Previously: after being rescued from the caves, absolutely exhausted, she slept and dreamt about her mark. all she can remember is a poem.

Once a Decade

The Power Risen

The Darkness Driven

The Shadowed Good

The Final Sheild

The Owls Hoot

The Host Killed

That was all she had left of her dream. she had no clue what to think. so it meant she was full of evil power from something dark? probably the moon, because of the crescents on her mark. but then what did shadowed good mean? that the darkness was going to cover everything good in shadow? the host killed was pretty obvious. that was her. killed by the wolves. because for some reason it picked her to mark for slaughter. she was having trouble remembering it... darkness, power, once a decade... something about an owl? So she went over to Secret. "can i have a journal or something?" Secret barely bothered to look at her. "Ask frost. I'm bound, i can't go out of the forest." "ok. will you tell me what my mark means? my dreams will tell me if you don't." "what?" she could see in her eyes, she had decided if echo learned from it she would run away. "fine. we weren't telling you for your sake, but ok. every ten years, a dark power, possibly fire, ash, or smoke, becomes really powerful, so it possesses a human host, marking them. if the host lives for a month after their possessed, the dark force will control them, torturing their mind forever and destroying the world outside. the body twists into a demonic form to match the evil within." "why me...?" "who knows. be glad were killing you. It's a service." "when was the last time someone lived past a month?" "when we discovered the curse, about 200 years ago." "i can't remember the poem, and i don't think i have it all anyways, but its something about decades, a dark power putting everything good in shadow, an owl, and the host dies. i think there was another line too, i just can't remember what." "interesting." secret turned away, dismissing her. she was still tired, so she went back to sleep. she had the same dream, with the poem repeated, and a warning. "the wolfs truth is false." what was that supposed to mean? but she drew everything in the dirt beside her to remember. the final shield? of what? were owls working with the wolves shielding the world from the host? and how did she feel about it? aside from the eternal torment thing. was she willing to die for the rest of the world to be safe? normally, she would have said yes. but now that the decision was really there, and her decision was real and had real consequences, it was a lot harder. not that anything she could think of could save her, but now that the question was so real, she wasn't sure. she didn't think of herself as selfish... but her life wasn't ordinarily in the balance. nor the fate of the world. she decided she didn't really want to pursue the question, both afraid the answer would be yes, and afraid it would be no. and what did the warning about wolf truth mean? it was probably the evil in her trying to manipulate her. she wouldn't fall for it. frost walked in. "i sent all the search parties in the opposite direction." "frost, i need a journal, and secret said to ask you." it wasn't exactly respectful, but it wasn't downright rude either. "ok, why?" "so i can write down my dreams. i dreamt about the same poem and I'm trying to understand it." "whatever it is, it's the mark trying to manipulate you." "its ok frost, i told her. better to hear it from me than the dark." "ok. and ill bet you've had a change in tune." "i don't know." frost walked over and glanced at the poem, her brow furrowed. "looks like it's trying to tell you it's somehow good even tho it's in darkness, and we know it's evil, and that you're the last defense for something. don't buy into it." 'really? i got that it's evil, it's going to throw everything well into shadow, and wolves and owls are the last defense for the world, by killing me." "considering it's from that mark, I'm sure it's manipulating you. but yes, ill get you a journal." "is there a way to get rid of it?" frost glanced at secret, who shook her head. "yes, but no." "what?" secret spoke. "yes. but i forbid it, even if you were a wolf you couldn't do it in time." "oh... so what day is it?" "you have 28- no, 27 days left." frost said. "are you going to show me any more magic?" she asked hopefully, trying to distract herself. "eh, sure, why not? but not now, I've got to hunt." "oh, ok.." "and you may as well show her the graveyard." "you sure? She's excessively sensitive." "hey!" "of course I'm sure. wold i have said it if i weren't?" "what graveyard?" "ill explain when we get there.