"What's a matter girl?" Howard reached down to pat his his growling guide dog. "There somebody you don't like coming?" He turned his head back and forth trying to pick up any approaching footfalls, cursing the sound of the nearby rushing water. Even in winter, he could hear it running beneath the ice. But it was the only time he could come to Niagara Falls, when they were partially frozen and there weren't so many tourists.
The seeing eye dog growled again and tugged him along, trying to get him to break into a trot. "Slow down! I can't go that fast, not with the ice!" The dog slowed down to its normally steady pace, whining piteously.
"Shh, it's okay. Nobody'd hurt a blind man. The world's not that full of monsters..."
Howard collapsed as his dog howled in abject terror.

"How very, very wrong." Gorgul forced the blind man's hand up to remove the dark glasses from his new host's sightless eyes. It would take some getting used to, having a physical body. The darkness was utterly unacceptable. A slight exertion of power and he burnt his host's sightless orbs clean out their sockets, leaving empy holes fill with a sickly reddish glow.
"Much better." He put the dark glasses back over the empty eyes and looked down at the frothing, twitching golden retriever. From the looks of it, Raza would be at this awhile. Gorgul proceeded to pace, getting the feel of the new body. It really could use some improvements... however, that would ruin the disguise. The eyes were concealable. It was expected. Humans did not like to see others' weakness. It made them feel their own too keenly.
The guide dog let out one more agonized yelp and then got to its feet, head swinging back and forth snakelike. Gorgul put his host's hand on the dog's harness and let it settle into the position it 'naturally' wanted to assume.
"You need to work on that. I had less trouble taking over this body than you did an unthinking animal." The dog snarled at him. "Hush. You will blow our cover. Put your other skills to use. They will think nothing of letting us walk through their defenses, but we still need to find the correct one. Put that nose to work."
The retriever snarled once more and put its head down, trying to pick up the trail of the the local Garou. For all appearances it simply seemed that a blind man was out walking with his guide dog, who was being unusually attentive today. Probably the ice.


"...and then she said you'd said..." Duncan MacIvor looked down at the wolf by his side as it made a disgusted noise.
"Don't waste my time with monkey-babble! Make yer case or I'll box yer ears!" Silvertongue snapped at Duncan as she grew tired of hearing him ramble.
"You can't even reach my ears."
"Wanna bet?"
"Children, walk towards the light, isn't that what Clubfoot wanted in the first place? You two fighting." Horse Feathers appeared like magic between the two hot tempered Fianna. Both started. They thoguht they had succesfully slipped off to walk by themselves.
"And since when do you play peace maker? Shouldn't you be playing rough and ready with us?" Duncan flicked Horse Feathers' pale ear with one finger, covering his nervousness with harmless pranks.
"I do a little of everything. I have learned great patience and wisdom tending the spirits..."
"You mean staring at a point in space until your fur turned white." Silvertongue nipped Horse Feathers' other ear and swished her own reddish tail about playfully, her bad mood gone.
"That too. But Clubfoot is simply causing trouble, playing the old 'he said, she said' game. She is simply trying to keep you two apart so the Fianna cannot present a unified front at council."
"We're too fractious to prevent a unified front even without Clubfoot meddling. I don't see why she even thinks we should have anything to do with the leadership at the caern. Couldn't she go bother the other Ahrouns, or maybe pester the Philodox? Not as if the Ragabash have a real voice on the council." The two Lupus had fallen to tusseling playfully while Duncan spoke, leaving the poor Homid out of the pile of tangled limbs and snapping teeth. Horse Feathers disengaged and grew serious.
"Perhaps you do not have a great voice directly, but you are both respected in your own way."
"Ha!" Silvertongue barked and snapped at a snowflake blowing in the breeze. "No one respects a Ragabash. It's not in our nature."
"Well, Duncan, they admire his fighting skills, especially considering he is a Ragabash. His deeds thus seem greater because he is not expected to be a great warrior. And you, oh sly one..." Horse Feathers bared her fangs at Silvertongue who was creeping around behind her. "Do not even think of pulling my tail. When you are not romping about like a puppy, you have put that sweet voice and sharp tongue to good, and, at times, ill use. They do not expect guile from one wolf born, and thus, you are respected in your own way, if not openly acknowledged. Ans so if Clubfoot drives a wedge between you two and you have a very public feud, many of the Fianna on the council will be torn as to who to support."
"Not that you have any say on the council either."
"Oh no, of course not, no one ever listens to the evil old Uktena witch."

Raza strained in the confining harness, eager to bound forward as the scent grew fresher. Gorgul tugged sharply on the leash. "Slow down. If the scent is fresh, they are bound to be watching. Keep going at a slow, steady pace, like we are out for a normal walk and got lost. The farther we can get before we are discovered, the better. Otherwise this was an utterly pointless exercise."
Raza growled in a most un-golden retriever like fashion, but slowed back to a steady walk. Gorgul was right, stealth was required for this mission, but still, the pace grated on her nerves. She was a hunter and should be tracking this witch in full cry before a full pack of scrags, all eager for the kill and the taste of fresh meat between their wicked fangs. Thinking about the carnage to come made Raza drool, tongue lolling and eyes glazed in a much more typical expression for a dog.
She tracked across the cold frozen ground, the blowing snow no obstacle to supernatural senses. They were off the neatly manicured and well maintained tourist paths now. Gorgul occasionally stumbled over some hidden obstacle in the snow, but Raza's four sure feet kept her from any trouble. Gorgul pulled at the harness every now and then, pulling her up short. "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Raza would start up again, as if determined to take him to the appropriate destination. Watchers would assume they'd simply missed a turn somewhere and the dog was now valiently trying to get her master back home by as straight a route as possible. Hopefully they would not interfere.

What happens when you get three nervous Ragabash together in the middle of the winter and no one's watching? A snowball fight is pretty well inevitable. It's not because Ragabash are inherently more playful or frivilous than other auspices, but because they are, in their own way, more honest... at least with themselves. Political tensions at the caern had them on edge and a little stress release was in order.
Silvertongue yelped as a snowball pegged her between the eyes. "No fair! That one had a rock in it Duncan!"
"Sorry. I think it had some leaves too. Didn't mean to get other crud in there too. Free shot." The Fianna posed dramatically to take the incoming snowball like a real man. He got pelted with a half dozen in short order.
"You didn't say who got the free shot. How unwise." Horse Feathers juggled a few more snowballs, threatening to unleash them in another devastating barrage.
"Show off."
"I think we should gang up on her. Not only can she throw faster than us, she blends in too!"
"Ah yes, I see the Fianna coaltion has formed up to overthrow the evil Uktena tyrants." An all too accurate assesment of the current political situation. The Uktena owed the Fianna for rescuing the Caern of White Water from total destruction many years back, but certain parties wished to drive all the European tribes out of the caern, off the continent if possible. Clubfoot Razorneck was the most vocal about it, but far too many quietly sympathsized.
"You're plural?" Duncan quipped while forming a new pile of snowballs...which Silvertongue was dutifully stealing for her own use.
"Do the voices in my head count for that?"
"What do your voices tell you?"
"That I should stop juggling and make some more snowballs before I get flanked and turned into a snow-werewolf."
"Do Crinos shaped snow sculptures count as a breach of the Veil?"
"It depends on whether they incite Delirium or not."
"Ah yes, the spirits have granted me the power to use snow to warp the minds of mere men..."
"The spirits seem to grant you a lot of thing. Think you can get 'em to give you some hot cider and cookies? Those would be right nice about now."
"The spirits do not bake cookies." Horse Feathers scowled at Silvertongue. Duncan pelted her with a snowball.
'They apparently don't give warnings as to incoming projectiles either."
Horse Feathers shook the snow off her fur. "At least not for non-lethal ones. I think Old Man Coyote would approve of a snowball in the snout of anyone who takes life too seriously."
"Awh, it's not like Coyote's nothing but fun and games."
"Exactly. Why not conceal a a poisoned dart or a shard of silver in something so harmless looking? Teaches people that appearances are decieving."
"I ain't having anymore snowball fights with you ever! Dark devious, evil Uktena indeed! Spoiling all our fun and games."
Horse Feathers lobbed another snowball at Silvertongue. "And sometimes a snowball is just a snowball."
"Hey, you two nuts want to stop yapping for a minute? I think someone's coming." Horse Feathers and Silvertongue immediately fell silent and went back to their native wolf forms. Horse Feathers blended in perfectly with the snow. Silvertongue slunk into some low lying evergreens with Duncan.
They lay still and silent for a few moments until they heard the panting of another canine and the crunch of footfalls in the snow. "Oh Duncan, it's just one of the caern patrols." Silvertongue whined.
"Shhhhhh... something seems wrong. Wait a few more moments." They waited tensely until a man and dog came into sight. The golden retriever pulled at the service harness, obviously very eager to get somewhere. The man walked on, utterly confident.
"Poor fellow, must have gone off the tourist path. I should put him back on the trail before he runs into the bawn guardians." Horse Feathers snapped at Duncan's arm before the Fianna stepped out of cover.
"Wait. Something is wrong. Something smells odd about this." The three garou froze as the man and dog turned towards them. The golden retriver snarled and pointed with a paw.
"Something is VERY wrong."
"Is that the best you can do?" the man called out. "That there is something wrong? How...pathetic. I was expecting much more."
Silvertongue bristled, but her tail was creeping down between her legs in nervousness. "It shouldn't be able to understand us, let alone see us."
"But I can see and understand you little puppy. But you do not concern me. We want the Uktena."
Horse Feathers slunk forward and snarled. "And what would you want with me?"
"To extract some information." The predatory leer from the dog said that they wanted far more than that. They wanted to extract it, literally, the hardest and most painful way possible.
"I do not think so. I will tell you nothing."
"You will tell us everything, in time."
Duncan stepped out of cover, having bulked up to Crinos. He stood to one side of Horse Feathers. "But we are three and you only two. You've no grounds to threaton."
"You only see two."
Silvertongue shifted up to Crinos as well and took up a position to the other side of Horse Feathers. "And you are unarmed." She tried to sound confident, but the fact that the man and the dog were not fleeing at the sheer sight of two Crinos Garou was disconcerting. Either they were mad, or utterly confident in their ability to win.
"That does not matter."
"It is right. Attacking will merely kill the host, not the evil that moves its limbs."
"You are correct. You need only answer a few question and we will leave." The smile was insincere. It had no intentions of doing so, but still, there was a slight chance it might do as it said. Some spirits were bound to their words once given. Hearing the questions could not hurt.
"What are your question then, beast?" Horse Feathers was deadly calm and still in her native form. She had played word games with banes for years, tending the awful spirits the Uktena kept bound in spiritual prisons. It had turned her fur white before her time, but taught her many tricks. She could trade words with it without fear, perhaps tricking it into revealing some weakness.
"A young man came here perhaps ten days ago, and spoke to you. He left and traveled to the south. He was just in time to interfere with the plans of certain parties, apparently because you had told him where to find this. How did you discover these secret plans?"
The Uktena considered for a moment. "The boy was a Silent Strider, they have a natural talent for going where they are needed."
"It would have been better if he had not interfered. Now he is in a great deal of trouble."
"I said they went where they were needed, not where they'd encounter the least trouble. What sort of trouble has the boy gotten himself into?"
"None of your concern. I do not believe your answer. The circumstances were told to him beforehand, by an Uktena witch."
"I told him no such thing. I was quite vague."
"Prophesy is always vague until after the fact."
"I told him no more than he wanted to hear, some properly wise sounding words that he could attach whatever significance he wanted to them. He didn't want an answer, he wanted a puzzle."
"What did he ask you?"
Horse Feathers considered for a moment. So far the creature was being talkative and if she shared a little, she could wheedle more out of it. You need bait to catch fish. "He was delivering a message, but wanted advice while he was here. He said he owed a life, that he'd unfairly taken it from someone and could not let it go. He felt tainted by this thing he'd done, that he somehow couldn't enjoy life as he should because of it. He wanted his mind put at rest." She had everyone's attention.
"And what did you tell him?"
"Paradise lies in the shadow of swords."
"What?" Silvertongue barked, heedless of the enemies facing them. "I don't understand."
"You're not meant to. I know what it means...to me. What it meant to him, I do not know. It was not meant as prophesy, but he may well have taken it that way."
The man grinned. "That is all I needed to hear. Our errand is done then and we will take our payment, three times over. Perfect." The cold air humed with tension as the beast gathered its power about it.
"Horse Feathers, can you make it leave? Now would be a good time." Duncan growled and shifted uneasily, loathe to strike at someone who was simply a host for the real evil.
"Paradise lies in the shadow of swords, Duncan. Fight carefully." Horse Feathers unexpectedly darted foward and clamped her jaws into the throat of the dog. The others sprang into action as soon as they recovered from the surprise.
The dog twisted and thrashed, unable to break free of the hold the wolf had on its neck. The bane riding it grew ever more furious at being held immobile and tore itself free from the constraints of flesh. Horse Feather's released her hold as Raza Materialised fully, dodging away from the mouthful of razors and rending claws. She retreated quickly, afraid that she'd be unable to even damage the furious Bane due to the spines sprouting from its fur and the armor across its forequarters. Teeth snapped at her heels and the whiplike tail cracked across Silvertongue's nose when she tried to take the Bane from behind. The golden retriever collapsed from the shock of the bane leaving its flesh.
Duncan had squarred off with the blind man. Silvertongue was torn between helping him and going to Horse Feather's aid. "Go!" the barked command made up her mind. Duncan could deal with the man, if that was the appropriate term at all.
Duncan's fur stood on end as something materialized in the man's hand, and then cracked across his muzzle. The whip seemed to dance with a foul intelligence of its own. The man laughed, a hideous wet burbling sound like the cry of a man drowning. The whip cracked again and he could see in some way it wasn't really a weapon at all, but an extension of the man, some foul tentacle emenating from the spirit that rode his body.
Duncan leapt and dodged out of the way of the whip, trying to get in to do something. He didn't know what yet. But the man dodged his blows and the whip slowly opened shallow bleeding wounds all across Duncan's chest. He lunged and hit the man sharply in the head, hoping to knock him unconcious. He staggered for a moment, but didn't go down.
Duncan had raked him across the face and broken the dark glasses, leaving one blazing red eye exposed. Ancient memories stirred from times long ago, when the Fianna faced ancient fomori armies lead by a terrible leader with one blazing red eye. All hesitation gone, Duncan leapt for his foe, intent only upon rending him into little pieces.
His fur was stained red to the elbow by the time it registered that his foe had fled, leaving only the body of the poor man it had taken over. This was not the foe of old. This was not someone who had let banes warp and twist their body willingly, merely someone who had been unlucky enough to be ridden by a Bane and rent apart by a Garou who couldn't see the difference in the heat of battle.
Duncan howled until he was hoarse, furious to be cheated out of killing the spirit that had brought him to stain his hands so. The dog howled along with him, mourning her dead master, knowing nothing of why he had died.

Part 9