The car passed the massive airport area. Among the standard planes of the Reclaimers, Annie also saw the gorgeous looking sleek passenger planes of the Iterna, carrying either people on business trips or tourists. Unlike other parts of the world, Iterna never fell to the Extinction, hidden safe behind their shield. Their tech had no need for energy cells at large, even here, all the way in the Reclaimers' lands, their slender planes were powered up by the wireless energy from the several satellites that moved high in orbit. The planes of the Iterna had no need for wings, they looked like an arrow with the tip of the arrow shaped in the form of a cone. Several circular openings were visible along the body of this "arrow", each opening marked the place of the proton engine inside, engines that allowed the plane to rapidly change direction if needed. Even now, planes of Iterna silently hovered in the air, rather than staying on the ground, several hovering platforms detached themselves from the belly of the plane, taking off passengers from the entrance of the plane and moving them onto the ground. Not a single window was visible on the plane, all maintenance was done with the help of flying drones, countless tiny mechanical arms were clutched tightly to the spherical bodies, while drones were busy hovering around the great machine, scanning the plane in search for any signs of damage. Just like planes themselves, drones barely give away any sound. According to the information that Annie read, even civilian planes from Iterna were equipped with energy shields.
Annie checked the time on her pocket terminal and saw that they still had over an hour left to arrive at the university. Feeling an urge in her bowels, Annie asked Angoro to stop the car at the parking lot of the large shopping mall. Pretending to want to buy some food for herself, Annie excused herself and left agent in the car, speaking with his family over the terminal, while Annie herself hurried to the building, trying to look steady and competent. She walked through one of the main entrances, checked the map of the place, and found the closest restroom. Scout was a bit confused by the signs in the restroom, she could understand "male" and "female" images just fine, but it took her a while to understand that some of the restrooms were made for people with augmetics.
Upon finishing her business and washing her paws, Annie took the elevator down to the supermarket at the ground level. Her eyes went wide at the various foods presented for purchase, her damaged nostrils managed to catch the beautiful scent of freshly cooked meat. The fish swam in large aquariums, which, however, were too small for such a large number of living creatures stuck inside them. As cruel as it was, there was a silver lining: poor things had to suffer, but not for long, judging by the number of people buying fresh fish. Annie walked around the rows of food, thinking about what she should buy. Prices were surprisingly affordable, even for her, but potato chips were not really her thing, lemons smelled way too strongly for her, and fish and meat were not an option, for she had to look clean upon arriving for the meeting. Finally, her eyes caught sight of something called and ice cream in refrigerators, one of which had a wrapper with the words Dexter and Philip on it.
Do I like the cold? No. But there's chocolate in this thing, and I like that. Would the captain recommend that I try something that might harm me? Probably not. Am I willing to take a risk and try something new? By Spirits, yes, we only live once!
She took one ice-cream from the refrigerator and walked toward the lines where people paid for the goods. She took a seat behind the family couple, waiting for her turn in queue. Whistling to herself casually, Annie checked the time once more, making sure that they still had plenty of time. If memory served her right, from here it was a direct road to the…
"Apologies, are you from the Wolf Tribe?" Asked a honeyed voice behind Annie, making the scout turn around.
She came face to-face with a wolfkin of the Ice Fang. The female before her was dressed in a white business suit, the crimson eyes of this stranger looked at the scout with curiosity in them. A golden necklace circled around the neck of a white-furred wolfkin, one paw covered by a black leather glove held a bag with various food, the other paw of the stranger held a closed book. Unlike Annie, this wolfkin had long, gorgeous looking hair that, braided with a green ribbon and thrown over her right shoulder. On her legs, the wolfkin wore green shoes made of crocodile skin, a black belt accentuated her delicate waist. Not a single scar or bruise marked her beautiful muzzle, the tips of her long ears were dyed in green. A golden earring with emeralds in it pierced the gentle skin of the stranger. The wolfkin gave an elegant smile and bowed courteously to the surprised Annie:
"My apologies for startling you, lady. My name is Ulrica Voidrunner, from the house of Voidrunner. Pray tell, is this OK if I ask for your name?"
"I am Annie. Don’t have an honorably name. Just a simple scout in the Wolf Tribe. Please, I don’t want any troubles." Annie’s raised her paws in the air helplessly, throwing glances around in search for a safe way out.
"There will be no trouble, I assure you," The wolfkin spoke sweetly and reassuringly, putting the book in her bag and taking off her glove for a handshake. Seeing that the scout became startled, the wolfkin raised her pitch-black brow, "Is it by any chance considered to be an insult for a warrior like you to speak with…"
"Of course not!" Barked Annie, causing surprise to flash in the eyes of the ice girl. Calming herself, Annie shook the paw of the Ice Fang, "I am honored to meet a fellow defender of the state. I wish the best to you and for your house."
"You honor me too much, lady," The fingers of the wolfkin felt gentle, her lean build looked weak, and Annie tried her best not to hurt her, treating this wolfkin as if she was a Branded. "I am merely a future social worker for the Ice Fang order. Currently, I am still learning. " Annie cursed herself silently at this mistake. She should have guessed as much, seeing as there was no weapon on this woman.
"Sorry, ladies, this line is temporary out order." Said a young-looking cashier, finishing selling meat to the man before Annie. The young man nodded at the third line in row, which was currently empty, "It will be open in a few moments, I am deeply sorry for the delay. New software is a bit buggy."
"It’s okay." Annie gave out a fake smile, worrying more about the Ice Fang, than about being late or having to use another line."
"Oh look, this line is free!" Ulrica pointed at another line with her finger, one that was located on the other side of the hall.
Annie decided to trust her judgement and walked to the line at which Ulrica was pointing. She waited for a whole minute, but no cashier came. Giving out a sigh of annoyance, Annie walked back to the line at which the cashier had shown her originally and saw that Ulrica was already finishing her shopping and quite a line of people already stood between Annie and a cashier.
"Hey, this lady was here before me! Please let her through." Ulrica asked the crowd and waved to Annie.
"No need. I will wait in the end of the line." Annie raised two index fingers up, forcing a fake smile to take hold on her lips. People, normies, and even a couple of orais looked at her, elderly looking man in the front even waved for Annie to walk forward,
"C’om, it was because of me that you lost your place. People, please let her…" The ice girl called to Annie once more.
"I said there that I will wait!" Seeing the surprised and even scared faces of the people before her, the scout blinked, realized that she had raised her voice. Calm down, you idiot! What if they call the police?! Annie bowed to the people before herself, remembering the lessons of Zero. When you have done something bad, just apologize, this was how civilized society was supposed to work, according to the claims of Zero, "I am sorry for making a scene, everyone. Please ignore me and be on your way"
The crowd before her calmed down, resuming the waiting in the line. Thankfully, no one was offering to let Annie forward and the scout relaxed, taking her time and trying to relax.
"Listen, I'm sorry for what happened," The Ice Fang wolfkin walked to Annie, her voice filled with genuine regret, "I thought you saw the cashier walking here," Ulrica frowned, pressing her index finger to her forehead, "I should have known that this is your first time in the city, lady, if you wish, I can at least pay for you…"
"It’s OK." Annie stopped her, wanting nothing more than to smash her own face with a fist. She could not hate Ulrica for her mischief. It would be as foolish as hating insectoid for attacking you. Dragena warned her that the Ice Fang order despises the Wolf Tribe, but did Annie take her advice? Of course not, "I just take this minor delay as a punishment for forgetting the important lesson. Never trust anyone from the Ice Fang."
"Oh? And why should you not trust us?" Annie was silent and Ulrica looked her in the eyes, "You said A. Tell B as well. Why can’t you trust us?"
"Ice Fangs had abandoned us in the battle of Blood-Soaked Edifice and claimed all the credit for themselves." Annie calmly looked back into the eyes of Ulrica.
The battle of the Blood-Soaked Edifice was a thing of the past, back when the Wastes were not fully united under the Reclaimers. A cruel lord of the local land captured several people from a trade caravan that was heading to Iterna. Iterna sent their Problemsolvers to liberate the hostages. Problemsolvers were elite soldiers of the rival state, manmade new breeds, and their speed and power rivaled that of wolf hags and their power armor and weaponry allowed them to reign supreme on the battlefield. Their brains were changed, the law of not harming citizens of Iterna was burned into their minds as a price for the magnificent strength that these women and men received.
Upon arriving at the citadel of the lord, the Problemsolvers were stopped by the joined forces of sword saints Camelia Wintersong and First Sunblade, as well as warlords Dragena and Kalaisa. The local lord was left alone for a long time on the orders of the Reclaimers, while Scorpio worked on a plan to either persuade the lord to surrender or overthrow him from within without causing massive losses for everyone. This plan backfired, and the lord attacked the nearby settlement of the Reclaimers. The wolfkins were sent by Ivar Murzaliev to recover hostages from the state as well as liberate other prisoners. While deciding who would rescue people, two groups nearly came to blows, but finally Dragena made a deal with the Problemsolvers. One hour. If wolfkins could not rescue people in one hour, they would allow the Problemsolvers to take charge of the mission.
And one hour was more than enough for the wolfkins to take down the fort in front of them. The sword saints and warlords leapt at the wall, crossing twenty meters in a single jump. Forty guards were dead before the first body could even touch the floor. Wolfkins from both the Ice Fang and Wolf Tribes followed the leaders, climbing the walls and overcoming the meager resistance. Inside the fort, the group split, wolfkins of the Ice Fang order went to capture the lord, while wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe headed to the catacombs beneath the fort, where prisoners were held. The opponents of the wolfkins in this battle were mere normies, none of the enemy soldiers could as much as offer meaningful resistance to the black tide that swarmed them, heading for the prisoners' cells. Upon securing a safe route to the surface and rescuing the hostages, Dragena and Kalaisa learned that the owner of the citadel gave the order to launch the nuclear device beneath the catacombs, preferring to end himself along with the attackers in a single blast rather than give up his keep. The soldiers send prisoners to the safety of the surface, storming the depths themselves. They prevented the explosion and, upon returning to the surface, saw how the reporters of Iterna were busy all but singing praises to the forces of Ice Fang order for taking down the lord and saving the hostages. Dragena and Kalaisa gave orders for their troops to leave the area in silence.
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A few days later, First Sunblade, the greatest of all sword saints, visited the lands of the Wolf Tribe, arrogantly demanding to meet with Kalaisa and Dragena. No doubt he wanted to mock the warlords, thus Kalaisa and Dragena ignored his demands, training their soldiers instead. The sword saint refused to even spare a glance to the guards who demanded he leave the village. Alpha herself arrived from a nearby military base and commanded First to leave the lands of the Wolf Tribe. Upon his arrogant silence, Alpha brutally attacked him. The First refused to protect himself and ended up in a coma due to blood loss, causing Wyrm Lord to scream at Ravager for being so insensitive to their allies. The blessed mother was forced to personally apologize to First Sunblade and pay the blood debt personally. The blessed mother skinned herself alive in front of the leadership of the Ice Fang order, causing several people to lose conscience at this sight. Ravager left her own hide to ice the boys. By refusing to defend himself, the clever sword saint found a way to humiliate the Wolf Tribe even more. He returned to the tribe's villages, this time acting a little humbler and asking to meet with Dragena and Kalaisa, claiming a need to clear up misunderstandings and make amends, but both wolfkins were aware of his vileness and ignored him. The blessed mother grew a new hide overnight and, according to rumors, the Ice Fang order tried to return Ravager's hide to the Wolf Tribe numerous times, but no one was foolish enough to accept it and ruin Ravager's apology.
"What?" Ulrica blinked in surprise, her ears twitched at this accusation. The woman collected herself and spoke passionately, "Sword saints tried to reach out to warlords for years after this fact! It was because your soldiers left the field of battle that Iterna’s reporters claimed that the Ice Fang knights were the ones who saved people. Camelia and First personally went to Iterna to fix this mistake and ensure that…"
"During the invasion of the Gilded Host, the blessed mother led her soldiers to help one of the forward bases of the Ice Fang order. While we fought, your people evacuated and left the blessed mother and my kinsmen all alone. Later, you laid the blame on us." With a stone expression on her muzzle, Annie continued, unwilling to listen to the lies of the Ice Fang member.
During the early days of the Gilded Host invasion, Wyrm Lord sent an urgent message to Ravager, informing the blessed mother that one of the Ice Fang order's front camps was in the path of a massive invasion force. At this point, Ravager genuinely tried to keep the Wolf Tribe's and Ice Fang's wolfkins apart from each other, annoyed at the constant clashes between youths of both sides. Ravager used Wyrm Lord to command the Ice Fang order, while she herself commanded the Wolf Tribe. In the initial invasion, many units of the Reclaimers fell into confusion when spies of the Gilded Host assassinated some officers of the state, while the bases of the Ice Fang served as safe havens for the wounded and weak. Seeing that her allies were under threat, Ravager took warlords Zero, Alpha, Janine, and Martyshkina with her, facing the advancing force of the Gilded Host head on, painting red the plains before the base of Ice Fang. And then, after the victory, Ravager went to the base only to find it empty, the Ice Fang order evacuated the place and placed mines across the facility. Oh, they turned the situation around, claiming that they had sent a message to the Ravager about this and that Ice Fang order's plan was to lure Gilded Host into the base and then wipe them out with artillery. But everyone in the Wolf Tribe knew that it was common knowledge that Ravager was losing her terminal all the time. After the end of the war with the Gilded Host, sword saints and sages tried to contact the Wolf Tribe afterwards, no doubt to mock fellow wolfkins, but this time warlords and shamans knew better and refused to even speak with them.
"You were never even supposed to be there! Because of Ravager’s charge, several brave souls of the Wolf Trine have died! We…" Ulrica desperately looked at Annie, who calmly went to the cashier.
"Warlord Kalaisa left to live with Ice Fang. All she wanted was to live in peace, raise her daughter and never fight to avoid the wicked fate that the Spirit of Rage prepared for her. Need I remind you what you did to one of our best?" Annie threw in a calm tone, paying tokens for her sweet food and trying not to look at the wolfkin.
The Ice Fang stopped and looked down. A shadow passed on her face as she licked her lips and hit her own temple with an elegant finger. She took a deep breath and spoke:
"This was undeniably the fault of the Ice Fang order, and we will beg forgiveness for as long as it takes," Annie ignored Ulrica, thanked the cashier and walked toward the exit. The ears of the scout twitched in annoyance underneath her cap, when the stupid woman followed after her, speaking quickly, "I was a child back then! You can’t pin this on me! And besides, the sword saints have all come clean about the event! The Ice Fang order was punished. We are still trying to make up for this and trying to find Aranea!"
"Aranea is dead," Annie lied, remembering the words of the shamans. Never give up the fact that Kalaisa's daughter was alive, otherwise these wicked beings would no doubt try to harm her too. the scout was enraged and enraged that this irritated person followed her all the way outside, clearly trying to provoke her... Calm down, Annie. Remember the teaching of the Spirits. The wolfkin walked outside, taking a deep breath of the city air, allowing the mixture of cars, humans, and food smells to sink deeply inside her, calming her nerves. Forcing a fake smile back on her muzzle, Annie turned toward her fellow wolfkin, "You have no reason to beg forgiveness from me because I have no hatred or malice toward the Ice Fang Order," She almost choked on the next words, but forced herself to speak the truth, "I am afraid of you and your people. Look at this from my point of view, it just seems that each time anything bad happens, it is the Wolf Tribe's members who are on the receiving end of the deal. I wish you well, if war ever happens, then I will always try to help and protect you, even at the cost of my life, but I just don’t trust any of your people, so please leave me alone"
"You are looking at this wron…" Ulrica moved her right paw to her head to correct the hair on her shoulder, and Annie saw a bracelet on the wrist of the fellow wolfkin. Annie's paw shot forward like a bullet, wrapping around the surprised woman's wrist. With disbelief on her snout, the scout looked at the silvery bracelet. Each small figure on the bracelet had an inscription on them: Spirit of Loss, Spirit of Pride and…
"You… you believe in Spirits? But why? Don’t the Ice Fang order have their own gods?" asked Annie with genuine fear and horror in her voice, when she saw all the figures on the bracelet. No, no, no…
"We don’t. We have principles based upon which we are striving to live. My dad followed the creed of the Spirits, and I took after him," Ulrica smiled and turned her neck, looking at her own bracelet, "You like it? My friend, if you want to, I can buy you one as a gift."
"Are you an idiot?!" The scout shouted in the face of the surprised woman. With the trembling paw, Annie pointed at the demonic image of the Spirit of Rage, "You wear the image of this being! You have a death wish or something? Do you have any idea how horrible will your friends and family will feel if this being grants you its attention? It took Kalaisa, it took countless others, and you casually wear it around your wrist as if…"
Annie was at a loss for words. Seeing the confused look on the wolfkin’s face, she let go of her, afraid that she could have hurt her. Surely no one in the Core Lands would be as stupid as to worship the demon, the Taker of Kin. The wolfkin could feel veins pushing blood on her temples, and her fur felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Shamans gave full information about faith in the Spirits, no idiot, no one would be foolish enough to worship this monster. She licked her lips once more, trying to find the right words. Yes, it is true that there were never any rumors about skinwalkers from the non-members of the Wolf Tribe, but everything could happen the first time! True, the Ice Fang order were enemies, but surely Ulrica had her own family and friends who would miss her if the Spirit of Rage took her...
"No, mom, I won’t be home today. No, please don’t make the cakes! Listen mom, I’ve got to go…" Angoro’s voice cut through the awkward silence between the wolfkins. The agent put up his pocket terminal on the belt and smiled to Ulrica, "Sorry, lady, is everything fine? Does my friend here bother you?"
"Oh, it is nothing," The woman gently smiled, making an elegant bow to the man, "We just had a minor theological dispute, that is all."
"Well, sorry for bothering you anyway, my friend here is just seventeen years old. She is still a bit too rash…"
"Seventeen…" Ulrica's smile faded, and the wolfkin frowned in confusion, looking at Annie, as if for the first time noticing her scars and bruises. Nervously, Annie removed the wrapper from the ice cream, gulping down the entire chocolate cone. Once the sweet cold touched her tongue, she wanted to close her eyes from the pleasure that spread from her mouth down to her neck and stomach, a tingle of energy hit across her body when the advanced metabolism of her stomach began to absorb the sugar in the ice cream. The agent quickly took Annie by the left arm, leading her away from the wolfkin of the Ice Order. Woman gasped and pressed paw to her mouth, speaking with shock, "I heard rumors, but thought them as myths… You allow children to join the army?! Look at her, how could you allow someone so young to the front lines? She should be in college or university, not in…"
"I am not a cub." Annie replied stubbornly, allowing herself to be led away. Cub, as if! At least she knew better than to worship the freaking Spirit of Rage!
"It's okay, lady, the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe grow at a much faster rate than other new breeds," Angoro quickly led Annie back to the car, "according to the laws of the Dynast, the Wolf Tribe members have the right to join the army earlier than most other people."
"Not all traditions are right. Did Miss Annie go to school at all? Is there even such a thing as a school in the Wolf Tri..." The agent closed the doors of the car, cutting off the rest of the angry words of the woman. Gesturing to the driver to move, the agent leaned back in his seat, checking news on the terminal.
For a while, they drove in silence, while Angoro was furiously texting messages to someone, before he finally put aside his pocket terminal:
"Sorry if this will sound assholish, but she is kind of right, don’t you think?" The agent raised his hands in a calming gesture at the iced look from Annie, "I admit, you saved my bacon recently. But look at you, so young and already so scarred. There are some programs for the poor… less well-off members of our society in order for them to get an education and stable jobs. Why spend all life fighting? At least spare a glance to the civilian jobs, I am sure we can find you something…"
"Appreciate your concern, truly," Annie smiled warmly, showing that she was not mad, "But I am who I am. This is the hand that fate dealt to me, and this is how I will live and die. One who is given more should give more back. But thank you for saving me from the situation with miss Ulrica. Although I am worried about her wellbeing, since she worships the Spirit of Rage. Could you perhaps talk with her…"
"Annie," The agent took his terminal in his hands, finding something and showing images of the sets of amulets to the scout. Among them were necklaces and bracelets with images of all Spirits, "Belief in the Spirits has settled in the Core Lands for a long time now. Yet not a single person from outside of the Wolf Tribe ever turned into a skinwalker."
What?! But… The scout was unsure what to say and fell silent, looking in the window. Surely there was some explanation to this… But what exactly?
The car passed by one of the public parks and by one of the subway stations, finally moving on to the road leading to the UNU, United National University, the very first university that was created in the lands of the Reclamation Army after the Extinction. The home of UNU was in the Stormfiend, UNU that was built in Houstad was but one of countless branches of the main university that was spread all across the country. Professors and lecturers from as far away as Iterna were lecturing at the UNU. countless faculties were hard at work preparing various specialists for the Reclaimers. Economists, IT specialists, medics, lawyers, even military faculties for officers and pilot training were available at this prestigious university. Spanning across the large swath of land to the north of the Houstad, UNU had its own private buses to pick up financially struggling students from the suburbs; several dormitories for students built to the latest standards; two observatories; a large cinema; a fully established medical clinic for studying and teaching purposes; several chemical laboratories; and even an assembly factory capable of producing civilian walkers and even plane parts.
Massive white walls surrounded the campus, iron gates fashioned after the image of the garden were flung wide open, few guards were lazily checking the arriving people. Today was the third day in a week of open doors in all universities of the Reclaimers, and countless adolescents, some with their parents, were flocking to the university for the free lectures and to get the general idea if they could "tough up" student life. Normally, Annie would need a permit to enter university grounds if she wasn't a member of the staff or a student, but today the agent's car simply drove through one of the main entrances, while heavy augmented orais looked at them through blue lenses that replaced his eyes.