The wolves come out to watch
when night falls.

They mean you no harm.
They will not leave.

When night falls,
your silent guardians rise.

They will not leave
until you are ready to wake.

Your silent guardians rise,
sentient of your dreams
until you are ready to wake;
their firefly eyes aglow.

Sentient of your dreams,
they mean you no harm.

Their firefly eyes aglow,
the wolves come out to watch.

-“Guardians of the Night” by Madhumita

        Mai, the Queen, held her part of the bargain, leading Ember to her Clan’s castle as promised. She landed in front of the wolf girl gently, and nodded her head towards the gate, walking calmly and purposefully as Ember scrambled behind her.

        As she approached, the huge, metal, golden arched gate in front of them opened with a groan as the bottom scraped against concrete.

        “Wow,” Ember whistled appreciatively as she looked around, “Is this the throne room?”

        Mai laughed, if a little haughtily, “No, darling, this is just our preparation room, where guests are greeted and pointed in the right direction. For instance, directly across the hall is the throne room. To the right are baths, left living quarters, between the throne room and bathes lies the main dining hall. Across from that is our castle’s “Red Light District,” where an-y-th-ing can happen.”

        “But what about the other doors? The locked ones?” Ember asked curiously.

        Mai’s face darkened and her voice took on a menacing edge, “Don’t go down those ways, dear Ember, for curiosity killed the cat, as they say. There’s nothing down that way for curious wolves; just evil that should never have been brought to this world in the first place.”

        Ember quelled any questions she may have had and nodded, following along behind silently.

        “Now then; I believe it’s time for you to uphold your end of the bargain?” Mai said as she sat on her massive, dark, almost blood red throne made of multiple rare materials, gems, other jewels, along with skulls from various species around the world. Wolves, werewolves, humans, vampires, dogs, cats, was that an elephant? A giraffe? These skulls decorated her throne, as well as the wall behind it.

        Ember gulped as her face flushed, the Huntress feeling fear for the first time in her life, but she was also touched by awe and the amount of time and effort that would’ve gone into making such an incredibly, disgustingly beautiful throne, “So… I see you spent time in Africa, and Australia, huh?” she asked, noting the kangaroo pelt placed oddly between two dingo skulls.

        Mai nodded as she sat, one leg over an arm of the chair, one arm half-supporting her head, the other leg on the ground, and her other arm resting across the back of the throne, “Uphold your end of the bargain, Wolf Huntress, before you’re shown why those two doors are locked.” She said, solemnly menacing.

        Ember nodded and began her tale, starting from when she was young…

        Ten Years Prior

        Ember had just escaped the Witch’s house after being cursed; she sprinted for what felt like days, unknowing where this sudden amount of stamina came from until she finally came to rest in the middle of an unfamiliar clearing.

        Her legs buckled underneath her, and she fell forward, gasping for breath. “Mama, Papa, where are you?” she cried softly as her breathing evened out and her eyelids, so heave, solemnly closed and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

        “Somebody report back to the Vampiress; we have an intruder,” a deep voice said into a walkie-talkie.

        “Roger, 4289,” came the reply, and a couple minutes later, “She wants to know who it is you’ve found.”

        “Some… child? Not sure on gender, but definitely smells wolf,” deep voice replied.

        Ember stirred, regaining consciousness slowly as she scrambled to her feet, hurrying to run from the unfamiliar voice.

        “Hold it, child!” Deep Voice said, picking her up off the ground with relative ease.

        “Let me go, you big meanie! I need to find my parents!! They’re here somewhere, and as soon as they hear me crying for help, they’ll come running and knock you on your ass!” she yelled as loud and tough as she could.

        The man laughed as she hauled a young Ember through the woods, “Base, copy?”

        “Copy, 4289, what’s going on?”

        “I’m hauling the child through the woods back home, over.”

        “Roger, 4289; bring it home and the Vampiress will figure out what to do with it, over.”

        Deep Voice, or 4289 as he’d been called, nodded to himself and left his radio alone for the rest of the hike.

        After what seemed like several more hours, judging by how the sun was just starting it’s daily ritual when she’d been caught, and now it was about to sleep again, the odd pair arrived at what looked like a disheveled gate guarding a castle that shouldn’t be standing.

        “Base, copy? 4289, at the Gate.”

        “Roger, 4289. Enter the normal way; though the Vampiress doesn’t want the Child finding their way back out in case they decide to leave early.”

        4289 once again nodded to himself, checking to make sure the Child wasn’t paying attention to anything in particular, and went through the Gate, to the right of the Castle, and around towards the back. Halfway there, though, he moved a rock that didn’t seem out of place, and an elevator-like appeared under his feet. He moved the rock back into place as he stepped into the center and looked up, wholly unable to look any other direction as it dropped straight down. Any passersby would’ve called it a mirage, or maybe a ghost; though in reality, he fell straight through the ground.

        “Good evening, 4289, the Vampiress would like to see you and the Child.”

        4289 shook his head to rid of any remaining nausea and nodded, smiling grimly, “Understood, Captain; I’ll head that way now. Can we get a medical check on the Child whilst I converse with the Vampiress?” he asked, half-concerned.

        Captain thought about it then nodded, “Medic!” he called, and within moments a nurse appeared from somewhere, gently cradling the child in her arms as she disappeared as quickly as she came.

        4289 nodded and turned sharply towards the room with the most light, “Welcome, 4289, I heard you found a wolf child?” came a woman’s voice.

        He nodded as he looked up, the Vampiress sitting on a throne of blood-red painted skulls, looking down at him menacingly.

        He gulped and nodded as sweat formed on his brow, before wiping it away, “Yes, Vampiress, I did.”

        “And where is it now?”

        “Medical examination; I found it unconscious and was unsure of it’s medical condition. Just wanted to make sure it could be potential help, rather than a drain on resources,” he admitted truthfully.

        The Vampiress contemplated his words for a few moments, the silence deafening before she waved her hand and spoke, “Good idea. I’ll see the Child later; what else can you tell me about it?” she asked, curiosity slipping through her words.

        4289 nodded, “As previously stated, I found it unconscious, and began conversing with Base; shortly after, the Child woke up and attempted to run away. I caught it with ease, but then it started screaming about needing to find its parents, and that they’d come soon as they heard its cries. Unfortunately though, nobody came, not a sound was heard as I made my way back to base with it slung over my shoulder.”

        The Vampiress nodded again as she processed his words, “So, we have an orphaned wolf child, no parents nearby, and most likely no clansmen for miles, yes?” she asked, completely rhetorically.

        He nodded as she continued on, “In that case, I guess we better treat this Child well, and raise it as our own, yes? We could use it for hunting and espionage. We’ll call it a Hunter and raise it with our fighting techniques, as well as weapon & armor smithing. 4289, as the one who found it, you’ll be its father, understood?”

        He nodded and bowed deeply, “Understood, ma’am, I’ll raise it as if it was my own to begin with.”

        She nodded and waved her hand in dismissal as he turned on his heels, making his way to the medical ward, “4289, wait. Let’s go check on her together, shall we? I have yet to see this Child, after all,” she said, her golden eyes glowing bright like a midday sun, her black cloak swirling about as she stood up.

        He gulped softly and wiped sweat away from his brow as he bowed and turned, her footsteps not far behind.

        When they reached the medical ward, the registrar on duty nodded and stood up in salute, pointing them down the hall. They reached the end and stopped a passing nurse, “Where is the Child?” 4289 asked her.

        “Down this hall, to the right, fourth door on the right, room 289.”

        He sighed and put a hand on his forehead at the numbers, as the Vampiress glared at the giggling nurse and took the lead, “Come, 4289. You have a child waiting to meet you properly.”

        He nodded and followed behind, reaching the room in minutes; they barged in, to find the Child asleep.

        “Good evening, Vampiress; 4289,” the doctor greeted, reaching out to shake hands.

        “Good evening, Doctor, how is the patient?” he asked.

        “Fine, so far as I can tell, not that I really can. Looks female, but every test I’ve done has pointed to male. Other than that, you found it in a state of pure exhaustion; I’m positive some rest and relaxation will get it back to shape in a few days, maybe a couple weeks.”

        They both nodded, looking over at the sleeping Child for a moment, before 4289 turned his attention back to the Doctor, “Are you sure it was exhaustion? I think there might more to the story than that; like how a youngling have the stamina to force their body to this point?”

        The Doctor frowned and shook his head, “You have a point; but I can’t answer that as of right now. Without them awake to consent, I can’t perform any CAT or MRI scans. I also can’t ascertain anything about the events leading up to the exhaustion. Let the child rest and you can talk with it later. Goodbye, Vampiress; 4289. I expect to see you two again in a few days.

        The Doctor pushed them towards the door and closed it, “Good day,” he said, sending them on their way as he left to deal with other patients.

        “Well, that was more insightful than I expected,” he contemplated.

        “Agreed; and he’s right, the child does look female, but I do smell male. What’s at work here, and what exactly did you find?” She asked thoughtfully, “Oh well, all in a day’s work. Let’s go, 4289; you’ll be on rest for the next few days while preparing to train it.” She said.

        He nodded and saluted her as they went their separate ways.

        Several Years Later

        “Parry! Strike! Thrust!” 4289 shouted at his trainee, “Company, Halt! About face!”

        Ember had been with the Vampiress’ clan for several years at this point. Following what he’d been told, as soon as she was cleared to leave the medical ward, he began training her, day in, day out. He’d push her to her limits, and typically let her stop there, but some days, he pushed her so hard, she almost fell over from exhaustion again.

        “Good job, soldier! Again!”

        “But, sir! Can’t we stop for a minute? I’m exhausted! I’d much rather test on the espionage part again!”

        4289 frowned and unsheathed his sword; he pointed it out in front of him, the tip coming close to her face, “You think you can take a break, soldier?! Every minute on this planet wasted not doing something is a minute your body has to gain more fat than muscle! That’s the whole point of this method, to give you more muscle than fat, that way the fat has zero, I repeat, Z E R O, chance of getting a foothold!” he yelled, “If you think you’re ready for a break, then you’re ready to challenge me!”

        He pulled back his sword for a split second, before charging in and feinting left, to get behind her and strike.

        She barely had time to read his movements and respond; she just managed to block the attack and fend him off. Unsheathing her own sword as she turned around, but by the time she finished the turn, he had vanished from sight.

        “What the--?” she muttered.

        “Prepare for any tactic!” he shouted, swiping dirt towards her face with the tip of his sword, swinging his opposite fist in for a blindside punch.

        ‘Inside block from the right, wipe eyes with the left, shin kick in 3… 2… now!’ a voice in her head told her.

        She followed the instructions to the T, catching 4289 off-guard and blinding him the same way he had just done her, the tip of her sword coming to rest at his neck, barely poking the flesh, “Well, ‘soldier,’ it seems I’ve bested you. Can we revisit the espionage training, and expand on it?” she asked innocently as she sheathed her sword before offering him a hand up.

        He nodded shakily as he stood up, taking her offered hand, “Sure, we can do that. Tell me, how did you…” he trailed off, the question not needing to be asked.

        She shrugged, “Dunno. A voice in my head told me what to do and it worked. ‘S all there is to it, I s’pose.” She replied.

        He frowned and raised a brow, “Take a break, soldier. Go eat, drink, whatever; I have some urgent matters to attend to.” He said as he hurried off.

        She frowned but shrugged again, heading off in search of her espionage trainer, Mr. Dark.

        “Dark? Mr. Dark?” she called as she reached his area of the castle.

        “Mr. Dark; why are you hiding in the ceiling corner again? C’mon, let’s play!” she said excitedly as she scaled the stone wall to sit next to him.

        “Alright; let’s go. We’ll expand on your training today.” He said gruffly.

        She squealed in excitement as they touched the floor silently; treading off into the training room.

        “Be very, very quiet, watashi no chīsana asashin. Where we’re going, it is imperative you stay as silent as possible, or else.” He whispered softly as he led her down a mysterious hallway.