All in all the training could be worse, not much worse mind you but worse nonetheless. For the last couple of days Erik had to carry an exorbitant amount of stuff during their walking phase and once they settled down for the night they used the last few minutes of daylight for some sparring. Which was another word for three soldiers beating the shit out of him without breaking bones.

He was breathing heavy when he sunk to the ground, today's beating had been worse than most but Erik had managed to land a few hits of his own on at least two of the attackers. Luckily for him he had no watch tonight, or any day for that matter, he was not yet deemed worthy of protecting the lives of his fellow soldiers.

It had taken the company the better half of a week to catch up to their first target, a group of enemy soldiers deep within the rebels territory.

Scribes had managed to decipher a partially found message and now Summer had been tasked with hunting the enemy down and killing them. The message they had received had said something about a hundred soldiers in the enemy group. Summer had less than thirty soldiers at her command and yet nobody was worried about being outmatched three to one.

Erik decided not to ask about it, they were either crazy or had a plan smart enough he wouldn't understand it anyway. He hoped for the latter while expecting the former.

The soldiers in Summer's group were crazy, and not the funny way either. Last night one of them had snapped a wolf's neck with his bare hands while telling a story about a very indecent farmer girl he had met a couple of months back.

Second in command was a little girl, or at least that was what she looked like, barely as tall as a fourteen year old girl she insisted to be called Sir.

Her squad was formed by six people who, in Erik's opinion, should not be trusted with a blade, let alone the dozens of knives they had strapped to every body part they could strap them to.

As he was laying on the ground the usual noise of laughter and shouts worked like a lullaby for him, he had never been with a group as large as this.

In his mind the first wolf sat among friends and a couple of animals that were not supposed to get along with a wolf.

Right, within his own soul the animals lost all hostility or fear for each other, it looked like the perfect little world.

His dreams took Erik back to the lives he had taken, the animal ones at least, he remembered running through fresh snow chasing after a wolf with white fur.

He remembered the wind ins his wings as he sailed through the skies in search for a warmer place than the one he had left behind weeks ago.

When he awoke the next day his limbs ached softly, and the morning chill was still in the air, like a thick scent. It was quiet, no bickering or yelling and no sound of breakfast being cooked. Something was wrong, very wrong, the guard was supposed to notice everyone he was still awake every couple of minutes by tapping his or her shield.

Erik shot upwards, at a tree next to him leaned one of the younger warriors, sleeping during his watch. Erik was about to whistle or wake the boy some other way before anyone else woke up and noticed his mistake, when he noticed a faint smell.

Something like smoke and sweat, with a hint of iron.

"Enemy upon us!" he yelled, as he drew the longknife Summer had given him when she learned he had nothing but a bow and an axe.

Within seconds the soldiers around him rose to their feet, the watchman that had been asleep jumped up and took an arrow the the neck.

His eyes went wide as he grabbed for the wooden shaft in his throat gasping for air. The surrounding bushes burst apart as soldiers stormed at the still unorganized troop of Summer. They were outnumbered, but not yet completely surrounded, Erik expected Summer to call for retreat, instead she screamed horrifyingly and charged the first soldier she saw, a poor woman with a short spear.

The first axe in Summer's hand battered the spear aside while the second took half of the soldier's skull with it as it crushed through the cheap leather and wood helmet.

All around the falling woman fights began and Erik managed just in time to look at his own large shielded enemy to dodge a furious strike with the right arm aiming for his neck.

Time slowed down as he stepped to the side, the axe moving past him as he raised his arm to bury his dagger in the man's throat.

Quicker than one would imagine possible for a man his size the shielded enemy dropped to the ground, barely managing to escape the knife but raising his shield for a powerful strike at Erik's front leg.

Erik buckled as the shield smashed into his knee, pain shot through his body. The soldier grunted relieved about his success and thrust a knife at Erik's face. The blade could not be dodged anymore so Erik caught it with his hand, blood hit his face as the tip broke free of the other side of his hand but he managed to avoid dying for another minute.

The wolves inside his head howled in pain and their combined rage overwhelmed him, his right arm transformed into a massive paw as he clawed at his attackers face.

Erik leapt at the man and while his shattered knee sent waves of excruciating pain through his body the rage of the spirits would not be satisfied until the enemy before them was down on the ground drowning in his own blood.

Before he managed to get the wolves back under control his teeth tore into the man's throat, his soul left the body shortly after, a shadow disappearing from his eyes.

Erik's leg hurt but the pain was less than shortly before, the spirits were mending the bones as he watched for anymore attackers nearby. The camp was devastated, tools and sleeping bags were all over the place. The first assault had pushed most of the rebels back but they were gaining ground as Summer drove her small group deep into enemy lines.

A young boy even younger than Erik was hiding behind a tree, he could hear him whimper as the sound of clashing steel got closer. A rebel was being beaten back by another shielded warrior armed with an axe. Without making a sound Erik moved towards his back, slowly not to strain his leg he drew the blade still buried in his left hand and added his own. Now with two knifes he prepared for a deadly assault, one blade aimed for the man's neck, the other for the man's right kidney.

With a growl he simultaneously hit both of his targets, the first blade severing the spine and the second shredding the man's kidney, he died before he hit the ground.

The other man nodded appreciatively and continued on to help other rebels losing ground. Erik was out for blood, but now he had the wolves back under control, with deadly silence he moved through the woods, his shape shifting with every step.

His teeth grew longer and his senses sharper, the world seemed to vibrate with colour, each step brought him closer to potential targets.

The first one to fall before his newly found fury was a woman fighting off a rebel by keeping her at bay with a short spear, a blade broke through her ribs and pierced her heart before she knew what had just appeared before her. The second was an older soldier who managed to raise his shield before a knife buried itself in the man's one good eye.

After the third one the stolen knife broke and Erik pulled his axe from the leather belt he was wearing.

The axe made things simpler, shields were struck and arms broken with the inhuman strength that now pulsated through his body. After the wielder of the shield staggered back a blow from the longknife usually cut their throat or tore through their stomach.

Time flew by as Erik sank deeper and deeper in a blood drenched dream, enemy and foe started to look alike, all looked like prey.

The world blurred into a haze of red his ears filled with the screams of people and wolves, a foot brought him back to reality.

The kick threw him against a tree, his back cracked under protest but the impact got him back to his senses, he was back in the camp. Summer stood to his left, axe raised and prepared to strike. Behind her was the boy Erik had seen at the beginning of the fight, he clutched a bleeding stump where his left hand had been, blood streamed from cuts on his face and shoulder.

Erik blinked, his arms were covered in cuts, his fingers formed claws. He felt his face changing form, he had not realized how far gone blood haze had gotten him.

He sat up and the rebels around him raised their weapons until Summer made a short gesture with her hand.

"You with us recruit?" she asked, axe still raised a trace of worry in her voice.

"Nod if you can understand, jump on one leg if you intend to rip our throats out... Dragon dicks, i thought Winter was joking about the ripping a guy's throat out with your teeth." Erik had to chuckle, that was the first time he had ever heard the phrase 'dragon dicks' the things he learned in the army.

"I'm back, or at least i think I am commander." he managed to say, Summer relaxed.

"Well I will have to take your word for it, do you mind dropping that dagger of yours? And the axe while you are at it, they are making my people jumpy after they just saw you tear through so many royals... and they are bloody dirty." Erik looked down at his weapons, and dropped them at once.

The axe had the better part of a human skull stuck at the flat end of it, and the dagger was more of a short stump. When he opened his hand the dagger just stuck to it, he had to use forcefully throw it to the ground. He calmed down, slowly but steadily his body returned to normal, the light dwindled and the sounds dimmed to a whisper.

A fire was lit a couple of meters away where the survivors threw more and more wood together to burn the bodies of friends and foes alike, after they had been stripped of anything valuable or useful for the surviving members of the group.

Summer stayed with him, at first to make sure he wouldn't fall back to old habits but after a while the pain from Erik's joints and muscles had him at the ground gasping for air.

Agony burned through his body as the spirits tried their best to heal the damage the fighting had done to his body, bones were re aligned after they had wrongly mended under the influence of fast healing and wrong positioning.

It took hours before Erik rolled on his back, the cramps over and his body back to it's original form. Sweat covered him and the cool air of the night quickly chilled him to his bones.

"What are you?" Summer's voice sounded from his side, the woman was sitting her back on a tree. Her eyes were narrowed as if she judged whether to keep talking or chop him to pieces before he could regain his strength.

Erik just looked at the sky for a while, the leaves of the tree above him moved with every breeze revealing spots of the starry sky above. The question Summer had asked was one he had asked himself for a while now, the winter had changed him, but the seed for the change had been there long before.

"What do you think I am supposed to do with my powers? Because i have honestly no idea on who to control them, or if I am even supposed to." Maybe letting go of his self was the key to the whole thing, sadly he had noone to ask or books to read. Not that he could read but Al had always told him about the answers he found in the dusty old books he kept around his room.

By now the idea of following the words of some long dead guy talking about his problems did not seem like that bad of an idea.

"Asking me for help? Boy, you really need to be lost to consider following my advice." She took a deep breath before she continued.

"But you know, being part of a unit is not that bad and who knows? You will die most likely before the whole thing is over, so stop thinking about the future and start getting to know the fellas you just saved. I know one thing though, with you we have a better chance of getting our lands and rights back from the damned bluebloods." She stood up and left Erik alone with his thoughts.

To some degree she was right, the war would take years before any real progress could be made, he had heard the others talking about the armies just assembling at the fronts. The streets and paths leading from one kingdom to the other were in bad shape, armies would need to either rebuild them as they progressed or try their luck with no back up and supplies to speak of.

He sighed, got to his feet and walked towards his fellow soldiers.