Daughter of the Wolf

Chapter 14

Sorry for the wait! Here's chapter 14, I think you'll like it.

It had been a week since the last mission. Infinity could sense a sort of restlessness in the camp, and the Alphas could feel it too. Everyone, warriors-in-training and Alphas alike, were busy, preparing for the Final Test, the one they would take to decide whether they became full-fledged warriors. The Test would take place in almost a month, and it was all anybody could talk about. Wolves, tigers, and arctic wolves and foxes would have a separate test than the smaller or bigger animals. They would go to a waterfall in a secluded area of the Balloosh, and have to get to the bottom. The path was filled with phantoms, including Quash Phantoms, and there were to be no chomper plants along the way. The warriors-in-training would have to use their personal weapons to make their way to the bottom of the waterfall.

Amidst all this, Infinity made time to go see Phoenix and restock his supplies. She sneaked out of the camp, and brought food to the spot Phoenix was camping out in. She brought sage with her as well to cover the scent of the phantom.

Phoenix was healing, his tentacle reforming as he rested. He, of course, was extremely grateful to Infinity for everything she was doing for him. When Infinity told him about the Final Test, he was shocked.

"So that's what they're doing with our Quash Phantoms!" Phoenix's eye widened with the realization.

"Well, they were invading! And no jail cell was big enough for them," Infinity retorted indignantly. "We had to put them somewhere."

"The Quash Phantoms have no mind of their own. They were bio-engineered to just smash whatever lands in their pits, be it Jammer... or Phantom." Phoenix's voice tensed at the last word, his eyes glazing over.

"Wait, Phoenix. They smash Phantoms?" Infinity jumped up from the ground as a sudden thought overcame her. These phantoms can work for our side as well! she realized. Phoenix nodded and she realized something had happened to his expression. "W-What's wrong?" she asked him nervously.

Phoenix looked at her as if he didn't recognize her, but then shook himself from the daze. "Let's just say... I have had experience with the phantom-smashing side of the Quash Phantoms." His eyes narrowed abruptly. "You aren't going to tell the Alphas, are you? About how the Quash Phantoms can smash Phantoms?"

Infinity shook her head and Phoenix sighed with relief. "I have to go now, I'll come back tomorrow." Phoenix nodded sadly as Infinity left. She went back to her tent and grabbed a book about Quash Phantoms. She was looking for a confirmation of her ideas. As Infinity quickly flipped through and skimmed the pages, she came across a chapter titled, 'Other Uses.' Her heart rate picked up as she turned the page. To her dismay, all the pages in the chapter had been torn out, and a dark purple splotch covered the remnants of the page. She furrowed her eyebrows.

I guess now I just have to find out the old-fashioned way: observation. Only, where are the Alphas keeping the Quash Phantoms? Infinity thought for a little while, until she had an idea. I will just look around the camp under the guise of trying to find a good place to practice. They will have to be somewhere remote, out of our reach. Somewhere with pits, somewhere underground. Somewhere like... a cavern.

Infinity got up and left her tent to look for the Quash Phantoms. She had barely made it to the central before Velvet ran up to her. Her face was pained. "Where have you been?" she asked her. Without leaving her time for a response, Velvet continued. "Juniper is in the infirmary. He was hit by an arrow while sword fighting."

Infinity gasped. "Who shot it? Is he okay?" she asked quickly, already running to the infirmary.

"Yes, and n-nobody knows who shot it." Infinity shot a curious glance at her friend as they reached the long white tent. Velvet's eyes seemed to be dark with worry and... something else. But Infinity did not get much of a chance to think about it as they saw Juniper. Liza was there, assessing his injuries and asking questions about what happened. Infinity ran to the side of his bed.