Surprises Around Every Corner
Fenris was walking Fran and her sisters back towards Eruyt the following morning to let Mjrn know of the dark power Fenris had felt as he clashed with the Necromancer. Vorpellus was more active than usual as he squirmed around in his father's arms, trying to grasp everything they passed in his tiny hands. Fran had to take the young boy as they neared the path to Eruyt, a strange scent in the air making Fenris proceed with caution. It was wise that he had passed their child to his mother, for there was a group of at least a dozen armored Humes standing next to the stairs they needed to take.
Even Fenris could tell that their armor was expensive, likely marking them as soldiers of some other nation. Fran passed their son to the older Viera so she could sneak up beside her mate to see what he did. She felt her heart skip a beat as she recognized the Archadian Empire's sigil on their shiny cuirasses.
"They should not be," Fran whispered to her mate.
"They bear the mark of a long dead Empire, one that I helped bring down nearly a century ago," she added when she saw his confused look.
"Stay here," he whispered back to her before stepping out where the soldiers could see him.
"You there! State your business or be gone!" One of the soldiers shouted when they saw him.
"I am Fenris, firstborn of the Wood. You are trespassing on my territory," Fenris replied in a cold voice.
"Fenris? Firstborn? Never heard of you," a soldier with better armor than his compatriots said.
"I suggest you leave off, 'Fenris'," one of the other soldiers said.
"We're here on a Hunt," chimed in another.
"And what might you be Hunting in my territory?" Fenris asked the soldier with better armor.
"Not that it's any of your business, but we're here tracking a group of dark mages, a group that has been practicing a most foul variety of magicks," the man responded.
"Necromancers, you mean?" Fenris asked.
"Indeed," answered the soldiers' leader.
"You are quite far from your Mark, then. I killed one of them myself yesterday, in the corner of the Feywood that leads to Nabudis," Fenris answered politely, though Fran could tell by his stance that his patience was wearing thin.
"And how do I know that you are not one of them, trying to lead us astray?" The lead soldier asked.
"You claim this to be your territory, but it is well known that this is the territory of the Viera," the man added.
Fenris was standing in the midst of the soldiers before they could blink, his visage becoming feral. The lead soldier drew his long sword, only to find himself holding a broken stub as Fenris shattered the blade with his bare hand. The sound of the soldiers drawing their weapons echoed through the green paths of the Wood.
"Lower your weapons or die like vermin. I will not warn you twice," Fenris growled.
"To Hell with this! Kill him!" Their leader shouted.
Fenris let out a menacing growl as the soldiers crept closer, causing more than one of them to falter in their advance. Two of the men out right threw down their weapons and fled, their leader cursing at them as they ran. The man turned and let out a frightened cry, having found Fenris in his face, the White Wolf of the Wood now in his bestial form.
The man fell on his rear, tripping over the corpse of one of his subordinates. He looked at the body in shock, his panic rising as he realized that all of his men were killed in the brief moment he had turned his head.
"What are you?!" The man shouted in a frantic voice.
"I am Fenris, the White Wolf of the Wood. The first creature to be given the Wood's blessing, Her firstborn," Fenris said, his voice low and guttural in his beast form.
The soldier began to sob and cry like a frightened child, pleading for his life.
"You gave the order to kill me only a moment ago, and now you expect me to show mercy? Would you ask any other beast of the wild to do the same, or would you accept that it would be futile?" Fenris asked the man as he closed in for the kill.
"Please! No!" The man cried, to no avail.
The soldier's screams were cut short as Fenris sank his large fangs into the man's throat, tearing out his flesh and splattering the ground around him with gore. Fenris reverted to his human form as he rose, blood covering his face and chest. Fran ran to him, their son still in her arms. She used a light Water spell to wash away the gore before it dried. Before she could close the distance between them and embrace her mate, he stopped down and began dragging the bodies to the edge of the raised path, tossing them over the side to the ground far below.
"Can you use that water spell again to wash the blood from the path? I would rather not leave such a bloody mess on your sisters' doorstep," he said, something in his tone seeming almost sad.
"Of course," Fran replied.
Once every trace of the short battle was washed away, Fran passed Vorpellus to his father so that she could open the way to Eruyt. Fenris' ears were swiveled forward, attentive for any sound that the Viera were coming to meet them. He was glad that they were left alone as Fran worked her spell, he did not wish to shed any more blood so close to her home. Fenris stood beside her as she finished, walking alongside her with their son as her sisters followed behind.
Mjrn was waiting for them on the other side, several warriors in tow. She glanced at each of them in turn, her gaze lingering on Vorpellus.
"Why have you returned? Why have you wrought battle on our doorstep?" She asked.
"I tried to reason with the Humes, but they attacked me. I ensured that none of your sisters were involved in the skirmish," Fenris answered.
"So be it. Now then, state your purpose and be gone from Eruyt, White Wolf," Mjrn said, her disgust at having him in the village clear in her voice.
"Mjrn, we have come to warn you. Fenris faced a Hume Necromancer near the edge of the Feywood yesterday, and I heard the soldiers he faced say that they were looking for a group of such people," Fran said to Mjrn.
"You dare speak to me in such a civilized manner after betraying your people, after betraying the Wood?" Mjrn shrieked.
"How have I betrayed you, sister?" Fran asked.
"You have mated with this beast and even bore his child!" Mjrn responded, continuing to shriek in her rage.
"How is being the mate of the Wood's first born a betrayal to the race that the Wood made so that I would not be alone through my endless life? Perhaps you should speak with Her and learn your own origins," Fenris said in a low voice tinted with malice. Fran knew that he would not be able to keep his composure much longer.
"Dah!" Vorpellus shouted from his father's arms, looking up at Fenris with troubled eyes.
"Do not worry, little Vorpellus. Nothing will happen to you, I promise," Fenris told his son.
"You would turn your fangs on us?" Mjrn asked him, her tone making it clear that she felt he had threatened her people.
"If you raise a hand against my son, I will kill you," Fenris answered, staring Mjrn in the eye as he spoke.
"You are holding a male Viera?!" She demanded in shock.
"He is only half Viera, Mjrn. Considering his parents, I dare say anything could be possible," Fran said in her child's defense.
"I want the three of you out of Eruyt now!" Mjrn screamed at them.
"The two of you can go with them if you wish, but this is your last chance to come home," she added in a dangerous tone to the pair of Viera healers that had gone with them to help Fran give birth to their son.
"We will take our chances," the two answered in a defiant tone.
"So be it. Be gone from Eruyt, and never return," Mjrn said, dangerously calm.
"It would have been better if you died giving birth to that abomination, sister," Mjrn said in a quiet voice as the group turned to leave, almost too faint for Fran or her mate to hear.
Fenris and Fran stopped in their tracks as Mjrn's venomous words reached their ears. Vorpellus squirmed from his father's arms to look back at the Viera elder, his gaze containing a knowledge far beyond his few days in the world. The baby's ears tilted back like an angry dog as his eyes began to glow, his small mouth curling into a feral snarl. He began to growl menacingly as small fangs erupted from his gums, displaying his own anger at the insult he had heard. Fenris added a growl of his own as an arrow grazed his arm, missing his son by no more than an inch.
"Take Vorpellus and run," he said in a quiet voice as he sidestepped to his mate's side.
Fran was hesitant at first, until another arrow narrowly missed her hand as she reached for their baby boy. Instinct taking over, Fran quickly snatched Vorpellus from Fenris and bolted towards the exit. Fenris roared as more arrows were released, arching high overhead to reach his mate and child. He dashed towards Fran, already drawing the everpresent Mist of the Wood into himself and taking on his bestial form. He quickly passed his mate, doubling back and launching himself towards the incoming missiles. Fenris released the Mist he had consumed into a massive fiery aura, consuming the arrows as they touched it.
He landed right at Mjrn's feet, rising to put his wolfish face into hers and stare her in the eye.
"I told you that I would kill you if you tried to harm either of them," he growled before disemboweling the Viera with his claws, stepping back as her innards splattered on the floor at her feet.
He ran his clawed hand up into her open abdomen and gripped her heart, slowly piercing it with his long claws before finally crushing it. The other Viera only realized what had happened as their leader's body hit the floor. They gave a mighty war cry as they pelted him with arrows and spells, while warriors with swords and spears closed in with weapons raised. The spells and arrows had no effect against his dense aura of flaming Mist; nothing of Eruyt survived as he called even more Mist into his aura, expanding it to burn and consume all life in the village, though his fire never touched the trees. He would at least show the Wood that respect, even if he was now killing the very race he had sworn to protect.
"Do not fret. Mjrn was being touched by the same dark power you felt before, her influence infecting the others. There are Viera elsewhere, and I can always bring more into the world," he heard the Wood's soft voice whisper to him.
The knowledge made his heart heavy, as it confirmed his suspicion of something brewing in the shadows. He returned to his human form and dispelled the Mist, his mind racing as he walked out of the ruins he had made of Eruyt.