A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

With Enkai finally somewhat onboard, Naeku smiled bravely and shooed him away with her hands, "Now go! We've already wasted too much time, and father might need your help!"

Despite his earlier, tacit agreement, Enkai nodded reluctantly, before turning to Erik with narrowed eyes. But before he could say anything, Erik grinned and was just a bit faster, "I know, I know. 'Keep her safe or be hunted down,' right? Something along those lines?"

Annoyed, Enkai snorted, "You really are a brat…" Then he growled threateningly, "But yes, that's about the gist of it," before suddenly grinning. "Although I also would have added a warning about not trying to harm her yourself, because she'd simply tear you a new one all on her own."

Erik chuckled and nodded, "I believe you, old man!"

The truth was that Erik really did believe him and would prefer not to fight Naeku. Not because she was stronger than him, because she clearly wasn't, but because she had the determination and decisiveness to blow herself up if it came to it, and that was not a situation he wanted to be a part of.

Meanwhile, Naeku rolled her eyes and groaned, "Enough posturing, you two. Get moving!"

Enkai sighed, but he also realized the hurry they were in and quickly started to organize the troops to move out. There was some reluctance about leaving their princess behind, but Naeku and Enkai worked together to quickly squash those concerns and get them to move.

Finally, the defending army was on the move again. They marched back into the forest in the approximate direction of the other battle. Enkai remained on the edge of the forest, until all soldiers had left the battlefield, and continued staring sombrely at Naeku, Erik, and the others.

Only after the last soldier had left did he resolutely turn around and walk into the forest after them.

Erik and Naeku watched him leave with calm expressions, and when he disappeared behind the trees, the werepanther turned to Erik with a slight smirk, "He likes you."

Rather than deny her words, Erik grinned and shrugged. "Of course he does. Why wouldn't he?"

Instantly, Naeku rolled her eyes at him and couldn't help but chuckle a little, despite the clear anxiety about her father she still felt.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Erik noticed, of course, but didn't bring it up. He didn't feel like there was anything he could say that would mean anything, considering how short they'd known each other, and how little resistance he put up to her coming along, regardless of her father's unknown fate.

Instead, he wondered about something else as he looked at the soft black fur of Naeku's werepanther form and cocked his head. "So… you've seen mine, when am I going to see yours?"

Naeku was intelligent enough to know what he was talking about, yet she shook her head in denial. "Never," she said, with a surprising level of finality. "Members of the royal Bastet-Seti family are only allowed to show their human face to family, in the privacy of their home."

"Oh?" Erik muttered in surprise. "That seems… stringent? But that must have been a tradition from before the awakening, right?"

It would have been surprising to him if such a thing had come up in the last eight years, and it would make his opinion of Naeku and her family drop significantly.

Naeku nodded slowly and apparently wasn't opposed to explaining, "Yes. Even before the awakening my family ruled over a small, semi-hidden community of all races. After the awakening, some… events, caused us to rise to prominence, until we ruled over the entire horn of Africa."

Then, she shrugged, "As for not showing our faces… I don't know why or when that started. Still, it's a harmless tradition that I don't much see the point off, but neither do I mind following it. It's not like this form is uncomfortable."

"I see…." Erik nodded curiously, before raising an eyebrow. "But then what about your uncle? Or does the tradition only extend to women?" Read new chapters at empire

"No, men as well," Naeku denied with a shake of her head. "But Uncle Enkai isn't related to me by blood, so he's not a part of the Bastet-Seti. Him and my father are just friends, but they treat each other like they're brothers, and I've known him since I was a baby, so I call him uncle anyway."

"Right, I guess that explains why you're a werepanther, and he's a werelion," Erik nodded understandingly. Then he muttered thoughtfully, "Bastet-Seti, though… that sounds Egyptian, doesn't it? I know my African geography isn't great, but I'm pretty sure that's a bit further to the North?"

Naeku chuckled and nodded, "Yes, my family is originally Egyptian. We came here long ago for equally long forgotten reasons. Should be at least a few thousand years ago now, I think."

Erik narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as sudden thought struck him when he heard about the Bastet-Seti's past.

He muttered at Elora through their bond, "Do you think they fled here due to the guardian conflict? The guardians took the guise of the Romans back then, and their empire included Egypt. So, perhaps Naeku's ancestors fled persecution? Or just the violence in general?"

Elora also sank in thought before she answered, "It's possible… And if it's true, then they might have some more information about Audumla, the hunter's origins, or why they would be based out of India now."

Elora shrugged casually, "Anyway, we should see if we can have a conversation with her father when we escort her back after finding your mother."

"Assuming her father is still alive…" Erik thought wryly. He actually felt a little bad for Neaku, which Elora quickly punished by calling him a bleeding heart.

Naeku looked at Erik strangely after he'd fallen silent for a while. Finally, she decided to pull him out of his reverie. "So, what are we doing, anyway? You only said you wanted me to come with you for a week, but nothing else. Whatever it is, though, I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

Pulled out of his thoughts, Erik turned to Naeku with a solemn frown, "So do I. But I'll tell you about our goal later, for now, we have a new friend who desperately wants to answer some of our questions…"

At the end of his sentence, he turned towards his approaching wives and servants with a grin, as they were escorting a dull-eyed, zombie-like Aaron.

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