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The Obelisks of Geatha Chapter 1: Grappling in Greenland for Studley by Draconicon

"For some reason, I expected to see more unemployed giants up here..."

Studley rolled his eyes at the otter's strange statement; no stranger than anything else he'd said on the way up here, but still completely nonsensical. He glanced over his shoulder, but Idesin was already looking up towards the sky, completely innocent looking.

As if he even knows the meaning of the word anymore, the wolf thought with a chuckle as he continued trudging through the snow.

It was hard going, this far into the island. Every step carried them through snow that was up to their knees at minimum, and it sometimes got a great deal deeper around them. More than once they'd have to stop and pull someone out that had fallen into an unseen drift, or into an ice tunnel that lay beneath the snow.

And it would be so much easier if they could just use their damn magic.

Studley half-reached towards the golden pool of energy inside of him before he stopped himself, forcing his grip back and shaking his head. Despite how much easier it would make their travel, it'd also show them like a beacon to any other Wonder that might be around. Not many of those that were off-island at the moment, but...

The wolf paused, feeling a slight cracking beneath his paws.

"Hold..."

Idesin and their wolf friend paused behind him as he knelt down. Scraping some of the snow away, he found a cluster of ice beneath it. It was already half-cracked by the weight of the snow, and his footstep had nearly finished the job.

"Okay, it looks like we're gonna need to find another way."

"Again? Studley, look, I know that we need to stay quiet, but -"

"We need to keep invisible. Quiet's what we're settling for."

"But we're already so far off course. How do we even know where the hell that pillar is anymore?"

"Obelisk. It's an obelisk, otter, and it's..."

He looked up, and groaned. It was a fair question. Easy enough to point out directions from the sea just as they landed, when the sky was clear and the ground was fair. And when they had a compass, besides. Now, with the sky full of clouds, no sun or stars to be seen, and the land looking the same in all directions...

"Blaze. Do you have any idea?"

"North, of course."

"Yes, but which -"

"That way."

He looked towards the direction she pointed, and groaned under his breath. Of course, it was straight across the ice that they needed to avoid. Any sort of diversion would take them a few hundred yards out of the way, if the ice distribution was anything like what they'd already seen. And that was if they were lucky; if it was any bigger, they might need to go miles in another direction to get around the invisible chasm, checking every few steps to make sure that they were still beside it rather than over it.

The otter was right. They didn't have the time to go on another detour, not if Gleb and Heinrich were searching for this one too.

"Alright...Let's risk something."

"Good. What kind of shift are we going for? Bridge, or are we going for an air balloon?"

"Neither. Blaze, if you'd shift?"

"Oh, fuck...am I going to have to hide behind a snowbank again?"

Studley chuckled at the otter's worry, giving him as toothy a smile as he could summon. Idesin rolled his eyes, and pulled his coat tighter around his body. The otter's feet were covered with snow, and he stomped about in some attempt to warm them up.

As his friend grumped about what was about to happen, Studley turned his attention back to Blaze. The wolf female shook her head as she slowly pushed her own coat off, letting it fall into the snow. He retrieved it as she stripped down to nothing, immediately breaking out in shivers as the wind sliced between her legs.

"F-f-f-fuck...cold..."

"Yes, I know, but better than losing your clothes and then having to spend the whole time naked, huh?"

"If we were down south...that wouldn't be...a bad thing..."

Chuckling, he patted her back gently. He didn't mind seeing her like this - and in the cold, her nipples quickly did get hard enough to see past her fur - but he tried to focus on the situation at hand rather than on the naughtiness that he was getting a free pass for.

"Alright, do you remember how to shift? I told you to keep practicing when you were alone, and -"

"I remember, old wolf. I remember. Felt better the first time..."

"Yes, well, I think you mean the second time."

"...Yeah, that's what I meant. No gaping wounds in me the second time."

"Okay, if you're ready, go on."

Studley stepped back, wanting to make sure that Blaze had plenty of room. Even with practice, the shift from anthro creature to that of a werewolf was...difficult, particularly with the new instincts that came around. He was accustomed to them, himself, but Blaze had only had the ability for about two hundred fifty years. It wasn't so easy to get used to.

And of course, the otter was hiding behind him. Studley rolled his eyes, feeling the otter's new hat - an affectation that he still didn't understand - pressing against his back.

"You know it's not that bad."

"Says you. You're not the one that's gonna get munched on if she goes bananas again."

"What in the world -"

"New phrase. Means go crazy. Which means -"

"I know what that means. I swear, you're coming up with stranger and stranger things all the time. Maybe you should get rid of the hat."

"Maybe you should pay attention. She's starting."

He turned around, and saw that Blaze had definitely begun the change. Her fur was rapidly thickening and darkening as the inner beast came out, rushing over her body. She slumped forward, falling on all fours and arching her back. Her hips thrust upwards and backwards, but it was by no means an enticement to them. Particularly as her spine suddenly pushed backwards, making her body longer, leaner.

Muscles poured on over her hips and her limbs, making them suddenly burst outwards as well, getting bigger, longer, more powerful by the second. Studley shivered as he watched, not entirely repulsed by it; it was one thing to live it, another to watch, and it sent shivers down him to see just how violent the transformation could be.

Blaze, however, seemed to enjoy it. Her grunts and yelps were mixed with moans and growls, and before her fur thickened around her crotch, she seemed to get more than a little wet. Studley blushed, his wolfen sense of smell picking up her need, and he slapped his cheek to keep from getting too affected by it.

The transformation continued at a rapid pace, soon leaving Blaze a shaggy, muscled mess of her former self. She slowly stood up as her feet shifted, becoming much more pointed, as if she was walking entirely on tip-toes, and she hunched forward rather than standing up straight. Not entirely due to the new spinal configuration either, as her chest seemed to explode outwards. Even he would have struggled to carry that much weight along his frame.

She leaned her head back as her muzzle grew longer, teeth sharper, her eyes going a deep gold that was nothing but feral. She leaned her head back -

"Oh, no you don't..."

Studley leaped on her back before she could howl, ramming her jaws shut before the sound could rip out over the wildlands around them. It was an effort, too, particularly as she bucked around, trying to knock him off of her back. He wrapped his arms around her neck to keep a better grip, growling to himself as she threw him and her into the snow on the ground. Her weight was...intense, particularly as she slammed him down with a body slam.

"A little - oof - help would - oof! - be appreciated!"

"I thought you could -"

"Sass later, help - OW! - now!"

She was so close to throwing him into the ice tunnel to the side, and Studley knew that if that happened, there'd be no stopping her. He needed to calm Blaze down again and fast, but he couldn't do it and keep her from howling at the same time.

Suddenly, the wolfess stopped, freezing as she arched her back in preparation to slam him down again. He felt the growls in her chest slowly fade to pleasant, happy murrs, and he relaxed his grip on her muzzle.

She didn't howl, and he slowly slid down her back. Whatever the otter had done, he had made sure that the werewolf was no longer a threat. He leaned around her to thank his friend -

• only to see him buried up to his wrist in werewolf pussy. Studley facepalmed, shaking his head.

"That is your idea of helping?"

"Hey, it worked. She was just horny and needed a little relief."

"Uh huh. And how do you plan to get your hand back now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Three, two, one."

The otter yelped as he was suddenly yanked off of his feet as the werewolfess flopped onto the snow, grabbing onto his arm and pulling it back and forth the way that another woman might have used a sex toy. Studley watched as the otter flailed back and forth as he was used for such a purpose, shaking his head.

"There's a reason I try not to do that first, unless I'm in beast form myself. When she shifts, she really, REALLY needs it. I think we might have been better off with a detour."

"Help - me - get - loose!"

"Uh huh. How about you get her off faster?"

"....Challenge - Accepted!"

Of course it is. Oooooof course it is.

They had a new splatter of ice to get across about ten minutes later, after the otter had gotten Blaze to cum and she'd squirted over the snow. Studley shook his head, staring off into the distance. There was still no sign of the obelisk out there, but he knew that it had to be somewhere on the horizon. All the information he'd found, all the leads he'd followed, they pointed here. Geatha had raised one of them out in the wilderness, where it would never be found.

And he needed it before Gleb found it, and used it for his own ends.

"Is she calmed down?"

"Yeah....yeah...I think so...owwwww, my arm..."

"You were the one that rammed it in. Okay..."

Studley reached up and gently nudged the werewolfess' head down so that she was looking at him. To his vast relief, there was a shimmer of intelligence behind those eyes, and they looked like they were concentrating on him. Definitely a plus.

"Blaze, do you understand me?"

She nodded.

"Good. I want you to throw me and Idesin as far as you can over the ice here."

"Wait what?! I thought you had a plan!"

"I do. Plan C. C for catapult."

"Oh man..."

"Do you think you can do that, Blaze?"

She smiled, which was as good as a yes in his book. Studley smiled back, looking over his shoulder.

"See? No - PROBLEM!"

He went flying faster than he expected, Blaze's hand around his waist for a second before he was flying through the air. Studley bit his lip as he went soaring over the pile of snow, and tried his best to aim his fuzzy body towards one of the bigger drifts in the area. Not so easy when he was already flying towards it at top speed, but -

THUMP.

Slamming into a pile of snow at over fifty miles per hour was not pleasant, but at least he hadn't landed on ice. Kicking his legs as he slowly crawled backwards, he dragged himself out of the snow just in time to see the otter coming along...on the same trajectory.

"Impressive."

Not impressive enough to stay in the same spot, though. He rolled to the side just in time for the otter to go shooting down the hole he'd created with his landing, and go completely out of sight. The wolf watched the other drifts, waiting for his friend to surface.

Eventually, Idesin poked his head out through the snow a few dozen feet away. He swiveled around until they were face to face, and glared.

"If I wanted to go snow swimming, I'd have done that myself."

"Yeah, well, you wanted a shortcut."

"I wanted a magic shortcut, not a wolf catapult-cut."

"Did you have fun?"

"Well, yes, but that's not the point."

"Heh, is now."

He turned around, waving at Blaze from across the chasm. She saw his gesture for her to join, and backed up a few steps. Studley immediately stepped out of the way to clear a landing spot, and so did the otter, shutting up in the process.

The werewolfess landed with a thumb that sent snow flying in all directions. She stood up slowly, shaking out her fur with a smile and a tongue lolling out of her mouth.

"Heh, good girl, Blaze. Good girl."

She barked, and walked over to him. As she laid her head down, he realized she needed a little help shifting back, and nodded. He leaned forward, whispering in her ear. Nothing much, just a few slow words, a few encouraging things to guide her back along the lines towards her normal self. In short order, shaggy fur shed away, and she was once more naked as the day she was born, and showing everything.

She grabbed her coat from him immediately, wrapping it around her shoulders with a shiver and a groan.

"I almost wish I'd stayed in that form...it's freezing."

"Yeah, well, that's Greenland for you."

Studley shook his head as he pulled his own cloak a little bit tighter around his body, trying to keep the worst of the wind off. Despite his thicker fur, he knew how cold it was, and he knew that it would freeze his tail off - literally - if he wasn't careful.

Damn it, Gleb...couldn't you have been the regular kind of insane person, the kind that just goes around and kills people instead of trying to become a god?

"Come on. Blaze says it's this way, then it's this way."

He started walking, and heard them follow a second later. He hoped that they found the obelisk soon, and not just because of the world being safer if they did. He was getting the feeling that Idesin and Blaze were both ready to make him pay for all this wandering around, and the less time they had to think on that, the better.

Six hours later...

"I thought it was just a story for your spit to turn into icicles..."

"Idesin, I swear, I'll turn you into a walrus if you make that comparison again."

"But it's actually -"

"Just..."

Studley couldn't even finish, panting as he crested another bit of snow and ice to look out at the wasteland ahead of them. The obelisk had to be here; it was his own consolation, now that they were so far from the settlement to the south, now that they were deep into the wilds of this huge island.

But where was it? It was like he was trying to find a needle in a haystack. A very big, very rocky needle in a very white haystack, admittedly, but it was still a hard -

The wind changed, and in that second, Studley caught sight of something. It was a flash of black amidst the snow, but it was enough. He forced himself to stare at the exact point it had appeared, and pointed at it.

"Blaze, for the love of all that is good, please tell me I am pointing in the exact direction we found when we got off the boat?"

"Well, it's a little harder to tell now, isn't it?"

"I'll let you brag and show off later. Just...please tell me."

"Yes, can't you -"

He didn't bother sticking around. Leaping off of the drift and sliding down the other side, Studley kept his arm pointed forward as firmly and stiffly as he could, not daring to lose the direction. The wind shift had been a complete accident, and he couldn't count on it happening again. If he lost the direction now, there was no way that he'd get it again.

Geatha, you sneaky son of a bitch. The old Wonder had been smarter than he'd thought. The whole area was surrounded by windstorms, swirling ice and snow around in a constant blizzard. The differing directions of the storm only made it harder to sense or find anything in the gales, and with the snow whipping this way and that, the eye couldn't get used to it to find patterns behind it. A cunning concealment.

They'd gotten lucky, though, and as he got closer and closer, he could make out the hints of the obelisk behind the snow.

"Come on! We're almost there!"

He couldn't help but shout. The fact that they'd found it, finally, was too good to not celebrate.

The wolf stuttered to a halt as the obelisk abruptly loomed over him, stopping on his tiptoes barely a few inches away from the damn thing. He let himself fall on his ass rather than touch it; the last time anything with magic had touched it, the writing and the magic had gone dead. Better to get a little bit of injury than lose that.

Idesin came to a halt behind him, and he heard the otter give a long whistle.

"I'll agree with that, old friend...I'll agree with that."

"It's huge...I swear it's even bigger than the one that the druids hid away."

"I think it's the same size...there's just more of it exposed."

"You think it's buried, connected to something?"

"Wouldn't surprise me. Geatha was known to write about ley lines and other things. It might be part of the obelisk's power to tap into that, and if so, he'd want it as close to it as possible."

"He was a regular mad scientist, wasn't he?"

"Where in the world do you get these terms?"

"I dunno. They just come to me."

Rolling his eyes, he glanced over to Blaze and nodded as she started pulling together pieces of a bow. The wolfess nodded back, assembling her special weapon and jogging off into the wind. They'd at least have some warning if anything came through the storm.

"Idesin, think you can take a look around for anything magical? I don't want us to be caught by surprise."

"Blaze is already looking, though. I thought you'd want -"

"If we were alone here, I'd love some help. But right now, I need to make sure that there aren't going to be any interruptions."

"...Fine."

The otter slipped off towards the other side of the obelisk, taking off his hat and reaching into it for...something. Studley wasn't sure what. Nor did he care.

Sorry, old friend, but I need a little privacy with this.

The words from the other obelisk still rang in his head. How one became two, how there was something in the past that had gained power, how the key to it was the primordial beast. It had run through his mind for years, ever since he'd seen it, and he was no closer to puzzling out the fading words now than he was then.

Gleb's quest to become a god was a danger in and of itself, but this...this mystery resonated too strongly in his heart for him to ignore. He needed to know what Geatha had written about. He needed to know why it touched at his past.

The wolf circled around the obelisk, looking up at the different words that were written on it. They were faded, but only slightly, worn at the edges but still readable. Much better than the first obelisk.

He didn't dare use his magic, but he ran his hand near the surface of the grand spire. It pulsed with energy, with magic that was deeper than Wonder power, deeper even than the chaos that he carried and occasionally used. It seemed to reach down past all of that to a core that he didn't understand, to an energy that seemed beyond the ability of a mortal to comprehend.

And yet...

It was a strange feeling, but familiar. Almost like seeing a lover in one's elder years that one hadn't seen since they were teens. Changed, but all the more powerful for it. And so much a part of him.

How is that even possible?

He pushed at his memories, trying to understand where this could possibly fit in. The further back he went, the more holes there were, but he swore that this fit, somewhere. It was too grand and too familiar not to.

But despite his best efforts, it just didn't seem to fit any of the holes in his memory. Not back when he made his first change, not back when he became the first of the weres. Not back when he had come to the island. Not when someone else joined him. Not even in the many encounters with Rannoi and their shared discussions on magic and the nature of it. Nothing.

He cursed under his breath, glancing up to the words on the stone tower. Perhaps -

But no. Even they were as cryptic as before, even if they were new.

Let the world tremble if the primordial one rises again. Let the world gasp and shiver, take to the knife and the poison should the beast of old rise again. One was divided in two, and the two sealed apart so as to save heaven and hell and the space between. Power unlimited was his, and power unlimited may be his once more. Through Change, through chaos, in the depths and the darkness, in the starlight and the heavens, it sleeps. Let it never wake.

"Well, that is just maddeningly unhelpful."

The wolf slumped down on his butt again, staring at the obelisk. He'd hoped to find answers, but now he just had more questions.

Why did the first obelisk talk about this one as a hopeful being, and this one talk about it being so terrifying?

Why did Geatha always talk in riddles?

Why did he mention this power and never explain it?

And where was the otter and Blaze?

"OW!"

The otter screamed as he came sliding through the snow, rubbing a black eye as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. Studley was already at his side, dragging him up.

"Trouble?"

"Uh huh. And not the nice kind."

He looked up, and felt it before he saw it. The swelling of power beyond the snow, the building energy of a Wonder getting ready for something big. Shaking his head, Studley pulled the otter to his feet and nudged him backwards.

"Get Blaze, and get moving. Now."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that..."

"What, not gonna insist on being a hero?"

"Uh, yeah, I think you can handle this one. You're the better fighter."

The otter darted off, while Studley shook his head. Idesin was right about that, but he knew that Gleb probably wasn't going to be the pushover that he'd been a few centuries ago. When they'd parted back then, it had been a rather official invitation to a serious hunt between the two of them. Doubtless the tiger - and his buck ally - had improved.

He just hoped he'd done the same.

Waiting until the energy was just about to be released, Studley braced himself in the snow. It was cold, and his feet were half numb, but he didn't have the time to fix that. Nor did he dare let loose the beast; he wanted to salvage the obelisk if he possibly could, but the beast would destroy it in seconds. No, better to -

There.

Feeling that twitch in the air that signaled a spell, Studley yanked at his own power. It was almost like pulling a muscle as he reacted at insane speed, forcing the snow up and creating a wall of ice. It almost wasn't fast enough; a spike of it went flying past his ears and parted his fur before it came up to stop the rest, and even then, the points of several ice spikes did get through the wall. Not far enough to be dangerous, but far enough to be risky.

"Hmmmph. So you were ready."

Studley let the wall drop - considering it was cracked, there was little defense to be had - and shook his head at the approaching males. A white tiger with a small blade at his side, and a buck with his hands covered in metal...silver, too.

"Gleb. Heinrich."

"Studley. Good to see rival again."

"Not so good to see you. When did you find out about this one?"

"Not long after you. Thought I might follow. See if you find first."

"You thought you'd be lazy, you mean."

The buck started to step forward, but the tiger stopped him, chuckling.

"Is only strategy. Allow others work, let me rest and be ready."

"What if I had destroyed it, like before?"

"You wouldn't. Not ruthless enough for that."

Not quite the right reason, but the same result. It would be difficult to bring himself to destroy something this old, and potentially important, even if it would keep it out of Gleb's hands. Studley shook his head.

"I'm not going to let you have it, you know that."

"Yes. Was expecting that."

The wolf turned, looking at the buck.

"Heinrich...you realize that I'll stop you, too. Bucks have no chance against wolves."

The other Wonder had nothing to say. That, or he couldn't speak; Studley honestly didn't know. In either case, the buck raised his hands, clenching them into fists. The gauntlets he wore were thick enough to cause a fair bit of damage, and the silver spikes on them would hurt more than he liked. Studley kept his face neutral, even though on the inside he was wincing.

He looked at Gleb, but knew that there was no chance to reason here. The tiger's eyes were already fixed on the obelisk, and they were hungry for it. Studley sighed, and slowly pulled out his own weapons. The spiked knuckles didn't do much for his fists, but he figured that they would be strong enough. And they didn't need fancy silver to be able to strike a good blow.

"Right...Well, we all know what happens now."

He made the first move, darting forward with a burst of speed. It was easy enough to create, sending a bit of Wonder magic down to his legs and making them briefly bigger, stronger. He jabbed hard at the buck's side, only to be blocked.

Shoving back from the buck's gauntlets, he barely ducked a return punch and swung himself into Gleb's range. Studley kept spinning, his body rolling up the tiger's arm around the blade aimed at his chest, and managed to land a small blow. Glancing, really, but anything to the head left someone at least a little dazed, and it let him follow up with a kick, sending the tiger flying into his assistant.

Gleb and Heinrich hit the snow hard, but the buck at least was ready for it. Studley barely caught the golden warning before magic shot through the snow beneath him. He jumped, his feet suddenly going from cold to hot as the snow and ice erupted in a geyser of steam. He howled, unable to stop himself as the pads were scalded.

They were on their feet as he got his footing again, and he shook his head.

"Not gonna give up easy, are you?"

"Nor you."

They split apart, one going to his left, the other to his right. Studley flicked his eyes between them, making a quick measure of his opponents, deciding who needed to go down first.

He decided on Gleb, and darted to his left. The tiger met him with a quick sword strike, one that Studley managed to block on the back of one of his gloves, but he wasn't quick enough to hit with the other. Gleb ducked under his punch and came up under him, and only a quick shift to a smaller size kept him from getting clawed across the face.

He grew again, using the shift in size and balance to throw Gleb over his shoulder, and turned just in time to meet the buck coming in. Heinrich was fast, faster than he should have been, and it took all of the wolf's practice to keep up with the rain of blows coming down. He ducked, bobbed and weaved, but it was an effort just keeping the silver points from hitting him.

"You're pretty damn good."

The buck said nothing.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to change sides?"

Still nothing.

"You think you could talk a bit. I mean, it's a bit boring - AGH!"

One of the spikes finally landed, cutting at his side. The wolf slipped, but turned it to a roll, sliding out of reach of a follow-up blow. He held one hand against his side, feeling blood already. It was much hotter than he'd like.

Not good, not good...

He glowed as he avoided a sudden punch to his face, and used his new form - a lemming - to dart between the buck's legs. He managed to climb up the back of his pants, and then leap at Gleb.

Another transformation, and he was a wolf again, and this time, his spiked gauntlet hit the tiger right on the nose. Gleb went flying back, shouting and screaming as he covered his crushed muzzle, blood hitting the ground in spurts.

And then Studley was back to fighting Heinrich.

The damn buck was faster than he had any right to be, the wolf swore. There had to be something supernatural about that, something where the buck was enhanced or something. Even punching as hard as he could, he was barely matching the force that Heinrich pushed back with, barely keeping from being shoved down to the ground.

"What the hell did Gleb do to you?"

The buck shook his head, the silence somehow more unnerving than anything else. Studley grunted, momentarily shoving the buck's fists back. He leaped back, one hand reaching for his waist as the other raised to fend off another blow. He bit his lips as Heinrich punched down again, one of the silver spikes digging into his wrist. He screamed...but a second later, so did the buck.

Studley panted as he pulled the knife back from Heinrich's leg, blood dripping along the length. The buck stepped back, limping and nursing the wound, but he didn't back down. He kept his arms up, waiting for an opening.

And damn it, I might just give him one, Studley realized. He was still bleeding from the punch to his side, and though he'd limited the buck's movements, he had lost the use of one hand in the process. He could feel that the nerve was damaged, and he would need a lot of help to get that thing back to full working order.

He was being forced backwards, having to keep dodging since the buck's arms were still as fast as ever. The only advantage he had was staying out of reach, and that - judging by the way that Gleb was getting up - was not going to last long.

Fuck, fuck...I should have kept the otter around...

Soon, he was almost pressed against the obelisk, only his own stubbornness keeping him from touching it. At least this close, neither of them could use magic against him, and only one could strike at a time. They were being just as careful not to touch the obelisk as he had been, which at least bought him a little time.

Still...it was only so much, and he could feel his options dwindling.

"Gleb...I swear..."

The tiger chuckled, his sword coming back, pausing.

"You surrender?"

"..."

The option was slightly tempting, much as he was loath to admit it. He didn't want to lose his life, and he knew that he could fight Gleb on a more even playing field if he just got a little time to heal. A little time to bring out the beast. Hell, if he could do that now, he might win. But it was too close, too frenzied for him to do it without giving that damn buck an opening. He was already bleeding bad, and all that Heinrich needed was one good shot at his neck or torso, and he'd be down.

But he had to do something. If not Wonder magic, then...

In desperation, he reached for it. Chaos was a different sort, deeper; perhaps it might not -

No sooner had he pulled at it than the world shook around them. Deeper than an earthquake, deeper than anything that Studley had ever felt before. All around them, the storm seemed to stop, and a light shot out of the obelisk. It speared through the snow and ice and wind, forming a calm area around them.

Colors, much like he imagined when he used chaos, spiraled out of the obelisk towards the heavens. At the same time, the ground cracked beneath them, and the obelisk slowly drew in towards the opening. Gleb swore in some other language, screaming.

"What you doing? What happening?"

"I have no fucking idea!"

He was barely keeping his balance, and Gleb and Heinrich had their own problems. They were thrown from their feet again and again, and the ground seemed to seethe with the colors of chaos. Both retreated from it after Gleb was touched and his fur caught fire, burning around his hand.

They tried to reach for the obelisk, but each time they did, another burst of chaos threw them back. And Studley wasn't left unscathed, either. It pushed at him, not violently, but like a parent pushing a child from something not meant for them. Because of his magic? Why?

Eventually, Gleb and Heinrich were thrown skywards, and he only barely caught the golden glow as they transformed, shifting to avian forms to flee. He wanted to chase them, but he was too exhausted, too weakened.

Instead, he slumped to the ice, panting and shaking. His head spun with questions - and not inconsiderable blood loss - as he watched the tip of the obelisk disappear below the ice. It was still barely visible through it, and he was left with the disheartening sight of it disintegrating, breaking apart before his eyes. The destruction of it was more permanent than a mere loss of writing; instead, it seemed to be gone forever.

But why?

Why had Chaos done so much when Wonder magic had barely erased the writing? What had Geatha done, with all this?

Too many questions, too few answers. As he slumped forward, exhausted and in pain, he barely heard the sound of Idesin and Blaze running for him. It was a small relief...small, but enough, as he slipped into unconsciousness.

The End