A blast of wind sailed past Lilia, knocking her on her rear and stirring up the hair on the left side of her head. She sprang to her feet, breathing heavily. The loamy earth had a scent all its own, but Lilia smelled the leaves that the blasting wind stirred up most powerfully of all. "Again!", she yelled across the way. Ylfres nodded and complied. "Wind!" With that cry, a golden hue overtook Ylfres' fur, and collected in his snout. He whipped his head in a circle, then opened his mouth. Another blast of wind, but this time, Lilia was fast enough to smack the twister with her sword. The blade diced apart the formation of pressurized air, and it blasted trees on either side of her.
"Good, good.", Ylfres called, "But let's try something new." Lilia braced herself, blade at the ready. Sweat dripped down her body, soaking the leaf garments that the wolves had made for her. Her pulse pounded in her head, chest, and muscles. She gave herself a mental affirmation. "This time...", she whispered, "No games." Ylfres grinned, then called out, "Metal!"
Lilia's eyes widened as she watched the earth split open beneath Ylfres' paws. The schism lingered under him for only a few seconds before darting toward her, great spikes of shiny earth-metals jutting from within. The metal zipped toward Lilia faster than she could properly react, and it was all she could do to dive out of the way. As she clambered to her feet, another cluster of spikes split a sapling in twain on its way to her. "Use magic!", Ylfres commanded, "You must know in your heart that you can do it!"
Lilia deflected the gout of metal with her sword, but her feeble human child strength quickly gave way, forcing her to step aside. A third gout of metal formed at Ylfres' feet and came at her, and she had a thought. She focused in on that thought. It was fire. She thought about the heat of it, the bite, the destructive power, and then envisioned it flowing through her veins and out from her hand. She pointed a finger at the running chasm. "Flame!", she shouted. Her eyes briefly glinted golden, and a jet of white-hot fire rushed out from her finger. The metal hit it and liquefied almost instantly, pooling harmlessly halfway between her and Ylfres.
"I... I did it!", Lilia shouted, jumping for joy. "I used wolven magic!" As her feet hit the ground, a wave of fatigue overtook her and she found herself sitting down hard, fighting to stay conscious. Ylfres laughed heartily. "Worry not, Lilia.", he said softly as he walked to her, "Your body and mind are not used to wolven magic yet. Chosen though you may be, these ancient magicks will exhaust you until you have acclimated to them." He offered a paw, and Lilia took it. She was hauled to her feet, and gratefully leaned on the wolf. "So....", she panted, "I just have to keep using it, then?" Ylfres nodded. "Indeed. Come, let us rest for today."
Morning had seen the combat training completed for the day and Lilia utterly exhausted. The sun was beginning to make its way over the canopies, casting a network of glittering lights onto the forest floor. The color of the lights, however, was a bit off. A bit too red. All at once, fire descended from the heavens and the telltale glass-breaking sound of a cloaking spell wearing off sounded. A horde of dragons was above the forest, heading for the ground in chaotic file. Dragons and their forces, from the smallest drakes and human thralls to massive ancients, blotted out the sun as they staged their takeover of the wolven wood.
Rage awakened in Lilia. She hadn't felt this way in quite some time, and it overtook her with a suddenness and completeness that overwhelmed every other thought she could have had. She felt her hand gripping around the hilt of her blade without her command, and she flew at the nearest thrall. A single slice was thrown, and the poor man was split down the middle. She turned her attention to a drake that was singing her hair with weak flames. She fed it her blade, and as it choked and sputtered blood, a golden fist met its jaw and snapped its neck.
Lilia's eyes glowed with a powerful golden aura. The power she had tasted before, Ward's power, now flowed through her with abandon. It overflowed, issuing from her every pore. Her hair stood on end and flecks of her enemies' blood floated around her, making her a terrifying sight as she plowed through the battlefield. A death's head grin lit up her small face. Her eyes weren't visible anymore, only the golden light that poured out from them, illuminating her foes before her.
A scream could be heard, then a gurgling sound. Lilia descended upon her prey with vicious precision, ripping and tearing with her bare hands and knocking bones askew with her feet just as tellingly as she used her sword. The crackling of electricity sounded, coursing through her fists and feet. A veritable army of dragons fell upon her at once in an effort to put an end to what they saw as their greatest threat. Lilia only laughed.
The forces stopped short for a second and observed their crazed prey. Lilia was a sight to behold. A golden glow emanated from her entire body, and she was coated in the blood of her enemies. She bore nary a scratch herself, but dripped with blood nonetheless. Her head was thrown back in a hearty guffaw, and when she finished laughing, she gestured to her foes in waiting and they flew.
A smaller dragon was the first of the group to try her. It flew down on glittering scarlet wings and belched red lightning. Its elemental attack was easily sidestepped, and with one more quick step, Lilia was out of the sight of her assailant. The dragon whipped its head upon hearing a scream, and its eyes were splashed with the blood of one of its comrades. Lilia's golden sword descended, and with a snicker-snack, the dragon's head fell to the ground.
Lilia's sword seemed to grow, extending its range as it made a wide arc to bisect a green serpent flying down toward her. The arc continued closer to the ground, beheading a few human thralls with a single stroke. Ylfres and the other wolves gathered to watch. At this point in the battle, all eyes were on Lilia, and the enemies had focused their attention on her. No wolf had anyone to fight, save those who picked off the edges of the crowd around Lilia.
The young girl's teeth elongated, and they sank into the scaly spine of a large yellow dragon as she hopped on its back, seizing control. She pulled up, and the dragon responded by sweeping upward and away into the sky. Perfectly positioned, she craned the dragon down and bit hard. A spray of electricity arced over everything down below, and wolves scattered to get out of the way. Dragons, drakes, thralls, and more were hit by the blast, and fell convulsing to the ground. She pushed down harder, and the dragon divebombed, smashing its neck into the ground as she hopped safely off.
Before long, Lilia was facing down a lone enemy. A massive, ancient dragon stood before her. Its pearlescent scales glinted in the midday sun, refracting the blue of the sky and the orange of the nearby fires. Near its feet, the sickly crimson of a battlefield soaked in blood also appeared. The dragon's scaly face contorted in a sick mockery of a smile. "Ah, the wolfchild.", its booming voice thundered across the bloody plain. Its eyes moved up and down her body, sizing her up. "Now I can finish what I started." Lilia steeled herself, gripping her sword. "You mean..." The dragon's smirk got bigger. "Yes, small one. I destroyed that village trying to kill you before you could become a threat. All your loved ones are dead because of you."
Lilia's rage exploded in a new way. She was upon the dragon and tearing into its flesh in the blink of an eye. She batted aside a swipe of a massive claw with her bare hand, then ducked under a gout of silver flames to slash at the dragon's throat. She slid down under it, hacking at its soft underbelly. The dragon leapt away with a roar of alarm, and spouted flames at her as it flew up into the air.
Lilia darted to one side in a flash, avoiding the worst of the flames. "Tell me!", she shouted skyward, "What is your name? I would know the name of the one who took everything from me and may well end my life." The dragon laughed heartily. "My name is Vekeilth.", the creature thundered, "Remember it in the next world!"
Lilia smirked. "You've sealed your fate, lizard!", she called. The golden glow over eyes intensified. "Vekeilth...", she whispered, channeling the full might of the wolf god, "To the ground." A massive boom sounded, and the dragon was on the ground, stuck. Lilia ran to Vekeilth's head and punched it hard, rattling his skull. Another punch made contact, whipping his head to the side. It was followed by a kick, knocking a razor-sharp tooth into the back of his throat. Lilia lost control of her rage and began clawing and tearing at Vekeilth's face, turning him into a bloody mess of scales and hanging flesh. That loss of control was all Vekeilth needed, however, to overpower Lilia's magic and rip himself free. He began to rise on shattered wings.
"You won't get away from me!", Lilia screeched. She sunk her fingers, tipped with claws of golden light, into a nearby tree. As the dragon watched with horror, she climbed at a furious pace and leapt from the top of the canopy. The sheer power behind her jump bent the tree, and she hurtled toward him. It was all the creature could do to loose a blast of wind from his wings before Lilia was upon him, slicing and hacking away.
Vekeilth craned his neck to catch her in his teeth, but couldn't quite make contact. Instead, he ended up slamming the side of his head into her, sending her to the ground. Blood dripped heavily upon Lilia as she peeled herself from the forest floor, splattering down from above as Vekeilth bled out. He opened its mouth to say something, but only blood came out. Severely wounded, the dragon fled as Lilia made her way up the trees to attack again.
She landed on her stomach with a dull whump, unconscious. Ylfres stood over her, and began working a healing magick. As it sunk into her bones, he sent a mental message to other wolf tribe leaders. "This human girl has awakened to Ward's power and so much more. We must band together to help her, and rally behind her to take back what is ours."