“Where did you find the seeker mech, anyway?” Hearing Yuki’s question, Lucendra let out a breath, looking around the night wasteland.
She felt nervous. It was somewhat of a usual condition for her, unlike other wolfkins, Lucendra was always afraid of being close to other wolfkins. Normies or orais, they were fine, cool even. Always ready to chat, never attempted to dominate her, and never berated her.
Now the wolfkins… Here was the whole other deal. When she was a regular branded, cubs from the village would often swing by their house, forcing her Mom and Dad to prostrate before them, sometimes even biting Lucendra for fun. Sure, no one ever hurt the branded after the honored Dragena tore down this system, but Lucendra always caught the looks of others on herself. A hungry look from a member of the Alpha pack. An aggressive snap from one of the scouts of the Ygrite pack. A cut here, a bite there…
Carty once caught a whiff of this behavior. Lucendra had no idea what the scout did, but a few warriors of the rival packs went straight to a hospital with multiple broken bones. Lucendra came to Carty, asking how she could repay the help. Carty only laughed and seated the woman, making the warrior spend the night over drinks.
The pack always looked for their own. Even at her lowest, Lucendra felt safe under Annie. But now the warlord was busy in the fortress. Kayleen came back, the warlord had to visit the wounded, and Angoro invited Annie to dinner to celebrate the end of the war. Unwilling to risk the greenhorns, the warlords had sent mixed patrols during this night.
This is how Lucendra and Yuki ended up stationed on one of the small cliffs overlooking a road leading to the fortress. Yuki took off her helmet and leaned against the stone wall, lazily smoking a cig. Her amber eyes tracked every movement on the road below. From time to time, she would lazily grab a stone and pierce a passing insectoid’s head, preventing it from feasting on smaller wildlife or sneaking to the dead greenies before the fortress. The workers tried their best, burning the downed foes, but there were still countless dead bodies littering the ground. If these remains are not removed, whole new nests of insectoids will spring up in the nearby mountains.
And sometimes Yuki would swipe her paw at the empty air, causing Lucendra to shake in fear. She had no doubt that the other warrior was doing this just to mess with her, why else would she let out her claws? Yuki’s skull shone brightly through both skin and fur, illuminating their position like a flare.
I wonder how she and Sly are able to sleep with… that. Lucendra snapped from the thoughts, catching another glance at herself. She sometimes shut herself in, allowing others to bully her to their will. It helped, really. But right now, she has a job to do!
“It was an accident. Sly’s stupid toy,” Lucendra let the venom seep into her words, recalling how that jerk dragged her into being the test pilot. Some pilot she was, everyone ended up laughing at her! “Got broken. I rushed to the hangar to find that bastard and saw that King’s virus had been wiped from the systems, leaving every terminal accessible. The mech was in the maintenance bay, so I jumped in, called the fool and you. You know the rest.”
“Quick thinking,” Lucendra felt fingers closing on her neck. Yuki was fast! The warrior covered ten steps between them way before Lucendra could notice anything. Hearing the sound of the crumbling gorget, Lucendra yapped weakly and bared her neck in submission. “You will speak of Sly with respect from now on and obey him in everything,” Yuki’s face appeared before Lucendra’s eyes, filling her with dread. “Next time I hear a backtalk, an insult, or simply feel like it, your face will be caved in, Aranea’s orders or no. Sly has enough problems to deal with without your bullying. Am I understood?”
“Y…” Lucendra swallowed, feeling a surge of panic rising in her. Sly, curse him, curse him! Why was he always busy dragging her into problems? What if Carty, Kayleen, or Ultis learn of this? They are weaker than Yuki, they’ll get hurt! She almost agreed to Yuki’s demands, but finally decided to tell the truth. “I understand you, Yuki, but I can’t obey!” She heard the claws scratching against her armor and saw Yuki’s open maw, filled with fangs. Each fang glowed a bit, the warrior could see the U-form of each nerve within each fang. Lucendra felt her bowels release out of fear and a desire to submit, fully knowing exactly what was going to happen next. “Come on! I-I-I am… not afraid! Beat me up if you must, but I can’t keep my mouth shut when Sly is tinkering with something dangerous! People can get hurt.”
Yuki kept looking into her eyes. Lucendra felt the urge to lift her shardgun and try to defend herself in any way she could… Forcibly, she mounted the weapon on her belt. The packs just started to get along. Another beating, who cares? She’ll live. Peace must be maintained.
“You are a disgrace, coward,” Yuki’s nose frowned as she pushed the warrior away. “What are your problems with Sly? Why are you two always fighting?”
“He beat me up once.” Lucendra admitted, trying to calm down her trembling paws. She wasn’t hurt this time! She won’t have to take a leave and can still send her full pay back to Mom and Dad! Yay!
“A male?” Yuki threw her head back up, unleashing a roar of laughter. “You want to tell me that a male beat you up? How come? Sly never-ever comes at anyone in the open. Did you try to jump in on him?”
“I was in heat,” Lucendra grumbled, letting the helmet slide off her head. Seeing Yuki grab her stomach in laughter, she felt tears in her eyes. “C’om laugh! Laugh! I know that I am worthless, I know that I’ll never find a mate! You think it’s funny?! I ha…”
The ground shook, and a shadow rose on all fours, silencing both wolfkins. It was a wolfkin, her fur blending perfectly with the darkness of the night. The moon created a silver lining on the curves of the impossibly mighty figure. The light, matching that of the Wyrm Lord, fell on both women, illuminating the cliff like morning rays. Her form was bigger than any warlord, her mere presence made both wolfkins fall to their knees, not daring to utter a word in her divine presence.
Dread, reverence, adoration, acceptance… The cocktail of feelings that washed over Lucendra’s body made her head take a spin. She almost lost her conscience when the being sniffed the air, inhaling their scents. Lucendra bit her lips to the blood, fully aware that if she fainted, only one fate awaited them both.
Ravager, the Blessed Mother, the Sword of the Reclamation, the Retribution of the downtrodden, was here. She was known by thousands of different names, but one in particular, one name that terrified any foe, stood out. The Punisher of the unlawful. She was the one who came with the traditions, and there was only one reason for the Blessed Mother to be here…
“Oh Ravager!” Lucendra crawled to the mighty paw, crying in fear. Mom, Dad… My bros… “It’s my fault! Please don’t hurt my ally, I am the only one branded here, I broke the rule by joining the army! No one else is at fault! Spare them your wrath and punish the guilty, I beseech you!”
“If that is your wish.” The progenitor of the entire Tribe spoke with a soft and melodic voice. The mighty paw had moved with grace and speed, picking up Lucendra with two fingers and lifting her up. The gigantic jaws had opened, releasing a stream of fresh air into the warrior’s face, and she pissed herself for the second time, baring her neck in some ancient instinct.
“Don’t you dare touch my comrade!” Yuki roared at the top of her lungs, jumping at Ravager’s snout.
Yuki’s form turned into a blur, her punch landed at the heavy eyelid, failing to even push a skin. Ravager blinked, and this movement threw Yuki back onto her nose. She tried to stand up, but the Blessed Mother sent her cartwheeling on the ground with a snap, the same way a human would snap away a fly.
Leaving the trace of destruction in the stone, Yuki growled in rage, falling on all fours and replicating Ravager’s stance. Her eyes glowed white, the light coming from her bones came in conflict with the amber light of Ravager’s eyes. Like a line of light, the warrior charged forth, only to be casually caught by two fingers. A gush of wind hit Lucendra’s back a moment later, the shockwave from breaking the sound barrier had finally reached them.
“Weren’t’ you busy humiliating this one?” The massive head nodded at Lucendra.
“The pack takes priority,” Yuki snapped back, “I’ll sooner die than let you harm her. She is my sister in blood, Dominator of Dominators.”
“And don’t you forget it,” Ravager threw them on the ground, causing both women to create two small craters in the ground and cough out blood. Ravager leaned forward, looking down at Yuki. “You damaged too, yes?” The divine being hesitated. “I… I am unused to giving advice, but you have a male, right? Cling to him, let him love you, and love him back. Let him fight his battles, and stand by his side, ready to support him and be supported in return. Do this and please don’t become like me. You have a chance, Yuki. Grab it and be happy to spite everything.”
Lucendra dared to sniff the air. The Blessed Mother’s scent was… something else. She was expecting the stench of blood, the rough odor of rotting remains tangled in her hide. These smells were present, but there was something else. The smell of tasty bread that her Mom had bought several times by working on bone-breaking job in the mine. The warmth and calm feeling when her Dad calmed her bros during the sandstorm. All of this was in this scent. Ravager felt like a long-lost kin returning from a long journey.
Lucendra’s entire body shook as she felt Ravager’s claw pierce through her power armor like a laser beam through paper. Her armor screamed a warning, demanding that Lucendra retreat. The wolfkin didn’t dare to move. She felt heat on her shoulder, followed by pain when Ravager tore away a piece of flesh off Lucendra’s body. The Blessed Mother took the claw out, moving deliberately slowly, and showed Lucendra the skin. Through the fur, she saw the burned brand on it. Yuki jumped before the warrior, unleashing her claws. Unsure if she was still sane, Lucendra stood up and reached for the shardgun, taking aim at the progenitor.
“This what had bothered you, yes?” Ravager threw the skin into her mouth. “No more branded. All equal.”
The tongue shot from Ravager’s mouth, passing by the shocked Yuki, reaching out and licking Lucendra’s wound, tearing away a piece of steel. And with this lick, the pain retreated, leaving behind a calm and relaxing feeling of warmth. When the warrior looked down, she saw a scar through the gap in her armor.
“There, all blessed now,” Ravager licked Yuki’s face, grinning at the attempt to slice off her tongue. “Be good girls now, no fighting. Here,” The Blessed Mother spat what looked to be a clump of hair on the ground. With a gasp, Lucendra recognized it to be a cub. She threw away the shardgun, grabbing the small nubbin into her paws, feeling the strong and rather healthy body beneath the soaked, wet fur. “Take this blessed cub to the little sis… To Zero,” Ravager rolled her eyes at the confused looks. “She’ll figure out something. Oh, and if anyone tries to charge you for the damaged armor, call Wyrm Lord or Ivar. Or better yet, go to Scorpio. Tell any of them that Ravager did this, they’ll believe you.”
With these words, the Dominator of Dominators vanished into thin air, leaving the ground exploding in her wake. Lucendra jumped back, landing on her knees to protect the precious life in her paws. A cub! She was still confused, but her instincts drove her to sniff over the gift in her paws, and check the eyes and mouth for any signs of dehydration. A female, healthy, even well-fed, judging by her not-rumbling stomach. Good!
The cub’s fur was as dark as the void and extremely soft to the touch, a clear sign of Ravager’s favor. Her snout was a bit elongated forward, giving the girl a somewhat cute look. In the past, Lucendra had helped raise two of her brothers and helped other branded with their cubs as well. The cub was large, easily as big as a cub of any warlord, her body dwarfed any cub back in the village. But her skin was soft, and fur had yet to cover the inner side of her ears. The cub’s mouth was filled with baby fangs, indicating that she was less than a few months old. Two amber eyes looked at the wolfkin without a hint of fear. If anything, the cub looked annoyed.
“Oh sister,” Yuki chuckled behind her, “Never let anyone call you worthless. We’ll need to find you a male soon. Or a female, if you swing that way.”
“Why bother?” Lucendra asked weakly. “You’re right. I am a disgrace to the tribe. Others will mock me again when everyone smells my scent...”
“Shut your trap!” Yuki’s fingers grabbed her ear, lifting the warrior up. “Get angry! Are you seriously willing to take the shit from me?” Yuki let go of her. “Your scout must really be a shitty loser if she…”
“Don’t you dare insult Ultis!” Without thinking, the warrior turned around, planting her fist in the woman’s face. And gulped from fear, seeing a trickle of blood running down her nose.
“Ain’t half bad, but you’ve got to put everything behind a punch,” Yuki embraced her. “Lucendra, you need to learn how to stand up for yourself! We’ll go on a trip, your pack and mine. Don’t worry, I’ll solve everything with the scouts, they’ll come around. And we’ll train, all together, until the moment when you let go of your fear. And I am sorry for being a bitch. Feel free to kick my shit. Oh, and about scent?” Yuki giggled, releasing her own bowels and filling the air with the smell of her fear. “Now let anyone try and mock us, sister. Just let anyone try to open their mouth.”
“But I am worthless. And failed to find a male during heat…”
“Then find one now, you wrench!” The cub barked in an innocent voice, “Sprits, what kind of soft weaklings Aranea and Annie are rising! Both of you, turn off your power armors and make ten thousand push-ups on one paw right now! Then off to a cold shower. And you!” The cub’s amber eyes found Lucendra. “Don’t just whine about not having a male, go talk to them, you stupid dolt! The tribe needs all the new blood it can get! If you ever call yourself worthless ever again, I will claw away your lying tongue!”
“The cub speaks!” Lucendra held the girl away on outstretched paws.
“Freaky.” Yuki noted, hiding behind her fellow warrior’s back.
“Patrol unit two-three-four, we have detected an explosion near your position. Report the situation.” An operator’s voice came from within their armors, and Lucendra hastily gave her report, receiving new orders.
“I am warlord Ashbringer, and you will treat me with respect befitting my status! Wait! Where are you taking me?! I commanded you to do the push-ups! How dare you disobey the warlord’s order! I will devour your eyes and feast on your insides!”
