I whirl around. Ky's never acted like this before. His eyes are wide with fear as he trembles, much like Ice. I quickly see why: blood drips from the corners of his mouth. Phoenix snarls before breaking away from his chase with Cotton Candy. The flash in his eyes shows just how much he hates it.

Until he notices his brother.

It's like a switch flips within him, and Phoenix sprints over to his brother

"What happened? Who did this? Who do I have to kill? Whose life is about to end for what they di-"

"No one did this. It... It just started. And I don't know why."

"Then what the hell? Why are you still bleeding?" Phoenix growls.

"I-I don't know. I was just sitting with Ice and making sure no one was around us. And then it started." Blood is now streaming from his mouth in thickening rivulets, falling to the ground faster than it was before.

"So what caused this? I'm no doctor, but I'd guess this wasn't just your blood being like 'hey, you know what I'd just love to do today? I'd love to start gushing from Ky's mouth!' So what was it? Was it some injury you got in the fight earlier?"

"No. They were a new regiment of Guard and Soldiers, so I could get by mostly just casting illusions. Not-. Not much effort."

I rack my brain for any guesses as to what this could be. If he didn't sustain any injuries in the battle earlier, what could've caused it?

I chew on my lip, watching droplets of blood run down his chin and splatter onto the ground and soak into the stone. He was watching Ice, and I know he didn't do it. What's different from, say, a week ago?

One by one, the drops of scarlet fall to the ground, like a ticking clock.

"I don't know what it was, Phoenix. Just-just... Can you do something? It isn't stopping." Ky's voice trembles.

And just when we need to be moving the most. The Guard and Soldiers are going to be back, and we need to find Wolf. But Ky needs help and I've gotta believe Wolf can hold her own, wherever she is.

"How am I supposed to help if I don't know what the hell caused this? What am I supposed to tear the life from if I don't know what did this to you?"

"Tearing the life from something is your definition of helping?"

"Yeah! 'Course it is! I'm not a doctor, and I'm good at inflicting suffering on others. So who did this? They won't be living much longer after I track them down."

"For the last time, Phoenix, no one did this to me! It just star-." Ky's words break off as he stumbles, coughing. His legs splay to the sides as he struggles to keep himself upright. Scarlet stains the tan fur on his neck and chest.

Ice studies Ky with a calculating gaze, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Well," Phoenix growls. "How do we make it stop?"

"D-Dove, do you know?" Ky asks.

"No, I don't." My voice sounds distant as I speak.

"We need to get moving," Ky says.

"Not until you're better. I'll burn everything around us if I have to. I'll rip the life from every Guard and Soldier who so much as looks in our near vicinity."

"Can you walk?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"He's not moving," Phoenix growls, shooting me a death glare.

"I'm fine," Ky grumbles, brushing past his brother. "Let's get moving. We're just sitting ducks right now. The Guard and Soldiers know exactly where we are right now."

"Ok."

We start off. 

Phoenix never strays more than a half step from his brother's side, watching over him like a hawk. It's enough that Ky starts pestering him about stopping.

After the attack the Guard and Soldiers launched on us, we stay under the trees, using them as cover. The trees change the closer we get to crossing the border Cotton Candy told us about, morphing from branches cloaked in lush greenery to sickly branches covered in rot and mold. 

The change is quick, a line only a few feet wide but blurred just enough you cannot see where the exact point of change occurs. Once we've crossed into what Phoenix quickly calls 'the Land of Death', I make my way over to one of the dead trees and drag my fingertips across the bark. It sloughs off, crumbling to the ground.

The air feels heavy, like it's pressing down on my shoulders. A faint cloud of smog sits low, casting a grey light across everything. The change from what the landscape looked like on the other side of Ragdon Volcano is so drastic, I can't believe no one had mentioned anything. It's a wasteland; there's no sign of life here, and nothing could live here.

"So this is where we're gonna find the new Midnight Wolf?" Phoenix doesn't look back to see what his brother says.

"I think so." Ky nods. His mouth had stopped bleeding a while ago, but Phoenix still asks if it has started up again every few minutes.

"You think so? We came all this way, and you almost got killed for where you think we're gonna find the new Midnight Wolf and get the location of Dove's sister?" This time, Phoenix whirls around.

"What? I'm not the Midnight Wolf! They might've moved, but this is where I've heard rumors that the new Midnight Wolf spawns here. But the last time a new Midnight Wolf was created was so long ago- Arcane was the Midnight Wolf for years upon years upon years. A new Midnight Wolf is something that generations could go by without happening! This is what I was told happened. So I think if we continue on this way we'll reach the spawning point."

Phoenix doesn't reply, instead just snorting, turning around, and continuing on. The ground crunches beneath my feet, and I grimace when I see a tiny skeleton snapping and crumbling. My skin crawls.

xxxx

The sun dips below the horizon line, drenching the landscape in a blaze of bloody reds. We stop at the foot of a tree covered in ash as the sky fills with weakly flickering stars. It looks sickly. 

"Remind me what we're doing here again?" Phoenix mutters.

"To find Wolf! She's missing, and if this really is where the new Midnight Wolf was spawned, then whoever the new Midnight Wolf is. Well, they're our best lead on the whereabouts of Wolf!" My fists clench, knuckles turning white.

"Ok, ok. No need to get all grouchy." Phoenix rolls his eyes.

Ice is the first to fall asleep, curling up with his tail wrapped around his body. He's out within a few minutes. Ky and Phoenix follow a little while later, but Dreamland remains just out of reach for me. Try as I might, my mind is too caught up in trying to figure out where Wolf went for me to be able to find sleep. I groan, curling my fingers into my hair.

Come on, I don't need this right now. I just need to sleep.

"You ok, Dove?" I look over to see Ice watching me.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was. I just woke up."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't sleep."

"Not tired?"

"No, I just can't get Wolf out of my head. What if something happened to her?" My heart twists at the thought.

"Have faith in her. She's strong. Anyways, how are you going to find her if you're so tired from not having slept?"

"I-I don't know."

"Surrender yourself to your thoughts. Don't fight them. Works for me."

"I'll give that a try. Thanks." I lean my head back against the trunk of the tree, ignoring the ash that falls onto my hair.

"Are you really fine?" Ice asks the question after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know," I murmur softly.

"Hmm." This time Ice doesn't break the silence.

I don't fight the thoughts my mind comes up with, even when they take a drastic turn and ponder what might've happened to Wolf. My mind has become consumed by her. Wolf, Wolf, Wolf, where'd you go?

It has something to do with Arcane when he shed the Midnight Tear. But how? She's not evil. Yet she disappeared. And Freedom was brought back. So many weird things about that moment. If only I knew more about Ragdon.

Everyone but me knows so much more than I do. I guess that's what happens when you're trapped in a time loop for decades. The Throne, the Siren, the two mirrored halves of the island, the Midnight Wolves. What's going on? Why did Wolf disappear? She's not evil. She isn't!

All I wanted was to escape the time loop, to take down King Garonda XIV and bring freedom for the people of the White Tent Sea. I didn't intend for it to get this complicated.

But maybe it was never meant to be. I mean, bringing down a King with absolute power... that wouldn't be easy. If only it was as simple as an assassination.

Wherever you are, Wolf, I'll find you. I promise.

I sigh and close my eyes. This time, Dreamland is merciful, and I fall into a light, dreamless sleep.

xxxx

I awake to the sound of Phoenix complaining. "Come on! This is disgusting. Look at all of this ash and rot. It's sticking to my fur!" He jerks his paws upwards in a sort of standstill prance, trying in vain to find a patch of land not covered in the grey ash.

"It's not gonna kill you, Phoenix. Just leave it alone." Ky raises an eyebrow at his brother's outburst.

"You don't know that! Who knows what this stuff is?"

"Let's just get moving, alright? The new Midnight Wolf isn't gonna find themselves."

"Ready, Dove?"

"Yep. Oh, Ice is still asleep." I kneel beside Ice and rest my hand on his shoulder. Immediately, Ice's eyes fly open and he bolts a few paces away, sides shaking with heaving breaths.

"Just us," Phoenix snaps.

"S-sorry," Ice stutters. "You startled me." He ducks his head, dropping his gaze to his paws and his head slightly to the side.

"It's alright. Nothing to worry about," I say.

"Let's go," Ice murmurs, walking past us without lifting his gaze from the ground.

The trek is slow. My feet sink into the ground with every step, and I end up shifting into my bird form to make the journey easier. Phoenix grumbles something I don't quite catch as I fly a ways above them.

A dry wind blows through, and I grimace at the sickly warmth it brings. Ash and dust are stirred up, making me sneeze. Then the wind picks up, and it begins to howl around us. Goodness, gracious. I dive toward the ground.

When I land, Ice immediately moves in front of me, using me as a barrier from the dust storm. I curl my wings around us, and Ice fortifies the protection with a wall of ice. Phoenix has created a massive ring of fire around himself and Ky, and the ash and dust burn before they can reach the two brothers.

I don't know how long it is until the storm dies down and the ash and dust stops battering us. Cautiously, I start to shift my wings, wincing at how the tight muscles protest the movement. Complaining, Phoenix lowers the wall of fire. "What was that all about?" I shift back to my human form before replying, and a shower of dust and ash falls to the ground in a pile around my feet.

"There's not too many trees. My guess is the soil has eroded, and now there's nothing keeping the dirt from being blown away and turning into a dust storm."

"Why are we still here? We should be turning around. I'm going to have sand in my fur for the next month!" Phoenix shakes himself off.

"That's the least of my worries," I say, ignoring the bitter glare Phoenix sends my way. "We need to find the new Midnight Wolf. My sister's still out there. Ky, what are we looking for?"

"I honestly am not sure. I wish I could just be like 'look for this. It's this shape, this color, these are some key details. But I don't know. A change in the Midnight Wolf is so rare. You could go for several generations with the same Midnight Wolf. There's only one way for them to die- other than the Midnight Tear, they're immortal. They won't die until they blink. I heard they spawn somewhere on the coast of this side of Ragdon. But as for where, I don't know. It could be anything. Maybe it's this big and obvious place, but maybe not. I guess keep your eyes peeled?"

"Sounds painful," Ice murmurs.

"Not literally."

"I know." Ice smiles. I take a deep breath.

"Ok, then, so we're just looking for the place where the new Midnight Wolf has spawned. Can't be too hard, right?" Even I can hear the twinge of the lie in my voice.

"I can't say for sure. I would guess it's either super obvious, or super subtle. Not anything in between." Ky shrugs.

Well, that's great. Fingers crossed it's obvious. Maybe even having a sign saying 'hey, guys! The new Midnight Wolves spawn here! Come find them now!' If only, if only.

"Either way, we're not gonna find it here. Debate all you want, but we're not gonna find it here. So keep moving?" Phoenix raises an eyebrow at his brother.

"Mmhmm. Let's keep at it."

xxxx

Progress is slow. Sand and ash shifts beneath our feet. Every step is slow. Watching the trees pass by, it feels like it takes a millennium to reach it. Just a little further, I think as I trudge through the dusty ground that reaches up to my ankles. My muscles burn, but I continue on. Finding Wolf cannot be slowed by a simple bit of fatigue. I have to find her, and I won't rest until I can see her once more.

I'll find you, Wolf. I swear I will.

When night finally falls a few hours later, we draw to yet another stop. I want nothing more than to keep searching and searching until, at last, we find the new Midnight Wolf, figure out what happened to Wolf, and go find her. But Ice's point about how I'm supposed to find Wolf if I haven't slept wins, and I reluctantly settle down.

I toss and turn all night, never finding a comfortable position. I remain in a light sleep, not enough to dream but not enough to wake fully from my slumber.

Is this what Ice means by helping him wake up? Or does he mean awake but... I don't know. I wish he'd tell me more. Maybe then I'd understand a little better what he means.

"Come on. Wake up, Dove!" Phoenix's toes paw at my leg. His lip is curled in a frown as he waits for me to get up.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm up. Is Ice up yet?"

"He's been up for like fifteen minutes. You're the sleepyhead. We need to keep moving. The new Midnight Wolf isn't going to find themself."

"Didn't you not want to find them?"

"I don't. But I know we're going to keep searching 'till we find them. The sooner we find the new Midnight Wolf, the sooner I can go back to KG14's castle and burn down everything he loves. I'm not stopping until he's dead on the floor of his castle, bones charred black in a pile of smoldering ashes."

"Great. On that note, let's continue."

Now that I know a bit more about the two brothers' backstory, his rage doesn't seem quite so... so unfounded.

The land looks the same. It's been a consistent landscape, devoid of life and covered in ash, since we went over the peak of Ragdon Volcano. Ky seems to know where he's going, so I've been following him, praying he actually is onto something. He ducks his head to the ground, seemingly following a trail with his nose, and his head then snaps up and his ears prick, seemingly tracking something with his hearing. I sigh when he zigzags back and forth yet again.

"What are you following, Ky?" I ask.

"Hey, don't disturb him! Can't you see he's focused?" Phoenix turns around to frown at me, and I lift my hands.

"Sorry, just wondering."

"Yeah, well, wonder less."

"I-I think I get it now." Ky's head jerks to the side. When he turns around, I see how his eyes have become unfocused, and I catch some new similarities between him and Freedom.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed the story, please vote and comment!

What happened with Ky? Why was his mouth bleeding?

Hmm, what is it that Ky gets? 

Will the group be able to track down the spawning place of the Midnight Wolves?

Where is Wolf?

We're almost at the end of Dove's chapter! Just a few more sections, and then it's done. Any guesses as to who will be narrating the next chapter?

What about the sixth and final one? This one's pretty tricky. You've them, but not for a while...

I hope you are all staying safe!

-Werewolf14-