"Please be still, daughter." Gregor jokingly pulled his daughter by her long ear.

"I am standing still!" Aranea fiercely argued, trying to catch his hand, "You are the one who is messing with me!"

Kalaisa only smiled at this. To the outsider's eye, they could be seen as a strange couple. Kalaisa was once of the Wolf Tribe, a tribe of the wolfkin people from the Ravaged Lands. Her large, black furred form dwarfed even the figure of her husband, standing head and shoulders above him. Her amber eyes glowed brightly like a pair of flashlights, a sign of her former rank as a warlord. Her snout was long, and her thick black fur was capable of stopping even bullets. Right now, her fur was clean, carefully combed, and shining in the soft lighting of the room. She was wearing a simple black dress and a silver necklace, with the symbol of the Wintersong family, around her neck.

Gregor was a wolfkin of the Ice Fang order, an order of warriors coming from the distant north. His order served under his excellency Wyrm Lord for a long while, before constant clashes between the two tribes of wolfkins forced Wyrm Lord to hand over ownership of the Ice Fang order to his excellency Devourer. In the lands of Devourer, the Ice Fang order has become an influential organization, responsible for restoration efforts and for guarding the border from roaming bands of bandits and raiders. As fewer and fewer bandits dared to attack in recent years, many members of the Ice Fang order left the military to pursue other opportunities. Gregor was a tall wolfkin, his fur a snow-white color. He was wearing the white and blue ceremonial clothes of a noble member of the Wintersong family, and a long sword in a golden sheath was on his belt. Ten years ago, Gregor made a pilgrimage to the far north, the homeland of the Ice Fang order. Upon returning, he was accepted into the Wintersong family and reached the rank of knight captain in the order. Gold rings were woven into the fur of his lower jaw, a silver necklace, identical his wife's, shone brightly around his neck. His eyes were crimson in color, not glowing with inner flame like those of his wife, yet still very visible red orbs.

Aranea Wintersong, daughter of Kalaisa and Gregor Wintersong, stood between her parents, clothed in a blue dress. Four weeks ago, her family celebrated her third birthday. The wolfkins of the Ice Fang order were still small at this age and could barely talk. Yet Aranea had the blood of her mother in her, and the color of her fur was that of the night. Aranea was already reaching up to her father's waist and was growing taller and bigger with each passing day. Unlike her cousins of the Ice Fang order of similar age, Aranea could already talk and even read books. The members of the Wolf Tribe grew up at a vastly different rate than their cousins. One eye of Aranea was a yellow color, while the other was crimson, a sign of her father’s bloodline. The fur around the red eye was pale, as if to remind the young cub that she was a child of both worlds.

They stood in front of the painter, a wolfkin from the Ice Fang order who decided not to join the military. The man was busy creating their portrait, copies of which will later be inserted into three medallions Gregor ordered for each member of the family to remember this moment of time. The family stood still for nearly an hour, and soon Gregor began to have fun teasing his daughter.

Aranea hated it when her father tricked her into making a fool of herself.

"Please, just a few moments more!" The painter pleaded, as Aranea turned to jump at her father, "I am almost finished!"

"Oh!" The girl quickly returned to position, becoming still like a statue once again, "My apologies, sir."

Aranea could hear her parents whispering to each other.

"Stop teasing her, dear." Kalaisa smiled.

"But it’s so cute when she loses her temper," Gregor joked, "I will be leaving for a whole month, so I want to take every opportunity I can now."

"Dad, you can always call me over the terminal." Aranea whispered carelessly.

"Ah, but it's just not the same thing," The painter gave a thumb's up, signaling completion, and Gregor cracked his muscles, spreading his shoulders wide. Ignoring protests from his daughter, he grabbed her and put her on his left shoulder, "I won't be seeing you for a long time, little one, so today I will be treating you to anything you want. How about a snack? Candies, meat, or honey, perhaps? Or how about these strange vegetable dishes from Oathtakers that have recently appeared on the market? Or should we take a ride around the city?"

The family left the room, moving toward the vast hall that led to the inner chambers of the New Dawn fortress. The walls were decorated with paintings, and the floors were covered with rich carpets. The Ice Fang order wasn't poor, having accumulated much wealth over the years.They were closely involved in the construction of new cities, inspiring the population, and healing the sick and wounded. The Ice Fang order was an ever-growing force within the state, always striving for excellence.

"Dad, stop embarrassing me! I can walk just fine." Aranea tried to break free, but Gregor held her with ease.

"Nope. Let the entire world laugh if they want to, what do we care? Childhood is a fleeting thing and let the Spirits damn me if I allow you to waste yours in attempts to act grown up," Wintersong waived his paw dismissively.

"Well, then, I want to learn how to fight properly," Aranea said stubbornly, "Other cubs train all day in the sword halls, why can’t I join them?"

"Honey, you are still a bit too young for this." Kalaisa smiled and patted Aranea’s head gently. "And besides, there is so much more in the world besides fighting. You can become an artist or an engineer. Just imagine, with your own paws, you can create paintings as beautiful as these," She pointed at the walls. One of the paintings depicted the Twins and Ravager, standing side by side in a rare moment of peace. The painter had to create this piece of art from the photo, for Ravager simply could not stand in the presence of the Twins for long without trying to dominate them. Desire to be the strongest was in the very blood of Ravager. The Twins were dressed in doublets of pristine white and trousers of the same color. The man had a longbow behind his back, the woman had a long sword on her hip. Ravager, meanwhile, was without any clothes, her fur was the color of the utter void, the only weapons that the blessed mother had ever needed, her trusted claws, were hidden deep inside her fingers. Both Twins were smiling, but Ravager appeared unhappy and out of place, "Or learn how to create world-class technological marvels. You can learn how to heal people…"

"Boring!" Aranea rejected the idea, "I can fight with wooden swords just as well as Keyl can. Every time we spar, he always ends up in the mud. Mom, I've heard what others say about you. You were a warlord, the greatest of the great, a fighter with no equals! I want to be like you, I want to even surpass you one day! To crush the enemies of the Dynast and restore the world to humanity! " Aranea allowed her claws to slide out of her fingers and pointed them at imaginary enemies, imagining how she would shred them.

"There were plenty of people stronger than me. Even today, there are many who can crush me into dust without looking." Kalaisa said softly, "Dear, you have no idea what fighting really is, and, if the Spirits will it, you will never know. To feel the pulsating sensation in your blood, to see the crushed forms of enemies in front of you...To lose dear friends, again and again… No, I will never let you choose this path," Kalaisa shook her head, "I became much happier when I left the war and began my new career as a doctor."

"But why!" The girl yelled angrily. "Battles still rage on in the world! Father leaves us to fight. Everyone knows there is a danger or two out there. Each day, our people risk their lives to tame the wilderness. Just because you chose to hide and…"

"Your mother is not a coward," Gregor said, dropping to one knee and lowering his shoulder to look into his daughter's eyes. "She has a... condition. She can’t fight anymore, or a bad thing will happen to her. And yet she saves lives even now." Aranea knew what her father meant. Her mother often left home to work at a hospital. When there was a shortage of doctors in the neighboring city, Kalaisa had left for two whole months to work there.

"This is exactly why I need to become a warrior!" The girl furiously snarled back, "I need to pick up the slack. What if someone tries to hurt Mom while you are away? I need to become stronger to protect our home, to…"

"Protect our home?" The knight captain laughed, standing up, "From whom? Dear, you are in one of the safest places in the world! Relax and have fun. No one will ever dare touch you here."

Aranea folded her hands on her chest stubbornly. No one sings songs about doctors. No one sings songs about engineers. No one builds statues in honor of the workers. Artists themselves were creating statues of generals, captains, and great warriors. She wanted to become a legendary warrior like her mother.

And one day I will. She decided. Her eyes would glow with the same light as her mother's. Foes would tremble at her name. She would become someone who would inspire others. Someone who protects the weak.

****

It was late at night when the family returned home. Gregor had insisted on taking his daughter to the circus, then to the art exhibition, and had even dragged the entire family to a nearby lake for fishing. The catastrophes from several centuries ago had left the world in ruins. Yet the Reclamation Army, through constant struggle, had forced nature to obey the will of the state. Where once there was nothing but sand and death, now there were fields, teeming with life. Where there was once a drought, there were now rivers. The Dynast's will and ancient technology both contributed to reshaping the ruined world back to life.

Kalaisa and her husband lived on the middle level of the fortress, a few dozen meters above ground level. Many representatives of noble families lived here, the entire street was filled with homes made for them. Artificial lights above and around the street created an image of the sun, one that became an orb of darkness in the evening and slowly lit up at dawn. Kalaisa had saved enough tokens to buy a small, two-story house, otherwise, they would have been forced to live in the Wintersong’s main keep. The fortress of the Ice Fang order had twenty keeps inside, one for each noble family. As wolfkins grew up, they end up being adopted into one of the noble families, unless already a member of one of them. Aranea remembered the Wintersong Keep fondly, yet her mother insisted so many warriors around her had been a bad influence on her. Father asked Aranea to go to her room, and the girl stormed to the second floor. Once inside, she fell to her knees, pressing an ear against the floor. Her hearing was far stronger than her parents knew, and sometimes she used this to spy on them.

"You think she is angry with my decision?" Kalaisa asked, and Aranea wanted to run down and scream that her mother was wrong. But this would mean revealing her secret. She will make up for this by cleaning her room. Someday. Maybe.

"Of course not, but she is going through a phase. When I was younger, I used to fight with my parents all the time," Dad replied, laughing, and Aranea picked up on the sound of a knife cutting through meat. "Remember yourself at her age.”

"At her age, I was busy bullying and dominating others," Mom said so quietly that Aranea barely heard the words, " It's not something I want to remember. It's not something I can ever hope to atone for."

Aranea heard a noise and understood that her parents were sitting at the table. There was the sound of a chair being moved. That probably meant Dad was moving closer to Mom. Recognizing and visualizing sounds was a necessary skill for becoming a knight. Or at least, this is what Keyl told her and what Aranea desperately tried to learn.

"You can't just take a piece of your life and cut it off. All of your decisions shaped you into the person you are today," Gregor said softly. "The nightmare is over, Kalaisa, the dawn has come. You have to accept who you are, all of you, and move on. For her sake as well. She has the right to make her own choices."

"I am still against her going to training. What if… what if she ends up like me?"

"You mean she ends up being a wonderful person who cares for her fellow people? Wonderful wife and caring mother? Truly, a horror."

"No!" Kalaisa raised her voice. "You know what I mean."

"That too will be because of her choice, and if the worst happens one day, we will get through it. As family. But we have no right to lock her away from the future just because we are afraid. This will only lead to resentment, to rage, and…"

"Eventually to anger," Kalaisa finished for him. Aranea heard some noise, and her mother continued, "Just the mere thought of losing her, like… No point in thinking about it. You are right. Time to accept and move on. I will call Ygrite tonight and apologize for what I did… before. I heard she became a warlord again after I left," Kalaisa sighed, sounding worried. "Do you really think he's involved in all of this?"

"I know that he has something to do with it," Gregor responded in a serious tone, "I'm just not sure how much. I pray, for all our sakes, that my doubts are false, but if I am right…" He went silent for a moment, then said, "Maybe I should go to the investigation bureau and tell them what I know. But I owe him enough to try and reason with him. Thrice he saved my life. Stay safe, please. While you are in the fortress, no one can hurt you."

"It just one month," Kalaisa responded, "Everything will be fine. Get to the bottom of this and come back."

"I will," Aranea heard her father stand up and move the stairs. She quickly jumped into the bed and pretended to sleep, as he knocked on her door.

"Come in." She responded in a fake sleepy voice.

Gregor walked through her room, clicking his tongue disapprovingly at the sight of toys scattered everywhere. He walked toward the bed and sat near his daughter.

"Sorry for leaving you like this, furball."

"It's just a month," Aranea smiled, "But… I'm going to miss you. Call, at least sometimes."

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead.

"I will. And when I get back, I will try to persuade Kalaisa to allow you to train."

"Really, really?" Aranea jumped, and her father gently made her lie down. "No lying?"

"No cheating, no lying, and no weaseling out. But you've got to promise me something as well. Listen to your Mom, do not run into the lower city without her, and clean your room finally."

"I promise!" Aranea shouted, and Gregor left the room, with a smile on his snout.

****

When Aranea woke up late the next morning, the light of the artificial sun was already visible through the window. Her father had gone on his mission, and the first thing the young cub did was clean her room. She put all her toys back into a box, then the books back on the shelves. She put an ear to the floor and understood that her mom was still asleep. She carefully went down to the first floor, filled a bucket with water, took a broom and a rag, and then returned to clean her entire room. This was usually her mother's job, but Aranea felt she owed her that much for yesterday. Besides, she had nothing else to do. Just as she was finishing, Mom came in.

"That… is unexpected," Kalaisa looked at the suspiciously clean room, "What happened? Who bit you? If you have broken something, you can tell me, I won’t be mad."

"I just wanted to help," Aranea mumbled stubbornly, annoyed at being caught, "Besides, it’s boring here, with Keyl and the others still at school."

"Honey, I am sorry," Mom came closer and hugged her daughter, "I know it seems unfair, but we truly tried to get you into school. But they only accept children aged of nine or higher."

"I know. Stupid law," Aranea clenched her teeth, "Keyl told me about it. He constantly teases me about being the biggest student in the class. It sucks."

"I will talk with his parents…" Kalaisa began, but Aranea almost jumped in panic, grabbing her mother by the waist.

"Don’t you dare! It’s bad enough that he always loses to me. If I snitch on him, he will stop talking to me altogether," Aranea desperately looked into the eyes of her mom, "He is not bad, mom, he is training all the time and he was the one who introduced me to the other cubs. We just mock each other from time to time, it’s no biggie."

"Losses," Kalaisa said thoughtfully, "I assume you don't mean in games," Aranea wanted to lie but knew her mother would find out. Instead, she stubbornly looked at the floor. Kalaisa took her daughter by the lower jaw, making eye contact, "So those bruises weren't from the fall then, am I right?"

"Mom, it was just a game!" Aranea protested the implication.

Bruises and scratches on her always healed up nearly instantly. But a few days ago, when she fought against Keyl with a wooden sword, she stumbled and slammed her nose straight into the stone wall. A sharp edge sliced the skin on her snout. Keyl was afraid and wanted to call a medic, but Aranea convinced him to just stitch the wound together, the way the teacher showed him in the class. The young boy knew enough about medicine to do this, and in a few hours, the wound was gone, leaving only a few bruises that her mother noticed later. It took Aranea quite some effort to convince Keyl to train with her afterwards, stubborn boy was afraid to hurt her. As if he could!

"Besides, it was technically fall damage! Keyl is too slow to touch me anymore!" She boasted.

"Too slow," Something akin to fear showed in Kalaisa's eyes. She led her daughter to the bed and made her sit. Kalaisa said, lowering herself to her knees in front of her daughter, "I... need to tell you something. You know the meaning behind the terms "new breed" and "power", right?"

"Of course!" Aranea eagerly nodded, "We are new breeds. Humans, who look different from humans. Power is that supernatural ability that someone sometimes has."

"Yes. And…" Kalaisa took a deep breath, "The point is, you know how cubs of the Wolf Tribe grow so much faster than cubs of the Ice Fang order? That is because we, all who come from the Wolf Tribe, have passive power. Power, known as the Descendant of Ravager."

"What does it do?" Aranea asked impatiently. Power, she has the power? That’s awesome!

"Each time you dominate… winning against another being, someone who is close to you in strength or stronger than you—you yourself get stronger. And not just physically. Your size increases ever so slightly. You begin to heal faster and run faster. You also start to… think differently, it becomes easier to notice certain things or to react to certain things," Kalaisa fell silent again, tapping on her own jaw and lost in thoughts, "You played with a lot of cubs, am I correct? It was not just Keyl?"

"How do you… "Yes," Aranea said as she lowered her gaze to the ground, "Keyl once told others how he always loses to me and asked them to train him. Oh, they agreed to train him. But the other cubs also showed up to watch our next training. After Keyl lost, they even challenged me," Her eyes beamed, "And I won! Unlike me, they train all day long. Yet I was faster and stronger than them! Who cares what kind of techniques or styles they use if they are too slow or weak to pull it off? Anyway, long story short, they bought me ice cream as a prize, and since then we have only played football. Most of the time. But every now and then, some older students show up and challenge me to an honorable duel, as they say," Aranea laughed, " I lose some, I win some. No one gets hurt, honest!"

"Aranea," Kalaisa took her daughter by the shoulders, "I do not approve of this, but neither am I angry at you. Do not let the thirst for winning get into your head. And never fight because you are angry at something or someone. Because if you do…" Kalaisa stopped, as if searching for words, and said, "I do not think that you share my personal power. I would have noticed your strange growth way sooner otherwise. But you clearly have something inside of you. The power within you may be weaker, but it is still there. And if you go too far toward the thirst for dominat... winning," Kalaisa corrected herself, "you might end up in a situation similar to mine."

"I do not understand, Mom. What do you mean? Look at you!" Aranea pointed at Mom’s arms, arms that were the size of trunks. Despite her enormous size, Kalaisa walked as silently as a cat and just as gracefully. Who would not want to become a person like that?

"I won too much and tried too hard, and now the Spirit of Rage stands just behind my shoulder," Kalaisa said, smiling as she saw her daughter's puzzled expression, "I will explain it to you one day," She promised, "Just not today. Anyway, while your father is away, you must stay in the fortress for a while. No sneaking outside, not even for a quick glance. You and I have to stay here until Gregor gets back."

"But all my friends are outside! Keyl and the others all go…" Aranea tried to reason with her mother, but Kalaisa was adamant.

"I am sure that they will wait for a single month. I can invite them here for dinner if you want."

"NO! Just no! If Keyl ever learns that I told an adult about him losing to me… He will hate me!" Aranea screamed in panic. Friends don’t snitch on each other. This was her rule, "And then I will have no one to play with, and he will feel hurt!"

"If he truly is your friend, he will…" Kalaisa started talking, but Aranea howled in a gesture of begging, falling on her knees, and Kalaisa relented, "Fine. But no going outside. At least not without me."

Aranea promised her mother that she would be good and that she would obey. She even intended to keep this promise. Just not today. Because her pride was on the line. Today was supposed to be a big game, and she promised to be there.

She sneaked out of the house while her mother was still sleeping. It was dark outside, aside from a few lampposts, but Aranea crossed the street without fear. Who in their right mind would dare to cause a ruckus in this place? Ice Fangs were the heroes, the ones who were always ready to help anyone. Their city was part of the Core Lands, a place that had actual free healthcare available for every citizen. People from all around were coming here due to how professional the doctors were. And the sword saints! Only one of the legendary heroes of the Ice Fang order was currently in the fortress, but for any villain daring to sneak, this was one sword saint too many.

The guards, two regal-looking wolfkins geared in blue power armor made in the image of a knight, let Aranea go to the city. They advised the young cub to stay on the roads, just in case. Aranea eagerly nodded and ran to the elevators. She had heard the knight’s instructions countless times by now, and today was nothing new. Sometimes she even wondered if they actually knew why she was sneaking out. For today, Aranea dressed herself in black pants and a brown jacket. She left the keep when the elevators reached ground level.

The fortress of the Ice Fang order loomed over the city like an eternal guardian. The walls were made in the shape of a cube and were made of reinforced stone and steel. According to her father, countless weapons were hidden within the walls, ready to be unleashed in times of need, but Aranea herself never saw them. The city was built around the fortress, with countless homes in which normies, normal-looking humans, lived. Right now, there were only a few people on the streets as everyone was going up to sleep. This suited Aranea just fine. She turned left from the gates of the fortress, moved down the road, and passed through the slums, the poorest district in the city. From the slums she walked toward an abandoned site where factories once were. No longer does the Ice Fang order need these outdated factories that pollute the air. Thanks to the technology that Wyrm Lord brought via trading with Iterna, new factories were clean and safe for the surrounding area. Or at least this was what Aranea’s father told her. Smiling, Aranea lifted her paw to the skies, "grabbing" the distant orb with her palm. There was so much new to see and learn in the world!

Pretty soon, Aranea came across a small group of white furred wolfkin cubs. The elders of the Ice Fang order did not like it when Aranea bothered older cubs, as the Elders considered Aranea to be too young. Thus, everyone had to meet in secret.

"What took you so long!?" One asked. Wide-eyed Keyl, wolfkin of Ice Fang order, snatched Aranea into a hug. He was older by five years and tried his best to impress her with his physical prowess, but no matter how much the boy tried, they were just built differently. Aranea was already taller and stronger than him, she barely felt his hug. The boy carried two wooden swords behind his back.

"So, uhm… about that last time," Keyl grabbed his head, "I understand if you do not want to fight me again…"

"Dummy!" Aranea laughed, hitting him across the head jokingly with her paw, "It was just a bruise! Who cares about it?"

"Oh…" The boy said, visibly relieved, He lowered on one knee and offered her a sword, as if he were some kind of knight, "Then, lady Aranea Wintersong, will you please accept this humble challenge of mine on this beautiful night?"

"Keyl, we want to play," One of the girls nearby said, throwing a black and white soccer ball in the air and catching the ball on her leg, "You will just lose again. Get over it and stop bothering Ari. We all lose sometimes."

Football was something of a new thing in the Ice Fang order. Keyl saw it on TV, on one of the recorded programs brought back from Iterna. He showed it to Aranea, and together they created a small stadium in an abandoned factory. Instead of proper gates, they used steel pipes, and instead of nets, they used ropes. Surprisingly, it was easy enough to buy a soccer ball on the market, although Keyl had to spend his entire birthday's savings on this toy. Eventually, other kids joined the duo. The original soccer ball was long gone, but now that their group was slowly growing in numbers, it was far easier to buy a new one.

"I gladly accept this challenge, good sir!" Aranea boastfully grabbed a wooden sword and jumped a few steps back. She took no stance. In combat, she never took a stance. Keyl showed her some tricks, of course, but against him, she saw no reason to be careful.

Keyl stood up, taking the wooden sword with both hands and raising it to the level of his head, acing directly at Aranea. Gripping the hilt tightly with both paws, he moved the sword slightly to the right of his head,and made a thrust. Aranea blinked in surprise. Usually, Keyl always stuck to the "slashing" hits. But this was a "piercing" motion, and he was wielding his weapon like a spear. In a single lunge, he covered most of the distance. His left paw released sword hilt, and his right paw moved back, holding only at the lower part of the hilt with three fingers and pushing his weapon forward.

Aranea was nearly caught off guard by this motion, having expected him to close the distance with a few steps, not in a single lunge. She leaned her body to the right, evading the wooden blade. It moved past her chest… And then Keyl grabbed his weapon with the full grip of his right paw and made a slash to the right. She had to admit that this was done perfectly. Aranea had never seen such movement from him before. She should have been hit.

And yet he was just so slow! Aranea let herself almost fall back, as Keyl’s sword flew above her head. In this same instance, while falling, she struck forward with her own weapon. Using her own wooden sword as a needle, she hit the boy in the wrist, and Keyl hissed in annoyance. Aranea arrested her own fall by pressing the muscles of her legs, her hair barely touched the ground.

"Touch! Ari wins again!" The wolfkin girl with the soccer ball laughed and clapped her paws in congratulations.

"Damn it all!" Keyl shouted in frustration, helping Aranea stand up before she could fall and hit herself on the stones. He ensured that she was standing and broke his weapon on the knee. "I trained and trained to the point of cracking my bones, and this is the result?!"

"Don’t you worry, Keyli boy!" Aranea jokingly patted him on the head with her paw, "One day you will beat me up…"

"If only I too had the blood of a barbarian in me!" Keyl threw the broken remains of his weapon away.

"What?" Aranea asked in confusion. Barbarian? What could he mean?

"If only I had the same blood as you!" Keyl threw his arms up in anger, visibly furious. Aranea felt bad for him. He really trained hard all day long. But it wasn’t her fault that she was strong, right? "Or if you never had this accursed, tainted blood in you! Then I would never have lost to you! You filthy cheater, dammit all, you filthy cheater! The savage legacy of your mother is just too much for me to overcome! The cursed blood is the only reason why…"

"My mother is not a savage!" Aranea screamed, pushing him back. Keyl fell on his ass, blinking in surprise. Aranea blinked, just as surprised. She hurried to help him to stand up, unsure of what had come upon her, "Sorry, but my mom is! She is… she is caring, she is not cursed… she is a doctor!" Aranea felt tears running across her eyes. Was this what he always thought about her? That she was a savage girl? Someone with a cursed blood?

"Not cool, Keyl." One of the wolfkin boys said, "I never won against Ari myself either, and yet you don’t see me raving like a madman about it." The wolfkin girl threw the soccer ball away and moved to hug Aranea, yet the girl pushed her away, stepping backwards.

"I… I do not feel like playing today, sorry everyone." Aranea mumbled, ashamed of her behavior. She cried like a stupid fool, she will never live this one down.

"Ari…" Keyl stood up on his knees, "Please, I never intended… I do not know what came over me, I am sorry, so sor…"

Aranea could not listen anymore. She turned around and ran. She could hear Keyl and a few others try to catch up, but she was far faster than them. She ran into a building, almost leaped to the second floor across the broken stairs, jumped out of the second floor window, softly landed on her legs, and ran across the bushes to the slums.

"Cursed blood," She mumbled to herself angrily as she reached the slums. "I’ll show you cursed blood. My mother is not cursed, she's just… no longer a warrior, that’s it!" Aranea wiped tears from her eyes. She was unsure what caused such a reaction in her. The cubs always teased each other. Aranea teased Keyl as well, and he teased her right back… so why did she feel so hurt right now?

"I am stupid. There was no harm," She decided. She would apologize to Keyl tomorrow. The poor idiot probably blamed himself right now, "Maybe I should buy him something? But where will I get the tokens?"

She came to a halt near a small stone bridge after hearing a whining sound beneath it. It was the low sound of someone suffering great pain and yet trying their best not to let it out. Without thinking, Aranea jumped down. A small river ran under the bridge, the water was clean and reflected the light of the moon. Something… no, someone, was lying in the dark. It had an enormously big body and pale, almost white skin without any fur. Countless scars and cuts covered the misshaped figure, some were oozing blood, which produced a strange hiss upon hitting the ground, as if weak acid ran in the veins of this strange being. A small, fat-looking tail grew out, almost from the middle of the back. Strange-looking, three-fingered clawed hands grasped its head, covering short ears. The creature had a single blue eye and a single white eye, and tears were running from them. The shape of the skull resembles that of a wolfkin, but the creature was so much bigger! And the rest of its body was... strange.

"Are… are you alright, mister?" Aranea asked as the creature whined again. Aranea was unsure if this was a man, she just made an assumption based on the sound of whining, "Do you need me to call someone for help?"

The creature looked at her, and an unspeakable fear appeared in his eyes. A long slash in the form of a halfmoon was under his left eye. Removing his arms from his head, he whispered:

"Run. For the sake of everything, just run before he comes back…."

Aranea wanted to ask who "he" was, but suddenly she felt a prick in the back of her neck. She wanted to jump, but her body refused to obey. She had become a statue, numbness running down her limbs.

"Who comes back? Me?" A male voice behind Aranea asked cheerfully, and the creature grasped his head, whimpering in terror, "Grug, mind introducing me to your new friend?"

"I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry…" The creature mumbled over and over again, trying not to look at the person behind Aranea.

Something slithered. Aranea's eyes widened as she noticed a long metallic tendril moving on the ground. The thing reached Grug and a thin blade appeared out of it, slicing through the flesh of the beast on his skin and burrowing underneath it, causing Grug to cry out in pain as his skin was peeled away.

"I asked a question, pet," The voice said angrily this time, "And your power prevents me from easily extracting information from your thick skull, so speak up."

"I just saw her. She is just a child, please let her go, please, please…" Grug made no attempt to defend himself, while the tendril was busy opening his arm now. He only whimpered once more, continuing to beg the strange man behind Aranea to let her go.

"Well, let us look at her," Someone grabbed Aranea by her shoulder and made her look up. The smiling face of a normie appeared above her. He had black hair and wore a sand-colored cloak over his shoulders, with a crimson-colored shirt visible beneath it. The whites of his eyes were pitch black, while his pupils gleamed with green, "Lookie here! A half-breed! You must be this Aranea girl I heard so much about. Such curious eyes indeed," Another mechanical tendril appeared above the head of the man, "Can’t wait to see how you react when I take them out."

Take them out? Aranea thought in horror. This has to be a joke, right? She tried to move, but all she could do was look at the smiling face before her.

"Hands off, Academician," A lazy voice said, "You already got what you wanted to. This cub is mine, I have a need for her."

"Oh, come on, Tilden!" Academician turned away from Aranea, looking back at someone, "It's just one more kid. You already gave me six tonight, let me take seven back to the lab. You no longer even need her, the fool will charge into the trap on his own now…"

"I need her to deal with her bitch of a mother," The voice yawned, "The deaths of my dear allies will be in vain, if Kalaisa gets her paws on me. I just want to ensure that their noble sacrifice won’t be in vain, don’t you want the same? So kindly fuck off before we make you. I am taking her with me."

"Make me?" Academician whispered, as if in disbelief. One more mechanical tendril rose in the air, and, with horror, Aranea saw several cubs, children of the Ice Fang order, sleeping in a glass cage currently held by the tendril. "Am I sensing an iota of threat here, friend?" The tentacle carelessly threw the cage away for someone to catch. The voice of Academician had changed, unmistakable aggression was once more heard in the previously cheerful voice.

"Sir, we really ought to leave." A woman’s voice said. She sounded tired, as if she were dealing with a petulant child, "You got what you wanted, Tilden will get what he wants, and hopefully we can all continue our productive cooperation…"

"Be silent, please, dear," Academician told the unknown woman and looked down at Aranea, "Sorry, but I will have to leave you as a human. But do not worry, I will give you a nudge toward ascension," He lifted the girl and whispered into her ear, "Everything that will happen to your family from this moment onward is your and only your fault. It only happens because you are weak. Live with it." He threw Aranea in the air like a doll.

Her body was spinning when someone caught her by the neck. The white-furred wolfkin of the Ice Fang order was holding her. On his neck he carried a long golden chain, he was dressed in blue-colored power armor. His helmet was missing, revealing a boring-looking face with a single scar over his left eye. He was holding Aranea in one paw and pointing a wrist gun at Academician with the other. Several other wolfkins were standing behind him, their paws on the hilts of their swords.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Academician. The deaths of my dear comrades now won’t be in vain." The wolfkin smiled arrogantly.

Academician stood in front of the wolfkins, smiling with barely contained rage. Several mechanical tendrils were visible from underneath his cloak, one was currently slicing open the back of the Grug, causing the large being to cry from pain. A green-haired young woman in strict green clothes was standing next to the man, holding the glass cage with sleeping cubs in her arms.

"Well, if this is it, we will leave now," Academician smiled thinly, and a large black oval appeared in the air behind Grug with a soft hiss. After a second, Aranea could see a large white room inside, filled with light and medical equipment. "A word of advice. Don’t lose your head, Tilden, you are not half as smart as you think you are." Academician chuckled, turning around and walking through the portal with Grug and the woman.

"Sack of shit." Tilden said calmly, as the portal closed. He threw Aranea's body up, and she felt a blow to the back of her neck. Everything became black afterwards.

****

Aranea woke up on a stone floor. Her head was spinning, and she felt a pain in the back of her head. She tried to stand, but her legs gave in.

"She is waking up." "A familiar voice said nearby.

"Finally. Tilden, it was too dangerous. How did she end up with him in the first place? Can you even imagine what would have happened if he…"

"Relax, elder. Everything is within my calculations. The fool moves exactly as I planned. You just sing the song that I wrote for you, and the old farts will behave like the fools they are. Thanks to Academician, they are in panic now, and panic makes people do stupid things." Tilden said in a smug voice, and Aranea heard someone walking away.

She finally lifted her head and saw iron bars before herself. She was in a small cell, and food and water were standing next to her. On the other side of the iron bars stood a smiling Tilden.

"Wakey, wakey, moron," He laughed, "Your bastard of a father sure gave me troubles. I even regret saving him that day."

"You… you saved my dad?" Aranea asked with barely a whisper. It took quite an effort on her part just to speak.

"Yep. But don’t blame me, I was young and idealistic back then. Now, however, we have to get rid of him. And for this, I'm forced to sacrifice my dear friends," Tilden said, wiping a fake tear from his crimson eye, "Tragedy, really. But this is all his fault. If he just stopped looking into my business, none of this would have happened."

"Sacrifice your friends? But… this is insanity!" Aranea finally returned control over her voice and screamed at the man, "And what will you do to my father!? And… what were you doing with the cubs! They have parents who will be worried, give them back!"

"To answer your questions in order," Tilden continued speaking with a bored expression on his snout, "In order to obtain power, true power, I mean, you have to sacrifice someone from time to time. Tragic, yes, but for me, it is the only way to rise in the ranks. And rise I must, for I have a great many things that I want to change in our order. And for this, I need authority. I am not strong enough to rise naturally, so I need to "grease" things up. For this, I needed funds. And your pappy dared to try and stop my ascension. As for your second question," He smiled wickedly, "Next time we see each other, your daddy will be dead and dishonored, because my new allies will wipe out someone and he will be made to take the fall. Can you guess what happens next?" He stepped away from the cell, laughing, before stopping, as if remembering something, "Oh, and as for cubs… Eh, kids die all the time. This time their lives are the coin that will ensure the demise of your pappy." Tilden left, laughing like a maniac.

"You lie!" Aranea slammed her whole body into the iron bars but could not even move them from their place. In a panic, she stepped back, looking around the cell. Nothing. Stone walls, stone walls, and nothing but walls.

The light went out in the corridor, leaving only her cell as the only place with the tiniest amount of light.

"He is lying," Aranea said to herself. Her Dad wasn’t foolish. He was not! She licked her lips, "Mom!" That person also spoke about dealing with her mother. What did he mean by that? Oh Spirits, what if she woke up and finds that Aranea is gone? She would bee terribly worried! What if Keyl tried to find Aranea and couldn't find her!

She clutched her head in horror and fear. She really ruined everything this time. Aranea waited and waited, yet no one came. Eventually, she ate the food when hunger was getting to her. Then she sat on the floor, despair washing over her. Her paws trembled, she felt as if something terrible was about to happen. She cared not for herself, but what if this Tilden hurt her family? He knew her father, and he wore military armor, did this mean that he was part of the order? But the Ice Fangs were heroes! How could any of them do this? Eventually, the girl fell asleep, and when she woke up, new food was in her cell.

What seemed like days passed, yet no one came for her. No matter how she tried, she could not discover how the food appeared. Each time Aranea went to sleep, food and water were renewed.

Then, one day, her wait was over. She heard loud footsteps and whistling. Tilden was coming back, a small bag with something ringing inside was on his belt. He came up to the steel bars and snapped his fingers, and the steel bars moved into the floor. Just like before, he was in full armor and without a helmet.

"Hello there, little murderer!" He smiled, showing his fangs, "Your daddy is gone. Time to meet your mom and finish it."

"You lie!" Aranea shouted, backing to the walls, as Tilden came into the cell. Yet despite her words, she felt a sudden emptiness in her chest. As if something important, something that can never be replaced, was torn out, leaving an empty hole inside. A gaping icy void that would gnaw at her forever and ever. He called her murderer... Is this to say that if she wasn't caught, her father would... No, it made no sense, none at all, her Dad is alive! He is alive!

"Why would I? I am actually quite happy and honest right now. But anyway, believe whatever delusions you want, half of your family is gone," His smile widened, "Time to deal with the other half." He grabbed Aranea by the neck, dragging her out.

She tried to scream, but he nearly choked her out. She let out her claws, but they only scratched helplessly across his armor. Tilden dragged her across corridors, sometimes going up stairs and sometimes going down. Finally, they came before a large steel doors. Aranea felt Tilden pricked her in the back with something, and then he dropped her, right before the doors. This was a brightly lit place, the walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of steel.

"What…" Aranea asked, her thoughts becoming confused for a moment. "What did you do…"

"Kids should act like kids. We don’t want you to complicate the message, right? Worry not, it is only temporary. I want you to be fully conscious when the end comes. Miss Kalaisa!" Tilden said, slightly raising his voice. "I have something of yours! Come out and play!"

A loud noise came from above the ceiling, as if someone were running on all fours. Movement was now accompanied by the loud sound of tearing metal; someone was getting closer by the second. Then it stopped. Tilden took the bag from his waist in his left paw, and his smirking face changed into a mask of concentration. A crack appeared on the metal ceiling, further down the corridor. Tilden licked his lips, and the metal cracked. The black form crashed through the cracks, landing on two feet. Kalaisa Wintersong stood calmly in the corridor, her amber eyes fixed on Tilden. Then her expression changed as she saw Aranea on the floor.

"Give her back," Kalaisa silently said, "I will not try to take revenge, I will not hunt you. You can just leave and run anywhere you want. Give her back, and this will be the end of it." She took one step forward, sending tremors across the corridor. Aranea looked at her mother in numb surprise. Before, her mother was a gentle being. Now, however, Kalaisa was something else entirely. Something truly terrifying.

"Take her then," Tilden smirked and charged at Kalaisa. The gun appeared from the wrist of his right hand, he raised his arm up, taking aim at Kalaisa. Aranea watched in horror as Kalaisa stood calmly, motionless. Tilden took aim and…

Kalaisa disappeared, and Tilden flew backward, the gun was gone from his wrist, torn away by the casual swing of Kalaisa’s claws. The large wound was on the right shoulder of the man, the metal of his armor had shattered. Tilden tried to slam the bag into the face of Kalaisa, but she tore through the fabric with her claws, causing golden tokens to fall on the floor. Tilden screamed out as he crashed into the metal doors behind him.

"I surrender!" Tilden shouted, half with panic, half with smugness. Kalaisa stopped just as she was about to pick up Aranea. Aranea looked at her mother and saw fear—a tide of pure animal horror that was rising in her mother's eyes.

"No… no…" Kalaisa whispered, suddenly heavily breathing. Drool began to fall from her mouth, and her arms started to tremble.

"No, really, I am at the loss," Tilden confidently smiled, standing up and holding the wound on his shoulder with his left paw, "You won, fair and square. You… dominated me," The white furred wolfkin mocked his opponent, "Enjoy your just reward, it should hit you soon if I understand right. Girl." He addressed Aranea with a fake concern. "Now you’ve done it. Your whole family is gone. Why did you do it? Why did you have to sneak here? Why did you push your mother to this despair?" He shook his head in mock perplexity, "GUARDS! INTRUDERS ARE IN THE VAULT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in the corridor, and loud sirens began to scream as the light turned red.

Kalaisa tried to pick up Aranea, but she suddenly stumbled, falling on her knees. A low, guttural growl came from her mouth as the wolfkin tried desperately to hold something back. Aranea thought that she saw her mother increase in size, yet a moment later she was the same size as before. Large doors opened, and a group of armored wolfkin came in. Aranea blinked, and darkness came upon her.

She awoke in the wide hall, sitting near her mother. This was a brightly lit hall, yellow light was nice, rich paintings were visible on the walls. A large round table surrounded Kalaisa and Aranea, eight venerable wolfkins were sitting around behind the table. These were Elders, wolfkins in charge of the Ice Fang order. The order was ruled by forty Elders in total, but only eight of them were present at the time.

"And this finishes my report," Tilden, dressed in formal attire and without armor, stood before the Elders, a bandage covering his wound, "While it is true that Kalaisa attacked me without provocation, and it is also true that Aranea sneaked into the vault without reason, I still ask the honorable court to show mercy to both of them. After what happened with my best friend Gregor…" His voice cracked, as if in pain, and he went silent.

"Gregor Wintersong was a traitor, and he died like one!" One of the Elders shouted. Aranea recognized this voice, this was the person who was talking with Tilden near her cell. The woman angrily jumped on her feet, "The monster that he turned out to be is responsible for the massacre of the entire village! He refused to follow the order of the sword saint and refused to give up, insisting on his delusions! He was mad, and you have nothing to blame yourself for, knight captain!"

"Still, this warrants further investigation," Another Elder said, a sleezy-looking old wolfkin.

"You need at least ten elders to mark someone for death," Said a sword saint in power armor with golden markings around the edge of his armor, "You only had three."

"What does it matter!" The elder slammed her paw into the table, "He killed the entire village! How long did we have to wait? Eternity? And don’t look at me like this, sword saint Osiris Summerspring, you were there! You saw what happened! Knight Captain Tilden Summerspring was absolutely right!" She pointed her finger accusingly at the sword saint.

"Yet, I want to ask Kalaisa some questions," The sword saint spoke quietly. He alone carried a weapon in the room, a thin, deadly looking sword at his waist. He alone was in full armor. Tilden wanted to say something, but the sword saint silenced him with a glance, the blue lens of his helmet burrowing into Tilden's eyes, and Tilden backed down, "My lady, can you please tell me, what happened to Gregor? Tell me your version of the events. You have no need to be afraid, I won’t let anyone even think about insulting you or your daughter."

Low growling came from the mouth of Kalaisa, and she unleashed her claws, biting them deeply into her own legs, tearing the fabric of her pants and causing herself to bleed. The sword saint was on her in a moment, stopping Kalaisa from harming herself. Aranea desperately wanted to say something, yet all her thoughts were in confusion, and she could only whimper like an infant cub.

"Look at her. She became deranged. All the Wolf Tribe members are nothing but insane trash," The female Elder said with disgust in her voice. Before she could continue, the sword saint appeared before her, moving too fast for Aranea’s eyes to follow. He hit the venerable woman across the snout lightly.

"One more insult, Elder, and I won’t hold my next hit," He said with steel in his voice, "You broke our laws, betrayed our traditions, and dared to deceive me, by claiming that ten had decided the fate of the knight captain Gregor. We will review your actions at a later date. This woman," He pointed at Kalaisa, "Lost her husband. She is grieving. Send her to…"

"To the Ice Cave for ten days." The female elder interrupted, her red eyes were filled with hatred for the sword saint.

"Pardon?" The sword saint tilted his head in question.

"This is a reasonable decision," Tilden nodded, "They broke the law. A few days in the Ice Cave will cool their heads and let them think. Come on, uncle, this is hardly even a punishment!" Tilden let out a good-natured laugh.

"I heard that the Wolf Tribe suffers from cold temperatures..." The sleezy-looking Elder said.

"Just a superstition!" The Elder slammed her paw into the table once more, "People! We have a crisis on our hands! Six, I repeat, six cubs are missing! From the safest possible city in the world! From our keep!" She shouted, raising her paws above her head, "And you argue about what to do about minor trouble like this?! Decide already, we need to act, now! Look at them, they have fur just like us, what could possibly happen to them?"

"Ice Cave," said one of the Elders, then another, and finally all of them, except for the sleezy-looking one who remained silent.

"Ice Cave it is." The female Elder stated.

"Not all Elders have spoken." The sword saint pointed in a threatening voice.

"We only need two Elders to subject someone to Ice Cave. Five have spoken." The woman smiled at the sword saint.

"Now you care about our laws? How convenient."

"Uncle, please, let's not make a scene. Important events need to be discussed. If Gregor was truly responsible for the disappearances," ...Tilden started to talk but went silent as the wolfkin in blue and golden armor turned to him.

"I fail to remember when you became one of the Elders or a sword saint. Knight captain Tilden, you will remember your place and will not speak out of order. You are to keep watch on Kalaisa and Aranea, if any, and I mean any, danger comes upon them, you are to save them and report to me. If as much as a hair falls from their fur, you will lose your head, nephew. There is something fishy about this incident, and I swear that I will get to the bottom of this." The lenses of the helmet burrowed into the face of Tilden, and the smaller wolfkin swallowed his drool in fear, shouting commands to the guards.

"Oh, and nephew." The sword saint spoke once more.

"Yes, uncle?" Tilden turned to look at the sword saint.

"On my authority as the sword saint and master of the Summerspring household, I am calling for help from the investigation bureau. I trust that you are overjoyed." The sword saint burrowed at Tilden through the lenses of his helmet while the smaller wolfkin was backing out of the hall along with the guards.

Soldiers took Kalaisa and Aranea, while Elders began to discuss the disappearance of the cubs. Aranea desperately wanted to scream that she knew what happened, but she could only whimper, while her mother growled from time to time.

****

Why can’t the mom speak up? Aranea thought in shock as wolfkins carried them down. They brought them to the very bottom of the fortress, into a place known as the Ice Cave.

This was a sort of prison for wolfkins of the Ice Fang order and also a place of meditation. The wolfkins were coming here to remember their distant homeland or to meditate on their mistakes. The walls were covered with ice, and the temperature was bitterly cold. As guards left Kalaisa and Aranea in the middle of the room, next to a table with some food, Aranea whimpered from the cold.

Her mother embraced her, hugging her close. Kalaisa was still growling slightly, but now it was a desperate growl, as a note of fear and despair was creeping into her voice. For what seemed like an eternity, Aranea and her mother hugged each other, and slowly Aranea regained control of her speech.

"Mommy, I am sorry, so sorry!" She mumbled as white mist came out of her mouth. Kalaisa's belly was becoming dangerously cold, and Aranea could barely feel her own feet. "I didn't want this to happen, I didn't mean..."

"A…ra..ne…a" Her mother half spoke, half growled, in a voice that scared the girl. Never before had she heard this tone, it sounded like some monster tried to parody the speech of her mother, "You are… not guilty… Do not blame… I love you… I… save… you." Kalaisa threw her head to the ceiling and howled. This was not the sound of her mother. No. With sudden dread in her veins, Aranea understood that this was the sound of someone she had heard for the first time.

And then all hell broke loose. Ice cracked on the walls. The ice, as thick as the entire floor of the building, just cracked under the ferocity of the howl. The body of Kalaisa grew, flesh was tearing through her clothes, and her fur came off, revealing white skin beneath. Her legs thickened, her jaw changed shape, and an amber light from her eyes shot out like a projector light. Aranea froze in horror as her mother, this creature she had become, picked up Aranea in her left arm and charged towards the large metal doors. The gigantic metal doors crumbled when Kalaisa reached for them with her right paw. The creature tore the right door clear, a door that was bigger than Kalaisa herself. She threw the remains of the doors behind herself and charged outside. The corridor outside became narrow, and the creature lowered herself on three limbs, running toward the end of the corridor as some sort of beast, still holding Aranea close to her chest. Shoulders scratched the walls, and stone was shattered under the pressure.

The creature reached the stairs and ran upward. Kalaisa slammed them into the walls, defeating four knights in full power armor as easily as a group of children in the path of an adult. The mighty creature left their broken forms behind as she charged toward the fortress's exit. Aranea silently prayed to the Spirits that none of the knights would die.

Steel and stone were torn asunder by the ferocious assault of the weird beast once known as Kalaisa. She broke into the main hall, ending up on the balcony. Two stairs to the left and right led to a floor below, a large pool was under the balcony. Only two large doors separate escapees from the world outside. Kalaisa lunged from the balcony, aiming at the doors. Someone jumped, crashing into Kalaisa. All Aranea could see was a blurry image of steel in the air before her mother, and Kalaisa growled in pain and agony, hitting someone with her free paw. Both opponents pushed away from each other, Kalaisa landed before the pool, a large cut marked her right paw, causing it to dangle on a piece of flesh. Her bones were cleanly cut, only muscles held her hand.

Her opponent, the wolfkin in gold and blue power armor, crashed his back into the doors, landing on his feet with a groan. The sword saint, who was present at the council, now stood before the creature, all dignity and pride gone from his posture, replaced by caution and pain. The sword was in his paws, the armor on his side was torn asunder, allowing a torrent of blood to dirty his armor and showing the white bones of his ribcage. He fell on one knee, breathing hard.

"All these years of training, and for the first time I failed to see the blow…" He whispered, looking up, one paw was on the wound, the other was holding his blade, "Let the girl go, monster. I know not who you are, but I will sooner die than let you hurt…" He stopped, as if he understood something. "Aranea? Girl, is that you? What happened to you?"

"Cold," The girl managed to whisper with her still frozen lips, "So cold. Mom suddenly became strange." She tried to say more, but all her strength left her.

The sword saint looked shocked. He removed his hand from his wound and placed the tip of his sword on the floor. He moved forward carefully, as if trying not to stir up a great beast. The strange creature that held Aranea stopped, cocking her head to one side in curiosity. Drool fell from her mouth, watering Aranea's fur.

"Kalaisa?" The sword saint asked in shock, looking at the creature, "Is that you? You…" He stopped, "I see, I understand now," He bowed, showing his neck to the creature, "Please, put the girl away. I promise I swear to you that she will be safe and sound. I will find all those who were behind this, I will personally drag them to justice." The creature growled in anger, and Aranea saw how the wound on the right arm of the strange beast began to heal, muscles were tying themselves back like knots of rope, "You can’t take her with you," The wolfkin pleaded, "You know what happened to you. If you take her way, it will be just a matter of time… Before the worst happens. I can’t let you take her. She is safe, she will be safe from now on, I swear this on my life."

"Uncle, step back!" A shout from the balcony made Kalaisa turn her back to the sword saint.

Knight captain Tilden, in full power armor, was on the balcony. Aranea only recognized him by his voice. He held a large weapon on one shoulder, pointing it at Kalaisa. Several soldiers surrounded him, and more hurried from the passage behind him.

"You have weakened the beast, now I will put her down! Not even this beast can endure shots from this cannon easily!" Tilden shouted in excitement.

"Put your weapon down, knight captain! If you shoot the disruption cannon here, you will kill the cub!" The sword saint shouted at his nephew.

"Small sacrifices must be made for a good cause! Uncle, we can’t let this beast escape into the city! It's either hers or other people's lives!" Tilden screamed back and took aim at the beast.

"Tilden! You will put this weapon down, or I will butcher you!" The wolfkin in blue and gold armor shouted in anger, "Soldiers! Apprehend the knight captain!" The knights glanced at their captain in uncertainty, "This is an order!"

"Sorry uncle. If you won’t move away from the splash zone, I will have to sacrifice you too for the future of us all…" A pale light appeared inside the barrel of the cannon. Tilden moved his finger to press the trigger…

The cannon fell apart, slicing into three parts, while a new wolfkin in power armor appeared next to Tilden. She held in her paws the same-looking thin sword as the first sword saint.

"You heard your orders. Apprehend the knight captain." With an icy tone, the newcomer stated. Power armor of the deepest sea color clad the lean form of the newcomer. She leaped from the balcony, and Kalaisa followed her movements with her head, turning toward the doors to exit. Each movement of the newcomer looked like she was dancing, and grace was seeping from her every movement. Two sword saints stood before the beast and the exit out of the fortress.

"Camelia. You managed to…" The sword saint in blue and gold said, and his comrade only nodded.

"I arrived when you called. All of us are, rest are landing on the roof as we speak. We need to just hold her back. Not even a skinwalker can stand up against First." Aranea suddenly understood who this person was. Camelia Wintersong, matriarch and head of the Wintersong family line. Keyl told Aranea that in the past, Camelia and Kalaisa had an actual battle between them that lasted for hours, back when the Ice Fang order still served the Wyrm Lord. Their duel ended in a draw.

"Kalaisa," Camelia lamented, "it appears we will never have a proper rematch now. As a mother and as a human being, I have nothing but pity for your situation. But I cannot, and will not, let you take your daughter away. Your life as a human being is over. Please find the strength inside of you to lay the child down and allow us to help you pass on to a new life. By my honor, I swear that your daughter will be taken care of; she will grow up as a happy person, and she will forget the horrors of the past. "

Kalaisa growled and lowered herself for a charge. The edges of the sliced bones merged together, and flesh ran across her arm, sealing up the wound. The fingers of the paw moved. Kalaisa once again had both paws.

"Save her… Protect her… I will…" The skinwalker responded with drool falling from her mouth. Aranea saw two sets of jaws inside her mother’s maw.

"She is too far gone," Camelia shook her head, "I will find whoever is responsible and ensure proper punishment, "Girl, close your eyes and try to sleep. When you wake up, you will be in a warm bed, surrounded by toys, food, and doctors. This, I swear. Ready, Sun?"

"Ready, Moon." The first sword saint responded, raising his sword high, while Camelia moved her sword into a low position, "We will hold her until he comes…"

The skinwalker roared, and both sword saints moved back to the doors, leaving prints in the stone with their feet. Such was the power behind the roar of the beast that even sword saints were found to lack the strength to resist. As Kalaisa lunged forward, Aranea could only see how everything around her became a blur. Only the forms of the sword saints in front of the doors were solid. They moved forward and disappeared from Aranea’s eyes as well, a round circle of steel came into existence before the skinwalker. Gleaming with whirling steel, the circle moved toward the skinwalker, and Kalaisa roared again in anger. Skinwalker punched the circle in front of her with her right hand.

The next moment, the skinwalker was in front of the doors, slamming her head into them and breaking them down. Her right arm was gone, a bloody stump now served her as a shoulder. Deep cuts were on both legs of the skinwalker. Aranea could hear the shouts of the sword saints behind the escapees, yet Kalaisa was already outside, the remains of doors falling on the ground while the skinwalker charged into the city. It was here that Aranea finally lost consciousness again.

She woke up in an unknown place, still held tight by her mother. The skinwalker was moving across unfamiliar lands, covering the vast distance with each bound. There were rocks and sand under her feet. A burning sun was shining brightly across the scorched wasteland. No matter where Aranea looked, she could see no greenery, no sign of the great work of the Reclamation Army. They were somewhere else entirely.

And then she saw something that scared her even more. The right arm of her mother was back. Aranea was sure that her mother had lost her hand back in the fortress, yet here she was, running ahead, both hands in place. The cuts that had covered Kalaisa's legs had now healed, leaving no trace of scars. Could everything that happened be just a nightmare?

"No." Aranea told herself. What happened was real. The ground was moving in a blur underneath them as Kalaisa ran faster than a train.

"Where are we going?" Aranea asked her mother but received no answer. Drool was falling from Kalaisa’s mouth, while the skinwalker continued to half run, half jump forward. Aranea shuddered in fear. What if they just run and run, and one day she will die of hunger or thirst? The skinwalker glanced at her, and the girl felt horror. There was no recognition in this gaze. Something entirely alien was looking at her. Jaws opened wide, and Aranea whimpered in horror. What if…

The skinwalker stopped, and Aranea turned her head. Before them was a ragged camp, small military tents were visible here and there. The black-furred wolfkins assembled in front of the camp, taking aim at Kalaisa with their weapons. Most of them had power armors, but these armors were so drastically different from the slick and slender power armors of the Ice Fang order. Crude and bulky, these armors left the mouths and paws of black furred wolfkins wide open. Unlike the members of the Ice Fang order, none of the black-furred wolfkin carried swords; instead, they all carried ranged weapons aimed at the skinwalker.

Kalaisa opened her mouth and roared to the skies, this roar resembled a summon. A cruel queen was calling her subjects to appear.

And they appeared. From the camp, two wolfkins jumped and landed before the skinwalker. One was enormously huge, almost as big as Kalaisa. The armor on her looked ridiculous, it barely covered her vital areas. A helmet was missing from her head, and one mighty paw held an enormous axe, a weapon that looked more like a tooth on a metal stick. Behind her back was a long rifle. Talismans dangled from her armor, ringing and slamming into each other in the wind, as the second wolfkin wore power armor covered in countless words of prayer. The woman took off her helmet, and both wolfkins looked at Kalaisa with amber eyes.

Kalaisa roared again, and the large wolfkin nodded. She put aside her axe and extended her left arm. The jaws of Kalaisa closed on her arm, biting it up to the wrist. The right paw of the skinwalker hit the wolfkin across the mouth, tearing the lower jaw away. The tongue helplessly hit the chest as the large wolfkin stumbled back, stubbornly standing despite grievous wounds. Blood poured like a stream of water from a fountain from the wounds on the arm and on the head of the wolfkin. Kalaisa hungrily devoured the lower jaw, crushing the bones with a sick sound, and gave Aranea to the wolfkin in ornate armor. Wolfkin took the girl in her paws with an almost divine reverence.

Kalaisa's body started to shake, her muscles violently moved beneath her skin like worms. Her size started to decrease, accompanied by the sound of bones snapping and cracking. In moments, the second row of her fangs moved into the palate of her mouth, fur reappeared across the body, legs and arms slowly turned to be more thin, and in moments, a second copy of the large wolfkin was standing before Aranea. Something akin to recognition came back to her mother's eyes.

"Shaman…" Kalaisa sternly commanded in an utterly unknown voice, "Take care of Kalaisa’s da…." She growled, almost screaming from pain, while veins popped all across her body. Her voice changed once more, becoming the voice of Kalaisa, "…My daughter. Save her. Raise her. She is not at fault…"

"You returned to us, Kalaisa," The wolfkin in ornate armor bowed, "And you attained divinity."

"Divinity?" Kalaisa roared, her form reverting back to that of the skinwalker. "This is no divinity!" Her fur fell out, another set of fangs pierced the palate, her eyes were slowly becoming mad, "My mind, my memories, everything is about to be gone, only anger will remain. I worked my whole life to atone, to save lives, and now… "This... this... is not a blessing,“ She stumbled, trying to find words, "Torture!" The skinwalker roared and jumped away, disappearing in the desert.

The shaman did nothing but nod.

"In time you will understand. You are now even closer to the blessed mother," She turned toward the other wolfkins, "What are you standing here for? Carry the warlord to the medics right now, before she bleeds to death! Summon Sonya, right now!"

"Already here." A black-furred wolfkin with brown stripes across her fur approached the shaman, yawning and putting aside her weapon. The shaman gave Aranea to the wolfkin, and Sonya grabbed the girl by her arm, raising her in the air.

"She is now in your pack, wolf hag Sonya. She is old enough to not be in the pits, so you will teach her our way of life and make sure to teach her proper!" The shaman turned around, leaving the two alone.

"What am I supposed to do with such a weird creature?" Sonya asked, looking in the eyes of a frozen in fear Aranea, "Well let’s see what you are made of."

She dragged Aranea into one of the tents and snapped her claws. Two wolfkins put a large bowl of tasty smelling meat on the floor. Sonya dropped Aranea on the floor.

"Eat. If you can." She gave the girl a kick, and Aranea came closer to the food on her unsteady legs. She was unsure of what exactly this weird wolfkin wanted from her, but she was feeling hungry. As she lowered herself to pick up the food, someone crashed into her, biting her arm. Another wolfkin, slightly smaller than the girl, growled, trying to push her away from the food.

"Why are you biting me?" Aranea asked, more in shock, than in pain. Small drops of blood were on her arm. Her opponent was slightly smaller than she, yet he released his claws and tried to slash her. She stepped back, evading the attacks.

"Oh, for the love of Spirits," Sonya said in annoyance, "He is just a male, you dumb cusack, there is nothing to be afraid of. Stomp him already, he's just barely older than you. Are you really this weak?"

The wolfkin growled again and lunged, aiming to bite the girl’s neck.

"Stop it already, you asshole!" Aranea snarled, releasing all of her frustrations from the previous few days in a burst of rage. She grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck and slammed him into the floor, moving too fast for him. Following some instinct, she closed her jaws on his neck, biting him lightly and feeling blood on her fangs. The wolfkin whined and stopped struggling, lying still. Stepping away from him in shock and fear.

Aranea quickly said: "Sorry. I did not want to hurt you. Really!" She reached with her paws, aiming to help him stand, but the kid remained prone. Feeling sick and disgusted by the taste of his blood on her fangs, she tried to sound calm and gentle, "You can stand up, it’s fine, I am not angry," The kid looked up and took her paw, allowing her to help him stand up.

Something snapped in Aranea. Something, some adrenaline, was coursing through her veins. It was a familiar feeling, something that she felt when she was winning against Keyl and the others.

"No!" She shouted, scaring the kid. "I don’t want it. Screw you!" She grabbed her shoulders, forcing the urge to go back. Her muscles were about to increase slightly, but she forced the growth to stop, she willed her power to disappear. This power turned her mother into a monster. This power caused her to grow up too soon. She refused, she will never accept gifts from this power ever again. She will live on her own power from this day on.

"I am sorry," Aranea quietly said to the scared boy before her, "You wanted to eat too? We can share the food. What is your name?”

"Gin." The wolfkin boy responded warily.

"He's just a male," Sonya said, raising an eyebrow, "The abyss do you care? His lot is to die on the front line as a meat shield."

"I won, right?" Aranea asked stubbornly, "So this means I get to decide what to do with the prize?"

"Your truth," Sonya shrugged, disappearing in an instant. She appeared on Aranea before the girl could even react, her mighty jaws closing on the girl's neck, causing her to bleed slightly. Sonya lifted Aranea into the air and threw her to the ground. Aranea let out a gasp of pain, feeling her insides scream in agony, "Lesson number two. Always bare your neck before the wolf hag. If you refuse or forget, it will mean that you have challenged me. Today you lost, and unless you accept your power, you will always lose to me."

"We will see." Aranea whispered angrily, "I will beat you with my own strength and skills one day."

Sonya only laughed and left, allowing the children to eat in peace.

During the night, Aranea reached out with her paw to the disk of the moon in the skies above.

"Aranea Wintersong is no more. I am Aranea from now on. One day I will reach all the way to the top. One day, I will become strong on my own and bend others to my will. I will become strong enough that no one will ever take anything or anyone from me anymore. And when this day comes…

****

Time of war.

"… I will come for you, Tilden, and I will feast on your insides. I will make you pay and end your precious future. And after this, I will find this Academician and I will devour him as well." Aranea whispered, trying to grasp the moon above her with her paw. The dead called for vengeance, and this was her duty.

But today, her duty was different. Her mother had brought her into the Wolf Tribe fifteen years before. Fifteen long, painful years. Aranea never gave up, she dominated others and refused to accept gifts of her power. Under her fur, countless scars marked her body, yet her unnatural healing always allowed her to move on. She reached all the way to the rank of scout. And on this day, she will finally test her skills in real combat.

"Everyone is in place," The message came, and Aranea smiled. She was standing on the top of the large rock, seven meters above the entrance to the cave. The grenade launcher and shard gun were locked to the back of her armor. In past years, Wyrm Lord ensured that the Wolf Tribe members received proper armaments, something that would suit their style of combat. Instead of bulky power armor, they received a slender one that no longer restricts their movements. Aranea did a backflip, jumping off the stone and allowing wind to run across the fur on her snout as she fell. She landed on two feet, nimbly as always, and stood up. Her helmet slid on her face, covering her snout and her whole head but leaving enough room for her to open her jaws and use them in combat. The red lenses of her helmet flashed as she looked at her pack.

"Time to start the massacre then." She smiled. This was such a good night.

****

The World: The event known as the Extinction nearly destroyed the world a few centuries ago. From the ruins of the old world, new forces rise, striving to shape the new world according to their own desires.

Reclamation Army: The state founded by the man known as "Dynast". Sometimes they go by the name 'Reclaimers'. For centuries, he has waged wars to forcibly reunite the world and terraform the lands to remove all traces of Extinction. The state found many technological marvels in the ruins of the old world, and now it is one of the strongest powers in the world today. The population of the Reclamation Army is made up of various people. Mutants, normies, new breeds known as wolfkins, new breeds known as orais, and new breeds known as wyrms. Originally a strict autocracy, the Reclamation Army currently allows and uses many democratic institutions to manage the lands of a huge state as efficiently as possible. Despite this, the word of the Dynast is the law even today.

Iterna: Is the only country in the world to have survived Extinction thanks to the massive shield that protects the lands of this state. Aiming to establish alliances with the locals and rebuild the old world by either integrating the locals into Iterna or providing the locals with the technologies needed to rise to a pre-war and higher level. Iterna is terraforming the world to restore it to its pre-Extinction state. Currently, they are busy around the small city of Balach in the Ravaged Lands. The Dynast gave the order to leave them alone during the conquest of the rest of the region. The population of Iterna is made up of mostly normies and artificial humans, descendants of sentient AI Artificer. The strongest army in the world ensures the safety of the people of Iterna, as well as some of the strongest abnormals in the world. It was originally a constitutional monarchy, but Iterna now has a fully democratic government. Due to the fact that Iterna was spared from the side effects of glow, abnormals are rare in their lands, and the government of Iterna is taking all possible steps to attract abnormals to live on their lands.

New breeds, abnormals and blessed ones: Words and terms used by Iterna, the Reclamation Army, the Oathtakers, and others to describe those who were changed as a result of the glow, a side effect of one of many weapons that destroyed the old world. Even if their appearances differ significantly from that of normal humans, all three major world powers regard new breeds as humans.

Oathtakers: The weakest country of the three major countries Unlike the Reclaimers, they were not lucky enough to have an ancient stash of tools from the Old World. Through hard work and persistence, they claimed a region of the world for themselves. Despite boasting impressive military might, Oathtakers try to avoid fighting in a war of conquest. Instead, they are trying to convince other countries to join them, often using underhanded methods. The population of Oathtakers is mostly made up of normies, blessed ones known as trolls, and blessed ones known as the Insectoid Commune. Mutants are a rare sight in this country but are welcomed with open arms, just like everyone else. Technically, this country is a union of people ruled by the blessed ones, but all true power is held by Lord Steward, the uncrowned ruler of the Oathtakers. Always starved for income to continue building their version of paradise, the Oathtakers have built many gorgeous resorts for tourists from other great countries, rivaling even the ones in Iterna.

Apocalypse class: A classification given to extremely rare cases among new breeds. Every person with this rank has the potential to cause another extinction in the world. The only known people in the world who have been assigned the Apocalypse class title are Eugenia Mylli from Iterna and Outsider from the Reclamation Army.

Power: Another side effect of the glow is the development of supernatural abilities or skills. Sometimes power passes from the parent to the child, but this almost always results in a weaker type of power. Rare examples of the opposite are the innate powers of wolfkins, wyrms, and trolls. Unless they have joined their blood with the blood of other tribes, the power of the offspring will remain around the same level as the power of the parent.

3rd Army: The army under the command of Wyrm Lord. He is a new breed, champion, and commander in the Reclamation Army. It is known as the weakest army out of the three armies in the state. After the original commander of the 3^rd Army, Ravager, defected, many people in the 3rd Army still consider Wyrm Lord to be an upstart, as he never passed a trial of strength.

Wolfkins: new breeds, named so because of their external resemblance to wolves. Two major tribes of wolfkins exist: the Wolf Tribe and the Ice Fang order.

The Wolf Tribe: They claim their heritage from Ravager, the first recorded abnormal in the world. A less civilized tribe out of two tribes of wolfkins. Almost all of them serve in the 3^rd Army. Eighteen wolfkins are known as the warlords, and they rule over smaller packs of wolfkins during wars. In peacetime, even warlords bow to shamans. The males in this tribe are weaker and smaller than the females.

The Ice Fang order: a more civilized tribe of wolfkins. They claim their heritage is from the Twins of the North. They were originally members of the 3^rd Army, but because of constant clashes with their kin from the Wolf Tribe, ownership of the order was transferred to the 2nd Army. Many of their number are considered heroes of the Reclamation Army because of their attempts to always aid their fellow soldiers and civilians. The Order allows its members to pursue non-military careers. Twenty noble houses and forty Elders rule them. Each noble house has two Elders on the Council. Each house is ruled by the strongest wolfkin, known as a sword saint. The Council deals with most civil issues under the Ice Fang order.

Resistance: The group of various raiders, tribes, and gangs of the Ravaged Lands who have teamed up to refuse being subjugated by the Reclamation Army. Ruled by a mysterious person known as King, the main power of the Resistance comes from the Bento tribe and the Soultakers tribe. The Bento tribe is known as 'techno barbarians', people who replace parts of their own bodies with mechanisms, aiming to leave only the brain in the end.

Organization: The highly advanced group that lurks in the shadows. Their goals are unknown, yet their actions often cause tragedies across the globe.

Skinwalker: An extremely rare genetic anomaly among the Wolf Tribe's wolfkins. If a member of the Wolf Tribe has this anomaly and willingly pursues a life of combat and domination, she will eventually end up as a mad, nearly unkillable creature. Skinwalkers are considered to be divine by the shamans of the Wolf Tribe. All skinwalkers are considered hostile lifeforms, and travelers from all countries are advised to stay as far away from them as possible.

Warlord: The highest military rank among the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe.

Shaman: The second highest rank among the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe. Members abandon their names and only reclaim them if they are promoted or demoted. The shamans rule over the tribe in times of peace.

Wolf hag: The third highest rank among the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe.

Scout: one of the lowest ranks among the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe.

Warrior: the lowest rank among the wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe. Below them are only cubs and males.

Sword saint: The highest honorable and military title of the wolfkins of the Ice Fang order. Only those who excel in both close and ranged combat can claim it. The sword saints rule the noble houses of the order.

Knight captain: One of the highest military ranks among the Ice Fang order's wolfkins.