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Something stirred next to me, warm and soft, huddled up against my side, my eyes refused to open, hesitant as the sun was to rise. It shifted lazily, slowly, it was breathing. I forced my eyes open and turned, my back growing cold against the soft wind breezing through the trees. "You two are a little closer than I expected from a man like yourself," Sheila spoke, noticing my movement.

I groaned loudly and sat up, "What? I thought... But last night? You told me all about home, and about Harriet... Didn't you?" I asked sluggishly and in confusion. There were only a few vague memories of last night seeping back into my mind, I looked at Otto still resting as peacefully as a pup, I didn't mind that he'd crawled to my side during the night, though some part of me wished that it was Sheila that had stayed by me.

"All that happened mate, surprisingly even the part where I bawled my eyes out, and I did stay next to you for a while but I couldn't stay all night, there are boundaries I wouldn't want to cross," she seemed pained by her words.

"Yeah, thanks I guess... So I see you're up early."

"I had plenty time to rest in that cell, the bastards only ever... Used me when they were in the mood and when they knew they had no chance of being caught. Also I noticed some berries on the way here, got to keep up health, yeah?" she pulled a small pouch from her side and threw it toward me, "Catch. Mate's rate, this one's free,"

I threw my arms out with a movement so quick, effortlessly plucking the projectile out of the air as though it were as still as the waters of a glacier. "Berries you say, they're safe to eat?"

"Bloody hope so, otherwise I'll be dead soon,"

I shrugged and greedily threw a few berries into my mouth; they tasted sweet, and every time my jaws clamped on the fruit it would send the juices across my mouth, spreading the intoxicatingly sweet flavour throughout my mouth. Strangely enough, while the berries tasted good, there was something lacking and dissatisfactory in their nectar. "Blackberries... They taste so different to what I remember," I said lowly.

"Well they won't sate a voracious carnivore... But they'll keep you from starving for a while and they taste pretty nice. I love the things, my sister used to try and pick a few extra for me wherever she could. By the way, how's your face?"

I reached up to my eye, feeling where Audrey had punched me. It was bruised pretty badly and swollen worse than any a time it had ever been before, I winced at my touch but foolishly continued to prod my wound, not ashamed that the one that caused was a woman. "How does it look?" Sheila shook her head and turned her eyes from me, "that bad? I've never seen a Nephil that big before, even a hyena."

"That's because hyenas aren't Nephilim, they're actually Southerners, most of them sold themselves out as mercenaries and so they've gotten... mixed up with Nephilim. There are a few purists still living in Southerner territory and those are huge, but yeah, Audrey was pretty large for a half breed. Probably takes after her father, she certainly has the mind-set of a man," Sheila uttered bitterly.

"Should I ask?"

"Probably not," she returned. Otto shifted about, finally awake, we would have to move soon and search out Mordecai. Things would go back to normal soon enough... Or at least as close to normal as they could be, considering recent events.

No sooner had a smile snuck its way onto my face than we'd heard a loud bang rip through the woods, I gasped subtly in shock, all three of us making glances toward each other.

BANG!

The sound again disturbed the relative silence of the Duskwood, growing slightly more frequent as it continued and fell into a rhythm unlike any I'd heard before. The three of us edged closer to each other, each thunderous bang made me shift my focus to another tree or bush, my heart began to beat faster, falling into sync with the sound.

My paws started to shake a little when the sound began to draw closer, it was... The sound, it was like... It was like the sound of drums? I reached for my sword, threatening to draw it but only keeping my paw in place above it. "Are those war drums?" Sheila questioned shakily. Neither I nor Otto could answer for certain; even if we could, we were rooted in place and silenced by the volume of each beat. All of us were huddled together, looking vaguely in the direction of the sound, a few minutes went by and we were certain it was a war drum because we could hear the sound of an army being force marched across the snowy floor of the Duskwood.

I was the first of us to break for cover, making a mad dash for the thickest tree I could find. Otto and Sheila were immediately on me, taking the hint. I could hear their footfalls as they charged in my direction, twigs snapping, snow and dirt being thrown in small explosions behind them. I looked down at my paws; thick leathery padding protected my palms, short stubby fingers ended in claws that could be used for a number of things. Unfortunately climbing trees was not something they were adapted for, it didn't matter to me, I found a place I could settle a hind paw and started making my way up. I grabbed at anything I could, the old tree had many gorges in it that were formed by old and flaky bark, my paws almost let me slip with a few flaking pieces of wood as I clawed my way up the tree. My heart pounded violently in my chest, threatening to throw me off of the huge wooden pillar that I ascended. An army from either the humans or the Nephilim would be threatening to our party, soldiers were ruthless at best. At last I'd made my way, after slipping numerous times and throwing bark into my companions' eyes, to one of the lower branches that was around two and a half meters off the ground, the drums were practically right on us, all three of us scrambled up the branches to get at least five meters off the ground and there we lay against the wood, waiting for the army to pass.

My breath was only just returning as the first few soldiers stepped into view; the leaders of this war party, I assumed, as there were two standard bearers and a troupe of drummers with huge drums, all on horseback. I held my breath as more of the soldiers came slowly into view; the first few rows were mounted. As a child I always wondered if the Nephilim rode horses, apparently this was so. The commanding officer was a wolf, wearing little more than leather trousers, a leather vest with chain mail sleeves sticking out only a small way from his broad shoulders and a face guard of mostly leather but that also consisted of small metal plates. The army moved slowly, every step forward that they took caused the earth and forest to shiver, a violent thud erupting from every movement, though this was almost a feather fall in comparison to the drummers, who raised their paws to beat mercilessly on the surfaces of the large instruments.

The three of us were silent in our high vantage point, watching and evaluating each man as he passed. I looked carefully at them, they all wore almost no armour and carried rusty swords or axes on their belts, some with shields of animal hide, but most without. The cavalrymen only carried spears. Strange, one would expect that cavalry units would be more heavily armed and armoured. I leaned over my branch as the leader rode proudly below me, watching as- No! I gasped as the piece of bark fell carelessly to the ground, saying a silent prayer to the gods as it continued its casual path toward the Earth.

I closed my eyes when it hit the leader's horse's flank. I heard the horse neigh loudly; I heard as it tried to bolt away, I could hear its rider commanding it to stop too. Over the drums that still thundered throughout the forest, and over the footfalls of an army, I heard that horse. Over the erratic and strong beating of my heart, I heard that horse... "Company, halt!" the wolf bellowed over everything, the entire army stopped and the drummers ceased. Silence once more in the Duskwood. Troops looked around nervously, some even drawing their weapons, listening to the forest. The wolf looked around cautiously for whatever it was that had spooked his horse. "Come out and I may decide not to let my soldiers take you!" his voice boomed once more. None of us moved, hoping that we wouldn't be seen. No such luck.

"There!" A soldier yelled, pointing up at us, the whole army became restless, some of them throwing a few nasty taunts.

"Get your sorry asses down here now or we'll drag you out of that tree!" the wolf called, we complied without a second thought, quickly dropping ourselves from branches until it was safe enough to make the final drop to the ground. I smashed the forest floor with an audible crash, a sharp pain travelling through my hind paws, Otto and Sheila weren't far behind as I heard them make the same drop. We could feel everybody's eyes on us as we stood there, just ahead of the leader, their gazes peering into our souls. "And so what were you doing out here? Other than scaring my poor beast and interrupting our march on the humans I mean." I stood mutely, looking up into the eyes of the aged wolf. Or rather eye. He was relatively old, but powerfully built, he had a huge scar down the one side of his face that cut through his right eye, his fur was matted with dirt that formed disgusting clumps all over the parts of his body that were exposed.

"We meant no harm or disturbance to you, good general," Otto stammered feebly. The wolf grimaced at us, unimpressed.

"I didn't ask what you meant; I asked you what you were doing in the Duskwood. Choose your words carefully,"

"We escaped a group of bandits, and now we're looking for a druid Northwest of Elder wood," Sheila this time.

The commander broke into a laugh, joined by a few men near the frontlines of the army, who were still obediently in formation. "Are we going to take that, gents?" he yelled back at the troops, this was answered by a resounding no! from the entire army "well then, perhaps you can find a way out of this one, too. Alaric, Keith, Broderick! Put them in the cage with the old man."

Animals... That's what they are... I felt an anger welling up inside of me, I could feel bitter resentment for the Nephilim once more, that dying rage now rekindled. Pa was right about them, they're heartless savages. Yes, savages, that's all they are, that's all they'll ever be. Three soldiers sidled up to us with their weapons drawn, prodding us with the rusting iron and driving us (not unlike cattle) to the cage where a Jackal sat, bound in chains. He looked up at us with emerald green eyes, his face devoid of any expression, then he stressed the chains around his wrists, pulling them as far apart as they would allow, he gave us an evil looking smile. I snarled at him as I was forced into the cage, then a pain exploded at the back of my head, my vision grew fuzzy and darkened in thick splotches starting from the edge of my sight. I dropped to the floor in a helpless heap, consciousness slipping gradually until I could remember nothing more...

"No," Said the wolf that claimed to be my spirit guide. I looked at him from where I lay, my hair felt sticky, as well as the fur behind my neck. That wolf... He was as ethereal as ever, but he looked clean and well groomed, his fur appeared silky, and he stood tall and straight like a wealthy nobleman would. He was so out of place here, behind these iron bars that were brown with rust, evil spikes stuck out from the corners and edges of the unwashed cage, covered in corrosion and dried blood. "You're better than that, and you don't believe what your father and the imperial schools taught you."

I couldn't move this time, I was pinned in place by some unseen force. The jackal still sat in the corner, only now he seemed completely oblivious to my presence. He wasn't frozen as I would have expected, so why couldn't he hear me? "What are you doing?" I coughed out weakly, finding I could still move my jaw at least.

"No. The question here is; what are you doing?" I looked at him angrily, though I couldn't tell if my expression was one of anger, I had almost no feeling in my body save for the blood oozing from my head injury.

"You're hilarious," I muttered

He moved over to the jackal and waved a paw in front of his face, then looked back to me. "You're still unconscious, just in case you didn't realise. This is pretty much a dream. But what's all this, you're trying to convince yourself that the Nephilim are animals and savages? You don't believe it and you never will. Do you know why you see me as a wolf?"

"No..." I'd never really thought about why my spirit guide, assuming he really was my spirit guide and not some crazy fool who could get inside my head, was Nephilim and not Human.

"Because if I was human, you would have completely ignored both Sheila and Otto, because if I was human you would be a colder person no different to the first humans to settle here. Because If I was human, humanity would have no hope." He said cryptically.

"And how can you be so sure? I thought you knew only what I..."

"This isn't about me, don't take this any further off course than it already is. Look, Lukas, things are bad for us right now, but look at this Jackal. Do you know him? No. You don't, but you will soon enough, and then your life truly changes." With that my guide left, a burst of fading purple and black mist in his wake. I looked one last time at the jackal sitting in a corner of this rusted cage, he hardly seemed significant, but then I realised...

"Mordecai..." I whispered as my eyes opened and I felt control creeping back into my body. Darkness had set in, a dull pain still occupied the back of my head. I looked quickly at the jackal, he was looking at the cage floor, and unlike most jackals his thin fur was all black, his eyes glowed faintly, but it was a glow that bathed a good portion of his face in brilliant green. My arms struggled to lift me as I hoisted myself onto my rump, the movement being mildly painful, Otto and Sheila were asleep at the end of the cage opposite the jackal I suspected to be Mordecai. "You there, Jackal, what's your name?" I demanded in a raised whisper.

A crooked, uneven smile began to form on his face, his eyes seemed to flicker, their light dancing across his face. "You don't know me? Well, well, well, your friends seemed to recognise me almost instantly..."

I struggled to pull myself up with weak arms, adjusting myself so that I sat on my rump, against the cold iron of the cage. "You're the one I have to see? You're Mordecai?" I questioned.

"The one and only. You know, most people are cowering by now, why aren't you? Do you not fear me?" he asked, cocking his head childishly.

"Fear you? You're trapped in this cage like the rest of us, you can hardly be as powerful as I initially thought you were," I said, arrogantly insulting the one man that could help me. Strange, I'd always expected help and demanded when I'd given or offered nothing in return. I always expected to be helped without question. That may have worked in Richard's Folly, but clearly it wouldn't do me well outside the city I supplied meat to.

Mordecai snarled at me, his lips peeling back to reveal decaying and browned teeth, "clearly you don't know enough of me to be respectful. You're about as arrogant and foolish as every other human, it's a wonder the gods decided to grant your species life, let alone an extreme aptness for magic," he fixed me with a serious glare as he spoke, his eyes growing brighter. "Now tell me, why should I return you to your human state? I quite like that you're now hated by just about everyone," he said after a minute's silence. "That may just include your 'friends' as well, look at them. Huddled together in the corner, so close... If they're close, well you're just along for the ride anyway, or they're distancing themselves from you, keeping away from the arrogant human you are."

Something inside me snapped, could what he was saying be true? Were my friends losing faith in me? Maybe... Maybe they were as "close" as Mordecai suggested? I... No. "You're wrong, Mordecai. If Otto had anything against me, he would have voiced it, I know him."

"Do you? Perhaps you know him well enough, but do you know the girl? Do you know what she may be thinking, or doing with Otto behind your back?" Mordecai challenged.

I was more than ready to accept this small trial, so far he'd yet to prove himself a "demigod," I edged closer, "hardly, but what she's shown is enough and I... I trust my friends. And even still, I'm helping her. She wouldn't turn on me, not immediately after I rescued her." I retorted.

Mordecai took a deep breath in through his nose, the old jackal's eyes narrowing at me, then he seemed to relax and I could see a smile break onto his face. Not a cold smile, not a dark smile, but an almost friendly gesture. "Resolute... Thus far. Alright, I'll transform you back into a human, maybe even give a little more but I have a single request, before I change you."

The cage jumped as it hit a rock, momentarily flinging me into the air. I hit the cage floor with a thump, almost certainly leaving a bruise. "Ouch!" I complained softly. Amazingly, Otto and Sheila were still asleep, their positions almost unchanged. "What is it?"

"Help Elder Micah. You already know what you have to do."

I sat open muzzled, wanting to speak but finding myself at a loss for words. He knew? Of course he knew. This was the great and powerful Mordecai. Apparently he was omniscient. Or was this part of a plan? A well thought out plan between him and the bandits perhaps. Yes, that was most likely and yet... I couldn't be certain.

"When they offload us, you'll be allowed out once more. And yes, Sheila will be allowed to go with you, she was simply the insurance policy that would bring you to the city. Now the rest we leave to your desire to once again become human."

I gave him a suspicious stare, and then cautiously agreed, as if I'd actually had a choice. A well thought out plan indeed, but how could they possibly have expected somebody would be transformed and that said individual would be seeking a way to return? "What do you get out of your little agreement with the thugs?" I asked as the thought rushed onto me.

"Nothing of interest to anybody other than myself, all you need to know is that if you help them, you will become human once again." I snorted and turned from him, curling up to sleep in the cold prison after restless unconsciousness.

"Get up, dog!" said a harsh voice, my eyes snapped open and I realised the day had already come; the wagon had stopped outside of the bandit city. I quickly rose to my hind paws, looking at the gate into the town we'd recently fled. Back into the gates of hell. I thought to myself, saying a silent prayer that we wouldn't be skinned alive. Snow had temporarily stopped pelting the ground, allowing the world perhaps a day of cool respite before it would again bury us in ice. Clouds loomed over head, not as grey as usual, casting a warmer light on the city, a light that glinted off of the scale mail the guards wore. Or at least the humans' armour, the Nephilim seemed to prefer a faster, more agile combat style that required them to be light of foot.

I wrapped my paws around the bars of the cage, watching as one of the guards unlocked the gate and let us out, handcuffs close at hand for him to bind us. "Any last words?" Otto joked with a chuckle from where he sat. "Or regrets?"

I turned my head, regarding him with a sad expression. Regrets... Perhaps my only regret was that I had no regrets. That scared me. "Last words? Well, it's been one hell of a ride," I joked, recalling the past few weeks, tracking through the Duskwood, "but as for regrets? None really."

Otto smiled, then punched my shoulder playfully, "you know as well as I that all of this is far from over."

There was silence among our party as we were marched into the bandit city, accompanied by eight soldiers, and somehow we hardly drew the attention of anybody. It only vaguely occurred to me that the Nephilim might be trading slaves to the bandits in order to keep their caravans safe, if that was so, it meant bad news for humans, the bandits would have to make up for the lost income somehow...

I noticed an Otter standing in conversation with a small squad of troops; he turned towards us, a wide grin playing on his face. Dirk. If there truly were gods watching us, they had a terribly cruel sense of humour. "Meat sack! You're back about a full day ahead of what we were expecting, how've you been?" he yelled as we drew near to him.

"Meat sack?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes, that's your name now, boy."

"Since when do you have a more light-hearted side?" I asked, again confused.

"Since I know this town is going to be more than we could ever have dreamed. Now, you're not going out alone again, The Elder just doesn't trust you enough for that anymore. No, we'll convene with him and then I'm going with you." Dirk proclaimed, a ridiculous grin across his face.

"But there are three of us and one of you, who's to say we won't just kill you as soon as we're out of sight of the city?" Otto returned.

I looked the otter over, analysing him closely; I could already tell he was sufficiently strong to annihilate the three of us. Dirk laughed, rising to his full height and brandishing his blade, "you could try that I suppose, but first you'd have to give me your last will," he looked down on us as though we were children then looked boredly at his sword.

The three of us stared back at him for just a moment before we were shoved forward by bandit-soldiers. Strangely enough, they were all better armed and armoured than actual soldiers. Again we passed the oddly magnificent fountain in the town centre, on our way to the town hall. Now the eyes of the city were on us, every pair save for the guards who kept up a vigilant watch. I saw all manner of people; a young human tugged at his mother's dress and pointed, a Nephil started following us, trying to imitate our escorts.

"Go home, boy, this is business of the court," Dirk ordered, noticing the child.

"But I wanna be a soldier..." he whined.

"When you're older. Your training is enough for now. And how many times must I tell you, soldiers do not whine! When you act like one, I can make you a soldier." the otter returned, this time in a sterner voice.

The Nephil child looked disappointedly at Dirk, his eyes sad and ears drooping, "I'm old enough father... I promise I won't embarrass you if that's what you mean..."

Father? Dirk had a son? The otter looked down harshly on his son, regarding him with a steel gaze. The boy looked back hopefully, his eyes and face pleading rather than his mouth this time.

"Fix your posture, boy. We're going to see the Elder." Dirk spat after a moment's thought. At that, the child straightened himself and his ears shot up, he fell into place at the rear of our escort, the guards making room for the aspiring soldier.

Before long we'd entered the Elder's ornate hall once more, it was almost empty this time. There was nobody save for the Elder and his guard in the court, wooden pillars with elaborate and identical carvings rose high on our sides with dead torches. The room was as icy as the snow outside and the Elder, in his age, sat in thick furs on his throne. He didn't look angry, he wasn't seething with rage as I'd imagined he would be, he only looked disappointed, as though he'd asked a favour and was let down. "Why did you try to abandon us? I thought you were of a higher calibre, but now I see you're cut from the same cloth as all the rest," the Elder crowed. I looked down, feeling oddly ashamed. "Now as you stand before me and hang your head you feel it. something you never imagined you would feel for 'beasts' like us."

Somehow he was right. I thought back to the time when he'd spoken to me about the people of this city, about how they weren't as bad as the world made them seem. Then I thought of how I had, in essence, robbed them and in so doing, acted in exactly the same way as a common thief. "You're trying to guilt me?" I offered.

A thin smile spread across his face, but his expression was no warmer. "Surely you don't need me to do that though, do you?" the Elder returned softly. I looked to my friends, only Sheila seemed to be okay with the guilt. Otto shook his head at me, he wasn't trying to lead the party anymore.

"What do you want with us? we've got nothing for you to..." Sheila started, but I grabbed her shoulder and silenced her.

"Your orders, sir?" asked Dirk. The Elder looked at us with incredulity and disappointment.

"Go with them, Dirk, take your men if you want. Secure our supplies, then return here; He wants to speak with the council. The hour is almost upon us." The Elder said cryptically.

I felt something sink in my heart, whatever these bandits had planned meant trouble as it was, the inclusion of an entire council could mean something dire for both Humans and Nephilim alike. "He's coming here? I... Yes sir, we'll be back in due time. Soldier!" Dirk called to one of our escort. A human straightened himself and turned to face the burly captain. "Fetch my horse from the stables and bring three more, have them ready within the hour." he commanded.

The human, who was far shorter and smaller built, gave an unfamiliar salute and broke off from the formation, running as fast as he could to carry out his orders. "So, we're off to Richard's Folly?" I asked as the doors slammed shut. Wind from the sudden opening and closing of the door rushed around us, making me shiver.

"Indeed. There's just the matter of me gathering supplies and the like. The guards will keep an eye on you, don't do anything foolish. Again," said Dirk, taking his leave and charging his troops with watching us.

"I hope now you'll see our side, good luck," said The Elder with a sigh.

The troops, now headed by the captain's son, escorted us back outside and made us wait at the fountain. Otto and I decided to look over the strange runes that were created in the ornate fountain, trying to decipher what they could mean, the entire time being silent as corpses. I'd established that they were religious, mainly going on what I could remember from the cottage and the way the runes were also carved into the arms and legs of the crucified couple. It was a painful recollection. I still wanted to know what the runes meant, they were nothing I recognised, even in my reasonable education. Just then the soldier, who had been ordered to fetch horses, returned with somebody who I assumed was the stable master. Both led two horses, the large, black stallion was Dirk's. The other three horses looked strong enough, but were only foals in comparison to the captain's steed. "Looks like we'll be leaving soon," I whispered to Otto and Sheila, who silently agreed. I had to admit, it was a rather interesting thought to return to Richard's Folly, even if everybody I knew would be trying to kill me.