But then a creature comes sprinting to me, black eyes wild. She's got the head and forelegs of an elephant and the mane of a lion, but then the rest of her is a rainbow of colors with two huge wings, eagle feet, and a dragon-like tail covered in feathers at the end. She skids to a stop when she finally notices me, jerking her head to get a better look at me. I jump back to avoid getting gored on her massive tusks. The two metal spikes attached to her tail carve deep scores in the ground. She keeps twitching and she shifts on her feet, as if she cannot stay still.

"Are you ok?" I ask, eyeing her warily.

"I told you, Dove. Freedom's been rotting in the ground for the past, like, what? Thirty years or something? And that includes her brain. I doubt she's capable of much more than the bare minimum of brain power required for life."

"Phoenix!" Ky gasps, looking at his brother in horror.

"What? It's true. You can't say she hasn't been decomposing in her grave."

"I know that she has been dead for a long time, but you could at least be a bit more respectful- Freedom's right here! Be nice!"

"Are you alright, though, Freedom?" I turn back to her.

Freedom continues to twitch, and I get a better look at her. Holes riddle her body, most small but some are much bigger. Little insects and maggots crawl through her fur and across her skin. One of her ribs sticks out from her flank.

"Y-yes," she replies, and her voice is hoarse. "Why did I come back to life? Who did this to me?"

"I don't know. Arcane blinked a couple of hours ago, and now everything's been screwed up."

Freedom's forelegs give out, and she crumples to the ground, rolling over and revealing the wound on her shoulder, the one that started off King Garonda XIV's corrupt reign. If it was ever healed before Freedom overdosed on Arcane's healing power, it has now broken back open, revealing the muscle beneath her flesh.

"Arcane died? That's what brought me back. His life or mine- one of the two has to be gone." Freedom rises back to her feet, but it takes a few tries.

She chuckles a few times, the bouts of laughter turning to a cackle which dies off after a couple of moments. A clump of her flesh on one of her elbows tears off, bringing with it a few maggots and insects.

"Yes, Arcane died. But you've just come back to life? How did that work?" Ky's eyes light up as he awaits his answer.

Anything to learn more about Midnight Wolves.

Freedom's eyes twitch and her muscles spasm, causing her head to rest at an angle. She sits down, but I can tell there's little control in her movements. Ky's answer comes after a minute or two of silence.

"Yeah," Freedom says. "Looks like Freedom's come back to life. I don't know why Arcane put in the extra effort to find my body and bring it back to life. Freedom was dead, and it should've stayed that way." She snorts in her cackling laughter.

"Arcane found you? Whoah."

"Yeah," she repeats. "He clung onto the strand of life that kept him in the space between life and death long enough to search for and find my body. I wouldn't've come back to life if he had simply just shed the Midnight Tear. But what am I doing here? I clearly wasn't supposed to come back."

"I didn't realize Midnight Wolves could do that." Ky smiles, delighted that he had learned something new.

I take another deep breath. Let's not lose it since you're not searching for Wolf- remember, Dove, she can hold her own. Who knows, Freedom might know something that'll help you track her down.

"You came back, Freedom. Arcane wouldn't've done that had he not wanted to."

"He felt so guilty, didn't he."

"He never let himself get over it. Arcane banished him to the top of Ragdon Volcano once he realized what he had done. No one could find him for. What was it, like, fifty years? Something like that. No one saw any sign of him. Arcane never forgave himself-."

"It wasn't his fault." Freedom's head snaps to the side before she shudders a few times. One of her wings snaps open, flaring before returning to its former place, folded at her side.

"Didn't he overload you with his magic to heal that wound on your shoulder?"

"That's what people thought. Sure, I wanted that to be fixed and asked him to help. But that was never the reason I went to him."

"So what was it?" I find myself asking the question despite the fact I want nothing more to get out of here, run, search for Wolf, only stopping when I see her and know she's safe.

"I kept the balance on Ragdon. I had the ability to alter emotions. It was easy enough- just change how people felt so the bad guys would never win. Quell the occasional rebellion. I seldom had to hunt down a killer. There was a couple of criminal organizations, corrupted lords, you get the idea. But then the pewter pendant showed up. I knew what it was, the power it held, so I hid it in the same spot Wolf always found it- hidden within the roots of the Earth Tree. Afterward, the Amethyst Throne appeared, and I knew trouble was coming. I did the only logical thing I could think of- I created the White Tent Sea far, far away from the Throne. I hoped no one would find it and I would never have to tell them that I let this monster onto Ragdon. Then I'd never have to face my mistakes; I could just sweep this out of sight. But then King Garonda XIV, or rather Bryant, felt the pull of the Throne. It latched onto him, and there was no getting him back."

"Did you even try?" Phoenix snarls.

"By the time I realized what was happening it was too late. There was nothing I could do. Bryant was too far gone to make him hate the Throne. He was under its spell." Freedom's hind legs give out, and her bones shift out of alignment before snapping back into place. Her head snaps to the side, tusks cutting through the air in an arc.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Whoah. I can feel it again. The house is crumbling. It's-. Look at the walls. They're trying to escape. No! Come back. Now it's split into to two. They must return. The house needs to stand! He has to fly. It's slipping away, time's ticking away. They're right there, and the house. The house is gone. It's no longer strong. There she is." Freedom starts to tremble, twitching in what seems like an uncontrollable fashion. Her black gaze turns distant.

"And there goes Freedom." Phoenix snorts. I'm not looking at him, but I know he's rolling his eyes.

"Go, they're coming. The house is too far gone to ever recover. Run and don't come back. There's nothing to be done. You're right, Phoenix. Freedom is gone."

"I meant that-."

"Phoenix," I warn. He growls softly.

We leave Freedom a while later. She insisted that we go, that we leave her alone to sort out her thoughts. Phoenix was happy to get away and nearly sprinted off. As much as I wanted to make sure she was ok, I couldn't help my legs carrying me away; Wolf is out there somewhere, and I have to find her. Our progress is pretty quick, but it feels like we're going nowhere. Ragdon Volcano seems to stay just as far away as it was when we left the White Tent Sea

"Ah, the Singing Marshes," murmurs Phoenix.

"The what?" I frown. Off to my right, the forest clears, revealing a wide open expanse of reeds sitting in soggy mud. An egret slowly walks through, methodically searching for frogs.

"Singing Marshes. Haven't you been anywhere on Ragdon?"

"Not exactly. Didn't you hear the part where Wolf kept dying, so our time kept resetting?"

"Doesn't change the fact you can still go places."

"No, I wasn't really able to. And does knowing what the Singing Marshes are give any information as to the whereabouts of Wolf might be?" My gaze hardens as I look at Phoenix. He keeps a neutral face but he's still a time bomb.

At least he's on my side... hopefully.

"No, but it's where the Siren is."

"Siren?"

"You know, magical song? Hear the Lullaby and you're dead."

"Is it any danger to us?"

"No. It has to be summoned. It's a hard spell, so I doubt it'll be summoned any time soon."

A breeze blows through, and the reeds start to sway. It's soft at first, but I soon hear their song, a haunting melody. When the breeze slows, I think I can just barely hear whispers in the wind.

"What was that?" I turn to the feline brothers.

"Well, we've found where the Siren resides." Ky chuckles, shaking to adjust the bandana around his shoulders.

"That was the Singing Marshes for you. Ignore the song; it cannot hurt you."

"Where's the Siren? Is it that egret there who just found a frog?"

"No, the Siren slumbers at the base of those cliffs over there in the distance. Siren's Lookout. It'll only wake when it's summoned. It's one hell of a spell though. Supposedly it drains your life until the Siren is summoned, but who really knows. Quite the price to only summon it. You are still just as susceptible to its song as anyone else- you've got no control over the Siren. I mean, what's the point to summoning it if you've got no control and you can still be killed by it?" Phoenix snorts.

"Where do you guys hear all of this stuff? You know what. Doesn't matter. Ragdon Volcano's that way, right?"

"Yep. That away," Phoenix grumbles, trailing me by a few paces.

xxxx

By the time night falls, we're about halfway to Ragdon Volcano. Ky tells me we should stop here for the night, adding that I better not fight back- I need sleep. My hands clench into fists as I scowl at him.

Why the hell do we have to sleep? Wolf's out there! I need to find her! I shouldn't be stopping here. Find Wolf and then -and only then- rest! Don't make me stop, Ky. I can't rest knowing she's... who knows where she is!

I sit down with my back against a tree. The rough bark digs into my back, but I don't notice the pain. "You ok, Dove?" Ky's voice breaks my spiraling thoughts.

"Sure," I mutter, only to make him shut up. I doubt I even heard what he said right.

"Really?" I can hear the amusement in Phoenix's voice. Please, just be quiet. Leave me alone. Leave me alone so I can focus my thoughts onto Wolf.

"If I say I'm fine, will you leave me alone?" My knuckles turn white.

"Is it true?"

"Ice?" I look up from where I'm glaring so hard at the ground there might as well be a hole in it.

Thank you so much for reading! Quite the chapter, eh? Lots of new information- Freedom, the Singing Marshes, the Siren. Please vote/comment your thoughts!

So Freedom's come back to life. What do you think of her?

And what was that about her talking about the crumbling house or how someone has to fly again? Hmm, curious.

Dove and the feline brothers have found the Singing Marshes and the Siren's Lookout. What do you think this discovery means for the rest of the story? I wonder if anyone will attempt to summon the Siren???

-Werewolf14-