Chapter 5 - Smoke and Shadows

LUNARVILLE CLAN

The wail of women filled the air as Thane walked alongside his brother, Alpha Ryker, through the stretch of ravaged farms destroyed and burnt during the night by Villapaw, their long-standing rival clan. The once thriving fields now lay in charred ruins, a blackened expanse of devastation.

The wheat, barley, potatoes and carrots had been reduced to ashes and stubble, stretched out like a vast, dark grave. The few trees that hadn’t completely burned down stood like skeletal sentinels, their trunks scorched, and their barks cracked and peeled. The early morning air lay heavy with smoke and singed earth.

Thane and Ryker walked on, placing their feet delicately on the dusty soil, cracked and fissured from the intense heat, as if they feared that their weight would shatter the already fragile, heat-ravaged soil.

Their faces were sullen and grim, yet composed, a facade they maintained in the presence of the distraught women following them, crying out and loudly exclaiming their losses.

Earlier, some pack wardens had attempted to prevent the women from trudging after the Alpha, but Ryker had forbidden them to do that.

“Never prevent a woman from expressing her grief as she sees fit,” he’d said. “It will only add to the problem.”

So the women had formed a weeping entourage behind them, vigorously led by the four whose husbands had fallen to Villapaw’s marauders during guard duty. Even though the bereaved women didn’t say it in words, their cries were a masked, yet direct demand for their Alpha to do something, anything.

Murmurs of discontent rippled through the crowd.

“This is the third attack in two months,” a woman exclaimed, her voice quavering with emotion. “Four of our men dead! How much longer will this continue?”

“They attack us in our homes, they attack us in the forest, and as if that is not enough, they burn our crops!” Another woman shouted, her voice hoarse from crying.

“The Alpha will have to do something, he has to...”

The whispers rose and fell as the women trudged on, the air vibrating with their anguish.

Thane walked on beside his brother, absorbing the shrill, haunting voices. As Beta, he could easily have turned and ordered them to be quiet and let the Alpha think, but he wouldn’t. The women’s anguish was justified; this attack had crossed a line.

The first attack had come in broad daylight, without warning, and even though the Lunarville warriors had managed to gather themselves and put up a valiant fight, they lost three good men, and two of their women were carried away. The second targeted a hunting party in the fiery forest, claiming two more lives.

Afterward, the Lunar Council had strategized, planning defences against future attacks. They had set up a strong defence around the whole village and the Alphahold.

But Villapaw had outmanoeuvred them, targeting their farms, killing unsuspecting guards, and burning five hectares of land under the cover of night. Then they’d disappeared as silently as they came.

“I’m thinking of summoning the Lunar Council,” Ryker said gravely, his voice low amidst the din. “This cannot continue. We must prepare for war; we’ve held back too long.”

Thane stood close to his brother, observing the wisps of smoke that still curled from the ground. His face was a mixture of frustration and determination, but there was no mistaking the quiet fury outlined in his piercing, blue eyes, his thick, furrowed eyebrows, and in his pouty, plump mouth set in a firm, determined line, just above his sharp, clenched jawline.

“We can’t afford a war, not right now.” His voice was calm, but resonant.

“We don’t have the men, nor the resources. The clan is still struggling to survive the effects of the last famine.”

“Five hundred dead!” Alpha Ryker hissed. “Worst famine the Realm has seen in a century, and it hit our clan hardest.” His eyes betrayed a deep sadness, and his voice was filled with regret and suppressed fury towards the end.

“Hijar knows we don’t have the men,” Thane resumed, “Two years ago no other clan – especially not Villapaw – would have dared attack us like this. They know the famine took many of our fighting men, and they’re seizing their chance.”

“They want to provoke us into declaring a war.” Alpha Ryker said through clenched teeth, while Thane regarded him with an unblinking stare.

“They want to draw us out to fight them, so that they can use that opportunity to crush us and take our lands, then when the other clans ask, they can say that we were the first to declare war on them.”

“That’s one way to see it.” Thane spoke, his tone measured, and his eyes narrowed in reflection. “Another way is that they might be doing this to cause internal conflict. I have heard some whispers.”

Ryker’s face contorted into a contemplative frown. "What are you talking about?" He demanded. "Is there something going on that I don't know of, Thane?" 

"Let me explain..." Thane started. 

"Do that fast." Alpha Ryker thundered, and for a moment Thane feared that in his already riled up mood, his brother was on the verge of channeling his frustration to the wrong person. But he had to explain himself, and quickly. However one problem lingered... How was he to explain what he heard, without having to give up the identity of his informant which he swore to protect?