Chapter 1

"Did he find it?"

Dusk blinked affectionately at the cubs who were bundled together, watching him with wide eyes. He was in charge of keeping them entertained this day, while their parents were out hunting and preparing for the winter feast. They sat by the bonfire, which cast their pelts in orange hues.

Dusk took a deep breath of smoke-tinged air and shook his head. "Now cubs, you should know, it's not about the destination, but the journey," he said. "Ever had to grow up first, to the taunts of his peers. You see, he never told anyone where the Skysword was. But that didn't stop him from bragging about how it would someday be his inheritance.

"He let that thought warm his nights as he grew into an adult and a great hunter for the tribe. However, if asked about his dreams, he would tell you he wanted to be stronger, tougher, a better fighter. He wanted to be able to climb sheer cliffs like Cragstone, hunt prey as efficiently as Brinewater, and overall be an absol worthy of the Skysword.

"He did know one thing about himself, though. And that was that he was a great brother. When his mother took another mate, she bore a daughter. Ever adored her. It is because of his sister that he went in search of the Skysword when he did, otherwise he may have had a much different fate.

"His sister wasn't like other absol; she was colored differently, like nothing the tribe had ever seen before. Her fur was gray, her horn copper. But it was her eyes which captivated the tribe, with their color a deep green like gemstones. Her name was…"

"…Jewelstorm!" Ever called, panting. He scanned the white limestone cliff, searching for the telltale copper color of her horn, to no avail. Though she may have been colored differently than the rest of the absol, she certainly could hide like one.

With a grunt, he hefted himself up another stone block, scanning the grass springing from between its cracks. "Rawr!" Jewel imitated a roar as she sprung up from her hiding spot at him.

Ever pretended to fall from the block in shock, landing on his side with the breath squeezed from his lungs. His sister chirped with glee as she jumped on him. "Tonight, I will feed you all singlehandedly, my tribe, with this freshly caught brother!" She puffed up proudly.

"Because you'll definitely take down something three times your size today," he teased.

The young absol merely chirped again and hopped off him. "Brine already taught me how to hide," she said.

"Hiding and hunting aren't the same thing, though," he said. "See that tuft of grass up there?" He motioned downward with his horn. A few yards from the cliff, grass and other greenery struggled to grow, succeeding only in clumps. One such bunch shook as a little black nose peeked from between two strands.

Ever glanced back to his sister, who watched the rattata emerging from its hiding spot with big, hungry eyes. "Follow my lead," he murmured to her. He dropped into a crouch, which she mirrored clumsily. They had to cross the cliff silently, so their prey would not notice them, taking slow, steady strides. One wrong paw and a rock could go skidding down, clacking loudly.

Thankfully, Jewel made no sound as she followed him, and soon he was in a good position to strike. He dug his claws in before taking a mighty leap. The rattata had only time to start a squeak of alarm before it perished from a blow to the neck. "Simple, no?" he asked, nosing the prey towards her. Ever kept guard as she ate her fill.

"I want to catch one to bring back to Crag," she said as he finished off what was left of his kill. As always, the mere thought of his adopted father made him have to stifle a growl. "He'll be really proud!"

Ever knew full well that she could bring back the smallest pidgey in the valley—Crag would still smother her with praises. All the while giving his adopted son a look that could make snow fall. So it was between the two of them. "Right. Let's go a little farther north and wait," he said, not wanting to dampen her mood.

They scaled part of the cliff and headed north. In the distance, Mount Eternal stretched high into the sky, its peak shrouded by thick, black clouds. Once, many absol tribes shared the land that stretched from the foothills of the mountain, through a thick forest, to the rocky plains land that Ever's tribe inhabited. Humans had driven their numbers down, though, by catching and killing alike. All because of the absols' special gift.

Some humans respected his kind and their role as harbingers of disaster. But most thought the absols' mournful howls caused that which they came to warn about. A misunderstanding which threatened to wipe his kind off the face of the planet.

If he looked over his shoulder, he could see vast, flat grassy lands which stretched into the horizon. His tribe owned the northern reaches and the cliffs beyond, while the only other tribe still in existence hunted the southern plains.

"I see one," Jewel whispered, bringing him from his musing. She pointed her copper tail toward a shifting tussock. "It's… huge…"

"Raticate," he said, stepping in front of her. The rat bared two sets of teeth which clacked together as it sniffed the air. "We should move on. Their bites are usually infected and it takes more than two of us to bring one down."

They made good ground for a few more minutes before he stopped his sister, indicating a brown shape he saw huddled farther in the grass. "A pidgey," he said. "They're very easy to catch. Go ahead and try, remember the crouch?"

She nodded and slunk towards the small brown bird which pecked at the ground, unaware. As she got closer, though, its movements ceased and it flicked its head from side to side. Ever knew it had sensed her but wasn't going to flee just yet, as long as she stopped moving.

Unfortunately she wasn't patient enough for that yet, and jumped out of the grass at her prey with a squeak. It was likely meant as a fearsome yowl, and the pidgey responded as such, flitting between Jewel's paws and into the air, squawking an alarm call. She turned away, tail drooping.

"Nice try," he said, glancing at the sky. "We probably have time to find another."

But it seemed fate had different plans for Ever and Jewel. Both of them stood stock-still at the same moment as their horns started to vibrate. Clearly, a vision of a couple humans towering above the tribe's camp flashed before their eyes. "Did you see that too?" he asked, shaking his head as the cliff returned to focus.

"Yes, strange pokemon in the camp."

"Humans," he corrected, turning his paws south. "We have to hurry!"

"No, no, they had strange pokemon with them," she said, breaking into a run.

"Did you catch what time of day it was?" he asked, impressed that she had seen more detail than he.

A loud roar answered him. He could feel his heart sink low in his chest as he spotted a plume of smoke on the grasslands below. The location had to be the tribe's camp. "We're going to be too late," he murmured aloud, but didn't let his pace falter until he realized Jewel was falling behind.

He paused only for long enough to kneel and allow her to climb on his back. Her claws dug into his pelt but he could barely feel it. His heart raced as he felt his face pulled taut in anger. Who would the humans take from them this time?

By the time they reached the camp, there was not a soul in it. Instead, what Ever and Jewel found was a smoking ruin. Nests were overturned, their woven straw singed. He sprayed a beam of ice over the still-smoldering branches of a dead tree. Last winter, he and a few other warriors had drug it here and hollowed it out to use as shelter. Now its bark was warped, ruined.

"Trainers," he growled darkly as he searched for any bodies or survivors who'd found a place to hide. He saw neither.

"How do you know?" Jewel murmured, sniffing delicately at the nest she shared with Soulflame, their mother. She tried to trample the blackened remains into something salvageable.

"No bodies," he answered. "Just destruction. There was a battle here."

"So they captured everyone?" Jewel sounded horrified.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" he called, but figured the tribe had evacuated and scattered, which was the usual procedure.

His voice had just finished echoing among the ruins as he heard a voice say, "Ever? Thank Arceus! Help!"

Ever followed the sound of the owner's voice to where Gale's cave should have been. White rocks hid the pelt of Brinewater, whose hind legs were trapped beneath them. He'd been Ever's friend since the two of them were cubs, nearly inseparable. Now, his eyes were filled with pain as Ever surveyed the rock fall before he started shifting the top one, trying to roll it with both paws.

"Oh no, Brine," Jewel whined. She bent and washed his face as her brother worked.

"How badly are you hurt?" Ever asked, shifting a smaller stone, which cracked as it landed next to were Brine's tail stuck out.

The absol took a moment to reply. "Not as badly as Gale. The whole cave collapsed. I tried to save her… but… she's stopped breathing."

"Stay calm, you did what you could," he soothed, though his pelt pricked with sadness at the loss of the elder—and likely, just the one of many losses that day.

Brine continued talking as if he hadn't heard, voice layered with pain, shock, and exhaustion. "They came from the sky, and their pokemon was some sort of dragon. They caught so many. I-I saw Soul get captured. Shell too. And Forest and Cream…"

He continued listing names. "Half the tribe," Jewel gasped. She was close to hysteria herself, having never seen an attack like this before.

"Jewel, come help me," Ever said, trying to keep his voice steady. "This is the biggest one. I need you to push."

Even with her help, the rock wouldn't budge. He whipped his tail in frustration. If they moved this one, Brine could probably squeeze out from under the rest. It was such close quarters he couldn't risk attacking it for fear of hurting his friend. Or could he? Taking a step back, he realized what he needed to do.

He gathered power within his horn and slashed at the offending rock, cutting it steadily in half with several blows. The top part slid easily into the pile he'd made, while he and Jewel had to heft the other half to follow. Brine gave a sigh of relief as the pressure was eased off his paws and drug himself out from the rest. His back legs were twisted, obviously broken, though Ever asked anyway, "Can you stand?"

Brine struggled to his paws with a pain-filled grunt. Reflexively he brought the right—the most damaged—leg up and started to wobble. Ever propped him up on his weak side, bearing his friend's weight on his shoulders and flank. "We have to take him to the healer," he said to Jewel, whose fur was still puffed out.

"I'll run ahead and find help," she said, but stopped as he shook his head.

"No, stay with us. I need to know you're safe."

Jewel huffed but went to the wounded absol's other side, doing her best to help as he limped. His jaw was set as ever step had to be agony for him, but the healer would make him right again. A blissey had come to live a short walk from their camp, in another of the caves farther south. None in the tribe knew why she was there, except to be a healer for them. One bite of the eggs she laid daily would remove even the worst aches.

"We'll probably find most of the tribe with Charice," Ever said. "Stay calm with me, Brine. Everything's going to be okay. Breathe with me." He exaggerated slow, easy breaths which he heard both his companions start to mimic.

The path to Charice's cave was well-worn from countless paw steps. The beaten earth sloped downward, helping Brine make quicker progress, though he needed to stop every few minutes to catch his breath. It was hard to see him this way—helpless and moments from panic. The adrenaline was fading, leaving Ever feeling tired and unfocused. He forced his paw steps to remain steady and tried to ignore the scent of blood on the trail. The rest of the wounded had already gone this way.

Silenced settled on them like a shroud as Brine struggled on for another hour. The sun was setting as he finally collapsed, nearly squashing Jewel beneath him. "No more," he moaned.

"We're almost there," Ever said, nudging him gently. "Charice will fix you up in no time."

Brine's only response was the sound of his snores. Glancing around, Ever figured the grass was tall enough to conceal them for the night, even though he craved the safety of the hollowed-out tree or a cave. Some sort of shelter over their heads, at the very least.

"Think the cave is close enough to bring Charice here?" Jewel interrupted his thoughts.

"I doubt she'd make it here before dawn," he said, tail flicking. "She's so…fat."

"Maybe I can bring a mouthful of egg to him, then?" she pressed.

Ever shifted uncomfortably. Sure, the cave was close, but she'd still be leaving his protection to go there. They'd lost their mother today, he thought; nothing would rip his sister from his claws while he still drew breath. His jaws were opening to reply when he scented another of his kind coming toward them. "Whitefur!" he called to the wind.

The female emerged from farther along the path, eyeing him warily before her gaze fell on Brine. "We thought he was captured," she gasped.

"No, but he's badly hurt. He passed out here."

"I was going to fetch some egg to give him," Jewel said.

Whitefur shook her head. "No need, we'll carry him. Any other survivors?" she asked Jewel, studiously ignoring her brother.

"None that we found. The cave collapsed, killed Gale and trapped Brine. Let's go," he answered for her. "I'm worried about him."

Cragstone paced silently from where Whitefur had emerged. He was a huge absol, scars lining his shoulders. He touched muzzles with Jewel, licking her cheek. Then his glare landed on Ever as he said, "We will take Brine to the healer. You will leave our lands immediately, traitor."