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The White Wolf regarded the lot of them as they talked rapidly between themselves in a language I didn’t understand. She thrust her nose up into the air, as if to scent it, but a portal appeared instead. I heard Sylvan’s gasp as another desolate view of Wolflantis came into being. The warriors turned, their speech getting louder and faster as they heard the howls go up from within. Then, as if pushed by an invisible hand, they were shoved through.
I’ll admit, my heart pounded and my eyes burned with a terrible glee when I saw them sprawl out onto the broken parquet stones. Their faces held that stricken look of fear, one I’d seen on too many faces, but not theirs. But it didn’t last long. The red lights of the smoke wolves' eyes bobbed in the distance as they ran towards the portal.
Watching someone face down certain death is a curious kind of pleasure that few experience. Acting as judge, jury, and executioner was probably not called for, but I couldn’t find regret within myself. Even in the human world, underneath the thin veneer of civility Western cultures worked so hard to promote, men raped women, people abused kids, killed their partners, and enacted a thousand little acts of domestic terrorism every day, and all with what felt like few consequences. There was something inhuman about us as we watched them scramble to their feet and then make a dash for the portal to get the hell away from the predators closing in on them.
And then the world turned sideways.
At first, I thought the godawful howl was being transmitted through the portal, but as it ululated, singing a terrible song of threat and menace, I realised it came from the bowels of the earth. As if in response to this awareness, the ground shifted with a low rumble that unsettled us at first, then sent us staggering, looking for some way of staying on our feet, but there was none. The world shook as the wolf howled, the sound growing louder and louder, until my eyes jerked up. I collapsed to the ground as I saw the red lights converge, merging into two larger points, staring out of the darkness of Wolflantis at us. The White Wolf whined, then shifted as the portal grew bigger, and she took involuntary steps back as it began to enlarge. Rather than a ragged tear in reality, it resolved itself into the mouth of the Black Wolf, its white teeth slicing down into the portal, the Uldariel now swallowed within the absolute darkness between them.
The White Wolf strode forward, head dropped down as she growled, a throaty sound of pure defiance. She stepped closer and closer as the Black Wolf’s head became more and more corporeal, then threw her muzzle back and howled as we clung to the earth, unable to do anything else as it shook. Then she whipped her head around and said to us, I must go. It isn’t time. And with that, she leapt away, sprinting off over the open savannah we lay upon, and soon disappeared off into the horizon.
Normality was restored just as abruptly as it was taken, and I listened to the rapid pant of everyone’s breath now that the earth no longer roared its displeasure. When I looked up, all that remained was a couple of dazed looking mounts. The portal, the warriors, and the Black Wolf had all disappeared, leaving only us.
“What the fuck was that?” Slade asked, rolling up into a seated position.
"I dunno, but now is as good a time as any to find out,” Finn said, looking over at Sylvan with a hardened gaze.
21
I pocketed my crystal and came to sit by my pack, who were loosely circled around the Volken seer.
“How the hell did we end up in the cage?” Aaron said.
“Mead was drugged,” I replied. “Lemme guess, you guys passed out before the main event?”
“Main event?” Hawk asked.
“The woman with the wolf skull? She was supposed to ‘slake the lusts’ of the warriors. I thought she’d gotten away, but… Then Sylvan came for me.”
Everyone’s eyes swivelled around to where the seer sat nursing his head.
“What?” he said. “It’s what happens every Longest Night. If you’d bloody told me you were a conduit for Branwen, I could have made sure I was as far away as possible from you. Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance to chase me down if we’re here for Shortest Night.”
“No, I fucking won’t,” I replied. “I’d rather eat dirt.”
“Shouldn’t you have known, seer?” Slade said.
“About this? I saw your pack opening the gate and getting me to Branwen. I saw the White Wolf coming to Leifgart, but never in my wildest dreams had I thought that it’d be you bringing her here.” He smiled at this, but it was one of the most desolate things I’d ever seen. “This is not how it was supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to be you, it was supposed to be her.”
I thought of the woman in his dreams, her eyes still gleaming bright green in my mind’s eye.
“Branwen, Lonan, they aren’t the names of the Great Wolves, no matter what those fucks back at the feast said.” I saw the moment the Great Wolves shimmered into human forms at the festival I’d seen in Wolflantis. “They’re like you, conduits to their power.”
He snorted at that, then jerked his head up to meet my gaze. “I guess you could make that comparison, but it's like comparing you to a monkey. There’s plenty of similarities, but the comparison strips away so much detail, it makes it essentially meaningless.”
“So, help us out.” My eyes darted to Brandon, the low menace in his tone so uncharacteristic, I could only stare. “Tell us what the differences are.”
“Lonan, Branwen, they held the spirits of the Great Wolves inside them for millennia, built the city of Eomis, brought an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity, and created a haven for learning and innovation. The place was a marvel.”
“Looked like a desolate shit hole last time we opened the portal,” Jack drawled.
Held the spirits inside them, I mused at that, thinking of my Tirian, how it was both a part and separate to me.
You aren’t a part of me, are you? I asked her.
Yes, no.
Which is it?
