“Remember this, daughters of the earth: The Blue Rose and her Guardian were carved from spirit and flame to rule what the world has forgotten. Where they walk, life will kneel and death will flee.”
—Elder Aïna, to vólkin females
Mina
“Mama, when can we go out?” Little Árne’s small voice echoes through the underground cave, his tiny paws padding over the stone floor as he runs in circles.
I watch him with tired eyes, my heart aches. How do you explain war to a pup?
“Hush, little one,” Ciele murmurs, pulling her son close. Her claws smooth over his downy fur, but I can see the tension in her shoulders, in the way her tail flicks side to side. “When Elder Aïna says we can.”
It is the only answer she can give. I can smell the blood.
Even here—deep underground, far from the battlefield—it reaches us. That thick, metallic scent that does not belong in Ávera. The pups don’t notice it. But we do.
“Elder Aïna!” Essin huffs, crossing her arms. “I can’t wait any longer either! We need to go.”
I glance at Naïa, who is rocking a pup to sleep. I see the same worry clouding her gaze.
“I feel my heart weeping.” I swallow. “Am I the only one?”
Naïa meets my eyes, her fingers twitch in the pup’s fur. We have been here too long. The day the warriors heard the monsters approaching, we were ushered into these shelters. Her Majesty ordered they be hidden beneath the earth, protected by a seamless entrance and surrounded with rosemary and salt. She thought of everything.
And yet??—
It does not feel safe anymore.
“I have a bad feeling,” Elder Aïna murmurs as she rises to her full height. The dim light of her crystals catches the silver in her fur, making her look older than she ever has. “The glade is standing strong.” Her voice is calm, but her brows furrow. “However... it is covered in blood.”
My heart stutters.
So much blood she can sense it from here. Silence falls over us. Even the pups seem to feel it.
“I will go investigate!” Essin declares, already moving toward the entrance.
I reach out to stop her. “Essin?—”
“You are too foolish if you think to go alone.” Elder Aïna’s voice is firm, it leaves no room for argument. “Mina and Naïa shall go with you.”
I nod.
Naïa tries to pass the sleeping pup to Elder Aïna, but she shakes her head. “I will go too.”
My ears perk up. Elder Aïna is wise, and she is the strongest among us, but she’s old. But if she thinks this is necessary, then we cannot refuse her.
I meet Naïa’s gaze once more. We are going to see what waits above. Essin and I press our shoulders against the heavy stone, pushing together. The weight resists us at first, and then the rock moves, the grinding sound too loud in the silence of the underground shelter. I wince at the noise and glance over my shoulder to where the pups and the elder females wait, watching with wide eyes. I wish we had crystals.
Not for power, not for battle, but for something as simple as speaking without sound. If we could send signals to each other through thought, we wouldn’t have to risk exposing ourselves now. But that is not a gift we were given. The males, the warriors, they have it, and we do not. That is simply the way things have always been.
Elder Aïna steps forward. With a motion of her paw through the air, the stone slides the rest of the way.
Essin flicks an ear, muttering something under her breath about how she and I just struggled with that same boulder, but there is no time for complaints. The moment the entrance is open, a savage, wet stench fills my nose.
My stomach lurches.
I have never smelled so much of it at once before. Even Naïa takes a few steps back. We have to move. We have to see what happened.
Elder Aïna is already walking, her ears forward and alert. I swallow down the knot rising in my throat and step out of the shelter beside Naïa and Essin.
