<•Species: Werewolf•>
I looked at the person closely, the first and most obvious thing I noticed is he fell from the top of the cliff. Considering the distance, he could have gotten extremely hurt or died. He doesn't seem significantly harmed though. I lightly poke him and he groans. He opens his eyes and suddenly jumps up, looking around confused. "What happened?" He says as he looks up the cliff. He looks at me and jumps back, startled. "Hey little guy, what might you be doing all the way down here?" He says as he comes over and attempts to touch me.
"Don't call me "little guy"! You're lucky you aren't dead, werewolf." I growl. He pulls his hand back surprised. "Oh. . . You can talk. Whoops." He says as he turns, even more confused. "Whelp, goodbye. Oh, there are hunters back that way." I say, gesturing back the way I had come from as I start trotting onward. "So where are we going? Are we finding a place to hide?" He asked as he walked behind me. "No, I'm looking for someone. He lives in the southeastern part of the second level, he's a big ol teddy bear." I reply, sensing his unease.
As we walked, I noticed the rays of sunlight peeking through the clouds seemed to be fewer than normal. I could see that it was getting close to dusk though. After some time we heard a screech somewhere over the gray dunes, and I saw Blasts of fire start appearing. We sped up, as it seemed the two dragonoids were moving closer to us in their fight. We slowed down as their screeches faded. we were nearing my destination. As we reached the wall, I looked up at the sky and waited. After a few minutes, the werewolf who had sat down as well asked "So what are we waiting for?"
"I'm waiting for one of the harpies. I assume you've met one?" I replied. "Yes, they were nice. She flew off in a hurry after we heard a loud call. Anyways, I never did get your name." He said, his tone completely changing. "Shadow. What's yours?" I said. "I'm Lýcos, Nice to meet ya." "Nice to meet ya Wolf," I replied. Lýcos seemed surprised for a second. "Seriously though, where are they?" I said as I stood back up, looking at the sky. I watched Lýcos pull something out of his hair, I couldn't see it though, but whatever he was doing, he soon gave up and put the mysterious object back. "Are there any other ways to get up there?" He said as he stood up.
"Not that I know o-" I was cut off as a purple aura covered Lýcos and then me. We started floating up, it was extremely wobbly. After a few seconds, we were at the top of the cliff, upon looking up, I could see 2 silhouettes on the edge of a hole in the clouds. The shorter of the two seemed to sit. I squinted but they didn't get any easier to see, they seemed to be observing us though.
<•Species: Harpy, GreyClaw subspecies, Godkin•>
<•Species: ERROR!•>
I turned away from them and looked at Lýcos again, he looked surprised, and I guessed that he hadn't seen them yet. "Let's move Wolf," I said as I walked deeper into the small forest, after a few minutes we left the forested area and entered a large plain. I looked out and couldn't see who I was looking for, something did catch my attention though, a small group of strange brown animals in the middle of the area grazed on the gray grass, they seemed extremely weary though. Lýcos sneezed suddenly, making me jump. "HOLY- TELL YOUR NOSE TO SHUT UP!"
I looked back at the animals, a couple had looked at us but didn't seem that bothered by our presence and went back to eating. "So what are we waiting for?" Lýcos said. "Nothing, I can see what I was looking for now," I responded, gesturing to a large gray object behind the animals. "A rock?" Lýcos said. "Not a rock. COBALT! YOUR ILLUSIONS DON'T TRICK ME!." I yell, and all the animals turn toward us.
"You called me?" A deep voice said from behind us. I jumped, caught off guard as the large gray bear walked groggily out of the forest. "Hu-Huh? But I thought you were. . . Wait, Those are real animals? "Of course they are, I'm not smart enough to make up a complete species. I found five of them around a year ago and started defending them, now they're ten." Cobalt said. I noticed that there were only seven here
"What are they?" Lýcos asked.
"I believe I heard a human call them Versetherus, not sure though. Anyways, WHY ARE YOU HERE!" Cobalt said, changing to a more threatening stature. "We need help getting out of GreyClaw. It isn't safe for me here anymore, humans attacked me at my den with the help of my family. Also, I don't sense the presence of most of the harpies."
"Hm. I felt it too, theirs but one left in the forest. Earlier today, around three hours ago if I'm correct, their auras disappeared. A little after that, I saw a frost demirus fly over one of my main berry locations. I'm quite sure we're being hunted, and I have no idea why." Cobalt says as he walks between us toward the Versetherus. He walks up to the animals and sits. They all walk towards him and he opens his paw, which is full of berries. They eat the berries as he keeps talking.
"These are the females and the cubs, the full-grown males wandered off around a week ago and are in another nearby field. Also, the cubs are showing signs of adaptation already" he said, pointing to gray stripes running down the Versetherus cubs' backs, along with markings on their faces. I looked at Lýcos and he looked like he knew something we didn't. He was staring at us in concern and confusion. "What's wrong?" I asked him as he continued to stare at us. Cobalt turned to look at him as well.
"Y'all seriously don't know? The king of Great Ridge declared war against Hellspine, and as such giants in Centaria are hunting, capturing, and killing demons, a god got involved recently as well and now godkin are being targeted. The king also managed to Ally with Kelthenta to check boats and Aircraft and capture demons traveling out of nations, next, they allied with Crestentio to help hunt demons down, In return Crestentio was permitted to have a colony on Centaria. it is believed that they don't kill every demon or godkin they find, and it is rumored they are being sent to a foreign empire from another planet, I don't know though." Lýcos explained.
"I thought the king was beloved by everyone, why would he do that?" I asked, confused. "The last king was, around a year ago he was slain in the kingdom's annual festival of the sun after being challenged by his son, which happens to also be in exactly a week." Cobalt looked at me in realization. "What, what's wrong?" Lýcos asked, seeing us stare at each other.
Cobalt started, "Around 50-ish years ago, a giant in a black robe started showing up in GreyClaw once a month. Every Time we asked who he was, he said he was the king. He would come and take some of the plants, and then the rest of that day he would interact with random creatures in GreyClaw. We called him the "Drake Tamer" due to the way he interacted with them specifically. Drakes are normally extremely territorial, they don't attack for no reason though. If you have no desire to harm or kill, they will leave you alone, excluding in spring, that's their mating season and the males are fighting a lot. Though since a few years ago, it's gotten better. If I'm correct it was some time after that Morphling was dropped here by that shi- sorry, I'm starting to rant. Oops"
"Anyways, to the point, the giant stopped showing up a year ago, and since then, every month a gold wisp shows up and floats around, then vanishes at dawn," Cobalt said. "We haven't seen it this month though," I said, then I froze. I was still staring at Lýcos. I could sense something behind us, Cobalt looked at his Animals and saw they were all looking towards the wood behind us. We both turned around. I could see the silhouette of two humanoids. One unsheathed a sword slowly, the other had a staff.
The one with the sword suddenly charged at us. "RAAAAAAAH!" He yelled as he did so, Cobalt suddenly huffed and then roared at the small giant. I watched as Cobalt smacked the giant right as he was in range, sending him flying. The giant's sword fell to the ground. I noticed it wasn't one of the people who attacked me earlier, he wasn't human. He was smaller than most of the giants I had seen. The one in the tree line gasped and was about to run over to him, but Cobalt growled again louder.
"PTT- AHAHAHAHAHA! DUDE, YOU KNOCKED HIM OUT, HE DONE!" Lýcos laughed loudly. The giant lay on the ground for a few seconds, then stood back up, grabbing his sword off the ground while Lýcos was behind us still laughing. I noticed all the versetherus had moved away, but remained in the field. "Ow," the giant said as he rubbed his forehead, or attempted to. He was completely covered in armor.
"I'm surprised his little armor could withstand that," Cobalt said to me, completely ignoring him. He seemed to be getting more frustrated and he charged us again. I knocked the sword out of his hand with my thagomizer and then wrapped my tail around his leg, tripping him. He ate dirt, and Lýcos started laughing louder. Suddenly a white force knocked the three of us away from the giant.
"OOF-" Lýcos yelled as he went flying straight into a tree. Cobalt was the least affected and was able to grip the ground, he was just pushed back a bit. On the other hand, as the lightest in the group, I went flying high into the air, I could see out into the dunes of the third layer, and I would have sworn I saw something white heading straight our way, I didn't have time to see it though. I yelped as I came falling back down.
I landed on Cobalt's back, he turned his head to look at me in confusion before turning again. We looked back to see the giant picking up his sword again, I could see some blood leaking from the mouth plate on his helmet. "BROTHER, I think it's a good time to retreat!" The figure in the tree line spoke, I could make out their voice as female. "NO LORRA, I CAN DO THIS!" He responded. I noticed the top of the staff that Lorra was holding was glowing white, indicating it was her who used that blast magic. I hopped down off Cobalts' back, then suddenly the magic user shot a green orb of magic at her brother, then a red one. He froze for a second before charging at us again, he gleamed with a red aura.
"HE'S BEEN STRENGTHENED, WATCH OUT!" I yelled to Cobalt as he readied himself. The massive bear swung at the giant that was only a little over three-quarters as large. The giant ducked under his paw, and then swung his sword at Cobalts' chest, but was hit by Cobalts' other paw, knocking him away again slightly. He still stood though. I snuck to the side, trying to get out of the giant's line of sight, he charged Cobalt again, and I was just about to charge him when a small bolt of lightning was shot just in front of me. I turned and snarled at Lorra. I started sprinting toward her dodging past another lightning bolt. She yelps as I jump at her ducking down.
I snatch up her staff from the air, flying over her crouched body. As I turned back around, the wooden staff locked in my jaw, I saw her stand back up and turn to me. "HEY!" She yells as she runs towards me completely forgetting how dangerous I am. I decide to make this a little fun as I turn and run deeper into the woods. "GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-!" She yells as I duke her and continue the game of keep away. As I run back into the small field. I notice Cobalt still fighting the giant, and I can see the magic starting to wear off, making the giant move slower. "GIVE ME THAT!" Lorra says as she grabs the other end of the staff. My grip doesn't give as we fight over the long stick.
I let go suddenly as I heard a roar from above us and a strong gust of wind, I turned and dug my claws into the ground as the wind got stronger and I almost flew away again. I then heard two loud thuds and the wind stopped. I look up and freeze, and then duck down as a large white tail swishes past me and I hear another roar. I slowly start to back up towards the tree line but something is placed on the back of my neck, preventing me from moving at all. I watch as the small white dragonoid slams its tail on the ground where I had been before charging Cobalt "Gotcha now little guy!" Lorra says from above me. I turn my head slightly and see that she has the top of her staff keeping me down.
"Let me go!" I growled "No!" She replied I looked back at the small dragonoid, noticing it had a rider, and there was also another larger giant I hadn't noticed before. The latter was directly holding cobalt away from Lorras brother who was slouched over, the buff had completely worn off leaving him exhausted. "BLADE, LORRA!" The person atop the dragonoid yelled. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD THE TWO OF YOU ABOUT ENGAGING TARGETS BY YOURSELVES!"
The dragonoid turned towards Lorra and me. I continue to try to pull my neck out from under her staff to no avail. "Ms. I'm trying to be nice, I don't want to hurt you but if you don't let go, I wi-" I was cut off by the Dragonoid leaning towards me and roaring in my face to shut me up, I snarled back in response. I could see Cobalt having a rough time with his friend, and I noticed the giant was just as tall as opposed to "Blade" being barely to the bear's shoulders. Something then suddenly clicked in my head. "WAIT, A FROST DEMIRUS? IN CENTARIA?" I yelp as I look back at the Creature still glaring daggers at me. A demirus, or demi-dragons are dragons but a lot smaller, bred by giants as mounts and pets.
"OH HELL NO!" I yelp as I try harder to get the Staff off my neck. Lorra then put more pressure down on the staff, and I froze, unable to breathe for a second. She was being surprisingly gentle but she was showing that if she had to, she could hurt me. I turned glaring back at Lorra again, but I was also looking for something else. Her skin, I hadn't noticed it before because she was in the darkness, but it was pale. She was also only a meter or so bigger than a normal human, and so were the rest of the giants here. "You're all frost giants?" I say even more surprised. "Bag up the Fefinian Lorra. Jeruaga, hurry up. Blade, for the Orbs' sake, stop Standing there, and go help your sister." The Frost giant atop the demirus said. I couldn't see him due to the lizard in my face still but I could tell he was the leader of the group.
Blade turned toward me and started walking over to us. He sheathed his sword as a muzzle was thrown at him, along with a metal cuff for my Thagomizer, they did their research. I growled, "Yeah but no. WOLF ARE YOU GONNA MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL OR ARE YOU GONNA SLEEP THE WHOLE TIME!" I yelled. As if on cue, I watched as Lýcos' figure rose from the ground across the field. A sudden wave of pressure hit us, and everyone froze and turned to him. He stood in the dark for barely a second before the clouds parted above and light flooded the entire field. I couldn't see his eyes, but I could see a grin spread across his face. Cobalt backed away, the unease in the air apparent. Blade pulled his sword back out and the demirus growled loudly.
We all heard a loud crack sound then another and two more as black mist started to cover lýcos as he shifted. As the mist dispersed, his form even gave me chills, his fur was mostly black, excluding a gray X across his chest, his 4 arms all hung down limply, and his eyes glowed green, a clear sign something wasn't right. His size also changed to Be a little taller than Blade. He looked around at everyone, and a realization struck me. "Cobalt, stay out of his way, he was unconscious, he can't distinguish friend from foe!" I said through telepathy. I then switched my target. "Wolf! Attack the frost giants and Demirus, don't attack the GreyClaw fox and bear. DO NOT KILL ANYONE!" I kept the thought to the Lycan quieter, at the moment he was as smart as a child, so this would probably backfire heavily, but so be it.
"KEEP HOLD OF THE FEFINIAN LORRA! Get ready you two." The demirus's rider says to Blade and Jeruaga. Cobalt continued to back away from Lýcos as his eyes darted through the entire group. His eyes landed on me. He stares at me for a couple of seconds, then suddenly disappears. I blink confused then hear a snapping sound and the pressure on my neck is lifted. Lorra gasps as she falls sideways, I sidestep and she just barely misses me. As Lorra sits up, she picks up the two pieces of the staff, which had been snapped in half. I looked at Lorra who looked like she was about to cry, and then I turned and bolted over to and on top of Cobalts' back.
Looking around, I finally get a look at the guy on the Demirus. He like Lorra and unlike the other two giants wasn't wearing a full set of armor, instead, he had a black shirt, a white leather strap across his chest running over his shoulder, with a bow hooked on his back. The bowstring was currently not attached, he wore a black pair of pants that had straps attached to the demiruss black leather saddle. The saddle was held firmly in place by multiple bands that wrapped around its chest, wings, and legs. I noticed everyone had turned to look behind Lorra, there stood the Lycan, his eyes still glowing an eerie green.
"Weren't his eyes red before, what happened?" Cobalt whispered to me. "Yep, he's still unconscious, this isn't him, it's "The Wolf", I told it to only attack the frost giants and demirus, not sure if it will listen to me though, that's the thing about spirits isn't it, sometimes they do the exact opposite of what you ask. Anyways, stay on guard Cobalt." I said telepathically to him. I looked back up towards the Lycan and noticed it was staring at me. Did I accidentally let it hear me too? No, it's just looking at me. Jeruaga moved towards it suddenly, he had a large battle axe, which he originally wasn't using against Cobalt, but now had it out. He wore armor similar to Blades.
As the giant charged the Lycan, it ducked under a swing of his axe and then punched him in the stomach with all four of its arms. I heard the giant grunt as he stumbled backward clutching his stomach. Blade leaped at it, attempting to get it away from his sister who was still on the ground staring at the broken staff. The Lycan looked up and grabbed the blade mid-swing seemingly uncaring about the blood now leaking from its hands, it kicked Blade away and threw the sword to the ground. The demirus who had Been held back by its rider up to this point finally did something and charged at the Lycan. It responded by diving under the Dragonoid but was then hit by its tail. The Lycan flew into the air before being engulfed in a purple aura and being quickly brought back to the ground.
I looked up to see that we had an audience, I still couldn't make out the two of them but I could tell one was one of the harpies. I turned back to the fight, both Blade and Jeruaga were fighting The Lycan at once. I noticed the demirus open its mouth and a white light in the back of its throat. "MOVE!" I told the Lycan through telepathy, its eyes flicked toward me then toward the demirus. It snarled and then jumped up and kicked off Jeruaga's armor, grabbing Blade and throwing him at a nearby tree. A second later, the spot it had been standing in while they were fighting was covered in ice. The demirus turned toward him and roared, it responded by growling back.
The Lycan charged at the demirus, who responded by swiping at him with its talon. The Lycan grabbed and held onto the dragonoids talon, biting down on its arm. It roared ferociously before prying him off with its other claw and throwing him at the rock in the middle of the field. Again a purple aura covered him and he came to a stop midair but didn't float down like before, a chill ran down my spine and I looked up to see there was only one figure now, and it wasn't the harpy. Something sped past the group into the forest, and I looked toward where it had gone, I slowly moved towards Cobalts' head, scanning the treeline, and then I saw it, she was clinging to a tree.
"Cobalt, her eyes . . . Isn't that. . ?" I stopped. "Yes, the youngest was the only one with purple eyes last I remember, what happened to her sis-" cobalt started before I cut him off. "HER MOUTH IS OPENING!" I yelped before I attempted to cover Cobalts' ears with my paws. I was hit with the full force of the screech though, I whined as my ears rang, I looked up to see most of the giants covering their ears. The demirus had its mouth agape and was swinging its head around wildly. It looked like it was screeching as well, but I couldn't hear anything. The demirus's rider was covering his ears while attempting to calm his mount down, and Lorra was still on the ground crying, her face buried in the dirt.
I noticed Blade had fallen to the ground and was attempting to tear his helmet from his armor to cover his ears, Jeruaga stood there like nothing was happening, he didn't even look phased, the Lycan also didn't look at all phased and before I could even blink, he rushed at Jeruaga, I noticed the giants' grip grow stronger on its axe and I realized it was waiting for this. I attempted to use telepathy to tell it to stop, but my mind was too hazy and it didn't go through. Right as the Lycan was a few feet from Jeruaga, he swung his axe at the Lycan.
Its eyes locked with the axe as it started to come down straight for it, and it tried to dodge, but it was too close, the blade went straight into its left shoulder but stopped before it could go any farther as all four of the Lycans arms shot up and grabbed the handle. He ripped it out of the giant's hands, pulling it out of its shoulder and tossing it aside. I noticed the black blood leaking from its shoulder. I shook my head, attempting to get the ringing to stop. It went away slowly, and I was able to hear a bit again.
I didn't hear the screeching anymore, and I uncovered Cobalts' ears. I looked up again to see Jeruaga kick the Lycan, sending him toppling backward onto his stomach. I dizzily jumped off Cobalts' back, as he charged at the still disoriented demirus. I made my way over to Lýcos as his form got smaller. He was shifting back to normal, the large cut in the Lycans shoulder got a bit smaller as lýcos' form took hold, the black blood on the ground turning red as he shifted. I turned toward Jeruaga as he stepped toward us, snarling at him. He froze before he stepped to our left towards his axe which lay on the ground.
I lunged at the weapon before he could grab it, dragging it away from him, he stopped and stared at me as I did so. he reached for it again slowly, and I responded by letting out a loud growl, I could feel something primal shoot through me as my hair stood on end. He stood up straight, stepping back. He continued to stare at me for a second before turning and walking around me towards the demirus and its rider, I noticed that the demirus was fighting with Cobalt again, though it was mostly just claw swipes and growling, the demirus's rider had gotten off it and was with Lorra, who was still on the ground crying. It looked like he was trying to calm her down.
I watched as Jeruaga walked between Cobalt and the demirus and started clapping his hands, he looked at the demirus, then made a motion with his hand. The creature looked puzzled for a second before it huffed at Cobalt, turned around, walked toward the rider and Lorra, and lay down. He then walked over to Blade who looked like he had passed out trying to take off his helmet. He picked blade up over his shoulder and walked over to the rest of his group, dropping Blade on the grass lightly. I looked at Cobalt as he walked towards me, he looked a little confused.
"Oi, why did you do that? You didn't need to protect me like that," He said. "Better than doing nothing," I replied. I felt something move beneath my back leg and moved as Lýcos stood up. "Son of a- what the hell happened, where's my shirt, and why do I have a chunk missing out of my shoulder!" He said groggily as he fell back down to a sitting position. "Well-" I started but froze as a shadow fell over me, I Launched around to see Jeruaga standing over me.
I growled again and batted at his hand as he reached for me. He grabbed me by the scruff before I could move out of the way and picked me up as I continued to growl at him, he lifted me to his face and I stopped growling as I saw his golden eyes look back at me through the slits in his helmet. He stared back at me for a moment before placing me to the side and picking up his axe. He hooked it onto his back before he looked at Cobalt and patted him on the head lightly. Cobalt looked shocked, not even 15 minutes ago he was fighting this giant, and it was patting him on the head like a pet.
Jeruaga then looked down at Lýcos who didn't seem all there at the moment, he looked like he was about to sleep for about 15 hours straight. Jeruaga turned back to his group and looked like tapped the Demirus rider's shoulder. He looked like he was staring off into the treeline, then I remembered and I followed his gaze, I could see her. She was on a tree branch curled in a ball, I couldn't see her face.
The demirus rider looked up at Jeruaga, who then made a hand jester, which the demirus rider then responded to by nodding and waving his hand. Jeruaga then reached into a satchel on the side of the demirus and pulled an object out before turning towards us and walking over. And reaching a hand out towards Lýcos who took it reluctantly, he pulled Lýcos up before dumping a bottle of green liquid on his shoulder and stepped back. Lýcos yelled and jumped back, looking at his shoulder as it healed completely.
Jeruaga turned and walked back toward his group as he pulled out another bottle and dumped it into the headpiece of Blade's armor. Blade shot up coughing, "I thought I told you not to dump those on me like that, it gets my armor soggy!" Blade yelled. "I thought I told you to stop ignoring orders." The demirus rider retorted from his spot, he was still sitting, watching the harpy. I looked back in the treeline and noticed she had popped her head out, her purple eyes were glowing in the darkness. She was staring at Lýcos.
End of Chapter 4