Please read Blood and Fire Book 1 First 

The Southern border patrol tilted their gaze to the night sky. Streaks of light illuminate the trees as meteors zinged across the moonless ether. Forest shadows wavered and shifted with the radiance of the unexpected display

Mesmerized by the brightly colored flares made by burning rocks slashing across the glittering obsidian canvas of the heavens, the wolves remained frozen. The intensity of the meteor shower increases. Some of the burning rocks kept glowing visibility throughout their decent, too large to burn up in the atmosphere. One of the patrol wolves growls low as a sizzling chip rockets through the tree canopy, embedding in the soft forest floor causing a hissing trail of smoke and vapor to ascend.

Good thing it has been a wet Spring. Fiona sent through the link. Her lithe golden-red fox-like wolf brushing playfully against Mike. The male takes his gaze off the sky to study her, he can’t stop his tail from swaying happily.

Signy’s large grey wolf slinks from the forest shadows stopping shoulder to shoulder with Mike’s comically bright red wolf. The male startles at her arrival.

Stop scaring the recruits Signy. Lexie sends. Get to the caves, just in case this gets worse.

Another rock strikes the ground several yards away and the small pack doubles their pace. Cresting the hill next to a spring-fed pond that glows an eerie teal blue, the wolves run across open ground the last 100 feet to a cave mouth. The group settles in to watch the light show. Occasionally hissing sounds from the small pond as shards of heated rock land in it.

There wasn’t anything on the news about a meteor shower this week. Balder’s thoughts drift through the link. Lexie’s wolf locks eyes with Signy, a knowing look passes between the two she-wolves.

A blaze of light floods the area as a sizable meteor cuts through the sky landing just past the rise by the pond. A chest vibrating boom rocks the ground. Dirt sprays into the air, flames lick up.

The massive red male wolf attempts to push the females further into the cave, away from danger.

Lexie’s wolf snaps its teeth at the lumbering male. What are you doing Mike? Pretty sure you aren’t in charge here. Unless you think now is the time to throw down a challenge.

The male cringes, displaying his throat in submission.

You three stay here. Sigyn and I will investigate the fire.

Balder’s wolf steps forward. If you keep us back, safe from danger, how will we learn?

The infamously silent Sigyn tilts her head. A wave of agreement from the silver wolf floods the link.

Lexie’s wolf snarls displeasure. Fine. You may come. Stay behind us and do exactly as I say. Shooting a pointed look at Mike. That means no white knight syndrome. Understood.

Yes ma’am. The three reply.

*

Lexie and the three young fighters held back as Sigyn slunk to the crater. Steam and smoke rose from the earth in curling wisps. A soft human-sounding moan drifts up followed by words in a language unknown to Sigyn.

What’s down there? Lexie asked.

Sigyn responds by sending a wave of annoyance through the link. Lowering her belly to the ground, she continues forward to the edge of the crater. Peaking over the melted and burning bits of earth Sigyn made out the form of a half-buried male, on his back prone, knees bent up. His face, chest, arms, and knees mostly visible through rock dust and soot. A glint of bronze under dirt and rubble suggested a breastplate and greaves. He appeared to wear an oddly constructed feathered headdress. He groaned again then shifted, causing melted soil to crackle and break away from his form. Scrapping a hand across his face dislodged enough grime for Sigyn to get a look at his features. The bones in his face held sharp angles. A strong jaw, round wide-set eyes, and a large hawk-like nose put the male dancing the edge between exotically handsome and ferociously unattractive. Preoccupied studying the male, Sigyn startled when he spoke. Her attention snapped back to his eyes. One eye flashed dark amber rimmed in gold, the other eye glittered an oddly striated carnelian containing no pupil. He spoke again, lifting his free hand and reaching for her.

What is going on? We can hear someone talking. Lexie’s agitation is evident in the link.

Wait. Sigyn felt Lexie bristle at the one-word command. Sigyn sent a feeling of danger, an image of the male, reassurance that she would investigate. Words were still a hard thing for her to communicate in.

She crept into the slag crater cautiously, testing the surface, wondering how the rock was so quickly cool enough to traverse. The male struggled unsuccessfully to free himself from the ground, then laid his head back again. His gaze never left her. His words continued in low coaxing tones, yet the cadence and sounds he made bounced about, like he was asking the same question in different tongues. He Stretched his hand out again. Sigyn stayed just out of reach. Sniffing his fingertips as he strained for her. The man fell back, exhaling in exasperation. Though his torso was exposed his hips appeared to be pinned by melted rock. His shoulders could not raise for leverage and his left arm was encased in slag.

Sigyn felt the other wolves looking down on her from the upper edge of the crater.

Is it him? Lexie asked.

Sigyn sent a feeling of reluctant agreement to Lexie along with the male’s unique scent and odd appearance. She focused on how he was pinned down, unable to free himself.

Fiona came bounding into the crater, skidding to a stop as Sigyn’s teeth bared and raised hackles.

Whoa… you said he was pinned. I’m just trying to help. Fiona began to back away from the grey she-wolf.

The prone male became stone still as the other wolves slowly descended the crater walls following Lexie, moving to circle the intruder. His gaze caught Sigyn again, his voice still low now held a pleading tone to it.

Lexie stepped forward. Krish and Cungr are on the way.

Sigyn felt the tension receded from her shoulders at the news. Her attention remained locked with the glinting amber of the strange male.

We should start digging him out. Lexie suggested.

Lexie took a step toward the male and stiffened when Sigyn commanded “No.” through the link.

You really don’t grasp the chain of command well, do you? Lexie, once again annoyed, sends to Sigyn as she backs away from the prone male.

Sigyn's tendency to refuse orders and issue her own was something Lexie was charged to correct. Thus far Lexie’s progress with the silent she-wolf was paltry. The she-wolf did not possess similar linguistic and reasoning skills to the rest of the pack, making it difficult to communicate unless it was done in mental images. Communicating that way required an extremely open link, allowing emotions to bleed through, eliminating privacy in the mind. Signy’s prolonged isolation from a pack and lack of a human-like form and mind exacerbated her animalistic tendencies. Sigyn was all wild fey. Intelligent, calculating, ruthless, and tolerant of a spare few. As it stood, only Trip, Brice, and the Selene seemed able to adequately communicate with the female. Bringing her into the pack improved her volatile temper, but all bets were off if the Arch Beta made an appearance.

Sighing heavily Lexie continues. All right, it's your party. Just use caution.

Sigyn carefully approached the male. He kept his free hand at his sides as she lowered her head to his neck and shoulder. He spoke again. His words so soft only her ears could hear them. She snorted on his shoulder. He tensed as she nuzzled under his back to gauge what he was caught on. There was something coming out of his back by his shoulder blades, she didn’t smell blood. It was then she noticed his headdress was not a headdress, but feathers coming out of his scalp. Like a bird. The feathers ran down the back of his neck into whatever was sticking out near his shoulder blades and embedded in the fused rock below. When she clawed at the protrusions to dig them up the man yelled and swatted at her.

The trapped male kept rambling in languages Sigyn did not understand until suddenly.

Wait. Was that German? Lexie asked.

Yeah. I think so. Something about not eating him. It's just a myth, he wouldn’t taste like chicken. Balder chuckled through the link.

You understand him?

Well not now, he switched languages. Besides, what he was speaking was like 16th century high German. So I may have misunderstood. Balder replied.

Shift, speak to him. Let him know we aren't interested in what he tastes like. Lexie commands.

If a wolf could have fallen over laughing, Balder would have. The giant black wolf with blood-red points shook with amusement as he pitched forward to shift. Once in human form, Balder began to speak to the bizarre feathered male in guttural tones. The male stilled and responded. The two conversed back and forth.

Sigyn sent an image of wings trapped under rock to Lexie.

Lexie shifts to human form. “Ask him if he has wings.”

Balder held up a hand as he listened to the male. “Yeah, he was just explaining that. Oh, he’s happy you don’t want to know if he tastes like chicken.”

*

Where in all the Hells was he? Did Krish call him back to earth? The female best have dire need to summon him thus. She’d always claimed a wry sense of humor. Humor that Horus found it difficult to understand or enjoy. If he’d expected to hear from his long-lost sister he would have been prepared for a planar shift and not ended with half his body encased in rock. Laying back, looking up at the stars, he considered the irony of dying simply because Krish sent out a cry for help. Well, really more a strong demand. Damnable Tigraata and their blood magic. Why couldn’t they have earth magic, or spirit magic, or gods bones even dark magic? At least there was recourse against those, a way to wheedle out of or manipulate them. Oh no, not Tigraata. Like Djinn they bound your very blood and bone to them. There was no escape, no choice but to respond.

His distracted musings were interrupted by approaching wolves. Great, now he must deal with his sister’s most adamant opponents. He was startled by the proximity of a battle-torn she-wolf. The cartilage of her right ear broken, missing a large chunk, flapped uselessly against her skull. A thick scar ran across the top of her skull, over her right eye, and along her jowl. He tried speaking to her only to find she did not speak the fey tongue. Flipping through his catalog of known languages since his last visit, Horus became frustrated at her lack of response. She moved as stealthily as Krish, that was an interesting surprise. The wolves behind her kept their distance, the slight crunch of padded paws on scorched grass drew his focus up. The silver-grey wolf was a distrustful creature, refusing his plea for her to come closer.

The other wolves slid down the loose earthen indention, circling him like any good pack would a potential threat. An over-exuberant youngster received a soundless warning from the grey she-wolf.

Horus closed his eyes as she nuzzled his crest, searched under his shoulders. Only when she began to dig did he object. Those sharp claws were dangerous to him. One nick and he’d be poisoned. Without treatment, his very long existence would cease. He began to rant at her, trying still more languages. Suddenly all the wolves stilled then a large male shifted to human form. After millennia, Horus still found the chilling sound of bones and sinew rearranging disturbing. The deeply tanned dark-haired male began to talk to him in a bastardized German dialect.

“Calm down. We don’t care if you taste like chicken.” The young male fought laughter as his lips threatened to quirk in a smile.

“That’s not what I… never mind. I am glad she is not interested in my lack of poultry flavoring. Where am I?”

“Indiana. Little outside of Indianapolis.”

Horus narrowed his eyes at the man. “Continent? Year?”

“Oh, right… North America, 2020. Ah… what is the last year you remember?”

“North America? 1000 Hells and a Cherub. Never mind what I remember. Tell them they can’t use their claws to dig me out. I am allergic to your venom.”

The male turned from Horus and began talking to the other wolves. English? They were speaking a version of that god awful mutt of a language? Horus rolled his eyes to the heavens. Could not the universe have at least killed off that plague-like language while he was absent? Mother would be so disappointed.

The young male drew his attention again. “Is your name Horus?”

Horus stiffened. Should he tell the truth? Thousands of years had passed since he last walked this planet under that name. How did they know it? Would these wolves be able to tell if he lied? The intense stare of the silver wolf confirmed that she at least could smell his lies and half-truths. Damn it all he was useless at lies. He was an alchemist, engineer, a creature of battlefield prowess. Not a diplomat or politician. His skills were more suited to benevolently distant dictator. If he could free his wings from this rock he’d school these wolves on his true nature.

Thinking Horus did not understand, the male rephrased. “Are you called Horus?”

“It is one of many I have lived under.”

*

Balder shrugged at the answer the strange male gave him.

“Well? What did he say?” Lexie, now standing in human form, questioned Balder.

“Says he has a bunch of names.”

Lexie eyed the stranger. “He must be the Selene’s brother. No one else would be crazy enough to answer a bunch of wolves that cryptically. Mike. Fiona. Shift and help us dig him out. No claws. He’s allergic to dog.“

The two changed leaving only Sigyn as a wolf.

Fiona took a measured step forward. “Maybe we should wait for the Selene and Arch Alpha before, you know, digging him out? He looks dangerous.”

“What happens if we get attacked by the shadow Alpha and his pack? You going to take the blame for leaving the Selene’s brother behind? Going to explain why we were waiting to dig him out?”

Fiona gave Lexie an uncertain look.

“That’s what I thought. Now get to work.” The words came out a sharp command.

Mike brought a large rock over and started smashing around Horus’s feet with it to free his lower legs.

“Ask him how far out his wings are Balder.” Lexie requested while looking for something like Mike’s tool to work with.

Fiona chipped away at the rock by the male’s hip while Lexie and Balder walked around pinpointing where Horus’s wings lay under the slag.

Sigyn paced restlessly. She reached out for Trip through the link. His mind soothed her irritation. The only time she could communicate with the pack was when they were in wolf form. Trip, Brice, and Krish could talk to her regardless. Trip was running the Northern border patrols, searching for Brice. He stayed in contact as much as possible, knowing Sigyn still felt disjointed from the others. The connection was mutually beneficial. The two reassuring each other, chasing away each other’s fears.