Erling walked through the busy streets of South Bastion struggling to keep his expression neutral. He wanted to smile. He wanted to dance his way down the boulevard like it was the best day of his life, because in many ways it was.
After months of proving himself, he’d finally been accepted as a member of Fenrir. Now he could fight Vellia’s tyranny with magic and a legion of brothers, no, a pack capable of hunting the Aesir.
Walking into a deserted alley, Erling’s excitement finally broke free as his wolf tail began wagging furiously. “I've got to get better control of that,” he thought as his tail smacks against a wall sending cracks through its surface.
If the wrong person saw his display of power, he'd be killed immediately thanks to Vellia’s new restrictions on magic. At one point, Erling hoped to receive the gift of magic by joining the army but South Bastion’s military at this point did not exist. Instead, Vellia established a peacekeeping force of elite soldiers and nobility who acted as the boot on the neck of all free and proud beast kin.
Worse was the Vellians you could not see, the ones that bribed and threatened South Bastion’s nobility into cowardice. After completing his mission, after Fenrir cleansed the city of every human and their sympathizers, Erling would put Prince Eric and all those like him to the sword. But for now, killing Tanya Bryer was his main concern.
Erling stopped partway through the alley when he spotted a crude painting of a wolf's head. Recognizing Fenrir’s sign, he pointed a ring given to him by his fellow believers at the symbol. Soon, he felt the accessory warm as it reacted to whatever spell was hidden by the symbol. Before the heat became unbearable, the wall opened up as if it were a curtain revealing a wooden baculous with beast cores of many sizes embedded within.
Grasping the weapon, Erling shook under its awesome power. His eyes pierced through the alley’s darkness as if it were lit ablaze. He could suddenly hear the soft pitter-patter of mice as they scurried through pipes and along unseen passages. Erling nearly dropped the baculous as he was filled with more strength than opening his first gate awarded him.
The baculous was more than made of magically reactive materials, it was enchanted. Just holding it gave a single-ranked cultivator like Erling the strength of the second gate, and on closer inspection, an over shield.
Erling’s hands shook as the overwhelming feeling to drop the baculous overcame him. “This is too much,” he thought. “This is worth more than all the gold I could ever hope to make. If took this?”
Erling’s hands stopped shaking as he found his resolve. He was a Fenrir wolf, not the pup forced to roam the streets months ago. Like the hero he was, he’d use this weapon for the only purpose befitting the destructive forces it held; vanquishing the Aesir.
As Erling examined his new weapon he noticed a sheet of paper wrapped around it. Unfolding the document, he found it contained instructions for the mission he so desperately wanted. Where to go, Tanya Bryer’s movements, and how to conceal the baculous were now clear. So too was his destiny.
Hours later, under the sweltering blue light of Alfhiem’s sun, Erling gazed out from the edge of a rooftop. With the power granted by the baculous, his eyes could easily see his target as if she were standing in front of him.
She was everything the rumors spoke of. Reaching barely five feet with long unruly black and blonde hair braids strung about, Tanya Bryer, the scourge of the south, was as beautiful as she was deadly.
“A woman like that is wasted on the Aesir,” Erling mumbled as he took aim with the spell contained within the baculous.
Tanya possessed what every man wanted in a woman to the point that she might be wearing an illusion. Her skin was covered with a perfectly thin layer of blonde fur excluding her face, chest, and neck that were painted with mesmerizing tribal tattoos. The black claws on her fingers and toes were longer than most and painted with magic symbols making them even more tantalizing. Her teeth were that of beast, long and sharp for tearing flesh. Sadly, her beauty was marred by the company she kept.
Tanya walked in a parade of sorts made up of different groups, all vellian in nature. Surrounding her in a wide circle was several beast kin traitors like herself. Wolfs, foxes, cats, tigers, and even a few saber-tooth tiger kin made up their ranks. They all possessed the gift of magic and the finest armor and weapons gold could buy. Erling even felt a bit jealous eyeing an especially fine-looking baculous.
Mixed in amongst the traitors were humans, but Erling only had to worry about the ones in silver armor like Tanya and the priest in white robes. The humans in silver were without a doubt Bryers as many flaunted their focus by surrounding themselves with conjured monsters from dreams and nightmares. Even so, a unicorn wearing golden armor and a black dragon twice the size of a horse was nothing compared to the gods they could summon. If Tanya was not a Bryer as well, they’d be the target, or at least Vara’s white priest who desecrated the fairy king’s temple making it the Aesirs’ new place of worship.
Erling aimed his baculous emptying many beast cores embedded within to fuel the only two spells it was capable of casting. A black sphere crackling with red lighting appeared accompanied by one of swirling red. With a sigh of relief at not accidentally killing himself, he focused his attention and waited for Tanya to reach the position mentioned in the letter. Two more members of Fenrir should also be ready to attack at the same time. No matter what defenses were erected three death ball spells should be able to break through living them vulnerable.
“For Tir Na Nog,” Erling whispered as he launched the death ball first then an explosive spell right behind it.
Four more spells went flying from other rooftops all but guaranteeing victory. The spells moved too fast to react to. All the Vellian forces could do was catch a glimpse of what headed their way before concentrated death magic impacted their invisible shields and, dissolved into nothing?
“What the fuck!” Erling exclaimed before being blinded by the flash of three explosions. He quickly blinked away his spotty vision finding his hopes all but lost. Tanya, along with several of her entourage, steered directly at him eyes glowing with the same spell he used to see them.
Frozen by fear, Erling saw a human woman raised a hand willing several dozen swords into existence, all pointed in his direction. Before the floating blades were sent flying, Tanya shouted something forcefully. An order, Erling decided it had to be. Then she said a word with such clarity and force he couldn’t help but repeat it.
“Leo.”
The unmistakable roar of a lion hit Erling like a physical wave. Before he had time to think Tanya’s mana flared, took on a humanoid shape, and leaped from her. Seeing the tangle of mana rushing his way broke Erling free of his dread. He ran for his life feeding off the beast cores through his baculous to move faster.
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Erling jumped from building to building then dove into an alley all the while being chased by a thunderous roar. After reaching a dead-end, he turned to face the only direction Tanya’s monster could come from. With two death balls in hand, he was ready for whatever came. Either he’d see Tir Na Nog this day or destroy a Bryer’s summoning. One way or another, glory would be his.
“Hahaha. I thought you’d run until Leo chased you down.”
Erling spun to a dark-skinned man that leaned casually against a wall. “Who the hells are you?”
“Don’t mind me,” the man said with a silver-lanced smile. “I’m just here to watch and recover that fancy stick of yours after, well, when you don’t need it anymore.”
Erling was about to kill the man with a death ball but was cut short by a growl he felt deep within his chest. Forgetting the dark-skin man entirely, his eyes widened as his stomach dropped. Towering over him was an armor-wearing werelion, but unlike the beat kin cultivators that attained the transformation, this lion was white and larger than any man Erling had ever seen.
“For Tir Na Nog!” he shouted as the death balls surged towards the werelion. The beast didn’t try to dodge letting the death magic strike him, but just like before, the magic faded into nothingness.
“I’ll be taking this,” the dark-skin man said walking up to a slack-jawed Erling wrenching the baculous from his grip.
“Please,” Erling tried to say but wasn’t fast enough to avoid the werelion’s biting down on his neck.
**********
Tanya cut her visual connection to Leo feeling a mixture of disgust and hunger. Every time he dismembered and ate some poor fool there was always more blood than she thought possible. The gory display steered something deep within, a primal instinct that clashed with the civil part of her mind. Her craving for red meat would only grow stronger when the werelion returned drenched with blood. He liked to saver his meals for a day usually refusing to dissipate.
One of Tanya’s little brothers, a black panther kin, ran up to her with his hand already drawing the words on his back. “Sis, that was crazy!” Carr exclaimed in excitement. "When do I get to fight?"
“Take your eyes off me and look for incoming danger,” Tanya chided. “Sometimes these attacks come in waves.”
“How often do people try to kill you?” Asta asked cowering behind her magic staff as if it could hide her.
“Asta, at least play the part of a proud saber tooth,” Tanya said wondering if it was a good idea to have her younger siblings as guards. It’s not like she needed them. Mildrith and her friends were more than enough. Tanya just needed guards who weren’t human and a place for her younger siblings she sent to the Hall.
“Are you sure sending Leo was for the best?” Mildrith asked pulling Tanya from her wandering thoughts. “He’ll just rip whomever he finds to pieces without gathering any information. If you’d let me attack-”
“You could have missed,” Tanya stated. “And even if you didn’t, your lack of restraint would send the souring blade through buildings or people before it stopped. Now let’s get moving. Bitarr is already looking into this attack.”
Mildrith suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “I didn’t know you summoned him.”
“You should assume he’s always around during the day.”
“Does he still look like?”
“Yes,” Tanya confirmed. “I hope that’s not a problem.”
Sometime later, Tanya entered her castle and was immediately swarmed with questions regarding the latest attempt on her life. The vellian nobles were outraged mostly due to them also being attacked on several occasions. The South Bastion nobles tried to pander and assure Tanya they had nothing to do with the attack and would use every available resource to bring the culprits to justice. Worse of all was the disrespectful and barbed comments of her fellow Bryers who felt cheated that they weren't in charge.
Tanya wanted to hear none of it. Sitting on top of her gifted throne in a room filled to the brim with courtiers, she felt surrounded by enemies. She only wanted people she could trust nearby and was sick to death of the useless ramblings of those around her.
“Get out!” Tanya shouted as everything became too much for it to handle.
“Lady Tanya,” said a South Bastion noble. “Who exactly do you mean?”
The entrance to the throne room suddenly slammed open as Leo entered drenched in blood. “You all better know who I'm talking about within the next minute,” Tanya warned letting everyone present imagine the consequences for themselves.
“Don't think you can talk to us like that cousin,” said a Bryer whose name Tanya didn't bother to know. He was some fool with a black dragon summon that could only breathe weak fire and was not even half as dangerous as it seemed.
“Leo, kill his little dragon,” Tanya muttered as if it were an afterthought.
Leo acted immediately charging for the dragon without a care for those in its path. The crowd parted quickly having already seen the werelion’s display of power many times. Unlike the Bryers, most knew not to question Tanya's authority.
The black dragon roared releasing a torrent of flame at the werelion. The blaze was concentrated and more intense than any average mage could produce but seemed to die out as it touched Leo’s blood-drenched fur.
Without a hint of trouble, Leo tackled the dragon wrapping an arm around its neck and pull a sword on his back free. He forced the scaled beast to the ground along with his blade severing its head with a single stroke. The dragon’s summoner immediately fell to the ground writhing in pain and bringing a smile to Tanya's face despite her better nature.
“Pick him up and leave or join him,” Tanya proclaimed.
This time there were no complaints. Everyone Tanya rather not see left thoroughly cowed by the display of violence. Even the priest knew better than to challenge her. If only the rest of her human family understood that fact.
“Um, can I stay?” Asta trembled in her uncertainty.
“Me too,” Carr said with a blade dancing around his fingers.
“No,” Tanya said then burst out laughing. “Of course you can stay.”
“I’m not asking,” Mildrith said half-jokingly.
“Neither am I,” Nadia said releasing her focus so everyone could see her. “As your personal Dreyark, I should be present for all scheming.”
“You’re my personal Dreyark but you were not by my side when I was attacked,” Tanya said.
“Who said I wasn't,” Nadia chuckled. “Besides, your big kitty can’t scratch me so I’m staying.” Leo growled at Nadia but back away when she looked his way. “That's a good boy.”
“Fine then,” Tanya relented. “This does concern you anyway. Why haven't you dismantled Fenrir yet?”
“You make it sound easy.”
“You’re a Dreyark, it's what you do,” Mildrith added
“I’ve put plenty wolf boys in the ground, but I can’t find every angry basement dweller that gets his hands on a magic weapon. As amazing as I am, breaking Fenrir is not possible. The best I can do is find whoever is supplying them. Hopefully, your pet god has some leads.”
“Well I’ve got nothing,” Bitarr said from behind Asta.
Asta screamed falling onto her rear as she tripped over her own feet. “Will you stop doing that!”
Tanya’s chest tightened as Bitarr walked past Asta wearing Brand’s face. She had very mixed feelings about letting him use his form. Thaumaturges were rare outside of the Hall to the point where having one was a symbol of high status. Most never bothered to study more than they had to, especially with a powerful focus. Luckily, Mildrith was a thaumaturge but she paled in comparison to what Brand could accomplish with his strange body and training from whoever was teaching him magic for the past few years.
Leo was a perfect example. Bitarr somehow made his own and Leo’s enneagrams self-sustaining. Both could venture miles on their own freeing Tanya to use her mana without restraint. There were also the invisible spells woven into Leo making him stronger and protected by a fortress aura.
“By the way,” Bitarr continued. “I got another confirmation that your boy’s alive.” He walked his way up to Tanya’s throne whispering into her ear even though everyone could hear. “He’s about to open his fifth gate and etched more runes on his pearly silvers,” Bitarr said showing off the new runes scripted on Brand's teeth then snapped his fingers remembering something. “I'm sure he’s in Alfhiem from the knowledge I dug up while passing an alter to Oberon. I get the sense Brand thinks he’s kind of an asshole, but most of us gods are.”
Tanya smiled. Brand was most definitely alive, and by the changes in Bitarr’s approximation of him, he was thriving. At first, she thought the trickster god was fooling her but when his teeth were replaced with Damascus steel there was no longer any doubt. Since then, Brand only grew stronger as more runic tattoos appeared on his skin. All that truly worried Tanya was why he had not reached out to her. But that and many more questions would be answered when they were reunited.