The Wolf & The Fox

Prologue

The king left behind the revelry in the Great Hall. He left the warmth of fires burning with shadowroot and herbs. He'd left his warriors, red-faced and merry, filling their bellies with ale and roasted meats. In the morning, he would lead them across the ocean and in every sound, every scent, this knowledge filled the night. With every step he took past the homes of his people, it pursued him. He heard it in the wails of weeping mothers, the sounds of desperate fucking and the fearful whimpers of boys who knew they weren't ready. Who knew they would never see home again.

In the bay, the warships creaked against the lazy sway of the sea.

His boots crunched against the frozen ground as his breath danced before his lips. He left his clan in his shadow and entered the forest. This bleak land groaned around him, a white and blue world of snarling trees and creeping frost. Deeper in the woods came the howls of predators. Those jewelled-eyed beasts who stalked in the darkness, but he was not afraid. For the worst of them, the most feared, the beast whose blood was rich with the ichor of the gods - this was the man he'd left the comforts of the great hall to see.

They called him the great wolf. He called him brother.

Moans shattered the silence of the woods. Faint at first, but with every step he took, they grew. Louder and more frenzied. He smiled. His brother was as predictable as any other man, even if he could barely be defined by such a word.

The moon glowed between the trees, those dead things running their darkened fingers against the night, guiding him toward the water. Bathed in milky light, a small hut stood, the vast ocean shimmering behind it. On either side, the mountains crept up to meet the sky.

He left the dark veil of the forest, embraced the world of the bay. His eyes narrowed on the ship tethered before the hut, grander and more intricately carved than those that stood before his village. A fine vessel for a king.

The king's footsteps grew heavy as he walked onto the wooden deck, towards the open doors of the hut. The moaning reached a crescendo, but he didn't waver. He strode into the home of his childhood. On the ground, surrounded by furs, his brother was fucking a woman. A silky-haired and flushed-skin villager the king recognised but couldn't name. The wolf glanced up at him lazily, without breaking his stride. A fire blazed in the room's centre, its flames glimmered on their damp skin.

The king lingered in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest, idly picking the meat from his teeth.

The woman cried out, and the wolf sped up. Close now, his thrusts losing rhythm. And then he stopped. His bellow was loud enough to disturb the gods. His body went slack, and he collapsed into the furs, naked and panting. The woman glanced up at the king, unaware of his presence till now. She gasped and gathered her things. All the while, the wolf didn't move. The woman went to leave, but the warrior caught her arm. He whispered something in her ear, his eyes gleaming wickedly, but the girl just stared anxiously at the king. When the wolf let her go, she ran out of the hut, faltering when the King moved to let her pass. She smelt of ale and sex.

"And what do I owe the pleasure, my king." His brother chuckled. The deep timbre of his voice could shake the very trees, but it was the amused lilt that set the king's teeth on edge. The wolf drank deeply from the horn by his side.

"Is everything ready?" The king kept his distance. He always did. You never sauntered into the path of a predator, even one you called kin.

His brother's lip quirked, and he nodded toward the beach.

"You must have seen it. Does it not meet the royal approval?"

"I'm not talking about my ship. Your work, as always, is outstanding. Father would be proud."

At that, the wolf said nothing, just took a deeper gulp of ale.

"I'm here to ensure you will act on what we discussed. That you will abide by my words."

The wolf smirked, his lips curving into a smile, but all the king saw were sharp teeth.

"Have I ever, brother, not honoured my word?" His eyes dimmed with something that would have gone unnoticed by anyone else. Anyone who had not watched the other grow from infant to man. It was not the first time the king saw that darkness in his brother's gaze. And it was that shadow that had drawn the king away from a joyful hall and a warm bed and the smiles of his children.

"Our people have suffered, starved trying to farm this barren land, prayed miles away from our temples, all the while the golden kingdom thrives on a land nurtured with the blood of our ancestors..."

The wolf laughed, his vast shoulders shook, the froth from his ale spilt and soaked into the furs. Then he stopped, and his face was severe. He stared at the king, who fell silent.

"Save your pretty words. You already have my allegiance. It's been too long since I saw war, and is the spilling of blood not what the gods bred me for?"

"Thank you, brother. You will see, the gods will praise our victory."

The great wolf reared up swiftly. The force of his body, the muscles coiled and shifted like serpents under his flesh. He stalked forward, his movements powerful, specific. He towered above the king, though his brother was not a small man. His eyes sombre.

"But know this, I know you. I see your mind working, and though I can't pretend to think like you do, to know what's in your thoughts, do not consider me a fool."

"Is that a threat, brother?"

The wolf remained silent and glanced out to sea. Lights sweeping the sky above shimmered in shades of red and green and gold. The bay was alive with colour.

"The gods never favour those who declare themselves divine at their expense. They will grant the downfall to any man that does."

The king's eyes narrowed, and an icy chill, like a shard of ice, penetrated the thick walls of his heart. The lights bathed his elder brother's face in shades of fire. Shades of war.

"The gods know your heart. And if it is false. A war greater than this one comes your way, brother, and I will not be enough to stop the flames as they consume you."

With that, the wolf strode away, stalked to the edge of the beach and watched the night sky. The king saw longing when he saw it, but for what, he did not know.

Tomorrow they would go to war. Once more, the world would shift. Whatever happened, the king thought, the great wolf would bathe in blood once more. And no kingdom could ever be ready for that.