Chapter 2
"Because the two competing wolf packs refuse to agree to a unified pack under a unified leadership, it's time for the Fae Wolf Games," Moon Gazer said, watching over the two lone wolves, Rune and Stone, as they met up with each other in his glen.
"Aye. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" her twin sister asked.
"Yes, I'm sure of it. We've never had lone wolves in the games."
Star Gazer sighed and folded her arms across her waist. "But they will be at a disadvantage. They're not used to teaming up or competing against other wolves, as the wolves do in the packs."
"We have to select new pack leaders who will fight for what's right and not be at each other's throats. The packs in the valley need integrated leadership. Both Stone and Rune are from families that are in the competing packs, though they don’t know it.
Even if they don't win, I believe they should compete to further their education in the way of the wolf fae. What would it hurt?"
Star Gazer worried her favorite wolves would be hurt because they weren't the same as the other wolves.
"They can fend for themselves. They've shown they can since they were young pups.
It's time for them to meet up with other wolves.
We can see where they stand," Moon Gazer said.
"I know you're worried about them, but how can they prove themselves otherwise?
I doubt they'll come out on top, but I believe it would be a good experience for them. "
"You're not concerned about them?"
"Living alone? Yes, I am. And I'm also afraid they might start a pack of their own, and then we'll have three packs to deal with, which we can’t allow."
"True. They seem to be fond of each other, even though they stay apart from one another for the most part."
"So what do you say?"
"It will be traumatic for them." Star Gazer worried about how they would react if they were caged up, something that they had never experienced, and forced into a new environment that was both unfamiliar to them and no longer their own territory.
"They'll do fine. And if one of them doesn't win the game, no big deal.
I want to see how they'll do. Don't you?
They haven't even had any real interactions with other fae as fae.
If anything, it will be a good experience for them to learn how to deal with other fae if they give them trouble.
They'll learn to accomplish challenges that they've never been exposed to.
Most of the other wolves have done things like this, but they'll have new experiences to handle as well. "
"All right. Let's do this." Star Gazer hoped at least one of their lone wolves would win.
Though she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Even if Rune or Stone could win the challenges, could he or she also bring the packs together?
Could they unite the packs and lead them?
That would be the biggest challenge of all.
The day when fae guards, at least that's what they looked like, came into Stone's territory, he didn't know what to think.
The royals Stone had met, the dragon fae shifters, had been generous and kind.
But these fae had cages, and that made him sure that he was in for trouble.
Someone had it in mind to move him from his territory.
He was sure of it. He snarled and snapped at them. They threw an iron mesh net over him.
He couldn't shift into his fae. He couldn't transport like the fae—something that had shocked him when he wanted to see what Rune was doing yesterday, and suddenly, he’d been standing in her glen. Once he’d shown her how he could do it, she had tried, and she had been thrilled that she could also.
The heaviness of the net forced him onto his side.
He growled in frustration and anger. And then he saw Rune come to aid him.
He wanted to shout to her to leave. To hide.
He howled. She attacked one of the fae. She would be caught just like him.
And he hated that she would be. Then a net was thrown over her, and she collapsed under the weight of it.
Like him, she couldn't move, her eyes worried, but also filled with anger.
She snapped at the men as they hauled her into one of the cages.
He did the same, but he couldn't bite through the heavy chain net, and the next thing he knew, he was also inside a cage and being carried off.
Then in the blink of an eye, they were both transported in the fae way to separate cells.
There, they were taken out of the cages.
Once they were locked up, another fae, this one wearing long blue velvet robes and a beard, waved at Stone's iron net and it vanished.
Stone rushed the iron grates keeping him hostage and snarled and growled at the wizard.
The wizard moved to the next cell where Rune was being held captive, and then he made Rune's net vanish with a flick of his wrist. She rose to her feet, but instead of going after the wizard, she walked over to the grate that Stone and she shared and put her nose through it.
Stone joined her and nuzzled her face with his, then turned into the fae.
She shifted also. "What do they want from us?"
"To steal our glens? I don't know."
"To participate in the Fae Wolf Games," the wizard said. "I'm Bentan. You are here on the request of Star Gazer and Moon Gazer, the goddesses who watch over the rune stones and keep peace in the wolf territories where you belong."
"Who?" Rune asked.
"They work in mysterious ways. We've never had lone wolves participate in the Fae Wolf Games.
Everyone doubts you will succeed, but you are being given a great opportunity.
You will compete with other fae wolves to beat several challenges.
Whoever wins the most will rule the two quarreling packs who live near each other in their territories.
You will do your best and prove us wrong. "
"We don't need to prove anything to you or anyone else," Stone said, angry, wishing he could free Rune and return them both home.
"Join us to meet up with the other fae who are participating in this event. Fight us, and you can stay locked in the cages until the events are all completed."
Stone looked at Rune. She was scowling at the wizard, but then she nodded.
"We'll do this, but our way," Stone said.
"Which is just the way we expect you to take on the challenges.
We wouldn't have it any other way. It will be much more entertaining this way.
" Then the wizard led the way out of the cells, the guards following Rune and Stone until they reached a large marble room, the walls adorned in gaudy gold, chairs and tables scattered about as if it were a place to eat or read books or something. Stone wasn't sure.
The gaming building sprawled wide and deep, its red-brown brick darkened near the base where moisture had worked its way in over the years, with narrow windows running in even rows across each floor and a roofline that disappeared behind a stand of planted trees.
From the outside, it looked institutional—moss-covered brick interrupted by heavy double doors and tons of windows—but inside, the corridors opened unexpectedly into planted alcoves and the soft blue-green shimmer of water cascading down stone walls. It definitely looked like a fae-world building.
Paintings of dragons, hawks, wolves, and the ocean and islands were the first thing that caught the eye, hung at precise intervals along corridors wide enough for three people to walk abreast, their colors vivid against the brick and the pale overhead light.
Then ten other fae walked into the room, all of them eyeing Rune and Stone with suspicion.
Five of the fae looked like they knew each other and stayed together.
Another five walked together in the same manner.
One of the fae was tiny compared to the others, and Stone wondered if she was forced to come because she would be more "entertainment" like he and Rune would be. But for whom?
A game coordinator said to the gathered competitors, “We have twelve fae who are competing: Pari, Maeve, Fang, Vesper, Xena, Silas, Iris, Caspian, Elon, Lolita, Rune, and Stone. You will have room assignments, and you will be paired with a roommate. If your roommate goes home, you’ll have the room to yourself until we have an even number of competitors again. ”
Another game coordinator said, “Each of you has separate skills. Maeve, Xena, and Pari are skilled with throwing stars. Vesper is skilled with the sword. Iris’s talent lies with the slingshot. Lolita carries a short sword.”
She was the smallest wolf there, and Stone noted the coordinator did not say she was skilled with the sword.
“Both Rune and Stone are also equipped with swords,” the coordinator continued, but again didn’t say they were good at sword fighting because neither of them had held a sword before.
He wondered why they weren’t given a chance to try different weapons and see what worked best for them. But he also wondered if they would have to use their weapons to fight the other fae.
“Silas is skilled with a throwing ax,” the coordinator said. “Elon, Fang, and Caspian are good with a bow and arrow. You will have twelve challenges to meet. May the best one win.”
Bentan, the wizard, explained to the gathered fae, "When there are issues between packs, as is going on right now in your woods and glens, we need to resolve them.
Your leaders won't compromise. Each wants his and her own way.
Nothing is resolved. We've lost several wolves to this fight.
The war between packs can't go on. Not without decimating your kind. "
Every word the wizard spoke didn't mean anything to Stone. Or Rune, he suspected. These weren't his people. He didn't run with a pack. And it didn't matter what they did to each other as long as they didn't encroach on his or Rune's territory.