A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

It appeared as if Frostfang was simply hellbent on keeping Erik safe until then, but he decided to call bullshit.

"Get off it!" Erik growled as he spat out some more blood. "You're still expecting our help to save your precious Enclave. Keeping me with you until Mom comes back so you can earn some browny points is just a fringe benefit!"

"And so what if that's true?!" Frostfang roared back. "The dominion is tearing us apart with their damn ghouls! Who knows how effective that sigil of yours will be! Don't you want to help the shapeshifters from your home country?! Or at least the faction that your mother founded?!"

Erik scoffed and narrowed his eyes. "Why would I? If I'm supposed to care about the shapeshifters in Finnmark, then where does it end?! Those living in Norway? Scandinavia? Europe?

The entire Earth?! And don't try to pull my mother into this, if she cared so much about the Enclave, she wouldn't have gone after Edda!"

Erik's words seemed to have touched a nerve, as Frostfang suddenly became even angrier, and spittle left his fanged mouth when he roared, "Your mother did love the Enclave!"

Then, out of nowhere, he lost much of his momentum, as pain and sadness filled his eyes. "She just…" he began. "She was wracked with guilt, pain, and sadness every day until she couldn't take it anymore. She had to do something to avenge you and your father."

The clear pain in Frostfang's eyes made Erik pause, and he, too, now felt sad as the desire to find his mother became ever stronger.

He did notice, however, that Viljar and Frostfang seemed to have slightly different ideas about his mother's leaving, and he wondered who was correct about her true feelings regarding the Enclave.

****

Meanwhile, behind Frostfang was the vampire commander. He had come here on the order of Victor, with the intention of pursuing the Council's claim on Erik and his group, but seeing the corpses of his comrades, and the fact that Victor was missing, made him reconsider.

With Frostfang busy, and any hope of getting what they came for dashed, the commander decided to issue a retreat.

Constantly keeping a cautious eye on Frostfang, he addressed his troops, "We're getting out here, boys and girls. The mission failed."

The nineteen people kneeling there all slaked a collective sigh of relief, before quickly getting up and moving toward the exit. They kept their link to the commander active for now, just in case Frostfang came back.

Seeing what was happening and noticing that the second-rankers they were fighting against wanted to leave as well, Viljar, Anne, and Nora decided to simply let them go. Mostly because they understood that this was best for everyone.

Some angry glares were exchanged, but in the end, the remaining council forces gathered their dead and wounded, before filing out of the town as quickly as they could. At the same time, Nora, Anne, and Viljar rushed to Olaf's side to see if he was still breathing.

****

Meanwhile, between Erik telling Astrid and Emily to retrieve Emma for departure, and Erik getting intercepted by Frostfang, only a short time had passed.

Emily, Astrid, and the enslaved Victor were just now reaching Erik's old home, which meant their backs were turned to the battlefield, and only Emma, who stood in front of the house, saw Erik being intercepted by Frostfang.

"No! Master!" she yelled and began to run in his direction, causing Emily and Astrid to quickly turn around as well.

But before she got very far and even while Erik was still flying through the air after getting punched, he contacted Emma through their link. "Emma! Take Astrid and Emily and leave now!"

"What?!" Emma exclaimed both out loud and through their link. "I'm not leaving you! I refuse!"

"I don't have time to argue, Emma!" he hurriedly responded. "Just do as I say, I promise we have a plan. Elora and I will be right behind you."

"M- Master, I—" she began, but Erik quickly interrupted her. "You trust me, don't you?"

Those words were fatal for Emma and she hurriedly nodded, both mentally and physically.

Less than a second had passed during their mental conversation, and Erik just landed on the ground to face off against Frostfang, while Emma turned to Astrid and Emily. "We— We need to leave! Now!"

Her words stunned both girls and their instinctive reaction was exactly the same. "Forget it! I'm going to help!"

But Emma wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Shut up!" she yelled with a red face, and in a rare moment of anger. "Master told us to go, and so that's what we're doing! He has a plan and we need to trust him!"

Her tone was surprisingly domineering, surprising both Emily and Astrid and giving them an urge to obey as they noticed an authoritative glint in her eyes. Perhaps she was channeling her identity as Erik's wife, or perhaps this was a result of Emma drawing from previously unknown depths of herself.

Whatever the case, Astrid appeared convinced and nodded. It wasn't just Emma's tone, however. Astrid was a fan of fighting, but she knew the importance of strategy and obeying orders when in a combat situation.

She understood Erik had sent Emma a message via that link she still didn't really understand and decided to follow his lead, trusting that Erik and Elora had a plan.

Emily, however, didn't seem to share Astrid's pragmatism and strategic insight. Panic and fear appeared in her eyes as she watched Erik and Frostfang face off against each other. 'He— He won't return! I— I can't do this without him! I won't do this without him!' she thought desperately.

Perhaps it was Erik's earlier refusal to give her up, or perhaps it had been there for longer, just waiting for an opportunity to get out, but Emily's expression gained a slightly crazed quality when she now thought about being separated from Erik.

Red flickers appeared in her eyes as her corruption found new positive emotions to twist and distort. 'He— He's mine! T— That Frostfang is trying to take him away from me! I— I won't let him!' her thoughts seemed to go a mile a minute as her face became increasingly distorted.

Her eyes, flickering with red strands, became empty and possessive when she looked at Erik.

Once again corruption was rearing it's ugly head and warping her mind, forcing her to leave logic, reason, and the carefully constructed facade of indifference towards Erik behind.

Emma and Astrid had been watching her changing expressions with concern, when Emily suddenly yelled, "I won't let him!" and began to sprint in the direction of Erik and Frostfang.

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