A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Silence fell over the area.

Erik simply smirked confidently at Frostfang, waiting for his response. There was still a lot of anger inside him over what happened to Elora back in Frostvik, but not so much that he still desired Frostfang's death over anything else.

Elora had pleaded for the man's life, not because she wanted him dead any less than Erik, but because she didn't want to be the cause of Runa's favorite student's death. She knew how important Runa was to Erik. Thus, she didn't want her own relationship with Runa getting off to a bad start.

Confusion was evident on everyone's face. They could understand Runa's son wanting to take over leadership of the Enclave, and there were even some who supported that idea regardless of whether Erik could defeat Frostfang or not, but they needed a moment to wrap their heads around the fact that a second-ranker had just challenged a third-ranker.

Finally, a few seconds later, the first few reactions came. Viljar's eyebrows twitched in exasperation and annoyance, once again cursing the foolhardiness of youth. Anne looked at Erik as if he'd gone insane, and all the way in the back, Nora smiled widely. Her confidence in Erik was sky-high already, so if he challenged Frostfang, than there was only one possible outcome: Erik's victory.

Frostfang, meanwhile, was clearly annoyed and angry. He opened his mouth, likely to yell at Erik, when he was distracted by their surroundings.

The many Enclave shapeshifters exhibited various reactions to Erik's challenge. Some remained confused, unwilling to believe that Runa's son could be an idiot. Others laughed loudly at his impudence. There were those who were angry at Erik, believing he was tarnishing his mother's reputation.

A few, however, wondered if he could succeed, transferring the larger-than-life aura they always felt from Runa onto her son.

As with most crowds holding diverse opinions, things started getting rowdy.

"Hahaha," one shapeshifter laughed wildly, clutching his stomach. "I can't believe Lady Runa's son is such an idiot! I almost feel bad for her! The disappointment she must feel!"

"Stop laughing, you asshole!" the person next to him cursed. "This arrogant boy is destroying his mother's good name with these actions, and you think that's funny?!" He then turned his attention to Frostfang and yelled, "Teach him a lesson, Lord Frostfang! I'm sure Lady Runa would approve!"

A third person nearby faced the two troublemakers and clenched his fists. "How dare you underestimate Lady Runa's son! You must have forgotten how much more powerful she was than the rest of us. If anyone could beat someone above their rank, it would be her, and I wouldn't be surprised if her son was any different!"

"Yeah!" a fourth person chimed in, shaking off his previous confusion. "Didn't you see how effortlessly he dealt with General Olaf just now? I don't know about any of you, but I don't think Lord Frostfang could have dealt with him any faster!" Turning his attention to Erik, he yelled, "Show us what you can do, young lord Erik! You have my support!"

Similar discussions erupted across the entrance to Kirkenes, and it didn't take long before the situation started heating up to the point where things might soon come to blows among the rank and file of the Enclave. Sounds of yelling and fighting started to echo around, growing louder as time passed.

No one had used any skills or real force yet, but it was clearly only a matter of time.

Even the Dominion vampires across the divide were paying rapt attention to the events around Erik, not only hoping for an opening but also simply enjoying the break from monotony.

Erik ignored it all. He didn't want the Enclave to descend into chaos, but he fully expected Frostfang to intervene soon. His smirk became more amused as he watched frustration and annoyance grow on the man's face.

Frostfang's eyes were closed, his brows furrowed, and his body trembled as his fury rose. Finally, he had enough and shifted to his wolf form before releasing a powerful roar, "That's enough!!"

Frostfang's angry, powerful bellow came accompanied with a bit of his third-rank pressure and passed like a wave over the heads of those present, even traveling all the way to the Dominion's front lines.

Immediately, the many different voices surrounding them were drowned out. Most of the shapeshifters trembled in fear, while some first-rankers even fainted from the pressure. Either way, they all stopped fighting and shrank a little, hoping to avoid Frostfang's fury.

When the last echoes of his roar passed away, a grave silence settled on the area.

Across the divide, Sigurd was grinning with amusement as he watched the Enclave collapse in on itself. "At this rate, it won't be long before they become so busy fighting each other, they won't have time to fight my vampires when they demolish this blasted field of sigils. Where did they find the ability to do so, anyway?"

That was a question he had asked himself many times in the past year, but still hadn't gotten a satisfying answer to.

Back on the Enclave's side, Frostfang seethed as he looked around. "You are all acting like impudent children!" he snarled, still in his werewolf form, and loud enough for everyone to hear. "Is this the Enclave honored teacher left behind?! As soon as there's a difference of opinion we fall apart?!"

Taking a moment to let his words sink in, he then roared again, "Well?! Is it?!"

Erik had to admit that, regardless of his feelings for the man and his obvious shortcoming, Frostfang knew how to settle a crowd, and the obvious respect these shapeshifters bore him proved that he couldn't be a bad leader either. No one answered his question, as even Viljar and Anne chose to remain quiet in the face of his anger.

After lowly looking around for a moment to see if anyone still dared to open their trap in front of his fury, Frostfang finally turned his attention to Erik.

"And you!" he growled, his voice heavy with emotion as Erik's clear nonchalance and amusement only served to inflame Frostfang's anger. "Haven't you caused enough trouble already?! I make myself no illusions thinking Björn's death was on you, but if you'd just come with me back than, we might have been able to push our advantage before Sigurd managed to turn Liv into that abomination!"

As he talked, he advanced on Erik with heavy footsteps, the claws of his transformed feet ticking against the cracked asphalt of the road leading into Kirkenes, until they stood face to face, or rather, snout to snout, as Erik had been in his transformed state from the moment he arrived.

Extending his right hand, he poked a clawed finger against Erik's armored chest, right against the plate that protected Eira's core, as he continued to talk, "And now, what? You come here, spouting nonsense about knowing a way to solve this crapfest of a situation, and then challenging me despite still being a second-ranker?! Did I knock you around too hard last time?! Huh?!"

At the end, his voice rose with every syllable as spittle flew in Erik's face. Not that it ever reached him, as tiny grains of electrified snow annihilated them whenever they came close. Naturally, Frostfang noticed this, but didn't pay it any mind. Instead, he just grew angrier by the fact that Erik still remained nonchalant.

Silence fell for a moment as Frostfang's clawed finger remained pressed against Erik's armored chest. During the silence, Erik simply stared calmly at Frostfang, as if waiting for something. Finally, Frostfang lost his patience. "Well?! Have you got nothing to say?!

"Oh, sure I do," Erik chuckled calmly, a stark contrast to Frostfang's clear anger, before casually wiping away the other man's finger with a strength that made the third-ranked werewolf frown. "I was just waiting to see if you had any other pointless things to say. Here's the deal: fight me for leadership of the Enclave and, win or lose, I'll tell you how to solve this situation. Deal?

If you truly care about the Enclave more than anything else, you've got nothing to loose."

Frostfang frowned, suddenly a little concerned after feeling Erik's casual strength. But he quickly got over it. Fact was, Erik was right. He had nothing to loose. He doubted Erik could defeat him, but if he could, he would gladly hand over the Enclave if it meant it got to live on.

So, after a moment of silence during which he carefully eyed his honored teacher's son, he slowly nodded. "Fine. But where do you suggest we fight? Doing it in town would cause far too much damage, assuming I don't knock you out in the first strike, but doing it out here would allow the dominion to watch."

Grinning happily because of Frostfang's acceptance, Erik shrugged, "So let them watch. Regardless of how it ends, if I manage to put up a fight Sigurd will know we might be able to resist him and Liv together, which should make him more cautious and might buy us some time, which, in turn, will benefit my plan."

Frostfang nodded, "And if I knock you out immediately, nothing changes anyway… Fine, then. We'll do it your way, boy. But I'm warning you… don't play me."

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