"You ... in … pack ... with ... thought … fuddler?!"

  "Thought fuddler? What the fuck? What did you say to him, you bi...!"

  "Draven!" The sword-wielding female shouted at the shadow-thieving male, likely thinking that insulting me could only make things worse for them. I wasn't so sure about that, though. Right now I was sweating under the oppressive stares of the mother mossbears, not really knowing what I did so wrong. Was it so bad to mention the thought fuddler to Esu? 'I mean, I could see that he was furious. But...'

  "Don't yap at me, Rhea! Can't you see that she set him on us?"

  The sword-wielding female clenched her jaw, eyes darting from me toward Esu. "My a-apologies. I don't know w-what this thought fuddler is, but..."

  "Mind mage," Deckard chimed in, robbing the female of words.

  Her eyes widened as the realization struck. "I... I just… I just followed my leader."

  Certainly not words to soothe Esu. "Bad ... pack-leader. Choice ... yours ... to follow … Where ... is … he?"

  "H-He… he fled."

  "J-Just like that fucking mind mage! The... the thought fuddler," blurted out the shadow-thieving male, mistakenly believing it would appease Esu. "They're both gone, bastards. If I ever get my hands..."

  "Cravens … indeed!!! Always ... were. Always ... will ... be." The weight of Esu’s words was lost on no one, save maybe the foolhardy young human male. Esu’s history with thought fuddlers, it seemed, ran dark and deep.

  "Did you know, Deckard?"

  "That he can't stand mind mages?"

  "No, that I can turn into a beast. YES, that." I didn't intend to snap at him, but the disapproving looks from the mothers were getting to me.

  "I did, but I think there's more to it than that. The Empire tried to take advantage of that and recruit mossbears for the war, but he refused. As much as he hates them, he's afraid of them."

  "What?!" Esu? Afraid? A mighty beast like him? It sounded ridiculous. If anything, others should quake at the sight of him.

  "It happens. I’ve seen hardened warriors break down over a bit of water or fire. Usually, it’s some old wound, a memory that cuts deep."

  My first instinct was to snap at him again. How could he compare the fear of frail humans to that of mighty beasts? Then he mentioned fire, and the memory hit me - how the fire-wielder’s fist had burned, how my face had felt like it was melting clean off.

  While I wouldn't say I suffered from a fear of fire, I did see it with a new respect. No, if anything struck fear into my heart, it was the slave collar. Just an ordinary, harmless-looking human tool, yet the thought of having it on my neck again sent a shiver through my body. And it was at that moment, as I was shaking off the shivers, that a chilling thought struck me.

  "Hold on, Deckard. Is that why you wanted me to tell him?"

  "No, not really. I mean - no offense, your beast form looks great. I sure haven't seen any shifters like you, but you ARE now a beast and I just thought..."

  "That he'll take it better from me?" Annoying - he should have said something. Clever, still. More importantly, though, did he really like my beast form? His words carried no lie.

  "You ... will be … challenged ... together ... with ... others." Esu’s verdict came, his anger less blazing now. Was it because he knew the thought fuddler fled? That the bitch was no longer around? A question I didn’t dare chase. Instead, my eyes shifted to my pack. ‘Others? Did he mean Elira and Vara too?’

  ?E-Even my pack, great Esu??

  His gaze turned on me, stealing the air from my lungs, but I didn’t back away.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  ?Your ... pack? Speak ... cub.?

  ?T-the…the two human females. Taken too. They did nothing but try to protect me.?

  ?Weak.?

  ?Yes, they are weak - the reason the fire-wielder fought for us. He’s strong, took on all the humans, fought with the thought fuddler. Hates them too.? Truth be told, I didn’t know why I was sticking up for the male. I owed him nothing. Sure, he wasn’t the only reason they caught me, but he didn’t help my odds either. The fact that he helped me here only served to pay back that. And yet, I couldn’t shake the nagging thought - I couldn’t leave him behind.

  ?I … see. Not ... weak." Esu’s words rumbled, his gaze distant, while the mother mossbears recounted the events. "He … will be … challenged ... nevertheless. Not ... the ... females.?

  ?B-But he is wounded.? Fair point, I would say. Yet despite what I told him, all the hairs on my body bristled when he took action without further word. His antlers shined with emerald green once more. The power he wielded… simply staggering. Not a breath later, that dazzling energy plunged downward through his body, slamming into the ground.

  Though he stayed still, it felt like a giant had stomped on a pond. Moss surged like a wave, rising to the height of a man's head and crashing over the humans, engulfing them.

  "Deckard?!"

  "It's all right, girl,” he reassured me, steady as ever. “He's just healing us."

  "He is?" Relief slipped in, and with it, a grin I couldn’t quite hold back. They were getting a taste of that ticklish hell. Annoyingly, theirs didn't last half as long as mine. In just a few moments, the moss shrank back to its usual size, revealing humans’ stunned faces.

  "Tits, that was awful! Hold on - my ribs - they don’t hurt," Vara rasped, testing her movements. Elira, meanwhile, drifted toward the fire-wielder.

  "Hakhe? You're out of the cage?" He stared at her, his confusion plain. "What the fuck happened? I thought I..."

  The fire-wielder trailed off, lost. He wasn’t alone in his muddle, though. Esu, in his unfathomable mercy, had freed the seven members of the Shadowbraker pack from their brainwashing. I knew I shouldn't feel sorry for them. Even so, as they stumbled through their own fractured memories, I couldn’t help but see shadows of myself in them. I remembered how it felt to have my own will stolen, forced into horrors I couldn’t control. Against my better judgment, I pitied them.

  Not the case with the two abandoned by their pack leader - no pity for them, anger only. Esu, for reasons of his own, released them from the moss shoots’ grasp. Sensibly, neither dared to move.

  "Those … of you … in blossom ... patch ... will be … challenged ... to fight ... for the ... right to … leave the ... forest."

  Like the rest, I scoured the ground beneath me. But unlike many, I found nothing but green moss devoid of any blossom patch.

  “Fine then. Bring it. Let’s get this over with,” snarled the shadow-thieving male, his eagerness sharp as his blades. The others were a little more reluctant - or even confused.

  "D-Deckard?" the fire-wielder called after he got up and scanned the area, a nod following the name. They knew each other, old pack mates.

  "Harcon," my potential mate replied, offering him a hand.

  He took it, slow at first but with obvious relief. "Look, I... Fuck. What's the situation?"

  "That's right - let's save that crap for later. Better to focus on what matters. Think you can fight?"

  "Surprisingly, yes. What are we facing? Not him, I hope?"

  'Wait, "We" as in both of them?' Lifting my head to see the moss beneath my potential mate's feet, I found him standing in a clump of white flowers, just like the Shadowbreaker pack.

  ?Great Esu, the strong male - he has to fight too??

  ?You … need … strong … teacher …, cub.?

  There was no need for him to say more. I understood. "Deckard, Esu - he wants to see if you're strong enough to teach me. I-I can tell him..."

  "Don’t. Wouldn't it make me a liar if I went back on my word? Don't worry, girl. I'm confident I can convince him."

  "Sorry, Harcon. Was talking to the girl," he said out loud, hinting at the human tool on his finger. “No. We're not gonna fight him. It wouldn't be much of a fight, would it? His young."

  "Those?" The fire-wielder motioned toward the mossbear cubs lying on the ground just as the scalehoofs silently observing the scene. "That’s more manageable."

  "I'm afraid not them, either. That would prove nothing."

  "Tits. Adults then?"

  "Yeah."

  "Was that you? You struck a deal with him? Not that I’m complainin’. I should be dead by now."

  "You know me, Harcon. I may know how to fight, but negotiating? No, it was the girl."

  "Her? Where is she, by the way?"

  With my potential mate nodding towards me, the fire-wielder squinted, eyes darting behind me, then the realization hit. "The foxy beast yapping at the Lord of the Forest? That's her?"

  “Esu!” I hollered through the human tool to correct him, only to bare my teeth in a grin, letting Deckard speak my words. "She says she did her best, but only Vara and Elira don't have to earn their right to leave the forest."

  The fire-wielder bared his teeth back. "Sounds like a fair deal. Much better odds than before. Well done. Now, where's Ward and the Cognizant bitch?"

  The strange calm, a brief time for humans to catch their breath under the watchful gaze of the mossbears, didn’t last. It wasn’t Esu who broke it, but the mother mossbears. Their calls rumbled through the clearing, spreading through the forest, summoning the adults who longed to test their strength.

  And many answered the call.