She ran back to the fortress in wolf form, forgetting her clothes and pack in the clearing. Joy suffused her. She had found herself back — she had become wolf again.

What had she seen during her experience with the Ill’ll? She didn’t know, except that Broomgap was where the True Woods were. Somewhere in the north, but in this forest — the True Woods. Home.

Hadn’t she always made the True Woods wherever she was? Wherever she settled, the True Woods surrounded her. She herself was the True Woods. Now they existed, separate from herself. Curious.

Laeanai! she howled, running back to the fortress. He came bounding around the corner, from the back, where the three packs had settled down.

Thalaea, we were worried…, he started, but then stopped as he saw her trotting up on all fours. You’re a wolf!

She laughed and jumped in the air, then landed in a wolfy bow, inviting him to play. I’m a wolf again! I’m no longer trapped!

Laeanai laughed and cheered, and chased her. They ran through the forest and tackled each other, tussling in the brush. Eventually they ended up back at the clearing where she had left her clothes and rucksack. She stopped to concentrate on changing back into human form. It was easier. She slipped into it like a familiar skin.

Laeanai looked disappointed. She pulled his ear affectionately. “I need to get my stuff back to the fortress. And I think being in human form may help with dealing with the Elves. They seem less able to understand you all when you’re in wolf form.”

He whimpered, and bowed, wagging his tail. Play with me some more.

Thalaea laughed and started to pull on her clothes. Later. I promise. Now that I can change into my true form again I won’t be stuck in this one all the time. Not if I can help it.

Laeanai bowed so low his chin touched the ground. He whined and put one paw over his muzzle, rolling over onto his back. I wish I could change whenever I wanted to.

A thought occurred to Thalaea. “Try it.”

Laeanai sat up again and looked at her as if she were crazy. She gestured with her arms. “Go on! I could do it, and I think it’s because of these woods. Didn’t the Steelmint wolves originally come from here? From Broomgap? Maybe you lost the ability to change at will when you left.”

Laeanai cocked his head, considering. Then he closed his eyes.

A moment later a naked man sat where the wolf had been. Laeanai looked at his hands and feet and laughed. This was the first time Thalaea had truly seen Laeanai as a man. His hair was shoulder length and a dark-brown black, and his eyes remained the same green colour. He was tall, and his skin was the same dark brown she’d seen on most Minae. It was smooth, as was his face. He was still a young adult, in his late teens, perhaps early twenties. Close to her own physical age.

Thalaea grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. “I told you!” she said, and they hugged and laughed some more, dancing in the clearing.

Laeanai stayed in human form as they headed back to the fortress. When they approached the packs, he ran up to his mom, just like a puppy wanting to impress.

“Mother! We can change at any time. Try it!”

The Elves patrolling nearby looked over at the naked Minae man with odd looks on their faces, but they kept their distance, no doubt remembering what had happened the last time Laeanai had been Minae and naked.

Salia looked at her son as if he’d sprouted a second head and a moment later she, too, had changed.

Salia in human form was as tall as her son, with the same colour hair. Her eyes remained green; her skin dark brown, again, but with a reddish tint to it, as Thalaea had noticed with some Minae in Heartpin. She’d also noticed a few purple tints, some blue, and some green; those seemed to be the only major variations in skin colour among the Minae. That she couldn’t be sure of, since she’d never seen anyone from beyond Heartpin.

Salia looked to be in her forties or perhaps fifties. Her hair was streaked white; her eyes had crinkles at the corners. Her body was strong and lithe, but the skin had started to sag in places and there were wrinkles here and there. Her belly had a definite pooch.

Thalaea thought she was beautiful.

The witch walked forward and hugged her pack leader, after Laeanai had done so as well.

Salia looked at her hands, her feet and her legs, with something akin to wonder in her eyes. “How is this even possible?” Her voice was a rich contralto, thick like warm goat’s milk.

“I have some ideas, but nothing concrete yet,” Thalaea responded, hedging. She told Salia her ideas regarding the wolves’ ancestry, and losing their ability to change at will when they left Broomgap, but she kept her thoughts about the True Woods to herself. These packs didn’t believe in the Lady of the True Woods nor in the concept of the True Woods as a whole. Later, she’d talk to Laeanai privately. Maybe.

The rest of the packs had noticed Salia and Laeanai’s spontaneous change, and several of them were trying it out too. There were naked Minae wolves of all ages walking around, laughing and talking with each other. It was at this point Loncra approached Thalaea, a quizzical expression on the gray wolf’s face.

Loncra regarded the human-form Steelmint wolves for a moment before looking up at Thalaea again. General Fral wants to speak to you, Thalaea.

Thalaea nodded and thanked Loncra, intending to head into the fortress to speak to the man, but Salia objected. “Not without me. He’s not hitting you again.”

Thalaea didn’t protest. It was Salia’s right, as Pack Leader, to accompany her. In fact, General Fral should have asked to see Salia instead of Thalaea. This was a breach of manners.

Shaking her head, she walked with her pack leader towards the fortress.

General Fral’s office was located at the top of the fortress, with small windows all around it, mere slits, big enough for arrows to fit through. Outside the office, Thalaea and Salia were stopped by his assistant, who took offense at Salia’s nakedness. Thalaea had rolled her eyes, and Salia had glared at the assistant, but there was no point in arguing it. Thalaea simply pulled some spare clothes out of her rucksack and handed them to Salia, who got dressed, never wavering in her glare at the assistant. By the time she was done, the Elf man was quaking.

Fral sat behind his desk, looking at papers. He didn’t spare the wolf-women so much as a glance as they entered, another breach in manners. Thalaea felt her temper mounting. Were he a wolf, she would have rights to jump him by now for such blatant disrespect of protocol. She felt the same tension rolling off Salia; had the woman a ruff in her human form, it would have risen by now.

They stood before the desk for a full minute before Fral looked up. When he saw Salia he jumped back in his seat. Coughing nervously, he gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat, both of you.”

Thalaea and Salia sat, though their glares didn’t soften. This man was rude, and Thalaea wanted to teach him a lesson.

Fral cleared his throat, his hands nervously fluttering as he did. “I, ah, wanted to apologize to you, Thalaea, for my treatment of you. Your…pack made it clear to me that what I’d done was wrong, and I wanted to offer my apologies and ask if there was anything I could do to make things better.”

Thalaea raised an eyebrow at the man. “That’s very big of you, General Fral. I thank you for your apology. In the future, however, if you need to speak to me you should direct your queries through my pack leader, Salia.” She gestured to the woman sitting beside her. Fral looked at Salia nervously.

Thalaea wanted the whole story about the night the naked Steelmint wolves had stormed the fortress in human form. She resolved to corner Laeanai later and tussle him till he told her.

“My apologies, Salia,” Fral murmured. “I’m…not used to dealing with wolves. I just got posted here from Spiral City.”

“Do you mean to say that there are no wolves in Spiral City?” That was not what Thalaea had been led to believe from her conversations with Loncra.

“No, of course not. There are plenty of wolves. We have defensive pacts with several of the Broomgap packs. But there are sections of the military that don’t work with them, such as the navy. Wolves get seasick, apparently.”

Behind her hand, Thalaea hid her expression, a mixture of amusement and are-you-kidding-me? Glancing at Salia, she saw that her pack leader had the same trouble. Of course wolves got seasick! The earth wasn’t supposed to move up and down, up and down, to and fro, under one’s paws; basic wolf physiology made sea-paws nigh-impossible to acquire. “That is more or less true.”

Fral nodded, as if they’d come to some sort of understanding. Thalaea almost had some pity for this man who had no idea what he was dealing with. Almost.

“General Fral,” Salia said formally, and Fral twitched a bit. The man was worse than a rabbit faced with a wolf. “I wonder if we might ask you to tell us more about the war between Thaen and Min. I’m afraid we’ve all been kept rather in the dark since arriving.” This was said quite pointedly, and Fral had the grace to blush.

The short, gray-skinned man nodded, moving papers around on his desktop. “Of course. I can only tell you what I know, but I think you deserve to know at least that much. If you want more details, well, you’ll have to ask the higher-ups in Spiral City.”

The first part Thalaea already knew: the Thaen agent in Daetus City had sent message via raven, a few weeks ago. Since then reconnaissance had been sent into Min and definite troop movements were noticed. Infantry and cavalry had amassed in Heartpin Town and Fallwoman Shire: apparently they were going to attempt to come around the far east and west side of the mountains. There was additional military presence building in Solai Parish. No formal declaration of war had been sent to Spiral City, which was unsurprising since Min had never been honourable as far as Thaen was concerned. This, of course, meant Thaen didn’t know the cause of war, if there was one. Whether it had been an actual real-world event, caused by Thaen or not, or merely Duchess Innis’ continuing madness, none could say.

This frustrated Thalaea more than she could express, but she kept her feelings held back. She needed to know the cause. Intuition told her the war had to do with Kaz the hunter, his death. He’d had connections, Enendoa had said. No one had ever specified what kind, but woods! What if he were related to the Duchess? That, combined with the testimony of his friends who thought Thalaea a Thaen spy, would have sealed the decision to make war.

“Since getting reports from reconnaissance, our own troop presence in Broomgap forest has more than doubled. I daresay if you’d come through a year ago you would have come much farther along before meeting my men.” Fral cleared his throat again, looking at his desk for a moment.

“What about civilians?” Salia asked. “They’ve surely been moved further north.”

Fral looked surprised that the wolf-woman would even think of that. “Well, yes, of course. Our own people have already been moved across the water to the northern islands, and we’ve sent the word out to the Broomgap wolf packs we don’t have pacts with that they should move further north in preparation.”

“And have you checked to make sure they have?” Thalaea asked.

There was a tense pause. “Ah, not personally, no. I assumed the wolves we work with would let us know if the other packs hadn’t listened. In any event, we have no jurisdiction over those packs. They go where they will; we can only make suggestions.”

Thalaea and Salia exchanged a glance that spoke multitudes. Salia then asked Fral about the possibility of getting a wagon to take the members of the Steelmint packs who needed a ride to Spiral City. Fral agreed, and the two women thanked the man for his time and generosity before leaving his office.

“Min evacuated their civilians too,” Thalaea muttered to Salia, sotto voce, as they descended the stairs in the fortress.

“I know.”

“Are they expecting the Thaenites to bring the fight to them?” Thalaea felt increasingly nervous.

Salia shrugged. “Perhaps. I don’t know. I can’t think like a Minae. For all I am one,” she added, looking at her hands with some disdain.

“No. You’re wolf. Outward appearance be damned. Wasn’t it you who said that about me?”

Salia smiled at Thalaea briefly. “I’m glad I took you into my pack, Witch.”

Thalaea returned the smile, putting her arm around Salia’s shoulders and squeezing, briefly, before letting go again. “So am I.”

The packs were glad to hear that a wagon would be procured for Myila, the pups, Inarea, Anandes and the other Lorekeepers and elderly wolves. Thalaea went to go see the new wolf mother and her children.

Myila smiled to see the witch, and gave her a lick on the face. Thalaea nuzzled her and each of the pups. They wouldn’t be able to see for another week and a half at least, perhaps longer since the wolves of this world lived longer and matured later. Their eyes might stay closed longer.

We’ve secured a wagon to take you, Inarea, and the older wolves to Spiral City, the witch told Myila.

Myila rested her head down on the ground and sighed. Her pups suckled at her teats, making those soft puppy whines that would melt any adult’s heart. Good. I was tired of walking. She huffed with a bit of self-deprecating laughter. Thank you for everything you’ve done, Witch.

I live to see new pups safely brought into the world, Myila. It was perhaps the truest thing she’d ever said since coming to this world.

That night the packs ate well; the gray wolves helped with the hunting. Thalaea was finally able to stomach the raw meat, for she was in wolf form at last.

The next morning, before dawn, the wagon was brought over and the wolves loaded into it. Thalaea changed into her human form long enough to pack up her things and load her rucksack and boots into the wagon as well.

For this part of the journey, she would go on all fours. As she was meant to.

It took them another week to reach Spiral City. By then Inarea was on the very last days of her pregnancy, the birth expected at any moment. Myila’s pups still had not opened their eyes. Anandes had started the selection process for the new Lorekeeper. Laeanai had stayed by the wagon for most of the journey, hoping to be selected, and was rewarded for his persistence by being chosen as a candidate.

Thalaea was happy for her friend, even if it meant less time for them to tussle and play. Perhaps less time for that anyway, now they were at the capitol of Thaen. Fral’s Lieutenant, a man named Coshari, had come with them, along with his gray wolf second — Loncra. According to Thalaea’s new friend, the higher-ups in Spiral City would probably want to speak to Thalaea and the pack leaders of the Steelmint wolves.

Why? Thalaea snuffled at the base of a tree, searching for rodents. They were a few hours’ ride out from Spiral City, just at the edge of the forest. When a break was called, Loncra and Thalaea had gone off together.

Loncra shrugged, sitting down to scratch her neck with her back leg. No idea. Something to do with intelligence? Coshari thinks it’s because you’ve been in Min fairly recently. You might be able to provide more reconnaissance than our scouts were able to.

Thalaea stretched, unsuccessful on her search for mice to eat. I doubt it. I’m more concerned about the other packs, though. Have they moved farther north yet?

We called a few Howls, but no response. Loncra looked fairly worried. They keep to themselves mostly, but they always respond to a Howl.

Perhaps they were busy evacuating and didn’t have a chance to respond, Thalaea said, but she didn’t believe her own words.

Perhaps. To judge by Loncra’s tone, she didn’t either.

They trotted back to the wagon and the horse. Thaenite horses were a sturdy breed, it seemed. They didn’t even flinch to have so many wolves surround them. Thalaea went up to the horse’s front and looked at his face. He regarded her back steadily.

Horse, she said in greeting.

Wolf, he said, nickering softly.

Thank you for helping carry my people.

The horse shook his head, sighing gustily. It’s my job, wolf. No more, no less.

Still. You have my thanks. She gave a formal bow, which the horse returned, in his way, and then Thalaea rejoined the convoy of wolves.

Ruk walked next to her on the last leg of the journey. You are just full of surprises, Witch.

Oh?

He regarded her frankly and huffed a bit with laughter. Your sudden change? Our sudden ability to change? Maybe you are magic.

She smiled. No more than the forests.

Magic and cryptic.

Wouldn’t be a good witch if I weren’t. She gave him a saucy look.

He shoved her with his shoulder, which started a small play-fight between them. A few members of his pack looked on with worry, and Isuena rolled her eyes and walked onwards, muttering under her breath about pups. Salia laughed.

When the play-fight was over and dominance was firmly established in Thalaea’s favour, the two continued on their journey. Had they not been wolves, Ruk might not have been so easy-going with the results of their tussle. As it was she knew he’d just get her back the next time they wrestled. Before her time among mortal humanoids she’d taken this fact of wolfkind for granted; now, she cherished it. Wolves were largely unburdened with dangerous pride and as such their hierarchy was fluid. She’d never really seen that among humans.

They had to run to catch up with the rest of the convoy by the time their play-fight ended and when they did, Spiral City lay clearly before them.

They’d left the woods miles back, but hadn’t seen much ahead — just ground, and the sea in the distance. Now Thalaea could see why.

Spiral City was carved down into the rock. It rested below a great cliff, and it was, indeed, a great spiral. She had imagined it spiraling up. Instead, it headed into the earth. As they approached the cliff, more and more of it became visible.

Beyond, the sea rested. The city was positioned on the beach; from where she walked, Thalaea could smell the brine in the air and hear waves crashing on the rocks. She could see islands in the distance — the northern islands that belonged to Thaen.

Lt. Coshari turned the horse and wagon, then, towards the east, and the wolves adjusted course to follow. Soon Thalaea saw why — they were headed towards the road down to the city. A trail that wended down the side of the cliff. Wide enough to admit four horses abreast, and not steep at all. It would take some time to reach the city.

Before starting down the path, the witch changed forms briefly. With her wolf eyes, all she could see were blues, greens, and yellows but she wanted to see Spiral City with the full range of colours while she still stood above it.

It glowed like a fire. Red at the very core, which had appeared black to her before, spiraling out to orange, yellow, and green. Light trapped behind glass — the whole city appeared to have been blown into shape from super-heated sand.

The coast beyond it was white as her fur, rocky and craggy. She thought she saw small stretches of sand, mini-crescents meeting the deep blue sea as the moon did the night sky. At the horizon, blue and violet met and made indigo with their love.

If ever she had to choose between two forms, Thalaea would always choose wolf. But the loss of such sights she would mourn for as long as she drew breath.

She forgot that the colours of the world were always bloodshed and pain, suffering and anguish.

The meeting in the Spiral City had gone well. So well, in fact, that the Eorl of the city had asked for Thalaea and a few of the Steelmint wolves to head out to the other packs in Broomgap and make sure they were safe.

“Why don’t you ask your gray wolves to do so?” Thalaea asked the Eorl. She didn’t mind checking on the other packs, of course, but she did wonder why the grays wouldn’t be sent.

The Eorl was an older woman, gray-skinned and short like the other Elves the witch had met, and just as hairy, down to the beard. But instead of black or white, her hair was violet as the sky, and her eyes were the colour of storm clouds, Osecouan storm clouds of deep burnt orange. She made quite a striking picture.

“I would. But the grays, who are members of the ten packs we have treaties with, are no longer neutral parties in the eyes of the other Broomgap wolves. They’re politically separate from Thaen, as they should be, and a message from the grays may be seen as.…” she trailed off.

“An order.” Ruk finished for her. The three pack leaders stood in the room with Thalaea and the Eorl. All four wolves were in Minae form and stark naked. This did not seem to faze the Elf woman as it had the soldiers they’d dealt with at the fortress in the woods.

The Eorl inclined her head towards Ruk. “Even so.”

So they’d gone. The most crucial area of Broomgap had been pointed out on a map to them. The southwest quarter contained a large gap between the end of the Eronenian mountains and the coast, where any number of Minae troops could have come through before Thaen had noticed.

Thalaea had asked about their reconnaissance. Apparently it was not so reliable as Fral had believed.

“Our military is strong, but we have very few spies. There are only so many wolves we can spare to spy on the neighbor nation and only so many messages they can send back. While I have no doubt of our military’s ability to repel invaders, our ability to see those invaders coming is not so strong.” The Eorl sighed as she sipped her tea. “You see my dilemma.”

Two squads were assembled to go check on the Broomgap wolves, Ruk’s team, and Codiai’s. Codiai, an alpha from Salia’s pack, assembled two members from each of the three Steelmint packs, scouts and hunters all, to run east and check on the packs in that end of the forest. Ruk, Thalaea, and nine other wolves were to scout the western forest, starting in the south. Aerickak and Thaephinra were the youngest members of their team — adolescent wolves from Ruk’s pack who had become friends with Thalaea. Laeanai was to stay behind: although a scout, he also vied for the position of Lorekeeper and thus did not wish to leave Anandes’ side.

The packs from Steelmint were given lodgings in the City. The treaties the grays had with the Elves included denning rights: certain Elf families opened their homes and allowed the wolves to stay with them whenever they were in the City. Thalaea thought such lodgings might be claustrophobic, but the houses were large and spacious, for all they were underground, and many in the northern section of the City opened up onto the beach. It didn’t seem practical for wolves but perhaps Broomgap wolves were less frightened of waves.

Thalaea made the acquaintance of the family who’d be housing her when she was in the City before she left. Treain and Kraennax, an elderly married couple whose children had grown and left the nest for housing elsewhere, in the City or on the northern islands, were friendly folk who assured Thalaea her rucksack and her belongings would be safe with them in her absence. This made her feel a bit braver as she headed into possible battle, although she kept the copper necklace J’th had given her around her neck. It was foolish, perhaps, but it didn’t feel right to leave it behind.

Before the teams left, Thalaea suggested, not only to both teams but also the wolves who were staying behind, that they attempt to take other forms besides Minae and wolf. Facial expressions of “Are you crazy?” had met her suggestion at first but she’d insisted. If they were able to change between wolf and human at any time now they were in Thaen, perhaps the other parts of the legends were true.

It turned out to be not so easy as changing between wolf and Minae; they had to learn the forms of other animals. But they persisted, studying various creatures that ran and flew through the Spiral City, as apparently the Elves didn’t mind birds, squirrels, and other small animals cohabiting with them, along with the wolves in their midst. Within a few hours, each wolf had learned a new third shape to take. Laeanai flew above as a raven, cawing with joy, insomuch as a raven could sound joyful without snickering.

Then they were on their way. They’d asked for grays to be stationed at key distances in the forest until news was heard. Thalaea suspected part of the problem with getting messages back was distance: no matter how good a Howl was, it could cover only so much mileage. Ruk agreed with this assessment.

Reaching the southwestern part of the forest took three days running at full speed. The grays traveled with the first Steelmint team as they headed southwest, each one stopping at the appointed location to wait for news, until only Loncra ran with them. They left her at the last spot and ran on the next few miles.

There had been a bit of an outcry in Ruk’s pack when he insisted on going, but he’d had his way in the end. He’d already named a second ages ago, anyway. Stubborn bastard. Thalaea gave him credit for that.

He was the first to smell the pack’s territory as they approached the den. Thalaea was the first to smell the death.

They ran up, stopping at the edge of a hill, and looked down. Easily a pack of twenty wolves, including pups. All dead. Spears and crossbow bolts through many of them, a few cut down with swords. Bloodshed. Anguish and suffering. The stench of rotting meat overwhelmed the noses of the wolves on the hill. Some of the younger ones vomited.

She tried to sort out the scents, to find the smells of the invaders, the murderers, but there were too many. It was overpowering. She was drowning in a sea of death and blood and pain. She shut her eyes and shook her head and leapt down into the den, finding the nearest wolf with a weapon still in him.

She sniffed the wood, searching for the scent of the Minae who had done this.

Ruk came to the edge of the hill. Did you find it?

She looked up to him in time to see the arrow pierce his chest.

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