Authors note: okay guys, i just woke up from a five hour nap, and i'm feeling great. get ready to have your socks blown off. or get tears in your eyes from how bad it is.

Chapter 7

running over to the river, i had some time to reflect on some things, though it was kind of hard with Talkir screaming that i was going to fast while i was holding him in my mouth.

first off, if i was to conquer the kingdom, i would need forces. and a couple dozen spiders wouldn't cut it. i had already sent Shielin to get Egain, and with any luck he would bring the rest of the wolfs with him, if i could manage to convince him that i meant his pack no harm, his loyalty for his pack was one of the reasons i wanted him on my side.

about halfway there, i wondered if i could convince the three headed foxes to help me, but from what i had seen they were too savage to be brought under anyones control. i started to smell the scent of the spiked beavers, and a little father in i could detect the sharp scent of something big. i just remembered not to smile, as i would probably do something to Talkir.

i dropped him off about sixty feet away from the river, and told him to wait here.

"no."

i looked at him, and asked.

"no?"

"i didn't say 'take care of it' i said help us. it doesn't matter if you are strong, if you don't have help, you will get hurt. now, lets do this."

i looked at him for a long moment, trying to see if this was just bravado that was talking, but he seemed sincere. i slowly started to smile again, and started preparing my mind for a fight.

i told him in a whisper, "see if you can keep up." and off i shot like an arrow."

i heard his pounding footsteps behind me, and even though i was going quite fast, he still managed to stay with me.

'lets get this party started.'

when the trees cleared, i saw a thirty food crocodile sitting on the banks of the river, chewing on something with a spiked tail. when Talkir saw this, i think saying he got mad would be a gross understatement. i swear his eyes glowed brighter than mine.

running up to this thing, i told him to distract it. i don't know if he heard me, but he jumped right on top of the crocs head, so it worked either way. running up to the beasts hide, i activated shadow blade and tried to cut through it, but the hide refused to be cut. seeing this, i knew we would have to take a more strategic approach.

i backed off, and told Talkir to gather the beavers that hadn't run. he called out to the tree line, and i saw that not a single one of them had turned tail and run, and i saw that they placed a great trust in Talkir.

telling them my plan, they immediately put it into action, and the twenty-thirty beavers gathered on the opposite side of the river, and made as much noise as possible.

when the croc turned toward them, i jumped onto it's back and stealthily made my way toward it's head. when i had reached the area right behind it's eyes, i thought the plan was going great. then, the crocs eyes rolled back and looked right at me.

oh shit

it bucked, and i sailed a good thirty feet into the air, and landed on the tops of the trees. after i had regained a semblance of consciousness looked back and saw something that was strange. Talkir was fighting it. he was dodging its bites, and

whenever it's tail came around and tried to impale him, he would get just a little closer

i looked at this tiny beaver, fighting a croc that was ten times his size, and thought, 'i wish i had that kind f bravery. all i have

is insanity.'

i jumped from tree to tree, carful not to miss any of the action, and when i reached the ground, Talkir had almost reached

the beasts head. that was when the croc smashed the ground and Talkir was launched two feet into the air.

its tail screamed through the air as it's tip zeroed in of talkirs midsection, and as it approached its target, Talkir could only

look at his impending doom.

the tail shot forward, and,

hit nothing but air.

"well, we can't have this."

the lizard looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"if you kill the holder of my debt, i can't very well say it's repaid, can i?"

it finally found me, strolling up to it in a lazy walk, that said i had all the time in the world.

"i didn't want to use my full strength on something as weak as you, but i see that you will help me to get used to this body."

i stopped five feet in front of it, and a hint of uncertainty crept into it's eyes.

"and for that, i sincerely thank you."

it roared, and tried to impale me with it's tail, but i sidestepped and bite down on it's tail, holding the thirty footlong lizard

helpless in my jaws i idly thought that this was how i killed cassandra, in the end, by crushing her legs so that they wouldn't

regenerate.

but this croc can't regenerate.

i ripped a good sized portion off of it's tail, and slowly chewed.

"good, good, your taste is quite nice. but i wouldn't mind getting to the meatier parts."

it tried to smash me with it's front leg, but the scales on it's foot wern't as strong as on it's back, and i used shadow blade to

cut four of it's toes off. it roared again, and this time it was quite loud.

"oh, would you just. shut. up."

i punctuated each remark with a blow from my paw, each one leaving a dent in his jaw, and nearly dislocating it.

now it tried to bite me, lunging forward.

"bad lizard. you need to respect those who are higher on the food chain."

and i raised my paw high, and smashed his snout into the ground in front of me, bringing looks of awe from the beavers,

and i started to smell fear waft off of the croc. i had not had the chance to enjoy this scent much before, as i usually killed

my prey before it had a chance to be afraid. i found i quite liked the smell.

i held it down, watching as it struggled uselessly. it had size, and strength, but it had no concept of leverage, and it was

stupid enough to leave the water, were it's amphibian body would give it an advantage. i raised my other paw, and looked

deep into it's eyes.

"now,why don't you let me test out this evolutions strength?"

i didn't activate fear, but it looked like it wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

i brought my paw down with everything i had, and punched through its snout. my claws weren't sharp enough to pierce its

hide, but brute strength worked. i reveled in it's fear scent, and even though it tried to run away, it was now held to the

ground, with my whole arm up to my shoulder buried in it's mouth, it's powerful jaws now useless, since it couldn't open it.

i looked around. all of the beavers were looking on with awe, and Talkir had a look of absolute devotion on his face. i

thought about killing the croc, but decided that i didn't want to. even if i did kill it, i wouldn't even give it a number, so it was

meaningless for me to kill it.

"Talkir."

"yes?"

"you said that you would help, right?"

"yes, i did say that."

"well, would you do me a favor and stick your tail into it's brain?"

he looked mildly surprised, but climbed onto it's head, and worked his tail into its eye, finally piercing its brain, and ending

it's struggles.

i extracted my arm from its snout, my arm now dyed a bright shade of red, and walked over to talkir, who was looking at the

lizard in awe, not believing that something so large could die from something as small as his tail. but he looked like he

would be able to do it again, and as i looked at him, with his small body, and i saw a change come over him. he stopped

being weak at that moment, and his scent changed.

i gave his tail a lick, and tasted him more than the blood on it.

he looked surprised by my gesture, and i simply said.

"eventually, i think you'd make a wonderful meal."

i then got to eating as much of the lizard as i could, and after i was done, gave myself a good licking, washing the blood

from my pelt."

when i turned to talkir again, he looked like he was waiting for something. i looked at him, and said in a simple voice,

"would you do me a favor?"

he thought for a moment, and said as simply as me.

"be it gods or demons, i will help you with your problem."

---

once i returned to the cave, leaving talkir to organize and help the beavers recover, i found shielin waiting for me, with the

familiar scent of egain. i was somewhat surprised that he had come, but happy all the same. i walked in, and to my surprise,

he had evolved since the last time i'd seen him. he was only a little smaller than me, and though his scent hadn't changed

much, there was a strong tinge of determination.

"how are you, egain?"

"lets cut to the chase."

i looked at him with mild surprise, and decided to hear him out.

"what chase would that be?"

"you want to eat me. i have made the decision that i will fight you here and now, since if i hadn't come you would have

probably come and eaten me, along with killing all of the other wolfs. so, i will fight you where you can't hurt my pack, and

resign myself to be devoured, if that is my fate."

he continued to surprise me. he had come here, assuming that i would eat him, and he had done so because he had thought

it would endanger his pack if he stayed.

"i do not want to eat you. i just had quite a nice breakfast consisting of lizard, and i'm quite full."

he was confused for a moment.

"so, you want me to wait until your hungry again?"

"no. it was never my intention to eat you in the first place, no matter how delicious you might be. i want to make a deal with

you."

"what your saying, is that you aren't going to eat me?"

"no. and i won't hurt your pack. i just want to talk."

he relaxed, and started to look thoughtful.

---

he was hunting through the forest, thinking about his evolution.

now i can protect my pack, even if i meet that bastard Shadowpelt.

after a couple hours, he returned from his solo hunting. he should have hunted in a pack, but his closest friends wouldn't

look him in the eye, since they had run away when he had stood firm. he had tried to approach them, say he had no hard

feelings, but they wouldn't listen to him.

damn shadowpelt, i hope demius rips that asshole to shreds.

he was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the giant spider in the middle of the clearing.

when he did, he thought,

shit! what the hell is a spider doing here?!

one of his pack mates came up to him, and said.

"the spider says she wants to talk to you. it's the damnedest thing i ever heard! what do you think?"

i thought for a moment, and decided that now i was evolved, i could probably take it.

"i think i'll talk to it."

i walked away, leaving a shocked wolf behind me. a pathway opened up for me to get to the spider, the fifty or so wolves

parting to allow me passage. even before my evolution, i had been one of the strongest members of our pack. now, there

wasn't any wolf that could even come close to me. i was now apparently the leader, as wolfs decided leadership through

strength.

when i had reached the spider, she asked me in a hissing voice.

"sssss, you are egain, sssss, right?"

"i am egain, what do you want? i thought we had an agreement with cassandra that she wouldn't attack us, and we

wouldn't annihilate her."

"sssss, cassandra is dead. shadowpelt is new nest leader."

i felt a sinking feeling, and said,

"then, shadowpelt is alive?" a couple of my pack had reported that demius hadn't moved since this morning, but i had

thought he was being lazy."

"sssss, shadowpelt is king, he asked shielin to bring the wolf egain to him, and not kidnap him. or kill him."

thinking about this, it seemed he liked his food fresh. i shook my head. i was stronger now, i could take him. maybe.

"why does shadowpelt want me?"

"ssssss," she hissed angrily. "master doesn't need to give reasons to his servants."

i looked at her for a second, and suddenly a thought hit me.

"do... do you have a crush on him?"

she stopped moving all at once, and for a second i thought she had turned to stone, then i felt a wave of pure killing intent.

"so what if this one does?"

i was scared and amused at the same time. for one thing, i no longer thought that i could take this spider no problem. it

would be an even fight. and second, the thought of this spider having a crush on that psychopath was for some reason

funny.

i started cracking up, and this only caused the killing intent to grow stronger, but i couldn't help myself.

"what is so amusing, wolf?"

'he he, it's that you... ha! and him... he he, and you want to... ha ha ha!"

"ssss, masters orders or not, this one is getting ready to drag you unconscious back to the cave." she still had that angry

note in her voice, and i knew that i had better stop, or she would get the first hit in, and i would die.

struggling to stop, i said in as unamused a voice as i could, "okay. bring me to him."

---

and here i was, when i had asked shielin where shadowpelt had gone, she simply said, "master keeps his word." and

wouldn't tell me a single thing more. when he had arrived, i had lost all the confidence i had briefly held. he had evolve too,

and now he looked more powerful than i could possibly hope to match.

when i found out he didn't want to eat me, i had been surprised. i honestly thought i would die. this was the second time

that i had met him, fully expecting to die, and been spared. it started to annoy me.

"so, what is this deal you have for me?"

he looked thoughtful, and finally said. "i will protect your pack, and in exchange for offering them my protection, i can call

upon them for aid if ever i need it."

i thought for a second, and finally decided, "what makes me think that your telling the truth, and will leave us to die the

second we become useless to you?"

"my word."

i was flabbergasted. "you want me to intrust my pack to you, based on your word?"

he smiled a knowing smile, and said."for now. but, from here on out, i will help you grow stronger. if, at any point in time,

you decide to stop the deal, you can fight me, and kill me if you can. until such a time as you try to kill me, i swear upon the

name of Jordan, my god, that i will do everything within my power to protect your pack. will that satisfy you?"

i thought, and realized i had no choice. he could simply threaten us, and we would be forced to do anything he said,

especially with the spiders backing him up. but, if i accepted, i could grow stronger, and some day kill him. "i will accept on

one condition."

"what would that be?"

i looked at him, and used every bit of determination i had in my next words.

"when next we fight, use all of your power. and if i fail to kill you, eat me. i can't have you spare me a third time. if you did, i

would be less than prey. at least prey has the pride of evading capture. to be caught and let go is to die. to be eaten is to

pass your strength on to your killer. do you accept?" i said as aggressively as i could.

i think i was seeing things, but i thought i saw a small gleam of respect in his eyes.

"deal."

end of Chapter 7