Chapter 5: Chapter 4

"We're finally here," Leila cheerfully said as Chokepoint A started appearing on the horizon. She was looking out the window of the flying transport.

Aranea and her pack were assigned to join warlord Martyshkina and travel to Chokepoint A in order to reinforce defense of the location. It took nearly eight hours, but five flying transports were finally arriving at the location.

Most wolfkins were spending this trip in silence. Members of the Wolf Tribe dislike being torn from the ground for a prolonged period of time. Olesya briefly contacted Aranea and reported that the warlord spent most of her time drinking to cope with the situation. Aranea never expected Martyshkina to be afraid of something, but there's a first time for everything. The wolf hag herself felt quite relaxed, she had nothing against the skies. The hardest thing to deal with was sheer boredom. To deal with it, Aranea summoned a video of their destination on the screen of her helmet.

Chokepoint A was made from two mountain ranges, western and eastern. The western mountain range had a smoother surface, so engineers of the state managed to build a shield station here. An energy shield covered the entire eastern and western ranges, protecting state forces in front and behind Chokepoint A. There was a pass between the two mountain ranges, a large road almost a kilometer wide. This road was now filled with defensive construction and bunkers.

Behind mountain ranges were temporary command centers, barracks, warehouses, and hospitals. Almost an entire small city was constructed behind the lines of Chokepoint A, built with the sole goal of supporting defenders. When transports arrived at their assigned landing pads, massive steel machines gently touched the ground, unleashing the wolfkins inside.

Aranea stepped outside, taking a deep breath of the harsh and hot air of the Ravaged lands. Leila and the shaman joined her when they accompanied warlord Martyshkina and Olesya to the command center, a three-story tall grey building. All signs of worry and alcohol were gone from the warlord, she was as collected as ever. Olesya noticed Aranea's gaze and quickly winked. According to Olesya, Martyshkina had to spend two days in the hospital after her checkups. Her wounds were truly grievous. Her back was literally cut open by the saws, as doctors were removing parasites from inside the warlord's body. Olesya told Aranea that the entire medical room was in blood after the operation was finished, janitors had to spend quite some time cleaning it. She only took the last of the bandages off before going on the transport, and Aranea was worried that some of the wounds of the warlord still bothered her. Doctors assigned a whole host of medicaments to the warlord, but no one could tell for sure if Martyshkina actually took any of them.

Warlord Janine met them inside the command center, grabbing the fellow warlord into an embrace. Aranea noticed the strained face of Martyshkina, and Janine released her friend a bit too quickly. Some of the wounds still bothered the warlord, perhaps she was drinking to keep the pain down.

"How are you feeling yourself?" Janine addressed Aranea.

"All is well, my warlord." Aranea deeply bowed, feeling a sense of home. Ironjaw has been near Aranea since she arrived in the Wolf Tribe. The warlord was one of the pillars in her life, she felt safe around her. Janine nodded and looked at the shaman for a brief moment. A wide grin appeared on the warlord's face.

"How long has it been?" Janine forcibly hugged the resisting shaman, leaving one hand wrapped around the shoulders of the shaman. "Aranea, Marty let me introduce you to my…"

"I am just a shaman who is currently serving wolf hag Aranea," The shaman stopped her, pushing the warlord back. Janine's face was in confusion at this, she looked genuinely hurt, "If you want to address me otherwise, you may use my nickname. Scarred One."

"I see. Thank you for your introduction," Janine said slowly, turning to Aranea. Ironjaw briefly glanced at Leila before continuing, "Your orders are to guard shield station."

"But I expected to serve alongside you." Aranea said, surprised.

"We all expected this. But orders came from the blue wyrm, you and your pack are to guard the shield station alongside the forces of warlord Valerye. The warlord and her troops will arrive soon, for the time being, you will be there only with regular soldiers," Janine turned around, putting a heavy hand on the shoulder of her fellow warlord, "Marty you are to follow me to my room. Let’s see what bothers you so much," Martyshkina tried to convince Janine that everything was fine, but it looked fake to everyone, and Janine dragged her friend away.

Olesya excused herself and went away to help her pack arrive at their positions. Meanwhile, Aranea and her pack took seats in the transport, which was traveling along the road leading up the mountain. It was a simple-looking, six-wheeled, armored all-terrain transport that usually carried goods up the mountain. Today it was the pack that played the role of these goods. Inside the good’s chamber of transport, there were smells of old oil, as well as tiny smells of half-rotten food, were still in the air, walls of the vehicle were slightly rusty. Yet this chamber was vast enough for all twenty wolfkins and a half-wyrm to comfortably sit.

Tiny took off her helmet and sat near the huge black-furred wolfkin. His snout was scarred, and he was busy checking his shardgun, attempting in vain to ignore the warrior. Finally, Tiny took his paw into her own and quietly started to talk with him. The male shuddered as if from a hit, but then relaxed and put the weapon aside. Aranea remembered his name now, Gin, the supposed friend of Tiny. Leila wanted to sit near them, but the shaman pushed her aside, looking with disapproval at Gin, but saying nothing. She landed her massive form near Tiny, becoming still like a statue. Scarred One disapproved the treatment of Gin, considering it to be too soft. It was inconceivable for a male to win against a female in the Wolf Tribe, even against someone who was so small and strange looking as Tiny. The shaman believed that harsher punishment was needed, but obeyed Aranea’s will and now simply waited for Gin to slip.

Tiny was a bit of an odd person in Aranea’s opinion. It was custom in the Wolf Tribe that warriors clashed with each other, trying to find out who was stronger among them. Without Yuki around, Aranea was worried that Tiny would be beaten up in secret. And yet, according to Sonya, it never happened. Tiny was often seen speaking with warriors, making pictures of them and even stopping fights between them. Whatever it was, because Tiny was undeniably inferior to all warriors or because of her personality, no one raised a paw on her.

Sonya sat on the floor, pressing her back against the metal wall. She quickly glanced around her, ensuring that her pack was not fooling around too much, before reaching into her backpack and taking the book in her paws. The scout returned the books that Aranea brought to her to the library, insisting that reading books about anger control does not help her in any way. But at the same time, she once picked up some fantasy novels from the store in fortress and liked them well enough. Sonya was old, her eyesight was not what it once was, and she used the oculars of her helmet to help herself read. When Aranea asked her why she bothered reading fantasy books, Sonya honestly replied that she liked the idea of a more peaceful world.

Leila took off her helm and put it on her knees as she lowered herself near Aranea. The half wyrm was a source of worry for the wolf hag. She was afraid that Leila might use her power on pack members, but the half wyrm showed restraint in this. Instead, she was pestering each and every warrior and male, trying to get to know them, trade secrets, and become friends. Sonya told the wolf hag that she was already tired of Leila, after just spending several days with her. Initially, no warriors spoke with the half wyrm, but with help from Tiny, Leila and warriors were often seen drinking together by now. Aranea wanted to ask the half wyrm if she knew something about their assignment when she received a call from Kaleb.

"Sorry for bothering you, wolf hag." An image of Kaleb appeared on the screen of Aranea’s helm.

"Cut it off, Kaleb, you can call any time. How are you feeling yourself? How is Kate?" It will be some time before they get their new limbs, and Aranea was worrying sick about them. Leila’s ears moved, as she heard a wolf hag talking.

"I'm feeling fantastic. I no longer feel my missing leg, nurse taught me and Kate how to play chess, the doctors allowed me to help with other wounded… All in all, I am all set," Kaleb sounded pleased with himself. Then his voice changed, and he whispered, "Kate had a nervous breakdown at the start of eight day…"

"I can speak for myself," Said an angry voice and the image of Kaleb looked to the side before shifting the camera to show Kate, "Hi, there, Aranea. I hope you are doing well," Kate almost had to force herself to say these words. Aranea was surprised at the greeting, the scout all but refused to see her after the half wyrm messed with her mind, "Is that bitch near you?"

"Kate, she can hear you." The wolf hag whispered as she noticed the guilty look in Leila’s eyes.

"Hook her in, I have words for her," Aranea gestured for Leila to put on her helmet and allowed her to join the com channel, "Listen here, wyrm spawn. Two days ago, I had the worst set of nightmares ever. Surprisingly, they began immediately after the expiration of the seven-day course of your "therapy". I could barely breath for nearly an hour, this scared Kaleb to death, I pissed and dirtied myself at the same time, cried away all my tears…"

"I am sorry," Leila quietly responded, "If you want to, I can ask Wyrm Lord to…"

"Listen to me for once, you shit for brains," Voice of Kate was fuming with anger, "All my previous breakdowns expired within ten to fifteen minutes, sometimes even less, when doctors helped me. And they were getting shorter! Yesterday my nervous breakdown lasted for an hour and the doctors failed to put me asleep…" Kate took a deep breath, forcing herself to be calm, "I have no idea what is in your head. Maybe you really are a good person. But you screwed me up really big this time."

"I am really, truly sor…"

"Listen to me, just listen!" Kate’s voice cut away Leila’s apologies, stopping her mid-sentence. The scout still sounded deadly calm, "I asked the doctors about you and know that it is pointless to scream at you. But please, next time you try and use your power on someone, think of the potential consequences. What you did to me only put my memories "on hold" so to speak. And then they were released, all at once. This hurt me badly. It scared Kaleb," Aranea blinked at these words. Since when did Kate start to speak so calmly? Kate took another deep breath, "What you did to me, only caused my pain to happen at a later date and be more painful. Listen, I am angry at you, but you are one of us now. I can’t really forgive you for what you have done to me right now, but I must learn how to work with you. I am also not without sin, I hurt my team with my self-loathing, hurt the man I love by ignoring him… But I got better since my friends gave me time and refused to give up on me. Now it is my turn to try the same with you. I am not your friend, but please call me later and we will talk more."

"Who are you and what did you do to real Kate?" Aranea asked in genuine shock.

"Screw you. It’s… hard to admit that I was such an annoying piece of shit," Kate responded angrily. She took another breath and continued, "I am sorry for how I treated you, Aranea. I was afraid you'd kick me out if you found out about my power."

"I am the one who should be and is sorry!" Aranea almost shouted back, causing others to look at her. Leila quickly gestured to the others not to listen, and the pack pretended to do something else. The shaman only rolled her eyes at this gesture, Tiny smiled, and Sonya simply kept reading, "I was the one who left a scar on you, who hurt you, not the other way around. What are you even sorry for, you idiot?!"

"Ok, then let’s just forgive each other and live on. Anyway, I am tired and must sleep now," Kate said, with a sorry tone. Aranea was sure, she heard notes of fear in the voice of the scout as she mentioned sleep, "But I can’t just lie here and do nothing, so I will try to help you in my own meager way. I asked for reports from intel and will…" Her voice slowly went silent, and Kate fell on the pillows, snoring loudly. Kaleb returned the image to himself.

"What happened to her? Why is she so… nice to me all of a sudden?" Aranea asked, quietly in confusion, while Kaleb was busy reaching for syringes from a nearby table and taking a walking stick into his paw, "And what are you doing?"

"Preparing stuff for the doctors, if her nightmares hit again. I asked them to teach me a thing or two about medicine. In case…" Kaleb stopped and looked into the camera with a worried look. "Who am I kidding, it just a matter of time. Each time she falls asleep, nightmares hit her," He pressed a button on the table, sending a message to the doctors, and returned to preparations, "As for your first question, she asked me to help her become a more normal person," Kaleb quietly chuckled at this, "Now I don’t know why she asked me of all people, because I am… well I."

"Show some pride in yourself, Kaleb,." Aranea almost snapped at him, "You wanted Kate to trust you? You wanted her to "loosen up"? Now she trusts you. You helped her the most, not I," She smiled happily, "Good luck to you and…" She stopped when a loud moaning came from Kate’s mouth, and Kaleb quickly turned off the camera.

Aranea let her hands fall on her knees in a surge of impotent anger. She wanted to find Blaguna, she wanted to rip out her throat. Along with that blasted Yasen. They caused this. They took Yuki… They were dead men walking, both Blaguna and Yasen. The Reclamation Army took the torture of their own troops very seriously. There was no need to play hero, someone would get them. What Aranea needed right now was to watch over her pack. So she took a deep breath and calmed herself, standing up and checking the gear of her soldiers. Two male soldiers had no safety on their shardguns, and Aranea took her time patiently explaining to them the correct way before assigning them to the charge of cleaning toilets until the end of the week. These two were from Kate and Yuki’s packs. No matter how much she wanted to rely on Sonya, she simply needed new scouts to watch over warriors, the wolf hag herself could not be everywhere, and Sonya was old. She will have to promote the new scout, even if this means coming to terms with the fact that Yuki was dead.

Realization hit her like a truck. She was alone again. Tiny, Scarred One, Sonya, Leila… All of them were relatively new to her, all competent in their own way, but not part of her "family". Her original pack, the people with whom she drank, trained, fought side-by-side… All of them were gone for now, and some of them were gone forever.

She checked the gear of other wolfkins and spent the rest of the trip in silence, trying to come to terms with changes in her life.

Shield station was positioned in the western mountain range. Engineers of the state shaved the top of the mountain range, creating a smooth surface and a hastily assembled shield station. From the outsider's point of view, this was a rectangular building, surrounded by stone walls. Several trenches and bunkers were positioned to the north of the mountain range. The air in the distance trembled as a result of shield generator being active all the time. From gates leading inside of the facility, Aranea could see the cliff to the north. Several patrol towers were built at the edge of the mountain, projectors were currently off.

As transport reached the entrance to the shield station, several drones flew from walls, scanning machines before massive gates were open. Aranea and her pack jumped above and were greeted by two men. Sergeant Alek, now back in action. The man was dressed in a camouflage uniform of sand color, below it was a lighter model of power armor, one that was meant to be used for recon operations. Steel still covered the left side of his face, but now there were no longer any signs of rejection of metal on the skin, his remaining natural skin was as smooth as it could possibly be. He was without a helmet, sweating profoundly. Lieutenant Marveni Ursico, dressed in a black carapace pilot suit, stood nearby. A strange, transparent substance covered his entire face and neck, black wires ran from underneath his suit to his temples, disappearing under the skin. Not a single drop of sweat was on his face, yet his skin looked paler than usual. Aranea was worried about the man for a second before he smiled and saluted her.

"Wolf hag, glad to see you're still alive." He bared his neck and Aranea came to attention, putting her helmet on and saluting both men by putting her paw to her head. At this gesture, Alek tried to bare his throat as well.

"Don’t mock our traditions," The shaman strictly looked at the badly made gesture of the sergeant and said, "Ask yourself, how am I supposed to bite you when your head is this low? Put your head higher. No, not like this, do you want to twist your head or something?" She shook her head, "Barbarian."

"I'm sure he means well," Aranea said in an amiable tone and the shaman deeply bowed to the man in apology, "Lieutenant Ursico, wolf hag Aranea here to…"

"At ease, wolf hag." Ursico shifted his body, standing more casually, "There was a… promotion of sorts for you at the request of a certain someone," He glanced at Leila briefly, "You now have the same authority as me. Congratulation on your promotion."

Wolfkins of the Wolf Tribe were required by state law to be at the low totem pole of the state's command structure. This law was made by the blessed mother herself. Even the warlords were merely equal to the captains and strategists of the army. For a wolf hag to be equal to a lieutenant… Such thing were unheard of.

"I am thanking you for such good news," Aranea responded, taking off her helmet, her brows furrowed in doubt, "Yet I have no formal military training. I have no idea how to command over non-wolfkin soldiers, how to place defenses, how to assemble logistic lines. I would like you to remain in charge, if possible. Of course, all credit will go to you."

"Never was the one to care about promotions," Ursico simply shrugged his shoulders, his carapace made a small metal sound upon him moving, "Let’s go inside, before the sergeant boils out here like an egg." He gestured with his hand, beckoning the group to follow him.

A large oval mechanic suit was standing behind the front gates, nearby stood two more such suits. Their pilots were standing at attention, but the lieutenant waved them through, allowing them to relax. Two large vehicles capable of releasing UAVs were standing inside, their hulls open, revealing countless drones inside, waiting to be unleashed. The place was staffed with people, at each step, Aranea saw soldiers in power armor and engineers in exoskeletons accompanied by mechanical drones. A group of workers were busy installing anti-air guns in the ground before the shield station.

"Pardon the mess." Ursico nodded at suits, "With so many abnormals showing up among Resistance members, command gave the order for us to change from tanks to X-015 suits. It takes quite a time to adjust to them. The lieutenant pointed at the wires in his temples, refusing to elaborate further.

"We call them deliverers." The sergeant whispered, "Cause when you see them working in tight spaces… Boy do they pack a punch."

"The male will be silent while the leaders are speaking. Show some respect to your superior," The shaman said with a growl in her voice.

"We will need to find a way to loosen you up…" The shaman disappeared from the place, suddenly walking side by side with Alek, who was five steps ahead of her. Even Aranea only saw the Scarred One's blurred movement, for normal people, it must have looked like a strange teleportation; "Hey, offer still stands," With brazen disobedience, the sergeant responded, lifting his hands up in peace, "Drinks on me tonight. You want to show me how tough you are, let’s test you."

"Barbarian." Scarred One looked down at the man, planning to bite him.

"Shaman. Will you put shame on our pack by backing away from this challenge?" The wolf hag asked, trying to stop the fight from happening.

"My apologies, wolf hag," The shaman was suddenly embraced, "I can’t in good conscience accept the challenge. While I am certain of my inevitable victory, it is custom among normies that the loser pays for both contestants," Aranea briefly wondered just how the shaman knew about this, "Shamans do not receive tokens for their services. I have nothing to pay with in case of my defeat."

"Sergeant. If you're in such good spirits, you'll stay until the evening showing the shaman around our positions, including where we've planted ambushes and mines. I expect you to cover the entire perimeter by evening," Ursico smiled with a pleasant smile, "And you will also represent the honor of our regiment during your evening challenge. This means that you will pay for them both in any case. I wish you best of luck and have full confidence in your abilities," He slapped the man across his back, "Also, the name for our mechanical suits is X-015. I am sure that you will remember it after cleaning all the toilets in Shield Station tomorrow."

Ursico showed Aranea where the wolfkins would be staying. Large barracks were made for them on the east side of the building. They will be sharing this place with a few normies, members of Alek’s recon team, and a few soldiers. But engineers put some space between both normies and new breeds, trying to keep them separate from each other as much as possible. While the pack was settling down, the shaman and sergeant left to check up on the surrounding area around the shield station, while the lieutenant took Aranea away to show her the thing they must protect.

It was located right in the center of the facility. A large mechanism was placed in a three story tall room. To Aranea, it looked like a metallic flower. At the base of it was a thick metal pillar, four meters in width. On top of the pillar was an enormously large round antenna that covered most of the upper part of the room. The device was slowly humming, singing its "song" while it created a forcefield around Chokepoint A.

"This is it," Ursico said, pointing to the massive device inside the room, "The engineers assured me that the shield station will only provide the necessary coverage from this location. Build it any lower and the mountains will prevent the spread of the shield."

"Have there been any attacks on our positions here?" Aranea asked, walking around the device. Stairs led to the round metal platform built around the middle of a metal pillar, glowing terminals were placed on the platform.

"Just some minor artillery fire. It stopped soon enough after the Resistance saw that they had caused us zero problems. Enemy forces apparently do not dare to face us head on, even our scout parties face no resistance going north so far." The lieutenant explained, standing in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back. On the second floor of the room, there were metallic walkways that ran across the wall of the room. The guards were standing there, looking like the unmoving statues, watching over the shield generator, "Anyway, one last thing that you should know. Make sure that none of your people will smoke here," Ursico pointed at the small dots on the ceiling of the room, "The engineers, in their wisdom, decided to use not the regular water fire extinguishing system to combat fire, but instead installed a powder type fire extinguishing. One of my idiots already tried to smoke here, now he and two others are in hospital with minerals in their lungs. The damn thing stops fire dead, but spirits save you if you inhale it. With this, I am finishing our tour, with your permission, I must leave to carry on my own training."

Aranea thanked the man and went to her own pack. For the rest of the day, she was busy assigning tasks to her new pack and forming patrol teams around the area. They were horribly undermanned here, while nearly three thousand soldiers protected the western mountain range, all of them were normies. The only new breeds here were Aranea and her pack. Sonya spent her day time finding training areas for the pack. She finally decided upon a small canyon near the eastern mountain range. The wolfkins of Martyshkina were using it, so it was good enough for Janine’s troops as well. Leila went down to the hospital to aid the wounded. Aranea felt guilty, but deep down she was glad that the half wyrm was gone. She was afraid of her. Twice in her life, Aranea suffered when someone got into her head. She never wanted to experience such a thing again.

When night came and the sun set, Aranea retreated to one of the empty rooms. She put on her helmet, calling Kate and Kaleb. The image came to life, revealing a sleeping Kaleb on his bed. The man tried to curl, but pain in the remains of his leg stopped him. Instead, he was stopped halfway. What surprised Aranea were the headphones on his ears, her enhanced hearing told her that they were playing some calming music. The wolf hag smiled and wanted to disconnect when something turned the camera to Kate and Aranea blinked.

"Surprise! I bet you did not expect to see this," Kate said in an unusually cheerful and happy voice. Her body, still without her natural hands and legs, was lying on her bed. She still had popped veins in her eyes, likely the result of nightmares. And yet she had a new set of arms. From behind her back came four thin metal legs, reminding Aranea of the legs of insectoids. They were of orange color, connected to a weird metallic jacket that was put on Kate’s body.

"How?" Aranea asked, surprised.

It's all thanks to Sly! Can you imagine, he came with the reports that I asked for today and also brought this!" Kate almost shouted from happiness, but then threw a glance at sleeping Kaleb and began to whisper, "They connect to my spine via a set of needles. Sly said that it was a prototype of something. Poor boy, he spent quite a time putting this on me, but now I can do stuff like this!"

Metal legs to the left of Kate’s body moved toward the nearby table. Glasses and plates stood on it, along with a faintly frosted water pitcher. Metal legs slide from two sides of the water pitcher, lifting it into the air, turning it around and pouring water into one of the glasses. Kate stuck out her tongue from effort, sweat appeared on her brow as she placed the water pitcher back and carefully picked up the glass, slowly reaching it to her snout, opening her jaws and drinking from the glass. Then she put it back.

"Pretty cool, eh?" The scout asked in excitement, "I no longer need anyone to help me drink. I can even eat somewhat using them, although my blankets do get dirty when I accidently drop food, so I must rely on Kaleb for this still."

Kate looked at the remains of food on the table with barely contained hunger. One of the metal legs twitched, but the scout forced herself to be still, shaking her head. One of the metal legs reached to the floor, reaching for a few photos.

"Kate if you want to eat, wake up Kaleb. Or shout to the doctors…" Aranea said in a worried voice, but stopped at the guilty look of the scout.

"No. You have no idea how tired he gets watching over me each day. I am always hungry nowadays. Doctors say that my body is growing. Again. I am not sure what is happening, but somehow, I do not freak out this time," She smiled, her voice becoming a soft whisper, "I have decided. If he still wants to be with me, I will stay with him this time. Someone needs to watch over him and… I will remove my scars, I will change, I will become a better person. Not just for him, but for all of us."

Kate worked with her metal hands, picking up papers that were scattered around her bed, lifting them up on the bed. The halfbreed smiled looking at this picture. Kate still looked bad, but there was something new about her. Some new dedication, some weird determination, was now in the eyes of the scout. Her friend finally decided to accept herself for who she is and live on.

"Maybe if she can do it, so can you." said a familiar voice inside of Aranea’s head, and she felt a tingle of fear. It was impossible. No way it could be her. Aranea was hallucinating again, that’s all.

"Anyway, here is the deal," The metal hands of Kate rose up, lifting photos. They showed the faces of mostly familiar people to Aranea. Yasen. Blaguna, Kate's hand trembled slightly as she lifted her photo, she tried to look tough, yet a hint of panic ran behind her eyes. Next came Chort. Then the woman with the scythe and the metallic man, "First is Yasen. He wields the power of kinetic manipulation. By this, I mean he can send off blasts of kinetic force from his body and even create barriers of them before himself. He thinks himself hot shit, but I think we can all agree that there is something off about him. Intelligence believes that he is a coward. He only engages against someone he can beat into submission or when he is surrounded by his allies. After him, Blaguna. She can release mist that devours matter from her body… And she is mad. Really, really mad. Kill her from afar the moment you get the chance, do not speak with her. After her comes Chort. This one is weird. We usually know the true name of our enemy, but he is a mystery, despite his fame…"

"Fame?" Aranea raised her ears. Until she met him in battle over the convoy, she had never heard a single thing about him.

"Yes," Kate blinked, pushing away her fear and tossing the photo of Blaguna aside, "He is a well-known mercenary in the Ravaged Lands." When he kills someone, he always makes sure to leave a mark that it was his doing. He is obsessed with making a legacy for himself, he killed wolfkins, normies, abnormals of every kind… The only ones whom he has never had the chance to kill so far are the wyrms and skinwalkers, of course. Despite all of this, we still have no idea what his power is. Some people claim that he can become a monster. Other than that, he just punches really hard. And others say that he can summon monsters. Reports are not conclusive. This leaves us with Jekaterina Glawish, leader of Soultakers. This will take a while."

Kate put photos on the bed and reached for the water pitcher, pouring herself another glass, before drinking. Then she continued:

"Soultakers tribe was originally built on the belief that there are two kinds of people. Worthy ones and unworthy ones. The worthy ones are citizens. They are allowed to serve in the military and rule. The unworthy ones are slaves. Almost all their upper class, priests, and government are made of women, they distrust males for some reasons," Kate chuckled and looked at sleeping Kaleb with gentle eyes, "Sorta like us, I guess. Strangely, whenever our scouts capture a high-ranking female enemy, she simply died. Her heart just stops when she understands that she is captured. Intelligence speculates that this is because of some mental block or training. So far, no such thing with their males, prisoners among their ranks are healthy, but we only captured grunts. Anyway, back to Jekaterina. She was born as one of the unworthy ones. When she was six years old, priests took her away in order to sacrifice her to the gods. Three times they removed all organs from her, three times she regrew her insides, screaming in pain. In confusion, they send her to work off to the mines, where she and her brother spend the next twelve years, until one day she and her fellow slaves stumble upon a long-lost bunker from the old world. It is there that she found her scythe, known as the Reaper of Lies. With weapons and gear inside, the slaves run off, starting a mercenary group. The leader of the group was apparently getting worried that Jekaterina might usurp power from him and contacted the priests of Soultakers. Together they lay an ambush… But this did not end as they expected. By the end of the day, Jekaterina was sitting atop piles of her assailants' bodies. At the end of the second day, she marched to the capital of Soultakers and usurped power. Everybody expected that she would kill the families of those who wronged her, but she merely imprisoned priests and allowed their families to live. Then she abolished the worthy and unworthy system. Since then, Jekaterina has been in power for thirty years now, trying to remove barriers between males and females. But she is not very good at this, her talent lies in war. She is an extremely dangerous opponent, her forces are competent and Jekaterina herself can often be found on the front. If you see her, run or surrender. She can’t be killed, not by us anyway, and she is easily standing at a warlord’s level."

"And the last one?" Aranea asked about the mechanical man.

"No idea. The Bento tribe is weird and too distant for our scouts so far. We have too little information about him, only his name is known, Tlaltzin Bento," Kate responded in a sorry voice, "I will try to dig up some information on him, but no luck so far. Now I need you to do me a solid."

"Hm?"

"Call the wyrm spawn here. I need to have a chitchat with her."

"Why? Kate, after what she did to you…"

"This is exactly why I need to talk to her!" Kate’s voice rose in anger before she calmed herself, "Listen, I want to know her. For years, I lived in fear of using my secondary power, because I believed it to be a curse. She uses her power on others left and right. Someone needs to explain to her why messing with the heads of others is bad."

Aranea wanted to argue, wanted to point out that Leila was older than either of them. But then she simply nodded. Leila’s power scared the wolf hag, it scared her to death. Kate was right, someone needed to reign in the half wyrm.

She left the connection on and walked around the barracks, but Leila was nowhere to be found. Several members of her pack were already snoring, but the rest were still outside, either on patrol or... An idea hit the head of Aranea, and she hurried to a small place in the north of the building. This place was given for officers to wind up and relax, but since no one in their right mind would go down during the night, regular soldiers were also present here, drinking and eating. Even though over a hundred people were present here, the place was surprisingly clean. Ten tables were woefully sufficient for such a large gathering, so some bright mind dragged a few couches from somewhere. This time, soldiers, engineers, a few members of the Aranea's pack, and even officers, were keeping their distance from the center of the room. In the middle of the room there was a drinking contest, sergeant Alek tried his best to outdrink Scarred One, as the crowd cheered them on. Most soldiers cheered for Alek, but to Aranea's surprise, the pilots of the mechanical suits and engineers were vehemently pro-shaman.

Tiny and Gin were sitting on the couch near the corner of the room, arguing with three members of the work team who shared seats with them. Gin was adamant that it was the best beer he had ever tasted in his life, while the work team tried to persuade him that local beer tasted like piss. The owner of this place looked at this scene with disapproval and called one of his helpers, sending a man in the back room with free glasses of beer. Tiny clenched her fists, looking at the contest between the shaman and the soldier. Tiny was the only member of the pack not currently dressed in armor. Instead, she was dressed in a black t-shirt and brown pants.

As the shaman and sergeant picked up the pace, the number of empty glasses gradually increased. Neither of them bothered with the bread on the table, each contestant was fully concentrated on seeing the opposition fall first.

Aranea noticed Leila sitting on a chair near the bar, drinking orange juice. The half-wyrm was still wearing her new armor, her helmet was fastened around her waist, and both of her wings were tightly pressed against her shoulders to make room for others. Aranea pushed through a group of people and put her hand on Leila’s shoulder, making her turn around.

"Greetings, wolf hag. Care to join me?" She pointed at a near-empty glass near her. People cheered as the pair in the center finished another round, sound made Leila smile, "The sergeant is cheating. There is something with his stomach, something that allows him to drink alcohol and not getting drunk. The problem is, he is up against someone who has a stomach twice his own size. If the shaman can hold out...

The helper returned from the back door, bringing three glasses to members of the work team near Gin. Instead of drinking, they gifted all three glasses to Gin, making the owner grab his head in a weird gesture of desperation.

"I need you to follow me." Aranea quickly explained the situation, and Leila nodded, changing her expression briefly. The half wyrm dropped tokens for juice just when Gin started coughing, allowing Tiny to lead him away as well. Instead of following the wolf hag to the barracks, Gin and Tiny left together for the cliffs to watch the night sky. Gin quietly whispered that he thought that the work team was right about local beer.

Aranea made sure that Leila got into the room and connected her own helmet to Kate’s communication device before leaving. Out of curiosity, the wolf hag put on her own helmet to listen to the discussion of the two.

"Umh… Hi there, Kate. You look like a spider today," The half wyrm said shyly, "what are we going to talk about tonight?"

"No idea, this whole "talking things out" is a bit new to me. Let us start from the very beginning," Kate offered in a somewhat relaxed voice, amused at comparison to the spider, "I will tell you about my childhood, you will tell me about yours. Then we will see where we can go from here. I was born to…"

Aranea quickly turned off communication in order not to listen to Kate’s secrets. She walked to her bed and lay down.

"Tilden, Blaguna, Yasen." Aranea whispered, trying to sleep. However, dreams refused to come.

Mom, dad, she thought, not bothering to remove her armor, Sorry for not speaking to you for so long. I am fine. I am a bit scared to be honest, but I will be fine.

She tried to close her eyes, but a strange feeling kept her awake. It was as if she should have said something but refused to. The halfbreed took a deep breath and continued to speak in her mind:

I just don’t see how I can change my new tribe. I am afraid that more members of my pack will die. I am afraid that I will lose all my friends and be left alone again. I am afraid that someone will mess with my mind again. I am afraid that I will hurt  members of my pack. Mom, dad… Are you happy where you are right now? Can you forgive me for what I have done to you? There was no answer, but then again, she never expected one. Some things just can’t be fixed.

Aranea turned on the other side. She can only do one step after another and hope that one day she will be able to atone for her sin. She curled into a ball and fell asleep.

***

The next morning, Aranea was surprised to see Gin and the shaman furiously cleaning toilets together. Both were without their armors, the shaman was in an oversized yellow jumpsuit, while Gin was in simple brown pants. The young wolfkin refused to elaborate on what happened, just deeply apologized for turning the place into a mess. The shaman just shrugged her shoulders.

"I asked engineers to show me how to repair these devices," The shaman explained, nodding at the toilets while she was busy cleaning up the floor from traces of drool, food, and some other substance, the origin of which Aranea preferred not to know, "I am deeply sorry for causing the scene. I never expected that a male would last so long against me."

"So who won?" Aranea asked curiously.

"He is in hospital, and I am not. I guess this makes me the winner," The shaman sighed, looking around at the chaos, "Though this victory does not feel like a win."

Aranea asked about the wolfkins whom she had assigned to cleaning duty before, and the shaman explained that they were in different wing. Sonya was already out training the first group of the pack when Aranea understood that she needed new scouts to maintain proper control.

The first choice was obvious. Tiny was liked by both warriors and males alike, and even other females never tried to dominate her. Hopefully, her promotion would do well in changing her pack's view of the world. As a result, they will hopefully fight less amongst themselves. The second candidate was more of a problem. None of her warriors were up to the task as of right now. Except…

Aranea smirked. There was one person. The shaman might be unhappy with it, but it was not her choice. Kate was right, there was no time to give up on the members of the pack. They are all from the state, after all. The wolf hag contacted Sonya and the former wolf hag approved her choice but recommended putting both potential scouts through the test.

Leila was already in the hospital below the mountain range, so this is where Aranea headed out. Instead of using transport, she ran down on all four, leaping from stone to stone, taking short cuts along the way. 

The military hospital was a two-story tall gray building. The third floor was in the process of construction, several tents were located around the sturdy building. Even though no fighting was going on at the moment, there were always sick troops. Some were bitten by spine mites. Some twisted their legs or arms during training. Some managed to get hurt during training with live rounds. Or most commonly, soldiers often suffer from heatstroke due to the heat.

In a tent close to the hospital entrance, Aranea ran into Janine and Martyshkina. The warlord in charge of the eastern mountain range had her armor stripped off, aside from pants, she was naked. Pus and blood were seen through stitches on her back, and doctors were currently cleaning her wounds.

"Warlords," Aranea bowed to them.

"At ease, wolf hag," Janine said, waving her paw. She was in a good mood, her body was covered in full armor, "I am here to ensure that Marty will follow the instructions of the doctors this time."

"This is your fault," Martyshkina angrily growled at Aranea, "It's all because the doctors needed to "fix" me from parasites," Janine slapped her across the brow, and Martyshkina frowned, "Some fix this is, my back still hurts!"

"I am sorry, but this is necessary," The wolf hag faced the unblinking gaze of the warlord and tried to explain, "We often operate in cities, among normies now. What would you think if a spine mite from your back attached itself to a normie cub? They are weaker than us. Times change and we need to change with them."

Martyshkina looked her in the eyes, her paws twitching in anger. Doctors were silently working on her back, opening stitches to clean wounds. Finally, the warlord took two deep breaths to calm herself and nodded.

"Fair point. I will learn how to use the shower. You may consider yourself off the hook for now. Now get away from my sight and forget that you ever saw me like this."

Aranea decided not to question whether the warlord was kidding or not. Surely even such ancient creatures know how to use the shower, right?

She found Leila inside the hospital. The half wyrm was currently in a restricted area, a place where medics performed minor operations. To ensure that the place was clean, it was forbidden for non-patients to enter this area, so Aranea stood before the glass window, waiting for the moment when Leila would be free and notice her. Leila was technically in charge of their entire pack, but everyone, even local officers, knew that the half wyrm submitted herself to Aranea. Leila made sure to tell everyone about this in advance. Currently, the half wyrm was assisting medics with injured patients. She left her armor back at the shield station. Despite her oversized hands with claws, she was a surprisingly good helper from what Aranea could see. She bandaged people with almost blinding speed and, when asked, helped with transportation of patients. Aranea inhaled air and felt the smell of wolfkin approaching her from behind. Faint traces of Olesya’s smell were in the air.

"Wolf hag?" said a familiar voice behind Aranea, and the wolf hag turned around in surprise.

Tiny was standing behind her, holding a small bottle of pills in her paw. She was dressed in her regular clothes today, brown pants and a black jacket. Near her was a standing yawning scout from Olesya’s group. Upon noticing the look of Aranea, the scout hastily bared her neck, relaxing when the wolf hag nodded to her.

"Tiny. Great, I was about to find you. I need you in the training area as soon as possible. You and Leila are about to undergo a small test" Aranea smiled, wondering how Tiny managed to sneak up on her. She heard the footsteps of the scout and even smelled her, but utterly failed to sense Tiny. She pointed at the bottle, "What are these?"

"My medicine," Tiny was embarrassed to say, "My bones get brittle without it. Warlord Alpha sends these pills to me. The military also provides a similar product to me for free, but these ones come from Iterna itself, they are supposedly of better quality."

"Why would Alpha help you?" Aranea asked, surprised. Everyone had the right to their own secrets. However, based on what she knew, Alpha was a violent murderer, someone who barely held back her rage, "Everyone knows that she is nothing but a monster…"

"My… Alpha is not a monster!" For the first time since they met, Aranea saw a flicker of anger in the eyes of Tiny as the small warrior stood her ground, looking in the Aranea's eyes, "She helped me! When no one bothered to congratulate me on my birthday, she brought me sweets. When I could not pass the warrior test, she gave me advice on how to beat insectoid warrior!"

"Sorry," The wolf hag gave her a quick nod of apology, "I guess I should not believe everything people say."

"I guess this is it for my portrait, then," The scout near Tiny lowered her head sadly, "Oh well, I guess I will go back to drinking."

"Why the hell are you not with your pack?" Aranea snapped at her, showing teeth, "While enemies are afraid to attack us now, no one knows what can happen tomorrow. Go and train your pack!"

"You think I don’t know it?" The scout looked at the wolf hag defiantly, "Olesya has changed after Siri’s death. She was lax before, sure, but now she is utterly careless in her approach, just like Siri was. She trains newcomers herself, does not bother with making proper camp anymore, does not bother to use us for the job… And I thought that she was different from other wolf hags." The scout stormed away from the hospital along with Tiny, who tried to calm her down.

Olesya changed? Aranea thought in surprise, turning back to the window and looking at the half wyrm. Yes, her friend was more distant than usual these days, but… And then the wolf hag saw something that scared her and pushed all thoughts of Olesya from her mind.

One of the soldiers complained of a searing pain in his stomach. Aranea could see what was written on papers near his bed. It will be some time before doctors come for him, as his condition was stated to be non-threatening. The man tried his best to hold on but groaned from pain, despite painkillers. Apparently, he accidentally ate one of the local parasites during a patrol, and now this thing was busy leaving eggs in his stomach. An operation will be needed to heal the man. Leila came to him and took his head in her hands. The same light from before came from her eyes as she commanded the man to feel no pain until evening.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aranea demanded to know, coming into the room. She gave a nod of apology to one of the nurses, before turning to the half wyrm, "You can’t just take feelings away from people without asking for permission."

"He will be fine," Leila dismissively responded, standing up as the man looked at his body in confusion before falling back on pillows, "Now he is no longer in pain and can wait his turn without problem."

"Pain is gone…" The man said in astonishment, "Lady you are a miracle! Thank you so much! Does this mean that I am healed?"

"No, you idiot!" Aranea shouted, calling to the nurse, "Secure this one right here with ropes and ensure that he will stay until the operation."

You are reading story Duty, empty dreams and trying not to become a monster. at novel35.com

She grabbed Leila by her hand, literally dragging her by herself to the restroom. Normally, the half wyrm was stronger than the wolf hag, but in her new armor, Aranea was physically stronger. She pushed Leila toward a mirror on the wall.

"Look at yourself, you idiot! In your opinion, just how much do you know about life? " Aranea growled, wanting to bite the half wyrm.

"Not enough. This is why I always ask questions," Leila said, checking her face for dirt.

"Then think for once before you act! You can’t just mess with someone’s mind on the fly! What if you permanently damage the mind…"

"My power will not damage someone’s mind. I know it better than someone else." Leila responded calmly.

"How in the world can you even know this!?"

"Because I have lived with two imprints on my mind for more than fifteen years." Seeing the confused face of Aranea, Leila took a deep breath and explained, "Imprints are permanent orders or rules. When wyrms use their powers in full, they can leave an imprint. It can be almost anything, really. I was presented to the old demon at the age of ten. When he saw me, he was angry. That night with my mother was just for pleasure, he screamed. He claimed that she had no right to give birth to me. He looked at me and gave me the order to cease breathing," Leila’s eye twitched, "Naturally, I obeyed. Mom tried to stop him, but the old demon's will was too strong for her. Thankfully, Wyrm Lord was nearby and put his imprint on me, forcing me to "live" so to speak. For years, it was more like a curse, since the old demon always found a way to make my life miserable, he wanted to see me in pain, cause my birth "dishonored" him or some shit like this. This is why he kept me locked away all these years, to protect his "honor". As if you could take honor from someone who lacks it… Now that I am finally free from him, it no longer bothers me. I have so much to catch up on now! "

"And the second imprint?" Aranea asked, shocked at what she heard. It partially explains why Leila was acting strangely friendly with everyone...

"Oh, that. After my mom died, the old demon put a second imprint on me when he trained me to be his pet enforcer. It made me always come back to him after the mission, no matter what," Leila took another breath, forcing memories to go away, "Anyway, about the soldier. He was in pain. I removed this pain. He feels better now and can wait his turn…" Leila stopped as Aranea slammed her paw into the wall near the mirror.

"Listen. You told me that your father used his power on you. Why do you think he did it?" Aranea forced herself to sound deadly calm. Kate was right, no shouting.

"I already told you. The old demon wanted to get a reaction. He enjoys when others suffer," Leila hissed, her left eye twitching, "I hate him, but what does it have to do with anything? I use my power…"

"To get a reaction," Aranea took her by the shoulders, forcing her to look in the mirror, saying, "Listen, you want to use your power so others will thank you."

"This is a lie!"

"Really? Then why do you never leave the choice to others? Why force yourself on people? Admit it, you want to get a reaction from people, you want people to thank and worship you," Aranea pressed her snout to the ear of Leila, "You want to get a reaction out of people. A different kind, but you want the same as your father…"

Leila broke from her hold, slamming Aranea into nearby wall. She breathed air through both her nose and mouth, trying her best to calm down. And yet her eyes were red with rage. Her pupils trembled, as she tried to formulate words, her clawed hands pushed Aranea deeper into the wall. The wolf hag steeled herself in order not to blink. The half wyrm was strong! Aranea assumed that she was stronger, but even now she was overpowered easily as if she was a cub.

"Never," Leila said with trembling limbs, tears appearing in the corner of her eyes, "Never dare to compare me to him! You want to hit me? Fine, go ahead, as if it would hurt. You want to be angry at me? Feel free. But never, ever, ever compare me to him! I never used anyone, I never left anyone to die! I never betrayed… I am better than him!"

"Then prove it!" Aranea almost pressed her snout to the face of Leila, "Let others choose. Warn them about the consequences. Don’t be like your father."

"If you see a boy about to leap from a roof, because he believes that he can fly, won't you save him even if he gets angry later?" Leila repeated these words like a mantra, unsure for a moment.

"Are these your words, or the words of your father?" The wolf hag asked, and Leila let her go, taking one step back. "This is what he said to you about your power, am I right?"

"My power is not evil. I use it to help people. Unlike the old demon, I do not make them feel bad!" The half wyrm said almost pleadingly, looking at Aranea with a desperate look.

"It’s fine to use your power," The halfbreed forced herself to say, not fully believing in her own words, "You were born with it, how can it be evil? In battle, your power can save the lives of our allies. But it is not fine to use it on our allies or civilians! Not without asking their permission first. Maybe not even then. Please, just think about what happened! You used your power on Kate and she suffered. You used it on the soldier here and he nearly left without operation. And these are the only instances I know of! Are you sure that you have never really hurt anyone with your power? Use your power, but only if both the doctor and the patient give consent. And never use it on allies or civilians outside the hospital. "

Aranea wanted to add that this was her order, but they both knew that this was not something she could enforce. And yet Leila stepped back one more time, unsure. She raised her clawed hand, looking at the claws, then walked to the sink and cleaned her face, before taking a breath.

"I swear that I only want what is best for people. But I will think about what you have said. Can you leave now? I have the wall to fix." She gestured helplessly at the damaged wall, "And I have no idea how to do that."

"Actually, I can’t leave. You want to help, fine. I have a job for you. If you agree, I will even pay for the wall."

****

"They are going to get butchered." Sonya lazily said, looking down from the cliff.

She and Aranea were sitting on cliffs above the training canyon. Below was a small training course filled with stones as obstacles. The place was covered in red and yellow paint. Instead of live rounds, the wolfkin teams were using shardguns loaded with paint. The shaman was moving across the road without her armor, her black fur making her look like a living shadow. Her claws were unleashed and covered in fresh yellow paint. Engineers used something to ensure that this paint wouldn’t dry out in the next half hour. Two wolfkins were trying to hide near large boulders ahead, the form of Leila was visible above the stones, baiting the shaman into action. The half wyrm, like a shaman, wore no armor or clothing, and her claws were painted with a bright red paint. Tiny and Gin were sneaking up on the shaman from behind. The wolfkins were in full armor, yet it gave them little confidence against oversized blades like the claws of the shaman.

"We don’t know that. Maybe Leila has some actual plan…" Aranea said, feeling doubtful. Leila was supposedly used to combat. Spirits, Aranea, saw her in action! She wasn’t half bad. So why such an obvious ploy here?

The goal of this game was to deal a "mortal" damage to the enemy. At first glance, Scarred One was at a disadvantage. She had no ranged weaponry, she could not use her fangs since there was no paint on them. There was no armor on her… And yet she was a shaman. One of the strongest in the Tribe. Her sense of scent was nearly unrivaled, and her speed was far greater than that of Aranea. She had been in countless battles before.

"I blame you," Sonya said without anger in her voice, pointing down as the shaman was coming into the clearing, standing before Leila, "Really, what are they supposed to do? We gave them mines, but the shaman will sense the smell. I can smell paint from here. They can’t sneak up on her, they can’t outgun her… We should have been there instead of shaman. Giving impossible tasks is good for the punishments, but otherwise it is unfair."

Leila jumped from the stone, her wings hitting the air as she charged at the shaman.

"No, you stupid!" almost shouted Aranea, but she forced herself to be silent. Shaman was not going all out this time around. Maybe they have the chance…

The shaman made a backflip, when Leila's claws were an inch away from the snout of the shaman, one of the legs of the shaman rose up, aiming for the belly of the haff wyrm. Leila's wings hit the air, pushing her to the right as she grabbed the leg of the shaman, throwing the woman over herself. The shaman landed on her paws as Leila jumped back, small marks on her right shoulder, in the place where the shaman touched the half wyrm with her claws. The wolfkins from the front started coming out of cover, taking aim, assured that the shaman was concentrated on the half wyrm…

She was not. Scarred One charged like a cannon ball from the place, moving in a straight line. The ground where she was just a moment ago was covered in red paint. The shaman charged at two wolfkins who were hiding behind stone. The leg of Scarred One sliced across the stone, causing dust to get into the eyes of the wolfkins. As they stepped back, trying to take aim, the huge black form appeared behind them, touching them at the sides of their necks, leaving large yellow marks. Both wolfkins lowered their weapons in disappointment, Aranea did not blame them. The speed of their opponent was leaving them no chance.

The shaman leaped from the boulder, charging at Leila. The half wyrm was moving back, trying to get close to the position of Gin and Tiny. Aranea frowned in confusion, this was only leaving them exposed, the shaman would sense them… The half wyrm was moving slowly, and the black form was already on her. Leila's right hand was dangling helplessly, she obeyed the rules of the wargame. After receiving marks, she could not use her limb.

And then she landed on the stone and her form shifted. The shaman aimed to hit her in the chest with her right paw when Leila circled around her, striking with her left hand and causing the shaman to dodge. Sonya gave out a surprised scream when both opponents were locked in equal combat. Scarred One intentionally held back, not using the deadly potential of her claws and fangs to its fullest. She pulled back punches before they could hurt Leila. And yet they were both equal in speed. The limitations of the shaman meant that she could not land a hit on her foe, not before she could adjust. As each of them pushed their own bodies to the limit, the forms of both opponents became a blur. Their duel lasted for several minutes without either of them hurting the other. Finally, a mistake was made when Leila tried to slash at the neck of the shaman, allowing her foe to grab her by the wrist. The shaman's free hand shot forward, only to be stopped by the tail of the half a wyrm wrapping around it.

It was at this moment that Scarred One kicked with her left leg, aiming at the belly of Leila. And it was the moment when Gin and Tiny threw mines at the fighters, using them as grenades. The shaman's leg reached belly first, forcing Leila to relax her hold. The eyes of the shaman widened when she saw mines landing near her. An explosion of black smoke engulfed both opponents, and the large black form crashed from it, leaving the half-wyrm inside covered in red paint. Left arm of the shaman was covered in red, yet not a single trace of pain was on her body or legs. She charged at the wolfkins, raising her right paw. Two fighters made a step back and the shaman leaped, thinking that they would run. Instead, Gin stood before Tiny, taking a hit on his chest, while the shardgun of Tiny came from under the right shoulder of Gin. In a real fight, the shaman would have pierced the chest of a male and killed the enemy behind him. Not this time. Scarred One moved her hand to the side in order not to maim the opposition, and the shardgun fired, splashing red across the side of the shaman. The shaman could not have dodged it in the air. The massive black form pushed her legs forward, slamming them into the ground to the left and right of Gin and Tiny, stopping her fall before she slammed into fighters. She stopped, looking at the yellow dot on Gin’s chest and the red marks on her side. Red covered her entire side, from shoulder to waist. The shaman gave Tiny a long look before nodding, acknowledging that this was a mortal wound. Scarred One pointed at her forehead, and the warrior looked at her in confusion, shaking her head in refusal. The shaman smiled and took the shardgun from Tiny's paws, firing it into her own face, splashing red paint across her snout.

"Just a reminder of my mistake." The shaman simply said, giving the shardgun back. She turned around, ignoring happy Leila, and patted two wolfkin warriors from ahead on their shoulders, softly giving them some advice. Overflowed with happiness at the success of their plan, Leila grabbed Tiny in a hug, despite the loud protests of the warrior.

"No! My armor! No!" Tiny screeched as red pain from Leila’s body left large red marks over her armor and snout. "I hate cleaning it!"

Aranea smiled and gave Sonya a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I was wrong. Bite me. I accept them." The former wolf hag jumped down, landing near Leila and Tiny. She extended her paw in greeting, while the shaman looked with disapproval at how Sonya was shaking the paw of the half wyrm. She barely moved her ear as Aranea landed near her.

"You disapprove." The wolf hag was not accusing the shaman. It was simply a statement of fact.

"Yes," The shaman pointed at Leila, "She is strong, I admit this. Had we both went all out, I might have been injured. And yet… What is happening right now is an aberration. You allow others to enter the Tribe, to take control of part of the Tribe. Even with warlord approval, this is…"

"But they beat you. Strong rule, and the weak obey. This is how we live, is it not?" Aranea smiled and playfully kicked the shaman with an elbow under her ribs, "Or what, now that it is your turn to sacrifice something, you are not happy? Maybe you want something other than…"

"You have no idea what I gave up for the tribe, wolf hag," The shaman cut her off, her voice losing the usual calmness for a moment. She turned to Aranea, looking without anger or malice in her eyes. She was not judging, simply trying to accept the fact of her defeat, "Life is made from ups and downs. As long as you live, you can stand up again. I will endure this humiliation as well."

"Of course, I have no idea." Aranea nodded eagerly, "You never tell us anything about yourself. We are supposed to be family, what family keeps secrets from each other? By the way, If you don’t show any sign of familiarity with our new family member, others might not accept her."

The shaman snorted humbly and walked forward, forcing herself to extend her hand toward Leila.

"You are… not half bad. With proper training, you can easily beat me." The shaman said in a rasping voice, clearly forcing herself to say each sentence. Instead of shaking her hand, half wyrm hugged her, causing the shaman to growl loudly. Aranea was afraid that the shaman would lose her cool, but she simply looked at Tiny, "I have no idea how you made it. I knew you were behind him and yet… I forgot. This was your win, fair and square, but what exactly did you do?"

"This was something that lady Valerye taught me," The shaman raised her brow and Tiny continued in an embraced voice, "I met her in my childhood. She noticed that I was small-sized like her and she taught me how to pull this trick off in order for me not to feel bad. It took me several months of non-stop training, but thanks to her teachings, I can almost completely erase myself from your eyes. You know that I am here, yet you think that I am not here. Because I feel no emotions, no bloodlust at this moment. I am just a statue, a part of the background, how can I be a threat?"

"Warlord showed pity on you? Among all people, Valerye herself? From what I know, after she was crushed by Alpha, she became a cold-hearted person," The shaman tore Leila from herself, forcing her to stand still, before taking her into a hug. From the sudden croaking sound of the half-wyrm and from her form trying frantically to break free, something was telling Aranea that this was not a friendly hug. Shaman continued talking in a slightly strained voice, "You truly are blessed, little one. Never let your size limit you, because the Spirits walk alongside you. Rage against this world and you too can achieve your dreams."

"Please don’t hurt…" Tiny began to speak in fear but stopped as Leila wrapped her arms around the shaman again and both of them slammed their foreheads together. The muscles of the half wyrm enlarged veins became visible on the shaman’s hands despite the fur. Both looked at each other in the eyes, unblinking. Legs crashed the stone underneath their feet.

"Don't worry, Tiny," Leila said, sweat streaming down her brow and her eyes glowing slightly, "I like getting to know new people better. "There is nothing better than a friendly hug.

"I am just getting to know better a "new member of my family", so to say," The shaman half-groaned, trying to break down her opponent, "To get an idea of where she stands…"

"Be careful, granny, at your age it is dangerous to overextend yourself. You can strain your muscles from effort, and it will hurt afterwards. Don’t worry, I will give you a soothing massage afterwards." Leila forced herself to smile.

"Cubs these days. Getting scared after a tiny bit of effort. Don’t worry, I will tell you a nice bedtime story to raise your spirits. "

The wolf hag could practically hear the bones snapping. Both were nearly giving their all. Aranea wanted to stop them, but Sonya put her paw on Aranea's shoulder.

"They are not actually trying to hurt each other," Sonya whispered, pointing at the opponents, "Besides, even the wyrm spawn is curious to find out who is stronger between them. Look at her eyes."

Aranea wanted to say that this is exactly what she was afraid of. Leila's eyes were glowing. Just like when she was asking questions in the chamber of Wyrm Lord, she was slipping now. Her power can break loose at any time, and then...

Leila let go of the shaman and lifted her hands in the air in surrender. In surprise, the shaman let go of her and the half wyrm sat on the stones, covering her eyes.

"Sorry! Too excited. You won, I really need to calm down," Leila said to the confused Scarred One, who loudly demanded that she stand up, "No, no, you really have won, I have lost. My, you are strong."

"Stop lying, damn it!" The shaman snarled in anger, her hands twitching as she was about to jump on woman before her, "I can sense it! You could still go further! I can sense disappointment in your voice, you too wanted to go all out. Do not dare to pity another pack member, always go all out."

The half wyrm only smiled, pressing her palms to her eyes. Tiny stood behind her, putting her fingers on the temples of Leila and beginning to slowly massage them, telling her that everything was fine and that there was nothing to be worried about. The shaman lowered herself on the knee, asking what exactly was wrong with Leila. Aranea briefly wondered just how often Tiny was helping her friends like this. Was this truly the right choice to put Leila into a position of power? Her plan worked, but technically speaking, there was only one survivor from her team here…

Loud screams on the other side of the canyon stopped thoughts of Aranea. The voice undeniably belonged to Olesya, as she was loudly berating someone. Curious and worried, the wolf hag left Sonya in charge as she moved toward the nearby training course. Olesya was standing before a group of five wolfkins, loudly screaming at one of them. Just like Aranea, she was also without armor, yet her form was bigger than before. She was clearly fighting during all the time that Aranea and her team were in prison and later in hospital. The only small dent on Olesya's head reminded about that time when Chort knocked her out. The form of the largest wolfkin was covered with blue paint, while others were without any markings on them.

"Idiots!" Olesya inhaled air through her teeth to calm herself, "How many times must I tell you? Mines could be hidden. Traps could be placed on your way… You! I gave you leadership and this is how you repays me?"

She came toward the largest of the wolfkins. To the surprise of Aranea, this was a male. Two other members of the group were warriors, and two more were males. The wolf hag blinked in surprise; she had always suspected that Olesya didn't care about many tribal traditions, but putting a male in charge?

The form of Olesya towered over the wolfkin, who looked her directly in the eyes. Unlike his fellows, he was not afraid. His training gun was broken, the barrel of the weapon bent to the side.

"My apologies, wolf hag," The male said without backing down, "I take full responsibility for damaging the equipment and failing to notice the trap on the course…"

"You better!" Olesya screamed in anger, grabbing the broken weapon from his hand, "I trained and trained you and this is all we have to show off for this? Why did you use yourself as a shield, you idiot!"

"To save my comrades…"

"Fool! This is training! Not real combat," Olesya’s voice was still rising, rage was boiling in her, "And now I will have to explain why we have broken this stupid tool and look like a fool to everyone again… All because you can’t use your dammed nose. If you can’t use your nose, then maybe you don’t need it."

Aranea felt frightened at these words. The last words were spoken in a cold tone of restrained anger. These were not the words of her friends. No, these were the words Siri and Sonya used to say to others before punishing them.

Olesya raised her paw, releasing the claws. Shadows from claws fell onto the face of the male, and he gulped, but stood his ground, accepting punishment. The massive paw started swinging, aiming to leave markings on the pack member's face, and Aranea jumped, grabbing her fellow wolf hag by the wrist before she could hurt the pack member.

"The hell are you doing?!" She growled into the surprised face of Olesya, "Have you forgotten how Siri was treating you? You think that hurting your pack is a joke…"

"Get lost, Ari," Olesya yanked her paw free, taking a few steps back to gain distance, "If my previous way was so great, why did Siri and others die? No, I need to get tough in my training methods, I need to accept traditions. They were made for a reason."

"You blasted idiot!" The halfbreed forced herself to stay still in order not to jump at her friend, "Reason? What bloody reason is there to hurt your subordinates? You told me that you wanted to have cubs one day and that you wanted to keep them out of pits. Pits exist because of traditions! Traditions are nothing more than outdated cruelty. What, when you become a warlord, do you still bend over for this shit?"

"Cubs, huh…" Olesya laughed, throwing her head up, "Oh, Ari, you still don’t get it, do you? This was nothing but an empty goal. I mean, our fate is clear, none of us are going to survive long enough to raise our cubs. We fight, we die, and that’s all there is. I am sure as hell not going to bring my cubs into this world and repeat the same mistake my parents made when they left me alone. As for becoming a warlord… Ari, you saw how strong Janine was. You think either of us could ever get to this level? Hundreds of others failed, what makes us special? No. I see it all clearly now, Ari. I will do what I can to keep my pack safe. A few scars are a small price for my pack to learn how to be better and survive."

"What the hell happened to you?" Aranea demanded to know, "You never been so down before."

"Siri died. Members of my pack died on my watch. I am feeling like I'm losing to you," Olesya shrugged, "Stuff happened in short. And I refuse to lose to you ever again or let down my pack again. Now step aside, I have lessons to give."

"The only one who is going to get lessons here is you," Aranea allowed herself to stand up casually, her arms hanging loose like ropes, "If words can’t get through your thick skull, I will make you snap out of this with action. The training session is on, Olesya.

"Then you better take a stance. Cause…" Olesya began bending her knees, putting both her paws before her.

Aranea charged forward at her opponent without bothering to take an actual combat position. Olesya's right paw moved forward, her fist closed. She aimed to hit the lower jaw of Aranea and knock her out in one hit, but the wolf hag stopped just outside of range, allowing the hit to miss her and striking with her claws on her right paw, leaving a slash mark above the right eye of Olesya. Olesya was always slightly stronger and faster than Aranea. It was true. And yet there was the reason why two were equal for so long. The crimson eye of Aranea allowed her to see things more clearly, allowed her to track down even fast strikes of Olesya. After Ravager forcibly released her power, her crimson eye became even more potent. While it was useless against someone as fast as Chort, against fellow wolf hag it was really effective. It gave Aranea the necessary information to react in time.

Olesya punched with her left, and once again Aranea dodged, using her left paw to leave a similar mark above the left eye of Olesya. But this time her opponent was ready. As the cut came, she used the elbow of her left arm to slam it into the neck of Aranea. The wolf hag never tried to stop it, instead, she let her body go limp, allowing it to push her back. As Aranea was falling, she kicked with her left leg, leaving a wound on the chest of Olesya and throwing her back to the stone wall of the canyon. Aranea landed on her arms and made a somersault to quickly get back on her feet. She half expected Olesya to charge after her and hoped to slash her with the leg again, but the wolf hag was careful now.

"Stances are good. But when you have speed," Aranea smiled, ducking low, "You can end a fight before your opponent can even hit you!"

She charged forward like a cannon ball, striking with her hands forward and aiming at the knees of her opponent. First she…

She felt pain as Olesya stopped her momentum dead by reaching with her hands and grabbing the shoulders of Aranea, the claws of the wolf hag deeply cut into the halfbreed’s shoulders, making blood run down Aranea’s body.

"If you use no stance," Olesya started talking, as blood was running down from injuries above her eyes, making it look like she was crying tears of blood, "You become somewhat predictable. Speed can only carry you so far, and if your opponent is stronger and has a longer reach, she can do that!"

With her claws still in Aranea’s shoulders, Olesya almost lifted her fellow wolf hag and slammed her into the stone wall behind herself. Aranea gasped when the hit forced air out of her lungs and kicked with her knee, only for it to be caught by the paw of Olesya. Olesya raised her right hand, and Aranea threw her hands up, taking hits on her wrists as Olesya was pummeling her. In such close quarters, with the wall behind her, the physical advantage of Olesya became clear, she was pressing Aranea to the stones, not allowing her to gain distance or dodge.

And yet there was always a flaw in Olesya’s style. She was impatient. She always assumed too much. Aranea used this when Olesya opened her right paw, releasing the claws. The opponent was annoyed that it takes too much time to break through the blocks of Aranea. When claws struck, the halfbreed smiled, dodging to the side and allowing them to become stuck in stone behind her. Aranea grabbed a surprised Olesya by her shoulders, headbutting her and forcing her to step back and blink in pain.

Not giving Olesya a chance to regroup, Aranea charged at her. Olesya was ready for her, but at the last moment she blinked again, as blood fell into her eyes. This allowed Aranea to charge past her, leaving a cut on Olesya’s right side.

"Face it, I can read all your moves…" Aranea began to talk smugly as she turned around, only to receive a slash across her right shoulder as Olesya made a backflip without turning and hit back with her left leg. Olesya landed on her right hand and jumped again, this time landing on her legs and facing her opponent. Aranea felt anger and hate rising in her. Just how long does this stubborn fool intend to keep this fight going on? She will show her, once and for all, who is the best fighter between them here and now!

"Read me? Don’t kid yourself, Ari. You like speed, is that right? Try and match this then." Despite the blood in her eyes and bruises across her body, Olesya was smiling. She lowered herself, spreading her arms wide, releasing claws. Veins became visible on her legs, arms, and neck. A low growl came from her throat as she charged forward.

Aranea moved forward at the same moment as Olesya. Both cracked stones underneath their legs. Both turned their forms into blurs. And both aimed their claws at their necks.

What am I doing? In a mix of horror and bloodlust, Aranea thought. She wanted to see Olesya broken; she wanted to see her beaten or even dead at her feat...No.

Aranea shifted her paw, instead her claw pierced the chest of Olesya, slicing through flesh and avoiding the bone. And then they both crashed into each other, the head of Olesya slamming into the head of Aranea. The halfbreed looked into her friend's eyes and saw similar fear. The hit of Olesya never came, she stopped her claws before they could even scratch the neck of Aranea.

"I…" Olesya stepped back, raising her paws in front of herself, ignoring the wound on her chest, "I give up. Don’t know what came over me. Shit. This is no longer a game."

"Just what is wrong with…" Aranea wanted to say "us" but instead asked, "You? You have never been like this. Hell, you were the first person whom I viewed as my idol."

Olesya stepped back, pressing her back against the stone surface of the wall, breathing heavily. She glanced at the wolfkin and gestured for them to get out, telling them that there would be no punishment.

"I…" Wolf hag Olesya licked her lips as they were left alone, "I feel humiliated. Inadequate. I always ran after you, always kept up with you. So how come I am so far behind you now? Sonya is alive, while Siri is dead. Why do you have new shiny armor and weapons when I still have my old gear. In our first actual mission, I was knocked out and was useless," Her arms trembled in shame as she forced herself to speak further, "The shaman and the wyrm spawn both bare their necks to you. If rumors are true, Ravager herself may have watched over your duel with Sonya! What have I done in the meantime? I know that you suffered so much, I know how much you lost and yet… I am envious, so envious."

"Envious?" Aranea could not believe her ears. Envious? Is she serious? She felt hate rising in her, for the first time, she was truly angry at Olesya. She came to her and slammed her fist into the stone near her face. This was all she could do in order not to hit her, "Envious? Of what? Of how I lost Kostya? Of how I lost Yuki? Of every single one of my soldiers who died under my command!?" Olesya tried to say something, but Aranea cut her off, screaming, "Members of my original pack are all scattered, like a petals against the wind! I am surrounded by new faces, desperately trying to guide them! Blasted wyrms looked into my mind when I was nearly dead! Before this… someone else messed with my mind and now I look like this! Is it possible to envy this? How can you… how can you feel that you are losing to such a person as I?"

She stepped back, calming herself, and for a moment they were both silent.

"I won. Don’t you dare lay a hand on your pack ever again. Right before she died, Siri said to me that she was proud of you. Be the person who she is proud of. Not a cheap copy of Siri." The halfbreed said, looking at the embarrassed face of Olesya. The wolf hag looked at her in confusion, as if she was about to ask something. But Aranea wanted to hear none of this, she turned around and marched away.

****

"Take it away! Take it away!" Leila shouted in panic, and Aranea smiled against her will.

She, Leila, and Tiny were in the room where Aranea talked with Kate each night. Two days had passed since the brawl with Olesya, and news came that the arrival of the warlord had been delayed. Chort had struck behind their front lines, appearing along with greenies, and Foulsnout was busy hunting him on the orders of the blue wyrm.

Leila and Tiny took their duty seriously and spent all day training their pack members. Some minor troubles still happened, of course, but a massive amount of work was taken off Sonya, allowing for better training of the pack. Aranea spent the first day looking worriedly after Leila, afraid that she might abuse her power again. But everything has been fine so far.

Today there was minor trouble. Kate was busy telling her about warlord, when the half wyrm knocked on the door. Leila explained that she felt something crawling on her back. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a spine mite. The sand-colored body of the insect became swollen from consumed blood. Leila was still freaking out about this minor parasite while Aranea called Tiny and gave her order to bring the med kit.

"Stop panicking. If you smash it accidently, it might damage your spine column." The wolf hag joked, and the half wyrm froze in place like a statue, horror visible in her eyes.

"Aranea, shut up, you are scaring her on purpose," Kate’s voice came from the helmet. She was listening to this debacle, "Wyrm spawn, stop freaking out, this is no biggie. I once fell in a hole and had fifty of such critters on me."

"And you were fine?" Leila asked in a weak voice while Tiny came back and closed the door behind herself.

"Well, fine is not exactly the right word, I would rather use the word survived… But as you can see, there were no lasting side effects."

"I am kind of afraid more now that you have mentioned the word "lasting" in your speech." The half wyrm admitted.

"Tiny, come here for a moment. I may not always be around, so look closely," Aranea commanded, explaining to them how to safely remove this parasite, "The spine mite is currently stuck between the scales of Leila. If you tear it away, it will leave its sturdy beak inside her body. You take a lighter like this, press it to the back of the tick, carefully, you do not want it to explode and… here it's all done."

She showed the still trembling body of the insect to everyone, and Leila instantly grabbed it, crashing it in her hand with rage on her face.

"Seriously, you want to tell me that you've never had one of them on your body before?" Kate asked in surprise, "There is nothing to be afraid of, you can go on for days, before you even notice one."

"Days! I will never, ever step outside without my armor on," Leila tried her best to calm herself, but her arms and wings still visibly trembled, while Tiny was cleaning the wound on her back, "It’s disgusting, it’s…"

"There is another one on you." Tiny quietly said, and Leila screamed in a blind rage.

Aranea laughed and allowed Tiny to take care of the second one.

***

"I have to admit, I'm positively scared just looking at it." Leila shuddered as she took off her helmet. A red light shone from inside her armor onto her scaly skin. She and Aranea were standing on a wall of the shield station in the western mountain range of Chokepoint A. Below them, on a plain before Chokepoint A, were countless trenches and bunkers, vehicles of the Reclamation Army were either entrenched in the ground or were in safe locations for the time being. Thousands of soldiers around the frontline were busy preparing themselves for an incoming attack.

Warlord Janine and her troops held the center of the front line, supported by elite forces of the state. Aranea could see the large form of the warlord standing on the barricade, her enormous axe on her shoulder. Janine was definitely smiling, as the warlord was finally back in her element. A sole artillery brigade in the eastern mountain range was guarded by warlord Martyshkina and her troops. The wolf hag wondered if Olesya was calm right now as she was looking to the north. She tried to apologize to Olesya after her outburst, but her friend evaded her. From what Tiny could gather, Olesya apologized to her pack and restored the previous order, allowing scouts to train new recruits again. She never laid even a finger on her pack again after the brawl with Aranea, instead using manual labor to punish those who dared to break the discipline. Aranea quietly whispered a prayer to the Spirits for the safety of her friend.

Despite the fact that it was ten days since their arrival here, Valerye Foulsnout and her forces still hadn't arrived. They sent a message that Chort has eluded them and that they would arrive tomorrow as Ivar forced them to make a stop and resupply. Looking at the situation right now, Aranea pondered whether the blue wyrm had been outplayed.

The Resistance has come and they have come in numbers this time. The north was covered in a thick smoke cloud that was rising all the way to the skies. Aranea could hear, even all the way here, the sounds of countless engines working, the sounds of numerous legs approaching. The Command unleashed drones and unmanned flying vehicles to try and take the scope of the enemy's advance, but they were all shot down. Information came that all forward scout parties were wiped out by two enemies. The first was identified, Chort, a blasted mercenary of the Resistance. The second was still unknown.

"Use your power to take away the fear, if you are so scared." Aranea said carelessly, looking at the north. She could feel small tremors under her feet. She was unsure what caused it, but with each passing minute, the tremors were getting stronger. The Command assured defenders that there was no underground assault coming.

"You think it will be for the best?" Leila asked, in a genuine voice, looking at the mirror-like surface of her helm. Aranea looked at her in confusion, when a familiar light came from the eyes of the half-wyrm. But this time, as the light came in, Aranea felt no need to submit, no pull to bend her knees in front of the half wyrm. Leila's body trembled, and she started to intone words. "I…" she stopped as Aranea grabbed her by the ear, breaking away her concertation. The woman stepped back a few steps, as if waking from a dream, almost losing her helmet and pressing one hand to her long ear. "What was that for? I only followed…"

"I was joking, you…" Aranea took a deep breath to calm down, "Sorry for making jokes at a time like this. Who knows what will happen to you if you use your own power on yourself?"

"It will be fine," Leila tried to respond casually, scratching her own ear. And yet there was a hint of fear in her voice, "When the old demon makes me punish myself, I always used my own power to tell myself that I am not scared, that my wounds are not hurting." She smiled with a fake smile, her eyes still looking at the north in fear.

"Listen. If you remove your fear, what will stop you from charging into enemy lines and dying in vain?" Aranea took a moment to take Leila by her shoulders, "Listen, if you are scared, take a deep breath."

"I know how to fight," The half wyrm, stubbornly responded, "The old demon often sent me on missions from time to time. It’s just…" She looked helplessly around, pointing at countless weapons and an array of soldiers who hurried to their positions around them. "… I am scared. How am I supposed to protect all my friends? I have only ever fought beside you, how am I supposed to keep them all safe? I trained them, and I know what they're worth... But what if I make the wrong move and they die?"

"Stick with your orders. We are to guard the shield station," Aranea said as she nodded at the massive structure behind them, "Trust those who fight alongside you," The wolf hag smiled, "Trust me, with numbers like these, if Resistance even manages to reach us, then we are lost for sure. I am joking again, of course," She corrected herself, seeing how Leila became even more worried, "Go to the station and report to Sonya. Help her prepare a defense. And never take off your helmet from now on until battle is over."

"Reclaimers!" A voice shouted from the north, a loud and booming sound. Leila almost jumped when an enormous figure came from the clouds of smoke. The figure was several dozens of meters in height. Its hands looked like they could crush any vehicle, like a child's toy. The half wyrm relaxed, upon seeing how the smoke was easily passing through the robes and the armor of the figure. This was merely a hologram or projection. Aranea almost forced Leila to go back to the station before turning to figure. Long gilded horns protruded from the helmet, one ocular lens on the helmet was orange, the other ocular was solid black. Robes of purple and red covered the lower half of the figure. The palm extended to the defenders, beckoning to them. Massive armor made of countless metal plates guarded the body. King. King has come in person.

"Your leadership has lied to you. They claimed that we were too scared, that there were too few of us to try to attack this place. Well then." Came a cruel chuckle, "What about now?" Part of the smoke in the north disappeared, revealing rows upon rows of warriors on the stone plains. The left flank was held by the Regulators, thousands of warriors in black and golden armor were waiting for the order to attack. Numerous armored columns were among their rank, Aranea saw the armored figure of Yasen, posing triumphantly on a large tank. There were figures surrounding him, each figure was wrapped in a cloak. Green, blue, and red, they stood around him as bodyguards.

The armored figure of Blaguna Nokto could be seen behind the lines of her warriors. She was sitting lazily on a large vehicle with a massive missile launcher above it. Smoke stepped back and even more such vehicles appeared. The center was held by warriors of the Bento tribe, half men, half machines, were on the field, carrying oversized weapons. There were barely any vehicles among them. Almost the entire Bento army came on foot. The only vehicles among them were fat-looking shield carriers, mobile armored all-terrain transports, capable of guarding surrounding soldiers with the energy shield. A figure in front of Bento's army surprised Aranea. It was a tall figure, clad in bulky looking armor of pristine blue. The familiar black scythe was in the hands of the figure. Jekaterina, the leader of Soultakers was in the middle of an enemy force. Her long cloak of deep blue flowed from her shoulders, the armor on her legs and arms was square shaped. She was surrounded by several tall warriors, all of whom looked nearly identical to the gigantic warrior that was bested by Janine during the attack on the convoy. Jekaterina herself stood unmoved, like a statue. While not as rowdy as the Regulators, the warriors of the Bento tribe still shouted threats from time to time and moved. Meanwhile, the leader of Soultakers was stillness itself made flesh. Flags with metal skulls were raised high above the ranks of steel soldiers. On the right flank of the enemy were rows of warriors in the color black. Covered in armor of the night color, the lenses of their helmets glowed with pale light. Hover tanks, flying above the desert and stones, were among their ranks. Massive shield carriers were among them as well, ready to guard their allies. Flags of pure black were above their ranks, mounted on an enormously huge tanks. A figure in a simple shirt, brown pants, and a cocked hat was standing in front of Soultakers forces. This was a man, his size easily reached three meters in heigh, his hands looked like they could turn Aranea into paste with just a touch. In one hand, he carried a massive sword spear. Despite being the only one without armor, he was standing casually, waiting for the charge. Soultakers stood like statues, barely moving. The figure in front of them, meanwhile, was beckoning troops of the Reclamation Army with a mocking gesture.

Aranea felt a tingle of fear. There were so many enemies. The forces arrayed before them easily dwarfed the defenders, and these were the only ones that she could see! What else was hidden in the smoke and what was the source of these weird tremors?

"Do you see now? The liars and schemers in charge sent you here to die! And for what? Will you personally reap any rewards? Will anyone remember your names, as your bones turn to dust in our harsh lands? No!" The figure of King shouted, pointing with the metal gauntlet, and Aranea could see that it resembled an escalator claw. The gauntlets of King were not made to sign treaties, they were made to crush and maim. King spread his arms wide, as if to embrace his army. "Passion, technology, and order have come for you. Before this day is over, we will take back this place. Gates of Destiny is the name of this ancient place, and could it be more fitting? Will you choose the destiny of death, or will you choose the destiny of life? Surrender, lay down your weapons, and leave in peace. Fight and be annihilated. Answer me, Reclaimers! What will you choose?!" The King's shout reached the defenders' lines, sounding like a demon's roar.

"Soldiers of the Reclamation Army!" From speakers around the defense line came the voice of captain Osero "Darkness crawls back to our borders, seeking to bring ruin where we restored life and order. Will you let them?" The shouts "No!" came from the rows of defenders. "Our foe tries to intimidate us with this meager show of force, but who if not they have run away from us all these days? Are we really supposed to be scared by this rabble, this host of tribes, united by fear of us rather than by unity? They ruled these lands for centuries, and what do they have to show for it? Weapons from the old world, technology from the old world, ruins from the old world, fruitless lands and dried up rivers, ruins in which their people lived. Are we really going to be intimidated by someone like that?" The voice mocked and once again shouts "No!" came from the ranks of the defenders. "Here is your answer, false king. Come and test us at your own peril!"

"Death it is then," The massive figure of the King pointed at the defenders when he uttered these words, "Exterminate them."

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