“The vampires of Libertia were more welcoming than I might have hoped. They were also more ordinary. There are some who believe vampirism to be a state of disease. I’m inclined to agree.”

~ Bek Trent, M.A.S.O

Once more, the world sings with the sounds of the night. Laden with the damp of a thick fog, it hangs with all the scents of the world. Strange, midnight flowers, cold stone, even insects. And magic, of course. In this strange land, there is always magic, everywhere.

Elorian snorts, ears laid back, when she sees Faei rise and leave them. The humans pay her no mind when she follows, nudging open the door with her nose to slink out into the night. It greets her, the light of the moon chill across her spine.

So does Faei.

He stands before her, eerie twilight eyes bright with the light of the stars.

“Have you decided to tell me what followed us here?” the wolf asks, mincing no words in the lay of her ears and tail. Faei also wastes no breath on her. He turns, trotting through the cobbled streets.

“Follow me.”

Not a sound has passed between them, but no beast would question that they move together as they slide like ghosts from street to street, traveling ever deeper into the city of the vampires. No one tries to stop them, and it is not long before they find the fog, coiling like some great serpent around the stony edifices of the gates at the edge of the sacred city. Faei passes these as well, trotting beyond the walls of the city itself. He stops, finally, at the edge of a great clearing. The fog is too thick to see much of it, but the wolf’s nose is not so easily fooled.

“What is this place?” she asks in the slow drop of her skull. Faei turns from the field to look at her fully, topaz eyes shadowed.

“You do not know?”

“A place of death,” she growls.

Snapping his jaws lightly, he draws her gaze up to the nearest trees. They smell strangely sweet.

“Do not allow the human near this place alone,” Faei warns.

“Why?”

“Those that followed us remain here.”

Still they are silent, their words little more than movement in the thick fog. Elorian makes clear in the chink of tooth above her dark lips that she is not pleased with how little he tells her. Faei seems unconcerned.

“There are secrets, wolf who is not a wolf…secrets of this world that must remain, always, lost. Around us, great shadows move. The world turns without heed to our kind, and yet, that is not to say it does not care. We are watched, even now,” Faei tells her.

Turning her emerald eyes to the fog, Elorian looks around them, nose questing in the open air. Faei turns, brushing his nose in the soft fur at the edge of her cheekbones in an affectionate gesture. The meaning is clear.

“Do not speak to them. Do not look at them. If you would protect the human whose side you take, you must never look beyond this world. Never question it. Take your peace, and carry it with you.”

He passes her, their shoulders brushing, to move back in the direction of the city.

“Illian comes. Tell your human.”

Although she follows after him, into the fog, Faei is gone long before Elorian reaches the city. Vanished like a ghost. The wolf glances behind her once before entering the city’s stony walls, emerald eyes unable to pierce the fog. There is nothing behind her but the night, thick and chill.

When she finally comes to the room in the city of vampires where Silver sleeps, it is to find the girl awake, staring in silence out the window. No one speaks to Silver, and Cevora watches the wolf go to the girl to press a cold nose to her cheek.

“Foolish human,” the wolf rumbles, understanding already. Silver turns to look at her, eyes dark with unspoken questions. And with fear.

“Why am I even here, Elorian?” she asks angrily, seeming not to care that the other humans overhear. Elorian feels their eyes on the two of them.

“A question you don’t live your life knowing, but live your life to know,” Elorian rumbles softly, ducking her head as Silver digs her fingers into the fur behind the wolf’s ears. No more words. Silence falls between them as Silver returns to staring out the window, jaw clenched. The wolf feels other fingers in her fur, and turns to see the dark-haired woman, stroking her back tentatively.

“Silver,” the woman says, casting the wolf a small smile, “what did Bek say to you?”

“Or was it Estir,” Cevora suggests a bit coldly, “she’s on watch tonight. I never expected her to be so disgusted by the vampires.”

“I’m sure it has to do with Holtson,” Silver says flatly, “she’s not disgusted by the vampires, just be me. It’s my fault we had to abandon the outpost, too. I don’t blame her.”

“What did you say to Holtson right before…you know. I was too far away to hear, but Estir was close enough,” Sori asks.

Silver shakes her head, clearly not wanting to say more about that day.

“The matter with the outpost is done, and there’s no use in worrying about it now. Illian knows what he’s doing,” Cevora says, reaching for a comb as she unties her hair.

“I really think the problem is the vampires,” Sori adds.

“If so, that doesn’t help anything,” Silver says grumpily. The wolf huffs.

“No one with half a brain in their head thinks you would betray us for the vampires just because they seemed to think you were one of them,” Cevora says assuredly, eyeing Silver as if trying to understand what is going through her mind. The wolf senses a little of it, but even for her, it is hard to understand.

“They are right,” Elorian rumbles, pressing up against Silver’s shoulder. The girl exhales harshly.

“Why did the vampires think that? That’s what I want to know, Cevora. Why? Why is everyone…” she bites off her own words, staring at the three of them accusingly. Then her expression softens, weary.

“They’ll try to divide us,” Cevora says matter-of-factly, “even as our allies. You’ve been put in a difficult position, Silver, but we need the vampires, so I must ask you to do everything you can to keep Olrier on our side. Don’t allow yourself to think you’re anything but invaluable to the Juran. Illian has told me many times that we cannot afford to lose you. I once thought it was funny. Some random Atlantian who knows nothing of our customs…but he was right.”

Silence falls again, and now the wolf fills it, knowing from the shift in the air that what the girl needed to hear has been said.

“I have a message from Faei,” she rumbles, catching Silver’s attention. “Illian comes. We must greet him.”