Bound Evil

The mewling of the wolf pups drowned out the now-roaring flames around them and yet Emily couldn’t feel even the slightest flicker of heat or smoke from the flames.

Breathing was made possible by the circle as it cleaned the air for them, or at least that was what Alex had said when she brought it up.

They were in the eye of the storm as it were.

Their real problem now was the six uninvited guests circling them.

Alex had pressed himself up against the perimeter while still holding the net with their bounty in it and the other wolves were wary of this.

Emily on the other hand was free game. The moment they had entered the brown wolf had lurched in her direction. She fended it off with her two shields but the beast crushed one of them when it closed its entire jaw around it.

Dodging back into another waiting wolf had seen that she almost lost her throat.

The thing tried to latch on, but Emily had bent backward and placed her hand under its chin to give it the most violent scritchs of all time.

The bolt went straight through its jaw and the wave of life force that hit after gave Emily some breathing room.

At this point, Alex lowered the pups to the ground and drew his blades. No sooner had he done this than two wolves crashed into him, their cord-like appendages closing the distance.

Emily hoped he could handle himself as her own problems came her way. The large male charged and when Emily jumped back it was directly into the waiting maw of the she-wolf. The creature went for Emily’s leg sinking its teeth into the same wound she’d gotten on her thigh just minutes ago.

“Fucking hell, gimme a break you bitch!” As fresh pain traveled up her hip.

The she-wolf refused to let go even as the brown leader attacked with its whips. Emily ducked, forcing the fangs deeper as blood wept freely. She tried to get her hand on the beast's throat but the final free Rime wolf decided to make a show, tackling Emily to the ground. The she-wolf and Emily both went down as the male wolf tore into them uncaring whether it killed its ally.

Unable to escape, Emily moved her last shield in the path of the beast's maw. It crunched through the weakened shield with ease and bit straight through Emily’s hand. Sheering off four digits that the wolf then swallowed whole. Emily yelped in pain but glared up at the creature with hatred in her eyes.

“Bad idea mut,” Emily grunted through clenched teeth

Taking hold of her blood now traveling down its throat she created a blockage.

Two thin needles suddenly protruded from either side of the beast’s neck. As an ‘X’ speared its way through the wolf's airway and lodged itself there.

It couldn’t even whine as it shook in agony.

Both the she-wolf and the leader jumped backward as Emily held the dying one in place.

Even as its life force flowed towards her Emily sent it into the corpse of her first kill. Blood rushed from the wounds rising up towards Emily as it took the shape of a sphere in her palm. Glancing over she saw Alex had managed to hold his own, and while both wolves were wounded neither was on death's door.

The growing ball of blood began to reshape itself into that of a morningstar, as spikes protruded from it.

The brown wolf snarled at Emily while the she-wolf’s ears pressed back against its head. With the death of the second wolf, Emily stopped channeling power into the technique and released it. Suddenly the entire space was filled with sharp shards of blood as a bomb went off. Nothing was spared as blood was sent in all directions. All it took from Emily was a shift of her will to have the blood become liquid upon contact with her and Alex.

The shards pulled cries from just about everything in the area. The two Alex was fighting got hit the worst though, outright killing one and gravely wounding the other.

The she-wolf took cover behind the leader, allowing her to escape the worst of the blast. The leader was hurt but its sheer size saved it somewhat. With the death of the third, their numbers had halved in a little under ten seconds.

The leader snarled causing the one near Alex to turn and run. To Emily's surprise, it dove through the wall of flames, as the curtain parted just briefly. She realized the wall wasn’t as thick in that area as she had first thought.

They were retreating.

Before the she-wolf could run the leader growled at her causing her ears to press down against her head once more. Then the leader jumped through himself.

Emily wanted to pull them back but the she-wolf stayed affixed to the spot staring at her.

“What’s the matter girl, did they leave you for dead?” Emily asked as a wry smile bloomed on her face.

As though it knew Emily was taunting her the wolf snarled.

“Come on then.”

The she-wolf jumped at them, sending her whips forward ahead of her and then attempting to bite down on Emily’s neck.

What Emily didn’t expect was the tentacle swiping out rapidly and knocking her feet out from under her.

Slamming to the ground she saw Alex dive forward to cover for her and he managed to sink his dagger into the beast's flank, but that didn’t discourage the she-wolf.

She pushed straight past Alex in an attempt to get Emily. The sheer force behind her charge carried Alex backward.

Even accounting for her lame leg the beast was powerful, lunging downwards. Emily moved her injured hand in front of her but before she had the time to fire the she-wolf sank its teeth half up her arm. The pain was agonizing but her bones managed to hold her arm together. The she-wolf released her arm and then bit even further down Emily’s arm. Coming to rest at her elbow. Grunting and shaking Emily looked up at the now massive eye of the beast. She expected to see the cold hatred from before instead she saw a deep tiredness in her eyes.

Emily's arm was paralysed by the jaws currently locked around it but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her abilities.

Moving life force from her chest Emily shaved off five times the normal amount and moved it into what was left of her arm.

However, instead of firing a blood bolt, she focused her power on the blood now seeping from her wounds. The very same blood that was now running down this creature’s gullet.

The she-wolf froze as though sensing its impending death but before Emily could detonate the second bomb she felt something else take hold.

Emotions poured into Emily from the she-wolf as she encroached upon its mind. Feelings of anger, pride, sorrow, and most of all betrayal. The she-wolf could not leave because her leader demanded she fight till the end. It was not something she wanted to do, but she could not refuse him. Emily was drowning in the creature's emotions so much so that she felt the desire to do something other than kill it.

Reaching forward, Emily undid the need to obey the leader's compulsion to stand and fight, letting the chains fall away from the she-wolf's mind.

The change was dramatic as the she-wolf released her hold on Emily and jumped back. Alex’s dagger came free and he was about to dive after the beast when Emily grabbed his ankle.

“Wait, Alex! She’s leaving”

Alex froze but never took his eyes off the beast.

The Rime wolf growled her fury at them, her ears pressed down against her skull, but then the low bass coming from her chest quietened.

The she-wolf seemed to glance about for a second, her eye falling on the pups. Alex stepped in between them, defending their prize.

The she-wolf glanced back through the fire and then at Emily. Her snout twitched in annoyance before bolting out through the closing ring of flames.

The only sound left in the area was the raging inferno around them and the yapping of the pups.

Emily grunted as she sat up properly, sending life into her wounds. Emily’s arm had sustained the most extensive damage and she had to use two bolts worth of power to regrow her fingers. Replacing bone was never a pleasant experience, but as the muscles and flesh wrapped their way around her new fingers Alex watched with a perturbed expression.

“That's faster than I’ve seen some healers put people back together.”

Emily shrugged at this.

“I learned a long time ago that there’s very little that can truly do me permanent harm. Everything can be endured.”

Alex’s face was grim yet he seemed to accept the idea.

“How did everything go on your end,” Emily asked.

Alex moved over to the small creatures.

“Didn’t go quite as planned. I managed to get in undetected but I had to deal with more guards than I was expecting, I'll need to keep the broach for a little while. Managed to grab six of the little ones before they closed in.”

The flames around them were still spreading but in this cold, they would eventually peter out. However, not before consuming a large amount of the Rime wolf's territory. The pack would properly survive with little damage to its numbers but when they regrouped they would be pissed.

If everything went to plan Alex and Emily would be long gone.

Looking over at the pups Emily decided she wanted to see what they had just risked their lives for.

The moment she got closer they stole her heart. The litter of pups barely had any fur yet with tiny nubs where their whip appendages would come in later. Their eyes were not even open yet, unable to take in the world.

Worried that the lack of fur would be deadly to the pups Emily wrapped them up in her blanket. Though, right now, with the flames surrounding them that was probably not too much of a worry.

Emily's eyes fell on the five stones placed in a circle around them. Alex had used her source chalk and inscribed patterns across them.

When Alex had suggested they set the forest on fire she’d been worried about getting caught up in their own trap but Alex had an answer to this too.

“So you called this thing a flameward? Where’d you learn to do it?”

Alex looked up from tying a small bandage around his ribs.

“Yeah, and wards are pretty common. The simpler ones are taught for a small fee in pretty much any city.”

Emily looked down at the symbols scrawled on the large flat rocks. The patterns overlapped one another like rings of symbols. Each strange letter gave off a different feel, and while their shapes were uniform each one was radically different from the next.

“And anyone can use them?”

Alex nodded.

“Well, can you teach me some of these?”

“Did they not have wards where you come from?”

Emily shrugged.

“Well, I understand what a ward is but, no we didn’t.”

Alex took longer to respond this time.

“You must be from somewhere far away if they don’t use wards.”

Emily looked at Alex who fastened a tight knot in the bandage.

“...You know, I'm not too sure,” Emily said wistfully.

The silence between them lingered in the air until Alex cleared his throat.

“If you want to learn, I know quite a few wards. I’d be willing to teach you, but you’ll need to get more source chalk. This one is expensive but there are far cheaper versions you could use while you practice.”

After Alex had drawn the flame ward, Emily was only left with half a stick of chalk, and it seemed like this was too valuable to use for practice.

“I’ll get more. But we should prepare to move as soon as this blaze subsidies.”

Blood points: 17