Child of Wolves

Avira

Footprints.

Out here, well into the border? These definitely weren’t any hybrid’s, nor any animals. Heavy boots made these tracks, and there was clearly a small group.

It was Avira's duty to check this out. Hopefully it was just a misunderstanding, but if it wasn’t then there would be trouble. She stood up and sniffed the air, catching the group’s scent immediately. Her grey canine ears twitched, listening into the forest around her for any sign of activity. Nothing but the normal sounds of the woods. She stayed hunched over, keeping an eye on the tracks and following.

They made a very sloppy job of hacking their way through the brush. One had fallen into a mud puddle. They walked into a few traps set for the local game. Not very observant, that’s for sure. Probably too busy watching for hybrids to pay attention to the ground. They appeared to be heading back to the border. She cursed herself for not noticing until now.

The forest was, for the most part, a quiet place. Trails were rare. What little existed was overgrown. The wildlife this close to the border was normal. Deer, rabbits, the occasional bear. Only a small wolf pack, no chirons, no maned trunk-hogs, nothing really exciting. Still, living off the land was its own fun. Her main complaint about this place was how weak the Spirits were this close to civilization.

The sun was vanishing by the time she heard them and saw the smoke from their campfire rising in the air. They'd set up next to a riverbank, roasting fish and talking. Avira counted three.

Sneaking up carefully, she crouched in the bushes to look at who the trespassers were. They had light armor on, free from any colors but clearly military grade. Two had swords at their sides, one had… something else. Long, cylindrical, and hollow on one side. A firearm?

“I don’t know why we don’t just take over. Does the empire really fear a bunch of tribal beasts?” the scruffy man currently roasting fish asked his comrades, pulling the stick in and sniffing the food.

“Don’t underestimate them,” spoke another, a woman. “These beasts can be ferocious.”

“I don’t see it. I had a rabbit hybrid as a kid, meekest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah, a domesticated one. Ever fought a bear hybrid?”

He was quiet. The one with the firearm spoke up, grinning as he lifted his weapon. ”With one of these? One shot, that’s all you need. Bear, wolf, fucking mouse, doesn’t matter, they’ll either die or surrender.”

“Not everyone’s as cowardly as a mage, y'know,” the woman said.

“Ha! I guess you have a point.” The rifleman slung the gun over his shoulder.

“What I want to know is, why not just take over Axiam? That’s much easier than sneaking around to the border,” the scruffy man asked while staring into the stream of water flowing next to them.

“Better to go after the tribes before they know we’re here. Besides, most of the troops won’t be coming this way, provided the emperor can negotiate with those drainers so they let us through their waters.” The woman shrugged.

Avira wasn’t sure what to make of this. Were they talking about a full scale invasion? She spoke about drainers. That was slang for the water elementals of the eastern desert nation. Was Drima getting involved? This was not good, not at all. The weight of the situation laid heavy on her, but she had a job to do. Avira slipped her clawed gloves on, checked to make sure her knife was in its place, and waited.

The opportunity came to her an hour later. The one with the firearm stood and went downstream to take a leak while the others were facing towards the river, away from her. Perfect.

Avira weighed her options between going after the one that had left or the other two, but seeing the bare necks of two people who had no idea she was there was too tempting. She exited the bushes and held her knife in an ice pick grip. It was usually just for skinning animals, but it could be just as effective for this. A few careful steps forward and she was right there, blade raised to strike.

#

Valisa

After their campfire chat and a nice fish dinner, Moreno took his rifle and stepped away to take a leak. Valisa watched him go as she stood up to stretch. She grabbed her water skin and walked to the riverbank; Uto, being reminded of his own thirst, decided to join her.

“Moreno sure has grown cocky ever since they gave him a gun.” Uto cupped some water in his hand and had a drink. Thankfully Moreno went downstream.

“You're telling me. He's been lording over us this whole trip. Acts like he's a higher rank than us.”

“Well us common soldiers don't have much to brag about. And they are treating him special lately. He might be due for a promotion.”

“Nonsense. I pull more weight than him every day,” Valisa scoffed

“Yeah, but we don't exactly have many female captains, if you get me.”

“Hmph. They'd better start recognizing the accomplishments of women soon, in any case. It's a new era, we're not powerless fools being lorded over by mages and elementals anymore.”

“Good luck with that, then. Me, I've got nothing to prove. As long as I have enough to live and get to fight some hybrids, I'm all set.”

“Nothing wrong with wanting a simple life, I gue— ” She turned her head to him, and the words died in her throat as she saw her.

A woman; dark skin, blonde hair, wolf ears and tail. A hybrid with a knife raised to strike at Uto’s unsuspecting back. “Behind— ” Those words died, interrupted by the blade of the beast girl striking down with lightning speed and embedding itself in his neck.

His eyes opened wide. A bubbling sound escaped him as he weakly reached up for the blade, feeling it before collapsing. Crimson blood leaked from the hole now open in his neck.

“Fuck!” Valisa yelled, having drawn her blade in the time it took for the life to leave Uto’s body.

A swipe of Valisa's sword made her attacker step back without pulling the knife out, though she looked just as threatening without it. The hybrid raised two gloved hands, fingers tipped with sharp metal claws. Not enough to threaten an armor-clad knight, but she had left her helmet at the fireside like a fool.

The hybrid charged at her, giving feral snarls with a wild look on her face that sent chills through Valisa and almost made her freeze up. Valisa gave a horizontal swing of her blade, the tribal diving under it with skill. She turned her blade and swung downward, not seeing how the beast could hope to dodge or block. Instead of doing either, the hybrid parried the blade with her gloved hand, blunting the momentum and grabbing the steel itself.

“What!?” Valisa yelled out, almost swearing she could see a grin on her opponent's face before an impact on her side sent pain rocking through her body. Valisa's eyes opened wide, her entire body feeling like it had been struck by lighting after that punch square in the liver. It felt like she had been struck with a hammer, shock so great her sword was falling before she realized. Releasing the blade, the beast slashed her claws down the scout’s face. Valisa screamed as four cuts tore her flesh open, a steady flow of blood streaming down as one eye went dark.

Valisa grit her teeth, realizing how much danger she was in. This beast was about to kill her. She couldn’t let this be her end! She surged forward with renewed energy, surprising the hybrid who fell backward. Valisa blindly struck her, the only good eye she had covered in blood.

The hybrid struggled hard, surprising strength combined with flexibility that let her get out from under Valisa, a solid kick knocking the soldier away. She landed on the still warm corpse of her former comrade.

The beast grabbed her neck, metal claws on her gloves digging in. In a panic, Valisa reached back and gripped the handle of the knife buried in Uto's neck, driving the blade between her attackers rib cage with all the strength she could muster. The tribal released her and stumbled back. Valisa grinned, managing to open one eye to see a fist flying at her face. Her vision went black.

#

Avira

Avira grunted in pain, holding her side. This was a bad wound, and the fact that the blade was still in her was the only thing keeping her from bleeding out.

She would have finished the woman off, but a rustle in the forest stopped her. The last scout had come back. A loud crack rang through the forest, the tribal tossing herself back but not quick enough to avoid the bullet. It grazed her shoulder and gouged through her flesh. Bullets hurt way too fucking much. It burnt intensely, almost blindingly so. Reminded her of the time she fought that fire elemental.

She didn’t stay down for long. Those guns took a few seconds to reload. Not enough to reach him in time, but enough to get away. She stole one glance at her shooter, a bald man with a mustache and a prominent scar on his forehead. Avira made a note to herself to remember him.

Before the man could reload she jumped into the river, the cold a shock to her system. Avira let the current take her downriver, noticing the red cloud forming. Now that her adrenaline was gone, her wounds hurt like hell. Her vision began to get hazy as she felt her side where she'd been stabbed, only to be met with the lack of a knife.

That explained all the blood as well as her sudden loss of strength. This injury was in a very bad place. “Oh, shit,” was all she could mutter before blacking out.