Warrior Wolves Tales:

-fire and shadows-

Chapter 1: the fire husky

It had been months now since Xaver had saved the universe from Dark Blade threat. Now the quiet had finally returned to Nome, the humans and the dogs of the city still remembered that terrible storm that hit Nome and the damage it had caused to the houses; but in spite of everything, life has returned to flow serene and to normal. Humans have had the strength to get up and rebuild damaged houses, thanks also to the support of their most faithful friends… the dogs.

With the return of snow, sled dogs were once again the most reliable means of transport for getting around towns.

Just then the mail in Nome that cold October morning had arrived slightly early and all thanks to their dog leader, a young adult husky named Kodi.

Months ago he had discovered he was a warrior wolf and possessed the power of fire and earth; it took a while to accept it but ultimately he decided to use his abilities to help Xaver in his fight against the destroyer of worlds.

When all this was over Kodi went back to his normal life: his post dog job, spending time with his partner and sometimes training to perfect his wolf warrior skills.

Kodi: "this time we were very fast, we finished earlier than expected"

Kirby: "Yeah… I see your special training is paying off. You should take an example from him Ralph, by now you are becoming a barrel"

Kirby said teasing his teammate behind him. One of the reasons he was jokingly targeted was because he always found an excuse for even the most bizarre.

Ralph: "I've already told you a thousand times that I'm not fat at all! My mother always told me that I have big bones ... and then it's also all this hair that makes me look round "

Kirby: "as you say...fat!"

The beige husky said between a fake cough so as not to be overheard by Ralph. Kodi was giggling under his mustache as he let his master take off his reins and then walked over to his bowl to take a sip of water. Shortly thereafter, his mate, Dusty, joined him. The female husky gave him a gentle lick on his face and began to gently rub herself against her mate's neck.

Dusty: "Kodi, since we have no more deliveries for today, would you like to take a walk together?"

Kodi: "sure Dusty, sounds a great idea"

The two lovebirds instead of going into the cabin to rest like their other friends, they went for a walk through the streets of the city at times giving each other a loving look as they watched the people stroll, despite the snow and the cold the people of Nome were quite on the move, even there were also those who preferred to stay warm and comfortable in their cozy home.

However, Dusty wasn't having an entirely peaceful time. Her father Steele, the undisputed champion sled dog, when he discovered the relationship between her and Balto's son unleashed his fury against him...or at least he tried. Kodi instinctively used his new warrior wolf powers and bravely faced him by chasing him away and strangely no one had heard from him for at least a long time, but Dusty always feared that one day he might come back and hurt her or Kodi.

Kodi noticed that lately his partner was not always smiling like all the usual days, he wanted so much to talk to her to ask why even if in reality he had a certain intuition that it was her father, and that was why he preferred not to talk about it of this situation.

Kodi: "uhm Dusty ..."

Dusty: "yes Kodi?"

Kodi: "is everything alright?"

Dusty: "sure ... why are you asking me?"

Dusty said giving him a forced smile, but Kodi twisted his muzzle slightly and tilted his head; he had already understood that there was something tormenting his partner.

Kodi: "are you sure? I see you a little too lost in thought lately. You know you can tell me everything"

At that point Dusty took a deep breath and sat up looking at her partner with a sad look.

Dusty: "It's about my father..."

Kodi: "Did you know anything about him?"

Dusty: "No, but I'm very worried. I'm afraid that if he will come back I don't know what he could do to you or me..."

Dusty still remembered what happened that day. She had seen the disappointment and disgust in her father's eyes, she was aware that this thing would never forgive her, in fact when he came to find out of her relationship with Kodi he had portrayed his own daughter as a traitor.

Just remembering that moment, Dusty shivered with terror. Luckily Kodi was always there to comfort her; his partner licked his cheek and gave him gentle scrubbing.

Kodi: "Don't worry. If he comes back to take revenge I'll teach him a good lesson, just like I did last time "

Dusty smiled again and this time for real, she felt lucky to have a protective and loving lover.

Dusty: "thanks Kodi ... it's nice to know that you will always be by my side"

Kodi: "You are my mate, Dusty. I will never allow anyone to hurt you "

The couple spent quite some time cuddling, until the living soul arrived, Aniu appearing behind him. She was Kodi's paternal grandmother and also his trainer.

After the defeat of the world destroyer Aniu had made the decision to watch over his family and it was also a good opportunity to help his nephew learn the use of his wolf warrior powers.

And today he wanted to show him an old parchment from the early civilization period of the draconic empires.

Aniu: "hello dear"

Kodi: "hello grandma ... what's going on?"

Aniu: "I'm here because I wanted to show you something ..."

Aniu levitated the parchment and then unrolled it showing that it contained the secret techniques of a heroic warrior wolf who lived on the eastern continent of Charmwolf during one of the darkest periods of all time.

Kodi: "and what would these scribbles mean?"

Kodi asked, looking at the ancient draconian writing which he did not understand. Aniu didn't answer and put a paw on her grandson's head.

Kodi: "grandma ... what are you doing?"

Aniu: "don't worry dear"

When the living soul removed the paw from the husky's head, she invited him to look at the parchment again, Kodi could clearly read everything that was written on that parchment. What were previously incomprehensible scribbles became legible words to him.

Kodi: "Incredible ... now I can read everything there, but how is it possible?"

Aniu: "I gave you a little skill: now it will be possible for you to understand any language and ancient script"

Kodi: "this is really cool!"

Dusty: "So what does the parchment say? I'm curious to know"

Dusty asked curiously, sitting next to her mate. Kodi read the parchment using his new skill, understanding perfectly what was written. Apparently a certain Han-Feng had written his earth and fire fighting techniques on that parchment in his ripe old age in order to someday be taught to future generations. Unfortunately, due to the numerous conflicts between the clans of the eastern continent, many of its scrolls were lost or burned. What Aniu owned was the only parchment still intact.

Kodi: "it seems that they are spells of the element earth and fire"

Aniu: "exactly ..."

Kodi: "who was this Han-Feng?"

Aniu: "like you he was a warrior wolf of fire and earth. Considered by all to be one of the most valiant fighters of the eastern continent, he lived in a period in which the empire was ruled by a ruthless and corrupt emperor who reduced the inhabitants to extreme poverty; we are talking about many centuries ago. In any case, he enlisted in the rebel clan of the Faliandr and participated in many expeditions against the empire showing great mastery in combat and courage, up to the liberation of a people who had suffered years of abuse. The leader of the Faliandr became the new emperor, and he chose Han-Feng as his champion and he swore allegiance to his emperor and to the people until the day of his leave "

Continuing to read the parchment Kodi became very interested in a couple of spells, at this point Kodi decided to immediately go and practice in the woods near the city. He thought that if he learned some of those spells it would greatly increase his abilities. But before he left he wanted to ask Dusty if he would like to attend his training.

Kodi: "I'm sorry to interrupt our walk, Dusty"

Dusty: "don't worry Kodi"

Kodi: "But you could come and watch. What do you say?"

Dusty: "great idea!"

Aniu: "then let's go to a secluded place so as not to attract too much attention"

Some time later Kodi and Dusty walked together with Aniu to a part of the woods farthest from the city so they could attract any attention.

The young husky was so excited that he had to learn so many new spells that he didn't even know where to start.

Kodi: "okay grandma where do I start?"

Aniu: "if you want my advice you should focus on effective spells that do not require a lot of energy ... like this for example"

The living soul pointed to an earth element spell called earth force with its paw. It consisted of gaining greater resistance to enemy attacks and additionally empowering the spells of the earth for a long period of time.

Aniu: "How about starting with this? It could be very useful in combat "

Kodi: "okay, I'm ready"

Kodi got into position and concentrated the energy within him throughout his body and when he was ready he released a small amount to activate the spell.

Kodi: "ground buff!"

The husky immediately felt his physical strength double increase and it seemed as if a thick invisible fiber hard as rock completely covered his body.

Aniu: "So Kodi, do you feel something?"

Kodi: "yes ... I feel even more powerful"

Aniu: "great, now we'll see if you cast the spell correctly"

The living soul used a portion of her spirit to create an orb that she would shoot at her grandson Kodi.

Kodi: "uhm...grandma what are you going to do?"

Aniu: "relax dear, it won't hurt you ... if you activated the spell correctly"

Kodi still didn't completely trust the new spell, but after all if he hadn't tried it first he would never have been able to increase his strength.

Kodi: "okay ... if I really have to"

The young husky got into position and closed his eyes, bracing himself for impact, Aniu threw the sphere created with his own spirit at him.

The sphere hit Kodi, generating an explosion. Kodi expected to experience severe chest pain, but to his surprise he felt absolutely nothing.

Dusty: "Kodi, are you okay honey?"

Dusty ran over to him worried that Kodi was hurt, but as the snow cloud cleared he saw his partner still in perfect condition. Aniu gave a satisfied smile noticing how Kodi learned the spell so quickly and also performed it perfectly on the first try.

Kodi: "I didn't felt anything...it's incredible"

Aniu: "really impressive, you learned this spell really fast"

Then Kodi looked at the parchment and noticed a fire element spell that intrigued him, he noticed that it was very similar to Xaver's comet but had some peculiarities that made it different. Kodi carefully read what he had to do to activate the spell

Aniu: "I see that you are interested on the blazing wheel, do you want to try?"

Kodi nodded looking at his grandmother with a smile as he got back into his position, before starting Aniu create a target using her spiritual magic. When Kodi was ready he took a run and then leapt forward.

Kodi: "blazing wheel!"

The husky began to spin vertically becoming much faster every second until it turned into a large wheel engulfed in flames that quickly headed towards the fake enemy, the attack hitting the target full of spirit energy causing it to dissolve in air. Kodi spun too fast and could not slow down properly as a result of which he tumbled on his paws in the air.

Aniu: "are you all right dear?"

Asked the living soul in Kodi, the husky was fine but was only stunned from too much rolling.

Kodi: "uhm ... I guess I rolled a little too much ... but I'm fine"

He said as he scrambled to his feet a bit more and Dusty who was giggling seeing how funny her mate was, Kodi smiled as he saw his mate giggling in that way so adorable it made his heart melt every time.

Shortly after, Kodi fully recovered and went back to looking at the parchment

Suddenly Aniu, taking advantage of that moment of pause, sat down next to her daughter-in-law to whisper to her about something that Dusty had told her a few days ago, but that she still felt a little too insecure to even express herself with Kodi about it.

Aniu: "So when are you going to tell him?"

Dusty's face turned red as she looked down at the snowy ground as she felt tense as she talked about this topic.

Dusty: "I don't feel ready to tell him yet"

Aniu: "sooner or later you'll have to do it"

Dusty: "What if Kodi doesn't want to take this responsibility? if he won't accept it? "

Dusty sighed with a hint of fear and concern in her words. The living soul, however, thought quite differently; Aniu was more confident that Kodi would be happy to take on this new responsibility.

Aniu: "My grandson can be very responsible and in addition he loves you very much. He will certainly be delighted to hear this fantastic news"

Dusty: "I know, I know. It's just that I have so many doubts in my head and lately I feel so tired and fatigued, plus I have a feeling of anxiety"

Aniu: "in your condition it's normal, I went through it too long ago"

The two exchanged smiles and then gave each other a hug, Dusty was so happy to receive all this support from his partner's family; the day when she had to reveal that she was Steele's daughter, she was afraid of being judged and that she would lose the chance to live among Nome's dogs, especially to hang out with Kodi. But luckily none of this happened, everyone knew Dusty as an energetic, generous and helpful husky; she wasn't like her father at all, anyone who knew her mother, Kali, everyone said she looked a lot like her, not just in looks.

A little later Aniu decided to return to the astral world and let the young couple continue their morning walk.

Aniu: "now I have to go back to the astral world. Have fun my dear"

After Aniu dissolved into the air. Kodi and Dusty continued their walk for a while and then returned to Nome.

Kodi: "What were you and my grandmother talking about?"

Kodi asked curiously.

Dusty: " uhmm ... nothing special, she just wanted to know how things are going in Nome after what you, Xaver and that black wolf went through...what was his name?"

Kodi: "oh you mean Niju"

Dusty: "yes, him...do you know what happened to him?"

Dusty, however, came up with an excuse by changing the subject she did not feel ready to say what was happening yet so for the moment he preferred to keep the great news secret, even if over time it would become more difficult to keep the secret.

To be continued...

Hello everyone. I'm finally back to write this short sequel about the trilogy of The Rise of Xaver and as you can see our main protagonist is our Kodi. Anyway I hope you liked this first chapter and leaves reviews to let me know your opinion and if you wants you are free to ask questions.

see you next time.