Chronicles of Valarian 9: The Wolf's Request

“Val, please tell me you’re kidding,” Fen murmured plaintively. “Please, please, please tell me this one all one big joke and that you’re not going to complete this insane idea of yours.”

I glared at him. “I do not get what is the matter, Fen. I already beat Coyote, and I have to fight the other Great Beasts at some point so I might as well do it now.”

“Yes, but do you have to go after one of Jormungar’s servants?” he asked, throwing his hands into the air. “And the Horned Serpent at that!”

“I made a deal with the Thunderbird,” I replied without emotion, running the whetstone I took from Tyr’s weapons shed up and down the blade of Vulnus. “I have to go after the servants of the World Serpent. I have no choice if I ever wish to live.”

Fen winced as if my words physically hurt him. I cast him a quick look, unsure of why he was acting to jumpy around me. Was it because of the blood on my hands when I had arrived(Emily had insisted I wash them off before she let me have access to Tyr’s armory-esq shed in the shadow of the trees lining the cliffs on their island)? No, Fen was used to that. What was it, I wondered.

“I - I’m not used to that,” Fen murmured, his yellow eyes glinting in the orange-gold light of twilight splashed across his canine features. Could he suddenly read minds, I wondered before he continued his sentence. “You talking like you could die, I mean.”

“Neither am I,” I admitted, giving my scythe a test-swing. It sang as it moved, like it was slicing through the very air itself. Satisfied with my efforts to make it as sharp as possible, I sent it away in a burst of flames. I sprang to my feet and approached Fen. He stared at me like I was some sort of wild animal. Which, I supposed I was. “Don’t worry,” I replied as I stepped past him to access the door. “If I planned to get myself killed before I gain my freedom, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“Is it really that important to you?” Fen asked, his long steps easily keeping up with me. “Your freedom?”

I clenched my teeth. I didn’t want to answer that, but Fen deserved to know the truth. He was as wrapped up in his own bindings as I was. Neither of us were free right now. But I was the only one trying to change that. “Yes.” I finally answered. “Freedom is everything to me. I am a wild fox, not meant to be under the control of anyone, even my creators. But-” I clenched my hands into fists, rage rising up within me. “I have no choice. As long as I have this name, I will never be free of them. The thunderbird has offered me what I never thought I could truly possess. I would do anything to get it, even put my life in danger. Wouldn’t you?”

Fen didn’t say anything, and when I turned back to him he was looking at me with a pained expression. “I suppose so.”

Nodding, I turned to prepare to leave but Fen stopped me again.

“Hey, Val,” he put a hand on my shoulder and I turned around to face him.

“Yes?” I asked, not pleased at being interrupted. “What is it?”

Fen shifted from heel to toe, his eyes downcast. “Can I come with you?”

It was like being struck with lightning. The shock of those words were so great. I did not even have enough time to think to be insulted about Fen assuming I couldn’t do this on my own or if I should be concerned on Fen’s behalf. “Of course you can’t!” I shouted, “why would you even ask that!?”

“I need to get off this island!” Fen begged. “The villagers are angry with me and they’re taking it out on Emily and Father, I can’t stay and let them be hurt anymore.” He didn’t meet my eyes, his gaze filled with pain and fear. He was afraid of the villagers. Him. It was beyond pathetic.

Ugh, those stupid human villagers were getting cocky. I didn’t know why they were so obvious about it this year, but at this rate, they would do something foolish. Under normal circumstances, I would deal with the villagers on my own, but I couldn't now. I had my own tasks to carry out and I would have to leave Fen to deal with his problems on his own. “The villagers are frightened of you and taking it out on Emily and Tyr and you think running away will solve anything?” Fen flinched back like he had been struck by my harsh words, but I did not relent. “You would be better off facing the villagers head-on and dealing with them. Make them regret ever threatening you or your family.”

“I can’t do that,” Fen whispered. “I can’t hurt anyone. I’m not like you.”

“You’re not human,” I pointed out. “You don’t have to worry about them.”

“I am human, Val!” Fen protested. “Or, at least, I’m human enough to know that hurting others is wrong. I don’t want to teach them a lesson.”

Oh, great. I sneered. How a creature like Fen who was raised by a warrior like Tyr ended up such a ridiculous pacifist was beyond me. It defied every scrap of knowledge I possessed. From the day I was created, I knew one fundamental truth of this world - that might equaled right. You had to fight for what you wanted and you had to have the strength to stand up to anyone who would try and bring you down. Fen was wrapped up in a cocoon of naivety that was slowly suffocating him. It would kill him before too long at this rate, never having reached any of his true potential.

“Then they will never back down,” I turned from Fen, not caring to look at his pathetic visage anymore. “You’re nothing but a cowardly dog, hiding in a corner hoping the hunter will leave you alone.”

I called up my fire and it was just starting to take me away when something clamped onto my arm. “Please, Val!” Fen begged, his eyes swimming with anguish.

“No, you fool!” I shouted as my fire reached out to pull my under. “Let go of me! You’re going to mess everything up!”

The fire burned through the world’s surface and pulled me, and now Fen, who still wouldn’t let me go, down under. I had been planning to come out near the den of the Horned Serpent, but with Fen still stubbornly clinging to me like some monstrous leech my fire was out of my control.

The fire around us shuddered and twisted like it was sickly as we carried through the space, out of control and out of time. Another burst of fire and we shot out the other side, nowhere near where I should have been.

I didn’t even have time to brace myself before we hit the ground and everything went black.