“Boss?”
The scene started to fade out of sight as Nuntisiwas’ concentration wavered.
“Hey. Boss.”
He steeled himself against losing it all together.
“YO BOSS!” Nuntisiwas calmly reached out and throttled his lieutenant. F’foef made most gratifying gagging noises. Nuntisiwas cracked an eye open to coldly glare at the metis writhing in his claws.
“I am busy.” He let go and shoved F’Foeg away, trying to compose himself before he lost the tenuous link with the raven feather talen he was using to spy on the proceedings.
“But... you’re just staring at nothing...”
“Kabula, crush his throat, would you?” Nuntisiwas turned his attention back to the scene unfolding some distance away, trusting his lieutenant would make sure he wasn’t disturbed by any of his other lieutenants.

“I am so sorry, I really didn’t mean to offend you! Forgive me, forgive me! I am but an ignorant cub, I throw myself upon your mercy and trust in your wisdom!” Azhar ground his muzzle into the snow and the dirt beneath as he groveled before the ring of snarling wolves. In the snow beside him, the young wolf who had objected earlier lay twitching in a pool of her own steaming blood.
The grizzled elder snapped at Azhar, causing the Fang to tuck his tail further beneath himself. “You are right! You are ignorant and we should tear you apart for your stupidity! You let the leader of the Spirals escape and now you strike down one of our own tribe members!” She lunged forward and tore a long jagged chunk out of Azhar’s ear.
He whimpered and attempted to lick at her muzzle. “You are right! I am a foolish cub!” He licked at his paws and rubbed his muzzle across the ground again, unconcerned with how foolish he looked, a Crinos Garou groveling before a wolf.
The older wolf started to lunge for him again but found her shoulder blocked by one of the other wolves, which had shifted up to Hispo. He kept his bad eye towards her as he spoke, using the more elaborate words of the Garou tongue to convey his point as much as the weight of his body.
“Yes, he is a foolish cub, but he is wise, yes? He sees his mistake, and he bows to your judgment. He is a wise cub, a brave cub to admit what he has done, but still a cub. Would you kill your own cub for such a transgression, Growls-at-Moon? No, no, cubs are too precious, they are too few. Hackles-High will live. She is just as young, but more foolish still than this one. It is not her place to judge, but to fight. That is her place. She should listen to her elders, to the words of her mother. Do not hold this pup responsible for the foolish actions of one of our own. If you punish him for defending himself, you should punish Hackles-High for leaping to attack him before you ordered it.”
The grizzled female shook her head and backed off. “No wonder you are a lone wolf. You talk too much for us to tolerate.”
Lone Wolf nodded slightly as he slid his bulk further between the alpha wolf and the groveling Fang. He kept his tail relaxed, neither up and challenging, nor tucked under and submissive. He was matter of fact. “Yes, yes, far too much. You are most wise.”
“You are a poor wolf because you lie with both your voice and your body.”
“I do not lie wise one, I merely tell it a different way then is in your mind. It is the same song, with a different tune and perhaps a different ending...?” as he perked his ears forward questioningly.
“The Fang may keep his life. He knows his place and his mistakes. He will pay for them later. You will make sure of it since his life is yours.”
“I do not know if I can deal with such responsibility.”
“You are no cub. You will be less trouble doing this than anything else.”
“Most wise.” Lone Wolf tugged at Azhar’s scruff. “Come little pup. We will go before she changes her mind.”
The Fang cautiously got to his feet, tail firmly tucked up against his belly. “But.... should I...?” He looked at the Talon he’d struck down. “I could heal her first.”
“She tried to kill you once.”
“But she didn’t hurt me, I hurt her. I should fix it.”
Growls-at-Moon broke in. “Let her suffer for her foolishness, as you will for yours. She will be healed when I say. I speak, you obey. Go!”
Azhar didn’t wait around, but bolted quickly away. A few of the wolves that had been watching this whole drama unfold started after him, but the snarls of their alpha kept them in place. A quick snap indicated that Lone Wolf should also remove himself from her presence as quickly as possible. The swirling wind and the raven feather that danced in it trailed behind the two.
“Thank you, I think. But I don’t know what to do next. She said my life was yours, so you should know, I guess...”
“You have very good instincts, but think too hard. You think, you get confused. Do not think about what she wants, do what she wants. She will be happy if you, and the other one, try to repay her for the two warriors she lost. She does not like to lose anyone. She has lost many packmates, she has lost many pups.”
“Then, maybe, if we take the pup and make sure it lives, it no one else will claim it, maybe... but Red Talons don’t take metis pups do they?”
“Not usually. They are permitted to run with the pack if they can keep up and will not be too great a burden. It used to be they would simply tear the pups apart, but any pup is too precious now, especially to our alpha, to be killed lightly.”
“So I gathered. I shouldn’t have struck that one that leapt me, I suppose?”
“No, Hackles-High needed to be hit." Lone Wolf grinned maliciously. "She will not let anything keep her from her target, from pleasing herself, from pleasing her mother, even what she is told.”
“Wait, I hit the alpha’s daughter!?”
“Yes, her only surviving cub, actually. But you are an outsider. You only need to face her anger once, not every day for doing what needs to be done. It could have been better timed though.”
“I am in soooooooo much trouble.”
“Instincts, follow your instincts. They are sound.”
“My instincts tore me between staying with Ghiyath or running beside the leader of the Spirals. They’re not very good.”
Lone Wolf’s ears perked in interest at that tidbit of information, and some distance away, Nuntisiwas’ did as well. “Do you still wish to run to him?”
“Not to, with. There’s a difference. And yes, no, I don’t know. Maybe. I’m curious now, so that’s part of it, but other than that, no. Maybe if I saw him again, maybe I would. I can’t know for sure until I see him.”
“I tell you, you have fine instincts, even if you do not always know why you have them. Remember, you just knocked a furious Ahroun flying when she attacked you from behind, without being hurt yourself. Your instincts know better than you what to do.”
“But I’m not a fighter.”
“You are currently as big as bear and have claws the size of my muzzle, and you are no fighter? Every Garou is a fighter first, everything else second, it is what we are made for. Some just listen better than others. Listen then, and tell me what your heart tells you.”
"Right now, it tells me to stop running and sit down.” Which Azhar did indeed do. “Well, Ghiyath said the two thing he thought of were either going to see the pack in Rutland who’d know how to take care of the pup or to go see the Uktena, to see if we could find out more. I wish he wasn't sleeping off his injuries. Philodox are supposed to be good leaders.” His eyes darted to Lone Wolf for a second. "Sorry. But you're not really so directly involved."
"I am now." Azhar fell silent for a moment, ears twitching slightly. He absent mindedly swatted at the raven feather that swirled past his ear. Lone Wolf sat patiently for a few moments before snapping at him. "Stop thinking! Instinct!”
“Errrrrr... we should see to the pup first and...”
Lone Wolf’s ears perked forward expectantly. “Good. Yes, and...?”
“I should eat this damn feather!”

Nuntisiwas gagged and spat, scrubbing one paw across his muzzle as he tried to wipe the sensation of being snapped up by a Silver Fang out of his mind. No matter how well bred the Garou, Crinos still have bad breath and a mouth full of wet oozing slobber... He shook himself and tried to shake off the sensation. That was the problem with using such devices to extend the senses, there was the risk of experiencing most unpleasant things. Of course, he had never had anyone EAT one of his talens before, so it was not a risk he had anticipated.
“You look like you licked the floor in Grand Central Station.”
“Thank you for that mental image, Kabula. I do hope you are not speaking from experience.” He looked up at his lieutentant who was standing in a strip of snow that she'd clearly been pacing back and forth through. F'foeg was lying down nearby, tail tucked over his nose in the cold.
“This one time Horlaq and me got in this boasting contest about who was the craziest...” Nuntisiwas made a sharp motion with a claw, cutting her off midsentence. “Would you like to be throttled as well?” Another sharp gesture as she opened her mouth. “No, don’t answer that. From F’Foeg’s silence, I will presume you did as I requested. Good. If you continue speaking, however, I shall shortly forget how helpful and obedient you’ve been. Would you like to be in F’Foeg’s place right now?”
Kabula looked stricken for a moment, like she was unsure whether she should answer or not. She finally setled on nodding rather than risking irritating Nuntisiwas further. “Excellent. Now, go fetch me a Theurge. I don’t care which one. One that I don’t know the name of.”
“Why?” Kabula promptly smacked herself in the head for letting curiosity get the better of her. Nuntisiwas smiled nastily.
“It is very simple. You two have certain talents, but they are not the ones I need right now. We have acquired a more subtle and perceptive foe than you are used to dealing with. Perhaps foe is not even the right word. An obstacle, let us say. I have need of a Theurge’s skills. Up until now they have all been nameless cannon fodder to me. They are the lowest of the low, the dregs of Spiral society. Why should I bother learning their names. They’ll be dead and replaced by tomorrow. Only the ones I intend to keep get names, right F’Foeg?” The silent metis nodded furiously, eager to agree.
“Thus, I will elevate this Theurge to the same level as you two, my trusted lieutentants.” Kabula and F’foeg eyed each other, clearly not liking this idea one bit. “Dependent upon how well he performs the duties I require of him, of course. So be careful in your selection. I will be displeased if you bring me one that cannot perform the services I need, but make sure you find one you can work with as well. I should not like to see any sort of infighting between my underlings when I rely on you so much.” The two preened slightly at his words, but Kabula still seemed uneasy about the compliment, as if she could sense how insincere he was.
“Go, fetch, both of you. I need to think.” The two slunk off, thinking about who to pick from the motley crew of Spirals following Nuntisiwas.

Once they were out of sight, Kabula looked down at F'Foeg where he slunk along beside her in Crinos. “Let’s get somebody we can beat up. He might be smarter, but if we can beat him up, he’ll remember who was here first. We don’t get along, but we were in the same pack. And we were here first, so can we agree to stand together if he shows too much favor to the Theurge?” F’foeg coughed and clapped Kabula on the back sharply by way of agreement. “Sorry about the throat. You know how it is. We can only afford to fight each other when there’s nobody else in the way. We’ll see where the new guy stands. And if he’s in the way...”
F’foeg drew a claw across his throat quickly and grinned, showing off the twisted teeth in his malformed face. Kabula punched him in the arm. “You’re smarter when you aren’t talking.”

“This is...”
“No names yet. I wish to see how...it performs first.” Nuntisiwas sniffed at the vile little creature before him. ‘It’ truly was the appropriate term. He was unsure what festering cesspit his lackies had pulled this thing out of, but he rather wished they’d left it there. It was nearly hairless, its skin oddly colored and wrinkled, and stretched out into strange membranes in all the wrong places. The hands were malformed and appeared nearly useless for any sort of fine manipulation. It truly was one of the worst examples of Black Spiral breeding he’d ever seen.
“I wish you to do a summoning for me.”
“Surely you are capable of attracting the attention of any spirit you wish with no need for one such as myself.” It kept its head down submissively, but there was a distinct mocking undertone to the voice.
“You are quite right. I attract a lot of attention. Unfortunately, I require something a little more potent than the mindless little spirits that flock around any Spiral of sufficient power. Also, I need things which will not be so easily distracted or detected. I need the services of more powerful spirits, ones capable of thinking and acting independently of a patron. In short, I need ones that will not respond to anything but the most powerful summoning, the sort best left to specialists.”
“Ah, so you would like something truly spectacular, something with many names, something that cannot be casually bound into a prison by one of similar skills?”
“Precisely. I shall need to send it near a rather powerful Uktena witch”
The Theurge spat up something grey and squirming. “That will be difficult to acquire. Learning the names of such powerful creatures will require considerable time and effort.”
“I want it done today.”
“I cannot do it today...unless...” The creature grinned up at him, showing off a mouthful of needle sharp curved teeth. “you would be willing to provide a sacrifice for me to use.”
Nuntisiwas growled sharply. “I do not wish to waste another body. It attracts too much attention. We have attracted too much as is.”
Kabula coughed. “We could use one of the ones that’s hurt. They’ll just slow us down anyway and make it easier for those wolves we ran into earlier to catch up.”
“Excellent.” Nuntisiwas and the Theurge spoke in unison and then eyed each other with distaste. Nuntisiwas continued. “I suppose I have a selection to choose from, unfortunately. Tell me, is...” He grinned maliciously “Jonathan among the injured?”
“I thought you didn’t know anyone’s name?” Kabula looked suspicious again.
“He has displeased me. Sometimes it is a bad thing that I know your name, as it makes you easier to hurt.” He looked purposely at F'Foeg, who nervously rubbed at his throat.
“No, he’s not. I could go pick someone random that’s wounded.”
“Go, do not tell them why I want them.”
He turned back to the Theurge. “I will require these hunters to be subtle, yet relentless. Powerful, yet clever as well. I wish them to get the information without leaving any trace they have been there, if possible. They will need to extract the information from an Uktena, so force may be required, yet also subtlety or else the witch will die rather than surrender her secrets."
"I have some idea of what to try summoning, but I shall read the entrails of the sacrifice to try to gain further guidence. Amid his screams I shall hear the whisperings that will tell me the names of those I need to call." The Theurge rubbed its malformed paws together with glee.
Nuntisiwas spat, thoroughly revolted by the vile little creature. "Just do it, I have no need to know the details of the work, nor inclination." The Theurge grinned even more broadly and trundled about like some sort of obscene windup toy as it marked out glyphs and pretonic keys in the snow.
F'foeg and Kabula returned a few minutes later, by which point Nuntisiwas was seriously considering kissing them. Disgusting. Held between them was a gibbering young man who seemed utterly unaware of where he was or of the fact that one of his legs was hanging on by only a few strips of skin.
"Carefully, carefully, do not step on the markings. Put him down here, and hold him down. He will start to thrash once I begin cutting and that will not do. I need the blood to run just so" as he pointed "so that it will fill those marks slowly and then spread outward from them. Yes, hold him down, one to each arm. And you be ready to hold his head when he shifts."
Kabula and F'Foeg did as told, crouching over the man in Crinos. The theurge straddled his hips as it ran its claws over his bare chest. The touch was lingering and rather more intimate than should ever be used in public. "Ah yes, a fine, fine sacrifice. If it were not for the leg, but ah, the spirits will be forgiving of such imperfections if he is properly displayed..." as the creature dug its claws into the young man's chest.
Nuntisiwas turned away as the screaming started. The Theurge continued his muttering, crooning to his hapless victim as if he were trying to sooth a crying baby. Even as he spoke, he slowly peeled away more and more of the young man's flesh, even as it writhed and shifted under his touch as the boy's body tried desperately to heal itself. The screams soon turned to piercing wailing howls and the Theurge's crooning was sporadically intrupted by muttered curses from Kabula and F'Foeg as they tried to restrain the thrashing Garou.
Nuntisiwas was torn between looking and not looking. Surely my mind will conjure far worse images than anything that is actually being done and my underlings will see it as a sign of weakness if I do not watch at least part of it. He turned back and decided that his imagination was quite tame.
The Theurge had flayed all the skin off his victim's chest and was now slowly peeling down the arm, murmuring and nuzzling at the boy's neck. Each scream and whimper grated on Nuntisiwas' nerves, but seemed to please the Theurge immensely. It rubbed itself against the young man, delighting in the new screams as raw muscle and shattered nerves were scratched across its warty hide.
Nuntisiwas nearly gagged in disgust as his mind flashed to an entirely different scene, a far more pleasant one, now tainted by the sight of the Spiral's rite. The Theurge continued to peel off the man's skin without tearing it, almost as if he were peeling off a shirt. It continued to stroke and caress the raw bleeding flesh of the young man, coaxing ever more impressive wails out. When simple touching failed to elicit the proper response, it turned to more elaborate methods, clawing foul glyphs directly into the flesh, deep enough so that its claws squealed across bone. Each scream seemed more piercing and desperate than the last, coming ever faster and more urgent until the boy simply howled continuously in agony.
Suddenly the Garou went silent and limp, as all the fight went out of him. The Theurge paused in his ministrations, head cocked and a vile smirk upon its face. Its eyes were half closed and it swayed from side to side in a kind of deranged trance.
It continued this performance for a few minutes while the skinned Garou made ever feebler whimpering noises. Abruptly the Theurge struck and the final wail of the young Garou rang out amidst the sickening crunch of breaking bone. Nuntisiwas turned away as the Theurge buried its muzzle amidst the cracked ruin of its victims chest. The wet sounds of muscle tearing and blood splattering onto the snow mixed with the mutter of the Theurge's voice.
Nuntisiwas rubbed at his eyes, trying, and failing to compose himself. It would not do to let any of them see him anything less than eager for killing. Killing I didn't mind, but this senseless butchery and torture is more than even I can stand. There is only so much necessity can justify. The orders are so easy to give, but living with the knowledge that I have as much responsibility as the one who did the deed is just as surely torture.
"Can we eat any of it?"
"After, if the spirits do not demand the body, you can feed off the scraps."
Nuntisiwas ground his teeth and balled his fists as he felt a cold fury well up inside himself. Black Spirals were vile, but to coldly murder one of their own and then calmly talk about whether or not to eat it was simply too much. He took that fury and gathered it up inside, using it build a mental shield around himself. He forced distance between himself and the proceedings once again.
He turned back , face composed into a cold mask showing nothing but his contempt for the whole situation. The Theurge was rooting through the boy's entrails, muttering about how each little bump and discoloration had significance and over and over whispering nonsense sylables. F'Foeg sat licking blood off his claws and Kabula poked curiously at the Garou's dead empy eye with one claw until it popped and ran.
Gradually a droning noise started to drown out the muttering of the Theurge. Nuntisiwas' skin crawled and his fur stood on end as if a thunderstorm were coming. He looked to the sky, but saw only the half moon looking back from a clear sky.
The night split in two as a thing of nightmares stepped out of nowhere...or more likely the spirit world. Its eyes blazed amidst the twitching, chitaneous limbs and scaley coils. Its form seemed unsteady and physically impossible, as if an M.C. Echer drawing had been given life by the nightmares of a homicidal madman.
"Why do you call me?" The voice was simultaneously brittle and wet, filled with vile undertones that brought to mind burbling mud and the snap of aged trees collapsing due to their own internal rot.
The Theurge started to speak, and Nuntisiwas cut it off sharply. "I have need of your services." The thing didn't so much turn to look at him as suddenly reverse where its eyes and limbs had been, completely ignoring physics. Nuntisiwas coughed nervously, feeling his resolve weaken slightly when faced with such an utter affront to nature. "There are certain people who have gotten in the way of my latest efforts. Reportedly they were sent this way due to the visions of an Uktena witch. I wish to know what this Uktena knows and how it knows."
"A simple matter, not requiring my attention. Find some other creature to use."
"I require the aid of powerful spirits because this was most clearly not simple coincidence. All prepartations were made in secret and with great care to make sure that not even my assistants knew what was going on, thus causing them to somewhat foul up plans." He scowled at F'foeg and Kabula. "However, this resulted in a last minute change even I was not aware of until after the deed was done, and yet somehow, this Uktena knew of the event, and moved to put someone in the position to interfere with my plans." He neglected to mention that those plans had been constantly changing as the affair had become an ever greater disastor. "This is well beyond the skill of any of our Theurges and it is impossible to anticipate how this foe will next strike. If this Uktena can predict the actions of the Wyrm's forces before even we know what they are, we are in most serious trouble. Thus I need the services of something more powerful than myself to deal with this threat."
The creature seemed to be considering for a moment. "If it is as you say, this is a terrible threat indeed and worthy of my attention. If you exagerate..." the rumble of its voice made the threat clear enough.
"Of course. To find this creature, you need only find the sacrifice we made earlier today and track the Garou who interfered back to where he came from. That should lead you back to the witch. I leave it to you to figure out the best means of dealing with this threat. I would, however, like to get a report of how it turns out, and what else this witch knew."
"It will be little trouble to break this creature. There is, however, the issue of payment for these service."
"You have already had one Garou sacrificed for your benefit and you can feast on the remains of the woman, along with the body of the Uktena."
"But we are three and that is but the payment required to attract our attention. We will require a further services and sustenance. The price will be greater if the task proves particuarly difficult."
"Three?"
"Myself and my associates. We come together."
"And they would be...?"
"The Garou call us the Dark Trinity."
"How...quaint. No matter, whatever it is, the price will be paid." Nuntisiwas lied and got away with it. The creature didn't even seem to notice or care. It simply twitched slightly to indicate it had heard and agreed as it started to fade out, dragging the mangled corpse through the Gauntlet with it.
The noise faded and Nuntisiwas sighed. Where to get three more bodies?
"Hey, it forgot his leg! I've got dibs on it!" F'Foeg lunged for the mangled limb. Kabula punched him in the nose.
"No way, I want a taste of it and I did more holding him down!"
Nuntisiwas smiled. It wouldn't be at all hard to find three more bodies to feed to the banes.

Part 5