Demon Wolf

Ronit gaped in disbelief from the palisade wall. “How? Did anyone see anything?”

She glanced at her sentries, but the trio shook their heads. The Rift’s abrupt disappearance stunned them speechless.

After a moment, Ronit nodded. She kept frowning, deep in thought.

This could be a blessing? She pinched her lower lip between her thumb and forefinger, recognizing this incident as her opportunity. It gives an excuse to retreat without arousing suspicion. Foxes and Moles aren’t prepared, while their scouts have witnessed the Treasure Rift’s disappearance.

Make an angry face. Ronit’s frown deepened, her countenance twisted into a fierce scowl. I’m in full view here. Ten know how many scouts are watching me.

“Fuck! First Fiona left, now this shit!” Ronit’s furious bellows spread through the tall grassland. She turned on her heel, ready to descend the stairs and return to her tent to think.

“Matriarch?” Fiona’s shout entered Ronit’s ear.

“Fiona? You’re back?” Already? The matriarch returned, leaning on the breastwork. Was Kiki’s kidnapping report fake? Ronit bit her lip. Why is she leading so many people?

In the meter tall grass, a stream of one hundred-odd tribesmen walked towards the outpost. Some of them seemed familiar, evoking the feeling of frequent passersby. Most, however, were unfamiliar faces.

She caught a fleeting glance of a beautiful man, but her mood was too foul to entertain such thoughts. Instead, she focused on a girl a year Kira’s junior. Isn’t that Siomha, Aoife’s heir? Why is she here?

Ronit noticed those dispirited expressions. She burned with the need to interrogate Fiona straight away.

No. Be patient. If news were good, Fiona would’ve shouted them already, and enemies are watching us. We can’t show weakness.

“Where’s the Treasure Rift?” Fiona exclaimed, and Ronit suppressed a smile. Even in this situation, Fiona considered the bigger picture and played the part in informing their foes that the only item of value had disappeared.

“Open the gate,” the matriarch ordered, and soon enough she and Fiona were in their tent, discussing Hare Tribe’s affairs.

Before Fiona left, she told Kira to entertain Wolf and show him around. They both noticed his mood had gone foul when they approached the outpost. Mother and daughter believed this was because they failed to keep their promise, but Wolf had bigger problems than Hare’s hospitality.

It was that damn sneeze again. Wolf recalled how his skin crawled when they neared the rift. In his mind, Wolf replayed that distant, barely audible sound over and over.

Even before reaching the outpost, he knew his way home had collapsed. No, it didn’t collapse. Someone destroyed it on purpose. They are keeping me away from home. Silver, are you awake?

No answer came, and Wolf chose to believe Silver was in torpor. As soon as my soul heals enough, I’ll check.

“What’s twins?” Wolf ate bacon and made small-talk with Kira to take his mind off Silver’s plight.

“What do you mean, what’s twins? Were you raised in the wilds?” she asked. She chuckled nervously, but Wolf remained serious.

“I was.” He slew the joke before continuing. “I heard people call the usurper the evil twin. Is it an insult?”

“Um, sorry.” Kira looked away. She believed she insulted Wolf whatever she opened her mouth.

“Twins are when you have two babies at once. You know, when a woman has two babies,” she mumbled, unaware that her casual remark nearly gave Wolf a stroke.

How do you have two babies simultaneously? Do you burn twice the Anima to create their souls? Does that mean the wound takes longer to heal? Kira’s simple statement destroyed the truths of Wolf’s home.

Back home, regardless of gender, you could only have descendants one at a time. The father can have sex all he wants during the mother’s pregnancy, but he cannot sire another child, even if he drowns in fertility potions.

“Um…” Wolf almost asked how that works, but bit his tongue. One, two, three…

“And matriarch Ronit is the elder sister?” he asked to mask his ‘um’. The sun was setting, and matriarch Ronit’s decision will probably wait until sunrise.

Under the purple-orange sky, Wolf strolled around the outpost with Kira. Many warriors gave her smirks or envious glances, but she pretended not to notice, while Wolf felt strange. I guess this is why Anna insisted on propriety…

“Where did they get all the lumber to build the fence?” Wolf asked, considering they’d been walking through a grassland and bushland for hours without seeing a proper tree.

“Matriarch and several others have holdingrings…” Kira started, and Wolf nodded in understanding, so she shifted the topic. “Sturdy defense is important in the grasslands. Inside the forest, Monster Beasts can’t swarm you as easily, but in the open field, you have nothing to guard your back and Monster Beast tides happen…”

***

That dumb she-whore Fiona, Emma silently cursed as she escorted Elder Byrne. She respectfully opened the door and motioned the woman to enter.

“Please, sit and enjoy some wine. Elders Doyle and Ryan are already waiting for the matriarch inside.” Emma said, acting according to her status, never raising her gaze above Elder Byrne’s hip.

Even though she was the matriarch’s servant and confidant, Emma remained a slave and had no right to meet a tribe member’s gaze.

“Where’s the matriarch?” the elder asked, a hint of impatience coloring her voice.

“Matriarch told me she has other matters to attend to and that I should bring all our elders to the palace.” Emma followed the prepared script. “She told me she plans to explain everything at midnight. I don’t think there’s a reason to worry. Former warleader’s appearance this morning probably upset the matriarch’s plans and she needs council.”

Elder Byrne harrumphed, but Emma knew she was happy deep down. When a newly ascended matriarch sought secret council from her elders, that meant their positions were safe.

Emma watched the solid woman enter the feast hall. A variety of dried meats, fruits and wine were arranged for the guests. Emma’s lip twitched, but she held back the smile as elder Byrne cupped her hands to greet her feasting peers, including Mona’s two bodyguards.

Emma closed the door, heading for her next target. Matriarch sending her personal attendant was a double message. She revealed the matter was not urgent while showing due respect to all elders. Even the order in which Emma visited them held significance, since the more important the person, the earlier they would be invited.

People in power paid a lot of attention to such tiny details and they approved of Mona’s political skill. She was throwing a private feast for the victors before holding a council session.

Emma considered that and more. She had to. Mona could not make plans on her own. She never had the brains for it. Especially after Emma rammed a dagger through the back of her skull while combing her hair.

The plan’s first stage ended in success. Emma had sufficiently weakened the Hares. Fox Tribe planted Emilia when she was a child. The warleader could not trust just anyone with the job, so she arranged for her five-year-old daughter to be captured with a batch of slaves by Mona’s mother.

The original plan was for Emilia to influence Ronit, the future matriarch. However, in a jealous fit, Mona asked to get the pretty slave and Emilia’s life skewed out of orbit. Luckily, she was smart and resourceful, and still in an important place. She spent years building a reputation, constructing trust and friendship with the stupid, egoistic brat. She had plenty of chances to escape or kill Mona, but she did not. She remained loyal, climbing up one tiny step at a time.

And now her guise would bear fruit. Emilia stifled a laugh. Don’t mess it up. We’re so close. Let the fools fight over Treasure Rifts. No matter what they take out of the Treasure World, it can’t be worth more than a hundred thousand slaves and a medium-sized clan’s accumulated wealth.

Mona laughed when Mother sent her those blood crystals. Then she took my advice and invested them in Fox Tribe’s warriors I helped plant here. A disdainful smirk danced on Emilia’s lips, but she straightened it a moment later. She was trapping bunnies, leading them to the chopping block. It was improper to laugh.

But she could not help it. Her cultivation stagnated in the four decades she slaved away. She barely touched upon the middle stages of Qi Gathering, but her mother assured her she would compensate her adequately. All the insults and abuse she suffered for years, she would repay with interest. She had already repaid Mona. Emilia’s dagger pierced and slashed the corpse for fifteen minutes. The brutal act gave Emilia blissful release, like putting down tons of bricks she lugged around with her every day.

She wanted to sever the she-whore’s head and bathe with it, but that would not help her clean up. Instead, she mounted the maimed, eyeless corpse on a chair so she could admire her handiwork. The memory of those gratifying stabs and wet squelches made Emilia feel warm between her legs.

Calm down. You have work to do. You prepared the stage. Fetch two more elders, have them eat the first part of the poison, then light the incense with the second half and they will suffer strokes after several seconds. The Hare Tribe will be defenseless and then the Hare Tribe will be no more.