ASHFANG
1919 Words
The bundle of firewood still rested across his shoulders.
Several people passed him.
None stopped.
None greeted him.
One woman nodded politely before continuing on her way.
That was enough.
He reached the communal storage building and dropped the wood beside several larger stacks.
The relief in his shoulders was immediate.
"You're late."
Caelum looked up.
Ronan, one of the storekeepers, stood nearby with a wax tablet in hand.
"I know."
"The storm?"
Caelum nodded.
Ronan scratched a mark onto the tablet.
"Try not to disappear next time."
"I'll do my best."
The older man snorted.
"That would be a first."
Then he walked away.
Caelum allowed himself a small smile.
Ronan's version of concern always sounded like irritation.
---
By midday the settlement had become busier.
Hunters returned from patrol.
Merchants unpacked supplies.
Wolves shifted between human and beast forms as they worked.
The smell of woodsmoke drifted through the streets.
Caelum spent most of the morning repairing storage fencing near the eastern edge of the village.
The repetitive work suited him.
Hammer.
Nail.
Board.
Repeat.
Simple.
Predictable.
Unlike cloud-eyed wolf pups.
"That explains it."
The voice came from behind him.
Caelum sighed.
He recognized it immediately.
Selene.
He turned.
She stood a few paces away with snow dusting the shoulders of her dark cloak.
A leather satchel hung across her side.
Several scroll cases protruded from the top.
Travel had left her hair slightly windblown.
She looked pleased with herself.
Which usually meant trouble.
"What explains what?" he asked.
Selene pointed toward his hand.
"The mystery."
Caelum followed her gaze.
The cloth wrapping his bite wound had loosened during work.
A line of dried blood stained the edge.
"You're injured."
"It's nothing."
"You said that last time."
"It was nothing last time too."
Selene folded her arms.
"That scar on your shoulder says otherwise."
Caelum resumed hammering.
She stepped closer.
"Where did it come from?"
"A branch."
"A branch bit you?"
He missed the nail completely.
Selene's smile widened.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The face you make when you're lying."
"I don't have a face for lying."
"You absolutely do."
Caelum drove the nail into place.
Selene watched him for another moment before deciding not to push further.
For now.
A dangerous decision.
Because it meant she planned to return to the subject later.
"What were you doing this time?" she asked.
"Collecting firewood."
"During a storm?"
"I was already out there."
"Of course you were."
She adjusted the satchel.
"I brought back records from Frost Hollow."
That caught his attention.
"Anything interesting?"
"A few things."
Selene's eyes brightened immediately.
She loved old records the way hunters loved successful hunts.
"Most were useless."
"That sounds promising."
"It does, doesn't it?"
She grinned.
"I found references to abandoned tunnels north of Ashfang."
Caelum paused.
"Mining tunnels?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"The records disagree."
"That seems inconvenient."
"It usually means the answer is worth finding."
Before he could respond, a sharp voice cut across the square.
"Move."
Several people stepped aside.
Kael crossed the settlement surrounded by three hunters.
He carried himself the way some men carried weapons.
Confident.
Dangerous.
Always visible.
Conversations shifted as he passed.
Heads turned.
People noticed him.
They always did.
Kael glanced toward the fence.
His gaze landed briefly on Caelum.
Then moved on.
As though he wasn't worth remembering.
The moment lasted only a second.
Long enough.
Selene watched Kael disappear toward the central hall.
Her expression cooled.
"You'd think he was king."
"Don't let him hear that."
"I'd rather not."
They returned to their conversation.
Yet the atmosphere around the settlement had changed.
Subtly.
Like tension beneath ice.
More hunters were gathering near the hall.
Voices carried across the square.
Urgent.
Concerned.
One of the northern patrols had returned.
Something had happened.
Selene noticed it too.
The smile left her face.
"That's strange."
A horn sounded from the center of the village.
Once.
Short.
Summoning.
Workers began drifting toward the hall.
Hunters moved faster.
Caelum set down his hammer.
Together he and Selene followed the crowd.
The gathering formed quickly.
Pack members filled the square.
Snow crunched beneath dozens of boots.
At the front stood one of the northern hunters.
Exhaustion lined his face.
Fresh frost clung to his cloak.
The hunter spoke quietly with several elders.
Kael stood nearby listening.
The conversation ended.
The elder turned toward the crowd.
"What happened?" someone called.
The hunter swallowed.
His gaze swept across the gathered faces.
Then he said,
"We found tracks near the northern woods."
Murmurs spread immediately.
"What kind of tracks?"
The hunter hesitated.
His expression darkened.
"I don't know."
Silence followed.
"The prints were too large for wolves."
Nobody spoke.
A cold wind passed through the square.
The hunter continued.
"They appeared yesterday."
He looked toward the mountains.
Toward the distant forest.
"I've hunted these lands my entire life."
His voice lowered.
"I've never seen tracks like them."
"Moon's Fang will deal with it."
The comment came from somewhere within the crowd.
Nobody laughed.
Several people nodded immediately.
The title moved through the gathering in quiet agreement.
As though the outcome had already been decided.
As though victories belonged to him by right.
Caelum glanced toward the hunters.
Kael said nothing.
His expression suggested he agreed.
The square remained silent.
Somewhere beyond the settlement, a raven called.
And for reasons Caelum couldn't explain, his thoughts drifted to a clouded eye watching him in the dark.
The silence lingered after the hunter finished speaking.
A few people exchanged uneasy glances.
Someone laughed.
Too quickly.
Too loudly.
The sound died almost immediately.
"What do you mean you've never seen tracks like them?" an older hunter asked.
The man rubbed a hand across his beard.
"I mean exactly that."
"Bear?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Wolf?"
"No."
Kael stepped forward.
"Show me."
The hunter crouched and began drawing in the snow with the end of a knife.
People pressed closer.
Caelum remained near the back of the gathering.
Selene shifted beside him, trying to see over several shoulders.
The hunter sketched a rough outline.
A paw.
Large.
Too large.
Even from where he stood, Caelum could tell it wasn't right.
The shape felt wrong somehow.
The toes were longer than a wolf's.
The spacing uneven.
Almost stretched.
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
"That's impossible."
"Maybe the snow distorted it."
"You measured it?"
The hunter nodded.
"Twice."
Kael stared at the drawing.
"Where?"
"Northern woods."
"Near the old river?"
The hunter hesitated.
"Further."
That got everyone's attention.
The northern woods were one thing.
Beyond them was another matter entirely.
Few people traveled there willingly.
The forest grew denser the farther north one went.
Old paths disappeared.
The mountains swallowed landmarks.
Stories tended to begin there.
The kind parents told children to keep them away from dangerous places.
Kael straightened.
"Take me there tomorrow."
Several hunters immediately nodded.
No surprise there.
Kael rarely waited for permission.
One of the elders frowned.
"We don't know what we're dealing with."
"Then we'll find out."
"The storm only passed this morning."
"The tracks will disappear if we wait."
Nobody argued after that.
The discussion moved on.
Patrol routes.
Supply inventories.
Extra watches near the northern border.
The crowd slowly began to disperse.
Conversations broke out in low voices.
Concern travelled through the settlement faster than winter wind.
Selene watched the hunter's drawing for several moments before speaking.
"That's interesting."
"Interesting?" Caelum asked.
"Most people would choose a different word."
She ignored him.
"Did you notice the shape?"
"I noticed it was large."
"No. Look at the spacing."
The drawing was already half-covered by boots and fresh snow.
Caelum glanced at it again.
She was right.
The pattern looked strange.
As if whatever made the tracks had walked unevenly.
Or struggled to move correctly.
"Maybe it was injured."
"Maybe."
Her tone suggested she was already considering several other possibilities.
A dangerous sign.
Selene loved mysteries.
Mysteries rarely loved her back.
The crowd continued thinning.
Kael remained near the elders.
Even from a distance, he somehow commanded attention.
People listened when he spoke.
Hunters gathered around him.
Young wolves watched him.
A few copied his posture without realizing it.
Future Alpha.
Everyone knew it.
Everyone acted accordingly.
One day Ashfang would belong to him.
The thought settled heavily in the back of Caelum's mind.
"You're staring."
Caelum looked away.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I wasn't."
"You have the same lying face."
He sighed.
Selene smiled.
Victory.
Again.
"You should stop doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Being right."
"I've considered it."
"And?"
"It seems unlikely."
They left the square together.
The afternoon sun hung low above the mountains.
Long shadows stretched across the snow.
For a while neither spoke.
The quiet wasn't uncomfortable.
It never was with Selene.
Most people treated silence like an enemy.
She treated it like another language.
A group of children ran past them.
One nearly collided with Caelum before changing direction at the last second.
The boy laughed and kept running.
His friends followed.
Their footprints crisscrossed the fresh snow behind them.
Life continued.
Shops remained open.
Woodsmoke drifted from chimneys.
Someone played a flute near the western road.
The melody floated through the settlement before disappearing into the wind.
Selene eventually broke the silence.
"I found something else."
Caelum immediately regretted asking.
"What?"
She reached into her satchel and removed a folded piece of parchment.
The edges were worn.
The ink had faded.
"An old map."
"A useful old map?"
"Possibly."
"That sounds suspicious."
"It should."
She unfolded it carefully.
Several routes crossed the page.
Most had been marked out centuries ago.
A cluster of notes occupied the northern section.
The handwriting was barely legible.
Caelum leaned closer.
"What does that say?"
Selene squinted.
"'Collapsed access point.'"
She pointed lower.
"'Unsafe excavation.'"
Another note.
"'Restricted by order of—'"
The final word had disappeared beneath a water stain.
"A mine?"
"Maybe."
"You keep saying maybe."
"Because certainty is a luxury."
He laughed softly.
Selene smiled.
Then her gaze shifted.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She grabbed his wrist.
Before he could react, she pulled his injured hand into the light.
The bandage had loosened again.
A faint stain of blood had spread through the cloth.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Caelum."
"No."
"You don't even know the question."
"I know the tone."
"What happened?"
"A branch."
"The famous branch returns."
"It was a very aggressive branch."
Selene stared at him.
He held her gaze.
For approximately three seconds.
Then she rolled her eyes.
"You are terrible at this."
"I've been told."
"By who?"
"You."
"Good."
She released his wrist.
The concern remained, though she pretended otherwise.
Caelum noticed.
He didn't mention it.
They continued walking.
As they reached the edge of the settlement, a distant howl echoed across the valley.
Every conversation nearby seemed to pause.
Just for a second.
The sound came again.
Longer this time.
A hunter standing near the watchtower turned toward the northern forest.
The expression on his face shifted.
The howl wasn't familiar.
It wasn't one of Ashfang's patrols.
The sound carried across the snow-covered hills before fading into silence.
Nobody spoke.
A cold wind swept through the village.
Then life resumed.
People returned to their work.
Doors opened and closed.
Conversations started again.
Yet the feeling remained.
Subtle.
Persistent.
Like a splinter beneath the skin.
Caelum looked toward the northern woods.
Toward the mountains beyond them.
Toward the hidden shelter where a cloud-eyed pup waited alone.
And for the first time since returning to Ashfang, he wondered whether leaving it there had been a mistake.
- Writer
