Darkness of the Wood

Fran nursed Fenris back to health after their fight with the Lich, refusing to share the burden with her sisters during the three days he had slept without moving. Their son, Vorpellus, was the only other being Fran would allow into the room. It was only when the child curled up beside his father that Fenris would begin to stir slightly.

Fenris awoke on the third night to find Fran curled up on the bed beside him while Vorpellus had squeezed his way into the space between them, the corner of his thumb resting between his lips. Fenris tried to quietly stand without waking them, but his body refused to obey him. When he finally managed to move, the effort caused his body to go cold, as though he had slept out in the open during a heavy snow storm. Fran awoke to the sound of his ragged breathing after his attempt to stand, his chest rattling as though he were becoming deathly ill.

"What is it, my love?" She asked him, an edge of panic in her voice.

"C-cold, c-can't m-m-move," he stuttered out in a whisper that even she could barely hear.

Fran wrapped her body around his, drawing fire magicks to herself to help warm him. She jumped away as he cried out in pain, screaming that he now felt as though he were burning. Fran's panic worsened as she rushed back to his side, tears streaming from her eyes as she struggled to maintain her composure. She watched in horrified fascination as his body began to change, seemingly against his will as he continued to cry out in pain and rolled to the floor. Her sisters ran in after hearing Fenris' cries of pain, running away just as swiftly when they saw him entering his feral state and becoming more wolf-like. It was just as well, for he tore through the make-shift door as he sped out of the cave, his feet leaving tracks of both fire and ice.

Fenris' Hellhound pack tore off after him, thinking their master wished to hunt. He left them far behind as he sped away, Fran heard him howl far, far away as she reached the cave's mouth, her heart clutched in fear's icy grip.

"Come back to me, my love," she whispered into the cold night.

Fenris ran through the darkest part of the Wood, through paths that no creature dared to roam, not even the fiends that haunted many of the darker areas would enter where he went. What few dark and powerful monsters there were fled at the sight of Fenris, his lupine body covered in fire and ice while exuding a Mist so dark that it almost made the fiends seem holy in comparison. He stopped and scented the air, a growl sounding in his throat as a familiar smell entered his nose. He ran towards the scent, following its trail through the Wood.

He came upon a section of the Wood where the trees were scorched above, the smell of blood and burnt flesh emanating from the soil. He put his nose to the ground, following the one scent that called to his memory. It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for among the carnage, the body of a Vierra. He recognized her immediately, it was his own handiwork after all. He bumped the body with his snout, jumping back as it moved.

"I knew you would bring our ruin," Mjrn said in a ghastly voice as the darkness around them flowed into her and lifted her body into the air.

"You are a blight that must be removed from the Wood," she said as her feet touched the floor, her wounds dripping blood as her body was reanimated.

"You have no authority here, fiend," Fenris growled as he leapt at her, only to narrowly miss as she sank into the blood-soaked ground.

"What, then, are you?" She demanded as she erupted from the ground below him, striking his soft belly with her fist.

They continued back and forth for several tense minutes, the reanimated Vierra consistently dodging his strikes by sinking into the soil. In his frustration, Fenris charged the frost in his front paws and slammed them into the ground, making it harder for Mjrn to escape his claws. He was finally able to tackle her to the ground, yelping in surprise as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. She moaned seductively as she pulled him closer, dragging her fingers through the thick mane of fur along his spine.

"I think I understand now why Fran chose to leave her sisters and village behind to stay with you," she whispered teasingly as she pressed her hips against his.

Fenris struggled to break free from her grip, but the shadows around them seemed to be fueling her strength. Mjrn refused to release him even when he covered himself in a roaring inferno.

"Mmm, so warm," she moaned with a smile as her flesh began smoking.

She seemed determined to pair with him before he could reduce her to ash, grinding her hips against his to coax him. She gasped as his organ slid free of its sleeve, crying out as she forced it into herself. Fenris began bucking his hips, not to give her what she wanted, but to free himself from her flesh. He felt something inside of her clamping onto him and refusing to let go, pushing him dangerously close and sapping his strength. In a last ditch effort, he poured all the energy he had left into increasing the blaze around him. His flames consumed her so quickly that he ended up releasing his seed against the ground. He heard Mjrn cackling as her corrupted spirit fled into the shadows, not seeing the bloody earth absorb his seed like a dehydrated sponge as he reverted to his human form and lost consciousness.

He awoke a few hours later as the sun began peaking through the trees, with no memory of where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was waking up in pain beside Fran. He slowly and cautiously tried to stand, surprised to find that his body no longer fought his commands or caused him pain. He still felt sore, but that didn't stop him from trudging back home to be with his mate and child. The trip took him the better part of the morning, making him wonder what the hell had happened. His Hellhounds met him on his path, their breathing labored from running through the night trying to catch up with their master.