"Is that the white fox that's been following Klaus around for weeks?"
"Indeed, it is. It also happens to be my Soulbound." Elijah held Kaelyn up for Jonas to see while she glared at him.
"So, Kaelyn is alive after all. I take it she's a member of the Fox Clan. But why is she in that form?"
"I assume that she is unable to transform for some reason. I was hoping you would be able to help with that."
Jonas fixed him with a look that said he was too busy and tired to deal with more of the Vampire's problems, but sighed and nodded anyway. Elijah followed the Warlock into the apartment and set Kaelyn down on the kitchen table before taking a seat near her. She immediately sniffed at the air and scrunched up her nose at something. The herbs that were commonly used in witchcraft were likely quite pungent to her sensitive nose.
"Normally I would say no animals on the table, but I guess this is a unique situation." Jonas pulled a large book down from one of the many shelves lining the living area walls. "If there are any spells that can help with your…issue, they'll be in here."
The smell of dust and old books reached Elijah's nose when Jonas set the massive grimoire on the table and opened it. He began to leaf through the pages, skimming the various spells with tired eyes. Kaelyn padded over to the Warlock, eyes fixed on the words of the pages, though how she expected to read Latin - and upside down, at that - was beyond Elijah. The three of them stayed like that for nearly twenty minutes before Jonas shooed Kaelyn away, saying that her hovering over him was distracting. Elijah never thought he'd see a fox pout, but these were strange times. He had to cover his mouth by taking a sip from the glass in front of him so she wouldn't see his amused smile.
By the time Jonas shook his head and closed the grimoire, Kaelyn had curled into a ball and gone to sleep on the couch. Elijah grimaced when he saw Jonas' expression. The Warlock had apparently been unable to find anything that could help with their situation.
"Is there truly nothing to be done?"
"There's a spell I could try, but I don't know if it will work. The spell forces a Werewolf to change forms. However, the curse binding the Werewolves is really specific. The Ellanki aren't bound by it, so this spell will likely do nothing."
"I suppose I should let Kaelyn decide if she wishes to try." The fox's ears perked up at the sound of her name. Elijah could tell by the change in her breathing that she'd woken as soon as he'd spoken.
Kaelyn lifted her head and nodded, giving her assent. Jonas sighed once more and lit several candles to channel. Chanting softly, Jonas raised his hand towards the little fox. A breeze picked up in the room and Elijah's skin began to tingle, a sure sign that Jonas was attempting the spell. However, that was the only hint that he was trying anything. The fox stayed a fox. She tilted her head to the side with a look of confusion as Jonas sat back down and the candles went out.
"I'm a little surprised she wasn't affected at all. The Witches who cursed the Wolf Clan must have channeled something truly powerful to place that curse on an entire clan."
"I am more than a little curious as to what really caused the Witches to curse the Werewolves in the first place, though I imagine the truth is lost to time." Elijah turned to Kaelyn, lips twitching at the adorable downcast look on her face. "We won't stop looking for a way to get you back to your Human self."
"I imagine having a fox for a soulmate makes things more than a little difficult." Jonas muttered under his breath, clearly knowing he would be heard. Elijah fixed him with an unamused look that the Warlock took in stride. "Well, I've tried everything I can think of right now. I'm going to sleep for the next six hours. You might want to look into what's going on at the town wall, Elijah." The man gave Elijah and Kaelyn a tired nod and headed for his room. Jonas' suggestion wasn't a bad one. The quest to withstand the beast waves appeared to him as soon as he'd awoken, though he hadn't taken the time to investigate much given the state of his Soulbound. Perhaps since Kaelyn was truly stuck for the time being, he should focus on figuring out what exactly was going on with the town.
Kaelyn readily jumped into his arms when he held them out to her, and he followed the sounds of battle to the section of the town wall that was currently being besieged by hundreds of the six-legged dogs. The town mayor, Carol Lockwood, stood at the top of the wall, directing the on-duty townspeople to the spots where their defenses seemed to be weakening. She gave a small start when she noticed Elijah walking towards her.
"Elijah? You disappeared weeks ago. We thought you left town after your brother unlocked his Werewolf side." The woman was obviously far better informed than she had been before he'd been daggered. She also gave Kaelyn a pointed look that said that she recognized the fox as the same one that followed Niklaus around previously.
"I was indisposed during the past few weeks. I have fortunately since recovered and am looking to get a better understanding of the state of the town now that it appears the beast swarms have begun."
The mayor sighed before she answered. "I assume this means you haven't gained any levels since you disappeared." Her tone said that wasn't a question. "Well, we need all the help we can get. There are more of these damn dogs that we anticipated. I have all the townsfolk with a combat Class on six hour rotating shifts, but the dogs just keep coming and my people are tired. I understand that Vampires still need to use Mental and Essence energy to use their skills and fight, but your endurance far outpaces that of the Humans of the town. Even the little fox in your arms has been a valuable asset, though I'm not sure how I feel about allowing the mutated wildlife to help fight against their own." Kaelyn gave a small squeak in affront but quieted when Elijah gently placed a hand on her head.
"I don't believe this little fox is like the dogs attempting to murder everyone in the town." He gave Kaelyn a small pat on the head to placate her. "I will help. Do you know how long this wave will last?"
"Not a clue. I assume it'll last until whatever is spewing these creatures at us runs out of dogs to spew. We've tried sending scouts into the woods to see if we can find where they're coming from, but they get overrun anytime they get anywhere close to this section of the forest. It's likely that there's something out there the dogs don't want us near." She paused with a thoughtful look on her face. "Actually, perhaps an Original Vampire would fare better than our scouts or the other Vampires in the town. Would you be willing to find out what the dogs are guarding?"
Elijah gave it a moment of thought. "Of course. Do your scouts have a map of the area they've been able to reach?"
"Yes. Give me one moment." The mayor turned around and called for one of the townspeople to fetch the map. Elijah absentmindedly scratched behind Kaelyn's ears as they waited, the sound of the violence going on only a few meters away putting him on edge. He didn't have to wait long.
"Here. I'll leave you to it. I'm needed to direct the defenses."
Elijah held the map so that Kaelyn could see it while he studied it. There was an area roughly five kilometers in diameter that was marked as unknown terrain. A note on the map said that it was likely the place where the mutated dogs were spawning.
He folded the map and stored it in his pocket as he walked away. A few blocks from the wall, the street was empty and he could hear no one's heart but his own and Kaelyn's. He gently set her down on the sidewalk and knelt in front of her.
"Kaelyn, please go to Jonas' apartment while I'm gone. I shouldn't be too long." The small fox shook her head furiously and then headbutted his hand. "I don't want to have to worry for your safety. You heard what Carol Lockwood said. That part of the forest is overrun with beasts." Kaelyn growled and bit his hand hard, drawing blood. He drew back, surprised at her vehemence. "Alright. Please stay close to me. And promise you'll run if things go south." She nodded as he sighed and stood.
He and Kaelyn left the town from the nearest gate that was not currently facing an imminent beast threat. It was quite a bit out of their way, but he didn't want to draw attention by jumping over the wall. The forest was silent; even the birds and bugs didn't dare make noise and accidentally lead the dogs to their lairs. Even Elijah felt a bit of trepidation as they walked without speaking, their breathing sounding far too loud to his ears.
A soft sound of a twig breaking in the distance put both of them on alert. They stopped in their tracks, Elijah immediately feeling reminded of their hunting sessions from before Niklaus' coming to town. The teamwork he and Kaelyn had carefully cultivated during that time hadn't dwindled in the slightest since his absence, though it was a bit different now that she was much smaller than before.
An unknown pressure at his back made him glance down at the fox behind him. Her blue eyes glowed slightly in the shade of the undergrowth, and there was no mistaking that the pressure was coming from her. Why was she releasing her aura here? And was there a hint of something sharp within the pressure?
"Kaelyn!" Elijah called out softly as she shot past him with a quiet growl. A pained yelp followed shortly afterward and the scent of blood filled the air around him. He swore under his breath and took off after her with all the speed he could muster. A moment later, a grisly scene came into view. The pristine white fox was wiping her claws on the ground near the bisected bodies of two six-legged dogs. Blood pooled between the four pieces of flesh on the ground that had been cleanly cut through with a single strike each. Perhaps he needn't have worried about Kaelyn's ability to fight in this form. Had she really done that much damage with just her claws?
The aura around her retracted as he stepped into view, sending a sense of relief through him that worried him. Had she grown so strong in only a few weeks since his brother's betrayal? Once she'd hit level 20, she'd mentioned that it felt a lot harder to level. So, what had she gone through that had pushed her to grow so much? Anger coursed through him at the thought of what Niklaus must have done, and he swore to himself that he would be having a chat with his brother as soon as he returned to Mystic Falls.
Kaelyn's head tilted to the side as she looked at him in confusion. He'd been staring at her for a long moment without speaking. Instead of answering, he shook his head and continued walking towards the spot marked on the map.
They defeated five more patrols of the dogs in the next ten minutes. Twice, the sounds of their battle with one group drew another group nearby. The first time it happened, Elijah would have lost an arm if not for the strange ability Kaelyn had to launch an attack through him without hurting him. He'd have to ask her how that was possible when she regained her Human form. They were currently hiding in a bush, waiting for a patrol to pass. They'd both come to the realization that they couldn't fight every patrol or they'd never make it to the center without being overrun, so they were trying to sneak for as long as possible. Elijah's supernatural senses gave them quite a bit of warning when patrols were near, though the current one had seemed to come out of nowhere.
After the third time a patrol caught them while they were trying to stealthily sneak by, Elijah and Kaelyn gave up on hiding and began brute forcing their way to the center. They'd already entered the unknown territory on the map, but with the sheer number of beasts attacking them almost constantly, it was impossible to search for the spawn point. Still, the two of them were far stronger than any of the scouts who'd come this way before, so they pressed forward. The more ground they could cover, the better the chance of success for their next mission.
Soon, each step they took was drenched in blood. He'd asked several times for Kaelyn to turn around, and every time she'd shake her head and continue slaughtering the dogs coming at them from every direction. It felt like they'd been fighting for hours, though he knew it was likely less than a single hour since they'd given up stealth. He'd already gained a full level and was nearing a second from the sheer number of the beasts. However, he could feel his energy levels flagging. If something didn't change soon, they were going to have to turn back.
Just then, a bright light appeared before them. A large glowing crystal, not entirely unlike the one in the town square, hung in the center of a glade not fifty feet from them. Six-legged dogs poured out from it and it was guarded by three much larger dogs as well as one enormous alpha - like the one he'd defeated with Kaelyn over a month ago. It seemed that they'd discovered the source of the endless tide.
