Day 23: Noon.
Kirk rubbed the collar of his jacket, hoping to banish this annoying stiffness, and looked anywhere but at his sister’s back while wishing he could be anywhere but here. To tell the truth, he hadn’t disliked the last few weeks. First, he made new friends. He did not know why Bogdan had reached out to him; Kirk was sort of an outsider in his own pack; only his sister and brother spoke to him. And Kalaisa. He blinked, banishing his fear.
But suddenly, Bogdan barged into his life, invited him to play cards, taught him how to banter for fun, and never, never got upset with him. Even when Kirk accidentally broke the pipe and they were all submerged in shit and urine. He half expected to be beaten to death, but everyone laughed while they fixed the pipe.
Kirk himself was fine. Other females in the pack chose not to dominate him or his siblings. A little of his fur grew back, making him look more like a real Wolfkin, but every time he faced the eyes of his comrades, he saw the same thing. Pity. As annoying as it was, he came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to ever find a soulmate. The last heat season had already passed, and no girl had asked him to dance.
Kalaisa… behaved weird, too. Gone were the beatings; she would occasionally snap at him, calling him and the rest of the family useless, but now she would always stop, apologize, and rephrase her words, almost inviting them to get back at her. While his sister gave Kalaisa a piece of her mind, essentially denouncing her, Kirk remained silent. It was all a trap; it had to be. The moment he spoke, Kalaisa would punish him worse than before.
Kalaisa dragged her siblings out of the base, requesting leaves from Ygrite. Kirk begged the Spirits to make the warlord ignore these requests as usual, but Ygrite approved all of them. Fortunately, they were never alone; either Anissa or Anji accompanied them.
Their elder sister led her family into a quiet building, where a good-natured woman listened to them. Kirk wasn’t sure what the point was; the woman talked to them one at a time, asking how they were feeling and carefully probing their family history.
After the sixth session, Kirk felt comfortable enough to tell her a little. Their family had never been normal. No father, no mother; Kalaisa was always angry, but she had never raised a paw at them. When she came home, all bruised and beaten, she gave them milk and meat and then left to get more. They tried to help her, but without anyone to teach them, they broke more things than they fixed, which made Kalaisa’s mood even worse, especially after Kirk accidentally ruined her toy. Still, she just glared at him and cleaned up the mess. Their family was dysfunctional, but they were together, and Kirk remembered how Kalaisa’s lips twitched into a shy smile after he presented her with a barely working flute he had made with his own paws while she slept.
And then the shamans announced their verdict. Kirk remembered that day it burned itself into his memory. She came back, choking with grief, her once amber eyes a blind crimson sea of burst blood vessels. Her paws trembled, and when the sister asked cheerfully which pack had taken her in, Kalaisa struck. Breaking a bone. She screamed in rage, and they screamed from pain. Their torment only spiraled upward from there.
The kind woman gave Kirk some pointers on how to deal with Kalaisa. Do not look at her when talking to her. Try to concentrate on happier thoughts and distance yourself from her. Find a hobby. He tried that, of course, but the problem was that the damned Kalaisa refused to get out of his muzzle!
Today, she announced they would be withdrawing tokens from her bank account and that he would help. Unfortunately, neither Anji nor Bogdan could come. Bogdan was busy showing Marco around the city, and Anji had to watch over Onyxia’s pack while the warlord was away. Thank the Spirits, Anissa and Ignacy volunteered to go along. They rode a tram in awkward silence until Ignacy showed Kirk a ‘web game’, a humorous little shooter. Things livened up a bit after that, with Anissa and Kalaisa even cheering him on after each win and groaning in frustration at his slow reaction. At the end of their journey, all four sat down and played on the same map. Kirk even beat Kalaisa, though he suspected she was just letting him win.
“Is this where all our payments go?” Kirk tried the woman’s advice and start a conversation while ignoring Kalaisa. He looked to the side where four black vans were parked near the tall white bank building. Then he smiled at the sight of a sibling playing under the supervision of an elderly matron.
She can’t hurt you. Not here. Everything is fine. Breathe.
“No, no!” Ignacy said. “Kirk, the National Bank has many branches all over the country; even the smallest settlement has at least one place where you can deposit your tokens. To exchange your tokens for, say, Iternian credits, you have to visit a larger settlement. This is just one of the many buildings owned by the Bank.”
“How do they know how much we own?” Anissa’s ears perked. “I’ve only ever spoken to the bank clerk near our village.”
“Simple.” Ignacy showed his terminal. “Remember how we played together over the net? Well, this is the same principle, though much more encrypted. All transactions are in real time, so if you deposit something in a bank, all the banks know about it.”
“And what if someone hacks in?” Kirk asked suspiciously.
“Virtually impossible.” Ignacy beamed, opened a web page, and displayed a fifty-page explanation of dimensional encryption. Seeing the raised eyebrows, he sighed. “Well, after the Extinction happened and we all sort of got along, Lada, an AI from Iterna, has provided the Three Great Nations with a special encryption that is impervious even to Artificer’s tampering. This protection ensures that no one can repeat the Extinction and hack into the military and unleash WMDs on the world. After extensive research, Till Ingo created a lesser copy of this model, which is now used in our banking system. So know that if your tokens, shares, or interest go missing, it means the Iternian Elite has scammed you,” Ignacy chuckled at the last words.
“Interest?” He heard Kalaisa scratching her neck. “The Abyss is what?”
I will be fine. I am fine.
“Basically, you put tokens in a special account, don’t take anything out for a certain amount of time, and the bank uses those tokens to invest and pays you back the entire amount plus some extra at the end of that time. I don’t really know the details; I’ve never been in the ‘get more tokens’ business.”
“Wait, we can do it?” Anissa’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t anyone tell us?” She reached out for her terminal and quickly punched in a number. “Lacerated One? Excuse the sudden call, but I have important information to report…”
They earned themselves surprised glances upon entering the bank. Kirk paid no attention. He and Kalaisa were dressed in bright crimson jackets, shirts, scarves, hats, thick pants to keep them warm, and specially tailored sneakers. Anissa and Ignacy wore similar outfits, but theirs were dark blue, the unofficial color of their pack. The company owned by His Excellency, Devourer, had provided these obscene riches to the Wolf Tribe as part of a welcome gift.
The people inside wore summer clothes, and the coolers were running at full power to combat the supposed summer heat. A guard even approached and asked the Wolfkins if they were okay.
“Yeah, totally.” Kalaisa waved him aside and took place in a line.
“You.” Anissa jumped to sit before a consultant. “Tell me everything about interest rates.”
Ignacy picked out some brochures to read, and Kirk landed on a sofa and stretched out, both paws behind his head. He was enjoying Houstad and its lack of danger.
“I would like to withdraw three hundred tokens.” He heard Kalaisa’s voice.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“A moment, please.” The bank clerk checked her ID before returning it. “Would you like to withdraw them from your primary account or from the state’s account?”
“I only have one account.” Kalaisa frowned.
“This is incorrect, miss. The state has set up a separate account at the command of Governor Devourer. All members of your tribe are eligible for a certain sum from this account. As an officer, you can withdraw two thousand tokens per day while in Houstad.” The bank clerk explained.
“Why hasn’t anyone told us?” Anissa exploded on her seat, reaching for the terminal again. “Lacerated One? I have an update. About those cusacks that the tribe couldn’t afford? Now we can…”
“Nobody moves! Hands in the air!” Kirk opened his eyes to the click of a gun and a loud slam of the front door. The barrel of a machinegun was pointed directly at his face.
People dressed in black leather and wearing biker helmets rushed the main entrance, armed with machine guns. One guard tried to reach for his gun when a bandit pointed his empty palm at him. The guard convulsed and fell to the ground, vomiting and shaking all over. The terrorist who had pointed his hand at him came closer and stomped down with his boot, no doubt giving the poor man a minor skull fracture and knocking him unconscious. Kirk saw a trickle of blood coming from the guard’s ear and nose.
The rest of the assailant had spread around the room, taking aim at customers and bank employees. Kirk noticed a teller trying to reach for an emergency alarm button. She shuddered as a tongue of flame burned a hole through the security window, snaking around the woman’s hand like a snake before disappearing. A bulky Orais stomped closer.
“Try it again, and I’ll melt you, bitch,” the device in his helmet severely distorted his voice. “Open the main vault, and no one else will get hurt.”
“I’m sorry, is this some kind of stupid joke I’m not in on, or do you have a death wish?” Kalaisa’s fingers broke through the counter.
The Orais snapped his fingers and fire rose around Kalaisa, hiding her from view. A ring of fire encircled her, trapping the wolf hag as the terrorist barked orders and several of his thugs rushed to the second floor. Another terrorist began pacing the room, searching for someone.
A cub’s scream attracted Kirk’s attention. The little girl was sitting somewhere away from her grandfather, looking out the window at the outside world, when the thugs burst in. Scared, the girl tried to run to the old man, and the butt of a rifle slammed into her skull. A robber kicked the fallen girl and yelled at her to stop moving or he would break every bone in her body.
The world changed, and Kirk found himself back in the tent, shivering and crying at the sound of footsteps. Her footsteps. Kalaisa never bothered to hide, and she returned from her training in Ygrite’s pack in a foul mood that grew worse with each passing day.
Today, she sucker punched her sister in the gut and needed her in the jaw. Kirk whimpered, and she turned to him, eyes burning like embers. He felt pain in his ear when she lifted him up, forcing him to see her face, before pain speared his solar plexus. Gasping for air, he received another hit across his neck, robbing him of any chance to breathe. Kalaisa threw him into the air, and the fabric of the tent touched his head. In the next moment, the light dimmed, pushed out by the otherworldly pain that flowed from his groin after her kick.
Wordlessly, he fell to the ground, trying to gasp, tears streaming down his face. Why? Kalaisa lunged at his brother, who tried desperately to appear smaller, and Kirk cursed himself. Why is he so weak? Why is she allowed to do it? Why had everything changed!?
He snapped back to reality and found himself biting deep into the terrorist’s neck. The man choked desperately, trying to form a plea for surrender, but Kirk would hear none of it. The man’s form shifted between two people. Terrorist. Kalaisa. Terrorist. Kalaisa. Kirk ripped out the throat, spilling a stream of red over the shocked people.
He collapsed to his knees, his stomach revolting. His breakfast came out in a stream of vomit; his lungs refused to take in an ounce of air; and the muscles in his legs spasmed incessantly. Above him was the bastard who had incapacitated the guard earlier. The Orais approached too, snarling at his men to get the tokens faster.
“Shouldn’t have done it, kiddo,” the Orais said. “Now you are about to become a crust.” A tongue of fire appeared on his index finger as the terrorist pointed his hand at him.
“I will….” Kirk muttered as the cub whimpered behind him.
“Pleading for mercy?” the Orais inquired.
“I will never let my family be hurt ever again!” Kirk howled out the words and leapt, ignoring the agony.
He grabbed the Orais’ arm and forcibly lifted it up, sending the streak of flame to lick the ceiling rather than immolate him or the cub. He headbutted the bastard, breaking his own nose against the helmet, and stabbed at his throat with the claws.
The New Breed easily caught Kirk by the wrist, twisted his arm to the point of breaking, and kicked him in the chest. Fierce and fearless, many of the Orais surpass low-ranked Wolfkins in sheer physical strength. This one was far stronger than Kirk; his kick sent the soldier cartwheeling across the room, slamming him into a wall and stealing the remaining air from his lungs.
“Plan B. Take this girl hostage; I will burn this one…” A fireball flickered to life in his left hand, but the terrorist never finished his speech.
The terrorist beside him gasped weakly, unable to use his power, and claws appeared from his chest. Each warlord had his own style. Be it the use of melee weapons along with ranged fire like Janine or a brutal attack like Alpha, no two were the same in their method of fighting. Kalaisa’s preferred method of slaughter was speed, and she mercilessly trained every part of her body to be as elastic as possible, shattering her own bones so that they would regrow, tougher than before and with a greater range of motion.
Kalaisa took off from the circle of fire, landing on the ceiling and using it as a springboard to attack her prey. Before the stones of the ruined ceiling could get halfway to the floor, Kalaisa’s arm went into the man’s body up to the elbow. The Orais turned and struck back blindly.
“You touched my family,” Kalaisa growled, crumpling his fist in her paw like a clay figurine.
Pieces of flesh and bone pushed themselves between her fingers. The terrorist screamed, calling flame into his remaining hand, only to have the Wolfkin grab his head. With a single violent twist, Kalaisa broke his neck; the second twist left him headless forever, and his flames died.
And there it is. Kirk thought, looking at Kalaisa at her full height, meeting her eyes for the first time this day. He heard roars and screaming when Anissa joined in and saw Ignacy punching a man’s head down the chest. But one thing dominated it all, filling him with hopelessness and fear. Kalaisa’s figure standing over him.
He pissed himself and blacked out.
****
“Sorry for the mess.” Kirk angrily wiped off the tears, sitting on the stairs leading into the bank while the police officers busily removed the bodies.
By the grace of the Spirits, no civilians died, and the guard, his skull cracked, was the only critical victim. The robbers quickly surrendered after Anissa gored five of them. News agencies arrived a minute before the police and filmed the scene. The officers stated no charges would be filed against the Wolfkins, but the group would have to be escorted to a police station.
“Mess?” Anissa laughed, sitting next to him. “That was a fantastic warm-up.”
“Sis, there were cubs in here,” Ignacy said quietly.
“People die all the time. It’s better for them to learn that the world is a dangerous place now rather than later.” Anissa shrugged unconcernedly.
“I am sorry, I… I just wanted to keep my brother safe,” Kirk said, his body shaking.
Their eyes were on him, and Kirk wondered what had happened. Was it something he said?
“Kirk, are you ok?” Ignacy started. “You saved a girl. And the only member of your family here is…”
He got up, unable to hear the rest, and walked straight to the police van. Remembering the kind woman’s lessons, he pulled out a small mechanical toy from his pocket. The toy resembled Grand Commander Outsider; his cloak billowed behind his back, a cowl covered his face, and steel armor encased his entire body. Slowly and carefully, he took the toy apart and began to reassemble it, not forgetting to breathe.
I can fix my life. Kirk tried to concentrate on this thought. He was still young. He didn’t have to be afraid all the time. Kalaisa no longer had any influence over him. That part of his life was over. Kirk reassembled the toy and immediately took it apart, repeating the process as his heartbeat slowed. He is not useless. He is a human being.
His thoughts went back to the earlier vision. He tore at the man’s throat, but it was Kalaisa in his vision. Did he... Does he want to murder his big sister? Who would that help? What kind of monster was he?
“Hey, champ, how are you doing?” Ignacy asked, stepping inside the van.
“I am broken, Ignacy,” Kirk replied.
“Oh, so the hero who saves a little girl is broken now. Wish I was this broken. Check it out; you are all over the news! They called you the black-furred savior.” Ignacy reached for a terminal and showed it to Kirk. Reporters moved quickly, interviewing people before the police could clear the scene. And the elderly grandfather, holding the cub in his arms, loudly thanked Kirk and blessed the planet for the Third’s arrival in Houstad.
Hearing no response, Ignacy put the terminal back into his pocket and sat nearby, wrapping his natural arm around Kirk’s shoulders. “Listen. I am not Mom or Bogdan. Not even Anissa. I can’t do the whole… motivational speech. But I do know this. If one of my devices is broken, I fix it. It takes time—weeks sometimes—but in the end, they do their job. So... never give up on yourself, okay? If you ever feel the need to talk to somebody, find me. I can at least listen.”
“Thanks, Ignacy.” Kirk rubbed his eyes. “I am not sure how I can ever repay your family for such care.”
“Here’s the funny thing: There’s no need to repay! That’s what friends are for! Now, snap out of doom and gloom, and let’s think about where to go tomorrow. I suggest the zoo…”
Kirk just groaned in frustration, but a smile touched his lips. It was great to be part of a group.