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"Hello?" the white wolf asked, looking around. "Is there anyone there?"

Kar'na had no idea where he was. Surrounding him, as though forming an impenetrable barrier, a massive forest stood. The trees, tall and lushious, were brilliant in their colour, and perfect in their scent. Everything just seemed...surreal.

"Hey Kar'na," a familiar voice said. The white wolf turned around, to see a familiar-looking grey wolf standing there, leaning against a tree.

"Kiri!" Kar'na said with relief, heading over and embracing the younger wolf. "Where are we?"

Kiri looked over at Kar'na strangely. "Let me answer your question with another question; how much do you remember?"

"Remember?" Kar'na echoed. "Of what?"

"Walk with me," Kiri said, gesturing towards a well-trod dirt path that Kar'na somehow hadn't noticed before. "Maybe I can help you jog your mind. You brought me and my friends safely through the entirety of Parai, being well and truly hurt yourself. However, you recovered. You remember this, yes?"

"Of course," Kar'na nodded with a frown. "Kiri, why do you sound so-"

"Following this, we went through the tribal territory, and found ourselves in the wolf territory. We made it through, to the guild, where Drysenn cornered us. Can you remember what happens next?"

"I...no..." Kar'na admitted. "I don't remember. We just walk in the forest? I'm not familiar with this part of the woods. Did I hit my head?"

"Questions, questions," Kiri muttered, a small smile appearing. "Here, Kar'na, let me show you where we are...and how we got here."

The wolf pushed aside a web of vines, to reveal the forefront of the Assassin's Guild in the distance before them. Assembled outside, was a massive army of Falskin.

"Wait!" a voice called. A very familiar voice. Kar'na blinked as he watched himself rush out of the Assassin's Guild, towards the army and...

"Oh no," Kar'na whispered. "They wouldn't have..."

But it seems that, despite Kar'na's hopes, the Sanvar'a siblings were among the army. Held hostage by Drysenn.

"And now this is why you're here," Kiri said, as not-Kar'na suddenly crumpled to the ground, an arrow in his stomach. Kar'na flinched, and Kiri released the vines, which sprang back into place, covering the scene.

"Wait!" Kar'na said, pushing back the vines. Only, behind them, was now another forest. Just more and more trees. The white wolf turned to look at Kiri, who gazed at him with even eyes.

"Who are you?" the assassin whispered.

The younger wolf sighed. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Kar'na. Only know that I am not your enemy. I am a friend. I chose Kiri to...not make you panic."

"It's not working," Kar'na insisted, backing up a bit. "Now, who...no...what are you?"

"I am but an aspect of the moons," Kiri said, gesturing heavenwards. "You saw what happened to you. Now, I must explain what else has occurred."

The forest dissolved into a shimmering vision and Kar'na suddenly found himself in a room he'd been in before. The medical room of the Assassin's Guild. There, lying on a table in the room, was a horrid-looking white wolf, with a massive bleeding wound in the stomach. By the wolf's side was Ansu, the Guild's medic.

"Pulse just jumped slightly," the serval noted, looking at his fellow doctors. "But only briefly. The poison is wreaking havoc in his system."

"Wait," Kar'na said. "That's...me?"

"Aye," Kiri nodded. Kar'na glanced over to him and nearly jumped out of his fur. The wolf was hovering in midair, his body transparent, and his feet not touching the floor. The assassin looked down at his own arms and found them transparent too.

"Why?"

"You almost died," Kiri said. Then he added, "You still might too."

"Why show me this?"

"To give you a bit of context," Kiri said. The world twisted again, and the assassin found himself in a dull cave. Along one wall, a few of his friends stood, their hands cuffed above their heads, and their clothing consisting of little more than rags. A far cry from the assassin robes they'd had.

"Kiri?" Kar'na asked, moving closer to the actual Kiri. The younger wolf's eye was swollen shut, and he seemed to be breathing unevenly. "What happened to you?"

"Bandits," not-Kiri grimaced. "They were jumped on the road, about halfway between the Guildhall and Greatwood."

"Greatwood?" Kar'na asked. "Why are they going there?"

Kiri looked over at him evenly. "For you, Kar'na. You lie in a coma, poisoned and dying. There's very little hope left, but they know of one person who can reverse the poison's flow. The Alchemist. And for him to work his...magic...they need to find him."

Kar'na went to speak, but Kiri cut him off. "Your father forbid any mission. He didn't want more blood on his head. So, your brother and friends snuck off. That's why they're here now."

The scene shifted, and Kar'na saw another horrible scene. Myra and Aryn, sweat-soaked and dusty, were hard at work in a mine, where torches flickered along the walls. Surrounding the reptilians, were many other individuals, mostly Ch'kiliil. However, a few Falskin patrolled among them, whips at their sides.

Aryn cried out, as the pick he was using clanged off a rock, slipping free of his hands. He bent to pick up the tool, but a driver had already spotted them, and the whip in his hand cracked above Aryn's head.

"Back to work!" he snarled.

Aryn hurriedly picked up the tool, and began mining again. Tears glistened in his eyes, and he seemed ready to falter again.

"Don't give up!" Myra said, desperation in her voice. "Come on Aryn, we can do this!"

"I can't!" Aryn despaired. "Myra, I can barely move this thing!"

"Never give up," a grey-furred wolfess said quickly. "Keep digging. We only have a bit more to go!"

The wolfess broke off a piece of iron ore, and tossed it into the cart right behind Aryn. None of the keepers seemed to notice.

"Come on," she said, looking over at the siblings. "The two of you travelled across Parai, with an army of slavers and bounty hunters on your tails. You can dig a bit of freaking rock!"

Aryn drew himself up and struck the rock again, Myra following suit a second later.

"This is for you Kar'na," Myra said, eyes shut tight. "May the gods forgive me for your death."

"Wait!" Kar'na shouted. "Myra, I'm not dead!"

But the reptilian remained ignorant, as the scene shifted again, bringing Kar'na and Kiri to another woods. This thick forest had a well-trod dirt path leading down it, and several individuals walking this path.

"We've been following this path for hours," Svara exclaimed. "What makes you think that Drysenn went this way? The army went down many paths!"

"Yes," Asar nodded. Why the painted dog was among a group of his friends, Kar'na could not guess. "But we're not looking for Drysenn. The reptilian siblings' tracks went to a cart. Then, they weren't anywhere. Therefore, they must've boarded a cart. This is the only set of cart tracks. All the other tracks belonged to siege weapons and catapults."

"You're sure?" K'eyush asked.

"Aye," Asar nodded.

"Well," Svara glowered. "Fine. Just...fine. We'll keep going this way. But for all we know, the siblings are dead. We should be going after Drysenn."

"He'd be impossible to track," Asar countered. "Trust me, this is the best way."

Kiri tapped Kar'na's shoulder and pointed up the hill. There, two Falskin in leather armour, almost invisible against the hilltop, watched the group below. Scouts.

"Oh no," Kar'na whispered. "We have to warn them!"

"Ours is not to interfere with the mortals," Kiri shook his head, as they found themselves back in the clearing Kar'na had first woke up in. "They are there. We are here. Relatively speaking. Their paths are not ours."

"But this is all because of me!" Kar'na protested.

"Yes," Kiri agreed. "But my question for you, is this; are you worthy to rejoin them? You have a noble heart, Kar'na, but many flaws and regrets. You must confront these first. Only then, can you rejoin the living with our blessing. The universe has big plans for you, wolf. And I need you to rise to the challenge."

"Confront my regrets?" Kar'na asked. "I never do anything but! My whole life is one big regret!"

"Not true," Kiri growled, eyes flashing red. "You must confront your past. Many minor regrets can give the appearance of one big regret. Don't let it drag you down. Fight it!"

"How?"

"Turn around..."

Kar'na did so, and noticed a new path from the clearing.

"Follow this," Kiri urged. "Confront your failings. And prove yourself worthy of what the universe has bestowed upon you."

Kar'na glanced at Kiri, then at the path, then back to Kiri. Steeling himself up, Kar'na took a deep breath, and ran off into the forest, along the path. Kiri watched him go, a small smile upon his lips.

A sudden strike caught the wolf off guard, but not too much. Though skilled, his opponent was still young, not having mastered all the wolf had in his life. A life spent in dedication and regret, after having lost his mom and brother to an attack by slavers.

The wolf tribal word for slaver was the same as the word for 'bandit'. Bra'kiish, which loosely translated as 'scum'. A fitting name.

The wolf, after blocking the unexpected strike, returned with one of his own, which was deflected aside, before a returning kick on the wolf's right was given. The wolf caught the kick, before leaning towards his opponent, making the other lose his balance and fall to the ground.

In less than a heartbeat, the wolf was on top of his opponent, arm pressed across the other's throat.

"Good, Kar'na," his father's voice called.

Good. The word was such an empty term to the wolf. How could anything be good, when slavers were free to walk the earth, and the bastard that stole his mother still roamed? Nothing about a world such as his was good. At most, it was acceptable.

The younger wolf pinned beneath Kar'na's forearm gasped and choked, trying to remove Kar'na's arm.

"Kar'na!" Khej called again. "He's defeated! Let him up!"

But Khej's words fell on deaf ears as Kar'na contemplated the younger wolf. Kyl'e. That was his name.

Maybe Kar'na understood what motivated that slaver. The feeling of power. In terms of this wolf pup, Kar'na held all the power. Kyl'e could do nothing without Kar'na's permission. Whether he lived or died, it was in Kar'na's hands, and no one else's.

Kyl'e struggled, though his efforts seemed weaker than before. The ten-year-old pup lacked the strength to push his older superior off of him, and they both knew that. For Kar'na, such a feeling was satisfaction. For the other wolf, it was probably terror.

"Kar...na," Kyl'e gasped, trying to say something. However, he was unable to force the words around the arm that was pinned across his throat.

Kar'na regarded the wolf curiously. In Kyl'e, he saw something that not even his father possessed; a kindred spirit. Khej was a leader, Kar'na was a fighter. So too, was Kyl'e. The younger wolf, much like Kar'na, rarely exhibited emotion, preferring instead to hide behind a veil.

However, the veil had been pushed aside, revealing something else in Kyl'e's cold-coloured eyes: fear. The younger wolf was terrified.

But what of? Was he terrified of Kar'na, and what Kar'na was doing to him? Or was he afraid of what would happen if no one sprang to his rescue?

Was he afraid of death?

Death. The word for it in wolf tribal was tasa'ri'har. Tasa'ri meant 'leaving', while 'har' meant 'god'. So tasa'ri'har meant, "leaving to god'. A fitting title.

To Kar'na, death had always been a word. A concept. Never something to be truly grasped. For can one feel death? Could one lunge out and stop the reaper as he carried about his grim duty? To bind death, would be to bind eternity. And death was the one concrete in life.

Kyl'e's arms finally slipped from Kar'na's and fell to the ground, as the wolf began to pass out.

Was Death evil? He certainly seemed to be so, cloaked in black, and bearing a sword of fire. But was he truly? Death was a harbinger. Imagine having to make the journey to the other side alone. As you were in death, as Kar'na was in life. Nay, Death was a friend to Kar'na. He had helped Death out more than once.

A set of running footsteps pulled Kar'na from his reverie. Yes, he had helped Death in the past. But not today. Kyl'e was not going to die by Kar'na's hand.

The white wolf raised his forearm from Kyl'e's throat, and the younger wolf gasped, quickly rolling over and dry-heaving on the floor. The wolf would recover, but Kar'na had hurt him here.

"Kar'na!" Khej demanded, as the footsteps reached the white wolf. The assassin turned, only to be grabbed roughly by his father, blue eyes locking into Kar'na's yellow. "What was that?"

"What was what, father?"

"Don't talk to me like that," Khej growled. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. Now, answer me!"

"Kyl'e lost the fight," Kar'na said, a bitter edge clinging to his words, as he looked down at the younger wolf, who was now being comforted by a lynx. The wolf seemed on the edge of tears, something Kar'na was unfamiliar with in him.

"Yes, he did," Khej agreed, voice dripping with venom. "He lost the fight the moment you pinned him. What you just did there is inexcusable! You almost killed him!"

"If I had meant to kill him, he would be dead," Kar'na said dispassionately. "Just like my mother and brother. And once again, you would have been powerless to stop it."

Khej's jaw dropped, and Kar'na allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction. To make his father break his demeanor was a rare accomplishment.

"For your actions today, you would consider yourself lucky that I don't have the Guildmaster banish you here and now! As it is, it will take all my diplomatic skill. But, should this ever occur again, do not expect your father to stand in the way of your consequences."

The sheer poison tainting Khej's words in this speech actually made Kar'na withdraw. Never_had his father, a weak individual, spoken with _strength against his only surviving son.

"The universe is set in balance, Kar'na," Khej snarled again. "And don't be surprised when that balance hits you in the face, to right the wrong you committed here today. Every action has a price."

Did Kar'na believe that? That the universe had some sort of justice system? That people got what was coming to them?

No. Kar'na did not believe in karma. It was a foolish belief by those who were unable to know better. A belief held by others than Kar'na. For where was the justice for the slaver who killed his family? Where was this justice, that was responsible for Kar'na feeling little more than fear and hate?

Exactly. There was none. Karma was a myth, and his father was an idiot.

"Every action, father?" Kar'na asked pointedly. What about karma for his father, who was little more than a failure?

When the slavers had broken into Winterwrath, Kar'na's home city, where had his father been? Nowhere to be seen. The slavers had won, but only because there were no assassins there to defend the city. While Khej had been sitting in relaxation at the guild, Kar'na had been forced to kill seventeen people. And he was only six at the time.

That may've said something as well about Kar'na's skills, but the wolf preferred to look on the negative in this situation. Khej, Kar'na's father, was nowhere to be found when Kar'na needed him the most. In Kar'na's eyes, Khej was only a little better than the slaver himself. Father or no.

"Get out of my sight," Khej growled, bringing his face closer to Kar'na's. "We'll speak more of this later, when you have learned respect."

Khej released Kar'na who, after a final glare, turned his back and walked off, heading off to his quarters. Behind him, Khej was on the ground, comforting Kyl'e, who was still trying to hold back tears. The wolf stared wide-eyed at Kar'na's back.

However, only part of the white wolf noticed. While Kar'na continued on to his quarters, the current Kar'na broke loose from his former body.

I was actually this evil once? Kar'na wondered, a few tears of his own dampening the fur around his eyes.

"You were quite a monster when young," a voice said from beside Kar'na, making him literally jump. The assassin looked beside him, to see an older Kyl'e standing there, transparent and missing the finger on his left hand. The Kyl'e Kar'na had nearly killed still had all his fingers.

"I was," Kar'na nodded, feeling another couple tears. "How could I do that to Kyl'e? He was just a kid!"

As Kar'na watched, Khej picked up Kyl'e and cradled him, where the young wolf finally broke down into tears, burying his muzzle into the fur on Khej's neck.

"So were you," Kyl'e reminded him.

"I know, but I knew what I was doing. Kyl'e went for a training mission. I went with murder in mind."

"No," Kyl'e shook his head. "You didn't. What you said at the time rings true. If you meant to kill him, you would have. You only meant to hurt here. You were mad...jealous...of what Kyl'e possessed. A full family."

Kar'na stood there for a minute, as he watched Khej carry Kyl'e away.

"Do you know why Khej suggested you train with someone over five years your junior?" Kyl'e asked at last, looking over at Kar'na.

The white wolf shook his head, and turned finally to face Kyl'e.

"When this duel took place," Kyl'e said, looking Kar'na in the eyes. "Kyl'e mother had passed away of Lungrot not a half week before. He was despondent, and Khej thought that training with his idol might distract him from his sorrows."

"Damn," Kar'na said, another tear freeing. "I was a monster."

"Once," Kyl'e agreed. "Only, do you know where Kyl'e is now?"

"No," Kar'na said, shaking his head.

"Here," Kyl'e said, leading Kar'na through a door. However, instead of the expected Assassin's Guild room lying beyond, it lead to a small, cramped room, smelling of sweat and blood. There, on his knees, was Kyl'e, before a bunch of filthy-looking Ch'kiliil.

"Tell us!" one demanded. "Who are you?"

"Never," Kyl'e said. A hefty blow from one of the bandits landed on Kyl'e's cheek, and he recoiled, only to be snagged by another bandit, who held him in place.

"Give us a name," the bandit snarled.

Kyl'e raised his head, mouth bloodied and an eye swelling shut. Kar'na had to resist a gasp, but Kyl'e had a fearsome grin.

"You don't realize who you've messed with," the wolf laughed. "Or with what you're interfering. Let us go, and we'll let you live."

"Damn you!" the bandit, a painted dog, shouted. "Throw him back with the others."

Kyl'e was dragged out of the room, but not before he spit blood at the feet of the bandit leader. The scene before them dissolved, and they found themselves back in the training hall of the Assassin's Guild.

"What's happened to Kyl'e?" Kar'na asked. "Is he going to die?"

"No," Kyl'e shook his head. "He's going to be fine. As for what happened to him...you happened. He's gone out, with your brother and a few others, to the Alchemist. He's willing to fight to get you back."

"Even after all I've done to him?" Kar'na whispered.

"Like I said," Kyl'e glanced over at Kar'na. "You must overcome your onw regrets. You're the only one who still suffers from what you did. Kar'na then didn't believe in karma..."

"This one does," Kar'na sighed. "I am dutifully going to pay for that the rest of my life."

"Follow me," Kyl'e said, leading Kar'na through the Guild to a room, where a couple of assassins were sitting around Kyl'e, who was sitting on the floor. The young wolf's eyes were resting on the wall, while a few of the assassins checked him over.

"I'm so sorry, Kyl'e," Khej apologized to the young wolf. "I don't know what Kar'na-"

"You don't need to apologize," Kyl'e said quietly. "Kar'na beat me in a fight. And...I looked into his eyes. I thought I saw something in his eyes. A lack of recognition. I don't even think he was really aware of what he was doing."

"That's no excuse," Khej shook his head. "Kar'na was way out of his bounds."

"For what happened to him," Kyl'e said quietly. "It's understandable. I can understand. And I'll be fine, Master. Thank you for your concern."

"Are you sure?"

Kar'na never heard the answer, as the hall dissolved again, depositing them in the clearing. Kyl'e looked over at Kar'na.

"Push aside your regrets," Kyl'e urged. "Kyl'e forgives you."

And with that, the younger wolf disappeared, leaving Kar'na alone with his thoughts. And there were many of them.