Day 24: Early m.

  Keon shuddered, trying to overe the splitting, pounding pain that threateo split his brain in two. He heard voices, but they came as a din, and no matter how hard he blinked, only murky shadows filled his crimson-stained visioried to stand and found ropes biting into his arms and legs, seg him tightly to a wooden frame.

  What… What had happened? Keon trated on his memories. He and Emily decided to visit a movie theater and stumbled upon a crowd in a dark alley. A man invited him for a ride, but Keon deed. Then a multicolored fsh devoured everything as a bat ected to his head and Emily... What happeo her?

  “Where is she?” A whisper escaped his lips, and Keon’s leg touched a wet, hairy broom. Why was there a broom on the floor? He didn’t uand.

  “Wakey, wakey, shitstain.” A finger snap in front of his nose sent another surge of agony through his head. It was torture just to see anything, let alone trate on anything. “Time to rise and shine.”

  “I didn’t ask you to open his head, Raffy,” said a cold voice, and another shape appeared before Keon. It sounded familiar.

  “A minor inveniehe first voice responded mogly. “What matters is that he is here, right, boss?” Even through his fusion, Keon heard the sheer venom in the man’s words. “It wasn’t all bad, you had to admit. We even started to settle the score for what those barbarians did to my men.”

  “Layman. Go on, py your succession game, and leave us.” Gentle hands touched Keon’s face, lifting it, and a soft cloth ed his infmed skin. A bottle ressed to his swollen lips, and the soldier drank hungrily. “Apologies, Keon.”

  “Who… are you?” the soldier asked in a hoarse voice, spitting out teeth.

  “A kindred soul, cruelly torn from its homend. Like you, I have witnessed my try vanish in quest,” the figure said in a soft, sad voice. “The homes we grew up in are gone or abahe streets where we had our first kisses are buried uhe sand, and our friends and family are scattered everywhere. Our cultures, uages, our very identities are on the verge of disappearing. And for what? So that the Recmation Army say ‘Mission Aplished’ as it chokes down another helpless nation?” the speaker spat. “You and I have been given a unique opportunity. Fate has maneuvered us into a position where we do great harm to the Recmation Army and possibly cripple this colossus. The salvation of our way of life has slipped from rasp, but vengeance is within rasp.”

  The speaker ed Keon’s wounds, wiped the blood from his swollen eyebrows, ied medie around his cracked ium, and bahe gaping gash in his head.

  “Revenge?” Keon mao ask. Images of toxic waste and t blocks of stoed on the orders of Teo Queen and the lifeless nd, fshed through his mind. “How are you going to do that?”

  “For every force, there is a terforce. We will use a beast to wound ahe details will be revealed to you if you join us, Keon.”

  “What will it solve?”

  “It will bring justice to the dead,” the voisisted. “Do you mean to tell me you have not lost a friend, a loved one, or a family member to the war that was forced upon you? The Dynast is merely another warmonger masquerading as a liberator. By his as, you judge his true nature. Was your try perfect? I doubt it. None is. Did it deserve to die?”

  “Die? No,” Keon said, regaining his will. “It did not deserve to perish, nor is it dead. The nd is not a pce or a stone, nor is it a nguage or a culture. It is people, and they live on, carrying their dreams and finding their purpose in the nds of the Recmation Army. You say the Dynast is a warmonger. I ot deny that. I will go further and say that the man is a monster. Only the ultimate monster bind beings like anders Ravager and Devourer to his will.”

  “Then you see him for what he is! He and that cursed serpent throw eions into their melting pot to boil until every shred of individuality and uniqueness is lost.…”

  “There is merit to your words. The Dynast is a mohat devours the worst monsters,” Keon interrupted the speaker, shaking off the st of the dizziness. He expected to whimper and beg for mercy, but strangely, fear no lripped his heart. “He is also the breaker, the liberator, the builder, and the unifier. Perhaps he deserves a bullet for all that is done under his and. I am not a philosopher or a judge; all I know is that my people found a sed der his leadership and that my loyalty is to him and the Third. To take revenge on the Recmation Army is to harm my own trymen and the woman I love. I refuse.”

  “Such foolishness,” the voice said, giving Keon more water. “You are so blinded by propaganda that you are deaf to the cries of the i lives lost in quest. Keon, I do not want to harm you, but I must tend to the bigger picture. So many tries exist in the world, big and small, and every single one of them is under a threat as long as the Recmation Army exists. Perhaps if we had extracted you more carefully, if I had more time to expin to you… But today is an important day and I have little time. Go to your woman, Keon.”

  To your woman? The realizatio a shiver down his spine. Keon whimpered, m not for himself but for the dear soul who had accepted him and beside whose warm body he had shared nights dreaming of the future, pnning their retirement and one day returning to Houstad. He tore at the restraints, uanding that it wasn’t the broom o his leg, and a gun was forced into his mouth.

  A shot pierced his brain, and Keon, a man who had traveled so far to see the Core Lands, saw nothing more in his life.

  ****

  Day 24: Midday.

  “Sorry for the blunder we have caused.” Jaood at attention and the mayor motioned for her to sit in an armchair.

  Jaquan’s office was not what she had expected. She thought it would be drowning in opulence, as magnifit as the a building itself. But once Janine passed through the massive stone ns and took the elevator to the fifth floor, she entered a pin white office with a vast window behind the mayor’s desk that looked out onto the crowded pza. Wooden bookcases lihe walls, and a single picture of the Three Great anders domihe left wall. o it was a detailed map of Houstad, casually marked in several pces.

  The mayor’s leather-upholstered chair seemed a bit th, and Janine khe morbid reason behind it. One of Houtstad’s first mayors was caught embezzling funds from the city budget. The Dynast made an example of her by turning the woman’s remains into aernal reminder for all future servants.

  “I do not think we should be dwelling on this event,” said Schalk, an oversized gss of wio Janine. “Several thugs died, boo-hoo. Who’s going to cry about that? Should we really bother the mighty berserker who stalled Blood Graf with such trifles?”

  “I didn’t halt him at all.” Janine shook his head. “He crushed me in a single blow.”

  “Schalk, stop lig boots of your superiors and act your rank,” Jaie ordered, sitting sourly on a sofa. “Kids saw guts spilling on the floor. That is no way for soldiers to behave in the Core Lands.”

  Janine nodded in agreement. There have been many misuandings over the past few days. Upoing a leave, dozens of bck-furred bodies charged across the streets, crept uhe bridges, climbed on the roofs, sniffed everything they could a marks for future groups. The police had to physically stop a wolf hag from st-marking the statue of Devourer in the park. Janine herself had to calm the distraught woman, who was ready to offer her head to atone for the shame. Soon, another mishap occurred.

  Her cubs and the soldiers of the Ygrite pack were involved in a bank robbery. The standard protocol for su event was to surrender ahe police hahings, who often captured the criminals without firing a shot. Treat shame, no one expined such a tradition to the Wolfkins, and they reacted naturally. The neraises, elevating Kirk to the status of a national hero for saving a cub, and by the Spirits he deserved every ounce of glory. But Janine suspected that hearing the gurgling of the dying and the desperate pleas for mercy had disrupted the sleep of many civilians present on the se.

  Their problems weren’t over there. Impatient One initiated a bout at the police station, seeking to cheer up her sister. The two woke up in a differeo a police therapist, who quickly became ed after inquiring about the sisters’ childhood and the reason for their intense aggression.

  One problem followed another. Janine was burning with shame and worried sick about her girls when the news of Alpha’s arrest reached her. She still had no idea what exactly had drivero warlord into su unusual fit e. It happened during the celebration of Kirk’s bravery. The party soon grew into the base-wide explosion of fun and debauchery that came to an abrupt halt at Dragena’s and Alpha’s arrival. Alpha nearly caved in Ygrite’s skull in front of the shocked state’s journalists a beating her until Captain Cristobo arrived.

  The police had to get involved, but Ygrite, of course, chose not to press charges. Jaill did not know what this all was about, but Dragena now never left Ygrite’s side, and the weakest warlord sat down and wrote several reports, resulting in Chak’s pining about a sudden obse amount of work dropped at him. Alpha was taken to the state’s jail and speime discipling local druggies and alcoholito ging their ways or dying at her cws.

  “e on, ma’am,” Schalk said. “The city will be er without some trash littering the streets.”

  “Regardless, we should have knower,” Janine quickly interjected before the lieutenant could speak. “On behalf of the Wolf Tribe, I offer our si apologies. Should you ask for a blood price…”

  “I will hear none of it.” The mayor smmed a hand onto the table. “Warlord, I uand that savagery is a way of life in the north, but here we act as civilized people. Your soldiers…”

  “Not all of them are under my and. Alpha is....”

  “Irrelevant. They will do unity servider the supervision of Sword Saint Tancred Ironwill, who has taken on the role of protector of the city. Not that there is much to protect against, but they streets and serve in soup kits…”

  “Fur,” Jaie said angrily.

  “Yes, right,” the mayor allowed himself a smile. “Well, we’ll find something for them to do,” he sighed, leaning ba his chair. “Why ’t your kind be normal like Ice Fangs? Your cousins have already mostly left the city, cheg on their fiefdoms and schools, spreading their majesty everywhere. And your kind seclude themselves and act like barbarians.”

  “We are the barbarians,” Janine reminded him.

  “But you don’t have to be! I have received a report that six of your kind have visited the therapy ic. Six! Out of thousands!” The mayor pressed his hands together. “Our mental institutions are a far cry from those in Iterna, but they aid your people in overing traumas. You may feign a strong fa?ade…”

  “I will not,” Janine said, remembering Colt. “There are times when even we need help.”

  Therapists, or soothsayers, as the tribe called them, were a stant source of tention among the shamans. Soulless One believed that their interruption softehe warriors, creating a potential risk freater casualties. Other shamans calmly pointed out the clear improvement in the souls of those who had dared to visit the strange mind fixers. Janine had n opinion about the matter. She oumbled upon Kaisa’s and Anji’s joint exercise, where two wolf hags skated dowreet, falling, getting up, and learning from each other. Thewo pyed chess. It was a beneficial exercise in bonding, but try as she might, the warlord could not uand how it helped with Kaisa’s aggression.

  “And we want to help!” Jaquan put a hand to his chest. “Trust me when I say it; I want to see your people ied into the Recmation Army at rge to see your children attend schools and uies. The state is willing to spare no expense, and the Wolfkins are not ily inimical to a peaceful life. emas, theaters, markets, and stores—are all open for you, and my heart sings when I see Wolfkins visit them.” Jaquan shook his head. “But so few do it. It’s as if you don’t want to live in a world you helped create and would rather ointless wars.”

  “Pointless? Eborate.” Janine demanded, queng her anger before a growl could escape her lips.

  “Take your st quest. This Teo-Queen. What have we won?” Jaqua Janine’s eyes. “A fat nothing. The nd that ’t be used, we got thousands of new mouths to feed, lost loyal soldiers during the quest, and your own tribe ended up being bled dry on the campaign.”

  “We stopped Teo-Queen…”

  “Don’t give me that crap,” Jaie sneered. “I’ve read the reports and spoke with the captain. She ruined her own try. It was only a matter of time before it became a necropolis stig out like a sore thumb in the Wastes. And we just walked into a hor’s and got our asses red. Death is all yht home.”

  “And lives,” the warlord rebuked her. “You are wrong, Lieutenant. Had we waited, hundreds of cubs would have died…”

  “Matters of another try…”

  “Don’t interrupt me ever again, Jaie.” Jaood up over the soldier. Her sudden move caused an unusual sensation, as if unseen eyes were hardening and examining her back. She ig; no doubt the mayor had his own defenses. “The Dynast’s will is clear. All are to be united under his banner. And we ’t do that if these people are dead. Even if you don’t care about lives, think of the daeo-Queen wasn’t some crazed ruler or politi we ignore. No, she was an evolving threat that desoted a try. By eliminating her, we may have spared our own try from a future invasion.”

  “Again with the same argument,” the mayroaned. “Warlord. I deeply respect the Third’s a. But look at Houstad.” He gestured to the window. “For all our splendor and glory, we still have people living in slums or oreets and migrants huddling in barracks. There is a clear she of avaible housing. Yet two quarters of our annual budget goes to support the armies. Two quarters! you imagine what we could have doh those resources?” A light came into his eyes. “Renovation of run-down neighborhoods, orphao house war victims, new factories to create jobs, and, of course, the stru segment! Rather than saving others, we should first solidify our own industrial base. Teachers, doctors, specialists ready to solve every hurdle the Wastes and the Ravaged Lands may face…”

  “Those who don’t feed their own army are bound to feed the army of another nation,” Schalk recited an a proverb.

  “Rubbish.” Jaie tapped on the sofa, getting Janine’s attention. “You spoke pinly; let me return the favor. These rumors of invasions from afar? They are nothing but fear-m to keep our war mae going, to make people like you feel needed and heroic.”

  “I disagree with this assessment. You are not fully uanding what you are talking about. The danger is real. The Core Lands were invaded in the past,” Janine replied, keeping her cool. There was an hoy in Jaie that she respected. Of course, the woman was clearly misguided in her views.

  “And we crushed the invaders! We, the Provincial Army, did all the heavy lifting while our armies quered elsewhere.” The lieutenant’s fist ched. “And I know what I am talking about, Warlord. My tribe were peaceful people who lived their own lives…”

  “Ma’am, please…” Schalk tried to stop her.

  “And you know what happened?” The woman ignored him. “One day the Sed Army showed up, smashing ates and shooting everywhere.” She stood up, pointing at her waxy skin covered by scars. “I was six years old back then. Bck-skinned. My mother tried to carry me away when a building near us caught a fming bomb. The querors dragged us to the Outer Lands and decred us civilized. As if we weren’t! And now the nguage of my tribe and our traditio only in museums and…”

  “Jaie. Enough,” the mayor asked, but Janine raised her paw, requesting a word.

  She bowed to Jaie, showing the back of her neck.

  “I am deeply sorry for what has happeo you and your tribe.”

  Jani that. To lose one’s identity was unthinkable. Janine imagihe situation reversed: she dreamed of herself witnessing the fires dev mas in her vilge, soldiers dragging cubs away to be locked in orphanages, adults taken to the re-education camps, their religion dead, and survivors hesitantly searg for a job to feed their cubs, alone and isoted from the rest of their people… No, even though their cause was just, she wished no oo experiehat kind of agony.

  “Keep your soldiers on a leash, and we are even,” Jaie forced out a ugh. “It’s all a history, anyway. Sorry fettiional, Warlord. My point was that there is simply no oside strong enough to challenge us. Oh, I know of Iterna and the Oathtakers, but let’s be ho, there is no new war brewing. We are allies now. tries like in the Old World.” She rubbed her forehead. “I am leaving to meet with Cristobo and Maxim. We will be at a shooting rahinking about how to expin Alpha’s shitshow to the press and how to avoid future is.”

  “Of course. Janine, we will solve the problems a your soldiers cleared. Just please inform them not to start a ruckus iure,” Jaquan asked.

  “I swear on my pride,” Janine said.

  She spent more times with the man, discussing Houstad’s s and Jaquan’s pns to ‘civilize’ the Wolf Tribe. The mayor had grand ideas, ranging from moving the eribe to the of Houstad, and Jaly refused, along with sending her cubs to the schools. Such a decision was simply out of her paws, but she agreed to and six hundred soldiers to attend the evening celebration of the one hundred and sixty-seventh anniversary of the creation of the Core Lands.

  Jaquan revealed more of himself in their versation, expining that he and the lieutenant were officially members of the Restoration political party, an ever-growing movement attempting to persuade the Dynast to cease expansion and turate’s attention inward. Their primary goal was the total removal of the distin betweeer Lands and the Core Lands, granting every citizen the same privilege of access to universal health care and bringing every settlement up to the standards of the Core Lands. Their short-term goal was to reduce the barbarism of the warring tribes serving the state, and the Wolf Tribe was their current prime target in this pursuit.

  “I wish you the best of luck,” Janine said holy, indulging in tasty morsels known as shrimp. Their juisides slid easily dowhroat, giving the warlord immense pleasure. “Mind if I take a few for my son…”

  “No hey’ll be on the base’s menu. My gift,” Jaquan said. “I didn’t expect you to show an uanding of oal.”

  “Had I been younger, you’d offend me. Not anymore,” Janine admitted. “I tried my best to vince Marco to try life in the Core Lands, but to no avail.”

  “Send the boy to me,” Jaquan offered. “Officially, he’ll be in charge of passing messages to you and w as my secretary. In the meantime, I’ll try to give him a new perspective on things.”

  “I will give it a thought,” Janine warmly thahe man, leaving the office.

  “Warlord!” Schalk caught up with her, slipping into the elevator at the st sed. Janine had already had to squeeze in to fit, and with another person, it got cramped. “I just wao say that Jaie Bronkhorst is a loyal soldier of the state, despite her harsh words. You trust her with your life, so please don’t…”

  “There was no harm,” Janine grumbled, trying not to smear the man against a wall. “Hoy is appreciated. You told me you and Jaie were from the same homend.”

  “The same town, actually,” Schalk said. “My father served in the garrison. Got himself killed by a of the Sed Army prior to the invasion. After the quest, I decided to follow in his footsteps, minus getting killed, of course.” The man fshed a strained smile. “The lieutenant and I first joihe militia ier Lands before being transferred here as a reward for our service.”

  “I am sorry about your home and family,” Janine said softly.

  “Well, it’s not like we ge the past, right? We must move on and live in the present.” The man shrugged.

  A buzz of the terminal distracted the warlord from the dark thoughts.

  “Janine, what is it?”

  “We have a problem,” Chak said oher side. “Keon is missing.”

  “You sure he didn’t simply overslept?”

  “Yes.” Chak’s mandibles produced a click. “Keon is a nice boy, unlike your flea-ridden rabble. Besides, his partner also didn’t report to the m trainiher.”

  “Tell Ashbringer, at once. Have her tact the polid see if he is in jail. I’ll get back to you as soon as we find anything,” Janine switched the el, raising a fio halt Schalk’s questions while she called Till Ingo.

  “Warlord,” he answered in a calm voice. “I sincerely hope this is important and not a friendly call, as my presence has been requested for the pointless iion of the power pnt and my patience is at an end. Also, Banshee says hi,” he added with a hunt of irritation.

  “Good health to her and you. We have a missing soldier. I remember reports that you tried to recruit Keon, a recruit from…”

  “I know who it is,” Ingo interrupted her. “He turned down my offer, and no, I don’t know where the boy is. Report to me immediately if you find him, Warlord. Yes, Agent Piam, I am ready…” the researcher cut off the unications.

  “Something happened?” Schalk inquired as the elevator stopped at the first floor. Jaepped out and briefly expihe situation to the sergeant. “Keon, huh?” he whistled. “I remember the boy and the girl; they were in a hurry to ditch us while we escorted the wolf hags to the ema. Perhaps the lovebirds built themselves a and fot about the time? Ah, the wonders of youth,” he giggled. “I’ll ask around for them; it shouldn’t be hard to find them in one of their usual spots.”

  “Thank you, Schalk,” Jaold him.