Crystal then suddenly lets out a crazy scream, and Shade looks like he wants to leap off the nearest cliff. My honeycomb falls out of my mouth, and the birds in the area all fly away at once. “What the HECK?!” I yelp. “Haven’t I been traumatized enough?!” “I think those Servants of Shadow are more traumatized than you.” Shade mutters. “I just want to go home.” “Um, I think we should go.” He says, raising his voice over Crystal’s shriek. “There are two Servants of Shadow back there, and more might come.” Mother clamps Crystal’s muzzle shut with her front two paws. “What?” “Diamond killed two Servants of Damyan back there, and more might follow!” “Killed?!” Crystal yelps, their voice muffled. “I have no idea what happened.” I mutter. “Anyways, instead of screaming, we should be leaving.” Shade says. “Yup.” Crystal says, shooting to their paws and wedging between me and Shade. “Let’s go!” They say, not suspiciously at all. Skystorm sighs, muttering something about “Not subtle at all.” And follows us. Shade takes the lead with Crystal, talking to them about maybe going to the Rebellion or Frostbite’s camps. “Rebellion,” Crystal says. “It’ll be good for me to meet up with my brother after so long. And Bloom and Clover.” “Okay then. Can’t you warp us then?” Shade asks. “Not with so many people! I’d go into a coma!” They protest. “Oh. Right.” They roll their eyes, muttering, “Young wolves these days.” “Don’t go saying that,” I tease. “It makes you sound old!” They raise an eyebrow at me like, “What’d you say to me, sonny?” Okay, maybe not the “sonny” part, but still. I only grin full-toothed at them, not sorry at all. “I swear I’m gonna revoke your sweets privileges for a week.” They mutter, continuing to walk. “What?!” I protest. “You wouldn’t dare!” “I totally would.” I give them a fake-pout face. It takes like… twenty minutes just to get out of the forest, and I don’t mention to anyone in the front that I’ve hitched a ride on Skystorm’s back, just barely small enough for it to be easy for her. Skystorm’s tail flicks as she carries me, but she doesn’t say anything. She’s probably pretending she doesn’t notice I’m here, which is honestly very kind of her. Crystal glances back once, sees me riding on their mate’s back, and gives me a look like: “You are absolutely testing my patience today.” Shade doesn’t notice. He’s too busy scanning the trees like every leaf is about to jump out and hiss at him. “Alright,” he says, “once we’re out of the forest, it’s a straight walk to the Rebellion’s outer camp. No more Servants, hopefully.” Crystal snorts. “Hopefully? Shade, if another one shows up, I’m throwing you at it.” Shade stops walking. “Why me?!” “You’re the soldier,” They say, marching ahead. “You can handle it.” Skystorm sighs. “Crystal, please don’t throw the boy.” “I’ll throw whoever I want.” I raise a paw. “Can you throw me? I wanna fly.” Crystal whips around so fast I almost fall off Skystorm’s back. “NO. Absolutely not. You are grounded. From sweets. Forever.” Shade mutters, “I thought it was a week.” Crystal glares at him. “Do you want it to be two?” Shade immediately faces forward again, and Skystorm’s shoulders shake as she tries to hold in laughter. I poke my head over hers and whisper, “She’s so dramatic.”, but Crystal hears me anyway. “I HEARD THAT.” They call. We finally break through the last line of trees, sunlight spilling over us. The forest behind feels heavy, like it’s watching. Shade pauses, ears up, scanning the shadows one last time. “Okay,” he says quietly. “Let’s move. Fast.” Crystal nudges me off Skystorm’s back and onto the ground, keeping me tucked between them and Skystorm like I’m a fragile egg they’re terrified someone will drop. Shade leads the way down the slope toward a giant plateau, and Crystal is almost literally acting like I’m a second tail. I sigh. “I’m not gonna explode, you know.” Crystal huffs. “You already did.” Skystorm moves away from my side, like she’s trying to give me the space she senses I want. Crystal shoots her a look, but she just shrugs. “Diamond’s an adult now, it’s bound to happen eventually. She’ll meet and talk to boys. It’s a part of life.”
Crystal vibrates like they’re absolutely not ready for that and absolutely going to lock me underground to prevent it. As we approach the high cliffs of the plateau, Shade walks over to the vine-concealed cave entrance. Skystorm bounds after him like she’s coming home—which is understandable since both Crystal and Skystorm spend a lot of time at the rebellion as squad generals. I push through the vines into the cave. Glowing, iridescent crystals dot the walls and ceiling, illuminating it and showing us the way. Shade flicks his tail as he pushes through a second vine covering, and we burst into sunlight. I nearly faint in my tracks. I thought it was a plateau, but it’s actually a large cliff going around in a big circle as a natural barrier. They cleverly hid the entrance on the outside, keeping the hidden clearing completely safe. The clearing is bigger than the ruins of Damyan’s castle, and Damyan’s castle is enormous. There are rows and rows of endless dens, some seeming to be houses, some seeming to be stores and markets and more. Wolves of all tribes bustle around, going about business. I didn’t think the rebellion has gotten this big. There’s enough wolves here to start a kingdom. I pass a she-wolf a few months older than me with a war map rolled up in a container strapped to her side as she heads off to the biggest den. Shade grunts. “I’ll leave you two to give Diamond a tour. She’s safe now, and I’ve got to get to my squad general.” He trots off, his black fur glimmering with his undertone sheens in the sunlight. Crystal immediately bounds away, and we have to hurry to catch up to them. They gesture with their tail to the biggest den. “That’s the war meeting den, and also Commander Peace’s den. Blah blah boring war talk and such. The market is… scattered everywhere, I see.” They blab off, naming and pointing at things as we walk. Eventually, I get bored and start to wander off, following my nose. There’s a slab of stone with a Flameburn wolf sitting next to it. The wooden plaque propped up on the other side says, “Roasted prey, nuts, or berries.” I watch as a wolf comes up with a rabbit, pushes two gold pieces towards the Flameburn wolf, and sits back. The Flameburn wolf flicks her magma-red and charcoal-black streaked tail as she pulls the prey onto the slab, breathing fire-hot smoky breath onto the meat. In less than eight minutes, the rabbit is smoking and toasty. The other wolf picks up the rabbit and carries it off, it clearly being too hot for the tongue right now. The wolf wrinkles his muzzle and shakes his head vigorously after dropping the toasted prey. Curious, I walk down the marketplace aisles, peering at the different goods on the stone platforms of the stands. I walk into a few den-stores to look around, beaming and squealing softly when I find an entire store of just entirely sweets supplies. I memorize the name of the store and where it is to come back later, bounding off again. Pups of all tribes—and even some that are so diverse we can’t begin to figure out what tribes they came from—bound all around the city, playing and laughing. I lift my nose at a weird smell that suddenly wafts through the entirety of the rebellion camp. Blood, metal, and war. A loud, cackling bark echoes through the place, and every wolf whips around to the source. “WOW!” The wolf who laughed shouts. “This place has grown big!” The wolf has charcoal gray fur barely noticeable with the amount of armor covering his body. His fur only sticks out at the joints and cracks between the armor pieces. His helmet covers the top of his head and muzzle, his ears flicking from two holes at the top. His tail is the only body part of him that isn’t covered by some amount of armor, thumping against the grass where he sits. He’s larger than the average muscular male, easily towering over us. His eyes glitter a violent bluish pink. A chocolate-brown wolf emerges from the war meeting den, her eyes bright orange, and colorful dyed streaks across her sides and neck, her chest and head protected by armor. She seems to be about a year or so older than me. That would make her two. She only looks a little bit younger than Crystal or Skystorm. She looks up at the large male wolf, dipping her head. “Who are you?” The male sighs as if witnessing a tragic death that wasn’t nearly as entertaining as he’d hoped. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t have expected recognition. I don’t remember the last time I visited this place. It was… ah, way before even your parents were born, Commander!”
