He made strange sounds as he tried to breathe, tried to change from Wolf to human form. He saw his hand, mostly human now at the end of a furry foreleg. He felt his face changing.

He felt a blow to the back of his head.

•••

“Do you want us to pull this one off the pile, boss?” a man asked. “His face is halfway humanlooking.”

Daniel Black glanced at the body of the last Wolf thrown on the heap of carcasses. “Leave him. That’s proof we eliminated the enemy and not just a few dumb animals.” He stepped away from the pile of dead Wolves and held out a hand. “Give me that camera. I’ll take a couple of pictures of you boys standing up for humans everywhere.”

They gathered on either side of the mound, rifles raised in triumph while Black took the pictures. He wouldn’t be the only man making a record of this historic day. Men from dozens of HFL chapters throughout the Midwest and Northwest had participated in the third stage of the land reclamation project.

He wouldn’t be the only man who sent one or two photos to the newspaper. But, by the gods, he and his men would be among those best rewarded for this day’s work.

“Now,” Black said, looking in the direction of the hills and the town called Prairie Gold. “Let’s finish this and claim what should have been ours all along.”

As he and his men headed back to their trucks, he didn’t notice the absence of all birds—and he didn’t notice the silence.

•••

Nothing he could have done against a bison stampede, Tolya thought bitterly as he raced above the grass. He could have slowed one animal, or caught and killed one of the riders driving the animals. But that wouldn’t have saved the Wolves. All he could do now was return to Prairie Gold and do whatever he could to help the Intuits save the town.

Wind stirred the grass. A shimmer of heat appeared just ahead of him. He rose to a column of smoke before shifting to human.

Two of the Elementals who watched over this piece of Thaisia took form in front of him. Air and Fire sat astride two of their steeds—one white, one brown.

Was there something the Elementals could have done to stop this? Pointless to ask. Dangerous even for a Sanguinati to say anything that might sound like an accusation.