“Yes, teacher!” Anji lifted the happy Mard pced him on her shoulder. “The Recmation Army prises three majions. The Inner Lands, where the capital of the glorious Dynast is located.” Janine wao groan as Impatient One was taking notes. How? How does she not know this? “This pce was once a gigantic armory, taining an impressive arsenal from the Old World. When the Dynast found it, he made it our capital, where the weak and oppressed were brought to safety. At first, clouds of smoke covered the pce, and the citizens toiled restlessly, building the foundation of lorious state! The power armor worn by the shamans came from its vast foundries.
“But after decades, and with the help of Iterna, we have discovered how to improve our industry in such a way that does not pollute the surroundings. Today, the Inner Lands are a sanctuary; living carpets of flowers and trees cover their rolling hills and pins, gentle rains fall from the skies, and civilian boats glide zily across vast rivers.”
“Water. Yack.” Anissa shook her head, expressing everyone’s opinion about the annoyi substahe Wolf Tribe could swim in quid and eoxic fumes and radiation. But on some almost instinctive level, they were wary of water. You should drink it, not swim in it! Only Anji seemed unfazed by the revetion. Jaapped on a crate, returning everyone’s attention.
“There is also the Arena!” Marco spoke quickly, worried about losing the audience’s attention. “A pce where the Dynast’s champions, Outsider, the Blessed Mother, and Devourer, pete irial of Strength. The Inner Lands are responsible for solving our nation’s major administrative problems. Exotic ons too terrible to ever be used, are stored ihe capital’s walls. are the Core Lands. These are the nds where most of the popution lives. They are free of most dangers, and green has returo the nd. There are several cities, huge eiters that supply our armies. Mighty walls surround the Core Lands. The walls moved each time the region expands… And uhhh….”
“The pce is really cool,” Janine helped him. “Whereas a normal person get a sunstroke in our vilges, there is little to no danger of such a thing in the Core Lands. I reend warm clothes, everyone.”
“Yes, I already… I mean.” Marhaled. “His excellency Devourer rules the Core Lands. Then there are the Outer Lands. We use this term to describe retly quered regions and pces where terraf back to habitable ditions has not yet begun.”
“So, like… We are ier Lands, right?” Kaisa asked. “If Devourer rules the Core Lands, does it mean that the Blessed Mother rules these nds?”
“Look, everyone, she is learning,” Anji beamed, showing a too the snarling Kaisa. “Now, don’t wrinkle your snout, dear; when you’re not being an asshole, you look adorable. Smile more and be a good girl, and you’ll feel great.”
“Shut it, Bootlicker,” Kaisa cursed.
“Whore,” Anji retorted.
“You are correct, Sister Kaisa.” Marodded, trying to remain calm in the wake of the two women’s aggression. “We are ier Lands. However, the Blessed Mother has deed the right to rule this region, giving it io the Provincial Gover, an assembly of mayors from the rgest settlements around here. They vote on the various small-impact policies in the region, such as tax redus and the relocation of people from dangerous areas.”
“Wait a sed.” Elzada actally scratched behind Ignacy’s ear. “Does it mean that only the Normies get to say what will ge in the region? What about us?”
“Yeah, no fair!” Ignaodded.
“We stand outside of the normal gover’s structure and live by our own rules,” Impatient One expined. “hts to cull our elderly, mercy kill our infirm cubs, and use physical violence against each other… The Normies have nht to any of that. They are trying to heir cubs to health and potentially live long enough for their hearts to stop beating on their own.”
“Barbarians. It is cruel to make a broken cub suffer this world,” Anji said.
“Yes, just let the poor soul be reborn and live happily in a healthy body.” Bogdan supported her.
“I am not sure. In this day and age, prosthetics do wonders,” Ignacy said, showing his metal arm. “Just look at it…”
“Yes, yes, we are very impressed with your new limb, brother.” Anissa hugged him and kissed his forehead. “However, some of us have assisted mothers in giving lives. Trust me, when you see a little body gasping and struggling for air, yet uo live because tiny, underdeveloped lungs are uo hahe oxygen, the immune system is failing, and the agony spreads like a wave because the skin ot withstand the heat... You will do the right thing,” she whispered.
“Thank you, Marco. I will take it from here.” Janine o her son and sat on a crate. “Mard Impatient One are irely correct. The Blessed Mother is the Third Army’s leader; she is the de facto leader of these nds. In her abse is the noble Wyrm Lord who solves the most plex issues. Now about Houstad. Houstad City, or simply Houstad, as the locals first call it, was founded y-eight years ago by His Excellency Devourer. Back then, the pce was a hub of svers and flesh traders. They grew humans, often f them to mate by force, and sold the children to the Malformed and the Blood Court in exge for resources and favors. After a month of preparation, and with the help of the rebels led by the Oakster family and our packs, in a single night, Devourer put ao it, staging riots across the pd eating its rulers. A long and grueling process of rebuilding and reeducation turned Houstad into a proper city.”
She paused, looking at the Wolfkins before her. “Times were hard then. The state needed armor and ons, and it hem right now. Devourer’s rule hardly looked any different from that of a on tyrant across the wastes. It was an improvement, mind you, but a very minuscule one. Smog has filled the streets, produced by tless factories. A ck of safety measures resulted in children trading their lives to cogs, crushed or sliced in the factories. People lost limbs; diseases ran rampant…”
Janine closed her eyes, remembering that time. She didn’t take pride in that time, but it was a reality, heless. A sea of pale faces, toiling for a loaf of bread, produg ons to force more people into this hell. Religious anizations provided but a barest succor, and mothers’ wailings filled the streets. It was hard to believe in the benevolence of the Recmation Army. When you feed your cubs to maes in order to fuel quest, how are you different from the wicked?
“The event known as the Coup ged it.” Janine smiled as ears flickered. “No, rayed the Dynast, not in spirit. The Blessed Mother admitted her fears of the Recmation Army, slowly morphing into an ugly caricature of the empires of old, and the ander agreed. Together, they persuaded Outsider, and the three champions, mayors and high priests, beseeched the Dynast to stop wars against Iterna and the Oathtakers, to make peace, and to focus more on improving lives. Our ruler agreed, and trade flowed, bringing in superior teology from Iterna and fresh w hands from the Oathtakers’ nds. Houstad thrived, evolving into a hub of prosperity. erraf methods had cleared the skies of smog; the ground was ftteo create pins, and the soil was healed of toxic pollution to make way for vast farmnds. Till Ingo has established his pany’s headquarters here, and they are currently researg methods to produexpensive prosthetics for everyone.”
Still smiling, the warlord rose. “The age of warlords and tyrants is officially over in the Recmation Army. Sure, some tribes, like ours, are permitted to live by their own traditions, which gives us the right to end the lives of our kin, but even we would be hanged if we dared to harm a Normie. Slowly, more and more tribes are giving up their traditions or ging them, like the Orais did, and accepting the nation’s ws. It is the time of revival, and we will see the fruits of our bors and sacrifices. Acc to the test sus, the current popution of Houstad…” she permitted herself a dramatic pause, “…is five hundred sixty-three thousa hundred citizens, not ting migrant workers.”
Their rea fully met all of her expectations in terms of the shock they must have felt, as well as the shock she herself felt when she first learhis information.
“I’m… I mean, how could it be, warlord?” Bogdan licked his lips.
“Half a million people,” Impatient One whispered, barely audible. “This is… how are they managing the education… How are they feeding them?” she asked.
“You’re kidding, right, granny?” Janine ignored Kaisa’s familiarity. The girl showed genuine curiosity. “There is no way this many people could live in one pce. They… They’d stabbed each other for water or males!”
“It’s like a hive… A se swarm of people!” Anissa excimed, rubbing her nose and staring blindly ahead. She bliwice, regaining attention. “How big is this city?”
“Houstad is the seventh-rgest city in our nation.” This information uled them even further. Janine uood their uainty; the information she had learned from the news had shocked her far more than an artillery barrage ever could.
It wasn’t for nothing. Their deaths, losses of rades, defeats and victories, their way of life… Vindication. Vindication for turies of the Wolf Tribe’s hardships.
Teically, she visited Houstad twice, back whehree Armies did. Not the inal city itself; no, the modern Houstad was a gigantic pce. Janine was involved in fighting in a quarter that served as the city’s north-west district today. The Twins then ahe packs, as Ravager distrusted her ability not to harm prisoners fined in cages. The Twins brilliantly predicted every o, as from Devourer’s agents gave them full information about the location of the svers’ forces. It was a masterpiece of aion, but what came …
It ce of horror. A meat market, as they called it, only instead of animals, the bastards served humans here. The stalls dispyed freshly prepared hands and legs on hooked s, ready for sale to the ibals. Barrels filled with salted ans, a delicacy favored by the Malformed. Crimson drinks, fvored with spices—only this wasn’t alcohol, but blood so richly desired by the court.
Things… No, she corrected herself; people huddled in cages, so close that their swollen skin pushed through the bars. It wasn’t an act; the svers fed their captives a nutrient paste made from the remains of is, animals, and even humans. This specially prepared nourishment disrupted the metabolism, and the poor souls rapidly gained weight, choking for every breath. ibals and Malformed could taste it by biting off the skin outside a cage before buying. Those kept for the court were healthier and ore, as the Blood Court preferred beautiful, unspoiled young girls and boys to drain slowly, sav every sip. Ugliness offehose freaks.
Stench of blood, sweet smell of decay, urine, and other waste permeated this pce, and the Twins added the svers’ horror to it. The eried everything, from robots and guo energy beams and rockets. Two titanic white forms easily weaved around ining shots; a hit from a giant cymore bounced projectiles back, while arrows the size of a Wolfkin pierced holes in the maes, never once harming the sves.
Janine had no idea how the Twins could be so serene, how they could accept surrenders and cleave only the fighters. She herself had torn a skin from the sver’s torso when she saw humans on his stall, overfed to the point of being living balloons, their eyes gateways to sheer nds of madness. On that day, Janine had shown no mercy, surpassing even Terrifi her cruelty as she waded through the pools of blood, drowning herself in the bleating screams of the svers. The Twins made her stop the massacre; the male himself embraced her, soothing her beati with his words, telling Janine she was better than this. Not could. Was.
The Twins had a weird effe those they touched or spoke ter instilled a sense of divine reverence, and her presence screamed of the iable diviribution. Her words, no matter how unhinged, carried a weight of innate charisma, yet she felt like a rising star in the making; the Twins, the progenitors of the Ice Fang Order in parison, were plete. They were someone who had reached enlighte and now wao help you reach the same heights. Rather than instilling a sense of awe, they offered a promise of calm and stability, to the point where Terrifice admitted that their presence scared her. Because of what their presence implied. The promise of ge, the promise that there was a way back from barbarism, that all was not lost, troubled Terrific. Ravager even assumed them to be her parents in their first meeting, only to be gently disabused of that assumption. Their parental toud innate kinship touched even the Wolf Tribe.
Irospect, the Twins could not bother. The Dynast burned most of the prisoners, and the freed sves formed a new core of the popution, helping Houstad heal the scars left by unhinged cruelty. She recorded the speech Devourer had given to the Dynast, persuading him to care more about the inward situation iate.
What good is it to repe tyrant with another? You told us that we are fighting to build a better future for all. It is time to make true on this promise. It is time to make good on that promise. And I have just the pn for how to maintain the baween request and rebuilding… Devourer, then not so tall, stood tall, supported by the nerver and the ever-mysterious Outsider. This speech was one of Janine’s most prized possessions, safely stored in the cloud and oerminal. It was a reminder of another promise.
A promise that even the Wolf Tribe won’t be wild forever. Every war eually, and there is life waiting, if not for Janine and her immediate desdants, then for the cubs of her cubs, or somewhere further down the line. And the Blessed Mother, radiant aored, will take the mantle of the Twins and lead both groups into a brighter future. For that day, Janine will give her all.
The Recmation Army no longer expanded as fast as it had in the past. Short of having an incredible opportunity, they will opple the Oathtakers or Iterna; their rivals grew too fat, to to be swallowed. Vasurzaliev, Mi, Blood Graf, Teo-Queen, Crimson Pgue, and dozens of other tyrants would’ve never had a lick of ce to fester for so long if the State had tio expand like a rising storm, sug everyoo its g and austere womb. They chose orphanages, hospitals, medie, schools, cities, trade, tourism, archaeology, and so much more in pce of uricted war. Was it the right choice?
Ultimately, it was the Dynast’s decision. He alone had the correct vision of a golden future for humanity. Lacerated One supported it, bashing the head of any shaman daring to growl otherwise, but the lower ranks, like Impatient One, often grumbled about missing out oimes of their pure state. Janine viewed this as idiocy.
For the new era brought bance. Marco would have died in those violent days. Today he sits beside his sisters and they take care of the defective male, no matter what Impatient One might cim. Janine gained an opportunity to lead lessons, imperfect as they may be, to be something other than a murder mae. Peace. Soldiers must love those they proted want them to prosper. Why else fight a war?
“The people voted to build wide, not tall.” Janine dismissed the fantasies and focused on living right now. “Houstad stretches about eleven kilometers from east to west and six kilometers from north to south, with only a few skypilrs… sorry, skyscrapers—iy. Several rivers divide the city into natural neighborhoods, which are ected by huge bridges. Houstad is a massive, sprawling trade ter, and thousands of migrants live in barracks owned by various corporations. Its many factories ever hunger for resources, and voys arrive not weekly, not daily, but hourly, bringing in minerals.”
“Shit!” Anissa cursed.
“It’s going to be a pain in the ass to defend,” Bogdan voiced everyone’s fears.
“We don’t have to worry about it,” Janine said. “The st time anyone dared to attack the city was over sixty years ago. The Provincial Army, the standing defense force of the Core Lands, is no joke. Maired veterans of the three armies work there as instructors.”
“What about criminals, thugs and sve traders?” Kaisa inquired.
“How dangerous is it for the cubs of the Ice Fang Order or the weakest members of our packs to walk around the streets?” Anji asked, automatically patting Mar the head.
“hat I know of.” Janine raised her paw, halting the following questions: “Houstad is a rarity in the Core Lands. There are no slums and no parts where the police are afraid to tread without the army’s support, like ier Lands. Corporations pay to maintain a standard of living for work migrants, and various social programs uplift the less fortunate members of society. Undoubtedly, some thugs do exist, but the police do a good job of putting them dowe the dissolution of the Assassins’ Guild, many of its former members have joihe gover structures and are actively involved in rooting out the criminal elements. It is reasonably safe for our kin and even Normies to walk the city all night long, but may the Spirits help you if I have to pull you out of any trouble with the police!” Janine picked up the broken crate and crumbled it into a ball. Her voice ged to cold fury. “Uand this. We are not on vacation. We’re not going to live in the Core Lands. Yet. We came to replenish our supplies and heal our wounds. Simple as that. Some fooling around will be allowed, but try to push the boundaries of what is allowed, and your hide is mine.”
“Question.” Ignacy raised his paw, and Janine calmed herself.
“Permitted.”
“We are an army. And Houstad is a city…” Ignacy gathered his thoughts. “It’s sort of strange. Where will we stay? In these... what’s the word…”
“Hotels, motels.” Elzada elbowed him lightly. “I don’t mind sharing a den with a capable male, you know…”
“Bogdan is married!” Kaisa, Bogdan, and Anissa grasped their snouts, sileng the ughter at Ignacy’s i reply, and Impatient One merely patted the wide-eyed Elzada. “Anyway, thanks! Is there even a pce for a crawler?”
“Houstad used to be an army ter. There are several old army bases there, and the main streets are wide enough for io reach them. I assume,” she admitted, not fully privy to the information the captain and ander knew, “that there are barracks for us as well.”
Jaold the soldiers about the Oakster family and how they revolutionized agriculture in the area, about the uies, and about the traditions and s of the locals. She talked for hours before finally turning off the terminal and the Wolfkins to leave aheir fill. Anissa informed her that the operation on her eye would take pce soon, and Janine approved Elzada as her temporary rept.
The warlord came to a door and waited for her “pupils” to leave. As Kaisa walked by, Janine grabbed the fool by the wrist and pushed her against the wall.
“You have a talent,” Jaold her, closing the door. “To turn everyone against you in such a short time is truly something.”
“The hell do you care, gran…” Kaisa shut up as Janine grabbed her by the throat. The grip tightened, giving the irritant a taste of the warlord’s displeasure.
“I am struggling not to cut you open from o belly,” Janine admitted holy. “Kaisa, you are alone.”
“So what?” Kaisa grabbed the warlord by the fingers, not daring to release her cws. She failed to pry the hold open and growled. “I’ve always been alone. Aloo feed my useless family, aloo do the work, alone is... Alone, alone, alone, a I am strohan all of them! And I will be strohan you!”
“There is strength in numbers, Kaisa. Males may be inferior to females, but your behavior is turning potential friends into enemies. tio act as you do, and no one will help you in your moment of weakness.”
“I am never weak! Never!”
“Lies, and you know it. Everyone needs help sometimes.” Ja her go. “What is your deal?”
“My deal?” Kaisa ughed hysterically. “Well, I guess it all started when my bitch of a mother and my scumbag of a father both died up on me a me in the care of my newborn siblings,” Kaisa spat into Janine’s face, leaning against the wall. “Yes, you rown bitch, I am a motherless cur! The shamans always told me I was hot shit, telling me how blessed I was with my power, f me to train and dominate, never giving me an iota of free time is. On top of that, I had to maintain my tent and try to keep my brothers and sister from beien by the ioids! Even when I broke my knuckles or entire limbs, I still had te for food and milk to feed my useless, always-hungry siblings, without a sich even ing to chee—much less help! No shaman, no warrior, no male—no one ever helped! Train, suffer, work, feed the family, work, train… Fuck it all!”
Kaisa kicked a crate, breathing heavily. Janine ighe object as it flew past her, crashing against the wall. If this behavior had happened in front of the pack, she would have had no choice but to break Kaisa for her disrespect. But alone, she had more leeway in dealing with this rough jewel. So she let her run her mouth.
“And then I was given to Warlrite, the weakest warlord of them all! And you know why? Because my useless brother and sister are of poor stock, and the shamans said that family ts as a pack, inseparable!” Kaisa punched a wall, imprinting the shapes of her knuckles on the solid metal. “Why did they make me train so hard?! Why did they make me hope, make me believe?! Why I had to win, and win again, and win some more, and heal broken legs while herding cusacks to get that disgusting milk for those useless, ungrateful scumbags who stole my life, my future! I heard the shamans; anyone of my might awaited an easy ticket into the Alpha pack! Respect! The best equipment, the best rades to learn from... I deserved it all! My family robbed me of my dream! Because of them, I am iter!” She stopped and ran a paw over her muzzle. “My deal? I won’t let others be happy because I’m not. Fuity, fuck pack, and fuck family. Spite and wailing are far more pleasant to my ear. My shitty family has ruined my future. Now it is my tur’s see if they tough it out!”
“But will any of this make you happy, eh, whiny brat?” Janine smiled and stepped back.
She remembered how fast the girl was and had taken note of her measure before. Kaisa faked a punch from her right and tried to nd a full swing with her left paw. Jaurned her head to the left, took the blow with her left fist and tered. Her straight punded on the wolf hag’s jaw, causing her head to shake sainst the wall that the metal shook. Uerred, Kaisa tried to kick with her knee, and a heavy elbow nded on her leg, defleg the attack. The warlord smmed her oppo against the wall and grabbed Kaisa’s paws to restrain her. Showirength, she released the fool without breaking a bone.
“You should try fighting for fun,” Janine offered, spreading her arms. “e at me however you want; I’ll treat you like a sister during training, and we’ll bond ao know each other better.” There was malid anger in the fool’s eyes, born of shattered hopes. “We all have our own demons from the past. It sucks, but you ’t ge it, no matter how much ye. Don’t let your frustrations manipute you like a puppet; refuse to let them own you. I uand some of yer. I, too, am a motherless cur. I do not promise to be gentle or kind, but if you will let me, I help you bee a person you will be proud of. A happy person. A worthy leader. Isn’t that what you want? To live a little? Maybe even have a family? And treat your cubs right.”
“You…” Kaisa frowned. “You don’t sound like you want to dominate me.”
“Should I?” Janine pondered. “I reprimanded you during the battle for your irresponsible behavior aried to spare you from Ashbringer’s wrath. There is no beef between us, Kaisa. What I see before me is a lost cub, and so I wish to uidand help.”
“Is that so?” Kaisa retreated to the door, moving slowly and never once breaking eye tact. “I was wrong. It wasn’t right to have such thoughts. He’s off the hook. As for your offer, warlord… Perhaps I will. But only if I grind you to powder.”
With that, she slipped out the door, puzzling Janine as to what she meant. Who was off the hook? Bogdan? Bogdan? If so, the girl is even dumber than she looks. Her son had an ialent for avoiding beien by a girl. Either by hiding or by stirring up trouble and sending a rival after his would-be attacker. The pack has Bogdan’s back, and Kaisa isn’t the most pirl around. If Kaisa tries to domihe male, the females of the Janine pack will take it as an insult and rip the wolf hag’s guts out.
“Is everything in order?” Impatient One asked as Janihe partment.
“No,” Janine said. A familiar st wafted through the air, unnoticed by ah senses worse than warlords or shamans. Ashbringer. What could she want? “Tell me, Shaman, has something ged in the way we treat our cubs…”
“If this is about the disrespect…”
“Respect is earned, shaman,” Janine said. “And I’ve gotten mine. Frankly, your insinuation insults me far more than any soldier ever could. Impatient One, is it not the duty of shamans to care for motherless curs? To feed us and repair our tents and teach us how to care for our lesser siblings so that we, too, have a ce to fly? To act as surrogate mothers?”
“You are not a motherless cur, warlord.” The shaman bowed. “Your biological mother admitted…”
“Ahe question, shaman,” Jaerrupted.
“Yes. Such are our duties. The height of our duties, even. A missed lesson is be learned again ter, but a life lost is lost forever …”
“I suspeot all our sisters uand this,” Janine said. She tapped the floor, irritated by the potency of the calling mark. It urged and demanded her to move, to run at once. “Visit Lacerated One. In my name, inquire about the shamans in charge of the vilge where Kaisa was raised. Tell the Supreme Shaman that I believe that they have failed in their duties. Order her to tact the vilge immediately and demand a report on how often they brought milk ao Kaisa. And motherless curs in general.”
“Kaisa snders against shamans?” Impatient One asked, and the warlord put a paw on her shoulder.
“Breathe, Impatient One. Your training is not yet plete. You suspect malice where there may be truth. Both she and you are a part of the tribe.” It was a challenging experience for both. Yennifer was learning to be an impartial judge, and Janine was still trying not to think of her little girl as her daughter. “Would you punish a sister for pointing out fws to preserve the shamans’ image, or would you follow our ws?”
“Laws, of course,” Impatient One snarled. “You are correct. Kaisa is a stinking shit, a basket of foulness, but she’s no schemer. Too stupid for that. If, if! our sisters have failed in their duties, we will make our fallibility known to everyohe Supreme Shaman will get to the bottom of this, and if they dare to lie to her…” Her eyes fshed with indignation. “… then more woe to them.”
