“She was getting me out of her sight,” Cyrus answers sullenly, his throat bobbing with his grief. Trying not to panic, Cyrus forces himself to keep breathing as he tries to think of a way out of Wolf’s unyielding grasp.
“Or maybe she didn’t send you with any special message! Maybe she attacked you, and you ran away like the coward you are!” Wolf snarls, kicking at Cyrus’s shins to force his knees into the sharp rocks that hungrily wait to taste his skin.
Cyrus rips his head out of Wolf’s vice-like grip, uncaring as to how many strands of hair he leaves in his brother’s fist. “I was never a coward,” he mutters, wishing he believed the words as his mind plagues him with his failures. If I were brave, I would have been a better leader. I would have stopped Falcon from being so brutal. I’d have kept Warbler safe. I’d never have made Iris hate me. And I would have figured out how Wolf managed to keep his pack so well fed despite the abject starvation all around us.
“Never a coward, ha! If you’d been brave, you’d have been the one to kill our father. You’d have drawn a blade and attacked me before I got close enough to touch you right now,” Wolf taunts as he skitters just out of Cyrus’s reach. “Where’s your Ddraig, little brother? How do I know anything you say is true? Maybe this is just your way to try and earn my trust. You just want to join my pack, and this is the only lie you can think of that might be useful to me. Admit it!”
“You can think what you wish, but Iris will scour the land to find you and your people. She wants to protect the Ddraigs, Wolf. You’ll see that I’m telling the truth when she comes to find you.”
Cyrus turns toward the forest, intending to disappear into its depths. After all, this part of the land has been his playground for many years; surely, he can find a place to hide that Wolf would never suspect. He’s done the best he could do for Iris. It isn’t his fault if Wolf did not listen.
Four hulking, heavily armed guardians wait behind Cyrus, knives drawn to force him to stay in his place. Caught between the guards and his brother, Cyrus helplessly watches as they inch closer, closing any gap that might be used to escape. They will not let me leave, Cyrus whispers through his mind connection to Suryc. An answering roar punctures the quiet forest, startling all of the men in front of the House of Vultures.
“So, your Ddraig is here after all? Hyena!” Wolf shouts up to the house, and immediately a man with a gray and black mask appears at the open door. “Take three of your best men and scour the forest. There’s a monster in the woods just waiting to be found.”
With an eerie laugh, Hyena bounds down the steps, yipping until three men round the corner from the back of the house and fall into step behind him.
Fly, Suryc, Cyrus pleads, quickly explaining the danger to his Ddraig. Get out of the forest before they find you.
I’ll be fine, Suryc reassures with no traces of fear. You just worry about yourself right now.
“Now, little brother, what to do with you? Did you really expect to come into my territory and then freely leave?” Wolf laughs as he watches Cyrus turn in slow circles, gauging the strength and skills of his opponents. With a snap of Wolf’s fingers, the guards descend on Cyrus. A quick jab to the ribs steals his breath, and a kick to the back of his knees forces him to the ground once more. Cyrus’s head falls back as he gasps, another fist slamming into his jaw. The strike sends green starbursts to steal his vision, and while he is dazed, the ropes of the traitor binds snare his wrists and ankles.
“What happens now?” Cyrus chatters through his teeth as he watches Wolf’s keen eyes assessing him for weaknesses. The leather chafes old wounds from his previous days in these bonds. Falcon’s decaying body taints the air, filling his nose with the putrid scent of death. Wolf stalks closer, wickedly smiling as he watches his brother’s face turn green with disgust.
“I will build a Master House and become king, just like Mynah has foreseen. When she finds me, we will decide what to do about the Ddraigs together,” Wolf exclaims as he clamps his hands on either side of Cyrus’s neck. “In the meantime, I think I will have some fun with you, little brother. After all, that’s what Mynah sent you to me for, isn’t it? I think that you’re a kind of consolation present since she did not come herself. Don’t you think it’s time to finish what we began all those years ago?”
She wouldn’t do that, Cyrus protests in his thoughts, unable to form the words out loud. No matter how much she hates me, Iris would not send me here to die. Would she? Yet, hearing his greatest fears voiced by Wolf only adds to their credibility. She’s not the girl I remember, is she? She’s grown up hard and callous in this gods-forsaken land. She’s no longer my Child of the Moon.
Seeing the doubt flicker in Cyrus’s eyes, Wolf laughs delightedly. “Oh, little brother, what fun we shall have! For now, I think you’ll spend a couple of days next to Falcon’s rotting corpse while we plan our next moves.” Wolf wipes the blood off Cyrus’s mouth with his bare fingers, pausing to taste it before wiping a stain onto his shirt. “Before I’m through with you, little brother, I’ll drink your blood with my supper. I’ll peel the skin from your
