CHPT 199: Unlikely Pairing.

"AAAUUUURRRROUUUGHHH!!!"

A bone chilling howl ending in a pair of jaws snapping reverberated over the field from behind Claude, freezing the WereWolf and Gnolls in their tracks.

Immediately, the creature that howled from behind him was in pursuit.

Heavy paws padded through the grass sounding louder and louder on Claude's ears until it was right behind him.

Woo!

The creature leapt, sliding across Claude's vision in a flash of blue and dark brown.

Frosty skidded to a halt in front of Claude who lay on the ground, held up weakly with one arm. The PitWolf growled at the Gnolls, taking in nosefuls of the scent that made the hair on his hackles rise.

The WereWolf perked up at the sight of him. "An Orc-Wolf….how odd."

Claude froze at the man's mention of Frosty. He used a name not many people did. An Orc-Wolf, an accurate title mostly used by Tangent Biologists.

Before he could look further into it, Frosty dropped something from his jaws.

As soon as the wet and grizzled object fell onto the grass like hairy slop, the Gnolls became aggressive as the hair rose on their bodies with discomfort.

Claude looked beneath Frosty and found the crushed remains of the Gnoll they fought. It's dented snout and face lay in the grass dripping blood and PitWolf saliva.

The WereWolf went to speak again but was silenced by Frosty's bark— as if saying "shut it!", and slam of his paw into the Gnoll's face he ripped off.

Claude scented an oddly strong wave of fear from the WereWolf followed by his face twisting into an expression of anger and his hand gripping the pendant tightly.

"You mangy wretch!….I'll make you obey just like the rest of my tools!"

Claude leaned forward, snarling at the WereWolf, only they were more focused on Frosty. For a number of reasons.

One of which was because he roared. Not like a Lion— something less beautifully powerful and more rough or raw with intensity. But, what followed the defiant stomp of his paw into the Gnoll face and canine roar, was what really grabbed their attention.

Blue. Brilliant cobalt blue energy rose from his white tipped fur like flames and his eyes ignited like torch lamps. Followed by a pulsing wave of energy that echoed from his muscled body mimicking the image of a rock being dropped into a stillwater pond. Only the waves grew with every pulse until they washed over the backpedaling enemies and caused them to lightly shake with fear.

"Intimidation…" Claude realized, after remembering Frosty, used the skill once on Midnight, Stacy's wildcat Companion. Only this time it was much less effective in the face of stronger opponents. Instead of quivering in fear and losing the ability to do anything other than submit, the Gnolls became more hesitant. More wary, but they could still function.

The WereWolf cowered behind them, sweating profusely and holding the pendant around his neck in a death grip.

Claude was on his feet now, standing beside Frosty with much less pain in his forearms— but it was very much still there, and a further transformed body.

The WereWolf's eyes left Frosty and eyed the new enemy, only now truly looking at him. He stepped forward despite his fear and sniffed the air.

"You're no human….you smell like Wolf…and Magic.." He said before smelling again, "You smell like many animals…how interesting."

In the face of discovery, the man ignored his fear and a psychotic glaze ran over his baleful yellow eyes. "You're like me…yet you play the human game of Heroes and Villains. Why?"

Claude snarled in response and slid his foot under the sword at his feet, kicking it up into the air to catch while he stared down the WereWolf.

The man sniffed again— struggling to pinpoint what exactly Claude was, "Whatever you are…..you seem to lack the understanding of what it means to be a Monster— which means you need to be educated. Allow my followers to be that education you desperately need." He said, referencing the Gnolls. "You're severely outnumbered and lack all advantages except a small element of surprise, this should be relatively simple…hahaha. I'll be donating your body to my research."

During his speech, Frosty began to act oddly. Think, was a better way to put it. Despite his flat ears and snarling snout showing signs of anger in the face of a threat, his tail wagged faintly. And through their link, Claude felt a familiar feeling from the PitWolf. It was a feeling the PitWolf felt strongest when interacting with the youthful Phantom Wolf, Shadow. A feeling of being around someone close— like a friend, brother or sister. But Wolves didn't clearly think that way so Claude was confused.

Partway through the man's speech, he began scanning the field in search of the Phantom Wolves. Nowhere. Still staying as Claude instructed— allowing the surprisingly naive WereWolf to continue assuming they were products of some form of illusory Magic.

But that meant, Frosty knew someone or something else was nearby.

His heart became riddled with dread and fear of beating found out as he ran down the list of individuals Frosty was close to. Other than the Phantom Wolves, Frosty took a particular liking to one individual.

"Ursula…"

He was in disbelief. He would've sensed her, heard her at least.

"[Not possible. None of the others have reacted. Something here is moving stealthier than humanly possible. You better hope it's your friend as well and not just Frosty's.]" Arne said as the WereWolf spoke of research.

Before he could think anymore in the small span of seconds, he noticed the WereWolf backing away, his image actively being swallowed up by the bulk of the approaching Gnolls. They were ready.

He was as well— well as much as he could be, vocal chords warming in preparation to yell to the Phantom Wolves for an ambush. But something else happened.

The musky scent of a predator filled his nose followed by something next to the Gnolls dashing through their ranks. But he couldn't see much of anything.

Only the openings of Gnoll's tendons and femoral arteries with deadly precision. Immediately, the monstrous pack erupted in a liquid light show of blood.

The crimson rain drops fell to the ground, slowly coating the body of something large and long bodied on all fours, ripping through the pack of Gnoll's fearlessly. The WereWolf retreated further behind, snapping out orders to remove the threat.

SHRIP!….shrip!…Shlck!

As the creature became more visible, more Gnolls leapt out of the way until they all split, now following the vague image of a blood covered camouflaged predator, but the damage was already done— in a flash. A number of Gnolls were now slowed and losing blood rapidly without a chance to attack the elusive predator.

The blood covered creature bounded away and approached Claude, still barely making a sound.

It stood next to Frosty, matching his height almost perfectly, but dwarfing the PitWolf in length. Whatever it was, wasn't anything canine that he knew of.

The creature abruptly left Frosty and approached Claude while the Gnolls— still made hesitant by Frosty's Skill, (Intimidation) and the new ally they gained, stood by waiting for the right moment to attack.

The creature— only visible by the splotches of blood here and there, rubbed its thick body against the back of his legs and let out a bass heavy purring sound.

"[Well I'll be damned…]" Arne commented in disbelief.

Claude was ready to say the same as his glowing eyes shone on the magical fur of the creature, removing the shadowy natural invisibility cloak and revealing a coat of rich auburn fur over dense agile muscles.

The Glorian Lion was here.

It followed him and seemed to be closer to Frosty than he could have imagined.

A wild young PitWolf full of life, anger and fierce loyalty, originating from harsh Orcish Tangents. And a Prehistoric Lion— reborn and crossbred with deadly Felines found in Elven Tangents. An odd pairing that may give him the shot at revenge he'd been fighting for endlessly.

To the left of him, the Glorian Lion shook its short silky fur, removing the blood and casting itself into invisibility once more with a flash of its light green slitted eyes.

Frosty huffed and bared his fangs on Claude's right.

The WereWolf eyed the three with wonder while he ordered the Gnolls to wait. His interest seemed more important than the lives of the Monsters. A small psychotic trait that oddly discomforted Claude.

"You….you are full of surprises.."

Claude adjusted the mask covering his face and felt his black hair fall freely around him like a mane of shadows as he inhaled, inadvertently absorbing the Wild Magic in the area while also feeding it to his canine and feline partner.

In response to the power rising from the earth and being pulled from the sky, the fur of the two predators shimmered and stood on end like a bolt of lightning was about to strike the earth. The power of the wild often felt the way. Like lightning.

"You have no idea."

Following Claude's reply, the Phantom Legion loomed behind his enemies as tall as the trees they hid amongst like a dark omen of violence.

An accurate omen, without a doubt.