“That’s the entrance to our den.”
Dropping to the ground from atop Solvei’s back, Lex didn’t bother replying to such an obvious statement. Solvei had already told him everything she knew about her family’s lair last night; the entranceway in the wall of the mountain pass in front of him now matched that description perfectly. But Lex was less interested in that than he was in the surrounding area.
While the ambient light made it clear that morning had come, the overcast weather and the high mountains surrounding them were enough to leave the narrow valley under a gloomy shroud. Even so, it was bright enough for Lex to see that there were no visible tracks around the opening. By itself that wasn’t necessarily a cause for concern – it had continued to periodically snow throughout the night, so it wasn’t surprising that any tracks would have been covered by the inclement weather – but the fact remained that if Thermal Draft had been taken inside there, she hadn’t come out recently enough to leave a trail in the snow.
But that wasn’t the only way to look for clues about what had happened to her. “Can you smell anything?”
In response, Solvei put her nose to the ground, walking in a broad circle before shaking her head. “Just my family’s scents, but those’re supposed to be there. It’s how we warn other creatures that this is our territory. But there’s no scent of blood or ponies.” She paused, then lowered her ears a bit. “Although, after this much time and all the snow, it might be that the scent trail has faded. I’m not really the best tracker. That was always Kaja…”
The words came with a soft whimper, but Lex ignored it, more focused on practical matters. “What about the Red Man?”
This time Solvei’s answer was immediate. “No. Or at least, I don’t think so. It’s like I told you last night, he never came to our den before. Bolverk – or someone else, after the others got sick – would always take us out to meet him.”
Lex frowned at that. “And you’re certain that there was no common element to these meetings? No prearranged time or location, or some signal used to let him know that his presence was wanted?” He’d already questioned Solvei about this extensively last night, but given that her intelligence was lackluster at best, it seemed prudent to reconfirm it now.
But the winter wolf’s answer hadn’t changed in the last few hours. “No. They’d just go outside and keep going. Somehow the Red Man always knew that we were looking for him, and he’d just appear out of nowhere.”
Which likely means that he’s using some sort of scrying magic, targeting whomever he’s mutated. The thought was enough to make Lex grimace, reminding him of how that type of magic had indirectly contributed to his being brought back to Everglow.
He’d never confirmed who had been scrying on him during his time in Las Pegasus. The obvious answer was Dark Streak – which would mean that she’d been the one conversing with Adagio Dazzle, and that the Siren had paid her to kill him – but Lex couldn’t give that theory any credence. Not after having fought the griffon himself.
Dark Streak had been a powerful foe, but most of the magic she’d used had been decidedly basic in nature, utilized primarily to supplement her close-quarters style of combat. Having used scrying magic himself, Lex knew that it wasn’t something you could learn by being a dabbler. Such spells were highly complex, and whomever Adagio had been conversing with had been a master of them. If Dark Streak had possessed that much magical aptitude, Lex was certain that she would have put it to use during their fight, in which case he would have died back in Las Pegasus, given how ruthless the assassin had proven herself to be.
Of course, that meant that whoever had been spying on him was still out there…
Which matters not at all right now, Lex reminded himself with a scowl. Right now, the priority is retrieving Thermal Draft, which means subduing Solvei’s kin and making them reveal where they took her to meet with the Red Man. With any luck, she’d still be there now, hopefully unharmed and unaffected by whatever that creature had done to Solvei’s family. If not…then measures would need to be taken.
Fortunately, he had the means to do that now; the experiments he’d performed last night – investigating how he could apply the Night Mare’s power to Solvei – had been more fruitful than he’d anticipated.
The fact that his body was no longer covered with wounds was proof enough of that.
“Let’s go,” ordered Lex. “I want this resolved as quickly as possible.”
“R-right.” Despite herself, Solvei hesitated for just a moment before loping forward, padding through the snow until she was at the entrance to the den, stepping inside.
Lex was right behind her, his eyes lighting up as soon as he crossed the threshold. A single glance backward was all it took as he called upon his dark magic, causing thick bars of black crystal to spread across the opening, the space between them so small that even a foal would have had found it impossible to squeeze through. He heard Solvei gulp in response to that, but he ignored it; this was a measure to make sure that – if everything went according to plan – the rest of her kin wouldn’t be able to flee outside and take to the air the way they had yesterday.
Of course, if worse came to worst and they had to retreat, he could dissolve the bars with a thought. Even then, if they got clear of the place before the rest of the wolves followed them outside, he’d be able to recreate the blockage, sealing the rest of Solvei’s family inside for an hour, at which point the black crystals would disintegrate of their own accord. That would be plenty of time to shake off any possible pursuit and prepare to try again.
But Lex had no intention of letting things come to that.
“It’s early enough that I don’t think anyone will be awake yet, but they might have left someone on watch,” murmured Solvei as she turned and padded further down into the den. “Normally we don’t worry about that too much, but after what happened last night-”
“We wanted to be on guard, in case you were foolish enough to come here with your seidrmadr,” murmured a voice from up ahead.
“Kaja!” yelped Solvei quietly as she came to a stop.
Behind her, Lex frowned, seeing a winged wolf step out from an alcove further inside the main passageway. A fight here wouldn’t be ideal; given that there was a very real chance they’d need to fight the Red Man later, Lex wanted to conserve as much of the Night Mare’s power as he could. The best way to do that was to gather the five remaining members of Solvei’s pack – Sten, Ebbe, Kaja, her mother (whose name, Solvei had told him, was Turid), and Bolverk – all in one place, and then empower her enough to overwhelm them the way she had yesterday. Even with the two of them being outnumbered, Lex felt confident that he could not only imbue Solvei with sufficient strength to win, but that he wouldn’t need to expend much of his goddess-given power in order to do so.
But while the tunnel they were in now wasn’t cramped, neither was it spacious, barely ten feet wide and with a ceiling that was roughly the same in height. That meant that bypassing Solvei’s sister in order to reach the main area further down – which Solvei had assured him was more cavernous than these tunnels – would be almost impossible. Given how brief the Night Mare’s power lasted, if he had to apply it to Solvei now in order for her to defeat Kaja, he’d almost certainly need to do so again when they found the rest of her pack. And if this turns into a series of one-on-one battles, it’s not out of the question that I could run out completely before we ever find the Red Man, Lex knew.
Fortunately, Kaja didn’t seem to be intent on fighting, instead glancing at Lex before giving Solvei a cold look. “So it’s true. You’ve thrown in with the ponies over your own family.”
Solvei flinched at that, but held her ground. “I’m doing this for my family,” she insisted. “Kaja, you can’t believe that our ancestors would want this! They told us not to attack the pony lands for a reason! Our grandfather almost lost his entire pack-”
“Because they were weak,” cut in Kaja. “Just like you are, Solvei. But the rest of us are stronger than the ponies now. Thanks to the Red Man that Bolverk brought us, we have nothing to fear from them anymore.”
“The Red Man has made you all sick! How can you not see that?!” Raising a paw, Solvei pointed at her sister. “Look at what’s happened to all of you! The way your fur is falling out and your skin is turning red! Those ugly wings! Your front paws becoming all gnarled and horrible! The Red Man has made you twisted, just like in the stories our father told us about how Vutok twisted the tribes who heeded his call to fight against Hrothvitnir! Remember what happened to them?!”
“Those old stories don’t fill my belly,” spat Kaja. But her expression softened a moment later. “Solvei, you can still come back to us. Kill that pony and bring him as an offering for Bolverk. With how much he eats, he’s sure to forgive you if you bring him fresh meat and accept the Red Man’s power.”
Solvei’s lips pulled back in a snarl. “Never!”
But rather than return Solvei’s aggression, Kaja’s ears folded back, a whimper escaping her throat. “Solvei, please. Bolverk wants the full pack with him when we attack the ponies, but if you keep defying him, he’ll have no choice but to kill you.” Taking a half-step forward, she lowered her head. “We’ve already lost our father. I don’t want to lose you too.”
Solvei’s growling ceased then, but she didn’t close the distance between herself and Kaja. “I don’t want to lose you either, Kaja. You or Mother or our brothers. That’s why I came here: I want my family back, even if that means I have to fight all of you.”
Kaja’s expression hardened as her eyes slid over to Lex, watching the unfolding drama from behind Solvei. “This is your fault!” she hissed, wings flaring in anger. “Sten and Ebbe told me what you did! You used your seidr on Solvei and now, just because she surprised them, she thinks she’s strong! But you’re just using her to retrieve your mate!”
Lex sneered, but didn’t bother wasting his breath on the creature, instead raising his wire-wrapped foreleg to point at Solvei. He’d held his tongue while her little family drama had played itself out in the hope that she’d be able to talk her sister down. But now it looked like that wasn’t going to happen…
Kaja, however, didn’t try to rush them or breathe frost the way he’d expected her to. Instead, she threw an angry look at Solvei, hackles raised. “I’m going to go wake the others. If you’re smart, you’ll use this chance to run away and find another pack to take you in. Because if you’re still here when I come back with everyone else, you’ll end up joining our ancestors instead.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, turning and running down into the darkness of the tunnel. A moment later a loud howl could be heard, echoing through the mine.
Sighing in relief, Lex lowered his foreleg. “This is our chance. Follow her!”
This time, Solvei didn’t waver. “Right!”
Then the two of them ran after Kaja, descending deeper into the den.