Chaos loped along, at times with his nose to the ground and others to the wind, but always following the trail Dagmaer's poisoner had left him. She was tricky, he would give her that much. Under other circumstances he could even admire the obviously clever and devious mind that had led him on such a merry chase. But Cascade Saxe and Valentine Imperialis had not raised an idiot, nor had their teachings been unpracticed over the years.

Chaos stopped, the hot scent in his nose as he stared into the sandstone formations. The walls of the canyons and towers of stone were beautiful in their own way, but he wasn't stopping to appreciate the scenery. No, this was it. The trail was as fresh as you could get it without sticking your nose up the other wolf's ass. She was here. It hadn't been easy, no, but finally - finally he'd found where she'd gone to ground.

He swung his gaze towards the wolves who'd come here with him, towards Karabela who'd set them this mission, and nodded sharply into the land ahead of them. Here, his gesture said as plainly as if he'd opened his jaws and spoke the words. He could have darted right in, found the would-be murderer and dragged her from her hiding spot, but he refrained. It wasn't his call, it was Raba's, and he kept his eyes questioningly on hers to wait for her orders.

Anger burned in Karabela's chest as she followed after Chaos.  They'd been searching for the culprit who had poisoned Dagmær and it seemed as if they'd been led all over creation.  She was starting to fear that they would never find Magpie.  The thought of that witch getting away made Karabela's blood boil.  Birna was loping alongside her.  They would occasionally part ways when the scent became muddled only to regroup and follow again and so it went in this pattern for some time, as the land got more and more desolate.  Part of her feared they might be lead into a trap but the trail was tricky enough she doubted that was Magpie's end goal.

Her nostrils flared as she tracked along side the rest of their small band when Chaos suddenly stopped.  When he swung his gaze to meet hers she nodded.  Bingo.  So this was where the little tramp was hiding.  Very clever indeed, a virtual labyrinth but it also meant they had plenty of opportunity to corner her.  She kept her voice low just in case the other was listening.  Eyes gazing about the sky for any sign of the bird companion.

"Let's move in.  Beat her into submission, maim her if you have to but I want her alive.  I need answers."  With a nod to Birna and Chaos she started in on the trail.

"Speech"

The thrill of avenging her mother had warn of swiftly, the reality of what she'd done and the mistakes she'd made along the way echoed in her mind. Fool! She should have made absolutely sure her victim was alone before poisoning the girl. She'd been enjoying her work when she'd caught the scent of the second and then it was a mad dash for safety, for the twists and desolate turns of a place she never thought they'd look for her. However, her instincts told her she was far from safe. She could feel caution humming in her bones…. but also pleasure. She'd made a brilliant stab at the usurper's line! Oh she could almost hear Aerndís cheering her from the battlefield beyond. The remnants of those bastards that drove her mother from their home, that ultimately lead to her death. Dægmar and Birna both and now she was going to claim something from them. It felt simply delicious!

Wolf landed next to her as she peered up a canyon wall. Now the trick was going to be getting away with it. She'd simply seized an opportunity. Her stunt was nowhere near as polished as she'd wanted it to be and she still had a checklist of those she needed vengeance on, namely Peregrine's attackers. Like hell she was dying before giving them their dues!

Rœkia moved switfly, she needed to press on. This was probably enough of a detour to keep them off her trail if they'd managed to follow her all the way here. She'd keep them lost in these canyons for days while she slunk off to the Deadman's Scrap to hide until the whole thing blew over a bit more. Rœkia froze suddenly as she thought she heard the sound of claws on stone. Her heart started to race but she couldn't quite pinpoint which direction the sound was coming from. She bolted and as she turned a corner she came face to face with her pursuers.

"Speech"

Karabela moved swiftly but stealthily, her languid form moving soundlessly over the rocky terrain like a shadow. Her fangs were bared, tongue running over teeth in anticipation. The scent grew stronger and more distinct with ever footstep and as she rounded the corner of the canyon she was striding through she came face to face with the vile bitch that had poisoned her niece. "Putrid snake!" she cried as she lunged toward Magpie with deceptive speed. Her jaws barely seized the other woman's scruff but it was not enough to get ahold of her as the flesh tore and the wretch slipped through her jaws. With a snarl Karabela gave chase, winding and weaving through the canyon, using her height to her advantage as she took long, powerful strides.

She grinned maliciously as she rounded another pass to find her prey cornered… or so she thought. As Karabela lunged again Magpie managed to slip through a small crevice and into another canyon corridor altogether. Karabela swore violently but knew that she, Birna and Chaos were not going to fit through that opening. "Split up! Howl when you catch her!" Karabela opted to back track, leaving the other trails to her hunting party. She would not be denied her revenge, not when she was this close.

"Speech"

Rœkia swore repeatedly under her breath as she raced along the canyon floor, Wolf soaring above her. Of all the luck! She could feel blood starting to pool between her shoulder blades but she didn't dare stop as she raced back to the cavern she'd been using as a makeshift den, resting up before the push to the scrap. Racing inside she found her pack and grinned up at her magpie companion, Wolf. "It simply isn't fair Wolf, my love, these brutes and their muscle beating up on little old me. How barbaric. I think it's time to even the odds…" She reached a paw in and rolled out the jar with a dying poison dart frog. They wanted to play… fine, then she was game!

Rœkia didn't get out another thought before a burst of pain in her left hind leg and a resounding crack caused her to scream as she was dragged from the densite.

"Speech"

Karabela moved swiftly, navigating around the treacherous canyon walls, picking her way nimbly from foothold to foothold until at last she found the corridor Magpie had fled into. As swiftly as she'd ascended she now descended. Her life in Fenrir's Maw priming her for this task and she landed on the canyon floor with a thump and a second later she was barreling down the corridor like a shot, intense, focused. She called out prayers to her mother silently as she ran. If it was true that there was some blood feud between Dægmar's line and that of Aerndís then she wanted to make doubly sure she did her mother proud. She personally didn't know what any of this was about but by the spirits she was going to get her answers or die trying.

The moment Magpie was in view Karabela lunged, jaws seizing her left hind leg, just above the hock and with a powerful bite she broke the other woman's leg. She felt a rush of adrenaline at the scream and she dragged the other down back to the canyon floor. She could howl for the others later, right now she needed to secure the target. Karabela shifted her grip and leapt forward so her teeth ripped into the already injured scruff, eliciting another cry from the woman. Her chest was on the others back as she straddled her, making sure her weight was solidly over the other before she spoke. "Surrender now and you may be able to walk back to Ivory Ridge." She snarled. "Refuse and I remove your body parts, starting with your ears. Now tell me, why did you do such a thing!"

"Speech"

Rœkia was stunned by the pain that blared white hot through her body. She didn't have a chance of fighting back as the other woman pinned her to the ground and snarled out demands. "Alright, alright, you got me, I surrender." She didn't mean a word of it but if it got the other woman to pause in her assault, well, Rœkia had never had a problem lying. Her tongue ran lightly across her lips as she thought about Karabela's question. "Why? Such an odd question but then I suppose Dægmar's brood always was more brawn than brain." She yelped suddenly as fangs ripped at her scruff again. "Ow! Ow! Ok! Goodness, what a temper. I was just having a little fun you see, that bitch Birna needs to be paid back for the blood she spilled, as for you our families go way, wayyyy back but you wouldn't know much about that would you pup? Since dear old Dægmar had to go and become bear food before-"

"Speech"

There was something about this bitch that just made Karabela's blood boil. She just wanted to grab the other around the neck and shake her like a rabbit until she stopped moving. "Answer me!" Karabela's demand was met with snide remarks and insults and she wasn't having it, she snapped at the woman's scruff tearing deeper into flesh already sopped with blood. "I'm warning you!" Just when Karabela thought she might get a decent answer the putrid villainess dared to insult her mother. With a vicious snarl Karabela dived for the woman's throat. Intent on strangling her but then she felt a sudden prick on her lower back. A strange tingling feeling ran through her limbs and then they suddenly just folded on her as she collapsed on top of Magpie, wide-eyed and stunned. She hadn't taken any herbs, what on earth worked this fast? Fear suddenly shot down her spine. Why wasn't her body moving?!

"Speech"

She felt fangs around her neck, pressing in against her windpipe when suddenly…. they stopped, she felt the massive form of the other woman slump on top of her and she grinned.

"Well done, Wolf." Rœkia slipped out from under the other, wincing as she drew her injured leg close to her body. She turned to gaze down at Karabela for a moment with a grin on her face. "You want answers then perhaps you should ask dear aunty Aserlín that is assuming you surv-"

"Rœkia! The others are finding their way around, if we're going to move we must do it now!"

Rœkia's eyes narrowed as she glanced up at Wolf. "Then we'll go through the secret pass, through ever little nook and cranny we can and loose them in the bowels of this land." She took once last glance at Karabela and grinned. "In regards to your mother, have Dag send my regards."

Gathering her bag she sprinted through another crevice, too small and narrow for the larger wolves to follow her, wincing at the incredible pain of her broken leg but adrenaline was surging hot and coursing through her veins and she ran on, intent on making her escape.

-exit-

"Speech"

Birna was having a rough time of it. Though she was used to the treacherous terrain of Fenrir's Maw she was none the less a massive wolf and some how she kept managing to find every twist and turn that led to some small ripple in the canyon that she could not fit through. Finally when she'd managed to pick up the woman's scent again she found her niece lying paralyzed on the canyon floor and struggling to breath. "Karabela!" She wasted no time and howled for Chaos, hoping that he was nearby. "Karabela, what happened? Where is Magpie?" "SPEAK"

Chaos followed his alpha's lead as she entered the labyrinth, tracing that scent through the twining canyons. His ears and tail quivered with the excitement of the chase, but his eyes held a deadly seriousness. Suddenly, they were brought face to face with their quarry. Raba took off after her, Chaos on her heels, but when the much smaller female slipped into a crack Chaos couldn't follow through. With a snarl of frustration, he spun in place and sprinted along the larger passage, looking for a way through the maze that would bring him to where Raba was still chasing the poisoner. He thought Birna was nearby, but when he glanced back she was gone. He had just managed to pick up the trail when Birna's howl drew him back into a sprint. Coming on them he saw blood splashed on Raba's muzzle, and the alpha lying still. "Raba!" he snarled, shock and worry evident on his face. He made as if to follow Maggie's trail to avenge two pack mates now fallen, but hesitated instead. Raba was still alive, her chest rising and falling with breath despite the obvious struggle, and while she still drew breath his first duty was to her. "We need to get her back to the healers," he rumbled. Glancing back along Maggie's trail he added, "but we can't let that creature get away either." He gnashed his teeth fretfully a moment before firming his jaw. The crevasse was much too small for him anyway, and more time would be wasted that Raba might not be able to afford. Instead he crouched his lengthy form down next to Raba to gently lick her scruff. He'd never really noticed before how much his fangs got in the way for this - probably because he had only ever been offered affection, not the other way around. Would he have felt this way for Rhys if he had been given the opportunity to grow up beside his half-sister? He rather thought so. He would rather have had Raba for a sister than Vana, anyway. "Raba, you still with us?" he murmured to her with a pretty decent attempt at humor in his tone. "Did you get a bite in for me?"

Karabela's limbs tingled and burned, her whole body felt like it was on fire.  She could feel sensation coming back to her, thankfully she'd been barely pricked.  If the wound had been deeper she shuddered to think what that might have meant for her and all the while Rœkia was getting away with it.  Cold dread settled in Karabela's stomach.  Did this woman have allies?  Was her tiny, dwindling pack now in peril all because she had the audacity to think herself an alpha?  Karabela grit her teeth and swore.  She wasn't sure how much time had passed until Birna had found her.  It probably hadn't been that long but the seconds felt like hours to her while their quarry continued to get further and further away from them.  

Chaos arrived then and she felt a stab of embarassment that he would see her like this.  Defeated.  The word stung more than any wound.  If it had been a fair match, if she'd lost in battle to a superior opponent that was one thing but to be so terribly cheated. It was infuriating.  She opened her mouth, working her jaw a bit as she managed to sit upright in a sphyx-like position panting.  "Mm..okay."  Panting she set her jaw and spoke. "Chaos is right… we've come… to far.  Birna… go after her."   Birna gave Karabela a searching look but she just stared back.  They'd shared many late night conversations when the rest of the pack was sleeping and both knew what the order meant.  What the decision meant.  Birna turned and started in pursuit and Karabela whispered a soft prayer for the woman.  She'd join her soon.

They had skeletons in their closet, threads of the past that were frayed and loose and threatening to unravel their futures.  It was time to tie-up loose ends and she couldn't do that as an alpha.  It wasn't fair for her to put the members of her pack at risk.  Rœkia had targeted her.  She poisoned Dagmær to get at her and Birna was a part of this as well.  She'd been present at the siege that lead to the death of Aerndís Thyre.  She couldn't bear anyone else getting hurt for a grudge that she barely understood herself

Live by your convictions, understand that every downfall brings with it a rising and do not be surprised if at an end you find yourself once again at a beginning.

Her mother's words came floating back into her head.  They'd seemed so vague and strange when they'd been spoken to her in Somnium but now they rang clear and true in her head.  A premonition.  A promise.  Shakily Karabela stood on her feet, swaying before leaning against the cliffside.  She turned her head to Chaos with a grin. "You bet I got in some good bites."  She licked at the blood on her muzzle. "A shredded scruff and a broken leg ought to slow her up enough but…"  She frowned.  "She's tricky and I've a feeling this isn't over by a longshot."   She stared at Chaos for a moment. "Chaos, I'm not going back to Ivory Ridge.  I'm stepping down as alpha.  This threat needs to be dealt with and I can't do it from within a pack.  Whatever this is, it's a deep-running feud in my family line that I don't know enough about.  My aunt Aserlín may be able to provide me clues, she left Boreas some time ago after we helped her find her son Káti.  The longer I stay at Ivory Ridge the greater chance someone else is going to get hurt and I can't have that happen."  She'd tested her members enough with the terrain and her crazy ideas of fun.  It'd been a harsh living without much pay off and one by one they were falling away.  It was time to let this go. "Chaos, I've known you since we were pups and I know our lives led down different paths but I've never met a true Imperialis that didn't have a gift for rule.  If you want it, the pack is yours.  I only ask that you break it free from its old tethers.  Tear down the name and the old ranks, make something new of it and lead well.  Tell Dag if she…" Karabela's voice caught in her throat and she swallowed sharply before continuing. "If she survives tell her I love her."

Karabela took a few shaky steps and inhaled deeply.  "The feelings coming back in my limbs.  What say you Chaos?  Ready to follow in your parents paw steps?"

"Speech"

Chaos shifted obligingly to allow Raba to her feet, then rose to his own to match her grin. "Good," he said with relish. Broke her leg, eh? His grin faded as hers changed to a frown. Brows rose in surprise at her words, then drew together and lowered in a thoughtful frown. He couldn't deny that her though process was logical. He certainly wasn't a deep thinker by any means - he wasn't stupid, far from it, but thinking things through at that level wasn't really his usual mode of operation so it came as a surprise to him how protective he felt, how rooted in Ivory Ridge he'd become. Responsibility, he thought dryly, had already changed him, and he'd just been a soldier in Raba's pack. He had to wonder what he'd have turned out like if that damned virus hadn't struck Imperium and taken it from his family. He squeezed his eyes shut for a heartbeat before opening them and staring fully into Raba's gaze. Would he be as good an alpha as his father had been? He'd never expected to be alpha - in Imperium he'd had three full siblings and three half-siblings before him as far as straight inheritance went. "All right, Raba," he said slowly, his heart quickening with his acceptance. "I'll take the pack." A grin quirked up one side of his muzzle. "Never thought of myself as a boss type, but like you said, I guess it runs in my blood." He rested his forehead on hers a moment - not as easily done as tall as she was - as though in benediction. "Good luck, Raba. I'll take care of them. I swear it."