The War for Eventyr

25 | Power

"We attack just before dawn," Ormr said from above the crowd. His voice was nearly drowned out by the patter of rain against the ground. The weather had slacked off just a little––the wind didn't roar like it had just a few hours ago, but having lived through Eventyr's harsh winters, he knew it was only a short stage of calm before something much worse. "The Shadowborn won't see us coming. Not when we attack where they least expect it."

Trygve's stomach stirred at how very wrong he was. But maybe this wasn't the place to say it––that thanks to him, the Shadow Skulk planned to destroy them; they most certainly had the means.

He struggled through the crowd, pushing past the sea of brown fur. But none of them were foxes he recognized. They didn't look like any of Hlodyn's inhabitants, but rather, all followers of Ormr from his home territory to the north. Each had a scowl of reverence painted on their muzzles.

They were soldiers. Drilled and trained. Ormr's own special forces.

"Har will lead the attack against the main border," he explained, "while we will use a secret passageway, a land bridge over the fjord that the Shadowborn spy told me specially about. We'll weaken them from the inside when their army is divided, and they will fall!"

Barks of agreement called out, but they all sounded the same. Monotone and rehearsed.

Something about the whole ordeal made Trygve's head spin. Wasn't this land bridge what Skadi had told him to warn the elders about? Where was Dagny? Why hadn't she stopped them from fighting? Weren't they all enraged by the fact that Skadi was a spy?

He shook his muzzle, focusing on the moment at paw. Marching to the base of Ormr's rock, he shouted to the elder.

"Jafenhar, what's going on?"

The clay-furred tod stopped mid-sentence, leaping down to meet him.

"Ah, Thridi," he chimed. "Have you come to your senses and decided to join us?" His teeth glinted in a wide grin.

Trygve shook his head. "I told you, I can't be a part of this. But I don't understand why you're still going to attack. Didn't Dagny tell––"

"Shhh, calm down." His voice grew quiet, hissing the order. "Come along, Trygve, and we'll discuss this privately." Ormr sent a nod toward his army, to which they nodded back. He strode towards the dens at the back of the clearing, gesturing with his nose for Trygve to come too. Timidly, he followed.

Once inside, in the darkness where he could hardly see the fox before him, Trygve was shoved forward. He whirled around to find Ormr blocking the entrance to the den, while his eyes glinted in the moonlight. Malice glowed in his widened pupils.

"Ow!" Trygve squinted. "What was that for?"

He sighed, a tsk on his tongue. "Because you can't keep your muzzle shut, you stupid kit." A growl followed the words, and Trygve could feel the tod's warm breath hanging over him.

"What?" He stumbled back, searching the tod's face. Trygve found only bared fangs. "What is this about?"

"You think I didn't know that Skadi was a spy?" he sneered. "Even before you sent your little friend back to blab it to the entire Leaf Skulk?"

Trygve swallowed. Finally the truth was coming out. He had sensed something off about Ormr, something evil. It seemed he was too late. "Where's Dagny?" he shouted. "You better not have hurt her!" He forced out a growl of his own, even though he didn't dare grow close to the tod that towered over him.

He snorted. "She's fine. For now." Ormr began a slow prowl toward Trygve. "I'd be more worried about yourself. A fox that knows too much is a liability. Wouldn't want this information getting into the wrong paws."

His gruff voice sent a chill down Trygve's spine. He tried not to let it show, standing up taller and holding his tail high. "How do you know so much?" he demanded to know. "How did you know about Skadi? Why did you keep it quiet?"

"Yet you only want to know more." Ormr chuckled, pausing in his tracks to sit on the den floor. "Why do you think, Trygve? Is it fun being an underdog? Having no power? Does it make you feel good when no one takes you seriously?"

Slowly, Trygve shook his muzzle.

"Right," he snarled. "You and I have more in common than you think. I was tired of being a kit, just like you, so I changed it. And I was tired of being part of this Council with age-old foxes who refused to let go of the past. Who refused to fight in a war that would kill us. So I changed it."

Trygve licked his chops, trying to comprehend the words. "What..." He could hardly find his voice to finish the thought. "What did you do?"

With a laugh, Ormr met his eyes. "Well, you did plenty of it for me. You couldn't have just died the first time you went to the Shadow border. That would've been too easy––to convince your grandmother to agree to go to war against the skulk that killed her grandkit. Instead, you added a few extra bumps when you dragged that half-blind bag of fur here. It was a means to the same end, nonetheless."

Trygve's heart beat harder.

"It was easy enough to figure out that she was a spy. She wasn't very good at acting," he droned, "but I knew it'd be enough to deceive you. All I had to do was make sure you got elected as Thridi. Skadi would feel used and run back to her queen to tell them what she knew about us, and that we would fall perfectly into her little trap. Only, I know exactly what they're planning, thanks to my little slip about the land bridge to Skadi. And we'll be ready for them."

Suddenly, it all made sense. "Beste." The whisper of her voice once more wrapped around his mind. How quickly she'd become sick––the same effect as many of the poisonous plants that grew wild in their woods.

"The new Har was easy enough to trick into following my plan." Trygve's eyes were drawn back to Ormr's scornful tongue. "Now, all that's left is to make sure he dies too, leaving only one fox to lead the Leaf Skulk." A harsh growl filled his throat, resuming his prowl toward Trygve.

There was only one more elder to get out of the way. Him.

Ormr lunged, and Trygve felt the weight collide with his chest. A piercing pain shot through his foreleg, and he felt the bone splinter beneath the strength of the tod's jaws. Trygve thrashed under his weight, trying to throw the fox off. But his eyes were too busy filling with tears, his muzzle too busy howling in pain.

He managed to get his head off the ground, pushing upward with his shoulders and nearly tipping Ormr off. Only for his body to be shoved back down by swift paws. His skull cracked against the stone, and darkness flooded his vision. Everything grew numb, hazy and dull.

Then he closed his eyes.