"Nevermind!" Annie snapped at her soldier, leaving Aranea and Olesya in charge of leading the packs away, while she herself raced toward the exit, jumping to the ceiling and grabbing the stone with her claws to help herself move above the troops, "Follow my order to the letters! Get to the window and jump out in exactly fifteen seconds!"
The soldiers came running from the building that was slowly crumbling all around them. Aranea could have sworn that she saw the fleshy threads coming from below the basement, sliding into the cracks in the wall. She ignored this view, charging across the bodies of the dead outside. Svetlana was already using the field med kit to treat the wounds of both wolfkins and their temporary allies, while several soldiers tried to lead the hostages and people who could walk as far away from the hospital as possible. The reporter from the World Without Borders, the one Annie called Larry, was among the soldiers, filming the ensuring destruction around him with a drone. Larry himself was helping a few soldiers carry the wounded away from the danger zone.
Annie stopped in the middle of the square before the Deliverance, looking up. A black figure crashed through the windows on the upper floors, holding a man and a young cub in her arms. Aranea desperately tried to think of something, even if Lucendra landed safely, the impact would undoubtedly be devastating for the...
Annie wasn’t thinking. Or rather, she already had a plan. The wolf hag leaped in the air, grabbing the legs of her warrior with perfect precision. Falling on her back, Annie used herself to cushion the fall of Lucendra, ensuring that both people in her embrace would survive. Before the impact of her fall could hurt the people in her embrace, Lucendra let go of the people in her embrace, allowing them to be caught by two warriors from Annie’s pack.
With widened eyes, Aranea saw how several more people were trying to jump off the third floor. There were a lot more survivors than she had originally thought, and Aranea cursed herself for not checking the hospital properly. Following Annie’s example, Aranea charged forward and jumped up, catching a woman in doctor’s clothes and an elderly patient, crashing on the ground on her back and ensuring that both of them would survive. Olesya, meanwhile, caught three more people, using the weird device on her back to levitate herself.
"There are still people on the upper floors, wolf hag!" Lucendra said quickly, pointing at the walls of the hospital. It was a miracle that the building was still standing. Man-sized cracks ran across the walls, many of the windows were pushed outside because of the weight of the upper floors that were going down. The supports between the floors were destroyed, rubble was falling from the side of the building, several billboards had already fallen from the top of the building.
"You…" Annie turned toward Lucendra, smashing her across the head. The punch wasn’t made with all her strength, but the sudden hit was enough to throw the warrior off her feet, "How long are you going to shame me? I gave you a task and…" Annie howled, turning toward the building, "Olesya, you with me."
"I am going too." Aranea said, stepping forward.
"You are too weak, Ari." Olesya said quickly. She gave Aranea the rail gun, and the wolf hag quickly put it behind her back.
"I don’t care. My armor will protect me." Aranea responded. If she could save even a single life, it would be well worth it.
Annie nodded, charging toward the crumbling building, and Olesya, alongside Aranea, darted after Annie, briefly matching her speed. Before either of them could reach the entrance, a blob of flesh broke free from the underground before the entrance, and all three wolf hags came crushing against the oversized blob of flesh that absorbed their impact like no pillow could. The flesh acted like rubber, pushing all three wolf hags back while the sack itself sagged and shivered, becoming a humanoid form before them. The new person had simple pale skin and a short black beard. He stood naked for a brief moment, showing well developed muscles, looking up into the wolf hags’ eyes with all too human black eyes. A set of clothes grew from his body, socks, underwear first, then boots, pants of black leather, a white tank top, and finally a stylish looking leather jacket with a glimmering zipper.
"Out of my way, murderer." Annie growled at the man, placing her hands on the knives.
"Pardon me, what?" Lord Steward cocked his head, looking with surprise at the wolf hag.
"Listen, if you want to kill someone, just take my life," Aranea tried to plead with him, stepping forward, "We can’t take you on, sire. But please, let my comrades go and please let us try and save the people inside, before the building is going to…"
"But it is stable." Lord Steward pointed at the building behind him, and Aranea understood with surprise that he was right.
Flesh was pulsating in the cracks of the building, holding the stone in place like glue. The walls no longer trembled, even the nearly collapsed floors were starting to straighten themselves. Lord Steward stepped away from the entrance, walking along the stone road and inviting the wolfkins to come inside.
"Feel free to escort the others." He simply said, walking toward the wounded.
Cat recoiled when the man approached her, but the ruler ignored the soultaker's fear. His left arm flowed, flesh and grown cloth turned into a living river that wrapped around the broken shoulder of the soultaker. She gave a single scream when the mass enveloped her, the flesh of Lord Steward burrowed through the suit of the soultaker, merging with the shattered shoulder. It took only a moment before Cat’s shoulder gave a cracking sound and her damaged arm clenched into a fist. Lord Steward nodded, stepping aside and giving her the bead that was pushed into her shoulder. He turned to Svetlana.
"Don’t you dare touch my sister!" Annie leaped on him, stopped the moment a flesh tendril came from below the ground, wrapping itself around her, the writhing flesh moved into the cracks of Annie’s armor. The wolf hag roared in fear, while the ruler allowed his living tendril to slide across the wounds of Svetlana. When he released Annie, Aranea saw with a surprise that the blade wound that the wolf hag received from Eight was now closed. The wounds on the medic’s wrists and arms were also healed.
"Annie!" Svetlana jumped into the embrace of her sister, while Lord Steward silently walked forward, reaching out to the wounded, both reclaimers, civilians, and resistance members, removing all traces of wounds from their bodies, not leaving even a scar behind. One of the patients, a man who used a wooden stump in place of a long-lost leg, gasped in shock when not only were several cuts on his body healed, but his missing limb was restored as well.
"I was so scared!" Svetlana whimpered, hiding her face in the breastplate of Annie’s armor, "I thought that they… The people…"
"Hush… Svet… Hush…" Annie said in an unnaturally soft voice, raising her arms as if to pat her sister, before finally hugging her. The helmet slid from her head and Aranea saw that Annie was crying, "I was scared too. I am sorry to be late, sorry to be useless again…" She blinked away the tears, looking at everyone around her, "If anyone dares to make fun of Svetlana for this, I will…"
"We understand." Olesya said, standing before the flying orb of the reporter.
"Lucendra." Annie said quickly, still hugging her sister, "You have done your duty exemplary. Go, lead the people out of the building."
"Yes, wolf hag." The warrior replied, quietly, standing back on her feet. Annie looked at her and wiped out the tears from her eyes.
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"Correction, soldier. Keep the medic safe, I will lead out the people myself," She pushed Svetlana away from herself, stopping all objections of the warrior, "I am relying on you to keep my sister alive."
"Svetlana," Olesya nodded, coming close to the medic, "How are you?"
"Alive, Ol… wolf hag," The medic quickly corrected herself.
"My apologies for exposing you to the danger. I should have asked the command to allow me to bring the entire pack here from the start and damn the neutral zone."
"See that it never happens again!" Annie snapped at Olesya, turning to Lord Steward.
The man finished treating the wounds of the injured and turned toward Annie.
"What?"
"Sir, am I correct that you have dealt with the numbers?" Aranea quickly asked, hearing how Annie growled, looking at the man.
"One escaped. The rest have become part of me."
"Even Five?" Aranea asked with suspicion.
"No idea what happened to him," Lord Steward quickly looked aside. He saw the flames in the city and heard the thunderous sounds of the artillery, "What a mess."
"The situation will improve, once the state finally reclaims the area…" Aranea tried to say, but Lord Steward silenced her, turning to look at the wolf hag.
"Enough of this bullshit, wolf hag. This…" He spread his arms wide, allowing the ruining city to form a painting to his words behind him, "… Should have never happened. Your so-called unification is idiotic. Instead of sending a few people to re…" He stopped, looking at reporter, "…I mean, to negotiate a peaceful transition of power, you sent in the army. How many lives are ended by your careless hands?" He looked around at the wolfkins, "Listen to the teacher, people. Your leaders don’t give two shits about you. This war, the tolerance of the moronic traditions of the Wolf Tribe… Don’t you all sick of it by now? I saw you in action," He nodded at Aranea, "You were ready to give up your life for the hostages and for the others. So why serve the unworthy master? Drop everything and join the Oath… Or Iterna at the very least." He added quickly, looking at the reporter.
"That’s all fine and dandy," Olesya said, stepping forward, "But the state can at least guard its civilians. How many times has Oath failed to protect their citizens? Need I remind you about your recent debacle with Chosen Bitch?"
"Prince." Annie corrected her.
"Same thing, really." Aranea responded, and Lord Steward laughed, bowing mockingly to the wolf hags.
"Touché, ladies. I and all others, are, of course, very thankful for all the help that the Wolf Tribe provided in helping the refugees. Even Crawler seemingly calmed down about… well, you know. We are also thankful to the Dynast as well," He said through the clenched teeth, rage flashing inside his eyes for the first time on this day, "For his invaluable assistance. In time, I hope to thank him in person."
"You were the ones who destroyed the state’s drones." Annie said, advancing on the man. Her paws found the hilts of her knives.
"They were in the way, that’s all. I am sure that I will be forgiven when your commanders learn that I helped save your lives."
"You murdered my soldier." Annie closed in on him, looking down on him. Her jaws opened, reading to the bite him. Lord Steward smiled. The skin on his neck sagged, and when he breathed out, Aranea felt dizziness once more, along with some soft odor. Annie stood unbothered before Lord Steward, making Aranea wonder how in the world the wolf hag could not sense the dangerous smell.
"Oh please. If I wanted to kill anyone in this city, I would have already flattened it by now, leaving behind just the ruins of your so-called army," Lord Steward replied in a changed tone, and Aranea felt goosebumps running down her spine. Then he smiled and the tense atmosphere was gone, "Ah, but we are all friends nowadays. I got my friend back, you have yours back."
A flower broke through the ground near Annie. The plant was big enough that its petals were longer than the entire body of the wolf hag, The petals were closed around something, while the plant was rising up and up, before finally blooming, opening its petals and revealing Kayleen and the soultaker within. At the very moment that petals opened, the life signals of Kayleen's armor once again joined the communication network, showing that she rejoined the force. Aranea made a note of this in her mind, whatever Lord Steward was doing with his body, he was able to block signals from the terminal in power armor. The wound on the soultaker’s chest was gone, both people looked confused and scared, but were unharmed. Annie blinked, making a step toward her soldier, when a tendril broke from the shoulder of Lord Steward, wrapping around Annie’s body and dragging her back. He forced the wolf hag to stand before him, leering arrogantly in her face.
"Don’t you forget anything?" The ruler asked mockingly, while another flesh tendril came from his back, slithering across the armor of the wolf hag, dancing a few inches away from the fur on her head, "An apology for accusation? Maybe a kiss to…"
"Oh, for fucks sake. I am sorry, okay? I acted rashly and accused you of something that you hadn’t done, sir. For this, I can only beg for your apology." Lord Steward's eyes widened as Annie pressed her snout to his face, closing her eyes and kissing him on the lips. Both tendrils released darted away from Annie’s body, retracting themselves back into the face of Lord Steward, while he made a step back, wiping out his lips. Annie mirrored his movement with a trembling paw. She shook her head, trying to say something and looking at her own paw.
"So rumors are true!" Larry said, while the drone was filming the whole situation, "Folks, you saw it in person, Lord Steward just sexually harassed the…"
He stopped talking when Annie grabbed her throat, choking and falling on her knees. Annie tried to spit something out of her mouth as Aranea, Svetlana, and Olesya all darted to her.
"You idiot!" Lord Steward came closer, pushing everyone aside from Annie, "I was just joking! My body is still filled with monksdemise. Wait a moment, I will fix y…" His arm turned into a flesh tendril, and Annie yapped weakly at this sight, trying to crawl away from him.
"I would rather die than being throttled by…" She gasped for air, pushing him away from herself, looking around with mad eyes, "Why… why, why, why always I who end up humiliated, weak…"
"She's delusional," Lord Steward quickly said to the faces of other wolf hags. Svetlana found, took out some syringe from the med kit, and was now busy injecting something into Annie’s neck, softly speaking to her, "Side effect of the poison," With each word, the throat of Lord Steward was shifting, veins were running down his skin, and the smell that caused dizziness was disappearing, "My apology for the situation, the effect should not last for more than a few moments."
"Annie, no one is judging you," Kayleen lowered herself on her knees before her wolf hag, "We are all simply worried about you and…" Annie’s eyes stopped at the scout.
"I am not suicidal, dammit!" She screamed all of a sudden, standing up and landing a punch at Kayleen's head, sending the scout onto the ground. Olesya grabbed Annie in her arms, holding her arms pressed against her body while whatever medicine Svetlana used was slowly working.
"So much for therapy." Kayleen gasped, gesturing to others that she was fine.
"Listen, this was an honest mistake," Lord Steward said as he turned to the reporter, "This was not an attack, just a minor misunderstanding. I only teased her a little, it was not my intention... Listen, I can have almost any woman, why would... Dammit, it came out horrible, can we cut it...
"We are live." Larry smiled in his face.
"Of course I will compensate for all the damage that I caused with my vulgar and irresponsible act of..." Lord Steward straightened himself, putting both hands behind his back.
"So, why exactly the hostility?" Aranea overheard Leila’s question to Cat. The soultaker was busy testing out her healed shoulder. The half-wyrm briefly checked on the troops under her command, before deciding to talk with the soultaker.
"Aside from us being enemies?" Cat shrugged her shoulders, while Markus was assembling his troops, preparing to leave. The half-wyrm kept looking at the soultaker, and the woman finally sighed, taking off the respirator from her mouth, "Listen, thanks for saving my life."
"No problem, you saved mine as…"
"But you are a mutant," Cat bluntly said, pointing at the wolfkins, "Look at them. Two arms, two legs, head… I can tolerate this much. But you? What is this shit?" She pointed at Leila’s tail, then at her wings, then at three fingers on each hand of the half-wyrm, "You just as alien as this pervert over there!" She gestured at Lord Steward, "Anyway, thank you all for helping us, but next time we meet, we will be on different sides of the barricades…" If the soultaker hoped that this revelation would shut up the half-wyrm, she was mistaken. Leila began bombarding the woman with questions about everyday life among the Soultakers.
Aranea allowed them to keep speaking and wanted to help with the evacuation from the hospital, when a signal from Tiny came. Upon hearing the report, the wolf hag quickly called her pack, leaving the place in the charge of Annie and Olesya. The wolfkins were resistant to poison, hopefully Annie will recover soon enough. If not, then according to the command, Olesya’s pack were on their way here. Ivar sent his own order, telling everyone to leave Lord Steward alone for now. The blue wyrm understood that nothing that they could have done would as much as slow the ruler, if he suddenly decided to play rough. Instead, Ivar seemingly hoped to placate Lord Steward enough to make him leave on his own.
Aranea asked the command for permission to join forces with Tiny and her pack. They too faced their own problems, and something strange was going on over there.