"How in Sylvera could you not predict this?" Angel hissed.

She ducked her head behind a tree as a orange-brown wolf marched down the path ahead of them, his gaze tracing a circle around him as he searched. Thankfully, he only lingered for a second before moving on. As soon as he had vanished, she whipped back around to look at her companion.

"It is unwise for a wolf to know everything." Dawn's words were calm and measured, her whisper much softer than Angel's quiet growl. "I knew he would be unusual. I did not know how."

"But a Shadewylf?" Detecting a shout nearby, she crouched into the undergrowth, attempting to lower her voice. "Don't you think that would have been useful to know?" She fought the urge to flare her wings.

"Bhavisha was concerned that we would react badly to the news, and be unwilling to trust Thirty-Four," Dawn reasoned.

It took Angel a moment to come up with an answer. She hated Dawn's logic. Winning arguments against her was impossible. "Fine, you're probably right." Her eyes flitted in the direction of the plaza. On behalf of the Twilytra, she had been hovering above the ceremony, ready to report back, when it had happened. The filthy black waters. The larger wolf that emerged, cloaked in shadows, causing a rippling fear. Even the thought made her shudder. "But I'm not sure I trust him, regardless."

"Why is that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Angel winced as her voice rose towards a shout. Taking a moment to control the volume, she cast a nervous glance at the street, before continuing. "He's become the same as the creatures that started the first war. The same creatures that might have killed Katana." Her tail lashed, but she curled it before it could bash against tree bark. "Dawn, I have nightmares about these things. As far as I'm concerned, the wolf that stepped out of that pool is not our little Peltless hero. He's someone different entirely."

Dawn let out a long sigh. Fixing her gaze on Angel, she stepped forwards, making her mesmerising silver eyes visible. "These 'creatures' are made by circumstance, not appearance. Tell me, did you change at all when you recieved your Pelt?"

Dropping her gaze to the ground, Angel beat at the dirt with a paw. "No."

"Then neither will he." A twinkle glimmered in Dawn's eyes as she moved forward to nudge her friend in the shoulder. "There is nothing to fear, Angel. I will stay in reach of your mind. If anything goes awry, Fiammetta and Morgan will be ready."

Slowly, Angel nodded. Her friend was right. But it didn't stop her being scared.

She just couldn't show that fear.

With a final tail flick in Dawn's direction, she slipped out of the forest and spread her wings. Flight wouldn't be possible within the confines of the northern woods, but it would help her at least avoid the plaza. She sped through the sky, fast enough so that no wolf would get a good look at her, before spiralling down towards the forest floor. It took quite a violent twist of her wings to carry her through the tight space.

Her paws thudded into the earth. Instantly alert, she spun in a full circle, scanning for a sign of fur. Her heart constricted as she spotted a flash of rust-orange amongst the trees. But a second glance confirmed that it was only a fox.

Everything alright, Angel? Dawn's voice echoed in her mind. Pausing, she gave herself a moment to adjust. Though they communicated often in this way, she still found it unsettling.

Yes, all fine, she replied, placing the words in her thoughts for Dawn to intercept. No sign of anything yet.

After a deep breath, she turned away from the plaza and ventured into the dark of the forest, her ears pricked up and eyes darting from place to place. Everything was deathly silent, punctuated only by the occasional creak of wood or faint birdsong. Unease pricked at her fur.

It seemed like forever she spent in that forest, constantly on edge, pacing around trees and ducking under branches. Every slight noise made her twitch. She hated how scared she felt whenever she ventured somewhere she couldn't fly - especially in the vicinity of two separate sources that could possibily want to steal her away.

Hunters and their prey. And she could trust neither.

Shaking herself, she stared up through the needled branches at the pale sky. It was wrong to think like that. Thirty-Four was no danger to her. Amongst her thoughts, Dawn whispered words of reassurance, and for a moment she felt calm.

Until she heard it. The rustling. The pawsteps.

Coming closer.

Panic reared in her heart. She smothered it with a fierce confidence. I'm part of the Twilytra. I can defend myself.

Doubt immediately rose up to contradict the words.

Dawn, I think I'm going to need back-up.

Her eyes searched the trees, the sounds echoing off many trunks until their source was lost. Something moved in the shadows. In the darkness of the woods, it was hard to tell whether it was orange, or black, or something else entirely. Flaring her wings, she crouched on her haunches, preparing for a fight.

There was a yelp. A shout.

And something hurtling towards her through the air.

She didn't have time to react before the wolf slammed into her chest. Her body keeled sideways. Struggling to regain her balance, she swiped a paw blindly, but it didn't connect. Silently, she cursed herself for not spending longer training with Fiammetta and Katana.

Her paws slipped. Her head slammed with painful force into what she assumed was a tree trunk, and her vision blurred. The fight against her mysterious attacker became a desperate battle for conciousness.

Grappling for a hold in the earth, she tried to pull herself up, determined to keep going. Briefly, her head cleared the tree, but then the soil slipped through her claws and she fell into her second collision. Darkness swooped in, lifting her far away from the forest and into a place where only night ruled.

In her last few waking moments, her ears detected a faint gasp, though it felt worlds away. A voice - one vaguely familar - called her name.

Then she was lost to the dark.

Distant whispers tugged at Angel's conciousness. Straining her ears, she focused hard on the sounds, letting them lift her back into the real world. Though her eyes remained closed, she could sense the dim light that sparkled beyond her eyelids.

After a few moments of muffled mutterings, the voices grew louder, and the noise became words.

"How can I know for sure?" hissed someone, close enough to be stood over Angel's lower half. Fiammetta, the least dormant part of her mind whispered. She's come to save me.

"Please, I promise I am," pleaded another, male voice. Angel's ear twitched. Somehow, she recognised him, but amongst her sluggish thoughts it was hard to work out where from.

A tail swished above her. "A promise means nothing nowadays. It is spoken as easily as a lie," Fiammetta growled back.

"He's not lying!" A female voice. Again the strange spark of recognition. She must have known them, somehow. "Look at his eyes. You know how rare blue eyes are." Determination was rooted deep in her tone.

There was a pause. But then Fiammetta spoke again. "Rare, but not impossible. Either you give me some evidence, or I stab you right in the chest for hurting my friend, Shadewylf."

"But what if they are telling the truth?"

Angel's eyes flicked open. This voice she definitely recognised. It was the same voice that made her heart squirm whenever she heard it. Soft and gentle, like the break of a wave on sand. It took several seconds for her vision to clear, but she could make out the smudges of four Pelts. Fiammetta's bronze, stood over Angel as she faced the others, along with blue-green, gold... and black.

Fear lodged in her throat.

"They can't be," Fiammetta said to the blueish wolf. "They... he attacked Angel." She sunk into a crouch, her tail flicking over Angel's snout.

But the wolf shook his head, and as he did so, all the details of the world finally came back into focus, and he became the Seawylf Angel knew so well. Morgan. "If he was one of the, uh, real Shadewylves, wouldn't Angel already be dead?" Uncertainty wavered his tone, but the words were enough. Fiammetta took a curious step forward.

"Thirty-Four - if it is you - why did you attack her?" she asked. The growling threat still lingered in her tone, but it had softened slightly.

Following her gaze, Angel directed her attention to the black wolf, and the fear subsided. Now her vision had recovered, she could make out his blue eyes and twitching paws as he shifted, apprehensive. Thirty-Four, just the same. More or less. The sight didn't chase away every doubt, but it was enough to end her terror.

He exchanged nervous glances with the golden wolf beside him before answering. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just... Lexi said the Wylfire would kill me, and I was really scared, and then..." He cut off the story as his eyes rested on Angel. "You're awake!" Dodging around Fiammetta, he dashed over and crouched beside her. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on her. Pushing Thirty-Four aside, Fiammetta met her eyes. Angel curved her snout into a reasurring smile. "I'm fine." She placed her forepaws firmly on the ground and rose, flinging her wings out to steady herself. Waves of dizziness swept through her throbbing head, yet she stayed upright, fixing her gaze on her friend. "It's got to be him. Morgan's right - I'd be much more worse off if it wasn't him." The words didn't flow quite as well as she'd hoped, but it got the point across.

"Told you," muttered Lexi, from the other side of a tree. Angel's eyes widened as she heard the supressed pain in the clenched tone. In an instant, Thirty-Four was back at her side, but they all got a brief glimpse of her bloodstained flank.

While Morgan stepped forward to help the two pups, Angel and Fiammetta exchanged fearful glances. "Lexi, how did you get that?" Fiammetta asked, pointing her snout at the sizable wound. Stepping forward, Angel peered past Thirty-Four to inspect it, and winced.

"I was attacked by a... another Shadewylf," Lexi said, her gaze dropping to the ground. "His name was Deimos. If Thirty-Four hadn't saved me in time, I'd be dead." She shot a look of intense gratitude at her companion.

Fiammetta shifted closer to Angel, her eyes glittering with anxiety. "It's just as we feared," she whispered. "They're not staying in Nefaris anymore. The attack on the prison was just the beginning."

"Do you think it has anything to do with..." Angel glanced at Thirty-Four nervously.

"I dare say it does." Flicking her tail, Fiammetta opened her snout to say something more, but was interrupted by Morgan.

He was still studying Lexi's wound, and he looked over his shoulder at them. "We need to get her to Thea as quickly as possible. This could easily get infected out here."

"I'll take-" Angel started, but Morgan shook his head.

"You still need to recover," he told her, eyes filled with concern.

Fiammetta slid in beside Lexi. "I'll take her," she said, sliding her snout under the Thunderwylf's chest before anyone could tell her otherwise. As Lexi adjusted her position amongst the bronze fur, Thirty-Four met her eyes, his own glinting mischeviously.

"Race you there!" he called to them both. Laughing, Fiammetta sprinted after him, and they both disappeared from view.

Morgan chuckled to himself. "That pup is certainly a character."

"Yeah, he is," Angel replied with a smile. It faded as she realised that they were the only two left in the clearing. Awkwardly, she shifted her paws, feeling the uncomfortable silence settle over her.

Her eyes darted about the forest. Should she follow the others? But then it would feel rude to leave Morgan. Even suggesting that they follow would make it seem like she was annoyed that they weren't already, and the longer she debated it, the worse it felt.

Eventually, she opened her snout, working out a string of words that sounded fairly okay in her head, only to have him speak first. "It's pretty scary, isn't it? All of this." His eyes remained fixed on the treetops.

"Yeah," Angel agreed, battling for something more interesting to say. Instead, she found her gaze drifting to rest on his swirling Pelt. It did look just like the ocean's sparkling colour on a bright summer's day.

"But we'll be fine, right? Because we'll stick together." His ears twitched nervously. Strangely, Angel found herself wanting to move over and comfort him. She settled with spreading her wing out over his back.

"I hope so," she said, then realised the lack of confidence in her voice. "I mean, the Twilytra are a team. We're unstoppable together." Sometimes, her mind added doubtfully. Maybe not against Shadewylves.

He glanced over at her, and she hurriedly yanked her gaze back to the trees. "You're right. We'll be fine." Somehow, the uncertainty in his voice made her feel both better and worse at the same time.

They lapsed into silence again. Angel watched a tiny bird hop across a branch. When it flew away, she risked a look over at Morgan, only to find him staring right back at her.

"Angel," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "we'll be able to keep protecting each other, right? I... I don't want to be separated from you." His eyes glowed gold, dancing with nerves.

"Of course," she told him. "All of us will protect one another."

Sighing, he looked down at the ground. "Right," he said softly. "All of us." Angel's wings twitched. Had that been the wrong thing to say?

Thankfully, he raised his head after a moment, and gave her a nod. "Shall we head to the base, then?"

Agreeing, she spread her wings, but folded them again after a second. If Morgan had asked not to be separated, she should walk with him. Maybe that would help him be less scared. Even if she did really want to fly freely again.

"I would race you, but I don't think I could handle running all the way there," Morgan admitted, the lustre returning to his eyes.

"Me neither." Angel began jogging forwards, but quickly slowed her pace to allow them to walk in tandem. And also because running made her head spin. As they curved back towards the town, she couldn't help glancing over at his fur again.

Whatever it took, she would fulfil the promise. She would protect all of the Twilytra.

Even if the rest of Sylvera fell, she was determined to keep her friends alive.