The Shadows Book One: The War for EarthEnd.

Chapter Twelve - Flames of the Heart.

Liki Wolfspirit.

"Wake up Skip!"

Skip snorted and fell from his bed in surprise. The otter quickly pulled himself from the floor and stood up, finding his sister standing in front of him.

"Sista...?" he yawned wearily. Sleep was something he got little of on boats becuase of his sea sickness, he had to get up about fifteen times throughout the last two days at night for a cup of Blood Wine to sooth his aching stomach enough just for thrity minutes worth of sleep.

As such, he was surprised to find that he didn't feel quesy on the boat right now.

"Have we reached it?" He asked, his whiskers quiviering.

Jaklya nodded, "Yes, we reached our destination a while ago. I figured I'd give you time to actually sleep before I woke you."

Skip yawned again, "Yeah thanks..." he stared back behind himself at the bed there.

He felt his sister's arm take hold of his shoulder and push him away from the bed, "Come on you. We're getting briefed on the situation from the new general."

"New general?" Skip's attention was yanked from his desire to sleep, "What happened to the old one?"

"You'll see."

Skip stared down at the large, quivering body of a now mentally unbalanced Anubian general. The large Beast continued to mumble about darkness and being alone while he was curled in a ball. Though his eyes darted back and forth between things around him, he seemed oblivious to his surroundings, even looking at the two Aquari the same way he looked at his desk. After being briefed and given their positions by the newest General, Jaklya had brought Skip here to see the previous one.

"Wow..." he whispered, "Must have been some pretty powerful magic."

"I doubt that." Jaklya told her brother, "From what I've been told, a child of ten years did this."

"A child?" Skip looked at her in amazement, "Do this?"

Jaklya nodded, "The soldiers are calling him "Shadow Terror". They say he was a rogue that also used magic that covered himself in darkness. He was like a demon," The Anubian before them muttered crazily as Jaklya continued, perhaps he had a bit of self-awareness, but only toward the object of his terror, "He vanished when they tried to gang up on him, and systematically began killing group by group, all the while remaining unseen. The General panicked in fright eventually and ran away here to his tent. I'm guessing this Terror person procedded to terrorify the General until he went crazy. He's been here ever since, muttering about darkness and other things. If anything, he only fueled the terror the general was already feeling with illusions, but I admit, I am impressed by the apparent skill..."

Skip's fists tightened in excitement. Such a powerful Beast...

"I want to meet him." He told his sister sternly.

"You might soon. Scouts report there is a group of five hundred some civilians that escaped who have armed themselves and are rallying to strike soon." Jaklya turned away from the Anubian General's tent. Skip closed the flap and left the poor Beast to his mutterings as his sister continued.

"We're heading out with the fresh troops to assualt them while they are vunerable preparing. Get your battle lust ready brother, if this Shadow Terror and his allys are as powerful as himself appears, this might be difficult even for you and me."

Skip could only smile. At last a fight that would be worthy of him.

PyreFox woke up with a start from his dream. He held his head with his eyes wide open as he remembered it.

No, it was more a nightmare...

The battle for Earthend didn't go well in his dream at all. Everyone...dead all around him. Cammy, Cyro, Steel, even Liki and Blackpaw. The civilians of the city laid past them and beyond that had been the Anubian army, standing strong and hard with two figures at the front who's eyes shined in rage and blood-lust. He was the only one left standing, while his Flame Mark burned him savagly as despair took him over.

He shook his head. "It was just a dream..." He told himself, "I'm just nervous is all..."

The fox looked to his left, where his new mate Cammy was still sleeping peacefully. They had slept all day yesturday and throughout the night together, both of them had agreed they didn't really want to do anything else anymore. If Cyro and Steel were going to be foolish, let em, they would still fight as mates at least.

Today was the day his two friends were planning on attacking. He sighed and turned, placing his feet on the ground beside the bed and picking himself up while strecthing. He was still naked and his orange fur was ruffled from his sleep, but he certainly felt well rested.

He retreived his under armor and pulled on the soft leggings onto his legs, leaving his chest bare. He tip-toed to the door and opened it silently, closing it behind him once he was in the hallway. His stomach growled loudly at him as he thought of what do to, and he decided breakfast was a good idea before trying anything else. The Foxen took the stairs down to the first floor and high-tailed it for the kitchen.

A realization hit him in the middle of the living room, "I don't know how to cook." He smiled and rubbed his head lightly, embarressed of himself.

He then noticed a pair of bowls on the table in the middle of the room, and saw the small amount of stew that was still in them. He remembered Liki had gone out with Blackpaw to train yesturday. This must have been their supper.

"Liki must know how to cook!" PyreFox smiled, "I hope he wouldn't mind if he made some for breakfast too."

PyreFox retook the stairs back up, slowing down near his room to not wake Cammy, and stopped at Liki's room. He turned the knob there and pushed to door open slowly, peeking his head into the cyrstal lit room. He could see the back of Liki's head facing him and his light breathing echoing somehow.

The fox entered fully and sneaked over to the bed up to the wolf, and upon standing over the bed, was surprised to see that a smaller body was snuggled up against Liki's. Blackpaw was there, laying towards Liki and nuzzling his muzzle across Liki's chest while the older Fangren had his arms around his body in a soft hug. Both of them had a scerine smile across their mouths in their sleep. Along with that, they were both naked.

Damn...Liki's hot for a kid...

It was then that a strong smell hit PyreFox's nose. It was the smell of musk and sex.

He backed off from the bed wildy, eyes wide.

Oh Gaia! They didn't!

They had. There was no denying the smell in the air around him. Liki's firey musk along with Blackpaw's soft flowery scent, and the distinct addition of sweat and hormones.

PyreFox felt sick, and he gagged loudly and covered his mouth. The gray wolf stirred in the bed and his eyes opened to see PyreFox above him.

"PyreFox...?" Liki whispered, "Something wrong?"

"Liki," PyreFox gagged again, "You...you and Blackpaw."

Liki seemed confused until he also registered the heavy smell in the air. That, or, PyreFox realized, the Shadow was reading his mind again with his magic. The wolf's ears flattened and he said, "Yeah. We did. Is something wrong with that?"

PyreFox could only gape, Liki's challenging tone and the fact the boy hadn't freaked out upon being discovered confused him, but he remained adament in his opinion.

"There's lots of things wrong with that!" He yelled, waking Blackpaw who yelped and snapped up. Liki sat up and Blackpaw hid behind the older Fangren, quivering. Apparenlty the white wolf was still scared of PyreFox. No wonder, the only times he intereacted with the fox was when PyreFox was upset and yelling.

Liki snarled and gave a small growl, "Like there was nothing wrong with how you fantazied about me back in Earthend?"

The Foxen hiccuped and Liki continued, "I'll thank you to stay out of mine and my family's business."

"Family?" PyreFox blinked.

Liki wrapped an arm around Blackpaw protectively, "Blackpaw is my family now."

PyreFox was going to continue to argue, but Blackpaw interjected, "I love my Master PyreFox! Leave him alone!"

He bulked, unable to process the situation. No doubt he didn't know everything about what was going on between the two Fangren becuase both of them were defending what they had done. Blackpaw was calling Liki his Master now? When had that happened? Not only that but they had had sex and Blackpaw was consenting about it!

I wish I hadn't slept so long now...I missed a lot of things.

"Well...well what am I supposed to think damn it!?" He said in defense, "I wasn't expecting this."

Liki's eyes softened a bit, "Didn't expect you to, it's really none of your business. Was there something you wanted or were you just snooping around?"

The fox looked at the ground and whispered, "I uh...came up here to ask if it was you who made that stew downstairs and if you'd make more for some breakfast."

"Yeah I made the stew." Liki rose from the bed and Blackpaw jumped up to follow, taking his paw in his.

"I'll make us some for breakfast," Liki agreed, "Let me and Blackpaw get cleaned up and get our clothes on and we'll be right down."

PyreFox nodded numbly, "Yeah okay."

The two Fangren brushed past him, that smell clung onto them still. He was glad they were taking a bath, he didn't want to explain that smell to Cammy or someone.

"It's not like we're dumb PyreFox. We knew what we were getting into before we tried it. It's really none of your business though, you can't stop us." Liki said as he and Blackpaw were walking down the hall.

Damn it! Reading my head again!

He huffed and left the room behind the two wolves, rushing past them while they entered the bathroom, he retreated downstairs from this wierd situation.

Liki closed the bathroom door behind him after watching the Foxen continue on downstairs. Blackpaw was there to hug him tightly right away. He hugged the boy back and Blackpaw whimpered.

"Why is PyreFox such a scary person?"

Liki shook his head, "He's not scary when he's calm, but when he's in a situation he's not used to he apparently freaks out."

Blackpaw looked up to Liki and pulled away from him, "What's so wrong about what we did? I don't understand."

"It's just not something that's common." Liki shrugged, "Others look at it like it's wierd. Foriegn. Not right." He rose and stepped into the tub, picking Blackpaw up and sitting his student inside with him. He picked up the hose and began trying to undo the metal cap there, "It's something best kept to yourself and the person you do it with. I wouldn't worry about PyreFox though, I don't think he'll do anything." He was having quite a hard time with the hose, he didn't know how to get the damn cap off.

Blackpaw pushed him away lightly and kneeled to take the hose, whincing as he did. Liki noticed of course.

"Are you sore?" He whispered.

The white wolf nodded lightly once he pulled the cap off expertly, then said, "Yeah, but not badly. I don't care though. I'd do it again."

Liki grinned, "I'm sure you would, you're beginning to become sex crazed."

Blackpaw grinned as well, "I like it. It feels good and it let's me show you how I feel." The white wolf stood up and pulled the metal lever in the wall with a grunt, and luke-warm water began to pour into the tub. As he sat back down he whinced again and moved to sit on his feet while the water rose.

"It hurts bad." Liki observed, feeling a little quilty. He had lost a bit of self control last night, he had told himself not to tie into Blackpaw, but he had anyway once Blackpaw told him he wanted it. He knew it would hurt his student, but instinct and desire had ruled at that moment.

"No, just a little." Blackpaw assured him, "Only when I try to sit down, I can walk fine," To prove it he stood up in the now knee deep water before sitting back onto his feet without a single twinge of pain showing on his face, "And I can sit on my feet without any pain so it all works out."

Liki stared at the child with his blue eyes, and even though they had known each other for only a few days now, he could tell that Blackpaw was lying. He didn't need his magic to tell anymore, Blackpaw's personality was very simple like that. Liki could tell that Blackpaw was in deep pain despite whatever the young wolf told him, the way he stared and tried to assure him over and over was a given hint to the pain he actually felt.

"Come here." Liki told him and opened his arms in a hug. Blackpaw crawled over on his feet in the water and leaned agianst him as Liki wrapped his arms around him and stroked his back. The child murred as the older Fangren ran his hands gently through his white fur, tickling the skin under it with his claws. It wasn't long before Liki felt something stiff and pulsing pressing against his stomach and he chuckled.

"Relax," He murred, reaching over to the metal handle to stop the now mid-chest high water, "I'm not planning on anything like that." His hands traveled down to take Blackpaw's tail in his hands.

His student made a curious whine as Liki rubbed his hands down from the tip of Blackpaw's wet tail under the water. Liki continued to move slowly closer to the base of Blackpaw's tail, watching his student's face. The farther he rubbed down it, the more Blackpaw's eyes would twitch and his lips would curl up in a snarl as a sharp pain would pierce through him.

He reached the base of the long appendage where it connected to the rest of the young wolf's body and gave it a tight squeeze once. Blackpaw yelped and whimpered afterword, turning his face to look up to Liki afterward with puppy dog eyes.

"You're really sore down there..." Liki commented and then held the boy close, "You say you're fine but you're really not..." His hands stayed down low, testing Blackpaw's soreness as his student whimpered in pain.

"I just," Blackpaw whinced once and whined, "I just don't want to upset you."

Liki smiled lightly, his hands beginning to glow a faint green as he ran his hands over Blackpaw's rump, "I know Blackpaw, just relax a moment."

Blackpaw tilted his head to see his Master's hands glowing green along his underside, "What are you doing?"

"I'm soothing your pain," Liki whispered and licked his little brother's muzzle, "I know a little healing magic, things for aches and scrapes. I can't heal anything serious, but I can certainly help you out with this."

The white furred Fangren nodded and let Liki continue to move his hands on him, eventually closing his eyes and murring once the druidic magic took hold on his soreness and eased it greatly. He nuzzled his Master's chest fur while his tail wagged slowly in the water. He felt no pain from wagging his tail now.

Liki figured he had cured Blackpaw's aches and he pulled his hands back up to hold Blackpaw at his waist instead, the green glow fading from them.

"Feel better now?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Blackpaw murred and pulled off him a bit, "Thanks Liki."

"Of course, no doubt you're thinking if I can heal your pain from doing that stuff, you want to do it more often." Liki teased and stuck out his tongue.

Blackpaw looked away, his cheeks burning visibly under his white fur. Liki laughed and turned him around on his lap, he reached over the nearby edge of the tub and picked up the sponge there on the floor from yesturday.

"Let's get ourselves washed up quick," Liki said and began to scrub Blackpaw's back, smoothing out the clumps and scruffles there, "PyreFox is waiting for some breakfast and I'm kinda hungry myself."

"Me too." Blackpaw agreed and settled without so much as a twinge of pain, smiling while Liki washed him down to a shiny sheen.

Blackpaw then took a turn washing down Liki's fur, expertly matting down the unkempt hair to a similiar shine, and he said afteward, "Don't you dare shake yourself, I'm trying to get you to look nicer."

Liki grinned and reached over to the bottom end of the tub and pulled the cork there, letting the water drain out into whatever unseen exit was under the wood. He stepped out of the tub with Blackpaw behind him and they both moved to his room, finding a pair of towels in the dresser and drying themselves. Liki was careful not to ruffle his fur. If his appearance meant that much to Blackpaw, he would go out of his way to wash correctly.

Blackpaw retreived his silver clothes, then waited as Liki wrestled with his armor for control again. The gray wolf growled while he struggled with the leather jacket, "I swear I'm gonna just take off my pants or something. This is ridiculous."

"Maybe you need to wash it?" Blackpaw mused.

Liki managed to poke his head out of the jacket finally, "Wash it?" He blinked.

"Yeah," Blackpaw smiled, "Washing keeps clothing from becoming all hard. I don't know if that works on leather, but if Shadows wore it all the time, they would make it washable somehow."

"Huh...never thought of that." Liki murmurred and straigthened his armor, connecting the hood and strapping his waistbelt on soon afterward and hefting his backpack onto his shoulders. He walked next to Blackpaw into the hallway and downstairs while saying, "I'll have to try it soon, I don't think we have the time to do that now though."

The upcoming fight was hanging around in his head. Blackpaw certienly held prioity and he would never let other things get in the way of paying attention to his student, but the danger of a battle was making him nervous. It would, afterall, be his second real fight. His Master had given him the tools to keep his cool in a fight, and he made use of it back in EarthEnd when he fought the Anubian General and soldiers. Something told him however, that this upcoming conflict would be something he was not ready for mentally.

He sighed heavily once when he and Blackpaw entered the kitchen. PyreFox was sitting on a chair, tapping his claws on the counter there to occupy himself. His eyes barely glanced up to awknowledge Liki and Blackpaw entering the room, and he returned to tapping his claws on the table.

Liki tapped into the Foxen's mind, but he felt nothing eminating from the Pyre. His mind was blank and quiet.

Huh. He must have got over it. Or, the fact that a battle is coming is getting to him too.

The gray Fangren began to wonder through the kitchen, retreiving a pot and four bowls; three for the Beasts there, and an extra in case Cammy came down soon. He placed the pot in the middle of the counter that Blackpaw and PyreFox were sitting at; upon a built in fireplace that was also there in the middle. Liki turned to fill a few of the bowls with water from the sink there, and turned back with two bowls to find that the fire under the grill had been started already, PyreFox's hand resting near the slow burning wood under the pot.

Liki grinned to the fox while he poured his water into the pot and moved to retrieve a bit more and added that as well, leaving the pot heating with water. It was good to have PyreFox and his ability here now, yesturday it had taken him forever to manage to start the fire with mechanical methods. This stew didn't take long to heat thankfully.

While PyreFox kept the fire going, Liki rediscovered the cache of meat and vegetables he had found the day before. The cupboard they were in was cooled by yet more magic, and he was again amazed at how different life had been on Mushroom isle. Vegatables were grown yearly on the farm land, you could only have so much at any time considering the weather though, most came in by boat and were traded for craft supplies the islanders produced. Meat could only be kept for a few days before it started to spoil and start to smell or fester with diseases that made you ill.

He didn't have to worry about that here though, not with magic perserving his ingrediants. He loved this stew, it was his favorite thing to eat. Liki could remember each and everytime his Master had made the soup, one of which being the day they Uriay and opened up his inner thoughts to Liki and they both began to love each other more.

The wolf took a a group of six tomatos, one ear of corn, a head of lettuce, and a slap of meat from the cabinet and sat them around on the counter beside the pot. He stood back and strecthed out his hands, his eyes glowing as he focused and purple smoke beginning to swirl around his hands. With his intentions in his head, the Shadows gathered at his hands snaked out in tendrils and grabbed the tomatos inside thier smokey embrace, taking them into the air above the pot. PyreFox and Blackpaw watched in amazement while Liki used his magic to make the cooking easier.

Liki clentched his hand, and the tendrils crushed each tomato all at once. The juice within the red vegetables spurted out in huge gushing wave, squeezing the very last drops out of them under the crushing force of Shadows. The tomatos moved to be thrown away into a nearby bin on the floor and a drawer opened up soon after. A long wooden spoon floated out, gripped by Shadows, and moved to the pot and began stirring as Liki waved his other hand to the meat.

"It's like watching some kind of show," PyreFox commented while he watched the spent tomatos drop into the trash can on the floor, "Entertainment and food all at once?"

"For some reason," Liki said as the Shadow tendril on his left hand produced a large knife like protrusion and cut the meat into cubes while it was still floating in the air, "This is becoming easier and easier for me to do. It's like as I grow up I become more connected to the Shadows around me. Before I left my old home, I could barely lift a log, and tasks like this I couldn't maintain for long."

"You're growing up, you have more energy or a connection?" PyreFox suggested.

Liki nodded while he placed the chopped up bits of meat into the stew, the spoon still stirring, "That's probably it. The more I grow up the more I can handle. But I don't know yet, something tells me that might only be a small part of it."

Liki focused on the ear of corn, raising it above the pot and letting his magic cut off the cornels to join the red colored stew as bits of meat already floated around in it and a light steam rose through the air, filling the kitchen with a nice smell that was clearly making PyreFox's mouth water; as he drolled he constantly wiped his mouth. Liki realized that the fox had not eaten since they had met each other. Blackpaw merely seemed mezmerized with watching Liki use Shadows for the first time.

He must push everything to his limit. Liki thought and lifted up the head of lettuce next, crushing the green thing with all his strength to get the maxximum amount of cappage juice he could into the stew.

Of which.

"PyreFox, I wanted to ask about something we had discussed not long ago." He started and sat down next to Blackpaw, letting the Shadows continue to stir the spoon as the soup cooked and the crippled cappage floated over to the bin to join the other used up ingrediants.

"What about?" the Foxen wiped his mouth again.

"About your clan's Flame Rituals," Liki placed his hands on the table, "I think you mentioned that you can give that power to someone else?"

PyreFox blinked a moment before he looked at the surface of the table to avoid Liki's eyes, "I can now that I've completed my promise for Cammy. I have more power now than I did before. I can perform the Flame Ritural to bind others, even others outside the Pyre Clan."

"And?" Liki prombted.

PyreFox whinced visibly and sighed, "The power I can give won't be to anywhere nearly the same extent as one who is of the Pyre Clan will recieve...but the rules remain the same for it." He looked up to stare into Liki's eyes with sudden feriocity that made Liki blink in surprise, "A promise that must be completed else your soul be damned and you lose that power."

Blackpaw shivered next to Liki and whined, staring back and forth between the Foxen and Fangren. Liki mulled about it in his head.

A promise huh...?

"This promise," Liki responded, "It can be anything at all?"

"Anything you haven't already completed," PyreFox told him, his eyes still shining with a firey glare, "The Ritual will know if you're trying to cheat by promising something you already have accomplished. It won't cheat you though either, if you make a promise that is technically impossible, it won't complete either and you have to choose a different kind. It can be anything, even something you can complete late on within thirty minutes if you want. Sometimes though, many find that trying a 'simple' promise can quickly end up being impossible."

Liki grinned, Perfect...

"I'd like to take that Ritual and gain something of a Pyre's power." the wolf said calmly.

PyreFox's firey eyes ignited, literally, and as he spoke a small jet of flame came out of his mouth, "Are you sure?"

Liki was surprised at PyreFox's new changes, but he believed this might be something of the power PyreFox gained when he had recently completed his promise. Perhaps he could engulf himself in flame like Liki could in Shadows.

That'd be impressive actually.

He nodded, "I'm sure."

PyreFox straighted on his chair, and his hands were suddenly ablaze with orange flames while he held them over the counter toward Liki.

"Take my hands with your own." He instructed.

Liki gave his hands to PyreFox, who turned his palms over so that his left hand was cupped agianst his right while the fox kept his over and under them. Liki could feel the heat of the flames, yet they did not overly burn or hurt him. In fact he was surprised he could feel the magic in his very skin. Never before had he heard of such a thing like this, Fire was an element of magic. It shouldn't have a mind of it's own like this, not like the Shadows felt.

"You feel the flame?" PyreFox asked, those small jets of flame shooting from his muzzle.

Liki nodded, "I'm confused though..." He whispered, "I thought fire was not aware of itself."

PyreFox grinned, the corners of his lips became a flame and whipped across his face. His eyebrows had turned to blazing lines and the tempurature in the room was climbing rapidly now. Blackpaw whimpered again over the sound of burning fire. PyreFox was slowly becoming scarier and scarier looking.

"A Pyre's magic does not use the element of fire." He snickered.

"What?" Liki blinked, "What does it use then?"

"You're not just gaining a form of magic Liki. You're making a contract, a pact." PyreFox said and the tip of muzzle grew whiskers of flame.

"With who?" Liki asked, eyes wide. He had not expected this. What had he agreed to?

"With an Elemental of Flame."

"Elementals!?" Liki gasped. Elementals were magic gone rogue and wild. Born in the aftermath of battles, Elementals were the residue of magic left behind after a mage cast a spell. No mage, not even Merlin himself, had complete control over their magic. As such, when the magic residue left behind by powerful spells sat long enough, those remnants would fuse and use bits and pieces of each other to create a semi-living creature born of the elements. Mostly, Elementals were crazy and out of control. They avoided populated areas, but would wonder the land leaving trails of destruction in their wake. They took the shape of twisters of energy with a pair of bright eyes attached to them, their color based upon whichever of the elements they were created most out of. Red for fire, green for wind, brown for eath, blue for water, a sky blue for ice, white for light, and black for darkness. Along with that, they had control over their major element for attacks and their methods of destruction differed.

However, sometimes in extremely rare occasions, an Elemental may "bind" to individuals around them. When this happened, these few Beasts gained complete and absolute control over the creature, and gained the ability to summon them at will. Elementals who didn't bind wouldn't stay long becuase they would be quickly hunted down by bounty hunters seeking bounty rewards. If one killed an Elemental and brought back proof positive of that, there was always a two thousand gold reward, if on ones that were bound to someone else. Since Elementals were extremely powerful and a extremely rare occurance, this was always done in large groups and the money was split.

A bound Elemental was one thing, but a contract with one was something Liki had never heard of. It sounded like something he didn't want to get involved in at all.

"A contract with an Elemental can't be a good thing." Liki growled.

"Relax." PyreFox grinned again, the air around his mouth was now blurry with extreame heat, "Maybe it would help if I explain the origin of the Pyre."

Liki nodded and PyreFox began, "Simply put, the Pyre's power does not come from the elmental of fire, but from an Elemental of Flame. Born in the aftermath of a war between the Borian and Rotted, it burned a large portion of the Great Forest. It was upon that time that my ancestors encountered that Elemental and it bound to our Clan's leader. Now before that happened we were already exceptional fire users, and our Clan leader discovered quickly that we could use this Elemental's power. It had not just bound to our Clan leader, but to all of us, anyone of Pyre blood. Over the years we've never lost that bind, even as our leaders change and newer generations are born."

"That's not possible." Liki started, "How is your magic different from normal fire elements?"

"Becuase it is half-alive." PyreFox grinned, "Our magic is just a form of summoning. We summon parts of the Elemental."

"Parts of it?"

PyreFox nodded, "Only the Clan leader can summon the whole creature, but the other Pyres can summon pieces of it at a time. The Elemental itself is safely secured in a location where it can cause as much destruction as it wants yet never harm others and its location is not known except by Pyres."

"Okay, and this contract?" Liki asked, feeling his hands warm with PyreFox's heat.

"The Elemental desires things, despite it's destructive tendencies it desires other things. You make a promise and gain the power, and the Flame gets to see from your eyes while you go about to complete it. It gets to experiance what it would be like to be alive."

"I see..." The wolf thought a moment, then he grinned, "The Elemental might be in for a wild ride with me then."

"Then you'll take it for sure?"

"Yes."

PyreFox grinned as well and closed his eyes, and Liki felt the half living magic seep into his skin again, the orange flames surrounding his and the Foxen's hands grew bigger and bigger until PyreFox whispered, "Think your promise to yourself."

Liki took a deep breath and thought, I promise...

...

I promise to gain the family I desire, a family I and Blackpaw can both be proud and happy in.

Liki whined when a searing pain burned onto his left paw, singing his fur and very skin on the back of it.

"The Flame likes your promise," PyreFox whispered, his eyes opening while the already large ball of fire grew to an enormous size and both he and Liki leaned back while holding onto their hands still, "It likes it a lot."

Liki felt a power flooding into him from his hands, a warmth unlike anything he knew swam through his viens to his heart. From there it traveled all around his body, making him start to pant the warmer he became. In particular, the heat targeted his head, and his own magic allowed him to discover and at least feel that remnant of the Flame Elemental inside him, watching what he saw, feeling what he did. All of his desires were now the Elementals, and that was when he understood now how this contract worked. The Elemental gave him its power to aide him in his journey, and the creature got to come along for the ride inside him, to experiance something it could never have for itself.

"Amazing..." he whispered in awe and the large flame covering his and PyreFox's hands just suddenly vanished and the Foxen was instantly back to himself. PyreFox removed his top hand from Liki's left paw, revealing the Flame Mark that was now singed into his fur and skin permenantly. The mark glowed a bright orange at the moment, and Liki felt it tingling his skin with light burns until it faded, leaving a dully visible mark against his gray fur.

"Your promise took." PyreFox told him and took the liberty to turn off the flames that had been cooking the stew the entire time and force away the wooden spoodle that was idlely stirring. Liki's nose was assualted by the nice smell and his stomach growled loudly at him, but eating was only the second priority he felt at the moment. He noticed Blackpaw's head peek around the corner of the counter to look at him with wide eyes. Blackpaw whimpered but Liki smiled and encouraged him to come out of his hiding place by waving his hand.

Blackpaw did easily and sat back down when it was apparent the insane ritual was over, his own nose sniffing the air hungerly.

PyreFox was already handing out bowls of stew to them, Liki took his but found he could only continue to stare at the new mark on his left hand. Blackpaw quickly seemed to get over the recent ritual and started eating.

"So, what does this do?" Liki asked.

"You know the basics," PyreFox said and sloppered down over half his soup straight from the bowl before continueing, "If you do something that goes against your promise or will ultimately cause you to fail without any chance of fixing it, you'll be damned to burn in a firey hell. Your mark lets you know this by burning you, it acts a radar for you to take the right paths that will lead you to the end. If you complete it, the mark will change to look like this." PyreFox held out his left hand. The Flame Mark there had a sword going through the flame shape.

"Upon that," The fox continued, "Your power will grow to a new level. Again, your's will not be as powerful as a Pyre's can be."

Liki stared at the mark on his own hand again, then picked up his own bowl to drink, "I'm hoping that the power I have right now will mix with it."

PyreFox's ears twitched in half amusment, half speculation, "Mix? How so?"

"I don't know yet. If it's possible I'd need time, and we don't have much left for today."

"Then we need to get going." A female voice entered the conversation and Cammy shauntered into the room, wearing a white and black gown that looked way to big for her.

PyreFox snickered, "Where'd you find that?"

Cammy smiled and did a spin, the dress waving around her legs, "Do you think it looks good on me? I found it in the dresser upstairs, it must have been Blackpaw's mother's."

"It's too big for you." Liki stated bluntly. PyreFox nearly lost his balance on his seat in surprise that Liki could be so straight foward. Wasn't sublety something rogues had or did they not have that when it came to conversation? Cammy only looked confused though.

"Really? Too big? I suppose it was made for a Fangren."

Liki returned to his soup, "Cut it down in size and it'd look much better on you."

Cammy pulled up another seat, "Well for now it will work until we head off, give me some of that soup."

Before anyone could move to pour her some, Cammy dove foward and took it for herself. The three other Beasts blinked as Cammy chugged her bowl and poured another while saying, "You took the Pyre Ritual did you Liki? I hope you don't end up regretting it." She began to chug her bowl down her throat once more.

Liki closed his eyes and smiled, "I'm not worried about my promise if that's what you mean. It was something I've always wanted, and now my Flame Mark can help me find it."

"The Elemental took very well to him," PyreFox told his mate, "It could be he is the most powerful user of the Flame who is not a part of the Clan itself now."

Cammy dropped the bowl onto the counter and rose up, leaving just as soon as she had came, "Well the best time to find out is coming. Finish up you three, you've had an hour to get ready already and I just woke up and I'm ready to go." She left the room and vanished up the stairs.

The three Beasts blinked to each other again, and Blackpaw gave his first comment since they had been in the kitchen, "I think you have your life cut out for you with her PyreFox."

PyreFox laughed heartidly and Liki smiled, seeing his student warm up to PyreFox a bit. He resumed eating his stew again. Cammy was right, enough time had been spent, it was time to hurry up.

It was not very long after that when the four Beasts made contact with the resistence. PyreFox and Cammy led Liki through the campsite, wearing their gold and shiny armor sets once more. Blackpaw was riding in his backpack again, wearing his silver clothing and a bag of kunai underneath him. Liki hoped the leather backpack and his own movement would be enough to keep Blackpaw safe.

His Flame Mark burned him at that thought and he rubbed his hand. No, letting Blackpaw die was most certaintly not an option, he was family and he would remain with his Flame Mark until both of them had one they felt proud and comfortable having as he had promised. Doubt would only cause him to make mistakes. His mark stopped burning after that.

Liki continued to follow the two Foxens through camp, surveying the soldiers around them. They hurried all about the area, hauling armor and weapons to those that needed it. Liki knew now what PyreFox had meant when he said this group was created hastily and without much thought. More than half these Beasts here had no combat experiance, and it was plainly obvious that none of them knew what they were doing or where they were meant to be.

"None of these Beasts have a clue what they are doing..." Liki commented as a tent appeared around the corner of another group. Another pair of Foxens stood in front of it, one blue furred and just a bit smaller then PyreFox and the other white and much bigger than his companion. The white one seemed most in command, giving orders to a group of soldiers. Both of them wore the same golden armor PyreFox and Cammy did.

"Cyro! Steel!" PyreFox called and marched towards them with the others in tow.

The blue furred fox turned away a moment toward a nearby pile of swords while the white one dimissed the group of warriors and adressed PyreFox.

"PyreFox...so you came back anyway..." He said, "Not returning to demand we stop what we're trying are you?"

"Offically no," Cammy told the fox, "We are here to help afterall. Unoffically, we are going to ask you to look at what you're doing harder anyway."

PyreFox waved his arm around behind himself at the whole of the camp, "Look around Steel. This isn't smart, these Beasts are not organized. They have no training and those that do don't have a chance in the end with all the inexperianced around them anyway. The only thing these guys will do to an Anubian army is waste their arrows in a slaughter."

Steel scoffed, "These Beasts lost their homes. That drive enough gives them more power than any invading force."

"That drive is worthless when the leader is blinded by his own power." Liki stated from behind Cammy and PyreFox.

"Hmm?" Steel's eyes widened and he stepped foward and pushed the two other Foxen apart, and stared down to Liki, who was only half his hieght.

"And just who are you to say things like that?" Steel growled at him.

"Steel," PyreFox started beside him, "This is Liki. The Fangren I told about."

"This little kid?!" Steel's mouth dropped open and he pointed at Liki while looking at PyreFox, "This runt fought off the Anubian army in Earthend?"

"That's right." Liki nodded, "I am that runt."

The white fox regarded him then with studing eyes, "A rogue who uses magic along with his own rogue skills. A good set of talents." Steel notcied Blackpaw's head behind Liki's own, "And the smaller runt in your backpack is for...?"

"This is my student Blackpaw." Liki said, and Blackpaw waved shyly.

"Is it safe for him to be here at this?" Steel asked, blinking, "He seems a bit too young."

"His natural skill is enough for him to survive, as long as he stays with me he'll be safe enough."

Liki truely believed that too, because in thinking that, his Flame Mark didn't burn. That told him that as long as Blackpaw was with him, his student would be safe.

Steel just turned away, "If you say so, he's your student, not mine." The white fox began to walk away.

"Whoa wait a moment Steel!" PyreFox began to step after him.

"Forget it PyreFox!" Steel stopped and so did PyreFox, "I'm not stopping my plans. If you're going to help then please do, but if not then get out of here. Cyro, if Cammy and PyreFox are staying then give them an enchanted sword."

"We're staying Steel." Cammy said and stepped up beside her mate, "We can't let you just doom all these Beasts to death, with us here they stand more a chance than without."

"That's funny," Steel turned his head so that one of his bold yellow eyes stared at them with anger, "I seem to recall it was you two who had helped the Anubians destroy our homes."

A stunned silence followed until Steel turned away again and stalked off in a rush to get his forces together. The blue fox coughed a bit and their attention turned to him. He held out two swords to PyreFox and Cammy.

"Here, no doubt you'll both need these." He said emotionlessly.

"Thanks...Cyro..." PyreFox whispered.

Cyro stood a moment longer after both of them took the swords, his icy blue eyes piercing as he told them, "You did what you did PyreFox. I find it hard to forgive you at all, but you're pretty much the best chance we can get now," He turned away and snarled, "Don't fuck this up and maybe me and Steel might consider looking the other direction just enough to give you a chance at it."

With that, Cyro stalked away like Steel had earlier. Liki waited until the blue fox was out of earshot before he said, "We've got our work cut out for us it seems."

"Well...Cammy and I do," PyreFox groaned, "As far as Steel knows your really powerful Liki."

The Foxen's ears perked suddenly and he clapped his hands together, "Hey that's it! Liki you should go stick around Steel! He can openly trust you. You haven't really done anything to piss him off."

"Except be smaller than what he expected?" Liki smiled.

"Don't be a smartguy." Cammy smiled back to him, "Just do what PyreFox asks please? I agree it might work if you get his trust a bit."

"Yeah okay." Liki shrugged and began walking after Cyro, "I'll see you later."

He kept Cyro in his sight and followed far behind him, guessing that where the blue fox went, Steel would be there. At the same time, he was running through his head what he would say to Steel when he found him. He continued to follow Cyro through more than half of the camp before a loud horn sounded into the air and everyone in the camp froze and Liki did as well, his ears twitching as the blasting noise came again and again.

"Liki...?" Blackpaw whimpered, "What's happening?"

Liki shook his head, "I don't know Blackpaw..."

Another horn blast pierced the sky, and after that came a loud rumbling and the sound of shouts and screams.

A unique chant was hearable among those screams, one Liki knew from his time in Earthend. "Great Gaia no..." he whispered.

"Liki what-? AH!" Blackpaw yelped when his Master crouched and dashed as fast as he could to Cyro.

"Cyro!" Liki yowled, "It's the Anubians! That chant is the Anubian chant! It's a preemptive strike!"

Cyro didn't even respond to him, only turning and doing his own dash across the camp. The soldiers that heard Liki's warning panicked and sprinted around in fright, beginning to even fight each other for weapons. The chanting was growing louder as Liki sprinted after the blue fox.

"Cyro wait! We have to organize the troops!" He shouted over the choas of frightened Beasts.

"Do what you need to do!" Cyro shouted back, turning his head a bit, "Just buy time!"

Liki stopped in surprise, "Just buy time!?" he growled angerly, "For what!?"

"Just do it you stupid kid! You handled them before, you can do it again!" And with that the Foxen became unseeable in the masses.

"Damn it!" Liki growled in frustration and Blackpaw whimpered. Just than hundreds of Anubains soldiers poured over the hills overlooking the campsite, and a huge rain of arrows followed them from the other side. The arrows pierced into the very edge of the encampment while the Anubian soldiers engaged the distraught defenders.

"Liki!" Blackpaw howled.

"I know." Liki's eyes flashed and his body instantly became engulfed into his Shadow Form. Blackpaw shifted in the backpack, one hand holding his bag of kunai and situating himself to better distribute his weight for his Master. Liki's new form caused the soldiers around him to stare in awe and back away from him while he slowly drew out his two daggers from his waist.

"Are you ready Blackpaw?" His voice echoed with its spooky quality.

Blackpaw whimpered but his voice sounded brave and determined, "Yes. Let's get going, standing here won't save anyone!"

Liki smiled, "Just what I was thinking myself."

With a sudden burst of speed that left a cloud of dust behind him, Liki blew through the camp toward the other end where the assualt was occuring, also leaving in his wake a trail of of purple smoke and whisps. Blackpaw held on tightly, hugging Liki's neck with one arm while the sound of combat grew louder and louder the closer they got to the main conflict.

The Shadow began to strife left and right when arrows began to rain around him while a multitude of Beasts that survived the first wave of arrows were fighting the Anubians charging into camp, but failing while the savage canine people tore through the inexperianced and overwhelmed the strong with sheer number. Liki would dash by Anubains that had penetrated deeper into camp, holding one of his daggers out from his body, slicing into them in a blur of purple color.

It wasn't long until the larger area of conflict was just ahead of him and he bared his teeth, his blue eyes shining greatly on his purple form as he focused onto the Shadows around him to aid his senses. A thrill of battle was filling him and he felt his body on high alert.

"All right then!" He yowled, "Let's get to it!"

He jumped high into the air, flying high into the middle of the fight while howling at the top of his lungs.

"Feel the power of The Shadows!"

Skip was standing atop the hill overlooking the assualt with his sister beside him. His foot was tapping the ground impatiently and his arms were crossed and his tail twitched behind him. The otter was yearning to join in the fight, to feel blood on his hands and to hear the screams of the pitiful creatures under his fury, but his sister had held him back.

"Wait until the Shadow Terror shows himself." She had said.

So, both the Aquari were standing, waiting, for this Beast to show himself while arrows zoomed over their heads fired from archers behind them both. He was getting to the point where he was about to scream and join into the battle anyway when finally there appeared something that caught his attention; a purple blur was running through the camp toward the fight.

"There he is. Finally." Skip said pleased, watching the purple blur jump high into the air and land right in the middle of the fight while howling something. The Shadow Terror spun and the Anubians that surrounded him were absolutely overwhelmed by his speed, falling around him lamely like they were butter to a hot knife.

Skip licked his lips eagerly, "Can we go now then sista? Can I finally stop standing here now?"

"Yes Skip." Jaklya said, eyes gleeming with pleasure as well. She hated waiting just as much as Skip, but was a tad more in control than he was.

"Can I fight him alone?" Skip asked her.

"No...no we'll fight him together. He seems to have his own support hanging with him..."

Skip looked back to notice that the Shadow Terror had a small Fangren boy riding in his backpack, just in time to see that boy throw a kunai at an Anubian behind his carrier.

"Whatever," the male otter grinned, "It won't matter in the end."

He jumped and started rushing down the hill, his fists clencthed while he bit his lip to taste his own blood. His eyes widened and he grinned once more, his teeth red with his own blood while the blood-lust and rage kicked in and he entered his beserker state, crashing into the battle and running over both Anubian and other Beast alike.

In the end...THEY ALL DIE!!!