ANNA

I was barely keeping it together as we rushed over to where we saw the distress signal from Veena. The unnatural silence that loomed between us told me that Kate and Maggie were in a similar state of mind. We barely spoke anything more than what was absolutely necessary while we used our combined powers to get ourselves to the destination as fast as possible, hoping that we would make it in time.

We saw Nick first, lying face-first on the ground, a few feet in front of us.

“NIIICKK…” , Maggie screamed, before launching herself on to the prostate form of her child.

“Thank the elements, he’s breathing. I think he’s only knocked out” I heard a relieved Maggie say from a distance. Unfortunately,I was in no position to join Maggie in her relief as I’d just spotted a fully grown Strygian wolf glaring at us and to make matters much worse, it was standing right next to my poor daughter’s motionless form which was lying against the trunk of a big tree.

“Anna..” , I heard Kate’s worried whisper from my side. I looked at the scared expression on the usually unflappable face of Kate and realized that my expression must be something mirroring her own.

We didn’t say anything to each other, there was no need. That was an adult Strygian wolf and it would have taken the utmost best efforts of all 3 of us to beat that thing back, but doing it while ensuring that no harm came to my daughter whom the wolf was practical on top of was impossible.

“We do whatever it takes” I found myself telling Kate, even though I had no idea what that would be.

Kate and I waited for Maggie to move her son to safety before we made any moves. Once we were certain that Nick was out of harm’s way, we slowly took a step toward Veena. We were greeted by another ferocious growl from the Strygian wolf as we approached closer. We tried moving from a few different angles, only to find that the strygian wolf was positioning itself ever closer to Veena despite all our attempts.

I was almost at the end of my wits when Kate’s voice brought me back to reality

“Anna, Do you notice something odd?”.

“Odd how Kate? I’m rather focused on the large beast hovering near my daughter to notice odd things” I hissed.

“That’s exactly what I meant Anna, Why is it hovering near her, in a rather protective stance for that matter, instead of going for her throat?” Kate asked.

“Well, What about it?” I asked, feeling rather cross. I wasn’t sure Kate had her priorities straight at the moment.

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“What do we know about the nature of Strygian wolves Anna?” Kate asked me patiently.

I was feeling really exasperated that Kate saw it fit to conduct a pop quiz at this moment, but I trusted her judgement enough that I took a few moments to consider her question.

“Strygian wolves are apex predators with a large quantity of magical energy coursing through them. They’re known to be very aggressive against mages and are known for mercilessly devouring them to consume their flesh imbued with magical energy.” I recited, recalling a few passages I’d learned about strygian wolves a long time ago.

“Yes, and have you ever heard of a strygian wolf waiting around to finish their meal, once they’ve caught a mage?” Kate asked.

“Well..no. They’re notorious for not having self control regarding their prey.” I replied.

“Exactly, In fact, the only successful way to hunt them is to distract them with a meal while a group of powerful mages bombard them with spells powerful enough to get through their hide. Monstrous mages sometimes sacrificed their own or other’s apprentices to achieve this distraction while principled mages used expertly constructed faux bodies made by shadow mages to successfully eliminate Strygian wolves. But here, the wolf has had both Nick and Veena at it’s mercy and they both seem fully intact, at least physically.”

“So, what are you saying? Do you think that ‘s not a strygian wolf? Can’t you feel its magical energy? I asked, feeling confused.

“No, that’s definitely a Strygian wolf. But, the only time I’d ever heard of a strygian wolf acting this tame was when it was under a familiar contract” Kate said while giving me a significant look.

I threw an incredulous look at Kate before fully assessing her words. It made sense but I still couldn’t process it fully.

“You can’t be saying what I think you’re saying ?”

“Just look at the situation objectively, Anna. We’ve got a non aggressive strygian wolf standing over Veena as if poised to protect her from us. Nick and Veena are both physically unharmed. The only way this situation makes sense is with the existence of a familiar contract.”.

“But, Kate, Veena hasn’t even been a mage for a full year. How can you possibly think that she’d be capable of forming a contract with a strygian wolf?”

“You’re right, she’s not an experienced mage, hell, she’s not even an experienced novice by the normal time standards, but you can’t deny what she’s achieved so far. And let’s not forget that we’ve yet to figure out how she became a mage and even changed her gender on top of that.”

Kate turned her body to me and when she spoke again she had a softer expression on her face.

“I know that you’re afraid to hope, Anna, but let’s have faith in Veena. I know that it means we have to stand here and wait, doing nothing. But it’s probably the safest course of action here.”

I considered Kate’s words and I knew that it made sense logically, but it hurt so much to stand by and do nothing while my daughter was in danger. I would have rather charged the Strygian wolf, knowing that the outcome would be certain death than to have to wait here while Veena was in danger.

But, I had to do what was best for her and believe in her. Silent tears were streaming from my eyes as I involuntarily leaned my body against Kate, while she held me in a close embrace.