As he and the malinois pups trotted along towards the last of the packs he hadn't yet visited, he was mulling over what he'd learned so far from his conversations with the other alphas. Lirim and Valhalla would be a problem, though it seemed Valhalla might be more inclined to neutrality than outright hostility. Abaven was... complicated, though it didn't feel complicated when he'd been there with Poem, not being an alpha and just being normal. Uncomplicated. This was probably going to be another of those complicated ones. It was right next to Ashen, Deathbelle's pack... his uncle's old pack, as far as he could tell. He didn't know if that meant that this pack was allied to hers, or if it was a situation like his and Aurielle's, where they were less than friendly. He didn't know what either of those situations would mean for Aerie.

It was time to find out.

Flanked by the pups, who were glancing around with alert interest, he raised his head to howl for the alpha.

Fatalis

A howl at the border brought the training session to a close. He finished correcting Morts leg work, and stepped back, telling him to continue the exercise well he was gone. The titanic Warlord looped away from the beach, joined as he moved by the silent, prowling form of Bast. Marshal was already at the border, circling the air above the stranger and his clutch of pups.

He was surprised to find what waited for him there. A young wolf, flanked by what appeared to be two mutts. Pups, in fact, young and wide eyed. One didn't see dogs every day. The only ones he knew were the half... quarter? breeds that had been born in Deathbelle’s pack. He ignored them, focusing his attention on the wolf with them. He did not recognize the wolf, and as he approached, he felt the smell of his pack might be vaguely familiar. Seer hadn't been sticking his paws in the politics jar, so he didn't know much more than that. "Welcome to the Armada, I'm Sirius Fatalis, its Warlord. what can I do for you?" He asked, keeping his words polite, and his distance enough to see and defend against a strike.

"Ice" & "Fire"

The howl at the border caught Zee's attention and a wave of shallow anxiety flowed through her. She had to remind herself that currently the Armada had no enemies to speak of, that the wolf calling for them was likely a friendly one. Sirius typically handled those things and she gladly allowed him to, however with the slow growing insecurity that she was perhaps not doing enough for the Armada she convinced herself to check it out.

Sirius was already there which frankly was to be expected. The warlord did not take the safety of his pack for granted, and he was not one for half-measures. The horned queen stepped up from his left, careful to not hide in his shadow. She may have been a dwarf compared to him but she would never allow herself to be thought as lesser. Sirius' introduction reached her, and she interjected her own as his finished. "Good, I got here before he tried to eat anyone." She joked amicably. "I'm Zee, his better half."

The two pups trailing behind the man caught her eye, and Zee couldn't help but grin across the border at them. She stooped down to their level - which, to be honest, didn't require much bending the small wolf's part - and met their eyes. "Hello there." Zee could try to blame it on motherhood... but her soft spot had always been for little creatures.

It took hardly any time at all for another wolf to appear at the border, a wolf just slightly taller than Eligos himself but heavier and naturally equipped with fangs and claws. Eligos had only a moment to study the alpha before another wolf came up beside the stranger, one marked with odd colors and who bore horns upon her head. "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he rumbled politely with an inclination of his head towards her, and another slower nod for the larger alpha while he turned his attention back to him. The malinois pups wriggled in excited ecstasy when the horned female got down to their level to smile at them, and cast him pleading glances that spoke eloquently of their desperation to go play but he didn't release them, so they stayed quiet and stayed down, though both tails wagged madly. Eli had no intention of letting them go play with the dangerous-looking Warlord's mate over the border and risk them trespassing or seeming to be attacking the woman. "I am Eligos Abraxas," he said quietly instead, "Tiercel of Aerie. We have only recently moved to Boreas, and as I am neither familiar with this continent nor the packs here, I have undertaken to familiarize myself with both at once. Aerie are mercenaries, and as such it behooves us to be familiar to those who we may seek to offer our services."

Fatalis

Zee trotted up behind him, and he spared a smile for his Queen as she took a moment to familiarise herself with the pups. For Sirius, he had attention only for Eligos, wondering what this stranger wished, and if he meant them any threat. The scent of pack clung to him, and the Warlord assumed he was high ranking, if not Alpha himself.

“Mercenaries? An interesting occupation for a pack” he mused out loud. He had heard of similar in bands, but not packs. He wondered fleetingly how it worked, but in the end, it was no matter. “I see. Well met, Eligos Abraxas. Would you perhaps be related to Archon?” here was the real question. Was their complication in blood ties to his Empress? His loyalty first and foremost lay with her.


"Ice" & "Fire"

The conversation continued and having greeted the puppies, Zee straightened to listen. As the man gave his name her gaze shot to fall upon Sirius for a moment, wondering if he too was wondering about the Abraxas wolf. Archon had been the reason Zee was gifted to Deathbelle and rose to where she was now, her loyalty to the man was enough to make her suspicious of this one. Sirius asked the question that was on her mind, as well as commenting on their stance as mercenaries. "While I can see the benefit to familiarizing yourself with a potential client, surely you can see why we'd be hesitant for a meet and greet. You are tooth and claw for hire, there is no conversation we could have that would guarantee our pack does not become one of your targets." She paused and let out a breath. Zee did not want to make enemies with anybody, especially with pups running around the pack now. A mercenary pack however could never be an ally, they would sell themselves to the highest bidder otherwise they could not consider themselves wolves-for-hire. Anything said or learned at this meeting could be used against them in the future. "If you've come to deliver a sales pitch, know now that we are not interested in your services nor will we be in the future." She looked once more to Sirius, to ensure she saw no argument in his eyes. "Zee" & "Sirius"

The other alpha asked almost immediately about Archon, and Eligos kept his face expressionless and bland. "He was my uncle. I did not know him well." He had been, in fact, away from the pack for most of Eligos' life, first as Malleus' proxy in Abaven and later as a band leader, and later still as a member of another pack. Much of what he knew about the male had come from Malleus and Pyrrhic. Like the fact that he had died with his teeth in Eligos' father's flesh.

He simply tilted his head in Zeitgeist's direction when she spoke, and kept himself carefully neutral. "You assume that we sell only our skill as warriors. On the contrary, we offer all of our skills - as hunters, teachers, healers, and more. We trade, just as any pack does, but we simply offer to trade more than crafted goods, and unlike allies who have little to keep them from turning, we follow our contracts to the letter. Our clients know precisely what they can expect from us." He shrugged, then moved to back away, rather than rudely turning his back to the pack's alphas. "But as you say, perhaps you have no need for our services. You are, nonetheless, invited as all the packs are to Aerie's trade fair as winter turns to spring. There will be a peace treaty enforced, so you needn't worry that your pack will become victims of another." He bowed his head stiffly, and summoning the dogs with a word, left.

He brought up Archon, and the man's face went expressionless. His answer was very much a shrug off the shoulder. A sore point, or did he simply not care less? It was hard to tell, but if Archon was his uncle, that would make him Malleus’s son, and he knew enough that it would surprise him if the man didn’t bare a grudge. If he ever posed a threat to Deathbelle or Venom, then he was a threat to Sirius. If he saw the past as simply history, and wanted no revenge, then Sirius bore him no ill will. Zee spoke, raising a good point, and Eligo’s took offense to it. He glanced at his wife, and saw the edges of worry and mild panic in her face. Zee was the gentlest of the two of them, and he knew her well enough to see the alarm it caused her to offend another Alpha. If Eligos walked away, the Warlord would see it as no win or loss. He had made no effort to reach out to the packs in the land. He could not create alliances, for one word from his Empress may have him betraying them. “My Wife is thinking of course of the alliance between Winterfell and Abaven, and the harm caused when the Winterfell Alpha turned on his allies. She meant no offence.” he placed a paw over Zee’s, and plunged on. His words for his wifes sake. “I would be delighted to take a small group to your trade fair and see what goods we might have to trade. What is the standard cost of your services, for curiosity’s sake?” "Zee" & "Sirius"