The Adventures of Iron Wolves: Book 1 - Alpha

The next day, Anima roused Rainspinner early from her slumber. “Need you to take me to the Iron Wolves Headquarters today. You not too tired?” Rainspinner shook her head and whined at Anima. She pet her nose and smiled sweetly. “Please? Just there this morning to assist with managing the war efforts and back if we can this evening.”

Rainspinner tilted her head to one side as if thinking over Anima’s request. Her long mane falling over the left side of her face. Her liquid brown eyes watching Anima carefully. Rainspinner rose to her feet and nudged Anima with her nose.

Anima smiled and gave Rainspinner a hug. “Thanks girl,” she purred softly in Rainspinner’s ear. “I know I owe you a long rest but things haven’t been going as I expected.”

She mounted and settled onto a light blanket. She always rode bareback if she was going short distances. Anima knew the saddle was heavy and very itchy on Rainspinner.

“Let’s go.”

Stykes made his way slowly along the rough terrain of the mountain. Fatigue bit into his body like a plague of mosquitoes. His eyes blurred for a second. He tripped, sending himself flying into a rocky ledge that was only just taller than himself.

Shaking his head, he rolled over and sat up shakily. “I had to do this the hard way, didn’t I?” He said to himself smacking the side of his head with the palm of his hand.

He wondered if he was punishing himself for not being able to open up to Anima about himself… Or just punishing himself for the heck of it. He hoped it was the first, as he was very sure he wasn’t masochistic, and leaned back to rest against the ledge.

The Runes entrance is near, he thought closing his eyes. His body relaxed into the rock like it was a mattress. I’ll go there after I rest for a bit. His thoughts began to slow. No… Use… Fighting… When… Tired…

Anima sat in Relo’s office with a smile. She looked through the books and noticed that from the records of weapon repairs that Stykes ordered for his personal ones, a set of daggers he owned rarely needed repairs.

When she pointed this out to Relo, Relo shrugged and gave a sigh. Yeah, I thought as much. Stykes isn’t telling the complete truth. She took a look at other books and records before asking Relo something that popped into her head.

“Why does Stykes have two slits in the back of his jacket? Unless he has wings, which I fail to see how an elf can also fly, the slits serve no purpose except being ventilation on a hot day.” She caught Relo swallowing hard. Relo’s nervousness could be physically felt by Anima.

She had never seen her so determined to uncover a secret before. “I…” She saw Anima’s expression and swallowed hard again.

Anima slammed her fist onto the table and growled “Spill it. You know why, I can see it!”

“It’s a secret that the upper circle knows about,” Relo said sweat rolling down one side of her face. “To be honest, you’re the only one in the upper circle that doesn’t know.” She shivered at Anima’s penetrating stare. “Stykes is a half- breed. He’s part elf and part human.”

Anima waited. She tensed angrily at the silence grew. “And the slits in his jacket? Even if he is half-breed, neither elves nor humans can fly.”

“He carries a pair of daggers that, because of his lineage, grants him the ability to fly,” Relo leaned back, her eyes on Anima. “I don’t need to tell you the rest. I can already see that you’ve put all the pieces together.”

Anima’s eyes, dark but sparkling, hid the inner workings of her mind. “He’s a member of the Royal Family of the Elves…” Relo nodded confirming her statement. Anima doubted this. The Elven Royal Family should be in the elven realm ruling there. It made no sense for one to be here unless they were an exile.

Stykes sighed and stepped up to the large black iron gates. His white jacket now marred with many grey and red streaks. Mariel… Right…

Portraying arrogance, he sauntered up to the two Dark Dwarves who guarded the gates with sharp, heavy spears.

“Well what do we have here,” One snickered with an elbow jab to his buddy. “A human has come into our territory.”

“I’m not a human,” Stykes said with a smile which made the dwarves laughed much harder.

“If it walks like a human, talks like a human, dresses like a human, and…” he sniffed the air before recoiling. ”Smells like a human, then it is a human. And you,” The Dark Dwarf poked Stykes in the chest hard with his thick finger. “You are definitely human.”

“We’ll see,” Stykes said crouching and drawing two daggers from his boots. The daggers shone with Ancient Elven Script. The script flowed over his hands, unlocking his elf-side that he kept hidden within himself. His ears grew to points. The back of his jacket bulged, wings bursting through the two unusual slits.

Before the Dark Dwarves knew what was happening, Stykes flew at them with incredible speed, disarming and disabling them in a matter of seconds. They watched as he landed delicately onto the ground before the great white wings winked out of existence.

Stykes leaned in close to them with his best smile and whispered. “You were half right. I’m part Elf and with my enchanted blades, I can fly.” He patted their heads and laughed before disappearing into the gates, not knowing he had a shadow on his tail.

Rue peeked over the rock, his own ash coloured wings pulled in close to his body, staring in disbelief at what he had just witnessed.

Stykes is part elf? The pair of daggers he carries gives him the ability to fly? Daggers, that are spelled, to be only used by elves and elf-born. No wonder he is so powerful. He slipped away from the gates to make his way back to Lunarias with the information he now held.

Anima sat in her room at Headquarters stunned. A half-breed… I fell in love with a half-breed. She had spent the whole afternoon the day before hearing about Stykes’ unusual background and the extent of his powers from a very frightened Relo before she was drawn away by Kina and Kuros to map out their next course of action. She dragged her brush through her hair again with the intent of removing the tangles that weren’t there. Half- breed or not, he’s strong.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted with a furious knocking at her door. Anima looked up and waited. “Anima?” Rue’s trembling voice floated through the closed door. Anima could tell from his voice that he was too scared to remember to use formality. “Anima? There’s something I need to tell you. Please open up.”

Anima opened the door furiously and pulled him inside. “Where did you go?” She scolded. “You disappear and I get a note saying that you’re unable to do guard duty because you have business to attend to.”

“I followed Stykes to the Cullatish Mountains,” he said quietly making Anima pause in her tirade. “He’s a half- breed. Part elf, part human. He took down the two guards in front of Runes with very little effort,” Anima sat down onto her bed nodding.

“I knew he was a half-breed already,” she said motioning for him to sit on a chair. “Despite the rumours of the personality of half-breeds, Stykes is like the complete opposite.”

“He can fly!” Rue cried pacing the floor. He couldn’t sit comfortably with his mind racing the way it was. Anima motioned her hand and he continued. “He has a pair of Elf Daggers that he hides in his boots. The script on those blades allows him to grow two giant white wings.”

Anima nodded listening carefully, her eyes closed. So that’s why he keeps the slits in the back of his jacket.

“So pretty much he’s like you and the rest of the Griffin Guards,” She opened one eye as he recoiled. “I know you all get to places really fast. Stykes hasn’t been gone for more than two days and you have already made your way to the Cullatish Mountains and back which is normally a twelve day journey for me one way.”

She opened the other eye and stood to grab a hold of one of his gauntlets. “These allow you to hide your half- breed status. I noticed all of the Griffin Guard members have them.” He leaned back fearfully as she continued. “I also noticed a bunch of ash-coloured feathers in a basket outside the Griffin Guards Barracks. They were too large for any normal bird. So that left me with the only logical conclusion left. You all have wings.”

Rue let out a very scared sigh. “I should have known that you’d find out faster than your Father,” He knelt, ash coloured wings spreading out as they lengthened and grew. “I’m Rue of the Angelic Guild in Ciconia. Originally I was sent to spy on the Iron Wolves but Stykes saw what I was and I had to settle as guard for your Father. I’m a part angel part human.”

Anima’s fingers tapped against his gauntlet. “You realize that I’ll have to send you back to the Angelic Guild. Not just because you are betraying my father and me by relaying information to that guild, but you are also a threat to the Iron Wolves.” She thought for a second. Stykes let him stay even though he knew about Rue and his race. “But…” She gave him a smile. “I might just let you stay… Provided you take me to the Cullatish Mountains tomorrow.”

Rue looked at her confused. “You’re checking up on Stykes?” He stood letting his wings fade away once more. “No,” she replied her eyes feeling heavy. She looked out the window to the night sky. “My owl statuette in my bedroom is dying out. The Dark Dwarves are the only ones who sell statuettes that glow like that.” Rue rolled his eyes. Anima’s fondness for owls was bordering on obsession.

Stykes crouched in the darkness, his eyes taking their sweet time to adjust to the dark. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in the tunnel, but it felt like it had been an eternity.

I hate using that power. But I’ve used it more times this past year than I have hairs on my head. He shook his head clear and made his way carefully down the hall towards a small light. But to be fair, it is a very useful power. He crept carefully pausing whenever a Dark Dwarf rushed past him. Have they found the two already? He progressed down and peeked into room at the end of the hall. Small lights from various statuettes on the tables illuminated the room. Humans and Dwarves milled around looking at them.

A shop? He looked across to another hall that had bars across the doorway. Would she be down there? He looked around to see if he could get there without being seen. Dark Dwarves aren’t dumb. They’ll know to look out for a half-breed once they find those guards. I better find Mariel and get out of here before they start to tighten security.

About to slip into the room, he heard the voices of a Dark Dwarf and a two other familiar voices. “Is it that time of the year again, My Lady? It’s so good of you to come back every year,” A Dark Dwarf said coming into view. “We have a new owl statuette for you.”

“It better look different than the last one,” A female voice said. The owner of the voice just out of Stykes’ viewing range. “The last three have looked exactly the same.” He could see the Dark Dwarf sweating nervously. A man with large ash coloured wings stepped into view blocking Stykes’ vision. Black boots could be seen under the wings. “Don’t your craftsmen know any other ways of carving owls?” Stykes heard a crash, pieces of Hinore scattered everywhere on the ground near the black boots. Curiously he watched as everyone but the three before him scattered out of the room in fear.

“Our craftsman is a lowly elf,” the Dark Dwarf began to explain. “She doesn’t have much sense in what she carves. If it pleases you, my lady, we can bring her out for you to punish her.” The Dark Dwarf moved forwards nervously.

Stykes’ eyes widened as the man with ash coloured wings moved to stand between the female in black boots and the Dark Dwarf. Anima and Rue! Why is she here? If I show myself my secret will be blown. He stared at the scene unfold before realizing her fingers were moving.

Looking at them, he read. I know you’re there. Coming in that way will do you no good. The heart of the shop is guarded by many Dark Dwarves and no amount of flapping those great white wings of yours will get you and Mariel out of here alive.

Stykes smacked his head against the wall repeatedly. She knows… How the hell she found out I have no idea. He stopped when he became conscious of the now growing pain on his forehead.

He watched as Anima raised her chin in a very regal manner. “Bring her out here and I will see to her punishment. Being punished by Dark Dwarves three times in a row doesn’t seem to make it sink into her head.” Noticing the distraction in the Dark Dwarf, Stykes sidled into the room and hid behind one of the tables carrying cat statuettes. Anima leaned forward and taunted. “Are you even punishing her properly? It seems to be the Dark Dwarven ways of punishment are weak.” She mentally smiled at the sight of his marred jacket in the corner of her eye.

“We’ll bring her here at once milady,” The Dark Dwarf scrambled towards the previously barred hallway, his face red with embarrassment. “Please wait here.”

“What are you planning to do?” Rue asked Anima looking around the room. “You can’t punish Mariel even if you wanted to. She’s…” Anima had shut him up with a glance and Stykes realized she was signing to him in front of her chest so he couldn’t see what she was telling him. Rue smiled and looked directly to where Stykes crouched hidden. “What are you going to do?”

“Give her the good news I guess,” Anima said softly.

Stykes noticed one of the gems on her bracelet began to glow strongly. Anima glanced at it before adding. “At least I know she’s alive.” Bars slammed down hard blocking almost every hallway causing Anima to look up. “They don’t want her escaping while I punish her.” She said calming Rue’s nervousness.

The Dark Dwarf threw an elf with dirty green clothes into the room. “When you’re done,” he said with an evil grin. “Just call out to us down this hallway.” Anima nodded and dismissed him with an absent wave of her hand.

Mariel looked up at Anima, her eyes wide with fear. “Milady,” she whispered clutching to Anima’s skirt. “Milady, I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect to be captured.” Stykes watched Anima crouch down and touch Mariel’s cheek. “Milady…” Mariel began to cry.

“Mariel,” Anima said softly. “I need you to pretend I’m hurting you. I have a lot to tell you in a short amount of time. Can you manage that for me?” Mariel nodded and began to yelp and scream loudly as if she was being whipped. Rue moved so his back was to the barred hallway, his wings blocking the view.

“Mariel, I need you to be patient a little bit longer. Someone will be coming to get you soon.” Mariel nodded again but this time her pointed ears also twitched. “You can probably sense him in this room already. I’ve asked him to rescue you, Miyako and Chiae as…” Anima paused and blushed. “As a test to see if he’s worthy of marrying me.” Mariel stopped screaming and stared.

“His Majesty offered him marriage to you?” Mariel asked quickly. Anima nodded and touched the bracelet. “You need the three of us back before that happens don’t you. You always said that you’d never marry anyone without our approval.” She paused and looked at the bracelet. “Did Lord Seryian also agree?”

Stykes listened knowing that Anima was letting him hear this information. Just like an Alchemist. She’s trading the knowledge about my wings with insight into her secrets. Mariel began screaming again and Stykes sighed. Efficient way to get the information to Mariel, but it’s very risky as well.

“I’ll have to send you back to them but before that,” she said ignoring Mariel’s last question. She drew a small vial from her pouch and uncorked it. Mariel took the vial and drank all its contents in one gulp.

Stykes watched a long red weal, cuts, bruises and other signs of punishment appeared over Mariel’s skin. He could tell they were painless illusions created by Anima’s potion. “I don’t want them suspicious. You know what to do.”

Mariel lay whimpering on the ground, curled in a foetal position. Rue banged on the bars calling out to the Dark Dwarves. Stykes watched as the bars rose and the Dwarves came out to drag an apparently severely punished Mariel back to her room.

The Dark Dwarf who first spoke to them stood wringing his hands again. “I’m sure she’s learnt her lesson now.” He said hoping to not go through the same punishment as Mariel had.

He spread his hand to encompass the various statuettes. “Would you like to take a look around and find something to your taste that you would like to take with you?” Anima nodded and began to walk around the store.

Stykes watched her cast an expert eye over the pieces and made her way slowly towards where he hid. While she looked at the cats, Rue turned to touch her shoulder letting her know no one was close enough to hear her speak.

“Mariel is held in the deepest levels of the Runes Headquarters. She’s a weapon smith and my teacher in the fighting arts. If you give her something she can fight with, she’ll be more helpful than you know getting out of here.” She said in a voice she knew only he could hear as clear as a church bell.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before I left Lunarias,” Stykes whispered at her quietly when she leaned in to look at the cat closest to him. “You’re risking your life coming here.”

“I come here every year to retrieve a new owl statuette,” she replied calmly. “Even before Mariel was captured, I always came round this time of the year. It would be more suspicious if I didn’t come. Also I have reason to give you extra information now that I know a very big secret of yours. Equal trade, as you know, is the core teaching of Alchemy.”

Straightening she picked up a statuette that showed a cat dancing with an owl and turned to look at the Dark Dwarf that had been watching her nervously from far away.

“This one,” she said with a smile that made the Dwarf relax. “I like.” The Dwarf wrapped it up carefully and bid her farewell so enthusiastically that Stykes wondered what Anima had done to inspire so much fear here.

The store began to slowly fill with buyers again as he made his way along the wall to the hallway they had taken Mariel down. The bars that had originally been in front of this hallway were yet to be pulled down.

I guess they thought she was too injured from Anima to move or escape. Looking round quickly, he ducked into the hallway and moved halfway down its length before stopping to listen. Hearing no sound, he summoned his wings through the daggers in his boots and flew down the hallway. His wingtips, only just, brushed against the walls. He felt the rush of adrenaline throughout his body and flapped his wings harder to gain more speed.

Approaching what looked like a deep pit; Stykes leapt off the end and pulled his wings in close to his body as he plummeted downwards head first. Hallways, lights and many Dark Dwarves passed quickly in his vision. So the Runes Headquarters is like a giant conch shell with rooms and hallways jutting outwards. This will make things easier. Sensing the ground coming up close, he stretched his wings and slowed his descent, landing gently onto the ground in a crouching position. His wings winked out and he flattened against a shadowed part of the wall.

Where to now? He stayed hidden listening to the sounds around him. Mariel… Something tugged in his mind towards a hallway across from him. That’ll make as good a start as any.

He sprinted across the room and down the hallway stopping briefly every few metres to listen carefully for any noise. His mind tugged again, a bit stronger this time, and he stepped into a very classic dungeon.

“A human,” said a gruff voice behind him. Stykes whirled around, drawing his broad sword from its sheath on his back and held it at the ready. “You want to fight little human? I’m happy to oblige.” Lifting the large axe, he dove at Stykes swinging it menacingly through the air. Stykes jumped back from each swing, his sword level and steady each time. “What’s wrong little human? You got this far alone, which is an amazing feat, but I won’t let you go further.”

“You talk too much for a Dwarf,” Stykes said leaping in and slicing at the dwarf’s neck, chest and torso before dodging the axe’s downward arc towards his head. “If you plan on killing me then do it, otherwise shut up and get out of my way.”

This angered the Dwarf who roared in fury. The sound permeated the air causing the stone torches on the walls to shatter and plunge them into complete darkness. Stykes heaved a huge sigh and sheathed his sword. Crouching down, he took a hold of the twin daggers in his boots. Connecting to his elven blood, his ears grew to points enhancing sound around him. His wings sprouted and curled around his crouched body.

A strange sound of confusion appeared nearby and he jumped upwards, his daggers slicing into something tough warm, before jumping back to lean against the wall.

“You don’t smell human anymore,” The Dwarf said through a strained voice. “What are you?”

“The God of Death,” Stykes said with a snarl and leapt at the Dwarf stabbing his daggers hard into his neck and chest, forcing the daggers towards each other in the Dwarf’s skin. Pulling away, he heard the Dwarf fall with thump to the ground.

Something tugged at his mind so strongly that he felt it in his body as well. “I can’t see,” he whispered in the darkness. “Guide me.” The tugging continued, giving Stykes a mental image of which direction to take. He tucked his daggers away and began to feel along the walls until he came to a small door with a light glowing inside.

“Mariel?” he asked quietly. After hearing her answer him, he took a few steps back and rammed the door with his shoulder hard forcing it open. Mariel sat looking up at him, a small ring of glowing stone around her wrist. “You alright, Mariel?”

She nodded with a smile and stood to place a hand on his chest. Her elven blood reading his blood, understanding his intentions. “You’re Stykes?” Her eyes wide and fearful before dropping to one knee. Stykes pulled her up again and looked into her eyes. “I’m…”

“Whatever you sensed I was, don’t treat me like it,” Stykes said quickly. Mariel met his eyes and gulped nodding. “I need to get you back.”

“That won’t be happening,” Stykes turned to see four Dwarves blocking the door. Stykes crouched again to take a hold of his twin daggers. When Stykes turned, Mariel caught sight of a dagger glinting in the light pressed against Stykes’ back and tucked in his belt. She reached out and took it from him shakily before his wings sprouted once more. “You’ll both meet your deaths here.”