"Sir, are you sure they're dead?" Matius asked, his face still pale.

The Arch Mage raised a wizen eyebrow at Jayln's presence in the chamber but nodded. "It was a dangerous mission and I could not equip them as I did you. So I gave them inheritance bands with a special enchantment of my own."

Matius sucked in his breath and Jayln looked back and forth wondering what that meant. Matius had taught her enough to know that enchanting items was the hardest form of magic and so were very rare and valuable.

The Arch Mage guestured Matius over to a basin of water and Jayln stubbornly followed, despite the Arch Mage’s increasingly obvious cold shoulder.

"The bands themselves prove they have perished, the inheritors already informing me the transfer has taken place. However, I added an extra spell, one of questionable origin but I felt it necessary. Their last memory should have been preserved in these." The Arch Mage held up a small vial with a drop or two of liquid in it.

“In the event of their deaths, the inheritors each shed tears which should contain the last thing Fredrick and Loquin saw.” He turned the vial over and a drop fell into the pool which grew dark and swirled.

A stream came into view along with a voice Jayln didn't recognize.

We need to finish this quadrant quickly. I don't care if Fred believes me or not, I can tell we're being watched. Maybe we can—

The voice stopped suddenly and the stream lurched closer, the rocks filling the view and growing red, then a shift and darkness. They stared as the scene returned to the golden bottom of the basin. Matius muttered, "A surprise attack."

The Arch Mage nodded and quickly unstopped the second bottle.

A man knelt down to fill his waterskin, his black, curly hair had reddish tones that stood out against his pale skin. The scene blurred and changed to grass and stone. A splash and a sickening crack. The scene refocused and a figure came into view. It was a man, bare chested and pale.

Before a face could be made out, the man charged and the scene shifted as the viewer was pushed into the ground. An scarred arm covered the view and the scene jostled like the viewer had flinched. A leg, pants torn and dark could be made out and for a moment a pale blue hand struggled against it before disappearing from sight.

At last, a clear view of the attacker as he leaned over, a horrifying familiar wolfish grin on his face.

"Fenrin!" Jayln shouted, pushing forward to look closer.

It was without a doubt Fenrin the Wolf. His grey eyes were hard and focused, he bore his teeth, and his expression...it was twisted in hate. A symbol, Niv's symbol, looked carved into his forehead, a dark red mark. Half healed cuts and more gnarled scars than made sense for him to have also covered his face.

"I told you I would kill you," he growled.

The face disappeared.

Who? What? Gods, my hand, it's....I have to focus...have to clear my head.

The scene rolled sideways and grew dark until a soft golden glow rimmed the edge.

I've got to slow him down. Give myself a second. My hand...

Fenrin reappeared, this time towering above. He kicked out and the blue hand caught the leg, azure fire racing up it. Fenrin howled.

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That's it, that should make him pause. Now to give myself time. I'll disappear and throw him off.

Fenrin did pause and blink, looking confused but Jayln knew he was faking, his body still coiled. "No," she whispered, "don't try it."

The three onlookers watched helplessly as the assumedly invisible victim stood up and started to move. Fenrin walked too, not quite towards him. The scene hesitated and Fenrin's eyes look right at them. He moved fast and grabbed the man.

My leg! The thought was agonized and Fenrin lifted the view above his head. I can't...breathe....have to....

The hand pressed against Fenrin's face.

Confuse him...ah his mind...it's...

The bowl went red and sparked black until blue light cleared the fog. The hand was sending lightning towards Fenrin's arm. The view fell to the floor.

I did it. I need to run but my leg. Speed, heal, run...

But Fenrin was on top of him again and his fists pounded with fury. Jayln had to look away but she could still hear.

I can't. He's not human. I-I'm sorry. I don't want to die. I don't—

It went quiet and Jayln covered her mouth, breathing through her nose trying to keep the bile down. The Arch Mage's voice was hard and cold. "You know that monster?"

Matius put his arm around her and she leaned into him, rubbing tears from her eyes.

"Answer me!" The Arch Mage raised his voice and the air crackled with energy.

"Sir, please, a moment," Matius said softly but a look from his master and he stepped back, releasing Jayln who wrapped her arms around herself.

"I-It was Fenrin. He was with us, but he didn't get out. Niv got him. I thought he was dead." She turned her gaze at the Arch Mage, her eyes flashing. "What's wrong with him? What was that?" she asked, gesturing to her forehead.

The Arch Mage pulled at his beard. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that was Bak's avatar. However, he was no Azir and that mark was definitely Niv's. I do not know what she has done to your friend but clearly he is possessed. No ordinary man could so quickly dispatch of Fredrick and Joquin. I'm sorry, but your friend is gone"

"Fenrin could," Jayln said, thinking out loud. "He could, he'd killed mages before. He's not a regular man. Maybe he thought they were Niv's people. Maybe he's trying to get out."

Matius stepped in front of her. "Jayln, that wasn't the face of a man trying to get out. He attacked them in cold blood. He could have just walked past them. Besides he said he'd met them before."

Jayln shook her head. He was hurt and no doubt desperate. In such a situation, he must have let out the wild side he always warned her about. "He's regressed. I told you, when I first met him, he was only interested in murder and power. Did you see those wounds? He's trapped and angry but I think it's still him."

Matius turned to the Arch Mage for help but the old man paused. "His wounds...it has only been two weeks. Did he always have those scars?"

Jayln shook her head, "He had a few but nothing like that."

The Arch Mage nodded, "Those were healed by magic then, although not well. There was no way Joquin had seen Fenrin before. He would have sent a message. Even if he sent it just before he died, it would have arrived by now. Besides, Fredrick and Joquin were much too relaxed at first to have encountered anyone in the valley."

"'I told you I would kill you' that's what he said. Joquin had no idea who he was. So did Fenrin know who he was killing?" Matius wondered out loud.

Jayln looked at the Arch Mage for answers. The man's brows furrowed and a few random objects begin to float around him. She looked at Matius alarmed but he whispered, "That happens when he's thinking."

The Arch Mage began to pace. "This Fenrin, he's been tortured by Niv. But how then has he escaped or even lived this long? Why attack Joquin so viciously?"

"Maybe he's cursed again?" Jayln prompted, "When we first encountered the rift, Fenrin got hit by a curse. It made him relive his worst memories. He attacked us a few times, thinking we were his sister or other enemy."

"That curse does show a mark but it glows faintly.” The Arch Mage tapped his forehead. “The one we saw was part of him, engraved into his flesh, but it does seem probable that he thought Joquin was someone else. It would explain what he said and the pure brutality of the attack." He paused. "Who exactly is this Fenrin. I need to understand how deviant what we saw was from his normal behavior."

Matius whistled and Jayln's shoulders slumped. A chair made its way over to her by invisible means and she sat down. "Well, from what I know, it's not too far off from his worst. Have you heard of Bryn the Bear?"