It’s true that the sudden burst of violence coming from Vanessa surprises me a little, but I do my best not to think about it too deeply right now. In my own mind, poachers aren’t the kind of a threat that should warrant instant death, but maybe I’m missing something. We are technically either already in or close to our princess’ lands and the rules here might be somewhat different than what I could assume.
Right away, a purple bolt of lightning zaps over my shoulder and smacks right into the guy who took the leading role in our conversation. A pretty web of red marks sprouts from the point of impact and reaches to the very edges of his body as steam begins to rise from his skin. As he falls to the back, I notice an arrow sticking out of his forehead too.
It looks like my girls don’t fuck around either, focused on ensuring the success of their attacks.
A quick scan of the gathered poachers doesn’t bring any anxious or uncertain vibes in me so I decide to give them the opportunity to prove themselves in battle. This is the goal of our expedition, in the end. So far, they have shown their quick reaction time and decent cooperation between Suna and Ressia.
There are maybe slightly over twenty of the opponents while we are in two groups of seven if we count me too. There shouldn’t be any issue with steamrolling those pitiful morons. Maybe if they weren’t so rude from the start things might have developed differently.
Eh, most likely not with Vanessa present.
Therefore, I bring out my trusty hilt but take a few steps back, choosing to exude enough of my aura to herd the horses into one singular spot and watch over them. It takes just a moment, and in the meanwhile, I watch the battle unfold.
Oniri has disappeared somewhere already and Yuru took her melee role alongside Besfi, charging straight into the encampment. Two men are already dead to their swords as the armoured Tiefling lady uses her shield to protect the Leopardkin girl from bolts and arrows raining upon them from the sides.
Ressia keeps shooting back at them relentlessly and removing more of the enemy’s ranged fighters from the fight one by one. I can tell that my girls are communicating mentally and coordinating their efforts to the tiniest detail. Some of Ressia’s arrows fly forward almost grazing the skin of her friends but they seem to always position themselves the way to avoid her projectiles, which often surprises the targets on the other end of the fight.
That’s a really nice tactic.
But, my group isn’t the only one in this fight. The Heroes and their two companions have joined in too. Their efforts have focused on the released dogs at first. I saw how Paul put one of his own arrows into a nearby tree’s bark somewhere above us and illuminated the entire place with bright light. That resulted in two things.
First, almost everything is now clearly visible. Second, the shadows cast by the wagons and the people have become much longer, deeper, and generally bigger. Shino uses one of them to lunge from underneath the small army of dogs, slicing through half of them with a single attack. It does make her grimace a little as she definitely isn’t happy about hurting the poor animals, but she knows it’s either them or us.
As for the other half, Kamil taunts them onto him and Marcia makes short work of the remaining beasties while they cling to his enchanted armour like unto the training sleeves. Someone manages to unlock another kennel on wheels and more of them surge out but Natalie sends a massive Fireball their way, which explodes after flying into the coach, blowing it up into splinters and cinders.
Vanessa seems to be mostly focused on the Humans and a few Elves making up the illegal party. Her Earth Magic easily blocks their attacks and deals lethal blows without a hint of hesitation as she surfs around the fire on a patch of gurgling ground. It does look like she takes personal offence with their very existence.
Things are looking rather well for our side and I keep watching the battlefield in amusement. These poachers aren’t utter trash but their Tiers clearly aren’t anything great either. As their numbers dwindle, they find it harder and harder to repel the relentless physical and magical barrage. My sharp girls have appropriately eliminated the biggest threats early, taking care of those men who looked tough or in possession of ranged options.
Then, my enhanced hearing picks up on another metal click and my attention snaps to one of the transport carriages. Fortunately, it’s not the enemies who have reached for it but my sneaky foxgirl, who takes a wary but curious peek into the holding cell. What she sees makes her sigh wistfully and she disappears into the darkness of the small prison.
A moment later, three fancy deers sprint out of it one by one, take a quick glance around, and bolt away from the commotion. They don’t look common and plain. It’s clear that those creatures are something else, judging by their vibrant furs and various mystical patterns covering their bodies.
Oniri continues on her quest to free the captured animals and beasts while their captors are forced to pay more attention to their own lives, which are dropping steadily thanks to the joint efforts of many women and a few men. I wouldn’t say that their cooperation is perfect, or that they are actually properly cooperating, but they do make sure not to inconvenience each other at least.
Paul has chosen to shout his commands in English so that the enemies can’t pick up on their moves and strategies, though by doing that, he also excluded my ladies from that equation. Vanessa and Catherine also seem unable to pick up on every word but they at least look to have been taught a bunch of simple meanings and instructions.
Well, on the other hand, my girls keep talking mentally, without uttering a single audible word, so I guess both sides have rendered their communications rather nonexistent. Save maybe for Shino and Marcia, who might be picking up on a few exchanges thanks to being linked to my big network. But that might be the courtesy of Ressia or someone else as I’m fairly sure my mercenary troupe uses their own thought communication magic to practise with it.
Just as only a bunch of men are left, gathered in one spot with their backs to each other, I catch a surprised yelp. There’s now a football-sized hole in one of the remaining two coaches, right next to Oniri. She seems to have barely avoided an unexpected ricochet from Vanessa’s rocky spell. It clearly wasn’t intentional and the princess shares an apologetic nod with the foxgirl, no bad blood between them.
That’s when a loud growl escapes the wooden structure and I realise that it’s the same one that had emitted some other noises before the battle. In a flash, it explodes in a shower of splinters and pieces, though it doesn’t look like anything other than pure physical power is the cause of that event.
And the reason for that makes itself apparent right away.
The unfortunate projectile shattered what looked like metal manacles binding a mighty beast to the frame of the coach. With its body freed of the main restraints, the very oversized black-furred wolf or similar entity howls in anger and frustration, having obliterated its prison by simply standing up, clearly barely fitting inside before.
Its legs are still bound together in pairs but that doesn’t stop the purple-eyed beast from jumping off the destroyed platform and snarling at my cute vulpine subordinate, baring its fangs at the much smaller individual. The top of the wolf’s back reaches the top of my head in terms of height so it’s no surprise that the tiny Oniri looks like a little kid in front of it, staring back at the magnificent predator with wide eyes.
I surge forward without delay. The beast is definitely eager to lash out at its captors, or possibly even at the first target it's able to. It was captured by humanoids and a humanoid is standing right next to it. I don’t think it cares that the other humanoids are fighting each other.
Before it has a chance to snap its massive jaws around Oniri’s small frame, capable of chomping on her almost whole, I’m already next to them, pulling the pretty fox behind me. She might have been able to escape into her shadows but I’d rather not risk it. And as expected, when my quite powerful presence suddenly appears in front of the beast’s parted jaws, it pauses briefly, meeting my equally fierce gaze. Just in case, I summon a bunch of Void Chains to lock its torso down, without too much pressure so as not to antagonise the beast too much.
There seems to be some kind of intelligence in its glowing, bright purple eyes, which lack any pupils or other features. I have no idea how I can tell that while staring into those shining depths, seemingly also releasing ominous smoke of the same colour from their corners, but something tells me I’m not mistaken. Though, there’s also plenty of hate and killing intent in there.
“We are not your enemies. They are.” I try my hand at communicating with it, gesturing to the side.
It continues to glare at me for a moment before glancing away at the few remaining poachers. At the appearance of the big bad wolf, my girls and Paul’s team paused their efforts to eliminate all the threats. Even the evildoers seem to be locked onto the ominous beast. I can’t really blame them. Not just its eyes but even the insides of its mouth are glowing dangerously like of some dark Hellhound or something.
I receive one more look from the wolf, though maybe it examines the little lady pressed firmly into my back while peeking timidly over my shoulder, and it turns away from us. Or tries to, but I let my chains loose and allow it to easily walk out of them. Using small, kind of awkward tippy-taps, it moves closer to the poachers. Thanks to its metal bindings, it can’t walk properly right now. However, it certainly doesn’t seem to care with the prospect of revenge presented so deliciously in front of it.
No one else takes action as the mighty beast closes on the remaining five. Save for them, I guess. When they try to make a run for it, choosing to risk getting hurt by one of ours in the process, they don’t get too far. Their feet sink into the previously solid ground and that face slam into it, courtesy of the similarly vengeful earth princess.
The wolf’s growls resonate through the quiet forest as it stops above the puny Humans, snarling right at them with pure animosity. What happens next is fairly obvious. Some of the ladies do turn their gazes away as screams of pain and agony join the foresty soundtrack, created by the talented maestro with the use of its high-class fangs.
It’s clear that the former captive doesn’t intend to play with its captors as all the noise fades away rather quickly. The last of the bastards ends up with his head plucked right off his shoulders and chewed on like a tasty gum.
Then, the wolf raises its bloody snout and slowly regards our two parties, again displaying more than a hint of intelligence. It doesn’t feel like it’s assessing us as either prey or more threat. Rather than that, it feels like it’s trying to figure out if we are bad guys too.
Ressia is the first person to step forward and it snaps its attention onto the canine half-blood. She tries to exude confidence but I can smell her anxiety and some fear. Yet, she still slowly approaches the beast and sits down on her knees. She doesn’t prostrate herself in front of it fully, looking up proudly but respectfully.
They stare at each other for a few long seconds as if they are holding some silent conversation, and the wolf suddenly turns to me. My brows rise in slight surprise at the sudden change of its attention.
Ressia stands up without any sudden movements and graces me with a faint smile. “You can approach, Master. It sensed that I willingly submit to you as my alpha without any negative feelings. This should have gained at least some of its trust.”
I do as she says, briefly meet the proud beast’s gaze from up close, and look at her. “What now?”
“Nothing. It will leave us in peace.” She steps closer and dives in for my lips unabashedly, guiding my hands to her ass and instructing me to squeeze it firmly. “I just wanted to prove to it that I’m not lying. My honest arousal should be truthful enough…”
The last part is spoken in a barely audible whisper and I can tell just how truthful her body is. I guess if I can smell her desire and reverence, the big wolf can too. If that scores me some points with the beast, so be it.
After one more peck from the faintly blushing wolfgirl, I separate us and look down. The chains are still binding its paws together. I meet its mystical eyes once more and crouch down without dropping that contact. It follows me with its giant head but doesn’t show any signs of annoyance or hostility.
Taking that as my silent green light, I reach for the front left manacle and call upon all my strength. I expected the metal to be simple iron or steel, but I should have figured out that such a powerful and scary-looking beast wouldn’t be bound by some flimsy chains. Still, as I grunt in effort, the tight ring finally snaps after twelve seconds of increasingly stronger pulling. In less than a minute, they are all gone.
Standing up, I nod at the wolf and turn around to face the others. “Alright. Anything to report? Injuries?”
“None, sir,” Ressia responds immediately. “I plan to hold a debriefing when we settle down to rest, discussing what we did right and wrong during this encounter. It would honour us if you could join.”
“Will do.” I smile at her approvingly.
“We are all fine too,” Paul answers. “Would you mind explaining what that was about, though?”
He directs his question and Vanessa and it’s actually one I was going to ask too. As usual, we do seem to think alike now and then.
“Pardon?” The princess glances back at him.
“You going straight for the kill,” he continues. “Don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t really take you for someone this quick to take life, save for one exception, I guess. Is this another case of something related to your family?”
She sighs softly. “No, not directly. I just… hate poachers with all my heart. But I don’t mean simple poachers who go after the game, stealing from the kingdom. There is an outlawed group that hunts rare creatures, which are often magical and quite intelligent. They are sometimes even worse than slavers. Some beasts are kept alive through vile operations that abuse their high regeneration or other powers, endlessly harvesting precious organs and materials. Our kingdom actively pursues their demise.”
“This wolf does seem quite unique and aware,” Shino agrees with her.
“Why am I not surprised that the Human kingdoms care more about injustice towards beasts than actual people?” Ressia sneers lightly while crossing her arms.
“Our family has been trying to go against slavery for generations. We were already much more lenient than other Humans, bordering on dangerous grounds. And this expedition is meant to secure even better conditions for other races after the reform has been accepted in the capital. My parents wholeheartedly support it, especially after learning the truth about my brother…” Vanessa drops her gaze to the ground.
Natalie wraps her arm around their friend’s shoulders. “She speaks the truth. We’ve seen it personally.”
My captain grimaces a bit and shoots me a brief glance. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so accusing.”
“You aren’t exactly wrong,” Catherine surprisingly comes to her defence. “Ronerulle is a rare occurrence. Most other places are just as you say.”
“What should we do with them, then?” Paul asks.
“Each clan works separately from what we have learned so we can simply get rid of the bodies after searching through their belongings just in case. And unlocking the last coach,” Vanessa answers and we look towards the final cage.
That’s also when we spot the fact that we haven’t come out of this fight completely unscathed.
“Damn. Poor guy.” Marcia sighs sorrowfully.
Somehow, somehow, in that brief window when I jumped forward in Oniri’s defence, a stray crossbow bolt found its way right into the side of my steed’s head. I made sure to put them all more or less behind the thickest trees and the first carriages of the encirclement, and still, the unlucky horse managed to get hurt. Lethally.
“It’s too late, isn’t it?” I peek at Natalie.
“Unfortunately.” She nods grimly. “But it’s not your fault.”
“I should have thought of something ahead of time.” I shake my head.
“No. I should have raised a wall around them before diving right into battle.” Vanessa walks up to the body and brushes her hand over it gently. “I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
The ladies from Paul’s team go to comfort her a little while I turn to see the big wolf still standing behind me, watching us silently. “And why is this dude still here?”
“I’m not sure, sir,” Ressia answers even though I wasn’t directing that question at anyone.
Again, looking into the beast’s pure purple eyes, I feel like I can grasp tiny nuggets of its thoughts or intentions. It seems torn between something. It's mostly watching me with its pondering gaze, taking a peek at the dead Humans, the coaches now and then.
“It needs help,” I finally say after quite a while.
“Help?” My captain raises a curious brow at me.
“You are trying to swallow your pride to ask for assistance, aren’t you?” I speak directly to the magnificent canine. “There’s somewhere you need to be but you are worried they will outnumber you again.”
The wolf doesn’t answer but, again, I have a feeling that it does understand.
“I’ll go with it.” I turn around and face the others. “You guys be on your way. It might not be far or anything serious so I might even be back before you wake up.”
“But, Master…” Ressia bites down on her lip.
I ruffle through her lush hair. “I can run pretty fast so I shouldn’t have any trouble meeting the deadline even if things get a bit more complex. Worst case scenario, I’ll get Ailish to help me or borrow some useful skills. You have shown how competent you are so I don’t have to watch over you for the rest of the trip this way.”
“Should you really go alone, Sensei?” Shino walks up to us with a sad pout too.
“You all have a task to fulfil. I’m just overseeing it. And you know that I can handle myself.” I peck her cheek lovingly.
Before she or anyone else raises any more objections, I look up at the big eerie wolf again, starting to slowly head towards its side. It doesn’t move, simply watches me calmly. As it doesn’t stop me from touching its black fur a little, I spring myself up onto its back with a strong jump, landing on the soft fluff with a quiet oomph.
“Alright, buddy. We are both in a hurry so let’s get you home, kill the remaining bad guys if there are any, and continue with our respective responsibilities, deal?” I smile as the wise wolf tilts its massive head to look at me. “Don’t forget to rest properly!”
I wave at the others and give the monstrous animal underneath me a few pats on the side. I barely have time to grip its fur before it lunges above the encirclement like it’s a walk in the park for it and we are speeding in a certain direction.
“Geez, you are fast.” I chuckle, leaning forward to fight the wind a little. “Here. A little help.”
The muscles under me tense briefly before the wolf realises that I’m not trying to hurt it but rather recovering its fatigue and healing up any minor wounds caused either by the poachers or the shackles. It picks up even more speed in a flash, immediately making use of the additional energy I’m pushing into it with my Rejuvenate.
We charge ahead for most of the night and don’t stop even for a moment during the day. Our destination must be a little further than I thought because my new friend keeps running at what I assume is its best speed, encouraged to continuously push ahead due to my magical support. I technically don’t need that much rest and can survive a few days without sustenance so I let the wolf hurry to our destination.
It’s already dark when we are starting to slow down, definitely covering lots of distance in a short period of time. Those poachers must have captured it long ago because it would be silly for the wolf to wander so far away from its territory. A big caravan like theirs can’t move even a tenth as fast as we did.
Soon, we come to a light trot so my temporary companion starts catching its breath, huffing violet, radioactive-looking breaths out of his glowing muzzle. Even its spit emits light too, though it doesn’t seem to be acidic or corrosive. Unless it can control that aspect.
When we stop, I quickly jump down to stretch a little and get back to casting my Rejuvenate. I can tell there’s an entrance to a cavern a bit ahead and we need to be in top form in case any enemies might still be around. Who knows? Part of the group could have stayed behind for some reason.
Before we go, I summon a barrel of water from my spatial storage and open it up for my big buddy. It sniffs the liquid a few times before greedily inhaling the contents in a flash. I can only imagine how thirsty it must have felt after a full day of running.
“So, we ready?” I ask, standing next to its big head.
It feels like it’s contemplating if it really should, or maybe like it’s afraid of what it’s going to find in here. Through that last day, I somehow managed to pick up even more on the art of understanding this unusual creature. I’m not sure if it’s just something natural, connected with my race, abilities, or anything else.
I scratch behind its triangular ear and walk forward. We can’t just stand here for all eternity. Seeing me move, the wolf joins my side a moment later and we wander into the dark cavern. After quite a few ascensions and gaining so much from the girls around me, it doesn’t look like I need to enhance my sight that much anymore. Everything is fairly clear to me.
However, I might have preferred for it not to be at the moment when we enter the spacious natural chamber at the end of the tunnel.
Immediately, a strong, nauseating stench hits us like a solid wall. There’s no doubt it belongs to decaying corpses and similar things. And those corpses lay sprawled over the ground in various places. I spot a smaller but still big version of my furry comrade in the very centre. Obviously dead. Possibly it’s mate.
But, that’s not all. There are many deceased wolves the size of usual canines here and there. No doubt their children. There’s lots of evidence of a great struggle as blood covers a good portion of the stone ground and walls. Judging by the bits and pieces belonging to humanoids, it didn’t come only from the animals. At least a few Humans died here too.
Nevertheless, it’s a massacre.
As my companion slowly paces towards its supposed mate and pokes the body with its snout, I really wonder why all of this happened. Since the living wolf isn’t immediately rushing out to find the scent of the rest of its family, I don’t think there are any survivors. Perhaps it counted the bodies. I do have a feeling that the prospect of finding someone alive would drive it into action again.
But, really, why?
It should have been better for the poachers to capture the little ones too. Did they try but found it too difficult because of the numbers? The bodies do litter the ground in different spots so it clearly was a big fight, not a silent assassination inside a lair. Maybe they overestimated themselves after capturing the biggest one somewhere outside and were forced to fight for their lives.
Low growling drags me out of my pondering and my gaze snaps to the living wolf moments before its jaws clamp over my body.
“Woah, buddy!” I dodge away, getting into a crouch. “Same team, remember?”
I watch the big scary beast stalk forward while snarling at me, getting a little confused. Then, I notice tiny droplets of violet streak down the side of its muzzle and drip onto the ground, clearly leaking out of the corner of its eyes.
Somehow, that sight hits me damn hard. It’s really crying in despair like any other person would. And it's clearly lost in its turbulent emotions, bordering on madness even. I don’t think it matters who is around, only that there is a target to vent its anger and frustration on.
“I don’t suppose we can talk it out and share a few comforting hugs, can we?” I smile wryly at the shaken giant.
Again, it shows the signs of understanding me well and snarls even harder as it lunges forward. I really don’t want to kill it, the last member of the almost completely erased family, just because it’s lost in grief. Evading another chomp, I skid to the side and consider my options.
“Well, I guess it’s been a moment since my last brawl. Come, let Uncle Alastair help you vent it all out. Don’t hold back.” I smirk at it and spread my arms wide.
It releases a powerful howl that shakes the entire cavern and charges me once more, spilling tears even harder from its smoking, purple eyes. This time, though, I don’t escape. Not fully, at least.
Evading only partially, I punch the wild wolf right in the side of its just-closed snout. It yelps in surprise as the power behind my blow sends it skidding over the ground for a metre or two. I crack my knuckles and go right after it before it has time to recover.
But, it looks like I underestimate my opponent as my next attack shockingly goes over the beast’s head. Its entire frame disappears into the ground like it’s liquid not stone and I turn around barely fast enough to grab its ferocious jaws trying to chomp on me from behind.
The fucker can move through shadows or something.
And we are in a dark cavern.
Great.
Still, I use all my strength to keep those rows of sharp, slightly pinkish teeth away from my body and slam its entire frame into the hard ground. It rolls away and pushes itself up. It hits me with its big head like a battering ram and I bounce off the floor a few times before righting myself.
It’s in front of me in a flash but I sidestep and wrap my arms around its closed jaws, holding them tightly under my armpit. It continues to growl defiantly at me while shaking its muzzle, trying to break free, but it doesn’t use its legs to claw at me. Somehow, even though it is aiming to duke it out with me, it doesn’t really seem to want to murder me, just confirming my feeling that it’s simply lashing out at me out of anguish.
We enter a contest of strength as it shakes me all around, slamming me into the nearby wall and floor a few times, but I don’t let it go. Whenever possible, I smack its snout with my fist so it knows that I won’t be backing off ever. The wild dance we two share is unlike anything I have experienced so far, I think.
After what feels like an eternity, we finally begin to slow down. Its growls turn quieter and quieter as it lessens the strength of its shaking. I keep it tightly locked until it fully stills, simply standing with its long nose in my grip and releasing lighter snarls that gradually die down too.
I tug it down and it reluctantly plops itself on the ground. Loosening my hold a bit, I rest its head on my lap while looking into one of its big, purplish eyes that illuminate my visage. One of my hands starts stroking its snout with gentle movements. Both of us are quite bruised and battered.
“Had enough? I know that you are still furious, maybe also at yourself, but you can’t stay like this forever. You avenged your family, at least. Tore those bastards into pieces. They can’t hurt anyone else.” I whisper softly to the disturbed wolf, knowing that it listens intently to my words. “It’s not your fault. Sometimes, no matter how strong you are, you just can’t be in two places at the same time. You did your best, for sure. I bet you killed a lot of them when they caught you. You never gave up. You waited for the perfect moment. You even allied yourself with me and ran straight here. No one, even a Demigod like me could have done better. You deserve a rest. Don’t think, just rest. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ll deal with it then.”
Gradually, its eyelids lower as I speak and the wolf does fall asleep shortly after I finish. Just to be sure, I stay with it for about fifteen minutes more, listening to its powerful breathing. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to doze off in such a vile cavern. I’m not as exhausted as it was.
While it sleeps peacefully, I quietly move the bodies outside, lining them up on the grass. I’m not sure what my companion would like to do with them, but I don’t think leaving everyone to rot in their home is the answer. Perhaps a simple burial will work.
Then, I do what I can to clean the air inside a bit. A borrowed spell or two takes care of that, though the effects aren’t perfect since I can’t really scrub the floor and only ventilate the chamber. Always something, at least.
For the rest of the night, I plop myself under a tree next to the bodies, watching over them so that no scavengers show up to ruin them even more. I do catch some sleep too, thankfully without being interrupted by some rude guests looking for a midnight snack.
Something wakes me up and I open my eyes to a fairly bright sky. I immediately notice the big figure of my wolf friend emerging from the cavern, hesitantly walking forward. It sees the lined-up bodies and stops in front of them. I stand up, taking its side and brushing my hand over its soft black fur.
“I can bury them for you. In our culture, we sometimes visit the burial places of our relatives. You will be able to always come back here to spend some time with them. What do you say?”
It lazily turns to me and meets my gaze. No words or noises leave its canine mouth but I clearly get its reluctant agreement and gratitude. As it lowers itself to the ground, I get to work. It watches me silently as I dig up a bunch of graves, set the corpses down in the holes, cover them again, and bring some metal shields out of my storage. Shaping my hilt into a dagger, I carve a small, somewhat simple and awkward shape of a wolf’s head on each, shoving the shields halfway into the earth next.
“Looks fairly good, don’t you think?” I scratch the wolf’s ear a bit as it stares at the shiny plates.
After a while, I give it a few more pats and walk away. Some rustling makes me glance back over my shoulder and I see the wolf up on its paws again, looking after me.
“Don’t grieve for too long, friend. You still have a lot of life ahead of you. Stay for a while, but I would suggest trying to find a new home, maybe starting a new family when you are ready for that. Maybe our paths will cross again in the future. Don’t be a stranger then.” I chuckle and wave at it.
The wolf looks between me and the graves a few times before ultimately leaving its attention on its family’s burial place. Taking a deep breath, I turn around and prepare myself for quite a bit of running, starting to infuse my muscles with lots of mana.
Something nudges my hand and makes me jump. The friendly wolf stands right next to me with its nose lowered to the height of my palm.
“What?” I raise a curious brow at it.
It starts flicking my hand with its hot, glowing, violet tongue and I let it, assuming it's some kind of a parting gesture. After a few licks, it pulls my palm a bit deeper and suddenly bites down.
“Ow! Hey!” I carefully yank my arm back, trying not to cut myself deeper. “What was that fo—”
I pause as a window appears right in front of my eyes.
| Unnamed Lupus Voidis initiated Pact Bond with your designation as the Master and wishes to become your Familiar. Do you accept her offer? |
I blink a few times while looking between the message and the calm visage of the majestic wolf.
“So, you are actually a girl, huh.” I scratch my head. “I mean, if you are sure?”
She bops my hand with her nose again so I take it as a yes.
“Fine. I did tell you to find a new home and family. I guess I need to take responsibility for my words.” I smirk at her and mentally agree to the request.
| Due to your matching Void Affinity, your compatibility is at its highest. The Pact Bond ties you together in its most developed form. Your souls have become linked and you can now access your Bondmate’s Status as you grow stronger together. |
“That’s new.” I rub my chin ponderingly. “I guess this is why we’ve been able to understand each other so well. I need to start working more on that Void element, maybe find a teacher.”
Curious, I navigate my menus and find a section for Familiars which now also shows Bondmates. The Unnamed wolf of the Lupus Voidis lineage is listed there as an entry so I choose to view whatever stats and information I’m able to access.
| 【INFORMATION】 |
| Name: Unnamed |
“Tier 4 is quite nice. Though, I have no idea about your kind’s standards. You are almost at five. Those guys must have really gotten the jump on you.” I sigh heavily. “Well, I assume you wouldn’t mind accepting a name? It would make a bunch of things easier.”
My palm receives a soft lick which is clear like a day to me.
“What about Diana? First thing that comes to my mind. I think it suits you well.” I rub her nose affectionately.
Something warm sets inside my chest and I can tell that Diana experiences it too as a quiet, pleasant rumble escapes her closed muzzle.
“Great.” I chuckle warmly. “Shall we head out, then?”
Diana glances back at the graves for a moment and nudges me with her snout again, pushing me towards her side. I obediently jump onto her back, also give one last look to the burial grounds, and we slowly start our journey to rejoin the rest.
Shino is going to lose her mind about our new little friend.
Saileri
Goodies.
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It’s true that the sudden burst of violence coming from Vanessa surprises me a little, but I do my best not to think about it too deeply right now. In my own mind, poachers aren’t the kind of a threat that should warrant instant death, but maybe I’m missing something. We are technically either already in or close to our princess’ lands and the rules here might be somewhat different than what I could assume.
Right away, a purple bolt of lightning zaps over my shoulder and smacks right into the guy who took the leading role in our conversation. A pretty web of red marks sprouts from the point of impact and reaches to the very edges of his body as steam begins to rise from his skin. As he falls to the back, I notice an arrow sticking out of his forehead too.
It looks like my girls don’t fuck around either, focused on ensuring the success of their attacks.
A quick scan of the gathered poachers doesn’t bring any anxious or uncertain vibes in me so I decide to give them the opportunity to prove themselves in battle. This is the goal of our expedition, in the end. So far, they have shown their quick reaction time and decent cooperation between Suna and Ressia.
There are maybe slightly over twenty of the opponents while we are in two groups of seven if we count me too. There shouldn’t be any issue with steamrolling those pitiful morons. Maybe if they weren’t so rude from the start things might have developed differently.
Eh, most likely not with Vanessa present.
Therefore, I bring out my trusty hilt but take a few steps back, choosing to exude enough of my aura to herd the horses into one singular spot and watch over them. It takes just a moment, and in the meanwhile, I watch the battle unfold.
Oniri has disappeared somewhere already and Yuru took her melee role alongside Besfi, charging straight into the encampment. Two men are already dead to their swords as the armoured Tiefling lady uses her shield to protect the Leopardkin girl from bolts and arrows raining upon them from the sides.
Ressia keeps shooting back at them relentlessly and removing more of the enemy’s ranged fighters from the fight one by one. I can tell that my girls are communicating mentally and coordinating their efforts to the tiniest detail. Some of Ressia’s arrows fly forward almost grazing the skin of her friends but they seem to always position themselves the way to avoid her projectiles, which often surprises the targets on the other end of the fight.
That’s a really nice tactic.
But, my group isn’t the only one in this fight. The Heroes and their two companions have joined in too. Their efforts have focused on the released dogs at first. I saw how Paul put one of his own arrows into a nearby tree’s bark somewhere above us and illuminated the entire place with bright light. That resulted in two things.
First, almost everything is now clearly visible. Second, the shadows cast by the wagons and the people have become much longer, deeper, and generally bigger. Shino uses one of them to lunge from underneath the small army of dogs, slicing through half of them with a single attack. It does make her grimace a little as she definitely isn’t happy about hurting the poor animals, but she knows it’s either them or us.
As for the other half, Kamil taunts them onto him and Marcia makes short work of the remaining beasties while they cling to his enchanted armour like unto the training sleeves. Someone manages to unlock another kennel on wheels and more of them surge out but Natalie sends a massive Fireball their way, which explodes after flying into the coach, blowing it up into splinters and cinders.
Vanessa seems to be mostly focused on the Humans and a few Elves making up the illegal party. Her Earth Magic easily blocks their attacks and deals lethal blows without a hint of hesitation as she surfs around the fire on a patch of gurgling ground. It does look like she takes personal offence with their very existence.
Things are looking rather well for our side and I keep watching the battlefield in amusement. These poachers aren’t utter trash but their Tiers clearly aren’t anything great either. As their numbers dwindle, they find it harder and harder to repel the relentless physical and magical barrage. My sharp girls have appropriately eliminated the biggest threats early, taking care of those men who looked tough or in possession of ranged options.
Then, my enhanced hearing picks up on another metal click and my attention snaps to one of the transport carriages. Fortunately, it’s not the enemies who have reached for it but my sneaky foxgirl, who takes a wary but curious peek into the holding cell. What she sees makes her sigh wistfully and she disappears into the darkness of the small prison.
A moment later, three fancy deers sprint out of it one by one, take a quick glance around, and bolt away from the commotion. They don’t look common and plain. It’s clear that those creatures are something else, judging by their vibrant furs and various mystical patterns covering their bodies.
Oniri continues on her quest to free the captured animals and beasts while their captors are forced to pay more attention to their own lives, which are dropping steadily thanks to the joint efforts of many women and a few men. I wouldn’t say that their cooperation is perfect, or that they are actually properly cooperating, but they do make sure not to inconvenience each other at least.
Paul has chosen to shout his commands in English so that the enemies can’t pick up on their moves and strategies, though by doing that, he also excluded my ladies from that equation. Vanessa and Catherine also seem unable to pick up on every word but they at least look to have been taught a bunch of simple meanings and instructions.
Well, on the other hand, my girls keep talking mentally, without uttering a single audible word, so I guess both sides have rendered their communications rather nonexistent. Save maybe for Shino and Marcia, who might be picking up on a few exchanges thanks to being linked to my big network. But that might be the courtesy of Ressia or someone else as I’m fairly sure my mercenary troupe uses their own thought communication magic to practise with it.
Just as only a bunch of men are left, gathered in one spot with their backs to each other, I catch a surprised yelp. There’s now a football-sized hole in one of the remaining two coaches, right next to Oniri. She seems to have barely avoided an unexpected ricochet from Vanessa’s rocky spell. It clearly wasn’t intentional and the princess shares an apologetic nod with the foxgirl, no bad blood between them.
That’s when a loud growl escapes the wooden structure and I realise that it’s the same one that had emitted some other noises before the battle. In a flash, it explodes in a shower of splinters and pieces, though it doesn’t look like anything other than pure physical power is the cause of that event.
And the reason for that makes itself apparent right away.
The unfortunate projectile shattered what looked like metal manacles binding a mighty beast to the frame of the coach. With its body freed of the main restraints, the very oversized black-furred wolf or similar entity howls in anger and frustration, having obliterated its prison by simply standing up, clearly barely fitting inside before.
Its legs are still bound together in pairs but that doesn’t stop the purple-eyed beast from jumping off the destroyed platform and snarling at my cute vulpine subordinate, baring its fangs at the much smaller individual. The top of the wolf’s back reaches the top of my head in terms of height so it’s no surprise that the tiny Oniri looks like a little kid in front of it, staring back at the magnificent predator with wide eyes.
I surge forward without delay. The beast is definitely eager to lash out at its captors, or possibly even at the first target it's able to. It was captured by humanoids and a humanoid is standing right next to it. I don’t think it cares that the other humanoids are fighting each other.
Before it has a chance to snap its massive jaws around Oniri’s small frame, capable of chomping on her almost whole, I’m already next to them, pulling the pretty fox behind me. She might have been able to escape into her shadows but I’d rather not risk it. And as expected, when my quite powerful presence suddenly appears in front of the beast’s parted jaws, it pauses briefly, meeting my equally fierce gaze. Just in case, I summon a bunch of Void Chains to lock its torso down, without too much pressure so as not to antagonise the beast too much.
There seems to be some kind of intelligence in its glowing, bright purple eyes, which lack any pupils or other features. I have no idea how I can tell that while staring into those shining depths, seemingly also releasing ominous smoke of the same colour from their corners, but something tells me I’m not mistaken. Though, there’s also plenty of hate and killing intent in there.
“We are not your enemies. They are.” I try my hand at communicating with it, gesturing to the side.
It continues to glare at me for a moment before glancing away at the few remaining poachers. At the appearance of the big bad wolf, my girls and Paul’s team paused their efforts to eliminate all the threats. Even the evildoers seem to be locked onto the ominous beast. I can’t really blame them. Not just its eyes but even the insides of its mouth are glowing dangerously like of some dark Hellhound or something.
I receive one more look from the wolf, though maybe it examines the little lady pressed firmly into my back while peeking timidly over my shoulder, and it turns away from us. Or tries to, but I let my chains loose and allow it to easily walk out of them. Using small, kind of awkward tippy-taps, it moves closer to the poachers. Thanks to its metal bindings, it can’t walk properly right now. However, it certainly doesn’t seem to care with the prospect of revenge presented so deliciously in front of it.
No one else takes action as the mighty beast closes on the remaining five. Save for them, I guess. When they try to make a run for it, choosing to risk getting hurt by one of ours in the process, they don’t get too far. Their feet sink into the previously solid ground and that face slam into it, courtesy of the similarly vengeful earth princess.
The wolf’s growls resonate through the quiet forest as it stops above the puny Humans, snarling right at them with pure animosity. What happens next is fairly obvious. Some of the ladies do turn their gazes away as screams of pain and agony join the foresty soundtrack, created by the talented maestro with the use of its high-class fangs.
It’s clear that the former captive doesn’t intend to play with its captors as all the noise fades away rather quickly. The last of the bastards ends up with his head plucked right off his shoulders and chewed on like a tasty gum.
Then, the wolf raises its bloody snout and slowly regards our two parties, again displaying more than a hint of intelligence. It doesn’t feel like it’s assessing us as either prey or more threat. Rather than that, it feels like it’s trying to figure out if we are bad guys too.
Ressia is the first person to step forward and it snaps its attention onto the canine half-blood. She tries to exude confidence but I can smell her anxiety and some fear. Yet, she still slowly approaches the beast and sits down on her knees. She doesn’t prostrate herself in front of it fully, looking up proudly but respectfully.
They stare at each other for a few long seconds as if they are holding some silent conversation, and the wolf suddenly turns to me. My brows rise in slight surprise at the sudden change of its attention.
Ressia stands up without any sudden movements and graces me with a faint smile. “You can approach, Master. It sensed that I willingly submit to you as my alpha without any negative feelings. This should have gained at least some of its trust.”
I do as she says, briefly meet the proud beast’s gaze from up close, and look at her. “What now?”
“Nothing. It will leave us in peace.” She steps closer and dives in for my lips unabashedly, guiding my hands to her ass and instructing me to squeeze it firmly. “I just wanted to prove to it that I’m not lying. My honest arousal should be truthful enough…”
The last part is spoken in a barely audible whisper and I can tell just how truthful her body is. I guess if I can smell her desire and reverence, the big wolf can too. If that scores me some points with the beast, so be it.
After one more peck from the faintly blushing wolfgirl, I separate us and look down. The chains are still binding its paws together. I meet its mystical eyes once more and crouch down without dropping that contact. It follows me with its giant head but doesn’t show any signs of annoyance or hostility.
Taking that as my silent green light, I reach for the front left manacle and call upon all my strength. I expected the metal to be simple iron or steel, but I should have figured out that such a powerful and scary-looking beast wouldn’t be bound by some flimsy chains. Still, as I grunt in effort, the tight ring finally snaps after twelve seconds of increasingly stronger pulling. In less than a minute, they are all gone.
Standing up, I nod at the wolf and turn around to face the others. “Alright. Anything to report? Injuries?”
“None, sir,” Ressia responds immediately. “I plan to hold a debriefing when we settle down to rest, discussing what we did right and wrong during this encounter. It would honour us if you could join.”
“Will do.” I smile at her approvingly.
“We are all fine too,” Paul answers. “Would you mind explaining what that was about, though?”
He directs his question and Vanessa and it’s actually one I was going to ask too. As usual, we do seem to think alike now and then.
“Pardon?” The princess glances back at him.
“You going straight for the kill,” he continues. “Don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t really take you for someone this quick to take life, save for one exception, I guess. Is this another case of something related to your family?”
She sighs softly. “No, not directly. I just… hate poachers with all my heart. But I don’t mean simple poachers who go after the game, stealing from the kingdom. There is an outlawed group that hunts rare creatures, which are often magical and quite intelligent. They are sometimes even worse than slavers. Some beasts are kept alive through vile operations that abuse their high regeneration or other powers, endlessly harvesting precious organs and materials. Our kingdom actively pursues their demise.”
“This wolf does seem quite unique and aware,” Shino agrees with her.
“Why am I not surprised that the Human kingdoms care more about injustice towards beasts than actual people?” Ressia sneers lightly while crossing her arms.
“Our family has been trying to go against slavery for generations. We were already much more lenient than other Humans, bordering on dangerous grounds. And this expedition is meant to secure even better conditions for other races after the reform has been accepted in the capital. My parents wholeheartedly support it, especially after learning the truth about my brother…” Vanessa drops her gaze to the ground.
Natalie wraps her arm around their friend’s shoulders. “She speaks the truth. We’ve seen it personally.”
My captain grimaces a bit and shoots me a brief glance. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so accusing.”
“You aren’t exactly wrong,” Catherine surprisingly comes to her defence. “Ronerulle is a rare occurrence. Most other places are just as you say.”
“What should we do with them, then?” Paul asks.
“Each clan works separately from what we have learned so we can simply get rid of the bodies after searching through their belongings just in case. And unlocking the last coach,” Vanessa answers and we look towards the final cage.
That’s also when we spot the fact that we haven’t come out of this fight completely unscathed.
“Damn. Poor guy.” Marcia sighs sorrowfully.
Somehow, somehow, in that brief window when I jumped forward in Oniri’s defence, a stray crossbow bolt found its way right into the side of my steed’s head. I made sure to put them all more or less behind the thickest trees and the first carriages of the encirclement, and still, the unlucky horse managed to get hurt. Lethally.
“It’s too late, isn’t it?” I peek at Natalie.
“Unfortunately.” She nods grimly. “But it’s not your fault.”
“I should have thought of something ahead of time.” I shake my head.
“No. I should have raised a wall around them before diving right into battle.” Vanessa walks up to the body and brushes her hand over it gently. “I’m sorry. I let my emotions get the better of me.”
The ladies from Paul’s team go to comfort her a little while I turn to see the big wolf still standing behind me, watching us silently. “And why is this dude still here?”
“I’m not sure, sir,” Ressia answers even though I wasn’t directing that question at anyone.
Again, looking into the beast’s pure purple eyes, I feel like I can grasp tiny nuggets of its thoughts or intentions. It seems torn between something. It's mostly watching me with its pondering gaze, taking a peek at the dead Humans, the coaches now and then.
“It needs help,” I finally say after quite a while.
“Help?” My captain raises a curious brow at me.
“You are trying to swallow your pride to ask for assistance, aren’t you?” I speak directly to the magnificent canine. “There’s somewhere you need to be but you are worried they will outnumber you again.”
The wolf doesn’t answer but, again, I have a feeling that it does understand.
“I’ll go with it.” I turn around and face the others. “You guys be on your way. It might not be far or anything serious so I might even be back before you wake up.”
“But, Master…” Ressia bites down on her lip.
I ruffle through her lush hair. “I can run pretty fast so I shouldn’t have any trouble meeting the deadline even if things get a bit more complex. Worst case scenario, I’ll get Ailish to help me or borrow some useful skills. You have shown how competent you are so I don’t have to watch over you for the rest of the trip this way.”
“Should you really go alone, Sensei?” Shino walks up to us with a sad pout too.
“You all have a task to fulfil. I’m just overseeing it. And you know that I can handle myself.” I peck her cheek lovingly.
Before she or anyone else raises any more objections, I look up at the big eerie wolf again, starting to slowly head towards its side. It doesn’t move, simply watches me calmly. As it doesn’t stop me from touching its black fur a little, I spring myself up onto its back with a strong jump, landing on the soft fluff with a quiet oomph.
“Alright, buddy. We are both in a hurry so let’s get you home, kill the remaining bad guys if there are any, and continue with our respective responsibilities, deal?” I smile as the wise wolf tilts its massive head to look at me. “Don’t forget to rest properly!”
I wave at the others and give the monstrous animal underneath me a few pats on the side. I barely have time to grip its fur before it lunges above the encirclement like it’s a walk in the park for it and we are speeding in a certain direction.
“Geez, you are fast.” I chuckle, leaning forward to fight the wind a little. “Here. A little help.”
The muscles under me tense briefly before the wolf realises that I’m not trying to hurt it but rather recovering its fatigue and healing up any minor wounds caused either by the poachers or the shackles. It picks up even more speed in a flash, immediately making use of the additional energy I’m pushing into it with my Rejuvenate.
We charge ahead for most of the night and don’t stop even for a moment during the day. Our destination must be a little further than I thought because my new friend keeps running at what I assume is its best speed, encouraged to continuously push ahead due to my magical support. I technically don’t need that much rest and can survive a few days without sustenance so I let the wolf hurry to our destination.
It’s already dark when we are starting to slow down, definitely covering lots of distance in a short period of time. Those poachers must have captured it long ago because it would be silly for the wolf to wander so far away from its territory. A big caravan like theirs can’t move even a tenth as fast as we did.
Soon, we come to a light trot so my temporary companion starts catching its breath, huffing violet, radioactive-looking breaths out of his glowing muzzle. Even its spit emits light too, though it doesn’t seem to be acidic or corrosive. Unless it can control that aspect.
When we stop, I quickly jump down to stretch a little and get back to casting my Rejuvenate. I can tell there’s an entrance to a cavern a bit ahead and we need to be in top form in case any enemies might still be around. Who knows? Part of the group could have stayed behind for some reason.
Before we go, I summon a barrel of water from my spatial storage and open it up for my big buddy. It sniffs the liquid a few times before greedily inhaling the contents in a flash. I can only imagine how thirsty it must have felt after a full day of running.
“So, we ready?” I ask, standing next to its big head.
It feels like it’s contemplating if it really should, or maybe like it’s afraid of what it’s going to find in here. Through that last day, I somehow managed to pick up even more on the art of understanding this unusual creature. I’m not sure if it’s just something natural, connected with my race, abilities, or anything else.
I scratch behind its triangular ear and walk forward. We can’t just stand here for all eternity. Seeing me move, the wolf joins my side a moment later and we wander into the dark cavern. After quite a few ascensions and gaining so much from the girls around me, it doesn’t look like I need to enhance my sight that much anymore. Everything is fairly clear to me.
However, I might have preferred for it not to be at the moment when we enter the spacious natural chamber at the end of the tunnel.
Immediately, a strong, nauseating stench hits us like a solid wall. There’s no doubt it belongs to decaying corpses and similar things. And those corpses lay sprawled over the ground in various places. I spot a smaller but still big version of my furry comrade in the very centre. Obviously dead. Possibly it’s mate.
But, that’s not all. There are many deceased wolves the size of usual canines here and there. No doubt their children. There’s lots of evidence of a great struggle as blood covers a good portion of the stone ground and walls. Judging by the bits and pieces belonging to humanoids, it didn’t come only from the animals. At least a few Humans died here too.
Nevertheless, it’s a massacre.
As my companion slowly paces towards its supposed mate and pokes the body with its snout, I really wonder why all of this happened. Since the living wolf isn’t immediately rushing out to find the scent of the rest of its family, I don’t think there are any survivors. Perhaps it counted the bodies. I do have a feeling that the prospect of finding someone alive would drive it into action again.
But, really, why?
It should have been better for the poachers to capture the little ones too. Did they try but found it too difficult because of the numbers? The bodies do litter the ground in different spots so it clearly was a big fight, not a silent assassination inside a lair. Maybe they overestimated themselves after capturing the biggest one somewhere outside and were forced to fight for their lives.
Low growling drags me out of my pondering and my gaze snaps to the living wolf moments before its jaws clamp over my body.
“Woah, buddy!” I dodge away, getting into a crouch. “Same team, remember?”
I watch the big scary beast stalk forward while snarling at me, getting a little confused. Then, I notice tiny droplets of violet streak down the side of its muzzle and drip onto the ground, clearly leaking out of the corner of its eyes.
Somehow, that sight hits me damn hard. It’s really crying in despair like any other person would. And it's clearly lost in its turbulent emotions, bordering on madness even. I don’t think it matters who is around, only that there is a target to vent its anger and frustration on.
“I don’t suppose we can talk it out and share a few comforting hugs, can we?” I smile wryly at the shaken giant.
Again, it shows the signs of understanding me well and snarls even harder as it lunges forward. I really don’t want to kill it, the last member of the almost completely erased family, just because it’s lost in grief. Evading another chomp, I skid to the side and consider my options.
“Well, I guess it’s been a moment since my last brawl. Come, let Uncle Alastair help you vent it all out. Don’t hold back.” I smirk at it and spread my arms wide.
It releases a powerful howl that shakes the entire cavern and charges me once more, spilling tears even harder from its smoking, purple eyes. This time, though, I don’t escape. Not fully, at least.
Evading only partially, I punch the wild wolf right in the side of its just-closed snout. It yelps in surprise as the power behind my blow sends it skidding over the ground for a metre or two. I crack my knuckles and go right after it before it has time to recover.
But, it looks like I underestimate my opponent as my next attack shockingly goes over the beast’s head. Its entire frame disappears into the ground like it’s liquid not stone and I turn around barely fast enough to grab its ferocious jaws trying to chomp on me from behind.
The fucker can move through shadows or something.
And we are in a dark cavern.
Great.
Still, I use all my strength to keep those rows of sharp, slightly pinkish teeth away from my body and slam its entire frame into the hard ground. It rolls away and pushes itself up. It hits me with its big head like a battering ram and I bounce off the floor a few times before righting myself.
It’s in front of me in a flash but I sidestep and wrap my arms around its closed jaws, holding them tightly under my armpit. It continues to growl defiantly at me while shaking its muzzle, trying to break free, but it doesn’t use its legs to claw at me. Somehow, even though it is aiming to duke it out with me, it doesn’t really seem to want to murder me, just confirming my feeling that it’s simply lashing out at me out of anguish.
We enter a contest of strength as it shakes me all around, slamming me into the nearby wall and floor a few times, but I don’t let it go. Whenever possible, I smack its snout with my fist so it knows that I won’t be backing off ever. The wild dance we two share is unlike anything I have experienced so far, I think.
After what feels like an eternity, we finally begin to slow down. Its growls turn quieter and quieter as it lessens the strength of its shaking. I keep it tightly locked until it fully stills, simply standing with its long nose in my grip and releasing lighter snarls that gradually die down too.
I tug it down and it reluctantly plops itself on the ground. Loosening my hold a bit, I rest its head on my lap while looking into one of its big, purplish eyes that illuminate my visage. One of my hands starts stroking its snout with gentle movements. Both of us are quite bruised and battered.
“Had enough? I know that you are still furious, maybe also at yourself, but you can’t stay like this forever. You avenged your family, at least. Tore those bastards into pieces. They can’t hurt anyone else.” I whisper softly to the disturbed wolf, knowing that it listens intently to my words. “It’s not your fault. Sometimes, no matter how strong you are, you just can’t be in two places at the same time. You did your best, for sure. I bet you killed a lot of them when they caught you. You never gave up. You waited for the perfect moment. You even allied yourself with me and ran straight here. No one, even a Demigod like me could have done better. You deserve a rest. Don’t think, just rest. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ll deal with it then.”
Gradually, its eyelids lower as I speak and the wolf does fall asleep shortly after I finish. Just to be sure, I stay with it for about fifteen minutes more, listening to its powerful breathing. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to doze off in such a vile cavern. I’m not as exhausted as it was.
While it sleeps peacefully, I quietly move the bodies outside, lining them up on the grass. I’m not sure what my companion would like to do with them, but I don’t think leaving everyone to rot in their home is the answer. Perhaps a simple burial will work.
Then, I do what I can to clean the air inside a bit. A borrowed spell or two takes care of that, though the effects aren’t perfect since I can’t really scrub the floor and only ventilate the chamber. Always something, at least.
For the rest of the night, I plop myself under a tree next to the bodies, watching over them so that no scavengers show up to ruin them even more. I do catch some sleep too, thankfully without being interrupted by some rude guests looking for a midnight snack.
Something wakes me up and I open my eyes to a fairly bright sky. I immediately notice the big figure of my wolf friend emerging from the cavern, hesitantly walking forward. It sees the lined-up bodies and stops in front of them. I stand up, taking its side and brushing my hand over its soft black fur.
“I can bury them for you. In our culture, we sometimes visit the burial places of our relatives. You will be able to always come back here to spend some time with them. What do you say?”
It lazily turns to me and meets my gaze. No words or noises leave its canine mouth but I clearly get its reluctant agreement and gratitude. As it lowers itself to the ground, I get to work. It watches me silently as I dig up a bunch of graves, set the corpses down in the holes, cover them again, and bring some metal shields out of my storage. Shaping my hilt into a dagger, I carve a small, somewhat simple and awkward shape of a wolf’s head on each, shoving the shields halfway into the earth next.
“Looks fairly good, don’t you think?” I scratch the wolf’s ear a bit as it stares at the shiny plates.
After a while, I give it a few more pats and walk away. Some rustling makes me glance back over my shoulder and I see the wolf up on its paws again, looking after me.
“Don’t grieve for too long, friend. You still have a lot of life ahead of you. Stay for a while, but I would suggest trying to find a new home, maybe starting a new family when you are ready for that. Maybe our paths will cross again in the future. Don’t be a stranger then.” I chuckle and wave at it.
The wolf looks between me and the graves a few times before ultimately leaving its attention on its family’s burial place. Taking a deep breath, I turn around and prepare myself for quite a bit of running, starting to infuse my muscles with lots of mana.
Something nudges my hand and makes me jump. The friendly wolf stands right next to me with its nose lowered to the height of my palm.
“What?” I raise a curious brow at it.
It starts flicking my hand with its hot, glowing, violet tongue and I let it, assuming it's some kind of a parting gesture. After a few licks, it pulls my palm a bit deeper and suddenly bites down.
“Ow! Hey!” I carefully yank my arm back, trying not to cut myself deeper. “What was that fo—”
I pause as a window appears right in front of my eyes.
| Unnamed Lupus Voidis initiated Pact Bond with your designation as the Master and wishes to become your Familiar. Do you accept her offer? |
I blink a few times while looking between the message and the calm visage of the majestic wolf.
“So, you are actually a girl, huh.” I scratch my head. “I mean, if you are sure?”
She bops my hand with her nose again so I take it as a yes.
“Fine. I did tell you to find a new home and family. I guess I need to take responsibility for my words.” I smirk at her and mentally agree to the request.
| Due to your matching Void Affinity, your compatibility is at its highest. The Pact Bond ties you together in its most developed form. Your souls have become linked and you can now access your Bondmate’s Status as you grow stronger together. |
“That’s new.” I rub my chin ponderingly. “I guess this is why we’ve been able to understand each other so well. I need to start working more on that Void element, maybe find a teacher.”
Curious, I navigate my menus and find a section for Familiars which now also shows Bondmates. The Unnamed wolf of the Lupus Voidis lineage is listed there as an entry so I choose to view whatever stats and information I’m able to access.
| 【INFORMATION】 |
| Name: Unnamed |
“Tier 4 is quite nice. Though, I have no idea about your kind’s standards. You are almost at five. Those guys must have really gotten the jump on you.” I sigh heavily. “Well, I assume you wouldn’t mind accepting a name? It would make a bunch of things easier.”
My palm receives a soft lick which is clear like a day to me.
“What about Diana? First thing that comes to my mind. I think it suits you well.” I rub her nose affectionately.
Something warm sets inside my chest and I can tell that Diana experiences it too as a quiet, pleasant rumble escapes her closed muzzle.
“Great.” I chuckle warmly. “Shall we head out, then?”
Diana glances back at the graves for a moment and nudges me with her snout again, pushing me towards her side. I obediently jump onto her back, also give one last look to the burial grounds, and we slowly start our journey to rejoin the rest.
Shino is going to lose her mind about our new little friend.
Saileri
Goodies.
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Enormous gratitude towards our Living Legends of the highest tier - Moheebi3abc, Lynderyn, Muff_Diver_Dave, and Jeffrey B.! No less respect for our EX-rank Guild Members - Julian, William H., and James M.! And naturally towards all the S-rank Guild Members - Fandley, Soen K., Darth Mole, Dennis W., William J., Michael S., Tonatsi, Robert H., Fussel, Trenton S., SIDracon, Alvzorin, Rando C., TheGovnor, Sura, Jampodevral, Drew P., D3monEmper0r, Riley M., Solomon P., Eddie F., Chocotaku, Nicholas G, and Saint.J! We wouldn't be able to have such epic adventures without your support! This Guild Master is greatly honored by your presence!
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