A Shot in the dark

"Metas tells me you know more about these human weapons," Vincent mused out with interest as the humble male approached.

"Vincent, this is my pack brother, Joss. He is married to my wife's brother, and his knowledge is invaluable. He is my trusted advisor and friend - so I assure you, you can also feel at ease with him."

"Very good to meet you, Joss. Come, sit with us" the prince offered and gestured to the log across from him where Metas sat.

Joss was so used to being with Metas, that the royal protocol was overwhelming and filled him with dread and anxiety. He took a seat next to his Alpha and tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

"Don't be nervous- I can smell fear and it's not pleasant," Vincent said as diplomatically as possible.

"Oh...uhm..." Joss muttered out uncomfortably and looked towards Myranda for a little bit of help.

"Ignore him, he's an asshole" Myranda 'sniffed' towards Joss.

"Myranda, Lara." Metas warned and looked to both females with a stern face before he finally addressed them in their own 'language', "stop it. He's a good leader and a good person. I know you both don't see it, but Vincent is as much of a best friend as you are, Lara. He's always defended me against my parents, Myranda. Do this outside of my presence, please. You of all wolves should remember that night he told my father off, yes Lara?"

Myranda looked away from Metas with a little bit of shame. She hadn't meant to offend her husband, but she still found Vincent's presence irritating.

Lara looked down humbly and avoided Metas' glaring gold eyes as his words recalled the memory of Vincent telling King Themis that he was a fool for how he spoke so lowly about his son. It had actually won the old king a lot of glares of contempt, as many royal families treated their children like gold, as heirs were everything to those who held a line to the 'Firsts'. Some were still quite strong, but others had lines so diluted with other genetics that their attachment to the 'Firsts' were were as fragile as a strand of hair.

For a parent to mock their child with 'divine' blood in company was especially shameful, and it won Metas a lot of points in the eyes of others with how graceful he had always been in the shadow of his father.

"I apologize. Please tell him what you told me about destroying those weapons, Joss" Metas continued as his gaze turned back to the two males in the discussion.

"Right - destruction is not an option. We don't have access to magic that would contain such a blast. Unless you have access to potent rune magic, we're at a loss. It's Plutonium they're working with in there - it's not like other human weapons... I mean, it's a shot in the dark here, but I think we could maybe use magic to contain the nuclear fallout."

"You have nuclear weapons!?" Vincent shouted in pure shock, and even stood at the information that was just presented to him.

Metas merely cleared his throat and avoided Vincent's eyes.

"God damn it, Metas! I thought it was just a bomb or a missile - or at the worst you were holding was just a regular massive-detonating weapon...but you have Plutonium. You have fucking nuclear weapons." Vincent was now as unhappy as Myranda had been when he interrupted their night.

Metas would have told Vincent to lower his voice, but now that he was here - he would have loved to see anyone try to take on a dragon- especially Silas...

"Do you realize how bad this has become? I was going to offer to get inside and burn all of your detractors - which before you say anything, I know you wouldn't let me do that anyway - but still, fire was an option. It's not an option anymore. Causing a reaction like that would be the end of everyone save for very few. Adelaide has rune magic. I can try to get to her and ask for help," Vincent offered.

"No. I don't want any others to know about what we have or get involved. We have time spells on them that keeps them from decaying, but our elder mages have to reinforce them every two hundred years or so. It's not rune magic, though. Just basic blood spells," Metas replied.

"I understand that..." Vincent trailed off in contemplation.

"Yes. Well. I agree with Prince Vincent, my Alpha. As I did my best to explain- the humans created those to completely decimate one another. Even when they didn't mean to harm themselves, they'd have catastrophic accidents. In one country they had to evacuate an entire city over a place where they produced that stuff broke down. I don't know all of the history behind it thanks to the ripped books, but I know lots of people died who were even just outside near the accident."

"Chairnobeel." Vincent said with affirmation and pointed towards Joss. While he did pronounce the old-world name wrong, the history he was familiar with was vivid.

"That was back around the time before they found the first Unicorn," the prince went on with the knowledge that Joss had been so hungry for. The wolf hung on his every word.

"They had just used the same damn material on an island nation. Keep in mind, this was over a millennia ago - but it was the beginning of the human's use of Plutonium and Uranium. After that they refined in to be far more stable until they needed it to not be anymore - something called going critical. Anyway, once they discovered that Unicorn and about magic, they only made them more and more potent and deadlier," Vincent went on as he paced back and forth.

"Listen. Depending on the kind of weapons you have stockpiled in there, we could have a moderate to serious problem, and I'm teetering on the serious. I think you have some of the worst things humanity ever made - weapons made by Ayemereesans. That society was so power hungry and terrified that they made a bunch of that stuff to use against the other nations like Rooseeya. It led to world wars, and the predicaments we're all in today. They made the things that eventually wiped out the humans," Vincent finished with a concerned voice, expression, and pace as his feet continued to stir the dirt with each step.

"On the bright side, you've helped me realize where the nations of the old world were. You're living inside a mountain chain they once called Soloraydoe. They left all their defense stuff in there in hopes they could use it on their own kind for a later date. If I can start from here, I can map out the rest of the territories and figure out who has what resources. Joss, you are invaluable." Vincent complimented towards the steel-haired wolf who smiled with pride.

"So what do we do?" Joss wondered out loud in a tone of contemplation.

'I know what I'm going to do,' Silas thought deviously as he listened on their conversation from far away. He was disheveled, dirty, and desperate. His ears ate up every word hungrily as he began to listen to their plan to overthrow the father he loved so much.

If he could deliver this to Harbinger, he could win some of his trust back, certainly. First, though - he was going to deliver Myranda to him to get the old wolf to even consider hearing him out in the first place - after he killed Metas.

As he squeezed the steel of the gun he had in his hands, the demented male's lower eye twitched and he steadied the weapon in his hand so that he was ready to shoot his target when he popped out from behind the tree he leaned on.

Silas took a deep breath and finally was able to pump himself up enough to pop out and pull the trigger towards his target....only to miss and hit Lara in her right shoulder, where she instantly let out a cry of anguish.