10.4

"Looks like they're not in the house" Heroclades spoke without stopping the conversation he had engaged in with Rey, but when he was about to be cut in half, he expelled a strong wave of energy that drove back even the nearest trees, not to mention that the wolverine's claws ended up splitting.

Completely paralyzed, the little wolf fell to the ground and clung as tightly as he could to everything around him so as not to be thrown off. Studying with his frightened eyes the behavior of the old man he had tried to attack and remained alive despite knowing about his secret.

Rey, in just an ephemeral almost imperceptible moment, let out his murderous intentions to then launch a warning:

"Dante, if you attack my master again... I will personally end your life....".

Dante could not understand anything, Heroclades did not even move from the place or had done anything to defend himself. He was sure, so sure that he could bet his eyes that such a statement was valid. Instead, the one who had left a whole aura of murderous intent exposed had been his brother without a surname. "Perhaps it was Rey who repelled my strongest attack... No, it couldn't be. It had to have been Heroclades. I trained for so long to make my claws nearly indestructible. A bastard is not capable of such power, but... in the off chance that if it was... your warning would be valid." On the verge of tears of rage, Dante is practically pulled out of the abyss as he hears his parents' voice say:

"Heroclades!... You don't have to put yourself on the level of a child!".

Maryam spoke in an even harsher tone:

"It is unacceptable your offense before a member of the clan. Hostility against your brother's teacher, were those the manners Mijan taught you?! And where is all the respect I taught you? If you are good to people, they will be good to you... What are you waiting for to ask for forgiveness?" she said as she walked over with her husband. Wulfgang was trying to placate his wife's fury so that she wouldn't make such a big deal out of the situation:

"Don't worry, he's still a child. You don't have to scold him like that. I'm sure he wanted to measure his strength with Hero."

"I must say, he's a bit of a lively one," said Heroclades. "He brought out his father's characteristics, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha didn't he?" he said looking at the little boy who refused to apologize.

Jhades had the same omen as his lycanthrope brother. As much as he searched for the explanation, he didn't understand the result. For the trees to move and the Dante's claws to snap, something had to have happened, something similar to one of his teacher's moves. The vampire remembered that every time Katherine swung her sword, the power of the residual wind and edge could move the trees on the spot. But how could Rey be able to deliver such a powerful thrust without being seen?

Muttering, Dante begged for forgiveness and lowered his head. He felt helpless in the face of the situation. His mind was perhaps playing tricks on him. "Yes, that has to be it: neither father nor mother said anything about Rey having been the cause of such an event. As strong as he was, Rey couldn't have been... Wait a minute, why did she call him by his name? It doesn't matter. The best option is to finish off the old man, the elf, and maybe Jhades as well. When I'm done with them, Rey will have no choice but to follow me. I have to persuade him; that way, he will be as responsible as I am for failing to stop me."

Heroclades, he said respectfully, as if he were speaking to one of his own:

"I forgive you. Forgive me for being so rude and inducing your anger."

After the tan-skinned lord hurled those words of apology, Dante turned his body vigorously and like a storm marched forward. The wolf cub felt he had no choice but to forgive, for when someone apologizes for something, they are taking responsibility for the blame. "If someone asks for forgiveness, the wise thing to do is to forgive and not hold a grudge," his mother had told him. That was what he had been taught.

Jhades, in an obvious attempt to please his parents, was motivated to say something to Dante, who had wrongly acted against Rey's teacher. Just as the little lycanthrope realized that his vampire brother was trying to point out his mistake for his own benefit, he said loudly and slapped his hand in rejection:

"If you value your life... you won't."

Jhades lowered his accusing finger, thought twice before continuing. Dante was scary and capable of attacking as he had done against Heroclades. It wasn't that he couldn't win, but it was annoying to have to relive the occasional blow or wound in the process.

Maryam realized that the atmosphere between her children was very delicate, perhaps because of all the time they spent without any contact, as they grew up independent and competitive with each other. Using her typical smile, she left her husband to gather the three little ones and give them a warm motherly hug:

"It's a good thing it's all over, how long have I not seen them? I never got used to all this time without you three. It's so ugly that you treat each other indifferently and always compete. You must learn to leave competition and indifference aside, between siblings these are things that don't fit. You have to love each other because you are all you have" Squeezing them all at once, he continued lovingly, "It seems that the "reunification" of the group and welcoming of the three new members can no longer wait....

"I have something to say..." said Heroclades making the wolf cub nervous.

...

The Great Wise Wizard looked away from the path he had already traveled on his own, to see how the parents were reunited with their children and began to hold a conversation. Raising his hand, he shouted as loudly as he could to get everyone's attention and remind them of the urgency of the matter they needed to discuss.

Dante, disguising a competitive air as he interrupted Heroclades, said fired up like a bolt of lightning:

"Let's see who gets to where the old man who is calling us is first!!!!!"

As soon as the wolf cub got into running position and looked in the direction of the supposed goal, he noticed that the old man was no longer alone. Heroclades, who was carrying Ehimus on his right shoulder, White, Rey, Wulfgang and Maryam were at the old man's side, the only ones left to be in that place were him, Jhades and the two small skinny and lacking in energy felines. The competitiveness of the adults had flared up and among them they laughed and murmured about the fun experience, Maryam, with joy, as soon as she finished exchanging smiles, turned to encourage those who remained:

"Come on! Keep it up!"

Dante spoke with disappointment to his brother Jhades, as one who considered an alliance with his enemy:

"So, it's just you and me...mama's little boy" The two ligers were already almost halfway down the road. "Let's run in the opposite direction now that we can. Let's give up everything... Follow me as your leader."

Waiting for a response, Dante knew his blue-eyed brother was quiet, but, looking to the side with the intention of at least receiving visual acceptance, Jhades had disappeared. Gritting his teeth as hard as his fists, the wolfling looked in the direction of where everyone was, realizing that within the shadow of one of the ligers who had yet to arrive, was the vampire. Jhades came to where the elders were standing with a grin from ear to ear, as if he wanted his parents' approval. Indeed, with a face like that, the elders decided to flatter the little boy who had placed second to last in the competition.

On the other side, although the wolf cub did not look like it, he was devastated for not having the courage to run away alone, for not becoming the leader of the group and because he believed that he would surely be the first to die among the three brothers. Fear invaded Dante's skin. Having as a reference the race that he himself proposed, Dante imagined that he was the weakest, precisely because he was the last one. Although he couldn't quite understand it, he didn't want to understand it. It was impossible for him. "Heroclades and Wulfgang are allowed to win, but not Ehimus, Maryam, Jhades or Rey. They don't have as much muscle as I do. Of course, Jhades was allowed to win because he went in the shadows as even, out of bad vampire habit, Katherine does every time she came and went. Ehimus was left being carried by Heroclades, not that he needed to run. Who knows what other tricks the others used, but one thing is for sure: tricks are useless when fighting against the real strength of solid muscle. Otherwise, father would not be the leader of the group. I have no other choice, I have to find another opportunity", said the one who, lacking any other options, sent himself to run with the intention of not giving Heroclades time to say anything inconvenient to his parents. He had to keep his eyes on the sorcerer and interfere as much as possible in his conversation with his parents until his moment of escape.

Running as hard as he could to the point of even having to transform parts of his body, Dante made it and, with this, heard the clapping of Wulfgang, Maryam and Ehimus in an attempt to cheer him up. The wolf cub, returning the original form of his body, showed a face like one who was disappointed in himself, something that made him retort the following words:

"They cheated! It wasn't a fair race..."

"Excuse me?" asked Maryam surprised at the word cheating.

Jhades's eyes whitened. Heroclades folded his hands and gave several guffaws. Ehimus guffawed, Wulfgang pursed his lips and Rey opted to feed something to the two hungry ligers that followed him everywhere, or rather followed White.

Dante, almost on the verge of tears of rage, replied as he pointed in Ehimus' direction. The elf, after her siblings, was the smallest and weakest of the group, it posed no threat to him to use her as an example:

"She didn't run using her muscles like so many others do. That's cheating."

Ehimus somewhat seriously, more than usual, added:

"In this case, cheating would not be following the rules. You said, 'whoever gets there first', not 'whoever runs the fastest using their muscles...'. Even so, if using your muscles were the case, I would say it would be an unfair race because I am not allowed to use my muscles if with my eyes I can see someone from the clan. It is dangerous..."