As he had been so many times since setting out from his home, Wulfric once again felt he was out of his element. The closest he had ever gotten to a gathering of nobility in his homeland was when he'd lingered on the outside of a meeting between two wolfpack alphas negotiating hunting territories with a lot of stern glares and growling. He wasn't entirely prepared for what a party like this might be like, but he guessed nothing like the festivals they had back in the hinterland.

He stood in the street, smoothing over the soft clothes he'd been given as he looked up at the impressive building before him. A tall wrought iron fence surrounded the grounds, a large and imposing manor house sitting in the middle. He took a deep breath and showed his invitation to the armed guard, who gave him a funny look but let him in after checking that his invite was a genuine item with all the proper seals and such.

The grounds were a great big garden that was tended and trimmed to within an inch of its life, every offending leaf or blade of grass clipped and rearranged to the satisfaction of its owners. Multicolored paper lanterns glowed, casting the whole scene in a cheery light, and soft music was filtering in from a band somewhere. Wulfric's ears perked in curiosity at all the strange sights, sounds and smells that surrounded him, but he reminded himself that he was here on a mission, not to gawk at the garish excesses of the pampered rich.

He moved in the direction of the music, finding that a large stretch of the gardens had been set aside for the gathering to be held outdoors. About a hundred of the city's most important sons and daughters were ambling around and talking, sipping drinks or moving about on a large dance floor, swaying and stepping in some intricate dance Wulfric wasn't familiar with.

His amber eyes flashed as he looked over the gathering, eyes scanning for anything that seemed out of place. It was unlikely this mysterious criminal mastermind would have only invited one henchman, so there had to be more somewhere. There were more than a couple people not partaking in the revelry, but he couldn't be sure if they were agents waiting for some sinister signal, or simply bored nobility not interested in dancing. A number of them were armed, lots of sabers or ornamented daggers hanging from the hips of men he doubted had ever held a weapon when it really mattered. He raised his head a little and scented the air, pushing past the flowers, food and alcohol to sense out the people themselves.

Wulfric felt his hackles raise up, another set of eyes lingering on him. He looked over sharply, making eye contact with a young woman who'd been staring at him. The moment he locked gaze with her she suddenly looked away, spooked, and walked off. Had she been some kind of lookout? Was his disguise that easy to see through? Of course he looked out of place, with his ears and eyes, it was foolish to think he could blend in.

He turned again as he felt more eyes on him, people staring from the crowd or looking from the dance floor. He glanced down at himself, but his outfit seemed in order.

"Come here all alone?" Asked a voice behind him.

Wulfric turned sharply, hand straying near his axe and ready to draw. Had he been made so soon? But waiting for him was not some assassin ready to eliminate him, rather a young woman wearing a multi-tiered dress that made her lower half resemble the large cake sitting on the table a few feet behind her.

He stared at her dress for a moment, distracted, until he remembered her question. "Yes." He said simply, hands on his hips.

"What a coincidence." She giggled, stepping closer. "So did I!" She smiled, tilting her head to make her golden earrings glitter in the light. Wulfric was again distracted as he realized her earrings looked like wind chimes.

"Good for you." He said simply, wondering if this was normal behavior, his eyes continuing to roam the crowd.

The young woman looked a little discouraged by his brusque response, but she rallied. "Would you care to dance?" She asked, with her most charming smile, holding out her hand.

Wulfric scanned the crowd again, looking as nonchalant as possible. People were still casting glances his way, mostly young women. The Valdyrkin looked back to her, blinking as something clicked in the back of his mind. He grinned roguishly, looking back to her. "I would say yes, but I'm afraid I don't know your dances. I'm quite a long way from home." Ida's words came back to him, remembering he was here to play the charming and mysterious outsider.

The woman pouted, her enormous dress wobbling a little. But she seemed more curious than ever, stepping up to walk alongside Wulfric as he started to lazily meander through the party.

"I could teach you how to dance, if you don't know." She offered, seeming quite taken with him, extending her hand towards him, though not actually touching him.

Wulfric glanced back to her, his eyes roaming over the crowd. He was about to refuse when another scent caught his attention. Honey and cinnamon. Perfume, the same scent that Lady Idrenne wore. Coincidence? Not likely, given its custom nature. Amber eyes searched the crowd. She was here, somewhere, or at least someone who had recent close contact with her was.

"Kind sir?" The voice snapped him back to reality, the buxom lady giving him a hopeful look.

"Actually, I'd like that." He decided, offering her a hand.

The band switched over to something with a sedate pace and the young woman started teaching Wulfric to dance. It was rather simplistic, especially compared to some of the ritual dances he learned from his people, and good reflexes made up for his lack of experience. He continued to turn his gaze this way and that, trying to track down the origin of the unique scent as they moved across the dance floor. Sometimes it grew stronger, sometimes it faded further away, but it was always there.

"You seem a touch distracted." The lady said.

"Hmm?" He responded, his ears flicking.

"You keep looking around, am I not..."

He turned his gaze back to her, seeing her hurt expression. Such a delicate thing, to be harmed like that, but still. "It's not your fault, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment. I was hoping to catch up with a friend but I can't seem to find her."

They twisted again in the dance floor, the lady spinning in her enormous dress and doing a little dip. "Oh... I see."

"Strictly friends I assure you." He muttered, bowing a little as he copied the other men's movements. "I just needed to talk to her for a moment.

That seemed to cheer her up a little. "Is it someone I might know? Perhaps I saw her earlier?"

He thought about it, she might be able to help him, but he didn't want to use the name. What if it started circulating? He'd give himself away. "I don't think you'd know her name, but she's a young woman, early twenties, long blonde hair in a braid?"

The young lady considered, adopting an expression that looked something like a pout, but was probably just concentration. "I do remember someone like that, over by the drinks I think." She said, pointing.

Wulfric smiled, giving her arm a little squeeze. "Thank you." He said with a nod before he started to walk over.

"Um, will you come back?" The lady asked quickly, her enormous dress wobbling dangerously.

"If I can." He said distractedly, heading over to the drinks and looking around. The table was laden with bottles and punch bowls, and he idly poured himself a glass as he looked around, so as not to seem out of place. He turned, sniffing the air, trying to catch a scent.

He was about to give up and seek a new area when the wind shifted a little, and a new scent drifted across, catching his attention at once. It wasn't a human smell, it was one of perfume, honey and flowers and cinnamon spice, the same scent that had permeated Lady Idrenne's home and clothes, the perfume she always seemed to wear.

Wulfric's heart beat faster as he realized she had to be here, right here, within his reach. He looked around, eyes flashing in the dim light as he sought her. The crowd shifted and just like that, there she was, leaning against a stone pillar. He took a sharp step towards her, then paused. It couldn't be that simple, couldn't be that easy. He set his glass back down on the table and looked her over.

It was unmistakably the woman he was here to rescue. The tresses of black hair and pale skin was exactly like her portrait, and the smell was unmistakable. This was Lady Idrenne, kidnapped from her home by a gang of ruffians and then dragged here. And yet, as Wulfric looked at her, she didn't seem to be all that distressed with her present situation. She relaxed against the pillar with a calm, confident air, her eyes slowly scanning over the crowd as if she was examining them from a great distance. Her dress was immaculate, without a single wrinkle or ruffle on the smooth, shining fabric. Her hair had been controlled to within an inch of its life, with every last hair dressed and ordered atop her head. She looked like nothing but one more socialite here to enjoy high society. In fact, she looked a fair sight better than most of the gaudy nobility mingling under her gaze.

Wulfric looked around tensely, but didn't see any guards or defenses there to keep her from escaping. No thug dressed up to blend in standing at her elbow or anyone watching the door to make sure she didn't run. Nothing to indicate that she was, in fact, a kidnapped ransom target who wasn't supposed to be able to just get up and walk away. Criminal organizations didn't tend to like it when their meal tickets idly wandered off without being guarded. It was possible that she was restrained in some other way, perhaps sorcery was at work here, keeping her from leaving the premises. He'd heard of some mages who could ensnare the minds of their victims, controlling them like puppets, but he'd never met one with that particular talent set. Perhaps she was a prisoner in mind, if not in body?

In any case, the chance to make contact with his target was too good to pass up over his nerves, so he put down his glass and began walking over. He moved slowly, keeping his eyes out for any unusual activity. But nobody seemed to be taking an interest in him heading over to Idrenne, no guards rushing to intercept him or camouflaged agents coming to move her away. Absolutely nothing. His tension mounting, he drew near her, at which point Idrenne took notice of him. Her cool blue eyes flicked over him, examining the newcomer with a critical gaze.

"Yes?" She asked after he drew near, sounding more bemused than concerned.

"I was wondering..." Wulfric began, inventing some reason to have gotten this close. "If I could have this dance?" He held out a hand, giving her an inviting look.

Idrenne raised a brow slightly. "And why should I dance with you?" Her voice was playful, but not in a way that Wulfric liked very much. He couldn't quite pin down what it was, but something in that voice was as sharp as a razor's blade.

"Because it would let us talk without drawing attention to ourselves." He said, his own voice smooth despite his mounting confusion and worry.

Idrenne gave a small amused noise, not quite a laugh. "Very well. I suppose we have much to discuss." She said, taking his hand and letting him lead her out onto the dance floor, his insides feeling like he had ice cold snakes wriggling around in his belly.

The pair began dancing to a slow, formal song, Wulfric managing an acceptable copy of the movements he saw other men performing in the background. At least, he thought it acceptable, Idrenne seemed to not appreciate his dancing very much, though at least he hadn't stepped on any of her toes. Idrenne gave him a rather patronizing look as he moved out of synch with the music.

"I suppose it was too much to expect him to send someone who could actually blend in." She grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Now. I'm not interested in negotiating, so I'll just give you the facts. The exchange will be inside in an hour, you will bring the gold or your boss is never going to see his dear brother again. It's as simple as that. The price is non-negotiable, be there with the money or else."

A chill passed down Wulfric's spine, it wasn't just her words, it was her tone. She gave her threats in the same half-bored half-playful drawl. In the few moments she'd been speaking, everything about this situation turned on its head. He needed time to think about this, to process it.

"Understood." He said simply, keeping up his façade as much as he was able. She just grinned at him, taking his confusion as fear, which evidently seemed to satisfy her.

"See you inside then." She said, if a faux sweet voice, before she left him there on the dance floor and headed back up to the manor, her dress shifting and billowing a little in her wake.

Wulfric stood there in stunned silence for a long moment, until another dancer bumped into him and he got off the dance floor. He frowned, getting himself another drink and running his hand through his hair, processing all this information. He didn't know exactly what someone bewitched into submission might act like, but he certainly didn't expect that, she seemed too lucid for someone being controlled by an outside force.

And certainly too decisive as well, giving orders, but why? He puzzled through it, brow furrowing. Now that the shock had worn off, pieces started falling into place, the more he thought about it the more it made sense. She'd been kidnapped by someone skilled enough to get past all their defenses, and knew just how to get into their vault and take just the right things, all at once. Either the attackers were supremely skilled... or they had inside help. Then just after Wulfric tracked her to this city he finds that some unknown newcomer had arrived in the criminal underworld, someone with money and power to start taking over the existing operation.

Her scent hadn't been in the hideout because she'd been held captive there, she'd been hiding there herself while waiting for the next stage of her plan to be ready. He wasn't sure how she'd managed to worm her way into the underworld here so quickly, but then she had probably been planning this for a while. Fake her own kidnapping, run away from home with the family treasury and then take over the criminal underworld of a nearby city? Wulfric snorted, it was a convoluted plan to be sure, but who could fathom how these nobles minds worked? Half the things they did made no sense to the wolf, so why should this? He couldn't understand how someone who lived in such total luxury would feel the need to gain more somehow, especially through a plot like this.

He turned, glancing back at the gates. He could just turn around and leave now, call the job off. She wasn't a kidnapped damsel but rather an aspiring criminal mastermind, he doubted she'd go home quietly. And rescuing someone willingly coming with you is certainly quite a bit easier than trying to subdue and capture someone who is going to be fighting against you the whole way. Still... he wouldn't be paid if she didn't get home, and like it or not, he was still on the job. It was more than wanting to be paid though, he had a reputation to uphold. When he was hired to do a job, he did it. No excuses, no exceptions. Complications or no, criminal ambitions or no, Lady Idrenne was coming home, even if he had to drag her in a sack the whole way.

Wulfric checked the map in his pocket, checking the location of the hidden entrance to the smuggling tunnels underneath the manor. He went inside, finding the guards had been instructed to let him in. Considering that Idrenne seemed convinced he was the representative of... whoever she was blackmailing she had probably instructed them to let him inside. The entrance was down in the wine cellar, and soon enough he'd found it, pushing a brick with a funny little marking on it to open up the passage.

It was a dimly lit and rather dusty passage, looking like it was an old part of the foundations that had been repurposed. Ben was waiting there, looking up from where he'd been trying to hide, his daggers at the ready.

"Glad to see you made it Ben." Wulfric said, looking around. "Was this unguarded?"

"Nah." Ben smirked, nodding to a side passage. Wulfric leaned over, seeing the erstwhile guard tied up and gagged in the corner.

"Ah, well, that's good then." He said with a shrug. "Listen, this situation just got more complicated.

Wulfric took a deep breath and began explaining, laying it all out for Ben to mull over. Ben's expression slowly turned from confusion, to a sort of horrified understanding as he put the pieces together just like Wulfric had.

"It... isn't something I would have expected." He muttered. "But now that you said it, it sort of makes sense."

Wulfric pursed his lips. "Doesn't make sense to me, why you'd go to the trouble of doing something like that after she was already so well off."

Ben snorted, "Yeah, well, that's how these rich toss pots are a lot of the time. No matter how much they have, they always want more. It's not enough to just be richer than most everyone in the Vadenland, oh no they've gotta get richer than their neighbor, and then the next neighbor. Hell the number of damnfool things I've heard of them doing just because they were bored, or because they were somehow insulted..." He shook his head and made a disgusted noise in his throat. "So, what's the plan now? Considering this lady isn't exactly going to come quietly."

Wulfric considered. "Well I'm still going to try and take her back. Hopefully I'll get paid either way but if she really is the one who's taken over the underworld here, then it'll still help you if I get her out of here."

Ben nodded. "Aye, that would be a great help, if she's the one in charge now. To get where she is she's had to eliminate a lot of the old bosses who ran things around here, probably been setting things up for a while in order to be ready when she finally moved in herself. If she's gone then a lot of their operations could just fall apart without her hand on the tiller. Still... not going to be easy."

Wulfric nodded. "Aye, not easy at all. I'm thinking our best bet is to keep playing along, get in close and then see if we can get the jump on her, then hightail it out of here with her in tow."

"Sort of hard though, not knowing what she expects of us. And I'm betting whoever is actually coming to negotiate isn't going to like you being there. You said it was someone's brother she was holding, right?"

Wulfric nodded.

"Mmm, probably Marcus then, he's the only boss I know who has a little brother tangled up in this mess. Brother's a right idiot, probably got himself stuck in something too serious for him to handle and ended up getting captured."

Wulfric sighed. He felt like he was out on the dance floor again, expected to go through the steps of a dance he didn't know. His response was the same, more or less. Move with the music as best he could and try to see what others expected of him. It was all he could do given the situation they were in.

"So what do you want me to do?" Ben asked, bringing Wulfric back to reality.

The wolf considered, rubbing his chin. "I think you should try to stay out of sight, this tunnels is our best chance to escape, so we need to make sure we can get out through it. Come out a little bit and lay in wait, this prisoner exchange is probably going to happen somewhere in these basements."

"And when she realizes you aren't supposed to be there?" Ben asked with a worried look.

"I'll have to improvise." Wulfric said, and gave Ben a rather toothy grin.

Thorulf walked out of the cellar, following Idrenne's scent. He still had no idea what he was going to do. Lie in wait until the opportune moment and then strike. Idrenne may fancy herself some kind of criminal mastermind, but she hardly looked like much of a fighter, so he doubted he would have that much difficulty subduing her. The real problem would be getting her back down those tunnels and out of the city. He doubted that she would make for a very cooperative captive. Still, there was no other path forward, so it was time for the leap of faith. Wulfric closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He remembered the frozen fields of his home, remembered the lessons mother had taught him. The hunt continued, the principles were the same. The long stalk was over, now was the final close with the prey. He opened his eyes and proceeded further into the manor.

Soon the scent of his quarry was joined by others, the deeper he got into the manor. The place seemed largely empty, from what he knew of southern nobles they usually had their house teeming with servants to pamper and obey them, but this place seemed oddly quiet. He supposed most of the servants were outside serving the guests, and possibly that they had been ordered to clear out so as not to disturb the illicit dealings within.

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Wulfric was about to turn the next corner, when he heard muffled voices coming from the next hall. He glanced around, eyes narrowing as he saw a pair of armed guards standing post outside a pair of double doors. Muffled voices came from within, and Wulfric ducked back out of sight as one of the guards glanced over in his direction.

The Valdyrkin weighed his options. Rush the guards and take them down? He was sure he could take them, but they would likely raise the alarm before they were both disabled, and then he would be fighting through whoever was on the other side of those doors too, and his prey could easily escape. No, an alternate angle was required. He walked to the nearby window and leaned out, the room he sought was just next to him, probably fairly large judging by the location of the door. He looked up, seeing he wasn't that far from the roof.

Wulfric drew his axe and reached under his fine clothes to his belt, drawing out a length of braided cord, tying one end to the ring on the axe's handle. He grabbed the window frame and leaned partway out, letting the cord run through his gloved fingers until the axe dangled down by a good two feet. He began to swing the axe around in great wide circles, building up a good amount of momentum, the blade whistling through the air. Then he let go, slinging the axe up through the air to the rooftop. The Vadens liked putting a lot of crap on their buildings, decorative railings and spikes, plenty to latch onto. With a metal 'clunk' the hook of the axe's head latched onto something on the rooftop.

He tested the grip, putting some weight on the cable to see if it would hold. When it stayed steady, he nodded to himself and swung out onto the side of the building, the cord taking his weight without any difficulty. Planting his feet on the side of the building he began to climb, pulling the cable in one hand at a time while walking perpendicular to the wall, making his way up the side. Clambering up onto the rooftop, he retrieved his axe from where it had hooked around a weather vane, skulking along the rooftop. There was a skylight up ahead, it looked like it would be in the right place to be over the guarded room. Keeping low to the rooftop, he walked over, peeking in.

He couldn't hear what was going on in the room below, but he could see plainly enough, and that was enough to figure out what was going on. The prisoner exchange was taking place. Some well-dressed man flanked by two guards was speaking to Idrenne. He could practically smell the tension in the room, the stiff way everyone was moving, how the guards never moved their hands away from their weapons. Everyone was on edge, apart from Idrenne herself, who looked utterly at ease. Wulfric's eyes narrowed. In his experience only two kinds of people were so relaxed in dangerous situations. Either fools who didn't realize the danger they were in, or someone who knew they were in complete control of their surroundings.

There was another man apart from the guards, a younger man, tied up near Idrenne. Wulfric frowned as he examined that man. He also looked unusually calm, not relaxed but placid, as if walking in a dream. He stared off into space, moving slightly where he stood, but his eyes did not follow any movement in front of him. His brows furrowed as he watched, seeing the dazed young man wobbling slightly, Idrenne smiling at her opponent while she spoke, slowly, playfully. Her smile had the infuriating quality of a poor card player who knows they have the better hand, confident, arrogant, assured, and not bothering to hide it.

A bag of money was exchanged, tossed across towards the smirking woman, who picked it up. She gestured forward, the bound young man walking forward steadily until he had drawn close to the other man, the one Wulfric assumed to be his brother, come to rescue him from his mysterious kidnapper. He spoke to the bound man, but the hostage did not respond, not even when the older man grabbed him by the shoulder and started to shake him, shouting in his face.

Clearly upset, he pushed forward and raised an accusing hand at Idrenne, who seemed to giggle, before she raised her hands, moving her fingers in some complicated pattern, saying something as she did. Wulfric could not hear her voice, but on some level he heard what she said, some primal sense hearing an echo of those words of power. He saw something move in the air between them, though in reality it was quite empty. Both there and not there, cords of ethereal energy moved from the woman's fingers to the bodies of the men, binding them, making them shudder and contort, clutching at their heads as they fell to their knees. Idrenne walked over, her smile shifting from coy to triumphant, as she cradled the leader's head in her hands, continuing to whisper magic words to him, binding him to her will.

Wulfric pulled back from the skylight, he had seen enough to know what was going on here. It seemed the ambitious young noblewoman had concealed her talents well. Mind affecting magic of this kind was generally a forbidden art in the Vadenland, from what he understood, no noble wanted to fear their rivals gaining control over them in such a way. Naturally of course it was still practiced by the ambitious and the powerful, just out of sight. Hypocrites they may be, but nobody wanted to get caught doing it, or those same rivals would attack them with the law.

Considering that Idrenne was probably up to her shoulders in illegal activity, it wouldn't be much of a stretch for her to apply forbidden magical arts in this quest for greater power. It would explain her sudden rise to power, how the city guards didn't move against her, how she had so quickly taken over the criminal underbelly of this city. Perhaps she planned to eventually complete her rise by controlling those who officially ran the city, with herself as the spider at the center of the vast web she was weaving. Well, such plans wouldn't have time to blossom if he had his way.

He continued to watch from his secure vantage point as the newly controlled victims shakily stood at their master's command. Idrenne rubbed her temple, looking irritated for a moment, before she ordered them out of the room. Wulfric grinned, these southern mages tended to be overconfident when it came to their abilities. So sure that they could command such powerful forces. Was she finding it difficult to control so many at once? That might be a weakness he could exploit. He saw her order her minions out of the room, following them herself. Wulfric opened the skylight and hooked his axe onto the lip of the window frame, descending silently on the cord. He flicked the thin rope when he reached the bottom and held up his hand, his axe unerringly falling into his open palm before he stole up to the door, listening. The guards on the other side had gone.

Quietly, carefully, he opened the door and sniffed, ears quivering attentively, picking up on her scent once again. He had a lock on it now, underneath the perfume, her actual scent, she wasn't slipping his trail this time. He padded silently over the carpet, thinking about the floor plan, the position of the smuggler's tunnel down in the basement, her scent trail was leading somewhere on the second floor, and he was following along with her. He peered around the corner, seeing her dismiss the last of her guards before entering another room, leaving the door hanging open.

Wulfric's heart beat a little faster, his eyes narrowing. This was the opportune moment to go in and attack. Now, while she was alone, while her defenses were down. He didn't fancy the idea of fighting past all of her controlled minions, this would be his best chance to get her. But... this could be a trap couldn't it? He paused, hesitating. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to jump her and capture her, but what if that was meant to bring him in? He frowned, it was possible, but then she probably didn't know he was on to her, and even if she did this pampered princess, so sure of her abilities and powers, probably wouldn't think like that anyway. But even if it was a possibility, he would just have to take his chances anyway. He may not have another opportunity like this, and if it did prove to be a trap he would simply have to fight through it and triumph.

Steeling himself, the Valdyrkin crept across the thick carpet, axe in hand, the familiar weight in his hand comforting him. He looked through the crack, seeing a large open room, possibly a bedroom. A window on the far side, the curtains hanging open to let in a sliver of light from the lanterns outside. He lingered for a long moment on the doorway, hearing nothing. Had she gone to rest after the exertion of the magic?

Wulfric brushed the door open, the hinges swinging silently, recently oiled by the smell of them. There was Idrenne, standing before the window now, looking outside. Wulfric slowly crept into the room, lowering his hand to the pouch containing his climbing cable, he would have to bind her and then run for it. She did not move as he approached, didn't move at all, staring out the window. He raised his hand, ready to grapple, and then froze, sniffing. The woman before him had no scent, none at all.

He whirled around, axe raised just in time to see the real Idrenne raising her hands and whispering an incantation. Twisting bolts of green energy lashed out from her fingers like emerald lightning. He slashed at them with his axe while dodging to the side, deflecting the spell and making it burn off a good chunk of wallpaper, the false image of the mage vanishing like so much mist behind him.

Idrenne paused as she saw him deflect her spell, cocking her head and looking at the axe in his hand. "Now what is a savage like you doing with something like that?" She asked, voice curious and relaxed.

Wulfric growled. "It was a gift." He wanted to keep her talking, judging by what he'd observed of her, if he could keep her thinking she was in total control here she would end up making a mistake.

"Hmm." She mused. "Quite a gift then, only a powerful enchantment could parry that attack... I'll have to study later."

He shifted his grip a bit, keeping the axe up between them. "Not exactly going to give it to you."

Idrenne laughed. "Oh yes you are, I can be very convincing." She crackled more emerald energy between her fingers.

His amber eyes flicked over the room, looking for options. She was between him and the door, the window was at his back. Escape or attack? "I saw as much. Interesting scheme you have going here. Run away from home and mind control the criminals in a nearby city? Was being a rich noblewoman in a manor house not enough?"

She snorted. "And that was all I would ever be. Sitting in that house for the rest of my life, nowhere to go and nothing to accomplish. Managing an orchard and a bee farm and lake fishing? I'm capable of so much more than that. Maybe a barbarian like you doesn't understand but there aren't a lot of opportunities for advancement in the Vadenland, you've got what you're born with and there's hardly ever any change in that. By the time I'm done here I'll have this city, and the barony around it, and my own lands once the inheritance becomes mine. All in all, a nice step up from being a glorified fishmonger."

"So, all of this is a monument to your own ego then?" He asked, giving a little shrug. "Can't say I'm that surprised really. You lot don't seem to ever understand how good you've got it. You were born with more than most anyone could ever want and you're throwing it all away because you want a bit more."

The smile on her face turned rather sour. "I would hurt you for that... but I don't want to damage you too baldy. I'll rather like having a Valdyrkin in my... shall we call it my employ?"

He raised a brow. "You know of my kind then? I'm flattered."

She let out a little scoff. "Oh yes I know of your kind, I knew you were no thug the moment I saw you in the party down there. You looked distinctly out of place rubbing elbows with the other idiots, and once you didn't show up at the prisoner exchange I knew you had to be a bounty hunter looking for me. If anyone in this city had a Valdyrkin as an enforcer you would have been at his side, to use the myths about your people as intimidation. And I suppose that explains how you've been following me all this time, your people are supposed to have great tracking abilities."

"Nice to be appreciated." Wulfric shrugged. "Most don't know where the myths end and reality begins, if they've even heard of us at all."

"You would not believe some of the things that I've read." She giggled. "Actually I don't believe half of them myself. But I suppose you'll tell me everything I need to know anyway. I'm done humoring you, now..."

Wulfric leaped forward, legs springing beneath him to send him flying through the air, axe slashing. Idrenne's eyes went wide as she dodged to the side. Soft she may be but her reflexes were quick. She made another sign and stamped her foot, sending out a shockwave of emerald light that forced him back, barely keeping his balance.

"Enough games!" She hissed, all pretense at casual confidence gone as she made complex motions with her fingers, whispering words of power to the ether. Those not quite invisible tendrils of energy shot out again, grabbing onto him, trying to take control of him. He felt the magical attack break upon him like water breaks upon a rock.

"You are going to have to do better than that." Wulfric growled, and was pleased to see that for once, that smirk was wiped completely off of her face. "Try to control too many at once? Or only weak minded fools?" He launched himself forward again, lashing out with a fist, but Idrenne blocked him again with a blast of energy that deflected him to the side before she bolted for the door.

Wulfric didn't waste time with taunts, snarling angrily as he reached out for her. He had almost grabbed her tailing hair before the door was slammed. He kicked, hard, then rebounded, she'd sealed the door with magic. Well, he would just have to break through that. Wulfric drew himself up and shifted his form. Clothes and skin were replaced with shaggy fur, his form swelling and growing, muscles expanding. All his items, his clothing, his gear, those all vanished, but not the axe in his hand. Instead the hand axe was changing as well, the handle elongating and thickening, the blade growing larger and longer. When it had done, the small hand axe had changed into an enormous great axe. The shape of the blade was similar, the blade still hooked with a large spike on the back, but it had increased several times in size, the wooden handle now long enough to be held two handed by Wulfric's enlarged form.

The Varulfur slammed the axe into the door, the wood splintering. Green sparks and energy erupted from where the blow fell, while his own axe blade seemed covered in a blue-white sheen, the color of a frozen lake. The spell buckled, but held. He drew his axe back again and slammed it down once again, and again. On the third blow the spell broke and the door exploded into a shower of splinters, the enormous shaggy wolf monster tearing through into the corridor beyond.

Idrenne had summoned her minions to cover her escape, smugglers cutthroats and thieves rallying to his position. The first group came around the corner and pushed forward towards him, whatever compulsion she had them under seemed stronger than their fear of an axe wielding wolf beast the size of a bear.

They rushed forward, blades rising. He could slay them all he was confident, but who knows what Idrenne would do with that time? She seemed skilled in building up powerful enchantments, did she hope to delay him to buy time to craft some powerful spell as a defense? He could not take the chance. The thugs were entering the corridor from both ends, trying to block him. He sniffed the air, turning to follow her scent to the right. He charged the men there, the first raising a sword against him. Wulfric raised a powerful digitigrade leg and slammed his broad paw pad into the man's chest, sending him toppling back into his fellow, the wind knocked out of him. Another stabbed with a long dagger, Wulfric jumping back from the blade, raising his axe high and bringing it crashing down, cleaving through the man's collarbone and into his torso, wrenching the axe free with a snap of bone.

A flare of pain lanced up his side as a blade struck from behind, stabbing through his shaggy fur to bite into a flank. He whirled around, slashing his claws over the attacker's face, the bloody blade falling to the ground with a scream. He had to get moving, he was going to risk becoming bogged down in this melee if he didn't free himself from it. He turned again, back in the proper direction, cleaving his axe in a wide arc before him, sending his attackers back with cries of pain and alarm. Then he launched himself into the unbalanced crowd, battering them aside with his momentum. The big axe was less useful in such cramped space, but he lashed out with his left hand claws and his enormous fangs, biting, clawing, trampling. More pain as swords and daggers struck him. His right arm, left side of his chest. The thick fur protected him to a degree but they still got him.

And then he was clear of the crowd of attackers and charging through the manor after the scent. It seemed that most of her minions were in the thong behind him now, as he met little opposition, and one or two thugs her little chance of slowing him down as he barreled through the corridor.

When he burst through the final door and laid eyes on his prey once again, he was a terrifying sight. Breathing heavily, snarling, bloody teeth gleaming, his timber wolf coat stained with blood, his own and his enemies', bloody axe in hand as he advanced. He was gratified to see Idrenne's surprise, perhaps she had thought the Varulfur some foolish legend made up about the Valdyrkin, but she recovered quickly.

They were in an empty ballroom, large, open, hard wood floor beneath his paws, lit by the moonlight streaming in through the glass ceiling high above, furniture covered in dust cloths stored along the sides of the room for later use. Idrenne stood in the middle of the dance floor, within a circle of glowing green light she had drawn on the floor.

Wulfric's blood was up, a not insignificant part of him wanted nothing more than to tear her limb from limb, but he had to master that impulse, he needed her alive and intact. Wulfric raised his axe again, gripping it firmly in both hands and adopting a guarded stance, steadily advancing into the room. She had stopped here for a reason, his every scent alert for magical traps and defenses.

"End this now." He growled. "Your minions cannot stop me. You cannot stop me. If you fight me, I might have to hurt you."

There was fear in her eyes, her face pallid and patchy from nerves and stress, but she held her ground. "No. I've beaten every obstacle, I'll beat you!" She began rapidly chanting an incantation, clasping her hands in front of her, the same words over and over again with a look of intense concentration on her face.

With a creak and grown, the covered furniture along the edges of the room began to move. Chairs and tables rattling against each other as they came out of their neatly sorted rows. Knowing what was coming, Wulfric whirled his axe in a defensive pattern as the first of the animate furniture rose into the air and was hurled at him. He dodged under a thrown table, then smashed a chair to splinters and continued to advance. There were a lot of missiles in here waiting to be thrown at him, if he could get close enough to her he could probably keep her from throwing things at him, lest she strike herself.

More objects came pelting at him, smashing into each other mid-flight with creaks and groans before continuing on their way. He pushed forward, deflecting a large round table with a sideways swipe, leaving himself open for the next chair to slam hard into him, clubbing him about the head and shoulders before he smashed it to fragments with a claw. Snarling in pain and anger he pressed onward towards her.

Idrenne did not look anything like the composed, assured young woman he had seen earlier. Sweat ran down her cheeks, her hair was out of order, her hands trembling where they were clasped before her, the young mage chanting on as she continued to hurl her missiles. She had to be pushing herself to the breaking point now, keeping up this attack on him and still puppeteering her small army of entranced minions? There was only so much power she could have available to throw at him.

"Is this all you have!" He roared, bisecting a dinner table with a cleave of the axe, two neat halves falling to either side of him. "A few blunt objects to hurl at me? All that mage training really paying off? I'm going to take you hog tied back to your father! Back to the apple orchard and the bee hives and the fishery and you will never ever leave!"

A muscle was twitching in her cheek now, his taunting making it harder for her to concentrate. She was sweating more profusely now, but the chanting became stronger, lifting more objects to throw at him. He grit his teeth as some of them hit home, battering and buffeting him around, paws sliding across the hardwood floor. "You overreached! You arrogant child! You can't possibly control all of this, you're out of your league against me! Did you really think you could just walk in here and take over, and nobody would stop you?" He wasn't entirely sure what he was saying at this point, mostly babbling as a lot of his attention was on stopping the various blunt objects from braining him.

He was getting close to her now, and she was getting more desperate, the thrown objects were coming more numerous than ever but her aim was becoming more poor at the same time, missing him completely a good number of the time, though he was still battered about. He was not far from her now, a good ten feet. He drew his legs beneath him and leaped through the air, right at her, claws outstretched. Then he slammed into a solid wall in thin air, a green bubble of energy flaring into life where that glowing circle was drawn, keeping her from him.

Even so, the sight of him, bloodied and furious just a few feet away broke her concentration, making her eyes go wide and back up a little. He drew the axe up and brought it crashing down on the force bubble, which shrieked and squeaked as if in pain. He drew the axe back again, smashing it down on the ward she had created, the icy blue-white energy of his magical axe attacking the emerald light of her spell. Finally the spell broke, the membrane of energy losing rigididy, slashed apart by his axe's magic. The spell released a powerful wave of energy as it broke, blasting him back and sending him toppling to the floor. He recovered his balance as quickly as he could, leaping back to his feet. There was another crash behind him, the door flying open.

One of Idrenne's minions was coming through, only for a massive hand to sieze him and pull the unfortunate man backwards through the door, tumbling back down the hall. "Wulfric!" Ben gasped as he jumped in through the door. The big man sported a number of cuts on his arms and his blades were both bloodied. "Tha devil did you... do..." He trailed off, seeing the scene inside, broken debris of furniture scattered across the floor, Idrenne with her hands raised, crackling with eldritch energy.

"You'll do!" She gasped, lashing out at Ben, those tendrils of magical control snaking out towards him. Wulfric acted, she was distracted now, this spell took too much attention to cast. He hurled his great axe end over end towards her, though it would strike just to the left of her if she didn't move.

She reacted as he'd suspected, stopping her attempt to control Ben and bringing her hands up quickly, slashing one through the air in a protective motion. A broken table flew up, intercepting his spinning axe with a thud. As the table flew aside, it revealed Wulfric leaping through the air behind it, having jumped just after he threw the axe, claws outstretched. Idrenne's eyes went wide as he grabbed her by the shoulder, knocking her to the ground and pinning her underneath his bulk. Before she could say a word, her backhanded her, knocking her out instantly.

Wulfric panted, slinging Idrenne over his shoulder with one hand, picking up his axe with the other. "Ben." He panted.

"Yeah?" The big man panted, giving the enormous bloodied beast a half wary, half concerned look.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well." The man shrugged, Wulfric walking over, his many injuries starting to wear on him a little, though his body was already healing. "All the goons in the building kinda went crazy at once, started shouting and running. I figured you'd been discovered so I came running to try and bail you out of whatever trouble you were in."

Wulfric opened the door, looking out at the hallway. It was filled with the carnage of battle, many of the entranced minions laying on the ground clutching their heads or unconscious. It seemed that the spell they were under had broken, leaving them incapacitated as well. "Thanks. Her defenses were rather tight, you distracted her."

"Aye, and kept them from coming through the door behind you." Ben grunted, kicking one of the downed men, who whimpered. "They were tryin' ta get in and help her out. So... what now?"

"Now? Now we get out of here, I restrain her for my trip back to her father and get paid. We seem to have done what we intended to do."

Ben nodded. "Aye, aye. Seems our partnership has come to a close."

Wulfric nodded, wishing he could do something more to help the man who had aided him. Ben would stay here, fighting his one man war against the smugglers and the corrupt, while he would move on. But... "Ben." He grunted, turning to point at the bedroom Idrenne had led him to. "While you're still here, that's the bedroom where she was staying. As it happens, she was taking control of the entire criminal underworld here. Magic, you know." He shrugged, Ben frowning but listening. "I imagine she had some rather incriminating papers in there on some very nasty people. And at the very least, there is a large bag of gold sitting on the bedside table. Should be worth quite a few drinks down at that old dive."

Ben's face broke into a wide grin. "I'll be sure ta toast you with one of em."

Epilogue

Fenn blinked the bleariness of sleep out of his eyes, looking out again down the forested road outside the city. It was morning, and he was pulling first shift at the northern gate. The festival was winding down, and soon the trader caravans and traveling nobility would be heading out, back home or on to the next stop of their trade route. He yawned, the guard on the opposite side of the gate looking about as groggy as he did. Nobody liked getting pulled out of bed after the celebrations they'd had last night and then given morning duty like this. There was not enough morning tea in the world that would make this acceptable.

He was about to open his mouth to grouse to his comrade, when there was a sudden noise behind him, a cry of alarm, someone shrieking. "What the..." He picked up his pike and turned, just in time to jump out of the way. A wolf the size of a small horse leaped past him, sailing through the open gates before pounding up the road away from the gate, moving at a full sprint up the cobblestone street. Fenn had just enough time to see a young woman, draped in expensive silks and looking very woebegone, bound and gagged, tied to the huge creature's back, before wolf and unwilling rider vanished out of sight in the treeline.

"Fenn... what the hell was that?" Breathed his comrade.

Fenn shook his head. "Nothing I get paid enough to worry about, that's for damn sure."

Fin.