"W..what do you mean?" Derek nearly stumbles his words. The sheer killing intent leaking from Trey strikes fear into him.
"You weren't willing to die for your country. Do you hate the Zandarians? Your own kind?"
Derek pauses for a moment trying to figure out if Trey was offering a way out. At least a way for him to survive to see another day.
It's true that he surrendered. He didn't like the idea being ordered to kill innocent people. Many of his comrades seemed to enjoy it. However, he just chalked all of that up to propaganda.
The remnants of the original inhabitants were labeled less than human. Years of being told they were monsters that deserved everything that is happening to them. Deep down though, Derek had his doubts.
He knew from history about similar instances. Groups of people nearly wiped out because years of lies the government fed the citizens. Causing them to look the other way in the face of ungodly decrepit violence and moral decay.
Things had to change. He still felt loyal to his country, but he wanted it to change for the better. Committing war crimes will only lead to the entire world rallying against them.
Trey leans in closer trying to scare the man even further. "Look what you've made us become in order to survive. Monsters. Fucking with hornets will only get you stung. Pushing people to the brink of death makes them desperate like a cornered animal. Even prey will fight back if they're out of options."
"I'm sorry." Derek finally responds. "I joined the military to reform it from the inside. What else was a civilian like me to do in order to change my country for the better? I was going to climb higher into the ranks...."
"Enough." Trey snorts. "I think I understand. It doesn't change the fact that you didn't think your plan through. You can't move up through the ranks if unless you do everything you're told. If they tell you to bark, you bark. If they tell you to kill, you kill. Now look at you. You'll be labeled as a traitor and hanged."
Derek knew Trey was right. He didn't have what it takes to become the government's lap dog. Committing crimes in order to stop crimes was something he thought he could do.
Seeing it up close and imagining it in his head were two completely different things. He knew he was a fool, thinking he could do this by himself. Now he's gotten himself into a bigger mess.
"Tell me something. Trey says after giving time to let Derek think. "You wouldn't die for your country, but would give your life to oppose it?"
"I..don't know what I want to do." Derek says honestly.
"Fine. I'll decide for you then. If you couldn't fight against corruption from the inside, then how about the outside? Help us fight against them. You have valuable information that we could use."
Trey was willing to give Derek a chance after seeing how Derek refused to kill people who couldn't defend themselves.
It was risky to allow him to help. And he knew that full well. However, if it meant they could gain an advantage over the Zandarians. Then he would take it.
He knew how people behaved. A person's natural instincs is self preservation. If they could provide him safety, then Derek would feel indebted to them.
Of course, Trey could turn him into a werewolf. However, he'd only do that as a last resort.
"First things first. We need to figure out where we are. Is there any way we could do that?" Trey asks hoping Derek would have an answer.
"It's possible." Derek explains as he looks up at the night sky and then to his wrist watch. "All we need is the time and a sextant to measure the angles of the stars."
Derek continues. "I have a watch, but you need to build the sextant. Write down the angles and I can give you our exact coordinates."
With the plan in place, Trey follows Derek's instructions and has a craftsman make the device. Once that was done, they had little time before it was daylight, but it was enough to get the measurements.
He gave the measurements to Derek who needed to do some additional math by writing in the dirt with a stick.
"It's done." Derek says and he finishes. "We need to head west. Androssa is about two hundred miles away."
Androssa is the neighboring country to Zandaria. It's smaller and less technological advanced, but is considered a safe haven for refugees.
Although they used to be at war in the past. Bigger countries threatened to go to war with them if they continued their assault. Zandaria was forced to hault their attack.
If they could make it there, they'd guarantee their safety. The problem was the long trip. Getting caught was likely. Even through the dense forests, a large group like theirs isn't hard to spot.
Farkus spent his time increasing his magic reserves while everyone else was focusing on their survival.
He watched as his mind space slowly grew more and more. Inside his mind is a blue dome of aura just like everyone else. What was different is the ground he stood on. A rocky terrain that seemed impossible to destroy no matter how much he tried.
"That's an interesting aura you have?" A male wolf says as he walks up to Farkus who opened a single eye to see who it was.
"What do you mean."
"Your aura. Only a few like me can see it."
Farkus opens both eyes and stares darts at the strange wolf. He found it strange that he was talking about magic aura. He himself only found out about magic recently. The rest of the wolves were only told about it thanks to Luna. So how does he know anything about magic?
"Where did you come from? You're not one of us."
The strange wolf claps his hands together showing praise for Farkus. "That's not important right now. I just wanted to ask who's in charge around here."
"That's none of your business." Farkus replies in a cold tone. "Now, who are you?"
"I'm a friend of Raven." He replies with a smile. "I heard a little about what happened."
"So you're here to help?"
"I didn't say that. I just wanted to see how things were going. I have to say, I didn't expect to find someone with potential here."
"Potential?" Farkus nearly snaps at him. "We're fighting for our lives, and you're here to just watch? And you're really a friend of Raven, you'd help us rescue her."
"There's only so much I can do. Helping you out will stunt your growth. How are we supposed to grow stronger as a species if I spend all my time saving you pups from trouble?"
Just as Farkus is about to lash out at this wolf, a portal opens nearby, Raze and Luna steps though.