"I am Aranea," The scout said weakly. This thing. She dwarfed even Janine. If she decides to kill her…

"You have the shape of my descendants, yet you do not smell like one," The wolfkin turned her head to the left, looking at Aranea, "You have my power in you, yet it's all watered down, and you share it with the power of others as well," The wolfkin tilted her head to the right and said, "One of your eyes bears my color, while the other is not. What are you, cub? And why are you refusing the reward?"

"Your name first." Aranea demanded, standing up.

"Me?" The creature let out a chuckle, "Forgotten at last. Ah, some freedom. Name’s Ravager."

Ravager. The progenitor of the Wolf Tribe The former commander of the Third Army. The original champion of the Dynast. One of the original great trio of Dynast’s champions was standing before Aranea, talking with her casually.

"I am the child of Kalaisa and Gregor Wintersong. Kin to the Ice Fang order and to the Wolf Tribe." Aranea responded honestly.

"Ah, I see now. I sensed a funny smell, and this is why I followed you this night. You remind me of another cub," Ravager nodded, "But unlike her, you at least look like me."

"The other cub?"

"Not my secret to give up. Ask her yourself if you ever meet her," Ravager spoke calmly, not demanding domination, or trying to bite Aranea into submission. It was almost as if she had no ties to the Wolf Tribe and no care for the traditions. Ravager looked at the knocked-out Sonya, "Will you eat her?"

"Of course not!" Aranea responded in shock, and Ravager opened her jaws, revealing numerous fangs inside.

"Then I will help myself." Her head moved to the wolf hag’s body.

"Back off!" Aranea stood before the massive jaws, showing no sign of aggression, but refusing to back down. She was unsure how to react. Legends told of the violate temper of the progenitor, yet she sensed no threat from Ravager, "I won. Her life is mine."

"Then take it." Ravager looked at Aranea, waiting for something.

"No. I… I chose to make her live on," Aranea responded, and Ravager blinked in surprise, "I won, right?" The progenitor's giant eyes flashed with emotion, too fast for Aranea to comprehend, "The prize is mine, the decision is mine. I refuse to kill my opponent and change this stupid tradition right now, just like I will change the Wolf Tribe one day. Progenitor or not, I will not obey you here."

"You want to become this?" Ravager stood up on two legs, pointing at herself with an enormous claw, "I overheard your dream. Let me tell you, to change something, you need power. To bring about great change, you need even greater power. And with power comes change. Will you truly be happy by becoming like me?"

"Screw and screw your power!" Aranea shouted at her ancestor, "I won today. I won with my own two paws, my own claws, no power was needed. I will change it all, in my own way," Aranea stubbornly said, and Ravager crushed all four before her, putting her head on the ground.

"Stupid, stupid cub. Once, I too, tried to change something. And I created skinwalkers," The great creature mused in a sad voice, "Let me show you the foolishness of your way. Attack me in any way you want, young one."

"You made the skinwalkers?" Ravager nodded, lying still, "Do you… do you have any idea what you have done? Because of you, because of the filth like you, my mother, my Mom is!" Aranea raised her paw, releasing the claws. Ravager was lying still, waiting for her advance. She made no effort to defend herself or to attack. She only smiled. Aranea made a step forward and made herself stop, breathing heavily. She shook her head. This creature here was not someone who ruined her life. Her Mom would not approve of her taking her anger out on others. Her Dad would never have done such a thing, "You want to pay for your sins, do community service, or something. Don't expect to be absolved of blame just because you let me beat you up. Best of all, come back and help me reform the Tribe…" She stopped as Ravager began to laugh cheerfully.

"Pay for my sins…" Ravager was still lying on her belly, yet she was howling with laughter, "As if such a thing is possible. Girlie, there are truly bad people in the world. I am one of them—a monster, not a human. From the first day of my life, I suffered. No one helped me, because no one helps monsters, so I had to save myself. One day, someone will end me, and this will be the end of it. There is no redemption or salvation for me; there has never been and will never be.No, girlie, all there is for me is fighting and killing," She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes and extended her arm, "I am telling you to attack me to teach you something. For you see, unlike me, you can do something good with your life. Potentially. But you must learn the harsh truth of the world," Ravager snapped her finger at Aranea’s body, hitting her lightly. The force of the blow sent Aranea flying all the way back into the hill, smashing into it. Her left arm cracked in two places, bones tore her skin on her left arm. Aranea fell to the ground, fighting for each breath. Ravager looked at her and said, "This. This right here is the limit to your dream. You are weak. Frail. Unable to protect yourself, let alone make your dream a reality."

"Shut up!" Aranea growled, trying to stand up.

"Why should I? You can’t persuade me, you can’t make me stop, you can’t even hurt me… You can’t do shit as you are right now." The enormous creature smiled.

"I said be silent!" Aranea roared, jumping on her feet and charging at the creature before her. She hit the nostrils of her ancestor with her paw. Sharp claws, capable of leaving marks on steel and stone, failed to even scratch the tough skin of the first of the wolfkins. She kicked and clawed, failing to leave even a single mark. After a full minute, she stepped back, thinking. There are two places where she can’t be that tough. Aranea thought and smiled madly. Her idea was crazy, but if her opponent truly wanted to let her go all out… She grabbed with her right hand, ignoring the pain in her broken bones, and climbed onto the snout of the bored Ravager. She looked at the scout with disinterest as Aranea lifted her paw and hit the left amber eye with full force. "You will feel this, you…" She stopped in uncertainty as her claws failed to penetrate the eye of the creature.

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"You done?" As Aranea desperately tried to claw out the progenitor's eye, Ravager lazily asked. Ravager did not even bother to blink. Finally, the enormous hand rose, taking Aranea’s body into its gentle grip, "Feelings of being sorry are unknown to me, so any apology from me will be hollow and fake," Ravager admitted, "But this humiliation was a necessity. If you truly want to help the Wolf Tribe grow, you will need power."

"What do you care!" Aranea shouted at her, "You made all these stupid laws! You made us fight with each other. Do you have any idea how many cubs die because they are "weak"? Do you have any idea how many more end up being maimed, because being cruel is apparently a good fucking thing in our tribe!" Bile and hatred flowed from Aranea’s mouth, she felt nothing but anger and hatred. This thing. No. This person before her had all the power in the world, and what had she done with it? Left her offspring in the dark and let them rot. "What kind of mother are you!"

"I am mother to no one. No one has ever cared enough to help me, why should I care for anyone!" Ravager shouted. A hint of aggression could be seen in her eyes, but the beast pushed emotion aside, saying, "I made no laws, no traditions. My head hurts sometimes, and I forget stuff from time to time, but I know this fact for sure. I only taught my kin how to fight and survive. Eat this, don’t eat this, hit like this… This kind of stuff. Once, I talked heart-to-heart with Zero and later with Dragena and Alpha. That is all."

"But the shamans say…" Aranea said, shocked.

"They believe in whatever they want to believe. Girl, I can’t even read, do you think I am capable of creating something?" Ravager started to laugh, sadness and madness were in this laughter, "No. The tribe has made its own laws. I left the Tribe, so you can all grow up without me hindering your growth," She looked at the broken form of Sonya and said, "Even now she can kill you. When she is healed, she will challenge you, it is in her blood."

"Then I will beat her down again." Aranea said stubbornly.

"No. You will lose. You only won right now because of her injuries. Let’s change this fact, shall we? Release it." Her last words were not a request.

This was a command. Something hit the mind of Aranea as Ravager unclenched her fist, allowing the scout to fall to the ground. Something that Aranea had blocked for so many years was finally unleashed. She screamed as her body began to change, her muscles began to grow. Over the years, she lost two fangs, and now they are growing back in her mouth. Her broken bones were healing, becoming thicker. Her left arm healed itself, the bones disappeared under the skin. As she looked down at the ground, her paws grew larger, and her shadow grew larger. Anger that Aranea had bottled up inside was pouring out. She felt nothing but hatred, the world was colored red before her eyes. The scout slammed her fist into the ground, breaking the stone. A few small pieces of stone jumped in the air because of the impact, and Aranea took a deep breath. Initially, she could do nothing but accept this new power. But as her body grew, so too did her mind. She could see the stone falling in slow motion.

She blinked, gaining control over her senses, and the stone fell at its usual speed. No longer was she so utterly dominated by the words of Ravager. An image came to Aranea’s mind, Ravager howling in some dark place without any light. There was no hope to escape, the person was locked in this place without food or water for months, surrounded by the dead as the world above this place was dying as well. Only anger remained, the only thing that helped Ravager go on. The same anger now flowed into Aranea, holding the lid of sealed away power open.

"Back," Aranea said, forcing the flow of power back, forcing the image to disappear, "I don’t need you or your anger," Her growth started to slow down, her muscles no longer hurt, "I don’t need this… this abomination. I… I will not end up like her." She resumed control, forcing power back into a deep place in her mind.

"Why do you stop it?" Ravager asked in confusion, "There is still quite a bit more of it in you. You can become stronger yet. Release it." Once again, this was not a request. The will of Ravager hit the mind of Aranea with the force of a whip blow, seeking to break the barriers and force Aranea to open a path to this power.

The wolfkin bit her own tongue to feel pain, but she pushed back with all her willpower. She felt something weird, as if two giant shadows within her mind pushed back along with her, forcing the will of Ravager away from her mind.

"Ha-ha! Can’t believe that you also have got "them" inside of you. Even if I and they in you are just ghosts, I have to admit, it feels strange to share space with them." Ravager laughed, not even a little annoyed at losing control of Aranea's consciousness and hearing two new voices. Within Aranea, they chuckled at this as well. For a second, a new image came into Aranea's mind. The darkness that had kept Ravager locked was ripped apart and unhappy looking Ravager found herself sitting in the plains. A snowstorm raging all around her, while two enormously large figures of white furred wolfkins with beaming crimson eyes were standing by Ravager’s side, trying to talk with her.

A large hut was visible in the distance, light was in its windows. The white-furred wolfkins spoke soothingly, trying to persuade Ravager to go into the hut, where there was warmth and food, and work with them, while the black-furred wolfkin refused to even notice the white-furred duo, amber eyes shut as if she was pretending to sleep. The image disappeared as soon as it appeared, leaving Aranea alone once more.

"Oh well, it’s your loss. At least now you actually bare your fangs at me, and you won’t be killed so easily anymore." Ravager said calmly to Aranea.

Aranea looked at her suddenly huge paws. She was slightly bigger than Sonya now, and her muscles felt like steel ropes in her arms. The night was suddenly no longer dark for her, she could see clearly.

"How dare you," Aranea growled, struggling to keep anger in check, "How dare you force this upon me? All these years I struggled to keep this down and now…"

"And now the lid was open. And eventually, it will be open again," Ravager cracked her neck, making a cannon-like sound. "You want to change the tribe, but you reject a part of us. Now you will know what it’s like to be one of the Wolf Tribe," Ravager touched the back of Aranea with a single finger, giving the scout a gentle pat, suddenly calming her down, "Your dream is nice. I would’ve really liked to see it become a reality. But we are monsters, we are not like the Ice Fangs. Surely you can see it now, just like I do. I can feel the aggression in you. You gained the strength to move on closer to your dream, yet you have also changed yourself. Will your dream survive this?"

"Yes, it will. I will change us. I will lead by example if needed. We… we can grow up, become better. No matter how many years it takes, there will come a day when even you, Ravager, will admit this," Aranea slammed her paws into the ground, just as the last remnants of the power were finally locked away. She struggled to keep her sudden anger in check and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

"Then stand up, Aranea. Stand up and prove me wrong." Ravager jumped away and vanished into the night. She moved with a speed not befitting such a massive body. Aranea listened, but only silence was in the air.

The wolf hag Aranea stood up, looking at her oversized paws once more. Then she shook her head and came to Sonya, gently picking up her unconscious body and placing it over the shoulder. Aranea took one last breath to finally calm herself, and started running toward the camp.