The sudden arrival of Zorion out of the darkness at first gave Apollonia hope. It had been difficult to recognize him – he had grown so much since the last time she had seen him, grown in size and maturity. He was more handsome now and stronger too. For a brief set of seconds she had thought that with his help she could overpower Harries and escape, but then his lids had slitted and his words had fallen over her like poison. Apollonia, you are well on your way to being saved from your internal evil. Though this… this is only the beginning. Her eyes widened in fear and she gasped. “Evil? What evil are you talking about, Zorion? I have done nothing wrong or bad, it is he – he is evil!” Zorion’s paw raised off of the earth and smacked her across the face, claws retracted, but the strength of the blow sent the fae to the ground, her body quivering in pain. Don’t you ever say such demonic words, you devil, fallen angel that you are! Your words are pure evil, lies fallen from your lips like venom upon the earth. Hurt, she raised her emeralds and looked upon the fae and sighed. “Why… Zorion… why?” Her vocals were little more than whispers.

Oh Zorion, you do like to make everything dramatic don’t you. Apollonia’s heavy breathing increased in rate and she continued to whimper – it finally dawned upon her. These two were a team and had been working together! Harries the master, Zorion the student. To what end, she knew naught… but Harries had no doubt affected him, altered him, and took from him all of his innocence and replaced there terrible thoughts and an altered perception of reality. Much as he had done to her. That was exactly what Harries had done – he had stripped from Apollonia her innocence and youth, had corrupted her. She was now the impure…

So, my dearest Apollonia, I am sure that you have a lot of questions and though I would love to answer them… I’m not going to. You see this is how it is going to work from now on. I am going to tell you what to do and you will listen and nod and get on with it. Harries gaze shifted to lay on Zorion. You see now, you are impregnated with my seed and will be having my pups, which means you have to abide by my rules or else there will be consequences. Your evil will no longer be inflicted upon the world and Zorion here will make sure of that. You will soon be returning to Cold Summers and Zorion will be accompanying you. He will make sure that my name remains a secret and should you tell or even hint at anything that happened to you… I will kill the pups you bare and EVERY wolf you have ever cared about. The kalak’s maw curled into a terrible smile, and Apollonia shriveled under his gaze. This was the end of her world as she knew it.

But then she picked out a single phrase – the pups you bear. “I’m… I’m going to have pups?” Terror crossed her face, a fear and a pain that they would be a constant reminder of what had happened to her. But at the same time she was amazed that she would be bringing into the world new lives. Zorion growled and nipped at the sides of her neck, causing fresh streams of blood to flood down her pelt. They are not your pups, merely vessels of goodness that Harries has sent upon you to neutralize your evil. They are his and his alone, you merely need to care for them until he or I take them to be raised in his knowledge and ways! Apollonia yipped and yelped because of the pain, and her happy go lucky countenance broke and died. But she decided then and there that Harries would never take the pups from her. She would protect them with her life.

“Please… I won’t say anything. I just want to go home…”