A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Some time earlier, Erik had only just arrived on the battlefield, and he was watching it all unfold from the top of a tree, shortly before he would jump down and interfere in the battle between third rankers.

"Is it really that good? Won't it just become useless after she reaches the third rank?" Erik asked Elora sceptically through their bond. His eyes were fixated on the young werepanther who was just about to rush towards her uncle after Abigail showed up.

"Absolutely not!" Elora immediately denied. "I've tried probing this field she's projected across the area, and I'm certain it's entirely impervious to omnisense, and has a far higher range!"

From the moment she saw the way Naeku was commanding her troops as if she possessed an omnisense that was covering the entire battlefield, Elora was determined to find out how.

Now, she was relatively certain it was something similar to omnisense, but rather than being related to a third rankers increasing power, it was linked to one of her elements. Most likely it was an ability from one of her runes.

Curiosity and fascination where prominent in her voice as she continued. "Even in a duel that ability would remain useful beyond the third rank, because it can't be blocked! Third rankers can cover themselves in their omnisense to prevent an opponent's omnisense from seeing every minute muscle spasm that might betray their next move, but that wouldn't work against this!"

Now understanding what she meant, Erik nodded slowly. "I get it. It might not blow anyone's head off, but its utility is remarkable. Still, why should we care?"

"Because we don't know what we're running in to!" Elora explained patiently. She knew her love wasn't dumb, just not as tactically inclined as her. "Wherever mother-in-law is exactly, she's in the same direction those hunters clearly came from, and if we're traveling in hunter territory, we need a better way to warn against approaching third rankers!"

"Plus…" she continued a little uncomfortably. "If your mother is in that direction, there's a chance she might be in trouble. Perhaps she was captured by the hunters, for example."

"Ridiculous!" a stubborn Erik immediately denied vehemently. His confidence in Runa was unshakable.

But Elora shook her head helplessly and sighed, "You have to remember, Erik, she's currently weakened and missing a part of her soul. Not to mention that there's no way she broke into the third rank like this."

Erik fell quiet, despite some emotional turmoil that Elora could clearly feel through their bond. Doubt began to slip in, and the possibility that his mother was currently languishing in a hunter prison, subject to who knew what kind of torture, was quickly causing his hatred of hunters to boil over.

But Elora quickly soothed him, "Calm, my love… you're about to jump into a battle with third rankers. Don't let yourself be blinded by rage. We don't even know if it is the case, but if mother-in-law is imprisoned somewhere, then that werepanther's ability will be incredibly useful in getting her out. She could cover an entire facility with it and tell us exactly what we're facing!"

Growling, Erik cracked his neck and forced his feelings down to below the surface. "You're right, little Ember," he grumbled softly while still working to suppress his anger. "We shouldn't assume the worst, but we need to prepare for it. And I do need to focus, just… give me a moment."

He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed deeply. Then, he opened his eyes again. Anger was still boiling under the surface, but calm had returned to his state of mind.

Then, a bloodthirsty grin appeared as he watched events unfold below. "Now then, let's kill us some hunters…" he muttered, before suddenly righting himself and howling into the sky.

* * *

Back to the present, Naeku was blinking at Erik's incorporeal form after he'd just told her he wanted to discuss his reward for saving her people. But then she surprisingly smiled slyly, "I see… you're not a good Samaritan, I guess. That's good."

"It is?" Erik smirked slightly as he cocked his head questioningly.

"Absolutely," Naeku nodded calmly, seemingly having lost much of her caution. "First of all, you saying this makes me believe my people truly are safe, and second of all, good Samaritans don't exist, and I don't want to keep guessing about your true motives."

Erik chuckled and nodded, "I knew I liked you." Then he shook his head, "But don't underestimate my hatred for hunters. Even if I didn't want something else from you, I still would have interfered. I just might not have focused on saving you first."

"Oh, is that what you did? Save me?" Naeku scoffed sceptically. "I was fine when you arrived!" She became a little angry again as she continued, "If you had the ability to defeat that man, you might as well have done so without ambushing me first and tossing me in here!"

Erik pursed his lips, "Theoretically, maybe… but can you honestly say you would have simply stepped aside as soon as a strange, second ranked werewolf showed up and promised to solve all your third ranked problems?"

He smirked slightly, "I barely know you, but I know stubborn when I see it. You would have kept overcharging until the last moment, just to be sure I could actually defeat him, all while remaining in the middle of a third ranked battlefield."

He saw the truth of his words in the quietly twitching eyebrows of the transformed Naeku.

But he wasn't finished yet, as he continued smirking, "If you continued overcharging long enough, you would have simply fallen unconscious right there, and even if yo—"

"Alright, alright!" Naeku exclaimed while waving her hands in frustration. "I get it! You're right!" She crossed her arms and grumbled unwillingly, "I admit you may have possibly saved my life, now stop hammering on about it…"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Erik could see her pride was hurt, but he liked that she wasn't unable to recognize the truth when it stared her right in the face.

"I'm glad you see it my way," Erik grinned a little mischievously, which immediately made Naeku groan. Without realizing it, she was quickly growing more comfortable with Erik, because her nature affinity instincts were quietly telling her he could be trusted.

The werepanther sighed in exasperation, before suddenly looking up at him with somewhat emotional eyes. "Okay… I don't know what you want, but… assuming my people are truly alive, and you let me out of here when we arrive, I promise you'll get whatever you want, because… you truly will be my hero then."

Erik grinned mysteriously and shook his head, "Oh, Naeku, Naeku. You really shouldn't say such tempting words to me…"

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