Echoes of the Past

Fenris returned to his cave to find Fran sitting outside with Vorpellus, the pack of Hellhounds that served him forming a protective circle around them. She offered him a loving smile as he approached, rising to greet him with a warm embrace when she saw his troubled face.

"You did what you had to, my love. They would have hunted us down otherwise. Neither we nor our child would be able to live in peace while they remained," she said to him as she held him close, Vorpellus snuggled between them.

"I know, and even the Wood whispered to me afterwards to tell me I was right to destroy Eruyt, but that does not change the fact that I just killed most of the race I swore to protect so long ago," he said, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

"Dah!" Vorpellus shouted from between them, reaching towards his father.

Fenris took his son in his arms, finding a measure of peace in the act. He looked down to see his son staring at him with knowing eyes, as though he understood his father's pain. He smiled gently as he held Vorpellus, a smile making its way to his lips as he basked in the presence of his mate and son.

"Come inside, Fenris. Your Hellhounds hunted while we were away, and my sisters are cooking some of the meat they brought," Fran said to him gently, nuzzling his neck with her nose and lips.

He allowed her to lead him inside the cave they now shared as a family, seating himself with Vorpellus at the makeshift table that Fran's Viera sisters had made to make the space feel more like a home. He barely noticed the plate of food they set before him as he sat and held his son. Even Vorpellus seemed to feel that his father needed to eat, as he i

grabbed a slab of meat from the plate and tried pushing it into Fenris' mouth as he yawned. He looked at the boy with wide eyes as he pulled the meat into his mouth with his tongue.

"Dah!" Vorpellus shouted with a smile.

"I agree, Vorpellus. Your father needs to eat and keep up his strength," Fran said gently as she sat beside her mate, stopping to place a gentle kiss between his ears as he often did to her. He offered her a small smile in return.

"Would you like us to take Vorpellus while you eat?" The younger of Fran's sisters asked him.

"That's alright. I think he's happy where he is and I have no complaints either," Fenris answered, for the boy seemed determined to stay with his father, even shying away from Fran when she reached for him.

Fenris ate his food feeling relatively content, Vorpellus pushing bits of meat towards his mouth whenever he went too long between bites. He smiled against the meat before opening his jaws to accept it each time, earning giggles from the baby with each bite he fed his father. He passed Vorpellus back to Fran when he had finished eating, much to the boy's obvious displeasure.

"I have to go listen to the Wood, my treasured son. It is best if you stay with your mother and aunts for a bit," he said to the boy, gently rubbing between the baby's ears with his thumb.

Vorpellus quieted down at his father's words, though he crossed his arms and made a pouting face. Fran looked at the baby boy with surprise as Fenris walked out of the cave. She worried for the sake of her mate's sanity, for the cost of what he had been forced to do to protect them. She did not regret leaving Eruyt to be with him or for bearing his child, what she did regret was making his destruction of Eruyt necessary through her actions. She had forsaken her people to pursue her own interests once more, and the cost had been much greater this time. She rose to follow Fenris but Vorpellus suddenly demanded her attention, shaking his head from side to side when she looked down at him.

"You think we should leave him be for a while?" She asked the baby boy in her arms, surprised when he slowly nodded.

Fenris climbed back up to Golmore and walked towards Eruyt, stopping on the platform that held the hidden path to the now destroyed Viera village. He closed his eyes and took a series of deep breaths, opening his mind to the sentient presence of the Wood. The scent of the destruction he had wrought was still fresh, a harsh reminder of what he had done.

He stood thus for several minutes as he waited to see if the Wood would speak to him again. He began to feel frustrated as the minutes continued to tick by in silence.

"Do you truly forgive me for what I have done to the most beautiful creatures you have ever made?" He asked aloud, his rising anger quickly changing into a pit of sorrow.

"What can I do to redeem myself for my deplorable sin?" He shouted as he fell to his knees and struck the platform with his fists, hot tears falling from his eyes.

I do forgive you, Fenris. Though you need not do anything to redeem yourself in my eyes, there is something you can do if it would help ease the pain in your heart. He heard the Wood whisper to him softly.

"What is it? What can I do to atone for this?" He demanded, gesturing towards the burnt out remains of Eruyt.

Go to Nabudis. I have been sensing the dark power that you have encountered already, growing within the depths of the forgotten Necropolis. I believe you will find the source of Darkness there that you felt from the Necromancer in the Feywood. She answered him gently.

"I will wipe the scourge from the face of Ivalice. Whatever Darkness may lay in waiting will lament the day it chose to extend itself into you and your children," he said as he rose to leave, once more feeling a sense of purpose.

Go with my blessing, Fenris, and my thanks. Were it not for you, there is no telling how the Darkness radiating from Nabudis would have affected the Viera that were here. By burning Eruyt with the power I gave you over the Mist, you have purged the evil from beneath my boughs.

"I will be sure that it cannot rise to threaten you, or anyone else, ever again," he said through clenched teeth as he began the trek back to his cave.

He slowed to a stop as he neared the tree he usually used to descend, a familiar scent that made his blood boil wafting in the breeze. He rounded the corner to find another dark Mage observing the tree he used, apparently trying to track him. Fenris growled only a short warning before leaping at the Necromancer, knocking it to the ground as it turned towards him, caught off guard by the sudden sound.

The Necromancer stabbed at his face with an evil-looking dagger, the blade an eerie black that seemed to absorb the light around it. Fenris narrowly dodged in time to keep his eyes, closing in with his fangs before the dark Mage could reverse his trajectory. He called the Mist to him, consuming the Necromancer in a massive blaze.

Fenris rose and turned to leave, stopping in his tracks as a demented laugh rose from the flames behind him. He turned to find that, to his horror, the being before him was no Necromancer, it was a Lych that bore the ancient armor of Nabudis. He snarled as he took on his bestial form, drawing the burning Mist into himself to create a fiery aura.

"Do you think you can kill that which is beyond death?" It asked in its raspy voice.

"Only one way to find out, scourge of Nabudis," Fenris spat in response, launching himself at the dark creature with unfathomable speed fueled by his unyielding hatred of the undead and those who created them.

He slammed into the Lych with his burning body, making the creature release a shriek that made him feel as though his ears would bleed. He slammed his clawed fist into the Lych's face, trying to silence it. He was suddenly thrown back into a tree by a powerful blast of dark magicks, landing with a snarl before launching himself at his enemy once more. Not wanting to drag out a battle with such a powerful form of undead creature so close to his home and his family, Fenris drew all of the burning Mist he had gathered into his fist, slamming it into the Lych's chest and pouring the flames of his hatred into its body. The creature shrieked with its terrible cry as its body was reduced to ash, a black smoke rising from its remains to take on a humanoid shape.

"You may have destroyed my servants and this body, Fenris, but you cannot kill me," it said before disappearing into the shadows, no doubt retreating back to Nabudis to lick its wounds and draw more power to itself.

"I don't intend to kill you, I intend to erase all trace of your foul presence," he said to the empty air before descending back to the forest floor and returning home, anxious to check on his family.

He knew he may very well need Fran's help in liberating the Necropolis of Nabudis from the foul presence hiding within, though he was loath to put his mate in danger. If she went with him, he would guard her with his life.