The two groups disperse, with Jens leading the first and Niadryan leading the second. Niadryan said earlier that he knows exactly where he's going. It feels like they've been walking forever; Layla is beginning to lose her faith in him.

"Where exactly did you say you saw this cabin?" She asks him, exchanging a worried look with Rak.

"Not far from here now," he replies. "Pipe down and we will get there quicker."

Layla scoffs and Raun grins, a few of the other wolves sniggering. "I like this fella," Raun says, laughing.

Layla narrows her eyes and Raun shrugs. Rak offers her a consoling 'what can ya do?' smile.

"Oh Niadryaaaaaaannn," Raun sings. Niadryan turns around and raises an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "What exactly makes you so sure we're going to find the Blades in a little cabin? What if they're with Ignara?"

"I am not sure," Niadryan says.

Layla cuts in, "But you said-"

"I am aware of what I said. And I said that I am sure I know where the cabin is. I did not say I was sure the Blades would be there. I am just taking a shot in the dark, given that we have no alternative leads."

"Must we call it a cabin?" Rak groans. "Cabin sounds so sinister. Every terrible horror movie has a cabin in the woods where someone dies."

Raun frowns. "What's a horror movie?"

Layla sighs. He's just like Heidi, who can't even identify what a television is. In any other circumstances, she would laugh and tease him. But these aren't other circumstances.

They could die if they aren't careful.

Rak shakes her head. "I'm just saying. Cabins that are in the woods tend to be rigged with traps."

Raun frowns even more. "But, but- the Tergaron Woods doesn't even have a cabin! Does it need one?"

Rak mock gasps. "Why, that is a violation of the wood code. I'm afraid we may have to chop off your head."

The wolves behind them instantly step forward, forming a protective circle around Raun.

Layla rubs her temples. Oh Lord, give me strength...

Rak rolls her eyes. "Calm down, I was kidding!"

The wolves shoot Raun a look, asking for instructions. Their beta nods, and they gradually fall away from him. Raun turns to Rak with a wonky smile. "That's right, sucker. Don't mess with me."

"Be quiet," Niadryan hisses from the front, "And look."

Their heads lift, and their eyes are met with a small, rundown cabin decorated in flowers. Fading fireflies float around it, almost flickering out with the intrusion of the sun beside the moon, a nod to the work of the weird weather within the Fair Woodlands.

They stand in a line- Layla, Rak, Raun and Niadryan- with the wolves in a clump behind them. Immediately, Layla knows they're in the right place. The cabin has a force over her that she cannot explain, almost as if someone inside has thrown an invisible lassoo over her and is pulling her closer and closer, towards the door...

Her Blade hand tingles.

"This is it," she mumbles. "This is the place."

They do not even question how she knows. Niadryan makes the first move forward, his actions reflecting the grace that only an elf can demonstrate. He presses down the handle on the door and it immediately springs open, showing nothing but darkness within, like looking into a hole that never ends without a flashlight.

Raun gulps. "I guess, ummm... I guess now would be a good time for us to Change?"

Layla stays rooted to the spot, her eyes unmoving. "Yes, Raun," she whispers. "I think now would be an excellent time to Change."

Raun gives her the thumbs up, his hands trembling. He nods at the rest of the werewolves, and they all Change. Layla is overwhelmed by the variety of fur colours. With just how beautiful they all are. Even Raun, with his cocoa fur and big, brown, blinking eyes.

The sight of them all makes her think of Castor, and her heart drops. If only he'd chosen them. If only he'd chosen to be apart of this family I see before me, instead of betraying them.

She hopes she's wrong. More than anything.

"Shall we proceed?" Niadryan asks tentatively.

Irritation has creeped into his voice. When he thinks they haven't been able to see, Layla has caught him forming Bree's name and then closing his eyes, almost as if in prayer. The fey fall in love quickly and intensely. She never thought of the fact that while they are all together here, Bree is alone at the Viribus Guild, and Niadryan has no way of knowing what's happening there.

Layla touches Niadryan's shoulder. "Only if you think we should."

Rak smiles at Layla, pride in her eyes. It feels good; like the kind of praise she would feel good about receiving from her mother, if she were still alive.

Niadryan grimaces. "I do."

Raun nods his hair head at the vast group of wolves, gesturing for them to guard the entrance. Together, the four of them walk forward, Rak holding fast to Raun's fur. Layla can tell they're going to be great friends after this, and she grins at the thought of how everyone's lives seem to be overlapping and intertwining with one another.

As soon as Niadryan places his foot over the threshold, he calls out. The lights come on and he falls to the floor, screaming.

Rak is at his side within seconds, and Wolf Raun is with her, propping Niadryan up with his nose and letting him lay against his fur, so he is upright in order for Rak to tend to him.

Rak pats herself down, cursing. "Shit, where is it?" She murmurs.

"Where's what?" Layla asks. She is examining what caused the damage. It is a tripwire that stretches along the diameter of the entrance. It is covered in a weird substance Layla has never seen before.

"My healing potion," Rak says. "I never leave the house without it. It must have fallen somewhere, I-"

"Rak..." Layla's hands slowly travel to her mouth.

Rak answers, exasperated. "What, Layla?"

"Look at his foot."

Rak's eyes glimpse Niadryan's foot, which is pointing at a weird angle. Sheets of smoke protrude from it. Rak carefully peels back his socks and bites her lip, her eyes filling with tears.

"Layla," she gasps.

Raun whines, looking on with concerned eyes.

Layla nods, anxiety building up in her. "I know. I know."

Niadryan looks at his foot. Or, what's left of it, and promptly passes out.

The flesh is burning, showing white, white bone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jens watches as Layla, Rak, Raun and Niadryan walk away from them. He hopes they stick together. That they stay safe. If Layla can get her Blade back, they'll be fine. His niece is vicious with the right weapon. Calculating, but fair. A true warrior, who has taught Jens a lot. If anyone can keep the group safe, it's her.

Rose guides Jens, Lewis and Heidi through the Fair Woodlands. Half of Heidi's wolves trundle along, a good way behind, but watching, should anything go wrong. Rose isn't skipping along the path like she was the first time they met, Jens observes. Instead she saunters, almost distracted, as breezily and elegantly as if she were floating, her mouth a solemn line. 

"Rose, are you alright?"

Rose's head spins over her shoulder and she gives Jens a forced smile. "It is just... Being back here. It fills me with dread."

Lewis looks at her with sympathy. "Was it really that bad to live here?"

Rose shakes her head. "Not always. Once, this place was a paradise; Eden-like. But then greed and the temptation of power interfered, and that changed. That's why visitors like yourselves who aren't used to things always feel so uneasy here. You feel it, don't you? The overwhelming sensation of fear and threat?"

Lewis shudders. Heidi nods.

Jens shrugs. "I just feel the same as I always do."

"Then maybe you are not as care-free and laidback as you like to appear to everyone. Maybe your life is already filled with enough threat that you do not feel a change," Rose deduces.

Lewis and Heidi stare at Jens, expecting him to retaliate. To deny it. But he's way past that. Fear has poisoned him for years. It is at his very core, rotting inside of him and taking over his thoughts, pushing him to run and hide, or to scream, or hit something. Threat has loomed over his head like a dark rain cloud since the moment he found out what Lani did to him. Manipulation, fear, threat... They're powerless if you don't give into them, and it seems that Jens has.

"Yeah, maybe," Jens says. The others look at him in surprise. "So what do we do? Do we have any idea of where he could be?"

"I don't know," Heidi says. "But we have to be alert. We don't want any surprises."

"BOO!" A voice from behind them shouts.

Jens, Lewis, Heidi and Rose all jump, frightened. The voice cackles, then appears in front of them. It is a dryad- a tree nymph like Rose, though she lacks Rose's smile and sneers instead- flanked by two elves.

It only takes about a minute for approximately one hundred wolves to appear behind them. They don't do anything. Jens knows Heidi told them not to act unless absolutely necessary. They just stand at attention and watch in silence, as tense as a bowstring that is just waiting to loosen and let an arrow fly free.

"No surprises, they say! How very very wrong they were, girls," the dryad says, howling with laughter. She looks at Rose down her nose with disdain. "You. Traitor. You're a disgrace to all of us."

Rose clenches her fists. Jen's cant help but encourage the voices in his head that scream Fight, fight, fight!

Heidi approaches the three girls with her hands up in the surrender stance. "Turn around and forget we were here," she says, "And none of you will end up getting hurt today."

They all giggle, calling Heidi names under their breaths, commenting on her high voice and small size. The wolves look like they desperately want to intervene, but Heidi holds up a hand, stopping them. Jens and Heidi raise an eyebrow at one another, then Jens spreads his hands wide,  a gesture of be my guest.

He laughs when Heidi Changes and the girls realise what is about to happen. Heidi scrapes her claws into the soil and lets out a deep throat growl. The girls fall fearfully silent, eyes wide and faces pale.

"What's wrong, girls?" Jens asks, grinning, his arms crossed nonchalantly. "Haven't you ever seen an Alpha before?"

The wolves begin to clap, while the others just smile. Jens feels Lewis' eyes on him.

Wolf-Heidi's mouth opens in a smile, then she pounces forward and all of the girls scatter except for one, who moves out of sight. Nobody notices when she steps up to Rose and slaps her hard across her face, until they hear the sound and see Rose clutching her cheek, weeping.

"You deserve to be hanged by your neck with that flower crown of yours, Rose Hawthorne. To betray our master, the great and powerful Ignara... You disgust me. I am repulsed by you."

And that's when it happens. 

That's when Lewis snaps in a way Jens has never seen him snap before.

His eyes are ablaze as he pulls out his dagger, which Jens hasn't seen him use at all, unlike Layla with hers. He moves slowly, eyes never leaving the elf, who is now only understanding just what a mistake she has made. Jens holds his breath as she begins to step back. He isn't used to this Lewis, but when he sees him, he gets tingles all over his body. 

Lewis moves and it's like lightning. He knocks the elf to the ground and away from Rose, gesturing for Jens to help him pinion her arms to the ground. Jens does just that, and together they hold one arm each down while Heidi and Rose stand over her. Heidi orders her wolves to find Raun and the others, and tell them what has happened. That they've been seen and their situation is now compromised.

The elf begins to cry. "I apologise, I am sorry, please do not hurt me." 

"We aren't going to," Lewis says from beside her. "We don't do that kind of thing. We don't hurt people."

The elf furrows her brow. "But you are a Blade Wielder," she says, dazed. "All Wielders are bad. He told us that."

"Who told you that?" Rose asks her. "Ignara?"

The elf scowls. "You do not get to ask questions, traitor."

Heidi growls in her face, saliva dripping down onto her face. The elf cries harder.

"Be good, or we'll stuff you in a nearby tree, where it'll take days for anyone to find you," Jens threatens. "You know Ignara. We were right, he's always been here. Where is he?" 

The elf stays quiet.

"WHERE IS HE?" Jens presses, as Heidi creeps closer and Rose watches, tears still trickling down her face.

"Lewis." The voice comes from the shadows. Lewis looks up. "Unhand the girl," the voice says. "It's alright. I can help you all."

Lewis moves his head around frantically, searching for the voice. "It can't be... No. No."

Jens feels the fear Rose talked about before tug at him, but he does not say anything.

A man steps out from the shadows and smiles at Lewis. "Hello, Lewis."

Before Jens can understand anything or ask any questions, Lewis is letting go of the elf and rushing towards him, with the hugest grin Jens has ever seen on his face. He jumps into the man's open arms and cries.

"Uncle March," he sobs, "I thought you were dead. Where have you been? Did they capture you?" Lewis asks, still hugging him tightly.

The others can only look on in shock.

So this is the famous missing uncle, Jens thinks. 

Nycto March laughs a laugh of ingenuity. "That's more or less what happened, yes," he says, and then he plunges a knife into Lewis' back just as Jens, Heidi and Rose start to scream out.

Lewis collapses to the floor, gasping, his hands covering his open wound.

Nycto March, otherwise known by them all as Ignara, smirks. Jens rushes to Lewis' side. "It's okay, it's okay," he whispers reassuringly to Lewis. "Shhh."

Nycto grins down at Lewis with a certain malice that Jens believes may not ever be matched. He strokes Lewis' hair as Nycto speaks.

"Nice to see you, nephew."