A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

A few minutes later, a covenant mark had appeared on the back of Frostfang's hand. Since Erik and Elora didn't have a dog in this agreement, they remained markless.

With that done, Elora appeared on Erik's shoulder. She smirked sadistically at Frostfang. She always enjoyed taking revenge, whatever form that took.

Frostfang's gaze panned to the small, winged humanoid and smirked wryly, "So you're Elora, the one Victor was after that day. I only realized we'd never met before, when I saw Liv's daughter."

Elora shrugged without losing her smirk, "What can I say? I prefer to remain in the background."

Then, she flew up and enlarged her body, before standing in front of Frostfang with a domineering gaze, despite the technical danger. Their eyes met, and Frostfang's nose wrinkled at the sight of her smug expression. Her beauty did little for him right now.

The truth was, Frostfang could easily tear her apart right now, because Elora didn't have any sigils ready, nor did her Seidr magic have the ability to attack or defend in any real way. She'd survive, of course, because Erik was right there, and she'd quickly be able to be absorbed into him again.

But she knew Frostfang wouldn't attack. And that's what gave her this feeling of dominance she loved. She loved watching as people were helpless to resist the combined force of her and her beloved protector.

"Turn around for me like a good boy, Jonas," Elora grinned viciously. "I need access to your back."

Frostfang growled with annoyance but did as she asked. He had already agreed to this, and it was to late to turn back, even if he wanted to. Which, to be fair, he didn't. Somewhere inside, he even felt a little relieved to be able to suffer for the Enclave.

He wasn't a hypocrite who believed it should only ever be others to pay for keeping their home safe. Björn wasn't the first, nor the last, person who paid the price for Frostfang's decisions, and even if he still believed those decisions were right, he also felt he deserved to pay a price of his own.

But as soon as he lifted his shirt, to give Elora access to his back, she and Erik blinked in surprise. There was a strange symbol burned into his flesh.

"What the hell is that?" Erik wondered aloud, directing his question to both Elora and Frostfang.

Elora didn't answer him, instead she furrowed her brows and stared thoughtfully at the rune.

Frostfang, however, shrugged with his back still turned towards them, "I assume you mean whatever your mother did back there? I have no idea; I've never seen it. Before she left, she said she'd give me the ability to quickly reach the third rank, and then she burned something in my back."

His voice was filled with conviction as he continued, "That's why I know my power is only because of her. Whatever honoured teacher did increase my advancement rate significantly."

"So that's what happened…" Erik mumbled, lost in thought. He and Elora had been wondering how Runa could help Frostfang advance to the third rank so quickly. They'd simply intended on asking later, when the covenant bound him to their service, and would compel him to answer.

They were going to it straight after Elora drew the punishment sigil. Only, as it turned out, they would get to it a little sooner.

"But what is it?" Erik walked up next to Elora and inspected the rune, never having seen it before. "No power in this universe comes free, so surely someone paid a price for this?"

Next to him, a thoughtful Elora finally spoke, nodding slowly, "Yes, someone did pay a price for this. Your mother."

"What?!" Erik and Frostfang both exclaimed at the same time. Frostfang dropped his shirt and turned around. Both their faces were twisted with worry.

"What do you mean?!" they both exclaimed again, their gazes fixed on Elora with intensity.

Of course, Elora treated Frostfang like he was air, and directed her gaze towards Erik. She frowned, "I recognize that symbol. It's a technique belonging to an asuran faction I've read about. Basically, it transfers part of one's talent to someone else."

"What?!" Erik and Frostfang exclaimed once again. This time, the former was glaring angrily at the latter, while Frostfang's face was twisted in worry mixed with guilt.

"How did she even get a technique like that?!" Erik cried out in disbelief.

Elora shrugged helplessly, "We know this world was once connected to the network, so it's not impossible an asuran with that technique on them lived here when the world was disconnected and all races besides humans and supernaturals died out."

She pondered thoughtfully, "We already know plenty of other factions and individuals on Earth ended up with things left over from that time, your mother is simply one of them. Since the technique relies mostly on the soul, it's not inconceivable to think a Runebound could use it just as well as an Arcanist."

Erik started pacing, worry etched on his face, "Alright, so what does this mean for Mom? What does this technique do to her exactly?"

Besides them, Frostfang was asking the same question, but he was quickly interrupted by both Erik and Elora, who barked at him to shut up.

Immediately, the covenant, which included a line about Frostfang serving Erik and his mother, kicked in, and Frostfang was forced to stay quiet. Frustration slipped into his gaze, but he quickly calmed down and stared intently at Elora instead.

Focussing back on Erik, Elora sighed, "Well, before I say anything else, let me assure you that your mother is still alive."

Immediately, Frostfang and Erik both sighed in relief, before Erik frowned, "Okay, but how do you know?" He didn't doubt her, but he obviously wanted to know more.

Elora smiled at him reassuringly, "Because for the technique to work, she needed to infuse the mark with a part of her soul. I can feel that part of her, and as long as it lives on, so does she."

"In fact," she smiled mysteriously, "If I extract that piece of her soul, I can use it to track her. We won't have to search up and down Africa for her."

Erik closed his eyes and once again sighed as relief flooded his body. "That's good," he nodded calmly. The issue of finding his mother had always been a problem they weren't sure how to solve before, and now the solution just dropped into their lap! Read exclusive chapters at empire

Although, he doubted it was all a bed of roses, so he opened his eyes again, and frowned at Elora, "Okay, so what about the bad news?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Elora pursed her lips wryly. She didn't want to lie to Erik, but she also didn't really want to tell him the bad news.

Regardless, she opened her mouth, and told the truth, "There's no way your mother reached the third rank while missing a part of her talent and soul, and… she would have been in pain constantly for the past few years."