A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 168: Chapter 168 - Tensions rise

Frostfang's gaze burned with fury, a storm brewing in the wake of the defiance he faced, first with Erik, now seemingly with his supposed comrades and subordinates.

"What do you mean you can't?" he growled, the weight of betrayal and insubordination heavy on his mind. After all, he already knew of a traitor among these five.

The quiet refusal from Olaf and the others, coupled with Viljar's silence, pushed him to the brink. Yet, before he could lash out, Victor's calm interjection offered a momentary pause. "Calm down, Frostfang. It's not their fault," he said, wanting to prevent his side from imploding.

Despite his anger, Frostfang had always been a rational and pragmatic person, so while Victor's words caused a sudden suspicion to come to him that all of his fellow students betrayed the Enclave in favor of the council, he quickly discarded that thought again.

'One of them betraying the Enclave is a bitter pill, but all? Unthinkable,' he reasoned internally, his anger subsiding enough to seek clarity. "What are you talking about?" he demanded, as his eyes narrowed towards Victor.

Victor pointed casually at Erik. "One of the things we know about Erik and his group is that they have the ability to stop people from talking about or acting against them. We suspect the crimson-haired woman is responsible for this."

"Very perceptive of them," mumbled Elora inside Erik's soul. Naturally, Erik and Elora had simply been watching casually as the enemy descended into chaos. The more turmoil there was, the more opportunities they might find to get out of here.

Meanwhile, Victor kept talking, while pointing at the five shapeshifters that refused Frostfang's order. "If you look at the back of their hands, you'll probably find a small, dark green mark. That's all we know about this, however."

Naturally, Frostfang was loath to trust Victor so easily, but one look at Erik's face told him all he needed to know. He turned towards Erik threateningly, "You! Undo whatever you did to them."

Erik raised an eyebrow on his transformed face and left a moment of silence, before he simply uttered one word, "No."

To the side, Viljar palmed his face. "Dammit Erik! Can't you compromise a little?"

But Erik simply shrugged and met Frostfang's glare with a defiant gaze while directing his words towards Viljar, "Sorry, uncle, I won't budge on this. Our secrets are ours, and they will remain that way for as long as possible."

Finally, Frostfang was about ready to burst and began moving towards Erik, his face twisted in anger and his fists raised. "Alright, you brat," he started in a threatening tone, "I may not be willing to see you dead, but I can damn well beat you up until you learn some respect for those stronger than you."

Seeing Frostfang's approach caused Erik to brandish his hammer and grin with cautious excitement. He knew the situation was bad. If anything went wrong today, the best-case scenario would be all five of them ending up under Frostfang's command, with Victor having gotten the boot.

Yet, not only would that create later problems with the council, but Erik and Elora simply didn't want to end up as a mere pawn in the battle for control over a tiny part of Norway.

And then there were the worst-case scenarios, which ranged from death to one or more of them being taken by the council.

And yet, despite knowing the situation, and knowing Frostfang would not be holding back as Katya had done in London, Erik couldn't help but be excited by the prospect of fighting someone stronger than him.

But just as the tension reached its peak and the two combatants were about to clash, another twist awaited, courtesy of Elora's strategic planning.

*****

A little while earlier, inside Erik's old home, Emma, Astrid, and Emily were watching the scene outside with nervous and rapt attention.

"Damn the council. What are they expecting exactly?" Emily asked rhetorically, annoyed and nervous energy dripping from her face. "Do they think I'll simply work for them after they kidnap me?!"

"Don't worry, Big Em," Emma said soothingly, with a smile on her face. "Master and Elora will solve it."

"I wish I had your faith in them…" Emily grumbled. "Right now I'm not even sure they won't just hand me over to save you and themselves!" It didn't appear like Emily had realized that Elora was just as much a target as she was.

Emily palmed her face and sighed, "Although… perhaps that wouldn't be so bad. At least you'd get away, little Em."

Emma smiled brightly at her big sister, "They would never do that, Emily. I know Elora doesn't treat you nicely, and I suppose I'm not sure if she really would be capable of leaving you behind, but Master would never do that!"

Emily gazed at her little sister with complicated emotions, consisting mostly of worry. "You know, one of these days he's going to let you down, little Em… Maybe not intentionally, but everyone screws up at one point or another."

Emma remained silent as she watched the proceedings outside, where Viljar had just shown up.

At the same time, Astrid was behind them, seemingly barely paying attention to what was happening outside. Her brows were furrowed in concentration while she swung her new swords around. 'I need to get a good feel of their balance and reach. Erik might need me later,' she thought to herself with determination.

Just when Emily started thinking she wouldn't get a response, Emma smiled softly. "If that ever happens, I suppose it will be my turn to be the boulder shielding Master, instead of the other way around."

Her words were said with so much conviction that even Astrid was momentarily pulled away from her practice. Both Emily and Astrid stared at Emma with a hint of disbelief.

They couldn't help but feel a certain awe as they looked at the small and seemingly fragile body of Emma, filled with conviction and determination. At that moment, she really did look like a boulder, capable of shielding anyone from anything.

Such was the strength that came from a powerful belief in something greater than yourself. Whether or not such a belief was healthy was debatable, but the mental fortitude it granted was very real.

"He doesn't deserve you, Emma…" Emily mumbled, slightly aggrieved. She couldn't help but feel a certain desire for the way Emma lived her life. Yet, she knew she could never do what Emma did.

"You know, if Erik marries more women like you, perhaps sharing him isn't so bad." Astrid chuckled, before going back to her practice.

Emma smiled and opened her mouth to respond to Astrid when she suddenly closed it again and frowned a little. Astrid and Emily looked at each other with confusion, wondering what was wrong with Emma.

A few moments later, she opened her mouth again and looked seriously at Astrid and Emily. "Elora just sent me a message. She and Erik need our help with something."

Suddenly, she pouted a little as sadness flashed through her eyes, "Well, they need help from the two of you, I'm just the messenger in this case."

She shook her head to rid herself of thoughts of inadequacy. 'Just need to get to the second rank!' she thought to herself. 'Then I'll surely be able to help Master, too!'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a serious and battle-ready Astrid. "What do they need? Is it time to fight?"

A small, mysterious smile appeared on Emma's face, "Not exactly…"