Shunkaha was rushing towards the portal city. Not that he really needed to rush anymore. It would still take at least half an hour to get to the city even with his speed. Dee would probably be gone again when he got to the city. Maybe she would have already returned back to the scouts? That would make all of Shunkaha’s rushing around a complete waste. It was a bit annoying but it was his own fault really.

He had spent the last weeks running around looking for Dee. At first he had thought he would find her relatively easily with his tracking skills. She might be good at hiding alone, but now she would be traveling with refugees or other members of the order, so finding her should be much easier. In theory at least. Not so much in practice. Shunkaha had already heard rumors of her weird method of travel, thanks to some of the paladins that she had forced through the weird portals after the death wave came. At that time he had missed Dee only by a few hours.

‘Why can’t she stay in one place for a short time at least?! I’ve never seen someone who dashes around so restlessly.’ Shunkaha cursed in his mind. ‘Doesn’t she rest? Or take a break?’

He had lost the trail for weeks after that and could only assume she had used another portal to go somewhere else. He suspected that Dee had another reason for being here, as this mission level was too low for her. Or at least it would have been without the three powerful communities that had also arrived. The Revenant, The Crimson Path and the Spider Cult threw the mission danger level way up with their fights, but Dee wouldn’t have known that before coming here.

So she had to have a purpose for coming here. Shunkaha couldn’t know for sure what that purpose would be, but odds were it had something to do with the rift. The rift was now closed for some reason, so she would most likely return soon, so Shunkaha had decided to head back as well. By pure coincidence he had ran into a group of hunters who were also returning to the city to move to a place with some actual game. The hunters mentioned seeing a white furred kitsune heading in the general direction of the city, and it didn’t take much for Shunkaha to recognize Dee’s more bestial form. He could put two and two together and knew that she was most likely going to give her final report and then return.

So why the need to rush? He would most likely miss her anyway. It wouldn’t take her that long to make a report, even if Shunkaha was only couple of hours behind her. The reason was that he had a bad feeling. The Authority he had gained came with several useful abilities, one of which was a sort of weird instinct about the future. He didn’t know what would happen, but he would get hints. And now all those hints were screaming danger. So he rushed. Maybe he could help? Maybe he could warn her and they could quickly leave before any danger arrived?

His thoughts were interrupted when the sound of an explosion drew his attention towards the city. No that was wrong. The sound wasn’t an explosion exactly. It was the sound of air and matter being consumed by a flame in an instant. There was no explosion, but there was the sound of the wind rushing in to replace all the air that had vanished, the new air now filling the vacuum left behind by the air consumed by the dark flame. Shunkaha could swear he also heard the space itself crying out at the wrongness of what had just happened.

Shunkaha was close enough to barely see the city. For a brief moment he thought he saw something massive towering over the city. Or the place where the city used to be. With his vision blocked by the flames, Shunkaha wasn’t able to say what that large form was, but now it was gone. And the dark flame was coming closer, consuming everything in its path. It was wrong to call what the fire caused burning. There was no ash, there was no smoke, and there were no remains. What the fire touched was gone, leaving behind a feeling of wrongness that was difficult to explain. He only felt like these were flames that should not exist. They were…unnatural.

For a short moment he was worried that the flames would reach him, and he was pretty sure there was nothing he would be able to do to stop them. Luckily their range seemed to be controlled, and the fires were not spreading by themselves as the flames weren’t the sort to spread in a natural and wild way. The flames stopped well before reaching him, but the city itself and its surroundings were gone. Not in smoldering ruins, nor a heap of ash, just gone. Shunkaha was pretty sure the ground wouldn’t even be hot where the fire had passed. Not that it would be safe to approach either.

“DEE!” Shunkaha screamed in desperation. He realized that the one he loved and the one he had been chasing for the last weeks might have still been in the city. If she had been…

Yet something pulled him towards the area where the city used to be. He had a weird trust towards Dee’s ability to survive. If she had survived, she had the ability to regenerate, so she might still be alive. The thought was somewhat ridiculous. How could she survive something like the dark flames? And would the flames leave something behind that could be regenerated?

Still he felt he had to go and check. If it turned out that her body was found in the devastation, and he could have saved her, he would never forgive himself for abandoning her. So he moved in closer. As soon as he reached the area affected by the dark flames, the feelings of wrongness got stronger. He felt that this was not a place where anyone should be. The ground was covered in weird grey dust, not ashes but something else. It was as if something had decayed to dust. This too was weird, because normal flames would leave ashes and really hot flames would melt the ground to glass.

Shunkaha felt that this wrongness might affect him as well, though he wasn’t clear what the result would be if it did. His whole body was suddenly covered in dark blue ki, as well as the golden glow of protective holy power. He also assumed a much more bestial look as silvery grey fur grew all around his body. If someone had been watching, they might have seen that the ki around him had formed the faint outline of a wolf. He still didn’t feel safe from the feeling of wrongness, but at least it wasn’t affecting him as much anymore. He would have to get the healers to check him once he returned.

He pushed deeper into the devastated land, something pulling him towards the center. Of course Dee would be near the center of all this. She wouldn’t be able to help herself. Even if she wasn’t involved, and it seemed unlikely she was considering the amount of power he had sensed, she would have been nearby observing. Learning. Taking any chance to grow stronger. Shunkaha was not sure what drove Dee, but he knew something did. It wasn’t hard to figure out, as that was the same with him. That’s partially what drew him towards Dee. You couldn’t reach this kind of level at this age without something driving you.

For once Dee was relatively easy to find. She wasn’t hiding in any way, and her white fur stood out against the grey dust. There was also the distinct lack of hiding places on a flat plane. She was also the only living thing in the area. Shunkaha could smell her blood from a distance, and it didn’t take much to recognize the scent unique to Dee that he was so familiar with. Mainly she smelled of blood though, and for a good reason, as Dee’s kitsune form was covered in wounds. Shunkaha was horrified to see her missing three of her legs and a large part of her right shoulder was gone. The wounds showed signs of regeneration, but something had opened the wounds and restarted the bleeding. Likely the aftereffects of the black flame.

Shunkaha’s healing magic was rudimentary at best, but he gave what first aid he could. Mainly to stem the bleeding, both internal and external. The internal wounds were just as many and perhaps just as bad. It was weird, as seemed like every single part of her was damaged. Not seriously enough to lead to death, but bad enough that it was overwhelming her ability to regenerate the wounds. Regeneration was an extremely powerful ability capable of even recovering lost limbs, but it worked best when the damage was limited to a narrow area. It was less good at resolving things when literally everything was broken, as the ability didn’t really have the ability to prioritize.

“Hang in there.” Shunkaha muttered. He knew Dee needed help and soon. But he was in the middle of nowhere. There had been a series of gateways here, but those were gone. The closest city with portals would take too long to travel to. Someone might send help here eventually via magic when they noticed the lack of reports or the inability to use the gateways to get here, but who knows when that happened?

“No choice.” He muttered again and took a small pendant from his neck and cracked it. All the high ranking Winter Wolves carried one, and breaking it worked as an emergency signal. As well as being a signal, the pendant worked as a beacon.

It took less than two minutes before a large magical formation appeared close by. Eight high ranking wolf beastmen materialized inside the formation, as if growing from the ground. They were the emergency squad of the Winter Wolves. Shunkaha was a little surprised to see his father among them. Then again his father did do his part to defend the tribe and would certainly respond to an emergency call from Shunkaha.

The eight wolves each evaluated a direction for potential dangers, and they would call out if they noted threats. They saw none, though one female beastman called out that she had eyes on Shunkaha and some other being. They all seemed to relax, before they too felt the wrongness in the air. They quickly used various means to protect themselves, and the cleric of the group raised a protective field of golden energy. Shunkaha noted that it didn’t seem to have much effect.

“Son, what’s going on here? The air feels…weird. You seem to be alright, but I know you wouldn’t have called us for nothing.” His father called out.

Shunkaha’s father was a large and powerfully built warrior with dark grey fur covering him as was usual for their tribe. He was the Alpha of the tribe, and thus the strongest among them. Even Shunkaha wasn’t entirely sure how powerful Amarog was. “I don’t know. For your information, this area used to be a city filled with refugees. At least until less than an hour ago. Chinua, I need your healing here. Then we need to leave.”

The lithe female beastman rushed towards Shunkaha, and laid her hands on Dee’s bestial form. Chinua was the best healer in the tribe and Shunkaha was glad to see her. She hissed as she scanned the injuries inside Dee. “What on Pantheon happened to her? I’ve rarely seen someone so badly hurt yet still alive.”

“I’m not sure. I wasn’t here when it happened. There was some kind of black fire that consumed the city.” Shunkaha replied.

“She doesn’t appear burnt.” One of the warriors commented emotionlessly from the side. The others were keeping an eye on the surroundings.

“If you look around, nothing here does. The flames were odd somehow, as I’m sure you can all feel.” Shunkaha replied. He knew the warrior wasn’t trying to refute Shunkaha. Instead he was simply making an observation as was his duty.

“Who is she?” Amarog asked with some real curiosity. His son had used the emergency signal for this fox, something not done lightly.

“A fellow scout and a fri…” Shunkaha was about to explain before he was interrupted by Chinua.

“By the gods, she’s part Beowulf!” She exclaimed.

“What?! Explain!” Amarog demanded. Beowulf were an important existence to all wolf beastmen, and the fox certainly didn’t look all that much like a wolf. Although now that he paid more attention, the fox had several wolf-like features not seen in normal kitsune.

“I can’t say more, but it’s clear that at least one of her relatives was a Beowulf. We need to move her. I’ve stabilized her, but this is not the place for complex healing, and I’ll need some of the other healers to help me. She’s busted up real good.” Chinua said as much as she could.

Amarog looked at Shunkaha for further explanation, but the latter simply shrugged his shoulders. There was nothing they could or should do here anyway, so the group returned back to the magical formation and the group’s mage teleported them back to the community.

----------

Shunkaha spent a few hours watching as the Winter Wolves healers worked on Dee, until he was finally chased out by Chinua. Apparently he was just getting in the way. Which was true. His abilities as a warrior had grown since he joined the Radiant Sun, but his healing abilities were meager. Outside the infirmary he ran into his father.

“Are you finally ready to tell me who she is? Don’t give me that friend bull either. You wouldn’t have called us for just a random friend. You know how much it takes from our mages to make an emergency teleportation like that. Is she your lover or something?” Amarog’s voice wasn’t’ disapproving, but he did want an explanation.

“No she isn’t.” Shunkaha replied, and lifted his hand to prevent his father from speaking. “She isn’t, but if the choice was mine then she would be.”

Amarog frowned. “What’s stopping you? It’s not like it would be weird for an Alpha of our tribe to have multiple mates. I certainly do. Felan would not be pleased, but you’re the future Alpha and she’d have to deal with it.”

Shunkaha gave a sigh. “She won’t have me. Besides, if she joined the tribe, then she would become the Alpha and not me. I’m pretty sure she’s not into sharing her mate either, and with her strength she won’t have to.”

Amarog’s eyes narrowed. “You’re saying that she’s stronger than you? Even with your Authority?”

“I can’t say for sure since we haven’t fought seriously after I got the Authority. That said, if I was a betting man then I’d put my money on her. I’m pretty sure she could give you a run for your money as well. She’s the disciple of the strongest Blade of the order, and he has high expectations for her. He quite clearly told me that she would become strong enough to match the strongest of Pantheon someday.” Shunkaha replied a little self-deprecatingly.

“It’s not like you to give up so easily. Nor is it like you to put yourself down like that.” Amarog said. He had always been proud of his son, and for a good reason.

“Who said I was giving up? However, it’s important to be realistic about the situation, so that I know what I’m up against. I don’t want to fail because I underestimated the challenge. For as long as I can remember I was the one with the most potential and the brightest future. She showed me that there’s always someone above you.” Shunkaha had a small smile on his face as he spoke.

Amarog didn’t miss the smile. “You like that, don’t you? You like the fact that she’s stronger than you.” His voice was a little incredulous.

Shunkaha barked a small laugh. “I do. I’ve seen you with your mates. I’ve seen my brothers and uncles. You all have mates weaker than you. Mates that are subservient to you. I don’t want that. I don’t want a mate that looks to me for permission to do anything. I want an equal. A queen to my kingship. Dad, we both share the dream of uniting the wolf tribes, but unlike you I want to do it with someone equal by my side.”

Amarog could understand his son’s wish. He’d had something similar in his youth. He had been unable to find a mate equal to him, and had finally caved to the pressure of the tribe. He had loved the mates he took, but he didn’t respect them. Not really. Maybe his son was right in that taking a mate outside the tribes would make things easier. They would not have the ingrained desire to submit to the Alpha that the wolf tribe members had. “What about Felan?” He had to ask.

Shunkaha shook his head. “You and I both know why I agreed to the engagement. If Dee had been available, I’d have preferred her, though she wouldn’t have agreed.”

“That didn’t answer the question, but I can see your dilemma. This might become a problem later on though.” Amarog waved a nearby soldier close. “Hó’nehe should be home. Have him go back to the scouts and find Lord Razark. Have my son tell him that his disciple is with us and injured. He can come and reclaim her any time. Have Hó’nehe give him everything we know about what happened.”

Hó’nehe was Shunkaha’s older brother and also one of the scouts of the order. The Winter Wolves made for great scouts, and the order gave them great training. Amarog turned back to Shunkaha. “In any case, it’s useful to have someone like her and Razark on our good side. That’s worth the emergency deployment. Without considering the other stuff, that alone made it worth it Shunkaha. We can worry about the rest later.”

------

Five members of the Crimson Path were standing in the middle of a roughly circular area covered in weird grey dust. They could all feel the wrongness in the air. “This is where the swords went missing.” A silver haired vampire said to the leader of the group. “I can sense the remains of their blood essence in the air. They are all dead.” The vampire kept her eyes closed. In fact Alexandra had never seen the woman open her eyes. The woman and her two sisters had their own ways of observing the world.

The group of five was made up of Alexandra, three identical vampire sisters and the leader of the group. Alexandra really looked up to the leader of their group, Anastasia. The blond haired woman was one of the most powerful immortals in their community, and was part of a trio who were often sent to solve problems that crept up. Even Alexandra didn’t know what race Anastasia was, though the latter looked just like a human at first glance.

“We expected that once we got the news, but it’s good to have a confirmation.” Anastasia said. She wouldn’t be here if they expected to find the wayward swords alive. “Now we need to focus on what happened to them. You and your sisters search the area. Alexandra, what can tell me about threats that might be able to take out our swords?”

“Well, the Spider Cult was present, though they were running away last we saw them. I doubt they would come back to find trouble for no benefit. The Revenant were in the area, but they gave up on the rift, and there’s no real reason for them to pick a fight weeks later, not to mention even staying in the area. There was this weird angel that helped us with the rift, but I already reported her presence.” Alexandra reported her thoughts.

“I’m aware. Did she have a reason to pick a fight with us?” Anastasia asked. She had read the report, but wanted Alexandra’s personal opinion.

“Well we did close the rift on her out of necessity. If she had some way to return this fast she might have a grudge, but I doubt she’d attack a random group of our swords.” Alexandra replied with a shake of her head.

“Any impressions?” Anastasia asked trio of identical vampires. The one with closed eyes was still standing around feeling the surroundings. The second one was sniffing around while the third had seemed to have found something interesting on the ground.

“I feel the presence of a lot of holy power.” The one with closed eyes said. “Lot of dark energy, the wrongness you are feeling, as well as something I can’t quite identify.”

“Holy power? Alexandra, you said the angel was strong in holy power, right?” Anastasia asked.

“Yes, but she was definitely blessed by a light deity. I might even suggest Lumen or one of the other greater light deities. That doesn’t really go with the dark and unnatural feeling.” She replied.

“Agreed.” The vampire with closed eyes said. “This is not the work of someone with light’s blessing.”

“There’s blood here.” The crouched vampire said. “A blood from a demon. A powerful one at that. Mixed race. Horribly mixed.” The vampire tasted a bit of the blood that had dried a long time ago. They were experts with controlling blood so that wasn’t a problem. ”Mortal?” She voiced her impression incredulously.

The others frowned. This devastation wasn’t the result of a mortal’s strength. “Maybe a survivor?” Alexandra suggested.

Anastasia thought for a moment. “A strong possibility. A demon might fare better against unnatural flames like the ones that did this.”

“I can smell wolves. Several of them.” The third vampire announced. “They left a few days ago, but they came here after the fire burnt out. They might have taken the demon away for questioning.”

It had taken a few days for the Crimson Path to get a word of the deaths of their members and to find the right place to look for them. “That might explain the mana I sense.” The first vampire suddenly said.

“Mana?” Anastasia asked. The vampire had not mentioned mana before.

“The trace is almost gone so I wasn’t sure if it happened before or after the disaster. A teleportation formation, perhaps?” The vampire suggested.

“So wolves with the ability to teleport here as soon as things went bad. The wolf tribes? The Winter Wolves seem the most logical as they are the strongest tribe.” Alexandra suggested.

“We should go have a word with them.” Anastasia replied. “We might find out more, and they might have a witness.”