Chapter Six

THANE

“To think that a slave girl could have such audacity,” I grunted as I dodged the sword aimed for my chest. Then I turned and made a clean swipe at my opponent with my sword.

“A slave girl laughed in your face. And then what?” Celdric snickered, trying in vain to hide his obvious amusement towards my experience. He swerved, missing the blade I thrust at him, and gave a counter blow with his sword. 

We had been practicing like this for hours now. Our bare chests moistened with our sweat but neither of us were close to exhaustion. Celdric, who was the closest thing I had to a brother, was the only one in the calvary, and clan, whose strength could rival mine. But I was still stronger as I had proved over the years. 

“You think this is funny?” I growled. I hit him in the stomach with the butt of my sword before he could dodge. Celdric fell back, stunned by the blow. He bent over, shaking with laughter at all that I had told him since we began our training. Celdric rarely gets an opportunity to make fun of me, after all I am the Alpha of the greatest clan in Eldoria. But when he does he takes it without thinking twice, not even about his life. I let it slide this time but to be honest the only reason why he has lived this long with such a character around me is because he is my best friend and my younger sister, Elowen, would kill me if anything happened to him.

“Are you done?” I grabbed a mug of water from a bucket and took a drink. He raised a finger to signify that he wasn't quite finished and continued laughing until he was fully satisfied. 

“To think a slave girl would make you this angry is something I never thought could occur.” He sat down on the floor, wiping his sweaty brown hair out of his face. I hand him a mug of water which he downs with ease. 

“It was her audacity, Celdric. She may be a slave girl but in her mind she is not and she had the courage to show that belief to me.”

“And you were embarrassed?”

“No. Such a filthy being could never embarrass me no matter how highly she thinks herself to be.”

“Then what?” Celdric asked, his voice flat. “Was it because she wasn't afraid of who you are nor your power?”

“She was afraid of me by the time I was done with her,” I said coldly. 

“Oh yes! I heard about that. You threw a wounded slave girl into an arena with the intention of getting her killed. She was too wounded to even turn,” Celdric ridiculed. I began to get agitated by his tone. 

“I'm sure she is defective. I couldn't sense her wolf.”

“Is that what you have become Thane? So arrogant and insecure that you did not see the wrong in what you did…”

My blade cut into his cheek before he could finish his sentence. He held his fingers to the wound and brought them to his face to see the blood. He hadn't seen it coming. He was my best friend but I would rather die than be questioned by him in such a manner. I am his master before I am his friend. 

“You seem to have forgotten who you are talking to,” I yelled.

Celdric just sat there, looking at me with a gaze that reflected more pity towards me rather than anger or resentment. The silence was deafening.

He wiped the blood off his wound with his forearm as if it was nothing. He was used to my harsh temper. “I hear the girl has been taken to be an acolyte of the Inner Sanctuary. You may never see her out in the open again, yet you are still so bothered by her.”

“Eldra Morriganis stepped in before the match concluded and told me that she wanted her to serve in the Inner Sanctuary. She didn't tell me why.”

“You know better than to ask about the actions of the Inner Sanctuary. Even as the Alpha. ”

I scowl at this. An Alpha ought to know everything happening in his territory; he ought to be in control at all times in order to quell any form of opposition. 

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A skinny young boy stood at the entrance when I opened it. He was a messenger. “Speak. What news do you have,”

“The outer wall was attacked at the break of dawn. A team of men are on their way to inspect it but they need your permission,” the young boy blurted. 

“Tell them not to leave until we join them,” I commanded. The boy nodded and hurried off. 

The outer wall was the barrier that shielded Eldoria from the outer realms. Each clan had its own part of the wall to protect and supervise. 

The Outer Realms signified the places on Eldoria's maps where the ink trails off and the parchment is left deliberately blank not because nothing lies beyond, but because what lies beyond does not need to be found. They stretch past the last waystone in every direction, a vast and lightless expanse. Travelers who have dared its edges speak of structures swallowed in pale mist, fissures in the earth that whisper in almost-language, and a presence deeper still, something ancient and aware, coiled in the dark, patient in a way that only something truly hungry can be.

The road to the outer wall was muddy and a dense layer of fog hung over the wooded area. There were seven of us on that journey including Celdric and myself. As we rode on, we could sense the air become still and unusually cold around us. I could feel the tension amongst my men, none of us knew what was awaiting us but they knew better than to cower in fear. 

We soon arrived at the watchtower of the outer wall but it was completely deserted. None of the watchmen were in sight. The tower was even a complete waste; half of the tower's roof was gone and a wall in its lower part was broken to reveal the inside. 

Something had happened here. We all could tell, our faces said it all. Something ominous.