“Tempest is already working on a treatment”

“There is none” Arrow smirked. “That’s the beauty of it. Hawk brought a wolf that got it from humans”

“Humans?”

Arrow shrugged. “Never seen them myself... but I have to say they make a pretty destructive poison. They say it only takes a day or two”

“Get out of here” Everest spat. “There are still some that are fully capable of running you out of here”

Arrow shrugged, half smile staying plastered on his face. “Give Cedar our regards... if he lasts long enough to hear them”

Arrow walked away, satisfied with his effect. Everest clenched his jaw and headed back, hoping Tempest and Altea would prove what Arrow said to be false. But when he returned, his heart sank. The pack did seem calmer, but the grass that Altea and Tempest had given out didn’t seem to have worked. The two were hunched over one of the four pups and with a solemn face, Tempest looked up and walked forward to meet the gold wolf, dropping the two words Everest had been dreading.

“He’s dead”

Chapter IV

After the poison had taken it’s first victim, the health of the pack only continued to deteriorate. Tempest and Altea did all they could, but by the end of the day, the four young wolves that had first brought the meat were lost along with a few others, and several more had reached what Tempest and Altea had dubbed as the “sleeping stage”. 

Will stayed huddled next to his father and his sister, both of whom had eaten some of the meat. But Cedar was sprawled out, getting drowsier and drowsier while Chestnut had only just gotten sick and was curled in a tight ball. Willow did the best she could to take care of her mate and youngest pup.

Everest stood alone by himself under the trees, eyes closed while he tried to think of what to do. He should’ve done something about Hiatus before he had gotten this powerful. Everest opened his eyes and looked to the skies as if expecting some help or an answer, but none came. 

“What do I do...”Everest moaned to himself, head butting the tree behind him and resting his head on it’s trunk. There had to be something. There was always something.

A short distance away, Tempest and Altea watched their leader struggle with his first failure. Besides using willow bark to help subside the pain of the sick wolves, there wasn’t much else they could do.

“Well... he won” Altea stated simply.

Tempest didn’t reply. She was deep in thought, running through every single plant, trick and remedy she’d picked up. “He hasn’t yet” she finally mumbled.

“Well what’d fix this?” Altea replied.

“Something that fixes chills and sleepiness... something that would make you warm and jittery”

“Isn’t there a poison fungus or something that you showed me the other day that does that?” Altea offered haphazardly.

“There is!” Tempest yipped, sitting up. “You’re right!”

Altea tilted her head but went along with it. “Could that really work though? One poison against another?”

“Maybe it could... the fungus I showed you makes you get a fever and makes you unable to sleep! We have willow bark to fade the pain away... and maybe they’ll sort of balance each other out!”

Altea considered it but frowned. “What happens if it just makes them sicker?”

“Well if that doesn’t kill them... whatever they’re poisoned with now will”

The two wolves jumped up and headed into the woods, determined to find the fungus they had spotted the other day.

Meanwhile, Will sat by his sleeping father in quiet. He was no longer worried. Instead, he could feel hate and anger swelling up inside him. Tempest and Altea had disappeared and Everest couldn’t think of anything either. Maybe it was time to take control of things himself. He stood slowly to his feet and glanced over his family. Cedar was knocked out. Willow and Bark were wrapped around Chestnut, who’s face was still twisted in pain. Already the cloudy sky was darkening and now that everyone seemed like they wouldn’t make it through the night, why not bring Hiatus and Hawk down with them?

So with one last fleeting glance at his distressed leader, Will slipped away from the pack, briskly headed for the Ublureak trail. As he passed by the half eaten deer, he slowed down a bit, considering whether or not the poison on it was still powerful enough. Doubting it, he picked up the pace. 

After Will was out of sight, Tempest and Altea flew out of the woods mouths full of the spongy white fungus. Everest snapped straight, whipping around to see what was making the noise. Altea and Tempest had something new. But this time, Everest could see their excitement. It was worth going over to check it out.

Tempest dropped the fungus she had collected and spit out the bit that had stuck inside her mouth. 

“What’s that?” Everest called out curiously.

“Fungus!” Tempest sang. 

“That makes you jittery and feverish!” Altea added happily.

Everest made a face, but his eyes lit up when he realized that it made sense.

“Will it work?”

“It’s worth a shot” Tempest breathed apprehensively. “Who’s the sickest?”

Everest nodded to Cedar, who’s breaths were so short and shallow, it seemed like he was already dead. Tempest sized up the fungus and squashed it with a paw, breaking it up into smaller, smelly pieces. Taking a medium sized chunk, she pushed it toward Cedar’s nose. Willow, who had been woken up along with Chestnut and Bark, nudged her mate, forcing him to open his eyes.

“Eat this” Tempest said gently, pushing the white shape towards Cedar’s mouth.

Without a word, Cedar struggled to move his head forward and weakly chewed, scrunching his face at the fungus’s disgusting taste. Then he lay limp just as before. 

“It takes a little time to take effect” Tempest reassured the group. All eyes stayed on Cedar. The old Aklark leader’s breathes didn’t change. After a bit of time had past, it seemed like his breath was even shallower. And with one last deep breath, Cedar’s breathes stopped coming all together. The wolves that had crowded around held their breath, waiting for their leader to inhale. But no sound escaped from the brown wolf. Everest didn’t move his eyes away. A sudden numb feeling had come over him. He’d already lost a real father and the closest thing he ever had to one: Chief. He couldn’t lose Cedar too! Willow muffled a sob and buried her face into her oldest son’s chest. Chestnut just stared at her father, eyes wide with fear and grief. 

“Well it was worth a shot” Tempest said quietly to Altea.

Everest shut his eyes tight, shaking his head violently as he forced himself to walk away. Someone started to cough their brains out and Everest almost had the mind to tell them to stop. Then, Everest’s eyes popped open. It couldn’t be...

Everest turned around. Chief was sitting up, coughing as if to make up for the breaths he’d skipped. Then, he collapsed into sleep once more, but this time, it was much more relaxed and Cedar’s breathing returned to it’s strong, rhythmic pace. Everest grinned and flashed a look at Tempest. Tempest beamed and made eye contact with Altea.

“Let’s start handing this stuff out”

Unaware of the success back at his pack, Will had already made some progress of his own. Slipping past the scouting wolves was no problem. After watching Quick and Everest do it so many times, it was almost second nature to him. What was a little harder was stealing the piece of rotten meat away from Mange... yet he’d done that successfully too. He’d thought that the next part would be harder: to take the meat and slip it into Hawk and Hiatus’s food before the wolves who had caught it noticed. But it had been done perfectly. By the time they even realized that the hunk of meat was gone, it’d be too late. Will carefully mouthed the poisoned meat he was carrying. He wouldn’t let it fall into the wrong paws again. He hastily hurried away, taking the long way back through the dense woods. He was only a few steps in before he spotted Fly stretching outside of her den. Fly looked up and noticed Will, greeting him with a warm, but confused smile.

“Will, what are you doing all the way out here?”

Will dropped the meat and thought desperately for an excuse. 

“Did Everest tell you to bring that here?” Fly asked with a smirk, nodding to the meat.

“No” Will shot quickly. Fly blinked at Will’s shout. “I mean... this isn’t really good... for uh, eating”

Fly raised a brow, then realization washed over her face.

“That’s not the meat, is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” 

“The meat. The poisoned meat” Fly prodded. “Is that what Everest sent you out here for?”

Will nodded before Fly even finished, picked up the meat and took off. Fly watched him run away, frowning. Was that something she should be worried about?

Will ran and was almost back in his territory when he nearly collided with Tempest. Tempest beamed, dropping her mouth full of fungus. “We found something! Most of your pack is going to be okay!”

“Really?! That’s great!” Will barked, dropping