Blood & Carrots - Silverpaw Ep. 19

"Hey, I had to show off in front of you two, didn't I? Show you how lucky you two are to possibly be getting this?" I purred the words out playfully, then refocused on the orb. "Look... I've a sneaking suspicion that as soon as we grab this thing, the head honcho is going to know and come running."

Gloria gave a nod. "Yes, I concur. We should make haste to the return gate as soon as we take it."

"Glad you agree, angel, then you take it," Alex spoke out pointedly to her.

With a bark of protest, she put a hand to her chest. "Why me? I'm not nearly as fast."

"Because Kat's low on fuel after her showboating-"

My ears perked up as I hissed, "Hey! I wasn't-"

The wolf gently put a hand to my lips, shaking his head. "Even I can sense you're not at one hundred, just trust me."

I would have growled if I could, but I relented. He was right, that was my first real use of the power in combat and I was certainly feeling it. Alex looked to Gloria as he continued, "If something goes down, I'll need to carry her, you on the other hand can fly, that gives you more advantage."

"F-Fine... I'll do it." Gloria reached her hand out, then looked towards the two of us. "Are you two ready?"

I gave Alex a nod as I pulled away from him, then the wolf gave her his own. The angel took a deep controlled breath and grabbed the orb, quickly snatching it out of the bowl it rested in, then all hell broke loose.

A heavy rumble vibrated under our feet, the very land groaning as if in anger. I sprang off the stone and back into the snow even as the whole of the shrine simply fell out from under us, tumbling down into a gaping chasm that opened beneath it. Alex had followed suit and Gloria simply took to the air, flapping her massive black wings to keep herself aloft.

I stared in wide-eyed wonder, the shrine and most of the land around it simply sliding down into a massive sea of lava that was below the tundra we were on. Alex grabbed my shoulder and snarled, "Don't stare, run!"

With a shocked gasp I felt another rumble under our feet, realizing it wasn't just the shrine that was falling away, but the very earth beneath us. I sprinted away as several yards worth of frozen ground slid away, trees snapping and groaning from it.

"Well! At least they don't have to worry about burying those guys!" Alex barked out as he sprinted forward next to me, both of us blurring at supernatural speeds, but the collapsing ground easily keeping pace with us.

"Silver linings then!" I huffed out as I ran, then watched Gloria sail past us overhead like a bullet. "Gods, she's so much faster now!"

"Yeah! We snuck in a training session before this, even though-" He barked out as the ground toppled under his feet and he fell to his hands.

"Alex!" I called out as he fell, but the wolf simply shifted while on all fours, his black fur bursting forth as he grew in size and bounded up next to me.

"On me!" He snarled the words and I blinked in shock, he had never been able to speak in his lycanthrope form before, just bestial snarls. I was already running out of stamina though and he knew it, I leaped onto his back, holding on tight as the massive wolf began sprinting at full speed.

I could see black and red wisps of flame drifting off of him, clutching his throat tightly and shocked at how fast we were moving. It felt like I was on one of the sports bikes we kept in the garage, frozen earth being torn up in his wake as we easily outpaced the collapsing ground.

The gate finally came back into view and Gloria dove right into it from the air, the two of us leaping in as well, the ground shifting and collapsing a few moments later behind us. We all found ourselves back in the underground waterway in Venice, but it wasn't exactly a great stopping point for a giant wolf running at speeds that could keep up with a sports car.

"Shit!" Alex barked out as he dug all four of his paws into the earth before his momentum sent him tumbling and with me as well. We careened towards one of the cobblestone walls at full speed, then both yelped out as we simply halted in mid-air, suspended there as if we had slammed into a giant wall of cotton.

Gloria was standing next to us, both hands outstretched, her teeth showing in focus, her large wings spread out with wisps of silver energy rolling off them as she focused. Seeing we were safe she gave a relieved huff and halted the effort, sending us unceremoniously to the ground in a tangle of limbs and fur.

I groaned as I picked myself up, or tried to, as the wolf was collapsed atop my back. I showed my teeth and hissed out, "Damn! You're heavy in this form, change and get off me!"

Alex gave a snarl as he shifted while rolling off me, plopping onto his rear, t-shirt ripped to shreds, but the jeans having been some of the stretchable ones he tended to wear these days, so no worse for wear. "Ha! Sorry about that, Kat. Nice save by the way, angel." He gave Gloria a playful wink.

"It was nothing, dear." She offered the wolf a gentle smile then gave a relieved sigh as the adrenaline took hold and she fell back, sitting on the mossy earth, shivering slightly. "Huff... I-I'm glad you're safe too, Katrina."

"Yeah, thanks for the save as well... both of you." I looked back to Alex and gave him a smile before sitting down and checking my watch. "Damn, we made good time."

"Well, we were running for our lives there at the end." The wolf barked out a laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well you two were running, I simply flew." The retriever playfully stuck her nose up in the air in a surprisingly haughty gesture that reminded me of something Sarnai would do. I couldn't help but find it adorable, especially given who was doing it.

"Almost half an hour to go, should we poke in on one of the other gates, see if they need our help?" Alex spoke out as he slowly climbed to his feet.

I glanced him over, giving his form a good look. I had seen him shirtless plenty of times, still seeing him with it torn to shreds like that made the hunger in me ache. Pushing it aside, I moved to the gate we just left, staring upon it, seeing nothing but a large pool of lava. "Well, I don't think the guild is using this one again for a while..."

Curiously, I pushed my hand out and frowned as it pressed up against the gate as if it were made of glass. I applied a little force but it didn't seem to budge as if pushing up against a wall. "Hmm... I think they may be one use only, too."

"Man, magic is weird..." The wolf moved over to the gate the mice and Kazemde took, sure enough knocking against it, as if he were tapping on a wall.

"Tell me about it." I gave a laugh then looked at my watch with a frown, seeing we still had plenty of time. I then glanced over at Gloria who had found her feet but was standing there with her arms folded at her stomach, looking away from us, tail drooped and wagging slightly.

"Hey, you okay over there, Gloria?" I called out with a frown, wondering what was up with how she was acting.

She lifted her ears and gave a quick huff in response, "O-oh yes! I'm doing fine, Katrina, thank you for always worrying about me!"

My tail coiled and flicked a few times as I stared upon her. It was probably the fallout of sleeping with a succubus every night, but I could clearly feel her eagerness. No, it wasn't a supernatural thing, I could plainly smell how worked up she was, even in this dank-smelling catacomb.

Thinking back to it, she had gotten a little lost with me a few times before, especially after needing to feed on her when we had just finished some sort of harrowing experience together. I don't know why it took me this long to put the pieces together, but the damn dog was an adrenaline junkie. The near-death experience we just had probably kicked her desire into overdrive.

Gloria's blue eyes shined as she looked over to me, putting a hand to her flushed cheek. "Katrina, why are you staring at me so intently?"

I gave a huff as I realized just how hard I was staring at her and averted my eyes. She was a strong defined woman with just enough curves to look soft to the touch, but easily on par with Sarnai's physique. Of course, she wasn't bringing as much upstairs as me or my vixen, but still had lovely perky breasts from what I had seen of them over the years.

"Like what you see, Kat?" Alex puffed into my ear as I was lost in thought, making me give a shocked hiss before I turned to glare at him, but given his height, I was staring at the chiseled set of abs before jerking my eyes up at him.

"I was just concerned because she was... quiet!" I hissed out and racked my brain for something to shift out of the moment. Even the wolf smelled good now, that musk of his that had always driven me a little mad.

"G-Gloria! What about that stupid orb? Is it okay?" I snarled and shot a glare at the other dog, stepping away from both of them before their scents drove me crazy.

The retriever lifted her ears at the question as if she had forgotten she was carrying it. "Ah. R-Right!" She reached into the long coat she had worn, showing off more of her curvy hips in her tight jeans before she withdrew the small sphere.

"It almost looks like Ice, but it's warm to the touch. I can feel the quiet, fearsome power that's within it, though." She passed it to me and I took it, her fingertips brushing my own as she pulled away with some hesitation.

The tension really was thick in the air for us. I couldn't blame her reactions, even I was having trouble focusing after having several near-death experiences when we fled the realm. I looked over the orb, staring into it intently. It really did look like just a globe of ice, but the power was obviously there.

"You think the others are okay?" Alex spoke out over my shoulder as I looked back at him and tossed the small sphere over to him to look at.

"I've no doubt they are. My teacher is a monster when he's serious and the rest of the crew are made up of our most powerful family members. They sent the 'new kids' on the easy errand, it's no wonder we made such good time." I watched the wolf fool with the orb while I spoke, even going so far as to give the thing a sniff before he shrugged.

We settled into an awkward silence for a few minutes before I began to pace, looking over the three torn open portals, and the one stable one leading back to the magi circle, back to where I had my own dorm-style room, a room with a very large bed in it. I felt like a monster, I should be eager to stay here, wait for everyone, but I was going mad. Years of pent-up tension eager to claw free, just like I was eager to claw the clothes off that angel and my best friend.

Alex gave a shocked bark as he looked upon the gate we had exited. "Woah!"

Me and Gloria quickly moved to look upon the portal, seeing a very furious-looking ninetails standing before it, their form suspended above the sea of molten lava. I was shocked to see the figure. It was obviously a male given you could see nearly all of his chest and abs, exposed from the open-faced robe he had on, a thin coat of white fur covering his flesh.

He was a lithe and small-looking male, probably close to my height, his form looking sleek and toned. His wardrobe kind of reminded me of casual wear I would see from the eastern side of the world; flowing robes of white and blue to match his fur pattern, nine tails fanning out behind him, snow-white like the rest of his form. His hair long white hair flowed down his back and I swear I could see glitters of snowflakes dotting through it.

"Whoa... So that's what a greater spirit looks like... Damn..." I huffed out, even sensing his power and rage through the portal.

"Yes, eerily similar in stature and height to Triallia it seems." Gloria frowned as she folded her arms.

The fox on the other side slammed his fist into the portal with a heavy blow that made no sound on our end, his sharp teeth showing before he started spitting out words and thrust a padded-finger at us as he spoke.

"What do you suppose he's saying?" Alex asked curiously, glaring upon the smaller male through the portal.

"I can read lips, not muzzles, I couldn't tell you." I gave a shrug and lifted my ears as the ninetails punched the portal again with a snarl before drifting back in the air, both his handpaws extending as ice blue flames started to form upon them. "Uh... let's back up just in case," I huffed out and grabbed both the dog's hands, quickly back-peddling from the gate.

The fox launched the icy flames at the gate, the whole view turning ice blue, a few moments later there was nothing but darkness on the other side. Perhaps the whole thing was entombed in ice or who knows what.

"Well... that was interesting, but at least he couldn't get in." I folded my arms while frowning at the gate, then looking back at the one leading to the circle.

"He shared so many similarities to Triallia, I wonder if they're all siblings," Gloria spoke out curiously as she tilted her head.

Alex sighed, "Well, regardless he's seen us and knows we did the deed. Let's hope he doesn't keep a grudge after this is over."

"Yes, for his sake I hope so. All of them are on my shit-list over what they did to you two, I'll have no qualms choking him to death in his own fucking blood." I snarled the words, feeling blue flames drifting off me as my anger grew.

"Katrina, you're so gorgeous when you're like that!" Gloria barked the words out excitedly, her tail wagging as her eyes stared hard upon me. I blinked at her gaze, seeing she was clearly looking my body over.

"Yeah, she's pretty hot when she gets all worked up." Alex also was looking at me like he wanted to tear my clothes off now.

I felt my heart racing, the adrenaline from seeing that spirit, the whole activity leading up to this, and now both of them so intently looking upon me. I shivered and averted my eyes, giving a sigh. I was still burning up with desire and I wanted them; now.

"Uhm... Alex, Gloria, I, well I've got a room at the circle. We're not going to do any good standing around. So... why don't we go back and clean up, then we can-"

I couldn't finish the confession, because of a shocked yip, as well as a furious bleat, filling the room as both Elias and Lorelai came tumbling out of the gate as if they had been thrown through it.

"Master!" I called out in shock as the fox tumbled to the ground, righting himself at once and launching himself back to the gate.

"Sarnai!" Elias roared out her name, slamming into the solid surface of the gate, looking shocked at the barrier, snarling and slamming his flaming fists against it.

Lorelai gave a furious scowl as she righted herself, tossing a small sphere to the ground that was glowing in a soft golden light, then called out to the fox, "Elias, Those gates are magically sealed, you can't punch through them!"

"What in the nine hells is going on!?" Alex snarled as he looked at the two of them.

"Sarnai! Damn you!" Elias screamed out, tears rolling down his face as he kept clawing and punching at the surface of the gate. "Stupid selfish bitch! I won't!"

"Lorelai! Explain this, now!" I hissed out furiously.

"We were set upon by the summer spirit and then... Triallia showed up as well." She spoke out in a cool tone despite her eyes being blood red as she sheathed her longsword along her back. "The two began to quarrel and she took the opportunity to 'eject' us out of the situation."

"Oh gods, she stayed behind?" Gloria gave a shocked gasp, putting a hand to her lips.

"She didn't think we could all make it so..." Lorelai pushed her hand to her face, shaking her head, tears clearly showing as her teeth clenched. I stood there in shock, trying to process it all, and the whole time my master's desperate yowling sobs filled my ears as he slammed against the gate.

A few days prior with Elias at the citadel.

"So what was so pressing that you needed to speak to me in private old friend? This isn't a confession is it?" I showed the rabbit a playful grin, my tail wagging as we walked along the halls of the citadel, the rest of my family having left for home already.

Toroah chuckled at my words. "You really have been corrupted by that rabbit, but then again so have I. No old friend, not today anyway," He returned the playful jest, his small fluff of white tail flicking behind him as we walked.

"So what's up?"

"The Seraph wishes to speak with you, only you." The archangel spoke out pointedly and I felt my heart sink in my chest.

"That is... Well, color me shocked. May I ask why?" I growled the words, feeling the tension settle in me, my heart now beating as it thumped in my ears.

"I can't say, but know I've got your back if something happens." Toroah clenched his fist and held it up.

"Hah... you have for nearly half a century old friend, I will put my trust in you and yours." I clenched my own fist, both of us bumping them together before I sauntered back into the audience chamber, the other archangels nowhere to be seen.

"Even Samanth and Ichiro were not privy to this discussion, let us go." Toroah quickly drew open the gate to the Seraph and I strode through, white flames drifting off my tail as it flicked.

We stepped back into the odd empty void and I put my hands upon my hips, tilting my head up and trying to act haughty like my wife would. "Why have you called me back? I hope this is a peaceful summons."

"Be at ease Lord Blackpaw and receive our gratitude for promptly responding to our summons."

"Of course, we are allies after all, I've no reason to distrust as of late." I huffed out and relaxed my stance, shifting to push some of my loose bangs form my vision. "So what can I do for you?"

"We wish to speak to you personally, Toroah my son, could you leave us?"

I frowned at the words and looked to Toroah who glanced to me, tilting his head curiously, as if waiting for my response. With a sigh, I met his eyes and gave a quick nod. He got the signal and bowed before slipping back into the gate as it closed.

The reality crushed me at the prospect of my situation, I was alone with nowhere to go, meeting with a being or beings that could crush me like a bug if they desired it. I composed myself and folded my arms before speaking out, "Quite an awkward position you've put me in, I hope you can understand my trepidation."

"Thank you for your trust, our child."

"I am no child of yours, angel. You've struck down countless of my family over the millennia, do not think our alliance now wipes away the sins of your kind." I snarled as the words came out, shifting to clench a fist, white flames drifting off my knuckles.

"Indeed, and our lamentation of such would do little, all we can do is show by example moving forward. Know we have always looked upon you as our children, members of our family like all the beings of our world."

"Quaint." I snarled and shifted to clasp both hands behind my back, stiffening my stance as I cocked my head. "Did you consider all those you took from us as children too, or lost souls that needed to be put down?"

"Please understand, Lord Blackpaw, in times past, ancient times. Your kind were akin to savage animals, wild monsters that killed swaths of our flock. We are an ancient kind and slow to change."

"A shit excuse is better than none I suppose," I snarled the reply, thinking that was very much something my wife would have said, I'm sure she would have approved, giving me that sulky nod she always did. Thinking of her eased my heart and I relaxed slightly.

"We did not simply reap the souls of your family. They were treated as all fallen mortals are, why some even ascended to our ranks."

"And you expect that to offer me solace? I'll never forget the sorrow and pain your kind wrought. I cannot forget the pain upon my lady and my wife's faces for the crimes you and your followers enacted upon us. Doubly so when we were living peaceful lives and in many cases, protecting your flock from the darker elements."