A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

On one side, Erik was frowning; on the other, Frostfang had a cautious expression, and he didn't take his eyes off Erik. Clearly, he was half-wondering if Erik brought him here to kill him.

"What are we doing here, Erik?" he growled softly, his gaze focused.

Erik shrugged calmly, "We are here to address what happened in Frostvik a year ago. You thought you could bully me into following your wishes, but you failed. Actions have consequences, Jonas, and now I'm the one capable of bullying you instead."

Frostfang snarled a little, "So, what now? What could you possible want from me to make up for that? I realize the way I acted back then wasn't my best moment, but you have to realize how stressed I was over the war. Besides, you all got out of there okay, and it ended for the best didn't it?"

This time, Erik lost some of his calm as anger surged inside. His eyes narrowed, "It didn't end the best for Björn. He left an adorable daughter all alone, you know?" Explore more adventures at empire

Inside his dimension, Alice was watching with a sombre expression. The anger she felt towards Frostfang wasn't actually that much, but it was still there. She knew Victor had been the one truly to blame, because he was the one that pushed her father into a corner.

Frostfang simply reacted in the way he would have reacted to any traitor among his men. But she still wanted Erik to punish him for his part in her father's death. And she wanted to see it.

"I…" Frostfang started, but fell silent. His expression became more complicated as his face fell, eyes downcast. "I was angry… Björn was a good man, and a friend, but…" He looked up at Erik, his hardening and his tone angry, "If I don't treat all traitors the same way, than what does that say about me!?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Then his expression fell again, "Is she okay? His daughter I mean…"

In response, Erik waved his hand, and Alice appeared next to him, "You can ask her yourself."

Silence descended as Alice and Frostfang stared at each other. Alice with contained anger, and Frostfang with a hint of relief.

Finally, Frostfang sighed with resignation, "Alice was your name, right? I don't know if you'll believe me, but I'm glad to see you're okay, and… I'm sorry about what happened to your father, even if I won't ask for forgiveness."

Regardless of anything else, he still believed his actions regarding Björn were correct. He had betrayed the Enclave, and regardless of the reason or who commited the deed, it was a crime that needed to be punished with death. He wasn't going to try and divert the blame to Erik either. He knew the reality of the situation.

Then, silence fell again, until Alice finally spoke up, "It's good you're not asking for forgiveness, because that would have only made me angrier." Then she sighed reluctantly, "But I do believe you considered him a friend, and are sorry about what happened. I saw the grave you dug…"

Frostfang nodded solemnly. At the time, he believed it was the least he could do.

But before he could respond, Alice continued with narrowed eyes and anger fillling her voice. Her tone rose with every word, "But even if you refused to lighten the punishment for my father, which I can just barely accept, he should have never ended up in that position to begin with! He didn't feel like he could come to you, because I am half-human!"

Tears started appearing in her eyes as she screamed her final words, "And that is entirely on you!"

Once again, she didn't wait for Frostfang's response. She simply didn't care to listen to it. Instead, she turned to Erik, "Please send me back now…"

And so he did. A tearful Alice disappeared again, leaving a crestfallen Frostfang behind. His eyes were closed, and his face solemn.

Finally, he looked up at Erik with a calm expression, despite the sadness behind his eyes, "I don't like how that turned out. I don't have much personal hatred for humans, because I know it was the hunters at fault for what happened back then, but I needed to keep my people united, and I won't apologize for that. I only ever did what was best for the Enclave."

Clearly, meeting Alice had weakened his anger and annoyance with Erik. Despite his apparent reluctance to accept fault, he had become far meeker, seemingly ready to accept punishment. Perhaps he believed himself to deserve it, despite standing fast on his beliefs.

Before Erik could respond, he continued with a hardened expression, "Do you have anything else you wish you accuse me of before we get to the point?"

Erik looked at him calmly. He could see Frostfang meant what he said. The man felt bad about what happened, but his number one priority was the duty Erik's mother had given him: to protect the Enclave.

And Erik could respect that.

Yet, there was one more thing he wished to lay at Frostfang's feet. His expression became dark and stormy, "At the start of your fight with Björn, you heavily wounded my first wife…"

If Frostfang was any weaker than he was, Erik would have already charged forward and lifted the man by his throat. Unfortunately, even if Erik was technically stronger than Frostfang, it was far from enough to completely overwhelm him.

Frostfang blinked for a moment. Then, he opened his eyes wide, "So there really was some tiny human flying around!"

Seeing that Erik was only getting angrier, Frostfang sighed and shook his head, "If she was flying around in an active battle-zone, you can't blame me for her getting wounded."

Then, he looked up calmly, "But I hope she's okay, and I respect your right to revenge."

Frostfang's responses caused Erik to scoff wryly. To be honest, his respect for Frostfang had grown considerably from the moment he arrived in Kirkenes.

But that didn't lessen his anger, and it certainly didn't lessen Elora's.

"So was that all?" Frostfang then asked, clearly ready to whatever Erik had in mind. "Although I wish things had gone differently, I still believe I was in the right. But I respect your bigger fist, and desire for revenge."

Then he shrugged, "That said, since you just announced my return as the Enclave's interim leader, I doubt you wish to kill me. So what happens now?"

Erik took a breath and calmed himself down a little. His conviction was wavering a little, because honestly, he couldn't deny some of Frostfang's points made sense.

But every time he wavered, that sight from a year ago swam in front of his eyes: Elora's body, torn apart and bleeding out on the snowy ground of Frostvik, her eyes looking up at him, overflowing with panic and pain.

The woman he considered his closest partner, first wife, and honestly, the one he loved the most, had been hurt; and every time he remembered that sight, anger rose, and hesitation went out the window.

Frostfang needed to pay somehow.