Private We need your help.

[Dorin & Darin]

“Let me see that one,” Darin said, yanking a sheet of flimsi from his brother’s hand.

“It’s all yours. Shame it won't say anything new.” Dorin told him. They had been at this for hours, pouring over the documents and datapads they had recovered from their hunt. Scant few sheets of flimsi and a couple of datapads were what they had to go over and over and over. Most of it was useless—larder logs and nothing more. More butter next week, running low on salt, that sort of thing but there were a couple of pages worth their interest.
They wish there was more. Maybe then they would be treated less like failures.

The trip back from the village was made in stony silence, not even the birds dared to sing, no insect was foolish enough to buzz. What should have been a triumph, a blow thrown at The Fayth, a declaration that the Lupo had returned was being treated like a defeat. There were no songs, there was no feast, and there was not so much as a pat on the back. Never had they been covered in such glory and been unable to find joy. In that silence, the twins had wondered if Aelin had poisoned their minds the same way she had the old knight’s.

“Dorin, check this out!” Darin exclaimed excitedly, making room for his twin to come closer.

“What am I looking at Darry?” Dorin asked looking now at a different sheet of flimsi than he had handed Darin earlier but still on he had tried to figure out maybe half a dozen times.

“What does this look like to you?” Darin asked pointing at a handwritten word or phrase on the page.

Dorin looked at it again and could not understand what his brother was going on about when suddenly it struck him.

“It looks like ánni, like river!” He exclaimed

“And that one?” Darin pointed to another word

“Leyndarmál. Secret. So you’re saying this sheet here is written in…”

“Wufi.” They said together.

“I have never read wufi like this before,” Dorin said.

“You hardly read before.” Darin teased. Neither Twin had put too much effort into their lessons, preferring instead to use The Gift to pull each other’s hair or knock each other over.
“I wish Dorry were here. He would know what it said or how to figure it out.” Their brother Dorian was simply put: the best. They had never had a problem they could not bring to Dorry for solving.

“What about Declan?” Darin asked “Durry always said he would’ve made a fine Draoidae.”
“Declan has gotten himself lost in the woods. Again.” Dorin reminded his brother.


“Why would the humans have flimsi with that strange wufi on it?” Darin asked himself as much as Dorin.

“You don’t think this has something to do with The Baramoðn?” Darin asked.

Dorin snorted out loud. “From the songs, Darry? Why would humans care about a Lupo legend written in a language Lupo can’t even read?”

“I don’t know,” Darin conceded “but you remember coming south with father and he would always sing, do you remember?”

“The River Away. I remember, what about it?” Even now Dorin could hear the way his father’s voice would waver and crack as he tried to sing the high notes on the song about two Lupo from warring clans who would use the river to meet in secret.

“Well we would always sing with him and you remember what he would say when we asked what we were doing so far south? ‘Searching for The Fjordrunners’.”

“That’s just a story, Darry. Something father said to make the trip more exciting for two little pups and even if it weren’t that doesn’t help us find Durin.”

Darin’s face and heart sank. Dorin was right, though he felt bad about the way it took the air out of his brother. Darin was certain The Fjordrunners and The Baramoðn were important to The Fayth and important to them but he knew Dorin was right, they did not have time to find out how or why.

“We could ask for help,” Darin suggested.

“And who would help?” Dorin asked, “Declan is missing with another Alpha, Aelin is surely unlikely to come running to our aide again after the last time and so many of the others are tied up in these secret meetings, so tell me brother who should we turn to?”

“I’ve heard some of the others say a seer from the desert has made camp here,” Darin suggested hopefully.

“ Norn,” Dorin said spitefully. ‘A witch’

“You’d do anything to find Durin. That’s what you said.” Darin reminded his twin who responded with a drawn-out exasperated sigh.

“You’re a good brother Ninny,” Darin said with a smile.
After some time of searching the twins entered a tent and inside found two Lupo they had not met before with skin darker than any of the others around the camp, a male and a younger woman.

“Are you the seer? May we talk?” They said as one.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

Outfit: Dress
Tags: Dorin & Darin

Shuffling cards idly as she sat in her chair, looking and thinking about the person before her. They had come wishing to hear news of their family, separate during a Fayth raid, they were terrified their family might be captured or worst, dead. Zaya couldn't help but feel sympathetic to their cause, too many had suffered from Fayth raids in her experiences in the desert, but she had to insist that she could not control her powers and that if a vision came she would admit it. So far, no such vision came. Shuffling the cards, many thought she would use them for readings or that they were symbolic. Charlatans poisoned their minds, the cards could never bring the future to light, no, they were just ways to soothe her mind and open it to visions. Less she stressed about the visions the easier they came.

"I am sorry friend, it seems that no vision comes today. If that shall change, I will come visit your tent, I swear by the gods." She was putting on her seer voice, airy, aloof and distant. It was the voice that many of the common folk wanted to hear. Her actual voice was not mystical enough for them, they felt like she had to be faking. It was a shame that she struggled with non-believers, doubters or even people who misunderstood her abilities. Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked over to her brother. "Any more planned to visit today? There shall be a drop in by the twins from the Northern regions but that is all I had seen last night." Zaya explained to her brother, surprises were seldom for Zaya, she would always get visions of surprises.

Her brother shook his head, he was massive in comparison to the forest wolfs that they had met but was a similar build to most of the Northern men that she had seen around or had visions of. She held an amused smirk on her lips as she thought on how he would react to realising he was not the biggest Lupo around here, her brother had always been physically biggest Lupo around so seeing others built larger would likely shock him. Hopefully not in a way where he tried to get bigger, that would only frustrate her more since he would try building muscles on her too.

Chatting idly about her brother's day, she noted the Twins' arrival, they shuffled in and spoke in unison. However, this wasn't the way she saw them, in her vision they looked different. More distressed, the situation more urgent. "Hmph." Zaya tapped her finger against her lips, in quiet contemplation, no, this couldn't be about Declan that was for sure. Seems her vision was from a future further ahead than she thought initially, seems like her powers were adamant to demonstrate how wrong she was at times. She could still be surprised.

Waving her brother off for privacy. Zaya turned to the Twins and nodded her head, "Yes, I am the seer that you are seeking. Let me guess, Dorin." She pointed to Dorin, "and Darin." She pointed at Darin. "Tell me how I can help you today."

 

[Dorin & Darin]

The twins allowed the massive dark skinned male lupo to pass by them. His gaze lingered for a moment looking them up and down like he was measuring them as he passed. A small shrug and a smirk and he slid out the slotted entrance of the tent.

Given the isolationist nature of The North it would make sense for this to be the first time either of the twins had seen any of their desert cousins but that was not the case. Amidst The Great Purge, their great grandmother had gone and fought and returned home mated to an Alpha of the sands and they brought many other displaced Lupo from the desert to try and make new homes on Kanaka land, it were possible even if unlikely that they could even share kin with the two wolves from the sands.

"Yes, I am the seer that you are seeking. Let me guess, Dorin." She pointed to Dorin, "and Darin." She pointed at Darin. "Tell me how I can help you today."

Darin could feel his brother tense up and placed a calming hand on his arm. He reached out for his brother as much for his own sake as anything else. There was power in this place, in this girl, they could both feel it.

"We need to find our brother." They said together.

"He is a prisoner of The Fayth." Dorin explained.
"We hoped to find record of his whereabouts but so far…"

"Nothing." They said as one.

"Could you find him? Look for him, I mean, with your powers?" Darin asked sheepishly.

"We do not mean to impose on you." Dorin told the young woman.

"Our grandmother is a witch!" Darin said brightly and got an elbow in the ribs from Dorin for his trouble even though he was just trying to make her feel comfortable around them.

"Please." Dorin implored.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

It was amusing watching the twins talking, either in unison or taking turns to finish sentences and the different levels of comfortability they had around her. It was clear that Darin was the more comfortable one around her while Dorin was not as pleased to be around her. Zaya tied her braid into a bun as she looked over at the Twins, tilting her head curiously. They were looking for a brother, but it was not the issue with a brother that she had seen. It was curious how close or how related this might be. Taking the cards into her hands, she shuffled them idly again as she thought about things, they were wanting her to use her powers to find their brother but she wasn't sure it would work that simple.

"Grandmother is a witch? Well, I am no witch, just a seer. I just connect to the gods and they provide me with information that I share." Zaya was still using her mystic voice since they were approaching her in the similar manner to the other Lupo around, "this means that, I might not be able to see much of your brother. However, I will try. What I ask for in return for this is simple, the both of you make amends with Aelin. The incident at the village was bad, poorly handled but Aelin needs friends. Even chaotic ones as yourselves." Zaya offered a warm smile, it was something lingering in her mind, she was concerned with Aelin's wellbeing and there wasn't a clear reason why yet to Zaya.

Placing the cards on the table, fingernails tapping and gliding over the art on the faces of the cards. "Just so you know, this cards are not part of seeing visions. I just, I like to keep my hands occupied." Zaya let off a slight shrug, "So, tell me about your brother. Learning information and seeing things that relate or connect to him also helps. Allows me to focus and narrow the visions on the subject, instead of receiving visions of your future or past." Zaya gestured to the both of them as she leaned back in her chair, placing a water pipe to her lips and inhaling deeply. It was one of the few desert traditions that she was able to carry with her to the forest camp.

 

[Dorin & Darin]

The twins watched as the she-wolf put her hair up and began shuffling some cards. She seemed bored almost. They were not sure if that were a good thing or a bad thing, witches were tricky like that.

"Grandmother is a witch? Well, I am no witch, just a seer. I just connect to the gods and they provide me with information that I share." She told them with a voice that doubled down on their thoughts of her being bored with them or their questions. Did all desert wolves talk like that? They wondered. None with blood of the sand spoke that way back home but maybe they had just gotten used to northerner speech, their grandmother the witch did not speak so oddly either nor did Aelin. They tried not being insulted.

"Yes. Grandmum is a witch. She put a spell on granddad. 'Spellbound' they called him. Our brother- not the lost one, he would tell us a story about them, we liked that one didn't we, Ninny?" Darin said beginning to ramble now.

"We did. It was scary the way Dorian would tell it. The story of a Kanaka Alpha, Fenris, the son of Naemia Durinsdottir and how he left to eradicate a pack of Wild Wolves and returned with a mate of common birth from a village of black magic and dark sacrifice."

"We would be happy to tell you about it sometime!" Darin said clearly warming up to the seer in a way his brother was yet to.

"I might not be able to see much of your brother. However, I will try. What I ask for in return for this is simple, the both of you make amends with Aelin. The incident at the village was bad, poorly handled but Aelin needs friends. Even chaotic ones as yourselves." She told them.

"That is none of your concern." Dorin snapped. "The incident," he put extra disdain in the word "was war. War is not clean and we can not help if that was how Aelin found that out. There are no amends to make. She is about her business and we are going about ours." Dorin said with an air of finality. Darin stared at the ground sheepishly as he kicked at some grass. For Darin's part of things, he agreed with his brother, it was war and things did not often go pretty in war but he also didn't want Aelin angry at him any longer and he hoped Dorin wasn't messing things up with the seer right now.


, "So, tell me about your brother. Learning information and seeing things that relate or connect to him also helps. Allows me to focus and narrow the visions on the subject, instead of receiving visions of your future or past."

"He's tall!" Darin said helpfully. "As tall as the wolf that left just when we walked in, your kin and he's as strong as a bear."

"He is kind and patient and the only man who laughed as loudly as father." Dorin said quietly "all the time he caught us doing something we weren't supposed to, he never told, not once. He is a loving father and a loyal mate."

These were truisms of their brother Durin V who chose as his mate a daughter of The Wilds. Kanaka's eternal enemy, the Wild Wolves. He chose her and the clan lands bled as rebellions rose against the woods witch and her soft hearted alpha. Yet time after time their brother stood and bled and protected his mate.

"He is a good man, seer, and he need us."

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

She noticed the confusion and concerns on their expressions from her voice and tone, she cleared her throat. Realising that she needed to offer a voice more genuine and authentic. "Sorry, the forest people, some desert wolves, they have expectations and false beliefs in how a seer should appear and sound. I was not bored or disinterested in your case. The cards help me focus the mind by keeping my hands busy" Smiles warmly to her.

Hearing the story of their supposed witch grandmother, Zaya tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Is that really the story? It just sounds like your grandfather found her incredibly attractive and mated with her, nothing suggesting she cast a spell." She was concerned that false tales of magic and powers would be spread around, especially one about an innocent woman to alienate her or make her seem evil when there was no such evil there.

When Dorin snapped, Zaya stopped shuffling. Placing the cards down in a neat pile. She closed her eyes and there was a rumbling, temperature reduced to chilling temperatures and dark clouds seemed to block the sun. Opening her eyes, her once dark irises were now yellow, "do not snap at me Dorin Dorinsson! The incident was not part of war, it was a selfish act of bloodlust. So, if you want me to use my powers then you will do as I said! Because war is coming, true war, war that will turn you from pups into wolves." There was no malice in her tone, no threats, she was just offering simple truths.

Settling things back to normal with her eyes which returned to their dark colouring, she paused for a moment. Listening to the words that the Twins spoke of about their brother. There was a clear love as she closed her eyes, a brief glow of her painted symbols on her skin, as if magical was happening. In Zaya's mind, she felt a rushing of air, as if she was running through a place. Glimpses of memories shifted to mind, but nothing she was finding useful. Then cryptic messages came through. "River. No, not river. Fjord. Older man. Lupo. Not your brother but he can help."

"You will both see your brother one day." It was the final thing she saw, the three brothers hugging.

Dorin & Darin

 

[Dorin & Darin]

"Is that really the story? It just sounds like your grandfather found her incredibly attractive and mated with her, nothing suggesting she cast a spell."

"Yes but that's boring," Darin told her.

"Nothing to suggest it other than the Alpha of Clan Kanaka throwing away tradition and a match with a more well regarded and appropriate clan for some common girl from the woods." Dorin said annoyed. Who was this outsider to try and explain their own history to them?
"And as my brother says, it would be dreadfully boring."

She closed her eyes and there was a rumbling, temperature reduced to chilling temperatures and dark clouds seemed to block the sun. Opening her eyes, her once dark irises were now yellow, "do not snap at me Dorin Dorinsson! The incident was not part of war, it was a selfish act of bloodlust. So, if you want me to use my powers then you will do as I said! Because war is coming, true war, war that will turn you from pups into wolves."

The world around the twins grew dark and cold as the seer drew on her magics in an attempt to frighten and intimidate them. Fear took hold in the twin Darin in part because of this girl and whatever it was she was doing but also because of the darkness he felt in his own brother.

"þú skipar mér ekki, norn!" Dorin spat on the ground at her feet. "What do you know of war? What do you know of seeing boys you have grown up packing snow into bloody holes in their stomachs the size of fists? What do you know of seeing your kin with their throats torn out? Walking for days in the frozen wastes, in snows so persistent you cannot tell if it is night or day and when you finally come upon an enemy's camp you find the burnt bones of bairns in the cook fire." He raged at this…this… liar… this witch who only saw what she chose without ever having to live in the moments she passed judgement on.

"I am proud of the blood spilled in that village! The humans have spent centuries making sport of killing our people, when should they have to answer for that?! When you see it? No. It is clear you know nothing, worse, you believe your…Sight comes from The Gods and that makes you valuable, makes you near them." He spat again.

"For any Lupo to put their faith in you, witch, would be their death. We went to that village to find our brother, to find our Alpha. For us, for him, for our sister, for our nephew, our father, our mother and for all The North. There was nothing selfish about what happened in that place." With those words and to Darin's unfathomable relief his brother turned and left the tent. It was a lucky thing that they had left their blades back in their tent.

Darin stayed behind long enough to witness the seer glow, to hear her words, as useless as his brother had feared they would be. He took a moment to regard her. He did not hide his disappointment. They had come for her help and instead she chose to try and shame them. They needed to find Declan and find Durin and go home. There was no place for The North here.

Spoiler

You do not command me, witch.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

"Our history can be much more boring than we like it to be. For love, people are willing to do a lot of things. Look at the both of you, willing to come to me, though you distrust me, might even dislike me for the love you have of your brother." Zaya pointed out, an amused smirk as she did think their story was more interesting if less believable.

It was lucky for Dorin that her brother did not witness or see the actions that he had committed. She shook her head in disappointment, anger and hatred were blinding this boy. For no amount of hardship or tough upbringing could hide the fact that this was a boy, throwing an tantrum at a simple request of forgiveness and bonding. Yes, she had chided him, but she had seen what his actions did. She had seen what consequences his actions wrought. She understood him better than he thought and he was a fool to not think any Lupo born and raised on Islimore had it easy. Living here, living with the Fayth hunting you, wanting you and your family dead. He stormed off before her vision had taken over.

Darin was disappointed with her words, leaving before she could truly look him in the eye. She sighed, part of her wanted to leave it there. To make them suffer and search endless like hot-headed fools that they both were at this moment. But she knew, she knew that kindness and mercy, that was what Lupo needed. It was what they all needed right now, using her powers, she lifted the flaps of the tent and stepped outside. "Storm off Darin and Dorin and you will not find him."

"Do you assume living in the desert was easy Dorin? Do you think that the Fayth did not hunt us down? Did not murder us? Torture us?" Zaya let her emotions flow, it wasn't anger, it was pain. How could any Lupo think that any one of their kind had it easy. "I watched my parents, most of my home executed at 5. My siblings and I survived because my parents buried us in the scorching hot sands, I had to bite my tongue the heat was so painful. It burnt my flesh as we laid buried in sand for hours until the Fayth left." Zaya sighed, "you talk about the harshness of the North. And it was a terrifyingly tough place to call home, but I do not live in this gentle, breezy forest. I come from the desert, where the sun bleaches bones, the sands have buried cities and temples in sandstorms that rage for days, with enough strength to cut your flesh if you are not careful. Where daily the sun and the heat is your enemy. The desert is no worse nor is it better than the North, so do not assume you have the worst upbringings."

Zaya then thought on the village, "you do not listen. You have to listen to my words, I do not say them for the sake of it. I do not throw words around for nothing. War is coming, enough blood from both sides will be shed. I know that you might be eager for it now, that you want to kill every human now, plenty of Lupo want that. But most aren't ready, most need to bide time, therefore those can trigger war need to be careful. That village could have triggered war well before we are ready for war. We need your brothers, your people, both of you, in this war that is coming. Because the Fayth win here, they will come to the North and ensure we go extinct. Do not underestimate our enemy Dorin. The information you found in that village, that was not worth the murderous rampage, it was not worth risking our extinction over. You were acting selfishly because you thought you could harm the Fayth and find something about your brother, but you did not think about how it affects us as people. We are working towards a war, we need to think beyond what is best for our clan and what is best for our people. I come here not because I want to be here, I want to be home. I come here because I am needed and it is best for the Lupo race that I am here."

"You went to that village and got almost nothing. Supply list and other meaningless information. But there was a datapad that caught your interests, was there not? Tell me what that datapad stated, and I shall reveal how my words connect the dots." Zaya was not sure this was guaranteed to work but she knew they had some information that should have connected what she said in the tent to the path to saving their brother. "You dismissed my words Darin, but you aren't connecting dots that I am trying to help you with."

 

[Dorin & Darin]

"Storm off Darin and Dorin and you will not find him."

The twins stopped. They should've kept walking, they knew. This venture was going worse even than their hunt with Aelin but they didn't. They stopped and they listened as the she-wolf poured her heart out to them. Told them of the horror she faced at the hands of The Fayth, the loss of her parents, her clan, the pain of the sand and the fear of not knowing if she would be next. Dorin opened a clench jaw to speak, to retort and Darin put a gentle hand on his brother's arm.

"You misunderstand my brother and his hurt." Darin told the girl. "Our hurt. We do not question your upbringing or the hardships you have seen. We do not presume to be the only Lupo to have suffered but you spoke of war and you spoke of selfishness, our selfishness and these are things of which you do not know. We grieve for you and the loss of your loved ones. May they run forever more in Freann." Darin told her softly, kindly. He hoped she would understand his brother's outburst, that she would see it did not come from out of nowhere.

Her words turned next to the village. Again.

"I care nothing for your war." Dorin told her plainly. "Who are you to tell me what was worth risking for my own blood? What would you risk if it meant saving yours? I would burn every human citiy on the continent if there were even a chance that it brought me closer to Durin. The North has survived for three centuries after the purge. If The Fayth will turn north then they are welcome to it so long as my Alpha and my brother are back with us." He did not yell, did not rage as before. There was no need for it, she did not care to listen anyway, she cared for her visions and not for the true living wolves that stood before her.

"You say we should look beyond our clan? How? How can we do this? We swore oaths before The Gods to our clan, our family, our Alpha and we should set this aside because örlendr show up to make war on the humans? You can have your war, I just want my brother."


"You went to that village and got almost nothing. Supply list and other meaningless information. But there was a datapad that caught your interests, was there not? Tell me what that datapad stated, and I shall reveal how my words connect the dots."

Darin jumped in to speak before his brother felt the need to defend the village once again.

"The datapads are empty or useless. We found a sheet of flimsi. Handwritten in wufi but not wufi we can understand." He explained.

"What is your name?" Darin asked, his brother just snorted clearly not interested "you know ours but we do not know yours."

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

The Twins heard her words but they both refused to listen to what she was saying. Zaya was stressing that they are all sacrificing here, that they will all need to sacrifice yet these two were so focused on their brother and on their clan that they couldn't see that there was a larger picture and bigger picture that involved the species as a whole and involved both of them and their siblings. Zaya sighed deeply as Dorin continued to whine and tantrum about how the village was his right to murder. Zaya shook her head, "I would never murder innocent lives. I would not lower myself to the levels of human in order to win. That is not how we win." Zaya stated firmly.

"I love my brothers, all of them, they have been crucial in my life and I would happily give my life for them. But I know, that if I lower myself to human methods of fighting, if I murder innocent farmers and villagers, then I lose part of my soul. Parts of my soul will then be loss forever and that is something my brothers would never want from me. To be no better than the enemy we swear to fight." Zaya took a small step forward. "Passionately wanting to save your brother is admirable, but things are in motion, things that are bigger than any single clan, or Alpha. We will save your brother because he is important to the war but so are you both and Declan. We need to be united against the Fayth, as one we can fight them. Then you can all return North in peace once the humans are defeated."

"Do not act like the North can hold back the Fayth or the humans in general. No clan, no Lupo has come out of the purge unscathed. If the majority of our people die in this war, then our species is doomed Dorin. That isn't me calling on visions to say this, that is a fact. Too many of our people are gathering here in these forests, this is a last stand war because there will never be another chance to fight the Fayth." Zaya was firm, this wasn't her ignoring the alive Lupo in front, it was acknowledging that this war either means a rebirth or death, there was no middle ground. "Either we fight this now, and fight it sensibly or we die. Those are our options, they aren't fun and they aren't fair but we all know that life is neither fun nor is it fair."

Shaking her head, "Fighting in this war, that is fighting for your clan, your family, your Alpha. Running away, that will only weaken us, that will kill us. This isn't just outsiders starting this war, this is us, natives to Islimore. Fed up of the Fayth thinking they won, thinking they can continue to kill us and destroy our lives. You speak so highly of your brother, how kind he was to the both of you, do you think he would want you to abandon others in their hour of need? To ignore a threat that is starting here and will engulf the world and threaten the lives of your clan and your family?" Zaya asked pointedly, these pups were not looking at a bigger picture and how one loss will lead to another till there were no more to fight. "From what you described of him, I think he would be wanting to fight, to stand side by side and show everyone here that the North is just as strong and brave as legends say."

"Was there any information from the filmsi that you could gain? Or do you have it on you for me to try and read?" Zaya asked with a hand gently outstretched.

 

[Dorin & Darin]

"Then you will lose." Dorin told her. To disadvantage one's self in war over something so trivial was to sentence them to the death this wolf claimed to be working to prevent. The humans would and never have shown any mercy to their people and Dorin for one was tired of every wolf here preparing for war and advocating for peace. They were doomed and he would have no part of it.

"Aeros, smiles on me and my soul with every drop of human blood spilled. He is The God of vengeance nothing less." He thought he could not like this wolf less and was disappointed to find out how wrong he was. There was nothing he would not sacrifice of himself for his brothers.

"…We will save your brother…"

"No. We will save our brother." He indicated himself and his twin. "We need nothing from you. Want nothing from you."

"I think our brother would want to be home." Darin said softly.

"Was there any information from the filmsi that you could gain? Or do you have it on you for me to try and read?" She asked.

"None really, a couple of words. River, secret. That's all." Darin said, handing the sheet over.

"Why bother!" Dorin screamed at his brother.

"She wants to help, Ninny." Darin said gently to his brother.

"No! None of them want to help! Not us! They care more for humans than for us. Declan said it would be different but he lied. He lied, Darry! He is as much an örlendr as any of them. við eigum ekki heima hér!" Tears pooled in Dorin's eyes.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

Zaya sighed again. "He is also the god of war and death. Maybe he smiles at you, maybe he doesn't. Unless you have talked to Aeros, you have no idea what the god thinks of your actions, and to presume that he would be pleased with them because it was vengeance, is levels of arrogance that will get you killed. None of us can comprehend how the gods will react to our actions, in the same way that no one can predict or comprehend the reactions and actions of people we know and love." Zaya stated in a firm tone.

"We all want to be home, but unless we can come together and stop the Fayth, we won't have homes. For we will never be safe. This is why I come here, to fight. To have a home where I am not fearing that humans will find us and kill us all again." Zaya stated in firm tone to Darin who seemed more willing to talk with her than Dorin. Examining the sheet, she raised an eyebrow, it was a form of Wulfi that was not a dialect she was familiar with. It was talking about a being, a Lupo that was considered a threat by the humans though. That much she understood.

Baramoðn. Fjord. Was this the connection she was helping them with. "What do you know of the Baramoðn? Is it meant to be linked with the Fjord?" Zaya asked, she sure she could connect the dots alone but she knew she could ask for help in this, something suggested to her that these boys knew more than they appeared to show. Even if they would not accept her or even like her. No, she was going to help them as she helped all Lupo because it was her duty as a Lupo and as a Seer.

"Dorin, you can resent me all you like. You can call me a witch or other names that you think I will find hurtful or insulting. But you will never be allowed to say that I care for humans more than I care for my own people. Humans will die, I want them to suffer, but I want them gone for good and I want our people to survive. There is no point in killing all the humans here if we die too. The Fayth still wins if we die, that is why I state we must fight smartly. Not because I don't want humans to suffer or to be rid of them, but because I want our people to suffer and regain our homes here." Zaya in a dark, cold tone. She was not going to let some pup say in her face that she did not care about the lives of her people when she was here for them. When she was spending days seeing visions and events for their comfort and wellbeing.

"Just because we are not helping you in the ways that you want us to, does not mean we aren't helping you. Doesn't mean we don't want to help you. It means that there are other things in motion and we must consider them. Just like you consider what is best for your clan and Alpha, so must we, do not be so foolish as to think that no one cares about you or your brothers bar you. And do not shame Declan for things beyond his control, if you seen what he has gone through, perhaps you would be offering understanding, that man needs support and kindness from his people, from his family." Zaya growled before looking at Darin. "I don't want to fight, I want to help you find your brother, tell me what you know and I will try to connect the dots, this filmsi has the answers. Nothing direct, just stepping stones."

Dorin & Darin

 

[Dorin & Darin]

None of us can comprehend how the gods will react to our actions, in the same way that no one can predict or comprehend the reactions and actions of people we know and love."

“You think I do not know what brings my mother joy or what would sadden my nephew, or make my sister wroth? Of course I know these things. If it is beyond our knowing to please The Gods then why do any of it? Throw all the traditions out, no more hunt to honor Rænör, cancel The Summerlight Gathering. According to you our actions mean nothing and such arrogance would be the death of us all.” Dorin said. It truly amazed him how should argue against herself and yet somehow think herself right. Aeros was by her own admission God of vengeance, war, and death. All these things had the twins brought upon their enemy. The God of blood and they had brought him enough to drown in. This witch could say what she liked. Could be as self important and condescending as she chose but she would not convince Dorin Durinson that he loved his life in a way that failed The Gods.

Dorin could not believe her audacity. He was so shocked at her self righteousness that a bark of laughter flew from him.

“Liar.” Dorin’s voice was soft, almost a whisper.

Her protests about caring for her people fell on deaf ears. There was no words this witch could speak that Dorin would trust. She was judgmental and unwilling to compromise or even to listen. They came to her open handed, practically as beggars and she would shame them further by making demands of them as if throwing away their dignity was nothing. Make amends? Amends for what? They had done no wrong to Aelin or anyone here, if there were a rift between the brothers and the Everos Alpha, that was no concern of the seer. they had never planned to stay here amongst these wolves. They had come south to find their brother and bring him home, nothing more. She spoke of Declan and his hardships.

Megi krákurnar éta augun hans. Dorin thought of his brother and what he has gone through.

Soft, cold beads of rain began to fall from the sky.

“The Baramoðn are a story. They were like guardians or protectors.” Darin told her. Darin and Dorin both had shared a love for the stories of the northern hero Boros and his adventures with The Baramoðn.

“We should no longer speak with this norn. Her words are poison Darry.” Dorin said to his brother who placed a hand on his chest and looked his twin, the mirror image of himself, in the eye as the rain rolled down their faces.

“That may be so but for Durin I would gladly take poison.” Darin saw the way his brother’s face fell. “For Durin I would do many things that would hurt me, he is my Alpha and my eldest brother but you are my twin. A soul split in two that is what mother always said of us. I would risk any hurt to myself for Durin but I would not hurt you. If you ask it of me, I will leave with no other word spoken and you and I can travel the south burning and killing until we find Durin or our death but I hope you do not ask that of me.”

Dorin placed his hand over Darin’s without a word.

“Farðu í göngutúr, bróðir.” Darin told Dorin softly. Dorin walked off quietly into the rain and Darin turned back to the she-wolf.

“The Fjordrunners, it’s a name for The Ølv. In the old stories The Baramoðn are all Ølv. Our father would bring us south sometimes to find them, I truly do not know more than that or know how it could lead to Durin.”

Spoiler

May the crows eat his eyes.

Go for a walk, brother.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

Zaya shook her head, "you know some things about these people. You do not know everything and you cannot, you will not be able to predict their reactions to things because you are not them. You do not know the day they having, the emotions they are feeling that moment, therefore you cannot be sure that something you know would cheer them would do so or a joke would go down well in that moment. And these are people you have known all your life, you do not know the gods in the same way at all. They are incomprehensible because they do not speak to us like they did our ancestors, therefore you have no understanding of how Aeros will view your actions. He might have loved your actions, but he might have also hated them because he sees the bigger war picture as more important. But you don't seem to want to even think of that being a possibility, I am willing to be wrong as much as I am willing to be right. You refuse to be wrong and that is dangerous thinking Dorin, thinking that will get everyone you love killed."

"Our traditions and ways of life were not built to appease gods, they were created centuries ago with the gods. Our ancestors could and did communicate with them. I am talking about our actions now, those we do not know if they appease gods or if they anger them because we do not directly communicate with them. We keep our traditions and ways of life because they work for us and because we know the gods were pleased with them millennia ago. Just because a god is based on war, vengeance and death, does not mean he wants senseless violence or actions that will bring the ruin of our species. Vengeance, war and death, we can have all those things and not risk our people's demise at the same time. That is all I am trying to offer to you Dorin." Zaya sighed as she watched the young Lupo storm off.

Smiling, "stories always have an element of truth to them. The Baramoðn are real, there is one that you are looking for. One that shall guide you to your brother. From what I can tell this Baramoðn has been causing issues for humans. Saving and freeing Lupo from the Fayth, killing the Fayth in manners that are shadow like, assassin ways. Perhaps this Baramoðn can enlighten us all on how to fight humans, from what I have seen. He has done it for more years than the combined age of us three. And knowledge is power." Zaya explained to Darin. "To find Durin, we need this Lupo. He will hold key information, something that will find us Durin."

"I might not be liked by you both, but I do want to help. I am willing to help you fight to save your brother. I wanted you to work things out with Aelin because she needs strong friends, people she can trust." Zaya admitted.

Dorin & Darin

 

[Dorin & Darin]

"Forgive my brother. He has never met a fight he has not thought himself capable of winning, whether it was with words or with weapons." Darin told her while watching his brother stalk off toward the part of the camp the northern wolves had made theirs.

Darin felt an unease apologizing for his twin. He had spoken the truth and Darin did not think those traits were worthy of an apology. Truly they was exactly why he admired his brother and he wished for Dorian's sake that the others would too. He was strong, determined, and fearless though he knew many here saw him as hot-headed, stubborn, and reckless.

His brother was not a brute. He was a hero and Darin had done him an incredible disservice by allowing this southerner to speak to him as she had. She had no right to challenge their actions as selfish because they did not align with her point of view. They were not children to be scolded. They were warriors. Both of them had spilled blood and seen their own spilled.

She'd had no right to preach to them on The Gods or their family like she was an authority on either. She saw The Gods however it was that she wanted but for her to act as though her beliefs were what was true and the twins were nothing more than ignorant northern pups was a step too far and yet Darin had done nothing as insult upon insult was laid onto his brother.

She said she was "as willing to be wrong as she was to be right." Though that was a falsehood. Every word from her mouth was just one more way to say that they were foolish or selfish or ignorant. They would get everyone they loved killed, she had said. They would be the downfall of their species she told them over and over. She had every answer and each one was how the twins were unworthy.

"Fat lot of luck that does anyone." Darin said defeated after she finished explaining that in order to find their missing brother they would need to find a hero from the stories. "We have had enough impossible quests, I think."

"It's apologizing my brother hates; not Aelin. Besides, she has plenty of people around her to count on. You, Declan, and this whole damn camp really, more wolves come all the time. We came south so we could go back north, that was the oath we swore and the oath we plan to keep. I thank you for what help you provided with this parchment but I would not care to ask you for help again. My brother would not take kindly to seeing you in our camp nor would I for that matter. May The Gods favor you seer."

Darin folded the flimsi and placed it in a pocket before following after his brother as he should've done from the start.

Zaya Tawfik

 

[Zaya Tawfik]

"This was a fight? I was merely discussing and providing a view that is different to his own when it came to Aeros. Not all see the god of war, death and vengeance as a god worth worshipping. Some of his actions, they were overzealous, heavy handed, a step too far and realisation on why control and timing is so important." Zaya was starting to realise that these two were praising Aeros far more than she had known him to be praised. It was unusual for her to see this devotion to the god, there was respect to him but there was fear of him as well. Aeros stories were always a cautionary tale in going a step too far, or how blind justice and vengeance could do more harm than good.

Shaking her head, "don't have to apologise Darin. Don't expect Dorin to either. Seems that we have differing views on things but that isn't something to be sorry for or hate, it is expected and we should celebrate that our people can still be so diverse. As we should be." Zaya hoped to demonstrate that she wasn't being rigid or demanding or unfair, that there was just a miscommunication on both ends. It was something for her to strive to improve upon. To understand not just the Twins better but the North. She still felt sure that they would need the North in the war to come. And that the Twins would be needed too.

"I will say that I am sorry if I offended, my words were meant to provoke but I did not mean to provoke this. I wanted to light a fire, but a fire we could burn together and it seems to have only burnt the potential of a bridge between us." Zaya explained to Darin. When he seemed disappointed with the information she had, it was heart breaking to her, she was truly failing when she was meaning to help. "It isn't impossible. He is out there, searching for Lupo. Find him." Zaya tried to stress.

As Darin left, she felt the rain hiding the tears rolling down her cheeks. She was devastated that the Twins had left so completely failed by her, so completely unhappy with her. She worried that when the time came, and her skills needed to help them, she would not be accepted.

Dorin & Darin