Chapter Text
Dimitri growled a curse as he looked at the mage with his emotionless eyes and raised hand. The man spoke a few words under his breath and then Dimitri felt his wolf form being drawn forward. He couldn’t stop himself from shifting and quickly realized that he couldn’t change back into his human form. He couldn’t hear any of the others through his pack bond either. It was unnatural. He thrashed as hunters lifted him and forced him into one of the cages on the large cart.
He watched helplessly while the rest of the pack who had been scouting the woods with him were forced into their wolf forms as well. He tried to communicate with any of them, but he was cut off from them too. This wasn’t good. They had no way to alert the rest of the pack back at the village. Then Dimitri’s stomach dropped as he heard a small howl. A cry of warning and alarm, and it sounded like one of the pups.
No. What were they doing out here?
“It seems we missed one.” One of the hunters laughed before two of them ran off to find the wolf.
Dimitri glared at the mage who was forcing the last of their pack into isolation and then turned as the hunters from the woods returned. One of the men was holding the pup by the scruff, half carrying half dragging them into the small clearing.
“Last one, mage.” He said, like he couldn’t care less that the wolf was only a child.
Dimitri whined helplessly, scratching at the bars of his cage. It was Rowan. She must have been following them the whole time. She’d been told to stay home but she was stubborn.
“A pup…” the mage said, though Dimitri didn’t catch any sort of shock in his voice. He must have helped to capture plenty of adult and juvenile wolves alike.
He pawed angrily at his cage along with the others as they watched. The mage stepped forward and reached out toward Rowan and then appeared to trip, though Dimitri couldn’t tell what made him stumble. The mage collided with the hunter that was holding Rowan, causing him to lose his grip.
The young pup yelped as she hit the ground and then scrambled to her feet.
Run. Run, please run. Don’t try to help.
He knew she couldn’t hear him, but still Dimitri begged. And by some miracle she seems to understand. Or maybe she was just afraid enough to want to get out of there. Either way she started running as fast as her wolf legs would carry her. He held out hope that she would reach the rest of the pack and tell Lada what had happened, though their village was at least a day's journey away.
The hunters were shouting at each other and one of them kicked the mage in the ribs as he lay on the ground.
“Eskender isn’t gonna be happy about this.” One of them grumbled, watching the pup disappear into the trees.
“Let’s just get back. He’s gonna be upset already that we’ve taken this long.”
The camp was hectic and the hunters were occupied with transferring out the previous captives out and imprisoning them, the new ones. It was bloody and sickening watching as the wolves from a pack that Dimitri didn’t know were dragged out of their cage, half starving and weak, then dropped in the center of camp where the mage waited with a knife. Though it wasn't for him to do the killing.
It was worse.
The hunters killed the wolves quickly, snapping their necks with precision, and Dimitri realized why in the next instant when the mage began cutting away at the wolf, skinning it for its pelt. The mage was whispering something as he did, a warm glow of magic flowed from his hands. Dimitri wasn’t sure what it was for, but he knew that if he were ever freed he would make that man suffer.
The pattern continued, a swift end, a knife slicing through flesh and pulling away the pelt of fur from the wolf. The wolf that was also a person. Someone with a soul. But none of the hunters seemed to care as they kept going until there was only one wolf left from the previous group of captives. The mage’s hands were stained red, as were his clothes. But his face was completely unreadable. Then he stood and stretched before looking toward the last wolf about to be slain. He stepped forward and gestured toward the hunter who shrugged and then let go of the wolf. The mage crouched down, holding onto the scruff of the trembling wolf then looked behind his shoulder and said something Dimitri couldn’t make out. Then the mage looked up at the sky forlornly as raindrops started to fall.
In the next moment the wolf on the ground was on their feet and sprinting away. The hunters shouted and started chasing but the mage only stayed crouched on the ground, staring at the dirt. He dropped the knife and Dimitri saw him sigh. It seemed the mage hunter had screwed up.
After a while the mage stood and helped to carry away the pelts while others dragged the wolf carcasses off to who knows where. It made Dimitri sick, knowing that they probably wouldn’t even get a proper burial. The rain was starting to pour now and Dimitri considered trying to escape the cage while the hunters were distracted with their clean up and the rain made it more difficult to see. But the second he even touched the metal bars surrounding them he felt a sharp burning pain. They were enchanted, presumably by the mage as well. He cursed inwardly and started to pace.
He didn’t see the wolf who had run away return even after most of the hunters seemed to come back. He hoped they’d escaped, though anything could have happened he supposed.
Dimitri stared in disgust at the large pools of blood in the ground that were beginning to be diluted by rainwater. The last of the pelts had been taken away and the mage returned with a few others and picked the knife up off the ground, handing it off to a burly man beside him.
“Mage!” A voice shouted from further off, getting closer as a tall man approached, another hunter, through this one looked to be in charge.
“Eskender…” the mage answered, bowing his head and standing suddenly very still.
“Garth told me you let the wolf escape.”
“I… I just got distracted by the weather sir…” the mage said, barely audible over the downpour that was soaking all of them.
“At the clearing as well.” Eskender snapped.
The mage didn’t answer. Dimitri flicked his ears forward, straining to hear, finding the hunter’s pack dynamic foreign to him compared to his own.
“You know the consequences, and still you let them escape.” Eskender spat as he reached behind him and pulled a whip from his belt.
Dimitri tilted his head, his ears flexing as he listened. The mage fell to his knees but didn’t beg like Dimitri expected from a coward. The other wolves that were trapped with him started to crowd around to watch as well, both vengeful and curious.
“Y-yes…” the mage stammered, keeping his head low and his arms at his sides.
“I swear, sometimes I think you’re useless.” Eskender snarled as he tightened his grip around the leather handle of the whip. He stepped around until he was behind the mage and then swung it back before striking the mage across the back.
“Hnggg! I’m s-sorry sir!” The mage gasped as the whip whizzed through the air again.
“No you’re not.” Eskender sighed, dealing blow after blow.
Dimitri couldn’t tear his eyes away. Neither could the rest of the pack. It was satisfying, seeing a hunter get what they deserved, even if it was by their own kind.
Eskender stopped after twenty lashes and then threw the whip to the side, splashing in a nearby puddle. Then he kicked the mage forward so that he fell face first into the mud. The mage started to get up when Eskender’s knee came down on his back. The hunter grabbed the mage’s hair and shoved his face into the still slightly bloody mud.
“No more slip ups. Do you understand? I won’t tolerate it.” Eskender seethed, forcing the mage’s face down. “Everyone is replaceable, even you.”
Dimitri was sure the mage couldn’t breathe like that, and his suspicions were confirmed when the man started to flail his arms wildly, scraping at mud, trying to free himself.
The seconds went by and Dimitri wondered if the leader was actually going to kill the mage. But then Eskender yanked his head up and the mage gasped for air and coughed up a mouthful of mud.
“Yes…sir…” he finally stammered when he’d caught his breath.
Dimitri stared, a sudden pit in his stomach. With the mage’s head pulled back, exposing his neck, Dimitri could see plainly the mage collar that was fixed tightly. He glanced at the wolves beside him and though they couldn’t communicate, he was pretty sure they had all seen it as well.
“Good.” Eskender said coldly, walking off toward the far tents.
“Eskender c-can I heal myself?” The mage asked shakily.
“No.” Eskender said without even turning around.
The mage’s face fell and he sat hunched on his hands and knees for another few moments before trying to stand. But he quickly fell back down into the mud. He seemed weak, but he was rather gangly. Dimitri began to wonder if he wasn’t just as starved as the previous wolf captives were. It seemed like his back was bleeding quite a bit from the lashing too.
Dimitri eyed some of the other wolves, wondering what they were thinking. It was a conflicting thought, to hate the mage for what he was doing to other wolf packs but then to realize that the actions were forced. The mage was essentially a slave with that collar. Then he heard a thump and looked back to see the mage lying in the mud unconscious.
Get up. Just get up.
He willed the mage to stand as the rest of the hunters cleared out and the rain poured steadily. But there was no movement. If it weren’t for the rise and fall of his chest Dimitri would have assumed the mage was dead. Were the hunters really just going to leave him there? The sun was nearly fully set now and the autumn air was turning cold.
Dimitri turned around and joined the others who were starting a wolf pile. At least if they had to remain outside in the cages they would remain warm together. But the mage… had nothing.
The mage was still on the ground when Dimitri woke. The sun was barely risen and he wondered momentarily if the mage was actually dead. But then he seemed to stir just slightly, shivering maybe?
The man rolled to his side and groaned.
“Mage!” A shout came, the same voice from the night before, Eskender. “Heal yourself, then get to work. They found the wolf that escaped.”
The lead hunter walked by the cages and glared at Dimitri and the rest of the wolves. They hadn’t been given food or water since they arrived and it seemed things would continue that way. Though they’d managed to drink some of the cleaner rainwater that had collected near the edge of the cages.
The mage was surrounded by a bit of glowing magic before he pushed himself to his feet. Dimitri padded softly to the edge of the cage again and could see the hunters in the distance dragging the wolf back to the center of camp. He’d really hoped that they’d escaped, but the wolf must have been too weak to get far. But his eyes weren’t focused on that, he looked at the mage and noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the distant almost ghostly expression on his face. He looked barely old enough to be considered a man. How long had he been trapped here, forced to do unspeakable things? The mage’s eyes widened a bit and Dimitri turned to see what he was looking at.
No. No it couldn’t be.
It wasn’t the wolf that had escaped from the other pack.
It was Rowan.