Grand Game 132: The Council’s Judgment (Patreon)

Day Five. Night.

“For starters, you can seat yourself,” Suva said.

Mutely, I sat down cross-legged on the cold hard ground as instructed. Now that I had decided to comply with whatever the council was about, I saw no reason to drag this out any longer than it needed to be.

The quicker I get this done, the quicker I can leave, I thought, refusing to contemplate the possibility of needing to fight my way out.

“Tell us everything that’s happened since you entered the Forever Kingdom,” Leta ordered.

“And don’t think to lie,” Barak growled. “We can sniff out any falsehoods you think to tell.”

I scowled at the brown wolf but didn’t retort. Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I began telling the council my story, embellishing nothing and making no attempt to conceal my motivations. But I had barely started my tale when I was interrupted.

“Why pick the scout Class?”

“Didn’t you think of refusing the familiar?”

“Was it cowardice that stopped you from entering the dungeon first?”

“Why did you not band with your fellow candidates?”

“Are you a murderer?”

Those were just the questions in the first five minutes. They did not stop after that. If anything, the elders’ queries only grew more expansive.

On and on it went as the wolves fired question after question at me. Initially, I could see no rhyme or reason to their interests.

Some questions I had to ponder deeply on and seemed to cut to the heart of my motivations.

“Why did you refuse Loken?”

“What prompted you to trust Ultack?”

“How did you know Gnat to be false?”

Others were almost trivial—what did it matter when last I’d eaten?—but regardless of how inconsequential the questions were, I was closely scrutinized the entire time.

As the hours wore on, I finally noticed a pattern to the elders’ questions. Unexpectedly, they had no interest in my prior interactions with Aira and Oursk’s family—the subject I assumed would most concern them—but instead, they focused primarily on my interactions with the Powers and factions I’d encountered: Loken, Erebus, Tartar, and even Arinna.

What for, and why, I didn’t understand, but I was certain I was being assessed, and my every response weighed. And not only my verbal responses either, but also the unvoiced thoughts that accompanied each of them too.

At times, I sensed the six wolves nipping at the fringes of my mind, tasting my emotions and the truth of my answers—both the words left unsaid and those I’d chosen to voice. It forced me to a degree of care I found draining, and by the end of the session, I was drenched in sweat.

Finally, Monac, the only one who’d had no questions for me, put an end to the interrogation. “Enough,” he ordered. “The wolfkin will do.”

I sensed surprise in the other council members at the aging wolf’s pronouncement, but only Duggar was willing to question him. “Are you certain?” he asked softly.

“I am,” Monac replied. “He remains unbound, and for now, that is also what matters. Tell him what he needs to know.”

The alpha did not protest further. Glancing at Sulan, Duggar inclined his head. “Go ahead.”

I sat up attentively. Finally, it seemed I was about to learn something of interest. I wasn’t sure precisely what Monac meant by ‘unbound,’ but I suspected it was a reference to me being unsworn.

Sulan rose to her haunches while the others watched on silently. “What you are about to hear, Michael, is forbidden knowledge, held secret from most players. The Powers have gone to great lengths to eradicate all traces of it. If you choose to share what we tell you amongst your fellow players, know that you will be endangering them, yourself, and the pack.” She held my gaze. “Do you understand?”

I nodded, sensing the seriousness of her tone.

“What do you know about evolutions?” Sulan asked.

My interest quickened. This was a subject of particular interest to me, and while Loken had told me a little on the subject and implied more, I still did not understand enough on the matter.

“Not much,” I admitted. “I know that it is rare amongst players, and those that are capable of evolution use it to transform their Classes, seemingly for the better.” I rubbed my lips in thought, then added, “I suspect, too, that it is my ability to evolve that has attracted the interest of the Powers.”

The white wolf cocked her head to the side. “Partially true.”

“Oh?” I said, wondering which part I’d gotten wrong.

“All players can evolve,” Sulan said.

I sat up straighter. “What?”

“It is the ability to evolve that separates players from non-players. Only by evolving can players train skills and accumulate traits, feats, and Classes.”

I nodded slowly. I didn’t know enough to dispute Sulan’s explanation, but one thing didn’t make sense. “If that’s true, if all players can evolve, what is the reason for the Powers’ interest in me?”

“While every player can evolve, not all can do so equally,” Sulan said. “Your own capacity exceeds most players. Where the average player’s Classes are bound by their initial choices, yours are not, or at least not entirely.”

“I see,” I murmured.

“In fact,” Sulan continued, “your ability to evolve is strong enough that, with time and effort, you may transform from player to Power.”

For a moment, I said nothing, having already suspected as much. “Does this mean that Loken and Erebus were once players?” I asked quietly.

“Correct,” Sulan said. “It is how all the New Powers came to be.”

My eyes narrowed slightly. “New Powers?”

“We’ll get to that soon enough,” Sulan replied. “Do you understand the implications of what I’ve said?”

I nodded. “I understand why the Powers would want to keep knowledge of evolutions secret, but I knew—or suspected—the gist of what you told me already. There was no reason to interrogate me first, you know,” I finished somewhat grumpily.

Sulan chuckled, and I sensed amusement tinge the others’ thoughts too.

“What’s so funny?” I asked suspiciously.

“You are, pup,” Sulan replied, still laughing. “I have not come to the forbidden knowledge yet.”

I blinked. “You haven’t?”

She shook her head, amusement fading. “What the New Powers do not share freely, even amongst themselves, is what gives players the ability to evolve.”

I waited, sensing we were coming to the heart of the matter.

“It is what lies in your blood,” Sulan said.

I stared at her. “My blood?”

The white wolf nodded. “The blood of the ancients flows in your veins—and that of every other player.”

My bewilderment deepened. Ancients? What was Sulan going on about now?

“Millenia ago, even before the advent of the Game, the old Powers—the ancients—roamed the Forever Kingdom,” she replied in response to my unspoken question. “Unlike the new Powers, the ancients were true gods. Kill one, and they would simply be reincarnated.”

I scratched my head, truly perplexed. “Alright, but what does any of that have to do with player evolutions?”

Sulan’s tongue lolled out in a lupine smile. “Before players became players, they were called by another name: scions, bearers of the ancient blood. When one of the ancients perished—whether through foul means or fair—the blood of the House’s scions would awaken, beginning their evolution into the latest reincarnation of the deceased ancient.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. The pieces were beginning to fall in place. “Wolf was one of the ancients,” I whispered.

Sulan nodded. “He was. As was Dragon, Lion, Serpent, and many others.”

I pursed my lips, pondering deeply. “If all that is true,” I said slowly, “why have I heard of none of them?”

“Because,” Monac said, at last joining the conversation, “all the ancients are dead. More than one thousand years have passed since the last was reborn.”

~~~

I stared at the aging wolf and former alpha of the pack. “How is that possible? If, as you say, the ancients are immortal, then why haven’t they reincarnated?”

It was Duggar who answered. “For hundreds of years, none of the scions who awakened their blood survived long enough to transition into a Prime.”

I glanced at him. “And why is that?”

“The new Powers hunted them down,” he replied with an angry growl.

“The new and old Powers warred amongst themselves?” I asked. “Why?”

“No one remembers anymore,” Duggar said. “Or if they do, they tell no one. What is clear, though, is that the war was lost by the ancients. And the new Powers are determined to keep it that way.”

“By preventing any of the ancients from being reborn?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Duggar said.

“And now,” Leta added, “knowledge of the ancients is so suppressed that most scions who have the potential to evolve into Primes do not even know to try.”

“It is only us, the gatekeepers, that still remember the old ways,” Suva finished sadly.

“Which brings us back to the subject of evolutions,” Sulan said.

I turned back to her. “Meaning?”

“You are both scion and player and may walk a multitude of paths. If you choose to follow the new ways, you will, in time, evolve into one of the new Powers, be it of Light, Dark, or Shadow.” The white wolf paused. “But if you abandon new for old and walk one of the now-forbidden paths, you may eventually become a reborn Prime.”

There was that word again. “Prime? What does that mean?” I asked.

“It is what the old Powers called themselves,” Duggar said. “And refers to the title each held as the head of their respective Houses.”

I bowed my head and considered what I had learned. Around me, the wolves fell silent, allowing me space to think.

I’d come to the pack to learn more about Wolf, yet I had discovered more than I’d bargained for. Now, I also understood why the dire wolves were uneasy about me. If I truly possessed the potential to be reborn as Wolf Prime, and if the new Powers were indeed still at war with the ancients as the council implied, then my very presence amongst the pack imperiled them.

Yet, they seemed willing to shoulder the danger.

“What is it that you want from me?” I asked finally. I suspected I knew that already, but I sought their confirmation.

“You know already,” Sulan replied gently. “This pack cherishes the old ways. Our lore is full of tales of a better time under Wolf and his brethren, and we would see a return to those days.” She held my gaze. “I believe it is your destiny to follow the way of the wolf, Michael. And if you prove worthy, to become the Prime reborn.”

“Don’t push him, Sulan,” Duggar chided. He turned to me, his mindvoice grave. “You are approaching a crossroads, wolfkin. Up until now, you’ve been treading lightly across many paths—both old and new.”

The alpha’s tongue lolled out in a rare smile. “Like the nomadic wolves of old, you’ve refused to settle and have held yourself aloof from all the factions, binding yourself to neither Light, Dark, Shadow—or Wolf. But all your Marks are deepening, and whether of your own accord or not, you will soon find yourself bound.” He paused. “Better you make the choice consciously.”

If I understood Duggar correctly, he was telling me I could not stand aside. I would have to choose a path. Hamish had said something similar long ago in relation to the Forces, but where he’d mentioned only three choices—Light, Dark, or Shadow—the wolves were suggesting there was a fourth choice.

“So what shall it be?” Barak broke in. “Will you become Lightsworn, Darksworn, Shadowsworn, or scion of House Wolf?”

“Choose carefully,” Duggar said. He glanced sideways at Sulan, quelling whatever she was about to say. “And remember, the choice of which path to walk is yours alone.”

I closed my eyes and fell silent again, thinking.

Minutes passed, and seemingly no longer able to remain silent, Barak snapped, “Enough dithering! What will you do?”

I opened my eyes and scrutinized each of the elders in turn. My gaze rested longest on the oldest amongst them. Monac had said little and asked even less. And from his almost bored countenance, the old wolf seemed to have no doubts about my choice.

And he is not wrong, I thought wryly.

Despite still knowing little about Wolf, I felt an instinctive rightness about the path Sulan was urging me onto.

There was something of Wolf about me already. I had felt it numerous times already, prompting my actions and swaying my choices. It was not an alien force either. The wolf within me had always been there, I thought, and it was as much part of me as any other aspect of myself. Most of all, I could not deny that I yearned to awaken my Wolf heritage more completely.

Perhaps Sulan is right; perhaps it is my destiny.

“I will become a scion of House Wolf,” I said at last.