IX
It is with weary feet and heart that she finally reaches her destination, the infamous Wolf House that is fodder for many a local myth and child's nightmare. In the hushed whispers the house is towering, bristling with hidden spears and malicious intent. In person the building is short - squat, even - and constructed of rough stone crouching close to the mossy ground.
Reyna stares at the building for several long seconds, an odd mixture of weariness, relief, and bitter regret welling up in her chest. Aurum bumps his head against Reyna's limp hand, and she smiles weakly down at him.
She knows she looks like a mess. Her arm still smarts from her battle with a baby Cyclops she'd encountered back in Scotland, and even Aurum and Argentum have a few scrapes along their metallic bodies. Still, she's made it. She allows herself a brief, small smile before she shoulders her dirty pack and adjusts her grip on her spear. Then, straightening her shoulders once more, she marches inside the cool, dark interior of the house, leaving behind her identity as Hylla's little sister.
As her foot crosses the threshold, she thinks that this is it - this is the moment that marks her transition from weak little sister to unflinching Roman. And she stands all the taller for it, a proud, proud queen of her own emotions.
A massive blur of red hurtles toward her, slamming her to the ground. Her head cracks painfully against the uneven stone floor, and her arm goes automatically to the imperial gold dagger hidden between her heart and the thin fabric of her shirt.
Teeth, long and sharp, slash through the air, snapping to a close mere millimeters away from her hand. She holds her breath, looking up with wide eyes to meet intelligent, narrowed silver ones.
This must be Lupa. She holds her gaze for another moment, ignoring the painful pressure of the wolf's claws pressing into her gut. Then she slowly averts her eyes, showing respect for the dominant goddess.
Lupa snarls, and it echoes across the building, the forest, until all Reyna can hear is a dull ringing deep within her ears. The pressure on her chest gradually lessens as the wolf lifts her paw and settles back, her muscles still taut.
Reyna sits up slowly, carefully, and meets the wolf's eyes once more.
"I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona," she declares.
"Daughter of war," Lupa says in a low rumble. Then she tilts her head back, her red fur rippling as her muscles bunch and lengthen, and howls, her nose pointing to the sky and the sound an alluring call to arms, to battle, and it's all Reyna can manage to resist jumping up and thrusting her head to the sky and slashing at invisible enemies with her spear. At her side Aurum and Argentum raise their own voices, their silver and gold snouts elegant slashes of light in the otherwise dark building.
"Come," Lupa orders finally, pinning Reyna with her cunning silver eyes again.
Reyna scrambles to her feet, her prior injuries forgotten, and follows the wolf deeper into the building. She catches her breath when she sees what the simple exterior has been hiding; a cavernous interior, lit by sunlight filtering in from the gaps in the ceiling. Row after row of gleaming weapons of every imaginable variety line the sanded room and huge, weathered maps are plastered to the rock walls. When she peers at a particularly detailed one, she realizes that it is filled with battle markings and symbols of troops.
She catches Lupa watching her with something that looks a bit like a motherly smile on her lupine features. She inclines her head slowly, and a broad smile spreads on Reyna's face.
This, she thinks fiercely, this is what she's been looking for.
Author Note: Thanks so much for reading! :)
