"I hate it." Leila mumbled while the agent was preparing the papers. Kassandra Trugh, an agent of the investigation bureau now assigned as a helper to the Wolf Tribe, looked at her and smiled encouragingly. The woman was somewhat of a legend. At one point, she managed to save the life of warlord Dragena, run a refugee center Gamma during the time when Oathtakers were at war with Chosen Prince, and was even invited as an honor guest to the last Gathering of the Wolf Tribe. On top of that, she even adopted an orphan from the ranks of the new breeds as her son. Nowadays, the woman works as a liaison for the Wolf Tribe, solving all civilian legal issues for the tribe. The Tribe appreciated her hard work so much that the wolfkins even invited her to join the Tribe as an honorable sister. This title was granted to the ones who saved a wolfkin's life, should they ever decide to join the Tribe for any reason. Such newcomers were safe from being dominated, unless they were the ones challenging a member of the Tribe. In any other time, Leila would have questioned her thoroughly, learning all the new stories she could. But now, she simply sat in the chair, her wings folded behind her back, while this blonde woman was working, preparing the papers.

Wings surrounded them, cutting off all the sounds and the sun of the outside world. The old demon could not exactly fit into the buildings, and because of this, Aranea dragged the whole table from the headquarters, placing it in the open field. Now Ivar shielded Kassandra and Leila from the sun above, putting the entire area in pitch black darkness. Kassandra placed a simple lamp on her table and began working and preparing the papers for disownment. She put aside her anti-heat helmet, allowing her blonde hair to run to her waist. The agent was dressed in a leather coat that showed a part of the elegant anti-heat suit beneath it.

The old demon always liked to do everything by the book, and even now Leila could feel how his eyes were burrowing into her back, judging her, and, like always, finding her wanting. But this time, she was not afraid of him. The wolf hag staged a training course nearby, almost as if by accident, and now Ivar was under the Aranea’s rail gun at all times. Leila smiled at this show of care, even if it was so stupid. It was nice to know that someone had her back.

“And if he tries to do something to her?” Leila’s ears caught the hushed voice of Tiny.

“Relax, I gave her a signal,” Now it was Aranea who was speaking. Leila smiled at this mention, her leader did indeed pass her a small mechanical calling device. It was mostly to calm her nerves, she doubted that anything could stop the old demon should he decide to hurt her, “If he tries anything, I’ll just kill him in cold blood.”

Ivar undoubtedly heard this as well, his hearing was far superior to Leila’s hearing for now. He could pick up the sound of the falling branch from a mile away, racing toward the source like a storm that was devouring everything in its path. Leila saw him acting like this once, when she was captured on one of the missions. Her kidnappers moved her to a lower floor of their base, planning to rip out her wings. When Ivar arrived, the raiders' base was torn asunder by his wrath, streams of water bisected everything in his path, his mighty strikes caused underground tunnels to collapse. No weapon could stop him, his will commanded any fool brave enough to stand against him to die. The old demon punished her for being captured, of course, but it was the one and only time when she was both glad and in actual awe of seeing her father.

"Please read the papers and if you agree with everything, sign them." Kassandra gave a copy of the papers to Leila and sent a copy to Ivar's communicator, allowing him to browse through the scanned documents.

The half-wyrm raised her brows in surprise: "But… This is too expensive. A house in…" She half expected to be left a beggar and was making her peace with it. Instead, her father granted her a fortune, along with a den that belonged to her mother in their homeland, a den that cost as much as an expensive manor in Houstad would.

"Your mother owned it. I merely kept it intact until the day you were old enough to inherit it." Ivar responded, reading through the documents. He clicked his tongue, finding something not to his taste.

"Really?" Leila asked skeptically, "After you killed her…"

"Your mother died because of you, Leila." Ivar cut her off, and she felt how his gaze focused on her back once more, "Your presence tainted her focus…"

"Oh, so this is my fault? And not the fault of someone who abused her child before her very eyes?" Leila turned to look into his gigantic eyes. Before, he always punished her when she dared to stand up to him. Now the old demon looked at her as if she was an annoying insect, "Fuck you, dad. You are the reason the mom slipped and died."

Her mother worked as an archeologist for the Tinkov corporation. During one of the excavations, the team was faced with a minor uprising of the crazed defensive bots from the Old World. The warlord Kalaisa and her pack dealt with the intrusion, while Tinkov’s workers retrieved a massive back box locked by a digital lock, something that they believed to be a data cache from the Old World. Wyrms possessed an innate ability to guess the combination for various locks based on only a few factors, and her mother had always been successful in such operations in the past. However, this time she made a mistake. The defensive system of the box unleashed some sort of virus into her face, and Leila’s mother fell ill. Wyrms were some of the mightiest among the new breeds, but they too had their limits. She lasted for three days, recording one last video message to her daughter before finally succumbing to the virus. Ivar never even bothered to show up at the funeral, he just paid for it. Leila herself was also forbidden from paying last respects to her mother.

"Idiocy," Ivar inhaled air through his nostrils, looking down on her, "Your tainte… this exchange is not productive," His thunderous voice changed, becoming slightly softer, "We have to put personal feelings aside for the sake of the duty. Think whatever you want, just obey the orders."

"Keep your distance away from me and I will, captain." Leila turned her back to him, signing the papers. The den of her mother was far too big for her. Maybe after she becomes a fully grown wyrm, she will stay in there. Nevertheless, she was curious to see what sort of things she could find there, perhaps to learn what sort of person her mom was. The old demon rarely allowed them to meet each other after he snatched Leila away, and she always felt that her mother blamed herself for revealing Leila.

"Good enough. I will continue to pay people to keep your mother’s den clean," Leila wanted to argue, and Ivar cut her off, "This is not negotiable, scout. Don’t spend all your tokens on some stupid shit or some pyramid schemes…"

"I am not dumb, dad." Leila fiercely snarled at him. She shuddered, feeling a claw pressed to the center of her back.

"This is captain Ivar Murzaliev for you, scout. We are no longer relatives," Her father said behind her back, lowering his massive head. For a moment they were silent, and then he removed the claw, saying, "You still intend to pursue your idiotic idea?"

"There are stories to collect," She shrugged her shoulders, using her tail to check if his claw was behind her still. It was not, "Don’t worry. If the Wolf Tribe will have me…"

"They will," Kassandra said easily, typing something on the terminal, "Alpha, Lyuda and Zero all sent their approvals already. Welcome, sister," The woman let out a laugh, becoming serious, "Just don’t go biting or dominating anyone, please. You have the right… but be human."

This was Aranea’s idea. One night, she broke into her room, breaking off the regular talks with Kate. The wolf hag asked if Leila would like to use the old tradition of the Wolf Tribe and join them. At first, the half-wyrm was dumbfounded by this suggestion, it took her a moment to realize that the keen ears of Aranea probably caught on to the words that she spoke to Tiny a day before, about how she was worried that Ivar might try to do something. Mostly out of confusion, Leila agreed, and Aranea called Kassandra, explaining the situation. Now there are many normies and other people who have saved a wolfkin at least once. But very few of them actually had any desire to join the Tribe. It was an excellent idea for the half-wyrm. Thrown out by her sack of shit dad, she got an entire group of people as her kin. When Ivar demanded her presence to officially disown her, Leila simply called Kassandra for help, and the woman prepared her part of the paperwork.

"Of course," Leila nodded to her. She looked up into the calm eyes of her father, "Don’t worry, captain, I am staying in the army. My hobbies should not be of your concern."

"Good to know," Ivar responded, signing the document using an electronic signature. From this moment onward, they were no longer kin, Leila no longer had any rights to the Murzaliev family name, and her father no longer had any rights to use his power or physical force on her. The blue wyrm hesitated for a moment, "I have some friends among the editors. Feel free to send me your "encyclopedia" when it is finished. We may be able to mold it into something readable."

"And why would you want to help me?" Leila demanded to know.

"Because if you are doing something, it should be done properly." The wings moved, allowing the sunlight to pass through, filling Leila’s ears with sound from the outside world. Aranea and her pack stopped training, looking at how Ivar stood up on his rear limbs, stretching his body before making a soft jump up.

The azure wyrm looked at the scout once more: "When you will undoubtedly run out of tokens and end up on the street, find me. I will throw you something for you to live on." His legs pushed him a good dozen meters in the air, before he had to flap his wing twice and disappear in the clouds above. Leila hated to admit it, but her father was impressive. The sheer power behind his limbs, the elegance of his movements, the speed and precision of his wings.

The half-wyrm smiled at the sun, standing up and walking toward the pack. Finally, after all these years, she was free. She barely had any idea what to do with her freedom, but she had new friends and a dream. This will suffice for a start.  

****

Aranea blinked, seeing how the steel ball flew toward her snout. She ducked and received a kick across her shoulder from the training bot before her. The force of the hit propelled her body back, her claws on legs scratching the metal floor in vain as she tried to stop her momentum.

"Don't just try to dodge or take hits mindlessly. Your every move must flow into another move," The robot, shaped after a human, stopped. The form of warlord Valerye could be seen at the other edge of the room. She was dressed in full armor today, her arms were crossed on her chest. A weird, spider-shaped device was placed on the left side of her helmet, allowing her to control everything in the training room with a mere thought. Two wolfkins, male and female, were standing by the side of the warlord. Valerye jokingly called them her caretakers and bodyguards. Aranea tried to chat with them from time to time, but the strange pair always kept their eyes only on the warlord. The voice of the warlord resembled moving gears, gone was her cheerful voice from the time when she was speaking with the black and blue. She was grim and collected now, "One of the most important lessons in battle is to not get hit. Even simple wounds can cost you the entire fight. Another important lesson is planning. For someone as weak as you, speed must be of the utmost importance. Not just speed of movement, no, but speed of making correct choices in all situations. You have four limbs. When you feel cornered, use your legs to counterattack."

The command relieved Janine from the command, forcing her to rest and recover. Valerye took it on herself to give lessons to the pack of her fellow warlord. For the past few days, she has been mercilessly training all members, Aranea included, in the restored training area underneath the headquarters in Chokepoint A. At first, Valerye just gave voice hints to her new trainees, correcting their mistakes. Her wolf hags played the role of sparring partners for the pack of Janine and for the pack of the deceased warlord Dragena. The only one who ever sparred with Foulsnout herself was Leila, and only when she was in full armor and the warlord was without her armor. Even then, the half wyrm was flying to the other side of the room from the warlord's lightest taps.

A few days ago, Till Ingo came to see why his people had to repair Leila’s armor so often. The old man quickly got bored with what he was seeing and came up with a new idea, providing this weird mechanical shell body for the warlord to use. This was not the limit of the devious actions of Ingo. The walls of the room now were covered with holes, at the mere signal of the warlord, a steel ball could be fired from it.

Aranea touched her shoulder, standing up slowly. Just a small bruise, Valerye was surprisingly gentle in training when compared to Janine. Seeing that Aranea’s shoulder was fine, warlord snapped her fingers, creating a loud sound boom. Wind hit the wolf hag in the face and the robot started moving again, striking with the right hand. This was an archaic looking machine, exposed wires ran across the arms and legs of the machine. By all accounts, it should have been an easy prey, and yet when Valerye wielded it, this bot was stomping each and every wolfkin. Aranea dodged the metal fist, circling the machine to the right, grabbing the wrist of the machine with her left paw and aiming at exposed wires on the side of the machine with her right paw. At the last moment, she had to stop the hit and take the incoming hit from the left hand of the machine with the palm of her right paw. In the next moment, the left arm of the machine broke free and a sharp elbow moved toward Aranea’s throat, forcing her to move behind the machine in hopes of shredding wires at the back of the steel fighter. And yet the machine turned its upper body around, the right hand of the machine slammed into the raised for defense hands of Aranea. The force of the blow caused her to take a step forward.

"Stop allowing me to control the flow of the fight," Foulsnout croaked, sounding as if speaking was a torture for her, "You can see that your enemy is stronger than you, why are you trying to match it blow by blow? Why are you blocking instead of evading? Never play by enemy rules, especially when the enemy has the advantage in some areas, or you will be withered down, moment by moment. You have both arms and legs, think how to use them to your advantage."

The machine took a step toward the wolf hag, its torso still turned a hundred and eighty degrees. Square-shaped legs allowed it limited mobility in any direction, fists, crudely fashioned after human hands, unclenched themselves, the machine trusted right hand forward, aiming fingers at Aranea’s neck. This time she stepped back and fell to the right, landing on two hands, and used her left leg to thrust her claws underneath the head of the machine, severing one electric cord. The left hand of the machine grabbed Aranea’s ankle, intending to spin around and slam her into the floor. This time, Aranea allowed momentum to carry her, instead using momentum to slice through several cables at the side of the machine as it started spinning her body around. With a loud buzzing, the left arm of the machine went limp, and the wolf hag landed on the floor, dodging backwards as her opponent tried to step on her. A metal ball was shot from the wall to the left, aimed at Aranea’s snout. Just a week before, this object could have been too fast for Aranea’s to see. Nowadays, however, she saw how a metal ball was coming from an opening in the wall, a small object, barely bigger than her palm. This was a weird sensation. The amber eye of Aranea still viewed the world at its usual speed, she could see a blur of metal ball, but that was all. Meanwhile, her crimson eye allowed her to see the world, as if it was moving in slow motion. Her body could barely keep up, as she lifted her paws to face the incoming projectile. The force behind the metal ball was strong enough to push her back…

"If you can’t take a hit, evade it," She remembered the words of Janine. Back then, she was just a kid and Janine was teaching them how to dodge properly, throwing sharp rocks at them. Of course, she was not using her full power, using simple snaps to send rocks flying, but for cubs, these rocks looked and felt like cannon balls when they landed. Aranea still had scars on her body from those lessons, yet she remembered the words of her warlord well, "If you can’t evade hit either, you can only try to change the course of the incoming projectile."

She allowed the impact from the projectile to come through her right paw, moving her body slightly to the right, facing the mechanic machine. Using the force of spin, she pushed the metal ball with her left paw, sending it right into the glass visor of the robot, smashing the glass and damaging the insides of the machine.

"You actually saw the movement of the ball," This was not a question from Foulsnout, the warlord locked in crimson armor nodded, as if confirming something, "So your senses too are enhanced."

"Enhanced?" Aranea asked in confusion.

"Indeed. You see, the Wolf Tribe's power is based on physical strength," Valerie said, extending her arm and clenching her fist. Her voice was filled with pain, she was speaking as if she had not had a drop of water in months. Her voice was dry, some words got distorted and mangled as Foulsnout was speaking, "Our cousins are physically weaker than us, yet they can perceive things far better than us. Their reactions are far superior as well. You probably saw ads on TV showing how Ice Fang members parry bullets with their swords, right? Most of us can’t do it."

"But I saw how some wolf hags move and block bullets…"

"Yes, most warlords, like me, have either trained themselves to perceive fast moving things by training their ocular muscles or have innate or acquired abilities," Seeing the confused look of Aranea, Valerye tapped her finger on the helmet above her left lens, "Alpha left a mark on my brain. I lost my… personality, I guess, but in exchange I received what doctors call savant syndrome. Things are moving at a different pace for me now, slower and smoother. Most normies could not train to a sufficient level…" Valerye placed one finger to the lower end of the helmet, "…Have you ever seen baseball?" Aranea nodded, this team sport was gaining popularity over the land, expanding from Oathtakers who reignited the life of this once forgotten sport, "Then you surely know that in leagues meant for normies, many players use dope. It is illegal, sure, but legality aside, have you ever asked yourself why the hit rate of the players increases when they are on dope?"

"Never gave a thought to it," Aranea replied honestly, "I always assumed that this is because they can move faster due to drug."

"You are partially correct. You can’t hit the ball unless you can predict it or… see it. You see, training of the ocular muscles is hard. You can pump your body with all kinds of drugs, but unless you know where to apply your power," Valerye made a cutting gesture against her own neck, "One missed hit and the head flies away, strong or not. Through special drugs, you can temporarily boost your ocular muscles. Through special training, we strengthen our ocular muscles. No doubt Janine threw stuff at you from time to time, getting ever faster and forcing you to adapt. All of us have various peaks. Because of your blood ties to the Ice Fang order and your power, things are moving slowly for you. And yet, because of your eye, you are missing out on the greatest strength of our Tribe. Attack the bot again."

Aranea looked at the machine before herself in confusion. The head was smashed, metal ball was still stuck in the visor of the robot, exposing the weak insides. The left arm of the machine was hanging uselessly, it was still standing with its torso turned, limiting the agility of the foe somewhat. Many wires on the machine's body were sliced apart, the open cords were unleashing sparks of electricity. By all accounts, it was no longer a threat. Shrugging her shoulder, Aranea made a quick punch with her right hand and the machine dodged it, as if it knew that Aranea would use this attack. The right hand of the machine rose, as Aranea angrily tried to punch the metal ball in the head of the machine deeper inside. The bot dodged this punch, almost dancing out of reach of Aranea, the metal hand did not counter offensively during her attack, nor did the machine block any of Aranea’s hits. Instead, the bot tapped its sole hand onto the incoming fists, as if counting something. This casual display of mocking superiority angered Aranea just enough for her to lose herself for a moment, and she dashed forward, kicking with her right leg, unable to understand just how the damned machine was dodging her. It was slower than her, dammit! The machine dodged the kick and finally counterattacked. There was no organization to the attack, rather quick strikes in a way that Aranea could not predict. She received a punch in her snout, a kick across her left knee, and an elbow hit in her ribs. Under this onslaught, she lost her balance and fell. The machine moved for a finisher, stopping an inch from Aranea's face. When Aranea looked up at Foulsnout, she noticed that the warlord was staring at the ceiling, no longer controlling the bot.

"This type of combat is known as relying on instincts," The warlord stopped looking up and walked toward the wolf hag. Each step produced a thundering sound, looking at the lean form of the warlord, it was easy to forget just how heavy she was. Her bodyguards moved behind the warlord, silent like shadows, their forms clad in black power armor, leaving only their heads open, "We are closer to animals than most normies. This is not a derogatory term, it is a fact. In our Tribe, martial arts complement instincts. When I faced Alpha, I relied only on my studies of martial arts, and such hubris cost me… my everything," The voice of Valerye changed, the warlord was clearly uncomfortable revealing something like this to an outsider, "She knew how I would act. I believe that martial arts are the pinnacle of close combat, but instincts are great because the best outcome in combat is to never take a hit. This is how our wolf hags sometimes block the incoming bullets. They just know when to use their speed and physical strength."

The warlord helped Aranea to stand and took a step back. She slowly began to extend her left arm toward Aranea:

"What will I do, in your opinion? I can punch with this arm. I can make a feint and punch with my right arm. Or maybe I will grab you and tackle you down. Or maybe it is just a fluke," Valerye snapped her fingers, creating a sonic boom, and the wind hit Aranea in the face, forcing her to close her eyes. Valerye had vanished when she opened her eyes, her voice was now speaking from behind the halfbreed, "With martial arts, you can counter such parlor tricks with ease. You will know what the enemy will try to do and will counter accordingly if you have instincts. Mastering both is the path to true greatness."

Valerye took Aranea by her shoulders, turning her toward herself:

"In your case, you were led down the wrong path in your training. The path for you should have been not instincts, but…"

"Warlord," Aranea felt herself angry all of a sudden, "I am grateful and appreciate that you are helping us while our leader is temporarily indisposed. But I will never agree with you that either Sonya or Janine would make a mistake in…"

"Calm yourself," Foulsnout put her finger above the left brow of Aranea. It was a simple tap. And yet the force behind this simple touch sent Aranea back to the floor. The halfbreed took a deep breath, wondering just how freakishly strong Foulsnout was anyway? The warlord in crimson armor lowered herself on her knees, her cloak spread on the floor behind her. Worry was in the looks of the bodyguards, but they calmed themselves as they saw that Aranea was unhurt, "Apologies, I had no intention of scaring you. Both Janine and Sonya are far older than me, I will never presume to imply that they made a mistake on purpose or out of malice. And there are no such thing as futile efforts. You ever heard a legend about a king who served human flesh to the gods? For such a heinous crime, the king was sentenced to the mindless task of moving a rock up the hill, only for the rock to always fall down at the last moment. Yet even this task is not useless. The king still improves his physique. Your training was not in vain. But due to your mixed lineage, you are not predisposed for combat based on instincts, your reactions are different from those of regulars of the Wolf Tribe. As a result, you become a jack of many trades. I bet if we give you a sword, you will…" Foulsnout stopped, looking at Aranea’s ashamed face, then chuckled, "No way. You actually used a sword before, isn’t that right?"

"I was just a cub." Aranea responded, feeling how her skin had become crimson underneath her fur.

"This is adorable. We live in modern times, and yet they still use these outdated chunks of metal…"

"This is rich coming from a woman who always fights in melee with her bare fists and claws." Aranea said defensively.

"Touché, fencer," Foulsnout chuckled again, "is it true that our cousins always carry swords with them and prefer them over firearms?"

"I don’t remember them that well. But they were awfully concerned about swordplay. And many of them used guns," Aranea responded, remembering Keyl briefly. She hoped that he was living a good life now, "Shouldn’t you know them better than I?"

"Believe it or not, I am less than fifty years old. Compared to most warlords, I am still a child. I have never met a living member of the Ice Fang order in my entire life. All I know about them comes from TV and stories of shamans. Don’t tell anyone, but I am a fan of TV shows produced by our cousins. Champions of justice, unwavering shields of progress! Protectors of the weak, liberators of the oppressed! When darkness dares to show its ugly mutt, they will put their swords right down evil’s throat …" Passion filled the words of Valerye as she was striking a heroic pose, all pain disappeared from her voice, the warlord’s left hand was up as a shield, and her right hand was over her head, as if bearing a torch or weapon. One of her bodyguards, a male, appeared behind the warlord, slapping the warlord behind her head with a paw. The man clearly gave everything he could, his strength enhanced by his armor, the loud sound of metal ringing filled the room, yet the head of the warlord refused to move even an inch. Aranea fully expected that the warlord would tear the male apart for such insubordination, but Foulsnout only nodded, as if waking up, and stepped back, showing Aranea her right fist, "Apologies again, I lost myself in a moment. Right now, we are lacking in time and opportunity to train you properly for hand-to-hand combat. This leaves us with only one choice. Speed. Even if instincts will tell your enemy where you will hit, even if her martial arts will allow her to read your body language," Valerye punched the air to the left of herself, casual movement of her fist making yet another sonic boom, propelling wind forward. The wind pressure hit the wall with the sound of a hammer, sending a loud noise across the room, "However well your enemy will read you, it all will be useless if you move too fast for the enemy to react in time. And yet speed alone will make you predictable. Mix it with ranged weapons. Even someone like Chort will be seriously injured if you unload a rail gun in his torso."

No objections here. Aranea thought, Trick is how I can get a shot on him? I'm not going to fight him in melee, no way, no how. Why bother, when guns are so much better?

The warlord helped Aranea to stand and the pair walked toward the exit, "caretakers" of the warlord walked right after them. Several engineers came into the room, preparing to fix the broken bot for the next training session, while another man took the remote-control device off the warlord's helmet as she was walking. Doors slid to the side, revealing a brightly lit hall behind them, and Aranea asked a question that had been bothering her for a while:

"Why are you training me? And why are you training us individually? Janine always trained us all at once, without paying too much attention to individuals."

"Because teamwork can only carry you so far. You saw how Chort took you out, no amount of your teamwork would do a thing against him. A team of weak individuals can take out a strong foe. A team of strong individuals can take out an even stronger foe. This is why you should always strive to improve yours..." Foulsnout stopped looking at the person to her left.

The warlord and Aranea were in the general training area, which was more than five floors below ground level. This place was built for the training of new breeds. Although everyone was welcomed, as long as wolfkins trained here, other new breeds avoided coming here. A single metal walkway, a few centimeters above the floor, led to the large doors at the other side of the hall. The hall itself was split into several makeshift zones, some for close-combat training, other zones were meant for running courses or lifting weights. The floor of the room was covered in sand, and in the place where wolf hags of Foulsnout trained members of other packs, it was covered in traces of blood. Foulsnout was a gentle warlord. Her warriors were not. Disciplined as they were, at the heart, they were still wolfkins, and when a close fight started, they often went for domination. The situation was worsened by presence of warriors from pack of deceased warlord Dragena. Their pride was injured and demanded retribution, no matter the source.

Tiny was lying on her belly, her tongue hanging from the side of her mouth as she was breathing heavily. Her clothes and her fur were soaked with sweat. Near her were several heavy weights, some of them clearly too big for her small body. After her shattered knee was healed by the cure of Till, she spent all her free time training. Lifting weights was considered to be a waste of time by wolfkins. Even the running course was not as devoid of people as the area in which Tiny was training all by herself.

"I gave you the order to head back to the barracks and rest," Valerye croaked, jumping off the metal walkway. When her armored boots connected her weight to a floor covered by the sand, a small explosion of sand rose in the air around her. In annoyance, the warlord snapped her fingers, blasting away sand with wind pressure, "Why are you still here?"

"Because I want to get stronger," Tiny plainly replied, standing up on her knees, Drool was still falling from her mouth, and she wiped her snout with the back of her paw, "I have an obligation before my team to perform at a certain level and…"

"And you will do no good for anyone if you throw out your back by overworking yourself," The voice of Valerye changed yet again, her words became clearer and there was a sudden care in her tone. The bodyguards jumped on the ground after her. Aranea noticed something strange in their eyes, glint of fear, "E… Tiny, you became a scout at an incredibly young age. Now you must hone your brain and let your body slowly develop. There is more to war than a simple brawl."

"I don’t have time to wait," Tiny hit the ground before with her paw in anger, "I'm sick of being rescued every time. I am tired of being looked down on every time," She threw a quick glance at the sparring arena, "If I was just a bit stronger, then I could have been of better use, then my pack would not have been hurt, Gin would have been safe, Scarred One would have been still…"

She stopped as Valerye took her under her shoulders, lifting Tiny onto her feet, holding the scout steady before herself. The warlord held Tiny for a moment, as if looking for words.

"Hrhrg… Not now," The voice of Foulsnout began to turn back to croaking, yet she pushed herself to sound clearly, "Maybe they would have been. Or maybe you would have been dead. I know how you feel, scout, I truly do. When I lost my first member of my pack, I felt myself like shit. Each moment I was thinking about what I could have done differently, how I should have act."

"How did you stop this feeling then?" Tiny asked in a calm voice.

"Still worry about it from time to time. But after I understood that I couldn’t carry the weight of the entire world on my shoulders, life became easier. In our time, physical strength is no longer as relevant as before. Take Osero, for example. He earned this position through hard work and intellect. He is a normie, yet he ranks above me and can boss me around. You do not need to be physically strong to be valuable. Concentrate on the problems at hand. For example, your team showed themselves good at ranged combat. But what if the enemy gets close again? Educate them on how to setup a defensive perimeter, how to use other weapons…"

"Aranea already showed me how to use mines and Sonya is helping me with shardguns training. The manuals about western lands that I requested have already arrived and we are studying them currently. I am not neglecting my duties, if you are worried about…"

"We will train together from now on," Aranea jumped off the bridge, landing near Tiny. She wrapped one hand around the torso of the scout, holding her steady as she was about to fall from exhaustion again. It was Aranea’s fault, Yuki always trained alongside Tiny. Aranea should have known that it would be hard for Tiny to find someone else to train with. Under the leadership of three warlords, males were not allowed to compete with females, and the rest of the females were not as gentle as Yuki. It's small wonder that she trained alone.

"Wolf hag, you have your own duties to perform," Tiny responded quietly, as they were walking toward the steel walkway, "Scouts are expected to set an example and live up to certain expectations." Please do not concern yourself with me. Besides, I already found someone who will help me."

The warlord stopped for a moment near the weights, lifting one of them with one finger, looking as if she was lost. One of her bodyguards, a female, once again slapped the warlord behind her head, and Valerye almost jumped in place, hurrying after Tiny and Aranea. This unusual behavior started to worry the halfbreed. Foulsnout looked like she was losing it. Was it always like this with her? How is she able to lead her pack, when she is.... so weird?

They passed near the hand-to-hand training area. Wolfkins had currently stopped their training for a moment and were relaxing themselves, feasting their eyes on the main event in the middle of the arena. Olesya and her pack were not present. Some of Martyshkina's wolfkins were busy currently in the training area, yet Olesya, someone who always enjoyed a good brawl, now spend all her time on the floor above, in the training area for ranged weapons along with her pack. Aranea tried to find her several times, but Olesya refused to even meet with her every time, sending text messages and promising that she would explain everything later.

Th wolf hag Annie, de-facto leader of the now leaderless pack, was now busy climbing through the unofficial ladder of power ranking between wolf hags, taking down pretty much everyone. Aranea went against her and was introduced to the sand during the first four moves of Annie. As they went drinking later, Annie apologized for acting so roughly, stating that she expected Aranea to be tougher. The only ones who were undefeated by her were Tiny, as Annie looked at the scout and said that she wouldn’t touch someone so gentle, and Leila. The half wyrm and wolf hag have already sparred several times, leaving both with scratches and wounds, but the winner has yet to be determined.

The same deal is happening right now. In a large circle, Annie was sparring against Leila, both cheered by wolfkins from other packs. Annie, like the entire pack of Dragena, was a weird person. Dragena ensured that all members of her pack were well trained in all areas, even the males under her command knew how to read, write and use terminals. Unlike other warlords, Dragena trained her pack in martial arts, inviting instructors both from the state and from Iterna. The deceased warlord even went so far as to send some members of her pack to be trained in other countries during times of peace. Annie was tall, her fur was spotted with colors of black and grey. The wolf hag was dressed in a weird black set of clothes instead of the regular pants and t-shirt that others used for training. She was wearing a very heavy, tight jacket that covered her entire upper body all the way to her fists and pants, her costume was apparently not purchased, but earned in one of the martial arts schools from Iterna. A yellow belt was around her waist, while being drunken Annie explained to Aranea that this meant that she had intermediate rank in one of the martial arts. She boasted that she could have climbed higher, but the warlord called her back. Annie had a very well-built physique, four long scars across her face, and pale lines running from her left ear to under her right jaw. Annie’s face looked strikingly similar to Svetlana’s face, so much so that Aranea sometimes mistook them for each other, despite the difference in their physique. Unlike most wolfkins, she never slouched, always keeping her posture straight. Her ears had traces of piercings in them, but Annie always took the jeweled rings off when she was training or during battles. Four black belts, filled with built-in weights, were on the wrists and legs of Annie, one on each limb.

Annie was sparring against Leila once again. The half-wyrm was dressed in a crimson shirt and purple pants today. Aranea had no idea where Leila was getting such weird clothes, tailored for someone of her size perfectly. Annie lunged forward, her right paw aimed at the half-wyrm's shoulder. Claws were permitted during sparring, yet both Annie and Leila were not using their natural weapons today. Weird gloves covered Leila's three-fingered hands' long claws, while Annie kept her claws inside her fingers.

Leila backhanded Annie's hit with her right hand, punching with her left arm. Her aim was for the belly of the wolf hag, but her punch was blocked by the raised right knee of Annie. The right hand of Annie suddenly closed around the wrist of Leila, the right leg of Annie stomped on the ground behind Leila, and the wolf hag tried to throw her opponent off her feet. Veins became visible on the soft skin between the scales of Leila, as she pushed with all her might to stay steady. The left hand of the half-wyrm reached for the side of Annie and... the claws of the half-wyrm tickled her opponent.

"Stay serious, dammit it!" Annie shouted in embarrassment, letting go of her opponent as Leila grabbed her into a hug, wrapping wings around the body of the wolf hag, pressing her toward her body. Aranea nodded in respect of Annie’s restraint. She would have bitten Leila for such behavior. Annie loudly inhaled air, seemingly in shame at her capture.

"But you are so cute when you are ang…" Leila’s voice stopped as Annie let out a loud scream, confusing her opponent for a moment with a stream of directed forward air. At least as far as Aranea could tell, it was not a normal scream, nor was it some sort of natural power. Rather, it was a focused stream of sound, directed at the face of Leila. Taking advantage of her opponent's confusion, Annie pushed her fingers under the ribs of the half-wyrm, forcing her opponent to release her grip for a brief moment due to sudden pain. This allowed the wolf hag to break free. She landed before Leila, ducking low for her next attack, while the scout was still shaking off the effects of the scream.

"So… ha!" Annie screamed, hitting with both her palms into the knee of the half-wyrm, pushing the opponent a few steps back. Annie straightened up, charging forward yet again. This time Leila punched with her right and Annie took this attack on her left shoulder, spinning to the left slightly. This movement allowed her to punch with her right fist, the knuckles of the wolfkin aimed for the weak spot on Leila’s neck. The punch of the wolf hag ended up being caught by the open hand of the left arm of the half-wyrm, the right hand of Leila grabbed the elbow of the outstretched arm of her opponent as she threw the wolf hag over herself. Annie did not resist this throw. Instead, she used it to land on her two feet, turning toward her opponent immediately, her fluid footwork creating a small tornado of sand underneath her.

"So… he!" With another shout, the left palm of Annie ended up buried in the belly of Leila, as the wolf hag instantly counterattacked. Instead of falling, Leila slammed her open palms at the shoulders of Annie, sending the wolfkin face down in the sand. The half-wyrm reached for the waist of Annie, wrapping her right arm and her tail around the waist of Annie, and lifted her up, legs above the head of Leila. Annie tried to take Leila’s neck into lock, but this was blocked by the left arm and wings of Leila, the half-wyrm forced the legs of her foe to stay away from her neck. And then the half-wyrm slammed Annie into the sand yet again, stopping the momentum of the throw at the last moment in order not to injure her opponent.

"That’s enough. Wolf hag Annie, I thought I asked you to stop bothering scout Leila. Clearly, I should have given you an order instead of hoping that you will be reasonable." The warlord clapped her hands, like a teacher breaking up a fight between cubs.

Annie, still lying on her shoulders, waited until Leila let go of her. Then, without lowering her legs to the ground, she made a rapid movement with her legs, sending herself into a spin, and jumped off the ground, propelling herself in the air only with her shoulders. She landed on two feet and bowed to the warlord.

"Oh, shit, you two already finis…? I meant to say, hail to you, venerable warlord," Annie deeply bowed to Foulsnout.

"You use far too many flashy movements. For example, your shout. Do you really think a real opponent will give you time for it? And screaming before attacking is a bad habit." Foulsnout clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"I will take your advice to heart and will aim to improve myself." Annie responded, bowing again.

A drop of blood fell from the left corner of Leila’s mouth. Her legs suddenly became weak, and she fell on her knee, lifting her left hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. Aranea let go of Tiny, jumping off the walkway and charging toward Leila. The half-wyrm raised her hand to show that everything was fine, but the wolf hag ignored her and landed on her knees near Leila. The woman was breathing heavily, struggling to regain control over herself, her smile disappeared. One hand was on her belly, as it trembled ever so slightly.

"Wow. I literally feel my insides vibrating this time," Leila groaned in a strained voice, struggling to smile, "My new "sis" got me good, I admit it. Shit. Hold it, Leila, don't let it... Oh shit." A black spot was slowly spreading across the pants of Leila, and she covered herself with wings, trying to hide the shameful sight.

"Wolf hag Annie, for ignoring my order, you are sentenced to cleaning restrooms for the next month. I gave you strict orders not to use this move during sparring." As she spoke, Valerye was already calling for the medics.

"Of course, warlord. I fully accept responsibility for my reckless actions. Drinks on me tonight, Lei. We cool?" Annie lowered herself on the knee next to the half-wyrm.

"An, I just wet myself. What part of this being just a friendly little spar did you miss? My perfectly good pants are ruined!" Leila forced herself to speak, still hugging her belly with one hand, "Now everyone will laugh at me."

"Eh, who didn’t wet herself during the sparring match with wolf hag Annie?" A female from Annie's pack lazily said, stepping forward, her arms were folded behind her head. She was stunningly beautiful, her unusual, blue-colored fur was clean, combed and washed, not a trace of sand was on it, despite the fact that she was part of today's sparring. She had not a single scar or bruise on her body, her form was almost as large as Annie’s form. Her eyebrows were painted black. She was dressed in a swimming suit instead of training clothes. Her tight suit did little to hide her near perfect body from the view of others. An elegant looking belt that was made from the skin of some lizard creature, was around her waist. Several items, including a spray bottle, were hanging from the belt, "You can call it part of the course at this point. Listen to my mistake and avoid drinking for the next hour, unless you also want to shit yourself. Use this spray on and around the damaged area to relieve pain," the female said, reaching for the spray on her belt and throwing it to Aranea. The wolf hag grabbed it and checked the inscription. It was just a simple medical spray to help with bruises. Aranea moved Leila's hand away and sprayed medication on her belly, causing half the world to exhale a sigh of relief, "Defective girl is here. Hello there, girlie, are you planning to be shy all your life? Hop in, we are still warming up." The blue-furred wolfkin said as she saw Tiny. 

"Show some damn respect, scout Carty." Snapped Annie, putting her hand on the shoulder of Leila, "We are all allies here. Lei, breathe slowly, vibration will stop sooner this way."

"Just saying things how I see them, wolf hag. Apologies for any inconvenience, defective girl," Carty mockingly bowed to Tiny, "'sides, I was the only one who said hello to her."

"Carty, how about I paint your snout red once I am well again?" Leila fiercely asked.

"And this is what I get for my help. We already danced this dance before, lizard woman. I am weaker than you for now." The scout waved her paw dismissively, her smile showed perfect white fangs, "I won't challenge you until I get strong enough to win."

"Then watch what you are saying to my friend, before I rearrange your teeth!" Leila made an attempt to move, and Annie with Aranea had to restrain her, before she could hurt herself.

"Carty, is it?" Aranea slowly said, remembering how Tiny said something about someone looking down at her. It seems the mystery was revealed, "We never went against one another, right? How about I use you as my chewing toy for today's sparring?"

"Sorry, wolf hag, but I am too good for you," At that, Carty gracefully bowed to Aranea, her voice was respectful, yet a hint of humor was in it, "Besides, I already have my training partners for today. I will gladly show the defective girl a few moves though, if she is willing to join us."

"Scout Tiny finished her training and will now go to rest," Aranea growled. She stopped talking and closed her eyes, forcing herself to be calm. When she calmed down, she carefully took Leila in her hands, lifting the half-wyrm as gently as she could, "You better watch your mouth, or someone might just leave you with half of your tongue."

"Defective girl wants to be a strong girl. Your attempts to pity the defective girl won’t do her any good in her quest for power. No pain, no gain, you know."

"Wolf hag, Leila, Carty, everything really is fine," Pleadingly said Tiny, "Please, let's just all calm down and…"

"Are you too good for me as well?" Foulsnout calmly asked, jumping and landing before Carty. Despite the sandstorm that was created as a result of this, Carty still smiled. Bits of sand was on her fur and teeth now. The warlord looked at her, from head to toes, "Your form looks fine. Your muscles are well developed. Your weight…" She slid one finger behind the belt of the blue-furred scout, easily lifting her in the air, "… Just about right. I do believe you earned a lesson with me."

"Warlord wants to spar with me? We both know the outcome, but sure. Let’s allow you to vent out." Carty spoke with a sweet honey voice, still smiling.

"Warlord, if you have a problem with members of our pack, allow me to deliver punishment. This is not the problem that…" Annie tried to reason with Foulsnout.

"I just want to give the scout a valuable lesson. She said it herself, no pain, no gain."

"There is no reason to be angry at my behalf, warlord!" Tiny tried to stop the warlord.

"Nice jest. Everyone knows what you really want, warlord. Come, show me your true nature." The smug smile of Carty did not change one bit, despite the fact that the warlord was literally carrying her away, holding her in the air by her belt, to the special training area. Annie worriedly looked how the doors closed behind them and the bodyguards.

As Aranea returned to the metal walkway with Leila in her hands, she noticed an angry expression on Tiny’s face, but it soon disappeared as she looked worriedly at her fellow scout, who was still coughing blood. Aranea took note of this. Tiny usually tried to hide her emotions in front of strangers, but it seems that the scout of Annie really got under her skin. Aranea will solve this problem personally, no matter what Tiny thinks about her pride, the halfbreed will never allow others to bully members of her pack. Her nostrils angrily inhaled air as she tried to keep herself calm.

Metal doors opened and the party came face-to-face with Svetlana and two other medics. They already had a stretcher prepared and, despite the weak protests of Leila, started strapping her to it.

"Really, this is not necessary!" Leila tried to protest, as Svetlana was locking her in place with belts. Svetlana fiercely glanced at her, as if it was Leila's fault for getting injured.

"I will not allow you to run off again, not until you are fully healed this time, you dumbass," Aranea only smirked at these words, trying hard not to smile. Svetlana looked in the training hall worryingly, "Is she fine?"

"She is filled with energy and her freaking hits hurt! I missed one and look at me!" Leila tried to break free.

"So she still intends on going against her after all these years… Damn it, when Alpha gets here it will be such a constant shitshow between Virginia and her." Svetlana shook her head.

"I've never met Virginia but believe me when I say there are a few wolf hags who can take your sis down," Leila smirked proudly.

"You said it yourself. You have never met Virginia. I did. Both are equally obnoxious, both are insufferable, and I must treat them both after each sparring session! Arghr! Why can’t we all be friends for just once! Have a normal dinner, read books, watch films! Just have a normal life!" Svetlana loudly snapped her fangs, carefully running her fingers over the belly of Leila, checking for something.

"How is Olesya?" Aranea decided to ask, and Svetlana stopped briefly, looking at her in something akin to fear.

"She is adjusting… I mean, she is fine. Her wounds healed, it’s just… Never mind, she gave me clear instructions to keep this in secret. And this time I will not fail her." Svetlana angrily mumbled, finishing locking Leila to the stretcher and moving her toward the lift, other medics walked beside her, helping when needed.

"I gather that she and Annie…" Aranea whispered to Tiny.

"Sisters, yeah. They may look alike, but both actually have different dads. Sveta is unwilling to spill the beans, but Leila got Annie drunk enough to discover that Sveta was raised by normies," Tiny whispered back, "Just don’t ask Annie about it. She seems to dislike her sister."

"Idiot. Family is… You know what, never mind. Let’s go have a shower, we still have to finish our preparations for the funeral tomorrow."

As Tiny and Aranea walked to the lift, realization hit the wolf hag. Foulsnout never told her why she was training her exactly.

****

Aranea yawned, standing up from the terminal. In the past few days, Ivar's forces left the Chokepoint A, leaving many buildings vacant. A large army of the black wyrm was on its way, but Janine and the other warlords would be long gone by the time they arrived, joining forces with Ivar's forces to the east as they advanced deeper into Regulator's territory. Right now, however, Aranea and the other wolf hags were treated like kings, with the barracks being half empty each of them had their own private room. Even each member of the scouts got a whole room to themselves.

Aranea was a bit worried. Kate, Sly, and Kaleb were no longer responding to her calls in the past few days. Certainly nothing bad could have happened to them, but why the silence? With resistance on the run, no one could block the messages anymore. Aranea decided to stretch her legs with a night walk and stood up. She checked to see if her pack was resting as ordered and, to her surprise, noticed that Gin was not in his bed. She checked Tiny’s room, but scout was not there either.

The wolf hag found Gin all alone in a room near the entrance to the barracks. The wolfkin was sitting behind a large table, surrounded by maps, reports, and books, his left hand nervously scratching behind his ear.

"What are you doing?" Aranea demanded to know.

"Rivers, there are truly no rivers out there…" Gin mumbled, as he looked up with tired eyes and scratched the bridge of his nose, "My apologies, wolf hag," He bared his neck for a bite. Aranea simply looked at him and he continued, "Tiny asked me to double check something. The inner regions of Regulators are deprived of natural water sources, there are no rivers on the surface, which is to be expected. But there are also no water sources underground. According to reports, most of the Regulators' cities rely on water production facilities and water storages. This must be why his excellency Ivar avoids targeting them, since we will have to rely on them as well at first. This means that we will have to be careful about using heavy weaponry…"

"Yes, this is exactly why I asked Tiny to check it for me. Thank you both for confirming this for certain," Aranea said honestly. Ivar promised to leave them alone, but knowing just how vile the man was, it was better to be prepared. Aranea read the reports herself, but upon consideration, asked Tiny to double check her, just to be safe, "If this is all, then go back to sleep already, we have more duties tomorrow. Janine will be out of the hospital, and we can’t fall into mud before her. Where is Tiny?"

"She is busy… meeting with someone. It is of no concern, she will be back soon." Gin tried to weasel his way out, collecting books and maps as he was standing up. He tried to leave, but Aranea blocked his way out.

"You two are fighting again or something?" The wolf hag asked with suspicion in her voice.

"Of course not!" Gin raised his paws in the air and Aranea believed him. Aranea recently saw him and Tiny having lunch together, whatever trauma he had from his childhood, it no longer bothered him as hard as before.

"Then where is she? Leila is sleeping, Sonya is sleeping, you are here… She has no one else to drink with, nor does it seem like her to go all out all alone…" Gin tried to keep himself quiet and Aranea lowered her head, looking him directly in the eyes, "Gin, if there is something wrong with my pack, I need to know it. Where is Tiny? What is going on?"

"She is meeting with her partner at the slopes of the eastern mountain range. Right under the place where the artillery battery used to stand, there is now a bunker there. It really is nothing serious, she is just…"

"If there is nothing serious, then it won’t be a big deal, if I check up on her, right? Go and rest, Gin, everything will be fine, I promise."

It took Aranea a good twenty minutes to finally reach the place where Tiny was supposed to be. On her way, she was stopped by patrols several times, security was tight after the recent attack on Chokepoint A. Finally, the wolf hag reached the cliffs of the eastern mountain range. The main defensive line now was several kilometers to the north, and these cliffs were all but abandoned by guards. A few patrols could still be found, but heavy weaponry was moved away. Aside from guards a few bunkers, there was no longer a presence of state soldiers here anymore. Aranea inhaled air, catching traces of Tiny’s smell and… perfume in the air. Aranea frowned in confusion, and then she heard a loud noise on the plains below stone cliffs, as if someone was mining rocks. She reached the cliffs and leapt onto the stone road below, landing almost silently. The wolf hag lowered herself on all fours, trying to be stealthy and looked down. Two figures were below her. One figure was Tiny, dressed in simple brown jeans and a white shirt. Another figure was scout Carty, she was dressed in blue colored trousers made of silk, and an azure-colored shirt, with a golden dragon painted on her chest. A long silk cape was flowing from the shoulders of Carty. Annie's scout cracked the stone wall with her left arm and was now shaking her paw, throwing off the dust.

"That’s about it," She said to Tiny, "Each day you smash your arm against stone or metal. The goal is not to break the substance before you, but to create microscopic cracks in your bones. Unlike normal people, we heal faster. At night you will nearly howl from pain. In the morning your wounds will heal, leaving only bruises behind. So you torture yourself again and again, breaking bones once more. Your hands, elbows, wrists… Once you can’t take the pain anymore, stop and clean your wounds with water. Then always use medical spray to remove all possibility of infection and push the pain back. If inflammation won’t stop or pain won’t be gone until the morning, always ask the doctor to check you. Such training won’t heal your illness. You miss dose of your medicine, and your bones will still go to waste. It will be painful, defective girl. Your skin will become ugly."

"But you are doing this each evening, and you look beautiful." Tiny noted.

"That's because, unlike you, I was born perfect," Carty smugly smiled before bursting out laughing. She extended her left arm toward Tiny, "I now grant you permission to briefly inspect my paw. Look at the skin underneath my majestic fur."

Tiny took the hand of the scout and used her fingers to spread fur and look at the skin below. She gasped in surprise.

"It’s… Your skin is tough like some sort of hide!" Tiny checked the skin further on the arm, seeing the same rough skin underneath the fur.

"Yep. Not only will your bones and muscles grow stronger. But your skin will stop becoming soft, your…"

"Your pinky. It is broken, right?" Tiny quietly stopped Carty from speaking.

"Eh, warlord got a bit rough with me. A few cracked ribs and a few broken fingers, this was a result of someone not keeping her mouth shut." Carty took her hand away in a hurry.

"It is my fault. I should never have said anything in front of her... But why have you not shown your injuries to the medics. If it heals in the wrong way…" Tiny worriedly asked, looking at Carty's fingers.

"Tiny, Tiny…" Carty shook her head in disapproval and said, "Never make attachments to anything. If it heals the wrong way and becomes ugly, eh, no big deal, I will just get over it. We live and we die, that’s all there is. Live in the moment, not in the past or future. As for your fault, don’t worry! I never counted on you to keep our training in secret from others. Everyone always lies to everyone. Back when I was training in Pearl, there was that girl who wanted to be a doctor, we studied martial arts together. She was always speaking about how she wanted to help others… Turns out she was a terrorist all along, what a joke!" Carty slapped her sides in laughter.

"I am sorry," Tiny said, bowing, "You trusted me and I…"

"You are ruining it. The best part of detecting a lie is when the liar tries to get out of it scoff free. Excuses just ruin the moment," Carty said with a slight growl, her smirk disappearing, "Anyway, this training will only build up your upper body and fingers on your legs," she said as she took a deep breath to calm herself, "We also need to find something for your stamina and legs. Watch this."

Carty looked before herself and put her arms by the sides of her waist. Then she lifted her left leg, leaning over to the right as her leg went up. Finally, her right was standing on the ground, while her left leg was pointing upward. Carty placed one arm at the knee of her left leg while her other arm grabbed behind the knee of her right leg. She stood in such strange position for five minutes, silently, before slamming her left leg into the ground suddenly and lifting her right leg up, changing the positions of her arms. Not a hint of pain was on her face, despite damage from her training with the warlord. Carty's cape ran across the sand as she was doing strange training.

"This will build up your endurance," Cary said, slamming her right leg onto the ground, "Your muscles will become slightly damaged at first. As they heal, you will adjust to this training, building up your stamina and leg muscles with each repetition. Just like with previous training, it is a cumulative process, and you will have to do it countless times in order to achieve results."

"Like this?" Tiny asked, lifting her left leg.

"No, wait, not…" Carty screamed, seeing how with the loud noise of tearing fabric, the jeans of Tiny got torn between her legs. Tiny still stubbornly lifted her leg, as Carty was laughing at the scene. Carty wiped away tears of laughter from her face and assisted a heavily breathing Tiny in adjusting her hands, "This is why you always have to wear loose clothing for training. I will buy you the new jeans, don't worry, defective girl"

"No...Need...Have...Tokens...Can… you… please… not… call… by… this...nickname?" Tiny managed to force these words out of her mouth, as she was standing in a strange pose. Unlike Carty, it was clearly straining for Tiny to stand like this, her face betrayed pain, and yet she pushed herself. Aranea approved of her resolve but decided to speak with her later anyway. Surely, they can find some other training for her.

"I am just saying things how they are, don’t like it, don’t speak with me. Now onto other basics. I already mentioned how much running you will have to do. What I have not yet mentioned is that your skin may possibly peel off your fingers at first from running so much. Speaking from experience, your muscles will hurt, your skin will become damaged, your bones will scream from pain…" Tiny lowered her leg, slamming it into the ground with force, and Carty hugged Tiny from the back, whispering into her ear, "Oh, stupid, stubborn, defective girl. I see only tears on your road to strength. I remember crying in my pillow countless nights without getting a wink of sleep as my body screamed in pain. And for what? Beat up a bunch of cannibals and thugs in the wastes? Let’s face it, none of us will ever be of note against someone of worth. Why struggle, then? You have such a beautiful boy who likes you, if I was into anyone, I would probably steal him from you. Your pack seems to care a lot about you. Why suffer? Drop it all and enjoy life. Leave the Wolf Tribe and the army and attend university or something. You will be happier this way, I promise."

"For better or worse, I have my own goals. My friends and comrades in my pack rely on me. Aranea’s ideas are interesting to me, so I will give it my own to make her dream into reality," Tiny replied stubbornly. She added in a quiet voice, "And… There is something else, a reason why I must become stronger. Can you please help me a bit more?"

Aranea crushed stone beneath her paw in anger. Her dreams were her own burden, she had no right to put them on Tiny as well. She will definitely speak with her and make things clear. Tiny deserved to have her own happiness, one that did not involve the selfish desires of her superior.

"I am a bit of a softie. Sure, if it is within my knowledge or strength, I will assist," Carty let go of a tiny, stepping aside, "Well, it’s your life, defective girl, live it as you see fit. I am off to sleep for tonight, my ribs really annoy me. Be a smart girl and go back as well, tomorrow is an important day for my pack. Please behave, we kinda need the moral support." Carty waved her hand in goodbye as she walked away, leaving Tiny to return alone.

"Wait!" Tiny shouted, and the blue-furred wolfkin turned around. Tiny bowed, "Thank you so much for your help. I'm not lying to you, I am truly sorry for letting out my frustration, for revealing our secret and causing..."

"Oh, shut up already!" Carty's face briefly turned into a mask of annoyance, and she quickly turned around and almost ran from her fellow scout, leaving Tiny behind.

Aranea left the place, walking up the stone road. There was no reason to embarrass Tiny by announcing her presence, the scout had done nothing bad. No, it was she who failed in her role as a leader. Had Aranea ever thought about running away from Sonya to train under someone else? No, of course not. This means that, as a leader, she still lacks experience. Just like Tiny, she too needs to better herself…

Aranea heard cracks of stone, few meters above her. Walking like nothing happened, she kicked a small stone on the road into her paw and turned around, throwing it at the source of the sound.

Smiling Carty caught the stone and crushed it in her paw. She was standing at the side of a stone cliff, claws on her feet deeply biting into the stone surface, holding her steady as she leaned on the left, walking on the stone surface as if it was a road.

"At first, I thought that some of my boys were sneaking after me again. But it seems we have a more important guest of honor. Greetings, wolf hag, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you spying after me?"

"Why do you help Tiny? You always mock her, why do you stick up with her now?" Aranea plainly asked.

"Why indeed…" Carty grabbed her jaw, pretending to think, "A sense of unbridled optimism? Pure boredom? Good nature?" She jumped off the wall, landing gracefully on two legs before Aranea, spreading her arms wide and bowing as if she was an actor before a crowd, "No, the real reason is that I like seeing lies crumble. The goal of a defective girl is to become stronger, but it is a lie. She will never tough it to the end. She pretends to be a good person, yet she already set me up once. I want to see how her lies crumble all around her and how she will give up. For this reason, I will help the defective girl however I can."

"I see," Aranea calmly said, spreading her shoulders and cracking her neck, "You are one wicked girl, ain’t cha? Get ready for a sparring session, let’s see if we can beat some sense into ya. Don’t worry, I won’t use claws."

Aranea punched with her right paw before Carty could respond. The scout blocked the hit with her left hand, the force behind the blow moved the scout a few steps back. Carty's face twitched briefly, as her broken pinky finger sent pain across her body. And then she smiled, gracefully bowing once more, using her right hand to move the side of her cape to the left, while her left hand untied her cape.

"By all means, I do have a few moments to play with you, wolf hag." Carty allowed the cape to fall from her shoulders as she charged forward. The scout kicked with her right leg, aiming at the right knee of Aranea.

The wolf hag was forced to lift her right leg, barely evading an incoming kick. Stone was crushed under the mighty strike of Carty. Using her right as a foothold for advance and not allowing the wolf hag even a moment of respite, Carty punched with her right arm, aiming for the face of Aranea. Aranea leaned back, allowing the scout's paw to hit the air where her head was, and struck forward with her right leg, sending Carty flying. Fingers on her right hand felt cracks in Carty’s ribs, at least one rib on her left side was damaged. The scout's body flew up. The scout made a graceful backflip, landing once more on her feet and dodging the punch of the wolf hag, grabbing Aranea by the hand and throwing her on the ground. Aranea spun on the ground, aiming to hit across Carty’s leg, and threw her on the ground. Her hit connected. But it was like hitting a wall of bastion, Carty barely moved her leg. Aranea's eyes widened as she noticed Carty's fist moving quickly at her snout. She dodged her head to the right and the left arm of Carty got buried in rock all the way to the elbow. The wolf hag grabbed Carty by her right shoulder, sliding from underneath her like a snake. A kick in the side was blocked by the right arm of Carty and Aranea jumped back, gaining distance.

"Have to give it to you, wolf hag, you are a tiny bit faster than I expected. But I am growing bored with this brawl and want to fall asleep. Let’s finish it quickly." Carty stepped back, beckoning to Aranea to make a move with her left hand, the face of the scout twitching from pain in her ribs.

"Let me help you go to sleep then. Don't worry, I'll make sure you wake up in a nice warm bed in the hospital," The halfbreed said, cracking her fingers, "We will talk bit more then."

"Ha! As if you could ever pull off a feat like this."

Aranea made a feint with her left arm, trying to bait Carty into protecting her left side. Carty only smiled and then the true hit came, a punch with the right hand. Aranea knew that something as simple as this would not work on scout, so she placed her hit in such a way that it would force Carty to turn to the right, leaving her left side open. The left knee of Aranea struck forward… only to be stopped by the right palm of Carty, while the fingers of the left paw of the scout buried deep underneath the skin of the lower jaw of Aranea.

"I can do a simple spin and knock you out by sending your brain on a journey," Carty innocently smiled, "But then you'd be a mess tomorrow and the defective girl will cry. Let’s finish at this, wolf hag. Call it your win, if you want to. I am getting more tired by the minute, and I too have a reason to look good tomorrow."

Scout let go of Aranea, walking back to her cape, unbothered if the wolf hag hit her in the back.

"You are stronger than you look." Aranea reluctantly admitted. She expected an easy win and not a situation like this.

"Scouts, warriors, wolf hags…. If ranks determined power, then it would be impossible to get promoted," Carty shook her head at the sight of her cape as she picked it up, "All dusty now. You are a liar too, ain’t cha?"

"What do you mean?" Aranea blinked in surprise of this accusation.

"Maybe about how you wanted to make me your chewing toy and failed? Maybe about your useless feint? Or maybe… Who knows? I sometimes say foolish things. Don’t forget this moment, Aranea. We of the Dragena's pack may be without a leader, but we are made from sturdier stuff than the likes of you. You will never beat me, no way, no how."

Carty put the cape over her shoulders, her breathing suddenly got heavy and she grabbed her left side. Aranea moved to help her, but the scout growled at her, all elegance gone from her face, leaving just an animal scowl as she backed down from the wolf hag. She regained control over her breathing and walked away down the road, leaving the wolf hag alone.