She woke up in an unknown place, still held tight by her mother. The skinwalker was moving across unfamiliar lands, covering the vast distance with each bound. There were rocks and sand under her feet. A burning sun was shining brightly across the scorched wasteland. No matter where Aranea looked, she could see no greenery, no sign of the great work of the Reclamation Army. They were somewhere else entirely.
And then she saw something that scared her even more. The right arm of her mother was back. Aranea was sure that her mother had lost her hand back in the fortress, yet here she was, running ahead, both hands in place. The cuts that had covered Kalaisa's legs had now healed, leaving no trace of scars. Could everything that happened be just a nightmare?
"No." Aranea told herself. What happened was real. The ground was moving in a blur underneath them as Kalaisa ran faster than a train.
"Where are we going?" Aranea asked her mother but received no answer. Drool was falling from Kalaisa’s mouth, while the skinwalker continued to half run, half jump forward. Aranea shuddered in fear. What if they just run and run, and one day she will die of hunger or thirst? The skinwalker glanced at her, and the girl felt horror. There was no recognition in this gaze. Something entirely alien was looking at her. Jaws opened wide, and Aranea whimpered in horror. What if…
The skinwalker stopped, and Aranea turned her head. Before them was a ragged camp, small military tents were visible here and there. The black-furred wolfkins assembled in front of the camp, taking aim at Kalaisa with their weapons. Most of them had power armors, but these armors were so drastically different from the slick and slender power armors of the Ice Fang order. Crude and bulky, these armors left the mouths and paws of black furred wolfkins wide open. Unlike the members of the Ice Fang order, none of the black-furred wolfkin carried swords; instead, they all carried ranged weapons aimed at the skinwalker.
Kalaisa opened her mouth and roared to the skies, this roar resembled a summon. A cruel queen was calling her subjects to appear.
And they appeared. From the camp, two wolfkins jumped and landed before the skinwalker. One was enormously huge, almost as big as Kalaisa. The armor on her looked ridiculous, it barely covered her vital areas. A helmet was missing from her head, and one mighty paw held an enormous axe, a weapon that looked more like a tooth on a metal stick. Behind her back was a long rifle. Talismans dangled from her armor, ringing and slamming into each other in the wind, as the second wolfkin wore power armor covered in countless words of prayer. The woman took off her helmet, and both wolfkins looked at Kalaisa with amber eyes.
Kalaisa roared again, and the large wolfkin nodded. She put aside her axe and extended her left arm. The jaws of Kalaisa closed on her arm, biting it up to the wrist. The right paw of the skinwalker hit the wolfkin across the mouth, tearing the lower jaw away. The tongue helplessly hit the chest as the large wolfkin stumbled back, stubbornly standing despite grievous wounds. Blood poured like a stream of water from a fountain from the wounds on the arm and on the head of the wolfkin. Kalaisa hungrily devoured the lower jaw, crushing the bones with a sick sound, and gave Aranea to the wolfkin in ornate armor. Wolfkin took the girl in her paws with an almost divine reverence.
Kalaisa's body started to shake, her muscles violently moved beneath her skin like worms. Her size started to decrease, accompanied by the sound of bones snapping and cracking. In moments, the second row of her fangs moved into the palate of her mouth, fur reappeared across the body, legs and arms slowly turned to be more thin, and in moments, a second copy of the large wolfkin was standing before Aranea. Something akin to recognition came back to her mother's eyes.
"Shaman…" Kalaisa sternly commanded in an utterly unknown voice, "Take care of Kalaisa’s da…." She growled, almost screaming from pain, while veins popped all across her body. Her voice changed once more, becoming the voice of Kalaisa, "…My daughter. Save her. Raise her. She is not at fault…"
"You returned to us, Kalaisa," The wolfkin in ornate armor bowed, "And you attained divinity."
"Divinity?" Kalaisa roared, her form reverting back to that of the skinwalker. "This is no divinity!" Her fur fell out, another set of fangs pierced the palate, her eyes were slowly becoming mad, "My mind, my memories, everything is about to be gone, only anger will remain. I worked my whole life to atone, to save lives, and now… "This... this... is not a blessing,“ She stumbled, trying to find words, "Torture!" The skinwalker roared and jumped away, disappearing in the desert.
The shaman did nothing but nod.
"In time you will understand. You are now even closer to the blessed mother," She turned toward the other wolfkins, "What are you standing here for? Carry the warlord to the medics right now, before she bleeds to death! Summon Sonya, right now!"
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"Already here." A black-furred wolfkin with brown stripes across her fur approached the shaman, yawning and putting aside her weapon. The shaman gave Aranea to the wolfkin, and Sonya grabbed the girl by her arm, raising her in the air.
"She is now in your pack, wolf hag Sonya. She is old enough to not be in the pits, so you will teach her our way of life and make sure to teach her proper!" The shaman turned around, leaving the two alone.
"What am I supposed to do with such a weird creature?" Sonya asked, looking in the eyes of a frozen in fear Aranea, "Well let’s see what you are made of."
She dragged Aranea into one of the tents and snapped her claws. Two wolfkins put a large bowl of tasty smelling meat on the floor. Sonya dropped Aranea on the floor.
"Eat. If you can." She gave the girl a kick, and Aranea came closer to the food on her unsteady legs. She was unsure of what exactly this weird wolfkin wanted from her, but she was feeling hungry. As she lowered herself to pick up the food, someone crashed into her, biting her arm. Another wolfkin, slightly smaller than the girl, growled, trying to push her away from the food.
"Why are you biting me?" Aranea asked, more in shock, than in pain. Small drops of blood were on her arm. Her opponent was slightly smaller than she, yet he released his claws and tried to slash her. She stepped back, evading the attacks.
"Oh, for the love of Spirits," Sonya said in annoyance, "He is just a male, you dumb cusack, there is nothing to be afraid of. Stomp him already, he's just barely older than you. Are you really this weak?"
The wolfkin growled again and lunged, aiming to bite the girl’s neck.
"Stop it already, you asshole!" Aranea snarled, releasing all of her frustrations from the previous few days in a burst of rage. She grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck and slammed him into the floor, moving too fast for him. Following some instinct, she closed her jaws on his neck, biting him lightly and feeling blood on her fangs. The wolfkin whined and stopped struggling, lying still. Stepping away from him in shock and fear.
Aranea quickly said: "Sorry. I did not want to hurt you. Really!" She reached with her paws, aiming to help him stand, but the kid remained prone. Feeling sick and disgusted by the taste of his blood on her fangs, she tried to sound calm and gentle, "You can stand up, it’s fine, I am not angry," The kid looked up and took her paw, allowing her to help him stand up.
Something snapped in Aranea. Something, some adrenaline, was coursing through her veins. It was a familiar feeling, something that she felt when she was winning against Keyl and the others.
"No!" She shouted, scaring the kid. "I don’t want it. Screw you!" She grabbed her shoulders, forcing the urge to go back. Her muscles were about to increase slightly, but she forced the growth to stop, she willed her power to disappear. This power turned her mother into a monster. This power caused her to grow up too soon. She refused, she will never accept gifts from this power ever again. She will live on her own power from this day on.
"I am sorry," Aranea quietly said to the scared boy before her, "You wanted to eat too? We can share the food. What is your name?”
"Gin." The wolfkin boy responded warily.
"He's just a male," Sonya said, raising an eyebrow, "The abyss do you care? His lot is to die on the front line as a meat shield."
"I won, right?" Aranea asked stubbornly, "So this means I get to decide what to do with the prize?"
"Your truth," Sonya shrugged, disappearing in an instant. She appeared on Aranea before the girl could even react, her mighty jaws closing on the girl's neck, causing her to bleed slightly. Sonya lifted Aranea into the air and threw her to the ground. Aranea let out a gasp of pain, feeling her insides scream in agony, "Lesson number two. Always bare your neck before the wolf hag. If you refuse or forget, it will mean that you have challenged me. Today you lost, and unless you accept your power, you will always lose to me."
"We will see." Aranea whispered angrily, "I will beat you with my own strength and skills one day."
Sonya only laughed and left, allowing the children to eat in peace.
During the night, Aranea reached out with her paw to the disk of the moon in the skies above.
"Aranea Wintersong is no more. I am Aranea from now on. One day I will reach all the way to the top. One day, I will become strong on my own and bend others to my will. I will become strong enough that no one will ever take anything or anyone from me anymore. And when this day comes…
****
Time of war.
"… I will come for you, Tilden, and I will feast on your insides. I will make you pay and end your precious future. And after this, I will find this Academician and I will devour him as well." Aranea whispered, trying to grasp the moon above her with her paw. The dead called for vengeance, and this was her duty.
But today, her duty was different. Her mother had brought her into the Wolf Tribe fifteen years before. Fifteen long, painful years. Aranea never gave up, she dominated others and refused to accept gifts of her power. Under her fur, countless scars marked her body, yet her unnatural healing always allowed her to move on. She reached all the way to the rank of scout. And on this day, she will finally test her skills in real combat.
"Everyone is in place," The message came, and Aranea smiled. She was standing on the top of the large rock, seven meters above the entrance to the cave. The grenade launcher and shard gun were locked to the back of her armor. In past years, Wyrm Lord ensured that the Wolf Tribe members received proper armaments, something that would suit their style of combat. Instead of bulky power armor, they received a slender one that no longer restricts their movements. Aranea did a backflip, jumping off the stone and allowing wind to run across the fur on her snout as she fell. She landed on two feet, nimbly as always, and stood up. Her helmet slid on her face, covering her snout and her whole head but leaving enough room for her to open her jaws and use them in combat. The red lenses of her helmet flashed as she looked at her pack.
"Time to start the massacre then." She smiled. This was such a good night.