DRUMS OF WAR

Prologue

A Leader's Guilt

A month after the fall of Barbic Woods

The Barbic leader averted her thoughts from the task at hand, opting to gaze across to the cubs sleeping a few feet away. Her ten year old son, Buddi. He was the only cub left in the clan. He was curled up as near to the fire as possible, since it was so cold in these mountains. Ursa had a reason for heading south, at least. Regardless of what Averi may have wanted, she knew she couldn't simply leave things be. How could she leave the homeland to fall at the hands of her enemies? She couldn't just forget and pretend that…that…

It was late. Another hour and it'll be dawn. Ursa turned to gaze into the fading embers of what was once a campfire. Buddi had refused to come near the fire in the first days, and Ursa couldn't blame him in the least. She knew what he saw: the very thing that took home away from them. Regardless, he needed heat, and she needed to coax him into settling near the fire. Buddi still didn't like it, but stopped protesting after a while.

When was the last time she slept, anyways?

The night terrors had been relentless, pounding on Ursa's mind ever since they were forced out. The cries of the bears she lost, the memory of her last hours with Averi, the smell of heavy smoke mixed with the bitterness of pain and the chill of death…

Ursa barely slept. The memories and the what-ifs were too much for one to bear.

"I have to make this right, I have to…"

Her mate couldn't have fallen in vain. Her people's suffering was too grave to yield here. Since when do Barbics quit? But it was so much more than lost pride, or a leader's stubborn will. It was the knowledge that her heart was torn into pieces. It is the knowledge that she, Ursa Barbic, was lost. Lost, for all she had worth fighting for perished in the Woods. Her son was all she had left that she could truly consider to be home…but…

The thought of what might be going through her little one's mind was enough to make her bleeding heart freeze and compress painfully. Was he disappointed in her? Was he mad that she couldn't save their homeland? That she couldn't save his father?

Ursa swallowed the lump that formed in her throat, moving to sit by Buddi's side. The child barely stirred, too deeply lost in his dreams to truly acknowledge her presence. Running her fingers through her son's hair, she spoke in something that was barely even a whisper, "I'm so sorry, Buddi."

She had to make it up to him. She had to win back the home they lost. Ursa hoped with all that she was that she could do at least that. Because no matter what she does, she couldn't bring back the dead.