Chapter 43

It wasn't long before the whole brood, plus our ten new additions, stood gathered before me. There wasn't any space within the den that could comfortably accommodate us all, so there were some stragglers spreading out the mouth of the den. Without needing to force myself, though, I was able to project my voice so that it rang through the den. I finally consciously noted that there was something changing with my voice, but I couldn't allow myself to think more deeply about that as I began my address.

"Are we weak?" I let the question hang. Before too long had passed, Took's voice called out, "No!"

"Are we prey?" This time, the response was faster and came through multiple voices I recognized as Treel, Foire, Vefir, and others', "No!"

"So we are strong?"

"Yes!" More voices joined in.

"We are predators?"

"YES!" The whole brood was beginning to be swept up in emotion, all answering my questions.

"There are creatures out there that think of themselves as predators. Predators of the keelish. Are we prey?" 

"NO!"

"We will hunt those who think themselves above us!" I let the frenzy continue for another moment before I screeched for silence once again. The respectful mass of keelish looked up at me, waiting on my every word. "I will not be our only leader. Took!" She stood, then, at my geturing, came forward. "Took will lead you as my Beta in battle. If I am not there to give commands, hers are those you must follow! Sybil!" She stood as well, joining me at my side. "Sybil is my Beta when it comes to all non-combat affairs of the pack. Outside of battle, her voice is greater than every other except my own. Any questions?"

After a moment's wait, I was about to move on, but I was interrupted by Took. 

"She does not shed blood for us. Why would we follow her?" I needed to viciously tamp down the immediate rage that surged at Took's insubordination. She dared to contradict me? No, she wasn't contradicting me. I trusted her enough to appoint her as Beta, I trusted her enough to give her command second only to mine. I asked for questions, and she answered. I gritted my teeth as I began my reply.

"I trust her and I know what she does–"

Sybil stretched out an arm and stopped my answer. I turned, waiting for her response to Took's challenge. She stood, calm, before turning and grasping her tail with both hands. Unsure of what was happening, I didn't move as Sybil deliberately reached down with her jaws and bit deeply into her own tail about eight inches from the end. Still without hesitation and without relaxing her bite, Sybil ripped her fangs through those eight inches of her own flesh, scales clattering to the ground as her blood splashed across her face and the ground alike. As Sybil flicked her tail, flecks of her blood splattered across Took's face and chest, little spots of hot red that quickly cooled and became invisible to my perception.

Sybil turned and looked at Took, her blood dripping from her jaws and coating her own face. I could tell that though she was putting on a stoic face, Sybil was slightly unsteady on her feet, though I wouldn't weaken her position by pointing that out or trying to stabilize her. Took cocked her head for a moment, then stepped forward to where she could touch Sybil. Took softly leaned her head against Sybil's, needing to hunch to reach the much smaller female, before she spoke. I could feel the sacred pressure from when Oncli and I had spoken the Words of Power descend over the pack as Took's voice rang out.

"You're no coward. Tempered in blood are the chains that bind us."

I stepped forward, with more control than I'd had the last time this feeling had swelled over me. "Forged in battle and tempered in blood are we! The keelish do not break but are constantly strengthened!"

Without any need to grow in a crescendo, all voices of the brood immediately rang out in unison, "Forged in battle and tempered in blood do we follow!"

"Victory!" I shouted.

"VICTORY!" My pack echoed. "VICTORY BY FANG AND BLOOD!"

I could feel that this was different for the rest of the pack, that this time they had somehow also "Spoken" the Words, instead of simply saying them. As the excitement began to dwindle and the brood began to speak to each other about any number of things, I turned to Sybil and began to speak quietly.

"Are you ok?"

She reflexively flicked her tail in a shrug then winced. "I have seen you all deal with worse. I did not realize exactly how painful something like this would be. I will survive."

"How do you intend to treat this? The bleeding isn't stopping."

Sybil looked back at her tail, the blood still flowing freely and making the dirt below her into a warm muddy slurry. "Oh." She muttered before slumping to the ground. 

With Etre and Kree's assistance, we were able to staunch the bleeding long enough to gather some vines and large leaves to bind Sybil's tail. I'd never heard of keelish using any sort of medical implements, but I couldn't be sure that it didn't happen anyway, since I'd never thought of keelish as capable of communication. Regardless, we took immediate steps to ensure that Sybil was provided for as much as we could before once again going out to begin our hunts. This time, however, we all remained together, with Took, Treel, Foire, Ilne, and Katre serving as squad leaders. Percral had initially asked to also lead a group but had been violently dissuaded from asking again and was now under Treel's command.

For the first time, I felt the influence of [Pack Tactics], understanding the need to further separate the whole hunting party of nearly fifty individuals into smaller squads. With five groups of just under ten each, we could easily react in groups to whatever it was that inevitably happened, and with that came increased mobility. We traveled directly into the direction of the wolfstags' territory, and I was determined to kill at least one tonight. What I truly wanted was to hunt down the terrorbird, but they're migratory creatures and I couldn't guarantee that we would find any nearby. 

So it was that wolfstags, or any other creature that crossed our paths for that matter, would serve to slake my appetite for violence. The grin crossed my face as I disregarded any internal feelings of temperance.