Healer-of-ills, we meet again, the matriarch answers, her gaze intent. Her demeanour, while not entirely friendly, is also not immediately aggressive. She raises her head and sniffs at me, her body shifting slightly to become even warier. You bring with you those we have been hunting. Did you take my pack members?

  It’s not an accusation, exactly, but it’s certainly a warning. I’m very aware of the raptorcats arrayed before us. And, with a quick look backwards, I see that some have moved to surround us too. Fortunately, we’re innocent. Hopefully they’ll believe that.

  “I did not take your pack members,” I declare, looking her in the eyes with a steady expression and willing her to be convinced. “Neither did any of my Bound.”

  The matriarch looks at me for a long moment, and I feel her domain shifting around us, the hint of wildness caressing my senses.

  Very well, she accepts and everyone collectively relaxes a touch. Not entirely – we’re not allies, after all. Just because we haven’t taken their packmates doesn’t mean we’re safe from attack. And they have the same concern about us.

  “What made you think that we had?” I ask curiously. And why do I feel a sense of foreboding as I ask the question?

  We tracked our packmates to a place where there had been a battle. There we found traces of creatures such as yours, even as our packmates’ tracks disappeared, the matriarch answers, using her wing to indicate the two samurans with me. They tense; so do I. No wonder I’ve been feeling uneasy about this whole thing – it’s the whole Kalanthia situation all over again.

  What is it with samuran villages and the tendency to annoy Tier threes by taking those precious to them? And I have a feeling I know just who is to blame. Who would benefit more than the beast tamer from catching multiple raptorcats? That she's capable of trapping and taming such dangerous creatures is obvious from the ones she sent with her assistant to our village.

  What really annoys me is the fact that they didn't tell me the real reason for this Tier three's anger. If this wasn't the matriarch who we had already established a good relationship with in the past, I could have brought my Bound into a situation where we were forced to fight for our lives against a creature who was just trying to get her family back.

  If I had known that Beast-tamer or one of the other samurans had captured the packmates of this matriarch, then I would have brought them with me and this could have been solved immediately. But then, perhaps that wasn't what they wanted.

  Perhaps they were hoping that I would get into a battle with the Tier three and kill it. Our efforts during the hunt made it clear that we were capable of killing Tier three's and that would have solved all of their problems very nicely. We would have borne the brunt of any losses and they would have got away with two powerful raptorcat guards for the village. No wonder they weren’t keen on sending any of their Evolved into battle with us. My teeth grind and my fists clench at the thought.

  “How many packmates are you missing?” I ask.

  As many as you have of my kind, she answers promptly. Three, then.

  I think quickly. I could go back to the village with my Bound and force the samurans to hand over the raptorcats. Or…. I grin at the thought. This will serve them right.

  “Would you care to come with us to the village?” I ask with schadenfreude at the thought of the samurans’ upcoming panic. “If you promise not to attack any of the samurans as long as they do not attack you, then I will promise to fight with you if they do attack.”

  The matriarch considers the matter carefully.

  I will come with you, she answers finally. However, my pack will stay here. as will your three of my kind. If you betray me then they will become part of my pack.

  Several sounds of outrage and disagreement emerge from those around me – I’m not the only one who has come to love our raptorcat teammates. Lathani even crouches and starts growling as if to say that any attempt to take them will have to go through her first. Actually, the Bond tells me that’s exactly what she’s saying.

  I have to agree that I don't like the idea of Bastet, Storm, and Ninja being held as hostages but at the same time I recognize that it's difficult for the matriarch to trust me. I wouldn't have blamed her if she had wanted to come with her whole pack in force. But perhaps because her focus is the protection of her pack, to bring them with her and put them in danger is against her nature. My guess is that she trusts in her own strength and if her pack is not nearby she will not feel any hesitation in unleashing her most powerful attacks. If they are anything like Raven’s, they will be powerful indeed.

  Bastet, Ninja, Storm? I check with my three companions over the Bond. Is this okay with you? I have no intention of betraying the matriarch, so as long as she is willing to let you go afterwards, there should be no problem.

  Even if she wants to keep us in her pack, responds Bastet, we trust in you to come and bring us back to our family if we cannot escape ourselves. But I doubt that she will try to hold us against our will. If anything, she may be trying to protect us as well as bring three new hunters into her pack. If you betray her, she will do her best to see you dead. With your loss, she most likely recognises that we would have lost our greatest protector and would become vulnerable.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  It’s odd seeing it from that perspective, like the matriarch is actually being protective even of my own companions, simply because they’re more of her kind. But I trust Bastet’s interpretation, and it would certainly align with the protective nature of the matriarch. The fact that Bastet is already a Tier two and an experienced hunter probably makes the matriarch even more keen to keep her as part of her pack.

  Bastet hesitates for a long moment. I do not like the fact that you will be without my protection, she confesses.

  I don't like the idea of being away from you either, I agree. But this seems to be the best option for solving the issue with minimal bloodshed. We said all along that if we could solve this issue without needing to fight, that would be the best solution.

  And we will protect our leader, adds in Catch. We will make sure that Markus survives this to come back to you, he promises.

  It seems like everyone is, if not happy about the idea, at least not completely against it. I agree with Bastet’s assessment that it’s doubtful the matriarch will forcibly keep my raptor cats as long as I’m alive – that's against her whole nature of wildness. At the same time I believe that she is unlikely to betray me either, since her main objective is to retrieve her three raptorcats. Though that does raise a point – I hope that she is not keen on getting revenge in the same way that Kalanthia was.

  “Once you have your raptorcats back, what are your intentions after that?” I ask her.

  I wish to return to my territory with my pack. I do not want another predator moving in, she answers promptly.

  “You do not want revenge on those who took your pack mates?" I ask bluntly.

  I wish to be sure that this will not happen again, but I will ensure that by patrolling my territory more frequently. Any of the same kind who enter my territory will meet their death at my jaws, she says firmly.

  Well, that's a bit of a different approach than Kalanthia took but then perhaps this matriarch is younger than Kalanthia and less jaded. Or perhaps she is simply of a different mindset. Kalanthia clearly believed that the threat would not disappear until all the villagers were dead or Bound to me, who had vested interest in keeping Lathani safe. This matriarch seems forgiving in comparison.

  It makes me want to find a better solution to avoid this situation repeating itself. Because I know that the samurans will not necessarily stop when they have something they want. They are very like humans in that way. That said, they don’t have the numbers and had to call on another village for help when the consequences of Beast-tamer’s actions came home to roost. Perhaps they’ve learned their lesson – hope springs eternal. Anyway, the risk will be too high for them to repeat this situation exactly now that the matriarch is aware and on guard against their intrusion. I make a note to tell my village not to pass through the matriarch’s territory in the future – clearly she’s going to be killing first and maybe asking questions later.

  “We are agreed,” I tell the matriarch, returning to the matter at hand. Focusing on the Tier three, I reach out with a tendril of Alliance. I feel her surprise as we are connected but, like with the others I have done this with, she immediately grasps the idea. We quickly outline the terms of this short Alliance and then both agree to it.

  I feel the Alliance Bond snap into place, a faint awareness of the raptorcat matriarch settling into my mind. It's time to go.

  I give Bastet a cuddle and a rub behind the ears in farewell. She has been my constant companion for so long that it feels wrong to leave her behind like this. But while she is also sad to leave me, I get the sense that she's actually quite happy to spend some time with others of her kind. I suppose that Storm and Ninja are not proper replacements since they are so much younger than she is.

  When I move away, Lathani moves in close with an unhappy sound and crouches down to give all three of them a feline embrace by rubbing her jaw so firmly against each of them that even Bastet almost falls over. She’s so much bigger than them now that it should look ridiculous. It doesn’t; right now, it just looks sad.

  “You swear they will be safe?” I check with the matriarch anxiously.

  While they are with my pack, they are my pack, the matriarch answers reassuringly. I guess I have to take it at that.

  "Let's get going then,” I say to the group.

  The matriarch joins us as Bastet, Ninja, and Storm walk over to join the other raptorcats who receive them with a surprising amount of affection. It’s not just me who’s surprised – Bastet is a little taken aback, but returns it with eagerness. Over the Bond, I feel the welcome from her own kind filling in a hole I didn’t realise was there. With a final look back at them, I turn and lead the way into the forest.

  My first move upon leaving the clearing is to ask Windy to catch the two scouts following us. They have been watching the whole thing but I don't know how much they have understood of it or been able to transmit back to their bond-holder. They try to run away, but Windy’s magical grasp is inescapable. The two small creatures dangle in the air in front of me. They’re scared, that's clear, but at the same time there is an alien intelligence behind their eyes.

  “Beast-tamer, I know you're listening,” I say firmly. “If you don't want my Bound and I, along with the matriarch, to tear through the village upon our return, then you will make sure that the three missing raptorcats are outside and waiting for us.”

  The intelligence wavers and then disappears. I think she's got my message. Now we'll have to see what their response is. When I let the scouts go again, they immediately draw back to what they evidently consider to be a safe distance. I resign myself to them knowing exactly where we are. Hopefully that will ensure Beast-tamer has the raptorcats out when we arrive.

  We travel through the forest, keeping an eye out for potential dangers but not really expecting them – travelling with a Tier three generally means that we are left unbothered. The journey passes quickly though there is little conversation between us as we move. We are all consumed by the need to close the distance between us and the village and I suspect that I'm not the only one considering what might happen on our arrival.

  Will the village do what I have instructed them to and surrender the raptorcats? Or will they decide to take a stand against us? And what if my guess is incorrect? What if it wasn't Beast-tamer who took the raptorcats? Although we are the only two villages in this area, there are other villages not far from the matriarch's territory. Perhaps it was one of them?

  Then again, if that had been the case then why would the matriarch and her pack have come over here, so far from their own territory? I hope I'll soon find out the answers to my questions – the village is just ahead of us now.

  here!

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