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"What is it?!" Fraush barked.

It was obvious what was going on, the warriors under his command had had enough. The fact that dragons were allowed to walk about freely, that dragons were helping to detain their fellow warriors and other furs in the village. They had questions and were now demanding answers. But at this point simply answering those questions would not subdue their rage. Fraush couldn't afford top show any weakness if he wanted to retain control over the situation. Right now he needed to be an Alpha!

"We demand that you release our comrades!" A black furred wolf barked back. "We don't know what is going on, but I will not allow my brethren to be treated like this! Why are you taking orders from those dragons!?"

The crowd was becoming frenzied. Fraush stared across the group in silence, assessing the situation. Anyone could tell that he was in a tight spot. The wrong words spoken here would ignite this tinderbox of emotions, the results of which would lead to a blood bath. I was confident I could escape if that happened, but the others... My father would have a fair chance, but with this many opponents...

"You dare to order me about boy?!" Fraush snarled at the wolf. He had decided to go for a position of strength. If he was Kamir then this might work, but I didn't know what kind of reputation he held amongst the wolven ranks. "I ought to kill you where you stand for talking to me that way!"

"Say what you want, but this is not going to continue!" The crowd roared in agreement to the wolf acting as their spokesman.

"SILENCE!" Kamir growled, his nen flared up as he stomped towards the crowd. None of them would be able to sense it, not being k'tan themselves, but I'm sure on some instinctive level they knew that he was a dangerous fur to cross at this moment. "You think we want this happen?!"

"We don't care!" The wolf bravely shouted back at Kamir. "We aren't going to let it happen!"

This was it! Everyone around us prepared to fight, I reached for my sword, the warriors loyal to Fraush moved in to defend him. The atmosphere was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. Before the fighting could start I sensed a swell in the demonic energy behind me.

"What's going on?" Kamir growled as he sensed it as well.

In fact everyone seemed to know that something was amiss. The tension was replaced by confusion. Something was happening to the demonic energy in the furs detained at the prison, a few moments later they were all screaming in pain. It was deafening. The draconian and wolven warriors who were guarding them were totally panicking in this strange turn of events.

The demonic energy was gathering together, become more and more dense till the point that I didn't just sense its presence, we could all see it. Like drops of blood hanging in the air. A blood red mist seemed to flow out of the tainted furs bodies. The drakes and wolven warriors guarding them looked around in fear and confusion. Something bad was about to happen! And I didn't know how to stop it!

"GET OUT OF THERE!!!" I yelled. In response to my words the warriors began to run, both drake and wolf alike.

I didn't know what was about to happen, but I needed to be ready. I drew on my nen and allowed it to flow outwards to form a bubble around me. Moments later the demonic energy exploded outwards. My nen bubble surrounded my father, Jovani, Malnark and Grandfather. The force of the air was deflected around my bubble, protecting those within and behind my nen bubble from the force of the shock wave; everyone else was knocked to the ground. Where the prison had once stood was now just a ruin, a large tear in the world was all that was left, hanging in the air above the ruins.

The tear grew wider, it was only ten feet wide, but it seemed that much larger due to the fact that when you stared into its center it seemed to go on forever. The edges of the tear glowed crimson red, like a bloody wound. The crimson faded to black at the heart of the tear. I felt despair just looking at it. A deep instinctual fear that came before any rational fear could take hold. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to turn tail and run.

I knew exactly what this was. I had been told about them, but actually seeing it... was terrifying. It was a portal to the Underworld! It was already beginning to shrink, it was unstable and would not be able to maintain itself for long.

But it wasn't able to close before demons began to pour out of it! Four legged, grey skinned hounds flooded out of the portal. Jeribu, souls of the lost which had been warped by the darkness of the Underworld. The size of the average fur, with razor sharp fangs and claws, they were viscous and violent. But individually they were weak. I needed to attack now before they could swarm together and attack as a pack!

I launched myself forwards, drawing my sword from its sheath. I focused my nen into the length of my blade. As I lunged forwards one of the jeribu leapt at me with its jaws open wide. I swung my sword in an upward arc, striking the underside of the Jeribu's jaw, the tip of my sword piercing it's throat as its own momentum impaled it on the black steel of my blade. It shrieked, a deafening, ear piercing death cry. I spun on my heel, avoiding the beasts body from landing atop me while also pulling my blade free form its corpse.

My action spurred the others to action. I could hear voices barking orders as the Jeribu began their attack. I brought the blade of my sword down onto of the head of another jeribu. The beast shrieked as I split its skull. Already three more beasts were upon me. I ripped the blade from the Jeribu's head and leapt backwards. Two of the jeribu leapt at me. I focused my nen into the length of my blade and swung it at them in a wide horizontal arc, unleashing a strong burst of wind and knocked them back. The third Jeribu dashed to the side in an attempt to flank me while its brethren attacked from the front. As it leapt at me, its razor sharp fangs ready to clamp down on my flesh, I struck the beast in the side of the head with a nen enhanced punch.

I knocked it aside, but it was not enough to kill it. Before it could turn to continue its attack my sword was already arcing down towards its neck. The Gallium steel that my sword was made from cut through the beasts flesh with ease. It's dark blood gushed out from the wound and within moments its eyes paled and it collapsed lifeless to the ground.

The portal had already begun to close. Shrinking in size by the second. No more demons able to pass through it. That was good. Now I knew what we had to deal with in order to neutralise the threat. But already the pack of Jeribu were scattering in numerous directions to attack every fur in sight. I turned to see Zaraki Kamir cutting down two of them with his axe.

I felt the sudden and powerful surge of my fathers nen come to life like a raging inferno. Fire shot out along the ground from where he stood, encircling the area around the pack of Jeribu. Trapping most of them within the area around the portal. The Jeribu let out high pitched shrieks as they backed away from the raging flames trapping them. There were twelve Jeribu left alive, three of them were already running at me.

I was ready for them. I gathered a small amount of nen in the air within my bubble three feet away from me. I watched the Jeribu approach, judged their path and where they would pass through my nen bubble. I pictured the nen I had gathered cutting through the air, its path crossing those of the Jeribu as they leapt at me. The moment the passed into my nen bubble I waved my arm, using it to increase the reaction of the focused nens movement. It cut through the air and as it collided with the first Jeribu I focused its shape to become longer and a thinner, like a blade. A blade which sliced through the soft flesh of its neck, continuing its path towards the next Jeribu. It caught the beast in the side. I moved the blade down, into the belly of the beast and around, gutting it, before moving the blade towards the final Jeribu. I caught it in the beast in the ribs. The point of the nen blade, which was no more than a few inches long, pierced through the gaps of the beast ribs and pressed further in to strike it in the heart.

The nen blade was my ultimate technique. Deadly, invisible and all but undetectable. It lacked the durability of steel to penetrate anything beyond simple flesh and clothing, but within the confines of my nen bubble I could control it with deadly efficiency. My nen itself is unable to cut anything, but I could create a dense pocket of air, which could be sharpened to an incredibly fine point.

With the space of a second the three Jeribu were slain or fatally wounded. Their dead or dying bodies fell to the ground limply at my foot-paws, their blood splattered over me. I looked around at the remaining nine Jeribu. All of them had witnessed their brethren being slain, as did the wolves and drakes outside the ring of fire trapping the Jeribu within it with me.

I could sense their fear, taste it just as clearly as I could smell the bitter metallic scent of the blood which pooled on the ground beneath me. They may be violent, instinctive beasts. The twisted remains of the spirits of furs who had been warped by the darkness of the Underworld. But they understood fear. Fear was the most primitive of emotions, the most powerful tool for survival. And right now they were faced with a predator. Me.

I could feel the spirit revelling in the bloodshed around me. Feeding on the fear of the Jeribu as they shrieked, snarled and growled at me. It took some effort but I suppressed it, formed a mental barrier to contain it within my mind. The mental barrier was nothing but a stop gap, but it would give me time to finish this fight and not allow it to influence my actions.

I held my blade defensively in front of me and walked forwards towards the pack of demonic beasts. I created five focused points of nen within the bubble around me. Forming nen into dense blades of air, invisible to the naked eye, ready to strike down any enemy who stepped within my nen bubble with nothing but a single thought from me. Using this many blades required immense focus, I could control two of the blades with accuracy at any one time, the other three would simple hover in place until I summoned them.

The nine Jeribu began to regroup. Unable to flee thanks to my fathers ring of fire trapping them here with me their instincts left them one other choice. To fight as a pack. As I stepped forwards the blades moved with me, maintaining a constant distance from me. With this many Jeribu my best option was to simply take them down as they attacked. My nen bubble would allow me to detect any of them who stepped within my nen bubble.

They kept their distance but continued to surround me. They would attack all at once, from every direction. I needed to maim them the moment they came into range. The first Jeribu to attack came from behind. The moment they stepped inside my nen bubble I sensed them and flung one of the nen blades I had retained complete control over at it. The blade arced through the air towards the beasts neck as two more Jeribu attacked be from front to distract me.

By the time the nen blade had struck the beast in the neck I had already launched the other nen blade at the Jeribu attacking on my right. The other one had the unfortunate luck, unfortunate for them that is, of leaping straight into the path of one of the three remaining nen blades hovering in the air around me. The beasts path caused the nen blade to strike him in side the muzzle, knocking off course as it leapt and missed me by about a foot. As it passed by me I thrust my sword into the side of its chest delivering a fatal blow. The other two Jeribu had already had their throats slit by my nen blades and were now arcing their way way through the air at the next two attacking Jeribu.

The next few moments were fast, bloody and violent. I flung my nen blades at the next two Jeribu, striking one on the eye and other in the chest, fatally wounding them, but the impact caused the nen blades to disappear, they were just dense pockets of air after all. I took control of two of the remaining three nen blades and hurled them at the next two Jeribu. As I did that turned and pointed my sword at another who was leaping through the air at me. Their momentum carried them into my blade, impaling them in the shoulder.

Their momentum carried them past me, I almost lost the grip on my sword. They were shrieking in pain, rolling on the ground. But I didn't have time to finish it off right now. My nen blades had killed one of the Jeribu, striking it in the neck, but the other had struck the beasts rib cage, leaving a nasty gash on its side which bled heavily, but was far from fatal. I spun round and kicked the beast in the side of the read with a reverse round house kick and knocked it aside. The other Jeribu chose that moment to pounce from behind, its jaws open wide as it hurtled through the air towards me.

I leapt up, twisting my body mid-air and swung my sword. The beast missed me by mere inches, and as it passed below me my struck it in the neck, severing its head from its body in one fluid motion. I seized control of the final nen blade I had formed and flung it at one of the final two remaining Jeribu. The blade struck it in the chest, knocking it onto its back. I leapt forwards and plunged my blade into its exposed underside. The beast shrieked, squirmed and then howled before falling still. I pulled my blade from its body, the sickening black blood poured from the wound onto the ground below which was already saturated with the blood of its pack mates.

As I walked over to the last, wounded Jeribu. The one which had impaled its shoulder on my sword, the scent of the battle finally hit me. It was not the scent of freshly spilt blood, but that of rot and decay. The scent you would expect from a body after several day being left out under the hot sun. These beasts did not belong in this realm. They were from the Underworld, a world of death and decay. Their mere presence contaminated this world in ways that I couldn't even imagine.

As I plunged my sword into the chest of the final living Jeribu. Their death wail rang out and echoed in the ears of everyone nearby. I was a bloody mess, coated in their blood. The portal had closed and all that was left where it stood was the ruins of the prison, the ground blackened by the corruption from the darkness that had spilled from the portal. The blackened ground coloured red by the crimson blood of the furs who had died during its formation.

This had been a catastrophe. I had caused this whole mess. Maybe it would have happened anyway, further down the line, or maybe it wouldn't have. But either way the fact that the furs here died in such a way was deplorable. And while I felt a small measure of guilt for my part in this, all I could feel was the immeasurable rage at the fur responsible for this atrocity.

"Are you okay Young Master?"

I turned to Jovani who was standing a few yards away, outside the ring of carnage and bodies around me. I realised that my nen was still flaring wildly. I focused and calmed myself, allowing my nen to fade away. I nodded at him and walked over to the gathered crowd of furs who stood quivered in fear, shock and disgust. I could taste their fear. Or rather I could taste it through the spirit within me. It revelled in it.

Zaraki Kamir strode towards me along with Grandfather and my Father.

"Not bad runt!" Kamir grunted.

"This is terrible!" Grandfather shook his head solemnly. "So many lives lost..."

"Are you all right?" Kaldor asked.

"I'm fine." I assured him. "But we need to burn their bodies, scorch the earth where they fell to purify it."

"I am aware of all that!" Kamir spat. "But you need to leave now!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" I said defiantly. "My mission here is not over. Not until the last wolves have been checked!"

"They should be arriving shortly!" Grandfather said. "But..."

"But what?!" I asked impatiently.

"A messenger arrived moments ago. With the news that a wolven convoy is on its way here, along with a high ranking ranking wolven official."

"I take it Fraush has gone to meet with them?" I asked.

"Yes. And it would be best of you weren't here!" Kamir growled.

"We have sworn to your protection while you are within these walls. But it will be difficult to convince them to see reason."

"They have the authority to remove Fraush from power here, along with your Grandfather." Kamir added. "If he does that then we won't be able to assure your safety."

"I'm not leaving!" I growled.

"We should go." Kaldor said.

"Then you leave! I will not leave now! The moment I do I will never be able to step inside these walls without having to fight my way through all the wolves!"

"What the hell!?" A new, unfamiliar voice exclaimed. "Surround them!"

A dozen wolven warriors ran towards us. They surrounded us and pointed their weapons at us. They were clad in matching armour. It was of the highest quality steel and polished to a near mirror like shine; each of them bore the emblem for the Enzo clan. These were the personal guard of the wolf who was now storming towards us.

The wolf was clad in gold plated armour, a black cape fluttered behind him. His fur was grey; a Mordian wolf. A representative of the Enzo clan! And an important one judging by his armour. Fraush was following behind him, a down trodden expression on my muzzle. The wolven commander stopped, looked at us and then the carnage of the battle field behind us. His muzzle curled up with a snarl.

"Would someone please explain to me what fuck these drakes are doing here!?"

"Commander Cross sir!" Fraush stepped around the wolf to speak was immediately silenced as he was struck by the armoured wolf with a back handed slap.

"I didn't ask you!" He snarled. He looked at Grandfather and Kamir. Waiting for an answer.

"Commander Cross" Grandfather bowed his head respectfully and took a couple of steps forwards but was stopped as the warrior in front of him pressed his spear towards him; a silent warning to keep his distance. "We are currently in the midst of an investigation..."

"An investigation!?!" The commander growled. "It had better be an investigation into why those dragons are not bound in chains!"

"They were allowed access to the village for negotiations." Grandfather continued not showing any sign of being flustered by the aggressive wolfs behaviour. "We were informed of an urgent crisis here in Rengilar."

The commander looked around the battlefield where the bodies of the Jeribu still sat, the ruined prison and the scorched earth before looking back at Grandfather. It was obvious to me that this wolf was not going to listen to reason.

"The crisis would appear to be a lack of good judgement on the part of the Alpha Prime and his council!"

"Sir! If you would allow me to explain..." Fraush said but was silenced by a fierce glare from the commander.

"I am taking command of this outpost until I determine what the hell has happened here! The dragons shall be detained and questioned later before the execution!"

At that same moment Jovani, Kaldor, Malnark and myself drew on our nen ready to fight. But at the same time Kamir stepped forwards to speak. The warrior brandishing a spear stood his ground fearlessly, but Kamir didn't even blink as the spear tip was pressed against his chest fur. Kamir's gaze was fixed on the commander.

"I'm afraid to report sir that we have sworn to protect them from harm for the duration of their time here within these walls!"

"Then I shall have you removed and detained as well!" The wolf countered. "Once you are removed from your position then your authority to protect them shall be void!"

"My authority to promise their safety may be gone if you do so, but I will still be honour bound to hold up the oath I swore." Kamir countered. "If I have to, I will kill you!" He growled.

"You dare to threaten me!?" He snarled.

"It's not a threat!" Kamir snarled back. "I shall protect the representative sent here by the Guardian Deities and assist them in completing their mission!"

"A representative of the Deities?" The wolf screwed up his muzzle as if the words tasted disgusting on his tongue. His gaze came to rest on us. "You're telling me that one of these drakes is the representative? On what proof!? You've been deceived by their trickery Kamir!"

"Not at all! I know that they have been sent here as an envoy! As a k'tan I am honour bound to prevent a demonic incursion over the war between our two races! Just as every fur here should be!"

"The demon war has been over for over two millennia!" The commander countered with a sneer. "Any obligations and oaths sworn back then are long since over! Now come back to your senses or I will have you to be imprisoned along with the draconian scum that you are protecting.

"It is you who are mistaken Commander!" I growled and stepped forwards. "No one here will submit. We will fight and your warriors will die. And I promise you that if you harm a single scale on those under my sworn protection I will kill you myself!"

"You think you can kill me!?" The commander was confident in the fact that we were outnumbered and surrounded. "I don't care who you are! KILL..."

"I INVOKE MY RIGHT TO KINYAR TAL'XAS!" Kamir declared. The declaration stopped the commanders order to kill us as he stared at Kamir with outright rage.

"You dare to challenge me!? You can die along with them! KILL THEM ALL!" The order was heard but the wolves surrounding us didn't move. "I SAID KILL THEM!!!"

Kamir smirked and strode forward, brushed the shaft of the spear pointed at his chest aside, the wolf wielding it moved aside without resistance to allow Kamir to pass. The challenge had been heard and acknowledged by the wolves around us, even if the commander himself had not accepted it. The kinyar tal'xas was a recognised and acknowledged challenge. The wolves here recognised Kamir as a worthy challenger to the commanders position, despite not being a member of the Enzo clan himself. Kamir had played his ace that he had threatened to use against Fraush earlier. Zaraki Kamir was widely acknowledged as the strongest wolven warrior alive today. Kamir confidently approached the commander who was dumbfounded and outraged at how his own personal guard had willingly defied his orders.

Now that they stood near one another the size difference between them was obvious. Kamir stood over a foot taller with a much wider and more muscular frame. Kamir stood wearing essentially nothing beyond a loincloth and a few leather straps which held his weapons in place, while the smaller wolf wore a full set of gold armour.

"I'll give you one last chance commander." Kamir barked. "Stand down and listen to reason or accept my challenge!"

"You will regret this Zaraki!" The wolf growled defiantly as he drew his sword.

"I don't think I will. Now stand down or attack!"

The commander stood fearlessly before Kamir with his sword held at the ready. He was considering his options, but if he took too long then he would appear as hesitant and appear weak. I knew what was going to happen here. I knew the moment that he had drawn his sword.

A few seconds later the commander lunged forward with his sword raised over his head. As he swung it at Kamir caught the blade with the palm of his paw and he gripped it tightly. The commander tried to pull the blade free, but Kamir held it firmly in place with his superior strength. His blood flowed down the length of the blade and over the hilt of the sword.

After a few moments of enjoying the wolfs struggle to pull his sword free Kamir stepped forwards and swung a nen enhanced punch with his free paw. He caught the wolf in the side of the head and knocked him to the ground. Kamir tossed the wolfs sword away and leant over to grab him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him back up to his foot-paws before driving a nen enhanced punch into his gut, denting the armour plating there and driving the wind out of the wolves chest. He allowed the commander to fall to his knees.

"Is that all you've got Commander?" He taunted. "I expected more from you."

The commander growled before lunging up at Kamir with a dagger in paw. Kamir back stepped to avoid the blade and weaved his body left and right to avoid the steel from piercing his hide. He caught the wrist of the paw that held the knife and then punched the wolf in the muzzle three times. Each punch visibly shook the commander to his core. His muzzle was bloodied and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. When Kamir released his wrist he fell onto his back with a heavy thud and clank of steel.

He rolled over onto his belly and proceeded to slowly crawl away from Kamir. Kamir smirked confidently and stalked the commander as he crawled away. As the commander reached out to grab the sword that Kamir had thrown away earlier Kamir stepped on the blade to prevent the commander from being able to pick it up. He kicked the wolf in the head. The commander rolled over onto his back and Kamir leant down, grabbed him by the throat and lifted the beaten wolf up. The commander dangled a clear foot off the ground, Kamir held him easily with one arm. The wolf weakly struck the arm of Kamir in a last desperate attempt to free himself, but he was slowly losing consciousness as Kamir choked him out.

"Zaraki, that's enough!" Grandfather barked. Kamir looked at him before dropping the wolf to the ground.

The defeated wolf gasped and wheezed for breath. His loss was obvious to everyone here, but the fight was not over until he either conceded the fight or he died. The wolf stared up at Kamir, and even from here I could make out the contempt in his glare. Kamir had won, decisively. After a few long, awkward moments, more than enough time for the wolf to catch his breath in order to admit defeat, Kamir drew his axe from its holster at his waist. A silent but unmistakable prompt to the defeated wolf: admit defeat or die where you lay!

"I concede." The wolf grumbled, barely loud enough for us to hear, but it was enough.

With a smirk Kamir put his axe back in its holster and walked over towards us. Kamir now held the highest authority here in Rengilar. He did nothing but grunt angrily at the warriors surrounding us and they backed away a considerable distance. He turned to Grandfather before speaking.

"Gather the remaining warriors who need to be tested!" Grandfather nodded and left to do as Kamir ordered. I found it strange at how Kamir ordered him about, but then considering Kamir was now the commander of the forces within the region it was not that surprising. "Fraush! Gather the dead. Burn their bodies!"

"Y-yes Commander!" The Mordian wolf immediate sprang into action to obey his new Alphas orders.

"Will there be any repercussions for your fight?" I asked.

"Probably." He grunted. "But I won an official challenge so the repercussions will be minimal. I will likely be stripped of the rank, and the fleabag will probably get it back. He is nephew of the Alpha Prime of the Enzo clan."

"Thank you for helping." I admitted painfully. "This would have ended badly if you hadn't intervened."

"I don't care." He snorted. "I just wanted to avoid losing anymore wolves today! Besides that your Grandfather would never forgive himself if anything were to happen to you while under our protection!"

Did Grandfather actually care about me that much? He had never even spoken a word to me when I was a cub. And whenever his gaze would land on my he would turn away immediately. He had never shown any care or consideration towards me. He had even disowned his own daughter, my mother, as punishment for keeping me and not allowing them to kill me at birth. How could a fur like that truly care about whether or not I lived or died now?

"I know what you're thinking." Kamir grunted. "But you should know that I was one of the few wolves he confided in when you were growing up. He was always worried about you, despite me telling him not to be. He was always scared that one day a wolf would simply kill you and be done with you forever."

"That wolf was your son!" I spat.

"Ironic isn't it?" He chuckled. "I had spent years using my influence to protect you for Randel's sake, and the one fur who wouldn't listen to me was my own flesh and blood! But once the last few wolves are tested you should leave. I know what the taint feels like now. I shall ensure no further outbreaks occur, and I will ensure that the area is properly cleansed." I knew I could trust him to do these things. I could sense it in his tone. He understood the seriousness of these tasks, as all students of Aaru did. "Before you go you should speak to Randel."

"Why?" I asked.

"Just speak to him!" He growled. "Damn Runt!" He cursed as he turned and walked away.

While we waited for my Grandfather to return with the remaining warriors we saw to the drakes who had survived the ordeal. Five were seriously injured, but by no means fatal. Two were unharmed, having been thrown clear by the shock wave. Two drakes were dead, their bodies mangled and savaged by Jeribu. The rest were missing. Likely caught in the center of the formation of the portal. Over one hundred furs dead in an instant! Only random body parts remained scattered throughout the area, the rest of them either vaporised or sucked into the portal itself.

We tested the remaining wolven warriors. None of them tested positive for the taint. Rengilar was now clear of the taint, only the lingering after effects from the portal remained. That would fade with time. But my mission was not yet over. Over two dozen wolves had left Rengilar to go to Banuke. I needed to go there and hunt down the other tainted wolves, along with the fur responsible for all this!

"Malakye may I speak with you?"

I turned to see Grandfather staring at me. Kamir had told me to speak to him. I was tempted to refuse. I owed this fur nothing. But like it or not he was blood; family. His eyes were gently pleading me to speak to him. I nodded and followed him into a small building at the edge of town. It was his home here in Rengilar. His scent was everywhere. Despite the glamour of the building itself the insides were rather humble. Simple furnitures filled single room building. Spacious and comfortably big enough for a single fur to live in.

"What did you want to speak to me about?" I asked.

"A few things. But first I want to give you this." He said handing me a scroll with a red wax seal on it. The image imprinted on the wax was the Redpelt family sigil in the form of a rune in the old tongue. "You are heading to Banuke are you not?" I nodded in response. "Give that to the Alpha there. Once they read it they will understand what has to happen."

"Are you sure they will listen?"

"I am confident they will listen once they know that it is from me." He sighed.

"What else did you want to talk about?" I asked, storing the scroll safely into the satchel I wore around my waist.

"I wanted you to know... I wanted to say that I'm sorry!"

"What?"

"I'm sorry for the hardships you had to go through in Rovarian Village! I was not much of a grandparent to you."

"No you weren't!" I snapped. "But don't think you can start being one now!"

"I know. I don't expect that at all. I just wanted you to understand. I never wanted to disown Gabriella. But she left me no choice! If I didn't the other Elders would have exiled her! It took every ounce of influence I had to convince them not to. I loved my daughter dearly. But as an Eldar my paws were tied!"

"You could have given up your seat on the council!" I countered.

"They would have banished her! A lone female wandering the world... it was too dangerous for her, never mind with a cub!" He replied back, his words passionate and fierce. "I could never acknowledge you. Even after she..."

After she died.

"I was constantly asked to end your life. To end the blight upon the villages honour, on a daily basis!"

"Then why didn't you?!" I growled. "I was the son of the drake who took your daughter from you! The constant reminder of your loss! Why didn't you just have me killed and be done with it!?"

"Because... you were the last part of her I had left." His eyes were watering as his emotions got the better of him. I was taken aback by this turn of events. "Please forgive me for not being strong enough to help either of you! It was all I could do to keep you from being hunted by the other wolves! If it wasn't for Kamir..."

So what Kamir had said to me before was true. Zaraki Kamir was an especially feared wolf given his reputation as a k'tan and his prowess as a warrior. It's no secret that both he and my Grandfather were close friends. Grandfather was one of the few furs I had seen Kamir speak to with respect. Every other wolf and warrior were below him, not worth his time. Most likely was the fact that both he and Grandfather relationship was so well known it stopped wolves from daring to defy Grandfathers wishes, unless they wanted to face Kamir's wrath. All wolves except Kaleb at least.

"I..." I began to speak but then stopped. Carefully considering what it was I wanted to say. "I forgive you."

I didn't say anything else. I just turned and walked out of the building. Grandfather didn't say anything else or try to stop me. Once outside I felt the tension I had been under just melt away. I didn't compose myself, I just walked to the gates were the rest of the Zangarians were waiting for me.

Kaldor asked me if everything was all right. I simply nodded and kept walking. As were left the first fires had been lit. Fire to cleanse the world of the taint of darkness. It would take years for the land to recover fully, but it would recover. But I didn't have time for thoughts on that. I needed to trust that Kamir would do what needed to be done. Right now I needed to hunt down the curi'nakra before they could cause more damage!

We marched back to where our supply wagons stood waiting for us. Moral was down. Our mission here had been successful for the most part. But several drakes had lost their lives, and not for the glory of battle. No they died unnecessarily. Everyone here knew one another. Their loss would be felt by everyone else. But I can not worry about this now. I still had to find the fur responsible or all this and eliminate them!