Fight for Me

Somewhere not that far away

“The attacks are growing more violent. But at least we’re gaining more ground, and support.” Braham says in the meeting with his fellow council members.

“But the death toll is still large. If we continue this way, there won’t be much left of us when all of this is done.” Ruhan interjects.

But Victor is quick to defend. “You saw the way those berserk rogues were. They’re getting worse, in fact. If we don’t get rid of them first, there won’t be any of us left at all when all of this is done.”

Ruhan looks at Morik for his input, but he remains silent as he usually does in their meetings.

Ruhan sighs frustratedly. “We don’t even know the source of what’s making everyone berserk. We’ve limited our interaction and contact with the outside world, but it’s still happening. It’s only a matter of time before it starts spreading among us as well.”

Victor answers with a smirk. “And the more towns we take over, the closer we are to finding the source.”

“There are hundreds of towns in these woods, and over twenty wolf packs. And that's not even considering packs of all other shifters in the area. We can’t cover all that ground. Even with all the allies we have at the moment.” Ruhan and Victor continue their back and forth.

“That is not a problem we need to concern ourselves with for now. Besides, Alpha Erickson has already offered us his assistance in leading our next few attacks from the towns we’ve already subjugated.”

“Erickson?” Morik finally speaks. They all look at him expectantly. “How do we know we can trust him. It wasn’t that long ago he tried to overthrow the council and make himself king of the wolves.”

“He was the one that stepped down from those accusations himself.” Victor tries to defend again, but Morik is not done making his case.

“To get our attention off of him.” Morik raises his hand to silence Victor as he tries to retort again. “What if I told you that I have reason to believe that Erickson is the orchestrator of all of this?”

The room is quiet as they look at each other for answers.

“No.” Braham states, with a tap of his cane. “Erickson values us wolves above all else. Why would he risk our extinction?”

“My information says otherwise.” Morik says. “In fact, it suggests that Erickson is on his own eugenics mission to ensure that only the strongest of wolves make it out alive. So that only the strongest are left to rule over everyone else.”

“That’s insane.” Ruhan says in disbelief.

“Yes. You must be wrong.” Victor interjects again. “Whatever information you got, you must have misread it, or misunderstood it.”

“No. I did not.” Morik affirms.

“No!” Braham stomps his cane in anger. “If that’s true, then it means we were manipulated into starting a war, -a massacre. Your information has to be wrong.”

“It’s not. I didn’t get this information from some sheet of paper, or gossip. My source is a witness.”

They grow quiet as they take in Morik’s words.

“I knew this war was a mistake.” Ruhan finally confesses his doubts in anger as he punches a hole through the wall.

“What witness?” Victor questions. “The witness must be lying then.”

“They are not lying. They shared this information with me in good faith. And for their safety, I promised to not divulge on their identity.”

“Then how can you expect us to trust them? A stranger.” Victor says.

“Then let’s confirm it.” Ruhan takes a seat, clearly trying to calm himself. “Let us go and meet Erickson. He’s in the next town over, right? The alphas here can guard this town in our absence.”

“And what?” Braham questions. “You think if we just ask him about it, he will admit to it?”

Victor scoff. “You’re talking as if Erickson is guilty. We don’t know if Morik’s spy is in fact the guilty one here.”

Ruhan says in a firm voice, “we’ll confront him under a blood oath. Should he in fact be guilty, I’m sure we all know what will need to be done then.”

“And what of his sons?” Braham questions another concern. “We haven’t heard from any of them for a month. The threats against their father are suspicious enough. What are we to think of their sudden disappearance?”

“The distrust among our kind is growing,” Ruhan responds. “We have to fix this. We have to regain order. We’ll do what has to be done. And quickly. We'll leave towards Erickson's location, first thing in the morning.”