Kanieta walked in the center of a line of warriors. To her immediate right and a step back was Nareta. Her cousin held her head high and looked straight ahead, acting like nothing was happening around her. To Kanieta's left was Hurring, whose body was tight with tension and head constantly swiveling, looking for danger.

He wasn't looking at the forest for that danger, which would be expected, but at all the warriors from the Crescent Moon Faction escorting them. It wasn't as absurd as it sounded because, despite their supposed alliance, the warriors of the other faction weren't even making a pretense of their own hostility. Their hands were clenched tightly around their weapons as they stared toward Kanieta.

It was to the point she was curious about how they stopped themselves from bumping into each other. Or it could be they were so bewitched by her beauty that they feared she would disappear if they looked away for even a second. Kanieta was having trouble deciding which she should ask. Each option had its own positives and negatives.

Not that it mattered. Kanieta was in her Clan Leader guise. "Acting with such a lack of decorum would bring shame to her clan and faction while undermining her authority in the eyes of the other chieftains and faction leaders." Or so she had been told by Elder Lurta so many times that her whiplike voice was echoing in her head even now.

Sadly, any thought on the matter would prove Elder Lurta wasn't wrong. Which was the main reason that Kanieta followed her teachings. That, and eventually, that old bat will be wrong… Kanieta thought to herself as she got lost imagining how she would hold the elder's mistake over her head for ages.

The happy fantasy continued to roll through Kanieta's mind as she took one step after another, ignoring the forest on this pleasant evening stroll. Elder Jolten's stiff back only added to the pleasure of the walk when she occasionally glanced at it, which made her mouth twitch in amusement.

The camps of the two factions were close enough to support each other on the off chance the Olimpians attacked, so it shouldn't have taken most of a day to reach the bridge over the river leading to the Crescent Moon's forward camp. It couldn't be helped, however. Kanieta had so many interruptions and meetings. Once those were done, no one could find Hurring and tell him he was escorting her as a guard, and before anyone knew it, most of the day had passed before they ever set out. Which was the most regrettable thing that had ever happened… and entirely not her fault.

Kanieta blinked and came out of her thoughts, finding they were at the edge of a large cleared portion of the forest. All across the miles-wide clearing were the remnants of campfires. Stumps three feet tall were poking up from the ground every dozen feet with a smooth, nearly reflective surface as its cut top. But what held her attention was that every square inch between the stumps were countless overlapping footprints.

At some point during the clearing's creation, the ground must have become so torn up that every step should have kicked up a puff of dust. And then the damp air and morning fog coming off the river made their presence known. The result was a field with an ankle-thick layer of mud. A no doubt slippery environment that Kanieta had no intention of making a fool of herself crossing while getting dirty.

At the far end of the clearing on the banks of the Rush were thousands of Kin. The wolves appeared to be in the process of organizing to march across the bridge that Kanieta and Green had seen the night before. They must have been busy. Warbands had to have been marching over the bridge all night and day to get everyone over this fast. And… yep, there are the rest of the bastards. Kanieta's eyes lingered on the mass of bodies across the river for a moment, then returned to her real problem.

Looking at the mud-churned ground with annoyance, Kanieta flashed a hand sign at her cousin and then nodded to the clearing. An impish smile appeared on Nareta's face before it vanished, and Kanieta knew she was in for a show.

The faction leader silently watched as Nareta stepped past her, pulling the long, loose sleeves of her simple light green dress with white accents back, freeing her arms. Her dress was a traditional outfit of their tribe and had multiple layers of cloth across the chest and waist before falling to a loose skirt. It was quite the contrast when compared to Kanieta's leather armor and cloak.

Once Nareta was two steps in front of Kanieta, she flicked her wrists, and two pale blue fires burst to life. The flames hovered six inches above the ground, but more specifically, they appeared on top of the feet of the two warriors attempting to block the gray fox's path.

"Ahh!"

"Damn you, vixen!" Shouted the two male wolfkins nearly simultaneously as they jumped back from the intense heat of the ethereal fire and slipped in the mud, falling onto their backsides with a squelch.

"Apologies," Nareta responded with a bow of her head, "I was just making a path for my Chieftain."

Kanieta fought to keep her lips from curling up in amusement at the edges as she continued walking, ignoring the glare Jolten shot at her back as she moved past. Well, she ignored the old man's glare while pretending to miss the stares of the two on the ground as they flashed their fangs at her while mentally marking them for death.

If she took notice of them, she would have to respond to their blatant challenge, and all challenges to authority within the Kin were responded to with blood. Perhaps not to the death, but she would have to take them nearly to its threshold, and they would be trampling on the authority of elder Jolten, who should be the one disciplining them. Such action would open the door to allowing the Crescent Moon to question her authority, which was something that she must avoid. So, Kanieta pretended to ignore everything as she walked forward.

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Nareta kept the ethereal flames at the same distance from her body as they walked, and even though it was only hanging over any patch of ground for fractions of a second, the ground Kanieta was walking over was baked as if it had spent the whole summer being cooked in its heat.

While Kanieta and her people walked over the field on solid ground, none of the warriors so much as put a foot down on the baked ground. They are so arrogant and proud that they would rather slip and fall over each other rather than ask outsiders for help… Fucking wolves.

Their pace slowed significantly as the guards and elder couldn't keep up a steady walk in the mud. The wolfkins' struggle became more comedic as time passed, and they became tired and covered in the muck. Eventually, a figure ran out to their group as they slowly made their way over the clearing from the mass of people gathered at the bridge. Whether it was intentional or not, Kanieta couldn't help but notice that the response to their presence was only after they had traversed over a quarter of the clearing's length.

As the figure slid to a stop, Kanieta could tell he was a mage by the collection of focuses around his body. Without anyone saying a word, she could feel mana surge from the new arrival before it moved through a spell focus. The man then used the resulting spell to pull the water out of the mud on the people and ground, making a solid path for their band to walk on.

Frown of annoyance settling onto her face, Nareta stopped her spell and fell back to her place as the group quickly traveled the rest of the way to the bridge. Some wolves even threw smug looks of superiority at the foxes and bear as their mage made the ground solid once more.

When they approached the mass of Kin, they parted, bowing to the elder as he led the way, murmuring words of respect as the old fool passed and snarling with irritation when they spotted Kanieta. Not that anyone would dare to do more, and soon enough, they were walking over the three-fourths of a mile-wide bridge.

Ignoring the new scenery, Kanieta let her mana senses seep out of her as she walked to inspect the bridge. It was far better than looking at the pompous ass walking with his chest out as he reclaimed his place at their head, if slightly more disheveled and dirty.

Before, when she saw the bridge at a distance with Green, all she could see was the massing of mana, not the spellwork intertwining it all. Mana trickled into her eyes, and they roved over the different spells holding this construction together. She even reached out with a strand of mana to pluck at a section of the spellwork that looked… off.

"Wohh!"

"Ahh!"

"What the—

"By the Frozen Peaks!" Dozens of other voices rang out, shouting similar phrases of panic and fear. Pulling her energy into her body again, Kanieta looked around with a look of feigned bewilderment on her face as the bridge beneath their feet rocked and shook.

At the far side of the bridge, Kanieta saw streams of mana burst out from the tops of the two towers positioned on either side of its end and seep into the construction, reinforcing the building. Within seconds of the reinforcing spells entering the bridge, the shaking that would have resulted in its collapse stopped.

"Not the best workmanship," Kanieta said in the shocked silence that enveloped the area. She did not speak loudly, but with the only noise coming from the river flowing beneath them, everyone within a couple dozen feet could hear.

Elder Jolten whirled around, his face white with fear and rage as he snapped, "If some people didn't interfere with the spellwork, this situation would not have happened."

Giving him a shocked look of surprise, she held one hand to her chest, "I would never put people in danger for curiosity! And if I ever did, it would be because some people can't take the most basic precautions of securing their spellwork from interference and probing." Her voice was laced with an affronted incredulity at being accused before shifting to a mocking thoughtfulness, "Oh, but what am I saying! Who could dream of taking those precautions on a… military structure?" The elder's face underwent a series of rapid emotions at her not-so-subtle accusation, finally settling on arrogant scorn. This should be good, Kanieta thought to herself.

"Why would we bother doing such a thing? It's a waste of effort! The Olimpians lack the imagination to think we could build this. But if they, for some reason, did decide to probe the structure and had the spellcraft to overcome the very world, adding to our strength, it would not matter if it was shielded. The energies would annihilate each other regardless!" His arms were raised by the end as if he were making a grand point.

Kanieta shook her head and started walking forward again. She could not believe the arrogance the elder was displaying. It was true. The Kin knew far more about the Olimpians than they knew about them. It was one of the advantages of having a hidden society for more than the last half a millennia. Even if you don't want to, you end up learning a lot about those you're hiding from.

On the other hand, if you are always busy hiding from them, you will never see their best. The Kin knew of the knights and heard of the nobles and their families ruling massive cities with unparalleled power, but they had never seen them in action. They had never seen what happens when Olimpia really goes to war. Because the last time we fought against each other, our ancestors threw themselves at them in mindless fury…

Kanieta was almost past the elder before he turned, from basking in the glow of his followers to 'leading' her to the fort holding the bridge's western side. As she walked past the gate between the towers on the west side of the river, she entered a courtyard and froze.

The sun was setting and was already casting the courtyard in shadows, but she could see clearly. Taking up one side of the fort were dozens of cages filled with Olimpians.

"Ahh…" Said Elder Jolten in a pleased tone, slipping in next to Kanieta, "I see you noticed our… resources. They will greatly add to our power in the coming battles."

Kanieta's eyes caught on a prone figure covered in blood lying in the closest cage, and then her eyes swept over the spellwork still being laid out over the square. Her stomach dropped to her feet, and she said half in horror and half disbelief, "You can't be planning to crystalize their energy… That spell is forbidden!"

"Not during wartime." The elder said with a twisted smile filling up his face.

"Only because we have never been at war with the Olimpians, and the Conclave has never ruled on it!" Kanieta shouted at the old man in incredulity.

"That is your opinion, Faction leader." Said the elder in a snide voice, his smile shifting to become smug as he turned to walk away, leaving her in the courtyard.

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