A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Now, Erik was standing on the devastated battlefield. In front of him was Enkai, Naeku's uncle, and Erik had just pulled Naeku out of his dimension. Surprisingly, she was still in the transformed state of a dark-furred werepanther with fierce yellow eyes.

As soon as she appeared, a wave of relieved sighs spread throughout the surrounding crowd. Not only was their princess and commander safe, but they also didn't have to fight their saviours.

Meanwhile, Naeku first glared at Erik a little for deliberately annoying her uncle. After his discussion with her, Erik had taken Aaron out of the dimension again and activated the wall's function of showing everything that happened outside the dimension.

Thus, Naeku had been following everything that happened from the moment Erik arrived back at the battle site.

But she also quickly took her eyes off him again, to focus on her uncle instead. As soon as she appeared, Enkai smiled widely in relief and exclaimed, "Little Naeku! Thank the gods you're alright!"

Naeku already had her moment of relief when Erik first arrived here, but that didn't stop her from smiling widely as well, showing off her sharp, transformed teeth.

"And the same to you, Uncle," she responded softly, before turning to the surrounding defenders.

She raised her voice so that it spread across the area like a wave, and spread her arms wide with a bright expression, "And you all as well, of course! I'm sorry I couldn't be there for the for the end of the battle, but the important thing is that we live to defend our people another day!"

Instantly, cheers went up across the battlefield as shapeshifter, vampire, and human, all raised their weapons or hands into the air and loudly voiced their agreement with happy smiles and tearful eyes.

Erik looked across this sea of people, and couldn't but be impressed by the amount of respect Naeku commanded among them. Once again, he wondered how much of this was the result of her motherly aura. Still, the thing that interested him the most was the inclusivity of these people, whoever they were.

"You know, these people seem like a decent place to start our empire…" Elora's devilish voice whispered in Erik's mind. "We were always going to be inclusive, after all, and they seem just about desperate enough that we could come to their rescue and have them pledge loyalty in exchange." Your journey continues on empire

"Plus," she continued mischievously. "I believe my sister-wives mentioned some of these people referring to Naeku as a princess, no? So marrying her might give you some legitimacy too, depending on what kind of society they've created for themselves."

Erik chuckled ,and while he agreed with his first wife's assessment, he also believed it wasn't the time for that just now. His mother was the priority. Besides, he liked what he'd seen of Naeku so far, but her wife-potential was still up in the air.

He hadn't even seen her human form yet, after all.

The cheering continued for a little while, under Enkai and Naeku's relieved and victorious expressions. Enkai still had many questions, of course, but he didn't mind waiting for Naeku and their people to celebrate this moment.

After a few minutes, the cheering finally began to die down, and, while they all still remained a little noisy and rambunctious, Enkai used this moment to inquire a little more about Naeku's situation.

"So… are you sure you're alright, little Naeku?" he asked, while his gaze flickered over to Erik suspiciously. "Exactly where has he kept you?"

Naeku sighed and smiled softly, yet chose to remain silent about Erik's dimension. "I'm fine, Uncle. Really." She thumbed over her shoulder at Erik, "I'm sure you know as well as I do that Erik here saved my life, and our people, so don't be too suspicious, alright?"

She turned to Erik's family and servants. "And you all as well, of course," she then continued, while slightly bowing her head. "Thank you, for helping to save my people."

While some of Erik's allies reacted positively to Naeku's thanks, most were a little indifferent. They were there mostly for Erik, and partly to kill hunters. The only ones who cared about these people a little were Emma, Seraphina, and Astrid, with the latter two being mainly impressed with their grit and fighting spirit, rather than truly caring about their fate.

Regardless, Naeku took their reactions with grace, once again proving her capability as a leader, before turning to Erik and looking at him earnestly. "Erik," she began. "You've kept your end of the bargain, and so will I. For the next seven days, I am yours to command."

Erik grinned and was about to respond, when he was interrupted by a tidal wave of sound.

"What?!" many voices instantly rose in shock. Every one of Naeku's men and women who heard those words had wide eyes, and especially Enkai was taken completely by surprise.

"Little Naeku, what are you talking about?!" Enkai exclaimed, full of incredulity.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

With pursed lips, the still-transformed Naeku turned to face her uncle, while Erik smirked and decided to wait patiently and let them resolve this themselves.

"You didn't really think they were just helping us out of the goodness of their hearts, do you, Uncle?" she asked him a little sceptically. "Erik has asked me to accompany him for a week, and I've agreed."

"T— That's unacceptable!" Enkai immediately cried, full of anxiety and worry, while shaking his head. "How could you agree to that?! We know nothing about this man! Just have him come with us to Enkare Nkai, and I'm sure your father will find a way to reward him!"

Surprisingly, Naeku's eyes suddenly hardened, and her face became stern, "Have you forgotten who's in charge here, Uncle?"

Instantly, Enkai flinched a little and his voice sounded hurt, "I… Little Naeku, please…"

Now, Erik, Elora, and the rest of their family looked at Naeku with curiosity. Clearly, her status as a princess was higher than this man she called her uncle, and it transcended even rank. Plus, she was clearly comfortable calling upon that rank.

Enkai's hurt voice caused Naeku's expression to soften. "Sorry, Uncle… but I need to do this. Without Erik and his family, I would be dead, and you'd be heavily wounded, if not dead as well. Not to even speak of the men and women we led here today, and those that the Humanitas Sangh would have slaughtered as they pushed further into our territory."

Earlier, Erik and learned from Naeku that the hunters they fought today considered themselves part of a faction called the Humanitas Sangh. A name that Seraphina just so happened to recognize as the same faction that was currently on the brink of war with the European Council.

According to the Council's intelligence, the Humanitas Sangh hailed from India, of all places, and while it was unknown how far they'd pushed into East-Asia, they definitely controlled all of West-Asia, aka, the middle east.

Naeku knew nothing about all this, however. All she knew was that this group had pushed into their territory by starting out from Yemen. From there, they crossed the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait into Djibouti, which had been quickly subjugated, with many of the people who once lived there now dead.

Now, Naeku and her people, who apparently represented a nation calling themselves the Kingdom of Enkare Nkai, were fighting a losing war against the Humanitas Sangh, and Erik had just allowed them to strike a major blow against that enemy.

Unsurprisingly, Naeku was grateful.

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