Chapter 301 - Unshackled

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In another one of those eerie moments that was happening far too often, Me and Matron Etyl shared a mirrored expression of incredulity. <> I echoed. Eliciting a boyish nod from the half-breed.

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<> Matron Etyl asked with an air of exhaustion.

<> Amun shrugged. <>

<> I wondered.

<> He waved the matter off with one hand and conjured his strange magic with the other, lifting the ground we were standing or sleeping on from the dead world to accelerate us to ludicrous speeds in seconds, all while keeping our feet planted to this patch of ground while our faces pointed down to the Mortal Plane. A dizzying orientation to say the least.

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<> Amun distantly replied.

<> Matron Etyl sneered as she gazed at the sleeping humans. <>

"Loup-Garou," Amun explained without doing so at all. His switching to the Common tongue only seemed to exacerbate our confusion. "Skoll and Hati were initially normal dire wolves. I turned them and about twenty other creatures into beasts of shadow by trapping them in my umbral storage dimension until they changed; just like Grandpa Azrael. When I awakened my divinity, those creatures became divine. But Skoll and Hati tried their best to deny the boons of divinity. So instead, they became celestials.

"Because of their initial ties to death and darkness, their souls split from their bodies after death and went on to possess these two." Amun jerked his chin at the siblings. "Alone, that would have made them quite feral. The beastly humanoid husks you saw would have been Skoll and Hati's new bodies, hardly able to talk and terrifying to any mortal to see them. So, I cursed them and their descendants until the end of time.

"Now, neither the siblings nor the wolves remain. They have fused into a shapeshifter with very specific weaknesses. Somewhat like vampires, they can pass their curse to another through virtue of a bite. They will become lesser versions of their progenitors, but they are not thralls, nor are they undead. They are Loup-Garou: Werewolves."

"That seems more like a blessing to me." I mused, looking over the siblings with newfound interest. Indeed, there were already a few changes. The boy was more tanned while the girl had pale skin. His flowing black hair had gold highlights, as did her hair have streaks of blue. Thawed and thick ice was spread beneath their bodies. But only the boy seemed to have fangs protruding from his slacked jaw. Then I caught sight of the rotund one, Blude.

She was staring at Amun as if they were talking, but his eyes remained poised forward while her expression changed from curious trepidation to relief, then to wonder as she looked back on the black shapes breaking the northern shores.

"Is it wise to open your ranks to those you have slighted?" I found myself laughing as the human settlements sprawled beneath us. But Amun answered without pause.

"The denizens of Shujen hated the monarchy. High tributes, constant war, and a low quality of life will do that to a society. As they say, anarchy is only three missed meals away from any civilization.

"More so, Zaraxus won't demand anything from them; nor will he govern them. He will, however, prey upon any corruption that spreads through the city, and he'll make certain no one attacks them. In turn, their trust in me will slowly increase as their fear of the undead diminishes and their quality of life improves.

"By the end of the year, that will yield ten times as many allies and recruits for my Legions than what we've seen today. Not to mention," he added with a raised finger, "the novice monks and those who use this place as a testing field will now have greater foes to fight during their Walks. The humans, goblins, and orcs of Shujen are weak, after all."

There was far too much logic behind that reasoning to be a coincidence. From the start, Amun only killed the guards and soldiers that attacked him. The civilians were left unharmed, if ungoverned or unprotected. And then there was his story of hearing whispers from these humans. Of increasing his standing in the eyes of the common peasant.

But… if that was his entire reason for coming here- for becoming a monk… I knew not what to think of that.

<> Matron Etyl pointed out. <>

<> Amun airily smiled.

Matron Etyl laughed heartily while my mind turned. <>

<> Amun snickered back, his finger raised to point out the blue rock floating high above. <> He paused, lowering his finger and his gaze to me. <>

<> I said with all honesty. <>

<> Amun nodded. <>

The pieces fell together for both of us at the same time. But our reactions could not have been more different. My eyes grew wide. Hers compressed into slits. <> She hissed.

<> Amun grinned smugly. <

<> He sighed, wiping the smugness away in a long breath. <>

<> I recoiled.

In turn, he gestured to the four children behind him, the two sleeping brutes, and, strangely, to me and him. <>

<> I laughed in disbelief. <>

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<> Etyl tilted her head, but I was certain Amun's gesture did not slip past her. On the contrary, I was sure this was meant to cover up that fact. Or, knowing her, to point it out.<>

<> He smirked.

<> I began. <>

<> He said, unrelenting. <>

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