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Chapter Two: Chooser of the Slain

Kana stepped out into the sunlight with a few blinks of her eyes, two days of rest had kept the wolf in a cozy darkness. The warrior was dressed in full garb, gleaming silver that held every facet of her toned body or womanly curve, earning a few stares from passerby villagers. Some were friendly enough, others with barely hidden contempt.

"You there, where is Andulas?" Kana asked the closest town guard, who stiffened up with a salute before pointing the same gauntleted hand toward the largest structure, a sizable keep with a faded red roof of tiling. Several banners flowed off its walls, one of each gathered power.

"There, Lady Kana. His Majesty will be most pleased to see you up and about." The young man smiled through his open-faced helmet, being one of the first men to not only see, but benefit from her involvement in combat. She'd come out of the sky, dove into the line of drakes just before they crashed into the formation of soldiers, and he would never forget the Angel that saved him.

"Thank you, be well." The Canai returned the smile with an inclination of the head, then turned on a heel toward the keep. Sky blue eyes took in the details of the human village, darting from doorway to window as different reactions met them. Some shut with a scowl, others gave a slack-jawed stare as she went past them in the dirt street.

"Excuse me, miss wolf?" Came a small voice in an alley, the gentleness of it made her pause and look downward to a young girl who stood before her, hands clenched into the hem of a faded and unwashed tunic. "Are you really...really an Angel?"

Kana fought the urge to make a face, instead she took a step forward into a squat to be more eye level with the human girl, "No child. I am a warrior, nothing like your beautiful angels." The wolf grinned, canted her head to one side with a gentle inquiry, "Why?"

"Are you sure?" The girl asked with a level of scrutiny Kana didn't expect, those little brows furrowing with deep thought, "I saw. I saw you flying, big bright wings out! Miss wolf, you were like the Angels in the stories my mum used to tell me."

"Where is your mother, child? Should you not be with her?" The Canai asked with a new unease at the choice of words.

"She...the Angels took her to heaven, when the monsters came. She has been gone a long time. I miss her, but she said to be strong." The girl's eyes glimmered with emotion, shifted from a moment of teariness to determination that shouldn't exist in someone so young. "Have you seen her? In Heaven?"

Kana felt a pang of guilt within her chest, the press of responsibility to tell this girl again she wasn't some Angel in their holy book; yet, the wolf inhaled before a smile came, "Aye, child. I have seen her. She is a beautiful spirit, looking down upon you each day. She is proud, you are so strong and brave...I shall tell her a message for you?"

The young girl's eyes were wide now, tears forming at their edges as a huge smile came before a deep breath. "Yes! Tell her I love her lots, and, and, I'm going to be a strong warrior to keep others safe, like you miss Angel!"

Kana grinned, patting the unkempt hair of the girl with a proud hum, "Is that right? Very well! I shall tell her, and look forward to seeing how strong you get. What is your name?"

"I'm Hervor!" The girl squeaked, then suddenly leaned in to embrace Kana's neck firmly, hugging the being she believed absolutely to be an Angel, with a soft whisper that made the Canai's heart skip a beat, "I knew you were an Angel."

"Nice to meet you, Hervor. I am Kana, say my name when you need me, and I shall come to you." The wolf promised without thinking, lost in a moment of empathy. With a firm embrace in kind, the Canai released the girl to stand again, "Now, go get a bath and hot meal at the Church, tell them King Andulas ordered it so."

"Thank you, Kana! I will never forget you!" The girl waved even as she ran away, before she was gone in one of the alleyways many outlets. .

The Canai held a paw to her stomach, the gnawing feeling that perhaps she'd done wrong there, trying to comfort some human child. Kaenis always offered aid to those around him, an example she aimed for, but lacked that natural kindness her brother exuded. She turned back toward the street only to see the King standing there with that damned smile.

"You speak for me now, do you? Giving orders on my behalf? Careful who hears such, the clergy aren't exactly charitable." Andulus exhaled a laugh, dressed down in casual attire with minimal plates over the cloth tunic of blue beneath, sabatons and bracers on his limbs.

"Then what good are they? And are you following me now? Thought you were supposed to be on council, currently?" The wolf chastised right back, grateful her alabaster coat hid the soft blush across her features as her arms folded at her center.

"Sadly, the Church is a relic of a different time, and I lack the power to end that branch of the realm." The man said with a shrug of confession, "And no, I was merely in need of fresh air, so I came to check on you again." Andulus jerked his head toward where Hervor had run off, "Not to pry but, what made you lie to her? I'm grateful, please understand...but saying you saw her mother, might have been a bit far."

"I wasn't lying, I can see the spirits of the dead." Kana said flatly, "I can see spirits in all living things, but most clearly after death. It is my duty when a Canai falls in battle, to choose if that spirit joins our All-mother, or instead go to the long sleep."

"Wait, what? You can see our souls?" Andulus drew closer and placed a hand on a snowy shoulder, getting them both a little more out of view, "Kana you mustn't let any of the clerics know this, they would...just don't, please?"

"I do not fear them, or any creature. I face each day knowing it might be my last, peace with that lets me fight harder than most." Kana snorted, but saw the look in those emerald eyes, "But, as you are the king here, I respect your wishes."

"Thank you, it was a very kind thing you did back there then. I'll ensure she's taken care of from now on." The male pinched the bridge of his nose with a lean against the alley wall at his back, "Seeing even a single person like her, it pains me Kana. Between keeping the Church at bay with its ever pressing creeds and this damned war, I've had no time for reforms or care for my people."

Kana nodded a few times, lips tightening before she pointed up to the midday sun, "We should finish these talks, the next night comes and we need a plan to finish the drakes where we have them pinned. There will be time after to make things right, Andulus."

He nodded with a tired smile, then it was gone as his posture shifted, then expression hid away the weariness. The King and his Valkyrie walked together toward the keep, earning new glances or scoffs from the village for such. The walk was short enough, Andulus was grateful, but it melted away when the assembly met them with mixed gazes.

Gathered were Nemean along with two Godsworn knights, Brother Beyron, and messenger's from the nearest provinces. A salute came from his men, but the expression from the cleric made no attempt to hide his feelings on the wolf joining them.

"While I'm of course grateful for the assistance of late, I must remind the King only our people are permitted in our counsel, these matters concern the realm and are of sensitive information." Beyron spoke out immediately, turning over nearby maps or other scrolls he deemed important.

Andulus exhaled with a dismissive wave of his hand, "I appreciate the consideration of our matters, but I'll remind all of you here now-" He gave a stern look around Kana had never seen before, "-we'd not be standing here now, if not for her. You'll show our guest and ally due respect, is that clear?"

Beyron clenched papers within knuckle-white fists, the tension in his jaw matched only by the twitch of an eye, "Very well, my King. It...she can remain."

Andulus ignored the final jab, planting both hands onto the wide edge of their war table to gaze across it as Kana moved to stand beside him. Several miniatures marked out their forces on the table-spanning parchment; a large 'T' represented the Church of Tyrn, a sword for the King, with a few wooden carved wolf-heads for the Canai out in the field.

"My brother says he has found a large cavern at the summit, none of the drakes fled into it when we hounded them into this valley. Something there might be vital to understanding why they've attacked so senselessly." Kana tapped at the place Kaenis had mentioned, a snowy pad nudging his wolf-head piece closer toward it.

"Why? That matters little when they've shed so much blood, burned down dozens of villages! They're nothing but savages and we need not understand them, only put them to the sword." Beyron planted a splayed hand onto the table with a glare at the wolf, "Mercifully you are greater than they, but let's not allow them a place amongst civilized thought."

"It is all that matters, you blind fool. I have fought dragons, these are not them, they're far less. They seem to have no drive of their own, no soul or spark...they're almost husks." The Canai flicked her ears at the man with a flat stare, only to notice Andulus give the slightest of head-shakes in the edge of her vision.

"And how would you know, hm? You can what exactly, peer into their little minds? How would you know if they have a soul or not? That is for God alone to decide, you unworthy creature." Beyron scoffed at the canine, face red with temper at such a boast. Before Andulus could halt her, Kana slammed one paw into the table, knuckles cracking the wood with a snarl.

"I do see such, you worm! I can see your spirit, dripping with tar from greed and lies. You are lower than those pitiful drakes I slew, Beyron. Your God would have let you die here today, if not for the line I drew in the dirt!" The wolf huffed between bared fangs, tail lashing about behind her at the ungrateful tone of this mere man.

"Alright, that's quite enough! Kana, outside! Beyron, return to your chambers! I need cool headed allies, not this bickering. Take some time and return only with good intent." Andulus saw the hurt flash across azure eyes in the wolf, "Please, my Lady."

Kana's chest rose with a deep breath before it was huffed out in a growl, the large white wolf turned to go after only moments spent on the war effort she'd helped push.

"You play a dangerous game, Andulus. Keep your pet on a tighter leash, lest you become somehow tainted by their ways." Beyron began while walking away, only to start in place and bring his hands up to his face when a strong grip yanked him to the side, slamming him against a wooden beam of the room.

"You forget yourself, priest." Andulus spat, brows tight and furious as he shoved the man once more against the support, "Call her that again, demean that woman in any way in my presence again...and I'll have your tongue removed. Now get out."

It was both a command and gesture as the King half threw Beyron toward the doorway, watching the cleric fight with the sense left to him not to speak in a way that would carry out that threat. Instead, he smoothed out his attire with a barely noticed bow of the head before departing with Nemean's two knights behind to ensure he did so.

Andulus sighed as Nemean came up to rest a hand at his shoulder, giving a tired look to his old friend, "What's all this for, Nem? Why spend our lives fighting one enemy when there's one waiting for us at home?"

"For the good of the realm, for our loved ones, Andy." The knight gave a dry grin, clasping that shoulder in a slight shake, "Because we're good folk, and cursed to do what's right."

"Aye. Just hope it's worth it, I fear I've just driven that wedge between crown and church to breaking."

"Was it worth it?" Nemean asked, seeing the questioning brow lift of his king, "For her, was it worth it pissing off the altar licker?"

Andulus shook his head with a dismissive breath, "Tch, you speak out of turn, you know I don't tolerate that kind of hatred, we're working to make peace with all the peoples of this world."

"You're both my friend and my king, so that means I know you, Andy. That wolf has your heart, we both know it. While I'd never judge you for it, I expect it not to cloud your judgment elsewhere." The knight glanced toward the table, looking between the figures, "God knows there are too few good leaders in a world of monsters and men."

"Stop calling me Andy, you buffoon." Andulus punched Nemean in the arm on his way past, playfully but with a grin as he headed out to appease Kana, "I promise, if she doesn't rend me apart for that display, I'll not let her affect our goals."

-

Brother Beyron flung apart the cloth drapes of the chapel entryway, startling to praying clerics to rise, rushing over to their obviously flustered leader. They were both young women, personal attendants he'd selected to accompany him on a long, expectedly tiresome venture.

"You've returned sooner than we expected, Brother, is something amiss?" The first woman asked, bowing alongside the other when they approached in short order.

"None of that matters now, my children. They're fools, each of them, that mongrel revealed to me something incredible if true." Beyron walked toward the back of the chapel, guiding the two attendants with him past a curtain wall and into a private space he'd established to be away from prying eyes.

A chamber of prayer he called it aloud, adorned with crimson silks along the walls, several cushions on the floor arranged about a center dias. A wooden disk lay there with several small vials, each a different color of liquid within, along with a slender dagger.

He gestured for each woman to sit across him in a way that they made a triangle about the middle, "Hold up a hand each of you, quickly, we must test this theory of mine."

The nuns looked at each other for a moment before holding out a hand, watching Beyron take up the sharp, gleaming blade to create a small cut along their palms. Hurriedly, he dropped the dagger to clasp each hand, tugging them toward himself to suddenly lick the first palm. The inner-workings of the church were unknown to any but high ranking clerics like himself, how they used blood-magic to speak to their God; what else was stronger in this world, than the precious life-flow within all creatures?

Both women kept their eyes closed, knowing the details of the ritual he'd shown and enacted twice over with them, and sworn to secrecy lest their families pay the price. The second cut was given the same act before Beyron leaned away with his eyes rolling into his head.

"Mighty God, grant me a moment of your sight! Your most faithful servant asks for but a fraction of your power!" The man seized a moment later, shuddering in place while clutching about himself with both arms as the room dimmed about them. The nuns shifted closer together, looking about as each sconce struggled against the encroaching darkness.

Beyron went still, unmoving except for when his eyes shifted beneath closed lids as if following something not there.

-

Kana strode along the moonlit street of dirt with splayed ears, mouth frowned in thought as she replayed the moments before. The longer she stayed among man the more it came across they had no unity of purpose or cause, that the few controlled the fates of the many with an uncaring grip; yet, fewer still within that number fought for those needing many.

The Canai passed several open doors, the few shops open even at night due to the garrisoned soldiers, but the rest were small tavern-like places for eating and drinking worries away. The men within shared war stories, laughing or nodding in understanding at glory and loss. That much was the same between man and wolf, at least.

Kana paused outside one of the boisterous places, watching the little groups of comrades talking. Her azure eyes moved from man to man, seeing the scars of time and battle upon skin, a slender aurora ring glowed about the iris of each eye when she peered beneath the flesh. A spirit was the true worth of all creatures to the Valkyrie, the tablet to which all deed or sin was laid bare to Kana's sight.

Most living things simply appeared as ethereal mist, unaware of such things as honor or greed, their spirits were naturally pure. The souls of the established powers though, those major races had vibrant flames for a spirit. Man had a soul of blue, cast in an almost smokey likeness of themselves.

These men had azure auras that wavered among those that sat alone, or flared like a hearth given kindling when laughing about friends. Kana felt her temper cool watching them, even smiling some as one of the soldiers noticed her and lifted a mug with a grin. She gave a respectful nod in kind before turning to go.

Pain lanced through her temples, causing the wolf to stagger some with a paw at her head. Her vision blurred slightly as a slight red hue came across it. Another stab and the warrior winced, holding her head as she stumbled along a wall, then slid against its corner and into a small street.

"Kaenis...Andulus..." Kana muttered between clenched teeth, slumping across the wall to collapse onto the ground, vision dimming out as the Canai briefly felt another presence watching her.

-

Beyron lost his sight, one moment he was watching the world through the unnatural sight of the wolf, and then all had gone dark. He felt as though he was standing, alone in a lightless place with no direction or temperature to tell where or what he was in.

"Jana, the green vial!" He called out the usual command his body would utter for one of his attendants to pour one of the small potions past his lips, but nothing happened. This wasn't right, he should have awoken by now, "Jana! I command you, wake me!"

"They cannot hear you, mortal. You're in my realm, my first visitor to this bleak place." A voice came from all around the cleric, then from behind him as a warm breath against his right ear, "My prison."

"Who is that? What is this?!" Beyron spun in place, arms jerking up to shield himself from some unseen presence, "I demand to know what's happened!"

"Fool. You are in no position to order or beg, you are a trespasser." The air around him warmed suddenly, climbing to hotter reaches as a dull red glow began to give shape to the space. Impossibly, a figure sat a hundred feet away at least, upon a charred throne with legs crossed and arms draped along black, ruined rests.

"What...what does that mean? That's not-" He gasped with realization, hands clasped together in a plea already as he shook his head, "No! I meant no harm, I merely wished to see what...you said you had sight of the soul!"

"And you thought you could peer into my head? To...take it somehow?" The voice sounded like that damned wolf, but it lacked the noble tone that carried it. Beyron blinked, then was suddenly before the figure and its throne, a mere arms length away. The heat was intense now, causing the man to sweat quickly.

"No! Of course not, you must understand! That sight, only the greatest of our order ever had that gift from God! I had to know, see for myself!" Beyron explained hurriedly, then went still as the red glow of the space increased to grant him his wish. With sight restored more clearly, he saw her.

Kana sat upon a throne of black-stone, as it had been molded from an active lava flow itself. Instead of alabaster fur it was charcoal, the whites of her eyes black with fiery rings for pupils that bore into his being. The white hair kept up was free, hanging about her dark features in a black frame, and all he could recognize were the golden tears upon her cheeks.

"So I mistook your intrusion then? You want the sight of a God?" The wolf rose up in posture, an arm lifting to reach out and clasp a dark paw atop the bald, sweating head of the shaking man, which steamed away once touched. "Take this back with you then, my gift. A message."

Beyron screamed as the pads, then palm, then entire paw glowed hot-orange in its clasp. His skin burned beneath her touch for what felt like years, an age passing but was only a brief moment. Once withdrawn, Beyron had a crimson paw-print above his brows, splayed across his forehead as a mark, a brand.

"The daughter of the great Serakh, Lord of the Giants...will be freed. You will see this done for me, or I shall visit you every sleep. Your sight is my sight now, holy man." The wolf's tone had gained amusement, pleasure from the fear and pain of this far smaller creature, "Sakana Firebrand is your Queen now."

Beyron gasped a choked breath, flailing his arms as the world came back into view. His wide eyes saw the frightened pair of nuns across the room, clinging to one another with pale faces. He reached up with a trembling hand and winced as it touched burned flesh. The cleric stumbled across cushions, crawling to crash against a closeby dresser to dig out a mirror.

When held up, the crimson marking was clear, a paw-print upon his head just as the nightmare had given him. His breath caught when a pair of molten eyes peered at him from the reflection, but when the cleric spun to see if she had somehow manifested, there was nothing.

-

"K...ana...Kana...Can you... hear me?"

The wolf blinked away the dark as a warm voice called to her, vision clearing to the sight of Andulus, Kaenis, and a few clerics gathered about her bed.

"...what happened?" Kana groaned as her head reminded her, "I remember pain, my head hurt greatly and then...nothing."

"Thank the All-mother it happened within the walls, not in battle." Kaenis leaned over the snowy wolf with a broad, grateful smile to hide the concern in his eyes. His dark paw gently brushed through some white hair, rubbing strands that had turned black as if the ends had been burned. The ends of her hair, tail even had somehow become charred.

"We'll find out what happened to you, but rest for now." Andulus said with a tone of authority he hadn't before, concern and kindness wrestling as he clasped one of her paws in both hands, "Kaenis, I've kept the area we found her cleared, please help me find any clues, something that explains this."

"Do not write me off as some weakling, I can accompany-" Kana started, trying to rise from bed until a heavy paw pushed at her chest.

"Rest, sister. You are not well, and if this is some kind of evil after you...best keep you out of sight for now. Do this for me, yes?" Kaenis lifted a brow with a grin, patting his kin before rising off the side of the bed to follow the men outside. Andulus ensured he was last, looking at her from the door he held.

"I won't let this happen again, Kana. You've protected us enough, now it's our turn." The king went to move but halted with a second thought, features turning in a grin at the wolf before she could retort, "Not that you need help from a mere man, of course."

Kana felt her features warm beneath that snowy exterior, giving the man a pouting glare as he left finally. The oak door closed once more to the place she'd found herself resting in, a home away from home. The wolf relaxed within the soft embrace of sheets, trying to think of the feeling she felt before collapsing.

More tired than she believed, the Canai fell into sleep quickly, only this time it wasn't a peaceful rest. Like jagged edges, images of people and battles flashed in her mind, making the canine twitch or tense in place. Some of the faces were familiar, but some felt like they should be but weren't, blurred out like oil dispersed with water.

Fire consumed every memory in the end, any time she reached out to grasp one of those she knew, flames burnt away the vision before another would come up, then again and again in a series of violent flashes. There would be no rest for the warrior this time, for a part of her mind had been unlocked, a door ajar for the past to begin cracking apart her mental defenses.