Hours went by before we finished discussing the details of our arrangement. When we were done, I found a quiet corner outside the longhouse and loosened my collar a bit. Cold air rushed into my lungs as I gasped softly, staring at the ground.
I knew how draining these meetings could be, but I hadn’t felt this much pressure since Vesmeria's unification.
I’m… destroyed.
Our contract was public knowledge by now. Despite the werewolves’ mockery, groups of Snoutlings roamed the streets shyly, curiosity seeming to get the better of them. I thought it was better this way. We couldn’t build this relationship upon hostility.
I chuckled. “I hope we don’t get into any brawls—”
A hunchbacked werewolf crossed the training grounds ahead, cutting me short.
I raised my head again with a frown, as if I’d had déjà vu.
He continued past the tall standing stones nearby and disappeared inside a hollow boulder.
Predslava stopped beside me in her bear form. “Are you okay?”
“Yes…” I stared at the boulder. “Wait a second, please. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay…?”
I crossed the training grounds and slipped my head through the narrow entrance. “Hello?”
It smelled of wet moss, old people (in a good way), and I couldn’t see a palm inside.
A shaky, gentle voice came from within. “I would stand, but it takes a while after I sit down.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry.”
“Come on in. I’m somewhere on the right side.”
I followed the voice as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The silhouette of a stone bed came into view. He was sitting on it.
A small glowing crystal came to life on my palm as I snapped my fingers, and then I saw the werewolf.
Gray eyes stared into nothing, fangs visible through small gaps in his muzzle.
“I apologize for the darkness,” he said. “I haven’t required light for a while.”
I knelt to his level. “You’re… still alive.”
“If you are who I think you are, then I’m sorry to disappoint you, Miss.”
“Don’t you remember, Time Keeper? You taught me Ulvic long ago.”
“You must be mistaking me for one of my predecessors, I’m afraid. After all, I’m only ninety years young.” He chuckled.
“Oh…” My head dropped. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“No. It’s an honor.” He lifted his hand. “May I touch your face?”
I closed my eyes. “Do your worst.”
“I imagined you so differently, despite my predecessor’s descriptions.” He lowered his hand.
“How so…?”
“Fangs, horns, scales.”
“Such evilness, huh?”
“No, I’m a werewolf.” He bared his fangs.
“Oh, right…” I blushed. “Sorry.”
“Such greatness,” he said. “Oh, the potential he saw…”
I blinked. “What?”
“It’s hard to give a human face to your teacher’s recounts of you. A walking miracle, capable of bringing the whole North under one banner.”
“Did he—”
“But you didn’t want to,” he said. “You walked away. I can feel the pain in his stories. The darkness… when the northern star vanished forever.”
My smile dropped.
His ears twitched as I swallowed.
“Don’t you worry, though… Katarina.” The Time Keeper patted my head. “Our stories are biased. We all have our favorites, and we expect too much from them. That’s the real source of our pain.”
I sighed, unsure what to say. “Thank you for telling me…”
“The pleasure is mine, it lifts a weight off my shoulders. Also, he left something for you.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Being a Time Keeper is not just pain; that would be insufferable. We have perks, you see.”
I chuckled. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Oh.” He tapped his staff on the ground for support. “It seems my knees came back to life.”
I grabbed his waist and helped him to his feet.
The Time Keeper walked toward a wall on his left. “As Time Keepers, we can leave a special inheritance to someone of our choosing, no matter where they are, or even if they aren’t alive anymore, and not even the chieftain himself may claim it. Had you not returned, yours would’ve remained here until the end of time...”
I brought the crystal closer to the wall. There were shelves within the rocks.
“I have a gift as well,” he said. “But it’s for someone else, I’m afraid.”
I rubbed his back. “I’m sure they’ll love it.”
He ran his hand along the shelves. “First, Second, Third… Seventh. That’s your teacher.”
I shivered. “And… what is it?”
“Hm… necklace, ring, jar… No. I remember the mountains now.” He opened the shelf and pulled something big from it. “Here it is.”
“A luck-enchanted dwarven crossbow. Unfortunately, it’s supposed to break apart after a single use.”
“A single use, you say?” I struggled to lift it. The weapon was too heavy for me, fully engraved with runes. “I’m definitely never using it, then.”
“Yes… I don’t believe Seventh intended for you to use it yourself. I think he just thought it was fancy. We can be vain sometimes.”
“I’ll hang it in my hall. I love it. Thank you.”
He nodded with a smile. “Good luck, Katarina.”
I walked towards the exit, then glanced back. “I’ll come back another time, then we can… I don’t know, complain about these younglings.”
He laughed. “That’d be good. I have much to say about that.”
“What’s your name?”
The cave fell silent.
“I am the Fifteen.”
A second ice pedestal burst out of the ground in the great hall.
Predslava helped me hoist the crossbow onto it, then we stepped back to admire the artwork. I crossed my arms.
“I like it. But where did you even get this?” she asked.
“An old friend gave it to me.”
“Hm…”
Construction noises stormed into the palace, for the gates and windows lay all open. Snoutlings walked inside, bringing their belongings to the rooms I reserved for them.
I needed people to help me with administration now, and it’d been a long time since the last mana fig poisoning incident.
Well, two weeks.
They’d learn. We all needed to learn.
I plucked a fig from the tree and climbed upstairs, chewing it.
Now I had a wide balcony above the front gates. From there, I could see a good chunk of my new domain.
I leaned on the parapet.
The plains, the river, the scattered tribes—the sky above them. That was a big claim, but without pressing them, those things could fester.
Predslava stopped beside me. “Uh, what do we do with your workshop now?”
“Tear it down, please.” I swallowed the fig and turned. “We have real work to do.”
“Okay—”
“Just…” I halted with a hiss. “Leave the elephants.”