The Adventures of Iron Wolves: Book 1 - Alpha
Chapter 7: Shock to the System

Dusk yawned loudly. Despite it being only the early hours of the morning, he forced his eyes to remain open. He couldn’t sleep as long as Anima remained awake.

Anima laid curled up tightly on Stykes’ bed holding the small white bunny Stykes had given her a few months after she joined the Iron Wolves. When is he going to be back? Tears fell onto the pillow, the pain of losing her father and Crystal crushing her heart. When I need him he isn’t here. I shouldn’t have sent him on the Knight Challenge. None of this would have happened then.

Getting up, she reached out her hands for Dusk. “I want to see Mariel.”

Dusk moved from his place near the door and held out his arm for her to take a hold of. “She’s just going to start yelling at you again,” Dusk said softly, leading her out of the room. “You’re not going to get anything out of her. She’s still insisting that she’s done nothing wrong.” They walked towards the spiral staircase leading down the tower.

“She can insist all she likes,” Anima replied stiffly. “I’ll keep pestering her until she gives me a reasonable explanation as to why she came back and not Stykes,” She felt the stairs stop leading onto a level surface.

“They argued,” Dusk replied guiding her to the central stairway. “She came back because of that argument.”

Anima stayed silent and counted the flights of stairs until they reached the ground floor. Sounds of people walking around in heavy plate mail came to her ears.

“In your knowledge, since you’ve known Stykes longer than me,” She felt him push open the door letting the warm sunlight fall inside. “Would he argue with someone and let them go without straightening everything out again?”

“Aside from you,” Dusk murmured softly enough for her to only just catch his voice. “Since you’re difficult to talk to when you’re angry. He doesn’t let anyone leave his presence angry unless he truly hates them.”

Anima narrowed her eyes at him, giving the impression that she could see. “My point is that her saying she left because they argued… Stykes hates leaving a conversation with anger on either side and Mariel isn’t the type to start an argument.” They detoured off the pebble- laden path towards the Archery Range.

“Why not jail her and be done with it?” Dusk felt like he had been turned inside out just listening to her.

“Because I have no proof other than Nemia’s account as an Oracle,” Anima replied, voices ahead filled her ears. “So unless Stykes comes back to charge her himself, I can’t do anything.” Strong arms wrapped around her pinning her arms to her side. Dusk made a slight growling sound in his throat. “Can I assume the person on me isn’t Stykes? You’re growling.”

“I’m hurt,” A voice whispered in her ear. “You’ve grown colder again.” She could feel a slight breeze from behind her and the faint rustle of feathers told her who it was. Dusk felt her empty emotions flicker with happiness and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Rue!” Anima turned and hugged him tightly. “You’re alive!”

“Just barely,” he replied with a smile. “I managed to kill Thyme, if that helps any. Noira and her knights were very quick and efficient in wiping out every part angel that was in and around the palace. It took me a little bit longer to get workers to start on repairs before I came here.”

Dusk’s ears twitched and he felt a black emotion rise in Anima. He looked worriedly at Rue, who looked up and nodded.

“Can you stay here?” Her tone didn’t offer her words as a question. He looked back down at her with a confused expression on his face. “I need you here.”

“Is something wrong?” Rue kept his arms tight around her body. He looked up at Dusk who gave him an ‘I’ll tell you later’ look.

“I just want you to stay here,” she replied forcing her tears back. “I need someone I can trust completely.” Dusk stiffened and stared at Anima’s back. “People here are loyal to Stykes and treat me nicely because of that loyalty. I want someone who will treat me seriously.”

Stykes, Hawkeye and Miyako decided to explore Verba Shire, a small shire on the outskirts of Auraeus a few days ride away from the Iron Wolves Territory. Blade and Aruna stayed behind at the Wild Rose Inn to look after Hana. Stykes’ heart burned, the emotion drifting clearly to Hawkeye. “We’ll get back to Lunarias soon.” Hawkeye reassured him quietly. “Nemia at least would have warned Anima about Mariel.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Stykes replied irritated, his feathers bristling. “But I also know Anima won’t take her advice unless there’s clear proof. She doesn’t trust an Oracle’s word completely.” He stopped walking and turned to face the staring crowd in the small marketplace. “Yeah, I’m part elf and I have wings. Got a problem with that?” The humans leaned back and quickly found things to do that didn’t involve eye contact with Stykes and his group.

“Wonderful,” drawled Miyako her hand on Stykes’ shoulder. “You have succeeded in alienating us. We won’t get news of anything this way.”

“I wouldn’t have to alienate anyone if I could fold my wings,” Stykes muttered to himself. Miyako gave him a smack on the back of his head in response. “I’d be human and mingle more easily.”

“And you say I don’t stand out?” Miyako asked, stamping one foreleg on the ground hard. “You’re a more common sight than me since we’re also close to the Angelic Guild base that is full of part angels.” She looked up and noticed the dove circling overhead.

Stykes followed her gaze and raised his hand. It flew down, landed on his wrist, then jumped up his arm to nestle itself on his shoulder.

“No. An elf with wings is rare. I should know since it’s the ‘crown’ of the Elven Royal Family.” He gave the dove a little pat on the head. He noticed Miyako’s strange expression. “Yes. I am the Crown Prince of the Elves.”

“You know,” Miyako said, deciding not to pick up the topic of Stykes’ title. She gave the dove a piece of bread. “It needs a name.”

“She already has one,” Stykes replied feeling her rub her head against his cheek. “It’s Veritas.” Miyako looked at him strangely. Stykes looked at Hawkeye, who was nodding in agreement with the name, then at Miyako. “Veritas is Elven dialect. It means Truth.”

“Why Truth?” Miyako asked confused. Of all the names she didn’t think he would of picked that one. “You could of chosen Trust, Friendship, or something else. Why Truth?”

“Because I need a reminder that everything is not as it seems,” Stykes replied petting Veritas absently. “If I’m to live as a human most of the time, I need to learn to govern how much I trust people and to what extent. Even with my Elf blood activated, I still can’t trust the emotions I sense from other people.” He turned around and said quietly. “Let’s go back. Aruna and Blade might have an easier time getting information than us.”

Anima once again laid on Stykes’ bed hugging her bunny. Dusk and Rue stood at either side of the doorframe watching her. In the few days they had known each other, they had made it clear that they weren’t going to be friends. It was bad enough Anima had told them to share a bedroom.

Excited voices echoed up the hall and, much to their surprise, a dove flew in to land in front of Anima’s face and sing to her.

“Dove,” She touched its feathers and smiled. “Your song is pretty. Can you sing for me more? It’s soothing.”

The dove jumped closer to her and rubbed its head against her forehead. “That tickles.” She said not even a hint of a smile on her face.

Nemia poked her head in the door. “Can I speak to you two?” she asked in a very low voice. She beckoned them with her hand and they stepped outside. Dusk stopped in his tracks staring. Rue, after closing the door behind him, ran into Dusk.

“What are you doing?” he cried placing his hand on his face to touch his sore nose. “Don’t stop in the middle of the road.”

“Why is she upset?” A cold voice asked sending chills down his spine. Rue looked up and saw Stykes leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. “What has happened to Lunarias and to her while I was gone?”

“Too much,” Rue replied with a sigh. “Way too much.” He and Dusk began to explain in detail everything they knew from when Stykes left to replace Miyako to now. “It’s getting too much for her. She needs to release her emotions. Only…” He looked at Dusk then back to Stykes. “According to Dusk, she has no emotion there. He says its dark, like a void.”

Stykes pressed a finger to his lips. “I’ll take care of her,” he said quietly. “I’ll send Veritas if I need help.” Nemia nodded and dragged the two boys down the hall before they could ask anything.

Stykes opened the door and slipped in to lean against the doorframe. He focused, wings stretching outwards, elven blood coursing again through his veins. His senses told him there were no emotions coming from Anima.

He stepped closer to her and stretched out his hand for Veritas. The little dove took flight, causing Anima to sit up and face him, her eyes still not focusing on him. “Rue?” she asked looking at the shadowed outline before her. “Something wrong? You’re so close.” Stykes placed a knee onto the bed and leaned forward, placing a hand flat on her back between her shoulder blades. He pressed his lips to hers gently. Anima raised her hands trying to push his shoulders away from her. He kissed her cheek then along the side of her neck.

“Not Rue,” he whispered in her ear. He sensed surprise then love flowed through the emotionless void in her heart before becoming empty again. He pushed her back gently onto his bed, his lips not leaving hers. Anima wrapped her arms around his chest pulling herself closer to him. He laid down on top of her, his wings resting around them like a white cocoon. “I’m home.”

“Stykes…” Anima said softly. She stroked the muscles in his arms, then reached up and touched his wings. “Were you the dove? The song it sang reminded me of you.”

“That was Veritas,” Stykes replied propping himself up on his forearms so he could look down at her face. “She agreed to be my familiar to save my life.” He sensed anger spark in her emotions that seemed to say Mariel. He released his hold on his elf blood and relaxed.

“Nemia said she told you everything.” Anima nodded her hands feeling his wings disappear. “Mariel fed me an herb that paralysed my body. I don’t know how long it would have been before I could move again if Aruna didn’t drain some of the herb from me to Veritas.”

He moved his hand to touch the rings around his neck. Anima touched his hand and moved it to her breast. He knew what she wanted but he couldn’t give it to her just yet.

“My third task…” His voice making it sound more a statement than a question. Anima looked confused. “You’ll have me… All of me. But,” He knew her feelings would probably be still very raw. “Your Father wanted me to finish the Knight Challenge and marry you before doing anything like what you want now.”

Anima swallowed hard. “Your third task is to replace Chiae. She’s a human with a tremendous amount of healing and magical power within her.” Anima wrapped her arms around him again. “She was captured by the King of Naekuro while we were fleeing King Ian of Auraeus.” She gave loud sigh. “But before you go, fix things with Mariel. Either convict her and throw her in the dungeons or forgive her.”

“I can’t forgive her,” Stykes said plainly. “She didn’t just paralyse me…” His throat felt sore, like he had swallowed a mango seed. “She… violated me…” His head dropped onto her chest. “I was powerless to stop her.” He could feel Anima’s body tense under his.

Curious to know what she was feeling, he activated a tiny portion of his elven blood. Anger. Utterly pure anger dominated her emotions. Stykes couldn’t tell who her anger was directed at.

“Anima?” he asked carefully. It was a while before she spoke.

“If she were male,” her voice surprisingly level for the amount of anger that coursed through her. “I’d castrate her. But for females, in Lunarias the law is clear, she is to be put to death.”

Stykes knew this was one of her suggestions to him that was to be followed no matter what. Anything less would make her angry. But in this instance, he agreed with her wholeheartedly.

He looked out the window at the deep orange coloured sky. “I’ll judge her tomorrow at first light.”