A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Alice remained quiet as complicated emotions flitted across her face. She was trying to determine how she felt about her biological father's fate.

Seeing that Alice likely wouldn't attack him anymore, Erik slowly put her down on the cool, metal floor of the garden-like enclosure. He then chose sit on the ground with his inverted, armored legs crossed in front of him. This way, they would remain at the same eye height.

Meanwhile, Elora, ever vigilant, used her omnisense to monitor the movements beyond the sealed door. Erik could take his time only so long as those people remained in place. As soon as they started moving, he had to as well, lest they reinforce the people outside.

He doubted Emily, Astrid, and Victor could fight them all off without his help.

The air hung heavy with anticipation until finally, Alice seemed to make a choice when she looked up at Erik with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "H—How did he die?" she asked in a small voice.

"Valiantly," Erik answered in a way he hoped Alice would appreciate. "And with love for you in his heart. He didn't give up his life easily, but it was the only way left for him to give you any aid."

Erik, with a heart particularly soft for children who've been dealt a harsh hand by life, felt his protective instincts surge. Alice's previous fiery spirit, in contrast to her current vulnerable position, only endeared her to him more.

"I—" she began but fell quiet as more tears appeared in Alice's eyes, and she began to sob a little. Her eyes seemed lost in space while she wrung her tiny clawed hands.

Erik wasn't sure how to handle this situation, so he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled the little ball of fur into a hug and let her cry out into the unarmored fur of his neck.

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the girl latched on to Erik with both arms and began to sob even louder. "F—First the…people who raised me…d—die…and then I finally…meet my biological father…only for him to die too?!"

Erik didn't know what to say, so he simply patted her back and kept quiet while Alice cried her eyes out. Although he was a little surprised to hear Alice apparently didn't know about Björn until recently.

After a few moments of crying, Alice's grief gave way for self-blame and doubt, "I—It's all my fault… My life must be cursed."

Naturally, Erik couldn't let that stand. Gently but firmly, he detached her from his shoulder, holding her at arm's length to look into her eyes with a fierce intensity. "Never say that again," he commanded, his voice a low growl. "You think Björn would want you to blame yourself? You think Ivar and Marta would want that?"

Erik had no idea who Ivar and Marta were or what they would think, but Alice mentioned those names earlier, so it seemed appropriate.

"There is only one person to blame for all this," he continued while looking into Alice's eyes to make sure his words struck home.

"W—Who?" Alice asked as she hung on his every word, almost hopeful that she might be able to unleash this burning wrath she felt bubbling to the surface on someone other than herself.

"Victor," Erik growled with a vicious smile. "He was the one who had your adoptive parents killed so that he could use you to push your father into dire straits that eventually caused him to lose his life."

Erik needed to give Alice a target to focus all her hate on. That way, she wouldn't focus it on herself.

Or, for that matter, on Elora and him, after finding out the particulars of Björn's death.

"Right…" she mumbled with a faraway look as a disgusting little man with a greedy smirk appeared in her mind's eye. "Victor… he said all sorts of crap about me being in this situation because of my father. I knew he was spouting bull, but I can't believe some of it actually stuck…"

Suddenly, her face twisted in fury as she balled her fist and clenched her jaw. "I want to kill him," she growled, her voice seething with fury. "I want to tear him apart with my own claws."

Despite being half-human, it was clear that her instincts as a shapeshifter were on point. Shapeshifter children often reached maturity and awakened their more animalistic instincts at a far earlier age than children of vampires and humans.

In fact, shapeshifters often had a far more cavalier attitude towards life and death, when compared to vampires and especially humans.

"Then you'll have your wish," Erik nodded, entirely unconcerned about letting someone who couldn't be older than ten or eleven kill someone. His values had shifted greatly from those of modern Earth during his time on Söl, where the harshness of life meant most children were taught to fight, kill, and defend themselves from a very early age.

"Can you really promise that?" Alice asked, while some of her fury made way for skepticism.

Erik nodded with a grim smile. "Of course. In fact, he's right outside, and enslaved by one of my companions. You can do whatever you like to him after we get out of here."

Immediately, all remaining sadness and despair were pushed down to be dealt with at a later date as vicious anger and a desire for violence flashed in Alice's eyes. "Then what are we waiting for?" she growled. "Let's get out of here!"

Looking into the eyes of this young, but fierce little shapeshifter, Erik couldn't help but grin a little. 'I like this girl. The covenant may force me to keep her safe, but I may want to, anyway.'

"Good girl!" Erik chuckled and quickly stood up. Just in time too, as Elora notified him that Alistair and his fellow second-ranker guards seemed to be about to leave.

He turned towards the door, his back towards Alice, and crouched down a little. "Come on, climb on my back and hold on tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Having gained inexplicable trust in Erik after crying her eyes out in his arms, she quickly climbed up and latched onto his slightly hunched werewolf back like a koala, with her small, transformed head poking out over his shoulder.

"How are we getting out of here, though?" she suddenly asked, eager yet curious. "Will they just let us leave? Isn't your power suppressed, just like mine?"

"Sort of," Erik chuckled as he walked up to the outer airlock door. "But I'm quite special, you see," he continued as a concussive lightning blast suddenly began charging on his fist as he cocked it backward, before punching forward.

A large explosion ensued.

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