"Yo-ee-yo-ee" A large bird of prey cawed uncomfortably from a low branch as an entire group of its predators passed just below. It ruffled its feathers and silently took flight to another low branch in a distant tree. The pack moved at a quick pace, and at the digression of the pack leader their steps quickened once again. He kept the entire group in a fast-paced trot, three of them carrying three little pups between their jaws that bounced up and down with the steps of their holder. The trail wound on and on, up and over hill after hill in the erratically lit forest. The sun had just passed its peak for the day when the leader stopped short, listening as sharply as a doe in a field. The pack stopped along with him, and just as he did so no one moved a muscle, not even the pups, although not a single one of them knew why. Their leader was a brilliant one; if he had reason for halting such a dogged march they trusted it be a good one. After several moments he turned his head just ever so slightly to the right–but if there had been something there everyone would have spotted it almost immediately, for the forest was barely a dense one on this part of the trail, and for another seemingly endless moment, no one moved.

Finally he relaxed. The enormous male turned his head to look behind him at his followers in reassurance that nothing was wrong. With a pleasant smile to his muzzle the leader turned back to the front, and flinched to begin his walk once again, but the instant he turned an enormous creature nearly twice his height stepped in front of his path, glaring down at him with fierce, determined eyes. His smoky black stare was one that even slight glances at it made one know that he meant business.

What intrigued the entire pack, save for Akron however, was that flowing from his neck and hindquarters was a strange light–like a wisp of air that glowed as the sun does during a bright midday. Reno especially stood in amazement as he marveled at the huge horn protruding from its massive head.

His voice was as cold as his expression.

"Akron, where do you think you are going?"

The leader stood his ground firmly and held his head high.

"Cianten Warrik, it has been a very long time, has it not?"

The colossal equine paused before he spoke, as if strangely expecting that response.

"Yes, Akron, that it has been. But I have a job to do and I strongly suggest that you allow me to do so."

"Yes, of course," Akron responded. "I am taking my family to the western mountains, where there is less threat of chaos and harm that may come to my young and the others. I reasoned that if–" The pale-colored beast stopped him.

"You aren't meant to reason any such thing. And what's this?" He craned his neck above Akron to look past him at the pack. His cold stare ran down the line, his black eyes narrowing at the sight of the three pups, still dangling from the gentle jaws of the petrified and speechless pack members.

He turned to Akron again.

"What in Ethro's name have you been doing? This is a time of war and you're off cradling children for your own meaningless pleasures." He hesitated once more.

"Cianten Warrik, may I ask that we continue this conversation in private, away from my family?"

The horse groaned under his breath.

"Very well," and he turned around slowly, heading up the path in the direction the pack had been heading. Akron did not look back and followed Cianten Warrik up further along the trail where their conversation could be continued in private.

Once more the horse turned to him.

"The Capryl has been questioning greatly as to your whereabouts for the last three years. Once word got out that you'd been spotted in the southern wood, he sent me to bring you a message."

"Which would be…"

"I don't have time for your childish wordplay. My message is plain and simple–you are to return back to the Grand Ethroian Army at once. The moment I heard you were in this godforsaken forest I knew that you were running away. You got away once but neither He, nor I will let you escape again. Now before I depart I have but one question: Have you shown your 'family', since now you already have one, the Power? If not that, how many sons has your wench birthed?"

The instant the Cianten mentioned his sons Akron became wide-eyed in a fear that only he could grasp. Despite his sudden wave of terror however, he remained calm and collected as he answered the Cianten.

"No, sir, I have not yet shown them the Power. I did not deem it necessary, as I did not, nor do I ever anticipate sending them off to war. As for my sons, I have two,"

Akron's heart quickened and his answer seemed to both please and anger the Cianten.

"Alright," the Cianten shook his huge head too and fro in frustration. "I'll leave the decision to you for now, but we will meet again very soon." With that the horse moved to the side and pushed past the houndoom, pacing quickly in the direction that the group had been coming from; his gait was such that he knew exactly where he was going. Pack members glanced at him wearily as he passed but he did not look at them. Each of the pack felt the intense heat of his strange accessories as he passed by without a word or even a grunt. Only when he had disappeared in the trees surrounding the rearward path Akron relaxed his entire body. He turned and stared at his eight relations–almost immediately Kerr approached him with eyes overflowing in frustration.

"Akron, I'd like to know what this is about,"

The dog sighed deeply. "You will find out soon enough. I have much thinking to do now that what has happened has been so. We can make it to the riverbank by nightfall if we keep moving," And without a gesture or a glance at Kerr he thrust forward and began the journey once again. No one dared to question what had happened; not even Kerr, for he knew his boundaries once he violated them. Every one of them reasoned that if and when Akron decided to tell them, he would.

The pack followed the winding trail until they had reached their destination, and nearly within several minutes of the sun touching the horizon. The pups were only a few days old, having fallen asleep many hours ago, and as Lena placed Rosso along with the other two pups into a small crater in the sand, she admired his peacefulness and wished that she too, could sleep as deeply as he was right then. The entire pack was exhausted, and not too long after reaching the riverbank they were bedded close together beside a washed-up, hollow log. Only Akron remained on the outside, lying by himself over the tracks they'd made in the sand. His mind had been plagued for nearly half the day about what the Cianten had told him.

Recently, the pack leader had found himself pondering over his past for sometimes up to a half of a day. He'd never really spoken about where he'd come from to anyone, for as far as he was concerned it was no one's business. But the leader did indeed have a soft spot no doubt, though it could be difficult to unearth at times. One such a time was now; when he found himself lost in what he'd done, what he'd just found out, and what he would have to do.

He was already six winters old and often felt he had more regrets than a thirty-winters old dog. If only he'd stayed away from the ridge that day. Akron scowled in disgust aloud to himself. What a complete fool he'd been, allowing himself to be taken so easily. If he hadn't done so than his entire life would be completely different. He'd been pushed too hard, and at times way back when he'd thought occasionally about suicide. But that was why he escaped; trying pathetically to start a better life which only one outside and free of the godforsaken Grand Army could offer. The very same army that he'd been proud to be a Cianten in. The very same army he'd secretly been ashamed of. The very same army whom he regularly but silently questioned the true effectiveness of their tactics, but never dared to speak out.

Then, he came to the dog's mind.

Akron knew the Capryl well. All too well. The Capryl was a colossal, intimidating beast with leadership skills to match. Just the thought of his former superior sent a tremor down the dog's spine. The thought of his former officer reminded him of his seemingly never-ending membership in the Grand Ethroian Army– from even before he'd reached maturity they'd trained him into another of the high-ranking minions that had become loyal to Capryl Thiazó. At one point, Thiazó's tactics and punishments became overly and extremely violent in his quest for total respect, and that that became the time when one of his most trusted Ciantens ran from the Army.

Apparently the loss of such a high-ranking member pushed back his plans dramatically, and that was the only reason that nothing implacable had happened in the lowlands in such a long time. But something had told the pack leader that that temporary peace was about to end one way or another, and so he took his family away.

Akron never really enjoyed speaking of or even thinking about his past, being one that lived for the present and the future. The thoughts of his flight from the Army plagued him so that the outwardly fervent leader fell into deep depressions several times every few days. He felt it was not so much the fact that he'd left– it was his motives for doing so. Yes, he'd been young at the time, although not so young in that rash decisions were a commonplace. The motives and reasoning that he very vividly recalled to have had back then were such that they battled his present views and standpoints about life to the extent that, once sunk in, ate away at his conscience and any positive mood he was put in.

However much to his fortune, this particular depression managed to allot him some restful sleep.

Lena was also thoughtful that night. She thought much about how this sudden transition would affect her pups, and she even took a ponder at a bit of what Akron had discussed with that strange individual earlier that day. In all her twenty-eight years, she'd seen changes of all sorts; from drastic, life-altering events to changes as simple as the seasons. She had of course, also watched the war emerge, but that had erupted only in recent times. It was almost as if she been ageless; a simple bystander of the ages as time slowly passed and its events leisurely crept by beyond her control or influence. Lena's river of thought was halted suddenly by Reno.

"Miss Lena?"

Her eyes slowly opened and she turned to him with a loving, patient, smile.

"Yes, Reno?"

"I hope I'm not being a bother, but I felt that it wasn't right to disturb Akron. We haven't eaten in several days, and the pups are looking rather sickly from the small fowl that we've managed to retrieve,"

The old dog sighed deeply. She knew of the pups' gradually dwindling condition, for pups of their kind were exceptionally strong-willed and did not fall ill from either disease or hunger quickly, but what food they had been getting of late just seemed to be not enough.

"Reno, come here,"

He looked around as if someone else was talking to him.

"Me, miss?"

"Yes, just come closer,"

The young dog awkwardly stumbled forward so that his head was beside hers, where Lena whispered gently into his ear.

"Young Reno, you have been such a faithful and loyal help to me and the young ones in these recent days and for that I am eternally grateful. I've left a tiny field mouse, one of a healthy and bright lavender, buried in a small bush near where the pups lie. I was saving it for if one of the pups acquired a colic, but you may help yourself if you wish. Once again, I am very grateful for your help."

"Miss, I–"

She stopped him with a glance.

"It's alright, Reno. It's my gift to you."

With a slight expression of discomfiture the young dog left her.

The next morning, the entire pack grew restless almost immediately upon waking to find their leader nowhere to be found. It was not long before those that remained realized that Lena, and the pup she had called Rosso, were also missing. The pups sensed the ambient distress right away and became fitful and cried out. Being the only adult female left, the rash but doting Alstra tended to the remaining two pups. Kerr, Reno, and the last male, a yearling, stood over where they had just slept, dazed and utterly taken aback at the realization that had just rained upon them.