day seven.
meera's trial week ended. nobody mentioned it.
good sign. or terrible sign. hard to tell with beastmen.
tor worked on northeast wall. steady rhythm of chisel on stone. renna—stoneback renna—helped. grom had left three days ago carrying their story west.
reputation spreading. seeds in wind.
but something else spreading too.
during morning water-run, meera found bones. fresh-ish. some animal—deer maybe—stripped clean and arranged. deliberately. forming pattern.
kael crouched beside her. nostrils flaring. "bloodforge markers. territory claim. means they passed through recently."
stomach dropping. "how recently?"
"days. week at most." he touched bone. pulled back like burned. "they marked toward us. deliberate message."
great. just great.
meera hauled water from spring. fourth trip today. shoulders screaming. but cistern tor designed needed filling. future water. future survival. future everything.
assuming they had future.
kael hunted with younger shadowpaw male—arin—and his sister elyx. teaching pack tactics. elyx was quick, clever. arin slower but stronger. both learning fast.
grat stoneback—quiet older male—helped tor with heavy lifting. didn't talk much. worked like he was apologizing for existing.
zira feathered scout. fierce. loyal. her younger brother eshan slept too much, ate too little. grief-sick over something he wouldn't name.
sivan tended herb garden. tiny thing. three plants. but growing.
progress everywhere.
small. precious. fragile.
then eshan collapsed.
not tired-collapsed. dying-collapsed.
the younger windborn hit ground mid-step. convulsing. foam at mouth. eyes rolling back.
"SIVAN!" meera screamed.
serpent's kin was there in seconds. fingers on pulse. tongue tasting air around eshan's mouth.
"poison berries." sivan's voice went flat. clinical. "he ate the purple ones by the east ridge. we told him—" they stopped. no time for blame. "I need clay. water. charcoal. NOW."
everyone moved.
meera watched sivan work. forcing charcoal paste down eshan's throat. inducing vomiting. pressing cold clay to forehead. muttering in serpent-tongue—prayers or curses or both.
zira stood rigid. watching brother die. couldn't help. couldn't look away.
hours passed. eshan's breathing went wrong. then more wrong. then stopped.
stopped.
sivan pressed chest. rhythmic. desperate. "come on. come on."
nothing.
then—
cough. weak. alive.
eshan's eyes opened. confused. scared. breathing.
zira's legs gave out. she sat in dust. shaking.
"he'll live," sivan said. exhausted. "but close. very close. another ten minutes..." they didn't finish.
wilderness didn't forgive mistakes. one wrong berry. one moment of hunger-driven stupidity. death.
meera looked at remaining berries in eshan's pouch. pretty purple things. looked almost like blueberries.
"everyone learns tonight," she said. "sivan teaches what's safe. what kills. no exceptions."
lesson in survival: even the beautiful things could destroy you.
zira appeared at spring. restless energy. feathers puffed wrong. "company coming. sky approach."
meera straightened. hand automatically going to knife. "threat?"
"don't know. windborn by flight pattern. solo. fast. erratic." zira's golden eyes narrowed. "not confident flight. injured maybe. or exhausted."
different from expected.
they climbed back to cave. tor already positioning himself at entrance. kael flanking. defensive formation without being told.
becoming pack. becoming family. becoming something.
dot appeared in sky. growing. wobbling.
meera squinted. flight pattern definitely wrong. too low. too uneven.
then a voice. strained. desperate. absolutely wrong for casual arrival.
"help! room for crash landing? wings giving out!"
figure dropped last forty feet. didn't land—collapsed. tumbled. rolled. came to stop in dust cloud.
windborn male. auburn feathered crest matted with blood. golden eyes glazed with pain. wiry build. maybe five-eleven. left wing extended at wrong angle.
not laughing. barely breathing.
kael moved first. cautious but fast. checked pulse. checked wounds.
"alive. wing dislocated. dehydrated. three days without proper rest by the smell." he looked at sivan. "he needs you."
sivan emerged from shadows. all business. "bring him inside. gently. and someone bring water with salt—he needs minerals."
windborn stirred as they lifted him. tried to speak. voice cracking. "didn't know where else... heard rumors... human settlement that doesn't kill..."
"save your strength," meera said. "you're safe. for now."
"for now." he laughed. caught himself. winced. "that's... honest. I like honest."
three hours later windborn conscious enough to talk.
sat propped against wall. wing wrapped tight. sivan's herbs working their magic. color returning to face.
"rion of the scattered winds," he said. "scout. messenger. occasional thief when times are lean." pause. swallow. "and currently, refugee from bloodforge ambush."
everyone tensed.
"explain," kael growled.
rion's playful expression flickered. something darker underneath. "was scouting monsoon valley. normal route. spotted bloodforge war party—thirty warriors. making camp. preparing something big." he shuddered. "they caught me watching. chased me two days. wing got clipped. barely escaped."
meera's blood ran cold. "thirty warriors? where?"
"fifteen miles west. maybe less now. they're not moving fast. confident. hunting."
"hunting what?" tor asked.
"not what. who." rion's golden eyes found meera. "they're talking about 'human settlement.' 'mixed-clan abomination.' 'purging beast-lovers.' specific targets. specific hatred."
they knew. somehow bloodforge knew about them.
grat's departure. spreading word. double-edged sword. reputation reaching wrong ears.
"how long until they reach us?" kael's voice tight.
rion calculated. "if they're moving siege-slow with equipment? week. ten days maybe. if they decide to rush..." he shrugged. "three days. four."
silence. heavy. suffocating.
meera's mind raced. thirty versus twelve. terrible odds. worse than terrible.
tor spoke. calm as ever. "we fortify. build defenses. prepare for siege."
"or we run," zira offered. "find new territory. avoid fight."
"run where?" kael voice harsh. "this cave is defensible. water nearby. resources known. anywhere else we start from nothing. in hostile territory. possibly worse odds."
"fight we probably die. run we definitely suffer." arin the younger shadowpaw looked grim. elyx beside him nodded agreement. "excellent options."
sivan slithered closer. scales catching firelight. "there's something else." their voice had edge. unusual. "I've been having... dreams. visions. since the sky-fire."
everyone looked.
"what kind of visions?" meera asked.
sivan's pupils dilated. contracted. sign of internal struggle.
"I see a city. built on bones of something ancient. thousands of faces—human, beastman, things I don't recognize. and at its center—" they stopped. abruptly. closed mouth. looked away.
"at its center what?" meera pressed.
"I can't tell you."
"what?"
"if I tell you what I see..." sivan's voice went strange. distant. almost frightened. "you'll try to prevent it. and that will make it happen faster. some futures are like that. fighting them feeds them."
silence. heavy. suffocating.
"that's not fair," rion said. "you can't just—"
"fair?" sivan laughed. bitter. "since when is anything fair? I see things I can't share. know truths that would break you. carry futures in my head that—" they stopped. breathed. controlled. "I'm sorry. it's... difficult."
meera reached out. touched sivan's scaled hand. cool under her palm.
"what CAN you tell me?"
sivan's pupils found hers. vertical slits full of knowledge they couldn't share.
"you're at the center. always. everything... converges on you. I don't know why. I don't know what you're meant to become. but I know this—" their voice dropped to near-whisper, "—the Shepherd chose you. and that means something. something old. something terrible. something necessary."
"the Shepherd?" kael stepped forward. "you know about that?"
"every serpent's kin knows about the Shepherd." sivan's scales rippled. fear-response. "we remember what others forget. we remember what happened to the Chosen Ones."
"what happened to them?"
silence.
"ask tor. see if he tells you." sivan pulled back. "because I won't. not yet. not until you're ready."
more withheld knowledge. more questions without answers.
meera's frustration boiled. "everyone keeps secrets! tor won't tell me. you won't tell me. what is everyone so afraid of?"
"the same thing." sivan's voice was terribly gentle. "we're afraid of what you'll become."
before meera could respond, kael spoke. voice cold.
"there's something else we need to discuss. how did bloodforge know our numbers so precisely?"
the question dropped like stone.
"rion was spotted—" tor started.
"yes. but rion was spotted watching. bloodforge knew specifics. layout. routines. patrol patterns." kael's amber eyes swept the group. "someone gave them detailed information. someone who knew red hollow."
meera's blood went ice.
kiran.
"my ex-fiancé sold me to varak," she heard herself say. "for five weapons. if he survived the purge... if he found bloodforge..."
"then they know everything." kael finished. "your habits. your weaknesses. you."
silence.
"kiran's alive?" rion asked.
"I don't know." meera's voice was hollow. "I assumed varak killed him after getting what he wanted. but if he didn't..."
then kiran was out there. carrying her secrets. feeding them to enemies.
the man who'd kissed her. proposed to her. betrayed her.
coming back to finish the job.
great. just great.
meera pushed it aside. later. solve now. panic later.
"information," she said aloud. "that's our advantage."
everyone looking.
"we have rion. windborn scout. aerial advantage. we see them coming. track movements. plan response." ideas clicking together like father taught. jugaad warfare. "we have tor. defensive architecture. walls. traps. positioning." more pieces falling. "we have sivan. poisons. medicines. psychological warfare."
sivan's pupils dilated. "I like where this is going."
"we can't win straight fight. so we don't fight straight." meera looked around circle. "we make it costly. dangerous. unpredictable. we make this cave look like hornet nest. something not worth disturbing."
kael studied her. long moment. then slowly nodded. "asymmetric warfare. pack tactics scaled up."
"exactly."
tor rumbled. "I'll need workers. materials. time to build properly."
"you have everyone here. we work shifts. hunting. building. planning." meera felt something settling in chest. purpose. direction. control. "bloodforge wants territory? we make them reconsider."
rion tried to sit straighter. winced. "from 'maybe we'll survive the week' to 'let's fight off thirty warriors' in seven days. you work fast human."
"meera," she corrected.
"what?"
"my name. meera. use it."
rion's grin—first genuine one—broke through pain. "meera who builds instead of breaks. alright." he sketched mock salute with uninjured arm. "you want aerial surveys when wing heals? terrain mapping? I'm your bird."
"both. also escape routes. if things go wrong we need exits."
"planning for failure. pragmatic." rion approved. "I like you more every minute."
sivan hissed quiet amusement. "that's dangerous for windborn. liking leads to staying."
"shut up beautiful danger."
"make me sky rat."
their banter continued. easy despite circumstances. tension relief through words.
"do you two ever stop flirting?" kael asked. flat.
"we're not—" rion started.
"—it's not—" sivan overlapped.
they looked at each other. burst out laughing.
"okay maybe a little," rion admitted.
"it passes time," sivan said. "you should try it. might relax that permanently clenched jaw."
kael's expression suggested he'd rather eat rocks.
meera snorted. tried to hide it. failed.
"something funny?" kael asked her.
"nothing. just—" she gestured at his face. "you look like someone force-fed you lemon."
"I look like someone surrounded by idiots."
"grumpy idiots who like you anyway."
pause. something flickered across kael's expression. almost vulnerable.
"I don't need—"
"everyone needs," meera said. softer. "even alphas."
their eyes held. longer than necessary. something crackling in that space.
rion coughed dramatically. "get a cave you two."
moment broke. meera looked away. face warm.
what was that?
morning brought horror.
zira's patrol discovered intruder near eastern ridge.
kael dragged them back to camp. everyone gathered. weapons ready.
the "intruder" was bloodforge scout.
the scout was a child.
maybe ten years old. shadowpaw juvenile. thin. terrified. wearing bloodforge markers—bone and red paint.
"found him watching our perimeter," zira reported. "mapping routines. counting heads."
spy. enemy spy.
child enemy spy.
meera's stomach turned.
"what do we do with him?" arin asked. voice careful.
silence. heavy. suffocating.
grat spoke—rare enough that everyone turned. "bloodforge children are raised as weapons. this one goes back, tells varak everything. our numbers. our defenses. our weaknesses." pause. "then he leads warriors here to kill us all."
truth. brutal truth.
"so we kill him first?" elyx asked. not eager. not horrified either. practical.
the child whimpered.
"he's a child," meera said.
"he's a spy," kael countered. but his voice had edge. internal struggle visible. "if we let him go, he reports to varak. if varak knows our numbers, our defenses—"
"we die," tor finished.
"and if we kill him?" meera looked around circle. "what does that make us?"
"survivors," zira said.
"monsters," meera countered. "no different from bloodforge."
standoff. moral weight pressing down.
sivan spoke. voice quiet. "there's a third option."
everyone looked.
"we keep him. raise him. show him different way." sivan's pupils dilated. "serpent's kin did this sometimes. took enemy young. converted them. made them family instead of threat."
"he'll betray us," kael growled. "first chance."
"maybe." sivan shrugged. "or maybe he won't. children adapt. this one's been beaten—look at the scars. starved—look at the ribs. bloodforge didn't love him. we could."
the child looked up. eyes huge. terrified. hopeful?
meera crouched. met his eyes. "what's your name?"
"t-tarak."
"tarak. do you want to go back to bloodforge?"
silence. then small shake of head.
"they'll kill me for failing," he whispered. "varak doesn't tolerate failure."
varak. always varak. poison spreading.
meera stood. "we keep him. watch him. teach him. if he betrays us—" she looked at kael, "—you do what alphas do. but until then, he's ours."
"you're betting our lives on a child's word," kael said.
"I'm betting on something else." meera touched her chest. "same thing my father bet on. people can change. people can choose better. even people raised wrong."
she was talking about more than tarak. she was talking about everyone here. outcasts. rejects. broken things trying to become whole.
kael held her gaze. long moment.
"one chance," he said finally. "one betrayal, and—"
"understood."
tarak burst into tears. not sure if relief or terror.
elyx, surprisingly, moved first. put hand on his shoulder. "hey. it's okay. we're scary but we don't eat children."
"...much," rion added.
elyx threw rock at him. hit his injured wing. he yelped.
"you deserved that," sivan said.
"I know."
despite everything, tarak laughed. small sound. first step toward belonging.
meera watched group absorb enemy child. watched kael's rigid posture slowly relax. watched tarak's terror give way to confusion give way to fragile hope.
dad would've been proud.
dad also would've said I'm an idiot.
probably both.
meera watched group fall into planning mode. kael assigning patrol routes. tor sketching defensive walls. arin and elyx discussing ambush points. grat silently hauling stone. renna calculating supplies.
twelve becoming unit.
twelve becoming army.
small army. undertrained. under-supplied. but theirs.
night deepened. planning ran late. eventually people collapsed into bedrolls. exhaustion winning.
meera sat at cave entrance. too wired for sleep. mind spinning scenarios.
footsteps behind. multiple.
not just rion. kael too. and tor lingering at edge of firelight.
three males. all watching her.
something shifted in chest. awareness. unease. warmth.
rion sat beside her. wing immobilized but eyes bright. "can't sleep either?"
"too much planning."
"too much caring more like." rion's voice lost playful edge. serious. "you're invested. dangerous for someone in wasteland."
"so I've heard."
kael moved closer. not sitting. standing guard. but closer than usual.
tor stayed at edge. patient. observing.
they sat in silence. almost comfortable.
"can I ask something?" rion's voice serious now.
"yes."
"why are you doing this? really? you're human. you could find human settlement. hide among your kind. relative safety. instead you're here with outcasts building impossible dream." golden eyes found hers. "why?"
meera thought about father. red hollow. kiran's betrayal. three days of running.
"because hiding didn't save my father. lying didn't protect my people. being careful didn't prevent murder." words came easier in darkness. "I tried safe. safe failed. so now I'm trying something else."
"stupid reckless hope?"
"pretty much."
rion laughed. soft. genuinely warm. "okay. I'm in. that's my aesthetic too."
"thought you didn't commit. don't stay. don't care."
"I don't." but his voice said different. "except when I do. which is rare. and terrifying. and apparently happening right now because you smell like—" he stopped. blinked. "wait. you smell like... storm winds. ozone. freedom."
not again.
"everyone keeps saying things about my scent," meera said flatly. "I don't understand it."
kael moved. suddenly beside her. "you smell like honeyed smoke and wild earth to me. pack. home. mine."
tor, from distance: "rain on sun-warmed stone. creation waiting to happen."
sivan emerged from shadows. because of course they were listening. "night-blooming jasmine. river at dusk. mystery and healing."
four different descriptions. four different males.
"this is insane," meera whispered.
"this is fated bonds," sivan said. "your body calls to theirs. different frequencies for different souls. but all leading to you."
"I didn't ask for this!"
"no one asks. it happens. like monsoons. like sunrise." sivan's voice gentled. "fight it or accept it. but it won't stop."
rion looked between others. "wait. you're ALL bonding to her? all of us?" his laugh went slightly hysterical. "oh that's going to be complicated."
kael growled. "I don't share."
"you might have to," tor rumbled from distance. "or watch her suffer the rejection."
"I'm right here!" meera stood. frustrated. overwhelmed. "I'm not a prize to divide. I'm a person. with opinions. and right now my opinion is that we have thirty warriors coming to kill us and maybe we could focus on that instead of—of whatever this is!"
silence.
then rion laughed. genuine. "she's right. survival first. existential relationship crisis later."
"agreed," kael said. didn't sound happy. but agreed.
tor nodded. returned to shadows.
sivan smiled. knowing. infuriating. "when you're ready to accept truth, I'll explain more. until then—" they tilted head, "—sleep. you need strength."
they dispersed. gradually. rion to corner. kael to entrance. tor somewhere in darkness.
meera sat alone with thoughts.
four males recognizing her as fated mate.
thirty warriors approaching to destroy everything.
sivan seeing a city and refusing to say what stood at its center.
kiran possibly alive. possibly feeding enemies her secrets.
the Shepherd watching from clouds. choosing her for something even tor feared to name.
problems multiplying faster than solutions.
but somewhere, beneath terror, something else.
belonging.
dangerous, complicated, potentially catastrophic belonging.
she'd wanted family. hadn't expected this.
be careful what you wish for, father used to say. gods listen. but they have sense of humor.
across the cave, sivan sat bolt upright.
their eyes had gone wrong—pupils expanded until irises vanished. scales rippling in waves. mouth moving without sound.
"sivan?" meera scrambled up. "sivan, what—"
vision. they were having a vision.
seconds passed. eternities.
then sivan's eyes snapped back to normal. they looked at meera. directly. terrified.
"go to sleep," they whispered. voice cracking. "right now. don't ask me why. just—sleep. please."
"what did you see?"
"meera. please."
something in sivan's voice. not usual cryptic mystery. genuine fear.
"tell me."
"I saw—" they stopped. shook head violently. "no. I can't. if I tell you, you'll watch for it. and watching for it makes it happen. trust me. just... tomorrow. tomorrow we prepare. tonight you sleep. you need to sleep."
"sivan—"
"I'll tell you when I understand what I saw." sivan's voice steadied. barely. "some visions are metaphor. some are literal. I need to know which. until then... just survive tonight."
survive tonight?
what did that mean?
what was coming TONIGHT?
but sivan wouldn't say more. curled into corner. scales dimmed to near-black. hiding.
meera didn't sleep.
couldn't sleep.
somewhere in the marches, thirty warriors camped.
somewhere behind the clouds, the Shepherd watched.
somewhere in sivan's head, a vision of something terrible waited to be understood.
and tomorrow everything would change.
she just didn't know how.
To be continued...