Chapter 2
Frost and Brik stepped into the dark room. Night Eye was stuffing his things into a small pack. "Where you going?" Brik asked.
"I've got to go back to my Sept for a while. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but there are some matters I must attend to." Night Eye responded as he tied up the backpack.
Frost put his hand on Night Eyes shoulder, "We'll go with you, whatever it is, we can help."
"No, you should stay here, help with the war like we've been doing."
"Like it or not, we're a pack now, and we stay together. If you're going, so are we."
Night Eye sighed; he knew it would be pointless to argue. "Fine, come if you must, but, I will be leaving soon. Be ready." He walked outside, heading off to find the Gatekeeper.
The moon was high in the night sky, waxing gibbous, Night Eye's birth sign. He stared at it for a few moments, bathing in Her light. He heard his pack coming up the path. Aaron was standing beside him waiting. "Everyone ready?"
"Yep." Schrenko said.
The Gatekeeper walked up, "The contact has been made, the bridge is ready."
Aaron started toward the portal, "Let's go then, the sooner we get there the better."
The six Garou stepped onto the bridge, and began their journey through the Umbral sky.
"So Aaron," Night Eye started. "Tell me what's been going on."
"Well, you've been away for several months, and no one seemed to know where you went. Since your father died, the other Shadow Lords have all been vying for position. But with you around they couldn't really do anything. Then when you left, challenges flew left and right. Anyone who lost a challenge was cast out of the caern. Sergeiv managed to keep his position, besting all of the stronger competitors. After a few week of all the infighting, the caern was left nearly defenseless, as all the stronger warriors were banished by their rivals. Due to the focus on internal matters, Black Spiral Dancers managed to construct a Hive right under our noses, just a few miles to the south of the Sept. One night, during a new moon they ambushed the caern, and during the fighting Sergeiv fell to a grievous wound from one of the Dancer's festering klaive. He lay in his sick bed for days, out healers unable to save him. I was there when he passed. Without Sergeiv, the Children of Gaia knew they would fall before the Lords, and we would lose control of our own caern."
"So you thought to bring me back, to become the new leader?" Night Eye asked.
"Yes. Under your father's capable leadership the caern was strong, and we never had to worry about anyone getting out of place. So, some of us decided to seek you out, but we knew not where to start. It wasn't until a traveling Strider told us a story of a pack that had saved the Amazon from some kind of Pentex virus, that we got any leads. Something in his story seemed to indicate you were a part of it, and I inquired further. He finally told us the names of those involved, and we now knew where to find you. But, some of the Lords didn't take to keen on our idea. Nikolai Storm-Rage was the most likely to become the new leader, and he was informed of our plan, and decided to stop us. He killed three of us and declared that anyone else plotting against him would also be swiftly and violently executed. I stayed low for a few days, before I was able to get the hell out of there. As you can see we need your help. In a few days, when the moon is full, he will be rightfully declared the new leader of the Sept."
"So, if I'm there to challenge him, we can postpone it."
"Exactly, and if you can defeat him, you can become the new leader."
Night Eye held up his hand. "Wait, I have no interest in becoming the ruler of your caern. I'm just coming with you to act more as a figurehead. If I do challenge him, it will be more to stop him, or anyone else, until we can find someone better suited to the position."
"Very well, then. As long as we can keep Nikolai from assuming leadership standing, I'm fine with it. To be honest the guy is a real ass."
Night Eye smirked. "Yeah, he is. I remember him from my days there, very competitive. More than likely he's just striving for this to increase his own standing."
Aaron nodded. "And his pack will help him all the way, they're just a bunch of bootlickers."
"I think we can take care of them." Schrenko chimed in. "If they're like you say, I'll be happy to stomp a mud hole in them for you."
"There'll be plenty of time for that when we get there. Now let's pick up the pace a little." Frost said, as he shifted down into Lupus. The others did likewise, and they all trotted off down the gently glowing bridge.
***
Aaron, Night Eye, and the rest of his pack stepped off the bridge onto lush green grass. The sun was shining brightly down on them, showering the clearing in its golden radiance. After so long in the jungle, Night Eye was glad to be back here. He took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air. The woods around them were alive with wildlife, and Night Eye smiled. He loved the tranquility of this place, for everything was nearly perfect. He could hear the river deeper into the woods, and walked toward it. The river was what the caern had been named for, because it forked directly at the center. He stopped and leaned down to the sparkling clear water, and took a drink. It was invigorating, the purest water he had ever tasted, blessed by the totem of the caern herself.
"This is a beautiful place." Autumn remarked, looking around.
Aaron puffed up with pride. "Yes, the alliance between the Lords and the Children always kept the caern strong and healthy. But, now we fear its power might be weakening." His stance dropped a little. "If Nikolai becomes the leader, the Children have vowed to leave this place, despite the dramatic effect it would have on this place. If Nikolai wants it that badly, he'll have to deal with the caern's eventual loss in power."
A deep booming voice, thick with a Russian accent, came from the nearby meeting lodge. "If the Children of Gaia leave than all the better. This caern will become a bastion of my power, and Shadow Lords will flock to fight under my banner."
Night Eye looked over to see Nikolai and his two packmates approach. "Not while I'm around, Nikolai." He called. "You can expect a challenge soon."
Nikolai stopped and looked Night Eye over. "Ah, I see the son of Ivan Thunderblade has returned. Good to see you again, Night Eye. I thought you ran away."
"No. Actually I was just on a little journey. But I'm sure you wouldn't know about anything like that. You probably haven't left the caern, for fear of getting your claws dirty."
Nikolai's eyes narrowed. "On the contrary, just the other day me and my pack traveled into the blighted lands of the south, where we defeated a pack of Black Spiral Dancers, and a Nexus Crawler. What have you been doing?"
Night Eye glared at him. "Not much. Nothing I would brag about anyway. It does seem like your pack is one member short."
"And I see you actually have a pack." Nikolai grinned. "Quite a large one too. What's the matter? You need four werewolves to back you up? Did you get that weak over the past few months?"
Night Eye heard Schrenko snarl. "You'll see all in due time, Nikolai. Expect my challenge sometime tomorrow."