Private Tales S.A.P.

[Adriwolf]

Jaken hid the fear in his eyes as he saw Kiara physically react to the torture he had performed on the man from his adventure. He could see that Kiara was astonished and shocked about his actions. If this is how she reacted when it was something verbal, how would she react if it was made in front of her eyes? For sure she would abandon the beast she had in front of her. And for a moment, Jaken saw that, Jaken saw Kiara leaving him due to fear, or dissapointment, or hate, or an emotion that would make her stay away from Jaken. And he would not bare with it, he would feel devastated, finished. What little light Kiara brought on him would be blown out like a flame in a candle. That easily. He still made eye contact with the elf.... that is when he made the decision of letting it out. He decided to no longer hide what he felt. Through his eyes, he expressed fear, sadness, regret and even disgust for himself. At the moment of torturing, he did not feel pride or regret about his actions, he saw those actions as an everyday activity, something that could happen everyday, like drinking water, but now, he felt disgust. What he did had no name, especially right now. For some reason, he thought that this was the last straw. Even though it hurt him and crushed his soul and heart, he would face the consequences... like a man and a TRUE werewolf.

His heart was beating fast, getting ready for Kiara's comment of deception, but instead, he felt something soft in his hand: Kiara's hands, holding him tight, her eyes becoming... serene? Calmed? What was happening? Why was she holding his hands like this? As if saying 'I don't care what you did, I forgive you'. She should hate him! After his actions, she should hate the savage beast in front of her. What was happening?

"Thank you for telling me. It must be hard for you to confess that, you could have just chosen to keep me in the dark, but you didn't. I can only judge you by what I have seen so far, your past, only belongs to you, so, there is nothing for me to judge, in the same way, that so far, there is nothing that would make me look at you differently." She said giving him a kind smile while caressing a bit his hand.

Jaken's face became astonished an confused. She DID forgive him. She would not judge. Their relationship would be the same as before. Were they safe?! The bounty hunter's face became relaxed and caught a grin out of nowhere. "Thank you." he whispered to her, kissing a hand of hers "Thank you...." he sighed in relief leaning his head softly on her hands, putting his mind and heart at rest.

"I have a plan, it will not be easy, but, if everything went well, then it will be the best way for everyone! Let's return to the woods, once there, I will tell you everything."

The werewolf's face became one of interest, eager to hear the elf's plan. He let himself being dragged to the forest, with Fafurion always following him, enjoying the relief of the moment and Kiara's soft hand dragging his heavy one. At the forest and a far distance from the village, Kiara told him her plan:

"My plan its very simple, we will scene a nightmare! First, we wait for the night to fall, then I will cast a sleeping spell on the village, putting the villagers in a deep slumber, preventing them to wake up. That's when you will enter in action, I'm counting with your expertise to pick lock the dwarf's door, the one that you talked with. Once inside his house, grab him and take him to the woods, far away, so he can no longer hear the singing spell. Then, wake him up and question him, just remember, you are a nightmare, act as if you are indeed a product of the dwarf's imagination, take the information that you need. Once you are done just bring him back, once the song reaches his hears he will fall asleep again, then just place him on his bed, lock the door of his house and we are done! Easy! No screaming villagers, you and I will be safe since our identities will be protected, that way other travellers will not suffer with repercussions, and the dwarf will think that everything was just a nightmare since he will awake on his bed safe and sound. Just promises me one thing, promise that you will not harm him... I'm trusting you on this. This is the best plan I could think of in such a short time, in order to avoid unnecessary collateral damage and make it easier for the villagers, even to the poor dwarf that is about to have the most realistic nightmare of his life. I know it's a crazy plan... but I don't want to hurt anyone or scare all of them... sorry."

Jaken kept a straight face as Kiara told him her plan. Then, after absorbing, processing, analyzing all the information, he still kept a straight face, only being interrupted by his mouth moving as he said "That is an excellent plan!!" he smiled, then hugged her, even lifting her a bit "What would I do without you?" he laughed "That's excellent. We would have to wait until night, you do your singing spell, with me far away from the hearing range of course.... you stop singing, in those five minutes I'm sure I can pick lock the door and snatch the dwarf out of the place, then you continue singing, I could tie up the dwarf, do the whole 'I'm your worst nightmare' thingy, sing to him to sleep, and then back at the hut." he thought out loud, then looked at the elf "You. Are. A. Genius." he kissed her forehead in excitement. He was happy, especially after the relief produced by Kiara forgiving him.

The werewolf looked at the village. "Then I guess we must wait until night."

 

[Kiara]

As the elf told him her plan, she could see his straight face, by the time she had finished, the werewolf was with the same expression, quiet. Somehow Kiara started to feel anxious, maybe he didn't like her plan, since it was a crazy one, with a lot of work, and for what? For the sake of others. She knew that, she also knows that Jaken was a practical person, always going for the quickest way, no matter the risk. But there was no way she would back off, if he didn't like her plan, then the only option, would be thinking of another one. Suddenly the werewolf spoke, saying what he had on his mind.

"That is an excellent plan!!" he smiled, then hugged her, even lifting her a bit "What would I do without you?"

His actions caught Kiara off guard, but still, all she did was give him a gorgeous smile, laughing with him while he lifted her a bit. All these little things made her so happy, he was up for her plan, although it was an ambitious one. "Thank you" That was all she could say to the man that would always put up with her, even though she would always choose the hardest way, all because she was too kind, putting others first, always making things harder for her side, but he kept accepting that side of her, that was enough for her.

"Then I guess we must wait until night."

"Yes, but, what we will do while we wait for the sun to set? Do you have any idea on how to expend the time meanwhile?"

 

[Adriwolf]

"Yes, but, what we will do while we wait for the sun to set? Do you have any idea on how to expend the time meanwhile?"

"Well. I have no idea what we can do." he looked around, at the forest tall trees "I guess we must survive on our own. Hunt for food, set a camp, take care of Fafurion." the nargacuga looked up as rabbits, he heard his name, as if wondering what was going on, then back at his own business, looking around and playing with the snow "So, what are you up for? I have heard that Belgrath has deer, wild pigs, and some edible plants that I can identify, with that I may be able to prepare something for us, we already know how to set a campfire. I could melt some ice and prepare soup." he looked around "Maybe we could explore around these lands, see what interesting souvenir we can get." Fafurion raised his head, sniffing the sky, tracking something "And I guess our friend here has lunch." with that Fafurion sprinted to the woods, leaving the pair behind and on their own "Guess we should follow his steps and get some food. What are you hungry for? I can hunt some meat, we might need protein."

After Kiara's decision, Jaken took Kiara with him, it would not be wise to leave her alone in the woods. He left her alone in Elbion but because they had the motel, but here, they were alone, with no resting place other than the forest. Unprotected. It must be better if Kiara tagged along. Soon enough, he found traces of a wild pig. They followed them with Jaken's crossbow in hands. And there it was. A wild pig, feeding itself on a small rabbit. Jaken aimed at it, taking a deep breath to steady his shot. "If you are not used to this-" he whispered to Kiara "-then I suggest you should turn around." he turned back to the wild pig, taking the shot. The bolt went rhough the pigs eye, and probably to his brain, since it did not squealed nor made any noises at all, just a dry thud. After that, the werewolf got closer to the corpse, getting ready to open it and extract whatever meat the both could eat for the day. Putting all the meat in a bag, the pair made their way back, collecting edible plants. As Jaken picked them up and analyzed them, he would say Kiara what they were and their effects on the human body, just in case she wound up alone in the wound up alone in the wild. The little botany lesson consisted of various plants: toxic ones (water hemlock-abdominal discomfort, nausea, convulsions, white snakeroots-loss of appetite, nausea, weakness, abdominal discomfort, reddened tongue, abnormal acidity of the blood, and oleander-vomiting, diarrhea, erratic pulse, seizures, coma) and edible plants (dandelions-loaded with vitamons, fibers and minerals, wild onion-reduce blood cholesterol levels, act as a tonic to the digestive system and also tonify the circulatory system, and miner's lettuce-packed with vitamin C, iron and omega-3). How did the plants managed to grow in Belgrath was beyond Jaken's comprehension. They made their way back to where Fafurion left, that was similar to their reunion point. Jaken also grabbed some ice that he had to crack with some knives, that would serve as water. Back at the forest, the duo prepared the camp, a campfire, a small pot Jaken packed before going on the adventure, the ice and plants and meats.

Both ate what they have cooked and waited for the night.
And then, the sun came down and the moon rised. Jaken was ready "You know what to do." he said as they walked nearby the town "Sing them to sleep, long enough for the effect to last for 5 minutes. Then stop, I will pick lock the door and get the dwarf out of there, after I get him, keep singing to the village, I transform and scare the information out of him, I promise to not hurt him, after I'm done, you sing him to sleep again, and back to his hut."
They arrived at the village shortly after. "I'm ready." he said, covering his ears with his hand as hard as he could, getting ready for Kiara's sleeping spell.

 

[Kiara]

As the elf listened to all the options that the werewolf gave her, she would also follow his gaze, looking at the frozen forest, she had no idea what do to now. So far, all her life had been expended inside of Elbion's college, but she could not deny, she loved being with him, it really doesn't matter where she was if He was with her. Sometimes, Kiara would focus on Fafurion, seeing the creature react as his name was pronounced, then returning to his silly games, rolling in the snow, before vanishing into the snow white trees maze.

"Guess we should follow his steps and get some food. What are you hungry for? I can hunt some meat, we might need protein."

"I'm not picky, whatever we can find will be good. Besides, I don't think we have the luxury to be picky with food here." The elf answered while looking at the path that Fafurian had taken, for sure it would not be easy to find food resources on this iced land.

As Jaken lead the way, the spellsinger followed right beside him, taking the opportunity to learn and acquire some new skills, survival skills. The elf had already known, how to set a camp, but hunt for food and identify edible plants, that could become handy in a near future, that is, if she really followed her dream to leave Elbion, so, all the knowledge that she could get from the werewolf would not be in vain.
After a while scouting the woods, Jaken found traces in the snow, signaling to the elf to stay near and be silent, as both of them followed the trail. Not too far, the werewolf found what he was hunting, a wild pig. The werewolf crouched on the ground, hiding his presence, aiming his crossbow at the beast. The elf got down, following his gaze, seeing the same as him, then Jaken's whisper came into her hears.

"If you are not used to this-" he whispered to Kiara "-then I suggest you should turn around."

Kiara just kept staring at the wild pig, she was not that naive, she knew the laws of nature, life and death were always together. In order to one live, other needed to die, in the same way, that the wild pig survived by killing that rabbit, the same was about to happen again. Life and death pulling strings, a necessary death for others be able to live. She knew that, but, the moment the bolt pierced through the wild pig's eye, the elf could not avoid, closing her eyes, her body jolting a bit, while she prepared herself for the ear piercing scream, that the dying beast would make, a futile attempt to fight for it's life, but nothing came, only a dry thud. Kiara slowly opened her eyes, seeing the dead beast lay on the snow. The werewolf moved closer to his kill, extracting all the meat he could. Maybe the elf would never be able to kill an animal. Well, maybe a fish, since fishes were easier to catch and there was no blood involved, no squeaks nor death noises... She still had a long way to go if she wanted to survive alone.
Her next lesson was botany, learning which plants were edible and which ones she should stay away, she took this opportunity to take some notes. Knowledge was never too much.
As they made their way back, the elf could not avoid, staring at Jaken's back, since, once again, he was leading the way, he was amazing. Jaken was indeed an expert in surviving, he knew so much. He was not an expert on magic as Hellius was, but he was an expert in his own area and skills, she admired him for that.

Once back, they set the camp, and prepared the food. Although it was not a fancy meal compared to the food served on the college, Kiara loved to see Jaken prepare and cook the food, the effort he would made to prepare the meals. For sure for the werewolf, raw meat would taste better than cooked. He was just being considerate, cooking the food, mostly because of her. Somehow this made her feel a bit special, having someone cooking just for her, instead for the whole college, it was as if the food had a special flavor added to it.

The sun came down, giving the opportunity to the moon rise and shine, taking over the night skies.
As both walked in the direction to the village, Kiara and Jaken reviewed the plan one last time. Kiara, was nervous, the time was coming, it was her plan, so it would be her responsibility. If something went wrong while all the village was in a deep slumber, the villagers would be defenceless, and it would be her fault. All this responsibility started to weigh on her shoulders.

"I'm ready."

Kiara took a couple of deep breaths, trying to relax, calming down her racing heart. Then, she covered her head and long ears with the fluffy hood, summoning her crystal staff in her hand, while determination filled her eyes. She would not take any risks, no one would awake, and no living soul would be allowed to enter the village and harm the villagers under her watch. The spellsinger started to sing, a whispered serene and calm lullaby, while she started to move closer to the village, crossing the small bridge, raising the volume of her voice, allowing her magic to flow freely into her song and words. By the time she had reached the center of the small village, she could sense that all the village was under her spell, then she stopped, giving Jaken the chance to perform his work. In the same way that Jaken had appeared, soon he also had disappeared into the woods, taking the dwarf with him.

Kiara kept a watch on her surroundings, and as soon the werewolf disappeared from her sight, she started to sing once again, this time empowering the sleeping spell. Not only covering the whole village, but also, the village's surroundings were under the spell's effect. This was the most critical part, since she was now alone, and with the villagers' lives in her hands. No harm would come onto them, even if some vile creature tried to take advantage of this opportunity, it would fall asleep way before getting the chance to get near the village. As Kiara kept singing her lullaby, she could not help but to be worried. Jaken had promised that he would not hurt the dwarf, the only thing she could do now was trust in him. It was not hard for her, it was in her nature to trust others easily, since in the elf's head would never occur that others could use and deceive her, in order to get what they wanted. She was too innocent and naive. While a normal person would get suspicious with someone they had just met, gaining and putting more trust over time, Kiara was the opposite, she would give her full trust. Why would someone try to lie or or deceive her? What would they achieve? That was what she could never understand. But one thing was for sure, once someone had lost the elf's trust, they would not earn it back that easily, it would take twice the work and be twice as harder than gain a normal person's trust.

 

[Adriwolf]

Even though he was in his human form (in which his hearing was not as developed as in his wolf form), and covering his ears as hard as he could, he could still listen to Kiara's sleeping spell, though, not as much as it needed to put him to sleep. It was more like a whisper. It made him feel lightheaded, but not enough to put him to sleep. Unlike Fafurion, poor thing got caught up in the spell and fell asleep. He had to rely on Kiara's instinct to tell him when to go to the dwarf's house, which was already on Jaken's sight. It was locked on his sight, and his lockpicks ready to start the operation. He also switched sights between the dwarf's hut and Kiara's lips. The moment she stopeed moving them, it probably meant that the countdown for him to snatch the dwarf had started. And then, she stopped singing, she looked at him, as if she was giving him a signal. And he got it. He nodded and sprinted at the dwarf's place, taking out his toos and started to play with them as they made their way through the doorknob. It was easier than he expected, normally, a lockpicking would take him around half a minute or a whole minute, but this doorknob was easier, it took him only 15 seconds to break in. He looked inside. it was nothing fancy, a stone-made hut, illuminated by candles, to his left, there was a small living room with a small couch and little ornaments hanging around. And to his right, he spotted the kitchen, a kitchen table, and a dwarf sleeping, with his head on the kitchen table, and various cooking tools such as knives, and pans. Also some food, like bread, butter, between others. "<<Guess he was caught up in the middle of cooking dinner.>>" he thought. He carried the small creature and ran out the house. He connected shoulders with Kiara and whispered "Continue singing. Give me 5 minutes with this guy." with that, Jaken left her and into the woods they went.

Jaken had been running in the woods for about a minute and a half. He found a thick tree, a good one to tie him up and ask questions. He took out a rope and tied him as hard as he could. Then, he undressed, having to experience cold, but the endgame was worth it. He transformed and growled at the dwarf, waking him up slowly.
"oooohhhh.... what?" he yawned "Where am I?" he looked around, still hallf asleep. He first looked into the dark, snowy woods, then... at the big beast that was in front of him "OH GODS!!!!" the dwarf yelled in horror, then screamed for help.
"SHUT UP!!" he covered the dwarf's face with force to keep him quiet, the werewolf felt the man's tears running through his big and deadly claw "Now, listen up buddy. I am here judge you." he uncovered the man's mouth.
"Who are you? Where am I?" he asked in dispair.
"I am someone that can cut your throat right here if you are untrustworthy." he snarled, punching the log, scaring the dwarf even more "Have you forgotten?"
"What?" he cried.
"Have you forgotten where has she been? Yyggdmon!!!" he roared.
"No!! No!! I-I have not forgotten." he cried.
"Where is she??!! You must remember!! Tell me where it is or I'll cut your throat!! She did not iked your unloyalty, thus, sending ME to you." he roared louder.
"You are not real-you are not real-you are not real. This is a dream-this is a dream- this is a dream." the dwarf whispered as he had his eyes closed.
"Tell me where she is or she will PERSONALLY come to you. She can see through my eyes. She can see you forgetting her slowly. Now, tell me where she is." he snarled.
"Oh Gods, no please, no. Alright, alright, I'll tell you where she is." Jaken snarled "She is at the top of the mountain. Look for her symbol. It must be carved in one of the side of the mountain. It's impossible to miss. It is a big mark."
"You must also remeber the symbol. What is it like?"
"It's a ball, a full moon with two crescent moons at it's sides. One on the left, one on the right, both of them are pointing outside."
Jaken snarled "I must test you." he drew the symbol on the snow as the dwarf looked at him.

"Is this what you mean?"
"YES!! YES!!" THAT'S IT!! Now please...." he sobbed "Let me go...."
The werewolf made eye contact with the dwarf for some seconds "She is now pleased. Remain quiet and you will go back to where you were." he left him as he sprinted he's way back. He saw Kiara, still singing, but before the spell took him a deep sleep, he stopped her "I got all we need, I'll explain you later, for now, I need help on putting him to sleep." he carried the elf in his arms and sprinted back at the dwarfs location. He was still quiet. The duo was hiding in the shadows "Remain hidden." he whispered to the elf "Don't let him see you. Sing him to sleep while I change back."

As Kiara started to sing, the dwarf became altered and paranoid, thinking that this was his end, however, he slowly dozed off to sleep as Jaken dressed in his last piece of clothing. "Good job." he said to Kiara, he grabbed the man and made their way back. Back at the village, he placed the dwarf where he found him, locked the door and returned to Kiara. "Your plan was a success. Good job." he kissed her forehead "I got the location. She's at a mountain, with a carved symbol." he drew the symbol on the snow "This is her's. The symbol is carved at one side of the mountain. A BIG carving, we can't miss it. We must go now." he looked at Fafurion still sleeping, belly up, like a dog waiting to be rubbed "Or when your friend decides to wake up."

 

[Kiara]

Kiara was alone, still singing, working on her spell. Only a few minutes had elapsed since the werewolf had left with the dwarf. The only sound echoing on the village was her song, being carried away by the wind, while this one blown between the trees. Then a new sound came to her ears, fresh snow being stepped on, making soft cracking sounds. Still singing, Kiara looked at the woods, Jaken was back, running at full speed, but where was the dwarf? For a second she got scared. Did something go wrong?

"I got all we need, I'll explain you later, for now, I need help on putting him to sleep."

After his comment, the black werewolf picked up the elf on his arms, not even waiting for her reply, it was not necessary anyway. By the time they returned to the dwarf's location, both remained in the shadows. Jaken took the opportunity the change back to his human form, while Kiara put the dwarf back to sleep.
The dwarf was altered and paranoid, sobbing and mumbling something that she couldn't pick it up. She felt sorry for the poor dwarf, having to go through all of that fear.
At least he was unharmed, and soon, he would be back to his hut, safe and sound. Only remembering this night, as a scary nightmare. The elf made a little change on the song's tune, and spell, making the dwarf to relax, driving him back to the dreamland. With this minor change, the rest of his night, would be rested and free of nightmares, resulting from his disturbed mind that was now at peace.

Once the bounty hunter was fully dressed, he praised the elf, in return she smiled for him. Deep down, Kiara was relieved, everything was going smoothly. But what gave her the most peace of mind, was that Jaken kept his promise, proving to the elf, that she had put her trust on the right person.
Back at the village, Jaken placed the dwarf on his house, locking the door again, returning to where Kiara was.

"Your plan was a success. Good job." he kissed her forehead "I got the location. She's at a mountain, with a carved symbol." he drew the symbol on the snow "This is her's. The symbol is carved at one side of the mountain. A BIG carving, we can't miss it. We must go now." he looked at Fafurion still sleeping, belly up, like a dog waiting to be rubbed "Or when your friend decides to wake up."

After the werewolf kissed her forehead, Kiara said. "Thank you, but I could've not done it all by myself, it was only a success because we supported each other. So, you also did a great job, don't underestimate yourself." she spoke, while resting a bit her forehead on his chest, then taking a step back, moving away from him, giving him space to share what he had found in his little interrogation. Kiara would nod her head, demonstrating that she was listening to him, but the moment Jaken commented about Fafurion's condition, she finally realized that the creature had fallen for her spell.
"Oops, that would be my fault... Maybe I extended a bit too far the range of the spell. Oh well... Better safe than sorry. But I don't think he will wake up anytime soon" she gave a troubled smile, trying to apologize for the situation that she had made.

Far away from Belgrath, back at Elbion city, a little will-o'-wisp returned to a dark alley, after scouting the whole city. Once again, no results, in frustration, the elf extinguished the little yellowish flame, crushing it in his hand.
"Where did you hide her, werewolf?" The elf whispered under his large hood, turning around, disappearing once again between the shadows and the dark alleys.

 

[Adriwolf]

Once back with Kiara, after doing what he had to and a plan ready, the werewolf breathed calmly. They had achieved something. A clue that might unravel a lot of the mysteries left, like why could Jaken see the golden flowers with Blue Lights, what did The Marks of Runes had to do with this. They had an extraordinary lead. It was worth taking the chance. Though Jaken wanted to go now, they had to wait until Fafurion woke up from his deep slumber.

"Oops, that would be my fault... Maybe I extended a bit too far the range of the spell. Oh well... Better safe than sorry. But I don't think he will wake up anytime soon" she gave a troubled smile, trying to apologize for the situation that she had made.

The bounty hunter chuckled "Don't worry, you had to do what you had to. It's his fault for entering the field of your spell." he laughed. "But for now. I suppose we must sleep. We have nothing to do. And probably we have a LONG day ahead of us. Who knows what this witch has in store for us. We ought to be careful. Danger might be ahead, and we need to be ready. For that, we need energy." he patted the elf on the back.

Both prepared everything for another night in the snowy woods. Jaken taught Kiara (or gave her some advice to improve her survival skills) how to set a camp from scratch. Gathering dried wood to give the fire something to burn and leaves to give birth to the fire. Even though Jaken had a lighter that would make the job of igniting the fire as simple as it sounds, he showed Kiara a way of igniting a fire with a rock and a piece of flint that he had in his bag. Once the fire started, it would be useful to blow on it, not enough to kill it, but with enough force to expand the flames so that it can burn other logs and leaves. The rest was simple. Even though Kiara spent most of her life inside a college, Jaken knew she could easily use her sleeping bag. Both of them were in their sleeping bags, ready to join Fafurion in dream land. Jaken did not think about it, he just hugged Kiara, slowly drifiting off to sleep, hoping that Kiara would not experience another nightmare.

The sun came up. Jaken was woken up by something gently pushing it, it was something cold. He opened his eyes only to see the nargacuga's face staring at him. His bat face was the only thing on Jaken's eyes. Almost literally. Fafurion had no concept of 'personal space'. Before Jaken could say anything, Fafurion sneezed snow on him "Good morning to you too." he said with a straight face, wiping the snow away "Would you mind crawling off my ass?" he stood up and woke Kiara up "Hey." he whispered "Wake up or I'll make Fafurion do it." Kiara woke up "Good morning. Your friend over here woke me up with a daily dose of snow-sneeze on my face." he laughed.

They eat a fast breakfast that consisted on meat and they were off. Preparing everything to travel in search of the mountain where Yyggdmon was hiding. The dwarf's words seemed pretty convincing. That was their next destination.

They left the village in Fafurion's back, ready to search for the mountain with the symbol.

 

[Kiara]

There was no other option than to spend another night in the woods, since Fafurion had fallen for Kiara’s spell.
The moon was high in the dark sky, but that didn’t stop the bounty hunter to give another survival lesson to the elf. This time it was how to set a camp. By now, the spellsinger had a good idea on how to do it, due to all the nights they had expended on the wild. However, Jaken surprised the elf, instead of using his lighter, as he always does, this time he ignited the fire with a rock and a piece of flint, Kiara got caught in his actions. She watched the sparks flying, landing on the leaves, then the werewolf blew the little spark, making it stronger, allowing it to spread and burn the logs.

Kiara was ready to sleep, closing her eyes and relaxing her body, without any warning, she felt a pair of arms embracing her. The elf opened her eyes and looked at her side, although she knew who it was, she wanted to confirm. The werewolf was already sleeping, while hugging her. <”This is not fair…”> she thought to herself. Kiara knew that Jaken had no bad intentions, that he was just worried if she would have another nightmare. But this was not helping her, he had no idea how his actions make her feel. The elf was always trying to keep her feelings under control, burying them deep down, always checking her actions so she would not cross the line. But sometimes Jaken would not help at all, every single time that he kissed her forehead, or hugged her, Kiara had to make an effort to restrain herself, to not jump and hug him back.
The elf loved having him close to her, but at the same time, it was painful, having him so close, and at the same time, so far. Sometimes, the spellsinger wondered how it would be if he accepted her feelings. But that thought wouldn't last long, since on the next second, she would recall all the times that Jaken said, ‘that will never happen’, these words lingered in the elf’s head. Kiara would also imagine the possible outcomes. If she ever confessed her love for him, for sure, he would just give her a straight face and reply in an annoyed tone ‘that will never happen’, basing on how he had reacted with the female students, back at Elbion, when they said that he looked cool on his wolf form. She sighed, there was no use, it was not her place anyway. Jaken was just being a good friend, watching over her, if she ever dared confess to him, most likely it would ruin their friendship.

The morning came. As Jaken stood up and asked to Fafurion to move, the creature just sat, looking at the bounty hunter with curious eyes, as if the nargacuga had done nothing. The moment Jaken woke Kiara up, the creature moved around Jaken, getting near to the elf, rubbing his snout in Kiara’s cheek.

"Hey." he whispered "Wake up or I'll make Fafurion do it."

As Jaken’s voice came into the elf’s ears, Kiara slowly woke up, sitting on her sleeping bag, rubbing a bit her eyes, still awakening. Suddenly, something ice cold touched her warm and soft cheek. It was Fafurion’s snout, greeting the elf. The temperature shock made her fully awake in a second, it was such a cold sensation, but Kiara didn’t mind, she knew it was the creature’s way to show affection.
“Good morning Jaken, and good morning to you too Fafurion” The elf greeted, while placing her forehead on Fafurion’s.

"Good morning. Your friend over here woke me up with a daily dose of snow-sneeze on my face."

Hearing Jaken's comment, Kiara caught Fafurion’s head between her small hands, scratching a bit the creature’s chin, making him purr, while looking straight at the yellow piercing eyes that Fafurion possessed.
“Noo… you didn’t do that! You are such a mischievous nargacuga!” The elf said with a half serious face, but the nargacuga kept purring. The creature could sense that the elf didn’t mean what she was saying, by the sound of her voice and heartbeat. “Next time you do that, you better wait for me to wake up, I want to see your shenanigans” she finally said, looking at Jaken, at the same time, Fafurion also turned his head to face the man. It looked like as if both of them, nargacuga and elf, were plotting and conspiring against the bounty hunter. As in a response, Fafurion meowed, something between a deep meow and a soft roar. Kiara could not keep her act, bursting into laughs, sometimes she could not avoid but to tease the werewolf.

It didn't take long for them to eat breakfast, and soon they were off, on Fafurion's back, searching for the mountain.

 

[Adriwolf]

“Next time you do that, you better wait for me to wake up, I want to see your shenanigans”

"Hardy-har-har. I'm laughing my ass off." he sarcastically said, smiling at the elf. He noticed the nargacuga looking at him. Jaken raised an eyebrow at him and told him with his eyes: 'Don't you dare.' The werewolf gently rubbed the elf's hair as he got up and passed his hand through Fafurion's furry back. The nargacuga was getting a lot of love this morning, and he deserved, after travelling far away distances, carrying two adults on his back for a long period of time; he deserved some love and petting. It seemes like he likes it, so it would be a good reward for the nargacuga.

Once on the air, Jaken kept his eyes peeled to find any mountain. Belgrath had some mountains, but he could not have asked for directions to the dwarf. In the first place, asking for directions would have been really suspicious. Why would a "disciple" of the witch be asking for directions? Someone would think that a servant of someone would know exactly where to find their master. And number two, there was no way the dwarf would know where he was. Jaken could not tell the dwarf where he was, that would have compromised the mission. The bounty hunter asked the elf to help him by looking around for mountains. He could keep an eye on everything, but there may have been some details he missed. Maybe he could have overlooked the carving they were looking for being to focused on looking for the carving on another mountain. If Fafurion had any idea what they were doing and was able to communicate clearly with them, Jaken would have asked for his help as well. But the nargacuga couldn't, so, he did not asked for his help.

They had been flying for hours, checking the mountains and marking them on a map, it would not be convenient if they checked the mountain twice without realizing it, it would be a waste of time.
"You see anything out here?" he asked the elf.

 

[Kiara]

Jaken raised an eyebrow at him and told him with his eyes: 'Don't you dare.'

Fafurion only tilted a bit his head, his pupils dilating, giving to the creature such an innocent and cute look, purring while Jaken patted his back. Kiara on the other hand giggled, displaying a charming smile, it was so nice and refreshing seeing both, werewolf and nargacuga getting along so well.

They were flying for a long time now, still searching for the carving, mountain after mountain, and so far, no such luck. Even before Jaken asked for Kiara's help, the elf was already trying to locate the mountain.

"You see anything out here?"

"No, so far, nothing..." Then something caught the elf's attention "Wait! Over there, on the mountain, that cave right on top of the cliff!" She said pointing to the left. Jaken wasted no time, landing Fafurion at the cave's entrance. As the elf got off of Fafurion's back, she could not avoid, staring at the carving. Indeed, it was big, but something was off. <"Why would a witch expose herself this way? This big carving just gives away her location... I thought that witches would choose to be hidden. Not exposing themselves like this, even the whole dwarf's village known how to find her, or at least where to look for...."> she thought.
Fafurion stayed on the outside, while Jaken and Kiara entered the cave, exploring the place, but no one was there. All they could find was a stone altar, various trinkets, diverse ingredients and empty flasks, also, the cave walls were covered with arcana glyphs. For sure, this was not the witch hideout, but maybe it was the place where she worked her magic, or it was some gathering place.

Kiara looked around, mesmerized, she could sense magic all over the place, then something caught her attention, minerals. Resonance crystals to be more exact, although they had no magic, they could be infused with it. Now, that was an interesting souvenir, Kiara bent over and took some of them, analyzing the little crystals on her palm, before putting them in her bag.
"I don't think we will find her here" the spellsinger said, leaving the cave, passing through Fafurion, getting near to the edge of the cliff, looking at her surroundings. <"Maybe she is not that far..."> with that thought, the elf started to wandering aimlessly, entering the woods again.

The spellsinger didn't even know where she was going, or why she would choose to follow that direction instead of any other, it was like something was luring, attracting or guiding her, maybe she was not walking that aimlessly as she thought.
After a good half an hour walking, the elf finally snapped out of it, looking at her surroundings, finding Jaken and Fafurion right behind her. If the werewolf had called for her, she didn't listen, she didn't even knew where she was. It was like she broke free from some kind of trance. Now, the trio was in a small glade, deep inside the woods, the mountain where the cave was located was not too far, she could see it from where she was right now. But why she was there? There was nothing, at least that she could see. But again, something was attracting her, and she could not resist, walking again slowly the elf stretched her hand, as if there was something for her to take. Suddenly her hand touched something, and it reacted with her magic. A huge magic barrier sets off, bursting as if it was a soap bubble, revealing what was concealed, a cottage! Now, this was more like to be the right place, a cottage, hidden by a magic barrier, turning it invisible, the perfect hideout for someone that loved to stay out of sight.
"If she is inside... she knows that we are here" the elf turned to face Jaken, she had no idea how she had found that place, even if the werewolf asked, she didn't know what to say. She was as shocked and lost as him. At the same time, as the elf turned her back, she could hear the cottage's door opening behind her. Kiara looked over her shoulder, finding the witch at the cottage's front porch.

 

[Adriwolf]

"Wait! Over there, on the mountain, that cave right on top of the cliff!"

The elf's voice and message made Jaken snap in a second, looking at where the elf was pointing. And there it was: the carving they were looking for. Big, as the dwarf had said, and almost impossible to miss. They were at the right location "Good catch!" he said to the elf "C'mon, you ugly beast, let's get to it." he drove Fafurion at the entrance of the cave, landing perfectly at the base of the mountain. If this was not the right place, then the dwarf's information was incorrect. And that would compromise the mission. If the dwarf knew that he gave the wrong directions, then why would the witch's "disciple" would've accepted what he told him. The "disciple" should know where the location of their master is. They could not accept a wrong turn.
They entered the cave with caution. It was slighly lit thanks to the sunllights. Apart from the darkness, the also found flasks, strange looking ingredients (probably for potions), drawings on the walls, and rocks that Jaken did not payed much attention to them. All these objects would not help them on their research, they had to find THE WITCH. But she was nowhere to be seen. But he wouldn't give up, all these objects made him confident that this was her hideout, it HAD to be. All the weird symbols on the walls, the ingredients. It had to mean something.

"I don't think we will find her here"

"What makes you say that?" he said while looking at other direction. He analyzed every inscription in the walls, tyring to remember if any of this were similar to ones that he had seen previously. Maybe these symbols were a part of The Marks of Runes. But nothing rang a bell. Everyhting did not matched any of the symbols that were on his back in wolf form. Or maybe they were exactly how they were depicted here, maybe he had to see them in a different angle? Rotate the symbols and then they would have some similarity? "Kiara?" he asked for her presence, but instead of an answer, he turned around and found the elf walking out of the cave "Kiara? You ok?" he asked, but she did not answered, she kept walking. This made Jaken rise an eyebrow "Was it something I said?" no answer. Now Jaken was getting woried. Kiara would always answer his questions, especially this type of questions. Something was up. Something had happened to Kiara. He ran to her, looking into her face. She was not there. It was as if she was lost in her own thoughts. She was in a trance "Hey, what's wrong?" he said to the elf, expecting that a sight would break her trance. He snapped his fingers at her eyes with no success, she was gone. What had happened to her? He tought on shaking her to wake her up, but then, something came to his mind: "<<What if she knows something? I have never seen her like this before, what if.... NO, what are you talking about?? Make her snap out of it. It might be a trap...>>" he debated himself. It would not be correct to use her trance to get what he wants, it was inmoral, not honest, manipulative, SELFISH. He had to make her wake up, but how? None of his signals worked. He could shake her, but what if it made things worst? Waking someone from a trance out of nowhere might affect them badly. Should he leave her like that and wander aimlessly to what might be a trap? "Fuck me..." he whispered to himself, then he whistled to Fafurion, making the creature walk to him "Keep an eye out for any danger." he said to the nargacuga, the werewolf noticed how the fur of the flying creature bristle in awarness "Protect Kiara, ok?" he patted the creature's head, sending him off to look around in a small radius. The bounty hunter, by his part, took out his crossbow and loaded it with a bolt, staying alert to any alerting sounds. He would protect Kiara no matter what.

The trio had been walking deep in the woods for half an hour, walking through the heavy snow and the chilly weather. They arrived at a glade, similar to where they kissed, but this time, instead of being covered with glass and beatiful white flowers, there was snow all over the ground. He heard Kiara sigh, as if she had just woken up. He saw her moving normally, out of the trance. He walked to her while whistling for Fafurion. "Are you ok? What happened?" no answer from the elf. Why? She was out of it, right? Why would she still not answer his question? Next thing that happened, the elf touched the air, making an invisible barrier react. Jaken reacted fast, aiming the crossbow at the barrier, growling, ready to attack if necessary. He whistled to Fafurion, who got ready to attack. Fur bristle, hissing, showing his fangs and his wings high in the air. But then... a cottage? What was happening? Was this where the witch was hiding? A cabin hidden under an invisibility barrier? What would have happened if someone random had walked into it with the barrier on? Would they have crashed with the invisible building? Would they have just walked right through it? Didn't make any sense, but this was magic they were talking about, something he could not understand.

"If she is inside... she knows that we are here"

"How do you know all of this? What made you walk all the way here?" he asked, while still aiming at the cottage. But before the elf could answer, the door opened. And there she was: the witch, just like he described her in his hypnotic trance back at Gerald's place. It had to be her. He took the front position, signaling Kiara to stay back. "You're Yyggdmon?" the wolf asked.
"My name has been long forgotten, dear wolf." the witch answered. If the witch called him 'dear wolf', that means that she remembers him "What brings you here?"
"I need some answers from you." he answered back, crossbow still aimed "You might remember me, seeing how you called me 'dear wolf'."
"Of course I remember you, dear wolf. You were lost and scared in the woods years ago, lost in your own thoughts and grief, lost in your struggle between you and the wolf inside you. I helped you find balance with your souls -your human soul and the wolf's-."
"Good to see that you remember me. Now, my question is: wh-"
"Why can you see omens of death in the form of a beatiful flower. Why can you know when people are going to die with using an ability I gave you."
Jaken became astonished "How-"
"I just know it, dear wolf. There is no need to explain nothing to me as I know everyhting. I know what you two have been enduring for the last eternal days."
"ARE YOU SPYING ON US??!!" Jaken growled.
"I am not, dear wolf. I just know. The Marks of Runes I gave you so many years ago allows you to see things others might not with the naked eye."
"Tell me something I don't know already."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot help you, dear wolf."
"Something tells me you can. Now spit out the truth!" he placed his finger on the trigger.

The witch said nothing, Then, the eyes of her mask started to glow, stunning the trio with a blinding light. Next thing they know, Jaken and Kiara were in some ruins. It looked like a public building but it was destroyed, it was still standing, but it looked like it was abandoned for milleniums. Fafurion was not there. Where was he? What had happened to him??!!
"Do not worry for your winged friend. I had put him in a deep sleep and in a safe place." the witch's voice could be heard as in an eco, but she was nowhere to be found.
"WHERE HAVE YOU TAKEN US???!!! SHOW YOURSELF!!!!!" Jaken roared to the sky.
"I am sorry, but the elf cannot be with you, dear wolf."
"WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??!!"
"She is restraining you."
"FUCK YOU!!" no answer from the witch "Stay close to me." Jaken ordered Kiara, taking her soft hand and pulling her close to him.
"I know if I do this myself, you will not listen to my voice. Please, forgive me, dear wolf."

Jaken felt something crack in his inside. It was painful enough to bring him on his knees "What the.... URGH!!!" he exclaimed. He was transforming, against his will, but something worse was happening. He could feel himself lose control "Ki-Kiara. Listen to me... durgh.... you need to.... you need to run." he could barely speak through the pain "She... she is doing something to me. You need to run. Run. Run! RUN-AWOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" he pushed her away. His transformation took control of him, shifitng into the werewolf, but he had no control of his action.

Jaken was not here. the Wolf was.
"Now dear wolf, go after her. Free yourself."
The Wolf snarled and sprinted towards Kiara.

 

[Kiara]

The bounty hunter called for the elf, but it was useless, no answer came. Nothing that he would say reached her ears, she was so lost, wrapped up in that trance, and nothing made her apart from her thoughts, not even Jaken's signals. Although the spellsinger could see him, she would not acknowledge his presence, as if he was not even there, not even Fafurion's presence. Kiara just continued wandering off, letting her body take over, taking her to wherever she was heading.

The moment Kiara reached the glade, for a brief moment she snapped out of it, regaining control of her mind and body. She looked around, trying to understand what was happening and where she was, but that didn't last long, something keep attracting her, and she could not resist, forcing her to reach for the invisible barrier, setting it off. Only at that moment Kiara broke free from the trance, and somehow the elf knew that what she had just done had warned the witch about their presence.

"How do you know all of this? What made you walk all the way here?"

Kiara didn't have time to respond, even if she had, she didn't knew what to say, she had no clue how she had got to that place or even found it, she was so confused. Her mind trying to process all the new information. The last thing she remembered was being on the cliff, all the rest has been just a big fuzzy blur. As the door opened and Kiara looked over her shoulder, Jaken took the front position, aiming his crossbow to the witch, Kiara stayed near of the werewolf's back, hiding a bit from all this scene, her mind was so overloaded, due to not only trying to recall her last moves, but also following the conversation.

Next thing, a bright light blinded the trio. As Kiara reopened her eyes, she was in a different place, an old ruin, it seemed to be an abandoned building. Jaken was there, but Fafurion was nowhere to be seen, her heart started to race. If her mind was already overloaded, by now, she was no longer following nor processing what was happening around her. Then the witch's voice echoed, informing that Fafurion was somewhere safe, sleeping. The elf sighed in relief, at least Fafurion was fine. Jaken started to roar at the witch's voice, trying to figure it where they were, pulling Kiara closer to him, the witch's words only increased the elf's stress, scaring her, but the worst was to come.

Suddenly Jaken fell on his knees in pain, Kiara's eyes only widen, her heart pounding fast on her chest. What was happening!? Her head was still overflowing, she was a mess, she couldn't think clearly, she couldn't understand the situation she was in right now. She just kneeled in front of Jaken, placing her hands on his shoulders, she was clearly scared.
"What is happening?! Are you... hurt!?!" her voice cracking with all the fear she was feeling.

"Ki-Kiara. Listen to me... durgh.... you need to.... you need to run." he could barely speak through the pain "She... she is doing something to me. You need to run. Run. Run! RUN-AWOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

"What! No! Noo.. I will not leave you here alon.." Before she could finish the werewolf pushed her away, making her lose balance, falling on the floor with a thud. Kiara looked at Jaken, seeing him shifting and howling. She could feel all her body shaking uncontrollably, her heart beating louder than never. It was fear, pure and uncontrollable fear, her eyes started to water as she started to sob.

"Now dear wolf, go after her. Free yourself."

On that moment, the wolf snarled and sprinted towards her. Kiara's body just moved by instinct, summoning her crystal staff in her hand, creating an ice wall with the other, blocking the wolf's path. That bought her some precious seconds, just enough time for her to get up and run in the opposite direction. Her mind was not in control of her actions, it was just pure reflexes, her body trying to stay alive due to the imminent death.
Sometimes Kiara would stumble, almost falling on the ground, regaining her balance at the last moment, keeping running. She could hear the werewolf running after her, closing the distance between them. The spellsinger would create another ice wall, while taking a turn at the next corner, trying to lose the werewolf. As she ran, she could feel her lungs starting to burn, this strategy would not work forever, sooner than later he would catch her. She needed a plan, she needed to calm down, but the only thing she could think right now was just to never find a dead end!!

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken opened his eyes and saw nothing. Pitch black. He had no weapons, he only had his clothes. He questioned where was hea and what was happening. But mot importantly: where was Kiara? Last time she saw her, he was transforming unwillingly into the werewolf. He knew that the werewolf would rip her apart if she did not take care of herself. He had to find a way out of this prison. But what was happening? Why could he think right now? When he let the Wolf take control of him, he would black out and regain consciousness the next day. Why was this even t different? Was it something that the witch triggered?
"Can you hear me, dear wolf?" the voice echoed.
"WHERE ARE YOU???!!!" Jaken roared "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME??!!!"
"Dear wolf, you need to listen to my voice."
"I don't have to hear bullshit. Let me out!!"
"I know you care deeply about her, but she needs to go."
"BULLSHIT!! She has done nothing to you. She doesn't deserve this, after everything she's been through. Let me out!! The Wolf will kill her if I don't get out of here!!" he begged, he kneeled to the darkness "Please. I'll do anything, just let her live." no answers...

The Wolf was out for a hunt. His target: a little elf that was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But apart from all the other animals he has hunted, this seemed more resourceful, creating ice walls from her magic stick to stop him for a moment, thus, buying his prey some time to escape. The Wolf would easily jump over said walls after crashing into them. Even though the elf could use some tricks that she had up her sleeve, the Wolf was faster than her. He knew that she would eat the elf in no time, he just had to adapt to this unique situation. Luckily for the prey, the WOlf was not as smart as Jaken was. With Jaken, the werewolf form had both muscles and brains, however, when the WOlf was in control, there were more mucles than brains, the Wolf was STILL smart and calculative, but he was no match for Jaken, after all, the Wolf was a savage beast. With this, the Wolf did not used his environment to his advantage. Ruins could give the Wolf something to gain on the elf: a platform to jump on, gaining more altitude, a bar he could swing on, a wall he could run on, something at all.

"Listen to my voice. What you two have been enduring is something unique. Something that might be out of your control." the witch paused "The reason why you can see omens of death is because of what you have called 'Blue Lights'. Your eyes can now see through different realities. The omens of death that you have seen are places where people have died in two realities. In yours, and on another's."
"I don't understand. Why can I see them? What does this has to do with S.A.P.?" he asked, knowing the witch would know what he was talking about.
"A special individual." she replied "They are not from where you are. This lost individual came from another reality to yours. They felt alone. And that is why they created a group that they called Shadow Alternative Pack. They have powers that are similar to mine. That is why you can see the omens. The fact the they have powers like mine and come from another reality triggered something in your special eyes. You can now see through different realitites."
"I don't follow. What does Kiara have to do with any of this?"
"I am sorry dear wolf, I cannot tell you that."

 

[Kiara]

This was not the funny chase game that Kiara and Jaken had played a few days ago. No, this was a mortal game, between hunter and prey, with the highest price to pay, life, Kiara's life! That was what would await her if she lost this game, the elf knew this was not a joke!
Her mind was still processing all the events, but one thing she was sure of, this wolf was not as smart as Jaken, if Jaken was in control, he would take advantage of the environment, instead of crashing against the ice walls. Indeed, more muscle than brain, this could be her only advantage, besides her magic, maybe this was her only chance. She could work something out with this. But what if she failed? She only had one chance! The spellsinger needed to be creative in order to win this death match.

The game was on! But first she needed a plan, and for that she needed to relax and think for a bit. She didn't like the idea of using her magic against the wolf, but she had no other choice, she needed to be offensive instead of defensive, at least for now. The elf created another ice wall, but instead of keeping running, she stopped, waiting for the wolf to jump over it. The moment the huge black beast jumped, appearing on her sight, the elf cast a powerful lightning strike, powerful enough to stun and paralyze the beast, taking advantage of the element of surprise, catching him off guard. That should buy her some golden minutes, and she would not waste it, running once again, using the same wind spell she had on their chase game to boost her speed. She knew that what she had just done would make the beast angry, but she couldn't use her magic recklessly, if she wounded the wolf, she would also wound Jaken, since both shared the same body, so that was not even an option for her.

As Kiara ran, she noticed some wreckage, making her to stop on her tracks, so many places that she could use to hide herself "Hope this works..."> she thought, taking off her long winter coat, hiding it between the rocks. If this little diversion worked, then it would buy her some more time, she could only hope that the werewolf would follow her scent till there, wasting some time trying to find her coat.
After she had hidden her coat, Kiara used another wind spell. This one with the intent to hide her scent, if the werewolf followed her there and sniffed her smell going in another direction he wouldn't fall on her trap.

The elf was now hidden in a far, dark room, or at least, what remained of it. All the preparations she had done so far, paralyze him, and that little diversion, it wouldn't last forever. She needed to think of a plan now!! For sure, by now, the werewolf was furious trying to find her. "If at least Hellius was here..."> she thought, but he wasn't, she was on her own. She took a deep breath, starting to analyze all her options, trying to come up with a plan, but she had a lot to take into account, like her magic pool, if she ran out of magic power she would be lost. There was no way she could win a close fight combat, so she needed to keep a watch on her magic and keep her distance, besides most of her offensive magic was neither an option, she couldn't risk to hurt the wolf, stuns, paralysis or other methods to make him slower sure. But wound him or even kill him... there was no way she would do that, even if her life was at stake, at least none of them had the advantage over the terrain.
Her time was running out, but she managed to remain calm, calculating everything, then something came to her mind, Jaken's explanation 'This is a TRUE werewolf: savage, fearless, crap, even calculative. The only way to stop me is by neutralizing me: paralyzing me, trap me, or even put me to sleep.' Kiara eyes widened, she had a plan, a reckless one!
Before Kiara leaved her hideout, she searched her surroundings, making sure that the wolf was not near. There was no doubt that by now, he was trying to track her down. He was a savage beast, so he would follow her by smell and hearing, like a true ultimate predator! Kiara would need to stay calm, steady her respiration and heartbeat, trying to conceal her presence. After a few seconds, the elf deduced it was safe to leave. It was time to put her plan on the march. Kiara cast the previous two winds spells, adding another one, to keep her steps as silent as possible. Now she had movement boost, silence and smell concealer, so many wind spells at the same time, her magic was already burning, she needs to be fast, it was a race against time!

 

[Adriwolf]

"You have nothing against her, do you? Just tell me what it is! Want me to keep the secret? FINE!! I won't tell her anything, just why is she so important up to the point where you have to kill her through me?"
"Because she is restraining you, dear wolf. You have so much potential, so much power, but she is holding you back."
"She has made me stronger and I have made HER stronger. We have been helping each other."
"Dear wolf. You are blinded by love. Your love for her does not let you see what is to come. I know you love her, and will do anything to protect her. I find that honorable, but she must not remain with you. Before our paths crossed in the woods all those years, I was a normal individual. Like you, like Kiara. I was not born a witch, I was made a witch."
In front of Jaken, something manifasted in a cloud of dust, taking form. He could see it even though there was still darkness. It was the witch. Jaken growled and sprinted at her, with the intentions of tackling her down and get what he wanted. He threw himself at the witch, but instead of coming in contact with her body, the witch dissapeared in dust, teleporting to another place.
"I was once happily married with a lovely man. Tall, strong, brilliant personality and a gorgeous smile." Jaken tried to tackle the witch once again, with no success "He treated me like a queen and I treated him like a king. Our marriage was looked down by the others. Everyone told me that my husband was on bad roads, but I did not listened to them. My love for him was greater than any other rumor from my nearest friends." Jaken went for another tackle, just to end up like the two previous attempts "One dire night, I woke up to find my husband out of our bed, not by my side. I thought he got up to get something, a glass of water, a midnight snack. How wrong I was. As I tried to go back to sleep, my husband bursted through the door, knife in his hand. Before I could say anything for his erratic behavior, he jumped on me and started slashing my face deeply." tired of his plan, Jaken decided to listen to the witch's story, who had manifestated once again, this time giving Jaken her back "I fought back, slapping, kicking and punching him away. I ran out of the room, trying to get some help, but my husband was faster than me, grabbing me by the hair and slashing my face again. It stopped. Someone had heard the ruckus and came to my rescue. They shot my husband with a bolt. I had lost too much blood and passed out." Jaken got closer to the witch "At the hospital, I found out that my husband was possessed by an evil entity. He died because of an evil spirit. He never was in control of his actions. My face became disfigured." the witch took off her mask, revealing a face that made Jaken step back in brief seconds of panic. Her eyes were slashed, part of her teeth were exposed, with rotten flesh surrounding them. big and horrible scars had taken over her face. Her nose was disfigured. A deep cut on the corner of her lips had extended to her cheek, as if the husband wanted to carve a smile on her face with the knife. Bruises were also present, on her forehead, the other cheek and on her left eye "Everyone was afraid of me." she continued "Everyone screamed at me and ran away. I have been alone since I have memory. I swore that I would help anyone that were blinded by emotions, especially love. Love can be the most wonderful feeling in the world, but at the same time, it can be our greatest weakness. That is why I am doing this, dear wolf. The elf will bring you down. I cannot let that happen." bounty hunter and witch made eye contact.

The Wolf was gaining on the poor little elf, he had already discovered what the strategy of his prey was. Ice walls. That was it. He would jump on top of them with speed and ease, almost making the ice walls worthless. However, the elf stopped on one of the walls. This was it!! He had won!! His prey became tired after running for so long. He climbed on the ice wall and roared at the meal that was below him. However, something stroke him. It felt painful and left him without energy. It was lightning strike that Kiara had summoned. The Wolf fell on the ground, stunned and in pain. The electricity made his muscles give out on him. He grunted faintly in pain, trying to get back up, only for his body to give up on him and putting him back on the floor. That little shit. She had tricked him. He heard the prey running away again. The Wolf did everything he could to get back up, track his prey and devour it. He deserved it. After all this time he had been asleep in the worthless human's mind, he deserved to eat something. The Wolf took around a minute to get back up, his muscles were still stunned, but that would not stop the wolf to get his lamb. The werewolf growled as he walked towards the last sound he heard from the spell singer.

"Why do you think Kiara would bring me down?" he asked the witch.
"Because you two have opposite forces. She is innocent and sweet, you are aggressive and throw yourself to danger. These forces cannot go together. They are not stable. The elf will put you in a situation of danger. You will do anything to protect her, and that will bring you down."
"She is not stupid or defensless. If I am still here, it means that she is still alive. It means that she knows how to fight an uncontrollable werewolf. You will see. She will come up with a plan, because she is smart."

The Wolf had lost track of the elf. He was pissed at the little shit. How could a tiny prey like her could have fooled a beast like him? He would find her, he would rip her apart and he would make her feel his fangs sinking into her soft skin. He walked around the ruins silently, growling. He then caught something. I scent. HER scent. He sprinted towards it, finding a winter jacket between some rocks. He picked it up with his claws and sniffed it. He caught the scent... but it was everywhere and it was scarce. THIS COULD NOT HAPPEN!!! The scent must be on a specific path. SCENT COULD NOT SPREAD!!! The wolf roared in frustration. Going to investigate every corner he could. He enhanced his nose and ears, listening and smelling everything that might give him a lead. He had been looking for a good 20 minutes, the scent area slowly dissapearing. Everything smelled normal again. Tracking her scent down would be easier now.

"A lamb runs away from a wolf. Who wins, dear wolf?"

 

[Kiara]

Kiara started to run, for now, her plan was to chart that place. She needed to find a specific area, a closed one, but with a lot of accesses to different paths, like a center of a maze. That precious 20 minutes that the elf had bought with her little trick would be crucial! As the spellsinger ran, she would map all the paths on her mind, at the same time, she would keep a close attention to her surroundings, it wouldn't be funny if she ran into the werewolf, that would be just the end of her.

The ruins were indeed like a maze, with a lot of different paths to take. The elf was not stupid, all the time she could buy would only increase her chances. She didn't particularly liked this part of her plan, but better lost blood than her life. Kiara summoned a sharp shard of ice, taking a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to do. She possessed a strong mind, but her body, not so much, she had little resistance to pain. The elf rapidly slid the shard through her hand, shutting her eyes while suppressing a weeping of pain, allowing it to cut her soft skin, making her bleed. She then passed her bloody hand on the wall, healing rapidly the wound, that way the smell of blood would only stay in that place. It would be stupid to leave a trail of blood, for the werewolf to follow, so she needed to be cautious, taking all the details into account. The very moment her wound closed, she would rapidly run in the opposite direction. The elf repeated this action over and over again, cutting her hand, marking a wall, and run in the opposite direction. This way she would buy more time to find the most suited place, while mapping the place and at the same time drive the werewolf away from her, or at least confuse him a little more, concealing her true location.

So far everything was going smooth. As the elf was about to make a turn, something caught her attention, a shadow being cast on the floor. It was the werewolf! How could he be so stealthy!! If it wasn't for his shadow she would have just bumped into him! She could hear him sniffing the air, on that moment Kiara's blood ran cold in her veins, for some seconds the elf couldn't even breathe, or rather she had forgotten to breathe! She didn't dare to move, trying to remain as calm as possible, any little noise would give her away. Her only hope, was if the werewolf would fall once again for her trick and walk in the opposite direction, following the smell of her blood, surrending to his primal instincts and bloodthirst? Or would he stick to the path he intended to go? Taking the fateful turn that would put an end to Kiara's life!

 

[Adriwolf]

"Then why kill her??!!" he yelled at the witch "Why kill Kiara? Why not just separate us? Or make our ways split? Something that doesn't involve killing her. I am sorry for what happened to you, but that does not give you the excuse to kill her. No, in fact, WHY kill her? Why her? Why do you choose me over her? Is it because I have your precious tattoos? Is it because I have your marks?"
"I cannot reveal that secret dear wolf."
"WHY??!!" he roared "Cut the bullshit and come out clean!!!"
"I am sorry dear wolf, but some secrets are better left in the shadows."
Jaken growled at her and tried to punch her only to get what he had gotten when he tried to tackle her. he knew it was no use to try to talk the secret out of the witch, it would never work, all he could do was wait to wake up in the real world. He prayed for Kiara to be ok. No, he did not needed to prey. Jaken knew that the elf was smart. She would find something to neutralize him or fight back. But..... what if she doesn't? What if she fails and dies at the fangs of the wolf? And when he wakes up to see the image? What would happen then? He would be destroyed. No hope left, nothing to fight for, he would not even care for all the money he could get through future bounties. If the Wolf killed the elf.... he would make sure to kill the Wolf himself...

The little prey was intelligent, hiding their tracks or covering it through confusing envrionments. This was a challenge like none other... all the more fun. The tastier it would be when catching his prey. The Wolf walked around the ruins, growling and tracking down the spell singer. He still had his hearing and smell enhanced. That would be all he needed to find her and kill her. He just needed to focus. Then, out of nowhere, he smelled something... something that made his snout salivate: blood. It was the elf's blood!! The werewolf snarled and sprinted at where the scent took him. By the time he arrived, he could only see a trail of blood left in the wall. He passed a claw through it, it was still fresh. He sniffed it and tracked down the origin of the blood, going as stealthily as he could. This was not the only bloody wall he found, there were several others. His prey knew that one of the predator's senses was a big reliability, and she used it to her advantage. This made the Wolf even more annoyed. It was just a matter of time.

"How did you do it?" Jaken asked "How did you managed to make me shift in broad daylight?"
"The Marks of Runes, dear wolf." she answered "The Marks of Runes are something that belong to me. When I summoned them in you, I gained some control of the wolf form you were so desperately to control."
"That means that you can make me shift whenever you please?"
"Correct. I decided not to, however. You looked for a way to keep the wolf under your control and I gave it to you, how you used your powers is up to you. That is something I cannot put my hands in."
"You have control over my wolf form. What else can you do to it?"
"I can control your abilities. I am using one of your abilities: the ability you called "Feral Mind"."
"Can you also control how it develops? Everytime I use Feral Mind, I black out and wake up the next morning. Yet, here I am, conscious, in a way, and talking to you. You have control over that?"
"Correct."
"Then why do this? Why make me stay conscious during Feral Mind? Felt lonely and wanted someone to talk to while they kill someone else?" he growled.
The witch did not answered.

The Wolf had been walking through the ruins for a long time. He stopped dead. A light behind him made his shadow rise. If the Wolf only knew his prey was right around the corner. He snarled and sniffed the air, enhanced his hearing. Soething made his ears react. A heartbeat. It was in a limbo between steady and frightened. The Wolf stepped closer, still not turning around the corner, sniffing the air. The scent of blood had taken over the building they were in. Smell was something that was not as trustworthy as it was in the beggining. The elf was learning how to confuse him and how to make one of his senses almost useless. He stepped even closer, putting one of his claws on the corner, if the prey decided to show up, he would push himself with the corner to gain a starting impulse. The werewolf was few meters away from the elf.

"Please Kiara, please." he whispered to himself.
"I love you."

The Wolf turned around the corner in a flash, snarling.

 

[Kiara]

The moment Kiara saw the Wolf's shadow coming closer, her heart skipped a beat. He did not fall for her trick, he wouldn't trust on his smell sense. Instead, he was using his hearing sense. Kiara's knew that he knew she was right there, even though she tried to stay calm and keep control of her heartbeat, for sure, he had picked it up with his insane enhanced hearing. She needed to react fast, otherwise, it would be her end! A claw appeared on the corner, Kiara's heart stopped for a second. Adrenaline was now rushing in her veins, that brief moment would decide her life, flee or fight?

Kiara hadn't even thought about, she just followed her survival instincts, getting as near as possible on the wall, crouching down, making herself smaller. She needed to make the first move if she wanted to live! As the werewolf turned the corner Kiara did the same, taking advantage of the fact that, almost for sure, the werewolf would look for her within his sight level, instead of looking down. This was her opportunity! She would take advantage of his blind spot and not expecting the elf to move to meet him.
Kiara looked up, her heart beating fast, she saw the Wolf's ears react, his face slowly turning down. Everything was in slow motion to her, it was a mixture between fear and adrenaline. But these 2 little seconds she got before entering his sight, gave her the time to raise her staff and invoke a strong dazzling bright light, blinding him. Kiara took her chance, spinning on one of her feet, dodging the werewolf while getting up. As she ran, she invoked an ice barrier, trapping the werewolf in it. It wouldn't take long for him to break it, but at least for now, she would run as far as she was still alive.

The spellsinger took a new path, but then what came into her sight just devastated her. She was back at the same place where she had hidden her winter coat! This couldn't be! Was she out of luck? Or the heavens just abandoned her?! Kiara kept running, if she stopped, that would be the death of her.
As she passed through her coat, she picked it up still running. "Great! Just great!! I'm back at the starting point!!!"> she thought sarcastically to herself. <"Everything I had done so far was for nothing! I'm as good as dead!"> Now the elf could only hope that the werewolf would be merciful, giving her a quick death. But no, that wouldn't happen, not after what she had done, stunning and trick him. He would take his sweet time, devouring her alive, and her screams of despair, agony and pain would be music to his ears!!! This simple thought made Kiara kept running. Maybe the other side of the building would be the same as the one she had explored, if so, nothing was lost.

The spellsinger ran through the alleys, if she was right, on her left, should have another path. As she turned, she faced a dead end. "What! It's not the same as the other side of the building that I have been so far!!"> If the situation was dire, now it was getting worse, all the mapping she had done became worthless. Her time was running out, she was getting exhausted, and her magic was burning at a considerable speed.
This game was taking too long, and if this continued, and the gods had really forsaken her, then soon, she would experience the most horrible death!

 

[Adriwolf]

The Wolf inspected the are carefully, looking at all the places his eyes could catch, even through the darkness, he was able to see some things. He could still hear the heartbeat. Stuck between steadiness and fear. He growled. He heard somethiing getting up. His ears reacted at the second the sound began. As the ears reacted, so did the Wolf, looking down where his prey was. Before he could throw himself to the elf, the little shit casted a spell: a bright light that blinded him. He roared in pain and frustration. The prey had tricked him for so long that it wasn't funny and challenging anymore. Not for him, at least. The elf probably was rejoicing in her success, after all, she had fooled a dumb werewolf for the last 30 minutes. He covered his eyes, trying to regain sight once again, swinging his arms blindly to see if he could hit the elf and stun her for enough time to kill her, but his arms came in contact with a cold wall. He regained his sight and looked what was in front of him. An ice wall. ANOTHER ice wall, he did not had time to look for a way to jump over it, his prey was getting away. He turned around to see another ice wall. The Wolf looked around just to see MORE ice walls. She had trapped him in a square of ice walls. That stupid elf. He howled in frustration. He smashed the ice wall with brute force, it made it crack, but not break. The ice wall was far too thick to make it break with a few smashes. The Wolf continued smashing, each smash getting faster and stronger, but also, draining his energy. Werewolves have more energy than the average monster, but that didn't mean they could not get tired. He kept smashing the wall for 5 minutes before breaking it entirely. By now, his knuckles were aching and had some blood on them, the effort had his claws shaking. The Wolf was exhausted, physically, but mentally... he was more focused than ever. Listening to everything, a heartbeat to track, steps to follow. He walked silently, struggling to keep his claws opened due to the pain. Growling in both pain and anger. He tried to sniff the air. But nothing.
He kept walking slowly until catching a dim scent. IT WAS HER!!! He increased his speed, the scent getting stronger and the heartbeat getting clearer.
He just had to be smarter.

 

[Kiara]

Kiara was losing all her hopes. Suddenly a lucky strike! She had found what she was looking for! It was small amphitheater. A closed area, where the only way to leave, was through one of the many passages that led there, eight to be precise, it was perfect! <"Why didn't I run in this direction from the beginning!"> It seemed like her luck was changing once again. It was time to put her plan into action. So far she had messed with the Wolf's senses to buy time. Kiara acted fast, taking out the four resonance crystals she has taken on the witch's cave, activating and linking them to her magic, placing them in four different exits, all opposites of each others. Now she only needed to hide, but where? She looked everywhere, but nothing! The elf looked up at the ceiling, it had this deep arch. But how would she get up there? With her ice magic, Kiara created multiple platforms, reaching the top. Once there, she created a platform big enough to sustain her weight, but small enough to not drag attention, all the previous ones just vanish. She summoned her grimoire, everything was set, she was ready!

Kiara only waited a few seconds, and there he was, sprinting in his four paws, stopping in the center of the amphitheater. Probably wondering which the way the elf had taken. Kiara started to chant a spell, her voice echoed throughout the four different paths, the ones where the crystals were. This seemed to confuse the werewolf. How could he hear her in four different locations at the same time! Soon his amazing hearing located a fifth source, this one closer than the rest of the others, located right on top of him.
The Wolf looked up, finding the elf, but it was too late, she had finished her chant, jumping from the platform, and in a swift movement, she lowered her staff. A powerful pillar of wind pushed the Wolf's body into the ground, pinning him down. Kiara landed safely due to the strong wind sweeping through the floor.

He was vulnerable and unable to move. Kiara started to chant her sleeping spell, the crystals still resonating, enhancing the spell. Kiara could feel her magic reaching its limits, this powerful wind spell was burning the remains of her magic! She canceled all the previous spells, saving every little bit of magic, focusing only on the wind pillar and sleeping spell. After a few moments the spellsinger could see the Wolf's relaxing, while weakening the wind spell, she empowered the sleeping one. And so the werewolf fell asleep.
Kiara made it, but her vision was failing. Suddenly her grimoire and crystal staff disappeared, and the elf fell on her knees, her magic was critically low! In a last attempt to remain conscious, she summoned the crystals, canceling the magic link, in order to save the last bit of her magic. All that healing and wind spells, had drained her. It was too late, her head felt light, and her body hit the floor, it was a magic's withdrawal.
<"I just hope that... when he awakes... Jaken is in control... otherwise... I just lost the war. But why? Why one part protects me (Jaken), and the other, only sees me as food (Wolf)? Why obey the witch?.."> these were Kiara's last thoughts, as she looked at the sleeping beast. With this Kiara fainted.

 

[Adriwolf]

The Wolf slowly gained speed, a little walk and a short break was enough to get the Wolf's strength back on track. He kept tracking down his prey. He heard steps running. That was it! The elf probably had no tricks left, or if she had, he would be as focused as his savage mind allowed him to evade the prey's plan. The Wolf's snout slowly started salivate, going from a stealthy walk to a full sprint in four paws. His knuckles had healed already, but he could still feel the aching on them. He arrived on four paws at an amphitheater. If anyone looked up, they would see the cloudy and cold day. It was not snowing. But it was still cold. The Wolf sniffed around, trying to find something to might lead him directly to the elf, but the scent was not clear. He found himself at the center of the theater. Then, he heard something, his ears flopped upwards at these sounds. They were different from the others, it was some kind of chant. But the problem was, they were in coming from four different places at the same time. That made the Wolf confused. How could one prey be summoning 4 equal voices at the same time. Maybe the answer to this riddle was to focus on the strongest voice. The strongest voice was probably the one he was looking for. He enhanced his hearing sense, crouching down, head bowing down, closing his eyes and concentratin on his ears, they would take him to his prey. And they did. The voices were coming from his sides, but the strongest voice cam from above him, he looked up, and he saw her. The elf was there with her magical stick, moving her mouth while notes where coming out of them. The Wolf snarled. He then saw the elf jump down the stage. She had given up. She was comitting suicide, the Wolf was sure about it. The thought made him both happy and angry: happy, because he would finally eat the elf, but angry because he was not the one that would kill her.
The elf kept falling, but instead of dying due to gravity, the elf pointed at him with her magic stick. Next thing he knew, something crushed him to the ground. It was some kind of force that the Wolf could not fight. He was on the floor, with his back exposed to the sky, he tried to get up, but the force was too strong for him. The Wolf roared in desperation and anger. THAT LITTLE BITCH!!! She fooled him one more time!! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN???!!! He saw the elf landing safely on the floor. HOW DARED SHE??!! She was laughing at the Wolf!!!
The elf started to sing a lovely song. This made the Wolf even more angry. After fooling him for a lot of time and pinning him to the ground, NOW SHE WAS SINGING???!!! IN FRONT OF HIM??!! SHE WOULD DIE THE MOST HORRIBLE DEATHS ONCE HE GOT OUT OF THERE!!! But instead of trying to pull himself up, he started to feel drowsy. His efforts of trying to get out where slowly transforming into efforts of listening the elf's voice and the notes that came out of her mouth. The Wolf slowly did not stay focused on getting out. His muscles were relaxing, his eyes getting heavier at every second that passed. Whatever force that was pushing him down became more comforting, as if it was caressing his soft fur, rocking him to sleep. His respiration became more relaxed and serene. Everything was not worth it. He closed his eyes slowly as the last thing that he heard was the elf's lullaby.
The Wolf closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"This is remarkable."
"What is it?"
"She survived."
"What?"
"The elf survived, dear wolf. She neutralized the werewolf."
"What are you talking about?"
"The elf made a trap for the werewolf and he fell for it. She used objects to confuse the werewolf and made his senses almost useless. Remarkable!" the witch became silent for a moment "She knows how to take care of herself. If she survived a werewolf, she can survive almost anything." the witch looked at Jaken "I was wrong about her, dear wolf. Your forces are now balanced. She knows how to fight passively and you know how to fight aggresively... you two know how to fight."
"That means you will let me out now? Our 'forces' are balanced now. That means that we won't drag each other down. We will help each other like we have always done. Does that mean you will let me out?"
"Correct, dear wolf."
"How is she? Is she ok?"
"She is fine, but exhausted, however. She used physical and magical strenght. She fainted due to it. The werewolf had not harmed her, in fact, the werewolf harmed himself trying to get to her."
"Wake me up now."
"I am afraid you cannot. She used a sleeping spell to put the werewolf to sleep."
"Then how am I still talking to you?"
"Because I want you to know what she had done, how strong she has and will become. You two have deserved the explanation you are looking for. I will explain everyhting to you once you regain consciousness. Until later dear wolf."
With that, Jaken felt drowsy and dropped asleep.

Jaken was sprinting in his werewolf form through the forest when he caught something, a sweet scent. It was so sweet and delicious that he stopped thinking clearly. His only objective was now to hunt the source of the scent and keep it for himself. He sprinted faster, tracking down the scent. He jumped to a branch, scanning the area, and there it was: the source of the scent. A little elf wandering alone in the woods. She seemed scared, lost. Perfect. Jaken growled and threw himself at the elf. It was Kiara! Her face was one of pure fear. He thought on leaving her to be, but the scent.... the scent.... so sweet.... so hypnotizing. Before Kiara could say anything he dug his fangs on the elf's tender throat, tasting the sweet and warm blood on his snout. He ripped her throat apart, spilling blood over him. The werewolf heard the elf gurgling in her own blood, she tried to apply pressure on the wound, but he wouldn't let her. He dug his fangs again on her throat, squeezing on it. Tasting the flesh and blood, ripping her throat again. He sniffed deeply on her open body. The elf kept gurgling on her own blood. Werewolf and elf made eye contact before Jaken drove his claws into her chest, ripping out her heart on chewing on it, extracting the blood out of it. He looked at the elf again and even though her vocal chords were destroyed, Kiara gathered enough energy and air to give one last scream of agony and fear. Jaken howled at the full moon.
Jaken gasped for air as he woke up from his nightmare, sitting on the bed he was on. His breathing was accelerated and full of fear, it was fast. His torso was exposed to the world while the rest of his body was covered by sheets. He looked around, he was in a room of wood, with a fireplace by his side. After that, he looked around trying to find the elf he loved. She was on a bed next to him. His fear became so big that he started to sob, covering his face with his hand. Fafurion was on the same room as them but he was deeply asleep. He uncovered his body to find out that he was completely naked. Not even boxers. He was completely exposed. He looked at the door, there were a pair of clothes very similar to the ones he had before shifting. There was a bag and a note with the clothes. Jaken stood up, making sure that Kiara was still asleep so that she wouldn't see him like that. He tooked the note and read as he dressed up.

Unfortunately, dear wolf, your clothes were ripped apart when you transformed, please accept these clothes as a replacement, your equipment that you had was unharmed. As for the rest of your equipment, do not worry about it, your winged friend had most of it. Once the two of you are ready to leave, I will explain everything you want.

He ignored the bag with his equipment and Fafurion, going straight to Kiara's bed. He kneeled to it, grabbing her soft hand, caressing it. He could not help it. He started crying.
She was brave, she was strong, she survived an uncontrollable werewolf. But he almost killed her, and that nightmare did not helped him. Even though he was not in control, he couldn't help but to think that he was responsible for the fear the elf experienced. In fact, the last thing he saw before blacking out was the elf sobbing at his unwilling transformation. He cried even more, leaning his forehead on her hand.

"I am so sorry." he cried even more "I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. Please. Forgive me." he begged at the unconscious elf.

 

[Kiara]

Kiara was back at the little white flowers glade. Once again, the elf was sitting, staring at the mirrored lake reflecting the starlit sky. Then, she felt a presence at her back, she didn't need to look to know who that was.
"I smell prey! Want to play the game Chase and Bite thing!" said Wolf, approaching from behind, his snout entering on her's vision, over her left shoulder, growling in her ear.
"Leave the little one be, dear wolf. She is too tired for your rough games" Lamb said, entering the glade.
Kiara turned around, facing now both creatures, still seated on the grass. "Hello Lamb, Wolf." The elf greeted both, indeed she was too tired to even get scared over Wolf.
"Chasing is the best game in the world, and I always win!"
"She does not belong to us anymore."
"Grrr... All things are ours to take!"
"You know the..." Lamb did not have time to finish her sentence, being interrupted by Wolf.
"Words, words, la la la!"
"Are you imitating me? I'm hungry, I'm hungry, I'm bored, chase chase chase!" Lamb said in the same tone as the Wolf's, a teasing one.
"You get it now!" Wolf looked at Lamb making a surprised face, still messing with Lamb.
Kiara could not avoid, giggling a bit. It was the first time she saw the two of them interacting this way.
"You shouldn't be here Kiara. It's too early. The time to reveal what's in the shadows is yet to come."
"What do you mean, Lamb?" Kiara was confused. Some things would never change, the way they would speak in riddles.
Lamb looked at the full moon, and at the same time, Wolf's ears reacted as if he had picked up something.
"You need to go now, someone is calling." Lamb simply said, still admiring the moon. Kiara turned her head in the same direction as Lamb and Wolf.
"I don't hear anything." She said, looking back again, only to find that Lamb and Wolf were already gone. The elf felt a bit frustrated, she would never fully understand that two creatures. Kiara let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes for a second, letting go of her frustration.

As the elf reopened her eyes, she could feel them heavier and her vision was blurry. However, she could tell that she was no longer on the glade. Then a crying sound reached her ears. After some long hours, the elf was finally regaining consciousness.
"Where am I?" she asked, mainly to herself, she was still too disoriented. The moment she looked to her side, finally seeing Jaken in his human form, the elf woke up fully.
"Jaken!" She jumped at him, hugging him by his neck. "Are you ok? You are not hurt are you? Where is Fafurion? And where are we?" As the spellsinger finished her questions, she found the nargacuga sleeping not far from them.
She was happy that both of them were just fine. Tears started to cascade from her face. As a result, Kiara hugged the bounty hunter even tighter. It was tears of happiness but also of relief. After what she had just been through, she needed to let everything out of her system.
The spellsinger was still experiencing magic's withdrawal, although her magic was still very low, it was stable, no longer on a critical level, but her body would need some more rest to be able to regenerate enough magic power to end the withdrawal effect.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken did not even reacted when Kiara asked where she was, he kept crying in the elf's hand. It would take at least SOMETHING to snap him out of his state. Could someone blame him? He almost killed someone he loved while he could not help it, LITERALLY. He could not do anything to buy her some time or to stop the Wolf. He was trapped!! He left Kiara all by herself, practically left her to die!! That was unforgivable. After everything Jaken had told her: always protecting her, always taking the arrow for her, not letting anything happen to her, swearing that if something wanted to kill her, it would have to kill him first. After all that, he could have been the responsible for her death. And for some reason, that nightmare he had felt all to real, because he now knew what would happen if the Wolf ever caught her. But the Wolf didn't. Not back there. The elf defeated a bloodthirsty werewolf. She was smart and strong. Stronger than anyone he had seen before. This was not the first time someone had seen the Wolf. In another adventure, he had to unleash the beast in front of two other adventurers, but they escaped. They did not tried to fight the Wolf or neutralize it. She DID. She had courage, even if she did not know about it.

"Jaken!" She jumped at him, hugging him by his neck. "Are you ok? You are not hurt are you? Where is Fafurion? And where are we?"

Jaken ignored her questions and responded with a hug, this one tighter than any other he had given her. It was close enough to not let her breathe. "I'm sorry..." he sob-whispered in Kiara's shoulder "I am so, so sorry..." soaking the elf's clothing in tears "I didn't want to..." he whimpered, closing Kiara even more in his arms "I didn't want to kill you, I would never do such thing." if the elf had been talking during any of his dialogue, the bounty hunter would have probably ignored it "She made me. The witch made me. She forced my shift, she forced me to shift into the Wolf." he dug his head in her chest while he kept whimpering, like a small child asking for forgivness to his mother.
After that, Jaken gathered the courage to look at Kiara's face. His eyes were full of tears, his cheeks were absorbing the trail of tears that the bounty hunter had expelled. Beyond the physical aspect, his eyes were also full of sorrow, regret, sadness, but also, relief. She was ok. He sighed, letting go some of the force of his hug "Guess I understand how you felt all those times when I asked you if you were ok." he wiped the tears away "How could you ask me if I'm ok... when you were the one in danger? How can you be so worried about me even though I was the one who was TRYING TO KILL YOU? Now I understand."
He placed one of his hands on Kiara's cheek while giving her a smile of relief "You are strong. You managed to survive a werewolf. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not strong enough."
He kissed her.

 

[Kiara]

As the bounty hunter hugged her Kiara could hear him saying how sorry he was and that he didn't mean to hurt her. Her eyes widened a bit, before turning into a soft look. The elf snuggled her face in his neck, speaking softly in his ear, trying to reassure him.
"It's ok, everything its fine... I am fine. You don't have to say sorry, it was not your fault. If there is someone to blame here is that twisted witch. She is the one at fault here, not you." she said, while stroking his back, trying to calm him down.
This was the first time Kiara saw him like this, crying so hard, feeling guilty for something that he was not responsible. Seeing him like this it hurt her, and for the first time, Kiara felt a new emotion, she was upset, No, it was more than that, she was mad! Angry at the witch, but not because the witch tried to kill her. No. It was not in Kiara's nature to get mad at others for things they would do to her, in fact, she would just ignore and stay away from them. She was mad, basically for what the witch had done to Jaken, using him like this to achieve her goal, forcing him do the her dirty job and deal with all the guilt. Kiara would never forgive her for that!

Jaken dug his head on her chest, still crying. Kiara looked down at his black messy hair, placing a small kiss on it, then patting it gently, trying to calm him, patiently, while repeating her previous words, that everything was fine.
A few moments later, Jaken lifted his head, looking at her. Through his eyes, Kiara saw so many emotions. She placed her soft hand on his cheek, caressing gently while wiping a tear away. This only broke her heart even more. How dare did that witch manipulate him!? This damaged her way more than sending a bloodthirsty werewolf to hunt her down. But at least, now she could tell that he was regaining his composure. After letting out all that overflown of feelings.

"Guess I understand how you felt all those times when I asked you if you were ok." he wiped the tears away "How could you ask me if I'm ok... when you were the one in danger? How can you be so worried about me even though I was the one who was TRYING TO KILL YOU? Now I understand."

"I also do know now, why you would make me these questions. Back there, I couldn't understand, but now I do." she said, smiling a bit at him. Jaken placed his hand on her cheek, she could not avoid but to place her hand over his, snuggling a bit with her face, feeling his warm hand. That simple touch had so much power over her, making her to forget how mad she was with the witch. Then she heard something she was not expecting.

"You are strong. You managed to survive a werewolf. Don't let anyone tell you that you are not strong enough."

He kissed her. At that moment Kiara's eyes got full of tears, this was the first time that someone had told her that she was strong. She could not hold it, hiding her face on the man's chest, crying like a child, now it was her turn. All her life, the elf tried to get Hellius' approval, trying to prove him that she didn't need as much protection was he believed. Hearing Jaken say that to her, the man that she loved, it had the same emotional value as if it was Hellius saying that to her. The words she fought so hard and wanted to hear for so long.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken did not respond to Kiara's words, crying in her shoulder. He liked having Kiara snuggle to him, it made him feel relaxed, that everything was ok, that she would forgive him after the bullshit she had to go through. He appreciated every pat that Kiara gave him on his hair. If he was in his wolf form, he would most likely purr. But... maybe this was not the time to be in his wolf form. After everything she had to go through with THAT MONSTER. Maybe it was better to not transform for the next nights, let Kiara calm down. And it was for him as well. He would not bare to see the werewolf. He would not bare to see the creature that almost killed the person he loved the most. It would take some time for him to transform again into the werewolf he now hated.
And that witch. She made this. Even though she let Kiara live, she was still responsible for this. He wanted to make her pay. He wanted her to regret even thinking on using his werewolf form against the elf. But he couldn't. He was not the beast that the witch made him to become. He was BETTER than that. They would only get all the information they needed and leave her behind, not even a good bye. Just walk away and get to the next point of their adventure.

When Kiara dug her face to his chest, he dug his face on the elf's shoulder while letting some tears go. Now they were both crying. After what they had to go through, they deserved a moment to let it all go. Let every last drop of sorrow and fear out of their system. They embraced each other for a long time. The bounty hunter snuggled to her neck, sniffing her hair. It smelled sweet, a scent that relaxed him, made his heartbeat become steady.

When they separated from each other, the werewolf looked into the elf's teary eyes. "Are you tired?" he finally said "After running away from me... are you tired? Need some rest?" he looked at the sleeping nargacuga "Because I think that we won't go anywhere... again..." he wiped some tears away