Chapter 34 The council

Chapter 34 The council

“You speak of Jaxon as if he is a god,” Astraea said. “You speak of war as if it has not already begun. Do you not know why their crops are failing? Why the blight is taking over their forests?”

She looked at the duke in the eye. “Because the south has been stealing the life force of the god gate for a centuries and they used me the zenith they called sickly to cover their thefts.”

A moment of shock went through the hall. “The war is not just coming, duke,” Astraea continued, taking another step forward.

“The war is already here. The north has its heart back and if Jaxon wants the anchor, he can come and try to take it from the hands of the winter.”

“She's a child,” another lord shouted, though his voice was visible shaking. “A child playing with ancient toys.”

Astraea turned her eyes to him.

KNEEL

The command hit the hall like a physical blow. Every lord in the room, including the duke, found their knees shaking.

Their knees hitting into the floor, their bodies reacting to authority before their mind could process the insult.

Astraea stood over them, the silver halo of the crown of thorn, shining with a bright light. “I am the zenith,” she said, her voice low and terrifying, “I am the voice of the moon and the queen of the frost.”

“If any of you believe Jaxon is more powerful than the woman who can make your very blood stop flowing with a thought, then leave now. Go to the south. Tell him the queen of the north is waiting for him."

She looked at the duke, who was gasping for air under the weight of her aura.

"Well, is there any more protest?" The duke shook his head, his eyes filled with a new raw fear and a spark of realization. He saw the goddess Fenris had seen all along.

"Long live the queen," the duke wheezed.

Astraea exhaled and the pressure disappeared. The lords rushed to their feet, their face pale and their arrogance destroyed.

Fenris walked over to her. A dark, proud smile on his face. "The morning has passed. The afternoon brings the hunt. Lords, prepare your packs."

As the lords ran out of the hall to obey, Astraea looked at Fenris. "Was that enough?" she asked, her voice softening.

Fenris pulled her closer into him. His eye shining bright gold. "It was perfect. You didn't just show them you are the zenith. You made them feel it to their bone marrow as well.”

#. #. #. #. #.

The golden sun of the south, once the pride of the Shadow fang pack, was a sick, pale imitation of its former glory, hanging in the sky like a dim lantern, providing light but no warmth.

Inside the great war room, the air was thick with the scent of damp rotteness and desperation. Jaxon stood at the head of the huge table, his eyes fixed on the map of his territories.

The edge of the map were curling, stained black by the creeping blight that had begun to seep through the walls of the manor.

Around him, the council of six elder wolves who had once looked at Jaxon as if he were a god, now looked at him with hollow eyes and shaking hands.

“Report,” Jackson barked, his voice rasping. He looked older, the bright gold of his hair has dulled and there were dark circles under his eyes.

“The western fields are gone, Jaxon,” Elder Brock whispered, his head bowed.
“The wheat turned to ash overnight.”

“We tried to harvest the southern orchards, but the fruit is filled with black bile. The livestock, they are not eating, they are just standing in the fields, staring at the north.”

Jaxon turned around his face filled with anger. “Then force them to eat. Feed them the greens from the reserve.”

“They are no reserves,” Elder Brock said, his voice cracking. “The rot got into the silos, Jaxon. The pack is starting to go hungry.”

Jaxon slammed his fist into the table. The wood groaning. “Then we buy from the east. We have gold. We have gems.”

“The east has closed their borders,” another council member interrupted, wiping sweat from his brow.

“They have heard the rumors. They say the Shadow fang is cursed. They say the sun spirits have left our soil.”

Jaxon turned, “Cursed. We are the strongest pack in the realm. The healer told us that removing the sickly elements from our bloodline will bring a new era. They said Astraea was a parasite draining our vitality.”

“And there is… there is more.”

Jaxon stepped forward, grabbing the man by his collar and holding him up. “What's more? Speak!”

“The young ones,” the man wheezed. “Two more yearlings have tried to shift this morning during the rites. The...They couldn't finish it, Jaxon.”

“Their bones wouldn't move. They are stuck halfway, twisted, screaming. The healer said the wolves are losing their form.”

“It's because of Astraea,” Jaxon hissed, his eyes wild. “The enforcers reported back before they were lost. They saw her fall.”

“They saw her broken body disappear into the midst of the deadlands. Her death must have released some kind of final cause. She has always been spiteful.”

“The enforcers never came home, Jaxon.” Elder Ross reminded him, looking at the others.“We found their body at the edge of the ravine.”

“They were frozen solid in the middle of the southern summer. Does that sound like a sickly girl's curse to you? It sounds like the north is coming for us.”

“If the land is rotting, then it's her final spiteful act. Her defect has poisoned the earth,” A guard captain added from his post.

“But she was an omega,” Jaxon said more to himself than to the council. “A weak, tiny thing who couldn't even shift without help. How could her death cause this?”

“Perhaps she wasn't just a nothing that we thought,” Elder Kane said his voice sharp.

“The healers are shocked. The pups are being born weak Jaxon. Some are not even surviving their first breath. They come out cold blue, like they were touched by the ice of the north.”

“I will hear no more of this,” jaxon screamed. “She is a dead girl rotting in a ditch. If the luck of our pack has been stolen, then we will take it back with blood.”

“If the north is responsible for the frost on our borders, we will march into the forest and burn every tree until the sun returns.”

“The men cannot shift alpha," the guard captain said

“Their wolves are sluggish. it's as if the call is being muffled, we are vulnerable. If a rival pack catches wind of our weakness…”

“Then we strike first.” Jaxon's face was a mask of madness. “Assemble the vanguards. I want every able bodied wolf at the border of the deadlands by dawn.”

“We will find her body. I will dig her up myself if I have to. I want her head brought back to this hall so the pack can see that the curse is dead.”