Some shifters slunk off in the distance while they had the chance. But most of them remained, lowering their heads as they whispered to each other.
One walked up, his white hair stained red. "I am Beta Jaka of Scarlet." He looked up at the other Silvers—six wargs now guarding them like hounds from Hell—and up at Rem, who remained standing on the cart, "What about you, females? You Silvers are willing to die for us? I doubt that. They'llneverbe one of us. Our queen Enola knows that."
The other shifters murmured even more. Rem panted, wanting to shout back that shealreadyalmost died for them. She opened and closed her mouth as she almost said something, but anxiety pushed the notion back down.
None of the other Silvers responded.
Finally, she shouted, and found it was harder to articulate a foreign language when yelling at this level. They all looked at her, including Ronan. "I will! I just kill and bleed for you. I almost died, but I am still here."
Her chest rose and fell as she breathed heavily, invigorated and also terrified with the audience she collected. She knew her Icelandic was still broken, but she wasn't going to sit idly by. The other Silvers looked at her, even Josie nodded fervently in Rem’s direction.
So, Rem continued. "Fuck the hunters. I am new, to your people, that is true. But you’re better than the witches. Better than the hunters," she said, glancing at Ronan. He watched with a shrewd gaze that burned through her, even from a distance. “Except your queen. She is not here.Shedoes not fight for you.”
She thought the next part over in her head. She might as well commit.No hesitation."My heart is always human, that’s not a lie. When I was born, I was human. My parents and family are human. I cannot change that—” she looked at the wargs, the ones that shared the same eye color as her now “—But I know now... I know my blood is of moon."
The crowd remained quiet, but a shift occurred among the wolves. A few nodded, and many regarded the wargs and other Silvers. The Beta named Jaka stared at her, but the distance was too great to see what emotion lived in his gaze.
She glanced at Ronan once more, swearing she saw approval through the hardened face, despite the silence of the crowd.
He took his eyes off of her and addressed the crowd once again. Ronan said, "Scrounge the rest of Scarlet, find those who don't want to fight. Tell them of the Wargs. Kill those that resist. You either kill them now or later in battle, so get it over with! Then, we rebuild."
Ronan pointed to the Beta named Jaka, motioning for him to come closer, to which the shifter obliged.
And just like that, the fighting mostly ceased as many took off, running deeper into Scarlet. Rem breathed with relief, looking around. For a moment, something felt different for her, like the way air felt lighter after a storm.Alliances changing, maybe? Can I really feel that? She wrote it off as too much blood loss and got down from the cart, replaying what words she shouted in her mind.
She hoped her words helped, as not many responded.
Rem turned her back on the scene, already wasting enough time. Nia needed her, and she doubted the Elders could remove the cuffs without the keys. Once Rem could make her way to the smithing street, it was odd to see the forges and alleys empty, with only a single dead body on the cobblestone. Some fires in the forges continued to smolder—the only sign of recent activity.
To her relief, the cutters were right where she thought they'd be. She looked up at the homes and saw many eyes on her, peaking through the slightly opened shutters. No one said anything.
"Whoever owns these, I'll bring them back," she shouted in her native tongue, her voice echoing, but no one said a word. She wondered why they were so shy and looked down at herself. Wounds, blood, and tattered clothes revealed how her body was marred in ways no human could survive.
They know I am not of them. Not anymore.
"Is it over?" one finally asked from the window, and Rem looked around until she saw a middle-aged woman sticking her head out further than the rest.
Rem shook her head. "Not yet. Almost though, I think."
The woman gave a single nod, frowning before adding, “Who is winning?”
Rem shrugged her shoulders. “I am not sure, but you’ll be safe. Stay inside for now. I have to go," she said, and didn’t linger for a reaction as she carried the metal cutters.
She fought off the exhaustion, moving as quickly as she could back to the bridge. When she finally made it to Nia, her heart felt like it was on its last beat, her muscles burning. She was the most tired she had ever been in her whole life.
Halvar took the cutters as Rem nearly collapsed next to Nia, only to sit up once more to help them collect the silver chains and put them in an open cloth bag held by an Elder, who tended Nia’s wounds immediately after.
Rem wanted to be there for her friend, but the world spun, and she leaned her head against the cool stone wall, closing her eyes. When she opened her eyes next, Halvar was in her face.
“Are you alright?" he asked.
"Exhausted," she mumbled, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes again. The sound of the injured treating their wounds kept her awake, especially once she smelled something pungent. Halvar presented her a small bowl of a cream-colored liquid, with little brown dots floating about.
"It will help," he said.
Rem drank it, too drained and in pain to fight the gritty and metallic taste of it.
A few minutes passed, and itwaseasier to breathe. Rem rested her head, the gentle breeze drying the blood on her clothes while her wounds slowly worked too close.
