A Wolf of The House of Lycaon
[Celeste Luminaris]:
Celeste, hiding behind a set of rocks, was thankful for her Legendary grade rapier, Silvermoon. The High Legendary sabor arte that she had been given by Luna she had been practicing in her free time and many times during her training, but she wasn't yet proficient enough to hold on too long against higher ranked adversaries for long periods of time. It was why she decided to go on the run the moment she entered the red gateway. Especially even now, as she hid from something she was certain was chasing her, she dreaded the idea of confronting that abominable force…. Whatever she felt was chasing her was wild and powerful. And whatever it was, though silent, Celeste could sense she'd lose if they fought head-on.
That said, she couldn't stay running. She had to survive the night, which meant rationing her stamina. Being a descendent of Luna, the moon primordial, she could draw stamina and lunar energy from any moon, and the effects were greater at night. However, it wasn't limitless energy it was very much finite, at least, for someone of her power level, anyway. She was not yet strong enough to contain an inifitne measure of stamina or lunar energy. Maybe, when she broke through to Cosmic or Celestial rank, but now while she was still very much in the mortal ranks of cultivation. And it probably doesn't help that I'm not a fully awakened Moonborn elf yet, either.
'That bastard cousin of mine!' Celeste scorned. 'I knew he was up to something — But this! This… I'll kill him! I'll get my vengeance… I just have to survive this first…'.
Celeste edged closer towards the rocks she was hiding behind as she attempted to gather her stamina and lunar energy back up for another Lunar Gateway. She decided to take a peak. What she saw had her jotting back behind the boulder.
'That's the biggest wolf I've ever seen… It's aura… That's definitely a Tier A beast,' Celeste thought, looking at the full moon. 'I can open another Lunar Gateway… but that would exhaust me too much if I do it so soon. I need to build up more stamina; I'm not Silva — I don't have inexhaustible stamina to open more than 5 Lunar Gateways across short distances… I'll need strength to fight in emergency situations. This is a red Dungeon; I'll need to save some energy for confrontations. I'll need strength to fight, and, right now, fighting may be my only option…'.
Peaking around the corner, Celeste noticed that the wolf had veered directions. Before, it was going further to her left — Now, it was headed directly to her position. It must have seen her peaking out from around the boulder the first time.
"At least it's alone, so I don't have to worry about its pack. I should be able to take a Tier A beast, right," Celeste thought aloud, unsheathing her saber, Silvermoon, its pure, silver blade reflecting the moonlight it was named after. "Here goes nothing…".
As the wolf leaped up, jumping over a group of rocks and boulders, landing directly beside her, Celeste began to charge at it, but was halted when she noticed that something — rather, someone was atop the wolf's back, wearing a strange cloak. It was—-.
"Corven?!" Celeste was puzzled, making a face of confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to rescue you," Corven said, sheepishly, offering a hand up. "I'm fairly certain that I was being followed by something, so we should hurry. I'm not sure how long until sunrise, and I'm also certain that we don't want to be out here when the sun rises in this place. Get on."
"13 hours," Celeste blurted out.
"What?" Corven was confused now, making a face.
"The night cycle on this planet," Celeste said, simply. "I can sense its lunar cycle. It's 13 hours."
Corven looked at Celeste, clearly not entirely sure what to do with that information. "I—.huh. Interesting."
Awoo!
Before Corven could answer, a howl chain rippled through the air, and, from the sound of the sources, there were more than a few of them. They sounded from the direction Corven had been running from, and they were closing in. they were definitely the howls Corven had heard from earlier.
"Crap! I knew I was being followed! They must be tracking my scent or something! Quickly—get up here!"
Corven pulled Celeste onto his wolf, securing her tightly against his broad back. She clutched him like her life depended on it—which, realistically, it might.
"You're going to have to explain how you got this far from the starting zone later," he added. "Right now, we've got to move. Fast. Onward, Skyron—away!"
"You sound ridiculous," Celeste deadpanned, her voice dry.
"Don't ruin my fun, darlin'. That's a no-no," Corven snorted. "This is my first dungeon—might be my last. I'm gonna enjoy it while I can. Now, Skyron! To Nidavellir!"
Celeste rolled her eyes so hard it hurt. Doing her best not to die of secondhand cringe, she held on tight.
And with a powerful leap, the beast tore through the night—carrying them away from death, and straight into whatever madness awaited next.
[Corven Umbrovante]:
They had been riding for almost 4 hours before they found a cave to rest in.
It was located at the foot of a large barren cliff with plenty of firewood and nearly dead trees nearby for a small fire. Corven had already brought a flint with him — He learned long ago on a camping trip with Cimon and Achlys never to go anywhere without one, thankfully. Corven also had his shadow wolves keeping eyes on the surrounding area, making sure they weren't ambushed in their sleep or rest, or whatever. He cooked some of his unicorn meat and gave it to Celeste as the two of them cultivated by the fire.
"Do you think we'll be safe here?" Celeste asked, eyes closed as she cultivated beside him. "And, if so, for how long?"
"There's no real way of knowing," Corven released a sigh, heavily thinking over how he even ended up in this situation. "My shadow wolves are patrolling the area and Skyron is continuing the path westward we were on; hopefully, it will lead whatever was following us away. It gave Skyron a shirt of mine along with a ripped piece of your skirt to help us in that regard. Plus, this cave is a few miles off the path we took, and, considering we went through all that trouble of covering our tracks making it here… Well, we should have an hour to ourselves — at the very least, thirty minutes."
Celeste nodded in response, but Corven could tell she was distracted. He's never been a people's person. Oh, sure, he knew logically how they operated — both physically and psychologically and from a subjective point of view, but, emotionally, Corven has never been an expert. His therapist used to say it was because he was always in a situation where he had to 'fight or flight' that his body and mind never really got over it, but Corven honestly wasn't too sure that was entirely it.
But he knew enough about emotions to understand her pain. What Celeste was feeling, he felt, was emotional distress, and who wouldn't be feeling that way after what happened. Her cousin had thrown her through death's door to die — Literally, in this sense. Corven wouldn't be happy either in her shoes. What happened would make most either angry or hurt, or both. She needed time to process these emotions. And that– That Corven understood.
"You have that look again," Celeste said, without context, startling Corven from his thoughts.
"What look?" Corven was curious.
"The look you have whenever you want to know something but can't seem to know how to ask," Celeste said, simply.
Corven made a face. "I don't have such a look…".
"What do you want to know, Corven?" Celeste asked, with a sigh.
Corven thought for a moment, considering the words. He didn't want to hurt or distress Celeste more than she was likely already feeling, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't the littlest bit curious. He, in the end, figured there had to be times where the cat managed to satiate his curiosity without dying, right? Maybe now's one of those times?
"Has your cousin always hated you?" Corven asked, bluntly. "Like, to throw his own sister into a red Dungeon, he obviously wanted you dead… Did he always, though?"
A long moment of silence passed between the two. Corven almost thought he overstepped. Thankfully, though, Celeste only seemed to consider his question; she wasn't insulted by it or triggered like Corven thought she'd be. And, eventually, she did answer.
"He wasn't always so spiteful, if that's what you wanted to know," Celeste said, after a moment of recollection. "He used to be the perfect older cousin. We used to play together, laugh together, even pull pranks together and the like as little kids…
"But then, it all changed when his mother — my dad's step-sister —- and her husband died. See, Sean isn't a Luminaris family member by blood. His side of the family was married into father's through my mother, but we were raised together as siblings, ironically. They say he and father looks so similar, yet they aren't blood relatives, so it's always been a sore topic with them.
"When his parents died, it was soon revealed that I wasn't even his cousin… not by blood, anyway. Father had an affair with who was supposed to be my mother, with the primordial goddess, Hemera, and I was a product of that affair. He blamed me for the chain of deaths that followed the truth. First the woman I thought was my mother, then her sister — his mother — and then his father shortly there after."
"For Sean, there had been doubts in his mind, whispers of who I was before my first time being avouched for, but when I was avouched for the first time, that it was solidified in Sean's mind: I was the reason he had no parents. I was the reason he was an orphan. Their deaths were on my hands.
"And, when father named me his heir and successor, instead of Sean, despite working, training, vying for that opportunity all his life—."
"He felt threatened," Corven realized, eyes narrowing.
"y-Yeah," Celeste swallowed with hesitation. "I never wanted the throne; I found it takes too much responsibility on any one person, man or woman. You have to remember, to be a Great House means to have supremacy over entire worlds – To have multiplanetary and interdimensional influence. That kind of power, that kind responsibility — it always takes a toll.
"Sometimes, I don't even understand how my father handles such power and, with his illness, that power is slipping through his fingers every day. His own people act as spies for other houses — and they sabotage him, while enemies target him — And all the infighting… All of this will be mine to inherit. It will be my House's undoing.
"There are many that believe I am not fit to rule House Luminaris, that Sean has a greater claim than I do. They call me names and slurs like 'Primordial Spawn' and 'Bastard Born' behind my back, i don't want the throne, but, at the same time, I can't let Sean have either. He's too full of spite to have it — His hatred will desecrate my House, and I can't allow that. I fear he'll lead the family into complete and utter ruin."
"So then, don't," Corven said, after a moment of silence passed between them.
"What?"
"Don't let Sean have your throne," Corven said simply. "The way I see it is that it is yours — Your throne; you were named 'heir', not Sean. It's your responsibility to prevent Sean from gaining your power; not Sean's. Sometimes, the hardest choices require the strongest of wills, and, as I see it, this is your will that's being tested. Don't lose. Otherwise, why fight for it in the first place?
"And don't worry about facing it alone. I'll be there with you, every step of the way. Whatever challenge rears its ugly head, we'll face it. Together."
As he said this, Corven held Celeste's hand in his own grasp. He meant every word. He'll protect Celeste; he did make a promise to her father, afterall.
"Do you really think we can survive this?:Celeste asked, eyes wide and imploring.
"As long as we have each other, I highly doubt there's much that can take us down," Corven said, eyes focussed on Celeste. They held eye contact and everything seemed to feel like it stopped, time, air and the wind. It was just them.
He was so focussed on Celeste, he nearly hadn't noticed in time. Quickly, turning his head in a certain direction, he sensed the death of one of his shadow wolves.
"Shit," Corven said, getting up. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."
"What is it?" Celeste asked, getting up with Corven. "Are we found?"
"I can sense over 30 shadows heading our way, belonging to beings all over Tier B," Corven said, sweat dripping as his shadow wolves were dropping in number like flies in the rain. He quickly put out the fire before turning to Celeste. "We need to hide. We're too close for us to outrun."
"I've got just the spell," Celeste grabbed Corven's hand and said "Invisiblis!"
And the two of them vanished from sight. Just before a pack of over 30 hind-standing werewolves found their cave's entrance.
[Pallas Lycaon's Castle]:
Back at Pallas Lycaon's Castle, Pallas walked impatiently back and forth on his Castle's grand Dinging Hall floor.
"What is taking them so long?" the werewolf's eyes were not their usual golden; instead, they were glowing crimson.
If other werewolves were present, seeing Pallas' eyes and feeling his suddenly suffocating presence, they'd instantly fall into submission. These were the eyes of an alpha werewolf, and Pallas, being Lycaon's son, was naturally an alpha and one of the very first alpha werewolves to come into existence. He was part of the very first family of werewolves — the Lycaons; He was the second born son of the very first werewolf and the 3rd strongest werewolf of the Lycaon bloodline… Or he was before his death and reincarnation. His pack was one of this realm's greatest forces… And yet, it was taking so long to fetch an otherworlder? This was not pleasing in the least, at least, to Pallas anyway.
"It's been over 9 hours since I sent them, yet they still haven't even send word of the hunt's progress back?" Pallas muttered to himself. "No matter. It seems, if you want something done…".
Pallas walked to his open castle's window. He looked at the full Blue Moon, taking a deep breath in, before letting it out.
"Then you have to do it yourself," said Pallas, as he made a great leap into the snow-filled night sky, heading westward.