They marched! Janine’s heartbeat quied against her will; her mood lifted at the sounds of horns and music pying. The national anthem was so intehat it had almost matched the usual chaos of battle, but rather than announg an impending doom to those resisting the Recmation Army, it now sang of reunion through life. Adoration and cheers met the weary army, and even the grimmest of veterans found to sour su occasion.

  The Iable shone in the sunlight. Dedicated worker teams from Houstad meticulously ed every pte, every on, and everacks themselves. Dirt was scrubbed from the vehicles, fgs and banners flowed on the wind from the sides of the crawler and the mobile bastions. Ice Fangs, their parade uniforms, marched across the bridge leading into the city, apanied by the thunderous cheers of the local popud fireworks f the try’s colors overhead.

  Camelia Wintersohe parade. She wore a long, light blue overcoat over her power armor, while two initiates held up her dark blue cloak to prevent it from toug the ground. She transformed her on into a marshal’s staff adorned with a snarling Wolfkin’s head, symbolizing a blend of the Blessed Mother’s savagery and the Twins’ restrained wisdom. On this occasion, she used a special suit of bat armor, a pristine white suit once used by the female Twin, and on her head was the male’s helmet. First himself authorized the use of this treasured a equipment.

  To her left were Zerena, and Ashbrihe only warlords who joihe parade. Zero waltzed, rather than walking formally; the light highlighted the gold she had painted over the edges of her armor and reflected from precious gems set into her breastpte. There was little formality in her behavior; the woman basked in weling cheers and responded in kind, throwing up her paws and giving thumbs up. She even scooped up three cubs and piggybacked them a few steps before the Blessed Mother snapped her back to reality.

  Ashbringer and Dragena were her por opposites. One the heaviest crimson armor and the other in a lighter dark blue version. Their march was in perfect official unison with the steps of the sword saints. Sages, banner-bearing knights, knights captains in their gleaming battle ptes, eighteeed wolf hags, one from each warlord present in the army, and other soldiers of the Third advanced in their wake.

  Senior officers ae Normie and New Breeds units fhis gathering. Ravager insisted on it, disregarding the mayor’s and the captain’s offers to put the regur humans back. By stationing these brave souls on the fnks, she eheir visibility, for the Wolfkins towered over them. Chak rode atop the APC, his body coiled around its turret, and the chief quartermaster dozed off, ign the greeting. His presence here was to show solidarity with the civilized Malformed, and the man’s poor eyesight didn’t allow him to enjoy the wonders of the city.

  Or so the bastard cims. Jahought icily, biting down on the urge to tell Anissa to stop gng at Chak. The two had already scheduled their pns to explore the city.

  They crossed the bridge, waving and howling in respoo the cubs’ greetings. The little ones flocked to the riverbanks. A long shadow cast by a statue of the Dynast weled the newers; their liege stood tall above the gates leading into the inner city; his features and armor were of white. In one hand the statue held a copy of the universal ws, and iher a mace, the silent warning to anyone who thought of disobeying the w.

  Statues of fallen and living heroes dotted the outer perimeter of Houstad, and Janine ged when she saw a white-furred Ravager smiling happily o the Twins. Clearly, someone didn’t know them very well.

  The procession spilled onto the main street, and Janine, overwhelmed with emotion, grabbed Martyshkina’s paw. Her frieed even more openly: her jaws opened wide. In preparation for their arrival, the mayor had announced a surprise celebration, and the state had promised to pensate businesses for lost profits. Freed from work, the people gathered to pay their respects.

  Paradise wouldn’t describe this pce. The sheer size of the city awed Janine. Light danced and reflected off the tless windows and cars; fresh smells of bread, meat, oil and perfume wafted from the storeets and small shops. People! So many of them standing on the sidewalks, waving fgs, waving their hands, or simply ughing. Orais cheered beside Normies. A family of mutants discussed something with the goat-headed Malformed couple over hotdogs that they purchased from the darting bad forth youths. Poli in green uniforms maintained iron vigihe hem of one of their coats fpped in the wind, revealing an advanced exoskeleton to Jahe sound of sniper rifles moving on the rooftops caught her attention.

  She disregarded the precautions and focused oy. ing from the north, they ered what was known as the Priests’ Quarter. His excellency Devourer and the Dynast had a long and distrustful history with religions, seeing them as little more than pleasant lies. However, the diligenall monastiunities and the selflessness of individual believers in aiding the Restoration had proven otherwise, and the two relented, accepting the y of spirituality in society.

  Bells tolled from the green gardens surrounding the stohedrals of the Church of the Phe biggest and fastest-growing religion in Iterna, the Oathtakers, and the Recmation Army. The training grounds of the Champion, a martial religion that inated from the Orais, remaiy and bloodless. Sweaty trainees and muscur challengers, their bones broken and refed in sparring, shared space with young and i-looking nuns, priests, and rugged ordinands.

  The st group caught Janine’s i. All ordinands shared their share of scars; some even had artificial limbs. This bellicose wing of the church was responsible for delivering humanitarian aid to the world’s most remote ers. They ofteheir ons to stop the wless and the threatening, to protect their flod the helpless. Former soldiers aired meraries seeking redemption formed the core of their ranks.

  Martyshkina had other tastes, and Janine swallowed a giggle at her friend’s intense focus on the Orais challenger, an analog of a priest among the Champion’s faithful. There was no high clergy and barely any order in this religion; its members weled anyone seeking self-improvement, whether biological or partially meical. The Orais themselves rarely reached the size of a wolf hag, but the ohat caught Marty’s attention seemed capable of folding a shaman in half.

  “Pnning to vert?” Janine whispered.

  “What?” Martyshkina gasped. “No! Jani, look at his muscles. I am telling you, the bastard is showing off. I’ll see him eat dirt, don’t worry.”

  “Don’t know, he seemed hospitable to me.” Janine waved to the Orais, and the five-fingered challenger grinned, showing his impeccable, even, square teeth.

  “You dummy, that’s how you repay the hospitality! A fair, no-holds-barred match is the greatest gesture of trust you give to a championian.”

  “No match against a warlord could be sidered fair.” Janine shouldered the pouting Martyshkina. “I am joking! Don’t hurt him too much.”

  “I hope to learn something.” Martyshkina ed an arm around Janine’s shoulders. “The news has beeing about her perfect grappling teiques.”

  “Good luck with that,” Janine said doubtfully aurned her eyes to the crowds. Her head spun a little. “Normies, mutants, everyo religions… They coexist together. I… It’s…”

  “What’s the matter, the Blessed Mot your tongue?” Martyshkina teased. “That peace must be a real tough bitch if it almost knock out Jani so effortlessly.”

  “Tough,” Janine agreed. “But also the best by right. If it ts as a loss, I don’t mind. The food smells make me drool.”

  “Now you’re talking my nguage! My stomach rumbles and demands fresh sacrifices!”

  They fell silent as the Iable reached the first square. Janine had to blink trice to believe her eyes. So many people. There had to be thousands, or tens of thousands, of civilians standing to the left and right; their roar of greeting had shocked the warlord to her core. An army… No several armies on their own! And many of them had never even seen war or the cruelty of the Outer Lands, thanks to the genius of the Dynast.

  And their own modest efforts.

  Reporters filmed the n; fast-food stands were overflowing; acrobats danced, leaped, and juggled in the crowds, earning themselves tokens; singers performed songs of the Outer Lands; priests blessed the returning soldiers; families whimpered in happiness as they spotted a familiar face among the troops; young white-furred cubs were throwing flowers, and paioiled to mark this occasion.

  “Wele back! Wele bao more wars! Let our children stay!” Jailted her head, fused, as she picked up a clearly orderly t iorrent of cheers, but she decided to ig.

  There was no threat in these words. Worry yes, but no fear er.

  Elder Ice Fangs, dressed in expensive dresses or strict business suits, occupied rich rooftop terraces, toasting their passiives and greeting everyone in unison. The nation’s eic system deeply ingraihese male and female Ice Fangs, who chose civilian lives and held shares in or ht owned firms and stores. All Ice Fangs had been trained in martial arts since birth, but if rumors were to be believed, these ice boys had long since fotten how to hold a sword properly. Several white-furred Wolfkins, mostly squires and knights, saluted from the ranks of the police. These guards helped keep the cities of the Core Lands safe, fulfilling a role not too dissimir from that of roaming packs who kept settlements and vilges safe.

  But they are meous by far. Janine caught herself smiling, notig Ignacy’s envious expression at the advanced power armor types below. Her boy was too easily distracted by the shiny things. Who cared if their cousins had more advanced and elegant types of armor? Their pting was too thin, unsuitable for rapid adva, and ne enough to aodate enough servomotors. The Wolf Tribe’s soldiers filled multiple roles in bat: grenadier, shock trooper, melee fighter—you , they’ve do. When one died, the remaining soldiers seamlessly filled the void.

  Their cousins relied on a strict delegation of responsibilities betweeroops. Defenders shielded the knights’ assaults, while the knights sliced through the main battle lines, allowing the sages t in sword saints and sever an enemy’s throat. Meanwhile, the hunters reaped their toll from a distance, using their sniper rifles. Idiocy. Instead of fog on simple standardization, there were too many individual battle ptes. War was all about mass warfare; strike fast ahe fight fast to limit the casualties.

  The procession reached the terraf plex, an enormous, square-shaped series of facilities close to the city’s edge. Janine did not know many things, but she reized the heart of the city at onew Breeds blessed with passive abilities of preventing preition in an area and those who wielded powers capable of blog teleportation were stationed here. Houstad was still undergoing the terraf process. Should these facilities be destroyed or taken offline for weeks, the entire southern region risked suffering an ecological catastrophe or eveing to a barren wastend.

  A walled encampment was built roughly eight hundred meters away from the plex, a pce more fitting to be barracks or a and post. A was the famous orphanage, “No one is unneeded,” as Devourer called it. Initially funded from his private coffers, this pd its mirror sisters in other cities had dozens of buildings is walls and housed several thousand motherless victims of quests, raids, or simply natural disasters.

  Normies and New Breeds alike were weled here, protected, cared for, and educated by the state. A broatue of an unknown girl was erected in the courtyard. Her posture betrayed fear and uainty: one hand raised to protect the cerated face against an unseen whip, but her back firmly shielded the entrao the main building.

  “In memory of those we couldn’t save,” Melihe inscription oatue’s pedestal. “Well, that’s a morbid remio the cubs who lost their parents. And why is the statue so ugly? Wounds, scars, skin missing from the ribs, the cut robe. Who? Which freak decided to create…”

  “Melina.” Every soldier on the observation deck froze when they heard Ravager’s voice from above.

  “Y-yes, Blessed Mother?” Melina squeaked.

  “It was Devourer’s decision. A sin or a remembrance of his failure. Or maybe a demand to be better? Even I don’t know. Even I didn’t reach her in time. But he did. He tried. Shut up and accept it,” Ravager maintained her silend then chuckled. “Teachers regurly petition for the removal of these statues so the little ones won’t be traumatized or scared.”

  “A… a question, Blessed Mother,” Melina said.

  “You try my patience, wolf hag. Do you not need your tongue? Shall I pull it out?” Ravager growled, and they heard a g of fangs.

  Janine’s cws bit into her paw from worries over her son. The Blessed Mother was sane. She had to be! Spirits, just one day! A day without madness! Give her a day of rest!

  “Ask your question, child,” Ravager said wearily.

  “They wele volunteers.” Melina poio a sighe orphanage’s main gates. “ I…”

  “Of course, girl.”

  Drones, operated by the reporters, swooped down from the buildings. They filmed proud Order warriors up close and tried to get better pictures of their bck-furred kin. Bogdan had to grab Ignacy’s belt as the soldier swung over the railings to get a better look at the flying maes.

  “They are amazing,” Ignacy whispered. “Imagihe usefulness! They could deliver small loads to a mountain vilge, drop grenades onto secured positions, or fire small caliber ons.”

  “Or mapping the area.” Janine nodded and hugged him. “The First Army already used them extensively, and the Sed followed suit. We ’t g behind. A first batch of bat drones is waiting for us at the base. I volunteered our pack to test their synergy with our soldiers.” She smiled at her son’s awed eyes. “We have received both sers and on models. On Alpha’s orders, at least one member of a scout’s pack is to learn how to bee a field drone operator.”

  “Really? I mean, that is excellent news, Warlord!” Ignacy beamed and stood at attention.

  “I expect you and Elzada to show initiative and pave the way for the rest of our paaster the trol of such devices. We will not lose to the Alpha or Ashbringer packs. Am I clear?”

  “Crystal clear, ma’am!” Her sons replied in unison.

  She caught Bogdan grinning. Whatever. Just because she could accept Ignacy’s desire to possibly remain a loner didn’t mean she should st to make him and Elzada soulmates. She wanted mranddaughters. randsoher will do at this point. No cub of hers should stay alone ient at night.

  “People of the Recmation Army!” The Blessed Mother’s voice stopped any mischief on the crawler.

  The procession came to a halt in the middle of the city, stopping at the rgest square, from which could be seen several rge skyscrapers and a modest city hall. A kilometer-tall skyscraper had a rge dispy mounted on its side. The dispy’s s showed the Blessed Mother, a stunning and glorious sight for everyoo witness.

  She refused to put on the military coat; her own fur covered her fully, its void somehow darkehe area near her. But the mayor insisted alia, and she obliged to the request. A metal diadem, resembling an olive branch, adorned her brow, encirg her head. Boems and amulets of the Wolf Tribe, bones of those who perished in the wars, dangled from her neck, sharing space with the exquisitely crafted golden talismans and neckces of the Ice Fang Order. She spread her arms wide, greeting the assembling crowds.

  Jaquan was by her side, while Jaie and Cristobo remained in the trol ter. Despite warnings about the ander’s temper and wild outbursts, the mayor deed the offer of safety, insisting that it was ultimately his decision to allow the Third to remain iy. He had no iion of hiding or proteg himself from the person he had brought in.

  Mard an Ice Fang cub, the initiate who asked Jao give her young son a message about a pizza, stood oforms to the left and right of the Blessed Mother, waving and smiling at the crowds. The initiates found suitable official clothes for Mar their closets and dyed them dark so that he would have the official colors of his tribe. The Ice Fang girl chose a long, flowing dress, and diamonds glittered in her hair.

  Jaiced the mayor’s smile as Ravager veered off the script from the beginning. She was supposed to address the citizens of Houstad, but she chose to address the entire Recmation Army. Perhaps she had already fotten the speed was improvising. Alpha, Lacerated One and Leonidas Summerspring stood close to the cubs, ons ready. Should madness e upon the progenitor, it would be their duty to halt her. But so far, everything seemed in order.

  “My heart sings in joy at hearing your warm and sincere greetings,” Ravager tinued in a calm and clear voice. The mayor put on a headset to protect his eardrums, and the Blessed Mother’s words propelled air that moved the hem of the Ice Fang’s girl dress. “Yet I also hear your thanks. My patriots! Guests from the faraway nds! You need not thank us! It is we who should thank you!” The cheers subsided a little as people whispered questions, trying to guess the meaning of her words. “It is true!” Ravager insisted. “When I left Houstad the st time, it was a miserable pce, where people had to other day out of life to survive. Look at it now!” She poio the buildings, cars, shops, billboards, signs, a hospital on a distant street, a small charity run by priests. “You rose above barbarism; you built not just something, but a life worth living! You did it, not us! Be proud! Your achievements are just as important, nay! They are even more important than any war we have ever won! People of the Recmation Army, you build your children a beautiful home worth ing back to! The Wolf Tribe could’ve never created it. We were born to quer, and when we came to you as terrifying monsters, you reached out to us and help us ie into normal life. What else I say, but thank you? Thank you, young and old, for believing in us, fiving us a ce…”

  The Blessed Mother tio speak, praising the implementation of civil rights and the acceptance of people from different backgrounds. Janine grinned after Cristobo shared a worried look with Jaie, Alpha, and his officers. The Dynast and his et had sent a very specific speech fer to deliver, ohat emphasized the tinuing dangers in the world and the need for a strong guiding hand to trol every person born with power.

  Ravager had ig, clearly enjoying admiring two street performers during her speech, a man and a woman. One of them jured fming dragons that danced above the crowd, and his friend turhe fiery fmes into ice sculptures. But before they could fall oourists and people, the first artist quickly melted them into drops of water to thunderous appuse.

  Janine cpped to it too. She didn’t wish to think of war on this wonderful day. Peace, however brief, had to be enjoyed and treasured…

  “Go back to your deserts, you murderers!” A voied from loudspeakers, and a mixed crowd of people broke through the line of polid stormed the main road.

  Aggression ing from their progenitor whipped every Wolfkin on the crawler and below. And the Ravager’s fa the dispy ged into a bloodthirsty frown.