The Shadows Book One: The War for EarthEnd.

Chapter Sixteen: A Shadowy Evening.

Liki Wolfspirit.

Kaz took a sip of soup from his bowl, throughly enjoying his mates's cooking. He emptied it and wiped his mouth and murred with a smile. It was a little late at night now, the two Fangren's had spent the day talking then took a small nap together on the couch. When they woke up, their hunger drove them to eat something.

"This is good." He commented, getting more from the pot quickly.

Liki grinned, "It's my Master's own recipe."

Kaz drained another bowl, and sat it down, suddenly falling silent and staring at the table until he whispered, "Hey Liki?"

"Yeah Love?"

The word made the black wolf shiver visibly, and he continued, "What made you accept me so quickly...when I asked?"

Liki sighed, which worried Kaz a moment before he saw the gray Fangren's smile and the glowing blue eyes turn toward him, "I guess I wanted it as much as you..." Liki began, "I lost the chance to love once before because I waited too long, I didn't want to lose this one either. With a war coming, I jumped at the chance I suppose."

"So...there was no attraction to me?" Kaz whimpered.

"Oh no, that was there...I just thought before all you really wanted was a friend, a friend willing to have sex with you." Liki winked and Kaz looked away embarressed a moment.

"When you told me you wanted me as a mate," Liki continued, "It showed me how willing you were to give yourself to me emotionally, and honestly, I want to feel like that too. I want to be able to show you my emotions, to trust you with my feelings and love. So I'm trying to get to know you." The wolf smiled, his tail wagging a bit behind him.

Kaz smiled and wagged his tail as well, "You can Liki. I love you."

"I love you too Kaz," Liki smiled and returned to his own soup, "Not that there's much else to know that you've already told me before however."

"Do you think I should wear some clothes?" Kaz asked suddenly and rather randomly.

"What for?"

"Well, I kind of think if I try to merge into modern times more, I can make these voices in my head shut up faster. I don't like them at all, calling me tainted and wrong, that I don't deserve to be normal becuase I was born Feral and I can't be Feral becuase I broke ways of my Tribe."

"Hmm, maybe. I don't think it's a good idea to rush into it though Kaz. If you try to confirm that quickly, you'll tire yourself out." Liki looked at the vine coverings that wrapped around his mate's body so intricketly. Somehow though, as he had seen before, there was one part of that complicated garb, that once pulled on, would make the whole thing fall off Kaz's body. The black wolf's loin-cloth, while not hiding his crotch effectively when he sat down or ran, was held in place by the vines well enough.

"Perhaps some pants," He suggested, "I like your vine coverings and bare chest, that seems more Druidic then Feral. It's your nakedness that probably freaks most people out and push you away."

Kaz chuckled, "Yeah, I suppose that's true." Kaz suddenly stood up and walked away to the space between the kitchen and living room, looking back to Liki.

"Let's go upstairs and see if there's anything up there I can use?"

"Sure." Liki agreed and sipped the last of his bowl of stew, and rose to follow his mate up the stairs and into the first room on the right, the room PyreFox and Cammy had been using. As they entered, a smell hit their noses, faint but crisp enough to notice.

"Oh geeze." Liki sighed and pinched his nose, trying to dispell the minor smell of PyreFox and Cammy's scents and musk. He endured and moved over to the dresser while Kaz continued to sniff the air tentitively.

The gray wolf fished through the dresser and the druid continued to smell, until he finally said, "I hope your tent doesn't smell like this right now."

"I'm sure it does, the smell of sex isn't quickly removed unless everything that it's done on is washed quickly. Along with that desk that we did it on, I'm sure the bed has that same smell and musk as well."

"And Blackpaw's there all by himself," Kaz remembered, "anyone who visits him is gonna think things."

Liki chuckled, pulling out a pair of leather pants much like his own. Rogue armor that Steve had left behind it seemed. He tossed them to Kaz, who caught them awkwardly and regarded the clothing in his hands with an odd stare. It might be the first time he had ever held a real article of clothing.

"Try em."

"Um...all right." Kaz said and began to work his vine covers around his legs, pulling them up and then evening it out so now his vines covered his upper body almost completly like a shirt. Kaz reached down and untied his loincloth next, letting it fall to the ground without so much as a glance to Liki. Liki was, however, tormented by the display, his sheath stirring a bit until Kaz began to pull the pants up his lower half.

The black Fangren hefted them up his legs with effort considering it was his first time putting anything on, and finally tightened the belt strap that was a part of the clothing across his waist. He wiggled a bit in the leather and grunted, "It kind of...chaifs..."

Liki chuckled again, "Yeah, you'll get used to that trust me, besides, the chaifing makes it more sensitive." He winked.

Kaz blushed under his fur, the tight fitting pants instantly growing a noticable bulge. Liki grinned and stepped foward, placing his hands on Kaz's sides lightly and holding him close. The black wolf responded by burying his muzzle in Liki's shoulder and wrapping his arms around his body, a murr rising in his throat contently while he held his mate. Liki rested his head onto Kaz's opposite shoulder, closing his eyes peacefully and starting to sway lightly.

The druid slowly began to move them both foward, towards the bed, and Liki let himself be pushed over and landed on when they finally fell onto it.

Kaz quickly took Liki's muzzle in a kiss, his murring turned to small groans of love and lust while he entangled their tongues together. The gray Fangren groaned once, his body feeling hot in his armor now as his member began to awake again. His hands tried to undo Kaz's belt between them, but he couldn't manage a hold on the strap while they both moved, their heads the only part that stayed together as they tried to get up on the bed more.

Finally, once Liki's head had found the pillows, Kaz rose up and grunted, undoing the belt and wiggling out of the pants deftly while staying on Liki's stomach. His six inch black cock hanged in the air above Liki's chest, just to the point of being out of reach of his tongue; which he was trying to reach out with to get a taste of his lover. The druid grinned at this and, still staying just out reach of Liki's muzzle, started pawing himself with one of his hands, teasing him.

Liki strained his neck trying to reach out, but gave up and laid his head back on the pillows, watching the display before him with hungering eyes. He could toss Kaz off easily if he wanted, he was pinned down but it would be easy to get free since his arms were still able to move. He didn't want to hurt Kaz though, and he didn't want what was happening to stop.

So he watched as Kaz's cock began to drip small amonts of pre down itself and onto his hand, the wet sound of it making his ears twitch a bit. His body was begginning to feel overheated in his armor, and his own member was pressing against it painfully. He swallowed once, drinking up his drool before it managed to find a way over his bottom lip, and gazed up longfully up to Kaz's face.

Kaz murred and grinned even more, "Want me to get off you so you can get more comfortable?"

"That, or scoot closer to my mouth, darn you." Liki stuck his tongue out playfully.

Kaz laughed and used his knees to rise off Liki's stomach, and the gray wolf wiggled out from under him. He quickly took off his armor, tossing it all onto the floor. At that moment, Kaz tossed his now removed vines aside, and Liki hugged thier naked bodies together, their members rubbing against each other warmly. They fell atop one another again, kissing once more with such a passion they were panting inside both their muzzles as one.

They broke the kiss, both of them nuzzling each other while smiling.

"I love you Liki..." Kaz whispered silently and licking his muzzle tenderly

"I love you too...Kaz..." Liki whispered back while letting Kaz wet his face with licks.

Kaz murred, his licking moving down to Liki's neck, who tilted his head a bit to show his mate his trust. Like the wolves of old they had evolved from, simple gestures; licks placed on the neck and the exposing of the neck to another, was a sign of huge trust. Liki felt so at ease, his eyes closed while his hands held onto the back of Kaz's body as the black wolf continued to move downward onto his chest, licking at his nipples under his fur and making him shiver and murr with pleasure.

Kaz sped up, quickly covering his lover's chest and stomach before teasing him by licking around his sheath. Liki's hands now rested on Kaz's head, one tenderly holding one of the black wolf's ears while the other petted the fur on his head slowly, while groaning in the building pleasure and silently yearning Kaz onwards.

It seemed forever before he felt Kaz's warm tongue cover his shaft, licking up the pre greedily and making him shiver and whimper silently. Soon after, Kaz engulfed Liki's adolescent shaft into his muzzle completely, his tongue twirling around it and his lips squeezing on the half developed knot at the base.

Liki moaned and reared his head in the pillows, his hands tighetening their grip a bit upon Kaz's head as the black wolf began to suck at a reasonable pace, his tongue expertly making a smooth tunnel around his member.

He howled lowly and panted, "Ohhhhhhh....Gaia...Kaz...I won't last long at that rate..." He squirmed, his knot twitching already and starting to grow.

Kaz opened his mouth and smiled to Liki as he opened his eyes, "Well then, there's something I want from you before that."

Liki stared at him, until he understood and his eyes widened a bit, "You mean you want...me..."

"To claim me, to take my virginity." Kaz nodded and turned right around on the bed, showing Liki his ass, his tail shifting to reveal his virgin hole, "I took yours...it's your turn."

"Are you sure?" Liki gulped but was already shifting onto his knees behind the black Fangren, "I don't want to hurt you."

Kaz chuckled, "Remember, you can't hurt me that easily. My magic will stop any pain on or even in my body except the most serious wounds. You can go as wild as you want to love, I garentee I won't feel anything but sheer bliss from it."

Liki grinned, placing his body on top of Kaz's back and wrapping his arms around his middle, his member just brushing under Kaz's tail and making the black wolf shiver in anticipation. Liki didn't continue however, instead leaning down to whisper in Kaz's ear, "I want to try something then..."

The gray wolf closed his eyes and concentrated, his body slowly beginning to issue a black smoke as the purple shades of Shadows began to enclose on his body from the air around them. The purple color swirled around their bodies, wifting around Kaz a bit before they touched parts of Liki's body and merged with him, turning his fur and skin dark purple.

He purposely let his cock be the last part of him to be turned, the reddish pink color of his member changeing to the dark purplish color, smoke rising off it heavily as if the heat of his lust made it so.

Kaz had watched with a huge smile until Liki opened his eyes and he saw the bright blue glow against the purple face. He instantly wanted Liki to take him all the more.

The Shadow leaned over him again, pointing his literrally smoking cock at Kaz's tailhole and poking it with the tip.

Kaz moaned, the wet feel of Liki's precum on his ass, while Liki's penis was so nice and warm, making him start to pant.

"Ready?" Liki's echoing voice whispered in his ear again.

The Fangren nodded quickly, taking a breath of air and trying to relax for the entry of Liki's cock.

Liki pushed foward, his Shadow infused member slightly pressing into Kaz's asshole slowly. Kaz moaned, and his body actually began to glow a slight green, stopping any pain and leaving Kaz in only pleasure. The glow intensified the farther Liki pushed himself into Kaz's warm body, until the beginning of his knot meet the tight entrance and he stopped. Kaz murred underneath him, still panting and glowing brightly in green healing energy, his black cock drippling pre on the bed constantly.

"Go Liki..." He whimpered in lust and desire, "Go crazy..."

Liki grinned, and did so.

Kaz gasped as the sensations assualted his mind so quickly, Liki suddenly fucking him with such a vigor it blew his mind. A small bit of pain penetrated his magic - he'd have to work on that not happening, he noted - but it was overcome quickly by his magic and the sheer pleassure he felt at having his prostate assualted inside him so heavily.

He groaned heavily as well, his body shaking with each thrust Liki made into him, the Shadow's knot actually popping in and out of him with each stroke. Liki was indeed going wild, without any worry of Kaz's wellbeing or any harm, his sole focus was to love his mate as much as possible. And Kaz's sole focus was to take in as much love Liki gave.

Kaz grunted, holding himself still, trying to manage and use a hand to stroke his pre leaking cock. Liki was fucking him so hard he couldn't though, he needed all his limbs to stop from falling onto his face under Liki's weight and hard thrusts. He whimpered in desire, but he gasped suddenly when something grasped and squeezed his length hard, and then panted heavily when it begin to stroke him hard in rythym to Liki's thrusts.

He glanced down under himself, expecting to see one of Liki's hands stroking him, but instead he saw a long wift of Shadow magic peeling from his mate's arms and covering his dick, enveloping it. His stared in awe, until the feelings regained his attention and he reared his head with a small howl, his knot throbbing in ecstacy and quickly growing.

Liki's knot was already at it's fullest, and a growl was rumbling from his throat as he was already reaching his final moments. He was beginning to leave his knot inside Kaz for moments at a time before pulling out and plunging back in.

The pressure against his prostate and insides was pushing Kaz over the edge quickly, and he reared his head and howled as Liki's most recent plunge made his cum race up and explode out his cock. Instead of splattering all against the bed, it was instead captured by Liki's Shadow's. He emptied his balls as Liki continued to assualt him, than gasped and panted in his afterglow while waiting for the other to finish.

The Shadows that had captured Kaz's cum slithered up Liki's arms and body to his muzzle, where they parted and let the sticky white goo slide into his now open and waiting muzzle. Liki took his time tasting his lover's seed, before swallowing and giving a howl. He gave one last thrust into Kaz before his climax came, his own hot cum filling Kaz's insides and his knot inflating to tie them together. As his climax started to fade he leaned down over the black wolf.

"Now for the final thing..." he growled in Kaz's ear softly. his voice still echoing in the void of Shadows.

Kaz's heart jumped into his throat. The final thing? Did Liki mean...

"Please..." He begged.

As with the exposing of the throat, there was one thing Fangrens did that solidified a relationship and showed the love between them. It was one reason why Fangren tended to stay within their own speices, as others didn't use it and didn't understand why it was needed, some actually would break up becuase it only hurt them and they didn't get the symbolic meaning behind it.

A mating bite.

Liki opened his jaw over Kaz's shoulder and bit down, hard enough to draw blood. Kaz reared his head again, gritting his teeth, actually stopping his magic so he felt the pain now. This pain was different than something that was hurtful though. This mating bite made their mateship final, until death. Saying yes to a proposal was one thing, but to Fangren like them, this was the real deal, the final saying; the "I do"s of marriage.

Kaz felt whole with that bite, and as Liki releashed his teeth and he could feel the blood on his shoulder, he still refused to let his magic heal it. This wound he would heal naturally, through time. He hoped actually, that it would scar and leave a mark in his black fur, a reminder of Liki's love.

Liki pulled him back, the Shadows on his body peeling away and vanishing into the air as Liki laid back, letting Kaz lay weakly on top of him. Kaz realized that using his magic for this had taken a lot out of him, he felt no pain, but he could barely move as if he had still felt it. Or maybe it was calmness he felt, maybe he simply didn't want to move. He wasn't sure anymore.

His mate's cock was still tied into him, and would be so for awhile. His own black one was laying on his stomach, half-erect and slowly receding as he laid on Liki's chest, their heads right next to each other on the pillows. The gray wolf nuzzled Kaz's face beside him lovingly, and whispered in his ear again.

"I love you Kaz..."

"I love you too Liki...thank you..." Kaz smiled, his eyes closing, "I'm so tired..."

"Me too..." Liki murred and kept nuzzling him.

Liki was the first to actually fall asleep, his knot deflated and he slipped out of Kaz soon into his snoozing. Kaz turned then, wrapping his arms under Liki's body and putting his head on his chest. The rogue's arms wrapped around him in responce in his sleep.

Kaz fell asleep quickly, and as he drifted off he realized something.

There were no voices in his head anymore.

Skip woke up suddenly, his head throbbing. He put a hand to it and groaned, sitting up in his bed. He had slept all day, exhausted from the fight and needing his energy back from it.

He turned and placed his feet on the ground of his tent, still holding his head as he noticed where the sun was in the sky through the cloth. It was somewhere around late evening; the kitchen would be serving soon.

His stomach growled at him, and he rose up and opened the flap. He groaned again as the light hit his eyes and his head throbbed more. Skip quickly closed the flap and held his head in his paws.

"What's wrong with my head?" He asked outloud, his whiskers quivering as he recognized someone was in the tent with him. The otter quickly turned to see a dark figure sitting in his chair at his desk, a whispy black smoke coming of his body. He wore a cowl and leather armor colored the same as his fur.

"Liki!" Skip immeadiatly snarled, biting his lip as he flew and tasting blood. His eyes grew deep and wide as his blood lust began. He jumped at the chair.

Instead of hitting the figure, he phased through it as if it wasn't there, and landed in a heap and breaking the chair.

He got up quickly to try again, but was suddenly unable to move. His arms and legs were tied with ropes of Shadow Magic, connected to the ground and holding him in place. He fought agianst them, but even in his beserker mode, he was no match for the power of Shadows, and he knew it. The ropes tightened their hold and pulled down into the ground, until he was forced onto his knees.

Suddenly the figure was standing in front of him. The Aquari looked up to the strange being with wild rage, but he was also studing his opponent as well. This wasn't Liki, instead of blue eyes, this one had pure white eyes, staring blankly at him.

"What are you!?" Skip snarled again, his mouth beginning to froth in rage, "I'll kill you if you don't let me go!!!"

The person reached out with it's hand, and at first Skip was going to bite out with his mouth, but he suddenly found himself unable to do that as well. He felt as if...he didn't want to...The dark colored hand touched the top of his head and he froze up as he felt a strange feeling in his body.

"Let the Shadows take you..."

The world around Skip suddenly swirled, changing reality and leaving him alone as the light bent and moved. The otter stared around in worry, and he realized he was no longer in his beserker mode, somehow he had been forcefully brought out of it.

Soon after, the light and world stopped swirling and he found himself in a dark cave, and Jaklya was beside him.

"Skip?" She asked quietly.

"Jaklya!? You're okay!!" He yipped like a little kid, and suddenly, he realized he was. He was a little kid, shorter and with that higher pitched voice of childhood.

"Shh!!!" Her hand covered his mouth and her eyes flamed at him with fury, "Shut up!!!"

"What was that?" Another voice said in the dark cave beyond them, "Did you hear that?"

"Someone is following us!"

"Kill them! No one must know what we're doing!"

"Damn it Skip! You gave us away!" Jaklya shouted at him loudly, "I KNEW I shouldn't have brought you, you're nothing but trouble to me!"

That hurt the male otter, deeply, and he didn't know why.

"Jaklya..." He started, but found himself unable to say anything else.

"Ugh." Jaklya made a disgusted noise and jumped past him, toward a group of Anubians who were charging them both.

Skip was stunned. What was going on?

Before he could come up with the answer, the images around him shifted and swirled again, and suddenly he was laying in a bed. Not only that, he felt HORRIBLY sick. He coughed, his throat feel sore and hurt like hell. It was then he felt a caressing hand on his forward, and looked to his right to see Jaklya there again.

"Jaklya...?" He whispered the best he could, his voice still that of a young otter.

"Sush my love..." His sister whispered back calmly, "You're terribly ill right now...take your rest." By her side lay a box full of vails of her special Blood Wine, made just for him to recover.

"Jaklya..." He tried to understand what was happening. Why was he here? He had already been here once before, when he was really young. Back when...back when life had been...simple, he and his sister were...lovers? How could that be? They had been born bother and sister...right?

The images swirled again and he closed his eyes, gasping and shouting in terror when he suddenly found himself strapped to a wooden oberating table, struggling to get free. Fear was flowing through him like he had never felt before, but his sudden drop into this situation by whatever he was going through made him gain a bit of self awareness and look around his surroundings.

Jaklya was beside him, strapped like him to a different table, out cold. She looked a bit older than the last vision.

"Jaklya!!! Wake up! Help!" His voice was now a bit deeper, and he felt bigger and slightly stronger. He blinked suddenly, surprised to feel tears on his face. He'd never cried before.

"Crying?" A voice beside him sneered and he turned his gaze quickly to see the Anubian Visry, his penetrating glare making Skip freeze up, holding his breath and gaping at the Anubian. What was wrong with him? He was fearless! He shouldn't be afraid!

"Well..." Visry grinned and leaned over him, "We'll have that fixed up soon little Aquari, it's time you gain the things you've been trained for..."

Visry turned to someone in the background that Skip couldn't see. "Begin, erase their memories and give them new ones. I want my weapons without fear or remorse. I want them to live for the sport of killing other things."

"As you wish, Anubian..." The figure said in a malevolent tone and grinned, "And for your part of the bargain?"

Visry's face tightened, "You'll get what you want..."

"Excellent." The figure began walking toward Skip, who felt a fresh wave of terror flood over him before the images began swirling once more and he closed his eyes as a wave of calmness replaced the wave of terror. The space around him stopped its movement again.

He was again on the table, but this time he felt...confident...different...he felt like he believed he always had for his entire life.

"You're awake..." Visry's voice said again, and Skip looked over to the Beast. This time, instead of feeling terror, he felt a feeling of great obediance like he was used to having when he saw Visry.

"Who are you?" The Anubian asked him.

"I'm...Skip..." The otter answeared calmly.

"Where were you born?"

"I was born...nowhere...I was bred for battle, trained for it, I love to fight..." Skip answered, and he realized how much he sounded like a machine.

"And what about your life before this moment?"

"Training...all training...with my sister...Jakky..."

"Jakky? Well I suppose that's an unimportant hiccub in your memory..."

"Sir...?" Skip asked, confused. To him, he had always called his sister Jakky.

The images swirled again and went black, and Skip found himself standing in pure darkness, his eyes to the ground as he thought.

Everything he just saw, it wasn't what he remembered...it was...something else...he didn't remember the cave, yet he was there...he didn't remember Jaklya taking care of him, yet he knew it...he didn't remember fear, yet he felt it...

He had felt those things...once...before that strange person Visry had been with...erased their minds? But then, how was he having these scenes played out to him?

"They are images, memories you held dear to you, before the Anubian Visry changed you..."

The Shadow thing from before in his tent was in front of him, his form barely visible in the murky darkness already around them.

"Memories?" Skip whispered. He knew...he knew what he saw was true...but if that was so...who he was wasn't really who he was meant to be, he had been changed...at Visry's hand...he had been made a tool of war, his life forfieted.

The Shadow nodded, it's voice quiet but emotionless, "Not even the most dark of magic can truely destroy the memories someone holds so close...We believed you would like to know who you really are, Skip...Who Jaklya really is...Jaklya isn't your sister..."

"She's...my lover..." Skip realized.

"She was..." The Shadow corrected, "Until your memories were erased. Those images you saw just now, were the most predominent ones you held. There are others that We could also recover, but there is not enough time. Too much has past already. If you're to realize who you are, you must find it on your own now. Lately, you've had headaches. Those were caused by these memories, trying to break free of the hold on them, and We helped them to. Jaklya's recent accident is what triggered them."

"Jaklya...she's in danger...how can I free her too?" Skip asked, uncertienty creeping into him. It felt foriegn to him now.

The Shadow was silent until it sighed heavily, "We are sorry to say We are not sure you can..."

Skip stared a moment before looking at the ground again, then suddenly his fists clenched in the anger he was now more suited toward.

"Visry did this..." He shuddered and roared, "I'll have his head!"

"The resistence is preparing to strike Skip, if you know what you want now...that is your chance to strike...remember something though. There is always hope, and with the hope, there comes a will, and with a will, there is always a way somewhere..."

With that, Skip was suddenly back in his tent, in his beserker mode once more. He bit back the blood-lust until he calmed down. The light of dusk was creeping through the shades of his tent, the day had apparently past while in his trance. He understood now...he had always believed his life perfect. But no, his life had been taken...

His awakened memories were flooding back to him so quickly now, he remembered how his parents died. He grew up alone in a cave near a lake for awhile until he met Jaklya, and suddenly they fell in love. Jaklya loved him for being his scared, childish self...Skip loved her becuase she was so strong and couragous, so unlike him.

Both of them lived together in that cave, living off what was near them. They had their rocky moments, like with the cave memory where he had been so hurt by her words...the sweet moments, as when he had been ill with something horrible and she cared for him. Then it had all been taken away.

All by Visry, by the Anubians...

In that single moment Skip switched sides on the war...he was now a spy for the resistence, the moment they attacked, he would join them...and if needed, he would end Jaklya's suffering himself...for her...