Janine spat at the twitg corpse at her feet. She had half a thought to take a bite of the bastard; the Spirits k was a long day, and she was hungry, but she decided against it. Not out of respect. She would have pissed on the bastard given enough time. But the soldiers and cousins were watg her. Restraint and discipline were essential. A leader’s self-indulgenvited the same from the pack members, and that in turn invited unnecessary casualties from otherwise easily avoided mistakes.

  There was a tingle in her legs, a slight tension in her muscles, and a pleasant rush of adrenaline coursed through her body. The reward. Ravager’s legacy had deemed Janine worthy of growing a tiny bit stronger after the murder. Weird, she had thought she had reached her prime years ago. But Janine weled the ge and the pleasaion of her muscles thiing.

  The warlhe chuckle and the shadow form that cradled and poked at the corpse. She wasn’t here. Terrific could not be here. Jaook the Taleteller from Bogdan’s paws and raised the on high, howling to procim her victory. Four packs. Four packs had desded upoown, barely denting the enemy forces. Ice Fangs and Wolfkins joiheir forces, pushing the raiders back. Despite the loss of their leaders, the foes were retreating in an orderly fashion, and new officers had already taken over.

  It spurred her into a, and the first shot from her ser rifle blew holes in two hordemen on the square below the Knight Academy. Their torsos simply disappeared in crimson steam, and limbs and heads dropped to the ground. Jani firing, ending the lives of those who dared to wage war against the state.

  This town, called Quatindor, was quite prosperous. Eic specifics eluded Janine, but she was not blind to the sight of the extensive mining plex to the east. Food produ facilities, farms, two small emas, a park, pharmacies, and even a fully stocked hospital. The pce flourished, growing into a real trade and tourist ter that no longer relied on material support to sustain itself.

  It had suffered greatly. Smoke rose into the sky, obsg the view, and occasional fshes of red announced another rocket barrage ing down to take out a fortified positios wearing human bodies pilged and vioted the civilized nds, dragging women by the hair from their homes and ensving or killing husbands. Shops and malls were ruthlessly broken into, their goods carried off, baied of valuable metals, aire crews stripped the dead from both sides. Shot, choked, or burned alive, people Quatindor buro ash, their hopes and dreams joining the rising, swirling smoke.

  In their panic, the survivors flocked to pces perceived as pilrs of stability and safety. The police station, the Knight’s Academy, and the town hall. Jaook it into sideration, dispersing the pad assigning tasks to the wolf hags with the silent approval of Martyshkina, Eled, and Predaig. Marty’s pack, reinforced with the soldiers of her friends, was to save their stupid kihe police station and city hall.

  Monsters of a different kind prowled around Quatindor now. Those for whom this hellscape was as natural as the walls of their home tents, those who grew a the sight of the invaders’ savagery. Armored paws reached out from the shadows, dragging unsuspeg fools into the darko rend them asunder. Shardguns’ fshes illumihe darkness in the alleys during shootouts between the hordemen and Wolfkins. Cws faced cws under burning trees. Surprised families frohe wide grins of the dark-cd warriors and males who escorted them to safety. Metal cracked, bones shattered, traps were id, ah tio feast.

  The town wasn’t a necropolis yet, but the Wolfkins had caught the raiders with their pants down. No reason not to do it again and again.

  “Scouts. Mark the enemy’s officers. Hunters,” Janine said, looking at the roof of this so-called Knight’s Academy. Janine knew almost nothing about these pces; she summarized them as the Order’s analogues to pits, arenas to toughen up cubs. Fortunately, her ice-blooded kin they’d saved here obeyed the orders of a barbarian without question.

  You ’t trust them. It spoke. The shadoervaded her life rose from the corpse, no longer walking behind the backs of others. It twisted and torted, opes dried-up mouth, and breathed out a cloud of dust.

  “Fire at will; officers take highest priority.” Janine ighe aberration and grinned after three raiders who tried to assemble their rades earhemselves holes between the eyes. Damn it, Marty was right! Hunters are awesome! Spirits be my witness; one day I’ll have my girls trained in the sniper arts too! “Soulless Oatus?”

  Another fireball rose he walls, answering Janine’s questioer than a. The diversionary team verged on the overexposed artillerymen, killing all they could aonating their ammunition. Their work dohe Wolfkins slipped bato the settlement like ghosts.

  “Artillery is silenced,” Soulless One said over the s, surprising the warlord. There was ne, no burden. The shaman’s voice sounded just like it had when she was a young girl, light aain of her future.

  You have found your way, my friend.

  “Good. Stalk in the shadows, Soulless Ohere are citizerapped iown. Rescue as many as you ,” Janine ordered.

  “My pce is by your side, Warlord,” Soulless One grumbled for decy’s sake.

  “Your pce is where I send you, Shaman,” Janine snapped baot the least bit displeased. “I know of your desire to save lives. Act upon it.”

  “Will make you proud, Janine,” Soulless Ohanked on a private el.

  “Artillery pieces ihe town are dismantled, Warlord!” another wolf hag reported. An explosi out to the north, and something gigantic began to fall from a heavy cloud of smoke. Marty’s doing, no doubt. “But we ’t get to the bastards outside the walls!” The wolf hag in charge of the diversionary team shouted, and Janine summoned her video feed.

  Led by two wolf hags, the pack was busy dodging gunfire and energy bsts hitting the wall. Retreating into the ruined apartment buildings, the Wolfkins were busy resg wounded civilians and clearing the floors of the Horde’s stragglers. Though not part of their mission parameters, Janine approved their initiative with a grunt.

  Even for two wolf hags, such a mission was dangerous, but they weren’t alone. Four other shapes traveled separately from the packs, emerging from the sepulchral darko snaty hordeman foolish enough to pursue them. Eled and Predaig’s bodyguards, shamans who had survived hundreds of battlefields, were unleashed in full. Their faith may have forbiddeo use ons, but in close quarters, these womehe gifts given to them by both the Spirits and the state.

  Sed only to the warlords, these warriors were unparalleled in the chaos of this battle. the situation through the lenses of their lesser, they leapt from the rooftops, slig bodies in half with a single blow. Their jaws closed, ripping out throats, and the shamans roared, drawing more oppos to the age. Like phantoms, they disappeared after each massacre, weaving their paths around the packs. The shamans used their own allies as bait, never oopping their own deadly hunt.

  Janine did not find it in her heart to berate them for ibalizing downed enemies, not after one of them plucked two unscious children from under a pile of rubble and tossed them to the warriors. If a Normie reported it ter, she would take the bme herself.

  But she doubted that any of the civilians cared about adhering to these ws.

  Attag multiple targets was the Wolf Tribe’s style. In the absence of a clear enemy ander and fag too massive o crush them head-on, Wolfkins sowed fusion and chaos otlefield, misdireg foes aroying vulnerable pieces. Wolf hags proudly challehe Horde to duels, and after hoverbikes were sent to mow them down, their soldiers dropped acid grenades from burning buildings. full battleptes, the packs moved fortably through the burning ruins, navigated by the shared and stantly updated map. When support was g, calls for help were sent out and well-pnned ambushes were unched.

  But these quick gains could not st. The distra packs had already used a quarter of their ammunition, and fresh enemy forces were moving past the walls. Chaos tactics could not wihe day. Brute force alone could not turide of this battle.

  There is no victory here. Fingers, unbending fror mortis, rahe edge of her get, being her head to turn.

  Bitter as it was to admit, Quatindor was lost.

  “P… please!” A wounded hordewoman raised her hand to the passing Janine, holding her iines with another. “Mercy! I reveal…”

  The warlord stomped the woman’s head ft.

  “Use the sewers areat to the Knight’s Academy. Keep civilians out of harm’s way,” Janine ordered the distra and diversionary packs, quelling her bloodlust. They ’t save everyone. Her eyes spotted raiders charging from an alley a few blocks away. A small, white leg of a woman was seen just outside the alley’s er. A trickle of blood spilled onto the main street. The raiders headed for a family who was hiding in a general store. “Predaig,” Janine said.

  The streets leading away from the pza were still dominated by the Horde, but that hardly mattered when Predaig nded, sparks flying from her armor from the ricocheting bullets. Predaig’s enormous bde moved too fast for Janine’s eyes; all she saw was a wave of blur in front of her friend and six bodies falling, their arms and torsos ly cut. Predaig tossed two gre the survivors and shocked enemies and grabbed the family of five Orais in a tight hug, not g about actally crag their bones. A single bound brought them to a rooftop above, and to the cheers of the you member of the family, the warlord leapt away, taking a detour to return safely.

  In Predaig’s absence, an ice fang, a warrior, and a scout perished when a hoverbike rammed into them. Their killer failed to escape; a beam of Janine’s rifle ended his life, but it left a sour taste in her mouth. Orais, Normies and roups were far more numerous than the Wolf Tribe, and even the Ice Fangs didn’t have that many members. Five lives to save three. Civilians for soldiers. And who will protect the former wheer was no more?

  This is our duty. Our obligation. The words sounded hollow. Her people were dying. Other warlords reported their own losses. The day was still young, and they had already lost over fifty females, not ting the males’ losses. And not some old and burnt females who were unwilling to have cubs after outliving their first offspring. No, warriors and scouts were dying, precious souls who still had hope. Jaruggled to imagine how hard it would be for the tribe to recover from these losses.

  Melina, too, was no lohere was a lot the Order had to answer for if they couldn’t prove that they really hadn’t heard her calls.

  Ah. You begin to uand.

  Most warlords never ted losses among their males. They mourhe fallen and tried to give them a proper send-off whenever possible. But only Janine, Dragena, Alpha, and Ashbringer wrote letters to the families of the fallen, inf them of their sons’ brave passings. On the rare occasions when Janine was home, she tried to find time to visit the retives of her fallen soldiers to offer her dolences and ask for fiveness, often butting heads with Alpha as she brought words of praise for the males who had died under her and.

  Their war had just begun. The packs will go into battle wild, ughing in the face of overwhelming odds, but in the end... The tribe may face its own persoin. Her people, their culture, and their cousins may disappear or bee a statistical insignifi the national scale.

  We save others. Will anyone save us? No. The Dynast saved us once. Miracles don’t happen twice. It is our duty, our destiny, to give our lives to those who ’t protect themselves and die iter, fotten and abandoned.

  The Third was supposed to leave the Core Lands with more soldiers than it came with. But that’s not going to happen now, is it? The sounds and movements around her ceased, and Janine exhaled, turning to the one demanditention.

  “What do you want?” She growled.

  For you to listen. Terrific’s dead eyes bore into her.

  “Listen to you? A cub syer, a rule-breaker, and a merciless torturer?” Janine ughed. “For what, so you could lead me astray? You, hiding in my head, filling it with lies to distract me?”

  I do not hide and I do not lie. Everything you accuse me of, you yourself have doo one degree or aerrific’s eyes rolled in their sockets, trying to focus orampled hordewoman. It is pleasing to see how much you took after the teacher.

  “We are nothing alike,” Janine insisted. “You are not here. Terrific is paying her penance, earning fivehrough bor, and waiting to pass on to a better, happier beyond. You are nothing more than a figment of my imagination running wild. The reward!” she said, realizing. “It ged something in my brain, and you crawled out. My guilt torments me.”

  If I am you, then listen to me, for I speak your own instincts through your thoughts. Terrific’s legs left the ground. Her body made a full circle, and she faced Janine upside down. Think of all the times you have ied with the Ice Fangs. How they stole your title by abusing your injury. Their arrogance left you in the dark and your soldiers dead. Or Marco. He is the curiosity, a fleeting i for them. Don’t argue. You know it is true. When the chips were down, he risked his o save their kind, but did they extend the same courtesy of at least getting him out of the war zone? Did they even try? They never saw the tribe as equals, never appreciated them, never asked how they were. There is no kinship. So let them drink what they have brewed. Take your soldiers and leave them to their fate before it is too te for the tribe.

  “Poison.” The Taleteller sliced through the shade’s neck. “My bigotry is greater than I thought, if that is what lurks in my subscious. Our tribes may be different, but the Ice Fangs truly care for us. There are individuals among them who are unworthy of respect, like Bertruda, but as a whole, our people will live together in the Core Lands that will one day spaire world.”

  Now, who is the poisoned oerrific ughed. Who is the liar? Where were we strohe question stopped Janine’s sarcastic reply. You uand it. Beyond the wall, the tribe was together, ever-ready, strong. There was rayal; the Blessed Mother fought in your ranks. Here you are all alone, forced to pretend to py—pretend to be civilized aing murdered for it! Think of those who lost their lives in Houstad, unarmed and ambushed! It should never have happened. Civilization will be your death. Terrific held out an arm to Janine; her legs returo the ground, and she imagined a faint crimson fire burning behind the pale yellow spheres. Take it. Let’s return you to the path that was meant for you; remove the shackles of morality from you, my daughter. Bring you back to your intended dition. Sughter for the Dynast. Sughter for the Blessed Mother. Sughter…

  The paw trembled, its fingers unfurling with loud pops of torn muscle. Their pure dition. Jahoughts traced back to the days before, to her fear of Alpha and the o enter politics, her irritation about the mayor’s inability to uand why he was wrong, the o tiptoe around the Normies, and how ungratefully they weled the Blessed Mother, not valuing the lifetimes of sacrifices the tribe had done for them.

  She smacked the eager paw away, remembering Marco’s happiness about visiting swimming pools and reading ics, Ignacy’s geion about getting his artificial arm, Bogdan’s love of watg prank shows, Anissa’s love for that filthy, disgusting Malformed who didn’t deserve her princess o, and even Impatient One’s i in trying to uand how the banking system worked. Civilization took a lot and offered a lot in medie, armaments, and an easier future. To betray it, to revert to the state of Terrifid to abandon their allies was to betray everyone who had died and the Blessed Mother’s desire to ie them into the world they were helping te.

  And besides. Houstad would be in bigger trouble if they hadn’t been here. The Dynast, in his infinite wisdom, was right to send them here.

  Suddenly there was aerrifid Janine prepared her axe, a the tricks of her mind. That sed Terrifik her crooked fingers into the ribs of the first, and the first Terrific screamed, shog the warlord. Her mother had never cried from such a lover’s tap. The bone was torn, and the sed Terrific easily dodged a clumsy swing and grabbed the flesh around the first’s neck, tearing off a sizeable k. The first Terrific’s scream turo a faint gasp; she pressed both paws to her ned turail, running to hide somewhere deep in the pza.

  You passed… sister… The sed Terrific said in a hoarse voice. Keep… Passing… Restraint…

  “I am restrained!” Jaated, irritated by the pantomime her mind ying.

  D…

  Janine shook her head, breathing freely as the world resumed and she was free from the prison of the dream. She was getting worse. Maybe she needs professional help? No, she wasn’t that weak.

  She regretted for the first time that the wyrms had bee at Flo. Their mind trol would have helped suppress their insanity. She had served with the blue ond was disgusted by his underhanded methods, but their might would’ve turhe tables today. Still, the st time these two had been involved was in a time of crisis. Maybe proper officer training could make, if not good, then a det person even out of Ivar. Besides, the st time the golden coward tried to help, he left a yon in the middle of a city.