Shadelings were the creations of the vampires. They were soulless, usually extremely powerful, beings.
In this world werewolves and vampires were just unique forms of demi-humans. They had no real rivalry but they did not normally co-mingle or breed with each other. They were just two different species of demi-human.
Now they did compete for territory and power. They fought each other to the death to obtain what the other had.
Shadelings were used to help balance things between werewolves and vampires. Vampires were cunning while werewolves were relentless. A werewolf would never give up while a vampire would retreat, maybe regroup and Wait centuries to actually realize a goal.
It was hard to win against a being with no concept of giving up, or living to fight another day. Werewolves would just fight until they were all dead.
The Shadelings, formed from vampire feeding, answered this. They were unwavering, incorruptible, they lacked fear, and they only understood mission completion. Werewolves found them very difficult to handle, especially if there were two or more engaged in battle.
Tiffany thought for a long moment and then looked to Amber's three Psi. They almost jumped, worrying about what she might ask then. Instead she just shook her head and moved on.
"My Lord. This has something to do with Talon but I can't see what. I can tell that they do not want him hurt."
"The vampires may be trying to get Talon back to them. He is a very powerful existence. He would truly be an asset to the royal vampires."
Stefan nodded at Amber's assessment.
"Everyone remember this shadeling. I am sure we will be seeing him again." He looked directly at Amber. "Let's go. We should physically travel across the land so that we can see if there are any issues or concerns causing things to escalate or being caused to escalate." He gave meaningful looks to both Pierce and Adonis. They said nothing but he could feel the resentment bubbling up followed by concern.
Amber and Stefan packed within five minutes and were out to the stables collecting their horses and five more each for when their horses would need the inevitable change.
They were quickly off, headed north, looking very much like a newly mated important couple going to visit loved ones.
Stein, the leader of this current group of shadlings listened to reports from Luna Azul. He frowned. "Both Amber and her new mate are going to Luna Azul Pack?" He shook his head. "Something is not right. He looked at the other four Shadelings with him.
"Are you sure the tie on that villager is still sealed."
"yes.. of course. I would have informed you if there was just a quiver on the tie."
Stein nodded. He had placed Kat in charge of the tie, once it was done, because she was always suspicious and paranoid.
There were five Shadelings on this mission: Stein was the leader, Cros was playing the role of enforcer and was the one who visited the villager, and Kat, Sha, and Ben were the subordinates on this job.
When grouped together for a task Shadelings tied their souls together for easy communication and to always know where each group member was. This tie also allowed them to blink to a group member's side in an instant if they were in trouble.
They were the vampires' tools and the vampires wielded them well.
Amber and Stefan left their horses with their teams and moved ahead of them. They were going to go through the swamps alone and enter Luna Azul unseen. At least that was the plan. They quickly moved toward the swamps. They were both thinking along the same lines and deciding what they would do to pass through the swamps undetected.
The swamps were an magical barrier set up and maintained by Star Fire and Luna Azul packs. It was a defensive and offensive measure and an early warning system. They were not worried about their people moving through because they were merely going to visit Pack Luna Azul. But the swamp would identify Amber and Stefan as having alterior or unknown motivations and it would target them.
Stefan was running to Amber's right. They were both being swallowed by the other's energies. Their souls were moving in twisting patterns, as if they were trying to become one entity.
Stefan could not help himself. He was suddenly so intrigued by this shewolf. Someone who could keep up with him and who had prowess in somethings that he could not even hope to touch.
She was impressive.
He had slept with her every night after the final match, with her, in the tournament. It was always so surreal as if it was only his soul with her and his body always had to detach itself or be burned into oblivion.
He never felt like this with his Alisa and when he was with Amber he never thought of Alisa. Both scenarios angered him to no end and for the first time he wondered if he could follow through with his revenge and he regretted answering the call.
They would have made it through if he would have continued ignoring her but his wolf aspect was being so odd and overly emotional and the longer he ignored her the worse it got.
Now he was running beside her. Neither of them feeling any strain, neither of them tired, and he was proud and in a bit of awe.
Again he was furious with himself. He was going to have to have another session with Tiffany to subdue and quiet these feelings.
They saw the dark green line of the swamp next to the pale white sand that marked the end of the Star Fire Pack's territory. The swamp itself was a neutral zone and controlled by both packs. The white sand was a vast arid place with only three villages. Amber was thinking about her people and how they were being put in unnecessary danger.
She ran next to Stefan feeling oddly calm and incredibly strong. She found herself wondering how it would feel to fight by his side. A firey heat bloomed in her chest as she came to a sudden stop at the swamp border. They both looked to each other, came to an agreement, and leapt into the swamp.