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Verik's heart almost stopped. "What do you mean? Explain it to me!"

Emmaline simply shook her head. "I, honestly, don't know any more than that. I only saw vague glimpses."

"Then you need to do it again! Maybe if focus your strength on finding that one memory, then you might get the whole story."

"Maybe, but not tonight. I might hurt you if I entered your mind again so soon. Wait a day or two and then I will try again. For now, I think it would be best if we kept this to ourselves. We don't want people to start doubting us."

Verik sighed and nodded. "You're right." He wanted to ask so many questions, but none of them could be answered. Frustrated, he stood up and said, "We should probably get back to camp and get some rest. We have to get up in the middle of the day to meet with the humans."

/. /. /.

When they got back Keil and Emmaline went into their small shelters to get some rest and Verik wandered off to his own clearing apart from everyone. However, Syla caught up with him and walked by his side.

"What's wrong?" She asked with genuine concern in her voice. "I can tell something is troubling you."

"Is it that obvious?" Verik asked, humorlessly chuckling.

"No, not really. You hide your feelings rather well, but I know you. I can see through you. You're my brother, after all."

But she has no memory of him, Verik thought, but decided to keep it to himself. "It's just my past. Not knowing the answers is driving me insane."

She nodded and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him closer. "You'd rather not talk about it." She didn't ask. She said it as a statement, as if she already knew it, which she probably did.

"Yeah." Verik responded. The walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached the place where Verik slept. It was a small clearing that was pretty much empty. The ground was a little torn up from the times that he dreamed. All the grass was dead and many of the trees were damaged near the base. "It would be nice if you could stay here with me," Verik told Syla, "but as you can see, by my side is not the safest place to be while I sleep."

She nodded and then hugged him tightly again. "Rest well." Then she headed out of the clearing. Over her shoulder, she called out, "Try not to kill yourself in your sleep."

/. /. /.

When he was alone, he went off into the forest to visit Vannah's tree again. However, when he reached the first wall of trees, nothing happened. It didn't open up to let him in. Feeling rejected, he went back to his clearing and collapsed to the ground. His emotional exhaustion made sleep come quickly. As always, it was a very uneasy sleep, accompanied by the haunting dream he had been having since he woke up from his coma.

In dream world, he found himself standing on a hill, overlooking a large valley, covered in overgrown grass. It was a cool night with mostly clear skies. Everything was silent; eerily so. He glanced to his side to where his father, a much older than he was, stood, scanning the area. "Do you hear anything? Smell anything?" Verik asked urgently.

The other wolfen shook his head. "No, I don't. What makes you so sure she is in trouble?"

"She wouldn't stay gone this long. Lyora wouldn't let her!" Verik was worried. The sick feeling in his stomach was getting worse.

Behind them, the rest of his pack started to whisper among themselves, many of them saying that Verik was worried about nothing and that they were probably just fooling around like many young females their age do. The older wolfen turned around, about to tell them to be silent, but the sky erupted with the sound of a deep unearthly roar.

Verik's heart nearly stopped at that sound and he collapsed to the ground. Following the sound was a panicked howl that belonged to his sister. Instantly, the pack became alive. The older wolfen took off full speed toward the direction of the howl the rest of the pack following. As he was running, he let out a howl of his own, letting her know that they were on their way to them.

Verik pushed himself off of the ground, but one of the running wolfen collided with his head, sending him flat on the ground again. He quickly got up again and chased after them. By the time he caught up, the whole pack was lying flat at the top of a hill, looking down at something.

"What is that thing?" One of his packmates asked. "I've never seen something so massive! There's no way we would be able to take that thing down!"

Verik's father growled and clinched his fists.

"What is it?" Verik quietly asked, his voice, along with all of his body, was badly trembling. When nobody answered him, he crawled up to the top of the hill and looked over. He nearly passed out in fear at what he saw. At the bottom of the hill, there was a huge black creature whose body was covered in scales and horns. A creature he was all too familiar with.

At the massive creature's feet, there lay a mutilated wolfen body. Verik knew it was his packmate Lyora. Lying on the other side of the monster was Emmaline, though he knew her by a different name, Yrian. She was not too seriously injured and still alive, but unconscious.

The creature turned to face her and started to advance. Immediately, Verik acted without thinking. He leapt up and ran down the mountain, screaming, "Don't touch her!"

The beast glanced over his shoulder at him and laughed evilly. "Verik, don't!" His mother cried out and ran after him. His father followed right behind her and soon enough the rest of his pack was running with him into battle with this creature.

As they got closer, the creature roared with so much strength, he felt his whole body vibrate with the sound. It spun around, swinging his tail directly at Verik. It connected like a rock with his forehead and everything went black.

Verik awoke from his dream with a start. He gasped for air, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. His head pounded and his fur was soaked in sweat. The dream was so vivid and all the feelings he felt seemed so real, he had to have been reliving a memory.

He waited until his body calmed down before getting up to rejoin the others. As he was walking out, he noticed something. The clearing he was in was in the same condition as it was the previous night. As far as he could tell, there was no additional damage. He grinned a little bit. He might be getting better after all.

/. /. /.

Emmaline and Verik sat together at the edge of the main clearing, Verik telling her about his "dream," while most of the pack still slept. The morning sun was still low in the sky and soon they and Keil would make the short journey to the human city again.

"So, nothing that explains what I found yesterday?" She asked when he finished.

Verik cringed when he remembered what she discovered about him. "No...but I did find out that your original name was Yrian."

"Really? Yrian..." She said it a few times to herself and then thought about it. "I don't really like it. I'd rather stick with Emmaline, mainly out of respect for my human teacher."

Verik nodded. The sound of a twig snapping in the distance interrupted their conversation and they both got up and silently rushed to the edge of the clearing. They flattened against a few trees and peeked out quickly, trying to discover what it was without giving away their position. Whatever it was, it had heavy footsteps. Too heavy for a native forest-dwelling animal. It was too distant and upwind from them, so they couldn't pick up a scent.

A voice behind them startled them both. "It's Jack." Keil said with a hint of irritation. He motioned for them to follow as he walked toward the footsteps. As they got closer, Verik and Emmaline could smell it, too. It was definitely Jack. It was obvious that he had no intention of hiding his scent as it stuck out like a bloodstain on white fur.

When they came into sight of each other, Jack gasped and stepped back. He immediately chuckled, "Sorry. I'm still not used to seeing you plainly."

"What are you doing here?" Keil asked. "I thought we were meeting with you outside the city." Verik acted as his translator and spoke his message in the human language.

"That was initially the plan, but I neglected to think of the preparations you would need to make yourselves ready to meet with the king. We humans have many customs and if he is pleased with how you address him, then it will make a good first impression, which, as you might have found out, is very important to us humans. So, if you don't mind, I would like to inform you of everything you should know on the way to the city."

Verik relayed what he said and Keil shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"Great!" Jack said enthusiastically. "First thing. When greeting the King, do not make physical contact. Unlike you, we tend to keep our distance as a sign of respect to those of more importance. That means ESPECIALLY no licking. When you first meet him, get down on one knee and bow your head until he tells you to rise. And always refer to him as 'Your Majesty.'"

Verik lifted an eyebrow at him. "Your Majesty? Are you serious?"

"Yes, quite." He responded, frowning.

"You humans can be quite strange." Verik glanced over at Emmaline, who, by the look on her face showed that she also found this amusing. He translated Jack's instructions to Keil, who also grinned.

Jack folded his arms in impatience. "That's how we do it and the best way to get on his good side right at the beginning is to do things our way. It will make him more comfortable." He continued with his instructions.

There were so many little things that seemed to make no sense. Apparently it was also a custom to not look the king straight in the eye. Verik didn't say anything, but the king was seeming more like an arrogant fool as Jack progressed with all the petty ways he demanded to be shown respect among his people. If, by his actions, a leader deserved respect, then his followers would give it freely. Nevertheless, Keil agreed to do as the king would want for this first meeting to ensure that the truce takes place.

"Lastly," Jack said after a lengthy explanation, "and arguably the most important way to make a good first impression, is your appearance. Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with your appearance, but all of us humans wear...considerably more clothing than you do. Therefore, I brought along with me a few sets that should fit you."

"I'm not liking the sound of this." Keil muttered, but motioned for Jack to proceed.

Jack reached into a bag that he was holding and removed several colorful cloth objects. "These are all made of high quality silks and colored with the finest dyes available to those below the king. I took into the fact that normal trousers worn by men would constantly rub against your fur, so I brought only robes. They should be bearable until the meeting is over."

Unfolding the robes, he handed them to Keil and Verik. He reached into the bag and pulled out another article of clothing and handed it to Emmaline. She lifted it up and examined it. It was a long dress made of bright purple cloth with gold linings. She raised her eyebrows at it. "Wow." She said shaking her head. "That is...very ostentatious."

Jack chuckled. "It's only for the first meeting. Once we've finished, I'll take them back."

They continued their walk until they reached the top of the hill overlooking the human city. "All right. They should come out to meet us within the hour. Everyone, put on your robes. Let's go meet the king!"

To Be Continued...