Loud screams on the other side of the canyon stopped thoughts of Aranea. The voice undeniably belonged to Olesya, as she was loudly berating someone. Curious and worried, the wolf hag left Sonya in charge as she moved toward the nearby training course. Olesya was standing before a group of five wolfkins, loudly screaming at one of them. Just like Aranea, she was also without armor, yet her form was bigger than before. She was clearly fighting during all the time that Aranea and her team were in prison and later in the hospital. The only small dent on Olesya's head reminded her of that time when Chort knocked her out. The largest wolfkin's form was covered in blue paint, while the others had no markings.

"Idiots!" Olesya inhaled air through her teeth to calm herself, "How many times must I tell you? Mines could be hidden. Traps could be placed in your way… You! I gave you leadership and this is how you repay me?"

She came toward the largest of the wolfkins. To the surprise of Aranea, this was a male. Two other members of the group were warriors, and two more were males. The wolf hag blinked in surprise; she had always suspected that Olesya didn't care about many tribal traditions, but putting a male in charge?

The form of Olesya towered over the wolfkin, who looked her directly in the eyes. Unlike his fellows, he was not afraid. His training gun was broken, the barrel of the weapon was bent to the side.

"My apologies, wolf hag," The male said without backing down, "I take full responsibility for damaging the equipment and failing to notice the trap on the course…"

"You better!" Olesya screamed in anger, grabbing the broken weapon from his hand, "I trained and trained you, and this is all we have to show off for this? Why did you use yourself as a shield, you idiot!"

"To save my comrades…"

"Fool! This is training! Not real combat," Olesya’s voice was still rising, rage was boiling in her. "And now I will have to explain why we have broken this stupid tool and look like a fool to everyone again… All because you can’t use your dammed nose. If you can’t use your nose, then maybe you don’t need it."

Aranea felt frightened at these words. The last words were spoken in a cold tone of restrained anger. These were not the words of her friends. No, these were the words Siri and Sonya used to say to others before punishing them.

Olesya raised her paw, releasing the claws. Shadows from claws fell onto the face of the male, and he gulped but stood his ground, accepting punishment. The massive paw started swinging, aiming to leave markings on the pack member's face, and Aranea jumped, grabbing her fellow wolf hag by the wrist before she could hurt the pack member.

"The hell are you doing?!" She growled into the surprised face of Olesya, "Have you forgotten how Siri was treating you? You think that hurting your pack is a joke…"

"Get lost, Ari," Olesya yanked her paw free, taking a few steps back to gain distance, "If my previous way was so great, why did Siri and the others die? No, I need to get tough in my training methods, I need to accept traditions. They were made for a reason."

"You blasted idiot!" The halfbreed forced herself to stay still in order not to jump at her friend, "Reason? What bloody reason is there to hurt your subordinates? You told me that you wanted to have cubs one day and that you wanted to keep them out of pits. Pits exist because of traditions! Traditions are nothing more than outdated cruelty. What, when you become a warlord, do you still bend over for this shit?"

"Cubs, huh…" Olesya laughed, throwing her head up, "Oh, Ari, you still don’t get it, do you? This was nothing but an empty goal. I mean, our fate is clear, none of us is going to survive long enough to raise our cubs. We fight, we die, and that’s all there is. I am sure as hell not going to bring my cubs into this world and repeat the same mistake my parents made when they left me alone. As for becoming a warlord… Ari, you saw how strong Janine was. You think either of us could ever get to this level? Hundreds of others failed, what makes us special? No. I see it all clearly now, Ari. I will do what I can to keep my pack safe. A few scars are a small price for my pack to learn how to be better and survive."

"What the hell happened to you?" Aranea demanded to know, "You had never been so down before."

"Siri died. Members of my pack died on my watch. I am feeling like I'm losing to you," Olesya shrugged, "Stuff happened in short. And I refuse to lose to you ever again or let down my pack again. Now step aside, I have lessons to give."

"The only one who is going to get lessons here is you," Aranea allowed herself to stand up casually, her arms hanging loose like ropes, "If words can’t get through your thick skull, I will make you snap out of this with action. The training session is on, Olesya.

"Then you better take a stance. Cause…" Olesya began bending her knees, putting both her paws before her.

Aranea charged forward at her opponent without bothering to take an actual combat position. Olesya's right paw moved forward, her fist closed. She intended to strike Aranea's lower jaw and knock her out in one blow, but the wolf hag stopped just outside of range, allowing the hit to miss her and striking with her claws on her right paw, leaving a slash mark above Olesya's right eye. Olesya was always slightly stronger and faster than Aranea. It was true. But there was a reason why two had been equal for so long. The crimson eye of Aranea allowed her to see things more clearly, allowing her to track down even the fast strikes of Olesya. After Ravager forcibly released her power, her crimson eye became even more potent. While it was useless against someone as fast as Chort, it was extremely effective against the fellow wolf hag. It gave Aranea the necessary information to react in time.

Olesya punched with her left, and once again Aranea dodged, using her left paw to leave a similar mark above the left eye of Olesya. But this time her opponent was ready. As the cut came, she used the elbow of her left arm to slam it into the neck of Aranea. The wolf hag never tried to stop it, instead, she let her body go limp, allowing it to push her back. As Aranea was falling, she kicked with her left leg, leaving a wound on the chest of Olesya and throwing her back to the stone wall of the canyon. Aranea landed on her arms and made a somersault to quickly get back on her feet. She half expected Olesya to charge after her and hoped to slash her with the leg again, but the wolf hag was careful now.

"Stances are good. But when you have speed," Aranea smiled, ducking low, "You can end a fight before your opponent can even hit you!"

She charged forward like a cannon ball, striking with her hands forward and aiming at the knees of her opponent. First she…

She felt pain as Olesya stopped her momentum dead by reaching with her hands and grabbing the shoulders of Aranea. The claws of the wolf hag deeply cut into the halfbreed’s shoulders, making blood run down Aranea’s body.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"If you use no stance," Olesya started talking as blood was running down from injuries above her eyes, making it look like she was crying tears of blood, "You become somewhat predictable. Speed can only carry you so far, and if your opponent is stronger and has a longer reach, she can do that!"

With her claws still in Aranea’s shoulders, Olesya almost lifted her fellow wolf hag and slammed her into the stone wall behind herself. Aranea gasped when the hit forced air out of her lungs and kicked with her knee, only for it to be caught by the paw of Olesya. Olesya raised her right hand, and Aranea threw her hands up, taking hits on her wrists as Olesya was pummeling her. In such close quarters, with the wall behind her, the physical advantage of Olesya became clear, she was pressing Aranea to the stones, not allowing her to gain distance or dodge.

And yet there was always a flaw in Olesya’s style. She was impatient. She always assumed too much. Aranea used this when Olesya opened her right paw, releasing the claws. The opponent was irritated because it was taking too long to break through Aranea's blocks. When claws struck, the halfbreed smiled, dodging to the side and allowing them to become stuck in stone behind her. Aranea grabbed a surprised Olesya by her shoulders, headbutting her and forcing her to step back and blink in pain.

Not giving Olesya a chance to regroup, Aranea charged at her. Olesya was ready for her, but at the last moment she blinked again as blood fell into her eyes. This allowed Aranea to charge past her, leaving a cut on Olesya’s right side.

"Face it, I can read all your moves…" Aranea began to talk smugly as she turned around, only to receive a slash across her right shoulder as Olesya made a backflip without turning and hit back with her left leg. Olesya landed on her right hand and jumped again, this time landing on her legs and facing her opponent. Aranea felt anger and hatred rising in her. Just how long does this stubborn fool intend to keep this fight going on? She'll prove to her once and for all who is the best fighter between them right now!

"Read me? Don’t kid yourself, Ari. You like speed, is that right? Try and match this then." Despite the blood in her eyes and bruises across her body, Olesya was smiling. She lowered herself, spreading her arms wide, releasing her claws. Veins became visible on her legs, arms, and neck. A low growl came from her throat as she charged forward.

Aranea moved forward at the same moment as Olesya. Both had cracked stones underneath their legs. Both turned their forms into blurs. And both of them aimed their claws at their throats.

What am I doing? In a mix of horror and bloodlust, Aranea thought. She wanted to see Olesya broken; she wanted to see her beaten or even dead at her feet...No.

Aranea shifted her paw instead, her claw pierced the chest of Olesya, slicing through flesh and avoiding the bone. And then they both crashed into each other, the head of Olesya slamming into the head of Aranea. The halfbreed looked into her friend's eyes and saw similar fear. The hit of Olesya never came, she stopped her claws before they could even scratch the neck of Aranea.

"I…" Olesya stepped back, raising her paws in front of herself, ignoring the wound on her chest, "I give up. Don’t know what came over me. Shit. This is no longer a game."

"Just what is wrong with…" Aranea wanted to say "us" but instead asked, "You? You've never been like this before. Abyss, you were the first person I looked up to."

Olesya stepped back, pressing her back against the stone surface of the wall, breathing heavily. She glanced at the wolfkins and gestured for them to get out, telling them that there would be no punishment.

"I…" Wolf hag Olesya licked her lips as they were left alone, "I feel humiliated. Inadequate. I always ran after you, always kept up with you. So how come I am so far behind you now? Sonya is alive, while Siri is dead. Why do you have new, shiny armor and weapons when I still have my old gear. In our first actual mission, I was knocked out and was useless," Her arms trembled in shame as she forced herself to speak further. "The shaman and the wyrm spawn both bare their necks to you. If rumors are true, Ravager herself may have watched over your duel with Sonya! What have I done in the meantime? I know that you suffered so much, I know how much you lost, and yet… I am envious, so envious."

"Envious?" Aranea could not believe her ears. Envious? Is she serious? She felt hate rising in her, for the first time, she was truly angry at Olesya. She came to her and slammed her fist into the stone near her face. This was all she could do in order not to hit her. "Envious? Of what? Of how I lost Kostya? Of how I lost Yuki? Of every single one of my soldiers who died under my command!?" Olesya tried to say something, but Aranea cut her off, screaming, "Members of my original pack are all scattered, like petals against the wind! I am surrounded by new faces, desperately trying to guide them! Blasted wyrms looked into my mind when I was nearly dead! Before this… someone else messed with my mind, and now I look like this! Is it possible to envy this? How can you… how can you feel that you are losing to such a person as I?"

She stepped back, calming herself, and for a moment they were both silent.

"I won. Don’t you dare lay a hand on your pack ever again. Right before she died, Siri said to me that she was proud of you. Be the person who she is proud of. Not a cheap copy of Siri." The halfbreed said, looking at Olesya's embarrassed expression. The wolf hag looked at her in confusion, as if she were about to ask something. But Aranea wanted to hear none of this, she turned around and marched away.

****

"Take it away! Take it away!" Leila shouted in panic, and Aranea smiled against her will.

She, Leila, and Tiny were in the room where Aranea talked with Kate each night. Two days had passed since the brawl with Olesya, and news came that the arrival of the warlord had been delayed. Chort had struck behind their front lines, appearing along with greenies, and Foulsnout was busy hunting him on the orders of the blue wyrm.

Leila and Tiny took their duty seriously and spent all day training their pack members. Of course, minor issues arose, but Sonya was relieved of a massive amount of work, allowing for better training for the pack. Aranea spent the first day looking worriedly after Leila, afraid that she might abuse her power again. But everything has been fine so far.

Today there was minor trouble. Kate was busy telling her about the warlord when the half-wyrm knocked on the door. Leila explained that she felt something crawling on her back. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a spine mite. The sand-colored body of the insect became swollen from consumed blood. Leila was still freaking out about this minor parasite while Aranea called Tiny and gave her the order to bring the med kit.

"Stop panicking. If you smash it accidently, it might damage your spine column." The wolf hag joked, and the half-wyrm froze in place like a statue, horror visible in her eyes.

"Aranea, shut up, you are scaring her on purpose," Kate’s voice came from the helmet. She was listening to this debacle. "Wyrm spawn, stop freaking out, this is no biggie. I once fell in a hole and had fifty of these critters on me."

"And you were fine?" Leila asked in a weak voice while Tiny came back and closed the door behind herself.

"Well, fine is not exactly the right word, I would rather use the word survived… But as you can see, there were no lasting side effects."

"I am kind of afraid more now that you have mentioned the word 'lasting' in your speech." The half-wyrm admitted.

"Tiny, come here for a moment. I may not always be around, so look closely," Aranea commanded, explaining to them how to safely remove this parasite. "The spine mite is currently stuck between the scales of Leila. If you tear it away, it will leave its sturdy beak inside her body. You take a lighter like this, press it to the back of the tick carefully, you do not want it to explode, and… here it's all done."

She showed the still-trembling body of the insect to everyone, and Leila instantly grabbed it, crashing it in her hand with rage on her face.

"Seriously, you want to tell me that you've never had one of them on your body before?" Kate asked in surprise, "There is nothing to be afraid of, you can go on for days before you even notice one."

"Days! I will never, ever step outside without my armor on," Leila tried her best to calm herself, but her arms and wings still visibly trembled, while Tiny was cleaning the wound on her back, "It’s disgusting, it’s…"

"There is another one on you." Tiny quietly said, and Leila screamed in a blind rage.

Aranea laughed and allowed Tiny to take care of the second one.