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By Root 657 0

by, she was in big trouble. Lupins were shape-shifting creatures that came to Gaela through the corridors from an ancient land—outcast or of their own accord, she didn’t know. The accounts claimed they were wolves by day and human by night. Or was it the other way around? She didn’t quite recall, but they were reputed to have strange powers—mind control being one of them. The only thing consistent in all the tales was their voracious appetite for blood. There was no chance of survival should their ire be raised. She shuddered. Myth portrayed them as survivors of a tragic race, one hunted to near extinction. Some thought they were just a story told to keep children from wandering at night. Others swore they were real.

The stories said they had fallen from grace in that other world and they couldn’t return. It didn’t make them happy. She didn’t know how it had happened—the sundering—and right now she wished she’d studied her history more diligently. It was clear they were not just a bedtime story.

She scanned her memory. If anyone had a big enough heart, they might befriend the Lupins. Big heart? Rosette was simply trying to control her shaking limbs. She knew Lupins were to be avoided. That was at the beginning and end of every account she had ever read. So why were they seeking them out? Messengers? For whom?

Think. Think. Think! she urged her frozen mind.

What had An’ Lawrence said? He didn’t know who she would send? What did that mean?

Kreshkali!

The Lupins were said to inhabit the labyrinths beneath the mountains—the landscapes of the nether world hidden from the sun. The only one strong enough to command the Lupins would have been Kreshkali—the legendary witch of the labyrinths. What could Treeon possibly want with her? She also was to be avoided at all costs.

‘So they’re not make-believe creatures after all?’ Rosette whispered to An’ Lawrence as the Lupins approached.

‘Hardly,’ he replied.

‘What’s our business with them?’

‘We’re here to make a trade.’

‘What are we trading?’

‘Hush!’

Rosette had no more time to wonder. The Lupins advanced, large dark wolves, sleek and beautiful, treading lightly over the snow. Their images shifted and blurred. A shock wave hit her as their front legs rose from the ground and they stood upright. Long snouts flattened, altering canine fangs and lolling red tongues into smooth, clear faces. Human faces. Angelic faces. Their tails vanished, and all three now appeared clothed in leather—dusky black, like their curling hair. They were male and their dark eyes narrowed in the light as the sun flashed fully from behind a cloud. They drew in the air, until their gaze fell on her. Their attention made her throat dry—impossible to swallow.

They halted as one before the Sword Master, but their gleaming eyes were not on him, or the familiars. They were on Rosette.

‘Why are you here, An’ Lawrence?’ the central Lupin asked, his voice deep, the words articulate.

‘They know you by name?’ Rosette whispered through chattering teeth.

He ignored her, his full attention on the central Lupin. ‘We have come to offer a trade.’

She wondered how An’ Lawrence could speak with such confidence. Her neck felt like it was in a noose. She didn’t think another word could escape without her voice squeaking and cracking.

Panic rose and she increased her mind-shield, calming herself and her thoughts as best she could. Then she noticed something even more unusual about the Lupins. The way they behaved and moved so subtly, it was almost as though they were one entity.

She sent a silent message to Drayco. How many do you see?

Three.

But how many do you sense?

Drayco took a moment to reply before she heard his silent answer filtering through her mind-shield. Interesting, Maudi. They communicate as one. They’re linked.

Rosette reached forward and tugged on the Sword Master’s coat, but he brushed her hand away. She tried to send a mental message, but his shield was up, impenetrable.

Tell Scylla, Rosette instructed Drayco. Tell her to tell him.

His familiar got through. She knew he had received the message