Life was a funny thing sometimes. The wolves of Cut Rock River had been sent forth on a recruitment drive of sorts, and where did she end up but the exact place she was recruited herself over a year ago. Of course, it hadn’t been Cut Rock River doing the recruiting then... her history in Relic went farther back than that; before the River pack had even existed she stood in this spot talking to the Pitch Pine Trail King. Naia tilted her head up toward the darkening sky and sighed, wondering if her former leader was looking down on her from the heavens. Pitch Pine Trail was no more and neither was its King—a fact Naia didn’t like to recall. It had been a dark time in her life, simply watching with nothing she could do as her pack dwindled and dissipated.. waking up every morning to find that more family members had abandoned them in the night. She shivered as the wind picked up, though her chill had nothing to do with the autumn breeze.

She wandered back toward home through the grove, and Naia could hear the cries of Shade’s children echoing solemnly as the wind whipped through the trees. Well.. they weren’t really Shade’s children—Karpos and Adsila were safe in the borders of Cut Rock River now—but when she had first heard the eerie sound long ago she hadn’t known the pups were safe, and she was sure that their ghosts had come back to torment her for letting Pitch Pine Trail fall apart. She had carried so much guilt the last time she traveled these woods.

”Hello?” she called, suddenly sensing another nearby. It was quite dark this far into the grove, but she thought she could make out the shape of a larger wolf ahead. The fur on the back of her neck stood up and her tail twitched nervously as it usually did when she was unsure of a situation. Perhaps more than memories haunted these woods… Naia shook her head, annoyed with her own overactive imagination. It looked like a wolf and smelled like a wolf; it was a wolf, plain and simple. ”Who are you?” she asked, peering into the trees.

Naia shrank toward the ground as the shadowy stranger approached her, a reflex leftover from her lone wolf days. The stranger’s scent met her nose—a female, no pack—and Naia relaxed somewhat as well, though she would have preferred the woman to introduce herself from afar. A lone wolf was certainly less of a threat than if she had run into someone from Willow Ridge, or worse Whisper Caverns, but she would have to be pretty naïve to dismiss this powerful wolf before her as harmless. The woman introduced herself as a Moon, and Naia cocked her head curiously. A relation to Athena, perhaps? The little scout couldn’t see much resemblance at all between the two, which was a good thing if Roma thought to accompany Naia back to Cut Rock River. The less this new Moon resembled the other the better.. no doubt there were still some hard feelings in the ranks about Athena’s indiscretion and desertion.

”Roma… Moon.”Naia said, her honey eyes still curious. ”Nice to meet you.” Her face broke into her usual easy grin. ”I’m Naia Aegina, scout and second of Cut Rock River.” She watched the loner’s expression, looking for signs that the name of her pack might mean something to her. She nodded slowly and turned to sweep her eyes over the darkening forest around them. ”You heard the Slayer children crying?” she asked, meeting Roma’s icy gaze once more. ”Such a sad tale.. but nothing we can do to help them now.” She spoke with mournful resolution, knowing the finality of her statement would do nothing but inspire more curiosity. The woods were strangely quiet now, the wind having died down. ”Walk with me, and I’ll tell you all about it..” The scout did love telling stories, especially embellished ones, and if they ended up near the Cut Rock River territory after the story… maybe Roma would stay for awhile.

Naia wanted to grin like a Cheshire cat when the loner agreed to hear the story, but she retained her somber expression as she began her tale. ”There was once a wolf who roamed these lands: he went by the name Shade Slayer. He belonged to a pack called Willow Ridge— the pack is still there actually, just to the west of this grove. These wolves serve a vicious queen named Elettra Archer, who is as achieved in the black magics of the Dead as she is in the art of tooth-and-nail combat. ” Naia flicked her tongue across her nose in thought, wondering just how far she could stretch this tale without dishonoring Shade’s memory. Elettra Archer be damned though—she would make that woman out for the butcher she was.

”When Shade fell in love with another in the Ridge ranks, the beautiful Rosealia—a woman with a pelt of pure white to contrast Shade’s coat of black onyx—the two were forbidden by their necromancer queen to produce offspring within the ranks of Willow Ridge.” This next part of the story ought to be familiar enough—almost every wolf knew of someone who had deserted their pack after a night of passionate oathbreaking. ”The young lovers’ passion got the better of them, and once they knew there were pups growing inside Rosealia the pair fled under the cover of night, too frightened of Elettra’s wrath to reveal their mistake to the queen. When she discovered their treachery, in a fit of rage the sorcerer queen spilled the blood of her own daughter in order to lay a curse on the ill-gotten children of the lovers.“ Naia took a breath, and when she spoke again her voice was lower, so Roma would have to lean in closer to keep listening.

”Shade and his mistress were happy for a while, gathering followers to start a new pack as Rosealia’s belly grew round. I was one of those followers.” Naia smiled as she remembered those happy days. "When Rosealia’s pups were born… that was where the trouble began.” Naia’s paws moved faster over the ground as her story’s pace increased. ”Shade’s lover claimed the pups—one boy and one girl-- were crying all the time and driving her mad. She said they gnawed through her belly when they nursed and spoke in the tongue of snakes. Shade hadn’t a clue how to react.. the pups seemed normal in every way to him. As Shade got closer and closer to establishing his pack—Pitch Pine Trail—Rosealia’s madness only worsened. Every now and then she would dash off into woods, screaming that her “pups” were calling out to her—leaving her real children in the den, cold and alone.” Naia stopped in her tracks, her nose twitching as the scent of willow trees ahead warned her that they had reached the western border of the Grove. How fitting.

“During one such fit of insanity, Shade chased his crazed lover into these very woods. She raced on ahead of him, screaming for her pups and darting just out of reach whenever Shade neared her. After hours of this, even Shade could hear the pups’ voices in the wind, crying pitifully for their parents. Just as dawn was breaking Shade heard his lover shout from up ahead, ‘I’ve found them!’ He made a mad dash to catch up with her, but when he reached her Rosealia disappeared—from sight and smell.. as if she had never been there to begin with-- and in her place stood Elettra in all her glory and anger. The necromancer queen tore the exhausted Slayer’s throat open in one swift stroke, and as Shade’s life drained out between her teeth she used his blood to bewitch these woods... to forever remind Shade’s followers here, the Pitch Pine Trail wolves, what would happen to those who crossed Willow Ridge.” Naia leaned in close to Roma, as if she was sharing a secret. "No one ever saw Rosealia again.. but the Trail wolves-- if they were still around-- would swear to you that Shade Slayer's spirit still haunts here, vicious and maddened, pursuing the cries of his pups that he can never find. If you heard the pups crying, Roma, be careful.. The Slayer isn't far behind." Naia let her story linger in the nighttime air, her honey eyes watching Roma for a reaction. Clearly the story had been jazzed up a little, and the River scout wondered if her new acquaintance would call her out as a mythomane or praise her creativity.

Naia smiled as her acquaintance praised her story, though tricking the woman hadn’t been her intention. ”Sadly --ghosts and witches aside-- there’s more truth to the story than fiction. If you ever visit Cut Rock River I’m sure you’ll meet the Slayer orphans in person.” Naia would love to be able to say the story was made up; no pups deserved to endure amount of tragedy that Karpos and Adsila’s short lives had already seen. ”... And we really shouldn’t go any closer to Willow Ridge,” Naia cautioned. Elettra Archer may not be a necromancer, but she and her pack were dangerous nonetheless.

”Smell the willows ahead? We’ve reached the western border of the grove. Cut Rock River lies to the west, Willow Ridge to the south... and the Caverns to the southwest.” Naia watched her companion’s expression curiously. She had mentioned a sister, who Naia could only assume was the Moon traitor, Athena. The last she heard Athena had skulked off to hide within Whisper Caverns, an enemy pack to the River wolves. Is that where Roma was headed before the night was through? That would be a shame indeed.. Naia really liked this wolf and would hate to have to name her an enemy someday.

”The night is young; I would love to hear your tale. The pups are always pestering the pack scout for new stories.” Naia reclined onto her haunches, watching the stranger expectantly. She loved a good story almost as much as a pup.

Naia stood as Roma finished her story, wagging her tail in delight. ”Fantastic!” she praised, honey eyes bright under the moon’s glow. ”The smallest pup wouldn’t leave the den for a week if I told that one!” Imagining little Karina’s reaction brought a smile to her face, and Naia was overcome with the urge to snuggle the little princess and tell her everything would be alright. ”I ought to be getting home as well,” she sighed; it hurt her heart to be away even for a night after missing out so much of the pups’ growth while she had been away on a scouting mission.

”Please visit me at our border in the Cedarwoods should you desire a pack to call home. Your Moon sister is welcome too.. so long as her first name is not Athena.” The little scout’s expression darkened for a moment, and she took a few steps toward home before turning back around, realizing that she probably owed Roma an explanation for such a rude declaration. ”My apologies,” she said, ”The wound Athena left on Cut Rock River hasn’t healed completely.” With the ranks thinning and an ailing alpha, Naia still hadn’t forgiven Athena for abandoning her family in the middle of the night and taking another loyal River wolf with her too. She doubted if any of the River wolves would have a warm welcome for the woman.

”We welcomed her into our pack as family," Naia explained, "..and she tore her way tooth and nail up the female ranks before breaking her vows with an unknown male. She fled in the middle of the night with a heavy womb, and took with her a packmate who had been up to that point a loyal, productive member.” Naia couldn’t imagine what had possessed Aeolus to flee with Athena. It was common belief among the River wolves that he had fathered Athena’s children, but Naia wasn’t so sure. That man didn’t have a disloyal bone in his body.

”What a night for sad stories!” Naia remarked, offering her companion a small smile. ”I promise, I am not usually such somber company. Please visit me at my border and allow me another chance. Until then, farewell Roma.” Naia left the grove with urgency in her step; if anyone had asked she would have told them she was eager to get home to her family, but in truth the night’s eerie tales had spooked her just a little bit. It was easy to believe in ghosts and deiform enchantresses on a chilly night when the moon cast dancing shadows and the wind moaned pitifully as it whipped through the tree branches.