A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Chapter 172: Chapter 172 - The Enclave always comes first

It remained quiet for a moment, as Frostfang stared at Björn with an expressionless face, his thoughts unknown. Björn simply looked back, with the slowly crumbling hope of a desperate father, his fists clenched in frustration and despair.

Finally, Frostfang turned his face towards Victor with an unspoken question on his face.

Victor scoffed a little and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn't think you'd actually consider it, I figured you'd be harder on a traitor." He waved his hand dismissively, "Regardless, that daughter of his is a valuable asset. In the past, hybrids may have been uninteresting, but now… well, things might be different."

He shrugged, "Still, we have made very little progress, so I suppose you can take his daughter, but it will be in exchange for the support I promised you." He grinned maliciously, knowing the kind of choice he was putting in front of Frostfang, "You can't have both."

Yet, contrary to Victor's beliefs, this choice was actually not that difficult for Frosfang. He turned back to Björn and shook his head without hesitation. "The Enclave will always come first," he said harshly, not sparing Björn's feelings at all, even as every last bit of hope in Björn's eyes shattered.

"The Enclave includes many shapeshifters, who will all die by the Dominion's hands, sooner or later, without some kind of support," he continued, with an emotionless expression, while Björn slowly sagged to his hands and knees.

"Alice…" Björn whispered in a broken voice full of despair.

"The life of one girl does not weigh up to that. Not even when she's your daughter," Frostfang finally finished, while looking down at Björn.

Naturally, there was another option for the Enclave, which was to outright join the council. Unfortunately, that would be impossible right now, as not even the Enclave's current dire straights would convince these shapeshifters to accept the human part of the European Council.

Or at least, such was the opinion of Frostfang, which is why he kept the council's presence, and their mixed leadership, a secret from most of the Enclave. After all, if the people found out, they would start to divide between some wanting to join the council despite the humans, and some who wanted to tough it out on their own.

Naturally, he couldn't allow such division within the ranks. Not now.

Silence descended once again. Some looked at Björn with compassion and pity, others looked at him with derision. Yet, no one spoke out in his defense. Not even Viljar, who seemed particularly torn between the knowledge that Frostfang was right, and the love and care he held for his comrade of seven years.

Björn looked like a broken shell of a man, as he kept kneeling on hand and foot, all the while, shivering and mumbling his daughter's name.

Finally, Frostfang spoke up again. "You'll face the consequences of your actions when we return to the nearest camp," he said, but Björn didn't seem to register the words, and simply kept mumbling, all hope now gone.

Erik looked at that sight and sighed sadly, while inwardly promising himself something. 'That will never be me,' he thought, as he felt the determination to grow ever more powerful swell within him. 'Never will I be forced to watch as others decide the fate of my loved ones.'

'This, I swear.' He declared inwardly, full of conviction.

Meanwhile, Elora was thinking very different things. 'A hopeless man will do anything, so long as he is given even the tiniest sliver of hope,' she thought, as her mind kept racing to make new plans and consider possibilities. 'I believe he may be our ticket out of here.'

Having finished with Björn for now, Frostfang turned around to face Erik again.

"Alright, boy," he began. "If you don't want to be separated from your lady friends, I'll give you one chance to convince me that keeping them with me is better than taking a chance with the council.

The Enclave is in dire straits, and we need help, but I would prefer to take the support that is right here, from people related to my honored teacher, rather than trust this guy to keep his end of the bargain. Something he is clearly not very good at in the first place."

Before Erik could respond, Victor made his displeasure known. "What the hell are you doing, Frostfang?" he growled, almost threateningly, despite their power difference.

"What does it look like?" Frostfang snorted in response. "I'm weighing my options."

He turned back to Erik with a questioning gaze, ignoring any further objections from Victor. "Well?" he pressed, impatiently.

Meanwhile, Elora was, once again, the only one to notice Victor fiddling around with a sigil stone. Finally, after many revisions had been made from the moment Frostfang walked into Frostvik, Elora had formed the final version of her plan to get out of there.

It was risky, but what other choice did they have?

So, before Erik could respond to Frostfang, Elora used their connection to explain her plan to him at thinking speed. It was more images and feelings than actual words, but in less than a second, Erik had understood what she wanted to do.

"Well, the riskier the plan the better I always say," Erik chuckled mentally towards Elora, before agreeing to her plan and turning his attention to Frostfang.

Mere seconds had passed since Frostfang had asked his question, but he was already getting a little impatient. Meanwhile, Victor was giving Erik a threatening glare, clearly warning him to keep his mouth shut.

Naturally, Erik completely ignored that warning.

His lips curled into a sly smile before he looked at Frostfang and opened his mouth, "You know what sigils are, correct?"

Frostfang's eyes shone with interest, as he was very well aware of what had turned the Dominion into such a threat nearly overnight. "Yes, so?"

"Well," Erik began. "Let me tell you why the council is after us…"

So he started telling Frostfang everything that the council knew about them. Which basically just amounted to Elora having some skill with sigils, and Emily having a darkness affinity with the power to enslave.

However, Erik managed to make it sound like the answer to all of Frostfang's problems with the Dominion. Especially by pointing out the sigil to affect the Dominion's control over ghouls which Elora had already taught Nora.

Naturally, he didn't neglect to mention that he himself was far stronger than any normal second-rank, as Viljar could attest to. Yet if he was forced to part from his companions, he would not be so inclined to fight as a member of the Enclave.

But the nail in the coffin was when Erik revealed the main reason why the Council was after them.

Elora's disappearing act in the helicopter.