Angel couldn't stop pacing. She should be taking this moment of respite to give her paws a break, but despite their ache they still itched with the urge to move.

Every patch of shadow only increased that urge.

There had been three attacks, and the night was only half over. The beach had only been the beginning. Whether it was true or not, the town felt as if it were crawling with Shadewylves - unseen beasts lurking only steps away, just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

The hiss of streaming water met the crackle of fire in her ears, marking the battle taking place beside her. She cast a glance sideways, watching as Morgan's power ripped through the spluttering flames. It was too late, however. As the last sparks were extinguished, they revealed the scorched, blackened mess that had once been their precious store of historic scrolls.

Angel sighed, tearing her gaze away. They'd even anticipated this. It was supposed to have been prevented. Wolves had been stationed here, she was sure, and the Wylfire located close enough to help. Instead, it had been her and Morgan who discovered the Shadewylves intent on burning the place to the ground, with no others nearby.

Her flank stung with the lingering press of claws. She and him might have been able to fight them off, but they hadn't managed to stop the fire. The Shadewylves were successful regardless. How outnumbered the two of them had been, the victory it should have been merely to survive, was nothing in her mind.

They had still failed.

The beach had been a failure. The Seawylf's body, still abandoned far at the ocean's edge, proved that. Despite every careful plan, every hard-fought battle, every one of them had still failed.

All she and Morgan could hope was that the others were alive enough to think of failure, too.

Shaking her head, as if the action would dislodge every biting thought, she prowled over to Morgan. "I need to fly up." She was unsure why her voice dropped, but she couldn't bring herself to break the whisper. "We need to find out if the others are okay."

Flicking away the last few droplets of his water, Morgan nodded, though she could see the reluctance in his eyes. "Alright." His gaze swept towards the darkened Thunderwylf labs further down the street. "The others went towards the plaza, right?"

"Yes. But," Angel added hurriedly as Morgan started in that direction, "you need to stay here." She jerked her head to the opposite corner of the shelter, where one, sad stack of scrolls huddled, the only scraps salvagable from the fire. It wasn't much, but it was something to hold onto. "Guard this place. I promise, if I see any trouble, I'll be right back."

Morgan hesitated, then dipped his head. "Don't be long."

"I won't." Angel kept hold of his gaze a moment longer before pulling away. Her wings flicked out immediately, catching the night's wind. If she let herself linger for even a few more seconds, she feared she might renage on her decision and choose instead to stay with him. The thought of leaving Morgan alone and vulnerable in the dark didn't sit lightly in her heart.

But the others were vulnerable, too. She needed to stop putting him on a higher priority. They were all the Twilytra.

The light looked distinctively more patchy than it had been the first time she'd circled the town, as dusk fell. Clearly the Shadewylves had chosen to claim a few more areas to their swallowing darkness. There was, however, still a lantern flaring near the Wylfire headquarters, and it was there she concentrated her search.

As she twisted in the sky, a flash of fur caught her attention. A smudge of pale pink. Tucking in her wings, Angel shot down, only flaring them out again as her paws neared the ground. The stone scraped at her pads as she skidded to a stop, but she only pressed down harder and spun around to search for the pink Pelt in the thin streams of light.

Thea darted around the corner, vanishing from view. Readying her claws, Angel followed, straining her eyes as the lamp's influence grew weaker.

By the adjacent wall, concealed in the grey shades the darkness cast, Thea pounced on a Shadewylf. Her paws wrapped around his neck, and her jaw snapped, searching for a hold. Beneath her, the Shadewylf flashed his own fangs. Angel's breath hitched as she thought she saw them burrow into Thea's side, but her panic subsided as she realised it had only been a trick of the dark, and Thea had safely twisted out of the way.

When the two grappling wolves spun so that the Shadewylf fought his way on top, Angel took her chance to leap. Her claws dug into black fur, forcing the Shadewylf away from Thea. He slid away, springing to his paws.

Beside her, Thea rose, her quiet growl a constant hum in her throat. Angel debated pouncing again, but the Shadewylf seemed to hang back, and so she mirrored his actions.

For a moment, they met eyes, their battle becoming one of simple staring. The colour of the Shadewylf's eyes was obscured by the night, so that his pupils seemed to swallow his entire gaze, a void of hidden emotion. His fangs emerged briefly, then sank back into his jaw.

Angel took a threatening step forward. The Shadewylf inched back. He gave her one last stare, tension gathering in his shoulders, before it released and he did nothing more than turn and flee.

She kept her gaze trained on him until he had completly vanished beyond her vision. Even then, she scanned the rest of the street, searching for any other abnormalities of shadow. There was nothing. But the absence of visible danger did little to help her relax.

Thea nudged her side. "There's no more," she whispered. Her tone was an oddly soft touch compared to the rough scrape of Angel's fear. She looked back at her friend, more than grateful for that comfort.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Stepping back with a beckoning wave of her tail, Thea nodded. "A couple of Flamewylves helped me chase the others off before they ran over to stop some other attack. We thought that one had gone, but then he showed up again just as I was about to come and find you." She flashed a smile. "Thanks, by the way. I'm not sure I can go on fighting for much longer."

Angel shook out her fur, casting another glance to the shadows. "Me neither," she admitted.

Keeping half her attention on the dark, she followed Thea around the Wylfire base. They stuck close together, vulnerability pressing hard on them at every turn. They really weren't ready for another fight.

The thought gave way to another. A frown creasing her snout, Angel glanced down at Thea. "Why do the Shadewylves keep running away? They must know we're struggling."

The beach entered the forefront of her mind. After Harisah and her companions had killed the Seawylf, they could easily have kept on fighting, using the shock the death brought to their advantage. But instead they'd run, and vanished, unseen for the rest of the night. Were the Shadewylves not acknowledging their weakness?

Thea shrugged, the same confusion taking over her expression. "Maybe they're being nice?" She chuckled immediately afterward, shaking her head at the futile hope.

"Maybe," Angel added with a dry laugh of her own. Isn't it so kind of murderers to stop at one kill?

The sound cut off immediately as the scuffle of paws snatched her attention. Whipping towards the plaza, she flared out her wings, locking onto the form - no, pair of forms - dashing from the shadows. She didn't need to look at Thea to know that she was similarly tensed.

They both pounced together, locking onto a wolf each. Oddly, Angel felt the wolf stumble under her grip, paws buckling beneath them. As the wolf collapsed, she followed them down, pressing them to the ground.

Instead of a black snout staring up at her, a bright light met her gaze.

Flinching back, Angel released a gasp as the flicker of flame revealed bronze-coloured fur to her. The fire vanished after a few seconds, but it was enough. From Thea's sharp intake of breath a few steps away, she had come to a similar revelation.

Fiammetta, pinned beneath Angel's claws, attempted a panting laugh. "Thank Luna it's you."

Releasing her grip and pulling away, Angel smiled. "Yeah." She wedged her snout beneath her friend's chest as Fiammetta rolled over, hauling her to her paws. "Sorry about that. This night has just..."

"Put you on edge?" Fiammetta offered. She glanced back at the darkened plaza, a glare flashing in her eyes. "I know. I don't think I've ever hated the dark this much."

Nodding, Angel crossed over to Thea, who was helping Alvis to his paws. He looked a little more shaky than Fiammetta, but gave them both a grateful smile all the same.

"Morgan's waiting by the scroll store," Angel announced, taking a backward step in its direction. Her head bowed as failure re-entered her mind. "He's done his best to put out the fires, but most of the scrolls were destroyed."

The other three followed her as they moved towards the labs and curved around its corner. "At least we all made it out," Thea said, her voice strong. Fiammetta echoed her agreement.

"All except Katana," she added with a waver in her voice. "Did any of you see where she went? I remember she was stationed somewhere near here, but I... I don't think I've seen her since the night began."

They were close enough to make out Morgan now, lit by one of the few strong lanterns left burning. Angel returned his smile, but it was strained. He might be safe, but there was no guarantee Katana was. She opened her wings, already turning her gaze skyward. "I'll circle the area and look for her."

"Wait." Alvis halted, meeting her eyes. "Have you flown over the residential areas?"

Angel shook her head. "Not since before the attack." Her eyes widened. "You think they would--"

"They would," Fiammetta said, realisation darkening her tone. "We weren't guarding the homes as closely."

Morgan bounded to join them, the nervousness in his expression inferring he'd caught their conversation. "It also might explain where the wolves supposed to be guarding this place went," he added, gesturing to the charred scrolls.

Wings at their full stretch, Angel tensed her forepaws. "I'll find Katana," she promised. Without waiting for any of them to object - not that she expected they would - she took a few running steps and leaped into the sky, flight curving away from the plaza and down towards the house-lined streets. Using every patch of light she could find, she scanned everywhere she could, desperate for a smudge of earth-brown to appear below.

Half the town disappeared beneath her wings, and still Katana was nowhere. Angel looked to the very edges of town. She passed over the beach, wincing at how calm the lapping waves appeared. The scarlet-stained form was gone now, his blood washed away by the ocean, but his heaviness remained.

Before long, she was circling back towards the plaza again, the thought of having to return back with only her broken promise to report a bitter taste on her tongue. She bent lower in the sky, tracing her eyes across the streets in one last desperate attempt.

Then she saw it. The pulse of flame, wild, unlike that of the lanterns, created merely by dry wood and will. And in its amber touch, she made out a shadowed form, a red stripe illuminated by the fire she'd made.

Angel's flight became a run the second her paws touched the well-trodden path. She raced over to the wolf, both relief and fear mixing in her chest.

It was Katana, clearly. Katana barely able to climb to her paws, scars only recently healed torn open, but her nonetheless. Her breath rasped, but it was there. Wounded but alive.

"Katana!" Angel cried, nosing her friend's flank. A pool of blood had gathered beside her. "You alright? No, no, of course you're not alright, you're hurt. Wait here, I'll get Thea. She's--"

"No." Katana lifted a paw, prodding the air as if attempting to use it for support so she could rise. It dropped to the ground again swiftly, but the determination in her eyes didn't fade. She inhaled deeply, then managed, "Lexi."

"Lexi?" As Katana jabbed the paw again, Angel realised it was more of a point than an attempt to stand. A claw aiming further down the street. "She was here?"

Katana nodded, planting her paws on the ground. This time, she was trying to rise, though Angel eased her down hurriedly. She was in no state to stand. Still, when Katana spoke again, more strength had leaked into her words, as if she was forcing the wound's effects away. "She and another Thunderwylf. That way, chased by Shadewylves." Deep fear clouded her eyes.

Angel nodded. "Alright. I'll get Thea first, then I'll go after them. You need Thea," she said firmly.

"No," Katana protested, tugging at her wing. "No. Angel, they'll die." Her shoulders fell. "Like the others."

Following her friend's gaze, Angel searched the beams of the makeshift flame. Two Earthwylf bodies lay motionless, abandoned in the street. She swallowed hard.

"Okay," she said, lifting her wings. "I'll find them."

This time, her travel was even more desperate than the last. Though she knew Katana didn't wish it, she sped first to the plaza, though she stayed only for a few moments. There was barely enough time for her to call to Thea a few snatched words of Katana's whereabouts before she was aireborne again, following the street Katana had pointed down, tracking it to its end.

Once the path entered forest, she swooped lower, though she didn't slip beneath the canopy. Instead, her flight consisted of short starts and stops, leaping from one branch to the next, peering through the leaves for any sign of life.

There was nothing. The forest was empty.

Perching on one higher tree to catch her breath, she swept her gaze across the treetops. It was then she saw what lay ahead.

Though the forest seemed to stretch endlessly on two sides, and a third back to town, the fourth abruptly ended. A hill rose instead in its place, shaking away the grip of trees at its top to reveal a steep drop at the other side. It was distant, but close enough to recognise.

It was the place Angel had first found both Lexi and her Peltless friend.

Her leap came a fraction before she flared out her wings, leaving her to fall for a moment. She didn't care. Enough wolves had already died in the night's duration. She wasn't letting another slip through her claws.

As the hill drew closer, Angel made out a dark shape, tackling one of yellow-gold, further down the slope. She flew first to them, but yanked her course straighter when she made out what was right at the cliff's edge.

A black wolf, and the faintest glimpse of golden paws, still clinging on.

Until the Shadewylf's claws slashed outwards, and the glimmer of light vanished from view.

A cry burst from Angel's throat, and she flew faster, but no matter how hard she beat her wings they would not stand against the push of time. Before long, she gave up beating them entirely, and simply let the winds take control as she sped towards the valley. She allowed no time to prepare herself. All she could do was plummet straight for the edge, where golden paws had rested only moments ago.

She had to get there in time. She had to. Lexi couldn't be gone forever.

But there was nothing there. No streak of falling gold, no small pup still clinging for life to the rocks. Nothing at all.

No. No, there had to be something. Decline pulsed in her heart and clenched in her paws as they reached out, clutching for a wolf that wasn't there.

Finally, Angel's paws slammed into the earth below, and she staggered under her own momentum. Another second lost. Wings still hung half-upright, she whipped in circles, frantically scanning every inch of the valley lit by the feeble moonlight.

Everywhere was searched. As Angel's eyes adjusted, growing sharper, she searched again, pacing the entire side of the valley. The shadows of the trees, the greyed patches of grass, the carved-out juts of rock peering from a blanket of darkened earth. All revealing nothing. The valley was lifeless.

Wings finally sagging at her sides, Angel sighed, staring up at the stars. Lexi was gone. For a fraction of a second, she had been there, a brief shred of hope, and then she was gone.

Time and time again, she and the Twilytra had been too late to stop the tragedies of tonight. But of all the failures, this one hurt the most.