A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Pain. Pain and emptiness. That was what Erik felt when he finally stirred again. His ears were buzzing, his eyes were heavy, pain radiated from his chest, and his body felt weak, refusing to obey him. Meanwhile, a fog rested on his mind, and his soul was missing its regular occupant.

But, he also felt alive.

His first reaction was to softly, and involuntarily groan, 'Where am I…?' in this head, as his eyes still felt too heavy to open.

But that quickly changed when memories of his last moments came flooding back. He immediately tensed his painful body, nearly making him groan again. Yet, he remained quiet and still as adrenaline flooded the fog from his mind thoughts and grogginess from his eyes, even as his body still refused to move.

'Where am I?!' he thought again. This time more pointed, and with some concern for the wellbeing of himself and his loved ones. But he quickly calmed down and reminded himself not to make a sound until he knew a little more about his situation.

Instantly, he used the bonds in order to asses the fate of his loved ones, while pricking up his ears and suppressing his pain to ascertain the level of freedom his body currently had.

It didn't take long before he smiled gently and relaxed. After checking the location and status of his wives, and trying to get a feel for his surroundings, he knew he was currently in a very similar situation to a few days ago. Thus, he opened his eyes, and found he was in a dark, but seemingly luxurious room.

Strangely, the room's walls were comprised of large, grey blocks of stone that looked a little weathered, and certainly not like any modern architecture he was familiar with. In fact, if he had to equate it with anything, it would be the structure inside his dimension.

Yet, he was certain he wasn't in his home right now.

But he put those thoughts aside. Instead, his focus was drawn to the people around him. Similar to when he fell unconscious following his battle with the kraken, his head was now resting on Emma's lap, while Astrid and Emily had both claimed one of his sides, and the fairy sized Elora was lying on his chest.

They appeared to all be asleep, with Emma sitting upright, but resting her body against the backrest of soft bed they found themselves on. He could feel through their bond that they were exhausted, at peace, and not overly worried right now, also proven by their soft snoring.

Thus, he decided to let them sleep for now. Of course, he worried about where they were and what became of his mother, but considering his wives calm, he decided there was likely nothing that required his immediate attention.

Instead, he decided to enjoy the situation. 'I like watching them sleep,' he chuckled inwardly. 'They look cute, all huddled up against me.'

Frankly, he was loathe to disturb them. Besides, he wanted to take a moment and assess his body a little more.

The first thing he realized, was that he remained in his werewolf form. 'That's not too surprising, though,' he muttered to himself with a thoughtful expression. 'Only I can change myself back, after all, neither death nor unconsciousness can do so for me.'

Of course, that meant his wives were hugging his furry, beastly body, which actually felt pleasant. Even if he never thought they were revulsed by his werewolf form, it was still true that none of them were shapeshifters.

Regardless, he decided to remain in this form for now, as the massive shifting that would occur from changing his shape would surely wake them up.

Instead, he checked on the rest of his body. The first was he noticed was that his armour had retreated back into the arm guard, which reminded him of Eira.

A quick check on his bond with the sigil construct told him all he needed to know and made him sigh slightly. She was brooding inside her core and flooded with negative emotions. He still remembered the distress she felt when his armour, her medium, was punctured and he became wounded.

'It kind of hurts to see her so down when she's usually so cheerful,' he sighed inwardly.

"Eira?"

he asked her through their bond, wanting to see if he could alleviate some of her troubles.

Instantly, he felt the negative emotions make way for a wave of relief. Clearly, she'd been too preoccupied in her own guilt to notice he'd woken up.

"M— Master!"

she exclaimed excitedly as happiness flooded her words. But then she quickly toned down again as her next words were filled with guilt,n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"H— How do you feel….?"

"Like I was flattened by a handful of third ranked trains,"

he chuckled back at her while trying to imagine what a third ranked train might look like.

Unsurprisingly, Eira had never heard of such a thing.

"I— Train, Master?"

she asked, with a cute amount of confusion.

"Never mind. My body hurts, but I'm sure I'll be fine in time,"

he smiled reassuringly at her, before deciding to quickly jump into the heart of the matter.

"But never mind that. Tell me, Eira, are you feeling guilty?"

Technically, Eira still didn't know that Erik could tap into her emotions, which was one of their precautions against a possible, Audumla related future betrayal. Thus, he had to hint at it instead.

Instantly, her emotions became filled with panic.

"I— I—"

she muttered frantically while pain and sadness radiated through her words. Erik decided to wait patiently, as he was long happy that she didn't simply retreat into her core and refuse to talk to him.

"I— I failed to protect you…"

she finally muttered with a choked sob, before falling silent as her emotions became filled with guilt and sadness. Erik felt there was more, though, so he waited patiently.

"You— You trusted me with being your armour, and I failed…! I could have reinforced the impact zone, but I was overconfident!"

she finally continued while her voice took on a more desperate quality.

"I wanted to become your trusted travel companion, and— and go on adventures with you! But how can you trust me now?! You almost died because of me!"

For a moment, Erik waited to see if there was more, but the only thing he heard was a pained, fearful silence. She was afraid of his response.

So, he sighed, and, to Eira's despair, could only agree. Read exclusive content at empire

"You're not exactly wrong,"

he told her, causing the minotaur girl to whimper.

"But you could look at it in a different way,"

he continued with a small smile, causing Eira's whimpering to stop as she began listening closely. "

If you'd stopped my mother's attack that time, Edda would have simply found a different way to force my mother in despair. In the end, my life was in danger because of Edda's power, not your overconfidence."

"So, rather than despair, you should learn from your mistakes, and never underestimate anyone in the future. Especially not in a volatile situation like that one, alright?"

he finished softly.

Unfortunately, Eira only nodded somewhat half-heartedly, clearly not entirely soothed.

But Erik had one more thing to say. There was something about her words and emotions that made him wonder.

"Let me ask you a question, though,

" he said thoughtfully.

"And this is something I want you to think about, rather than give me a direct answer to. Tell me, Eira, what do you fear more? Me getting hurt, or me losing my trust in you?"

Before she could answer, he continued,

"And if it's the latter, is that because you care about me and want us to be close, or… because you see me as your mistress's harbinger, and a tool for your desire to travel and have adventures?"