"Appreciate the offer," Aranea said carefully, thinking of a way to escape this unexpected force of nature. "But I hardly know you. No offense, but I must see my pack."

"Well, hopefully we'll fix the unfamiliarity part in the coming days. You've piqued my interest with the changing of the now-once-again-former Wolf Hag Sonya, and thus I am curious to learn more about you," Leila said. "You dislike physical punishments because of something specific, or…" The woman laughed at Aranea's surprised snout. The half-wyrm led her to the redwood doors. "I should not spoil the surprise." She flung them open.

Bright yellow light coming from inside welcomed the two. Amber and gold covered the walls and ceiling. By the north stood a massive throne carved from precious metals. Its armrests appeared as the heads of roaring Wolfkins, their eyes pure amber. A wyrm's head crowned the throne's back, staring at the intruders through shining rubies. Paintings from the Old World were arrayed in strict order around the chamber. To the south, where armored gates led outside, a row of pictures stretched to the left, telling the story of the ancient era. This section contained crude carvings of cavemen, immortalized in photographs and even several originals safely kept inside protective casings.

As the line continued, knights, mariners, traders, and ships drawn in various styles began to emerge in the paintings. As the rows formed a circle, gorgeous images of the first spaceships and orbital habitats appeared. One image in particular caught Aranea's attention. The lower half showed a young man with yellowish skin dying in a hut. In the upper part, the same man lay on a hospital bed with healthy-looking skin. A group of people inspected him and shook hands over the apparent success in defeating an unknown illness. The picture's frame had the inscription 'Dedicated to the No One Left Behind Act' and a set of dates dating back to long before the Extinction.

Tiny sat at the black oval table stretching through the entire length of the hall, surrounded by rolls of papers. She squinted her eyes, stuck out her tongue, furrowed her brow, copying a painting of an ancient warrior by paw. On becoming aware of footsteps behind her, she leaped from the ornate chair and bowed.

"Wolf Hag Aranea, I'm relieved that you have finally recovered from your injuries. If that is your will, I will immediately report it to temporary Wolf Hag Sonya…"

Aranea stopped her with a wave of her paw, closing the distance and looking at the obvious fang marks on Tiny's left neck.

"Who did it to you?" she demanded. "I strictly forbid all physical punishments. If Sonya dares to ignore my rules, I will fold her in two."

"No, Wolf Hag. It was a misunderstanding caused by my mistake. Wolf… I mean, Scout Sonya forced me to eat more and never touched me or any others." Tiny pointed to her small stature. "Scout upheld every one of your rules and traditions during your absence, insisting that you would return. Then I made a mistake and was separated from the troops by Lady Murzaliev's command…"

"Leila. Just call me Leila, Tiny; I'm getting weary of having to tell you this." The half-wyrm flapped her wings, slamming her butt in the chair and sighing at the empty goblets. "There's not a drop of mead left. We had to separate the girl after a man ruined her pretty neck in a fight over food. I took her under my wing, so to speak, for the time being."

"Who was it?" Aranea asked icily. "Which one of my troops disobeyed my clear orders?"

"Wolf Hag, it was a misunderstanding and my fault!" Tiny bowed and bared her neck for daring to interrupt the superior. Her paws shook. "It's not Gin's fault he's sick. He always bails me out of trouble, but I forgot about his warning not to be near him when he's eating. He has already apologized; please don't punish him, Wolf Hag."

"Ill?" Aranea asked, puzzled.

"The boy's a wreck." Leila snatched several sketches off the table and unrolled them. "Wyrm Lord assigned me to be a 'patron' of your pack. Don't know why, but I was bored out of my mind and agreed. When I found out about Tiny's injury, I summoned the rascal to me, thinking it was a boys-and-girls thing. Ivar has very strict rules about it, and I wanted to use my…" Her eyes shone, stealing Aranea's focus for a moment. "… magic." She giggled. "I do admit that it was tempting to beat him to a pulp, but after a talk, I understood it wouldn't help. Instead, we talked, without using my power. Yeah, he has a legit mental problem over his possessiveness about food, so we tried to work on it by eating together." She pointed a claw at Tiny. "Sure, Gin's violent tendencies kicked in, but I'm not anyone he can chew. Now the poor thing at least eats without lunging at anyone." She placed the papers back. "Not to get on your bad side, Wolf Hag, but the traditions of your tribe suck. They cause more issues than they solve. But as for Gin, he feels better, and all in all, everything ended up well, and I made two new buddies."

"Can I rejoin my pack then, lady…" Tiny stopped as Leila moved closer and bent her knees. A massive claw gestured, prompting Tiny to speak her name. However, the smaller Wolfkin remained stubbornly silent.

"No, I still have needs of you." Leila sighed. "We must achieve three goals. First, learn how to call me by name; I'm not biting. Second, we finally gained access to the throne room. I can't paint with these…" She showed her oversized hands. "And Uncle forbade taking any photos in here. I waited years to reveal to the world what he had in his hideout, and I'm not backing down now that he has left the fortress at long last. Lastly, we had to fatten you up, as Sonya entrusted you to my care in exchange for fixing your eating habits."

"Food won't do me any good." Tiny looked at Aranea. "Please, Wolf Hag, tell her. I'm not like the rest; substance doesn't help me."

"Why's that?" Aranea asked. "We eat and grow bigger. We fight and grow bigger." She touched Tiny's biceps and grunted in approval, noting its increase. "Why should it be any different with you? Tiny, you are smaller than Kaleb. Who starved you? If any bastard takes your rations away…"

"It's not like that, Wolf Hag." Tiny shook her head and stared at her legs, ashamed. "It… it is a secret, my secret. But please trust me, I can't grow any larger without combat."

"Secret? Tell me and I'll give you…" Leila paused and brought the end of her tail to her chin. "I know! I'll reveal the person I love in exchange."

"Everyone knows you have a crush on Captain Scorpio." Tiny grumbled under her breath, still looking down. Leila raised her brows and burst into laughter.

"Fine! Fine!" The half-wyrm raised her claws in surrender. "I have other stuff to trade. Tell me your secrets…" Leila's eyes glowed, emanating a wave of pink color.

Aranea experienced her will being twisted. It was as if a robber had broken into her mind and cruelly rummaged through her thoughts, squeezing her deepest secrets out of her. Instead of being disgusting, this intrusion was intoxicating; she wanted to share her deepest dreams, her darkest desires, and her entire life, to speak them out loud… Nay, she needed it! Aranea's jaws opened in unison with Tiny's; their eyes glazed over. Then, Leila's hands shot out and seized the snouts of both women in an unbreakable vise, forcing them to remain silent.

The unnatural pink in her eyes disappeared, and the compulsion vanished, returning control of their thoughts to the Wolfkins. Leila let them go, stepping aside in concern.

"I apologize." She pressed her hands together and bowed low, exposing her back. "It really, really was never meant to happen. I lost control."

"What… the cursed Abyss was that?" Aranea pressed a trembling paw to her eye, infuriated. "If this is how you treat Tiny when she is…"

"NO!" the half-wyrm's scream echoed from the walls. "No, I would never dare to invade people's minds for no reason. I am not my…" She scowled and slammed a fist into the table. "It's just… I'm way older than either of you, but compared to the proper wyrms, I am merely a kid. My power is still blossoming. It's hard to keep it in check. I have no excuses for such unworthy behavior. Tiny, if you want to be free from my service, I'll understand."

"It's fine, Lady." Tiny forced out a smile. "Nothing catastrophic happened; we are still alive and bickering. Let's just forget this unfortunate incident. I'm willing to stay for a while, if the wolf hag permits."

"I'll think about it. Leila, please lead the way to the hospital. I need to see my friends. Tiny, if anything out of the ordinary happens, report to me immediately. We don't entertain wyrms' customs in the Wolf Tribe," Aranea commanded, reasserting herself. Her heart kept pounding.

Deprived of her usual cheerfulness, Leila walked ahead, opening doors and leading Aranea through the opulent halls teeming with petitioners and guards. In Wyrm Lord's absence, his representatives handled the requests, and from what her ears could gather, the main concern of the population was the sudden relocation of so many combat-ready divisions to the front. A smile touched her lips when she heard someone demand to know where their Wolfkins were. Aranea waved at a couple of messengers from the Wastes, dissuading them from taking her for a person of great importance. It seemed to have the opposite effect, and the people showered her with praise for the deeds committed by far nobler wolf hags.

After passing a series of checkpoints, they returned greetings to saluting soldiers in power armor as Leila used her card to open elevators. The half-wyrm pressed the third button, and the elevator descended, sliding down the main spire of the fortress, then moving horizontally. Aranea's nostrils flared upon catching the scent of the Blessed Mother, lingering here for many decades.

"It'll take us directly to the hospital," Leila explained, brushing her hair back. Her claw twitched. "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happened. I never intended to crack your mind open."

"It's fine." Aranea decided to let it slide. She was the last person to judge another for going out of control. "At least you apologized for prying into my memories, unlike everyone else," she joked.

Leila raised her brow, itching to ask the question, but kept her curiosity in check. They made the rest of the journey in silence and arrived at a green hall. Doctors in white coats treated the injured in spacious rooms separated from the main hall by transparent screens. They didn't shy away from amputating limbs or removing faulty organs and replacing them with mechanical analogs.

In the long corridor leading deeper into the complex, the pair encountered Sergeant Alek stepping out of another pathway. The left side of his face disappeared beneath gray synthetic skin, and a red lens replaced his natural eye. A breathing tube fulfilled the role of his left nostril. His natural skin retained a red hue where it met the synthetic skin, hinting at a recent operation. Despite this, he smiled widely with his old and new lips.

"And look who's still kicking!" He shook hands with Aranea and then with Leila. "When that damned fog licked off half of my face and melted my lungs, I dismissed the reports of your survival as propaganda."

"Nah, you won't get rid of me that easily. I intend to break the Regulators for their crimes," Aranea said. "How about your unit? Did Ursico make it out?"

"Nothing can kill that man, I tell you. Yesterday, he led a unit and wiped out a Resistance forward scout camp. Turns out it was a dud, and they ended up under shelling. And yet, not only did the man survive the onslaught unscathed, but he also pulled most of his units back to safety."

"We are getting into a lot of traps lately," Leila noted grimly. Alek's once thick red hair had several gray strands.

"Hazards of war, lass. We took over a dozen such camps without breaking a sweat; it would be weird if everything went as planned. Warlord Janine volunteered to flatten the offenders, but Captain Murzaliev sent the regulars, keeping our girls in reserve."

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"Your girls?" Aranea asked, stepping closer. "Listen, our males are just as brave."

"Figure of speech, Aranea, don't be pissy! As for myself, call me a weirdo, but I refused the docs' offers to fix me with biological parts after the scramble is over. My red orb is a real lady-slayer; every nurse is in awe. Also, check out these goodies!" He turned around, pulling his jacket and shirt up. A series of metal dots ran along his spine to his waist, releasing air with each exhale. "Brand new lungs! I can smoke whatever I want, with no risk of getting cancer!"

"To each their own, but they look freakish." Leila shuddered.

"Hear, hear," Aranea agreed.

"Eh, you're just jealous. I'm heading back into action soon. There's a big fight coming up, so stay safe, girls!" He slapped Aranea on the shoulder.

"Survive till the end, boy." Aranea returned the gesture, holding back her strength. The big man laughed, sauntering through the corridor, whistling the national anthem.

"A friend of yours?" Leila whispered.

"Barely know the man," Aranea whispered back. "But I am glad that he's alive."

A familiar figure, flanked by two doctors and several nurses, stomped through the corridor. Warlord Martyshkina entered the open room, bristling with barely contained anger, and took off her fur cape. She growled at the doctors, who ignored her and began unsealing her armor. Then her eyes stopped on Aranea.

"Ah! Congratulations on your survival; we're worried." The warlord sat on the table and pointed a finger at the wolf hag. "But know this! I hate you for what you've done! And I'll find a way to get back at you!"

"I understand." Aranea didn't try to retort or dodge the blame. "I failed Olesya and wasn't able to preserve yours and my troops. You have every right…" She had to dodge a hurled metal gauntlet that bent the wall behind her.

"Stop sulking! You rescued my wolf hag and our troops! Show pride, you idiot! Don't dare to disrespect the fallen with the unearned misery!" Martyshkina's roar pushed both women back.

"But then what are you on about… ma'am?" Aranea blinked.

Leila gasped when the pauldron, with fur stuck to it, left the warlord's shoulder. Large creatures sneaked into the hide, and enormous ticks with swollen bodies from consumed blood bit their beaks into the body. More insects scurried around, trying to hide from the light.

"Because of you and your stupid doc, we are forced to go through these useless medical checkups! I could've been in the field, butchering and slaughtering instead of…" The warlord pointed around herself. "…sitting here."

"Doctor, how is she still able to walk? Better yet, how is she still alive?" A nurse paled.

"I do believe this could be considered a closed ecosystem," quipped an old, weary doctor. "Prepare a circular saw. And a flamer. And call the extermination crew. Also, alert the guards. If her ticks are similar to Miss Valerye's, it'll be dangerous for us. Last time, four people were wounded before we cleaned up our hero."

"How's Olesya?" Aranea asked, while Leila turned away, trying to hold back vomit.

Never. Never will I let my hygiene fall to such lows. Aranea vowed.

"Ask her yourself; she'll be back for resupplying tomorrow. I could've been with her, hunting that Chort, but noooo. This blasted Marco whispers poison into the ears of our superiors, feigning concern over us, and we must keep ourselves clean." The doctor offered her painkillers, and she waved him away. "Just give me booze; they're not even proper scratches. Be careful, though. If you disturb the insects, they'll bite you."

The guards arrived, taking aim at the warlord, joined by the extermination team, who brought hazard suits for the medical personnel. Once the doctor turned on the circular saw and brought it toward the nearest insects, Leila dragged Aranea by the nape while security closed the door. As they walked down the hall, they heard the discharge of energy weapons, the hiss of chemical sprayers, and nurses shrieking, with the warlord's mocking laughter dominating over everything.

"We'll take a detour on our way back. I'm dying to hear the stories Martyshkina could tell, but right now… nah." The half-wyrm decided, trembling and checking herself for any insect that might've crept on her. "How can you exist… with these parasites?"

"Most warlords are truly ancient. It's hard for them to change, so they persist in the old ways, only cleaning themselves during life-bearing. The younger generation treats itself with finer diligence," Aranea said and paused before admitting. "Yeah, I have no clue how they can tolerate having these things in their hides. I always eat mine before they get a chance to spread."

Leila's face contorted with horror and disgust, and she hurried ahead, leading her companion to their destination. Near one door, she sat on two seats, gestured that she would wait there, put on headphones, and turned on music. Aranea took a brief breath, composing herself, and entered.

Kate lay on a bed much too large for her. Spheres of iron encapsulated her missing limbs. Noticing the guest, Kate tried to sit up, but she slipped back onto her pillows. Kaleb, who had a similar contraption on his stump, sat in a chair near her, feeding the irritated scout with soup. Several books, smelling of Kaleb's scent, stood on a shelf above Kate's bed.

The room had no windows, yet the temperature mimicked that of the open fields of their village. Most unexpectedly, a prayer pole—a crude stone sculpture carved by a shaman's claws and inlaid with insectoid chitin and white bones—stood in the corner, emanating the reassuring scents of the Warlord and Lying One.

Kate widened her eyes a little and licked her lips. "Wolf Hag. I'm glad you are in one piece. How's the head?"

"No crazier than before, thanks for the concern. Kate, Kaleb, how are you holding up?" She closed the door.

"Can't complain about the given care." Kaleb slapped the sphere on his legs. "But it makes it difficult to walk around."

"Though the cane gives you a dazzling look," Kate added, nodding at the bone spear with a dull edge near the totem. "Earless One's gift."

"They say the new limbs will be ready in a month."

"A month!" Kate roared, attempting to slam the back of her head against the bed's railing. Kaleb caught her, stopping the attempt. "Thirty days of humiliation, of letting people feed and clean me…"

"Imagine that you are on vacation," Aranea suggested.

The scout's wild eyes focused on her. "Can you even imagine how it feels to wet yourself?" Kate demanded. "They put a diaper on me during nights. And this dork helps the nurses to wash me." She gnashed her fangs. "It's unbearable. Shameful. They should've given us mechanical limbs and let us be."

"Don't listen to her; we are still recovering." Kaleb pointed at his and Kate's protruding ribs and the skin clinging to their bones. "Warlord Janine and Scout Sonya showed up, bringing an entire cusack for us…"

"And we couldn't get a bite of it because of the poison still coursing through our veins!"

"We'll have plenty later; it's not the last time. We are on a strict soup diet while the doctors flush the filth out of us. In a week or so it should be safe for us to eat 'hard' food. Temperature spikes keep hitting us, as if we are Normies and Kate has nightmares. Lady Leila offered to use her power to let her sleep, but…"

"I can speak for myself!" Kate shouted and fell silent, mumbling. "Forced to eat water and lie still like a corpse." A rising panic crept into her voice. "I've had enough of letting them play with my head. The staff here give me pills for dreamless sleep, and there's that weird wyrm female desiring to 'correct' my mind. Creepy. I need my limbs; I need to get out of here!"

"Kate, growing exact replicas of our lost arms and legs takes a while. It's a tremendous honor; Warlord told us to be proud," Kaleb tried to soothe the scout.

"I'm aware. I'm still freaking out and burning from shame and fear. Everyone sees me as weak. You knew Wolf Hag Olesya came to cheer us up?"

"No, but I'm not surprised." Aranea grinned.

"Sly and Tiny visited us, Janine and Marco came by to say hi, the terrifying wyrm woman… They come and talk, while I want nothing else but to hide, yet I can't move! I'm weak, useless, fit for nothing…" The scout breathed faster. "I've never been so frail! Sure, I had lost more fights than I can count; who cares? But…" She stared at a glass of water on the overbed table. "To see things and be unable to reach them, to be so dependent on others for survival… It's insanity!" Aranea took the glass and helped Kate drink it, waiting for her friend to calm down.

"Do you regret saving me?" Kaleb asked quietly. Kate looked at him, puzzled. "When they hooked us to the torture devices and offered us the deal, you glanced at me. I know that you deliberately lost in every round."

"Idiot. I lost fair and square. You're just tougher than me, that's all." The scout scowled, refusing to admit anything. Yet Aranea saw that she was lying. Kaleb too, and he waited until she snapped her fangs. "No, I don't regret it. Glad to hear it? Bastards, all of you, making me say the stupidest stuff… But, since we're admitting things, I hate my helplessness! Every night, I dread Blaguna's return. Horrified, I imagine her strapping me back into the machine where I will drown and drown, gasping for air that will never come. I can still feel it: my lungs filling with water, my stomach ballooning and exploding, the pressure of the water against my internal organs, and how it swells and goes up my throat. And then it repeats without mercy or slowing down…" Kate shook, crying, and Kaleb hugged her. "I'm afraid! Mock if you want, I know it's disgusting, but what if they come for us, and I don't have any limbs left to sacrifice to keep Kaleb safe? Forgive me for bringing shame on the pack, but I'm afraid—so afraid! I don't have anything left to trade for you."

"No more wolf hag today. I'm Aranea, the woman whose shoulder you tried to rip off." She knelt by the bed. "There's no danger, boredom aside, here. You're in one place where no enemy will ever lay a finger on you. You are safe. Kaleb is safe. All will be well, I swear." She believed it. No foe had ever breached or bypassed the headquarters' defenses.

"I…" Kate blinked and looked her straight in the eyes. "Aranea, I must confess. I'm cursed."

"Kate, there's no such thing as curses. And I'm speaking as a person believing in the Spirits." Aranea smiled warmly.

"But there is! I know that something foul clings to me," Kate argued, spilling drool. "When I was a cub, I was all alone in the pits. Everyone else ignored me; no one wanted to talk to me. Not even the shaman. All I ever dreamed of was a friend, anyone to break the silence. Just a word." She nodded at Kaleb. "And then one day he was thrown into my group. My curse had ripped him away from a normal family and tossed him into my hell. Can you imagine how he had suffered until Janine and Impatient One rescued us?"

"Kate." Kaleb let her go and sat on the chair. "Drop blaming yourself. You've heard the teachers. I was too small and frail—a defective cub—yet the shamans, who always follow strict rules, didn't end me. Could it be that I was supposed to be disposed of, but something interfered? How did I survive in an unorganized female pack where I was the weakest? You shared your food with me. How come we grew bigger than some Wolfkins? That 'burden' of yours orchestrated our future."

"You make too big reaches in your delusional conclusions. I've noticed it ever since. Whenever something bad happens to someone, I get something good in exchange. Aranea, recall Kaleb's injury during the training? I'm willing to bet it saved me from the insectoid's blade. Or how the car mysteriously exploded, saving me from the iron bitch, while she had no trouble butchering our kin before." Kate spoke faster, interrupting Aranea. "You know she was better than any of us. I had no business being able to outlast her."

The scout swallowed. "You asked about my beads. I got them from the shamans, a parting gift from Mother. They said she had called me a cursed cub and tossed them at me. When I feel a strange urge from within, I clutch them, and the curse slithers away. That's why I freaked out when they broke. You're my friends; I didn't wish my damnation to swallow any of you. It always takes an equivalent price from me or from those I care about to ensure a benefit, so I used my foul mood to keep everyone at arm's length. You saw it working when Blaguna attacked us. The curse accepted my pain and aided us a little." Kate's lips trembled, and tears streaked down her cheeks. "And then… then it forced Kostya into coming, the worst possible mistake. He focused Blaguna's attention on himself so much that she grew bored with us. Aranea, I killed him. To save my worthless life, the curse took my friend away! All because I worried over him! Feel free to banish me or kill me. It's the least I deserve."

"You idiot." Aranea hugged her, sensing the feverish heat radiating from Kate. It resembled a fire crackling under her skin and was undoubtedly messing with her emotions. "Don't blame yourself," she whispered into her friend's ear. "It wasn't your curse. Kostya was braver than I'll ever be and planned to go out as a soldier." She told them about his fears and desires. "It was his choice, though if it were in my control, I'd never let him do it. Don't you dare denigrate his sacrifice by poisoning yourself with the idea that you'd played any part in his decision. He wanted to rescue you; he'd be overjoyed to know it worked, and your current unearned guilt no doubt saddens him in the Great Beyond."

"But the curse…"

"If it's real, then it saved us, moron. You saved us, stupid." Aranea hugged her tighter, wishing she could share her vitality. "Think about it. The strange people who forced Blaguna to send us back. The medical supplies. Too many occurrences for it to be a coincidence. I'd call it a miracle, but now I know better." Aranea's thoughts trailed back to her every duel against Kate, how she'd missed the bite, and every time the scout overcame impossible odds. It all came together in a clearer picture. "I swear to you that you aren't cursed. No, I believe that you have another power inside of you. That is scary, freakish even." She let her go and looked her in the eyes. "None of that had happened; it is your fault. Well, aside from you hurting yourself and shutting us out. I'm pissed off about that; a pack tackles every obstacle together. I won't throw you away. We will find out what it is inside of you and how you can coexist with it." And I think I have just the person to help us. "Relax and rest, accept care. I need you. The pack needs you. Kaleb needs you. Don't shove us away, okay? We are your friends."

"I'll… try," Kate forced the words out. "No promises about rank matches."

"Bite however you want during these; you won't drop me, Kat. Never."

"Never say never, Ari," Kate whispered. "I want to be of use. To do something."

"That I can help with," Kaleb interjected. "Reports are pouring in. We barely know anything about the Resistance—their culture, forces, and so on. Why not change that?"

"Bring me the terminal at once!"

"Finish eating, have a long sleep, and then you may tinker with it," Aranea said, standing up. "Take as long as you need to recover and come back to us. It is an order. There's a long road ahead of us. I'll check on you two during the evening. Maybe we'll play cards. Can't promise any drinks."

"Afraid of nurses, Ari?" Kate teased, licking away tears.

"They have chemical flamethrowers, lasers, and saws here. I am not messing with any of that, thank you very much." Aranea grinned and exited the room. Leila waited for her in the same chairs, hands behind her head.

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