“Who?” Mags asked, craning her neck.

“The Pink Swirly Fae.” Sino said.

Bo, Evo, and Mags followed his point.

“I don’t see…” Mags was interrupted. Evo tensed.

Suddenly a while spinning magick bomb appeared above their group. Sino and Bo moved to grab Evo, but her scepter had appeared. Her eyes glowed. Green and white magick pushed against the magick bomb until it exploded inside the shield. Sino watched as the people whose ears were touched glowed pink, and they started attacking the people around them.

Bo drew his sword. “What the frack is going on?” He yelled as a wolf was nicked by his sword. He kicked the wolf knocking it cold.

“Jin?” Mag’s yelled.

Members of the Fae Council seemed confused by the sudden attack and put up magical shields or disappeared.

Bo nodded, “I don’t want to kill any fae. How can we snap them out?” He blocked an oncoming attack by a pink-eared Ware. Evo shimmered grey. Her scepter pushed a white glow over the crowds. Everyone except their immediate group fell limp.

“Woah.” Bo said, “Are they-“

Evo collapsed, but Sino caught her. He wrapped her in his arms. Sino looked at the council; they softly chanted, swirls of different colored magick snaked around each being. “No!” Sino yelled.

Bo sheathed his word and came over to help Sino with Evo. Her eyes were closed, but her breathing steady. “She needs water.” Sino said.

Bo nodded and ran towards the remaining council who one by one began stepping back into the forest or shimmered away. He spoke to an empty space that glowed light aqua blue-green. Then returned back to Sino. “How much water do you need?” Bo asked.

“Enough to rinse off all her skin. She needs to regenerate.”

The aqua-blue swirled around them. Above them, fat droplets fell. Within moments, he was soaked to the bone. Evo’s skin was bubbling like a heat blister. The one on her arm oozed open, revealing a blue-green sparkle of puss. In its tracks on the skin, yellow-orange scales were left in its place. Sino wiped away as much of the peeling skin cringing when she groaned in pain.

“Something’s wrong. It doesn’t normally hurt her.” Sino yelled. He looked up and saw two swirls of pink magick snaking toward them.

Instinct took over. He shifted. His bones cracked at the sudden change. His skin ripped off; his bones snapped into a new configuration. He howled in pain. His brain clouded by hurt. Again he was going to lose his family. He was here this time. He couldn’t let Evo die. He sprung into action towards the source of the magenta magick.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The grey-brown brindle wolf sniffed at the bodies but kept his yellow eyes on the pink swirls looking for the exact source. He came upon a small pile of collapsed beings. Using his mouth, he flung the beings away until he found the pale-skinned fae staring at him. His wolf senses heard its heartbeat speed up. ‘Good. Be scared.’ He thought.

His sharp canines pierced the pale skin quickly as he ripped at the creature’s jugular. He was prepared to kill this being, but the magick of Faeland pushed him away, tossing him away like a pup. He howled, cursing at the Gods. He sprung back up to take another section of the Fae’s throat. It was already hanging by a thread of neck skin. A presence ran past him. His teeth found its throat again, but his instincts told him to hold the being in place. The human guardian had his sword unsheathed again. He was saying something, but Sino did not recognize the language. From his peripheral, he watched the human complete his duty. The sword glittered aqua-blue green. Then as if he could finally see the fae, he sunk his sword into the fae’s chest. At the same time, Sino released the throat. Bo’s second action was a quick swish removing the head entirely from its place.

A necklace also fell from the neck landing in a pool of now coagulated blood. The smell of iron hung thick in Sino’s nose, but his wolf sight zeroed in on the creamy stone. Not really knowing why, he plucked it out of the blood with his teeth shivering at the metallic taste of the fae’s blood. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy the taste as much as he did, but his ancestors were carnivorous.

The taste, gave him a jolt of pleasure. He knew he should walk away now, but he also wanted to lap up the remaining liquid. A human’s voice and firm grip on his scruff switched his attention from the pool. Sino saw the blonde’s lips moving, but he didn’t understand the utterances. He yanked on Sino’s scruff with his puny human strength.

A word finally wormed its way into his wolf’s mind, “EVO.” His body went from tense to moving towards Evo. Bo pulled again, trying to move the wolf from the blood. Sino wanted to move. He had to help her, but he also wanted to take just a quick lick. Just another quick taste.

The human kept shouting. He ripped the necklace from Sino’s mouth and held it in front of his face. The smell of its contents drew Sino to it. Bo started running.

‘I must chase it.’ Sino’s self being driven solely by instinct.

The human suddenly stopped and picked up a body using it as a human shield. He went to sink his teeth in it. Toss it away so he could have another taste. A garbled scream came from the yellow-orange limp being. He froze. He cocked his head to the side and sniffed. Water droplets were soaking his thick fur and it was masking the scent around him. He blew out his nose to clear it and sniffed again at the scaly she-beast.

A familiar scent brought a word to him. ‘Pancakes?’ He paused. ‘Tastes of strawberries and cream pancakes.’ He licked his being's face. She tasted like pancakes. Another word filled his mind, ‘Evo.’ He nuzzled at her neck. Why is she so cold? He needed to warm her up.

He growled at the human holding her limp form. It was shouting something. Sino knew what the human wanted. He was making himself bigger, puffing out his chest. He wanted him to submit to him. He growled again, but then a small noise came from Evo. His body moved on its own, head down, ears back, exposing his neck. He laid down as small as he could. The human laid Evo next to him. Sino groomed her and left his body warm hers. Sleep engulfed him.