A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Before Erik could answer, a roar echoed across town. A furred, black torpedo flew through the air as it launched itself at Erik, claws out and maw gaping.

No one saw the attack coming, not even Erik or Viljar, as the assailant had hidden themselves well among the surrounding second-rankers, before finally launching their attack.

Of course, there was one person who noticed, but even she didn't tell Erik. Elora had decided Erik might enjoy the practice. Plus, there was no real danger anyway.

And she was right. There was less than a second between the attacker launching himself and the time he would have reached Erik, but that was enough for him. Erik's eyes flickered, and so did his body. No one noticed the movement, but suddenly, Erik found himself a few inches to the right. The attack shot past where Erik was just before, and his arm struck out to grab something.

Before the crowd even truly registered the sneak attack, the assailant was already struggling in the air as Erik had firmly grasped the back of their neck.

"Hello, Olaf," Erik sneered as the short-tempered werewolf snarled and struggled against his grip. "I see almost dying hasn't made you any more cautious."

"Fuck you!" he roared, anger and fury spitting out of his eyes as he attempted to turn his neck and look at the man grasping his neck from behind. "That whole thing was your fault! If you had just gone with the council, none of this would have happened! We'd have gotten the aid we needed to take down the Dominion, and I wouldn't have had to spend weeks in recovery!"

"Is that so?" an amused Erik smirked. "What if I told you I had a way to end this war with the Enclave's survival, but I'd need you to walk over the Dominion and throw yourself at their mercy? By your logic, any further death would be on you if you refused, right?"

"Don't make me laugh!" Olaf roared as he continued to struggle and tried to turn around and face Erik directly. "There's no way you have a way to do that! If you don't have proof, then forget it! Why would I throw my life away without actually knowing it would change anything?!"

"Right," Erik grinned, knowing he had already won this argument. "And yet you expect me to do that? What assurances did I, or even Frostfang, have that the council would actually keep their word? At that point, they'd already have what they wanted, so why would they give two shits about the Enclave anymore?"

Of course, even if those assurances had been there, Erik would have never surrendered to the Council to save the Enclave. The very idea was anathema to him. But there was no need to say that out loud for all these Enclave shapeshifters to hear. He still needed them to do as he said later, after all.

"S— Screw you!" Olaf roared, a little less sure of himself suddenly, but still unwilling to back down. He didn't even say anything curing Erik out and just continued to struggle in an attempt to attack him again.

"Alright, well there's clearly no talking to you," Erik rolled his eyes, before unleashing his thundersnow affinity into Olaf's body. Icy lightning ravaged across Olaf's body as the man screamed and twitched. It was mere moments before the werewolf stopped moving and Erik dropped him on the ground like a sack of potatoes, a combination of frostbite and electrical burns all over his body.

A palpable silence fell over the crowd. They had suspected Erik was strong before, but this was ridiculous. Olaf may have been the weakest of the generals, but he was still a general, putting him above most of the second-rankers gathered here. Yet, he was taken down so easily, despite launching a sneak attack.

Although that wasn't the only thing that shocked them. The entire conversation confused them all. The council's very existence wasn't even common knowledge among them, let alone they ruled most of Europe and had once approached Frostfang for a deal.

Now, they weren't sure what to think. Viljar was friendly with him, Anne angry, but clearly hesitant to attack, Olaf didn't have any compunction like that and simple charged in, but was taken down in less than a second. Now there was this council as well? At this point, they needed Frostfang to come in and explain everything.

"Erik, you…" Viljar began in an exasperated tone, before sighing heavily and palming his face. 'Why can't these young people ever just discuss things calmly,' he groaned inwardly.

He wasn't too worried about Olaf. Runebound shapeshifters were tough, and he his sharp senses told him he was still alive, which meant Erik had held back.

Uncertain how to continue, Viljar looked down at the smoking body of Olaf. He had tried to interfere before, but it all happened so fast and the two of them had clearly been in their own world when they talked.

Anne stayed calm as well, even though she was staring daggers at Erik. She, too, could tell Olaf was still alive, and her relationship with him had actually taken a turn for the worst. Among Runa's five students, they had always bonded over their extreme hatred for humans, but their relationship had never gone beyond that, even though Olaf made some occasional attempts.

While she appreciated their shared hatred, Anne didn't like Olaf's aggressive and impulsive nature. Still, they remained friends despite that, but ever since he got wounded Olaf's irrationality had gone up, and he'd been increasingly pushy about moving their relationship to a more romantic place.

But with Anne's continued resistance, their friendship had cooled down quite a bit. Now, seeing him on the ground after his recent harassment, actually made her feel a little gleeful.

She also disagreed with Olaf's points about Erik turning himself over to the Council, but she did resent him for not joining the Enclave instead. She had seen his power and their means, and she was sure they would have made a significant impact on the war, even if it likely wouldn't have changed the outcome.

Silence rained over the area for a moment, as the people there tried to decide how to react to all these developments. Soon, hushed whispered echoed as everyone discussed with each other without taking their eyes of the main actors in this play.

Some were furious over what happened to Olaf and started clamoring for his head, filling the area with angry shouting. Yet, they still feared Erik's obvious power, and didn't want to attack without orders and support from Anne or Viljar.

Lifting his head, Viljar looked at a nonchalant Erik and frowned thoughtfully. "What you said about ending this war with our survival… was that true?"

A sly grin appeared on Erik's face. "Did you really think getting even with Frostfang was important enough for me to throw my life away? Of course not!" he shook his head with a chuckle. "If I died in such a stupid way after making it back here, I'm sure mom would drag my ass back from hell just to beat me up over it."

Viljar couldn't help but burst into laughter as he imaged that scenario. His laughter was deep, belly rumbling, and something he hadn't done in a while. "You're right about that, you brat!" he roared while laughing. "And you'd deserve it, too!"

Watching his uncle's laughter, Erik couldn't help but grin happily. That laughter of his brought back some happy memories.

When his laughter finally died down, one of the surrounding second-rankers finally brought up the courage to inquire about Erik's identity. Keeping his cautious gaze on Erik, he inched a little closer to Viljar and Anne, before speaking up, "Uhm, g— generals, is— I mean, may I ask who this person is exactly?"

"He's exactly who you think he is, Sven. Who you all already suspect he is." A somber voice spoke as the most important member of the Enclave finally made his appearance.

Jonas, aka Frostfang, stepped out of the town's shadows, and walked up to the gathering around Erik. "This is Erik Gunnulf," he continued, "son of our founder, Runa Gunnulf."

A shock wave spread across the gathered shapeshifters as they all looked at Erik with different gazes. Most of them had known Runa back when she ran the Enclave, and they both respected and looked up to her. Yet, her past had been largely unknown, and to find out she had a son was quite a surprise. Most of them wondered where he had been for the past eight years.

"Hello, Jonas," Erik smiled derisively at the approaching, black haired German man, refusing to call him by his moniker any longer. "Finally decided to come out of hiding?"

Erik had already noticed Jonas's presence earlier, but didn't particularly care, as he was busy reuniting with his uncle and teaching Olaf a lesson.

"Its called observing, you brat," Jonas growled, unhappily. There was a lot he wanted to say to Erik, but he knew how to prioritize. "But never mind that. You say you have a plan to solve our current predicament? Let me hear it then."

"Not so fast, Jonas." Erik sneered. "Before we get to that, I'm here to claim my rightful position as leader of the Enclave… by beating you up a little first."

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