Blood Trials

Calista revved the engine of the Jeep, clearing Dunon Academy's occupants from the cobblestone path. Following behind her was a pack comprised of wolves, foxes, coyotes, hyenas and jackals being led by the chocolate-coat Falk, and the black-back jackal that was Ahmed. Dane - in the passenger seat - scanned over the by-passers, searching for Ridley. Calista cruised passed the school and towards the headmaster's residence. Ahmed yipped then led the way into the manor. Falk growled at his followers to stay outside. All obeyed, except for the åse. She came in the house alongside Dane.

"Where is she," Dane declared to Clarke.

He merely looked towards the kitchen. Fast like the wind, he took off into the sweet-smelling room. Filling chocolate balls in their molds - crying yet simultaneously keeping an eye on Rowan under his mobile - stood the Source. Dominique was spread over the reclined blood bank chair, overseeing them. He sighed then stood beside her with Rowan and Morgan getting excited from seeing him. Morgan scurried towards him and nestled in Dane's ribs. Ridley rolled into him too.

Uncharacteristically quiet Dominique sniffled behind them, not looking away. Falk coming made her spring upright, and Morgan yelped fearfully. The åse too sniffled across the ornate doorframe before tickling Rowan's feet with her whiskers. The white wolf sniffed his face making the four-month-old squeal jubilantly. A fiery little sprite, this one, she said. Headstrong, resilient, possibly wrathful if provoked.

Falk sat at on the other side of the island counter of Dane and Ridley while Dominique scampered deeper into the couch. "What, in this grim lifetime, is that!"

"Falk's an ikon," Dane stated. "I also learned that means he has an added ability to naturally intimidate. The psychology of it is kind of cool." The deep brown wolf was larger than any natural wolf ought to be and towered over the counter without trying. "He's also not fanatically about goldbloods."

Dominique watched Falk sniff the dejected Source, pipping the filling into her chocolate halves. "If that is a hound of Hades," the goldblood began, "here I am. Re-unite me with my family. Take me from this nightmare life."

"He's not here to kill us," Ridley stated. "Unfortunately," she mumbled. She switched fillings; from strawberries and creme to milk chocolate.

"I'm sure you're all tired from walking from the reserve," Dane began. "Um... Clarke said you guys can stay in the wooded area, behind the school, as long as you don't disturb the school."

Why would we disturb an establishment filled with disturbed adolescents, learning useless information?

The blue wolf means that we do not harm the establishment's occupants, the åse corrected. And rest assured, we have no business in any manmade construct.

Falk sat in front of Ridley, looking down at her pointedly while the åse continued to play with Rowan. I sense a great heartbreak from you. Have you lost the fight?

"That serum killed my brother. I could have saved him with my blood, but I didn't know that."

Hm. I thought I smelled a golden cadaver, herebouts. Ridley nodded looking at her sneakers. Taking a breath, she continued to pipe the milk chocolate ganache. My most profound condolences.

"Thank you."

Vengeance is something I can understand. A cause I can fight for. Where do we begin?

"It's not that simple," Ridley stated. "Any move we make, Ankh can see."

Show me to this lab and my colony will take care of the rest.

"We don't know where it is. We don't know how outnumbered we are, how many children were turned, or what to do with them."

Can't you just read the Son of Greybeard's mind and find it?

"That's not how it works. I can't read minds, I can..." The brown wolf laid with his front paws crossed in front of him, expectantly. Ridley sighed then felt her ganache dripping. "It's more of turning on terrestrial TV, where you watch from where you tune in. It's not a streaming service, where you can start over or fast-forward."

I have no idea what any of those things mean, but I reckon I deduced enough understanding. Falk glanced over to Rowan and the åse. Your son?

"Brother."

Why not use him as bait. If it is children the Son of Greybeard is after, why not give him...?

"No."

Falk sighed then glanced at Dane next to Ridley. Great åse, did you call this Son of Viggo a blue wolf? The åse only hummed in response. Falk's spine snapped! Dane jolted his arm in front of Ridley. The ikon steered himself back to his human form. Taking Rowan's blanket, Falk wrapped it around his naked body without his eyes leaving Dane's. "A blue wolf? Impossible."

"What's a blue wolf?"

"Someone we usually exile from the colony," Falk said to Ridley.

"That answers nothing."

Falk offered Dane his hand. The ikon pulled the hunter to examine. "The blue wolf," the brown wolf started, as he circled Dane like a vulture, "is a carrier. A blue therianthrope carries the gene, but their own is never triggered. The fact that you are a child of two fangs makes me doubt these claims severely, but because the åse - and only because of the åse - will I be willing to listen." Falk and Ridley turned to the white wolf that had a paw pressed over Rowan's torso, making him wheeze with laughter. "The åse firmly believes your descendants will be wolfen."

"She says it's likely that one of Alexa and Jakob's parents was a therianthrope," Ridley translated. She went from piping to setting the other halves over her truffles.

"Jakob would've told me. Despite his cold disposition, we never kept secrets from each other."

"Really? How'd he lose his one eye," Clarke pressed from the doorway. The chief hunter let himself into the kitchen with Ahmed behind him. The principal sighed then folded his arms. "I should have told you this when I found out why Ridley was back," he lamented. "Your grandmother, Jytte Sorensen, could turn into a timber wolf. Jakob was wolfen too."

"What," Dane and Ridley declared together.

The huntress froze from filling the remaining half over her whole truffles. "He swore me to secrecy, Dane. I was only to tell you if you... transformed."

"'Transformed', he says. We are not Optimus Primes," Falk spat.

"He kept you at bay because he didn't have control over his... what, transmutations?"

"Ah," Falk sang. "This Jakob wasn't raised by his therianthrope parent, no?"

"No," Dane answered weakly. "My grandparents died in The Hunt Association Jutland Massacre. My mother took care of Jakob until he made hunt."

Dane cupped Ridley at the waist and pulled her into his chest. She leaned her forehead into his shoulder, and he buried his face into her hair. Falk looked between them and Clarke then arched his eyebrow. "What an irony; Son of Greybeard trying re-population with science and Son of Viggo is the one who could do it organically."

Where do we go from here, the åse sighed. Dane stood behind Ridley, holding her waist while she finished her handiwork. How on earth do we...?

"I don't know," Ridley roared. "All of you just..." she seethed a breath then curled her fingers with a snarl. "Just get out! All of you! Leave!"

Falk snorted then left the kitchen with the åse trailing after him. Morgan followed Clarke - who took Rowan from his kitchen mobile - wagging his tail low. Ahmed stroked him behind the ears before walking with the exodus. Dominique watched Ridley set her chocolate-tainted hands on either side of her tray of truffles. Dane leaned into her, feeling every calming breath she took. Tears pooled in her eyes as she breathed, and she turned her head to the stove.

Danes combed her hair behind her shoulder, exposing her neck and the goosebumps his cold exhales elicited. The Source sighed then started removing her truffles from the molds. Coolly she started filling the wide glass bowl, still taking deep breaths as she worked. Meticulously, Esmeralda's wedding gift, the bowl, filled with perfectly round chocolate balls. Dane watched her scarred hands organise the balls uniformly inside.

"I never knew you had a knack for confectionery," he voiced.

"Quite the contrary! She wow-ed her way into that confectionery owner's heart with those dark chocolate and orange cups."

Ridley exhaled then relaxed her shoulders. "Working at that confectioner's, it's nice being away from reality. Then Dominique bought the place..."

"It was Tomás' idea," she lamented.

"... but I have a well-established life in France. Having voices in my head didn't stop me then, but it is now. Whether it's the therianthropes, or ampyras, or the Sources; it's so loud up here. It never ever, ever stops. But confectionery and chocolatier-ing just make it tolerable." Unhurriedly she spun to face him. "It's a strange thing to have a coping mechanism for but, here," she offered holding up a chocolate ball to his flat lips.

The white chocolate ball played on his smirk before he bit into it, letting strawberry and creme filling drip. He hummed, grabbing her wrist. He squeezed her wrist moaning. Despite the humoured smirk, Ridley's eyes were rueful. "God," Dane commented. He hummed smacking his lips. "Wow. It's good."

"Oh, please. It's kind of hard to fuck up chocolate; when it flops, just scrape it up and eat it."

Dane scoffed but devoured the rest of the ball. "This's not how I envisioned you using your killer accuracy." He pressed her thumb to his lips, licking the filling off. Ridley shrugged weakly with a light eye roll. "These are really good. They could've easily salvaged the farewell."

"Don't flatter me."

Dane shook his head with his lips pulled aside. "I'm just trying to say, your balls are delicious."

"Oh. I've never actually had anyone eat them before."

"You work in a..."

"A kitchen. And that's not what I meant. Chateau du Luq is just goldbloods, so nobody who eats food. And Sebastian has a cacao allergy," the Source explained. "Had," she corrected in a downed murmur. Ridley took a deep breath then another. Squaring her shoulders, she nodded resolve to herself. "First we need to get our priorities in order. What's important right now?"

"Finding Sayeed," Dane stated. "We know he's with my-- with Viggo, so... er... you could..."

"Maybe you should step away from this," Ridley interjected. "Focus on Morgan and graduating and..."

"I know where I stand, Ridley." She arched an eyebrow at him. Dane sighed. "I really, really hate not being able to lie to you. I'm fine!"

She swallowed hard. "If this was Renee, you would tell me to-"

"I'm staying on this mission. Look, I'm done with exams, I've got everything sorted for next semester. I can help; I'm a hunter. This is what we do."

"I know that," Ridley replied coolly. "But are you ready to do what you need to do when the time comes?" Dane's white chocolate-tainted lips came apart from her ominous tone. The shadow cast over her intense stare was foreboding. "I can't care that he's your father. If the situation demands it, I won't hesitate."