"A blade at the gate is a danger, and a whisper in the dark can end a tribe before the bell is ever sounded... Haven's future looks bleak."
The bells' echo still lingered in Eris's ears long after the sound had ceased.
The Great Elder turned, catching Eris's eye for a split second. No lecture, just a subtle, knowing tilt of the head. An invitation.
Eris felt a surge of hope. He wasn't a freak. He was a student. If Elder Ruvio could command a pack with a thought... maybe he could use silver to help Haven, without it burning him alive from the inside out.
"Eris? You coming?" Kaylah asked, grounding him.
He looked at her, then Elder Ruvio's back. "Yeah," he whispered. "I'm coming. Everything is different now, Kaylah. Everything."
The sun dipped below the horizon, dimming the light. Barik's team was beat, exhausted from a day's travel. They'd left Haven at sunrise and returned at dusk.
Torches flickered. Voices returned, cautious and low. A child laughed sharp, then was hushed. Eris stood frozen, eyes on the dark trees. He could still feel it, the echo of the Great Elder's thought, steady and deliberate.
Not like Eris's own raw, instinctive connection to Jag. Eris's link to the silver was a flickering candle compared to Elder Ruvio's sun.
He's like me, Eris thought, breath catching. No, he's what I'm supposed to become.
He had a lot to learn. Watching Elder Ruvio communicate with Jag was like seeing a master musician play, Eris had only hit with a stick. Fluid. Authoritative. No static. He turned to Jag. Through their link, he felt Elder Ruvio's message still echoing.
For the first time, Jag's thoughts weren't just instincts and hunger; they were colored by recognition. The ridge's "Queen" had recognized a mountain "King."
Jag's ears flicked toward Eris, and he felt a nudge: The Old One understands the Sky-Fire. He speaks the True Blood.
Kaylah sensed Eris's mind wandering. She glanced at Jag, then the Great Elder, and caught his thought. "It's not just you, Eris," Kaylah muttered. "The Great Elder could communicate with Jag... maybe not just her."
The thought loosened something in his chest he hadn't known was tight.
He had feared, though he'd never named it, that what he shared with Jag was a fluke. Or worse, a mistake. Something borrowed from the silver that might vanish or turn against him without warning.
But the Great Elder's mind had touched the pack without force.
Not command.
Recognition.
This was the ultimate validation. Every time Eris had translated for the pack, a small, nagging part of him wondered if he was just imagining the complexity of their thoughts, if he was just a boy projecting his own loneliness onto a beast. But Elder Ruvio had just bridged that gap with the elegance of a true mental bridge-builder.
Eris glanced at Elder Ruvio's back as the old man spoke with the guards, his posture unassuming, his presence vast in ways no one else seemed to notice. "Stone-listener", came the quiet impression. Not a name. A recognition.
Eris exhaled slow. If the Great Elder could listen, then this path was older than he was.
And if it was older, then perhaps...
You hear them too, Eris sent his thought toward Elder Ruvio.
Eris's breath hitched as the Elder's voice echoed in his mind, clear, as if the old man had spoken directly into his thoughts. You're not alone.
Eris felt awe. The Elder's voice was crystal clear.
And more than that, Eris understood what the exchange between the old man and Jag meant.
It confirmed what he and Jag had sensed all along: that their words had not been twisted by fear or misread by instinct. The pact was real. The terms were shared. The understanding was mutual.
No hunger between us.
Jag's presence brushed his thoughts, faint, approving, already turning away. Her gaze snapped to him, ears flicking forward. You heard that?
Eris didn't answer aloud. His mouth lifted slightly. For the first time, he wasn't alone. Neither was Jag.
***
The transition from the wild to the stone-cold reality of Haven Below was jarring. Before celebratory fires were lit, the Recovery Team was intercepted by guards and escorted to the Council's Meeting Chamber, away from the crowd and murmurs that followed like shadows.
They were led to a place where the air was thin, thick with old parchment and secrets. The inner sanctum was a widened subway station remnant. A long stone table, chairs higher than the rest, faced the audience. Smoke from oil lamps clung to the ceiling, and carved pillars bore marks of older times, some decorative, some not.
The group did not notice as Eris and Kaylah were pulled into the shadows of the hallway. Elder Faren held his hand raised in a silent command for them to watch, but not interfere.
Great Elder Ruvio stood, staff beside him, silhouette flickering in torchlight. Behind him, Elder Faren watched hunters with eyes that counted every drop of blood on tunics.
The Recovery Team formed a rough half-circle, some bandaged and reeking of sweat, blood, and wet fur. And yet, they were excited; the stories for their families and friends were already forming on their tongues. But then, questions burned in their eyes: Why are they here?
Barik hesitated, brow furrowed. "Apologies, Elder. My men are exhausted. They want to meet their families..."
Elder Ruvio spoke, voice like stone. "That's why you're here... "
The Elder stepped closer to the group, away from where Elder Faren tucked the two youngsters.
He held his staff aloft, and the silver crystal at its peak emitted a soft, rhythmic light. It began to hum. A sound vibrated, not in the ears, but directly against the base of the brain of the confused hunters, and harmonized with the heartbeat of every man in the room.
The group stood in a daze; suddenly, their exhaustion finally catching up to them.
The Great Elder did not raise his voice. Softly, he said, "Listen to me."
And the chamber listened. Not with ears, but with minds.
"You are all tired," the Elder whispered, his voice vibrating directly into their consciousness.
He began to pace slowly around the weary men. He brushed his hand through the air, leaving a trail of shimmering silver dust that hung in the stagnant air.
As the strange dust settled over them, their expressions went slack, the sharp edges of their terror smoothing out into a dull, comfortable fog.
A few of them shifted, uncertain.
"You have done well," he continued. "You faced a beast. You survived. You returned with meat and hides and wounded comrades."
Eris felt a faint tightening in his chest. Silver in his veins stirred, alert, wary, sensing a deep current moving beneath the surface of their mind. A vast, calm presence unfolding from Elder Ruvio, not pushing, not tearing, but guiding, smoothing... misdirecting.
"You have carried a heavy burden," the Elder said softly, his eyes glowing with a soft, hypnotic luminescence. "The cave was dark. The air was thin. The shadows played tricks on your eyes."
"The Alpha did not move because of Eris's command," he whispered, his voice becoming a part of their own thoughts. "It moved because it was satiated by the glassback meat."
He paused, showered more silver dust. "Kaylah did not heal with light. She used the salves of the ancestors... your desperation made you see miracles where there was only medicine."
He continued in a slow monotonous tone, "Her hand did not glow... the silver dust in the air merely caught the light of your torches."
"You encountered a 'Rare pack'... a passive breed that has lived in the high ridges for generations," his voice echoed in their minds.
The hum vibrated further in their heads. "They were in the area. They did not hinder you... but followed you home for the scraps. Harmless sentinels, they will stay at the outskirts... beyond the Outer Gate, where they belong."
The staff's crystal glinted brighter as their gaze focused on the light.
The hunters blinked, their brows furrowed, then finally, all nodded in understanding.
"And that is the story that will remain." the voice sounded like an echo in their mind.
The murmur slowly dissipated, leaving only agreement.
Elder Ruvio returned to his seat and lowered his staff. The violet light faded, leaving only the mundane orange glow of the oil lamps. Barik and the others blinked, their eyes clearing as if waking from a long, confusing dream.
The mass-hypnosis was complete.
From the safety of the darkened corridor, Eris, and Kaylah watched in stunned silence. They saw the tension drain from the hunters' faces. The memory of the silver fire, the glowing palms, and the psychic link with the wolves dissolved, replaced by a dull, mundane version of events.
The two emerged from the shadows, their heart heavy. He saw
Sensing no doubt nor confusion, Elder Ruvio's expression shifted subtly. He spoke merrily.
"There will be a small feast in celebration of your accomplishment. And as a reward, some of the meat will be given to the Recovery Team."
"The rest," he added, "will be stored in the central warehouse for the days ahead."
The group rejoiced; their feeling loosened further, like a bowstring eased a notch. They forgot about the truce and the spark of silver in Eris and Kaylah. Only the reward was on their mind.
They were dismissed, left with a different memory, but with the expectation of a hero's welcome and celebration of victory. They walked out of the room feeling lighter, minds wiped clean of the impossible. But as Eris watched them go, he felt the heavy weight of the truth burning even brighter in his chest, a secret he now shared only with Kaylah, and the Elders who played with memories like toys.
The wounded were guided toward the infirmary, limping. The rest were released to their homes, eager to see their families and the firelight.
"What happened in the cave, Cugat?" Elder Rhys asked in the hall, leaning forward with a quill ready.
Cugat, one of the sturdiest hunters, rubbed his temples, his eyes glazed, but excited, "A narrow miss. The Alpha was distracted by a rockfall. Kaylah... she's a damn good medic. Saved them with the old poultices." He shook his head, a small, tired smile forming. "Lucky. We just got lucky."
Elder Lena's eyes widened. "What about the truce?" she asked, baffled.
Cugat scratched his head, puzzled by the question, "What truce? Ah, right. Don't mind them, they're just mountain dogs, really. Followed us home for the scraps. Elder says they'll hang around the outer gate to keep the real pests away. Peaceful creatures, if you don't poke 'em."
When the chamber had nearly emptied, Elder Faren turned to Barik, Eris, and Kaylah, "You three will stay."
***