A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

While Viljar naturally trusted his nephew at his word, it was still difficult to remain calm when the safety of everything and everyone he had come to care about over the years was in jeopardy. Particularly when there was simply no proof of Erik's supposed control over these ghouls.

Frostfang had the same worries, although he wasn't even sure Erik was actually telling the truth. That said, in the end, it didn't matter for him. Today, he would either die fighting, or he wouldn't. He had no other ideas.

Nora naturally had full trust in him, and surprisingly, Anne, too, found herself feeling strangely secure next to Erik. A feeling she disliked, but couldn't stop. 'Perhaps its just this frustration I feel in his presence that is overpowering the worry,' she thought to herself.

"You worry too much, Uncle," Erik smiled slightly, full of confidence in his wives. "Everything will be as I promised. If all goes well, you won't even have to do anything."

"That may be problematic in and off itself," Frostfang rolled his eyes. "You don't know how pent-up my people are. They want to kill some vampires."

"And you'll have to stop them," Erik scoffed. "Because if you don't, I will."

"I still don't understand why you care about these damn vampires so much! Why ask us to stay our hand, when those damn bloodsuckers have been hunting us for over a year?!" Frostfang hissed furiously, but in a low enough tone that no one could hear it. Regardless of his feelings for Erik, he wasn't about to sow unrest mere moments before the Dominion attacked.

"I don't care about the vampires," Erik shrugged, his gaze remained locked on the Dominion. Or, particularly, on the ghoulified Liv Frost. "But Astrid does, and that means I care by extension. She is the one who gave us the location of that base and made this possible, and in return, we will allow Liv Frost to judge her own people when this is all over."

Astrid didn't make him promise anything of the sort, of course. She was always going to give them the location of that base, because it was also the best way to save her mother. Still, earlier, Astrid had asked him to spare the lives of as many vampires as he could, and he had agreed.

He now turned to Frostfang with a dangerous glare. "I promise Sigurd's death and I promise to make sure Liv judges the others fairly based on how much fault they bear for this crap. But that is all."

Finally, he snarled threateningly, "And if you fail to keep the Enclave from trying to enact their own revenge, 'I' will stop them, instead. And I care only marginally more for the Enclave than I do the Dominion."

"That goes for all of you," he continued, while panning his gaze over Nora, Anne, and even his uncle.

He had made Astrid a promise, and he'd be dammed if he was going to do any less than his utmost in making it happen.

"Fine," Frostfang snarled, furious at Erik for protecting the Dominion, but deep inside, he knew most of his anger came from continued fear over the outcome of this day. If this day truly ended with the Enclave alive and well, he would not care over what happened to the Dominion.

Fortunately, they had already relayed Erik's orders to all the second-ranked shapeshifters in the Enclave, and ordered them to hold the line along with the first-rankers they were in charge of, and not attack anyone unless they actually tried to enter the town.

On the other side, Sigurd looked at the enemy leadership with narrowed eyes, wondering why they were so calm, but unable to come up with an answer. He did indeed have some spies among the Enclave, but none of them knew anything.

Finally, it appeared like the Dominion forces were ready. Tension was in the air as most of the Enclave wondered what would happen next.

Suddenly, a rumbling filled the area. Erik looked unfazed and Sigurd looked excited, but most everyone else looked anxious.

Boom

The entire field filled with sigils that had been protecting the Enclave for the last month suddenly imploded. The earth, stone, and snow filled this field sagged downwards. In mere moments, the entire field had become indented, and every sigil covering its surface was distorted and destroyed.

"I still can't believe they simply had to use some earth affinity vampires and dig a few tunnels to destroy our work!" Nora complained with a sigh. She still wasn't worried about the days end, but she and the team she had assembled had worked hard to build this sigil field.

Naturally, sigil crafter across the universe had long since found ways around such a crude method of disrupting their work, but Elora simply hadn't taught Nora those.

At the same time, alarm bells rang, and every single one of the three thousand shapeshifters in Kirkenes streamed out of town in a flurry, joining their comrades on the field of battle. Soon, two lines had formed and the second-ranked commanders started spreading the orders they received from Frostfang and their generals.

At the same time, Nora, Anne, and Viljar were joined by Olaf and, as generals, divided themselves across the line equally. As for Erik and Frostfang, they stood next to each other, taking position across from Sigurd and the ghoulified Liv. Frostfang looked ready for battle, but Erik simply stood calmly, arms crossed in front of his chest, looking at Sigurd with calm and ridicule.

Across the field, Sigurd's face was split into a wide grin, "Ha! I don't feel the hum of those incessant sigils anymore, but I should make sure." Walking over to one of the first-ranked ghouls, he grabbed it by the neck, and tossed it into the field.

Both Dominion vampire and Enclave shapeshifter watched with bated breath to see the result of Sigurd's experiment. One second passed. Two. Five. Yet, the ghoul remained docile and obedient.

With every second that passed, Sigurd's smile widened, until finally, he laughed. "Hahaha! Finally, this damnable wait is over! My dear vampires," he roared over the heads of his army. "Be sure to keep at least half of them alive for the farms! Now charge!

Tonight, we feast!"

His speech caused the vampires to stir into a frenzy and charge forward. Many of them may not be there entirely of their own free will, and most would prefer the return of Liv, but the fact was that many of them were starving and wanted this siege to end.

Besides, they may not like Sigurd, but its not like they were compassionate souls whose hearts were bleeding for the Enclave.

The Enclave shapeshifters all transformed into their beastly forms, their eyes wary and anxious over the superior numbers charging down at them. Yet, they didn't move. They held the line, because those were their orders and their second-ranked commanders were happy to pull them back with force if they stepped out of line.

Most of the second-rankers still weren't sure about Erik, but they trusted Frostfang and his orders, so they stayed still. Anxious, but still.

The earth shook with the Dominion's stampede. The air was full with the cacophony of the vampire's roars, and the ghouls screeches. The shapeshifters were pumping themselves up, howling into the air and beating their chests as they prepared themselves for the slaughter they believed was coming.

But in the end, only a few were prepared for what came next.

The ghouls, initially charging ahead as cannon fodder, suddenly started pulling back Subtly, and without pulling notice to that fact.

The Enclave, with their frontal view, were quick to notice was happening, staring at the charging Dominion ranks with confusion. The vampires, on the other hand, so caught up in their blood thirsty charge, barely noticed what was happening until they were suddenly face to face with the Enclave fighters, no more than ten of steps in front of them.

The ghouls that were previously filling their sight had disappeared, to be replaced by deadly danger instead.

Almost instantly, the vampires came to a stop, looking around in confusion. The shapeshifters, for their part, looked equally confused. A lot of them were unsure if this was a Dominion trap, or if this was really happening.

Looking behind them, the thousand vampires noticed that the four thousand ghouls previously on their side, had now formed a half-moon behind them, essentially blocking their escape.

Now stuck between the equally confused, yet very dangerous Enclave shapeshifters, and their previous allies, the vampires looked to their lord for answers.

But, what they saw were not answers. What they saw was the same shock and confusion as their own.

"What the…" he mumbled, looking at the rebellious ghouls, before panning his gaze to the only ghoul still remaining. "Lars? What the hell is going on here?"

"Rebellion, my lord," the raspy voice of Liv's body delivered Lars's voice, before punching him in the face.

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