Chapter Three

The fresh forest air cleared Shiv's lungs. He had been accustomed to the smell of dung and old sweat from being in the circus, and was now just beginning to realize just how much he reeked. He was also surprised that the others hadn’t mentioned his stench, considering how Maru and Love were both canine-Beasts with an exceptional sense of smell.

While the group travelled, Maru and Love pestered Shiv with questions, such as where he came from, what he thought about Lady Vindemia's rule, what he thought about Indwellers from Nightmare, his experiences being in the circus.

So Shiv told them of his life in the Typhon Plains, how he hunted with his clan brothers in the moonlight, the annual gatherings with neighboring Lion-Beast prides and the beautiful maidens. And then there was the massacre of the royal family, and it only took a week for Vindemia’s new government to ban all clans from meeting with one another unless they asked for permission from Vindemia herself. Of course she denied them permission, and soon Monster settlement pioneers had forced the entire clan from the plains.

“What do you think of Vindemia?” Shiv asked Linia, curious.

Linia shrugged. "I'm not from Fairyland, nor do I remember what life was like before I came here. I think her methods of diplomacy are ineffective.”

“You aren’t from Fairyland? Where are you from?” Shiv asked.

Linia did not reply.

"She won’t answer questions about her past,” said Maru.

“Oh,” said Shiv, “then how did you meet her?”

Maru smiled and told his story.

He had been at a secret war meeting. He and Fjöllís Sandur, a distinguished wolf-Beast commander, were already present along with several other veterans. Among them were: Fenr’r, the first wolf-Beast to travel cross-dimensionally, which was a dangerous and unknown sort of magic; Sixth Sun, a descendant of the great wolf-bear who first learned that Beasts had dual forms; and Naskapi, Prince of the Iron Wolves.

In the middle of their meeting, they were suddenly ambushed by an overwhelming number of Indwellers. For every wolf-Beast, there were five or more Indwellers. The location of the meeting had been known among those in attendance, and Maru knew that someone had betrayed the secret.

Immediately, Maru had howled for retreat. Of course, there was no retreat. Only escape. Maru had run into the forest alongside Sandur before the young warrior succumbed to wounds too mangling for even a wolf-Beast’s natural rapid regeneration to cure. He buried the young warrior himself and continued to run until he was eventually captured by Vindemia’s troops, by then a broken Prince. There he was informed that everyone else at the meeting had been captured and executed.

“The reason why I am here and not dead is because Linia appeared at my cell the day before my execution. She just took all the bars out of the cell and let me out, and Love found us a few days later while we were hiding out in the woods,” said Maru.

Love continued, “And when I found them, I just took them back to Kuma. In exchanged for safety, he accepted their service as Housekeepers. That was about twenty years ago, and now we’re here.”

The four of them soon arrived at a small clear pond to rest. The pond was surrounded with rippling green grass.

"How far is Kuma’s House?” asked Shiv, bending down to lap from the pool.

“It’s in Nivaciel,” said Love. She flicked drops of water away from her scarlet snout.

“Nivaciel!” Shiv exclaimed. “That far!”

But it made sense. Nivaciel was a vast land of snow far North, and Lady Vindemia was currently concentrating her forces on using up Fairyland’s resources. She would not bring large amounts of troops into Nivaciel, anyway; Lady Vindemia and her Indwellers came from scorched wastelands of ‘Fntzm, and they would not know how to navigate through the snow and ice.

Maru, who had briefly disappeared to scout, returned and asked Shiv, “Are you hungry?”

"Yes, I am! I haven’t had a hunt ever since I joined the circus," said Shiv excitedly, looking up at once. His atrophied muscles ached with disuse.

"Alright,” said Maru, waggling his eyebrows, “then you come with me and we’ll go hunting. I caught boar scent while scouting around here, is that alright?” asked Maru.

“Having lived on dry biscuit treats and stray rats all year, even a small rabbit would be wonderful,” said Shiv.

“Wild boar it is,” said Maru.

“Thanks,” called Love lazily as she sprawled out on the soft grass by the pond. Maru and Shiv trotted into the trees.