The New Bond

Thirteen Years Ago

Kulni

I watched the rain fall into the trees from the entrance of the cave. The Claw Woods were the closest place in this broken realm that I had found that resembled my real home, and while the forest undergrowth was a bit too thick and the beast too under-leveled, it was my home for as long as it needed to be, and it would suit the pack fine.

Letting out a yawn, then flicking the few drops of water off of my ears, I turned, stretching out my senses at the thought of the wolves. I looked over them with something that felt a lot like pride. There were just under a hundred of them if the pups were to be included, and all of them were of new breed and blood that would strengthen her old pack when they returned. The crack of thunder that split the air startled some of them, but most were unfazed. What followed in the next second had all of them moving away from the cave exit.

“Kulni.”

My name being spoken in the common human tongue had me turning my head and letting out a rumble of pleasure. To very familiar figures no bigger than average humans stood at the entrance, but that mood fell away as I saw their expressions.

“Mom, Dad.” I greeted the pair happily as I made use of one of my rarely used skill to match my mother's form and size, which was a beastkin of the wolf species. There was always excitement when they came, but with gods as parents, it wasn't every century that you got to see them. I gave both a tight hug, which they returned. Talzo, my father and the god of trickery and truth, grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, a cough from mother stopped him. She was the more serious of the two and also was the reason for me being born as a wolf: Khyrie, the goddess of the hunt and mother of all beasts.

“We need to talk, daughter, and time is short. We can only touch upon the realm so much before it starts to fray; thankfully, Void is almost done, and this century will be the last before our return.”

Those words brought me up short: “So soon?” I was surprised. This was way ahead of schedule, to the point of dangerous.

Dad was the one to respond, “Even with under a third of the pantheon in this realm, the system is still split. You are over a thousand years behind its updates. There's even an entire attribute that's missing here.”

I winced. When the dexterity attribute had been split away from the endurance attribute, it had resulted in a lot of problems. “With hope, this will be the last time the system sees fit to do that,” I said, looking up at the cave roof before looking back to Mom.

“Why did you need to speak to me?” I asked. All of this news could have been sent to everyone who was a part of the project through the system, so there had to be something else.

Mom sighed. “Void has slightly altered the merging process to aid the realms. This created a rift between them, and while he couldn't communicate in that space, the systems merged there, and an event was created with a unique opportunity. While I can't say more about it, the gods are watching.”

“Seeing as you're speaking to me, I'm assuming this event isn't available to me?” I asked. All gods had been extremely limited in interacting with anything since the creation of the system, or at least that's what I'd been told.

Dad chuckled and nodded. “While you can't participate in the event, another opportunity is waiting for you. We've arranged for something else.”

I felt the ears on my head twitch. The time spent here had been boring as hell, besides the fights with the others and the pack. “What is it?”

“A family is fleeing from the empire, and they have begged the help of me. Getting asked for help from humans here is rare enough that I took interest.” Mom said, and the smile she had looked almost as bad as Dad's.

I groaned and let out a huff of annoyance. The empire was a thorn in my side. Their entire culture was built on greed and expansion.

“They plan to try to cross the desert, something foolish. However, if they get into the forest, I've agreed to give them safe passage though it.” Mom continued, and while she didn't say what she wanted, it was clear.

I gave her a glare, “Why should I aid their kind? The kingdom has elves at the least, and they treat their bonds well, its why I tolerate them.”

“Daughter, I know what's happened in the past, but these humans have nothing to do with it, and they've offered something quite valuable for their help,” Dad said, and I switched my glare to him but paused. Then, taking in a deep breath, I let it out.

“What have they offered?” I crossed my arms and tried to keep my head on straight.

“Their daughter,” Dad said

Out of all the things I expected, gold, enchantments, and magic, a human child wasn't one of them.

“A child?” I said, taken back.

“They're going into the desert. They know the chances are low of making it to the other side, and they don't want to risk her,” Dad said

“Why would I want a human child?” I tilted my head, and for the first time in a while, I couldn't see what game my parents were playing.

“She's human for now. If she were to grow up around you, I'm sure she'd have the option of becoming beast kin, and as to why, coming to this realm is the first action you've taken since his death. In the other realm, Wolfkin are a dying species almost as bad as the Foxkin. You've moped around for long enough. If you don't take action soon, you'll regret it later.” Mom's voice wasn't pleading; no God would plead, but I could feel the worry coming off of her. I did feel a spike of guilt. My whole reason for coming here had been to get away from the memories, but it had been a long ago. Maybe it was time to start moving on.

“What's her name, the child?” I asked after thinking it over. If I was going to raise a human, I should at least know that.

Mother looked to Dad with what I could have sworn was relief before speaking, “Her name is Aster.”