“It’s starting,” Reed said softly, walking towards the edge of the building, Cam following close on his heels. Jasmine took a seat and swung her legs over the edge, pulling him down with her and resting her head on his shoulder. A feeling of confusion washed over me. It’s like they’re dating…

Tranquility brushed past me, rubbing against my side softly and startling me. She rolled her disguised eyes and sighed. “Sit with me,” she said. “I don’t want to watch this alone.” I nodded and got to my hooves(paws?), following her to the edge.

When I sat down, the crowd was completely silent and staring in our direction. An involuntary shudder ran down my spine, and I pressed up against Tranquility.

“That’s just a bit creepy,” Cam muttered.

“They aren’t looking at us,” Jasmine said, a disgusted frown manifesting on her face. “They’re looking at her.”

My gaze drifted downward, and my expression morphed to match hers. Ivy had walked out onto a raised platform that had been erected in front of the crowd. She was completely silent, her gaze sweeping passively over the crowd. As far as I could tell, she was waiting for a few Wolves out near the back to finish speaking. From the fact that they were in small booths and had glowing equipment pointed at them, I assumed that they were reporters, likely for the broadcasts Hawkeye mentioned.

After a few more seconds, they turned around, and Ivy cleared her throat, stepping up to the microphone. “My fellow Wolves!” she said firmly, her voice reverberating strongly throughout the area. “I’ve called you here under rather unusual circumstances.”

“Understatement of the century,” Cam muttered softly.

“By know, all of you are bound to have heard something about the events that transpired earlier today,” Ivy continued. “I have no doubt that what you’ve heard is different than what the Wolf standing next to you did. I’m here to clear up the rumors and tell the true tale of the incident.

“Some of you are confused, I can see. You’re wondering why I’m the one out here, why I’m the one who called this address, and why Hawkeye is nowhere to be seen. The reason is quite simple. Hawkeye is dead!”

A full second of silence passed before the crowd exploded with shocked shouts.

I jumped slightly; not from the wave of noise, but the wave of confusion it brought. There was an overlying current of shock, but just below it, a jumbled mess of emotions swirled around. The amount of joy in the crowd was stunning. I actually saw a few Wolves high-fiving and hugging, enthusiastically chattering to each other. Others had smiles on their faces, while some were hiding their enthusiasm behind wide-eyed expressions. I felt my ears start to turn back in disgust.

On the other end of the spectrum, though, were the Wolves who were undeniably devastated by the announcement. I saw a few of them with tears in their eyes, but that was nothing compared to the minority who had taken on a wide-eyed, shell-shocked look of sorrow. Just glancing at their faces sent pangs of sadness through me, so I avoided looking at them. Some of them appeared only slightly sad.

What surprised me the most, though, were the number of Wolves who appeared neutral or confused. While others were consoling their shocked partners or cheering, they were passively staring ahead, sometimes saying something to someone behind them. At first, I thought that they were simply not attached enough to Hawkeye for them to care, but then I realized they just weren’t sure how to react. I could almost see the gears turning in their heads, their thoughts battling for dominance. It took me a moment, but I realized that these Wolves were the ones who had mixed opinions of Hawkeye. Their experiences with him were so varied that they couldn’t decide how to feel.

One thing seemed to be consistent throughout all the Wolves, though. Shouts of “How?!” and “When?!” and “Why?!” floated up from all areas of the crowd as soon as the noise started. Hawkeye was right, I thought. Everyone wants an answer… and Ivy’s got control of it…

Speaking of Ivy, she was watching over the chaos with a sympathetic, neutral expression. She slowly swept her gaze over the crowd, making eye contact with individual Wolves and giving them consoling glances. It was actually a bit surreal. The Ivy I’d see was an evil, psychopathic, equicidal creature, caring for nothing but getting more power and stopping at nothing to get it. This Ivy was the complete opposite of that image. It seemed like she was trying to connect with everyone in the crowd, to soothe their worries, to ease their hurt, to join in with their joy… the effect was profound enough that I felt my heart actually start to go out to her.

I gleaned two things from the reaction. The first thing is that Hawkeye’s rule was seen in two completely different lights by different Wolves, and that the two opinions seemed to be split evenly among them. That implied a whole host of things that I didn’t exactly want to think about at that moment.

The second thing was that everything I’d heard about Ivy was true.

If anything, what I’d heard was understated. Ivy was an undeniable master of manipulation. She’d orchestrated everything to work out perfectly in her favor; even the wild card that was us didn’t slow her down. If anything, it only helped her along, as it caused Hawkeye to reveal that he helped Cam, an incredibly damaging piece of information. And even with that trump card, she exercised enough control to come up with a plan to release it to the public in a way that left Hawkeye with no ground to make his case on! Furthermore, the method of release caused enough confusion that no Wolf was truly sure what happened, but the tale was still clear enough that Ivy could spout her modified version of the events and everyone would believe them. It was just vague enough to work, and she was able to work that out on the fly. And now, she had started the final stages of her plan, and it was too late for us to do anything. A strange combination of dread and awe came over me at the realization of how thoroughly outmatched in terms of wit we were.

“Scary, isn’t it,” I muttered softly, turning towards Tranquility.

“Yeah…” she whispered, but her gaze wasn’t on Ivy. Instead, it was trained towards Hawkeye. I tilted my head to the side and opened my mouth to ask about that, but the crowd quieted down suddenly, drawing my attention back to them.

Ivy had raised a paw into the air, and the whole crowd had fallen silent. However, I could still see the questioning looks in their eyes, their yearning for an answer as to what happened. Unfortunately, Ivy was poised to deliver that answer.

“He passed away this morning,” she continued, making the audience gasp. “He attempted to jump into the Void and was immediately destroyed by a blast of otherworldly energy. It was a terrible fate, and a terrible thing to witness. I’m sure the hundreds of Wolves who saw it occur can confirm that.” A shocked murmur ran through the audience at that statement. Hawkeye himself rolled his eyes and growled softly, glaring down at her. “It was a truly tragic event that I wish could have been prevented,” she said sadly, closing her eyes and sighing. “At this moment, let us all take a moment of silence to honor this Wolf’s life.” A deep and tangible silence fell over the area around us. It was like the sound version of total cave darkness, and it gave me the shivers.

After about seven seconds, Ivy opened her eyes, and her expression hardened significantly, becoming deadly serious. “The loss of a life is always tragic,” she said somberly. “As a member of the Mages, I know that firsthand. I’ve seen my friends die. I lost my mate only four short years ago.” She paused, appearing to compose herself in light of that revelation. “I know exactly how saddening these events can be. I know how you all are feeling, and my heart goes out to you. I know a lot of you loved Hawkeye, and I wish this hadn’t happened.

“I know another thing, though, and this is the most important thing that each and every one of you needs to realize. You can’t let your emotions blind you to reality. I discovered this when I was barely an adult, back when I first joined the ranks of the Mages. My mentor passed away in an unfortunate accident just weeks after I officially went into service. I was heartbroken. I locked myself in my room for days on end, mourning him. He was like a father to me, for crying out loud! I didn’t know what to do. The pain…

“I stayed like that for a week. On the seventh day, someone slipped a piece of paper under my door. It was a summons. I was being called to testify before the Den.” Ivy paused, letting the implications of that statement sink in. “The case? A post-mortem examination of my mentor. He was being tried for the crimes of knowingly revealing himself and collaborating with another sapient species. There was also speculation that he was collaborating with said species, giving them information about our society and helping to prepare them in case they ran into another Wolf!” She paused again, watching as the assembled Wolves gasped and started to whisper to each other. “I couldn’t believe it. I had seen my mentor as being a good Mage, one who was committed to the protection of the multiverse. Our secrecy is integral to that duty, and compromising it would be compromising us. It didn’t seem right to me that he would have willingly done something so potentially disastrous.

“As I reread the summons, I realized that I had three days until I needed to testify. But, I was still confused. I didn’t know what was going on. And so, I resolved to use those three days to figure it out. I packed a satchel with everything I would need and set out.

“My mentor had passed away in the Sordid Wastes, a dimension that the Wolves of the day knew very little about. Our knowledge extended to basic generalization that is was an uninhabitable dusty plain. However, I knew that there must’ve been something to cause the investigation. I wanted to know what that something was.

“Over the course of those three days, I discovered exactly what I didn’t want to. I discovered that there was a sapient, advanced species living there, and that my mentor had been actively communicating with them. It was worse than that, though. He was teaching these creatures to make highly advanced technology, technology that is still classified to this day, in case they ran across a hostile Wolf and needed to defend themselves. At first, I didn’t believe it. My grief swelled up in a bubble around me, trying to shield me from the truth. I wanted to keep the image of my mentor as a virtuous Wolf safe and sound, but as time passed, I realized that I couldn’t, and the bubble broke down. On the third day, I got interviews with a few of the creatures, prepared my testimony… and fixed my mentor’s mistake.

“I delivered a testimony not three hours later that condemned his name to be remembered in infamy, and to this day, I don’t regret it. Some of you might think that’s cruel and heartless, but it was what I needed to do.

“I know it seems strange of me to bring this story up during such a morbid address. To some of you, it’s downright insensitive. Do understand, I brought it up for a reason. I need you to keep your heads straight when I reveal why Hawkeye died. Don’t let your grieving get in the way of clear thinking. Do you understand?” As the crowd murmured it’s assent, Ivy took a deep breath. “There’s really no way to sugarcoat this, so I’m going to say it bluntly.

“My fellow Wolves, Hawkeye betrayed you!”

It didn’t even take a full second before the crowd exploded into shocked shouts once more.

I managed to break my eyes away from the chaos in front of me and turned my gaze to my companions. Reed and Jasmine were staring at Ivy with identical disgusted expressions, looking like they had ordered a meal and gotten a pile of mold instead. Cam had migrated into Reed’s lap and was watching the proceedings with an angry glint in her eyes. I felt something rise within me when I saw that, like some sort of instinct. I felt like I needed to go over and comfort her somehow, and it felt like something incredibly important, but I tried to shake the feeling off. Reed was there, and he could do that if things got worse. But the urge remained…

I don’t think it helped that I knew why she was mad. She was watching Ivy, a person who had played a major part in destroying her life, get exactly what she wanted, and was completely unable to do anything about it. For her, this was a personal thing, like an insult to her very being. She didn’t fully realize exactly what repercussions this would have for the Wolves, and she didn’t really care.

As I glanced over at Hawkeye, I saw something similar, but at the same time, fundamentally different occurring. He wore a deadpan expression, but I could see that he was hurting in his eyes. He too was taking this as a blow to his core, but for different reasons. For him, this was a personal failure. He had failed to detect Ivy’s little plot, even when it was right under his nose, and had dismissed her desire for power as something inconsequential. He didn’t see the full picture until it was too late, and now, he was watching the consequences unfold before his eyes.

That’s what I thought, anyway. I didn’t know him well enough to be sure of that.

Reed and Jasmine were mad for different reasons. They both had known Ivy would pull something like this eventually, and even with that in mind, her plot had still worked. It had apparently been clear even before her mate had died, as evidenced by Jasmine’s knowledge of her. Their frustrations lay with the fact that this could have been prevented if even one person had taken Ivy more seriously. They were watching the ideals they cared about start to crumble down, knowing that they could have stopped it.

And Tranquility…

She just stared straight ahead, a blank, passive look on her face. Her eyes were closed, so I had no way to see her emotions there. Every now and then, her face would twitch slightly, giving me slight hints as to what was going on, but other than that, she could’ve passed for a stone wall with how little she was giving away.

I’d been faced with this situation before; multiple times, in fact. Whenever Tranquility got like this, it meant that something big was going on in her mind. It manifested most frequently back when we were in school, generally after she’d had a really rough day with the bullies. When it happened then, what she really needed was someone by her side, to give her silent reassurance and comfort through those rough thoughts.

This was different than those cases, however.

This time, I didn’t think that she was in a depressed state. When we had entered Paradise, she seemed to be doing fine enough, and I didn’t notice anything that would have thrown her into one. Then again, that didn’t rule out the possibility. The last few hours had been such an emotional stressball that something little might’ve pushed her over the edge. But that possibility seemed unlikely…

In short, I had no idea what was going on or what was causing this.

However, I could still assume that what I’d done in the past would still help her. I tried to stretch my wing out around her, but a sharp jolt of pain reminded me that they were still broken and bound. I froze for a few seconds, trying to hold back a squeak of pain, before I awkwardly scooted closer to her and pressed my side against hers, which was the best I could do at that moment.

For a few moments, we sat there in silence. Then, Tranquility leaned back against me, stretching one of her wings over me (even though I couldn't see it), and I felt a small surge of relief. I gently rested my head on her shoulder and looked out over the city. It felt… nice. Secure. Safe.

And in that moment, I came to terms with how I felt about this coup.

I was scared.

I was scared for us. In the past few hours, I’d learned that (probably) the only reason we were alive was because Hawkeye didn’t actually want us dead. He’d had to keep up a public appearance, so he’d done the bare minimum he could so that no one would question him. He’d know than killing us would’ve been wrong, and had acted accordingly to that.

Ivy had no such qualms. If she knew that we were still alive and at large, she’d send out the Mages with orders to kill us without a second thought. Luckily, as far as we knew, she thought we were dead, safely locked away in Has’rou, but that didn’t eliminate the danger.

If she ever found out that we escaped, our lives would be over. Simple as that.

I was scared for others. Hawkeye was against the policy of killing anyone who came into contact with a Wolf, and I’m sure, with time, would have weakened or even eliminated the laws regarding it. I’m sure the only reason he hasn’t already is because the public would eviscerate him for it, I thought, closing my eyes.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Ivy. She saw the laws as good. Right. Just. And as a famous pony once said, why fix something that isn’t broken? If she made any changes at all, it would probably be to add safeguards to the law, to make it harder to get rid of.

We’d be affected by a decision like that, for sure. Our lives would be forever in danger, but something like that would affect so much more. Every single creature that met a Wolf in the future would feel its effects… hopefully very briefly. The law might still be repealed eventually, but in the meantime, hundreds, or even thousands of lives would be pointlessly ended.

And that’s only considering one aspect of what she could do.

Swallowing nervously, I looked down toward the still chaotic crowd in front of us. Ivy had resumed her routine of sympathetically making eye contact with individual Wolves, waiting for the courtyard to settle down, to rationalize the revelation they’d heard just moments before.

“And the foundation begins to crumble,” Hawkeye muttered sadly.

After a few more moments, Ivy slowly raised one of her paws into the air. Instantly, the assembled Wolves became silent, turning their gazes towards the podium. I could see their confusion as plain as day, coupled with a need for more information. The exact combination that Ivy needed.

“It’s shocking, I know,” she resumed, sweeping her gaze over the crowd once more. “I can already see denial in some of your faces. To those of you who that applies to, I ask you to hear me out.

“By the time I’ve finished, I can guarantee that you won’t think of your former alpha the same way ever again.”

A small, worried murmur ran through the crowd. Ivy took a deep breath, appearing to compose herself before going forward.

“I suppose I should start at the beginning,” she continued. “Keep in mind, this is only what we know about right now. There could be other things that turn up as we continue to investigate this matter. Earlier, I mentioned that secrecy is a critical part of our role in the multiverse. Remember that; it’s important.

“As far as we can tell, the roots of his betrayals have always been around. Hawkeye has been notorious for some of his beliefs, specifically the ones about some of our laws. He’s opposed killing creatures that come into contact with us in the past, believing that there was a better way. We all thought that that was a political stance and nothing more, myself included, and for the majority of his rule, as far as we can tell, that’s what it was.

“But, in recent years, it’s grown into something else. Something more sinister. Something more dangerous. Something more… action oriented.

“Something that ended up compromising the secrecy of the Wolves on a scale that we have yet to comprehend.”

A shocked set of exclamations ran through the crowd at that, and I felt like I could feel its curiosity ramp up a few degrees. Ivy kept a straight face throughout the outburst, but I imagined that she was smiling on the inside. After a few more seconds, she raised her paw into the air, and the noise level settled down once more. “I ask you to keep your verbal reactions to a minimum,” she continued. “That way, we won’t be here all day.

“I know that claim is shocking. I know that some of you are already rejecting it, thinking that Hawkeye would never do something like that, and maybe you’re right. Maybe his mental state started going downhill as he got older. We have evidence for that, too, but let’s address that later. For now, let’s talk about exactly what happened and how we ended up in this position.

“It started rather inconspicuously. A pair of Civilians started to grow close. They ended up becoming mates, and before long, they had their first pup on the way. Everything seemed to be going perfectly- they had friends and family who supported them, the pregnancy was going smoothly, and they already were making arrangements for the pup to have a nice, easy life…

“Then, one night, around when the female was due to give birth, they vanished without a trace.

“Their neighbors contacted the Protectors after a week where they didn’t see the two Wolves at all. When they arrived on the scene and entered the house, they found... nothing. None of their possessions were missing, nothing seemed out of place, there were even dirty dishes in the sink from their last meal still sitting in the sink! The one thing that seemed a little odd was that there was a faint signature in the air, one that suggested a dimensional rift had opened there recently.

“Now, in a situation like that, there’s a lot to unpack. Where did they go? What caused them to vanish like that? What opened the rift? Was it dangerous? Could it harm other Wolves in the future? It seems like it would make sense to get someone on that case as soon as possible, to help get answers to those questions and assess the risk, right?

“Hawkeye put that case down as the lowest possible priority to get to and shelved it for two years.”

A disapproving mutter rose up from the crowd. “Already, that says something about him,” Ivy went on, ignoring the noise. “Don’t believe me? Check the records. We still don’t know exactly why he did that. Perhaps it’s more proof of his mental faculties crumbling, but that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is that the anomaly did eventually get investigated.

“Hawkeye put one Mage on the job: Jackson. He was especially skilled in the art of spellcraft, so much so that I couldn’t even match his skill, and I was over ten years older than him! For those of you who don’t know, spellcraft is the art of understanding how magic works. While that means that spellcraft masters can often whip up brand new, excessively creative spells on a whim, it also means they’re good at reconstructing spells from magical residues and signatures left behind when one is cast. The act of opening a rift is technically a spell, so Jackson was the perfect Mage for that job.

“He didn’t fail to deliver. Even after two years of the magical traces fading, he was able to reconstruct the rift after only three days. It surprised all of us, including him. Feeling confident, he entered the dimension that the portal led to and found the two Civilians. He brought them back to Paradise for interrogation and stepped back through the rift, presumably to look for evidence as to what they were doing.

“Minutes later, he was dead.

“Jackson had one problem- he wasn’t very powerful. Normally, he could make up creative, low power spells to compensate for that in a fight, but when confronted with pure brute force, he simply couldn’t keep up. That’s why whenever he got an assignment that could require a battle, he generally brought another Mage along as backup, and that worked fine.

“But this time, he was alone.

“After ten minutes and several flashes of heat coming through the rift, Hawkeye entered the dimension, worried. Seven minutes later, he came back through with his tattered, charred, bloody remains.

“No Mages were in that room when that happened. That account of events came from a Protector that was guarding the room. He had orders to stay where he was. I’m sure that if someone else had gone through the rift, we would have caught onto what actually happened.

“And by that, I mean that the official statement about Jackson’s death was a pile of lies. It stated that in that dimension, he encountered a creature that fit the definition of a dragon, but much, much larger than anything previously encountered. The idea that the Civilians had befriended the dragon and that that was why it didn’t attack them was also floated in it. It went on to say that Hawkeye was able to fend it off to retrieve Jackson’s remains, but had to quickly escape because the dragon was so powerful. And for a while, that story seemed to be legitimate. Most of the details lined up, and so, for years, the story became accepted and forgotten.

“It all started to unravel just over a week ago. Pay attention, everyone, because this is important.”

“Reah saikeiro furae,” Tranquility muttered softly, her wing-hug tightening around me. “Tyarai swo graoi pui kesa jal nidai zauch…”

I stretched my neck up to her cheek and gave her a reassuring nuzzle. “It’s gonna be fine,” I mumbled softly. She sighed softly and rested her head on mine, not responding.

Ivy closed her eyes and sighed. “Another consequence of Jackson’s death was that the dimension he died in was put down as forbidden. Not even the Wanderers could enter it. The official reason listed for that ban was that the dimension was too dangerous, like Varst’poui or Has’rou, but that simply wasn’t the case. One inexperienced Wanderer found that out last week.

“This Wolf had joined the ranks of the Wanderers just days before this happened. He was eager to do his best, to serve our civilization and the multiverse to the best of his ability. He was, and still is, a model of what I’d expect a Wanderer to be.

“His problem is that he was foolish. He didn’t think about some of the decisions he made with the care he should have. On his first day, he ended up jumping into a dimension that nearly got him killed, and even that didn’t tip him off that he should be more cautious. He’s what some of you would call thick-headed.” She paused, almost as if she was expecting some laughs, but none came. “In the end, that thick-headedness alerted us to the worst thing that any Alpha has done in the past thousand years.

“Last week, this Wanderer, not realizing or not caring that the dimension he had locked onto was forbidden, jumped into the same place that Jackson had died. What he found wasn’t some sort of deadly, dangerous place with massive monsters. What he found was a rather peaceful dimension with a whole array of unique flora and fauna. This dimension could have easily been a location for a Wolf city with how life-giving it was!

“But this Wanderer found something else. Something that shocked and appalled him.

“In the location where his portal landed, he found a Wolf pup, one who was engaged in casual conversation with two of the dimension’s natives.”

Gasps ran through the assembled Wolves. I watched some of their mouths drop open in shock, their minds seeming unable to process that information fully, while the rest seemed to be some degree of horrified or surprised. Wow… it’s that big of a shock? I thought, my eyes widening.

“I’m not done,” Ivy said softly. “The Wanderer, being a good, lawful Wolf, started to address and berate the pup for breaking our secrecy laws. The pup, surprisingly, didn’t seem to react to his words at all… almost as if she didn’t care what he said. Then, in accordance with our laws, the Wanderer moved in to kill the natives, to protect our secrecy. He drew his sword, reared back, and swung it at the closest one… only to find his strike blocked by a wall of golden energy. And in that moment, the Wanderer discovered something absolutely shocking.

“The pup that he had found was a Mage, and furthermore, rejected our society’s rules and ideals.”

Ivy thrust her paw out in front of her, and a small tendril of magic blossomed out of it, rising up into the sky. It grew into a flat sheet of golden energy, and upon that sheet, an image formed. It showed Cam in the middle of a fight, caught right in the midst of unleashing a roar of fury. The vine-like patterns on her fur were blazing like a pile of lit thermite, and her eyes were a solid, blazing white. The fuzzy silhouettes of several other figures were visible, including several which looked like the Mages we fought. A bolt of lightning was blasting out of Cam’s paw and striking one, in fact. In the back, I could see thick tree trunks surrounding the scene. It’s the Infinite Forest! I realized. Instantly, I knew exactly when that image was from. I could almost feel my chest start to hurt again…

“Is that me?” Cam whispered. “I look awesome!”

The crowd didn’t think the same way.

Shouts of fear and shock erupted from it, and I actually heard several pups start crying from seeing the image. Almost every Wolf seemed to be quite scared of the image, and for a moment, I didn’t understand why, but then it hit me. They didn’t have magic. Sure, some of them had training with a sword, but that couldn’t do anything against a magical attack. If Cam came after them, there was little that they could do. And Ivy had purposefully chosen a picture that made Cam look ferocious and animalistic to show to the crowd. It was yet another testament to her skill at manipulating a situation, and it made me feel sick.

Ivy closed her paw, and the image faded away. The crowd settled down, once again staring at her. “The Wanderer had discovered the first instance of a rogue Mage in all of Wolf history. This pup firmly believed that we Wolves were an evil, twisted society. She fully believed that we were maniacs, like a cult species, and that we were out to get her. She was wrong on many levels, of course, but that didn’t matter. What did matter is that she was immediately hostile towards the poor Wanderer, and that placed him in a bad situation.

“He did the best possible thing he could’ve. He got out of there as quickly as possible and ran to the Den. They were right in the middle of a meeting when he burst into their chambers, shouting about a rogue Mage. The other Mages and I, as well as Hawkeye, were in that meeting. As soon as the Wanderer stopped gasping for breath and told us what happened, Hawkeye ordered that we go and capture this pup.

“Pay attention to that phrasing. He wanted us to capture this rogue, potentially extremely dangerous Mage. Not kill her. Not make sure that she couldn’t harm any Wolves in the future. But capture her alive and bring her to this city.

“Already, that put Paradise’s entire population at risk, but it had another side effect. Not one of us Mages could utilize anything near our full fighting power when dealing with her. That enabled this Mage to fight back against us, and fight she did. In almost every encounter I had with her, some sort of blows were exchanged, and she proved to be powerful and resourceful.

“So powerful, in fact, that she was able to do the unthinkable.

“I’m sure that what happened could have been easily prevented if we’d been allowed to use the full extent of our powers, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Because of Hawkeye’s instructions, this rogue Mage was able to kidnap one of our own, Reed.”

Another wave of gasps swept through the crowd, with every single Wolf showing some degree of horror at that revelation. Fearful whispers began to permeate the air, and I didn’t need to know exactly what they were saying to know that it wasn’t good.

“That’s right,” Ivy continued, her voice cutting through and silencing the noise. “And not only that, but the Mage managed to make his magic inaccessible to him, leaving him virtually helpless against not only her, but the dangers of the multiverse.

“That’s important. We chased this rogue through many incredibly dangerous dimensions, including a dimension composed almost entirely of matter that was as hot as the cores of stars, one that can freeze a Wolf in under an hour, one that poisoned anyone that was in it, one composed of one of the most dangerous flammable materials out there, and even the Sentient Vines. One time, we found them locked in battle with an entire race of creatures who had lethal magic-like abilities.

“You might be thinking to yourselves right now: ‘Them? But I thought Reed couldn’t use his Magic!’ You’d be right. I say ‘them’ because the rogue had two non-Wolves with her; natives of the dimension she was found in.

“Reed was incredibly lucky to have even survived that ordeal. That doesn’t mean he made it out wholly okay, though.

“I’m not sure exactly what the Mage did to him while she had him captive. All I know is that when we caught up to the group just a few hours ago, he had his magic back. He then proceeded to attack the other Mages and I, surprising us enough that he was able to take the rogue and her companions and escape.”

Ivy paused, almost as if she was expecting another outburst, but none came. Every single Wolf was staring straight ahead with wide, horrified eyes. Several of the pups that looked to be about Cam’s age appeared to be on the verge of tears. Unfortunately, I knew exactly why.

One enemy they couldn’t fight back against was bad enough. What about a second, stronger one?

I knew the truth. Cam or Reed would never attack any of the Wolves here (or anywhere), but the Wolves didn’t know that. Ivy was presenting what happened in a way that could only be interpreted badly. We were made out to be the bad guys, the evil ones… the monsters. Everything about her speech was tailor-made to push that image, and it worked. Listening to her, I almost felt scared of Cam, and I knew for a fact that she wasn’t like that.

The worst thing about it, though, was the fact that nothing she had said was technically untrue, as far as I knew. If any Wolf were to go looking into the matter for themselves, the details would line up. Unless they actually found us somehow, they would believe everything she had said.

And we could do nothing about that. These Wolves, when Ivy was done, would probably all be terrified of us if they ever saw us. She wasn’t even done, and they were scared speechless!

It was enough that I just wanted to break down completely.

“I can see it in your faces,” Ivy said. “You’re shocked and appalled, not just because of the Mage, but because of me. ‘This happened this morning!’ you’re thinking. ‘Why aren’t you out there trying to stop them? With every second you waste, they could be getting closer to attacking us!’ You’re right in that assumption, but fortunately, I have a good reason for not pursuing them.

“Reed, the two non-Wolves, and the rogue Mage are no more.”

I could see the crowd visibly relax, a few sighs of relief making their way to my ears. Ivy nodded softly, a small smile stretching over her face. “Or at least, no longer a threat.

“The Mage forgot to account for everything. In magic, there’s something known as a magic signature. It permeates any sort of spells that a Wolf casts. It can be used as an identifying feature, sort of like how a strand of fur can be used to identify a Wolf. Every single Wolf has one, and we Mages use them in our missions quite often.

“In rare cases, we use it to pinpoint the exact location of Wolves in the multiverse. Now, a magic signature takes time to get. It’s not like a code, where you can just read it off and recite it. No, it’s much more complex, with multiple layers, several types of magic, and even a sort of magical encryption worked in.

“I’d been working my way towards acquiring the rogue’s magic signature during our pursuit of her, but in the end, I didn’t need to. All Wolves have a signature, after all. And as a requirement for our job, all the Mages have to have each other’s signatures memorized.

“Whatever the rogue did to Reed to block his magic also blocked his signature from being usable, but when she removed the barrier, it became accessible again. So, when he fled to another dimension, I was able to instantly know where they were.

“And then the chase was on. In under a minute, we hopped through five dimensions. Reed undoubtedly realized what was happening, and I began to grow worried. He wasn’t stupid. He would know exactly how to make his signature unusable again. And it seemed like my fears were justified. When I entered the fifth dimension, I heard him shout ‘Do it in the next one!’

“And then, the best possible thing happened.

“I’m fairly sure it was an accident. No sane Wolf would have ever done what he did purposefully. But accident or not, it was a blessing. It resolved the problem in a better way than I ever could have, and saved the Wolf society from danger.

“Reed jumped into Has’rou, pulling the non-Wolves and the rogue with him.” A few soft gasps were heard, and I saw a bunch of Wolves’ eyes widen.

“I almost jumped in too, but I caught myself before I opened the rift. Immediately, I called the other Mages to me, and we headed back to Paradise.

“You might be wondering the same thing I was: How could all of this happen?” A few Wolves nodded. “Nothing, and I repeat, nothing even remotely similar has ever happened in the history of the Wolves. In all honesty, this shouldn’t have ever occurred.

“When I got back to Paradise, I received an answer. It would be an understatement to say that it was not what I was expecting.

“Let’s back up for a moment. About three years ago, I realized something. Our system of government had a major flaw: the Alpha wasn’t accountable. We, the lesser Wolves, had no way to know if he or she had our best interests in mind, if he or she was sound of mind, or if he or she was planning something sinister. That was a major problem in my eyes, and it didn’t sit well with me at all. In response, I did something borderline treasonous.

“I planted a magical spying bug of my own design right in Hawkeye’s bedchambers.

“It was designed to pick up his voice and send it to a small storage center I’d hidden in another dimension, to let us know if he was muttering things under his breath that could hint at something bad. I’m fully aware of what a terrible thing to do that was, but I felt it had to be done.

“For years, I got nothing significant. He’d say things to himself, but those were harmless little thoughts. Every now and then, he’d get angry about something, but once again, it was just little things, like a court trial he was appalled at or a book series doing something he didn’t like. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t be mad at those sorts of things?

“I thought it was a testament to his leadership that even in private, he wouldn’t say anything incriminating or insulting. It turns out, that stuff was lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for the right thing to set it loose.

“Flash forward to this morning. I got back to my chambers, summoned the storage center to me, and began to replay the last week of Hawkeye’s private conversations.

“Instantly, I heard this. It answers almost every question I had about this situation. Prepare yourselves, because you’re not going to like this.” She thrust out her paw, and a straight line of magic shot up into the sky. It began to vibrate, and the recording Hawkeye told us about began to play.

There was something different about it, though. Hawkeye had told us exactly what he said when he was explaining what happened back in Quaa’st. If he was to be believed, this version was edited.

“Why?!” it played. “Why did they have to find her?! Why couldn’t she have just lived a normal life?! Why couldn’t she have stayed hidden, safe in her safe world?!” A snapping sound echoed through the space around us, followed by a crash. “Stupid… That was stupid, Hawkeye. Sixty-eight years old and still throwing tantrums like a pup… it was surprisingly therapeutic, though. I should vent like that more often. But the question remains… why did they have to find her? She didn’t deserve what we put her through. We took that poor girl’s parents away from her and tried to take her, too… and forced her to kill someone. All because of the STUPID laws we have to follow, written ten millennia ago by xenophobic, secretive morons. And I tried to help her by letting her go five years ago, without the Den’s knowledge, but now, I have to send the Mages after her, just to save face…”

A moment of pure silence followed before Ivy sighed. “And the pieces start to fall into place…

“For those of you confused as to what that means, allow me to enlighten you. It means that Hawkeye lied about Jackson’s death. It means he sided with a rogue Mage, one who showed no hesitation about literally ripping a Wolf to pieces. It means he let this Mage run free in a dimension with sapient creatures, not only risking the crucial secrecy of the Wolves, but also endangering all of you!

“And most importantly, it shows that he despised the laws regarding our secrecy, showing that not only did he have no regrets about what he had done, but he would do it again.”

Another moment of silence passed; then the atmosphere shifted from scared to furious. And then the growls started.

First, it was one Wolf, then it was two, and it spread from there. A low, rumbling growl spread through the air, rising in intensity. This wasn’t a playful growl, either. This was the kind of growl I’d heard from timberwolves; the one that says “I’m angry and I will hurt you.” These Wolves were furious, and it was absolutely terrifying. I felt my fur stand on end, I pressed closer to Tranquility, my heart rate rising.

Not all of the Wolves were growling, though. A good portion of them, probably a fourth of the whole crowd, were in disbelief. They looked like they didn’t want to believe what they just heard, grasping at straws to hold onto how they saw Hawkeye before. They had a lost, sad, shocked look in their eyes, sort of like a puppy who had just been abandoned on the side of the road.

I was shocked, too. I didn’t expect Ivy to manipulate the recording when the original would have easily sufficed. Just like everything else in the speech, though, it was molded to push across her message. She cut out the parts about Cam’s age and the trauma just to make her look more like a monster, and by extension, make Hawkeye look like a monster for siding for her. And the editing was meticulous. It sounded like she went in and adjusted the pitches of Hawkeye’s voice to make the edited parts sound more natural. She’s pulling no punches, I thought.

And apparently, going the extra mile payed off. The sheer level of rage in the air was enough to make me feel unsafe just from being near it. I could tell Tranquility was feeling it too; I felt her breathing quicken significantly, and her wing hug tightened even more. I was certain the others were being affected as well.

The atmosphere of hate just reinforced how screwed we were.

“Your anger is justified!” Ivy yelled over the noise. It started to quiet down, but the aggression remained. “I feel it too! I’m absolutely horrified that our Alpha, the Wolf we trusted to lead us, would betray us in such a horrific way! I almost can’t believe it!

“But unfortunately, it’s exactly what happened. As soon as I learned about it, I gathered up the other Mages, and we went to do what needed to be done. The Wolves couldn’t have a leader who was willing to do something like that. We went to confront him and remove him from the throne.

“And I’m sure you all have heard some version of what happened next. Hawkeye and the Mages fought in the halls of the palace, the battle coming to a head when we broke our way into this very courtyard in front of a crowd. There, I told the congregation an abridged version of the events, Hawkeye jumped into the void, and that brings us to now.

“We don’t know exactly why Hawkeye did what he did. Maybe he was starting to have issues in the head in his old age. His temper flared up rather dramatically, and what sane Wolf would ever side with a murderer, especially one who’s been proven to be vicious?! Maybe he wanted this society to fall. Or maybe, and this is the scary option, he did what he believed was right. If that’s the case, then who knows what other terrible things he could’ve done while in office?

“Why he did it doesn’t necessarily matter. What does matter is how his actions could have affected you. You could have died from this! Your pups could’ve died from this! I don’t think I even need to say anything else to show how horrible this decision was!” The Wolves started to growl again.

“And this isn’t limited to Paradise,” Ivy continued, her voice cutting through the sounds with ease. “Every Wolf city could have been affected by this! Paradise is the most heavily fortified one. The Mages live here, the Protectors patrol the streets regularly, and the Wanderers’ main complex is in the palace. If the rogue had come here, we would’ve had at least some of a chance.

“Imagine what would have happened if she had gone after anywhere else.”

As the growls continued to rise once more, Ivy didn’t silence them. Instead, she started nodding, a dead serious expression on her face. “Even with the threat neutralized, we could still be affected! That pup was left alone for years and was found conversing with non-Wolves! She could have communicated with hundreds, maybe thousands of others! And if they told their friends, and they told their friends, then soon enough, a whole dimension could know about our existence! And if they know how to cross realities… the Wolves could be in some serious trouble!

“And it’s only through sheer luck that we discovered this! If only a few things had gone differently, you could all still be under this terrible threat! That thought is one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard, straight out of a nightmare, and it’s not even a thought! It’s real life!

“And WHO caused this?!” Ivy yelled, leaning over the podium she stood at and sweeping her eyes over the crowd. “WHO put you all at risk?! WHO endangered and possibly compromised our very society?! WHO sided with a psychopath and then did the BARE MINIMUM to stop said psychopath so that he could ‘save face?!’

“I’ll TELL you who! It was the Wolf who we trusted to lead us! To guide our society with wisdom and care! We praised him for his work! We loved him! And he turned around and did THIS to us!”

Ivy paused, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths, appearing like she was calming herself. The growls started to die out, with every single eye being trained on her. After a few seconds, she reopened her eyes and sighed.

“If that doesn’t spell out betrayal, I don’t know what does.”

Not even a full second passed before the audience roared with anger.

A cold feeling of despair settled in my stomach as the jeers went on. I’d known it was coming- we all did- but that didn’t make the moment suck any less. Ivy had succeeded in every possible definition of the word. Even if we were alive and Ivy had no reason to suspect that was the case, we still were in trouble. If for any reason at all she suspected we were still alive, we’d have to start running once more. And there’d be nothing to stop her from killing us on the spot this time.

And that wasn’t all. I’d just watched Cam, the Wolf who went through Tartarus with us and who I had grown incredibly close to, get eviscerated in a horrible way. She’d watched her image cause pups to start crying. The crowd had been relieved to hear that she was dead. She wasn’t showing anything, but I couldn’t imagine what that was doing to her seven-year-old mind, especially after the ordeal she’d been put through.

I shuddered softly, pressing up against Tranquility. “Well, that’s that,” I muttered softly.

“Yeah,” she said back, sighing defeatedly.

Ivy let the crowd yell for thirty more seconds before raising a paw, cutting the din off. “But fortunately, we did find out. The threat has been neutralized, for the most, and we can move forward. I know that some of you are worried about how we’ll recover, how we’ll figure out exactly how bad this situation is, and how we’ll choose a new Alpha.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m the best Wolf to go to for that information.” A few cries of protest were heard from the crowd, but Ivy waved her paw dismissively. “I do have someone here who’s much better suited for those things, though. Please welcome Amber, head and spokesperson of the Den, to the microphone.”

A smatter of polite applause floated up from the assembled Wolves as Ivy stepped off of the podium and a petite, grey-pelted Wolf took her place. She appeared to be a bit older than Ivy, with visible wrinkles around her eyes and streaks of silver running through her neatly-styled hair. My mind instantly jumped to the Mayor of Rockville, with Amber’s stern, kind look reminding me of him.

“Hello, Wandering Wolves,” Amber said strongly, her voice reverberating through the courtyard. “I don’t think I need to elaborate on the terrible things that Hawkeye did. Ivy did an excellent job at explaining that situation, and I feel like you don’t need me to reiterate the impacts of his actions.

“What you don’t know, though, is the steps that we’re taking to fix and control the damage done. I’ll do my best to fill you in on that front. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to undo this catastrophe.

“The Den has assumed all of the Alpha’s responsibilities until a new one can be appointed. This includes command of the Wanderers, control of the Mages, the approval of new laws, and executive ability to issue emergency legislation. I can assure you that we are taking full advantage of these abilities.

“The Wanderers have been placed on high alert to look for any mention of the Wolves in any place in the multiverse. A good portion, about half, have been ordered to supervise any dimensions with civilized or sapient creatures specifically for that purpose. If they hear anything at all, they will immediately report it to the Den, and we will take the appropriate action. If, in fact, the creatures that the rogue Mage was found among can actually cross dimensions, we will know.

“We have the Mages doing several different things. Ash has been dispatched to the dimension where the pup was found to seek out and neutralize any creatures who know about the Wolves. He’s going to find out the true extent of the problem and report it back to us. I’m hoping it’s not as bad as it could be, but you never know.

“Willow and Cypress are currently combing through Hawkeye’s possessions and personal spaces and magically analyzing them. They’re doing that for a couple reasons. The first is to look for evidence of any other secret things Hawkeye has done, to see if there’s any other disasters we need to be worried about. The second is to look for any reason he would have felt it necessary to do this. We’re doing our best to solve these mysteries, and as soon as we have answers, I can promise that the public will know.

“Ivy is going to be assisting the Den with any major decisions regarding this occurrence. She’s got much-needed experience in dealing with the rogue, and we need that to move forward.

“Among other things, the Den will be crafting a formal process and policy regarding removing an Alpha from the throne. It may be a rare occurrence, but if the Wolves end up with an Alpha that doesn’t have our best interests in mind, we need a way to fix that without a violent coup taking place. While it may have been the right thing to do, the fight this morning was not an experience that we want to repeat.

“As for the process of choosing a new Alpha, that’s a bit more complicated. Usually, an Alpha will name a successor before he passes, one who he or she feels would be the best choice for leading the Wolves. If he or she is unable to do that, the throne will then go to his or her’s eldest offspring.

“Neither of those scenarios are applicable to this situation, and even if the first one did apply, that choice would be thrown into serious doubt because of these revelations. That being said, the process for appointing a new Alpha is a bit more complicated than usual.

“The Den will have heavy deliberations as to who will be the best choice to take us forward. We’ll be taking input from the public and consulting many, many Wolves on their opinions. This process could take two weeks or a year, but no matter how long it takes, I can assure you this.” Amber leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing.

“We will not let something like this happen again. Whoever we choose to lead the Wandering Wolves will be a sound-minded, intelligent, reasonable individual, one who will defend us from threats, not create them. This Wolf will understand the importance of our laws and the importance of their actions.

“This Wolf will make sure we stay on the right path. And I can assure you that it will not be a Wolf like Hawkeye, probably someone on the opposite of the spectrum.

“Hawkeye’s philosophy has proven to be dangerous. We won’t let someone dangerous lead us, I can promise that. Have a nice rest of your day.” She stepped away from the microphone and nodded sharply, turning around and stepping off the podium.

The cheers and shouts that followed were deafening.

They only reinforced the feeling of dread in my bones.

Author's Note

First of all, I would like to apologize for taking so long to get this out. I had a bit more life to deal with than I expected, and this was a long, frustrating chapter to write. The process went something like this:

Ooh! I wrote a detail! Did I get detail right? (Proceeds to reread several chapters in order to make sure.)

Yeah... not too fun.

But yeah! Evil doggo did an evil and our heroes couldn't do anything about it. More on that in the next chapter, which hopefully won't take as much time to write.

Thestral Language Guide

As usual, if I screwed up grammatically, then let me know in the comments and I'll fix it.

Thank you so much for coming back to this story!
~Pyrepinna

Side note, why is foreign music so good to write with?