A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"Frostvik…" Frostfang mumbled, "I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit the place where my honored teacher used to live."

He turned towards his companion with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure they ended up in this place?"

Victor nodded, his eyes narrowed, and shining with expectation, "Of course! My informant was very clear. They told me about the route they took from the site of that battle, and since then, I've contacted them every day to make sure they were still in the same place."

He shrugged, "They couldn't tell me it was this place specifically, but their directions end here, so…"

"Right…" Frostfang growled softly, "Your so-called informant."

Frostfang's eyebrows knitted together sharply, fury flitting across his eyes as his jaw clenched tight. "I'd really like to know which one of my fellow students dared to betray me. To betray the Enclave. Betray teacher!" The bitter fury in his voice increased with every word.

Victor felt the violent emanations of the third-rank Runebound next to him and decided to take a step back. The council may have multiple third-rank powerhouses, but none who were close enough to shield him from this particular powerhouse. He preferred not to be struck down in a fit of anger.

Yet, he couldn't just give Frostfang what he wanted out of fear. With Aria Lefay as his faction's leader, he would likely suffer a fate worse than death if he let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

He eyed the tall man carefully. "We agreed I'd give you their identity, as soon as I get what I want," he said, greed and excitement now replaced by caution.

Luckily, Frostfang was not about to ruin everything by giving in to anger. He took a deep breath and calmed down, before turning to Victor with narrowed eyes. "Yes, you will. And you'll also send support against the Dominion, as per our deal."

The threat in Frostfang's voice was clear, and Victor felt the pressure of a third-rank's threat pressing down on his shoulders.

Yet, he remained undeterred. The job of an envoy requires many different qualities, not least among which were bravery, and a touch of insanity.

You couldn't just give in to a foreign ruler just because he had the ability to put you in the ground, after all. It would undermine the person, faction, or country you're representing.

Instead, his lips curled up into a confident grin. "Of course, of course. As long as I claim my prize today, I will be able to demand whatever I like from the council. Including support for your cause."

The disdain Victor felt for this man was carefully hidden. After all, he couldn't understand why Frostfang wouldn't just dissolve his little backwater Enclave into the council and become a councilor.

Councilors were at the top of the food chain in Europe! Sure, it's the classical, big fish small pond debate, but in Victor's mind, that barely counted here. 'Sooner or later, this small pond will dissolve into the European sea,' he thought to himself. 'You're only delaying the inevitable.'

'As for your precious support… we'll see if I still remember it when I bring back my prize to Brussels,' he finished, smirking inwardly.

The two men were locked in a staring contest for a moment before Frostfang finally snorted and turned back toward Frostvik. "Fine. Let's get this over with fast then. Every moment we delay is another Enclave encampment wiped out by those damnable ghouls."

Frostfang was an intelligent man, however, and he certainly realized the high possibility of Victor's betrayal down the line, so he had made his own plans to deal with that.

For now, however, these two men plotting against each other were still on the same team and began to walk down the path toward Frostvik.

Yet, despite his third rank, it appeared that even Frostfang didn't notice the same warning signal that once warned Elora of Viljar's arrival.

*******

Back in Frostvik, Erik and his group were still sleeping. In Erik's parent's old bed, three people were entangled together: Erik, Emma, and Emily, the latter of which still had not managed to secure her own bed.

"Erik! Armor! Now!" Elora's loud voice suddenly sounded in the werewolf's head.

His eyes opened wide and trained instincts from seven years of living on the edge of society as a mercenary kicked in. He didn't even question Elora's words, as he knew she wouldn't mess around with this.

Her tone made him realize one, very important thing: trouble was here.

He roughly, and hastily untangled himself from the mess of limbs he found himself in and jumped out of bed.

Next, he sprinted towards his armor in the corner, which he hadn't worn since the day he arrived in Frostvik. Unfortunately, several of his armor's enchantments interfered with storage jewels, so he had no choice but to keep the armor outside of them.

At the same time, Elora appeared. She had a frown on her face and an expression that was very uncommon for the usually confident and playful fairy: anxiety.

Erik's rough movement had naturally woken the two Ashcroft sisters from their slumber. They rubbed the sleep from their eyes, even as their eyebrows shot up in surprise at the usually oh-so-calm duo of werewolf and fairy.

They had only seen them act like this one time before when Katya arrived in London.

"Up, up, up!" Elora said hastily, and loudly. "Get your stuff. We might be in for a fight, or perhaps a chase."

While Emma didn't argue and quickly burned through her usual ropes so that she could put on her clothes, Emily just stared at the fairy groggily and with annoyance. "Why the sudden hurry, huh?" she growled, still nursing a grudge against the fairy.

Instead of answering, Elora called on the powers of their covenant to force Emily into getting a move on. The covenant mark on the back of Emily's hand flashed, and Elora growled, "I said get your ass out of bed and prepare to leave. Now!"

Still grumbling under her breath, Emily felt herself complying with Elora's order, despite her grudge, and her desire to sleep a little longer.

Meanwhile, Erik was almost done donning his gear, and probed the fairy for answers, "Is it Frostfang?" he asked while concentrating on his armor.

"Yes," the fairy answered, "And he's brought the council."