The Wolves Den housed a total of eleven members, if we included our original Captain—Asura, who was currently out of commission, a few others who were on solo missions, and one who was inactive for the time being. It was technically twelve, if you counted our wolfdog, Yuna.
And out of that, it was only me, Code, Ophelia, Havoc, Brand, and Star who were currently present.
Bullet pointed, this was how our Guild looked:
- Original Captain – Asura (not present/away/ETA: unknown)
- Acting Captain – Greed (present)
- Vice Captain – Code (present)
- 1st Executive – ??? (not present/away/ETA: unknown)
- 2nd Executive – Ophelia (present)
- Ace Member 1 – ??? (not present/returning/ETA: soon... apparently)
- Ace Member 2 – Nash (present/not active)
- Member – Havoc (present)
- Member – Brand (present)
- Member – Star (present)
- Guild Pet – Yuna (present)
Apparently, I didn't know how to count…
Anyway, that was us in a nutshell, unless we chose to recruit.
We were the smallest Guild in the Kingdom, and the least desired Guild for any new mages to want to join.
It was mainly because of our 'niche' standing and this new 'reputation' that was given to us by the fake Black Wolves.
We didn't care for reputation to begin with, but having that in our corner definitely didn't help. People often saw us as thugs and hooligans anyway, so it just checked out. Regardless of what they thought, we were the only Black Wolves in the Valley Kingdom, so these were all just accusations for now.
There were only a few other mages who didn't care about such things; Ryo was one such mage.
The Arcane King, Daz, was also good friends with Asura, so he was another who kept us around, even if it seemed to taint his name with the Kingdom's citizens a tad. Sirus, his assistant, also looked out for us from behind the scenes, though I bet he felt reluctant to do so at times. I was grateful for an ounce of it, nevertheless.
Out of the eight Guilds of the Valley Kingdom, we were ranked the lowest on the roster. Even though we completed missions, we didn't have much support from the Kingdom's people, which helped boost your ranking.
To be frank, all we cared about was preserving this feeble life we had. It was my promise to Asura, whom I believed was going to come back one day. That's why I refused to make things official and make myself the Captain of this Guild. No matter how romanticized others saw it. I truly was a dog. Loyal and eagerly awaiting his return.
To this day, since Asura left to complete his mission over a year ago, he appointed me as the Acting Captain for the Black Wolves in his place.
I never understood his choice, and why he didn't just choose Code for this. He was here before me after all. Thing was, even Code vouched for me.
Whatever the reason, this was the temporary role I had to play.
All these titles were so annoying. I didn't care for any of it. So long as we were able to keep our small family together and our livelihood, that's all I really cared about.
Though… That feeling that something was missing always seemed to find its way to the forefront of my mind.
For the past five years, any time I looked at the sky at random times, those eyes were there, saying 'find me'. I still didn't know what that meant…
Why had it been so hard to remember anything since I arrived here. How did I arrive here?
***
**Next day**
Morning came, but my room was still fairly dark. My decently sized gothic room let in just enough sunlight through its dark sheer curtains to let me know it was dawn.
The bed was king-sized, gray from the sheets all the way to the pillows. The headboard was black with distinctive carvings of some intricate design, dully reflecting a bit of sunlight.
The time was 0630—my usual time to wake, regardless of whether I had an urgent matter or not. I lay naked and half awake, preparing myself to get up.
As I pulled the sheets off, I was less than surprised to see a certain female lay under the covers, wearing nothing but my white shirt. Her figure outlined through the fabric, and her pink hair lay in a mess, tangled in her dark gray horns. She continued to slumber unbothered, curled up next to my legs, facing inwardly to me.
I sighed. "Star… What the fuck happened?" I said dizzily, like I'd had a rough night or something.
She merely murmured, proceeding to sleep.
I had invited her to my room to 'play', but that wasn't necessarily the issue—after all, it was technically her night. The issue was that I couldn't remember a single thing…
"Did we, uh… you know?" I questioned. It was one thing to have had sex under the influence. It was another thing to completely black out during it.
But then Star murmured again. This time, forming a sentence, "No, I didn't touch you."
"Well, that's the first. I guess I just passed out then." I turned away to get up at last.
"I did put something in your drink last night though... It was from the berries in the garden. I ate some and even mixed it in my drink yesterday, and it was so sweet! But I don't know, I must have grabbed the wrong berries, 'cause all I remember is Teddy touching me... and Teddy was super rough."
I was silent. My back faced her.
"Star saw stars last night," she moaned, yawning before conveniently passing out after that reveal.
Fucking hell... this bitch really just drugged me... and she's so casual about it! I slapped my face with both palms after the thought.
I shook my head, saying to her, "You're lucky you're cute."
And I wondered then who was more toxic: her or myself?
Our languid conversation ended there; I could have carried her out, but I let her be, stroking her surprisingly soft pink hair before I finally rose from the bed.
As I opened the curtains to let in more sunlight, the light hit her face and she winced, pulling back the covers over herself again.
I then got dressed, wearing only my black pants and a white compression shirt, throwing on my boots at the edge of my bed.
"Don't sleep through breakfast like you did last time. Or else I'm giving your food to Brand."
"You wouldn't dare!" she shot up from my bed, yelling.
"Good morning to you, too. Now get out of my room," I said with a smile.
"Aw Teddy! That's so mean!"
She got up, pouting and dragging her bare feet as I held the door open for her, watching her as she dreadfully opened the door to her room—which was literally right across—and went inside.
After that, I made my way through the hall and down the grand staircase from one of the split flights, down onto a landing.
On the opposite flight of stairs, Code casually walked down with his hands in his jacket pockets.
He had his hood over his billed cap, as usual, carrying two long swords that shared a sheath. It was a color block of red and black.
We met at the landing and proceeded down the main staircase that connected the two other stairs we had come from.
"Morning," he greeted almost disinterestedly.
"Yup," I replied. And silence was all that was left after that exchange.
When we both opened and walked out the double-door entrance of the Den, Havoc and Brand were already outside warming up. Dressed in the same attire I was, white compression shirts, black pants, boots, no jacket.
"Look who's chipper this morning!" Havoc poked, stretching. "Me, on the other hand—I couldn't sleep a wink with all that moaning from your side, Cap. Star's night, right? You know I leave a stack of condoms for you at your nightstand, and every time I go to get you more 'cause I think you use them, I open the drawer, and they're all piled in there! Who's next? J—"
"Don't finish your sentence, asshat. Can you mind your own business for once?" I snapped.
Havoc stuck out a tongue and winked with his only working eye. "I can't. Hypersensitive hearing, too, remember? Can't be helped. The Keeper has blessed and cursed me all in the same!"
"I'll get you some earplugs, a blindfold, and some melatonin to help you sleep through the night, how 'bout it?"
"Sheesh, sounds like the beginning of a bad joke… or porno."
"Less chit-chat, more combat. Let's go," Code ordered as he rested his long swords on a pillar and took off his jacket, snapping his fingers and replacing it with weighted straps.
He tossed them at me and I caught them effortlessly. "Thought we were sparring today? What's with the weights?"
"We're sparring with weights," he replied, slinging his sheathed blades behind him.
Havoc snickered, lifting his bottom hems to reveal weights strapped on his ankles. Brand had done the same.
I loosed a breath.
"No complaining," said Code. "The sooner we get done, the sooner we can have breakfast. I'm cooking eggs benedict."
I started daydreaming about that almost immediately.
Code then shifted his hat backward, made a hand sign, and chanted,
"Space Manipulation Magic: Omni Exchange."
From his hand sign, he shifted both his hands forward and snapped with them both, switching all the pillars simultaneously, and it sounded like multiple clicks as he did.
He then raised a hand and began making a stirring motion with it, manually maneuvering the pillars to make two circular-shaped arenas: one for Havoc and Brand, and one for me and himself.
We sparred once every week at the bare minimum. One thing Asura embedded into each of us was to always be prepared. Those who sweat in times of peace bleed less in times of war. Shit was corny, but it was true, nonetheless.
We prepared ourselves in our makeshift arenas as I strapped on the weights to my ankles.
Once I put them on, the ground cratered; I didn't realize these were that heavy until I let go of them.
"Keeper… how'd you throw these at me?" I questioned.
"Telekinesis."
"Ah… So you cheated."
"Your weights are a bit heavier than the rest of ours. You know the reason…"
"I don't know if I should be insulted or flattered."
"Why don't you find out? Power is not the same as prowess."
"So, he's a poet now?"
"Boo! Just fight already!" Ophelia heckled from the sidelines, wearing only a cropped blue tank top, a white thong, and flip flops. Lighted cigarette in one hand, and half-empty beer can in the other; it seemed she couldn't decide on a vice.
"Butt out!" Code and I both said.
We faced each other and readied ourselves. And then I dashed toward Code. He gripped the hilt of one of his long sword, and when I neared him, my fist collided with his blade, metal ringing sharply throughout the clearing.
***
**Somewhere in the Valley**
High up, from a building on the Northwest side of the Kingdom, a man draped in a royal blue cloak elegantly made his way to his balcony overlooking the city.
His hair was white and long with a braid on his left side. The logo on the back of his cloak was that of a gold phoenix with its wings spread out.
"Reporting in, sir," a male voice said from behind him. His voice was young but mature. He seemed disengaged and unfocused, yet continued regardless. "It appears they really will be attending tomorrow."
The man simply waved a hand with gold rings on each finger. It glinted in the light from where he was standing. "I saw," he merely replied, referring to the leak of the attendees. His voice was light like a feather but carried a hidden heaviness within it like a calm storm.
"So," the other male inquired. "would you like to initiate phase one?"
The other man was silent for a moment, and then he finally spoke, "Yes. Let operation H.T.W. commence."
The other male remained in a knelt position and said nothing, waiting for more orders before dismissing himself.
The man on the balcony said one last thing to him, "Oh, and Henza…" He turned slightly, revealing his deep red eyes. "Make sure they make it there…"
Henza, nodded, then disappeared swiftly.
The clouds parted, revealing the sky. The sun shone even more onto the man on the balcony, his silhouette forming like a shadow over the city. And he appeared like a god as he stood there, looking down at the Valley.
"Soon… Soon redemption will be met."