It took an hour for Acheron Euras to recover fully from the assault he had authored. As was always the case after using his considerable power, he felt completely drained. His head throbbed, his stomach churned, and every muscle in his body was sore.

He stood up gingerly and peered over the balcony in the direction where the Fool's Pride tavern had stood. The evening sky was alight with the glow of fire. Flames still rose above the rooftops and the conflagration had spread beyond the confines of the original target encompassing several nearby buildings.

A feeling of guilt briefly intruded on the fox and he turned away from his handy-work. He stumbled back into the interior of the palace and weakly made his way to the door wanting nothing more than to return to his own quarters two stories below.

The palace was abuzz with activity owing to the threat of a spreading disaster from the fire. Squads were being organized to head to the docks to help fight the blaze and keep it from spreading to the more well-to-do sections of town. Acheron passed Hymir, who had returned to the palace after posting the forged proclamation near the scene of the crime.

Hymir smiled and nodded in Euras' direction. The enchanter ignored him and headed down the marble stairway. He arrived at his quarters and entered. Elidure sat waiting for him. He looked accusingly at his father.

"Is this your doing?" he asked.

Euras was short-tempered after his exertion. He looked dismissively at his son.
"You can't understand until you are grown. These are complicated matters."

Elidure became increasingly angrier.
"I am grown...I'm not a child anymore. I am old enough to wed or to fight in the army...if," he stared deeply into his father's eyes, "...if I were human. As it is now, I can do neither without permission and I could never raise any higher than cook in the army."

It was Euras' turn to become angry.
"I'm doing this for your sake. As long as I am useful to the king we are safe and will live well."

"As long as what? As long as you murder man and beast for this cruel tyrant. I know you plan to help him conquer the Wild. How many beasts will you murder then?"

The enchanter became furious.
"As many as it takes. These are not our people, our beasts...," he lowered his voice, "how do you know of the king's plans for the Wild?"

"Agnar told me...he is as disturbed as I am."

"It would serve him well to be silent. His father is already disgusted with him!" Euras spat out.
"The way you are disgusted with me?" Elidure said sadly.

Euras became suddenly sympathetic.
"No, no, no...I love you, my son. You are like your mother, a dreamer. Neither of you see...or saw...the world for what it truly is, a violent cruel place where you must fight to survive."

"Mother would be ashamed of you!" Elidure said bitterly as he exited the room.

Acheron sat silently for a moment. He found himself wishing he could still cry. My son will understand, he told himself, when he is older he will understand. He repeated this to himself many times as though the mere repetition would make it true.

Elidure walked angrily through the palace and found himself outside of  Prince Agnar's quarters. He pounded on the door sharply until he heard his friend's voice calling him in.

Agnar sat at a small desk in front of a large window overlooking Manheim. He was reading a well-worn pamphlet and making notes in his journal. The Prince turned and faced his friend. He could see the anger and frustration on the young fox's face.

"Fight with your dad?" He smiled, "You should do what I do. I avoid my father completely."

"Have you watched the fire?" Elidure asked.

"It's pretty hard to miss. Smoke has been billowing for hours. It seems to be down at the harbor."

"My father is responsible...I'm responsible."

"How are you responsible?"

"He's doing this to protect me, at least that's what he said...," the fox lowered his head, "a lot of people died, normal everyday folks and several senators who opposed your father."

Agnar stood and walked over to his friend, placing his hand on Elidure's shoulder.
"If my father wanted them dead, they would end up dead with or without your father. It's not your fault...at least he loves you."

The fox's eyes hardened.
"I won't live with this, it won't get any better. I've made a decision and I need your help."

"Sure, anything."

"I'm going to leave. I'm going to the Wild."

Agnar's eyes widened.
"The Wild? Are you sure? Why?"

"If I'm gone, Lodur won't have the same influence on my father. If he knows I'm in the Wild, he'll be less anxious to help Lodur destroy it."

"He won't stop him though. My father is determined to destroy it with or without Euras' help."

"At least my conscience will be clear," he looked into his friend's eyes, "I need your help, Eli."

"What can I do?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a beast. I may be the 'enchanter's' son, but no one knows me and I can't travel around the city, let alone leave it without a human master at my side. I need you to escort me out of town."

Elidure thought for a moment, then smiled.
"I can do that, but on one condition."

"What condition?"

"That you promise you'll come see me again when you can. You are my only friend and it will be dreadful here without you to talk to."

Elidure clasped his friend's hand firmly.
"I promise."

The Prince wiped a tear from his eye.
"All right then, go pack a sack with clothes and the sort. I'll get you some rations from the kitchen and some gold to help in your travels and we'll meet back here in an hour."

Elidure hugged his friend warmly.
"Thank you Eli."
He turned and left the Prince's quarters.

King Lodur was very pleased with himself. He had already heard from other members of the senate demanding revenge for their colleague's murders. None questioned the authenticity of the proclamation declaring the fire to be the work of renegade beasts.

Lodur leaned back in his throne and raised his goblet to himself and drank deeply of the ruby-red wine. In the midst of his celebration, an officer nervously entered the chamber and prostrated himself  at the foot of the throne. He  spoke without making eye contact with his king.
"Your Highness, I was instructed to deliver a message to you from Colonel Hessing."

"And who is Colonel Hessing?" Lodur asked dismissively.

"The officer in command of your Northern Outpost."

"The message?"

The young captain looked up at his king.
"He told me to tell you that a beast, a badger, has surrendered himself and requested to speak to you."

Lodur became angry.
"Why does the Colonel waste my time with the whims of slaves?"

"The badger claims to have been a very prominent leader of the tribes of the Wild. It seems he had a falling out with his beasts. He claims that he knows everything about the rebels and their stronghold...numbers, accesses to the Wild...everything."

Lodur leaned forward. His voice became calm and steady.
"Where is this badger now?"

"I escorted him here. He is being held in the dungeons of the palace."

"Bring him to me in the morning. For now, transfer him to a guarded room and have him fed...well. Tell the guards to treat him respectfully. If the badger is being truthful, I want him at ease...if he is lying, he will regret having been born. He is your responsibility, Captain. I expect to see both of you after breakfast."

The young officer stood and saluted.
"Yes, Majesty." He turned and left.

Lodur re-seated himself and drank from his goblet. This was a monumental day, especially if the badger spoke the truth. The gods were truly with the Aesirian king. Everything was perfect.