It's going down

Although Brandr paced, Sparrow couldn't find the energy to move. Her body remained in place although it shook lightly.

Brandr spoke at length, though he seemed just as torn as she did. One thing kept coming into her mind though. As Brandr spoke of leaving, Sparrow sighed, "That's no good. Malleus- the Abraxas man- said that if anyone runs before I meet with him again tomorrow, the whole deal is off and violence will ensue."

She shook her head, "I don't think they will stop, Brandr. If we're on the inside, can we not work towards finding a weakness?" Sparrow scrambled trying to find some light in the situation. Brandr spoke of a nomadic band. What was a pack without a home? No herb dens or whelping dens? Wasn't that the same as being a wandering group of coyotes? Sparrow could barely get her members to patrol regularly. There was no way they would follow her into the wilderness.

"A nomadic band is just the same as disbanding," she said. "Maybe it could work for someone else, but I don't think I could do it. This land... it's my father's land. I can't just leave it. That's not Abaven- that's not what I'm supposed to rule. I only live to carry out my father's legacy. Without this pack... it's the same as dying."

Sparrow hadn't realized how much she had come to live as a substitute for her father. She had given up everything for Abaven. All her wandering, her hopes of raising a family, even her hopes of just living happily with her family. Abaven had taken it all.

"I- I could try but..." Sparrow looked to Brandr. "Let's call the pack."

-exit-