at him or stopping. She threw an upwards kick, slamming that foot down with a smack as it fell before lashing out with a powerful jab.

"Love, please-"

"I said shut it!" she snarled, refusing to meet his gaze. She kept at it, flailing at the darkness. She put all her strength into her punches, stumbled when she reached too far. For a spell, Rupland just watched her, the anxiety gnawing at him, not knowing what to do. Brunka curled in around herself, shaking. He brought her close and the child clung to him.

The moments passed in tense silence. All four of them watched the large female attack the air. Soon, it could be seen that she was tiring. Her breath became heavier with her tongue hanging limply from her maw. As her fatigue progressed, so did her anger. She was not pleased with herself. Her movement began to slow, her flurries turning to short bursts of jabs and kick, each losing their power.

Rupland tried once more. "Akuna, please...enough.  Come to bed.  Love?"

Akuna ignored him, focusing on slashing with her claws now.

"Still embarrassed about her defeat," Kusno suddenly spoke. By now, Rupland's eye had adjusted to the dark. He could see Kusno laying on his side on the bed. Drigg was laying as well, facing the wall, most likely in an attempt to gain back some sleep.

"I'm not embarrassed," Akuna growled. "I'm angry.  No, I'm beyond anger!  I'm furious and that blond-bastard will rue having ever touched my divine hide.  His face will be mush in my hand when I'm done with him." The words seemed to have returned some vigor into her punches.

"What does it matter?" Rupland ventured. "He's just a mere southerner.  He means nothing to us.  Please, no more fighting.  They tolerate our presence enough without all the violence.  I don't want to have to worry about you getting into anymore danger.  Getting us all into danger."

"Danger?" Akuna stopped and turned, looking at him for the first time. Her eyes wide with rage. "What danger?  The only danger that is present is me!  Me!  They think me broken, lost.  Us, broken!  For all our pride, I'll prove him wrong.  All of these southern beasts wrong!" She threw a punch, roaring with the follow-through.

"Akuna, please!" Rupland said with more force in his voice, near to begging. "He's nothing!  Nobody!  What he thinks of us doesn't matter!"

"Then what does?" she barked in reply. When Rupland said nothing, she turned away. She resumed her exercise, jabbing forward, lashing out with an uppercut and finishing with a sweeping kick. She tried other assortments of the same moves, strikes fueled by ferocity  "What matters?" she asked as if the darkness would provide an answer. "Without pride, what matters to a northerner?  Without a clan, who-"  She stopped, stumbling in her motions for a brief second. Rupland saw her swallow and return to what she was doing.

For a few long seconds, Akuna lashed out at the air, kicking and punching, but Rupland could see she was losing her bravo. The wrath melted from her face and her eyes began to glisten. Soon she was just weakly batting at the air. A sound breached her lips, something akin to a mumble. Slower she became, attacks growing weaker. Again, she made a sound and this time, Rupland could hear it: "N-nothing."

A quivering breath left her lips and her upraised arms quaked. As if her combative stance was too much effort to hold, she relented it. "Nothing..." she whimpered, ears dipped low. Her arms hung limply at her sides as she squeezed her eyes shut, but Rupland knew the tears were there, falling.

Before Rupland could rise, Akuna was already on her knees and then her elbows, surrendering to her sorrows. Her tail laid flat on the floor as the rest of her quaked and shuddered. She wept without regard, claws scratching against the rock floor.

Brunka was the first at her side, anxiously hurrying over to wrap her little arms around her mother's neck. Rupland approached as well, leaning down to press his cheek against hers while his hand stroked her back, anything to soothe her cries.

"Nothing," she whimpered. "We're n-nothing.  No home to g-go to.  No clan to call our own.  Nowhere to go.  I'm sorry, Rupland.  I'm s-sorry, B-Brunka.  I'm sorry for what I did.  I damned us all.  I shouldn't have talked.  I shouldn't have s-spoken..."

"No, Akuna, no," Rupland whispered in her ear. "It's all you could've done.  There was nothing more you could do.  You saved us.  You saved the clan.  You saved us all." It was all he could say. He could feel the same melancholy swell within him as it did with her. His eyes grew wet. Brunka cried with her mother, leaning her head against hers. For a spell, they remained like that, holding one another. As the shadows danced around them, the cries lessened and turned to silence.

Rupland couldn't tell when the weeping had ended. Even then, neither he nor Akuna nor Brunka broke their hold on each another. They listened to the gentle song of their own breath.

"We'll go home.  To the north," Kusno's grizzled voice shattered the silence. "My birthclan will help us.  Give you shelter, food, safety.  The rest of Clan Shigu will hopefully not be long to join us there with Vok's treachery uncovered.   What happened here will matter little.  We'll be faraway and safe.  The future is on the Tatola plains and it's ours to make.  With the cold wind in our fur, the rain showering down on us, and grass under our feet."

Rupland thought he heard optimism in the old captain's voice. He almost dared not hope, but it was the only path left for them and it was all he wanted now.

Was morning close? He didn't know, but Akuna was now willing to lay down with him and Brunka. She wrapped her big furry arms around them both, squeezing them tightly. It was almost unbearable, but he and the cub endured. Her breath warmed him where her muzzle laid against his neck. Her breathing soon settled and slowed along with his own, and the exhaustion slipped in like an assassin.

=
=========================================================================

Either she'd slept deep or the southerners had allowed her to sleep past morning. She felt well-rested when she awoke. The slightest movement and Rupland was aware of her while Brunka slightly moaned.

"You drooled on me," Rupland told her, finding his neck wet.

"Sorry," Akuna groaned with a bit of a grin.

Moving close, Rupland gave her a gentle bite on her neck. Her tugged at her hide playfully and left a wet spot.

"Better now," he said, grinning back at her.

It was a welcomed sight and a welcomed gesture. For a good while, they stayed there holding each other. Little was said with little to do. Akuna almost felt hot with him and the cub so close while the cave remained cool, but she didn't want to move. Not with her fear so strong, her melancholy still looming, and the future still so uncertain. When the southerners came to retrieve her and Kusno by the behest of the southern commander it was almost a relief from the apprehension.

Out in the hall, Akuna followed two guards while Kusno followed her, two more southerners bringing up the rear. Strings of bulbs lit their way through the tunnels, passing rooms that were black as pitch in night. Like everywhere else, there was the smell of sand and unwashed fur.

Soon came that familiar dread and Akuna asked herself if this was that moment. That moment where the knives were razor-sharp and waiting, thirsty to open up northern throats. Was this some sort of mercy they were being given? The mercy of Brunka not having to watch her mother be cut open and the mercy of Akuna not having to suffer the sight of the life draining from daughter's neck? Perhaps it was, but Akuna felt no gratitude if that was the case. Impatience melded with fear. The stuffiness of the halls didn't help either.

Finally, they came to his door. One of the guards in front opened it and allowed the group to enter. Instead of bulbs,  lit candles housed in alcoves along all four walls of the room sufficed for illumination. Akuna was glad about that.

Two of the guards placed themselves before the exit while the others waited outside. Akuna and Kusno stood side-to-side before the commander whom preferred to stand despite there being chairs. He was gaunt as ever, short and aged, and the uneven lighting of the room highlighted the scars that creased his face.

Unlike their room, some care was put into carving out and smoothing down these walls. The floor was even and the ceiling hung well above them. Other than that, there was little else:  Three chairs, a reading table in one corner, a bed in the other, and another table with a basin and a shard of a mirror on it. The mirror was opposite of the door and Akuna could see her and Kusno in it's reflection. Behind the stunted figure of the southern leader.

Akuna had never looked at southerners for this long before. Or in this peaceful of a setting. They were sergals like her, but the small differences in their appearance always made her uneasy. Where she expected to see the hardy features of a northerner, she just didn't see in a southerner. While they were lean, her people were thick. Their fur was short, hers was long. Their noses were pointer and ours was blunter. She could not feel the same bond when she looked into their faces. To her, she regarded them like you would an animal crawling on all fours beneath you: pitiful, without honor or regard, aimless, and ripe for slaughter. Nothing seemed right in the world with her and Kusno on this side of the room and these southerners in a position of power. But if she tolerated it a bit longer, perhaps she and the rest of her brethren could go home soon.

"I believe I'll honor you with my name on this day:  Vakess." He sounded it out for them, as if they were hard of hearing or understanding. "A small courtesy for both of your compliance, but I'm afraid I'll being demanding it again with what I have for both of you today."

Demand. The word stuck Akuna's nerves. A different kind of dread came over her. This isn't how it's suppose to be, she mourned inwardly. You have no place to demand anything from me. Not my compliance nor even the hairs that I shed from my ass. And yet she listened, knowing the difference between what she thought was right and what she must do.

"You will be transported to Gold Ring from here," the southern commander continued, eyes shifting between her and her former mentor. "Once there, you will be given an audience with your Supreme Captain Vigrow.  You're to tell her everything you said to us in your confession.  She needn't know what transgressions you committed here or even our part in this entire ordeal.  She needs to only know Vok's treachery and those that wish to avail him.  You'll be leaving the day after tomorrow.  Am I understood?"

Again, wearing that demeanor he was unworthy of. Akuna kept her wrath quiet and asked the first question that leapt out to her:  "Why not tell her yourself?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Kusno's shoulders fidget. Her tone had been more insolent than she expected.

"A Reono commander sharing milk and meat with a Shigu officer?" His tone was incredulous. "You're as dumb as they come if you believe that meeting would not be fraught distrust, suspension, and bloodshed.  Her trust will be more easily won if it's done with your tongues rather than ours.  Easier still if we believe we know where Vigrow's interests lay."

"And where would that be?" Kusno took a turn with a question.

"In ending the war," Vakess said gently, as if the words were brittle as old parchment. "She is one of seven council members, with her vote gandering the most influence.  If our ears are to be believed, she is  the least war-hungry among them and she's been considering a treaty with the southern clans."

"And where are you hearing this from?" Kusno ventured.

"Sounds that are echo throughout the city.  You hear one thing from one source, you might not hear it again.  You don't pay much attention to it.  But the same sounds you keep hearing from different places, those demand attention.  If the sounds are true, then Vigrow will jump at the chance to prevent the coming of a new war and settle the old conflicts that loom.  You do what is asked and you might rescue your clan from dishonor and servitude.  And before you ask what if we're wrong in our assumptions, which I doubt, Vigrow is still bound by duty to uphold your dead General's laws and you will be rewarded for your due diligence."

The commander showed a coy smile. Whether it was because he felt some amount of pride in his cunning plan or the unsubtle slight for saying their General Rain was dead, Akuna couldn't tell, but it succeed in annoying her. She resisted the urge to flash her teeth at the woreson.

"And what if she suspects us to be false then?" Akuna asked, hoping to find some flaw that would ruin Vakess's mood. "What if she thinks our loyalty isn't as sure as you say it is?  Hmmm?  We're little more than hostages as it is."

Akuna had succeed. The commander's smile was gone and replaced by a mouth twisted with ire. "Don't insult my goodwill," he growled. "It's not a simple thing housing and protecting wanted traitors.  It's even harder when one of them wanted to me to sacrifice an eye and an ear in Vok's court so she could see her mate and child again.  I say again, don't insult my goodwill!"

"They're just leverage for you to control me." There was no reason to dance around the truth any longer. It felt better to just say it aloud.

"It would've been easier to just have your fur lit aflame like my man wanted to.  Would've made you speak if I'd let him."

"Why did you stop him then?"

"Because the simplest thing is not always the best thing to do.  Especially with something like you falling into my lap.  If Vok was willing to kill you then that must've meant you were of  some hindrance to him.  He'll still kill you now if I gave him the chance.  A simple thing.  But apart from intelligence, you Shigus aren't as simple when it comes to departing with knowledge.  Some might break, but a good many are willing to give all their blood and flesh to hold in all the words that they know.  With you, something that I didn't expect to gain, I had to be careful with.  I had to avoid the simple choices and look to ones that would be difficult to agree to.  Like the choices you've made."

"Don't compare yourself to me, blond-hair," Akuna sneered at him.

"You're going to have to see the things that bridge the river between us, short-face.  Both our lives would be better off without Vok and we have a opportunity to see that fulfilled.  All that needs to be done is convincing your Surpreme Captain of the danger that lurks in Wevren."

"She's no longer my superior," Akuna informed him flatly. "I'm no longer a Shigu.  I've broken my oath by speaking to you and I've surrendered my honor as a Shigu.  I can't allow myself to lie any longer.  I can't bring myself to openly lie to someone of such high rank like Vigrow."

Another silence fell upon the room. Vakess was studying her as if her tongue had fallen out of her maw and flopped onto the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, Akuna could see Kusno looking at her too. His expression was no doubt reproachful.

"You truly believe something so meager as your honor has any importance when something like war looms?"

"Honor is nothing meager, especially to a northerner.  It might mean nothing to you, but knowing that I've broken the oath I swore before my living General pains me more than you can imagine.  I'm no longer one with Clan Shigu."

"No one has to know," the commander told her. "Outside of these tunnels, no one will know."

"We'll know.  We'll always know," Akuna responded darkly.

"Then which is more unbearable?" he barked at her, getting annoyed now. "The pain you know now or the pain knowing you allowed Vok to gain control of your clan under falsehoods, to be made into a mere tool and used by the more fragile races?"

Those words were hard for her to tolerate. The question lingered in her mind. Despite all her doubts about the tidings these southerners had told her, she knew Vok's true intentions and she couldn't endure letting his work come to pass.

"Why are we still needed for this scheme?" Akuna asked, annoyed with the intensity of the situation. "Let us just go and be done with one another.  You have that servant and the guard.  Use them, have them talk to the Supreme Captain and make it seem like it happened to them.  They've already lowered themselves to do your bidding once."

The side of Vakess's face twitched, his irritation becoming plain. He wasn't used to talking this long after giving an order. "It's a grand thing to know what bloody business Vok had concocted.  It will no doubt make things harder for him with what we know now, but he'll make other plans.  Something new and unexpected.  We might have a chance to rid us of him now and I can't do that with two wanted kidnappers.  That aside, Vigrow would catch their lie and the whole ordeal would be ruined."

"This whole ordeal seems to be wagering on that Vigrow will be moved by words alone," Kusno observed, seemingly as unconvinced as Akuna was.

That was enough for the commander to fall silent to. He looked between the two, weighing them up. His face turned less wrathful and more dire. "It's a trail we can't ignore," he finally said. The rage struck through Akuna more than ever now. Another uncertainty. There are no guarantees left in the world, she mourned.

"If there is ever a chance to end this tedious squabble, it's at the Supreme Captain's behest," Vakess continued. "Without Vok and his enablers, there would be no threat of another war, and a safer world for you and your kin," he said, his palms turned up in a gesture of revelation.

"Then send him then," Akuna snapped, waving a hand toward Kusno. "He knows enough and he can tell whatever I know to the Supreme Captain himself.  There's no need to endanger us both."

A different look came over the southerner's expression. Curiosity? Surprise? It was hard for Akuna to read. "You'd be willing to put all the burden on your friend here?"

The words caught in Akuna's throat. Was she? The answer had been clear a second before, but she was now ashamed to say it. Kusno's hide was just as threatened as hers. She might have more to lose, but to throw him into danger while she awaits in safety. To a northern brother. To her mentor. To her former captain.

"No," she said, feeling the shame bear down on her.

"Words have wings, Storm-Cloud," Vakess told her. "News of your supposed death has already reached throughout the Sailzane.  Gold Ring knows and so might Vigrow.  She'll want to know your story.  What you've been through.  And you'll have no need to lie, isn't that correct?"

"Are you saying that I have?"

"It's a grand fable if you've crafted it yourself, but at the moment, I take it as truth."

Yet another pause came between them, Akuna trying to find one last scrap of resistance within herself, some point to continue her struggle, but there was nothing left. She'd already committed one sin against her clan. Could she truly bear another? Did it truly matter? The answer was obvious. Only one choice left.

"Vok hopes you back now," Vakess interrupted her thoughts. "He'll be very pleased if you turn back and run now.  But running will only please him for so long.  To have you and your kin dead, that would be the only way to satisfy him.  To hide forever, to relinquish not only your clanship, but your very names.  You can still keep them, and the rest of your honor, if you so choose to.  But you need to answer now.  Which is it, Storm-Cloud?"

The southerner's challenge was blatant. She would've loved to see his reaction if she refused, but in her heart, she knew it wasn't possible. They had her backed into a corner with no other road to travel expect the one that lead to Gold Ring. This is not for you, my General, Akuna thought inwardly. This is for you, Vok. It will be my voice that damns you to suffer.

The End