Page 72 of Blood of the Fallen
Maki huffed. “Of course you do.”
“We need to fight back.” Lawana turned from us and faced the others. “We cannot sit idle anymore and let them round us up like cattle. They have new magic that can prevent us from shifting now.”
“Not anymore,” I said. “I killed the one who could do that.”
“She did,” Bethel put in. “I believe he was a mage, a strong one. He was a new apprentice, his coda only recently completed. His magic hadn’t settled yet, and he must’ve instinctively figured out how to block shifting.”
“Are you sure that’s what happened?” Lawana cocked her head to one side. “What if the Academy has come up with a new way to use our children against us? Are you sure there aren’t others like this mage? And what about the fact that no one could leave the camp? Do you know how they managed that?”
We had no answer to any of these questions. I wanted to believe Val was it, but what if the magistrateshadfigured out a way to generate more than just fire and electricity with their magic?
Lawana scoffed. “No, I guess you don’t know.” She addressed the others again, her gaze settling on each chieftess. “It is time we rise and face them.”
“We have tried it before,” a short woman with arms and legs as thick as tree trunks said. “We have only succeeded in losing more and more pack members. Our numbers now are nothing compared to what we had the last time we faced them. We didn’t defeat them then. What makes you think we’ll defeat them now?”
“It will be different this time,” Lawana said.
“Just because you said so?” The same stocky woman shot back.
Lawana narrowed her blue eyes, looking as if she wanted to sayYes, because I said so. She clearly didn’t like being challenged. In the end, however, she extended a hand toward us. “No, because we have a powerful tetrad, and a powerful witch’s tried-and-true augury.”
Once more, everyone turned to look at us. Lawana threw a challenging glare my way. I felt a strange push against my chest. I clenched my teeth and pushed back, guided by mere instinct. The pressure in my chest went away as I sensed my own strength pushing against Lawana’s. I imagined our invisible forces struggling against each other like a tug-of-war. Her upper lip twitched, and her eyes widened in surprise as if she hadn’t expected me to fight back.
Kall was more than right. She wanted to control us and was making a very open attempt at it.
“Tried and true, you say?” a second chieftess said.
Lawana nodded. “I’ve talked to all of Yura’s surviving pack members. They have related how the trials went, and how Bethel from Wallagrass’s augury was fulfilled to perfection.”
That wasn’t true. Lawana hadn’t talked to me. And I hadn’t seen her talk to Ila, Kall, Maki, or Novuk.
“Also Priestess Nanai has confirmed it,” Lawana added.
Bethel’s head whipped in her mother’s direction, betrayal shaping her features.
“This is the tetrad that will destroy the Academy,” Lawana went on, her voice acquiring a passionate ring to it, reminding me of politicians I’d seen in TV displays behind store windows in Lux City. “With the Pack Rule’s guidance, we will rid ourselves of the magistrates’ oppression, and we will finally be free. We will makeeveryonepay and will take our land back. Those city rats won’t be a blemish on our land anymore.”
A shiver ran up my spine. There was something about her fervor that I didn’t like. She was hungry for vengeance. And even though I wasn’t one to talk—I also wanted revenge against the magistrates—I had the feeling that Lawana wouldn’t know where to draw the line.
“There are many innocent people in Lux City,” I said. “They only hate us because they believe the Academy’s lies.”
Lawana gasped with exaggeration. She glanced around the group as if askingCan you believe what she’s saying?
I felt everyone’s judgment and distrust the same way I had when I first joined my pack. Still, I couldn’t back down. I knew I was right.
I straightened to my full height. “If we go in and harm the innocent, we’ll only prove the Academy right.”
“What does it matter?” Lawana challenged. “They already think we’re savages. Filthy wildlings.Isn’t that what you used to believe?”
My jaw clenched. I couldn’t deny it. I had been thoroughly brainwashed for years. “Through no fault of my own,” I whispered.
Lawana sneered. “For centuries, they’ve been talking about cleansingtheirland of the wildlings. But we were here first. They are the invaders, the filth that must be disposed of. I propose we do just that.”
I shook my head, realizing that this woman’s hatred was too big to reason with it. She would never change her mind, and as I glanced around, I realized that she wasn’t the only one that felt that way. Most of the other chieftesses shared the same opinion.
Fearful to find the same expression reflected on my friend’s faces, I glanced back, examining each of them in turn. To my relief, they seemed appalled.
“I say we put it to a vote,” Lawana said. “Those in favor of making our final stand for freedom, raise their hands.”
