Demon Wolf

Wolf watched Fiona and Ronit leave, still considering his situation. He needed local currency. Gold and platinum he carried were useless, unless smelted. He had scores of potions, nubs, and some raw materials; enough to keep fusingcube running for half a year, making more elixirs. 

“Young hero, listen to me—” Mia tried to catch Wolf’s attention. However, he ignored her plea.

Acutely aware of Kira’s presence and discomfort, he observed Fiona’s lieutenants stuff a rag into Mia’s mouth, strip her naked and bind her with leather cords in a display Wolf found eerily well practiced.

Scars riddled Mia’s body, and a fresh pink patch below her left breast joined their ranks. Despite her blood-loss, the woman brimmed with vitality. Based on the wrinkles around her eyes, Wolf estimated Mia was fifty, but she was fit; her physique could have passed for late twenties or early thirties.

When Bridget confiscated her holdingring, she handed it to Wolf without uttering a word. He ignored Mia’s pleading gaze and set off to claim the other foxes’ holdingrings. He had a feeling finding a path home would cost him an arm.

Maybe I should ask for my share of nubs once they harvest all these corpses? Where else can I get my hands on tradable assets? Money I have is useless, unless I melt the coins. No, I can pretend I raided Treasure World and got them that way. Since the rifts are open, nobody would doubt it and someone somewhere is certainly collecting exotic coinage.

Wolf hardly noticed the mournful wails and the path of destruction he tread. Going through his holdingring’s contents and searching for items he could barter occupied his mind. Other than nubs and potions, he only found the goods he looted from Bear Tribe’s warriors.

That’s nowhere near enough for my needs. He thought for a moment, considering what he could kill and loot nearby. That Lindworm is the most valuable asset around. If I understood everything correctly from my chats with Kira, a Monster Beast at the middle stages of Blood Saturating translates to the fifteenth Order back home, give or take an Order or two.

He glanced at the shy girl escorting him through the ruined tents and around the mangled corpses. Well, his kills were the disfigured messes. Foxes dealt with their enemies cleanly, in silence.

Hare’s Burrow is along the way. I can escort Kira safely and leave with a clear conscience. They can’t expect me to babysit them until I die. Wolf closed his eyes and focused on himself, thinking of abandoning Kira. Nothing shackled his heart. He made no unkept promises, and he was free to go. If Kira died and Hare Tribe got wiped out after his departure, it had nothing to do with him.

Their troubles were their own, while he had his own circumstances. I wonder when will I see Sky?

***

After breakfast, Hare Tribe army broke camp, taking with them nothing but their tents and provisions. Wolf’s heart ached because they left a veritable mountain of nubs behind, but he lacked the time to extract them personally, and the barbarians had immediate problems.

Fearing the worst, Fiona and Ronit split their force in two. One group would be the two of them, Mia, Wolf, and Kira. Second group was the remaining Hare Tribe warriors, lead by Bridget. If everyone was healthy, Hare Tribe’s army could cover the distance in a day. But with wounded, the return trip would take days.

“I’m not carrying her,” Wolf shook his head when Fiona said he should carry Mia. “Undo the bindings on her ankles. She can run with us once you return her shoes and boots. If she tries to escape, I can kill her, or you could. She’s unarmed.”

Mia mumbled through her cloth, her eyes wide in what Wolf found an exaggerated, overdramatized gratitude. I wonder if I would’ve fallen for her act three years ago?

“Oh, thank you, hero!” Mia spewed with a husky voice when Ronit undid her gag.

Wolf refrained from rolling his eyes and gave the parched woman some water. They gagged her for two short hours… Still; she had lost a lot of blood. She needs to rehydrate and eat something. Only regeneration potions create flesh and blood out of thin air, regular healing potions extract the matter from the body.

Wait, if magic doesn’t work here, why do healing potions— Just as Wolf’s thought was about to form, Mia choked on water and coughed. Wolf quickly moved and smacked her on the back so hard the drowning woman would have preferred suffocation over his aid.

In the corner of his eye, Wolf caught Fiona and Ronit reaching for their ornamental daggers, ready to strike, assuming this move was Mia’s ploy.

They are really paranoid. Wolf pursed his lip, but did not mention the barbarians’ habits. Instead, he spoke, “Are you alright? Do you feel dizzy? Can you run?”

“Yes, thank you hero,” Mia said, then her lips continued moving without sound. ‘We can pay double.’

Well, that’s not difficult. They aren’t paying me anything. Wolf kept the snarky comment to himself, ignoring Mia’s offer.

“Get dressed. We’re about to run. At top speed, we should make it in two to three hours. Hopefully, we’re not late.” Fiona looked down at Mia. “For all our sakes.”

Wolf could tell Hare Tribe’s warleader was in a poor mood. She argued against piggybacking Kira in their advance group, but Wolf disregarded her protests. He was not going anywhere without Kira. He told Fiona in no uncertain terms he was escorting Kira, not her, not Ronit, and definitely not the entirety of their tribe.

I wonder whether she feels like she’s carrying a baby on her back? He glanced at Fiona picking up her daughter while frowning and recalled giving similar rides. Stop projecting. You didn’t fail your daughter. You went to perform your duty for a year, protecting your land and countrymen from these very savages, and then you got stuck here. This is a temporary setback. You will return and see Sky again.

Besides, what could happen to her? The contract binds those two old kooks to watch after her and Mandy. They are legitimate heirs to my marquessate, and they can rule it from the safety of the Seeker Academy. Even if Fermion burns, they will be fine, he assured himself, for gods know which time.

Wolf knew he cared less about Mandy than Sky, and he believed it natural. However, guilt twisted his gut; he worried more about Mandy than Anna. Worse still, he found his logic reasonable. One was the mother of his child, the other his friend.

Wolf faced his emotions and culpability, knowing full well this state of unease would last until he returned home. Unfortunately, there was little he could do. The group started running, and Wolf moved like daydreaming, absorbed in his thoughts and fantasizing about solutions he might find and what would await home, never guessing what future had in store.

Two and a half hours flashed by. Mia tried nothing funny. Not just because Ronit ran two meters behind her, breathing down her neck. Mia was certain her tribe would never abandon her, and risking her life to avoid paying a trivial ransom was ridiculous. Doubly so, since she guessed these hares would only demand some people and assets which originally belonged to them.

When she saw the plumes of smoke rising from the hill fortress of Hare’s Burrow, Mia remained expressionless. Whatever emotion she revealed would condemn her in her captors’ eyes. Not that anyone spared her a glance.

Mia imagined Ronit and Fiona gnashing their teeth at the sight, or suppressing a scream of rage and despair, but they stayed composed. They can endure. I’m not surprised about Fiona. She’s self-made and came from a regular family, but Ronit’s ancestors founded the Hare Tribe. Seeing it go up in smoke during her reign must be driving her mad.

And it was. Ronit silently cursed her mother for not following the tribal custom and strangling the weaker twin at birth. The matriarch was to have one child and one child alone. Ronit found out about that noble obligation once she had become the matriarch. She thought it was ridiculous and cruel, forfeiting the life of a tribe’s potential elder, but now, seeing the smoke rise from her ruined home, she understood.

It was better to condemn one individual and one family than the entire society. The custom was, without a doubt, vicious; it put Ronit’s lineage in danger of winking out with every passing beast-wave. But she finally learned why. That moment of mercy, of familial love, brought death to hundreds and ruin to thousands.

Even if this hadn’t happened, who’s to say Mona’s daughters wouldn’t betray my daughter? If Mona agreed to kill me for power, backstabbing further removed kin must be even easier. No wonder that bitch from Fox Tribe doesn’t have children yet, even though she’s Mother’s age.

Then Ronit had another thought. If Mother were alive, would I betray her? Would Mona kill us both to become the matriarch?