CHAPTER 156

CHAPTER 156
The Northern Alliance

He concealed himself behind a crumbled boulder, snow-covered upon his cloak. In front of him stood the fortress of Winter Wolf clan … its quietness an expanse of gray that arose from the snow like an open wound. Its torches upon its walls fluttered in the wind. An hour hence, he was to be taking audience of their Alpha: as ruthless as he was cunning. Tonight, however, Joel needed cunning, and not mercy.

He checked his blade edge. Sharp to cut sinew in one blow. Good. He stood, shook snow from his clothing, and walked toward gates, face inexpressive.

One of them advanced. "Name!" bellowed the guard, voice ringing out.

"Alpha Joel of Silvermoom pack," he replied firmly, even as his heart thundered in his ribcage.

The guard stopped, and stooped in, torch behind him. The heavy iron gates swung open. He passed inside, two men-at-arms following him. Inside, the courtyard lay spread before him in an unbroken expanse of shadows. Wolfskins stared down from battlements.

Before him stood an ice platform adorned with intricate engravings. On it stood Winter Wolf Alpha … tall, gray-haired, one silver-sharp glint in one eye, one milky white in the other. His fur cloak flowed behind him like a fallen star.

"Alpha Joel," growled one of the northerners, voice scraping like rock. "elcome to Frostkeep."

Joel cocking his head back. "Your hospitality is cold.”

The Alpha smiled slightly. "Come in. It's warm inside."

They entered into the grand hall. Adorned on walls were sculpted ice murals depicting battles of historic times. There was a hearth in the center, heat coming off of bronze grates. On opposite sculpted-ice throne-like chairs, sat Joel and his host.

"Speak directly," began the Winter Wolf. "I know why you've come."

He gritted his teeth. "I require your assistance."

"Seeking allies to fight against invading evil," said the Alpha. "Blood magic wolves that turned rogue. Forbidden rituals." He exhaled, a cloud of mist.
"Polluting the earth."

Joel nodded. "It's Lena's bloodline, my partner's ancestry. I have to strike back."

The Winter Wolf nodded his head slightly. "Show me your determination. Or, else, I won't send my warriors."

COMMANDER PAWSEY stood up. "

The Alpha leaped up from his throne and drew his sword. "We put your iron to the test."

Joel drew his own sword. Steel clashed against flame as sparks flew. The hall was quiet. There were dozens of watchers on the walls.

The fight began. Joel moved elegantly, dodging the Alpha's opening strike. Metal clashed as blade struck blade. Joel parried, riposted, forcing back the Winter Wolf. The Alpha smiled grimly.

"You fight well for one possessed by prophecy," growled he in-between blows

Joel lashed back quickly … a cutting blow down the Alpha's forearm. Silver blood ran into dark furs.

The bystanders gasped

The Alpha brought his hand to his wound. "Impressive."

Joel moved up, his sword pressed against his chest. The Alpha remained stationary.

You would have killed me, Joel said.

Alpha's white eye glowed. "Only if I failed."

Joel lost his weapon. "And now?"

"Now," said the Alpha, wiping down his sword, "we speak of war."

They gave bloody knives to assistants. Joel sat, as usual, in his chair.

The Alpha nodded to the map that was drawn into the table of ice. "Here." His gloved index finger hit a mountain pass on it. "The marauding convoy climbs up through the Frostreach on the evening of the new moon." They carry artifacts of dark magic. skulls of the Fallen Pack.

"rumors?" he said, his mouth tightening

The Alpha nodded. "The mages intend to use your mate's blood to awaken the fury of the Moon Goddess. You can't let that occur."

His fists were clenched tightly. "I won't

"Attack, then, together." The Alpha's blue eyes were as cold as frost. "My warriors and yours. At midnight."

He calculated it in his head. The pass was tight, ideal for an ambush. Rogues could not pass through it. "How about spiritual wards?"

The Alpha massaged his temple. "My seer, she shall guide us. She senses the blood magic current. She shall recognize the relic's wielder."

Joel exhaled. "At dawn, then, we ride to rest, at sundown, we gather. At midnight, we ambush."

The Alpha's ominous smile. "Agreed."

Joel stood up. "One more question."

The Alpha nodded his head affirmatively

"So what?" he continued. "Then?"

The Alpha's one eye sparkled. "Then we carve a warning in runes on the ground: 'Blood doesn't bind the living.'"

Joel nodded. They won't even attempt it.

They clinched forearms in oath like soldiers. The crowd applauded.

Joel allowed himself an instant of indulgence …  a momentary gentleness in his heart

But as the echoes dissipated, uncertainty began creeping back in once more. Lena's prophecy. The shadows that pursued Emerald. The weight of what he promised to protect.

He turned and left the throne room.

The wind whistled outside.

A breath-misted messengerwolf came running, eyes wide open, "Alpha Joel. Alpha Frostkeep reports that the convoy departed ahead of schedule."

His heart raced. "Early?"

Two hours, replied the messenger.

Joel's wolf growled.

He pushed his hand through his hair again. "They're jittery, naturally. They know that we're coming."

The messenger bowed. "Orders, Your Excellency?"

Joel's face grew stern. "We adjust. We attack tonight, not midnight."

The courier stopped, and hurried away.

Joel gazed up at the darkening sky. Flakes of snow drifted like ash.
He imagined Emerald alone in the cabin, suspicious eyes looking out of the window.

He steeled himself. War had come. He stood up to it.

Whispering to the wind as he ran to round up his men, "It isn't war, it's a hunt."

Joel ducked into the war tent erected just beyond to the north of the fortress. Really, he slid into an enclosed compartment of candle-lit dancing shadows that distorted his assembled lieutenants' faces into unrecognizability. Maps were laid on the ground, red chalk streaking to map unauthorized movement. Cold penetrated even most dense furs, but even he was warm. taut, coiling behind his rib cage.

"Three points of attack," his second officer answered back. "Seize the ridge, Winter Wolves attack from the rear. In case of falling back, intercept them in the basin."

He traced his finger down the red line. "No prisoners. There exist no artifacts that pass."

One of the younger warriors halted and gazed. "And if the relic is.living?"

He stopped. He remembered Emerald once more. her pale face, this streak of fatigue under her eyes, these markings which curled up her arm like secrets.

"And then we burn it," he said icily.

Silence ensued.

He waved aside the lieutenants, bending his head curtly to dismiss them. The Winter Wolf Alpha walked alone as they left, shaking snow off his back. His face was blank, but his eyes carried the burden of men who had discovered more than snow.

"She's claimed," growled the Alpha, his voice heavy with seriousness. "The Blood Bond leaves no one unmarked."

Joel stayed quiet.

"Lena was your enemy once," the old Alpha murmured, pacing around the circle of fire. "But prior to that, she was mine. Do you know why she ran away?"

Joel's brow furrowed. "In that, she did

The laugh of the Alpha was menacing. "No, She spared him."

His head jerked up.

She was to perform it on her own sister, he told her, his voice hardly above a growl. "But she could not," he continued. She took the girl and concealed her heritage in plain sight. That blood does not sleep, Joel. It waits.

A chill ran down his back, colder than mountain air.

"Emerald," he whispered

The Alpha agreed with a nod. "You cannot shield her from what she was born to awaken."

He glared at the maps, his jaw clenched tight. "I'll kill whatever attempts to reach her."

The Alpha did not protest, he simply said, "I hope you're strong enough."

The gusts outside shrieked like a dying deity.

At sundown, Joel rode, waiting. His warriors stood to either side of him, breathing frost into evening's chill air. Behind them, beyond the other ridge, stood warriors of the Winter Wolf, ghostly figures of deadly skill.

Joel caught sight of the outlaw band from his vantage on Frostreach Pass's heights: dark figures leading wagonloads of iron and bone down through snow. Arcane lanterns cast them an unearthly hue. One of them carried something covered in dark material riding inside. The artifact.

His wolf stirred within him, growling

Joel raised his hand.

Wait!

The pass was buffeted by a gust of air. Whispers echoed. strange incantations, slow and hypnotic They were getting something ready.

The seer, Winter Wolf, stepped to stand beside Joel. She had eyes pale as milk, and her mouth was stained red from chewing herbs.

"She is not there," said the seer abruptly.

He stiffened up.

"Your lover." She spat it out in distaste. "She is not the relic, but she is bound to it."

His heart raced. "Tell She is a mirror. They need her to reflect the Rite. Re-enact it. That is where they will awaken what slumbers. His hold on his reins tightened. "I'll smash that mirror before that's possible."