Okay, I've dreamed up a whole world, and my story is just a single, random chapter of it. Well, plus a rather lenghtly introduction. I have many more stories in my head, but I haven?t penned them yet. If you like anthros, you'll hopefully like this. Read and review plz!
Species: In the story chapter so far, only wolves, but there are many other canine, feline, and reptilian anthros possible in later chapters as you will see if you read the intro.
Genres: Fantasy
No notes on strong language or violence yet, but I plan that the next chapter will include strong violence
By: Ryvven
This is a full explanation of the races of my world as well as a complete list of characters that I have dreamed up for it so far, though not all of them appear in the following chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and please comment if you have time! I can take criticism, and praise is always welcome too ^^
Intro
In this universe, there is an ongoing war between the Proger-Luna (all canine anthros, called ?dogs? in most everyday speech) and the Bithi-Sol (all feline anthros, called ?cats? in most everyday speech). No one can remember what started the conflict, but the two races are different enough in their views that the fighting has not ceased. There is also a group of lizard people called the Vithis that want nothing to do with the war.
A little about the different races- (note, I will constantly be using alignment titles and character classes from Dungeons and Dragons. Yea, Im a nerd, so sue me :-p)
Proger-Luna- This is a race of anthro canines, from foxes to wolves to jackals to the common dog breeds, pretty much any canine can be found in their midst. Proger-Luna are generally wise and physically strong. They are, for the most part at least, loyal and trustworthy, completing tasks given to them to the best of their abilities. Despite this somewhat formal outlook on life, Proger-Luna are very playful as well, taking part in all sorts of games and festivals. They value their friends and work together to eliminate their enemies. Their rulership consists of a King and royal family. Under the king, there is an elite group of rulers that are ranked based on their abilities. Additionally, each settlement of the Proger-Luna, wether it is simply an outpost, or as big as a metropolis, will have a ?Canis,? a group of elders that will solve disputes and pass minor judgements for the community. Groups such as these are not allowed to do anything serious, such as put one to death. If the Canis decides that such a punishment is necessary, then they must send the offender to a city under the command of an elite commander or, in some cases, the king himself, to be judged by those individuals. There are also specially appointed judges for when the elite commanders or king are too busy to handle the case.
Favored classes- Favored classes for Proger-Luna really depend on their specific species. For example, common dogs prefer the cleric or fighter class. Foxes, on the other hand, are generally more intelligent and dexterous than their cousins, but not necessarily as strong and can sometimes be rash and impudent. For these reasons, their favored classes are wizard and rogue. Wolves have a slight tendency to be loners and the majority of them feel at home in the wilds, so their favored classes are ranger and druid. These are but a few examples, and when all species are accounted for, the favored classes of the Proger-Luna encompass close to 100% of the various character classes
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Alignment tendencies- Proger-Luna are loyal and true of heart, they tend to be Lawful Good, though they can be found in all alignment spectrums.
Elite Proger-Luna military factions-
Sisters of the Wind- This all female band of archers have learned how to use arcane magics to manipulate the wind. Using this power, they are able to fire arrows over incredible distances with deadly accuracy. The faction was started after many Bithi-Sol high mages began cutting down all trees within a mile of their strongholds. Thus, the Sisters learned to summon the winds to guide their arrows, firing from the cover of trees a mile away and still striking true. The Sisters of the Wind mark their station by wearing all grey, including a grey cloak and a grey quiver full of grey-shafted arrows.
League of Technological Advancement (LTA)- Made up mostly of foxes, this faction develops various mechanical contraptions that are used to assist the war effort. Technology is not very prominent, however, and, though their calculated and organized development tends to produce machines that are very useful, they are not very widespread at all. Many don’t even know of the faction’s existence, and a fair amount of those that do simply don’t understand why it exists, as everything that they have accomplished so far can be accomplished with magic just as easily. Because of the precise way in that they go about inventing, and the fact that magic is often used to assist the crafting process, members are usually dubbed “technomancers.” Most carry around with them useful bits of gadgetry.
Department of Experimental Engineering (DEE)- This faction, made up mostly of terriers, also strives to invent contraptions that would be useful in the war effort, but they are much more carefree and much less organized than the LTA. They often take great risks with their inventions. Nine times out of ten, they have not made sure that the thing they have crafted will do precisely what they want it to with no harmful side effects. This recklessness generally makes the DEE’s inventions more powerful than the LTA’s, but also much more dangerous and unreliable. DEE inventions have a tendency to malfunction and/or explode. Members of the DEE are often called “gadgeteers,” and they usually carry around bits of technology with them. Most people go out of their way not to mess with members of the DEE, especially the terriers who have notoriously fiery tempers, simply because if a faulty piece of equipment were to be activated, there could be a smoking crater where you – and the DEE member – used to be.
The Smokepaw Order- A league of assassins that has been around for many years, the Smokepaw Order have managed to stay around not through hiding, bribes, and trickery as most other assassin guilds do, but by becoming close with the monarchy itself. The Smokepaw Order is technically a faction of the Proger-Luna military and is used as such, though its members rarely fraternize with those outside the Order. Those of the Order are called upon to eliminate various key targets, and all of the members are extremely professional. Normally, the Smokepaw Order send pairs of assassins to ensure a target’s demise, but they are occasionally deployed alone, particularly as a final test, their first mission off of training.
Bithi-Sol- This is a race of anthro felines, from cougars, to lions, to panthers, to the common house cat breeds. They are graceful and intelligent, but somewhat self centered. Did I say somewhat? I meant very. The Bithi-Sol believe that self comes first, and their desire for luxury and monetary gain is, for many of them, a primary driving force. This attitude doesn?t prevent them from rushing headlong into combat for fear of getting hurt, however, for they also possess an arrogance that often leads to their downfall. The Bithi-Sol are also a fairly playful race, though not in the same way as the Proger-Luna. They focus more on pranks and on toying with ones enemy (you ever see a cat playing with a mouse? Same thing). The race is not evil, they have a sense of compassion and morality, but they draw the line further than the Proger-Luna do. They are governed by a Raja who lives in his palace in the capitol city. Each individual settlement, great or small, is governed by a powerful wizard, sometimes appointed by the Raja himself, though usually by one of the Raja?s generals. These mages are usually obeyed without question, though the arrogant Bithi-Sol often believe themselves correct over the mages and will occasionally argue a point. This is acceptable, though the offender does so at his or her own risk as the mages can sometimes humiliate them with a carelessly forgotten detail.
Favored classes- although this can depend on the specific species, it actually depends on gender more. Females are usually inclined to be rogues or wizards. Males of the more delicate species, such as cougars or house cats, tend to have those inclinations as well, but males of the more sturdy species, such as lions and tigers, tend towards the fighter and cleric classes.
Alignment tenancies- Bithi-Sol are sneaky and self-centered, they tend to be Chaotic Neutral, though they can be found in all alignment spectrums.
Elite Bithi-Sol military factions-
Order of the Red Bow- An elite order of archers, each of whom is equipped with a Red Bow, a bow masterfully crafted from redwood which is powerfully enchanted to turn arrows shot by it into flaming projectiles. Only those who have proven themselves worthy on the battlefield are accepted into this order and, as such, all of its members are very skilled. Members of the Order of the Red Bow can be identified both by the bows they carry and by the red cloaks they wear. Those of the order are not fools however, they know that red is a color that is easily identified, thus the cloaks are enchanted to camouflage the wearers on command.
The Razorguard- The Razorguard is made up solely of tall thin cats with black fur that are unnaturally lithe and strong. They wield polearm weapons, usually spears, with deadly efficiency, and are never seen in armor. Despite their name, the Razorguard are rarely found guarding anything; they usually head quick harassing attacks or raids on enemy positions, striking and escaping without sustaining significant damage, often without losing a single member of the strike team. Many believe these creatures are not true Bithi-Sol, but beings brought into existence with powerful rituals. Indeed it is true that the Razorguard all look startlingly similar to each other, and they have rarely if ever been observed speaking. They are most active in the Val’thu desert, and they all wear the same clothing: the traditional lower garment of the Val’thu desert, two gold bracers, and a traditional headdress.
The Circle- technically not a military faction, the Circle still deserves mentioning. A ring of thieves, spies, and assassins that sell their wares to those who can pay, the Circle has always been known mostly for its amazing information gathering skills. Circle agents can uncover mysteries that even the most skilled diviner can fail to learn, and thus their skills are in high demand, but even the Bithi-Sol monarchy needs to pay for their information, for the Circle is notoriously difficult to find or track. They keep their methods secret, and for good reason, for if their employers got wind of some of the secrets about the Circle itself, there would be hell to pay...
Vithis- This is a group of anthro lizards. They are fiercely territorial and live in the jungles. They have tamed the raptors that live there and use them as mounts for hunting parties and for combat. The Vithis want nothing to do with the conflict between the Proger-Luna and the Bithi-Sol, mainly because they are busy fighting amongst each other. Vithis are suspicious of outsiders, making it difficult to gain their trust. They are ruled by a tribal government, with the chieftain being the one in charge. The chieftain is usually the biggest and strongest of the tribe, though some tribes value wisdom more than brawn. The chieftain usually has a personal aid that is a shaman, however, and it is widely believed that the shaman holds the true power over the tribe, for whenever the chieftain must make a big decision he will almost always first consult the shaman. There is not only one shaman per tribe, however, there are usually many lesser shamans that bolster the ranks of raiding parties. Occasionally, shamans can be found in hunting parties as well. The tactics of the Vithis are brutally efficient. They will often utilize raptor mounted javelin throwers that can pelt the enemy and then quickly retreat. Enemies who pursue these fighters often rush into a trap where they are captured or slaughtered. If this tactic is not available, such as when the Vithis are defending their homes, they will use ranks of spearmen guarding archers and shamans that lay waste to enemies.
Favored classes- The Vithis are wild and, some say, feral. Their ties to nature and the land are strong. Generally, the Vithis prefer the Barbarian and Ranger classes, though some become Druids (which the Vithis call "shamans"
Alignment tendencies- Vithis are generally loyal to their chieftains, and will obey them faithfully. Their alignments are usually either Lawful Neutral, or True Neutral
Deities- These are the gods I have so far, listed according to race. Some gods from Egyptian mythology have also been adapted to exist in my world. Why you ask? Because the gods of Egyptian mythology are cool.
Proger-Luna Deities-
Luna- The lupine matron goddess of the Proger-Luna, and where they get their name, which literally translates to “descendants of Luna.” According to the Proger-Luna creation myth, Luna birthed the first of their race under starlight and the full moon, both of which were creations of hers as well. As such, Luna is the goddess of the night and, with it, the moon and the stars. She is a kind and loving goddess, but she is playful as well, with a particular penchant for trickery. Priests and clerics of Luna are usually female, but that is not a requirement. They often have the same playful kindness exhibited by Luna herself. Rituals include nighttime dance-worships that correspond to the phases of the moon
Anubis- The god of death and the dead for the Proger-Luna, Anubis is a rather stern deity. It is his job to judge the souls of the deceased which he does as would a neutral judge. For this reason, he is also known as the "conductor of souls." Not evil, as many death gods are, Anubis is nonetheless worshiped by many assassins and dark wizards. His priests and clerics preside over funeral services and even, occasionally, courtrooms, and it is their duty to purge undead whenever they become aware of them, as they are mockeries of death. They are wielders of potent death magic, which they must use only on the deserving. Anubis’ most prominent temples are located in the deserts of Val’thu
Bithi-Sol Deities-
Sol- The lion god of the sun, and the patron deity of the Bithi-Sol, which literally translates to “born of Sol.” According to the Bithi-Sol creation myth, Sol created the first of their kind out of a mixture of the earth and the power and radiance of the sun, which he created to be so magnificent that none could stand to behold its beauty. Sol is vain, self serving, and hot tempered, but he also possesses a nurturing streak. His priests and clerics are many, and they often preside over courtrooms, bringing injustices to light, and usually make good diviners, those who gather information through magical means, such as scrying. There are many festivals devoted to Sol, and all of them are celebrated during the day, usually with mages and clerics manipulating the weather so that there is an abundance of sunlight (not that they tell the common folk this, it is generally preached that the appearance of the sun on such festival days is the work of Sol himself).
Bast- Sol’s daughter, this lioness is not only the goddess of the home, but also the goddess of vengeance. She is depicted as a protective goddess, one who will go out of her way to destroy that which harms her or those close to her. She is commonly worshiped by bodyguards and guardians as well as common housewives.
Vithis Deities-
Sshisik- The serpent got of secrets and lies, Sshisik is a crafty one to be sure. Worshiped widely by rogues and double-dealers, Sshisik’s priests and clerics are by far the most aggravating of the lot. They are privy to information known by very few others, but any advice they give cannot be trusted, for it may be a falsehood coming from their forked tongues. Even their closest friends and most worthy allies have fallen on the whim of Sshisik priests, who decided to give them false information simply because that was a tenant of their faith.
Sobek- The crocodile god of fertility and destruction, Sobek is a cunning deity with none of the nurturing aspects of most fertility gods. Sobek is rather self serving, and was originally worshiped out of fear of his destructive powers, which usually manifested themselves in the form of natural disasters. Eventually, however, once it became known that Sobek was responsible for the richness of soil and the food harvested from it, he was more widely worshiped and for different reasons.
Characters- this is a full list of characters that I have dreamed up as of yet. For each character, I will give the name, a brief description, the character class, the alignment, the weapon(s) the character uses, the character?s exact species, age, and the relations the character has with other characters. Btw, for the species thing, only some of the characters have specific species. For those that don?t, I will simply say ?dog? or ?cat? and describe them a little.
Proger-Luna-
Dash- headstrong and arrogant, Dash?s smirk is well known to all who know him. He is playful and friendly, but one to be feared on the battlefield. He augments his martial skills with the use of magic, becoming what some call a spellsword. Dash likes to think of himself as a protector for those not as skilled as he. He will gladly enter combat to protect a complete stranger. Though he is a powerful fighter, Dash?s fighting style is highly offensive, leaving little room for defense, and, thus, he often gets wounded. He is lucky to have Hart as a friend. Though he always projects an image of being happy and carefree, Dash feels lonely sometimes. His parents were killed by cats and his grandparents are long dead. His only real family is his sister, Wren, who has recently chosen Dael to be her mate. He has an uncle as well, but has no desire to see him at all.
Class- Fighter/Wizard
Alignment- Chaotic Good
Weapon(s)- Twin longswords: "The Dragon's Fury" ; wields arcane magic as well
Species- Wolf (grey-white fur)
Age- 19
Relationships- Little brother to Wren, friend to Hart, friend to Jaya (maybe a romance there), student of Blitz, nephew to Azdrael
Wren- Kind and loving, Wren is content with her life. She sees no reason for the war between the Proger-Luna and the Bithi-Sol and desires its end. As such, she has chosen to be a shield maiden, an elite bodyguard. She only resorts to violence as a last resort and, even then, tries to incapacitate her opponent rather than move in for the kill. She has inherited a precious heirloom from her bloodline, a set of Sai called the Viper?s Fangs. Though she never plans on using them because they tend to bring about painful deaths rather than the unconsciousness she strives for, she respects the tradition of her family and, thus, has trained with them. She has recently fallen in love with one of the males she was ordered to guard and is now his mate. Things couldn?t get any better for Wren, however they are about to get much worse...
Class- Fighter/Rogue
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Shield and longsword; also trained with twin sai: "The Viper's Fangs"
Species- Wolf (dark furred)
Age- 26
Relationships- Mate to Dael, older sister to Dash, niece to Azdrael
Jaya- Brilliant and mischievous, Jaya mastered the basics of magic faster than anyone could have imagined. She has quickly learned the more advanced spells as well, and many say that she is a prodigy. Something of a show-off, Jaya is nonetheless a useful addition to any group and a good friend. Unlike most other mages, she usually does very little contemplation before rushing into battle, trusting her wits and spells to get her out of tough situations, and that hasn?t failed her thus far.
Class- Wizard
Alignment- Chaotic Good
Weapon(s)- Dagger, though she prefers to use her arcane magical abilities.
Species- Dog (black fur)
Age- 19
Relationships- Friend to Dash (maybe a romance there), friend to Hart, acquainted with Renard
Hart- Hart is a wielder of divine magics, though he worships no god nor does he revere nature. He is a healer, one who draws their power straight from their souls, tapping their inherent goodness (or evil) and using it to shape spells. (Note: this is a new class that I made up on my own. For those who know D&D classes, it is pretty much a mix between a sorcerer and a cleric). Hart is kind and loving, but by no means is he a pushover in combat. He values his friends lives very highly and would gladly give his own to save them. He is quiet and somewhat shy, though he offers his advice freely to those who he believes would appreciate it. He sometimes comes across as innocent, but he has seen his share of the battlefield. He wears around his neck a softly glowing blue stone called a soulstone. As of yet, he hasn?t figured out how to tap it?s true power, but he has been assured that one day he will, and that it is an artifact capable of untold abilities. Like Wren, he questions the necessity of the war, and wants nothing more than to have it end.
Class- Healer
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Modified Glaive (Glaives are reach weapons and, thus, can strike at a greater distance but cannot engage someone who is directly in front of the wielder. Hart?s glaive is shortened, so it gets no range bonus but can engage those directly in front of the wielder.) Wields divine magic as well, though it is more for defense and healing
Species- Dog (light brown fur)
Age- 19
Relationships- Friend to Dash, Friend to Jaya, older brother to Faith
Faith- Hart?s younger sister, Faith is a very innocent pup. She is only about 15 years old, and she has started training to be a monk, a master of martial combat. She has already mastered most of the basic techniques, and could probably hold her own in combat, at least for a little while. She deeply loves her brother and constantly worries about him. She is always overjoyed when he returns to base-camp.
Class- Monk
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Martial arts
Species- Dog ( light brown fur)
Age- 15
Relationships- Younger sister to Hart
Blitz- Blitz is a combat instructor as well as a commander for the Proger-Luna army. He can be harsh and critical, but he honestly cares for his troops. He carries out all commands given to him by superior officers in full and expects no less of his men. His attention to detail is great and any orders he gives are highly organized and efficient. If you can crack his militaristic exterior you?ll find a dry wit and a large heart.
Class- Fighter
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Katana: "Swift"
Species- Wolf (grey-black fur)
Age- 36
Relationships- Teacher to Dash, friend to Rex
Rex- Rex is, in many ways, the opposite of Blitz. Where Blitz is thin and toned, Rex is big and muscular. Where Blitz calculates, Rex rushes in. Where Blitz generally keeps a very formal atmosphere with his troops, Rex keeps a laid back one. It?s a wonder, then, that these two have been best friends since they met. Perhaps there is something to the saying ?opposites attract.? Rex treats his troops as his closest friends, often laughing and joking with them. He has a presence that puts all those around him at ease, save for when he is in combat. He also has a sort of arrogant charm that always seems to snare the ladies.
Class- Barbarian
Alignment- Chaotic Good
Weapon(s)- Greataxe: "Earthsplitter"
Species- Dog (grey fur with a white furred breast)
Age- 35
Relationships- Friend to Blitz
Dael- A kindhearted soul, Dael is a powerful leader, even at his young age. His troops believe in him completely and would follow him into certain death if he asked them to. He almost resents this, however, because of the great burden of responsibility he constantly feels. He tries his hardest to protect his men, often putting himself in danger for their benefit. He has recently fallen in love with a shield maiden who was sent to protect him, and has taken her as his mate.
Class- Fighter
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Broadsword: no name
Species- Dog (dark brown fur)
Age- 25
Relationships- Mate to Wren, brother-in-law to Dash
Renard- A sly fox with a sarcastic tongue, Renard is haughty, but in no way is he malicious. His teasing can often anger those he is around, but none doubt his prowess with magic and stealth. Renard?s power lies in surprise, which is shown by his motto: ?strike first, then get the hell outta there!? Renard will often rain arcane and martial fury down on his enemies while he remains cloaked in invisibility or hidden away in magically induced darkness. Fighting him is like shooting at mist and shadows, and his constant mocking comments often cause his enemies to loose their cool. Those who get used to Renard?s snide demeanor enjoy being around him.
Class- Wizard/Rogue
Alignment- Chaotic Good
Weapon(s)- Rapier: "Wraithpoint" ; light crossbow; wields powerful arcane magic as well
Age- 35
Relationships- Acquainted with Jaya
Divvar- Stoic and true, Divvar is a loner. He wanders from place to place, offering his help when needed. He is loyal to the crown, but serves no single combat unit. Though he can be hard to get along with, his skills with the bow are legendary, and if a foe should get within melee range, Divvar?s magicked shortsword is employed to end his enemy?s existence. He feels at home in forests and jungles, and is one of the few Proger-Luna that has earned the trust of many Vithis tribes.
Class- Ranger
Alignment- Lawful Neutral
Weapon(s)- Longbow: "Shardrain" ; and Shortsword: no name
Age- 37
Relationships- none
Azdrael- Azdrael does what he wants and kills all that cross him. He is a brutal person who relies on his strength and skill with weapons to get what he wants. This mentality leaves many dead on his account, but he sheds not a tear for them. He covets wealth and will often serve someone for the right price, at least until he figures out how to kill that person and take all of their valuables. He has recently decided that he wants an heir to continue his dark work. He has had his eye on Dash for some time now, given that he shares blood with him. Azdrael likes the potential he sees in Dash, and is currently waiting for the right moment to take Dash in and teach him his ways.
Class- Fighter
Alignment- Chaotic Evil
Weapon(s)- Armblade and Bastard Sword: "Fleshrender and Soulreaver"
Species- Wolf (black fur)
Age- 41
Relationships- Uncle to Dash, uncle to Wren
Adrian- Adrian delights in manipulating others. She has studied magic extensively, especially the school of enchantment, and she utilizes her powers to influence others to do her bidding, only rarely getting her own hands dirty. She is a tough foe to track, indeed it is even difficult to figure out that she is your foe as her lackeys almost always strike for her. She is a mysterious figure, one who is both respected and feared by both sides of the war. She sees no reason for her to put herself in harms way by doing battle with the cats nor does she see any reason for her to be loyal to her own kind. Thus she lives in the forest, away from common civilization, playing her cruel little game of manipulation. Her greatest goal is to corrupt the pure, as that, she believes, is wildly funny. Many questing paladins and devout clerics have fallen from grace due to her webs of magic.
Class- Enchantress (Specialist Wizard)
Alignment- Neutral Evil
Weapon(s)- Dagger, though she rarely fights herself and, when she does, she uses her arcane magic
Species- Dog (dark brown fur)
Age- 32
Relationships- none
Vance- Vance may be playful and fun loving, but he’s also meticulous, cautious, and utterly desensitized to killing. From birth he was trained by the Smokepaw Order to be an assassin, and this training shows in his skills. He is young, but his cool thought and masterful killing techniques are respected, especially the fact that he never hesitates to kill.
Class- Assassin
Weapon(s)- Dual Katars (Punching Daggers)
Species- Jackal
Age- 26
Relationships- Acquainted with Wren
Bithi-Sol-
Leo- A natural leader, though he hasn?t yet risen to this position because he is relatively shy. He has a strong arm and an even stronger heart, carrying compassion with him to the battlefield. When prisoners are taken, he often argues against their execution or even imprisonment, usually suggesting that a trade be organized to reclaim some of their troops taken prisoner by the enemy. Leo is another one that doesn?t see the cause of the war and wishes for it to end. He, however, is prepared to do something about it. He plans on posing as an ambassador and going to speak with the king of the Proger-Luna. He doesn?t know what this could accomplish, but he feels he must try.
Class- Fighter
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Greatsword: "Dawnshard"
Species- Lion
Age- 22
Relationships- Younger brother to Sharyn
Ryvven- Headstrong and arrogant, even for a cat, Ryvven is an apprentice mage. Although he is somewhat obnoxious and believes too much in his own abilities, he is tolerated for his talent. He eagerly learns how to wield magic, wishing to further his own power. He is a good student, but is rash and inexperienced. His teacher, Rook, constantly tries to keep him in check, but Ryvven believes that the only one who should be able to control him is himself. Often, Ryvven will experiment with some of his master?s magical items, usually leading to regrettable consequences. In response to his teacher?s discipline, he is known to reply ?but then how am I supposed to learn?? (Note, yes Ryvven is my pen name, but he is not the character that I identify most with, I just like the name :-p)
Class- Wizard
Alignment- Chaotic Neutral
Weapon(s)- Dagger, but prefers to use his arcane magic
Species- Mountain Lion
Age- 17
Relationships- Student to Rook, friend to Sharyn
Rook- an accomplished mage, Rook is an overseer of a small outpost for the cats. He is official and sometimes demanding, but he is a good person at heart, and he knows when he is pushing someone too far. He currently has his hands full with Ryvven, his student and, in his eyes, a real pain in the neck. Rook doesn?t mind this, however, in fact he has grown to like Ryvven?s quirky arrogance. Rook simply sees Ryvven?s disobedience as a challenge, a problem to be solved, and he is quite good at solving problems.
Class- Wizard
Alignment- Lawful Good
Weapon(s)- Staff, but prefers to use his arcane magic
Species- Cougar
Age- 42
Relationships- Teacher to Ryvven
Skye and Lumis- These identical twins are rarely seen apart. They are both somewhat mysterious and enchantingly beautiful with vibrant green eyes and silky golden fur. Those who would mistake their beauty for weakness, however, would soon find themselves clutching desperately at their chest wondering why all of their organs were spilling out onto the floor. Skye and Lumis utilize the ?Blade Dance? fighting style, and they fight in such perfect unison that it is rumored that they have a psychic bond. They are employed by the cats as skirmishers and assassins, and they do both jobs very well.
Class- Rogues
Alignment- Chaotic Neutral
Weapon(s)- Blade Dance set (dual arm blades and dual ankle blades) these blades are hidden in bracers worn an the wrists and ankles and are spring loaded to a trigger movement
Species- Lionesses
Age- both 26
Relationships- none
Sharyn- Sharyn is the happy-go-lucky leader of a faction of the Order of the Red Bow, a legion of highly trained archers equipped with bows that turn arrows into fiery projectiles. Somewhat of a tomboy, Sharyn is a playful and likable leader offering compliments when they are due and snide comments when appropriate. Though she is kind and fun to be around out of combat, inside of combat she is all business, barking orders and expecting absolute compliance. This, she believes, will lead to a lower casualty count among her fighters.
Class- Fighter (specializing in the longbow)
Alignment- Chaotic Good
Weapon(s)- Longbow: "Red Bow"; and Shortsword: no name
Species- Lioness
Age- 31
Relationships- Friend to Ryvven, older sister to Leo
Kain- The one who calls himself Kain is an enigma, both to the dogs and the cats. There is no record of him at all in the military records of the cats. He suddenly appeared out of nowhere and demanded a place in the military. His power allowed him to quickly climb the ranks and become a commander, though he barely seems to notice this. He fights to eliminate the weak from the world, wielding his powerful scythe with deadly efficiency. Those who fall by its cold blade rise again as undead under his control. He is greatly feared, even, perhaps especially, among his underlings. He has been known to strike down an ally he perceives as weak with little warning. He dresses in a powerfully enchanted black robe and his eyes occasionally seem to glow with a yellow light. Many believe that he is the incarnation of death itself.
Class- Fighter
Alignment- Neutral Evil
Weapon(s)- Scythe "Reaper"
Species- Cougar
Age- unknown
Relationships- none
Sakura- An expert swordsmistress who has vowed to slay Wren for brutally murdering her mate and child. Sakura is a strong willed female with amazing skill in swordplay. Her beautiful style of fighting consisting of sweeping strokes and perfect body movement is seemingly unbeatable. Although Sakura feels rage for what Wren has done, she has not allowed herself to be consumed by it. She is haughty and headstrong, but she still possesses a kindness that many see regularly.
Class- Fighter
Weapon(s)- Longsword: "Whirlwind"
Species- Cougar
Age- 29
Relationships- none
Eleron- Sinister and self serving, Eleron is a cheat and a liar who used bribery and blackmail to climb to the top. He cares nothing for the lives of others and easily snuffs them if it serves his purposes. He is often called upon when the cats need a ruthless general to break a stalemate. Recently, however, he has been found to have participated in sadistic rituals in order to climb in power, and has been relocated to a rather boring outpost as punishment.
Class- Wizard
Weapon(s)- Energy Bracers, also uses arcane magic
Species- Tiger
Age- 36
Relationships- none
Ryu- A free spirit, Ryu is a pyromancer, a mage who specializes in the creation and manipulation of fire. This is an appropriate career for Ryu, as his personality is much like that of fire: chaotic, passionate, and difficult to read. Ryu is really just rank and file in the organization of the pyromancers, and he is small and skinny for his species, but he is not one to be trifled with.
Class- Pyromancer
Weapon(s)- Dagger, but prefers to use his arcane magic
Species- Tiger
Age- 23
Relationships- none
Viktor- A cocky, sadistic, battle loving panther, Viktor was recruited at an early age and quickly prove himself as an able fighter, soundly defeating almost all of his sparring partners. He serves the military only because it brings him the bloodbath of melee combat. He dances agilely around enemy attacks, responding quickly with his twin longswords. He also enjoys stalking individuals and torturing prisoners.
Class- Fighter/Rogue
Weapon(s)- Dual longswords: "The Shadowblades"
Species- Panther
Age- 32
Relationships- none
Tristraum- The Chosen One of the demon cult of the Eight Pointed Star, Tristraum has been told that he will one day be the gate that welcomes the destruction of the demon lord Ryggtheridas to this realm. He has been tattooed with all manor of blasphemous symbols and verses of unholy writ, and, despite the fact that he is only a child, he has risen to his destiny. Tristraum has no powers of his own, but Ryggtheridas can exert a portion of his power through him. Though it is only a fraction of his abilities, it is usually enough to defeat those who dare challenge the Chosen. The last thing most offenders see before they are incinerated is Tristraum’s calm cool stare.
Class- none
Weapon(s)- none, but is protected by Ryggtheridas’ influence
Species- Bobcat
Age- 12
Relationships- none
Tasha- A mercenary who often does jobs for the Circle, Tasha is one that strives to live life to the fullest, and to do that she needs gold. She’s quite skilled at what she does, that being mainly fighting and getting where no one wants her to get (and often getting out with something valuable). Her weapons, the windmill blades, require a lot of skill and dexterity to use properly, but Tasha has mastered them and often takes her enemies by surprise with her abilities. Tasha’s carefree ways seem like they should get her in trouble often, but she’s intelligent as well, and always stays one step ahead of those who wish her ill. Tasha often wears green clothing to match her emerald eyes.
Class- Fighter/Rogue
Weapon(s)- Windmill Blades (these things look kinda like giant shurikens, but they are only three sided and their blades are only on the end (about the size of a dagger blade). The rest of the part that the blade would make up on a giant shuriken is instead a handle. Tasha carries two of these, though she usually only fights in melee with one)
Species- Havana Brown cat
Age- 25
Relationships- Member of the Circle
Vithis-
Skizzik- For the Vithis, Skizzik is an anomaly in every way: his views, his goals, even his clothing. While most Vithis are solemn and survival focused, dressing only in sparse, necessary clothing, taking what their chieftains say as absolute truths, Skizzik is almost the exact opposite. He dresses flashily, wearing large-ended gloves, a shirt/jacket that is little more than sleeves and a backside, and long sagging pants. He’s very energetic and curious, with an excited glint in his eye that seems very close to madness. He also doesn’t share the general suspicions of the Vithis concerning the Proger-Luna and Bithi-Sol. He believes that if any being does wish to hurt him, then he or she will be in for an unpleasant surprise. Skizzik doesn’t have a very imposing figure, he’s scrawny and many think his clothing choices are absurd, even outside of the Vithis. This can cause Skizzik to be underestimated, a mistake that most don’t make more than once. Skizzik is a powerful sorcerer, wielding his arcane magics with practiced ease and amazing talent. He greatly favors lightning spells over others, preferring to fry his enemies with electricity, which fascinates him: power in one of its rawest forms. He quests for knowledge, going to great lengths to feed his curiosity, never fearing the consequences
Class- Sorcerer
Weapon(s)- Staff: "Stormbringer" but prefers to use his arcane magic
Species- Lizard
Age- 22
Relationships- none
Shaku- Powerful and mysterious, Shaku is a member of the feared Shadowwater tribe, a tribe of Vithis famous for their stealth and secrecy, and Shaku is no exception. All who meet this shadowy figure are certain he is powerful, a dark sensation that creeps into their very souls, and they are not wrong. No one knows the true extent of Shaku’s power, however, as he always uses exactly what is necessary to defeat his enemies, never unleashing his true power. He is an imposing figure, slightly bigger than the standard Vithis which he emphasizes with his dress: large, billowy, tattered robes that cloak his form and throw darkness on his features. He also wears a belt on which numerous trophy skulls hang, taken only from his most worthy opponents. Shaku needs no magic to bring fear to the battlefield.
Class- Shaman
Weapon(s)- Staff: "Rotwood," though he prefers to use his druidic magics
Species- Crocodile
Age- unknown
Relationships- none
Chapter 1:
Aftermath
Dash found his sister right where he thought she would be, standing by Dael’s grave. Her feet were planted daintily on the side of the freshly dug earth and one of her hands was draped almost absently over the gravestone. One of her ears twitched toward his direction, indicating that she knew he was there, though she made no move to acknowledge him. He watched her for several seconds, neither of them moving. Though she was almost eight years older than him, Dash thought that she looked very young at that moment, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly why. Maybe it was just a trick of the light.
It was a chilly night, and Dash shivered slightly as a cool wind
ruffled his fur. He wished he had thought to bring his cloak. He looked
around to see if anyone other than he and his sister were there, but,
as he expected, no one was. At his sister’s request, Dael had been
buried away from the common graveyard. He was laid to rest deep in the
forest. Dash wanted to get this over with, because he always thought it
awkward to impede on others’ deepest feelings. He took a step forward,
but before he could open his mouth, Wren spoke.
“You came to
comfort me, did you not?” her eyes opened slowly as she turned to look
at her brother, the slightest trace of a smile playing about her lips.
Dash was silent. He didn’t know what to say anymore. He simply looked
helplessly at Wren and at the gravestone that stood above his
brother-in-law’s corpse. He wished with all his heart that Dael’s death
could have been prevented, that he could be alive right now, his
heartfelt chuckle lightening the mood. But that was not how things
were, and all he could do was stare. “I don’t need your pity, brother.”
Wren said quietly after she realized that Dash would not offer a reply
to her question.
“I didn’t come here to pity you, Wren, I came here to help you.” Dash
said, finally recovering use of his voice. To this Wren laughed, a cold
mirthless chuckle.
“Help me what? Help my cry? Help me spill my tears all over the forest
floor? Were you going to hold me and tell me that everything will be
all right, Dash?” Again came the chuckle, and Dash felt a chill ripple
down his spine as he caught his sister’s eyes. The warmth and
compassion that used to give them such life was now gone, and instead
of staring into his sister’s kind eyes he found himself meeting the
frozen gaze of a huntress. Something else that Dash found disturbing,
and it took him a moment to realize it, was that Wren’s eyes were dry.
She had not been crying at all. What had happened to his sister? “What
is it Dash? Are you surprised?”
“You’re...different Wren.” he replied uneasily.
“Yes Dash,” she said, her voice barely over a whisper, “In case you
haven’t noticed, there have been some changes in my life recently.
Things are not as they once were.” It was at that moment that Dash
understood why Wren had looked so young to him. Her shield maiden’s
sash, the small length of brown fabric that marked her as an elite
protector and bodyguard, was gone. Dash had always seen that as a mark
of experience and, thus, of age and wisdom, and he had never seen Wren
take it off. Now however it was nowhere to be seen.
“You-you’re sash Wren, it’s gone!” Dash said, the shock of all of his
sister’s sudden changes spurring him on to speak where he would
normally be silent.
“Yes I know,” Wren stated calmly, “I resigned.”
“But Wren, that was your life’s training! Why would you-”
“My life is different now,” she interrupted, “the shield does not fit
my purposes anymore. These do.” and with that she drew two weapons that
Dash recognized immediately. They were the dual sai called the Viper’s
Fangs, a set of weapons passed through Dash and Wren’s bloodline ever
since their distant grandfather made them. The weapons looked exactly
the same, both were elegantly crafted with blades that glittered like
moonlight and hilts whose grips were molded into perfect likenesses of
winding snakes. The weapons, Dash knew, could be transformed into
bracelets to conceal them, then quickly called back out when needed.
They were powerful, capable of slicing clean through most armor, though
that was not their most feared ability. The Viper’s Fangs constantly
secrete a potent venom that is also a powerful acid, guaranteeing
victims of the deadly blades an agonizing demise. Seeing these weapons
made Dash instinctively drop his hands to his own heirlooms, the twin
swords called Dragon’s Fury, though their warm hilts did little to
reassure him. The fact that his sister was planning on using the
Viper’s Fangs in combat sickened him. Wren had never had any desire to
hurt anyone before, and she had fought only out of pure necessity. Now,
however, she seemed to desire the pain and suffering of her enemies.
Wren sighed and transformed her sai into bracelet form with a thought,
the blades turning into a softly glowing light and chasing down her
arms before solidifying again into meaningless looking jewelry. “Dash,
there’s...something I need to ask of you.” Wren said, looking away from
him.
“Hm?” was all Dash could bring himself to say.
“Well, you...you’re my only family left Dash.” she said, still looking
away. Secretly, Dash knew this to not be true, but he knew better than
to bring up their evil uncle Azdrael at a time like this. “I...I can’t
loose you. Not for anything, do you understand?” She finally looked
back at him, and Dash was suddenly overjoyed, for in Wren’s eyes he saw
that familiar warmth, that love, that had always been characteristic of
his sister. Perhaps there was hope for her yet.
“Yes Wren, I understand, no playing the hero.” and Dash allowed himself a slight smile, even a whisper of a chuckle.
“I’m serious Dash,” Wren said with no hint of humor in her voice, “if I
were to loose you too I...I don’t know what I would do.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, I can handle myself.” Dash’s normal cocky edge to his speech was beginning to come back.
“Those were the last words that Dael said to me.” Wren said quietly,
her eyes again becoming cold and without feeling. That shut Dash up,
and his heart sank when he again met Wren’s gaze.
“Wren, I was just-“
”Do you know why we didn’t simply resurrect Dael?” Wren asked suddenly.
Dash was surprised. He hadn’t really thought of that. Dael had been an
accomplished fighter, and at base-camp there was a cleric that was
experienced enough to bring people back from the dead, Dash had seen
him do it before. Dash knew that if specific body parts were missing,
namely the head or heart, then much more powerful magic was required to
breath life back into the dead, but he had seen Dael’s corpse, and it
was not missing its head nor was there any evidence that its heart was
gone. The only wounds on him had been a particularly nasty gash that
had opened his stomach, allowing its acid to spill out over Dael’s
other organs. Dash didn’t like to think about that, though. He waited
for Wren to give her answer. “The one that killed him was not content
with simply taking his life,” she went on, “there is another thing that
is missing: his soul.” That stunned Dash as good as any blow to the
head would have.
“Wh-what?” he said as if in a daze.
“Whoever slew Dael used powerful magic to lock his soul away as well,
preventing resurrection.” Wren replied. Dash was speechless. “Now you
see, Dash. Now you see why I cannot simply let this crime go
unpunished.”
“What do you mean?” Dash asked quietly, dreading the answer, but
needing it all the same. Wren’s eyes narrowed, her ears stood stiff,
and her fur rose, becoming threatening pinpricks of hair.
“They took Dael from me, both body and soul,” Wren said, rage building
in her voice, “so now I will kill them Dash, I will repay Dael’s blood
and my anguish on them a hundredfold! And when I find the one who holds
Dael’s soul, may the gods help him.” and with that she turned and
stalked off into the forest, making no sound whatsoever, her tail
swishing silently after her as she strode into the darkness.
Dash’s mind was a thunderstorm. He didn’t know what to make of any
of this. His brother-in-law lay dead, and his image of his sister was
shattered. He fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes both for
Dael’s loss and from sheer confusion.
“Why, damn you!” he shouted
at the gravestone, “why did you need to die? Look at all of the trouble
you’ve caused! Look at what you’ve done to my sister!” and with that,
Dash collapsed in front of the slab of unfeeling granite that was
Dael’s and sobbed, the soft earth clotting into his fur. And it was his
tears, not Wren’s, that first touched Dael’s grave.
Sequal to chapter one 0.o. Wren stalks into the night, rage bubbling over, seeking vengeance which, coincidentally, is the name of chapter two =P. Enjoy, and review if you have time!
Vengeance
Wren strode silently through the forest, recounting on her conversation with her brother. He would never, could never understand what she felt at that moment. Dael's death was on her shoulders. She had been his Shield Maiden, his bodyguard, but nonetheless she had let her love of him get in the way. She had allowed him to convince her to stay behind, as had been requested by the cats, as he went to negociate with them. It was foolish, it was unprofessional, and she cursed herself for her mistake.
But she cursed the cats more.
The agony she had felt for her lost mate, and the guilt that stemmed from her lack of responsibility, was matched only by the pure rage that now sizzled in her veins. She knew what needed to be done.
Wren took a moment to review the items that she had "borrowed" from the mage quarters at base-camp. A magicked cloak that allowed her to blend in with her surroundings, greaves that softened her step, a ring with a spell of silence on it, and a small magical rod. She took the rod out of her drawstring sack. It would allow her to teleport to any place she could accurately envision. She had seen the mages activate this item before, and knew she could improvise enough to get it to work. She closed her eyes and gripped the rod tightly in roughly the same position she remembered the mage gripping it.
Wren took a moment to review the items that she had “borrowed” from
the mage quarters at base-camp. A magicked cloak that allowed her to
blend in with her surroundings, greaves that softened her step, a ring
with a spell of silence on it, and a small magical rod, as well as two
lengths of normal rope. She took the rod out of her drawstring sack. It
would allow her to teleport to any place she could accurately envision.
She had seen the mages activate this item before, and knew she could
improvise enough to get it to work. She closed her eyes and gripped the
rod tightly in roughly the same position she remembered the mage
gripping it.
“ Hesves Invek Ra! ” she spoke the words of power as she remembered them, and vanished in a flash of soft blue light.
Wren reappeared in a grassy clearing, a place she remembered well. It
had been where she, Dael, and the regiment of soldiers under Dael’s
command had been just that morning. It was, in fact, the place she had
last seen Dael alive...
“Dael, please, be reasonable” Wren said, exasperated.
“I’m
sorry, but it was explicitly part of the request. If I were to allow
you along, they might not see me at all.” Dael explained patiently.
“Dael, they’re cats, they can’t be trusted! Please, won’t you reconsider...”
“Listen, even if they are planning on killing me, how much help do you
think you’d be against the entirety of the soldiers in that fort?” Wren
decided to try a different track.
“It is my duty to protect you. I will come with you whether you forbid
it or not. If they choose to cancel the negotiation because of that,
then so be it!”
“Wren, listen. The soldiers I have in my company are not enough to take
down this base. Even if we do manage to pull it off, many of my
warriors will die, and those deaths will be on my head. I will only
attack if I have no other options. You can respect that, can’t you?”
“Yes...Yes of course I can...” She looked up at him “and I want your
negotiations to succeed, I do...but I couldn’t bear to loose you Dael.”
At that moment, Dael encircled her in his strong embrace, and the ends
of their muzzles met in a deep, passionate kiss. “I love you” Wren said
after the kiss was over
“And I you.” Dael replied. He let go of her and moved to the tent flaps.
“Wait!” Wren called. Dael stopped and turned a questioning gaze on her.
He looked so innocent to Wren, his blue eyes emanating curiosity and
warmth. “Just...be careful.” Dael chuckled, a friendly lighthearted
sound.
“You needn’t worry about me, Wren. As you have seen, I can handle
myself.” and he walked out of the tent and out of the world of the
living, smile on his lips.
Wren shook her head. This was no time to reminisce, this was a time
for action, for vengeance. She took a moment to orient herself, then
moved off in the direction of the Bithi-Sol base. Her steps were silent
as she maneuvered through the trees, and she soon came upon the outer
walls of the establishment. She noticed the shadowy forms of night
watchmen lurking on the ramparts, and knew that she would need to plan
this carefully. A large tree grew near the wall, and Wren swiftly made
her way up towards its branches. She paused in her perch, checking the
positions of the guards and making sure that none of them were facing
in her direction. Convinced of her safety, she took a running jump off
one of the branches closest to the wall, her greaves masking the sound.
She sailed silently through the air, like a specter, her cloak
billowing out behind her. She landed silently on the wall, her cloak
coming to rest around her and serving to conceal her from the sentries’
prying eyes. She looked quickly to her left and right to see if anyone
noticed her, but all she saw was the retreating back of one of the
watchmen. Wren held her position, trusting her cloak to hide her, and
scanned the walls in search of the ladder that would lead down from the
ramparts. She found it after only a few moments, it was past the slow
moving figure of the guard. Wren could wait for the cat to trudge past
it, but her anger flared up inside her. Dael was dead due to the
treachery of the cats, this unfortunate guardsman would be the first to
pay for the sins of his race, Wren reasoned. She ran towards him,
calling one of the Viper’s Fangs from its bracelet as she did so. She
closed the distance between her and the guard quickly. Her left hand
snaked over his shoulder to cup itself on his muzzle while her right
slipped the weapon into his spine. His back arched and Wren felt his
mouth open to scream in agony, but the ring on her hand silenced it.
Wren pulled the sai out of the cat’s back and drove the pommel of it
into the back of his head. His body went limp as unconsciousness took
him. Wren let it drop. She looked down at the pathetic creature. He was
young, perhaps no older than her brother. His eyes were squinted shut
and his ears drooped weakly. His black and grey fur was already
becoming matted with his sweat as the quick acting poison took effect.
The wound itself was sizzling softly, and dark bubbling blood was
oozing out of it. If he didn’t receive help soon, he would surely die.
“So be it” whispered Wren, feeling no compassion for the downed cat.
This is what he deserves, she told herself, what their whole race
deserves! She stepped over the now shivering form of the former
guardsman and slid down the ladder. She was in a place much like her
own base-camp. She kept to the shadows, stalking around the perimeter
of the base until she found what she was looking for: a huge mansion.
Wren knew of the vanity of the cats, and the tendencies their leaders
had for living luxuriously. The one Dael had met with had been the
leader of this establishment, Wren had seen him greet Dael at the
gates. He was the one responsible for Dael’s death, she knew, and thus
he was going to die. Painfully.
The mansion would obviously be well protected, so Wren needed to be
careful. She crept around the back of the gargantuan building, taking
note of the large windows. Those were likely to be warded. Wren looked
upward still and noticed a small circular window near the top of the
building. It was high enough and small enough that it probably wasn’t
regarded as possible entry point for an intruder. Wren doubted there
would be any danger to entering through it. She called out the Viper’s
Fangs and strode to the back wall of the mansion. She jumped, sinking
her weapons into the side of the wall. She then withdrew one and drove
it into the wall at a higher location, pulling herself up. Using her
sai as makeshift climbing pitons, she scaled the wall, her cloak
lending her its camouflage. She reached the window quickly, and quietly
pried it open. It was a squeeze, but she managed to pull herself
through it. She came out in a dusty attic and slowly closed the window
behind her. She searched for a way to the lower floors and found a
ladder. After checking to make sure her way was clear, she climbed down
the ladder, ending up in a hallway. She crept silently through the hall
until she came to a corner. Using utmost caution, Wren peeked around
the corner. There was a large, extravagant oak door decorated with
ornate carvings. It was guarded by two cats who looked half asleep,
their halberds drooping in their tired fingers. Wren smiled. This was
too easy. She stepped out and threw one of her sai at the guard
farthest from her. It sank into his neck, prompting him to emit a
strangled gurgle and fall to the ground, convulsing.
“Send-!” was all the second guard got to say before Wren lunged forward
and tore out his throat with the other sai. He collapsed, dead before
he hit the ground. Wren retrieved her other weapon from the still
twitching corpse of the first guard, and quietly opened the oak door.
Inside was a magnificent canopy bed with purple silk covers and quilts
so beautiful they might as well have been tapestries. In that bed two
cats, one male one female, slept peacefully. To Wren’s dismay, these
cats were both cougars. The High Mage who had been in charge at the
time of Dael’s death was a tiger. This was but a minor setback,
however. Wren was obviously just in the wrong room. These cats were
likely guests of some sort, probably come to gloat over their slaying
of a ranking member of the Proger-Luna military, Wren thought acidly.
She took the two lengths of rope from her drawstring sack, the last
thing in it as she had slipped the rod through her belt, and moved
towards the bed. She carefully slipped first the male’s then the
female’s hands behind the posts that held up the canopy and tied them
there. As she tied the male’s hand, she found a signet on a chain
around his neck that she recognized; it marked him as a High Mage, a
leader of an outpost. This made her feel uneasy. What if the one who
killed Dael wasn’t even here? She worked quickly and gently so as not
to wake the sleepers. After she was finished, she pushed a beautifully
crafted dresser in front of the entrance to the room so that none would
disturb her. It was then that she noticed the other door, the one at
the far end of the room. It was also quite ornate, though not as large.
Wren was not very concerned with it, there had been no other doors in
the hallway, so the only way into the room from there currently had a
large piece of furniture in front of it. The figures in the bed began
to stir, probably awakened by the noise Wren made while she moved the
dresser. The male’s eyes opened first, appearing groggy but quickly
sharpening to full alertness as he realized what position he was in.
His gaze fell on Wren, who was standing over him with her weapons
clearly visible.
“If you call for the guards, you die.” She stated matter-of-factly. He
nodded slowly to show he understood, but Wren could read his
expression, he was starting to scheme, looking for a way out of this
predicament that ended with her being dead and him unscathed. “I’ll
have no tricks from you, wizard.” She threatened. He nodded again, but
his expression remained the same.
“What’s going on Raz?” inquired the female cat sleepily, finally waking
up enough to realize something was amiss. Her eyes shot open as she
noticed Wren. She opened her mouth to scream.
“Silence!” Wren hissed as she allowed the point of one of her weapons
to come to rest on the male’s exposed chest, right above his heart. The
male grunted as some of the acidic venom dripped onto him. The female’s
mouth shut abruptly, then opened again with a question.
“What do you want from us?” There wasn’t a quaver of fear in the
question as Wren had expected. This female probably was not a pampered
housewife but a seasoned warrior. Wren made a mental note of this in
case things went badly here.
“I want answers.” Wren replied, “Who is the leader of this base?” Wren
felt she already knew, but needed to hear it confirmed. There was a
tense pause after which the male answered.
“I am.”
“And how long have you been the leader here?” she pressed.
“I just arrived today.” Came the answer. Wren snarled in fury, causing the two cats to jump.
“Who was here before you? Where is he now?” Wren barked.
“Eleron was his name. He has gone back to the capitol to await further
orders.” Wren’s snout wrinkled horribly, the soft moonlight that
pierced through the window illuminating her sharp teeth and the small
strings of saliva that dripped from them. Her rage was at its peak. She
had been denied her revenge! Who knows where this cat could be assigned
to next! Wren may never even get to see him again, much less kill him.
She seethed with rage and hatred. It was at this inopportune moment
that the worst happened.
“Trevin, no!” shouted the female. Wren turned to see what was going on
and noticed that the door she had dismissed as she entered was now
open, and a little cub was charging at her with a sword that was
obviously too big for it. He made a clumsy overhead swing and Wren
instinctively brought her sai up, catching the weapon and forcing it
out of the young one’s hands with a deft twist of her wrist. Then her
left arm shot forward and took the cub by the front of its shirt,
lifting it up while she positioned her sai for the killing strike.
Time seemed to stand still for Wren. The only thing she heard was the
gentle pulsing of her heart as she stared into the fearful eyes of the
squirming cub.
Do it...
No! I couldn’t...
You must...
But...it’s just a child...
All of them are deserving of death...If you do not eliminate this one he will grow to kill your people
I...
You vowed to avenge Dael’s death, You vowed to slay the cats. Here is one. Kill it.
A part of Wren could feel the darkness reaching into her, corrupting
her. A part of her could detect her rage and anguish warping her. But
this part could only look on with sadness and confusion as the tendrils
of emotion closed themselves around her.
Yeessss...there’s a good girl.
Before she gave in, Wren had time for one more thought: I’m sorry...
The blade slid easily through the child’s neck. There was no sound
as it died. Then, the female’s anguished cries shattered the silence.
Wren broke from her trance in time to see the male’s hands come free of
their bonds. Apparently, he had been sawing away at them with his claws
ever since he woke. He quickly voiced a spell. Wren lunged forward,
letting the corpse of the cub slide off of her sai, hoping to disrupt
the wizard’s casting, but she arrived too late, and her attack met with
a shield of pure force. Wren fell back into a defensive position,
though she knew that the shield could only absorb a small amount of
hits from her powerful weapons before breaking. She met the male’s eyes
and saw a rage there that almost equaled her own.
“You will pay for
murdering my son, witch!” and with that he began another spell. Wren
kept her eyes on him, intent on dodging whatever he decided to unleash
upon her. He completed the spell and hurled a bolt of lightning her
way. Wren managed to roll under it and double thrust into his torso, an
attack that again met the shield. She darted backwards, fearing
close-ranged magic which was often quite unpleasant. By this time,
guards were pounding at the door. Wren silently commended herself for
her foresight, though it was only a matter of time before the mages
were summoned to blast through her barrier with magic. She needed to
work quickly. The male completed his next spell, causing Wren to
flinch, but there was no visible effect. Wren assumed that the spell
had failed and charged forward in the hopes that she might get a few
hits in before the mage had a chance to begin casting another spell,
but her attack met with air as the mage dodged aside with unnatural
speed. The spell hadn’t failed at all. Wren was beginning to wonder how
she could possibly win this fight. The mage was quickly giving himself
all the advantages. He voiced a new spell, and suddenly Wren did not
know where she was or what she was doing there. No! This is a wizards’s trick!
She came to her senses in time to see a spray of acid emerging from the
wizard’s hands and shooting toward her. She ducked under it and rolled
out of the way, but was not quick enough. She gritted her teeth through
the pain as the acid ate away at her shoulder and glanced nervously
back at where she had been. The dresser in front of the door was now
warping and melting, the acid having coated it completely. On it was a
large clay pot whose top had been eaten away, revealing the pot to be
almost full of a white cream, probably some sort of healing salve. The
contents of the pot gave Wren a quick idea, and she lunged toward the
melting piece of furniture. It was sheer luck that the wizard’s next
spell, a particularly ominous looking bolt of purple energy, missed
Wren by inches. She grabbed the pot, ignoring the sting of the acid,
and hurled it to the ground in front of the mage. The cat tried to zip
away again, obviously believing the pot to contain something sinister,
but as it struck the ground and cracked open, the salve spilled out,
and the cat’s second step arrived on the slippery cream. His speed
caused his leg to fly out from under him, and he fell to the ground,
stunned. Wren, realizing this was possibly her only chance, leapt onto
the cat and thrust down savagely again and again with her weapons. The
wizard feebly jammed his hand into her gut while muttering
incantations, bringing about a sudden flare of pain and the scent of
burning flesh, though Wren barely felt it. Her weapons met the shield
again and again until, finally, they were driven through fur, through
flesh, through bone, and directly into the cat’s heart.
“Noooooo!”
The female wailed as the male cat sputtered blood and turned his glassy
eyes to the ceiling. Wren stood and looked at her. For the past few
moments the female cat had been desperately trying to free herself from
Wren’s bonds, but to no avail. Now she gave up, turning her clear blue
teary eyes to Wren. “Kill me then! You have taken my son and my mate,
why not finish the job!” Wren slowly shook her head.
“No. I will not.”
“What, are you squeamish now?” The female taunted
“No. I have vowed to repay the blood and the anguish that your race has
visited upon me by killing my mate. These,” she motioned to the corpses
of the male cat and the cub “have contributed to the blood.. You will
contribute to the anguish.” The female cat sobbed quietly to herself.
“I will kill you.” she said, her voice heavy with heart rending sadness.
“Perhaps you will,” answered Wren, thinking how good it would be to be
reunited with her Dael, “but that will not be tonight, and I have one
more thing for you to bear witness to.” And with that, Wren descended
on the male cat’s corpse, blocking out the wails of the female and the
insistent poundings of the guards.
Wren appeared in a flash of soft blue light in front of the large
domed structure that housed the Canis. Normally, the council of elders
would not be there that late, but Wren knew that they were having an
urgent meeting to discuss what to do in the wake of the treachery of
Dael’s murder. Wren limped over to the entrance to the building,
cradling her burned abdomen, a bulging drawstring sack over her good
shoulder. She pushed open the huge double doors and moved into the
echoing chamber where the Canis sat in a semicircular group of raised
seats. The attention of the elders was immediately grasped by such an
unorthodox intrusion, and their conversations faded to echos. The only
light in the room was torchlight, which threw flickering shadows over
all in the room and managed to hide Wren’s wounds. Wren dropped to one
knee as was the custom when addressing the Canis.
“Noble elders, I request entry into a profession.” She stated, eyes respectfully on the floor.
“It was just today that you resigned from the Shield Maidens” Observed
one of the elders, a particularly grizzled looking sheepdog, “have you
come to be reinstated into that order?”
“No.” answered Wren firmly
“What then?” asked another council member. Quietly, Wren stood and took
the drawstring sack from her shoulder. She held it at arm’s length,
loosened the strings, and overturned it. Out fell The head of Raz, the
male cat, which landed with a soft thud on the floor and was closely
followed by the signet that marked him a High Mage.
“I wish to be an assassin” Wren replied.
The glow of the crystal ball was all that illuminated the room. A
smooth, dark laugh floated up from the one who was operating the ball,
and her hand waved over it, canceling the scrying effect.
“Well well, we are
easily manipulated, aren’t we?” Adrian said, and that was followed by
another bout of clear, perfect, malicious laughter. “Oh, Wren, what
will I do with you?” Adrian asked herself, grinning “what will I do
with you indeed.”
Chapter: 3
Perspective
“It was a terrible thing Lady Sakura, a terrible thing.” the new High Mage of the outpost said. He had teleported in early that morning after news of the assassination had reached the ears of the general in charge of the region. Sakura had not even bothered to learn this new High Mage’s name. It was unimportant to her. “Rest assured that drastic measures will be taken here, drastic measures! We will hunt down and kill this assassin, this I promise you.” Sakura knew enough about the High Mages to know that this was likely nothing but the empty talk of a bureaucrat. Indeed, very few cats she knew would bother to keep a promise to one they were so unfamiliar with.
“I’m sure you will be successful in your endeavors.” Sakura said
flatly. She knew how to play the political game, having been mated to a
High Mage for many years.
“Your mate’s death has shaken us all.
That one of those mongrels could reach us in our own homes, while we
are surrounded by guards, well let’s just say such occurrences are
rare.” The new High Mage’s sympathies seemed sincere, but Sakura
detected the glimmer of ambition in his eyes. He was happy to be in
charge. Thankfully, Sakura had gotten permission to leave. She was no
longer bound to this outpost, and she had decided to return to the
capitol.
“I am ready to leave now” Sakura stated quietly. The new High Mage looked taken aback.
“I...I was under the impression you were staying longer,” he said, his
surprise evident “you still need to recount exactly what happened to
the archivist.”
“I have done that already.” Sakura informed the mage.
“Oh...well...I had hoped...” the mage, all the illusion of authority
vanishing under his drooping ears and scattered speech, glanced
sheepishly at her. Was he attempting to court her? The morning after
her previous mate’s death? Sakura’s eyes narrowed
“I would much like to leave.” she stated harshly. The mage sighed.
“Very well. The pathmage should be ready, you can summon her from her
quarters any time you wish.” Sakura gave the mage a curt nod and strode
swiftly from the room, taking another quick look at the bare walls. Her
things had already been transported to her new home in the capitol. As
she made her way to the pathmage’s quarters, she gazed around at the
base. The guards were visibly shaken, their stances tense and their
eyes shifting. Seeing them made Sakura remember the three guards that
had been killed on duty the previous night, and a pang of sadness found
her again. Their bodies would be sent back to their families and there
would be a period of mourning. None of them were important enough to be
resurrected, and her people had long since grown used to losing loved
ones. Sakura sighed. Such was the way in war. After a few more moments
she reached the barracks where the pathmage was staying. She maneuvered
quickly to the mage’s quarters and gave a sharp knock once she reached
the door.
“Just a minuet!” Came the reply, and after a few seconds the door
opened. “Lady Sakura! I wasn’t expecting you until later today! Um, are
you ready to leave already?” The pathmage was a tabby cat, and somewhat
of a scruffy one at that.
“Yes, I’m ready.” Sakura replied, giving a thin smile.
“Alright, let me just gather my components and we’ll be on our way, kay?”
Eleron shifted uneasily in his seat. It was uncomfortable, though he expected nothing less. It was the judge’s way of punishing him, giving him quarters barely suitable for a common soldier when he had just come from his luxurious mansion. They knew that Eleron was too valuable an asset to punish severely. The tiger sighed. He wished they would hurry up. He glanced up at the timepiece. They were still over an hour late in fetching him. He vowed silently to arrange for something unpleasant to happen to the one responsible for the delay. He drummed his long fingers on a nearby poorly made table and decided that he may as well make use of the time. He thought back to the events of the night the dog commander came to negotiate with him, hoping to find something that would aid him in his defense, hopefully persuading the judges to assign him to a less boring outpost...
Eleron sized up the dog that had been brought before him. He
was younger than he had expected, but carried an air of command. Still,
he seemed inexperienced and his eyes emanated compassion, which Eleron
considered weak. The High Mage was not impressed.
“I am Dael, I was sent to negotiate with the High Mage of this establishment.”
“That would be me” Eleron replied in an oily voice. There was a pause;
Eleron knew that etiquette demanded he introduce himself at this point,
but he didn’t feel as if he needed to. He considered Dael to be a
lesser individual, even for a dog.
“And what might I call you?” he asked politely.
“Eleron” Eleron stated bluntly, seeing no other alternative.
“Very well. I have come to negotiate a cease-fire.”
“Straight to the business eh? I like that in an individual” Eleron’s
calculating mind quickly shifted into gear. How could he best exploit
this situation?
“Yes. Both our sides would benefit from a cease fire on the borders of
our two outposts. Surely you can see that further fighting and further
bloodshed would hurt us both. A cease-fire is for the best.”
“And how long do you propose this cease-fire should last?” Eleron
asked, idly examining his claws, boredom etched on his feline features.
“Three months initially, but I hope that we can renew our cease-fire after that amount of time has elapsed.”
“Tell me,” Eleron asked suddenly, “why have you approached me with this
request? What do you Proger-Luna have to gain from such an arrangement?”
“I...I’ve already explained that...”
“If all your superiors wanted was less bloodshed then they would be
negotiating peace on a more global scale, would they not?” probed the
cunning wizard
“Perhaps this is simply the first step.” Dael stated, strength in his
words. Eleron chuckled darkly. He was already through with this
conversation.
“Clearly you are new to the mantle of leadership, pup,” he drawled
patronizingly, “but as I have come to realize over the years, the only
time one side of a war chooses peace is when that side is losing. No, I
will not accept your offer of a cease-fire. And furthermore, since you
were so kind to present yourself alone and unarmed before me, I think
I’ll deprive the Proger-Luna of one of their commanders as well!
Goodbye Dael.” And with that Eleron rolled up the sleeve of his robe to
reveal a black bracer which hummed a deep resonant tone. An arc of
golden energy emerged from the end of it, taking the form of a long
blade, and before Dael could react Eleron lashed out, the energy making
a clean slice through Dael’s abdomen and toppling him to the floor. As
he lay bleeding, the energy from Eleron’s bracer still crackling, the
wicked mage took a black diamond from the folds of his robe. “One final
lesson, dear friend. Never let your guard down in the presence of an
enemy. Enjoy your new home.” and with a sadistic grin Eleron began
chanting. Dael choked out his final utterances as his wispy form
emerged from his mouth and was absorbed into the dark gem like smoke
being funneled into the sky. Eleron gazed at his prize, the black gem
now pulsing with a sinister purple light. This soul was stronger than
Eleron had expected. He was already eager to see what power he could
unlock with it. “Catapult this filth back out onto the Proger-Luna
soldiers” Eleron commanded, motioning toward the sprawled form of Dael,
still bleeding heavily. As two of his guards obeyed his orders, the
archivist, who had been stunned by the display of cruelty, found his
voice.
“Y-you know I’m going to have to report this to the general, don’t you?” he asked hesitantly.
“Of course. That is your job, is it not?” the cat looked relieved, and
scurried quickly from the room, obviously fearing that Eleron would
change his mind. Eleron was preoccupied with his new toy. Never before
had he obtained a soul so strong. He shivered in apprehension of what
could be done with it. He touched his energy bracers, which had been
crafted with souls that were nowhere near this caliber, who knew what
powerful items he could create with this one?
In retrospect, Eleron wondered why he had done it, why he had
killed the commander. He felt no remorse for his actions, only
confusion. It was the first time he could remember that he hadn’t taken
the best option. Certainly his actions had brought him short term gain,
but they also invoked the wrath of his general as, at least for him,
killing ambassadors was somewhat taboo. Certainly a more intelligent
course of action would have been to agree to the cease-fire, then plan
an attack while the enemies’ guard was down. If he could eliminate the
Proger-Luna outpost then he would certainly gain favor with his
superiors, which would probably loosen the grip they kept on him,
allowing him to be more free with his experiments. Oh well, the way he
had handled the situation certainly had its rewards as well Eleron
reminded himself, reaching into his robes to touch the glowing gem that
had become a prison for Dael’s soul.
“The judges will see you now”
Eleron looked up. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts he
hadn’t heard the door open. He stood, glancing at the messenger.
“It’s about time. Take me.” The walk to the courtroom was rather
shorter than Eleron remembered, which was a good thing seeing as how he
was already impatient. The messenger left him at the double doors that
led to the courtroom. He entered, seeing a small brightly lit room with
a raised platform on which the five judges sat, all of them aged males.
“Sit” the middle one, the Master Judge, a lion whom the years had not
been kind to, commanded, motioning to the seat positioned in front of
them, lowered from the platform. Eleron did as he was told. “You have
deliberately and willfully slain a Proger-Luna ambassador which came to
you in good faith. What have you to say in your defense?”
“What I did I did for the Raja” Eleron said, the lie coming easily to
his lips. There was a pause as the judges waited to hear more, but
Eleron had wasted enough time today on this trial and he knew nothing
he said would change his sentence.
“In killing the Proger-Luna, you sealed away his soul, did you not?” asked the Master Judge.
“Yes” said Eleron uncomfortably, not liking where this was going.
“Take it out” the Master Judge commanded. Eleron did so, slowly,
cautiously, trying to hide the strength of its glow with his spindly
fingers. “Now bring it to us.” Eleron’s hand shot back protectively.
“No!” he hissed.
“These are orders from the Raja himself,” the judge stated
monotonously, “bring the gem to us.” Of course. Of course the Raja
would want this powerful soul to himself, Eleron reasoned. He made a
mental note not to drain souls while in the presence of anyone who he
did not plan to kill soon afterwards.
“Very well.” Eleron said, knowing it would be foolish to get on the bad
side of the Raja himself. He got up from his seat and reluctantly
relinquished Dael’s soul to the judges. “Will that be all?” he
practically spat.
“You will be reassigned to a new outpost in about a week.” the Master
Judge said, tucking the black gem into his robes. Eleron turned and
stormed out of the room, knowing there was nothing further to say but
the ending formalities, which he chose not to recite at this time. His
endeavors with the Proger-Luna ambassador had been fruitless, something
he was not used to. His next outpost would probably be even more boring
than the last one, and he no longer had a soul to experiment with.
Sakura entered the tavern slowly, glancing around swiftly at the
various occupants from the traveler’s robes she had put on as a
disguise. She didn’t want to be recognized here. She sat down at the
fourth table from the left, where she had been told the representative
of the Circle would meet her. The Circle was a group of mercenary
spies, thieves, and, if the pay was right, assassins. Sakura planned to
enlist their services here.
“Nice evenin’, aye?” Sakura had not
heard the cat approach at all and was rather startled by his voice
being so near. She looked to him, sizing him up. He was a rather small
grey furred cat with black markings around his eyes. His fur was
unkempt and scruffy and he wore an amused expression.
“You are the one they sent?” she asked. He nodded, grinning.
“Y’ can call me Bandit, t’s what everyone calls me,” he chuckled and motioned to the black markings around his eyes “see?”
“Alright then Bandit,” Sakura began “I wish to recruit a spy.”
“Straight to the job hm? Alright then, who’s he gonna be spyin’ on
then?” Bandit asked, his amused expression still not subsiding.
“It’s a dog. An assassin. The one who attacked one of our outposts recently, do you know of this?” To this Bandit laughed.
“This must be your first dealin’ with the Circle! Of course we know of it, we’re information gatherers, see?”
“Good,” she said refusing to allow herself to feel patronized, “then you’ll do it?”
“Hm,” the grey furred cat said deliberately, “stalkin’ dogs is tough
work, not nearly as easy as keepin’ tabs on our own, ya follow? We can
do it, sure, but the price’l be high.”
“Price is not a concern,” waved Sakura, “just do it.” Bandit grinned, showing off his needle sharp teeth.
“Lady, those’r some of my favorite words you just spoke there! I’ll
arrange this quick like, alright? Our agents will meet you with
information on the first of the month and every week thereafter. Have
your pay ready, or you get no info, follow?”
“How will you know where to meet me?” Sakura asked. Bandit laughed again.
“We’re the Circle! We know all, see? I’m sure we’ll be able to find ya,
Lady Sakura.” And with that Bandit stood, bowed sarcastically, and
vanished out of the Tavern door, still chuckling.
“There must be some way to court her!” the frustrated High Mage stated.
“She has just lost her previous mate, give her time.” his personal assistant, a wise old tiger told him.
“But I want her now!” the mage growled. There must be a way to impress her somehow.
“You could keep your promise for once.” his assistant joked.
“That, that’s it!” the High Mage exploded into laughter. “How obvious!
If I kill her mate’s killer, then she will be in my debt!” Visions of
Lady Sakura hugging him, putting her chin on his shoulder, thanking him
for all he’s done danced through the High Mage’s head.
“Oh, come now. I was joking! There’s no way you can take out an entire
Proger-Luna outpost with only the troops you have here, especially
given the recent state of moral.” The assistant chuckled.
“No, not with just these troops, but I have a commander in charge of
deploying troops who owes me a favor. Let’s just say I have a hunch
we’ll be getting a certain ruthless fighter as reinforcements sometime
soon.”
“Who did you have in mind?” the assistant asked. The High Mage turned
towards him, an excited grin quickly spreading across his features.
“Kain” he replied.
Chapter 4: The Coming Storm
The sound of steel clanging against steel echoed harmoniously through the dark forest. Dash drew his blades back from his opponent’s parry taking two quick steps away. He resumed his fighting stance, watching his opponent who was holding his katana back over his shoulder with the tip pointing at Dash’s chest. The young Proger-Luna readied himself for the inevitable attack. It came swiftly, the swordsman charged forward and jabbed the katana. Dash grinned and parried the attack easily, bringing his swords across in a cross slash. He felt an impact on both his blades in quick succession as his opponent’s blade connected with each of them then rested itself on Dash’s neck. Dash froze, stunned, then sighed.
"Again?" he asked.
"In a moment" said Blitz as he sheathed his katana and stared somewhat curiously at Dash. "I think we need to talk"
"You called a training session, at night, with almost no time for me to prepare and now you want to talk?" Dash asked, spinning his weapons idly
"This has not been your best lesson Dash. The mistakes you making are amateur ones." Blitz observed, ignoring Dash’s complaint
"Well, maybe that’s cuz you decided to have me take my training at night, hm?" Dash retorted
"You have fought in the darkness before and have still met my expectations, even exceeded them. This is different." Dash wiped some sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Ah, you’re just getting lucky and you know it. Come on, one more time, huh?"
"A warrior whose mind is clouded is one doomed to defeat" Blitz lectured sternly, "if there is something on your mind, then perhaps you’d best speak it so as to release yourself from its hold."
"Hah! You’ve known me for years, has anything ever phased me?" Dash gave a disarming grin and threw his arms out to his sides in a shrug.
"Not until today" Blitz replied, his hard eyes boring into Dash, "it’s your sister, isn’t it?" Dash started, his grin gone, anger creeping into his features.
"I said let’s go again!" and with that Dash leapt forward whirling in the air, spinning his dual blades in a circular pattern. Blitz unsheathed his sword like quicksilver, intercepting Dash’s first blade with it then spinning, mimicking Dash’s footwork, and blocking the other blade with his katana’s sheath, which he held in his off hand. Blitz then twisted his sheath elegantly, turning his body around as well, and forcing Dash’s blade upwards. Predictably, Dash allowed this, spinning in the opposite direction and bringing his other sword to bear. In the time it took him to do that, however, Blitz had moved his katana in position to block the attack. There was another clear ringing note as the metal connected followed quickly by a muffled wumph as Blitz drove the end of his sheath into Dash’s exposed abdomen, causing him to double over gasping slightly.
"Another poor move." Blitz observed looking down at Dash’s huddled form and again replacing his sword in its sheath, "you must learn not to be so obvious in your actions, otherwise you will be easily defeated. Now, will you or won’t you share with me your troubles?"
"It’s none of your business!" Dash growled at the ground. Blitz sighed and crouched down so he was level with Dash.
"You know I would not ask this of you if I didn’t think it would help, and you will need all the help you can get. I have been informed that you will be sent off tomorrow along with a few others, traveling to Fraes Maeldeep." Dash knew the name, it was a city of mages, ones focused on studying the powerful magics of ruins and items long buried. It was notoriously difficult to find, and it was rumored that the mages there periodically moved the entire city with magic in order to study new ruins. That he was being sent there confused him however, it seemed that a full mage would be better suited in a place like that than a spellsword such as himself.
"What will I be doing there? And why me?" Dash asked, his breath back and his anger subsiding.
"You will learn that in due time," replied Blitz, standing up, "for now, it is important that your fighting style is in perfect form. From what I understand you may be venturing into dangerous territory on your way there. So I ask you again: is there anything you would like to discuss?" Dash looked at Blitz. Though his teacher was relentless in his training and harsh in his criticisms, Dash had always seen him as something of a father figure, seeing as how his real father was dead. His confused tempest of pain and sadness, however, was something he couldn’t bring himself to share with anyone, and he looked away from Blitz, at the ground. "Not talking then? Very well, I know when to stop pushing. It is time for a different exercise." Blitz set his katana with the rest of his equipment and retrieved a different one, one with a magnificent grip laced with gold and silver accompanied by a smooth sturdy sheath. Dash groaned, recognizing the sword as Swift, Blitz’s enchanted katana. The blade moved with supernatural speed and was very difficult to defend against, Blitz used it in training for one purpose and one purpose only. "Now Dash, we will again hone your senses. A good warrior can respond to his opponent’s attacks before they are even made. You must learn to sense my intent and react accordingly. Are you ready?" Blitz gave the same speech every time he picked up Swift in training, and Dash was sick of it. All it meant to him was that he was going to go to sleep bruised and aching. He got into a defensive stance and readied himself for the coming blows.
* * *
"Arana ismot iom? That doesn’t seem right, that incantation could never work here…hm, the writer must have meant ‘iliom,’ that would make more sense" Jaya stopped muttering to herself long enough to dip her pen into the bottle of ink and correct the mistake in the dusty old tome. The librarians of the Guild would probably not like it, but Jaya could care less; she was certain she was right on the matter, and it would probably be better to write in a book than to have someone accidentally blow themselves up or turn their right pinky into a twig or something because the incantation was wrong.
Jaya was in the libraries of the Guild building, the structure that contained the quarters and facilities for the local mages. She sat on an old but sturdy chair facing a table of polished mahogany that had seen better days. That table was currently piled high with books that Jaya had taken from the looming shelves behind her. A large window in the wall to her left brought the afternoon’s sunlight into the room giving it a golden hue. She propped up the book she had just corrected on the table and paged through it for a while longer, hoping to find something relevant to her studies. She flipped to the final page, finding nothing in the book to aid her. Disappointed, she set it down…and behind it was a wolf’s muzzle.
"Boo!" Dash said, causing Jaya to gasp and jump, reaching for her dagger. Quickly realizing there was no threat, however she calmed herself and glared at Dash, who was now laughing.
"You startled me!" She accused
"That was the idea, Jaya," came Dash’s lighthearted reply "honestly, when you’ve got your snout in one of those books, you’re as easy to sneak up on as an elder whose sight, smell, and hearing are gone."
"Not funny." replied Jaya giving him a quick little jab on the arm.
"Hey, ow! That’s tender there you know…" Dash protested
"Ah yes, you had a date with Blitz last night, didn’t you?" Jaya grinned
"Hmph, roughest ‘date’ I’ve ever been on." Dash said carefully sliding himself into a seat across the table from Jaya "I’m so sore now it hurts to move. I need to get Hart to see to these bruises, where is he anyway?"
"He went to the plains with his sister. You know, if you hadn’t overslept you would have been able to catch him before he left." Said Jaya, taking another book from her pile and opening it up.
"Hey! I was up past midnight last night duking it out with Mr. my-blade-moves-faster-than-your-eyes, I think I’ve earned a bit of sleep, yea?" Dash shook his head and sighed. "I hope Hart comes back quickly, he can stay out there for almost the whole day sometimes."
"Oh, he’ll be back, probably pretty soon. He’s been called to council, apparently they’ve got something they want him to do."
"Were they specific as to what it was?" Dash asked
"No. Not to either of us."
"Either of you? You’re coming too? Well, I guess that would make sense…" Said Dash resting his head gently on his hand.
"Huh? Do you know something about this?" asked Jaya, putting down her book and giving Dash her full attention.
"Well, I think so. Blitz told me last night that the reason he called that emergency training session was that he had received word that I was to be sent off to Fraes Maeldeep today. I can only assume you and Hart will be accompanying me."
"Fraes Maeldeep? I’ve always wanted to go there…Some of the most powerful Proger-Luna spellcasters reside there you know, as well as heaps of potent magical artifacts."
"Yea, yea, I’ve heard all about those things. I’m just happy to start doing something rather than waiting around here." said Dash draping an arm around the back of his chair and giving Jaya a toothy grin. Jaya nodded and smiled, turning towards the window.
"Heh, looks like you’re in luck Dash." She said, pointing one of her slender fingers towards the simple panes of glass. Dash followed her finger and saw that the gates of the base were open and walking through them was Hart, his younger sister on his shoulders holding his glaive in one of her hands and a picnic basket in the other. Their brown fur shimmered with the sunlight, making them seem almost celestial.
"’Bout time," said Dash picking himself up gingerly, "I’m going out to meet him, you coming?" he asked. Jaya sighed looking at her book tower, which was beginning to look quite precarious.
"Yea I’m coming." She said, standing and straightening her robes.
"Then, after we evade the cats by running them into our pursuers, we find a nice quite home in the woods, well away from any Vithis settlements of course" Faith explained.
"But if we run away, won’t they come looking for us?" Hart asked, a soft grin on his face. He was humoring his sister.
"Well, that’s why we’ll need to take something from the Guild that can mask our location. Come on, you know it could work." Faith reasoned. Hart gave a kind clear laugh as he lifted his sister from his shoulders and set her down on the ground, crouching to remain face to face with her.
"I don’t believe so Faith. We’ll just need to wait until the war is over I think."
"But…why?" whispered Faith, "This war is nothing, it means nothing, why must you fight it?" It was at this point that Hart realized his sister was at least somewhat serious about her plans to run away from it all.
"Because the closer I am to the war, the more chance I have of ending it." he replied, gently taking his glaive from her. His sister pouted, but her eyes glistened with respect as she stared at him. Hart’s gaze wandered over her shoulders and he saw Dash and Jaya emerging from the Guild library. “My friends are here.” Faith took a quick look over her shoulder.
"I’m gonna go now." She said.
"You don’t need to," Hart replied, somewhat confused, "stay."
"No, actually I do need to Hart. I have a fighting lesson tonight."
"Why didn’t you tell me?"
"Because I didn’t want you to rush me back of course," she smiled, "I’m already late. I’ll be reprimanded, but it was worth it to spend more time with you, especially since you’ll likely be leaving soon…Promise me you’ll be careful?"
"I promise Faith." Hart replied solemnly. Faith gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and darted away.
"What’s her hurry?" asked Jaya, who was now close enough to speak with Hart.
"She’s late for a lesson," he replied, climbing to his feet. Jaya tsk tsk’ed.
"You know what they do to you when you’re late for studies in the Guild? They give you janitorial work. Janitorial work in the Guild can kill you." She informed.
"I’m sure Faith will be fine," Hart said with all confidence, "what’s taking Dash so long?" he asked, seeing that his friend was limping at a steady pace, still a fair ways away.
"He’s still a little sore from his training yesterday night," Jaya replied, "in fact, your healing talents would be much appreciated I’m sure." Hart sighed.
"Once, just once I would like for Dash to go into combat and come out with not a scratch on him." To this Jaya laughed dryly.
"Don’t you know, Hart? That’s one of the signs of the apocalypse."
"Hey guys, nice to see you back Hart." Dash had finally arrived.
"I understand Blitz gave you quite a beating last night, hm? Perhaps you could use a bit more defensive training?" Hart lectured playfully
"Shut up and heal me you oaf." Dash scowled.
"Very well." Hart chuckled. He placed a hand on Dash’s shoulder, closed his eyes and whispered phrases designed to invoke the power of his soul. His hand began to glow with a soft golden light, and he slowly swept it over Dash’s body, the bruises mending themselves at its touch. Hart finished and the light faded. “Did I miss anything?” he asked
"No, it’s perfect, thanks." Dash said flexing his arms to test for any aches or pains, "aahhhh, you’re a life saver Hart."
"Literally." added Jaya.
"I do my part." Hart stated modestly. There was a short silence after that, which Dash broke
"So Hart, you have received a summons as well then?" he asked
"Yes. Jaya and I both received one, we must report to the Canis in about an hour." Hart replied.
"You two aren’t the only ones going" Dash said, giving one of his cocky grins.
"Do you mean to say…" Hart inquired.
"Yea, I’ll be tagging along as well." Dash replied.
"Which means you’ll need to buff up on your healing before we set out." Jaya said snidely, throwing a sidelong glance at Dash.
"Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?" Dash demanded, irritated.
"I think I’ll let you figure it out for yourself, tough guy." Jaya answered playfully, cocking one of her ears down and winking, "as for me, I think I need to clean up the mess I left in the library. I will see the both of you soon." She clapped her right fist onto her left shoulder in a customary salute which Dash and Hart returned, then took a leisurely pace towards the Guild building.
"So, do you have any idea what our task might involve?" Hart inquired, more for the sake of conversation than anything else.
"Yes, actually, I do. Blitz told me last night that I was going to be sent to Fraes Maeldeep."
"Ah, the ancient city of the mages," Hart nodded, "I wonder what we will be doing there?” Dash shrugged.
"Beats me. Right now, I’m wondering who else will be coming with us."
"If there will indeed be anyone else." Hart replied.
"Do you really think they’d send us three off alone?" Inquired Dash.
"It depends on the nature of the task. All I know is that no one else has told me they were summoned." Dash’s stomach suddenly rumbled. Hart gave a soft, slightly sarcastic smile.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Haven’t eaten all day" Dash replied somewhat bashfully.
"I could go for some food as well actually."
"Didn’t you just come from a picnic?" questioned Dash giving Hart an inquisitive look.
"Clearly, you’ve never had Faith’s cooking" Hart said holding his head high and keeping his smile wide.
"Hah, let’s eat then." Dash said, shaking his head, and the two made their way to the mess hall.
* * *
Jaya navigated the maze like halls of the Guild building towards the library. She knew how to get there easily, though those who didn’t visit the building frequently would have had quite a bit of trouble. Mages delight in using confusing or frustrating architecture. Jaya took the final right fork in hallway and turned a corner, the two large double doors of the library coming into view. She hoped none of the librarians had checked her table recently, or she may be reprimanded. She pushed through the doors and made her way back to the familiar table next to the window but, to her surprise, the pile of books she left was gone. She didn’t fear that one of the librarians had found it, if that had happened the librarian would most certainly force Jaya to reshelf the books, likely enchanting them to increase their weight. So then who…
"Evening Jaya, long time no see" Jaya knew that voice. She turned to the shadows near the bookcase and saw a fox emerge from them. His orange-red fur was well kept and he wore a simple leather vest, a dark cloak, and some long black pants that were fashioned to allow easy movement. He also wore various small bits of jewelry here and there. He bowed low and turned his cunning eyes and grinning face towards Jaya.
"Renard." She said.
"It is indeed me. You know, you owe me now. While you were away one of the librarians came stalking through these very corridors. Who knows what they would have done if they had found all your books just left there like that?"
"You haven’t changed much." Jaya stated.
"I rarely do." Renard smirked, straightening.
"What are you doing here anyway? I hadn’t heard you were coming to this base." Jaya asked, looking suspiciously at the fox.
"I was called here to replace a recently deceased commander." Renard replied. Hearing this, Jaya looked to the floor her ears drooping. "What? You knew him?" Renard asked.
"Yes...he was a brother in law to a friend of mine." She said softly.
"Ah, well, our lives are wrapped in tragedy, are they not? All one can do is not dwell on it, yes?" Renard said, a slightly sarcastic twinge to his voice.
"You know, I think that may be the most meaningful thing I’ve ever heard you say." Said Jaya, regaining her composure.
"Hah, there’s more than fluff behind these eyes." Renard replied, tapping his head with one of his thin black fingers. "In any case, I look forward to spending more time with you around here. Most of my fellow officers are quite stuffy."
"Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that. I have received a summons by the Canis and expect to be leaving here fairly soon." To this Renard frowned.
"That’s too bad. What will I possibly do to amuse myself, hm?" It was Jaya’s turn to smile
"Not my problem is it? Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for the meeting." And with that, Jaya turned and went again to navigate the labyrinth of the Guild building, seeking her room.
"My she’s a feisty one." Renard said to himself with a wry smile. Too bad she wouldn’t be around, she was always a fun one to spend time with. "Ah well, I’m sure I’ll find something to occupy myself while I’m here." He reasoned, and he too left the library destined for his own quarters
* * *
Jaya rushed towards the council hall, cursing while she ran. She was late, through no fault of her own, but late all the same.
"Ha!" she said triumphantly as the building came into view, and she quickened her pace. She reached the intricate oak double doors and skidded to a stop, straightening her robes and catching her breath before opening one of the doors wide enough for her to slip in quietly. The Canis were occupied with a different ceremony, a Proger-Luna kneeled in front of them as they recited boring traditional phrases. They didn’t notice her come in. Jaya saw Dash and Hart sitting in one of the pews near the back. The rest of the pews were empty, though this was not unusual. The only people who were normally in the pews were those that had been summoned. Jaya moved quietly over to her friends’ location, slipping into the pew next to Dash.
"A little late, aren’t we Jaya?" he whispered, grinning.
"It isn’t my fault, some fool shifted the halls again, I was going in circles for quite a while and I didn’t even know it!" exclaimed Jaya in a hissing voice. "Why haven’t they began assigning our task yet?" she asked nervously.
"You’ve nothing to fear Jaya, your absence has not been noted," Hart assured her, "they are simply behind schedule. Right now they’re accepting the commander that’s come to replace…well, they’re accepting the new commander." Hart caught himself awkwardly and gave a concerned look towards Dash, but the young wolf pretended not to hear. Jaya turned her attention to the ceremony, finally realizing who the kneeling Proger-Luna was.
"You have already been assigned your quarters, so I believe that’s the last of the formalities. Welcome to our base Renard, may your stay be a pleasant one." The fox rose, saluted, and walked out of the building shooting a confidant smile towards Jaya. "We will now see the next summons. Dash, Jaya, and Hart please approach us." Announced one of the Canis, a German shepherd whose only sign of age was the slight graying of his fur. The three friends stood and walked slowly up to their position in front of the raised desk where the Canis sat. "Dash, Jaya, and Hart," began the German shepherd, putting his stern gaze on each of them in turn, "you have worked together before, and your abilities compliment one another. It is for this reason that we are choosing to send the three of you on a very special mission." The speaker reached under the large table that the Canis sat at and pulled out a long thin box. Setting it on the table, he explained: "this is your charge. You must take this box to Fraes Maeldeep, the city of magic. There it will be researched and we will be able to find out what, exactly, it is capable of."
"What is inside?" Asked Dash, curious.
"Ah, that is the catch to the task, you must not look inside the box. You are forbidden to know what it is you transport. You see, there are many that seek the contents of this box, and if you were to know what you had in your possession, they would be able to zone in on such knowledge with magic. They would find you, likely kill you, and take the item before we can even find out its purpose."
"Grandfather, um, if I may…" Jaya began, using the title appropriate to one of the Canis’ station, “are we the only ones that are to undertake this mission?"
"Yes, with a small group you should be able to find your way to the city undetected, and since you will be traveling through Vithis and even Bithi-Sol territory, stealth will be paramount to your success."
"Surely it would be safer to simply teleport the object to Fraes Maeldeep, would it not?" Hart reasoned.
"Alas, it resists all teleportation attempts. It must be transported physically. Are there any further questions?"
"Yes, two," said Dash, "firstly, how do we get to Fraes Maeldeep?"
"We have a map for you to follow," the German shepherd said, taking a small roll of parchment out from behind the desk and laying it on top of the box. “And your second question?” Dash’s face broke into an eager grin.
"When do we start?"
* * *
By the next morning Dash, Jaya, and Hart had all necessities packed and ready to go. It was unusual for the Canis to set a departure date so soon to the briefing, but then again it was an unusual task. Dash and Jaya waited patiently by the open gates as Hart hugged his sister goodbye.
"I’ll be back before you know it." He said, giving a soft smile that Faith halfheartedly mirrored.
"Be safe." She replied, letting go of her brother. Hart took his place with his two friends and the gate shut behind them. Their journey had begun.
* * *
"And so you are finally here." The High Mage said, hiding his excitement well. He inspected the one who stood before him. The black robe that the newcomer wore seemed to absorb the firelight that lit the room and the hood cast a shadow over his face, though it could still be seen that he wore a cold glare as his expression. In his right hand he held his weapon: Reaper. The scythe had a smooth black staff and the blade glowed an eerie soft blue. The air around it was visible like warm breath on a frozen day.
"What do you wish of me?" Kain asked, his voice cold and unfeeling.
"All in due time Kain, all in due time. Preparations are still not complete. Go to your quarters and we will contact you when we have more information." Kain nodded curtly and exited the room. The High Mage broke out into a gleeful grin. "He’s exactly what we need!" He exclaimed.
"He sends a chill up my spine," his adviser said nervously, trying to smooth down his fur that was spiked upwards in fear.
"If he frightens you, just think of what he will do to our enemies! Ah, Sakura will be mine shortly." The adviser seemed quite distressed by the High Mage’s gleeful mood.
"I still think that this is a bad idea…" he said.
"Nonsense! This is going to work out perfectly. Now call my lieutenants and let us go over our battle plans. We strike two days hence, under cover of darkness!"
* * *
The night was dark and chilly. Watchmen dozed on the walls of the base and the only light came from the stars and moon, as well as the various torches around the establishment. A thin vixen in a nightgown holding a candle made her way sleepily around the mess hall near the gates. Turning a corner she bumped into another fox, almost setting his fur on fire with the candle, which fell from her hands.
"Oh! I’m-I’m sorry, are you all right?" she asked retrieving her candle. The fire had gone out.
"Ah, no worries, I’m fine. Hey…wait…aren’t you…Fay, is that you?" The vixen’s gaze snapped to the fox’s face as he said her name.
"I-I’m sorry, I don’t remember you." She said, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"It’s me! Brin!" He smiled holding his arms out. Fay gasped.
"Brin! Oh, I didn’t think I’d ever see you again! I had no idea you were here, why haven’t we seen each other before?" She exclaimed happily.
"Fate I assume." Brin said cryptically. "Why are you out so late anyway?"
"Oh…I-I was hungry." Fay looked to the ground, slightly embarrassed. It didn’t help that Brin had grown quite a bit more handsome since she last saw him. Brin chuckled.
"Still the same old Fay, clumsy and always hungry." His eyes danced with humor and his disarming gaze caused Fay to smile.
"Why are you out so late then Brin?" she asked.
"I’ve come to relieve the guard on duty, his watch is up. I should probably be getting to that now actually, we’ll need to talk again some-" suddenly there was a large booming noise from past the walls. Both Fay and Brin’s heads turned, their ears perking towards the direction of the sound, which was outside the wall nearest to them.
"What was that?" Fay asked nervously.
"I’m not sure." Replied Brin. Suddenly, one of the watchmen leaned over the parapets facing the foxes.
"Cats! It’s cats! An army, I-I can’t be sure how many-" His sentence was cut off by an arrow which struck him in the back of the head, going through his helmet and tumbling him off the wall, his body coming to rest right in front of the foxes. That was followed by a hail of arrows coming over each wall of the base. Frantic horns sounded, waking the base and getting them ready for combat. Fay had kept herself from screaming the whole time, her combat mentality taking over.
"We need to get to safety!" Brin exclaimed. Before Fay could nod her agreement, there came a loud crunching sound at the front gate. The cats were trying to ram it down. "Change of plans!" Brin shouted, and he began chanting and weaving his hands in the air. Fay recognized this as a spell to hold doors and other portals shut. It was only meant to work on smaller openings though, alone Brin would not be able to hold it. She dropped her candle and began the spell as well, finishing shortly after the fox. The gates glowed with a soft blue light as did Fay and Brin’s hands. The spell required concentration, both of their eyes were squeezed shut. Fay’s candle lay forgotten on the ground. "Not quite what you had expected to find on a late night walk, eh?" Brin grunted.
"I didn’t expect to find you either." Fay stated, smiling through her mental exhaustion. There came another crunching noise as the ram collided with the gates again, but the large doors barely moved this time. Arrows still rained over the base, but the two foxes were relatively safe between a building and the wall. Soon, armored warriors began emerging from the barracks, holding their shields up to intercept the incoming missiles. CRUNCH, another ram. "Reinforcements are coming" sighed Fay.
"We’re almost out of this" agreed Brin. BOOM! "What was-?" BOOM! BOOM! BOOMBOOMBOOM! Fireballs were detonating in quick succession on the gates, which exploded violently outwards. Brin managed to shove Fay out of the way. She landed safely on the corpse of the fallen watchman, but the flames and shrapnel from gate hit Brin fully, throwing him to the wall of the mess hall. Fay shot her gaze at the aftermath of the explosion, focusing on the charred corpse of Brin, pincushioned with large chunks of wood.
"Brin…NO!" Fay shouted, losing control. She reached down to the watchman’s corpse’s belt and yanked his sword out. She had never wielded a sword before, and it felt heavy and clumsy in her hands, but she paid that no heed. She charged into the still smoldering wake of the explosion, swinging the sword unskillfully. Through the smoke and rubble stepped Kain, coldly surveying the battle. He took only a passing interest in the vixen charging at him. She was hardly worth his time. When she came into range of him, howling and crying, he casually parried her haphazard attack and spun the blade of his scythe into her gut. Fay gasped, feeling her insides freeze, her blood oozing out over the blade and crystallizing on her nightgown. Kain yanked Reaper from the vixen and rapped the blade against the wall causing most of the frozen blood to crack off. Fay fell to her knees, then collapsed onto the ground, dead. Her body lay still for a moment, then it stirred. Stiffly, it climbed back to its feet, its eyes blank and unfocused, its stance warped and unbalanced. The warriors who recently emerged from the barracks could only watch in horror.
"Time to begin" Kain said, and he strode forward, Fay’s corpse following him at a hobble.
"Report!" Barked Blitz, fully dressed and ready for combat.
"The gate has been breached, skirmish teams of cats have entered the base, four soldiers and a mage each. The archers who originally fired on us have started getting onto the ramparts, using our own defenses against us." The slightly flustered golden retriever lieutenant stated. It took only a few moments for Blitz’s calculating mind to come to the most prudent course of action: retreat.
"Pull everyone out. Use the underground passages. Meet at rally point five after you exit. I and my elite guard will cover the retreat. Move! Now!" And Blitz was off before the lieutenant could protest, running towards the front of the base with his elite guard on his heels. "Fan out. I’ll take the center, you two take the right side, you two the left." Blitz’s bodyguards nodded and obeyed without question.
"What’s going on?" Came a shrill voice. Blitz stopped swiftly, turning towards the education quarters, the location of the young that were currently in training there. Faith was standing wide awake and fearful in her nightgown. Blitz looked swiftly around, his keen senses zoning in on a fox that had just emerged from the Guild building. He recognized this fox as Renard.
"You! Renard! Over here, now!" Blitz shouted. Renard turned quickly towards him.
"We’ve been taken by surprise, sir!" The fox informed him.
"I’m aware of that. I need you to take the trainees away, we’re retreating."
"With all due respect, sir, my talents could be better used elsewhere." Renard stated. Such a task was something an unranked soldier could take care of. Renard was a commander.
"You will do as I order without question." Blitz responded, and he took off again in the direction of the front gate. Renard frowned after him, his sly eyes narrowing to slits.
"Hmph. Very well." And he moved to gather the pups.
Kain’s scythe cut through another one of the defenders’ armor as if it were paper, toppling the bleeding dog and quickly moving the shaft of his weapon to deflect a thrust from one of the others. He then spun the blunt end of his scythe into the muzzle of another warrior before he could finish his attack. Kain gave a tight spin to correct his footwork and put a small amount of distance between himself and his opponents. He stood up strait and jammed the end of his scythe into the ground, ready for the next attack.
"Fall back!" came the order "I will deal with this, all of you retreat." Blitz unsheathed his katana, locking eyes with Kain as his warriors obeyed his instructions and fled. Kain watched Blitz, his eyes shimmering gold under his hood. As a high ranking warrior, Kane was privvey to knowledge of the enemies’ top officers, and this new warrior was one that Kane recognized.
"You are Blitz..." Kain said calmly "General in the Proger-Luna military...what are you doing here?" Blitz took this moment to survey the battlefield. There were many corpses, including that of a vixen in a nightgown. A few of them seemed to have more wounds than were necessary, almost as if they had been cut down twice...
"I won’t explain myself to an enemy. On your guard!" And Blitz rushed forward swinging Swift in a downward stroke at Kain’s head. With surprising speed, the cougar brought his scythe’s blade up to block, stepping backwards to get out of the katana’s range, swinging the scythe down, taking advantage of its longer strike distance. In a flash, Swift was in position to block the attack, intercepting the scythe. Blitz then pushed upwards, forcing the cougar’s weapon high and dashing forward, angling his weapon for a deadly thrust, but Kain spun Reaper, intercepting the blade with the scythe’s shaft. Blitz had expected the cougar to move backwards to continues to keep his weapon’s range advantage, but instead Kain stepped into the wolf’s advance and drove his fist into Blitz’s muzzle. The wolf fell backwards, but quickly regained his footing, flowing smoothly into a fighting stance just in time to block another one of Kain’s attacks. The cougar was very fast, considering the size of his weapon and the fact that Blitz was one of the quickest Proger-Luna fighters on record, but that didn’t make him unbeatable. Blitz moved forward, seeking to engage the cougar again, but he felt something grip his ankle. He looked down to see one of the dogs Kain had recently cut down, or its corpse rather, gripping his leg as its empty, dead eyes stared up at him, its maw hanging open. Blitz quickly severed the zombie’s arm then made another swift attack, cleaving its head in two and dropping it, giving him just enough time to deflect another of Kain’s attacks. Blitz’s combat oriented mind shifted into gear, and he began planning his moves two or three actions in advance. He made an easily deflected slash to the cougar’s left, feeling his blade connect with Reaper, but it was a calculated move made to get the Kain’s weapon into position for his next attack. With unnatural speed, Blitz withdrew his weapon and made yet another thrust at the cougar’s chest. Kain moved the shaft of his scythe to deflect the blow, pushing the katana to the side, again what Blitz had planned for. The wolf’s next attack came as a downward slash at the cougar’s head, causing him to raise his scythe horizontally to block it. Gotcha! Blitz thought, and he again made a slash at the cougar’s left. This time, however, Kain’s weapon was in no position to be moved to intercept it in time. To Blitz’s surprise, the cougar didn’t even try to block his attack. The katana made contact with Kain’s side...and stopped. Blitz stared in disbelief as Swift, which he had until now believed was able to cut through anything, was blocked by a simple black robe. Kain took this opportunity to spin the blunt end of his weapon into Blitz’s face, stepping forward and spinning it again, slashing Blitz’s side as the wolf flew through the air, spinning him to the ground. Blitz hit hard, keeping his grip on his katana, but unable to bring himself to his feet. Kane advanced on Blitz, the wolf cradling his cold wound and staring up at the cougar intensely, his expression unreadable save for the pain that was obviously present.
"I had been expecting more...but nonetheless you were a worthy opponent." Kane said as he readied his scythe for a killing blow. Before he could execute his strike, however, a blue cloud of vapor rose quickly from the ground near Blitz, obscuring him and causing Kane to jump back and slash at the quickly forming cloud, keeping it at bay, fearing some form of poison.
All Blitz could see was blue, and the wolf briefly wondered if he had, in fact, died. He was brought back to his senses, however, by a voice he recognized that spoke into his ear...
"Take the trainees away eh? You’re lucky I don’t listen to orders very well." Renard said as he threw one of Blitz’s arms over his shoulder and began to work through the motions of a teleportation spell.
"How dare you disobey my orders..." Blitz said weakly, causing Renard to chuckle.
"A general to the end, eh?" He finished his spell, and the two vanished from the scene of battle.
* * *
Kain surveyed the battle’s aftermath. It had been a harder battle to fight than originally anticipated, and with far fewer casualties on the dog’s side. That Blitz certainly knew what he was doing Kain thought to himself. Not only had every strategic advantage been very well exploited, but there were apparently a number of secret passageways outside of the base. There was no other way to explain how so many soldiers had escaped, for all of the exits had been watched carefully during the battle by a regiment of archers in the hopes that no Proger-Luna would survive. None of the alleged passages had been located, however, leading Kain to believe that the enemy had collapsed the passages behind them, covering their escape. Blitz was a worthy opponent indeed.
"Where is she?" the voice of the High Mage brought Kain’s attention back to the present. The wizard was picking his way through the Projer-Luna bodies with his advisor in tow, pushing bodies over with his foot to examine them, looking for Wren’s. He saw Kain and strode over, crossing his arms. “Well?” He asked impatiently.
"Of whom do you speak?" Kain asked simply, regarding the mage with the same cold stare he afforded everyone.
"The assassin, the one who slew the previous High Mage, show me her body!" He commanded. The pieces began to fall into place in Kain’s head.
"So then this attack was made simply to kill one individual?" Kain asked coldly.
"Certainly that was the easiest way to ensure her death, or so I thought." The High Mage sniffed, "I hadn’t counted on the leader of my attack being so...incompetent." The Mage’s arrogant statement caused Kain’s eyes to flash and his advisor to glance nervously between the two of them.
"Incompetent..." Kain growled.
"Rally the forces." The High Mage ordered, "we will spread out, find the survivors, and kill them until we have the assassin’s head."
"No." Kain responded. The High Mage paused.
"You dare disobey me? I am your superior, you will do as I say!" The High Mage snarled, angry that his authority was being questioned.
"You order an attack on a whole base to kill one enemy rather than sending an assassin...you sit back in our base while your soldiers fight, you order the pursuit of the enemy immediately after fighting....You are...incompetent...you are...weak..." Kain said, his eyes flashing a dangerous gold as his scythe whipped out, streaking the air with arctic blue and deep crimson. A shocked, horrified silence descended on the area as the High Mage’s body crumpled to the floor. His head, with an expression of frozen surprise, joined it shortly.
"Y-you..." The High Mage’s advisor broke the silence, trembling as he looked to Kain, "I-I am going to....to report this..." the aging tiger said, trembling.
"No," Kain said simply, "you will not." It was not a suggestion, it was not an order, it was merely a statement. Kain turned to address the remaining soldiers. "Fortify this position. Do not pursue the enemy. I am returning to the capitol presently." And he turned and left the scene, his dark robes billowing out behind him, all eyes fixed on the dangerous agent of death known as Kain.