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Ashleigh closed her eyes, and Caleb wrapped her in his warmth and scent. She breathed him in, letting his presence flow over her like the refreshing waters of a hot shower.

Caleb didn’t say anything. He just held her. Keeping his eyes out for any threat to them.

After taking a moment to calm down, Ashleigh slowly pulled away.

“We need to kill it,” she said.

Caleb nodded.

“But we need to know if there are any more first,” he said.

“They don’t all become like that…” a small voice called from the tree behind them.

Ashleigh and Caleb were startled, turning to see a ten-year-old girl hunched down on a thick branch, hugging the tree.

“How did you sneak up on us?” Caleb asked.

The girl tipped her head to the side quizzically.

“My scent is that of this forest. My steps make the sounds of the trees. My voice is the wind,” she whispered.

Caleb furrowed his brow.

“Are you… one of the Moonguard wolves?” he asked.

The girl turned to look at him directly.

“Permission was granted for your kind to be made,” the girl said. “These things… are offensive. They are rotten from start to end, unnatural.”

The look on the girl’s face turned to one of disgust and anger.

“Permission was not granted to this abomination!” she shouted.

“Sshhh!” Caleb quickly tried to quiet the girl.

Ashleigh looked out at the shuffling shadows below. Again, they seemed unbothered by anything.

“My voice is the wind, and you seek to silence me?” the girl questioned Caleb.

Caleb felt more confused than anything, was the girl suffering a psychotic break? Had she been drugged?

‘Bow to her!’ the panicked whisper spoke in Ashleigh’s mind. It was Lily.

“What?” Ashleigh asked aloud.

“I didn’t say anything,” Caleb replied.

‘Bow to her!’ Lily said clearly.

“Why?”

“Why, what?” Caleb asked.

The girl turned to Ashleigh and tilted her head, her eyes observing her closely.

‘Ashleigh, bow, do it now, just trust me,’ Lily insisted.

“All right…”

Ashleigh looked at the girl and then lowered her head, bowing to her respectfully.

“What are you doing?” Caleb asked.

As Ashleigh lifted her head, she was once more startled as the girl appeared suddenly before her.

“You have someone inside of you,” the girl whispered. “One of the fae.”

Ashleigh swallowed and took a step back.

‘Be careful. This isn’t a child,’ Lily whispered. ‘Their name is Leshy. They are one of the ancient beings of this world.’

Ashleigh’s eyes went wide. Caleb moved to step between them, but Ashleigh stopped him.

“Wait,” she said.

The girl smiled.

“You know who I am now, yes?” she asked.

Ashleigh nodded.

“Your name is Leshy. You are an ancient being.”

The girl’s smile widened, and she nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “Ancient, before the word. Before you, before her, before the before, I was already ancient.”

‘Ancient beings, there are many of them, all over the world, and they are incredibly powerful. The ley lines are a cosmic force shared across species and worlds. But the power of the ancient being comes directly from the Earth,’ Lily whispered. ‘But even in my time, they had already gone to sleep. So they rarely interact with the world.’

Ashleigh swallowed. She looked at the girl, this Leshy creature; it still observed her carefully. There must have been a reason it chose to speak with them now.

“Is there something we can help you with, Leshy?” Ashleigh asked hesitantly.

The grin on the girl’s face almost scared Ashleigh. There was wisdom in it, but there was also danger.

“This is my home. I have many over this world, but this is the one I choose for my slumber,” Leshy replied. “When the fae fought amongst each other, one of their Queens requested my aid. So I gave her permission to alter my wolves. I allowed your species to exist. And as she was dying, I allowed her a place to rest.”

Ashleigh and Caleb looked at each other, knowing it spoke of the mound.

“But ever since, it has been nothing but noise, noise, noise. And now these things, these things… I gave no permission for this!” Leshy shouted angrily. “They are foul and rotten! They tread through my home, leaving behind the stench of death and decay. A corruption that spreads to my home, my animals, my forest!”

As the Leshy grew angry, the wind around them picked up, blowing hard against the wall and almost knocking over Ashleigh and Caleb.

“We are here to stop all that!” Ashleigh quickly said. “We came to destroy the mound left by the Fae Queen’s death, to cut off the power from the ley line!”

The Leshy looked closely at Ashleigh.

“You have come to destroy her resting place?” Leshy asked. “Does the one inside agree?”

“Yes,” Ashleigh nodded. “I was sent by the last of the true fae to destroy this mound and the other direct connections to the ley lines left in this world.”

“Hmm,” the Leshy considered. “Why?”

“Because the one responsible for these creatures is trying to make all of my species into these things. They intend to use the power of the ley lines to rule this world.”

“Then I will simply destroy the wolves,” Leshy replied.

“What!” Caleb shouted. “You can’t!”

“I can,” Leshy sneered. “You exist because I allow it.”

“No! Please, Leshy, please listen,” Ashleigh pleaded.

The Leshy sighed but nodded.

“Yes, it would be simple for you to destroy us all,” Ashleigh said.

“And quieter.”

Ashleigh nodded, swallowing nervously.

“Yes, yes, it would be quieter… without us. But you allowed our creation for a reason, right? You could have said no when the fae Queen asked. You must have known we would be noisy, but you still allowed it.”

The Leshy narrowed its eyes at Ashleigh, still listening, considering.

“You are animals,” it replied. “Wolves at heart… I like wolves.”

Ashleigh couldn’t help the slight grin at the Leshy’s reply. She took a deep breath and licked her lips with renewed confidence.

“We still are wolves at heart….” Ashleigh continued. “We are here, trying to save our pack. These monsters are made from our brothers and sisters… but the one making them… that one is no wolf. Not anymore.”

A long silence passed between the three of them. Then, the Leshy stepped closer to Ashleigh, looking at her with a coldness that worried her.

“Please,” Ashleigh swallowed. “Give us a little time to take care of this. Don’t destroy our people. Let us hunt out the rot from our pack.”

The Leshy took a step back, tilting her head between Ashleigh and Caleb.

“All right,” it said. “I won’t destroy the wolves, for now.”

Ashleigh and Caleb each let out a sigh of relief.

“These ones,” it continued, looking down at the shadowy figures that shuffled between the buildings below. “They are like newborn pups, blind and deaf. Unable to raise even a hand in defense.”

The men and women moved in and out of the moonlight, staring forward or at the ground. Each at varying stages of infection. Some appeared to have only sprouted a few leaves, while others wore the bulging vines like the old man.

“Each holds the rot inside of them,” Leshy continued. “Festering and growing. Some will change into monsters like the one from before. It will leave and infect even more of you. Others will change into sad creatures that wander the forest, feeling the phantom call of home from the trees and the grass. It might be hours or even days, but all of them will leave my lands tainted and corrupted.”

Caleb looked at the shuffling bodies.

“How long did it take for the old man to change? When was he infected?” Caleb asked.

“He was one of the very first. He has been rotting for several days,” it replied. “The others were all infected in waves, some only this morning.

“We might be able to save some of them,” Caleb said. “There is a cure.”

“A cure?” Leshy asked, looking at Caleb. “Do you have it with you?”

“No,” Caleb replied. “But we can get it. Once we have finished our business here, we can go get it and bring it back.”

Leshy shook their head.

“No,” it replied. “I demand my peace, my quiet. You will remove the taint from these lands tonight!”

“We understand, but we can be quick,” Ashleigh said.

The girl turned with a hiss at Ashleigh.

“Loud child, loud crawling bug!” it shouted. “When the sun rises, they must be gone! Gone! Gone! Gone! If even one rotten wolf remains, I will make it quiet. I will silence the wolf forever!”

Ashleigh drew back.

“You wanted to hunt,” it growled at her, the child’s face twisted in rage. “Hunt the rot from my home!”

With the final shout, the child was gone.

Caleb and Ashleigh stared at each other in shock.

“Can it really do it?” Caleb whispered. “Can it really destroy all the wolves?”

Ashleigh swallowed, feeling the answer from Lily deep within through an uneasy and sinking feeling. Ashleigh nodded at Caleb.

Ashleigh looked back out at the shuffling bodies. There were several hundred. The Moonguard pack, at last count, was made of at least five hundred wolves.

And it was impossible to know how many of the already transformed hybrids and fae creatures roamed through the forest.

She lifted her eyes to the sky. There were only a few hours left until the sun would rise.

Before then, she and Caleb would need to ensure that every infected wolf was put down. Or else an ancient being with immeasurable power would end all of the werewolves in the dawn\'s morning light.