Disclaimer: I still own nothing except the Guardians, Queen Elizabeth, King Tyler, Melody, and Ava Rydia!

I promise the chapters will get longer and more interesting eventually. The story's just warming up. Pay attention though, there are hints of what's to come throughout the chapters!

Songs for this chapter: I'll Make a Man out Of You from Mulan, Of Wolf and Man by Metallica

Reviews would be awesome!

Chapter 2: Counsel with Wolves

Thunk! An arrow hit the center of the target.

Ava pulled another arrow from her quiver, nocked it, aimed, and shot. Ping! … Thunk! She reached for another arrow. Her aim was good, but today she was practicing speed. She had almost lost her life in battle this last time for being too slow. Usually, she liked to practice outside, but today she was confined to the palace training room, for the weather hadn't let up at all. Lightning struck fiercely, and were it not for the heavy rain, several trees would've burned to the ground by now.

As she nocked her next arrow, someone behind her cleared their throat. Ava whirled around; arrow aimed to shoot, but immediately relaxed and lowered it when she saw that it was only Caspian.

"Terribly sorry for disturbing your practice," the king said, but the smirk he usually wore when he jested was not present; he looked rather serious.

"You would have been, had I let this arrow fly. You're lucky…again," the advisor retorted, returning the arrow to her quiver.

"You should work on your close-quarter combat for the times when you can't shoot, but that must be saved for another time. We are needed in the Great Hall," Caspian said, turning and leaving. Ava's brow furrowed. What was so important that her friend wasn't even his usual, joking self this morning?

Once she had quickly changed out of her training garb into something more appropriate for a meeting, she made her way into the Great Hall. Caspian was already seated in his throne on the raised dais at the head of the room. Trufflehunter and Reepicheep were to his left and at the foot of the dais stood two large, grey wolves.

As Ava drew closer, headed to her chair on the king's right, she saw that one of the wolves had something clasped in it jaws.

Caspian looked up from the guests, saw her moving forward, and immediately stood up in respect for the lady.

"Ah, gentlemen, may I introduce to you my advisor, Lady Ava Rydia," Caspian said as she ascended the dais. She nodded to him respectfully and turned to face their guests.

"Hello, guests, I apologize for my delay. What can we do for you?" she said, getting into business-mode as she sat down, fanning the skirt of her pearl-grey dress around her feet.

"Lady Ava, our guests have come to us all the way from the edges of Archenland with a bit of a problem," Caspian said.

"I see. Well I am glad to see that you have made it here safely. The weather has not been very accommodating for travelers as of late. What seems to be the problem?" Ava asked. The wolf with the empty mouth stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"Your Majesty, milady, my name is Matias, and this," he gestured to the wolf next to him with a nod, "is Bane."

"For quite some time, many of our kind have been slaughtered mercilessly, with the killer remaining unknown," Matias continued. Ava frowned.

"Why did you not come sooner?" she asked, noticing that the thing in Bane's mouth appeared to be the pieces of a weapon of some sort.

"We thought it was only a rival pack at first and did not want to waste your time with a matter we could attend to ourselves. As soon as we discovered that it has been happening as far north as Ettinsmoor, we came straight to you. We had hoped that this might have already caught your attention," Matias replied.

"No, we knew nothing of it until now. Do you know anything that may tell us who this poacher may be?" Caspian asked. The wolf shook his head.

"Nay, Your Majesty, all we have to go on is this," he gestured for Bane to come forward.

The other wolf did as instructed, dropping the broken weapon from his mouth and stepping back. Caspian descended the dais and picked up the pieces of what was once a spear, turning them over in his hands and scrutinizing them carefully.

"Is there anything familiar about the weapon?" Ava asked. The king stood up and brought the pieces to her.

"Not at all, but I did notice this symbol carved into the head of spear," he answered as he held out the head, carved from bone. Ava took it carefully and held it up to the light for further inspection. Carved into the flat side of it was a tribal wolf design, which had been dyed blue.

"Whoever made this was a master craftsman. Though the fact that the spear head is made of bone rules out Calormen, for they would use bronze. It rules out Archenland, for they would use steel as Narnians do. Telmarines would use iron. Those from the Lone Islands would use stone," she mused aloud.

The wolves stared at her, dumbfounded. Most women didn't know much about weapons, particularly ones they didn't use themselves.

"How do you know all this?" Bane asked. Ava allowed herself a small smile.

"I've spent much time studying weaponry. It comes in handy. It also tells me that this spear is definitely much too small to be that of a giant. Not to mention, if a giant was killing talking wolves, he—or possibly she—would not need a spear," she answered. Caspian nodded in agreement.

"So what do we tell them?" the king asked quietly, hoping only his advisor would hear. Ava thought for a minute, and then turned her gaze to the wolves.

"Dear friends, thank you for making this known to us. Rest assured, your king will end this slaughtering. In the meantime, you are welcome to take refuge in Cair Paravel," she paused and turned to Trufflehunter. "Trufflehunter, please escort our guests to a place they can stay."

The badger nodded and gestured for the wolves to follow him, leading them out of the room. Once they were gone, Ava turned her attention to Reepicheep.

"Reepicheep, we need to send out messengers to every hunter in Narnia. To catch a master hunter, we're going to need many master hunters and you are one of the best," she said.

"Excellent idea, milady," Reepicheep said as he bowed and exited the room quickly. Ava stood up and descended the dais, walking with purpose.

"And where are you headed?" Caspian inquired. She turned back to him.

"To practice archery, of course. I intend to join the hunt for this killer myself," she answered. She turned and continued on her way to change back into her training garb. As Caspian watched her leave, a loud clap of thunder startled him. He turned his gaze to the closest window.

"Aslan's mane! This is the most outlandish weather I have ever witnessed in all my years!"