"Get what?" Illusions flicker in front of Ky as he listens to his brother.

"Follow me. I can find the spawning point for the new Midnight Wolves."

"What do you get?" Phoenix's words become harsher as he repeats himself.

"The illusions. I'm still figuring out why, but you need them to find the spawning point. I think it's some safeguard. Something with the power they hold. Maybe they're weaker when the power rolls over to the new Midnight Wolf. A time where they're vulnerable to more than simply the Midnight Tear. I don't know. That's the thing when there's only a new one every, like, hundred years. Or even more. So much to know. So much fascinating information. But what is it with the illusions. How to find the exact location." Ky's eyes glow with excitement.

He stumbles back a few steps, illusions still flying past him, some morphing together to form new ones and others barely remaining for even a second. He watches every one of them but dismissing nearly all of them.

"How's this gonna help? Seems like a waste of time."

"No, look. I think Ky's right. Something about the illusions. I might not remember much, but something looks odd." Ice's eyes narrow as he examines Ky's illusions.

"Arcane," I realize. "That rabbit. The riddle Clap figured out. You weren't there, Ice. But that was an illusion, right?"

"So basically the Midnight Wolves just create illusions, like you do, Ky?"

"No. Theirs are so much more powerful. Mine really just make the people think they're somewhere else. Other people, except Wolf, can see them, if they so choose to do so. Not everyone else can see the illusion. Something with their minds. But Midnight Wolves? They can completely alter the surrounding environment with their illusions, make a single illusion affect so many people. I don't even know half of it. The constellations... Each Midnight Wolf has a different set of constellations. If I'm remembering right, they can, like, animate them. Yet another illusion. My illusion powers are nothing compared to what a Midnight Wolf can do."

"Now I really wish I could remember."

"You didn't forget a whole lot with Arcane," Phoenix mutters.

"Um, excuse me, Phoenix?" Ky stops the illusions he was weaving to gasp at his brother.

"What? He was a complete coward! Hopefully the new Midnight Wolf is less of a pansy."

"Arcane was not a pansy!" Ky snarls. "Sure, he barely used his powers after he accidentally killed Freedom -something he never intended to do-, but he was never a pansy. The Midnight Tear? That... that was an incredibly heroic thing to do. Don't you dare say he's a coward."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just figure out where this spawning point is." Phoenix rolls his eyes as Ky shoots him a vicious glare.

I watch Ky as he resumes his illusions. What he's looking for I have no idea. Some flaw, maybe? Something that clearly belongs to Midnight Wolves? I've no clue. Ky's eyes are narrowed as he focuses intently on the illusions, eyes flickering across them. He watches each and every one of them before looking up and scanning the surrounding landscape. Realization flashes across Ky's eyes, and he starts trotting off to the left. His pace quickly rises to a sprint, and I accelerate to keep up. Phoenix remains at Ky's shoulder, moving at an easy lope.

"Come on, Ice. You got this." I look back over my shoulder, and Ice gives me a small smile.

Has Ky figured out where the spawning point is? If he did... Well, how'd he do it? What did he see in those illusions? Or was it just that he knows so much about the Midnight Wolves?

"How'd you figure it out, Ky?" I ask.

"Midnight Wolves. It was quite simple once I figured it out. Their primary form of magic is illusions. I mean, even the Midnight Tear is really just a super powerful illusion. It just happens to be permanent and be real as opposed to mine, which are fake. They just mess with people's minds."

"So they're not illusions." Phoenix deadpans his brother.

"Huh?"

"If the Midnight Wolves' magic can alter reality permanently, they're not illusions. Illusions are fake, like what you do. Wait, can Wolf see what Arcane could do? If she can, it's not magic."

"I don't know. Anyways. Look up ahead. See that rock?"

"Yeah," I reply. It's the only thing on the flat, barren landscape. A simple, grey rock sitting on the ash and sand.

"Is that the spawn point," asks Ice.

"I'm not sure. I know it's there though."

Ky slows down and cautiously approaches the rock, sniffing it. He draws back and turns around. "What?"

"It's not the rock. Something's below it." Ky presses his forepaws against it.

"Need me to move it, Ky?" Phoenix's eyes glow as a smirk pulls at the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah," his brother sighs. "Don't go too overboard."

"Don't worry, Ky. Don't worry."

"That's what makes me worry. But go ahead." As soon as Ky has stepped away from the rock, it bursts into flames. Phoenix's eyes reflect the fire, and I can see the glee in his gaze. He intensifies the blaze, and small fissures begin to appear in the rock. After a few minutes, the rock gives against the pressure from the fire and the growing cracks. Phoenix stops the flames, and a crumbled rock and glass are left behind. Embers softly glow.

"Hmm. A tunnel. Not suspicious at all," Phoenix mutters.

"Shall we explore?" I crane my neck to look down it.

"Want me to cool down the glass and stuff first?" Ice keeps his gaze on his paws.

You know we're not going to hurt you, Ice? You know that, right? You don't have to hide.

"Yeah, please." Ky nods. Frost slowly creeps toward the tunnel. Steam hisses, rising for the sky.

"I think this is the spawning point. Check it out?" Ky starts to dart down the tunnel but pauses to look back at us.

"I'll be right behind you," I say.

"I'll stay up here." Ice's ears draw back at the sight of the tunnel, and he shifts on his paws. Discomfort rolls off his body in waves. I nod in reply, following Ky and Phoenix after saying that we'd return in a heartbeat if anything were to go wrong.

xxxx

The tunnel is narrow, and I have to crawl nearly on my hands and knees. I feel a twinge of jealously at how Ky and Phoenix seem to just slink through easily, hardly crouching down at all.

But soon enough, the tunnel opens up to a massive cavern. Jagged rocks hang from the ceiling while others rise from the ground, some meeting each other halfway. Little crystals jut out from the sides, glowing in a rainbow of color.

"Whoah," I whisper, turning around to gaze at the cavern in its entirety.

The crystals flicker every so often. We walk further into it, and Phoenix curses loudly when he stubs his toes on a rock. His voice echoes throughout. The silence in the cavern is nearly deafening, but it feels right. I can almost imagine each Midnight Wolf appearing here and beginning their journey as they keep the Midnight Wolves going.

The walls begin to close in as we move further into the cavern. The glowing crystals cast rainbow light across the rock. I brush my fingers across one of the rocks rising from the ground. The surface is smooth.

A minute or two later, a raised, circular platform becomes visible. It's made from the same rock that the rest of the cavern is made from, but the surface is decorated with designs.

Twelve constellations are drawn, evenly spaced around the edge of the platform, including an archer, ram, and a scorpion. In the middle, a constellation I quickly recognize by name sits, centered in the platform and glowing brighter than the surrounding constellations.

Lupus, the wolf.

Fitting, for the spawning point for the Midnight Wolves.

Half a dozen or so other constellations are scattered across the platform, giving it the illusion of a night sky. A ring of crystals embedded on the side of the platform glow brightly, illuminating both the surrounding area and the constellations on the surface of the platform from below.

"It's so much cooler than I could've ever imagined," Ky breathes, eyes wide as he soaks up every detail.

"Yeah," Phoenix mutters in reply.

"So it seems the new Midnight Wolf has left," I say. My heart sinks as disappointment washes over with me. They were my chance to figure out what the hell happened to Wolf and why she disappeared. She's not evil, yet she disappeared when Arcane shed the Midnight Tear.

"Seemingly."

"Who's the new Midnight Wolf, Ky?" Phoenix turns to his brother.

"Dunno. It's not like there's a big explosion in the sky that's like 'hey, everyone. Insert name here is the new Midnight Wolf.' Wish it was like that though." Ky's eyebrows furrow in a frown.

"Hmm. That was anticlimactic."

"If only," I sigh. "Should we head back?"

I ask the question since I know Ice is waiting at the entrance of the tunnel, but I know the new Midnight Wolf could very well hold the clue to what happened to Wolf.

"Guys, look at this. It's some super long poem thingy someone wrote on the walls over here. Their handwriting could use some work. I mean, just look at that sloppiness!" Ky scrambles over to Phoenix.

"Phoenix! That's not just some poem! That's The King's Remorse in its entirety! Move, lemme read it. I didn't think I'd ever get to lay eyes on it. Just think about how old this could be! And to be able to read it? That's a dream come true! I've met Arcane and now I can read the full version of The King's Remorse!"

"You gonna read it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Lemme read it."

I stand behind Ky as I start to read it. A shiver runs down my spine. This is the prophecy Wolf and I are supposed to complete. With the help of some allies, of course. But it's finally coming true. What if we fail? But I know I can't think like that. This is our chance. Our one opportunity to free Ragdon from the iron fist of King Garonda XIV.

The Wolf and the Dove shall rise

With the help of the Phoenix whom the King will despise

Help shall arise from a sacrifice

A scream will claw through the air in a slice

The Demon will eat until it's full

To the war it will feel the pull

The Father shall be found

From the curse to which he is bound

A frozen heart for once will beat

At the sight of the one destined to meet

The flame of the King will set fire

To the countless acres of the Sea and mire

The Mountain Prisoner shall face their fears

After being alone for countless years

The lost one will swiftly howl away

The pains and sins of the Night and Day

One will disappear

Only then will things be clear

The new one will be free

And make the opponents flee

The fatal bite

Will make things right

Claws and arrows will pierce veins

Eager to see who will start the next new reign

Bloodlust will fuel the rage

Of the Warrior and the Mage

The battle will last for days and nights

Until at last the foes turn and take flight

The mistakes

Will raise the stakes

The final breath

Will bring the true enemy to death

By the time I have finished reading the poem, my eyes are wide and my breathing has temporarily stopped. Goodness gracious, is all I can think.

"Could that Midnight Wolf, whatever their name was, have been any more vague? I mean, the first two sections, whatever they're called, are cool. Wolf and Dove are gonna bring down KG14 with my help and Ky's gonna summon the Blood Demon. But after that? I got lost. I hope you weren't, Ky. You're like our resident Midnight Wolf expert. Make sense of it," Phoenix grumbles.

"So I got parts. I don't think there's really a whole lot to understand. I think a good chunk of it is mostly just saying 'hey, this stuff will happen eventually'. Like a timeline. I don't know if it's chronologically or not. Whoever wrote it could've been, like, looking into the future and just writing down what they saw, not worried about making sure things were in order. Some parts I don't understand though. 'The new one will be free'? Not sure on that one. Or the one about the final breath. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"So where are we on the timeline then," I ask.

"I think we're about halfway, maybe a little more? I can't be certain though. Each stanza is very specifically worded but still vague. It doesn't seem to have taken a side, it just says that there's an enemy. I don't know. I don't know. So many unknowns." Ky's ears droop in disappointment. His eyes find the scrawled poem once again as he gives it yet another read.

Ky and Phoenix talk to each other, but I'm not really listening.

The poem's words seem to loom in front of me. I always knew Wolf and I were part of the prophecy, that we were going to be the ones to complete it and bring down King Garonda XIV. I always knew that. But now we've found The King's Remorse poem, and we've found it in its entirety. All of it. Not the speculation about what it might entail or the few lines Brook knew and told us. The weight on my shoulders feels like it's grown tenfold.

How am I supposed to do this, much less without Wolf? She's the one who's got the power. She's far more powerful than me. How am I supposed to do this without her? I need her, I need Wolf.

I think back to the White Tent Sea, when those couple of people were asking me to lead them in a rebellion against King Garonda XIV. And how I'd said I couldn't do it without Wolf.

"One will disappear," I whisper.

Is the one Wolf? She disappeared. But what will be made clear? How much I need her? How I can't do this without her?

"Oh, Dooove," sings Phoenix, breaking me from my thinking trance.

"Yeah?"

"What'cha thinkin' about?"

"The King's Remorse poem."

"Huh. It's boring. I mean, what was whoever wrote this thinking?"

"I'm not sure." I shrug. "Ky? Got any ideas?" Ky chews on his lip for a moment.

"I don't know. I know it's not boring, as you say, Phoenix. I'm guessing the Midnight Wolf who wrote this wrote it as a warning, telling us this is what they saw in the future for Ragdon Island."

"What's the warning? It's, like, saying what's gonna happen to KG14, right?" Phoenix frowns.

"It's not just what's gonna happen to KG14. Look at some of the stanzas. Like the sacrifice one, the fatal bite."

"The fatal bite's gonna be what happens to KG14. After some lovely pain inflicted upon him though. One swift bite to the neck is too easy, too merciful. He needs to suffer, suffer like he made me suffer."

"Maybe the fatal bite has already happened. Who knows," Ky says.

"Mm, I'm feeling that it's when I kill KG14 and get my final revenge."

I tune out the brothers as they debate over what the fatal bite is and what the lines are referring to. I can easily imagine the Midnight Wolf who wrote this scrawling the words across the wall. Maybe their mind was focused on what they were seeing as the path for the future while they wrote the words. Maybe their hand was shaky as they wrote the words to warn future generations of what was to come at some unknown date.

How long ago was that? Who were they?

"Come on, let's head back. We need to go track down KG14 so I can kill him. Revenge is long past due." Phoenix starts stalking back the way we came.

"But Wolf. We need to figure out where she's gone."

"I'm sorry, Dove. The new Midnight Wolf isn't here," Ky says.

"Then where are they? I need to figure out what happened to Wolf."

"Dunno. But we're not gonna find them here." Phoenix shrugs. "What'cha lookin' at, Ky?"

Ky is looking intently at the platform, and he rises up to place his forelegs on the edge of it. "Lupus, it's brighter than the other dozen constellations."

"Yeah? What about it?" I move to stand beside him.

"I didn't realize that was a thing. I thought it was only one of the dozen constellations around the edge. You know, go in order around them for each of the Midnight Wolves."

"But not Lupus?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." I cross my arms across my chest. "What's it supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." Ky's ears droop.

"So each time a new Midnight Wolf spawns it's, say, a Gemini Midnight Wolf? Or a Capricorn Midnight Wolf?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"What's the difference between a Gemini Midnight Wolf and a Taurus Midnight Wolf?"

"Midnight Wolves all have the basic spell set, illusions and bringing their constellations to life. But each of the twelve constellations gives them, like, extra, spells. Seeing into the future, real and far more complex illusions, healing, the list goes on."

"What Midnight Wolf was Arcane?"

"He was an Aquarius Midnight Wolf."

"And what does the Lupus Midnight Wolf have the ability to do?"

"No clue. Nothing I've learned ever said there was such a thing. Those who have documented the constellations past Midnight Wolves had never mentioned the wolf constellation. It was weird enough when Arcane had three of the twelve constellations: Aquarius, Capricorn, and Sagittarius. But he only had the power of Aquarius. His having three of the twelve and now the Lupus constellation glowing? The King's Remorse prophecy is coming true. Whoever this new Midnight Wolf is... Whoever they are, they've got some serious power in their hands. If I had to take a guess, I'd say they're gonna have all twelve constellations on top of Lupus. I'm guessing they're gonna have access to every power a Midnight Wolf has ever had."

"Wouldn't there be some drawback to that much power?"

"Probably. I'm not sure what it would be though. Sorry."

"Don't be."

A little voice in the back of my mind begins to talk. Wolf is missing, and the new Midnight Wolf is too. Maybe the new Midnight Wolf spawned and left before we reached here, but maybe they didn't. Lupus hasn't been seen before on a Midnight Wolf, provided everything that's known is correct.

But I don't think Lupus being the Midnight Wolf's constellation is just simply a coincidence... That wouldn't happen with something as big as a Midnight Wolf. And if this Midnight Wolf truly does have the powers of Lupus and the twelve constellations? That's going to have a huge impact on Ragdon.

But Wolf... She's missing, and so is the new Midnight Wolf.

Could it be?

Could Wolf be the new Midnight Wolf?

The voice in the back of my mind tells me that this is true, that it makes sense. Wolf disappeared when Arcane shed the Midnight Tear. She's not evil, like those who disappeared were. That it wouldn't make sense if she had disappeared; she plays such a huge part in The King's Remorse prophecy.

"Wolf's the new Midnight Wolf," I whisper softly, as if testing out the words on my tongue.

"Is she?" Ky asks. Phoenix looks at me skeptically.

"Yes," I say. "Think about it. She disappeared when Arcane shed the Midnight Tear, yet she's not evil. 'The new one will be free'? I'm guessing that's her. With the power she already holds, it doesn't seem too crazy for her to become this new extra-powerful Midnight Wolf. Like I've said before, she's far more powerful than I am."

"Yeah, I guess that does make sense. If you're right, what now?"

"I'm nearly certain I'm right. And now? Now we go find her." I smile, eagerly anticipating seeing Wolf again.

Thank you so much for reading this chapter! This is the final chapter in Dove's section. It's a little shorter than some of the previous ones, but I feel like this is a pretty good point to wrap it up!

Wowzers, The King's Remorse poem has been found in its entirety! Can you figure out what some of the stanzas are referring to? Some are more obvious than others. 

Is Phoenix right about the meaning of 'the fatal bite'?

Something's going on with the new Midnight Wolf. Ky thinks they're going to have the power of all twelve constellations... and Lupus. Is he right? If so, what's that going to mean for the prophecy and possibly bringing down King Garonda XIV.

Is Dove right about Wolf being the new Midnight Wolf? Hmm.

Who's going to be narrating the next section? You've met them before, so there's a tiny bit of a hint. 

Until next time,

-Werewolf14-