"Calum," Edwin's voice shook.

"I see it."

The fire was small, Calum could see it had only spread to a few trees. The closer the got to home the closer they drew to the center of the inferno.

"Land there!" Calum waved him towards a thin patch in the trees.

Calum's boots plunged into the snow. Edwin dropped down beside him without a sound. Out of the corner of his eye Calum caught a telltale flash of green. Edwin's lips parted. Before he could ask, Calum shoved a hand to their mouth and yanked them behind a tree. Edwin glared at him. They both noticed the way Calum's hand shook.

"A reaper," he whispered, "thirty yards north."

Edwin's eyes widened. Calum drew his hand away and then they glanced around the edge of the tree. Calum was aware of every single breath that left his lungs as he caught sight of the reaper walking away from the direction of the nest. It was a long-forgotten familiar face. A boy just barely a man holding a crossbow that was too big for him. Every bone in his body screamed flight. He steeled himself and clenched his fists. Edwin's wings quivered against his shoulder. If not for himself, he had to be strong for them.

The two of them crouched in the snow, unmoving until the reaper was out of sight. By that time the air had grown hazy with smoke. Calum pulled his shirt up over his mouth and gestured for Edwin to do the same.

"That was too close," Edwin breathed through the fabric of his clothes. "We have to get out of here. How fast can you pack?"

"Fast, provided there's..."

Edwin met Calum's worried eyes, both of them were thinking the same thing. Provided there's anything left to gather up. Calum took their hand and the two of them ran through the woods. Peering through smoke turned to shielding their eyes from the burning glow of fire as it crawled down trees. The ground was slick with mud from melting snow and ash. The heat made Calum dizzy but his grip on Edwin's hand kept his purpose clear in mind. If only they weren't too late.

Their home was on fire. It was completely engulfed, the door had already burnt away and left a gaping black mouth in the side of the old, sequoia trunk. Edwin cried out in something between a gasp and an anguished choke. Calum was looking at something else, something that made his heated blood freeze over. Something that made his knees lock in place. Something that made his heart stop.

There was a man with a torch in his hand standing at the base of their tree. He had a wet cloth tied around his nose and mouth but Calum already recognized him. How could he forget that horrible red stripe running across his uniform? How could he forget those burning coal eyes?

"All this time," Tarif pulled a leather bag from his belt, "no wonder you were such a disappointment. I can't believe I ever expected a deadwing to amount to anything. I must give credit where credit is due, however. We wouldn't have found your den if it hadn't been for you, Calum."

He threw the bag on the ground in front of them. The cord was already loose and dozens upon dozens of Calum's ruddy feathers spilled out. He recoiled in horror, catching Edwin's confused stare from the corner of his eye.

"Calum?" His eyes were wide and reflecting red.

"I...I..."

"We found them littered about the forest, after that it was just too easy." His eyes gleamed.

"Calum..." Edwin was already putting it together in his own mind. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I sorry...I'm so sorry-"

Patron Tarif let loose a bark and two great lumbering canines tore forth from the undergrowth. They were massive, snarling hunting hounds and Calum had never met one that wasn't trained to drink blood. Edwin yanked a knife from his belt and pulled Calum along, the two of the running for their lives from the dogs with Tarif in tow.

"I got the dogs." Edwin grunted, "I'll distract them, you're going to have to take out the human."

"No, let's just run!"

"If the Hunt started the fire, they might have stolen some of Holly's stuff. She never told me if she had sensitive Crow files but I don't like the idea of them having it anyway."

The dogs were gaining.

"We don't know that."

"Calum, we can't let then find Fardown."

Calum bit his lip, daring to glance over his shoulder. "Okay."

"Meet me back at the lake when you can get away."

"Edwin-" Calum stopped, clutching their hand one more time. "I know that man."

They didn't need an explanation. Calum watched their eyes burned with a sudden hatred. "Give him hell."

Edwin turned on his heels and ran in the opposite direction, and put his fingers to his lips. A sharp, high pitched whistle flew from his lips. The dogs turned towards him. His massive black wings snapped out as far as the trees allowed. His feet left the ground. One of the dogs jumped up and nearly closed its jaws around his ankle. Edwin and the hounds disappeared into the smoking woods.

A sword lodged itself into the burnt crust of a tree next to Calum's ear. He whirled away, finding himself boxed by brushfire and the smoldering form of his former Patron. Tarif ripped the sword from the tree and it came back stuck with burning splinters.

Calum raised his fists.

Tarif laughed, it was a cold sound in this sweltering heat. "They've corrupted you, my boy. Look at how sick you are."

"I'm fine." Calum hated how quiet he was. "I'm better now than ever."

"It talks." Tarif hissed, and started to circle him. "Its brain has not completely rotted. Tell me, did you fight it? Or did you bow your head like the coward you've always been?"

It was just a salted wound. It was just another slap, another hit. Nothing he wasn't used to. Nothing he couldn't push past. Calum ran, hopping and gliding over fire, he could feel it through his clothes. He could feel the sweat of his brow and the smoke in his eyes eating him from the inside.

Pain blossomed from his wing, his body rolled through ash and mud and stayed there. There was a knife in the muscle where his coverts were. It left a sickening red stain in his already rusty feathers.

Tarif stood above him.

Calum wasn't going to make it back to the lake.

"Did you take anything from the nest?" He asked, dragging himself to his feet and clutching on tight to his bleeding wing.

"Nest?" It caught Tarif off guard, for just a moment. "We don't collect contaminated trophies."

Well, Calum knew that was a lie. "Why don't you just kill me?"

Tarif's eyes gleamed. "This is the grandest hunt of my entire life. I don't dare let it end so soon."

Calum's back hit a tall boulder, free from the flames. Tarif's sword pressed up against his throat. There was no longer a man before him. There was a black-eyed monster with teeth as white as the snow and a hole in his chest carved by blood that had dried away long ago. Now it was just another mouth, and it had grown hungrier and hungrier over the years. Calum stared at Tarif's twin mouths, thinking of the lives it had taken, and found his blood had turned to fire.

"I promised my delikiae two things, that I'd come back to him and that I'd make you suffer, and now I can't fly back." Calum pushed the blade aside and leapt forward.

His good wing slammed into Tarif's face; his hands grasped the hilt of the sword. He ripped it from Tarif's grip and kicked him away. Calum yelped as he slammed into his injured wing, but he had a weapon now. He had all the power.

Tarif landed against a tree that was still on fire, as he rolled his clothes caught and he let out a horrific scream. It barely phased Calum. It was the scream he'd made his entire life and not once had anyone payed attention. His form was comprised of sour vengeance as he brought the sabre down across Tarif's head.

A brilliant yellow light appeared in the smoke above them and blinded Calum. There was a great roll of thunder and an ocean fell upon the earth. When Calum could see again, the fire was gone, and the smoke rose up into the dusk sky. It was strangely naked, even if the leaves had already fallen, the blackened stillness of it made him so terribly uncomfortable.

High Welf Opaling floated to the ground, her eyes had consumed the fire in the woods. Calum's heart skipped a beat when he saw she was holding Edwin's limp body. Pinched by the collar of his jacket like a kitten. His wings dragged along the ground and his eyes didn't open as she stalked towards them.

"Get up." She growled.

Tarif shoved himself to his feet, a long cut traced from his forehead to his cheek. It had already bled into one eye. Leaving it discolored and swollen shut. He held his fingers to his lips and let out a high-pitched whistle. All around Calum, Black Hunt Reapers appeared from behind trees, under logs, around rocks. Each was clad in a dark, earthy, fire-proof suit that covered their faces. Calum didn't bother looking for an escape route, he was surrounded by monsters.

"It's still alive." She threw Edwin's body to the ground. "I don't know how, but it managed to knock out your dogs with a spell, which is how I tracked it down. The dogs were fine, not a scratch on them, your cadets are taking them back to the campus."

Tarif's expression didn't change. He turned to Calum, who was crouched on the ground and shivering from the wet and the cold. Calum reveled in the anger stretched across Tarif's face. He'd done that. He'd caused Tarif to lose his temper plenty of times, but not like this. He'd never seen Tarif this...unhinged.

"I'm going to give you one last chance, Calum. We've brought quite a few of your friends on this trip, this could be your first reaping too." He held out a sword.

Calum spit in his face.

Tarif gave him a red, stinging mark on his cheek in return, but it did nothing to dampen the fire eating him up from the inside. He should have let his match burn to the finger years ago.

"Fascinating." The High Welf pulled on some gloves before she grabbed Calum's face and forced him to look at her yellow eyes. "Truly a fascinating specimen, I can't to have it on my table."

"I'm not an it, and neither is Edwin." Calum tried to push her fingers away but she held on firm.

Her eyes flared, where she touched his skin started to burn. Tears formed in Calum's eyes from the sting. It felt like she was trying to tear his bones out through his skin. His vision started to blur.

"It has committed great crimes against our nation by hiding you from us. It has perverted everything we stand for by continuing to identify with our noble people." High Welf Opaling was swept by such rage her words left flecks of spittle on Calum's cheek.

Calum took a deep breath, and swallowed back the pain. "Adults who justify hurting children are evil."

Her nostrils flared, and her hand drew back to hit him. Calum didn't move, and that seemed to stop her in her tracks. Then she turned and laid a hand on Edwin's sleeping face.

"You can't hurt him; the curse forbids it." Calum growled, even though his heart started beating frantically.

"I can't?" She smiled, revealing her sharpened canines.

All the feathers on his back stood on end as Edwin curled under her grip, and cried out. Her face was beaded with sweat, her palms glowed where she touched him. Edwin remained unconscious, but his body spasmed in his slumber. He desperately tried to writhe away from her. Calum threw himself forward and ripped her off of them. When his skin touched hers, both of them cried out.

He snarled, bearing his own pointed teeth. "Don't touch him."

Her hand drew back, there was a vacant look in her eyes. "It's...not... Tarif, help me."

Calum stared at her, holding Edwin's body. He could hear their breathing and that was all that mattered. He brushed Edwin's hair from his eyes and held their head close to his chest. His wings had instinctively slid forward to form a protective shell around their bodies. One wing still dripped with blood.

"Do you want me to kill them?"

She blinked, and a pulsing, hungry look crawled across her face. "No, they'll be reaped at Woden's Circle, just like the old times. I have good feeling about that one," she pointed towards Calum, "it has magic in its bones, I intend to make a show of it."

She snapped her fingers and Calum's body went stiff. He couldn't move to defend himself when the pommel of Tarif's sword cracked across his skull. He fell, and the last things he knew were the red sun setting through the trees the cold mud underneath his stinging cheek.