It was dark, too dark. There was a thrumming that surrounded his whole body. A strange and painful sensation of sound attacking his nerves. It only took him another few minutes to understand that his eyes were closed.

He felt cool stone underneath him. He wondered why he was still alive, and he almost wished he was dead. He had failed. For the first time in his life, he knew that he was just an old man, a shell of his former younger self. When did that happen? He had been aging, as all human and Shape shifters do, and he joked about being too old sometimes, but he had always been strong. He had proved his strength and resilience time and time again. He had lost fights before, but now he really was just a tired old man. And we wondered again, why he wasn't dead.

He opened his eyes and blinked to clear the fog from his sight. He had shifted back into his human form and before he moved, he realized that the Sand Elder's were all sitting in their chairs, looking down at him.

He pushed himself up, and even though his bones screamed and his muscles ached, he kept his features calm and serene, as he pushed himself to a seated position. He felt like most of his bones should have been broken, but he was able to move freely, albeit painfully. The Sand Elder's must have healed him while he was passed out, if not completely. He slowly stood up, putting more effort into not wincing than to being graceful. With a Herculean effort, he got to his feet and didn't hold his side, even though his whole body screamed in pain, as hot bolts of electricity shot through his body from chest and ribs down to his toes.

He stood in the center of the room looking at the Alpha, "Why am I not dead?"

A werewolf off to the side answered, "Because if we killed you, you wouldn't learn anything. And through the wisdom of our City's Elder Alpha, we will teach you and all of the Shape shifters around the world that those from the City under the Sand are always ready to answer the call to justice. Half of our city stands with you and will be ready to leave within the hour."

"And me?" Huan Li asked.

The Sand Alpha regarded him deeply, "Only a fool insults the master in his own house. You may have a death wish, and if so, death will find you soon enough without us soiling our floors with such unclean blood."

Huan Li nodded and turned towards the exit. He didn't have a death wish, and they both knew it. But they both knew that it was because of the insult that the Sand Alpha was now forced to act in good faith. The beating he just dished out was to show his people that he wasn't weak. Huan Li knew that this had to end in a fight, and he also knew he had to lose. He just wished he had been a few years younger, maybe thirty years younger or so. If he had taken a beating like this thirty years ago, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

* * * * *

Acharya stood in the chamber of the Matriarch. It had been a been a hell of a few days. Traveling back to India, meeting with his fellow pack Alpha's and the two remaining Elders, finding Keva missing, and coming back here to Ethiopia. The Whyte Plain was great for traveling long distances in short amounts of time, but they had had to fight off a rather large group of shadows on their way here. A fight that had cost them time and almost one of his pack mates. Now he was here, facing the Matriarch again. He knew that she would play more politics and try to get more out them and the Mountain. And even with all that, he had a timetable to keep. Huan Li and Ansuya would be waiting for them in Los Angles in their assembly areas in two days. Sometimes he wished it was possible to stop time.

Giovanni had taken to meowing at Mary's feet, who knelt down and scratched the orange cat behind his ears. Acharya looked at the ancient Matriarch, "We've come to ask for your aid. Our battle begins in less than two days."

The Matriarch looked down on the Shape shifters with a smile. She had dropped all pretenses of appearing old or frail, her long silver streaked, dark hair framed her face well. She wore a white one piece, that couldn't be called a dress but wasn't quite a suit either. It was accented with a study brown leather belt wrapped snugly around her waist. Over her shoulders was draped a dark tan over coat that hung open and loose over her body. Her legs were bare and smooth and on her feet was a pair of tan heeled leather shoes.

"What have you done for us, werewolf pack Alpha Egaiarasu?" the Matriarch asked. "Have you seen to our deal being agreed to? Only a fool fulfils her half of a bargain with no guarantee of services being fairly exchanged."

Acharya smiled and nodded, "A wise policy. And you are correct in the assumption that we have done nothing to garner any sort of goodwill or hope of services rendered on credit. I can make no promises save one, there will be Shape shifters from the other two Cities at this battle. Your people being there and fighting, as I know you are capable, can only raise your esteem in their eyes. They will take stories of the battle back to their City's Alphas and be far more agreeable to allowing you your, for lack of a better word, embassies in they're cities."

The Matriarch raised an eyebrow as a bemused smile crossed her lips, "so we have to prove ourselves in order for you to make good on our agreement?"

"Not at all," Acharya answered. "I know that Huan Li and Ansuya will do everything they can to see our deal is recognized by the other two cities. It may take time, time that we don't have in order to secure your help with payment in hand."

"Hand shake deals go very poorly for the one's who provide first, on promise of payment later," the Matriarch said.

"We are here, are we not?" Aiman interjected. "Part of our deal was that a werewolf pack would stay here with you as emissaries of our people and a bridge to the Whyte Plain. We have upheld an important part of our bargain while our leaders hash out and deal with accepting the other more invasive parts."

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