{"sf1_id":890941,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 4: Trouble in the North","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":16187,"posted_at":"2015-07-26T11:09:00.000Z","tags":["Hyena","Lycanthrope","Phoenix","Violence","Werewolf","Wolf","danger","mystery"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/890941-chapter-4-trouble-in-the-north","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/890941","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=890941\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels\nArc Three:\nThe Overlords\nChapter 4: Trouble in the\nNorth\n-January 20th,\n2011, Evening, Brent Tetherson's Residence-\n            The day after Kumori's attempted\nassassination of Volcan, Vinge and Tsume called the rest of the team for a\nmeeting at Brent's house. Not everyone was able to show up on-time, but with a\nlittle planning and finding a common availability for everyone, they were able\nto a find a good time for everyone to meet up; Vinge wanted to ensure everybody\ncould be present for it, motivated by the urgency and the danger presented by\nthe fact Volcan now had a target on his back. \n            The first to arrive was Pavan,\nfollowed shortly after by Obsidian, Rikyuu, Yurui and Ayane who arrived\ntogether in the foremost's patrol car -she was in uniform as well, indicating\nshe was either on-duty or was on her way to work. The last to arrive was\nLighris, who pulled up on his truck, stopping it alongside Obsidian's car with\ntires crunching through the snow until it squealed to a stop. He engaged the\nparking brake and climbed out, shutting the door behind him.\n            \"I hope this is important,\" he\ncalled as he approached the house and found Vinge waiting for him. \"Closing up\nmy shop an hour early isn't good for business.\"\n            \"I thought you said six-thirty was a\ngood time for you?\" Vinge returned.\n            \"You seen the rush hour traffic in\ntown?\" Lighris asked, waving off in the direction of the city. \"It's madness.\"\n            \"You could have flown,\" Vinge\nstated.\n            \"I... I can't fly as fast as my\nbrother,\" Lighris retorted, and seemed honestly ashamed to admit it.\n            Vinge stepped aside to allow Lighris\ninto the house and, noting he was the last one to arrive, he stepped inside\nhimself, shutting the door behind him. He stepped through the entry hall and\nout into the living room, where he counted heads, confirming everyone had\narrived. Tsume, Ayane and Obsidian were all seated on the sofa, with Brent\nsitting on the arm, his own arms crossed. Lighris picked a corner, standing in\nit and leaning against the wall, while Rikyuu and Yurui had borrowed chairs\nfrom the dining room, the former sitting in his inverted, arms draped over the\nback, and Pavan stood pacing in the middle of the room.\n            Everyone in the group was watching\nhim. He felt uncomfortable; he should've expected this, as it was by his\ninsistence this meeting was being held, but to have everyone watching him so\nexpectantly... 'How does Volcan do this\nso well?' He thought, remembering the strategy meeting the group had had\nduring the I.T.O.U.E Incident, where they had planned to lead them into a trap.\nStrategy was easy for Vinge to do but to him, this wasn't like that day; they\nweren't there to get ready for battle, they were there to discuss that there\nwas something dangerous out there, something they needed to be ready for. He\nfelt a lump in his throat as he tried to find words, staring at the floor.\n            \u003cFirstly, try not to show you're nervous.\u003e\n            Vinge looked up with a start, before glancing over at Obsidian.\n            \u003cSorry; your thoughts were so loud, I couldn't help but hear them,\u003e she\nreplied. \u003cI've had to do this with the\npolice ever since I became a sergeant; start by bringing up what the purpose of\nthe meeting is, then just say the details as they go. Start small, work your\nway up; that's the best way to get your point across. Be assertive when it\nfeels necessary, but otherwise talk to them as you would if you were explaining\nit to the police.\u003e\n            'Thanks,' Vinge redirected his thoughts to her, before taking\na deep breath, and beginning to speak. \"You all know... I called you here\nbecause last night, Volcan was attacked.\"\n            \"Wait, he was?\" Ayane asked, sitting\nup from the couch.\n            Pavan glanced at Rikyuu. \"You didn't\ntell her?\"\n            \"She was so wrapped up in an\nexperiment she hung up before I could mention it,\" replied the blue dragon.\n            \"Focus please,\" Vinge interjected.\n\"Now, Tsume and I already defeated the would-be assassin, but during the fight,\nwe learned from him that he was hired by someone to kill Volcan.\"\n            \"Is the I.T.O.U.E back?\" Brent\nasked.\n            \"No; I don't believe so,\" replied\nVinge. \"Plus, I don't believe Jacob Rex would enlist a superhumanoid unless he\nwas desperate; this assassin was a Kitsune -a fox-spirit from Japan with\nreality warping abilities and even some measure of elemental power, varying\nfrom species to species. In this case, a Shadow or Void Kitsune; an elemental\nof Darkness, and with centuries of combat experience. Even between Tsume and I\nwe barely escaped with our heads still attached, though fortunately, Volcan was\nunharmed. Pavan managed to hold him off until we got there.\"\n            \"Guy was creepy as hell, and damn\nquick,\" Pavan added his input. \"I swear he knew what I was doing before I did.\"\n            \"Experience can do that,\" Obsidian\nstated before looking at Vinge again. \"So someone hired him; did he say who?\"\n            \"He gave me a name, yes,\" replied\nVinge. \"Calhoun Demonfire.\"\n            Lighris tilted his head. \"Never\nheard of 'im,\" he said.\n            \"I don't think anyone here has,\"\nTsume pointed out. \n            \"And that, is because,\" the Ice\nPhoenix returned, pausing for a moment to confirm everyone was watching him,\n\"this 'Calhoun' may be the demonic essence that was removed from Volcan less\nthan a month ago.\"\n            All eyes widened, glances were\nexchanged, while an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Even Pavan, who had\nnot stopped moving since the talk started, froze dead in his tracks with his\nfoot hovering above the carpet. Lighris stepped away from the corner he was in,\neyeing Vinge intensely. \"How can you be sure?\"\n            \"Kumori, the assassin, stated that\nVolcan and Calhoun were the spitting image of each other,\" replied Vinge.\n\"Unless you have another brother we don't know about Lighris, this is the only\nexplanation I have as to how this being can look like Volcan. We stopped his\nassassin, but either he'll send more or eventually, he'll come to do the job\nhimself. All we know about him is that he looks like Volcan.\"\n            \"And he was carrying that weird\nstaff,\" Obsidian added. \"Remember that staff that appeared in the hand of that\nmonster that came out of Volcan?\"\n            \"I do,\" replied Vinge. \"With these\ntwo factors we can at least identify him when he comes... and my instincts tell\nme he will. He wants Volcan dead; why,\nI don't know, but he wants it enough he sent a being from one of the most\nenigmatic and powerful races in the entire world to do the job. He wants it\nbadly, and he'll go through all of us to do it.\" \nVinge's expression firmed, becoming as serious as\nhis words as he spoke further. \"We need to be ready; there's no telling when\nthis guy will strike, and we have no idea how strong he is -he may be just as\npowerful as Volcan or he may be even stronger than him. Either way, we need to\nbe ready to fight him. I propose we all start carrying our weapons with us, and\nthat we all stay in contact with each other somehow; some sort of panic buttons\nwe can keep close at hand to know when one of us in danger.\"\n\"I may be able to help with that,\" said Ayane. \"I\ncan rig up something within the day; some kind of communication devices we can\nuse.\"\nLighris grimaced. \"I'm still fine just using my\nfists; don't need a sword or a gun when I can make someone's head explode with\nan overcharge if I wanted to.\"\n\"I might have an idea about that,\" Brent said with a\ngrin, looking over at Lighris, and then at Rikyuu. \"I needed Volcan's help to\nmake it, but since you copied his powers, mind helping me with a little\nproject, Rik?\"\nThe dragon shrugged. \"Why not? My schedule's pretty\nclear.\"\n\"Excellent,\" he said, before turning to Lighris. \"I'm\ngoing to need to take some measurements.\"\nLighris scowled. \"Of what? I'm already the shortest\nguy here,\" he said, gruffly. Apparently, he had mistaken Brent's words for a\njab at his lack of height.\nOf course, others interpreted it another way. Tsume,\nYurui and Obsidian's faces contorted and they each elicited a light snort as\nthey cupped their hands over their mouths, stifling their laughter. Pavan,\nhowever, failed to contain his own, guffawing loudly and clutching his stomach.\n\"Dude, do you realize what you just said?\" The wind phoenix asked.\nLighris clenched his eyes shut. \"I do now...\"\n\"I meant of your hands, Mr. Foot-in-Mouth,\" Brent\nreplied.\nLighris went blank. \"Oh.\"\n\"Hey,\" Vinge interjected. \"This is no time to be\nchortling.\"\n\"Sorry Vinge,\" returned Tsume. \"Don't worry; we get\nwhat you're saying.\"\n\"Something else occurred to me,\" added Ayane. \"This\nassassin; he went after Volcan at his mother's house, right?\"\n\"That's correct.\"\n\"That means that this Calhoun guy, who and whatever\nhe is, might know where to find him,\" she pointed out. \"If he comes back or\nsends another hitman, Degra could get caught in the crossfire.\"\n\"Over my dead body,\" Lighris stated, protectively. \n\"We're all at risk,\" Vinge stated. \"It may only be a\ntheory, but I suspect that if this Calhoun is that dark essence that was taken\nout of Volcan, it may not only have his looks.\"\n\"You're saying it has his memories too?\" Rikyuu\nasked, his wings stiffening at the thought.w\n\"I can't say for sure, but Kumori was at Volcan's\napartment, before he went after Volcan at Degra's house,\" Vinge explained. \"He\nkilled the landlady's husband because he as in her office, looking at a\nphonebook. It was open to the 'M' listings of residents in the city.\"\nLighris perked up. \"MacAingeal... my mom's maiden\nname.\"\n\"Precisely,\" replied Vinge.\n\"If Calhoun knew where to find Volcan, why would\nKumori need to look up her address?\" Pavan asked.\n\"I think Calhoun only possesses Volcan's memories up\nto the point they separated,\" replied Vinge. \"If that's the case then, there's\nno way he could've known that Volcan was staying at Degra's; Kumori probably\njust followed a lead.\"\n\"But if you're right, and he does have all of Volcan's memories,\" Tsume began, before her eyes\nscanned over the group. \"Then he knows everything about all of us that Volcan\ndoes.\"\nObsidian frowned. \"That means there's no safe place\nwhere we can hide him,\" she said, darkly. \"He stays with any of us Calhoun will\njust go over us routinely until he finds him, even if one of us were living in\na new place.\"\n\"We need somewhere we can lay low; somewhere he\nwouldn't know about,\" Tsume stated.\n\"We need...\" Pavan said with a big grin on his face.\n\"A secret headquarters!\"\n\"Oh come on; could you get any more cliché?\" Lighris\nasked. \"We're not some super heroes in a comic book.\"\n\"Actually,\" Vinge\nintervened. \"Pavan may be right.\"                           \n\"I am?\" Pavan asked.\n\"He is?\" Tsume and Lighris\nasked simultaneously.\nPavan gave them a dirty\nlook.\n\"If we're going to take a more active role in the\ndefense of Canada against forces like the I.T.O.U.E or the supernatural\n-especially with a madman like Calhoun on the loose, we need a place to operate\nfrom,\" Vinge explained. \"Somewhere we're not far apart. It doesn't have to be\nsomewhere we live; just somewhere we can go and where we can receive and assign\nmissions.\" He nodded to himself. \"It's a good idea; we need a base of operations.\"\n\"Where do you propose to get the money for that?\"\nRikyuu asked, rolling his arms across the back of the chair as his shoulders\nbounced in a half-shrug gesture.\n\"Dude, me, Volc, Vinge and Brent make almost\nthree-hundred grand a year on our record sales and box office royalties each,\"\nPavan stated. \"We're due for a new album; Vinge has been writing songs for it.\nWe just need Volcan back on his feet and we'll have that money in a matter of\nweeks.\"\n\"My dad's got his ear to the ground on every piece\nof land in this area,\" Tsume added. \"If anyone can find a secluded place to\nbuild it, he can. Probably at a discount too.\"\n\"Brent and I can build some equipment for the\nplace,\" Ayane offered. \"Tools, utilities, workstations; everything we need.\"\n\"And we'll need someone to fill the role of leader,\"\nObsidian added in the most important fact.\n\"We have Volcan; he leads us,\" Vinge stated.\n\"But he's not here, and he won't be back on his feet\nfor some time,\" Obsidian stated. \"Someone has to fill his shoes -metaphorically\nspeaking- until he can come back. I think, now that we're all gathered here, we\nshould pick someone.\"\n\"Okay then,\" said Lighris. \"How do we decide it;\nnext of kin?\"\n\"We already decided you are not leader material,\nLighris,\" Rikyuu stated, turning about in his chair to look at the lightning\nhawk. \"You're debatably the most powerful person in this group -you can\ngenerate enough amps to overload electrical substations, but what you aren't,\nis collected, strategic, or all that inspiring; Volcan inspires us to do better\nthrough his altruistic nature and his courage. Not saying you're not brave, but\nyou're too impulsive and too eager to prove how tough you are.\"\n\"In other words, a hothead,\" Tsume narrowed it down.\nLighris rolled his eyes. \"Alright, fine, then who do\nyou suggest, Rik; you?\"\n\"I'm not leader material either,\" replied Rikyuu.\n\"When Nero made me, he had a fighter in mind, but not a commander; I can do all\nkinds of things but I'm not one who can lead men and women into battle. My\ntalents are following orders, not giving them.\"\n\"Spoken like a soldier,\" Obsidian remarked.\n\"How about me?\" Pavan asked. \"I mean, I'm Volc's\nbest buddy; I know his...\"\n\"No,\" Rikyuu,\nObsidian, Tsume, Lighris and Vinge all said simultaneously.\n\"Why not? It could be fun!\"\n\"You are crazier than fruit flies in a jar,\" Brent\nstated. \"You can't sit still and you certainly aren't one to plan ahead; you\njust rush in guns blazing, almost like Lighris does. Unlike him though, you\nlike to go ballistic and turn things into a game.\" He held up his hands in an\n'A' shape before he spread them apart. \"No way,\" he stated. \n\"Dammit...\" Pavan cursed.\n            \"Why not 'Sid?\" Ayane asked. \"She\nalready has experience leading people. After all she did get promoted to sergeant within a year of her service\nbeginning.\"\n            \"I can't lead this group too,\"\nObsidian returned. \"I can only be a part-time member at best with my career in\npolicing; not the kind of person you need for a leader.\" She looked at Vinge,\nand a smile stretched across her face. \"I nominate Vinge,\" Obsidian chimed in.\nVinge froze, becoming absolutely still, his gaze\nslowly shifting to Obsidian. 'You are not\ndoing this to me, 'Sid.'\n\u003cYou're the\nonly one who can do this, Vinge,\u003e Obsidian returned,\ncommunicating telepathically, before she looked over the rest of the group.\n\"He's not just a great fighter, he's a brilliant tactician and he understands\nthe strengths and weaknesses of us all, and he knows where each of us perform\nat our best. It was his plan that beat the I.T.O.U.E at the airstrip; we\nfollowed his orders, and we drove underground the most dangerous terrorists in\nNorth America since the FLQ.\"\n\"The who?\" Pavan asked.\n\"Front\nde libération du Québec,\" Tsume remarked.\n\"History\nlessons later,\" Lighris intervened before they could get off-topic.\n\"And\nfurthermore, Vinge has already shown he can be an inspiration,\" Obsidian went\non. \"He has knowledge, he has strength of will, he can think on his feet and\nhe's calm under pressure. I really think he's the one we need.\"\n\"I\nsecond the nomination,\" Tsume added. \"I've seen first-hand what he can do; he\nhas a lot of incredible skill and knows how to use it, and he figured out how\nto beat Carlos Chang and, especially Kumori, both of whom had considerably more\ncombat experience and training than he does, but that didn't stop him.\"\n\"If\nanyone can figure out how to beat Calhoun,\" Obsidian concluded. \"He can.\"\n\"Agreed,\"\nYurui pitched in.\n\"Same,\"\nAyane added, followed by Rikyuu, Pavan and Brent.\nVinge\neyed each member of the group, feeling his heart rate increasing a little from\nnervousness; he never let his anxiety show, but the faith everyone was putting\nin him was sending thousands of questions through his mind. His eyes fell on\nLighris last, who had not given his opinion. The lightning hawk met his gaze\nfor a long, awkward moment before he just shrugged and shook his head at him.\nVinge\ncast a scolding thought in Obsidian's direction. 'I do so dislike you at the\nmoment.'\n\u003cKnow the enemy and know yourself,\nright?\u003e She returned, earning a\nsurprised look from him once more. \u003cYou\nmay not know it Vinge, but you're a born captain; Volcan inspires courage and\nthe will to do better but you inspire something else; you inspire confidence.\nYou can make us operate efficiently, and know that our abilities are being used\nin their best way.\u003e\n'What if I make a mistake, though?'\n\u003cMistakes are there for us to learn\nfrom, Vinge,\u003e Obsidian returned.\nHe\ngrimaced at her. 'I'm starting to know\nwhy people hate it when I make sense,' he thought. 'It's extremely humbling to be made to understand something by someone else.'\n\u003cNow you know.\u003e\nVinge\nreleased a long, drawn-out sigh. \"It seems you all want me for the role,\" he\nsaid. \"I don't know if I can live up to your expectations, but if it what you\nall want...\" He paused. \"Then I'll take up the position, at least until we have\nour real leader back.\"\n\"Awesome;\ncongrats buddy,\" Pavan stated.\n\"So\nwhat's our first order of business?\" Rikyuu asked.\nVinge\ndid not even have to think about it, because he already knew what the first priority\nshould be. \"First, we need to look into getting that headquarters built; we\nneed to be as discreet about it as possible and not make its location public\nknowledge.\"\n\"I'll\nsee what my dad has to offer us,\" offered Tsume, pulling out her cellular phone\nand starting a text. \"And I'll see if he can keep it under his wing\n-metaphorically speaking.\"\n\"Then\nthe rest of us have work to do,\" said Vinge. \"Thank you all for coming; we're\ndone here for now. In the meantime, I'm going to head over to Degra's house,\nand let Volcan know what we're planning.\"\nEveryone\nagreed to the idea, and with that the room began to clear, everyone except\nBrent and Tsume stepping out of the mobile home to proceed back to the city,\nleaving the three of them to debate on the next course of action. Vinge leaned\nagainst a wall for support, running a hand down his face in exasperation before\nhe stood staring absently at a wall.\n\"So\nnow, I'm the team leader,\" he said. \"I can't say I wanted the role... but\neveryone seems to want me in it, so now by some unofficial election, there it\nis.\"\n\"You'll\ndo fine, Vinge,\" Tsume said as she finished the text to her father and set her\nphone down to await a response. \"We all know what you can do. Wasn't Sun Tzu\nhimself a great tactician but not much of a people person?\"\n\"That's\nhard to say since most scholarly types debate about him ever existing,\" replied\nVinge. \"But that's not the point; the point is, now that I'm leader, everyone\nwill expect me to have the answers to our challenges, and if I make even one\nmistake and someone gets hurt or worse, the responsibility is on me.\" He put\nhis hand over his eyes again. \"I'm just not sure I'm ready for that kind of\ncommitment.\"\n\"Maybe\nthat's something you should bring up with Volc when you go see him,\" Brent suggested.\n\"Maybe he can tell you something that'll help you.\"\n\"Perhaps,\"\nadmitted Vinge. \"And what do you think of this whole 'secret headquarters'\nthing, Brent?\"\nAt\nthat, the hyena grinned. \"Do you have any clue how many ideas are going through\nmy head at the mere mention of that?\" He asked. \"There are so many things I can do with that; I don't know where to even\nstart.\"\n\"Congratulations,\nVinge; you found a way to bring his 'full-geek mode' back,\" Tsume remarked,\narching an eyebrow at the ice phoenix.\nVinge\nshrugged helplessly.\nTsume's\nphone beeped, calling her attention to it. She tapped the button the top to\nopen it, and elevated it to eye level to look at him. \"It's from my dad,\" she\nsaid.\n\"What's\nhe say?\"\n\"He\nsays...\" She paused and grinned. \"He might have a few ideas in mind.\"\n            \"Then let's go see what he has,\" urged Brent, rubbing his\nhands together with anticipation. \"I'm ready to get this project underway!\"\n            ~~~~~\n-February 28th, 2011-\n            Vinge turned over in bed as his phone rang from his\nbedside table, rousing him from his sleep. He let out a long groan before he\ndragged himself forward and reached feebly to the night stand, feeling around\nfor his phone until his talon-tipped fingers closed around it, and he brought\nit to eye level, peering through hazy eyes at the identity of the calling,\nseeing Tsume's picture staring back at him with the word 'Calling' underneath\nthe photograph. With a yawn he tapped the 'Accept' button and held it to his\near.\n            \"Hello?\"\n            \"Vinge; sorry to\nwake you, but I couldn't wait to tell you,\" Tsume replied.\n            \"About what?\" The ice phoenix asked.\n            \"The land we were\nlooking at for the new base?\" She asked. \"My dad secured the sale; we are now the proud owners of twenty-five\nacres on the cliffs above the forest, with the most spectacular view in the\nsouth!\"\n            Vinge sat up, feeling more awake now. \"The deal went\nthrough?\"\n            \"That's what I\nsaid, isn't it? Now get your ass up; we gotta show the others!\" He actually\nheard a giddy laugh coming from the Earth Phoenix on the other end. \"Man this is so awesome! I always dreamed\nabout buying up that plateau! Well, when I was married and starting a family\nanyway... but still! This is like a dream come true.\"\n            \"I'm not going to lie, Tsume, but hearing you squealing\nlike a teenager on a shopping spree is kind of... unusual,\" Vinge remarked\nthrough the phone, a bemused smirk on his face though she couldn't see it.\n            \"Hardy-har,\nsnowball, now get moving!\"\n            The line was severed, and Vinge looked at the phone\nquizzically. \"I guess being leader doesn't necessarily make me the boss,\" he\nmuttered.\n            \"Not with her, anyway,\" a soothing voice chimed up from\nVinge's side, and he looked over to see Yurui had awoken and was staring up at\nhim with half-lidded eyes, still awakening from what had been a truly pleasant\nslumber for both of them, her form still concealed beneath the blankets, except\nfor her arms which rested on her chest.\n            \"Sorry Yurui; did we wake you?\" Vinge asked.\n            \"Eh, the phone did, but not you,\" she replied, sitting up\nand scooting back to lean against the back of the sofa bed. \"So, sounds like\nyou guys got the land.\"\n            \"Sounds like we did,\" replied Vinge, lifting himself off\nof the bed and throwing his legs over the side of his bed before standing up\nand stretching, unaware of Yurui checking him out while his back was turned.\n\"The others will be wanting to see it.\"\n            \"Myself included,\" the snow leopard stated as she too\nstood up from the bed, running her paws over her fur to smooth it out. \"I\ndidn't get to see it when you guys initially found it.\"\n            \"Most of us didn't; we didn't want to get our hearts too\nset on it,\" Vinge replied as he found his feather brush and began to apply it\nto his feathers, evening them out and leaving behind a lavender-y scent where\nthe brush touched. \"After losing the bid on those first two places, we knew\nthis wasn't going to happen overnight; probably only thanks to Mr. Mondiale\nthat we found it on the fifth week since we started.\"\n            \"Shame that warehouse you guys were looking at didn't\nwork out,\" Yurui returned.\n            \"Perhaps it's not the best idea to keep our headquarters\nin the city anyway,\" Vinge returned, glancing over his shoulder at her. \"If\nanyone ever actually found it, we should keep the battle outside of the city,\naway from bystanders, but still be close enough to the city itself that we can\nrespond to emergencies.\" \n            Yurui nodded. \"I agree, to both of those,\" she said\nbefore she headed for the washroom. \"I'm just going to get cleaned up; I'll\njust be a few minutes.\"\n            ~~~~~\n            The wind rushed around the faces of both Yurui and Vinge\nas the two descended towards the plateau overlooking the forests west of Unity\nFalls, growing at the foot of the Rocky Mountains stretching across the border\ninto the United States from Canada. This area of the Rockies was known for\nseveral different high-rises in the mountains, even some secluded valleys along\nthe ranges towards the north, but of all those rises, this was one of the\nlargest Vinge had ever seen, stretching twenty-five acres of surprisingly flat\nground, with only one cliff-side road leading towards it from the forest below.\nAlthough the area belonged to the city, it had been unsuitable for any sort of\nlarge-scale construction, allowing the team to seize it once the land became\nfor sale.\n            From above, it didn't appear to be much; the land showed\nsigns of recent demolition, indicating it had been used by someone once before,\nand there was no growth or any pavement. A rising, near-vertical rock wall\nmarked the far end of it, forming a natural wall facing towards the west. The\nplace had been neglected over the years, and yet Tsume was expressing only\nexcitement at the idea of owning this land. Surrounded by so much earth, with\nso many plants below in the forest, it was a paradise for an Earth Elemental\nlike herself, and would serve the needs of the rest of the team...\n            Once the base was built of course.\n            The two of them touched down, and quickly spotted Tsume,\nwho was already there waiting for them. She turned around as Vinge touched\ndown, watching as he gently set Yurui down on the ground, and put her hands on\nher hips as the two approached. \"Glad you could make it.\"\n            \"So... this is the place?\" Yurui asked, looking around.\n\"Feels kind of... desolate, doesn't it?\"\n            \"It's a work in progress,\" replied Tsume. \"Price for the\nland was right, now we just need the building.\"\n            \"I have Brent and Ayane drawing up some plans,\" informed\nVinge. \"However, I think there may be something a little different we should do\nwith this place.\"\n            \"What's that?\" Tsume asked.\n            \"This plateau is far enough away from the city that\nnobody who isn't looking really hard will be able to spot anything up here,\"\nsaid Vinge, looking towards the rock wall on the western side. \"I think we\nshould build into the cliff face; put most of the structure inside of the\nmountain.\"\n            \"Why not just build underground?\" Yurui asked.\n            \"We'd never get Pavan near this place if the whole thing\nwas underground,\" replied Vinge. \"You know how he gets in enclosed spaces.\"\n            \"Good point.\"\n            \"So, into the cliff face, huh?\" Tsume asked, crossing her\narms. \"That's going to cost a fortune, digging out all that stone.\"\n            Vinge glanced over at her. \"Unless it's a DIY type of\njob?\"\n            Tsume looked at him curiously, and then at the cliff\nwall, grimacing uncomfortably as she considered the notion. \"I could do it... but it'd take me days, at\nleast.\"\n            \"We shouldn't rush this anyway,\" Vinge stated. \"Would\nanyone be able to help you?\"\n            \"Rikyuu could, if he copies my powers,\" replied Tsume.\n\"And maybe Obsidian with her telekinesis; she can move aside the stones as we\nbreak them away from the cliff; save on hiring any muscle to do the lifting.\"\n            \"You could completely terraform this whole plateau?\"\nYurui asked.\n            \"With enough time, yes; I could remodel this whole place\ninto another Mt. Rushmore if you gave me eight months.\"\n            \"We're not making a second Mt. Rushmore,\" Vinge stated\nplainly. \"I'll talk to Rikyuu; see about having him come help you.\" He glanced\nat Tsume. \"Can you fuse rock back together?\"\n            \"Yeah, why?\"\n            \"It may help speed things along; talk to Ayane, have her\ncome up here to give some estimates,\" Vinge said. \"We need to know how deep we\nneed to make the indent that the building can be inconspicuous, but not\ncompletely inside the cliff. The rooms inside of the cliff should be our main\nfacilities. Medical bay, armory, a kitchen, a command center -whatever we all\nthink the place needs; that's something we can discuss as a group.\"\n            \"What're you going to use to power this place?\" Yurui\nasked.\n            Vinge chuckled. \"One step at a time, my dear,\" he\nreturned. \"The building schematics aren't even drawn up yet; power source can\ncome after we do the wiring.\" He looked back at the cliff face again. \"Now, next\nwe should...\"\n            He was interrupted as the sound of a car coming up the\nhill caught the ears of the three. Turning to look over their shoulders they\nspotted a police cruiser pulling up to the scene, lights off. They turned to\nface it fully as it rolled to a slow, steady stop near them and was shut off.\nThe door opened, and out of the driver's side door stepped a dark blue avian\nthey knew well, garbed head-to-foe in a police uniform.\n            The group had disclosed the information of their new\nsecret base with the one person on the police force -besides Obsidian- that\nthey trusted just as much as any of their teammates. The person in question was\nChief Gregory Vinson, head of the police forces for the Canadian half of the\ncity and one of its most respected officers.\n            \"Chief Vinson,\" Vinge bade the hawk as he approached.\n            \"Mr. Glaseros,\" returned the hawk with a nod. \"Miss\nMondiale, Miss Yurui.\"\n            \"What brings you up here?\" Vinge asked.\n            \"Looking for you, actually,\" Gregory replied. \"I have\nheard you're the leader of your team -the Os-Nàdarra Sentinels now, correct?\"\n            \"By unanimous vote, yes,\" replied Vinge. \"Did something\nhappen?\"\n            \"I don't know yet,\" replied Gregory. \"That's partly what\nI need your help with.\"\n            Vinge looked at Yurui and Tsume briefly before he faced\nGregory again. \"Alright; we're listening.\"\n            Gregory glanced behind him, looking at his cruiser\nbriefly as if checking something before he began his explanation. \"It was on\nthe news this morning, but it was a call from an old friend of mine up in the\nYukon that clued me in,\" explained Gregory. \"There have been a string of\ndisappearances across the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut Territories over the\npast several months, maybe even longer than that. \n\"At\nfirst the Government was passing it off as disappearances in the wilderness;\npeople get lost up there every single year, but now the disappearances have\nbecome so large in scale that the Government believes something may be\ninvolved. They launched an investigation, and sent teams to search the\nwilderness for some of the more recent disappearances, trying to look into what\nthe cause may have been.\"\n\"What\ndid they find?\" Tsume asked.\n\"That's\nthe problem, actually,\" replied Gregory. \"Every single team is now missing as\nwell. They all fell out of contact over the course of this week; the last team\nwent dark yesterday, and the press just released the story. My friend in the\nrangers up there contacted me; Duke Michaels is his name. He's one of the\nbravest men I know, but even he seems scared. I offered to send him some help.\"\n\"You\nwant us to go up to the Yukon?\" Vinge asked, baffled \"That's a very tall order\nchief; how can we?\"\n            \"I don't know... but I've\nlearned to trust my gut about these crazy things that happen around here, and\nfor this, I'm getting a feeling that the Yukon's going to need some\nsupernatural help for whatever is going on up there.\"\nOnce\nagain, Vinge shared skeptical looks with both Yurui and Tsume as he considered\nhis response to the police chief. Neither woman gave him any clear indication\nto their own thoughts on the matter, clearly leaving it up to him. After a\nmoment, he looked at Gregory again, and said. \"I'll contact the rest of the\nteam. Where should we meet?\"\n\"I'll\nset up a meeting room at the precinct,\" replied Gregory, turning and heading\nback towards his car. \"See you there.\"\nThe\nthree watched as Gregory returned to his vehicle, waving goodbye as he started\nup the engine and backed up at an angle to turn around. As his car returned to\nthe cliff-side road and descended back ground level, Tsume took a step forward\nto stand in front of Vinge and look at him. \"What do you think's going on?\"\n\"I\ndon't know,\" replied Vinge. \"But we'll know more at the precinct. Let's start\ncalling the others and get down to the precinct.\"\n~~~~~\nOnce\nmore, the team was called for a gathering, for the second time in the span of a\nmonth. Nobody minded, except for Lighris and Pavan, the former because he\ndidn't like the idea of delaying opening up his shop, and Pavan because he\ndidn't feel like sitting around in the police precinct, or like the idea of\nheading up to the territories. But they complied with the summons, and arrived\npromptly to the meeting. Gregory had granted all of them authorized access to\nthe restricted area where the meeting room was.\nFor\nthis meeting, Vinge had put on a shirt; normally preferring to leave his torso\nbare, he decided it would seem more professional if he at least came fully\ndressed to this meeting. Prior to coming though, Vinge had given Yurui a lift\nback to Rikyuu's house, flying her home before making his way to the precinct\nhimself where he met the others.\nEveryone\nseated themselves around the table, except for Obsidian, who stood at Gregory's\nside at the head of the table, along with a rather portly officer sporting a\ndetective's badge on his shirt. He tipped his hat before turning to Gregory and\nwhispering to him. \"I don't mind tellin' ya chief, I don't like the idea of\nsendin' outside help up north.\"\n\"Whatever\nis happening up there, Harvey, it's beyond us and it's beyond the Ranger's\ncapability to handle,\" stated Gregory. \"These guys are free to go where they\nplease, we're not, and they need help up there even if it's not official.\"\n\"Still\ndon't like it. Word of this gets to the press, our ass is grass,\" stated the\ndetective.\n\"I\ntrust them to find out what's happening,\" Obsidian chimed in.\n\"Yeah,\nwell, you're naive, sergeant,\" the man stated.\n\"Save\nit,\" Gregory said, sharply, ending the argument there. \"We didn't come here to\nargue.\" He cleared his throat and addressed the Os-Nàdarra gathered before him.\n\"Now, thank you all for coming on such short notice. I apologize for being\nvague about the nature of this meeting before, but you understand that what I'm\nasking of you is more of a personal favor than anything official. \n\"There's\nbeen some trouble up north, an old friend of mine who works as a Ranger in the\nYukon Territories called me the other day about numerous disappearances in the\nterritories. Search teams were dispatched to try and find the people who\nvanished, but now the team have gone missing as well.\"\n\"No\noffense, chief, but how's that our problem?\" Lighris inquired, gruffly.\n\"In\ntruth, it isn't. But I have a suspicion that whatever is going on up there is\nnot the work of simple kidnappers,\" replied Gregory. \"If I'm right about that\n-and lately, I've been right too many times about things like this- then it's\nnot something that the Rangers are equipped to handle. To make matters worse\nthose disappearances seem to be actually moving, and they're getting\nuncomfortably close to the capital city of the Yukon Territory, Whitehorse.\nThat city may be out of my jurisdiction, but if there is even the possibility\nthat it's in any danger, then we have to be proactive, and try and get ahead of\nit.\"\n\"Why\nnot contact the police in Whitehorse?\" Tsume inquired.\n\"I\ndid, and they claim they're looking into the matter, but I'm just not convinced\nthey're ready for what might be coming,\" Gregory replied.\n\"And\nwhat do you think is coming?\" Vinge asked, matter of factly.\nGregory\npaused at that question, tapping his fingers on the desk as he considered how\nbest to answer it. \"When Ranger Michaels told me about what was going on, he\nmentioned hearing something terrifying the night he guided the search teams out\ninto the wilderness.\"\n\"What\ndid he hear?\" Tsume asked.\n\"Howling,\"\nreplied Gregory. \"Howling like that of wolves, but different; it was louder\nthan any feral wolf he'd ever heard before, and deeper in pitch sounding almost\nlike a halfway point between a wolf cry and a growl or a roar. He has never\nheard anything like it before in his life, and he knows the sounds of every\nnative species up there in the wilderness. He thinks this may have been\nsomething else entirely.\"\n\"So\nwe're supposed to travel hundreds of kilometers to the freezing north, on a\nhunch?\" Lighris asked. \"And who's paying for that?\"\nVinge\ncast Lighris his trademark sharp look, eyeing the lightning hawk intensely and\nimmediately silencing him with that bone-chilling stare of his, holding that\nlook until he relaxed and looked back at Gregory. \"As much as I disagree with\nLighris' concern about money, he has a point; that is a long distance to go on\nmere speculation. Furthermore, as you said, you can't officially sanction\nasking us to do this, therefore there is no compensation. Not saying I expect\nanything out of doing the right thing, mind you.\"\nGregory\nlooked saddened by Vinge's words, feeling he'd made up his mind.\n\"But,\"\nthe Ice Phoenix said suddenly. \"If you are right, and your reasons seem sound\nenough that you just might be, then we'd be putting a whole city at risk with\nour negligence.\" He stood up from the table. \"And that is why we're going up to\ninvestigate. But not all of us are going.\" \n\"You\nhave to be kidding me,\" Lighris complained.\nVinge\nignored him. \"Anyone willing to go can come with me but I'm heading up there,\"\nhe stated.\"\n\"I'll\ngo,\" offered Tsume.\n\"Me\ntoo! I'm not doing anything anywho,\" agreed Pavan.\n\"I'll\ncome too,\" Brent agreed.\nLighris\ngrunted, but hesitantly nodded. \"Fine, I'll come to. You guys need a driver who\nknows the roads anyway, and I know how to get to the Yukon.\"\nVinge\nlooked at Rikyuu and Ayane. \"Before you two say anything, it think it best that\nthe two of you remain here,\" he said. \"Calhoun's still out there, and may come\nfor Volcan, so someone needs to be here to watch out for him and the city.\"\nRikyuu\nnodded. \"He's safe with me.\"\n\"I'll\nkeep focusing on getting the new headquarters up too,\" Ayane offered. \n\"Sorry,\"\nGregory intervened. \"But you mentioned someone called 'Calhoun'; who is that?\"\n\"We\ndon't know for sure,\" Vinge replied. \"We only know he's after Volcan, and just\na few weeks ago, Tsume and I fought an assassin he sent after him.\"\n\"Why\ndidn't you report it to the police?\" Gregory asked, glaring at Vinge.\n\"Because\nthe assassin was a kitsune,\" Vinge replied plainly. \"Any cops that tried to\nstop him would have been doomed; he was a supernatural being. Isn't that\nexactly why you're sending us up to the Yukon?\"\nGregory\nhesitated to answer that question, left dumbfounded by Vinge's words.\n\"Don't\nyou hate it when he makes sense?\" Obsidian asked in jest.\nGregory\ncast a dirty look in her direction before turning back to face Vinge. \"I'm\ntrusting you with this information I've given you, Mr. Glaseros; anyone else\nwould say I am being foolish leaving this in the hands of civilians, but we're\nliving in a time where conventional policing just isn't always enough. However,\nI still expect you to report to us if something like an attempted assassination\ntakes place; you may have stopped the I.T.O.U.E but you are not above the law.\"\n\"With\nall due respect, Gregory,\" Vinge returned. \"We did nothing that was against the\nlaw, either with the I.T.O.U.E or this assassin; we acted in the defense of one\nor multiple people.\" He put up his hand before Gregory responded. \"But you're\nright. We should have notified you, especially if Calhoun himself shows up. I\npromise to give you a full report, either word of mouth or in writing, after\nthis meeting is over. If we're going to trust each other, then we need to be\nwilling to communicate; I will not forget that again.\"\nGregory\nscowled a little, but he said nothing more, answering the ice phoenix with only\na nod. He glanced at each of the Os-Nadarra individually before lifting his\nhands from the table. \"Alright; that's all I have for you all. I thank you for\nundertaking this task for me; I'm probably going to be hearing about it from\nthe mayor if word gets out, but if it saves lives, it's worth the risk.\"\n\"Agreed,\"\nsaid Vinge.\n\"That\nsaid,\" the veteran policeman went on. \"Don't put yourselves in life-threatening\nsituations just because you agreed to help me. If things are getting out of\nhand up there, do not hesitate to save your own lives; I ask only you do what\nyou can to help Whitehorse, and find out what the causes of these\ndisappearances are, but make sure to keep yourselves safe as well. You're doing\nthis out of the goodness of your hearts; I am thankful for that, but don't get\nyourselves killed for it. The police and the military are around to do that.\"\nVinge\nnodded. \"Thank you, Chief.\"\n\"Alright;\nthe meeting's done now. Thank you all for coming,\" the hawk said, dismissing\nthem, and the group stood up and began to clear out.\nAs\nagreed, Vinge spent some extra time at the precinct writing a detailed report\nof Kumori's attack, recording on the report everything that had transpired that\nnight. He also made a list of what he knew about the being known as Calhoun,\nbut neglected to mention about what the ice phoenix suspected he really was -an\nevil entity that had been born out of Volcan's body, feeling that was not his\nsecret to tell. He still gave a description of Calhoun, so that the police at\nleast had some idea of what to look for. He just hoped that he could come up\nwith some kind of explanation if, by some unfortunate turn of events, Calhoun\nwere to emerge before they came back from the north.\nThe\nothers had left ahead of him, in order to begin preparing for their trip to the\nYukon. It would take them a long while to get there; easily a day and a half of\ndriving. Gregory said that his Ranger friend would be waiting for them when\nthey reached Whitehorse; they were to look him up at a motel there, where there\nwould also be rooms for them to take a rest when they arrived.\nVinge\ncompleted the report of Kumori's attack, and, after setting aside the pen he'd\nbeen lent, he set the paper down on Gregory's desk next to the keyboard of his\nwork computer. With that, Vinge stood up from his chair and left the office,\nproceeding through the halls of the precinct until he reached the front door,\nbidding good day to the receptionist at the front desk before he proceeded\noutside.\nThe\nfirst thing he encountered when he exited the precinct was a snowflake falling\nonto the tip of his beak, and looked up to see that it had begun snowing again.\n\"For a city so far south in Alberta, it snows here more often than in\nEdmonton,\" he muttered to himself before tucking his hands into his pockets and\nwalked up the street, taking his time venturing through town so that he could\nbe along with his thoughts, feeling the light layer of snow under his feet with\neach step.\nThe\nsnowflakes landing on his feathers seemed to disappear into the whiteness of\nthem, as if absorbed by his body. He felt no cold, even though a few people he\npassed were shivering and complaining about the weather. Amongst so many tall\nbuildings, he could not feel any wind accompanying the snow, but a glance at\nthe sky showed some snowflakes being tossed about at random, meaning there was\nsome wind blowing between the skyscrapers; it just couldn't find its way to the\nstreet.\nAs\nhe walked, Vinge pondered the happenings up north, and wondered just what the\ngroup was going to encounter in the tundra of the territories. He knew stories\nof beasts that dwelled in Canada's wilderness; as the country with quite\npossibly the largest expanse of wilderness in the entire world, Canada was a\nplace where creatures of legend could easily hide. Still, it baffled him how\nsuch creatures could cover such a large area; disappearances in the Yukon,\nNorthwest and Nunavut? \nThat\nwas territory far too fast to match anything he'd ever heard of; even the\nlegendary Wendigo didn't dwell in such expanse, and just one or a small pack\ncouldn't cover such distance. But that thought worried him even more; if the\ndisappearances were all connected to the same cause then that cause was likely\na very large group of... something. \nThe\npondering continued even as Vinge decided it was time to fly back home;\nspreading his wings and taking to the air, he flew up above the buildings, and\nit was then he felt the cold, biting wind of winter buffet him from the left,\ncausing him to tilt in midair slightly. But of course, he didn't shiver; to\nhim, the cold wind felt invigorating...\n\"It\nmay not really be 'official' to the public,\" Vinge muttered. \"But this will be\nour first actual mission as a team... and I'm the one to lead it.\"\n~~~~~\n-Evening of January 22nd, 2011, Whitehorse-\n            Brent's large Silverado truck, housing a massive object\ncovered by a tarp in the box of the vehicle, followed shortly after by Lighris'\nbackup mode of transportation; a four-seater Ford Taurus, which he, Pavan,\nTsume and Vinge all rode in as they pulled into the parking lot of the motel\ncalled the Polar Rest, finding spaces to park their vehicles outside of the\nmotel. It had been a long drive for the group, having spent more than thirty\nsix hours on the road. They got out of the vehicles eagerly to stretch their\nmuscles, with Pavan expressing his displeasure rather vocally. \"Hallelujah! We\nfinally made it; I feel like I was stuck in that metal box for a year! Why the\nhell didn't I just fly here, seriously?\"\n            \"It was only a day, skinny,\" Lighris remarked, stretching\nhis arms high and his wings wide. \"Besides, you didn't know the way here; you'd\nhave got lost.\"\n            \"I would not! I've got a good sense of direction,\"\nretorted Pavan.\n            \"Like a tornado when it throws debris,\" Brent chimed in\nas he hopped out of his truck.\n            \"'Ey!\"\n            \"Save it, all of you,\" Vinge interjected before the\nargument could escalate. \"We didn't come all this way to fight each other;\nwe're here to investigate.\"\n            Tsume shivered and rubbed her arms through her jacket.\n\"Brother, it's cold around here,\" she\nmuttered, \"Can't believe I ever complained about Unity Falls being chilly.\"\n            Vinge began to take in the surroundings, surveying the\narea around the motel carefully. The motel was not technically in Whitehorse itself, but a half a\nkilometer outside of the city along an easterly road. Close enough to the city\nfor convenience, but far enough away that anyone preferring a solitary area -or\nin this case, anonymity, would find what they needed. He nodded in approval to\nRanger Micheal's choice of location; they'd be able to operate without drawing\ntoo much attention to themselves.\n            \"So, uh,\" Pavan began, lifting his arms and resting his\nhands behind his head. \"Where is this Ranger-guy anyway?\"\n            \"I would imagine,\" Lighris answered glibly, jerking his\nthumb towards the motel, \"waiting for us in there, out of this frigid weather.\"\n            \"...Right.\"\n            Vinge rolled his eyes before he started making his way\nover to the motel, heading for the main office. The others were quick to follow\n-except for Brent, who stayed with his tarp-covered armour, not willing to\nleave it unattended despite there being nobody around; it wasn't exactly the\nvacation season for this region, and the motel was relatively empty, but as he\nput it, he didn't wish to take chances.\n            The four avians entered the motel main office, where they\nsaw a bored-looking young wolfess seated at the front desk with a comic book in\nher hand, humming to herself. She didn't even look up as the group approached.\nPavan was the first to the counter, leaning on it with one arm and addressing\nthe lady. \"Good evening, miss; we're here looking for a Mr. uh...\" He paused\nand looked back at Vinge.\n            \"Michaels,\" the ice phoenix replied.\n            \"Mr. Michaels; he told us to meet him here at this motel.\nCan you direct us to his...\" He paused and noticed the lady still hadn't looked\nat him even as he spoke. \"Uh, hello?\" He asked, before turning back to Vinge\nonce more. \"I don't think she hears me.\"\n            \"Look at her ears, Pavan,\" Vinge stated, raising one hand\nto point at the wolfess.\n            \"Eh? What about her ear...\" He paused mid-sentence as he\npeeked back over at the wolfess, and looked closely at the sockets of her ears.\n            Two earbuds were placed deeply in the ears, dulling out\nany other sound as unknown music played, with the wolfess humming in sync.\n            \"Seriously?\" Pavan asked, his expression blank. \"And you\nguys say I don't pay attention to my\njob?\"\n            Tsume reached past him and struck the service bell, hard\nenough to let out a sharp 'brang!' as\nit emitted its resounding ring. Both Pavan and the wolfess jumped at the noise,\nwith the latter glancing over and plucking the earbuds from her ears. \"Sorry\nabout that,\" she said. \"Didn't hear you sneaking up on me; can't stand just\nsitting here listening to crickets.\"\n            \"It's winter; there are no crickets,\" Vinge remarked.\n            \"It's a metaphor,\" Lighris informed him.\n            \"Oh...\"\n            \"We're looking for a man named Duke Michaels,\" Tsume\nstated, informing her of their business. \"He told us to meet him here; do you\nknow him?\"\n            \"I do; he's my uncle, and the actual owner of this place,\"\nthe wolfess replied, setting aside her comic book and MP3 player. \"I'm Nora\nMichaels; I just run the place while he's working.\"\n            \"Fancy that,\" remarked Pavan, rubbing his head.\n            \"Is he here?\" Vinge asked.\n            \"He just went into town for a bit; said he needed to pick\nup some things,\" replied the wolfess. \"But he told me to be on the lookout for\nsome people coming in; I'm guessing you're them?\"\n            \"I suppose so, yes,\" replied Vinge.\n            \"Alright,\" replied Nora, turning her chair about and\nstanding up, adjusting her pants before she approached the key rack. \"Vinge,\nTsume, Brent, Pavan, Ligris?\"\n            \"It's pronounced 'Lie-ris',\" Lighris corrected. \"The 'G'\nis silent, like in 'Light'.\"\n            \"Sorry.\"\n            \"No worries; half the people I meet get it wrong,\"\nassured the lightning hawk.\n            \"Alright... there's only four of you there; where's your\nfifth?\" Nora asked.\n            \"He's outside,\" replied Tsume.\n            \"Okay; he asked me to keep these rooms for you,\" Nora\nstated as she picked the keys off of the hooks one at a time, and then turned\nto face them again. \"Please follow me; I'll show you where you'll be staying.\"\n            The group complied, following Nora out of the office and\nonto the boardwalk, which she followed towards the row of guest rooms lining\nthe length of the building. Along the way, Pavan slipped up to her side and\noffered a hand. \"I'm Pavan, by the way,\" he remarked.\n            \"Nice to meet you,\" she returned, shaking his hand\nbriefly before stepping back to the lead of the group. Pavan tilted his head a little,\nstaring at her abdomen and grinning as he checked her out.\n            Lighris smacked him across the back of the head. \"Ow!\" He\nyelped.\n            One at a time, Nora let the group into their respective\nrooms; Brent came over to join the five of them as they were shown to where\nthey were staying. Vinge was the last to be shown into his room, stepping\nthrough the door held open by Nora. He nodded in thanks to her, and let her get\nback to work as he examined his accommodations, surveying the room. It was of a\nmodest size -had only one double-bed, a small kitchenette in one corner and the\nbathroom access door in the other.\n            He sat down on the bed, and then turned about to drop\nonto his side, letting out a small sigh. He hadn't slept since the group had\ngot on the road, taking only a nap in the car. They had gone almost non-stop,\nminus the few they made for gasoline and food, with the drivers switching\nbetween Tsume and Lighris; when one needed sleep the other took over, and even\nhad to swap with Brent a couple of times. \nPavan\nand Vinge did not possess drivers licenses; not even Learner's Permits, leaving\nthem unable to take the wheel at all; Vinge had never had any reason to own a\ncar, since the long winter months didn't bother him and in the summer he\nwouldn't be able to drive at all; stepping into a hot vehicle would send him\nswooning. Meanwhile Pavan was able to fly faster than any vehicle on the road;\nunlike Volcan, Lighris and Tsume, vehicles simply served them no purpose.\nNow\nwasn't the time for sleep, though; they still needed to meet with Ranger\nMichaels and get some answers. Forcing himself to get back up, he\ndouble-checked his pockets to make sure he had his keys before leaving the\nmotel room, shutting the door behind him after locking it. With that, he tucked\nhis hands into his pockets and proceeded down the boardwalk towards the office,\nstepping slowly and thoughtfully; until he had more intelligence on the\nsituation, not even he could come up with a plan for the group. He only hoped\nthat Mr. Michaels was back by now, so that he could question him.\nShortly,\nhe reached the office, and opened the door. Of course, Nora was there, at the\ndesk as before, but this time someone else was there too, standing at the back\ngetting a drink of water from the cooler; an older male wolf, middle-aged,\ngarbed in a suede jacket and leather chaps over a pair of blue jeans, and wore\nthe signature wide-brimmed hat of a Park Ranger -although with his choice of\nlower garments he could easily be mistaken for a cowboy as well. His fur was a\nsimilar shade to that of Nora, but he had gold-coloured eyes; a rare colour, to\nbe sure, but not too uncommon for a wolf.\n\"Ranger\nMichaels?\" Vinge asked, and the older wolf responded to the sound of the name,\nlowering his drink to look at Vinge. \"I'm Vinge Glaseros; I believe you've been\nexpecting me?\"\nThe\nranger set down his glass of water, walking around the desk and approaching\nVinge, offering him a paw so the two could exchange a handshake. \"I'm glad you\nmade it, Mr. Glaseros,\" he said. \"My old friend Gregory has told me a lot about\nyou and your group. I only hope you're ready for whatever it is that's out\nthere.\"\n\"On\nthat subject,\" began Vinge. \"Maybe you'd like to fill me in on the details?\"\nThe\nranger nodded, before he gestured to the door at the back. \"Step into my\noffice; I'll tell you everything I can.\"\nVinge\nnodded, accepting his offer and crossing the room to the office door, opening\nthe door and holding it for Mr. Michaels as he entered, and then shut it after\nthe ranger seated himself at the desk inside. With that, Vinge found himself a\nseat, and made himself comfortable, expecting a long explanation. He watched as\nMichaels mentally prepared himself for explanation; Vinge saw the look on his\nface, seeing confusion and disbelief alike on the wolf's features. He'd seen\nthat look on others before; the difficulty to accept for himself what he was\nabout to explain. The same kind of expression Degra MacAingeal had, when she\nhad told Vinge and the other about the existence of the entity that had once possessed\nVolcan.\nVinge\nfelt a little overwhelmed himself... for the last month it seemed like so much\nwas going on all at once, and now here he was, in the freezing north, about to\nlook for something else that probably\ndefied all logic...\n\"Where\nto begin...\" Michaels muttered, before turning his attention to Vinge fully.\n\"The disappearances, I suppose; I first learned of them happening in the east a\nfew months ago. Like the rest, I passed them off as simply people lost in the\nwilderness, but then they started increasing, not just in number, but how\nquickly they happened. Soon, entire remote villages were reported missing, and\nthat's when the investigation started. The most recent team stayed here at my\nmotel, before they met me and asked me to escort them out to the wilderness to\nbegin investigating the disappearances.\"\n\"And\nthen they vanished too,\" stated Vinge.\n\"Yes,\"\nconfirmed Michaels. \"The same night they went out, the wind was blowing down\nfrom the north, and carried with it a howl, much like wolves like myself can\ndo... but.. much more terrifying than anything I could do.\"\n\"Renegades,\nmaybe?\" Vinge suggested.\n\"I\ndoubt it,\" replied Michaels. \"I went out there to try and track that team, but\nall I found were wolf pawprints, three times as big as mine.\"\nVinge's\neyes narrowed. \"This bears further investigation,\" he stated. \"You'll have to\nlead us out to where you found those tracks; from there, we may be able to find\nout where they lead, and find the team and the people who disappeared.\"\n\"You\nthink so?\" Michaels asked.\n\"I\nbrought an Earth Phoenix with me; she's a pretty good tracker -can pinpoint\nanything making vibrations through the ground,\" replied Vinge. \"If something is\nrunning around out here, then she'll be the one to find it. When we know what\n'it' is, then we can make our plan from there.\"\nMichael's\nbeamed at the suggestion, a grin stretching across his face. \"My boy, Gregory\nis a genius for sending you to me,\" he said. \"But will it be enough?\"\n\"We\ncan't make a move until we know what it is we're dealing with,\" replied Vinge.\n\"Once we establish that, we can determine if the problem can be handled by us,\nor not.\"\n\"I\nsee,\" returned Michaels. \"Alright then; first thing tomorrow, I'll lead you and\nyour team out to where I found those tracks.\"\nVinge\nnodded to the ranger. \"Agreed; I'll notify my team, and tell them we leave at\nfirst light.\"\n\"I'll\nsee you then,\" said the ranger, once more shaking hands with Vinge, before\ndismissing him. \nThe\nice phoenix left the office, stepping outside to find the sun had already begun\nto set, turning the snow around the motel orange as it reflected the light of\nthe sky, giving the land and ominous feeling. He hadn't realized just how late\nit was getting, but knew he had to talk to the others before he could turn in\nfor the night, and so headed up the boardwalk to their rooms, wondering what\nthey would find on the morrow.\n~~~~~\n-23 February, 2011, somewhere north-east of\nWhitehorse-\nSnow\ncrunched under the tires of Ranger Michael's jeep and Brent's Silverado as they\ndrove down a side-road, far from the county limits of Whitehorse and deep into\nthe ever mysterious wilderness of the Canadian Territories. They had set out at\nsun-up, picking up breakfast to go from a diner in the city to eat on the way;\nVinge wanted to get out and find some clues in a hurry, as the weather report\ncalled for heavy snowfall later that day, and he didn't want any leads that\ncould help them to be buried in the snow where they would never find them.\nThe\ndrive soon went off-road. Lighris was at the wheel of the Silverado, having\nmore off-roading experience than Brent did, but the whole time, all Brent did\nwas complain about him going too fast, telling him he was going to bend the\ndrive-shaft or cause his armour to fall over. Eventually, the lightning hawk\nhad enough of it and gave Brent a look that made the hyena shut his mouth\nimmediately.\n\"Back-seat\ndriver,\" growled Lighris.\n\"But\nI'm in the passenger...\"\n\"Shut.\nUp.\"\nBrent\nshrank back into his seat, ears flattening as he covered his head with his\narms.\n\"Temper,\ntemper, Lighris,\" Pavan said from the back.\n\"Never. Tell me. How to drive, got\nit?\" Lighris stated firmly.\n\"Says\nthe guy with six speeding tickets?\" Pavan asked. Words which earned him an\nelbow in the beak. \"Ow! Seriously, man; why do you keep hitting me?\"\n\"Because\nyou're being an idiot,\" Lighris replied, plainly. His expression softened as he\nlooked ahead, seeing Michaels' jeep slowing down and parking near a copse of\ntrees. \"Better get your snowshoes boys; we're walking from here,\" he stated,\npulling up behind the truck and parking, engaging the break and cutting the\nengines. \"Let's try to do this quick; in this cold, these trucks engines will\ncool pretty fast and then they might not start.\"\n\"Aye\naye, captain,\" returned Pavan in jest as he took off his seatbelt and started\nto put on a talon-boot; a piece of footwear designed specifically for avians in\nthe wintertime, giving them insulation from the cold and warmth, as well as\nmaking it easy to use snow-shoes, which after putting on the boots, he added as\nwell. \nHowever,\nVinge required no such devices. After getting out of Michaels' Jeep and putting\nhis seat forward to let Tsume out of the back, he set his foot down in the\nsnow, barely sinking more than an inch, and did not feel the biting cold\ndespite being garbed only in black pants and an open black jacket. In fact, to\nhim... the weather felt empowering; he could feel strength surging through his\nmuscles and filling him with life as he basked in the icy winds, feeling right\nat home here in the Yukon. \nHe\nspread his wings wide and stretched his arms, catching as much of the wind as\nhe could, letting the cold fill him with its power. This land was perfect for\nhis species; a place inhospitable to warm-blooded beings was a paradise to an\nIce Elemental like him. The jacket he wore was thin, and not meant to keep him\nwarm, but to protect his sword from frosting over with the cold wind; steel was\nprone to doing that sometimes, and if it frosted over, it would be difficult to\ndraw.\nTsume\nclimbed out of the jeep, touching down in the snow; even being lighter than\nVinge, she would have sank in the soft snow if not for the snowshoes she wore,\ndistributing her mass over the snow. She was clearly not used to wearing them\nthough, as she had trouble balancing herself on them. \"Man, how does anyone\n-whoa- use these things?\" She asked, nearly losing her footing if not for\nMichaels coming around and helping her.\n\"It\ntakes a little practice; you'll get the hang of it,\" he assured her.\nTsume\ntook a moment to balance herself, bouncing on her legs to get more of a feel\nfor the snowshoes. In the meantime, the group proceeded to examine their\nequipment and everything they had brought with them, including the ranger\nhimself, carrying a scoped bolt-action rifle and a revolver, both of which he\ntook a moment to check, ensuring they were loaded and were at no risk of\nblockages. As he did, though, he cast a glance over at Vinge, seeing the hilt\nof his sword sticking out from his waist and giving an incredulous look to the\nice phoenix.\n\"You\nknow, if you guys needed some weapons, you could've asked,\" he stated. \"If we\nrun into any wild ferals out here, that little toad sticker isn't going to help\nyou much.\"\nVinge\nsmiled at the ranger. \"This little 'toad sticker' as you call it, is more\neffective than you think,\" he said. \"Besides, firearms are of little use to an\nelemental; I have my ice powers for distance fighting, but if an enemy is in\nclose and not giving me time to focus my powers, then having something for\nmelee combat is essential, and in my hands this sword is as fast as any knife.\"\n\"I\nsuppose being an elemental is also why you're not shivering right out of your\nfeathers?\" Michaels asked.\n\"I'm\nan Ice Phoenix; I do not feel the cold. I am one with it.\"\nMichaels\nshrugged, not pursuing the subject any further. They still had a job to do.\n\"I\nshould get into my armour,\" Brent whispered to Lighris.\nBut\nthe lightning hawk shook his head. \"You wouldn't be able to maneuver it in\nthose trees or in all of this snow,\" he pointed out. \"Way too narrow and\nslippery.\"\n\"Then\nhow am I supposed to fight? I can't even wield a knife.\"\n\"Just\nstay close and don't wander off,\" Lighris stated. \"Either that, or stay with\nthe trucks and just duck down in the back of your Chevy; don't come out for\nanything until we get back. If we need help, we'll call you.\" He plucked his\ncellphone out of his pocket. \"I put you on speed dial for just such an\nemergency.\"\nBrent\nstill looked uncertain, but he nodded in agreement. \"I guess I'll stay with the\ntrucks, then; cover myself with a blanket in the back and keep an eye on them.\"\nLighris\nnodded. \"Remember, we won't be far away,\" he reminded, before heading over to\njoin the others as they formed up, and began to head for the trees, leaving\nBrent to duck back into the Silverado and hunker down until they came back.\nMoving\nin a single-file, they made their way over to the trees, with Michaels in the\nlead, keeping his rifle hoisted and ready at a moment's notice as the five of\nthem trekked through the snow. They reached the copse in a short trek, and\npassed between them carefully until coming to a clearing in the middle of them;\nnot a big one, but wide-open, with a clear line of sight all the way to the\nother end of the clearing.\nAnd\nthat's when they saw it. Signs of activity in the clearing; footprints, drag\nimpressions, scattered bark from trees that had been clawed by something large...\nand blood-stained snow. The stains were not just confined to one area, either\n-they were everywhere. It became clear to the party that they had not just\nwandered into any old forest clearing; quite recently, this had been a\nbattlefield of many large creatures. They surveyed the clearing in wonder; even\nMichaels himself looked puzzled, staring at the reddened, powdery snow and at\nthe clawed trees all around them.\n\"What\nthe blazes happened here?\" He demanded. \"None of this was here when I tracked\nthat survey team the other day.\"\n\"It\nmust've happened last night, then,\" said Vinge, crouching down and dragging his\ntalon through the bloodied snow, confirming that the blood was already frozen.\n\"Guys?\"\nTsume asked, pointing ahead. \"Something's over there by the trees.\"\n(Play 'Night of the Werewolf' on Youtube, by Brandon\nFiechter. Link in description)\nThey\nfollowed her finger, and sure enough, something was lying on the ground directly ahead; a mound of black,\nhalf-buried in the snow. They could not see much of it from this distance, but\nas they moved closer, the strange thing became more and more clear; they found\nthemselves looking at a furred creature, double the size of any one of them\nwith a powerful, muscular body, arms disproportionately long even for its\nheight, ending in large fingers with thick, jagged claws.\nIt\nwas Lighris who dared step close enough to the head to kick away some of the\nsnow to uncover it, revealing a feral canine face, with a muzzle full of fangs\nprotruding from its frozen lips, mouth open wide in a silent cry, and eyes\nhalf-lidded; the sclera and iris' had already darkened to a gray colour,\nconfirming the creature was no longer alive, but there was no mistaking the\nidentity of what the Lightning Hawk was looking at...\n\"Guys...\nthis is a werewolf,\" he said, looking at them.\n\"I\nthink I see another one over there,\" Pavan added, pointing back into the trees\noff to the right, where a second corpse lay.\n\"Werewolves,\"\nVinge whispered. \"Well... I think now we know what happened to the search\nteams.\"\nMichaels\nfrowned. \"If they were jumped by these beasties, there's no way they survived,\"\nhe said, solemnly.\n\"But\nwhat killed them?\" Tsume asked, not noticing Vinge stepping over to the\nwerewolf as she glanced around the clearing. \"I don't see any other bodies here\nbut there's no way this was just from two werewolves.\"\n\"We\nmay be looking at a pack war, then,\" Pavan suggested, dashing over to Vinge's\nside to look at the werewolf corpse closely, intrigued by the massive creature.\n\"A clash between werewolf packs fighting for territory.\"\n\"How\nmany werewolves are usually in one pack?\" Michaels asked.\n\"Depends\non how many they infect while they migrate,\" replied Vinge. \"Like any wolf\npack, it can grow exponentially; it all depends on the strength of the leader\nand how many they add to the ranks.\" Suddenly, he spotted something on the\nfront of the werewolf that was most likely the cause of death; claw marks,\nclean and straight across its chest and neck. A severed artery that had not\nhealed fast enough had claimed the life of this lycanthrope.\nBut\nthe cuts...\nHis\ngaze shifted to the arm of the werewolf, and he began to follow the length of\nthe arm to its paw, studying the claws on its hand. Reaching over somewhat\nhesitantly, he grasped the paw and lifted it higher for a better look. The body\nwas in rigour mortis -or possibly just frozen, preventing him from bending the\nwrist or the fingers, so he had to scoot closer to the hand to take a better\nlook, studying the claws at the end of each fingertip.\n\"Dude...\nwhat are you doing?\" Pavan asked.\n\"This\nlycanthrope was not slain by another,\" Vinge replied, plainly.\nThis\nearned Vinge a surprised look from the rest of the group, all of them eyeing\nhim for answers, while Lighris stepped forward to pose the question, \"how can\nyou tell that?\"\n\"Look\nat these claws,\" Vinge said. \"Nearly an inch wide at the base, curved and\njagged, like blunted scythe-blades, each one an inch and a half long,\" he\nexplained carefully, letting them take a closer look. \"These are not tools for\ncutting; these are tools for shredding.\nThey hook into flesh, and rip it asunder with one swipe, causing a rapid\nbleed-out and tremendous blood-spatter.\"\n\"I\nstill don't get what you're saying,\"Pavan stated.\n\"I'm\njust getting started,\" replied Vinge, moving back to the werewolf's body and\nlifting it slightly to reveal the clawmarks on its front. \"Take these marks.\nLong, smooth and narrow, like he was cut by a hand ending in scalpels. Much\nsmoother than anything a werewolf could possibly inflict with the claws they\nhave,\" he lifted it further, grunting with effort  to reveal the blood-pool under the lycan.\n\"And, this werewolf is not surrounded by spatter; his cause of death was\nclearly a slower bleed-out. This pool would be much bigger and have chunks of\nflesh in it if this was the work of another lycan.\"\n\"You're\nsaying it was killed by something else?\" Michaels asked. \"But what the hell has\nclaws that can deliver such a smooth cut?\"\n\"I'm\nnot a hundred percent sure, but I think...\"\nSnap!\nVinge's\nheart skipped a beat, and in a second he jumped away from the werewolf and drew\nhis sword. The group fell into a circle, having all heard the sound as well,\nand watched every corner of the clearing, listening and watching for the cause\nof the sound. The trees and the wooded area around them was absolutely silent;\nno birds, no deer, not even a cricket. Total, eerie, terrifying silence, like\nthe calm before the storm, when all seemed peaceful... but was about to turn to\nhell on earth.\n\"You\nguys heard that, right?\" Pavan asked, already drawing his khanda and uncoiling\nhis whip.\n\"Sure\ndid,\" replied Michaels, aiming down the scope of his rifle. \"Something is out\nthere.\"\n\"Vinge,\"\nTsume said. \"There's too much snow under me; I can't sense anything.\"\nVinge\nlooked at the ground by Tsume's foot, focusing on the snow near her, and with a\nwave of his hand, he mentally commanded it to move; the snow crunched in\nprotest as it was pulled apart, forced side and revealing a spot of land underneath,\nwhich allowed Tsume to kneel down and place her hand in the hole, spreading her\nfingers over the frozen dirt beneath and shutting her eyes. Feeling her senses\njoining with the ground, Tsume listened to the Earth, feeling for vibrations in\nthe icy, cold ground, waiting patiently for something to return to her.\nA\nfootfall coming from near the root of a tree, straight to her right; her gaze\nshifted there, pupils retracting as she fixed on the location with her\ntelescopic vision, her own eye zeroing in on a yellow one staring back at her\nhungrily. \"Lighris, over there!\" She barked, pointing at the target she had\nspotted.\n(Play\n'Awakening the Beast' by Two Steps from Hell)\nWithout\nwaiting, Lighris conjured a lightning bolt and cast it towards the place\ndesignated by Tsume, lightning up the dimly-lit clearing as the bolt arced to\nthe spot in an instant, striking the tree which their stalker was hiding\nbehind. The creature reared up on its hind legs and roared as it banked away,\nthe striking bolt illuminating it fully as it emerged from its hiding place. It\nwas indeed another lycanthrope, this one very much alive, with a body covered\nin matted black fur.\nAs\nsoon as it had revealed itself, Michaels took aim with his rifle and fired; the\nlycan howled in pain as it was struck square in the chest by the bullet,\nrecoiling from the hit, but still on its feet, at least until Pavan stepped in.\nWith a kick at the air, Pavan sent a powerful, condensed blast of wind at the\nwerewolf that, upon making contact, sent it skidding between the trees across\nthe snow, leaving drag marks from its feet as it slid along until it fell onto\nits back twenty feet from where it had been standing before.\n\"Yahtzee!\"\nPavan cheered. \"We got a wild one, boys!\" He looked at Tsume. \"And girl.\"\nLighris\nwas already conjuring another lightning bolt, this one powered through both of\nhis arms, as the werewolf started to get back up. Seconds before Lighris\nattacked, it released a loud howl into the air, which was immediately silenced\nas a pale bolt of deadly electricity lanced into its front, leaving a hunk of\nsmoldering flesh at the point of impact and ending the life of the monstrosity\nimmediately.\n\"That\nwasn't so tough,\" stated Lighris. \"'Only silver or wolfs bane' my ass; nothing\ngetting hit by that much charge is\never standing back up again.\"\n\"Except\nthat you didn't do it fast enough, man,\" Pavan stated. \"Anyone with a brainstem\nknows wolves travel in packs, and that sucker just cried out for help before\nyou zapped him!\"\n\"Back\nto the trucks, now!\" Vinge commanded before Lighris could retort, turning\naround and making a backhand motion with his hand; the snow cleared, forming a\npath through the snow -a more solid path that they could walk on to get back to\nthe vehicles faster. \"Go!\"\n\"Don't\ngotta tell me twice!\" Pavan returned, taking to the air and racing over the\ntrees, followed promptly by Lighris.\nVinge\nremained on the ground, running along with Tsume and Michaels as they raced\nthrough the trees back to the trucks; already they could hear the growls of\nmore werewolves, closing in on their position. How many, he couldn't tell; even\nin the early dawn light, they had concealed themselves well, but what confused\nhim was that the moon was nowhere to be seen; how is it there could be\nwerewolves when the sun was coming up? It didn't make sense.\nThey\nhurried out of the trees, but not ten feet away, the first of the beasts\nemerged, erupting from the trees with a slavering maw as it made a beeline\nstraight for Vinge. The ice phoenix spun around as the lycan raced towards him,\nthrusting his palm towards the beast and casting a stream of ice and snow at\nit, freezing it almost immediately and sending its frozen husk falling to the\nground. The second one leapt over its fallen pack member to pounce Vinge, but\nVinge was expecting it, and froze him as he did the first, but he didn't stop\nwith freezing the wolf; he used both hands, and spread it wide, forming an ice\nwall between him and the other lycans, stretching it as far as he could before\nhe resumed running.\n\"The\nground's too hard for me to move,\" Tsume stated. \"I can't bring up any stone\nand every plant around here is dead!\"\n\"Just\nkeep running!\" Vinge urged. \"Don't slow down!\"\nThe\nroad was in sight; Michaels and Tsume redoubled the efforts of their sprint,\nreaching the jeep. Lighris landed on top of the vehicle, getting a quick view\nof the surrounding area. \"Get in, Ranger; I'll watch your back!\" Lighris said.\n\"I\ncan handle myself, son!\" Michaels returned.\n\"You're\nthe only one here who can be infected by one of those things,\" Tsume called\nover the truck. \"You've got a niece at home so get your tush in there!\"\nRealizing\nthey were correct, Michael hurriedly climbed into the jeep, starting the\nengine. But as he looked up from the steering wheel and out the front window,\nhis eyes widened to the sight of at least a dozen more lycanthropes approaching\nfrom straight ahead, all of them with drooling maws at the smell of prey. He\nhonked his horn to get the attention of the others, alerting them about the\nsecond group.\nLighris\nlooked over, seeing the werewolves, and scowled. \"Shit, more of 'em!\" He said\nbefore he held out his hand towards the lycans, lightning bolts spewing forth\nfrom his fingertips, casting the bolts in a wide dispersion to hit as many at\nonce. Four took direct hits from the bolts, going down, but as he cast again,\nthe lead lycan maneuvered to the side, the others following its example and\nspreading out, this time only one taking the bolt due to lack of reaction time.\n\"Guys,\nthey're-a comin'!\" Pavan called from overhead.\nBrent,\nwho had waited in the Silverado until now, had become aware of the situation\nafter hearing Lighris' lightning strikes. He opened the back window of the\nSilverado, just barely able to squeeze through and into the box where he ducked\nunder the tarp covering his armour, climbing into it and fitting his limbs into\nthat of the armour - \"Holy shit that's freaking cold!\" He yelped from under the\ntarp, but kept going; once the armour was in motion it would warm up on its\nown.\nHe\nhad trouble starting it up though; by the time the systems activated and the\nbattery started powering the armour, the werewolves were dangerously close, but\nhe was tucked safely inside the armour as the canopy shut and he threw off the\ntarp. \"Now for the big guns!\" He\ndeclared, taking aim with the mounted LMG and shooting at the nearest werewolf\nhe saw, peppering it with large caliber ammunition that even their tough hides\ncould not protect them from; the werewolf went down. The bullets in Brent's gun\nmay not have been silver, but their high power was enough to take the lycans to\ntheir breaking point.\nOne\nof the lycans had reached Vinge, taking a swipe at him with its claws; he\nnarrowly evaded it, leaping back out of the way. With that opening gained, he\nthrust his sword forward, aiming for the lycanthrope's neck and successfully\npiercing an artery before pulling back, seeing foul, infected blood spraying\nout from the perforated vein. Unfortunately the damage was minimal; the healing\nfactor of the lycan sealed up the injury too quickly, stopping the bleeding in\nonly ten seconds and saving it.\nThe\nlycan started to attack again, but then Pavan appeared at its side and chopped\nits neck with his khanda, the heavier blade scoring a deeper wound than Vinge's\nropera had, but Vinge added to the injury by stabbing at the same spot he had\nbefore, only his time he pulled his blade to the side, cutting its way out of\nthe werewolves' neck. It gargled on its own blood, and even its empowered\nhealing could not recover faster than it bled out with two neck injuries at the\nsame time.\nWhen\nthe lycan went down, Pavan stood at Vinge's side, uncoiling his whip and\nsnapping it at the next few approaching werewolves; the lashing sound of the\nwhip made the lycans flinch, blinking and folding their ears back at the sound.\nPavan repeated this several times, keeping them at bay, until Vinge delivered\nice spikes to their necks and skulls to eliminate them. Those who did not\nsuffer instantly fatal blows, Pavan blasted back with a gale of wind.\n\"We\ncan't keep this up; they just keep coming!\" Pavan exclaimed.\n\"Need\na hand up here!\" Lighris called, throwing one lightning bolt after another,\nforcing the werewolves to stay back but they were slowly getting closer,\nforcing Lighris to tighten his aim. But he was running out of steam, having\nthrown so many bolts already, and couldn't hold them off alone for much longer.\n\"Pavan,\nyou watch Brent's back; I'll help Lighris!\" Vinge ordered before running up to\nthe front of the jeep, while Pavan raced over to the Silverado, joining Brent\nin the box as a third column of lycans approached from the rear.\n            Once standing in front of the Jeep, Vinge peered ahead to\nstudy the leading lycanthrope -the ones the others seemed to be following. It\nappeared to be just like any other, except that it was... actually smaller than\nthem. Werewolves were known for being more beast than humanoid, despite being\nknown to some as the lost link between an anthro wolf and feral one, but in the\nworld of ferals, especially pack animals, the largest male was usually the most\nfeared and respected, leading the pack. But this one was different; it was only\nthe average height among them, but it was proportionately thinner and didn't\nlook as powerful.\n            On closer inspection, he noticed it had an oddly...\neffeminate shape to it. Not only was it smaller, it was also a female! Somehow,\nthis female had become the leader of the pack; they followed her where she\nwent, and she was moving around unpredictably to keep Lighris from getting a\nclear shot at her or those who followed her. 'She's no ordinary lycanthrope; she's displaying intelligence, and the\nability to outmaneuver her opponents!' He thought in horror; only thing\nworse than a beast with the proportionate power of a wolf was one with the\nintelligence of a humanoid.\n            Shaking his head to clear it, he stepped forward to the\nfront of the jeep to help Lighris, but he didn't make it before one of the\nlycans pounced straight at him; he tried to avoid it, but he was caught by its\npaw, knocking him to the ground and into the snow, losing his sword in the\nprocess. He put up his hands, placing them on the werewolf's collar and trying\nto hold it back as it snapped at him with its deadly jaws, smelling its breath\nand feeling its slobber splattering all over his face.\n            When it seemed like he was going to get bitten, the\npassenger door of the jeep suddenly opened and smacked the werewolf in the\nnose; it whimpered and whined as it reeled back. Ranger Michaels appeared out\nof the door, shooting the werewolf square in the face with his rifle; the\nbullet pierced its eyed, making it roar in agony, and Vinge, conjuring up an\nice spike to do the rest, impaled its neck to finish it off.\n            Michaels helped him to his feet. \"You okay?\"\n            \"I'm fine; thanks for the save,\" returned Vinge.\n            Suddenly, Lighris cried out; one of the lycans had hurled\na hollowed out log at him, knocking him off of the back of the jeep. The\nlightning hawk hit the snow hard, the wind forced out of his lungs by the log. \n            While Vinge's attention was focused on Lighris, the\nlycans closed in. Six of them, still alive, approached slowly, including the\nfemale. She was so near now, Vinge could see the colour of his eyes; red, like\nrubies. A very uncommon eye colour, especially for canines, they stood out\ngreatly against her black fur, fixed on Vinge and snarling hungrily as she\napproached. Vinge and Michaels backed away, the former looking over his\nshoulder for any hope of help; Brent, Pavan and Tsume were cornered in the back\nof the Silverado, another eight werewolves surrounding it; Brent's LMG was\nempty, and Pavan and Tsume stood back to back behind the armoured hyena,\nwatching fearfully as they waited for the inevitable.\n            He turned back to face the female werewolf again, keeping\nhis sword elevated; he was not going to go down without a fight. He glared into\nher eyes, his ice blue gaze meeting her ruby eyes, trying not to show any fear\nas he prepared to face her. She extended her claws, grinding them through the\nmetal door of Michaels' jeep before holding them up threateningly, ready to\nswipe. Michaels had his rifle on her, but he knew that if he fired even once,\nanother lycan would be on him before he could rotate the bolt of his rifle for\nanother shot.\n            They were cornered...\n            They were going to die...\n            There was no way out.\n            \"..pne Valhalls\nporter,\" Vinge shut his eyes and whispered in the native tongue of his\nhomeland of Norway, honoring his ancestry in what he was sure was his final\nmoment as he held up his sword, readying himself. \"For jeg krysser snart regnbubroen, ridende på Sleipner...\"\n            He had muttered a warrior's final prayer. In English, it\nwould be translated to \"Open Valhalla's\ngates. For I will soon cross the rainbow bridge, on the back of Sleipnir...\"\n            Closer... closer...\n            CRRRRACK!\n            The sound brought pause to everyone, even the female\npack leader, whose ears shot upright to the sound, both her and Vinge peering\nside-to-side looking for its source. But it was Vinge who found it first,\nlooking over the female werewolf's head as a tree -not a log, an entire tree, was hurled into view,\ntumbling over the werewolves standing together, oblivious to what was coming\nuntil it rolled over them, breaking and crushing bones, making them howl in\nagony and drew the attention of their leader and the pack members currently\nsurrounding the Silverado.\n            (Play 'Lost' by Avenged Sevenfold)\n            Krrsh, krrsh, krrsh,\nkrrsh...\n            Snow, crunching under tremendous weight...\n            Krrsh, krrsh, krrsh\nkrrsh krrsh krrsh...\n            Picking up speed...\n            Something very big\nwas coming.\n            Suddenly, a huge figure exploded from the trees near the\nSilverado, leaping through the air and landing on the two nearest lycanthropes,\nfeet-first onto their heads and sending them face-planting into the snow. A\nbear -an anthropomorphic bear, the largest one Vinge had ever seen in his\nentire life, arrived on the scene, roaring a challenge at the lycanthropes. He\nstood easily greater than eleven feet in height, with an upper body of solid\nmuscle, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, dark blue pants, and shiny armour all\nalong his arms from the fingertips to the shoulders, and black leather boots\ncrushing the snow beneath his feet with every step.\n            His fur was as dark as night, except for a collar-like\nmarking around his neck which was red, and two vertical streaks running over\nhis eyes with a matching colour to that of the neck. His eyes were amethyst purple,\nwith pupils narrowed to slits as he glared at the werewolves, baring a pair of\nvampiric fangs at them, grinding his bronze-coated claws together to make a few\nsparks as he waited.\n            \"No... way...\" Pavan said, softly.\n            Though some of the lycans shied away, there were two that\naccepted his challenge, roaring as they launched themselves at the bear. With\none wide swipe of his paw he smacked both of them clean out of the air, sending\nthem cartwheeling almost comically more than fifty feet away. Tsume, Pavan and\nBrent watched aghast -or at least Brent was assumed to be watching thusly- as\nthe creatures that had threatened them seconds before had suddenly been tossed\naside like ragdolls. Two more rushed in to attack; the first that leapt at him,\nthe bear impaled on his paw, the sharp bronze claws protruding through their\nback, before he threw the lycan into his oncoming pack brother, sending both of\nthem flying out of sight.\nSeeing\nthe situation was no longer in her favor, the pack leader let out a howl, and\nthe remaining lycans began to retreat, fleeing off in all directions. The bear\nmoved to pursue, but the pack leader charged into his path and lunged for him,\ncatching him off guard as she hurled herself into his legs and tripped him. He\nmanaged to keep his footing, spinning around to face the female, eyes fixed and\nfangs bared at one another; despite being completely dwarfed and doubtlessly\noutmatched in raw power by the massive bear, the female werewolf was not\nbacking down; she stood her ground, keeping low, growling all the while. \nFinally,\nthe lycan made her move, feinting a swipe at the bear; he swept back with his\nown paw; she ducked under his, and then lunged forward, clawing at his unprotected\nback as she sprang past. The bear growled, but as he turned around to face her\nagain, Vinge and the others noticed the gashes left in his shoulder were barely\nbleeding. In fact, they were already starting to close, indicating this\nlarger-than-life anthro possessed a high regenerative factor. This time, he\nattacked, drawing back his arm to swing; she tried to jump, but he caught her\nmid-leap, and sent her spiralling. To her own fortune, she landed in a\nsnowbank, which broke her fall.\nShe\nwas back up in a second, and the bear charged at her again. But this time, she surprised\neveryone; as he made an overhand clawing attack, she dodged left, avoiding his\narm and letting it hit the ground, before actually jumping onto his arm and\nlunging at him, clenching her paw into a fist and delivering a punch right\nbetween his eyes, using all of her might to deliver the attack. With the\nproportionate power of a wolf on her side, she managed to stumble the bear, and\nwhile he recovered, she dropped back to the ground, and this time tackled his\nlegs again, sending him face-planting into the snow.\nShe\nhad her chance to re-engage him, but she glanced at Vinge and the others,\nhaving not forgotten they were there. Rather than continue the fight, she\nturned, dropping to all fours and ran; the rest of her pack had escaped and now\nit was her turn.\nMichaels\nraised his rifle, shooting at her several times as she fled. The first shot\nmissed and hit a tree, sending bark scattering. The second and third shots,\nthere was no sign of whether they hit or missed, and the fourth just struck\nanother tree the werewolf ducked behind. He cursed angrily.\n\"I\ncan go after her!\" Pavan called.\n\"No,\nleave it!\" Vinge stated. \"If you chase her, then you'll have to confront the\nrest of her pack. Let her go for now.\"\n            Pavan scowled, but nodded,\nadhering to Vinge's command.\nBy\nnow, Lighris was sitting back up, rubbing his head and shaking it to clear the\nstars from his eyes, before grabbing at his chest and growling. \"Son of a\nfuckin' bitch,\" he cursed, rubbing. \"That's going to leave a mark.\"\n\"To\nsay the least,\" called Tsume. \"You okay?\"\n\"I'll\nlive,\" replied Lighris, before he noticed Ranger Michaels offering him a hand,\nwhich he accepted, nodding to him in thanks.\nVinge\nturned his attention to the bear, who had already returned to his feet since\nthe werewolf leader had fled, and was currently dusting snow off of the front\nof his shirt. Slowly and cautiously, Vinge approached him; he didn't put away\nhis sword, but he kept it lowered and held backward as a show he was merely\nbeing cautious, but not hostile. The bear's eyes fell upon him when he was\nhalfway, and watched him silently as he approached, until Vinge was standing\njust out of arm's reach of the bear.\n\"Thank\nyou for your help,\" he said. \"We'd be dead now if you had not intervened.\"\n\"That\nwas pretty clear,\" he said, before giving Vinge a polite nod. \"But you're\nwelcome, just the same.\" He then turned his gaze away from Vinge, his attention\non Pavan, Tsume, and Brent who had actually stepped out of his armor and was\napproaching the bear.\nVinge\ndidn't show it, but he was shocked to see his friends, especially the normally\ncowardly Brent out of his armour, approaching such an imposing figure; this\nbear was a stranger who had just demonstrated that even lycanthropes feared his\npower, and they could not be sure of his intentions despite him having just\nrescued them.\nTo\nfurther Vinge's surprise though, the bear actually gave a friendly smile to the\nthree. \"A little far from Southern Alberta, aren't you guys?\"\n\"Look\nwho's talking,\" returned Tsume, putting her hands on her hips. \"What're you\ndoing all the way up here in the wilderness?\"\n\"I\ngo where the wind takes me, Tsume.\"\nThat\ndid it. Vinge stepped in on the conversation, looking at his three comrades\nquestioningly, clearly lost at this moment. \"You... you know him?\" He asked,\ngesturing at the bear with his thumb.\n\"Ah,\nright; I sometimes forget you weren't with us during the gang war,\" admitted\nPavan. \"Yeah; we met him way back then.\" He jumped forward, somersaulting in\nmidair before landing between Vinge and the bear, dramatically posing as if he\nwere a game show host about to present a concealed prize, speaking in his best\nBritish accent. \"Allow me the pleasure, my friend, to introduce you to this\nfine chap,\" he said. \"Meet the one, and only, half-living wandering tank of the\nwilderness... Aisuours Kusai.\"\nAisuours\ngave Pavan a rather annoyed expression. \"'Half-living'; you had to go there?\"\nTo be continued...","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/875108-chapter-3-the-bloodletter.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/922038-chapter-5-the-queen.json"}