Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

"Initializing…"

A robotic voice echoed through Kane's mind. A splitting headache ripped through his skull. He gripped his head and cursed, "Ugh! What the fuck is it now?!"

"W— What's wrong?!" a panicked Ella exclaimed from the side. She actually had a suspicion, but she hoped she was wrong.

"Initializing…"

The same voice continued ringing in his head as he groaned angrily, "I don't know! I keep hearing the word 'initi—'" Yet before he could finish, Ella's expression became grim, and she interrupted him, "Mom woke up! I guess there's no point in trying to be inconspicuous anymore."

Then, she started frantically pressing buttons on the car's interface. Before Kane could ask Ella what was happening, the car suddenly accelerated tremendously. Their already fast speed easily doubled.

For a moment, Kane grunted as he was pushed deeper into his chair before the internal dampeners compensated.

On the other side, Ella's powerful body barely moved.

Having already left the city limits, they were now traveling in a straight line above a heavily forested landscape. Alfheim's red, setting sun bathed their high-speed pursuit in a red-purple hue.

After he could move again, the headache and echoing voice suddenly stopped, and Kane breathed a sigh of relief.

But the relief didn't last long, when a woman's voice suddenly replaced the previous voice, "Where the hell do you think you're going, pet?!"

Fortunately, the voice did not go accompanied by any pain this time.

Intelligent as he was, Kane had little trouble figuring out whose voice he was hearing, so he quickly responded in his mind, "Fuck off!"

Then he turned to Ella next to him, and snarled angrily, "Why am I hearing your mother's voice in my head?!"

In his head, the elven queen responded furiously, but Kane managed to ignore her, focusing on Ella instead.

"It's the neuralizer," the elf admitted with a strange expression that included trepidation, confusing Kane a little. "They grafted it into your brain during the operation. It was supposed to enhance and aid you in your duties after being enslaved, while also being able to read your mind and track your location as a precaution. Incidentally, it is also allowing you to understand our language."

"What?!" Kane roared, his stomach churning at the idea of someone reading his thoughts.

Immediately, the voice in his head laughed malevolently and threateningly, "Ha! That's not all it can do! Return to me, little pet, or I'll blow your head straight off your shoulders!"

At the same time, Ella spoke with a pleading tone, "I know you're angry I didn't tell you before, but we have a plan! Just don't listen to her, alright? There's nothing that thing can do beyond what I've explained, no matter what she says! I made sure of it!"

The voice quickly echoed again, snorting angrily, "Hmpf, tell that disobedient daughter of mine that she can expect a far worse punishment than last time!" Then, her voice turned menacing, "But first, do you really think she knows everything the neuralizer can do?!"

But Kane had no intention of listening to the bitch in his mind, regardless of whether or not she was right. 'I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees,' he thought with determination. So he scoffed at the voice in his head, "Do your worst, bitch. Just keep quiet while you do it!"

Then he turned to Ella, his voice a threatening growl, "And you! You better have a plan to deal with this, because I'm not walking around with a mindread device in my head, even if I have to rip it out myself!"

Obviously Kane was unlikely to survive such a thing, but the idea someone could read his mind at any time was conjuring such immense levels of disgust in him that he simply didn't care.

His mind raced with a mix of anger and determination. The thought of someone reading his mind made his skin crawl. He clenched his fists, feeling a surge of resolve. He wouldn't let anyone control him, no matter the cost.

"We do!" Ella quickly nodded while continuing to control their vehicle. "I swear you won't have to worry about that thing! We just need to reach the rift first!"

Kane was about to voice his distrust when the continued rants of the elven queen were suddenly dulled to a barely coherent whisper, while a different, familiar voice took to the forefront. "She's right, Master. We can deal with the neuralizer when you get there."

"Mána?!" Kane exclaimed, getting a little tired of all these people in his head. "Where the hell have you been?! And what's with calling me Master?"

Mána giggled mischievously, "Let's just say I needed a little time to recover from that pounding you gave me~~ But that's not important right now, Master. You have other things to worry about. For now, just let me hide your thoughts from the bitch queen."

Naturally, that wasn't good enough for Kane, but before he could complain, Ella suddenly interacted with the car's interface, and a small viewscreen appeared in the middle of the front window.

Kane quickly realized it was the rear-view of the vehicle when he saw the quickly shrinking white spires. Only, not everything in view was getting smaller. There was a tiny, yellow, brightly burning sun that was rapidly getting larger.

"That would be my mother," Ella explained wryly. "She's tracking us through your neuralizer, and we won't stay ahead of her for long…"

Kane narrowed his eyes as he stared intensely at the approaching danger, "I hesitate to ask, but exactly how strong is your mother, anyway?"

Ella sighed helplessly, "She's reached the current limits of this world, meaning she's an eighth stage mystic, the Domain Heart Crystallization stage."

Kane's eyebrows twitched a little when he realized the strength of his newest foe. For a moment, a feeling of despair began filling his body, but then he quickly stamped it down. 'One step at a time,' he growled inwardly, filled with determination.

Shaking his head, he turned to Ella again, "Can we make it? And where the hell is Luna?!" With the speed they were traveling at, he was having trouble keeping track of exactly how far Luna was away from him using their bond.

The rebellious princess frowned in concentration as she tried to push the engines of their car to the limits, "Your friend is with Viljar, who is on his way here. Don't worry, they'll make it. In fact, they have to… I think we're gonna need him."

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Before Kane could ask his companion what she meant, the quiet Mána and muffled queen were joined by a third voice in his head. But this one, he had been longing to hear.

"Master?!" his Valkyrie's voice echoed through his mind, filling him with relief.