She awoke in some brightly lit place. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, she could not make out things around her. Just light. Only the white light was before her. She tried to remember her name but failed. She could sense only cold metal behind her back and water flowing away from her side. Water? Or was it blood? She could not remember.
And then a golden light showed up. This one brought some warmth with it.
"She is bleeding," A worried voice said, "Why is she still bleeding? Medics told me that, according to her medical history, she…"
A blue light appeared.
"Irrelevant, brother. Let’s finish the job before she bleeds out." A cold and calculating voice said.
"We need to take care of her wounds first!" The golden light objected, "I never expected her to be in this horrible shape! She could die!"
A black orb appeared, and a purple color was inside its core.
"Commander, please…" A calm and confident voice joined the conversation. "You know, we will never risk the lives of our troops like this."
"Her sacrifice might be in vain if we allow time to go by." The blue light added.
"Sacrifice?" The golden light asked in shock, "Sacrifice… This choice of words, the fact that reporters were close enough to film the massacre… Ivar, if I find out that this was your doing, I swear…"
"Brother. The lives of our troops are far too valuable for me. I would never have dared to spend them in vain." The blue light answered evasively.
"Let us begin." The black orb spoke in a soothing voice. A light fell on her, and the black orb asked, "Wolf hag Aranea. Tell me everything you know about our enemy. Their personalities Their power. Anything you thought unusual."
Aranea—wasn't that her name? Something—no, someone—came into her mind along with purple light. Darkness whispered a command, and, against her will, Aranea started talking for what seemed like hours, feeling her body slowly grow cold.
"Ah, so he is the false hero." The blue light said, when Aranea talked about Yasen, "I will take him on."
"And the monster," the black light murmured, "She will be my prey."
"This leaves the blonde," The blue light said thoughtfully. "A hint that the monster gave us checks out with what we know about her… Her power can be a trouble for us."
"That’s enough!" The golden light snapped. Two others tried to argue, "Enough," This was now a command, and the will of the golden one ripped the presence of the black orb from Aranea as easily as one would lift a small stone. A morning light filled Aranea's body, not allowing her to slip in the dark.
"Brother! We can still learn something." The blue light pleaded.
"Her power is repressed because of a mental trauma. We could figure out what happened to this wolf hag and force her to unseal it. This will be healthier for her and more profitable for us." The black light made his offer.
"No more. She has a right to keep secrets. None of you are to dig into her past, is this understood?" The will of the golden light was inviolate, and two others submitted. "Doctor, take her to my personal healing pod. The wounds of her pack are to be healed. The lost limbs are to be replaced with vat-grown limbs, no mechanics," Someone gently took her and moved her into the large ocean, allowing her to fall into the strange fluid, "Get well, wolf hag Aranea. I need loyal warriors. The pain will be gone soon." The golden light hesitated for a moment. "And Blaguna, Yasen, and anyone else who was involved in this will face our retribution. This, I swear to you."
****
Aranea awoke, struggling to breathe as strange fluid poured into her nostrils and mouth. She opened her eyes and saw blue, endless blue to the left, right, down, and up.
Water! She felt terrified. The last time she swam was over fifteen years ago. Panic hit her as she clumsily hit the fluid. Water! I must, I have to… something had grabbed her from behind, sliding under her armpits, and lifted her up. She struggled, trying to break free. Being submerged in water horrified her far more than even being skinned alive. The feeling of utter helplessness drove her into a mad panic. Water!
Two metal hands drew her away from the liquid, leaving blue liquid under her feet as the remains of the liquid fell from her into a large pool of water below. The hands lifted her to the entire ceiling, and Aranea finally saw the true scope of the strange thing below.
It was a truly massive, mechanical-looking device that could hold several buildings. Inside this device was the strange metal oval thing that was now closing itself, hiding blue liquid from the eyes. The metal thing was painted white and black. One side was transparent, showing the contents inside.
The wolf hag was carried away from the structure by the metal hands, which then lowered her to the floor. This room was enormous. An entire village of a hundred people could have easily lived here and still had room to spare. The floor was made of black marble. The white stone in it created paintings of long-extinct animals on the floor. The walls were empty and made of simple grey stone. Hands lowered Aranea to the floor, and she stood up on unsteady legs. The air in the room was cold, the air conditioners worked at full power. A simple cold was really doing a number on Aranea’s body.
"Aranea?" When a familiar voice inquired, the wolf hag noticed doctor Marco and a gray-haired woman approach. "Please calm down, you are safe and among friends…"
"Oh, for the love of... The woman snapped, reaching for the flashlight on her belt, "Stop coddling her, she is fully fine. Sit," The woman commanded, and Aranea looked at her in surprise, "You want to see your pack or not?" Before the doctor finished her words, Aranea slammed her butt on the stone floor while the woman came forward and flashed light in the eyes of the wolfkin, checking for something. "Open mouth," The woman checked inside. "No visible signs of stress, your injuries are healed, you can understand words… You are to stay in the hospital today and tomorrow for observation. Feel free to go now," The doctor stepped away and sighed, looking at the massive metal structure. "These pods are not meant for wolfkins. Or for anyone who has hair. Does he even understand how hard it is to clean it?" She shook her head, stepping away.
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"My pack!" Aranea jumped to her feet. "How are they? Are they alive, are they…" Marco stepped forward and put his hand on Aranea's shoulder.
"Yuki and Kostya never returned." The wolf hag's heart nearly stopped. They were with her from the start. They eat together, fight together, have fun together... She remembered Kostya's head, his empty eyes staring at her. "Sly is currently in the southwest armory, he recovered from his wounds first. He says that he is working on something for you and asks you to come see him when you can. Kaleb and Kate are still in the hospital, waiting for new limbs to grow for them. If you can, please visit them first."
"Of course, but… pardon me for asking, what are you doing here?" Aranea asked, confused. Yuki, Kostya… They were her responsibility, and she…
"Until the end of this conflict, the Free World officially joined the Reclamation Army," Marco shrugged. "I'm not happy about it, but... we saw what happened. King lied, his forces were the ones who killed people in the city. Journalists from World Without Borders managed to film the entire event from afar. Then Scorpio contacted us and offered us a full-time job, stating that we would save more people by joining the state," Marco looked up, "Superiors agreed. I know they are not wrong. But... please forgive me, Aranea, but it feels wrong to take sides so publicly. We were always free. To help anyone."
"Times change," Aranea said, apologizing and feeling sympathy for the man. It was a horrible thing to be denied one's duty, "Your freedom may be important to you, but if giving it up allows you to help more people... it may just be worth it," She hugged him, "I am sorry. I have no idea what I am talking about. I only know how to fight. It's just right now, I..." The wolf hag let him go, unsure of what to say or how to describe her feelings. She felt lost, confused, and angry, "Anyway," Aranea continued, trying to change the topic as her teeth chattered from the cold, "Can you point me outside? I am wet, and this place really is not helping. Once again, sorry for my words. I have no right to teach you, of all people, how to live."
"There was no harm done," Marco said, pointing to the small doors leading out of the room. They were next massive gates, the gates that could easily let a whole crawler in with ease. "Wyrm Lord assigned someone to your pack to assist you in navigating around here for the time being and to work with you later. She is waiting outside. She is… a very interesting person. Please be aware," Marco refused to elaborate further and went to join the gray-haired doctor, who was calling engineers in a distressed voice.
Aranea looked at her own body as she walked toward the door. Her right arm moved perfectly. No scars were visible on her wounded side. Actually, no scars were visible on her body at all. Her fur grew back on her body. Aside from deep inside her, she felt no pain. But the mental anguish was something she was used to. For the sake of her pack, Aranea will push through it. Sly needed support, Kate needed her help, Kaleb needed encouragement… There are so many things to do. The wolf hag gave a nod. She had no time to feel sorry for herself. She would weep for Yuki and Kostya later, right now she had work to do. And she still had revenge to work toward. No matter what, she will ensure that Yasen and Blaguna pay the blood price for what they did. To everyone.
"Tilden, Blaguna, Yasen, Academician." She whispered it to herself, approaching the door and leaving wet footprints behind her.
The doors opened with a soft hiss, revealing a brightly lit metal corridor with several doors in the walls. Aranea stepped outside, unsure of who was supposed to meet her. And then one of the doors opened up, and, with loud steps, a strange person came out.
She was still undeniably human, her half-blond, half-pale hair reached to her shoulders. The smiling face was that of a normal human. And yet the rest of her body… Massive hands and legs ended up with three fingers, each finger had a massive claw at the end. Massive black wings were behind her, reminding Aranea of the wings of the beast that she saw in one of the fantasy books. Gargoyle wings. The person's entire body was covered in almost pale, slightly pink scales, and a large tail protruded from the middle of her back, reaching all the way to the floor. Her eyes were snake-like, yet the color of her iris was half white, half pink. Headphones were on her ears. The woman took them off, turning off the music with a finger and smiling with a mouth full of fangs.
"Aranea!" She screamed happily, putting headphones on the belt around her waist. "My apologies for not being at your awakening!" The strange creature grabbed the wolf hag into a hug, easily lifting her.
"What… who are you?!" The perplexed wolfkin half-screamed, half-whispered as she felt the strong grip on her sides.
"Oh, how silly of me." Still holding Aranea like a toy by her shoulders, the woman put her back on the floor, "I’m Leila. I am a ward of Ivar Murzaliev, but don’t let this bother you, the old demon is not here at the moment."
"Are you a wyrm? You look like one." Aranea tried to make sense of the situation.
"Me? Oh no, just a half-wyrm as of now. Maybe even less. Compared to true wyrms, I am still too small, it will be years before I can complete my transformation," Leila said carelessly, releasing Aranea. "Anyway, you have such wonderful eyes. Can you tell me how you got a crimson one?"
"I am sorry, this is the story from my past," Aranea tried to find a way to escape from this situation. Who was this person? What was her deal? Was she even in the military? "It’s my personal secret."
"Secret? I love secrets! Come on, you tell me your secret, I will tell you one… no, two of mine! Oh, I can also give you my tapes to listen to. These ones were bought by me from Iterna itself. I believe they call this music heavy metal, whatever that means," The woman offered, proud but pleading. Aranea shook her head, refusing the offer. "Oh, come on, I am trying to write an encyclopedia about these lands and about the people here! Come one, help me out, I need all the info I can get. My secrets are really good as well, you will like them…" Leila stopped looking at Aranea before slamming herself in the head with a fist. The wolfkin got scared that she could hurt herself, the sound of the punch reverberated across the corridor like a grenade explosion. "Sorry," The woman bowed, releasing Aranea, "You have just woken up, and I am bothering you with this idiocy. Come on, let's dry you before you catch a cold and get you some clothes."
The half-wyrm dragged the wolf hag by the hand into a nearby room, revealing it to be a bathroom, without even giving her the option to resist. She pushed Aranea into the shower and pressed something, filling the room with hot air. While Aranea finished cleaning herself from the blue liquid and was busy wiping water off herself with a towel, Leila left the room like a hurricane. She returned with a pile of clothes in her hands.
"Now I know some of these are out of fashion by now, but in my defense, I used to wear them back when I had smoothskin like everyone else, and this was years ago. Nonetheless, they should fit your size. Would you rather wear a dress or..." Leila inquired.
"Can’t I have my standard clothes?" Aranea looked at the pile with suspicion.
"Absolutely not. They might be useful for outdoor use," The half-wyrm grumbled, frowning in disgust, "But people have got to look nice when they can. It’s part of living a healthy lifestyle. You got to love yourself!"
"Sure. This is coming from a woman who doesn't wear any clothes at all." Aranea mumbled in embarrassment, choosing simple-looking green pants with numerous pockets and an orange jacket with pockets on the side.
"Good to see that you still have energy for banter in you, I was worried that you might lock yourself in after what happened," Leila dropped the other clothes on the floor and grabbed Aranea by the hand, dragging the wolf hag after herself. "If you ever want to talk about horrible events that happened to you, feel free to knock on my door at any time; believe it or not, I am actually a good listener and know how it feels to lose friends." The one-day-would-be-wyrm spoke solemnly.