Chapter Nine: The Crux of the Issue

After their late night exploits in this desert paradise, Fen was more than ever determined to complete the quest. He simply couldn't let this city fall to the seeping darkness spreading across the land. It was far too beautiful for the Omega to let it die. His mother had sent them here for a reason, that fact was unshakable. *Follow in Kaní's footsteps,* she had instructed. So his sister must have been here, must have left some trace of divine power.

Here, in Pollux, lay a miracle.

Instinctively, he led his mate deeper into the heart of the city, further upwards and inwards, following an undeniable tugging in his chest. It led them on the right path so far, to this phenomenal city, and now he let it pull him down winding streets, and up narrow staircases, to the very heart of Pollux.

The urge forward increased tenfold as he stepped into the inner square of the city, nearly bringing the Omega to his knees with its force. Here was the miracle, in this very square. But—

Oh. There it was, the first sign of where his sister left her mark.

A huge slab of granite rose tall from the top of the hill Pollux was built upon, split clean in two, and what seemed to be a river flowing from the gap. This was certainly a message from the White Wolf. No one else was capable of creating water from nothing, in a place where none could survive. Pollux's four canals flowed from the massive pool surrounding the standing stone, spreading the life giving substance to the four corners of the small nation.

In Fen's honest opinion, it was just a tad ostentatious. He was only observing, though.

Dylin let out a soft gasp of wonder at the sight, giving his Omega a small twinge of jealousy at her achievement. His *sister* beat him in miracles, and she wasn't even *here.* He grumbled to himself under his breath until Dylin took notice. "You are still the one I love, Fennis Cambel." Dylin placed a tender kiss to his blushing Omega's temple, and wrapped his arm around Fen's waist. "Silly Omega."

Fen glanced up, smiling softly at his mate, as they explored the square, searching for any clues as to what they were here for. His eyes fell upon an old Wolf, wearing the tattered robes of a priest, offering Gaia's blessings to the many people in the square. Upon the ground next to him lay a bronze grate, with a small, blue offering fire burning inside.

Fen tugged Dylin's hand, leading them to the silver haired Wolf, knowing somehow that he was the next portion of their quest, the next step in their journey. The grizzled Alpha turned his eyes to them, startling Fen in the matter that they were pure white, even where his pupils once were. "Excuse me, sir? May we be blessed?"

Though he was evidently blind, as far as Fennis could tell, the Wolf's eyes seemed to lock on to the two travelers, uncannily accurate as he gathered herbs from a willow basket beside him. " Yes, my children. All may receive Gaia's gifts." He pressed a small bundle of lavender and honeysuckle into Dylin's palm, and collected the ashes from the brass offering bowl after they had been burnt. "May the grace of the allMother shine upon you."

The old Wolf smudged the ash on Dylin's forehead with a puzzled frown hovering around his eyes, though he outright gasped as he touched Fen's brow. "My Lord, I have spent my life awaiting your arrival." The Alpha based his neck in submission to Fen, trembling before the Celestial. "My father, and his father before me have been tasked to wait for Gaia's son to begin his quest." A glimmer of tears lingered on his lashes, as he inhaled shakily. "I thought I would have to pass down the burden before the time came for you."

"Please, sir, can you tell us —"

" Not here!" The older Wolf hissed, his sight led eyes seeming to scan the area. Fen dimly wondered as he lead them away, if the Wolf was truly as blind as he appeared. "Even here, in this haven, there are the Infected, my lords."

The Alpha hurried them along the busy streets, twisting and turning on the winding road.

No one noticed the shadowy figure following them.

Nor the trail of black slime crawling from his eyes.

-:-

"I am Gerand, my lords," their guide muttered as he hastily shuttered the windows, and bolted the door. "Your arrival is a blessing upon Hastor." Gerand rifled through the numerous piles of paper upon his desk, as he searched for Gaia knew what. Every few seconds, his eyes flicked to the thin sunbeams falling through the cracks in the shutters, and the small gap in the door. His hands shook as he attempted to light the lone lantern, failing miserably at the task.

Fen took pity on the poor old Wolf, lighting the lantern with a flare of blue. Dylin shifted his stance by the door, as the fine hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Something didn't feel right.

Gerand continued to mutter about 'the Infected' as he searched though his papers and books, though Dylin caught one of the phrases came clearer than the rest. "The stone is the answer, with its power, you can cure—"

Just as he was about to show them a location upon a weathered map, the room burst into a flurry of action, as the feeling of being watched increased tenfold.

Dylin shifted selves, as Fen's form collapsed onto the floor, crying out in agony. He crouched over his mate, his blazing green eyes meeting Gerand's as a tiny black dart buried itself into the older Alpha's neck.

Immediately, the flesh around the dart began to bubble, and collapse in on itself, ending his speech with a strangled groan, as he fell to the floor next to Dylin's mate, curled beneath him in excruciating pain.

As he turned back to the door, it splintered inward, violently spraying the room with shards of wood..

A man, no more than twenty, stepped through the wreckage, with a demented giggle.

His crazed eyes found Dylin's, and he crooned in a sing song voice, "Wolfy, Wolfy, Wolfy, you think you can save him?"

Dylin snarled viciously in response, snapping at the creature in front of him. He watched, as the thing wiped black sludge from his mouth with a slurping sound.

"Oh, poor thing! It thinks it can kill us!" The creature giggled again, taking a lurching step forward. "We are eternal, we are the endless night. We created this world!" His voice dropped to a hushed whisper, as Fen's frightened whimpers sounded in Dylin's ears. "We will destroy it, too."

As the creature stumbled across the floor, Dylin smelled blood, Fen's blood, and Dylin's vision tinged red around the edges, as the thing raised a dripping black lance. "You belong with us, Fennis, black to black. A matched pair, no?"

Just as Dylin prepared to lungs at the beast, a certain death inevitable, a brilliant white-blue beam of light struck the former human square in the chest, a bolt emanating from his Omega. Fen's breathing stuttered, as the creature turtles in confusion.

It looked down to the gaping hole in its chest, stunned, as it fell to the floor.

Dylin didn't wait around for the humans of the city to exact their revenge on his innocent mate.

He scooped up their packs in his jaw and put as many miles as he could, with fen on his back, between them and the corpses.