MasukDarius’s Pov⠀Fifty warriors burst out of the trees along the north bank, shifting as they ran, and they came down the bank in a pack of huge Northern wolves with Magnar at the front. He was the largest of them, a massive dark wolf with a streak of white on one shoulder. He hit the Eastern flank at full speed, and the whole gray line buckled under him.⠀"Push them!" I shouted, though no one could hear me. "Push them uphill!"⠀I watched it unfold, the way a man watches the ice break on a river. The Eastern wolves were fast, and they fought in tight packs, circling and darting in. But they were fighting on open flat ground, with the river at their backs, against heavier, stronger animals who fought shoulder to shoulder. A pack of six Eastern wolves surrounded a lone Northern wolf and brought him down. Five Northern wolves reached them, and the circle was gone.⠀The Eastern Pack fought hard. I will say that for them. Nobody ran. They fought for every foot of ground, bleeding and snar
Darius’s PovI found Ayla at the edge of the camp before dawn. She was standing with the old warrior near the wagons, with a heavy cloak pulled up to her ears. Behind her, six guards stood in a loose half-circle. I had chosen them myself, the evening before, out of the men I trusted most. They were big and quiet and didn't want to be there.⠀"You're up," I said.⠀"I couldn't sleep," Ayla said.⠀"You need to," I said.⠀"So do you," she said.⠀"I'll sleep when it's over." I turned to the guards. "You stay with her, all of you. If anything comes near this camp, you take her to the north end, behind the wagons, and you don't leave her side. If the line breaks, you go with her to the hills. Do you understand?"⠀"Yes, Commander," the nearest guard said.⠀"I mean it. If you smell Eastern wolves in the camp, you don't try to fight them. You get her out," I said.⠀"Yes, Commander," the guard said.⠀I looked at the old warrior. "And you."⠀"I know, sir," he said. "Keep her safe."⠀"K
Darius PovBy the third morning, I was able to get out of bed, but I still wasn’t feeling strong. My legs hurt if I stood for too long, and my hands shook whenever I tried to pick something up. The healer wanted me to rest for two more days. I refused, so she called me stubborn and gave me a bag of dried leaves. She told me to chew them every few hours. They tasted awful, but I followed her instructions."You can't ride," the healer said.⠀"I'll ride," I said.⠀"You'll fall off," the healer said.⠀"Then I'll get back on," I said.⠀The healer threw up her hands and left the tent. I sat down on the edge of the furs and pulled on my boots very slowly. It took me four tries to do up the laces. When I stood, the tent tilted for a moment, and then it settled. I could not shift. I had tried the night before, alone, and the wolf had come up in me like something dragged through mud and then sunk again. The healer said it would be days before my body could manage the change, and maybe longe
Darius Pov⠀They gave me the remedy a little before dawn. The older healer prepared it herself. She boiled the leaves in a small iron pot until the water turned into a dull green, then strained it through a cloth and let it cool. It smelled like sour pine and old smoke. Magnar held my shoulders, and she tipped the cup against my lips, and I swallowed. It was bitter enough to make my eyes water, but I swallowed it. She gave me another cup an hour later.⠀"It may take time," she said. "I can't promise it will work. If it's the right poison, you'll feel it by morning. If it isn't, we try something else."⠀"What else?" Ayla asked.⠀"I don't know yet." She wiped her hands on her apron. "Watch him. If his breathing slows, call me."⠀Ayla nodded. She sat down beside me again and didn't move. I don't remember everything that happened that night, but it came in pieces, a long dark stretch of shivering, so bad that my teeth rattled. Someone piling more furs over me. Ayla's voice saying my
Ayla’s PovThe older healer crushed the leaves into a bowl while another woman heated water over the fire. They mixed the crushed herb with the hot water, then waited for it to cool.“Help me lift his head,” the older woman said.Magnar moved to Darius’s side and carefully raised him while the healer brought the bowl to his lips. Darius was barely conscious, and most of the liquid ran down his chin. She tried again, managing to get a little more into his mouth.“That’s enough for now,” she said. “We have to wait and see if it works.”I stayed beside him, holding his cold hand as the healers covered him with more furs.***Darius’s PovCold, that was all I felt for a long time. I couldn’t tell where the cold was coming from. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet properly, and I couldn’t find my way out of it. I heard people talking, their voices fading out. A woman said something about boiling water, and a man answered, and then another voice said, “Not too strong. He can’t take too much.”
Ayla’s Pov⠀I almost walked past the plant.At the end of the path, I found a wide hollow in the mountain. The rocks around it blocked the wind, and the snow on the ground had started to melt. The stone was wet, and the sun reached the spot, making it a little warmer than the rest of the mountain. Then I noticed something green growing between two large rocks.I walked toward it slowly, my legs still weak from the climb. When I reached the plant, I knelt and looked at it closely.The plant was small, with thick leaves growing close together. It was no bigger than both my hands. The leaves were round and silver-green. I touched one gently. It felt soft and slightly fuzzy.I turned the leaf over. The underside was dark purple. I picked it and rubbed it between my fingers before smelling it. The smell was strong and sour. It made my nose sting, and my eyes watered.I laughed out loud, but it came out as a sob.⠀"Sour pine," I said to nobody. "Purple underneath."⠀I took out the cloth







