Janine had to spend more time ient than she would have liked. Maxence ignored her protests and made her sit down a a cusack’s weight of nutrient paste, while he ed her injuries, pushed the dislocated bones and joints bato pce, and sutured the wounds.

  “You know this isn’t needed, right?” Janine grumbled iween stuffing her mouth. “I once…”

  “… survived aire moing nothing but lig moss off rocks.” Maxence rolled his eyes at her fusion. “I read your file, Janine. Listen, how about you shut up about teag me how to do my job, and I won’t nag you about Anissa’s behavior?”

  “She is a good girl,” the warlrowled defensively. “Loyal. Gentle. Smart. Would gdly give a life to save you.”

  “And she added us more work,” the doctor said, swallowing a pill to stave off the exhaustion and closing his bloodshot eyes. “hought I’d say it, but thank the P fer’s headache. We use a rest.” His arms, encased in the military-grade exosuit’s sleeves, ran over her legs, tapping at tendons to check reflexes and moving a ser over the injured knee. Maxence was one of the few people Janine didn’t feel ashamed of her short legs. Even tired and ahe man somehow mao be gentle. “Hm, surprising. Despite the torn muscles around the upper tibia and behind the cracked articur cartige, aic yer of muscle fibers stretg from the pelvis down to the toes allows you to walk with ease. There wasn’t a mention of this in your file, and Ashbringer cks this unusual phenomenon.”

  “The Blessed Mift ges us in unique ways,” Janine said, satisfied with her superiority over her named sister in at least something. Ashbringer’s boy was greater than hers, and she anguished about the inability to catch up with the womae training just as rigorously.

  “Mutates, you mean. Visit me ter; a s is o keep your medical records up to date. This is not a request, Janine,” he told her.

  “As you and, Max,” she sighed. The doctor took off the oversized sleeve, rubbing his biological wrist with his metal hand. “Listen. Ravager never apologized…”

  “There’s nothing to apologize for,” Maxe her off and tapped on a bottle, reminding Jao drink water. “I was well briefed and chose to ighe danger. I would have dohe same choice today. The ander is not at fault; in a less fucked-up world, she would have received medical help in a mental institution instead of being forced into sughter after sughter. I will never bme a patient for shing out due to the dition. But I wouldn’t mind knowing more about the circumstahat led to such sporadic outbursts of aggression.”

  “Not my secret to tell,” Jaold the inquisitive doaxence meant well. He desperately wao know why Ravager hated most stists and medical personnel and even tried to talk things out. But the Blessed Mother kept him at arm’s length, both for his and the tribe’s safety.

  The Wolf Tribe weren’t human. Only the warlords, the supreme shaman, and the Dynast knew of this. Although the liege had offered to let everyone know this fad swore his prote, the Blessed Mother had refused the idea. The stigma against biological ons permeated the world sihe things birthed in the boratories of the Old World hauhe po this day, often leavied ruins in their wake. Ravager and Lacerated One enced the Wolfkins to think of themselves as humans, while Alpha tried her best to safeguard this shameful secret. There was no way the citizens could ever five such a tainted lineage, aing uhe Dynast’s prote was no way to live.

  Legally, the Wolf Tribe wasn’t in any trouble. The Dynast’s dreadful intelligence agency, the Iigation Bureau, regurly cracked down on the racist groups, be they Normies, New Breeds or mutants. All living uhe Recmation Army’s rule are humans by w, and those trying to divide people by appearance or birth faced severe punishment. But the stain remaihat filthy Chak had to go above and beyond to earn his rank, and no one knew how the Oathtakers or the bsted Iternian scumbags would treat the Wolfkins’ prisoners if the truth came out. Memories of the Culling, a genocidal act carried out by Iterna, had fortified the resolve to ceal the unpleasant information about their in from any outsiders.

  Jahought nothing of it. She believed Alpha and Ashbrio be stuck-up bitches, but saying so to their faces would spell unted pain for her. The same principle applied to the knowledge about their creation. Some things are better left unspoken.

  Once she satisfied Maxence’s insistent requests, she left him dotting over the wounded ahe medical bay, wearing a proper jacket h cusack leather and simir pants, brought to her by Impatient Ohe shaman herself led a small prayer, asking the Spirits to bless the medical personnel for resg tribesmen and to help the injured recover and grow stronger.

  Janine found her sons in aent, the o to house those whose lives weren’t in dahey shared the space with the burned New Breeds from the work crews, who pyed cards, gng amusedly at the furiously arguing wolfkins. Bogdan was out of his armor, standing in a green sleeveless shirt and simple pants. Ignacy y on a bed, ed in a bo the waist. The nurses had bahe stump of his arm tightly, and the surrounding area had been shaved of fur, revealing his tanned skin.

  “Warlord!” Bogdan stood at attention, and even Ignacy tried to jump to his feet.

  “At ease, both of you. It’s just Janine for now.” She waved her paut her axe down. Janine hugged Bogdan and squatted befnacy’s bed, still t over him. “Ignacy. I know it might go against your beliefs.” She ched her paws, trying to find the right words to calm and persuade him without implying that he was weak. “Son, our tribe has somewhat unique views about metal and the sanctity of flesh.” Ignacy tilted his head, and she hurriedly tinued. “Yes! The soul is important! How could it not be? It gives us emotions, love for our duty, and love for the people bequeathed to our prote. But the steel… It isn’t bad, Ignacy! You see me wielding an axe in battle instead of relying on my cws. You use a shardgun yourself, for it helps you fell a greater prey. The impnts are the same!” She took him by the paw when a spark of something appeared in his gentle, amber eyes. “Your family will never abandon you, no matter what, even if you choose to bee a Crippled. But, please, sider…”

  “Mom, I already agreed to the augmentation,” Ignacy said casually, and Janine’s world cracked from relief.

  She stood up, trying to be dignified and presentable. Had Impatient One been here, she would’ve rightly reprimahe warlord, potentially some flesh punishment. Family, no matter how much you love them, always takes a backseat when it es to matters of the tribe. To avoid favoritism and weed out any possible seeds of corruption, warlords were expected to cut their families off and treat them like everyone else. No one forced a female to bee a warlord; if she was unwilling to follow certain rules, she should not have taken the rank in the first pce. In practice, however, most warlords maintained close ties with their families, ofteing higher standards for their offspring. The shamans didn’t fight this, believing it to be one of the many ges the future had brought to the tribe. Adapt and keep living, or struggle in vain and perish. ge was iable, and the shamans steered it in a positive dire rather than tearing the tribe asunder in a pointless struggle.

  Janine’s heart raced happily. Her son won’t be a Crippled! He won’t turn into someone whose only goal in life is to eke out aend sacrifice himself to save the tribe in times of need. Relief had washed over her, banishing her hatred for herself. Her son will be fine! And given time, the rest be fixed.

  “Check this out.” Ignacy struggled a bit to scroll to something on a portable terminal before letting his brother help him. Its dispy fshed an image of a steel limb, causing Janine’s eyes to narrow. Spirits are her witnesses; she wasn’t the brightest ss when it came to maery, but even her knowledge was enough to spot a straube in this limb, ected te tai fmmable material he elbow. “It took some pleading, but the teis had agreed to test my design. Well, not really my own; I btantly copied and adapted it from books we got from that bunker we stumbled upon a year ago, but that’s beside the point! The idea was to install a geor powerful enough to emit psma from my palm, but the logistics officer had shut down this idea…”

  “Because it would be too expensive.” Bogdan rolled his eyes and pressed a button oerminal to show Jahe initial design. Janine only whistled, reading about the damn thing’s cost and output. Once fully charged, it could eat its way through aire mountain if needed. “My thoughts exactly. There’s no way the state would give this experimental tech to grunts like us. And thank the Spirits for it; Ignacy would’ve blown himself or others up while trying to wield it.”

  “Lies!” Ignaapped aurhe image. “I calcuted everything! From recoil to an emergency shutdown in case of… Know what? It doesn’t really matter anymore, and I will not spend a sed trying to vince ymen otherwise. Anyway, the downgraded model unleash a stream of heat that melt through a diamodite alloy upon prolonged exposure. Just imagine me jumping on a tank, pressing a palm against a hatch, and burning…”

  “Slowpoke!” Bogdan stretched the word. “You deal with the tanks by ripping off their hatches, dropping wele gifts in the form of grenades down, and leaping onto the oo repeat the process. Your method sounds like unnecessary extra steps.”

  “Listen to the voice of reason, Ignacy.” Jaudied the schematic, examining the gripping strength aion and respoimes of the new arm, as well as the materials used in its stru. Seeing that it was parable to a power suit, the warlord rexed. “I am proud of you. No, really,” she added as Ignacy hummed incredulously. “You said you copied the design, but it was you ted it to our bodies. This is impressive, son.” She ruffled his hair and asked worriedly. “Is there any way to attach cws to this arm? Girls might start to ignore a cwless male. If it costs too much, just tell me; maybe I find some tokens…”

  “It is fine,” Ignacy said, looking triumphantly at the image. “Fyra caster is perfect as it is!”

  “Fme caster,” Bogdan corrected him. “What kind of name is fyra, anyway?”

  “I heard it from a game! Mom… I mean, Warlord Jahis is my first major project!” Ignacy beamed, fetting about his missing limb. “ you imagine? I actually created something of value! I am not useless!”

  “You are never useless, Ignacy.”

  Just don’t end like your brother. Ja her tohis was a high moment for her boy. o dwell on the sorrows of the past. The impnts studding her flesh were the results of her firstborn, a somewhat unruly cub who shared Ignacy’s passion and pushed far ahead in being oh the steel, dreaming about a day where his teological prowess would let him dominate a scout or even a wolf hag. His youthful e and eagero improve himself through the steel was so great that even Lacerated One couldn’t find a heart to reprimand him. Oh, h they were.

  What happeo her firstborn was Eugenia’s and Skulltaker’s fault, not a fw in his knowledge of teology. But the strained squeals of her precious boy, the way his veins bulged beh his skin shortly before rupturing, the agonized tortions of his limbs, and the despair in his beautiful amber eyes caused by his impnts going awry and cooking her boy from within pgued her dreams.

  For that, she hated the fake saint and the precious little nd of lies, Iterna. The Recmation Army had a long history of rivalry with this mythical try.

  The Iternians, the bastards who survived the Extin unscathed, procimed unity and friendship to the ruined wastes around them. In an attempt to win some goodwill, Iterna ihe brightest youths from around the world to attend their uies. They even provided voys, and many tries sent soldiers to escort their children, losing some troops along the way during delivering their wards to Iterna’s care.

  Zero accepted the proposal despite Ravager’s advice. And lo-and-behold, Iterna’s gover had ged while her named sister was there, and they backstabbed her and the other youths, kig non-Normies students into the Ravaged Lands without alerting their tries. No guides, no supplies, and the attack of a sand reaper, a most dangerous predator around the nds, have left hundreds of students dead and far more injured. And ohe students turned back to the Iternian bastion, begging the guards for help, the Iterniahem to rer’s arrival prevented further tragedy.

  Iermath, Iterna suffered a major revolution and ostensibly tried to make amends, vast sums of money and free medical care to the victims of this atrocity and their families. Some agreed, but Zero saw through their lies and warhe tribe o trust Iterna again. Then, a few years ter, the entire wot exposed to the horror that was the apocalypse css, and the two tries came to blows once more.

  Amidst the painful birth of the new world, some people gained powers—unnatural abilities granting various things. These powers, ranging from being able to foretell a disaster to being able to turn one’s body into steel or summon fire from hands, were as numerous as they were varied in strength. Iterna, the Oathtakers, and the Recimers, the three stro nations in the world, had agreed to rank these powers in order to track the whereabouts of the most potentially dangerous individuals.

  And among them, the stro is the apocalypse css. These individuals are fully capable of destroying the entire world, sometimes by mere act. The Recimers first experiehis horror when a wave of nightmares spread across the world, tormenting humans and animals alike. Superstitious tribes brought bloody sacrifices to their callous gods. Stists tried various methods to stop the horrors, but even drugs that induce a dreamless sleep couldn’t prevent demons from sleeping into a mind.

  Not only that, but these nightmares had also caused sand reapers to go on a rampage, killing thousands. An unfortuant trapped alone on a mountaintop, unaware of the full extent of his power, caused all of this. He didn’t even know he had power.

  The pack, including Janine and her so out to capture the mutant. Led by the young Blessed Mother, the pack arrived at the snowy heights, fighting through the groups of petitors who sought to find and trol the mutant to achieve the world’s unification. At the top, outside the mutant’s house, Janine and her son faced off against Skulltaker and the damned Eugenia Mylli. In the ensuing bat, a lucky blow overloaded the impnts of her boy before Eugenia left, taking the mutant with her at Ravager’s permissiohe rest of the vultures desded upon them. It sied Jao the bone, but she obeyed the order and fought beside the Iternians against the mad and ambitious.

  After the victory, Ravager forbade settling the scainst the Iternians, and both groups desded. Janine ignored Eugenia and id her precious boy into the pyre, prepared by Lacerated One herself. The mutition of his body influehe shaman; she embraced the teags of the elder shamans, forbidding the males from tinkering with the teology to preserve them.

  Janine vowed to exact a blood price from Eugenia for her son’s death, but in their enter, the false saint easily disarmed the wolf hag, refused to kill any member of the Wolf Tribe, and tried to make excuses, treating the prisoners amiable when the captured Janine roared her grievances into that angelic face. Unassaible Elite, the stro soldier of Iterna, the wicked witch who murdered her ser was the only member of the Wolf Tribe who could match this bit battle. A most cursed and unattainable prey for Janine.

  “Yreat, Ignacy.” She hesitated and kissed his forehead, abandoning the dreams of vengeance for a while. Jaraightened up and flicked a fi Ignacy’s head, gifting him a tiny bruise. “Never dare to call yourself useless again, silly cub. You risked your life to save lives on both sides today and were a loyal rade. You have a family who cares for you and a keen mind. Is this not enough to satiate your sense of worth?”

  “It is, warlord.” Her son bowed his head and ughed. “I have allowed the shamans’ chastisement and occasional mockery to y mind and my words.”

  “You are a good boy, Ignacy. So what if you have different tastes in life? I live with it, and so you. To the Abyss with ahinking otherwise,” Janine assured him. “Yes, even the shamans; they don’t own you, merely guide you. ge is stant. Obey the orders in war, but pursue the path you wish in life, as long as it does n evil to the weak.” These were the hardest words she spoke in a long time. A mother in her shouted to disce him, but as a leader, she had nht to hihe growth of her troops. Of course, she didn’t believe in Zero’s delusions that males of the Wolf Tribe could ever be equal to females, but to shrink from a challenge was unworthy of a Wolfkin. “Bogdan, a Trial of Failure is about to begin. Will you attend?”

  “With your permission, I would rather stay with my brother, Mother.” Bogdan bowed gracefully. “The operation to install his new arm will begin in an hour, and I would like to cheer him up when he wakes.”

  “And to tease me up, no doubt,” Ignacy mumbled with a smile.

  “That es without saying, dear brother,” Bogdan agreed eagerly, causing his brother to groan from embarrassment.

  “Ignacy, you have ten days of leave to recuperate. Bogdan, I give you a day of leave to help Ignacy adjust to his new paw. No female is to domiher of you during this period. Any who dares will fih at the tips of my cws,” Janine announced.

  “Capital!” Bogdan cpped and pulled cards from his pants, addressing the workers. “Okay, sses, ds, pardon the se; let’s get to know each other better. Who’s up for a round? Loser pays in nudes or rations…”

  “Don’t push it, soldier.” Janine grabbed his ear and looked at the grinning workers. “Behave yourselves.” She let go of her son and stormed out to deliver herself to the pack’s judgment.