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The sun was just starting to rise over the horizon when the wolfen had gathered all the larger sticks from their demolished shelters and skillfully weaved it into a sturdy makeshift stretcher. Verik picked up the finished object and started walking into the forest after Keil.

Nobody said a single word during the whole time. If Verik spoke, he knew that his voice will be trembling and he will most likely break down. So many emotions were racing around his mind; fear, sadness, but most of all rage. He felt the strength of his powers increasing inside of him as his emotions grew more intense.

It was roughly a twenty-minute walk to reach the cave where they held their demon prisoner. It was a smart choice that they decided to move him away from the main camp, because it was making so much noise. As they got closer, they could hear the sounds of the creature screaming and struggling against his restraints. He was mad the last time they saw him, but this was a whole new level. The way he was screaming, one might think he was dying.

When they arrived at the cave, Keil was standing there with his arms folded, staring down into the cave. "We're lucky that the demons don't have a heightened sense of hearing." He said with a sigh that did not sound very relieved. "He must have sensed that they were near and tried to get their attention. He is quite unhappy about being left behind."

"There's no way we are going to be able to transport him like this." Lyan pointed out.

Emmaline searched through her little herb sack and pulled out a strange yellow root. "If someone can bring me some water, I can break this up and create something that will be able to put him to sleep, at least for a while."

Keil turned toward one of the other pack members. "Go fetch her some, and make it quick. I want to leave this place as soon as possible."

The wolfen nodded and disappeared into the thick forest.

While they waited, Keil walked over to Verik and grasped his forearm. Looking into his eyes caringly, he asked, "Are you doing okay?"

Verik shrugged and cleared his throat. "I feel like I'm going to explode. Trying to keep my emotions and my powers in check is...difficult."

"Well, you're doing a good job so far. We will rescue them, soon."

Verik folded his arms and turned away. "Don't give me that." He growled calmly, but his voice seeped with sadness that he couldn't hold inside of him. "I am fully aware of the reality of this situation, same as you. You and I know that this evening could very well have been the last time we ever see them alive. I know that we can try to rescue them, but you can't be sure that we will succeed."

"No, I can't, but it doesn't hurt to try and think positively. Dwelling on dark thoughts can be harmful, especially for you."

Verik's tail twitched in annoyance. "I'm fine. I said keeping my emotions in check is difficult, but it's not more than I can handle."

"Just..." Keil sighed. "Be careful."

A couple minutes later, the wolfen returned with a large cupped leaf filled with water. She handed it to Emmaline who quickly got to work. She pulled out a small stone bowl from her sack and filled it halfway with water. Pulling the yellow root out, she put it into her mouth, chewed it up, and then spat out the crushed root into the bowl.

Before mixing it in, she grabbed the water-filled leaf and rinsed her mouth with the leftover water. Once the root mixture was complete, she poured it into a small flask that she also kept hanging from her waist. "I need something to hold his mouth open. I doubt he will take this willingly."

Keil leaned down and picked up a relatively thick branch. He smacked it against a nearby tree, testing its strength. When he was certain that it would be able to hold, he looked over at Verik. "Hold its head still."

Verik knelt down by the head of the violently struggling demon. Right when his hands touched the demon's scale-covered skin, it went crazy. The creature began thrashing even harder than it was before. He could see its muscled body straining as hard as it could to break the binds that held him. Verik was successful at holding his head mostly still, but he wouldn't be able to keep him still forever. "We should get this done quickly." Verik urged.

Keil nodded in agreement and readied the big branch. When the creature opened its mouth, letting out an ear-piercing shriek that was intensified by the echoing walls of the cave, Keil acted quickly. He lunged the stick forward, lodging it between the demon's jaws.

Feeling the log, it instinctively snapped his mouth shut, but only succeeded in sinking his teeth into the hard wood of the branch. Letting go of it, Keil grabbed onto the demon's snout, preventing it from opening its mouth any further and spitting the stick out. "Give him the water!" Keil commanded Emmaline, but she was already on it.

Swiftly, she grabbed the flask and began pouring it into the furious creature's ajar maw. The steadiness in her hands as she did this, told that she had done this before many times. Once the flask was mostly empty, she placed her hand on its nose, covering its nostrils, forcing it to get rid of the liquid in its mouth one way or another to breathe.

The demon tried coughing to expel the fluid, but there wasn't enough air in his lungs to get rid of all of it. It tried with all its strength to pull its head free from Verik's strong hands, but it was no use. It was getting weaker as it's need to breath was getting too strong. Eventually, it couldn't hold back anymore and swallowed the water.

The wolfen backed up and waited for the medicine to take effect on the demon. "It shouldn't take too long, I don't think." Emmaline thought out loud. "For humans, it is no more than thirty seconds, but these creatures are much stronger than humans. I gave him a slightly stronger dose, but I don't know how their bodies function."

After a couple long minutes of the captive continuing in its struggling and screaming, it was starting to finally lose strength. After that, it only took another minute or so for the creature to lose consciousness. They moved the body to the stretcher and then tied his body down with some strong vines they collected. Once they finished, they decided to get on their way as fast as possible. The longer they were here, the more in danger they put themselves in. The demons already knew the location of their camp and could easily return for the rest of them at any time. They didn't want to be around when they decided to do that.

As they were leaving, there as a loud crash above them in the trees as many branches snapped. A large black figure fell from the trees and landed quite hard on the ground. It was hard to see details in the morning sunlight, but once Verik saw the large pair of wings, he didn't waste any time. Immediately, he rushed forward as fast as his body could go. Throwing the winged creature onto the ground, he raised his claws to strike at the its neck, but he saw that the face in front of him belonged to his brother Gerrin.

Gerrin held his hands up, unthreateningly. "Careful, brother. I'm not an enemy." He gestured to the ground behind him and said. "He, on the other hand, I caught spying on you guys from the tree tops."

Verik released Gerrin and turned around and examined the crumpled body on the ground. It's back was arched at a painful angle, obviously broken from the impact to the ground. Purple blood was pouring from his mouth.

"That means they all know where you are right now. You might want to be more careful--"

"Where were you?" Verik interrupted in a demanding tone, staring into Gerrin's eyes with anger burning inside of him.

¬Gerrin raised his eyebrows in confusion. "I was going to come here earlier, but something came up that I had to take care of. Why? Is something wrong?" He looked beyond Verik and at the rest of the pack. "Where's Syla?"

Emmaline walked up and put a hand on Verik's shoulder. Her touch made it easier for him to calm down. He flattened his ears and dropped his tail apologetically. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. There was nothing you could have done, even if you were there." He paused, as a wave of emotions caused his voice to shake. "As we were hunting, the demons arrived at our camp and took Thorren and Syla. They said they would release them back to us if they handed me over to them, along with our demon prisoner. If we don't do it within seven days, then they will kill torture and kill them."

A shocked expression spread over Gerrin's face as he heard what Verik told him. His hands closed in shaking fists. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Right now, we are headed to the human city to start working with them. With the help of this demon, we will be able to find out where they live. And then we can figure out what, if anything, we can do for them. We can really use your help, though. Will you come with us?"

Gerrin frowned and remained silent for several seconds, as he thought of something. He then nodded and told him, "I can stay with you guys until we save our sister."

"Thank you." Verik said. He grasped Gerrin's forearm and pulled him in for a brief hug. After that, they picked up the stretcher and began their trip to the human city.

/. /. /.

Myril sat by the edge of the clear pool. The torches set up around it were unlit, but there was still enough light from the fire outside to let her see. Looking through the pool as if it was a window, she could see Verik, Gerrin, and the rest of the pack travelling. She had been watching them for quite a while now, seeing everything that has going on in their lives.

The Voice that controlled her had taken a disturbing interest in Verik. Ever since the attack from Erebos four years ago, she began watching that pack very closely. And when Verik woke up, that was when The Voice started working on her plan. Everything that happened since then has happened exactly according to its plan. Even this latest attack, where the two wolfen were taken, helped further her plan, at least according to what The Voice lets her know; which wasn't much.

She had no idea what this great plan was, but she knew that it was just going to cause even more suffering for Verik and he pack. All the tragic events that had happened to him was leading up to something big and she was scared to find out what it will be.

She couldn't do anything about it, no matter how much she wanted to, but sit here by the pool and watch in uneasy anticipation as events unfold.

To Be Continued...