by Hawke Oakley
Indeed, the fox shifters exchanged glances, as if they were unsure how to proceed. I stepped forward and kept my hands raised to demonstrate that I wasn’t a threat.
“Are you from Cinderhollow tribe?” I asked.
The lead fox shook his head. “No. Not originally. We were only just granted access recently.” He stepped forward again to meet me. “My name is Luce. I am the… leader, I suppose, of our little group.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand. It was small, as was he. For the first time I noticed all of the fox shifters were quite small. “Are you an omega, Luce?”
“Kass, you can’t just ask people that,” Halo said, rolling his eyes.
“Hush.”
But the question struck fear into Luce’s wide eyes. He shook his head again. “No. A beta. But - the rest, yes.”
Halo hauled himself up and limped over to us before leaning his weight on me. “Why do you look so scared?”
“I’m sorry,” Luce said, his eyes flicking to Halo now.
“No, no, don’t be. I’m an omega too. This guy’s an alpha, as I’m sure you noticed by his big broad shoulders and inability to mind his own business.” He winked at them. “But he’s a good one, I promise.”
My heart fluttered unexpectedly at Halo’s compliment. A good one?
“I see,” Luce said. Some of the tension left his shoulders. “Thank you. I apologize, it’s been a rough journey to get here.”
Halo and I exchanged glances.
“So this is your camp, I assume?” I said.
Luce nodded hesitantly. “Yes.”
I tried to smile in a non-threatening way, hoping it came across. “Then why don’t we sit and talk?
Luce’s cautious gaze turned to Halo, who nodded with a gentle smile. Luce’s companions nodded to him, and finally Luce let out a relieved exhale and said, “As you wish, alpha.”
8
Halo
“Alpha, is that enough rabbit for you?” Luce asked Kass for about the millionth time. As we sat around the newly lit fire, Luce and the other fox omegas seemed to be trained on Kass’s every word and every move.
“Please, you don’t have to call me that,” Kass said with a wince. He primly held a roasted rabbit haunch in one hand. “In fact, I really rather you didn’t.”
“But… you are an alpha,” Luce commented, sounding confused. “It’s my place to treat you as such.”
“Luce, we left our skulk to get away from that kind of alpha worshipping,” another fox shifter muttered. “Let’s not continue it here.”
“You’re right, James,” Luce said with a sigh. “I’m sorry. It’s a hard habit to break.”
“You left your skulk?” I asked, more interested in that than the constant apologizing. “And you said you’re from outside Cinderhollow, is that right?”
“Yes,” Luce said.
My mind immediately went to the Cinderhollow barrier, and how it functioned. I scooted forward with barely contained enthusiasm. “How did you get in? Tell me everything.”
“The guards, bless them, were kind enough to let us enter,” Luce explained.
With a flicker of excitement, I faced Kass.
“After we told them our story,” James added with a grimace. “Basically, your run of the mill omegas-trying-to-escape-abusive-alphas scenario.”
“You were abused by alphas in your skulk?” Kass frowned. “I’m so sorry.”
James shrugged, but it was clear by his pained expression that he appreciated the sympathy coming from an alpha.
“That’s disgusting,” I growled. “Back in my day - er, when I was younger - the alphas in Cinderhollow used to try and push me around too.”
Suddenly, Luce and the other fox shifters’ eyes widened with unease.
“They did? But… you don’t seem that much older than us,” Luce said uncertainly. “We’ve heard the alphas in Cinderhollow were better than the ones in our skulk.”
Now Kass seemed deeply interested too. He leaned forward on his knees, his face illuminated by the fire.
I shuddered briefly. It reminded me too much of the night he and the Knights advanced on me, their armor reflecting the flames of my own creation.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell us the things you’ve heard about Cinderhollow?” Kass asked gently.
“Yes.” Luce nodded, seeming eager to explain. “We’ve heard rumors and whispers in our own skulk of the land beyond the great barrier.”
I smirked, then quickly wiped it off my face before anyone could ask why I seemed to pleased with myself.
“We heard that Cinderhollow was the greatest tribe anyone had ever seen… Shifters of all kinds, intermingling, mating and having children together. Living in harmony. Where omegas weren’t just livestock, but people with rights and opinions of their own, not pressured into taking a mate.”
Kassius and I both tried to hide the confusion in our expressions, not wanting to interrupt Luce or make it seem like he’d been lied to. While Cinderhollow tribe certainly wasn’t horrible by any means four hundred years ago, I didn’t think it was the best either. Many things could have been improved. One thing Luce said stuck out to me in particular - the pressure for an omega to take a mate. In my time, I was the only adult omega I knew of who hadn’t chosen an alpha. I mean, Kass and I were together at the time, but we hadn’t shared a claiming bite.
My heartbeat sped up as I grew increasingly hopeful. Had the stories Luce heard been the truth? Had things in Cinderhollow really changed for the better?
Please, gods, I hope so…
I noticed Kass’s gaze in my direction from the corner of my eye. Maybe he was thinking the same thing. When I briefly met his gaze, he looked away, back to Luce.
Now Luce paused and glanced over his shoulder. “There is… another thing we’ve heard.”
A few of the other omegas, who had remained quiet this whole time, followed his nervous gaze. They were all jumpy and nervous, reminding me more of deer than foxes.
I shouldn’t think that about them, I scolded myself. They just got out of a bad situation. It’s not their fault.
“No one’s following us, Luce,” James reassured him. “We don’t have to worry anymore.”
“He’s right,” Kassius said firmly. “We’ve been in the nearby area for a few days. Besides that, we will both protect you if need be.”
“Right,” Luce mumbled, bowing his head. “Thank you, alpha - er, I’m sorry. Kassius Pax.”
“What’s the other thing you mentioned?” I asked somewhat impatiently. I prickled with excitement, desperately eager to learn more about the Cinderhollow of the present.
“Well…”
As Luce trailed off, James spoke up. “We heard there’s dragons and magic.”
I barely contained my gasp. Kass tensed beside me.
“I mean, we’ve seen the dragons before, so we know that part’s true. And… the whole shining barrier thing definitely wasn’t made by human hands, and it’s not something an animal can create. So it must be magic. Right?”
“Yes, the barrier was created with magic,” Kassius began, measuring his words carefully. “But do you know if magic is common inside the tribe now?”
James furrowed his brow in confusion. “How should I know? We haven’t been to town yet. I thought you two said you were from Cinderhollow.”
Damnit, I thought. My impatience flared. I wanted to know the entire truth now.
“We are,” Kass replied quickly. “We’ve just been… living out here, on the outskirts for a long time.”
James shrugged. “So have we. We figured it was safer this way. The guards at the barrier know we’re here, so it’s not like we’re really hiding or anything.” He scratched the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed by his own unease. “It’s just… we don’t know what we’re going to be greeted with, if we go into town.”
“We don’t know if a group of fox omega refugees will be welcomed with open arms,” Luce admitted.
&
nbsp; “But… we haven’t seen Henry since he left, have we?” another omega piped up. “Maybe he settled in just fine, and that’s why he didn’t come back.”
“You might be right.” Luce turned to Kass and I to explain. “One of our group, an omega named Henry - he left on his own a few days ago. He didn’t want to stay on the outskirts any longer.”
“He’s living in town?” Kass asked.
“Yes. He’s always been quite independent.” Luce seemed a bit sad. “He said he would rather take his chances alone than stay with our group any longer.”
“He called us a bunch of cowards while he was at it,” James muttered. “I didn’t love the guy, but I hope he didn’t get himself hurt by going off alone.”
Kass and I exchanged glances, obviously having the same idea at once. Except Kass didn’t look too thrilled - I got the feeling he wanted to find Henry and help these fox shifters, but didn’t like the idea of heading inside town. As usual, he was driven by justice and duty rather than anything else.
I ignored him and asked Luce, “What if we found Henry for you? See how he’s doing, and report back?”
Luce’s eyes widened. “You would do that for us?”
“Sure. Why not?”
A moment later I felt Kass’s firm grip on my arm. “Halo, could I speak with you for a moment?”
He didn’t give me much time to answer. He pulled me aside, out of earshot of the foxes, and muttered, “What are you doing?”
“Helping refugees. What are you doing?”
“I know that’s not your whole intention. You want to see present-day Cinderhollow, I get it. But what if Luce’s information is wrong? What if it’s not safe?”
My frustration flared. “Come on, Kass. Why would they escape their skulk and come here if it was that bad?”
“Just because it’s better than omega slavery doesn’t make it good,” he argued.
I crossed my arms, scowling. “Maybe if you actually went into town during your four hundred years of sulking, we wouldn’t have this problem!”
Anger flashed across his eyes. “I was not sulking, Halo. I was - ”
Both of us stopped when one of the younger omegas shuffled up to us with a shy smile. “I’m sorry. Mr. Pax, did you say your friend’s name was Halo?”
We both tensed.
Shit, I thought. Was that a mistake? Should I be hiding my name?
Kass didn’t speak. He was leaving it up to me.
I held in my groan. What kind of trouble was my infamy going to get me into this time?
“Um… Yes, it is,” I said.
The omega smiled wider. “My name is Halo, too! Isn’t that funny?”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yup.”
James sighed from his seat across the fire. “It’s not that funny, Halo. Your name is pretty common.”
“I know,” the omega fox Halo said. “I just think it’s neat that we ran into someone in Cinderhollow with the same name. It’s like the legend!”
A chill ran down my spine, freezing me to my core. I heard the barely perceptible suck of air as Kass gasped quietly beside me.
They can’t be talking about anyone else, I thought. It has to be me.
“You’re right,” Luce agreed with a kind smile. “And Halo the legend was from Cinderhollow, too, wasn’t he? The Golden Dragon?”
“Yes!” Halo the fox said.
I needed to sit down. I limped back to the log and collapsed on it, letting the fire’s warmth seep into my bones. Kass urgently sat next to me.
“You know about the legend?” Kass asked them, trying to keep the edge out of his voice. The foxes wouldn’t be able to pick up on it, but I knew Kass better than them - I could tell he was anxious.
“Of course. Everybody knows about the Golden Dragon,” Luce said. “It’s the one thing we knew about Cinderhollow, even before all the rumors about what a wonderful place it was.”
I felt like I was going to go insane if someone didn’t explain to me what the hell was going on soon. I had half a mind to leave this conversation and just run into town to see the truth with my own eyes already.
“I’ve heard many takes on the legend,” Kass said with a faked curious smile. “Which is the one you’re familiar with?”
Manipulative low-down rat, I thought with a hint of affection.
“Well, the one I know is that Halo Fire-Eater was a powerful omega mage, who bravely created the Cinderhollow barrier to keep outside threats from hurting the tribe he loved so dearly,” Luce explained.
“That’s the one I was named after,” fox Halo said excitedly.
“So, it’s a good story?” I asked with a hint of caution.
“Of course.” Luce smiled. “I’ve even heard versions where Halo was actually a god living among us.”
I had a good internal laugh about that one, but I kept it to myself.
“I’ve never heard one where he was a bad person,” Luce continued. “I think it would be strange, don’t you think? All he wanted to do was protect people.”
I couldn’t help the spread of the slow, smug grin across my face - and I certainly didn’t miss the way Kass tried not to frown.
Ha! Tell your precious Knights to put that in their pipes and smoke it.
“I see,” Kass said eventually. “That’s good to hear.”
The fox omega Halo tilted his head curiously. “What are the bad versions of the legend? Actually, I’m not sure I even want to know…”
“Oh, they’re not worth repeating,” Kass said, waving them off. “Just some stories about how he used his powers for a couple not-so-nice things.”
I squashed the urge to glare at him. He was never going to let that go, but at least he had the decency not to air his grievances out in front of these people. We could fight about this particular issue later, without an audience.
“So, you’ll still look for Henry?” James asked.
I replied before Kass had another chance to wriggle around in his doubts. “Yes. We’ll come back and let you know how he’s doing.”
Luce nodded. “Thank you very much, again. We appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
* * *
We decided to stay the night at a nearby shallow cavern that Luce pointed out to us. The foxes already knew the area better than we did, and by the time night fully descended upon us, we were too exhausted to complain about sleeping in a dirt hole in the wall.
The flat stone and compact dirt ground was cold. No matter how much I looked, I couldn’t find any scraps of fur or grass or anything to make sleeping on the ground any more comfortable. I finally gave up and sat down, feeling the cold earth seep up into my butt.
“I miss having a real bed,” I whined.
“Hm.”
Kass sat cross-legged a few feet away. He looked like he was deep in thought with no intention to fall asleep anytime soon.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“I can see that,” I said. “About what?”
He shut his eyes and sighed. “Nothing. Everything.”
“Wow, that really narrows it down.”
Too tired to shoot me a glare, he just looked at me. “Why did you have to go and get us into trouble already? We barely had a day to get away from Silas and recuperate, and now we’re on a mission to find someone we don’t even know.”
“I thought you wanted to find this guy!” I exclaimed.
“I don’t know what I want, Halo.” Kass sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I feel like I woke up from four hundred years of nothingness, and now everything’s happening too fast, all at once. It’s so much to take in.”
Was that fear in Kass’ voice? The brave, noble Knight - Captain Kassius - now sitting here in the dark, afraid of what the future would hold. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know much of what he went through in the past four centuries. What he did while Angel and I were gone.
“Were you alone? The
whole time?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“When I left, and the four hundred years after. Were you alone?”
“Yes,” he said wearily.
My next question was more hesitant. “You never found another mate?”
The slight frown on his lips deepened. “No.”
Hearing that snuffed out the small flicker of jealousy in my gut when I’d asked the question originally. So he never moved on. I should have felt bad. To be alone in this world was horrible, but knowing Kass never fell in love with someone else filled me with a sick satisfaction. Like if I wasn’t good enough for him, then no one else would ever be.
Am I… glad that he never moved on?
I realized that, yes, I was glad.
Gods, I’m a shitty person.
“I lost track of time. Didn’t do much.” Kass continued speaking when I was lost in my thoughts, and I immediately snapped back to attention. “I barely left the cave most days.” He looked around him with a grimace. “It looked a lot like this one, so I can’t say I’m thrilled to be here, honestly. It reminds me of living… that way.”
“Depressed?” I offered.
Kass paused, then said, “Yes.”
The fire crackled. I’d lit the fire - with considerable effort, since my magic was still drained - after Luce left, since I didn’t want him to know I was a mage yet. Even after all their talk about the great Halo Fire-Eater, I still held on tightly to that wariness to use magic in front of others. The wariness that Kass and the Knights instilled into me.
I looked at him now - Kassius, my former mate and the man who ruined my life, sitting with his knees against his chest, sullenly staring into the fire with an exhausted expression. Now I could clearly see the dark rings under his eyes, and for the first time, I noticed the new creases in his face - ones that hadn’t been there when I disappeared.
He’s aged, I thought.
Dragons aged roughly the same way humans did until maturity, and then a dragon’s human form essentially ceased to age. Their appearance was shaped by the individual’s own wishes and mentality. Some went for a gruff, older look. Others assumed an appearance in their twenties.
