Chapter 2 “In the Shadows”

The moon was high above the wolf as he slipped into his territory. He was tired, and needed to rest more than anything. His eyes struggled to stay open, yet they fixed on the mare that came into his line of sight. Transforming, he put on his best smile, although his fatigue could be seen clearly. “Mother,” he called, “I'm back.” She turned her head, rising to her hooves and coming forward to embrace her son.

“Obsidian! We were just wondering about you. Couldn't find anything?” He shook his head, waging whether or not he should tell the light blue unicorn about his encounter with Pixel, then decided now wasn't the time.

“Where's Father?”, He asked instead.

“The same place he usually is at night- up on the landing. He’s been gloomy lately. Perhaps seeing you might cheer him up.”

“Perhaps. Thank you.”

He started to move, pausing when his mother spoke again, this time her voice soft. “You seem… concerned. Did something happen?” His body tensed, and he looked down briefly, gritting his teeth as he lied:

“Nothing happened, Mother. Nothing at all.”

He continued to walk before he disappeared from her view. She scowled, sensing something was off. Yet, instead of going to confront him on it, she dropped the matter, directing her gaze to her fellow Alpha, Lovelace, who was attempting to feed a young earth pony filly a piece of rabbit. “Reste assis, Marigold!” (Sit still, Marigold!), the pegasus exclaimed in slight frustration, as the little one was hopping up and down in excitement. Speckle smiled and shook her head.

“Permettez-moi d'aider, Lovelace.” (Let me help, Lovelace.), She offered.

Lovelace nodded, watching with interest as the unicorn lifted the filly off the ground in her aura, bringing her to her eye level. “Marigold, sweetie. I know you're excited to eat, but Lovelace isn't going to give you food until you sit, ok?” The other’s eyes squinted, but she nodded once, going into a sitting position once she was lowered back onto the grass. Lovelace tossed her the chunk of meat, which she snatched into her jaws, carrying it promptly into the cave, her gold colored tail wagging. The pink pegasus gave Speckle a surprised look.

“Comment as-tu fais ça?” (How did you do that?)

The other mare laughed lightly. “Vous apprenez une chose ou deux lorsque vous avez vécu avec une Omega depuis si longtemps.” (You learn a thing or two when you've lived with an Omega for so long.)

Now that she thought about it, she missed the liveliness that the three Omegas had brought to the pack. In general, the liveliness that all of the other members had brought to the pack. Once thriving with sixteen members strong, now had dwindled to six. It's surprising how much had happened within five moons. With Quetzal taking Mark’s position once he left with Firefly, she and Speckle rarely saw each other, yet the unicorn figured it was probably for the best. A cool breeze snapped her out of her little trance, and she sighed. “Allons-y, devons-nous?” (Let's head inside, shall we?) The other agreed, and they went in together, mostly to sleep, but also to check on Marigold so she didn't end up eating a whole deer.

Ember was in the middle of grooming himself when Obsidian appeared on the landing. He cocked his head at the dark brown wolf. “Father? May I ask what you're doing?” The wolf’s eyes stared at him before rolling in their sockets. He changed forms, blinking slowly.

“Can't a stallion clean himself? This coat wouldn't be this shiny if I didn't clean it.”

“Right… Mother said you were feeling down. What's the matter?”

At this question the other sighed, turning to face front. “Call it odd, but I wish things weren't as… mundane as they are now. Check the perimeters once a week with Quetzal, have a meeting once a month, go on a hunt, sleep, repeat. It's gotten more than boring. Don't get me wrong, the past two decades of my life have been hectic, but I wouldn't change it for the world.”

Obsidian sat and pondered as he listened to his father's words, curious more than anything. He had heard bits and pieces of some of the events that had occurred before his birth, but now he had a chance to hear about it all. “You wouldn't mind to perhaps, tell me about those moons, would you?”

Ember chuckled softly. “Interested, are we?” He glanced at the sky to check for the location of the moon, finding it rising just above the tops of the green, feathery pines. He turned back. “Get comfortable, kid. And if I catch you falling asleep you're getting hit with my tail.”

“Yes, Sir.”

In the misty cover of the clouds, a transparent figure flitted around, turquoise eyes set in place as it floated about. Its point of focus was redirected to something below it, so it dived, parts of its body coming off in wisps. Sirena had fallen asleep at her cave's entrance, oblivious to the soon blossoming flower of heartache and pain that was about to land on her. The ghost-like creature stopped in front of her, eyes unwavering as it took in her still frame. A faint smile tickled its lips, and it reached out to touch her wings, grazing over her black feathers. They fluffed up in response, and she tensed. It waited for her to relax again before touching her wings once more, this time phasing through them. It slipped into her without warning, feeling out the warm confines of her body, deciding it could get used to this. A deadly force was now taking root, and it was too late to uproot it.