Chapter 16: Chapter 15. Aranea POV. Kayleen POV.

"From blood we come with scream and rage. By honing our skills, we are leaving our marks upon this violent era. And in the end…" The voice of Janine stopped, as she was looking at the bodies of dead wolfkins before her in mild confusion, unsure how to proceed correctly.

Rows of Wolf Tribe members were assembled on a mountain's cliff, soldiers from the packs of the four warlords, nearly five hundred members. All of them were clad in newer models of power armor, and each and every one of them was without their helmets. The death of a warlord was a tragedy in the Wolf Tribe, and such a small attendance could have been viewed as insulting by the shamans. However, these were the only soldiers the warlords could spend, other packs were busy hunting the enemy or guarding in other areas. The Spirits will understand. Aranea and her pack were placed close to the burial site, in the front row. Three warlords were standing before the bodies of the dead, Valerye, still flanked by her bodyguards, Martyshkina, for once without her cloak and weapons. Lastly, there was Janine, clad in full heavy power armor. Her twisted and oversized body needed custom armor, and such armor was provided for her by Till. Just like her jaw, her new armor looked elegant, covering her body like a pitch-black shroud of night. The flamecaster was once more installed on her arm, in her free arm she was holding a book with prayers, reading from it for a good ten minutes. In the past few days, engineers kept working on Janine's lower jaw, adding more fangs to it and even constructing rubber lips for the lower part of her face, giving her back the ability to smile. The remains of the old, oversized voice transmitter were removed from her throat, a more compact model was installed in her throat, making her voice even clearer.

According to customs, shamans were supposed to lead the ceremony of farewell. Yet all the shamans who survived the battle were forcibly held in medical facilities, their wounds were still too great to allow them to return to the service, while their stubborn refusal to lie down and allow themselves to be treated only prolonged the misery of doctors, as they tried to nurse their stubborn patients back to health. Military police members were getting tired of having to catch shamans who tried to return to their packs.

Ceremonies of farewell were uncommon, most wolfkins simply added the names of their dead to the ranks of minor spirits and went on with their lives. Yet Martyshkina insisted on conducting the ceremony, and Foulsnout supported her decision, forcing the hand of Janine. With the permission of Wyrm Lord, packs will spend half of a day mourning their fallen and half of a day cheering, thanking spirits for giving them life.

In the absence of shamans, it fell to Ironjaw to lead the ceremony, as she was the oldest of all the present warlords. Janine was still getting used to her new jaw, her voice was clear, words no longer sounded overly loud as before. Crude surgery that was performed on her throat before was fully overhauled, renewed emotions were once more in the voice of the warlord, scars around her jaw were removed along with outdated implants on her neck. Pink spots covered the massive neck of Janine in places where fur had not yet fully covered the healed parts of her neck, marking the spots where metal implants were installed in her body before.

Packs of Valerye and Dragena were standing still, unmoving like a group of statues. Annie was standing with both her arms behind her back, her pack was standing behind her in ideal rows, hands pressed to the heads in silent salute. In contrast to them, the packs of Janine and Martyshkina were mostly a wild bunch, some of them going so far as to make jokes or shift from one foot to the other in impatience. Olesya stood, locked in the strange silver-colored power armor known as Shell. The armor covered Olesya from head to toes, leaving open only claws on one paw. In recent days, Olesya was never seen without her new gear, she was always wearing Shell. For some reason, the fellow wolf hag refused to speak with Aranea, sending only text messages with vague apologies for secrecy. Her pack surrounded their leader, trying their best to mimic the strange seriousness of their wolf hag. They did, however, crack jokes between themselves from time to time. Despite not being part of the Tribe formally, Svetlana was allowed to be present. Svetlana was standing behind Olesya, throwing worrying glances at her leader, Leila, the newest member of the Tribe, was standing behind Aranea, along with Tiny and Sonya. A group of journalists from Iterna were allowed to film the event from a respectful distance. The warlords were against this idea at first, but Ironjaw permitted their presence in the end, after someone by the name of Larry Kosh spoke to her. Annie also spoke with the man, nearly biting him for some reason and threatening him to behave. The journalist swore to treat the situation with respect.

The scout who was released by the enemy, Aranea learned that her name was Kayleen, now stood among the ranks of her pack. She wanted to wear power armor like the rest of her group, but Marco officially forbade her to use the armor for at least a week. Wounds on her neck and back were still inflamed, pus was seeping from them. Apparently, Yasen used a rusted chain soaked in some local poison when he lacerated her hide, causing even the wolfkin’s physiology to struggle during the healing. The doctor refused to allow any risks, and wolf hag Annie supported him, and now the scout stood in civilian clothes, ignoring the pain in her wounds and standing at attention in silent farewell to her leader.

"And in the end…" Janine stopped talking again and once more looked at the dead bodies before her, looking at the deceased form of Scarred One a moment too long. Dead bodies were arranged on round stones, placed upon fabric soaked with flammable liquid. The body of warlord Dragena was placed on the central stone, which was placed right before Janine. Dead bodies of shamans were arranged in honorable guard around her, other dead wolfkins were placed afar. Small lines run from one central stone to another, ready to be ignited when Janine sets the dead warlord's body on fire. Dragena's left arm was missing, along with her head. Dragena’s husband asked for her head to have some part of her body to bury. The warlord was an odd one, No one could remember her being an emotional one, yet she built an actual house for her five cubs and took a lifelong partner instead of simply mating with one like the other warlords usually do. Janine approved this request, leaving only a headless body for the ceremony. Valerye took the bones from the missing arm and shaped a simple looking bowl from them. In distant lands, Alpha was standing before either the dead from her own pack or dummies made of wood that were supposed to imitate the dead, both committing the same ceremony at the same time. All warlords of the Wolf Tribe conducted a ceremony of farewell, at the same time, no matter the distance. Of course, not all soldiers could be present at this ceremony, but duty was a duty and it had to be carried out.

For the next part of the ceremony, Janine needed both hands. She was supposed to continue intoning rites while finishing the ceremony, yet with only one good hand….

"In the end, we return back to nothing, knowing that we gave our all for the Tribe. From blood we are born with a shout. In death, we disappear in silence, watching over those who will come after us." A voice said.

Janine turned and saw a wolfkin in black power armor who was coming toward the ritual site. The fur of wolfkin was partially the color of night and rust, words of prayers were thoroughly scratched upon the surface of her armor. Both of her paws were locked in an embrace before her snout as she was reciting words of prayers. Aranea felt a smile appear on her face when she recognized who this was. She turned around and saw Kaleb and Sly behind her. Kaleb smiled and bowed to the wolf hag, while Sly pressed two fingers to his temple in a welcoming salute, before smiling as well. Both clearly wanted to talk but decided to keep their silence to honor the ceremony.

Ironjaw smiled as Kate came closer. The warlord gave her the book with prayers and put the bone bowl before the body of Dragena, bowing to her dead sister. The warlord's claws flashed in the sunlight as she slashed Dragena's hand, allowing blood to flow. The warlord gathered blood into the bowl, filling it almost to the half, then stopped. Aranea frowned in confusion, the ritual stated that the bowl should have been filled completely. Once more, Ironjaw put the bowl on the ground and sliced at her own artery in the left leg, slicing through the steel of her armor as if it was paper. Like water in a fountain, blood poured from the leg of Janine in a stream of dark crimson. Janine took the bowl from the ground and filled it fully to the rim with her own blood, allowing her blood to mix with the blood of the deceased warlord while Kate was reciting rites.

The warlord gestured, and Annie stepped forward, taking the bone bowl in her paws.

"Invigorate yourself with the blood of the living and the dead. Don’t chase the shadow of your former leader, become a light for your pack instead." Janine said, and Annie pressed the edge of the bowl to her lips, drinking blood without hesitation and without spilling a single drop. As she finished, the wolf hag looked at her dead master one last time, licking her own red lips.

"I will strive to become better." Annie whispered so silently that even the enhanced hearing of Aranea barely caught her words.

"There is no shame in dying, for this moment will come to us all one day. You have given us your all, and that is all we could have ever asked from you. Be at peace at the start of your new journey. One day we all will meet again." Kate intoned the last words of prayer, without looking in the book. Then she bowed, and following her gesture, rows of wolfkin bowed as well. At this moment, disciplined or not, rowdy or calm, they were united. As the dead were at peace, so too were the living. Grieve will return, anger will resurface, but here and now, for the briefest of moments, all members of the pack present were united.

Kate unleashed her claws in the air above the body of Dragena. With a single snap of her claws, a tiny spark was produced, falling onto a body soaked in flammable liquid. A torrent of raging flame came into being with a hissing sound, spreading rapidly toward other bodies. Kate stepped back, shrugging flame from the fur on her snout, Valerye stepped from behind, using her cloak to stop the burning remains on Kate’s neck. Janine stood in a fire tornado, one hand on her waist. She was looking at the body of Scarred One, a body that was rapidly getting smaller. Her metal and flesh lips moved, but the words themselves were muffed by the crackling of the fire. Janine blinked several times. If she was crying, Aranea never knew, the fire would never allow liquid to fall from the eyes of the warlord. Fire licked the body of the warlord, heating her armor and kissing the fur on her head. Janine was unbothered by this, extending her good arm and clenched her fist, trying to grasp something within the flame. She opened the paw, looking at the empty palm in silence.

It took some time, but one by one, bodies of the deceased were becoming burning piles with few bones remaining. The body of Dragena was fully unharmed, not even flames could consume her. Even her fur was still intact. Janine looked away from the bones of the shaman and lifted her flamecaster. The rings moved and all three diamonds appeared above her weapon. With a single shot, a ball of overheated energy consumed Dragena, leaving nothing behind. Molted traces ran all the way to the edge of the cliff, while the ball of energy disappeared in the distance, slowly getting smaller.

Janine's hand fell as she was still standing among the flames, looking lost for a moment. She looked up at the sky. Martyshkina moved to join her friend, but Aranea was faster this time. She reached for the shoulder of her leader. Janine looked back and silently nodded, allowing herself to be led away from the ceremony site. As Aranea escorted the warlord back to the barracks, she felt strange. Janine was always someone who knew what to do, someone who was certain in her actions. The mere idea of leading the warlord somewhere before would be met with an immediate kick in the guts from the warlord. Now Ironjaw looked… content and reserved, like she had given up on something, something really valuable. Aranea led Janine to the armory in the barracks and helped her remove the armor from her body. Aside from them, no one else was present in this part of the building.

"It is done now," Ironjaw said, removing the leather suit of underarmor from her body. Without her armor, she moved with dignity and grace, with not a single wrinkle visible beneath her fur. Her body was riddled with countless metal implants. Early models of power armor worked via connection to the body through these implants. Nowadays, power armor is just another suit, requiring just underarmor to work perfectly. Fur no longer grew around implants, and skin around metal objects was grey. Ironjaw caught the eye of Aranea and calmly said, "My first one was an odd one. Always looked more at machines than at girls. He crafted these beauties for me. They may be useless now, but they are not a hindrance to me." Janine walked to the door of the corridor, intending to leave for her room.

"Janine…" Aranea said, uncertain how to proceed, and the warlord turned around in surprise, "Listen, everyone knows that Scarred One was your daughter. Believe it or not, we do care about you. Go wild, beat me up if you want, but we have to talk…"

"Silly girl, am I really worrying you so much?" Janine cocked her head to the side in genuine confusion. Normally, she would have punished Aranea for daring to even insinuate that Janine needed help.

"Yes!" Aranea said, forcing herself to look in Janine's eyes, "Listen, there is nothing bad in grieving," She said quickly, afraid that the warlord might be on her at any moment, beating her down for speaking out of turn, "But you need to talk with others! You and Sonya taught me this! When I was about to lock inside of me, you dragged me out and forced me to speak my mind before the pack! You said that we are kin to each other, and kin don't abando..."

She fell silent, seeing Janine appear before her. The warlord walked, but with such speed that she appeared a blur to Aranea's eyes. The wolf hag was preparing to endure a hit when Janine simply put a paw on her shoulder, "Listen. I have been losing my family for centuries now. I have seen how our blessed mother abandoned us. I have seen how we were brought to our heels by Wyrm Lord. I have seen so much sadness… And yet I live. And you know why? Because I can tough through it all. Because my pain is not special, I suffered, you suffered, others suffered. We need to move on despite the pain. Because there is more than sadness in the world. Because there is a chance that one day all will be well for everyone, and for this chance, we have to grab fate by the throat and... The warlord became embarrassed by her speech for a moment. Then she got down on one knee and hugged Aranea, just like she used to do when the halfbreed was depressed because of her family's memories. Only this time, Aranea hugged her back, feeling the mighty heartbeat of her leader, "Screw the image. Thank you for caring about me. I will survive this, for I have the duty to lead the Tribe. In time, I will meet another man and we will have new cubs. Time heals all wounds. You, on the other hand, must care for your pack right now," The warlord pushed Aranea aside, holding her by the shoulder with one arm. Amber eyes looked at Aranea as the warlord spoke, in a sudden quiet tone, "Make sure to keep this conversation private. I have a reputation to uphold," Janine said with a smile, “You are absolutely correct. Silence won’t do me any good. I am taking Sonya and Marti for tonight, we will be playing cards all evening and remembering the good old times. Unwind as well, but make sure that everyone stays in line. By this, I mean keep Sly out of trouble."

“Of course, warlord." Aranea quickly bowed. Janine walked to her private room in the barracks and closed the door behind herself. This conversation was over, and Aranea was still alive. Perhaps people do change after all.

Aranea quickly removed her own armor and changed into civilian clothes, before deciding to follow the advice of her leader. Thankfully, Olesya already sent her message about the location of her pack.

She found Olesya, still in her Shell power armor, standing near the large stone by the makeshift bar, a brightly lit three-story building, with a purple neon sign reading "Uncracked Toughie". In recent days, captain Osero has provided a proper place for military personnel to unwind. Due to the importance of its location, plans were laid in place to turn Chokepoint A into a full-scale city soon after the war will be over. The bar was located slightly outside of the wall that surrounded the southern military base of Chokepoint A and was under the constant surveillance of military police. Like vultures, members of the military police hungrily waited for any disturbance to swoop in and deal with troublemakers.

The arms of Olesya were folded on her chest, Svetlana, in a casual civilian outfit, was standing near her. The two women were arguing about something when Aranea approached.

"Sveta, go and have fun already. Drink and feast, find a boy for the evening or something…" This was the first time that Aranea heard the voice of Olesya after the battle at Chokepoint A. She felt relieved that Olesya’s voice, although it sounded sour and grumpy, was still the same as before.

"And when will you relax? You can’t keep on working twenty-four hours a day. Let’s go together, drinks on me, I owe you this much." Svetlana refused to move, looking at her wolf hag with a challenge.

"Many people owe me things. Mostly tokens. One man owes me a body. You, on the other hand, owe me shit, and I am indebted to you." Olesya growled the words in a quiet tone.

"Great! I am calling the debt then," Svetlana smiled, pulling her by the metal arm, "Come on, we..."

Olesya tore her arm free, growling and unleashing the claws on one of her arms. Svetlana stood right before her wolf hag, unbothered by the trembling clawed paw and the heavy breathing of her superior. Aranea hurried to them, worried that her friend might just punch the nurse. Olesya instead pulled her claws back, pressing a palm against her head.

"Sorry about the outburst," She said without looking at Svetlana, "Can't go drinking now. I still need to prepare a schedule for tomorrow’s training. And don't worry, I am not overworking myself, you can see it on the systems. Svet… We promised each other to try and work together. Please trust my judgement. Look who is coming! Woman of the hour!" "I apologize for being such a mystery the past few days," the giant power armor's hands closed around Aranea's waist, gently lifting her in the air, "but I needed some time to sort something out." 

"Oh, don’t you worry, I always have a place in my heart for your assholishness!" joked Aranea, climbing out of the embrace of her friend. Once freed, she asked in a serious tone, "I was told that you were injured. How are you…"

"It was bad," Olesya said, shrugging her shoulders. The two embraced each other, and Aranea heard a clicking sound from within the Shell, sounding like an old-fashioned alarm clock. Olesya had either grown during her recovery, or her armor had made her truly massive, for Olesya now towered over Aranea, her jaw was on the level of Aranea's forehead, "Still alive, still kicking and need to make up for a lot of shit. Thank the Spirits that you are fine as well. Anyway, I called you here because there are some problems at the bar, and we better stop them before the vultures show up, or Janine will be angry. Sveta will show you, please take good care of her, she is a gentle soul, unlike us. I need to work, bye-bye, love you all!" Olesya laughed, in a somewhat booming voice because of her helmet, and quickly stormed away. During her movement, her suit was almost silent, the joints of her power armor barely a single noise while the wolf hag was running. Aranea’s ears could no longer hear the clicking sound from within the armor.

"Is she really okay…" Aranea looked after her.

"What do you think?" Svetlana asked angrily, before pulling the hood of her jacket over her head, "Sorry, it is not your fault. I am just on the edge with her refusal to... Come, we really better interfere before things go the way of the Old World."

Aranea nodded and followed the medic. Several soldiers, armed with stun batons, were standing guard at the entrance. Where drinks were involved, problems usually followed. In the days after the battle, Aranea had to drag members of her pack from prison, after they were imprisoned for starting fights. Right now, a pair of soldiers were dragging away normie, who had dirtied himself after drinking too much. This was not a criminal offense, although Aranea suspected that the direct superior of the man will find a way to punish him for this.

Normally, everyone had to pay an entry fee to come to the bar. The entry fee of the Wolf Tribe, however, was paid off by Wyrm Lord. Wolfkins were, on average, poorer than most normie soldiers. In recent years, this has been slowly changing, yet most wolfkins are badly educated about the value of money. After the Net became a common thing in the state, even some warlords were scammed out of their tokens when they ordered something online. The commander of the Third Army tried to fix this situation, the Wyrm Lord's decision established free education courses and even full schools, but they were used by far too few new breeds. It was simply too hard to reach the places where such services were provided, and not everyone had personal terminals to listen to online courses. That and the Wolf Tribe were a stubborn bunch.

And yet, things do change for the better. Aranea smiled as she thought of this. Inside the bar was playing music from Oathtakers' lands, song titled "All Colors" by someone named Ajkia Rhi. Just a few decades ago, such things were forbidden by the state, who wished to keep the citizenry of the Reclamation Army safe from "decadence" from outside. Wolfkins, who before stood aside from other new breeds, can be seen chatting, drinking, and eating side by side with normies. Warlord Martyshkina was busy setting a bad example for her pack by consuming a large amount of alcohol on the second floor of the bar. She also tried to sing in tune with a song and eventually had to be stopped by the owner of a bar and a few members of the military police, as her voice resembled the sound of a claw running across the glass. The warlord argued with them for a bit, but upon receiving a call from someone, most likely Janine, quickly hurried away from the bar.

To the north of the entrance was a large bar counter, taking almost the entire wall. In the west of the room was a dancing podium, with flashing lights installed on metal construction over the podium. The east was mostly filled with tables and stairs that led to the upper floors. The second floor was mostly filled with tables on balconies and private dining rooms for officers. The third floor was still under construction.

"Whoever built this place sure was efficient. It was constructed in like... a day?" Aranea mumbled, following after Svetlana.

"In four days actually. One of the locals took a loan to build this place. Wyrm Lord gave the order to aid him, as part of his program of integrating locals into the state." The medic responded, pushing through the crowd to tables at the northeast corner of the room.

Even before they reached the point of their destination, Aranea could hear the heat arguing.

"Kate, keep your voice down, or Olesya will come back…"

"I don’t care! You owe me. You and me, tonight in the sparring room!  Or we can settle everything here and now…"

"Listen, if this is about rank, position is yours…"

Aranea finally pushed through a busy crowd of soldiers to the source of the disturbance. Kate was dressed in a shirt, which left her arms visible. Heavy boots were on her feet and tight green trousers ran across her legs. She was sitting at the table, throwing angry glances at Leila, who was sitting nearby. The half-wyrm was busy drinking beer, utterly ignoring Kate. Kaleb was standing behind Kate, his eyes were rolled in annoyance. At a sofa table nearby, sat Tiny and Sly. The paws of Tiny were covered with gloves and were trembling slightly when she accepted drinks from the servant. Sly, dressed in a white coat, raised his brow in surprise at this and helped Tiny, putting drinks before her. His fur was clean and smelled of perfume, golden chain was visible on his chest. As he moved from his seat to help Tiny, a little hump became visible on his back, giving him an uncanny resemblance to a hunchback. Near him stood a member of the Dragena pack, a female warrior in a long black shirt and green vest. She put her paws at the edge of the sofa and started whispering something into the ear of Sly. His eyes became round at something that she said.

"I am sorry, but I am not looking…" Sly mumbled to the warrior, as Tiny was pouring drinks for herself and him.

"Why else did you made yourself so pretty, if you are not looking for a mate?" The warrior whispered into his ear.

"Just to have a drink or two? If you want some as well, I am buying." Sly was trying to find a way out of the situation, when he noticed Aranea, "Wolf hag, greetings."

"Just call me Aranea. We are all on leave today. You have any problems with your guest?" Aranea nodded at the warrior.

"Oh no, she is no one I can’t handle." Sly leaned back, looking relaxed on the sofa, putting his hands behind his head.

"Handle me? Would you dare to utter these words at the sparring arena?" The warrior smiled to him.

"Maybe I will and maybe I want," Sly smiled back at her arrogantly, "How about we do it, just you and me, with the gear that we have on us right now? Just be aware, I have more than four limbs now."

"Tease. Now you are really making my blood boil," The warrior put her paws on his neck, massaging his temples, and Sly jumped slightly, "Such a scary cat. Name’s Lucendra. What do you want if you win?"

Aranea allowed them to argue and walked to Kate and Leila’s table.

"Kate, Kaleb. Congratulations on your new limbs. How are you feeling yourself?" She smiled to them.

"Takes a bit to get used to the new limb." Kaleb admitted, smiling back.

"These beauties are actually awesome!" Kate jumped off the table, extending her arms and moving her fingers, allowing claws to slide in and out. Her fur was not yet fully covered in her new paws, and she looked weird now, as if she was shaving her arms. Then she pointed at her neck and lifted her shirt on her belly, showing her body, "Check it out, almost all the scars are gone!"

"Yet the biggest one remains." Aranea pointed at the scar from the injury that she caused. The ugly thing was still visible despite the shirt.

"Ah, that. It cost too much for me to remove it, so it can stay for now." Kate cheerfully responded, waving her hand dismissively.

"If problem in tokens, then I can pay…"

"Am I a homeless bum or something for you to pay for me? Removal of it cost just two months of my service, I can wait this long just fine," Finishing showing off, Kate hugged Aranea, "You have no idea how good it is to be around familiar faces again. I even missed the ugly snout of Sonya. Don't tell her though, or she will beat me up. And I barely scream during sleep anymore!"

"Sorry about this…" Leila started talking.

"Enough with excuses! Never do this to me again and you are forgiven." Kate pushed Aranea away and looked at the scout.

"We good then? Cool, drinks on me…" Leila stopped as Kate slammed her paws at the table.

"Oh no. You won’t get away this easily. You made me humiliate myself, messed with my memories, pitied me, took my rank away… Forgiveness is one thing, but making things right is another. You owe me a challenge." Kate fiercely looked in Leila's eyes.

"Will a drinking challenge do? The one who falls under the table last, wins." Aranea quickly said, hoping to defuse the situation. She found a servant girl with her eyes and quickly sent her for more drinks. Meanwhile, Sly and the warrior were lost in a back-and-forth argument, which ended with both of them walking away. Tiny only shook her head at this, inviting Svetlana to sit with her.

"I do not play in rigged games." Kate laughed at the suggestion, sitting back at the table. Svetlana quickly grabbed the bottle of beer, finishing it in one go and reached for the second bottle. Tiny asked her if everything was fine and the medic only waved her paw.

"And yet you want to challenge me," Leila noted the look of Kate and spread her arms wide, "It is true! We are different species. Kate, unless you suddenly become a warlord, you will never, ever be strong enough to beat me with your fists. I know that I sound like an asshole, and maybe I am, but I refuse to hurt you further…"

"Don’t be so certain on my behalf," Kate murmured with a honey voice, cracking her fist, "Maybe I just mastered something that will make our differences... more equal."

"Listen to me, idiot," Svetlana hissed as she finished the second bottle of beer and slammed it back at the table, "Today is the day when we mourn our fallen. Now we are supposed to have fun and celebrate, and yet you want to get beaten up instead of… I don’t know, dancing with your boyfriend?"

"I am her soul mate, thank you very much," Kaleb smiled, grabbing a beer from the servant girl, who returned with Aranea’s order, "But aside from that, you are correct. Kate, stop acting like a cub, we are supposed to have fun today."

"But I have a score to settle!" Kate grabbed the bottle from Kaleb's paws, giving him a bottle of juice instead, "Doctors told you, no drinking for a month. Your new organs need time to adjust, stupid." Kaleb only scratched the back of his head, continuing to smile at her.

"Find someone else to settle score with," Leila advised, "I refuse to hurt you. Feel free to beat me up, I will not fight back."

Aranea rolled her eyes in annoyance, as she saw a member of the military police looking at them from the second floor. A woman had her hand pressed to her ear, clearly warning someone about a possible problem. Aranea took a deep breath, trying to think of a way to defuse the situation. Perhaps she should simply give the order for Leila to accept the challenge? But they all know how it ends, no way…

"Need help, liar?" A voice whispered from behind Aranea. She turned around and saw Carty. Her long blue gown flowed down her body, and gold trimming painted the image of a rose on her chest. A long black glove covered her left arm, going all the way to her elbow. A silver necklace was on her neck.

"A gown? Seriously?" Aranea lifted her brow.

"I was born beautiful, and I like to show it," Carty elegantly put her left hand on her chest and beckoned Kaleb with her right arm, "Will you dance with me today, pretty boy?"

"What! How dare… He is occupied!" Kate jumped away from Leila to Kaleb, grabbing him by the right hand, "Find someone else to toy with, you… you… cusack!" She shouted, leading Kaleb away. Male let out a chuckle and nodded at Carty in thanks, before hugging Kate as she dragged him to the dance podium. Aranea allowed herself a breath of relief as she fell onto the sofa near Leila. It is always so much harder when you simply can’t order someone to stand down.

"See, easy peasy situation to solve," Carty giggled, moving away from Aranea. She sat near Tiny, who was consuming one drink after another, and said, "I see that you ignored my advice and started training this morning. How’s your everything, defective girl?"

"All hurt. All in pain," Tiny answered gloomily, drinking another beer, lifting the bottle with trembling paw, "How in the abyss did you endure this pain during your training?"

"Because I am perfect in every way," Carty smiled, taking a glass and pouring herself some wine, "Alcohol won’t help you, not one bit, so drop it. If you treat bruises as I told you, the pain will disappear in time," Putting away glass with wine and moving like a snake, the blue-furred woman reached for Tiny's paws, taking them both into her hands, She pulled the gloves away from Tiny's paws, clicking with her tongue at the sight of swollen paws, "Don't use the gloves right after the training, it only hurts these pretty little paws even more. You can drop training at any time if it’s too hard for you…" Carty called a servant and asked her to bring some medicine. When the woman came back, it was Svetlana who applied medical ointment to Tiny's paws.

"Screw you, I am not a quitter. You will see. I will surpass you!" Tiny fiercely replied, patiently waiting for Svetlana to treat her paws. When Svetlana finished, Tiny put away her drink and reached for the bottle of juice. Carty blinked in surprise, before laughing and patting Tiny on the head with one paw.

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"Stop being such a bitch. No need to laugh at Tiny or call her an insulting name." Leila turned to Carty.

"And yet you just insulted me, lizard woman. Preach what you are selling and leave me alone, please." Carty pleasantly smiled at Leila.

"This reminds me, perfect girl, how are your ribs? They were broken yesterday" Aranea mimicked Carty's smile and saw how Svetlana spilled her drink.

"Your ribs are broken?! Why in the world this is not in the medical records of your pack?" Svetlana moved close to Carty, and the scout lifted her paws in protest.

"I have no idea, Annie is the one who fills out the documents…"

"Also, her little finger on the left hand is broken. I can see it from here," Leila smiled to Aranea, catching on to the game. Carty threw burning glaze at half wyrm, "Hey, I am just worried about your health, perfect girl."

"What is wrong with you people, why can’t you be normal like… normal new breeds! One has her paws hurt, the other has her ribs broken... This will not stand, with me to the medical room right now." Svetlana said angrily, scratching the bridge of her nose. The medic started to stand up from the table.

"Look, is this one of the ice boys?" Carty quickly said, pointing at the entrance.

Aranea felt her heart about to jump out of her chest as she looked at the entrance. And then she understood that she had been had. There was no way to see the entrance from here, not with a crowd of people in the middle of the room. She turned to look at Carty but saw that she was missing. Svetlana and Tiny were surprised just as well, as they saw the disappearance of the scout.

"Ha! As if your cheap tricks will work on me, perfect girl!" Leila said from behind Aranea.

She was standing with her left wing wrapped around the torso of Carty, stopping her in her tracks as she tried to disappear in the crowd.

"I do believe that this counts as violating my free space, lizard woman." Carty forced a strained smile out of herself, the veins on her temple started pulsating as she saw Svetlana standing up, "What if I call the good MP officers?"

"I am just helping medics do their job. Go ahead, call the MP. Let’s see how this will turn out," Leila laughed at the face of Carty and removed her wing, putting one hand on her shoulder instead, "You have two choices. Either go with Svetlana and get yourself fixed, or you can opt for my bone-setting massage."

"How curious! I always like to try new things," Carty clapped her paws together and said, "Let’s go with choice number two."

"You are free to go." Leila sourly said and let go of Carty.

"I knew that you were full of shit, lizard girl." Carty blew a kiss to Leila, before disappearing into the crowd.

"Why did you let her go!" Svetlana demanded to know.

"She called my bluff. Sides, we still have a few days before deployment, she will be fine," Leila shrugged her shoulders.

"Drinks on me," Quickly said Aranea, taking the paw of Svetlana, "Today is the day of mourning and celebration. We have had our mourning, let us live now."

"Fine, I will send her an official order to show up for checkup tomorrow." Svetlana allowed herself to be seated once more.

****

They left the bar together in several hours. Aranea felt embarrassed when Leila and Tiny dragged her to dance with them. This was not one of her areas of expertise, but she decided that she did well enough… until Kate and Svetlana started teasing her about it.

"You were right, I needed this." The medic let out a deep sigh, stretching her entire body, while the group walked toward the barracks. Packs of Martyshkina and Janine currently share the same buildings.

"What is going on between you and Olesya, anyway?" Aranea asked, helping Kate and Leila to walk. Both drank themselves to near oblivion.

"I did something… Not sure if it was bad. I think I made the correct choice. But I also had no right to make such a decision," Svetlana frowned, scratching her chin, "Can't say any more, because it is private information."

"Something to do with Olesya, then." Aranea decided, looking at the road and smiling at the members of MP. Seeing as the group was returning to the barracks and not causing problems, they allowed them to pass. It helped that Aranea herself was of high enough rank.

As they came near the training hall, doors opened and two medics came out, moving a stretcher. One of the medics was Marco, his face freshly shaven face looked tired as he pulled the hood of his anti-heat suit on. On the stretcher lay an unconscious warrior on the Annie pack, her clothes were torn and there was blood on the left side of her head. Sly worriedly accompanied them. The male had a large bruise on his cheek, one of his eyes could barely open. His coat was torn, and his golden chain was missing. Four long mechanical needle-like arms came from behind his back. These strange constructions only had four joints, allowing for limited mobility.

"She will be fine, right?" Sly asked Marco.

"This is just a concussion. Had she been like me, I would have forced her to stay out of action for a week. Knowing your kind, she will be out in one or two days," Marco saw the group and stopped Svetlana with a gesture, "Svet, you are on leave today. We will handle it."

"What was that pervert? Why were her clothes all torn up?" Tiny asked when medics carried away the unconscious patient.

"Oh, come on! I just wanted to test my new gear in actual combat!" Sly scratched behind his head with a mechanical arm, "I have no excuses. At first, we both went easy on each other, then both of us went all out and I didn't think that…..."

"You never think." Aranea accused him.

"Give me a break! Would you all act the same way, if she had beaten me up and I was the one on the stretcher?"

"Yes." Kaleb coldly said without a hint of irony, "Sly, you are taking on a warrior, are you freaking insane!? Thank the Spirits, you are unharmed, well mostly, but can you imagine how she will feel tomorrow? Losing to a male… What if this kickstarts a rivalry between the packs!"

"Oh, we would have beaten her up, had you ended up losing," Kate hiccupped, trying to focus her eyes on Sly, "But since you won, we will just tease you for this."

"Solid plan, I am in," Leila eagerly nodded, "But we should probably also make amends. Cause today is... is... I forgot."

"I will have to apologize to her tomorrow. Spirits damn it, I will never drink alcohol again!" Sly bemoaned, peering into the backs of medics. His mechanical arms lowered themselves to the sand. Aranea saw a steel backpack on Sly’s back, the mechanical arms were connected to it.

"I will go with you tomorrow. Dragena’s pack lost their leader, we can’t wound their pride anymore." The wolf hag said, thinking of what else she could do. First, she will have to inform Janine. Then she will prepare a proper formal apology. Male victories over females were not uncommon, but in the current situation... And right on the day of the burial of the warlord Dragena. Her pack will have to respond in one way or another.

Everything just got a little more complicated.

****

"You ok?" Kayleen asked, seeing how the fork fell from Velka’s fingers, splashing sauce from the meat on the fork.

"My bloody fingers just dropped the meat for the third time," Velka angrily retorted, "Of course I'm not fine. Feel free to laugh."

"Eh, you'll be fine in a couple of days." Kayleen reached for the fork, picking it up and helping Velka eat. The disgruntled scout accepted the help. Velka was riddled with bullets during the battle, with one of the shots hitting her in the spine column. It was a miracle enough that she was not paralyzed, in Kayleen’s view, her pride could go right to shit. Velka was a burly one before her injury, some may have even referred to her as "fat." Now she had her skin hanged from her bones, and her organism used every ounce of stored energy to bring her back to her prime.

They were sitting in a private room on the second floor of the bar. After learning that Kayleen had survived, Velka invited them to a small personal party and now sat angry at her barely working paws. Velka was of the Dragena’s pack initially, but jumped the ship when there was a spot to become a scout in the Martyshkina’s pack. Kayleen never held it against her. The fellow scout admitted to Kayleen that she needed advice on how to handle her superior officer.

"To Dragena’s memory!" Ultis, the last member of their group, lifted a glass, speaking in a somber tone, "Let her be at peace wherever she is now."

"Let 's remember her!" Kayleen raised her glass, clinking it with the others', feeling the surge of heat across her body when the alcohol reached her stomach. It was a nice feeling, but she still hastily reached for a piece of bread and ate it. Pity that Annie wasn’t here, but she always got the nightmares when she got drunk. She only ever drank alcohol with others when she needed to get to know them better, build bonds or apologize. Oh well, Kayleen did not have the heart to blame her for this. When she came back, Annie actually hugged her, telling her how worried she was.

Drinking to honor the warlord instead of going on a revenge spree looked weird for the other packs, but Dragena would undoubtedly raise her carcass from the otherworld to punish them if her pack as much as dared to break the rules that she was teaching them. The warlord always reminded her soldiers about rules and principles, and her lessons wouldn’t go to waste.

"If you are going to kill me, just be done with it already," Said a single normie at the table, looking nervously at Kayleen. The regulator who drove her all the way here was sitting with them. Kayleen learned that the woman was called Andrea Stehlikova, she lied to the command that she owed Kayleen a blood debt and was assigned to the quartermaster of the Dragena’s pack. Kayleen saw no reason to reveal all the details about her, but asked Angoro to assign someone to keep an eye on her, just in case.

"Why the hell would we want to do it?" Velka hiccupped, the cheap cognac was getting to her head, "Pick up the glass and ‘ave fun." She fell face down on the table.

Kayleen brought the regulator here to set the record straight. The woman was constantly afraid and was pestering the scout, cleaning her clothes and room even when no one asked her to. Kayleen had no need for slaves, she should either get back or do her own duties.

"Shit," Ultis said, taking out her terminal and reading the message, "Carty just typed that Lucendra got beaten down by a male."

"Eh, this will teach her a lesson," Kayleen poured herself some more cognac, "She is growing up, her instincts are taking over."

"Cursed heat," Velka mumbled, raising her snout. Pieces of meat and bread stuck to her fur, while the scout tried to grab her glass and was missing every time, "I remember myself at her age. Was ready to jump at any boy. She is fine?"

"Will be fine physically," Ultis put aside her glass, "Annie came to see her, shouting at her for losing. She told her that such a weakling like her will never become a scout. What the fuck, An?" The scout said as she reinserted the terminal into her jacket, "First, she began biting others again, now she is always angry and finally snapping at Lucendra, of all people…" Ultis shook her head.

"She is coping." Kayleen said sourly. Annie was the best of them before. But Dragena’s death took a toll on her. No one was blaming her, but this stupid idiot always tried to shoulder most of the guilt. Annie once told them all to beat her down by any means. It seems like she wants to push others into a frenzy now. Dragena always talked about how raw emotions could help one to exceed the limits, and Annie always listened to her, but here was where Kayleen disagreed with her leader. She learned otherwise.

"I’ll go speak with Lucendra, she needs someone other than Carty," Ultis stood up, zipping her jacket. Unlike her comrades, her posture was steady, almost sober. "That, and we need to find a way to get at Janine's pack," she said, running with a paw over her hair and putting a nice-looking black leather choker around her neck.

"Without violence." Kayleen warned. Annie has enough shit to deal with as it is. She was not the most pleasant person right now, but the wolf hag always snapped back before. She will do it again and all will be fine.

"Please, violence is boring. The boy was in his right. We just gonna have some fun at his expense, that’s all." Ultis smirked and slammed the door behind herself.

"You are just monsters," The regulator managed to say. The woman looked in front of herself, not touching the food, "You might pretend to be…"

"Ok, let’s do that shit," Kayleen cut her off, and Andrea went pale, afraid that the scout would tear her apart. Instead, Kayleen slammed her paws against the table, "When I was a prisoner, you fucks torture the shit out of me. What sort of decent person does that? What kind of a hero?" She mocked the last word, knowing how the regulators view their new breeds.

"The one who lost friends and family to you scum." The woman bit her lip, deciding to speak her mind.

"Oh really? Cause here you are, and I haven’t laid a finger on you. Neither did anyone else. What, you think no one has lost friends or family here? Cause we just had a funeral, unless you forgot."

"You beat me up when Jekaterina untied your arms." Andrea stubbornly replied.

"Point," Kayleen raised her paws, accepting the blame, "But that was a payback for all the whipping you gave me."

"Wait, the fuck she did?" Velka hiccupped, missing the glass once more.

"You stay out of it." Kayleen warned her.

"I am paying for this whole table! Like abyss am I going to stay…"

"Listen, you lot believed us to be cannibals. " Kayleen ignored Velka’s outrage, "Ya have to admit that this was a fat lie."

"What does it matter at this point!" The woman shouted in her face, "You destroyed a city! An entire city with people inside!"

"Fat lie," Velka hiccupped again, "Yasen and Blaguna handed us our asses and we ran away. 'sides, it was ‘ur side who did it. Watch TV or something."

"Lie! You can fabricate any sort of lie using…" Andrea turned to her, grasping the table with her fingers.

"Listen," Kayleen tried to speak calmly and reasonably, but the amount of alcohol and her suddenly slurred tongue were really not helping with this task, "Yer superiors told you that we are cannibals. We are not. They have told you that we kill prisoners. You saw yourself, it was a lie. You are literally afraid of Blaguna, so I gather you know what sort of fruit she is. And your other superior tortures his prisoners. Listen, just put two and two together, the Dynast sent us to make people here to join the state, why would we go around nuking cities? If your superiors lied to you about us so much, why won’t their words about the city also be another lie?"

"Blaguna…" Andrea looked at the table. She reached for an empty glass and poured herself some cognac, finally drinking something on this night. Kayleen offered her meat, and the regulator took it, "She is just a rotten apple. Once she is gone, Yasen will clean away the rot and everything will be fine."

"If you think so, fair enough." Kayleen dripped with her fingers at the table, "Listen, you don’t have to prostrate yourself before me. I can see that you hate it as much as I do. Just go back, if you want to."

"I can’t," Andrea admitted, filling another glass, "Jekaterina said her piece. And… my family lives to the south of Gates of Destiny. I… want to live."

"Live on, then. Just please, leave me alone, I can clean my own clothes just fine, promise," She looked at Velka, "What’s your problem with Olesya?"

"She stopped sleeping after the injury," Velka put the glass down, hitting herself across the snout with a paw to keep herself awake. Her voice still sounded drunk, but she had managed to collect herself just enough, "She refuses to take off her armor, never allows anyone into her room except Sveta, and speaks nice to us," Velka lowered her voice, looking around the table, "I think she is possessed by a skinwalker."

Kayleen laughed at this idea, spilling her drink.

"I am serious, dammit! She creeps me out! Even the warlords need sleep from time to time, yet the light is always on in her room, while she is reading and reading!"

"Well, help her then!" Kayleen snapped at Velka, "Act like your wolf hag, educate yourself, take off a burden from her, be nice…"

"Screw you! I am always nice!" Velka snapped right back, showing fangs, "I just have no idea how to get her to talk!"

"Perhaps you should seek the assistance of a therapist?" Andrea asked, and both scouts turned to her, remembering about the regulator’s existence.

"Why the fuck would we need a rapist?" Velka widened her eyes, leaning back away from the woman.

"Not the…" Andrea took a glass and drank from it for bravery, before continuing, "I mean a person who can help with mental problems!" Seeing the confused faces before her, the regulator sighed and started explaining, "Listen, there are people who…"

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