A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

With everyone's expectations sufficiently tempered, they remained quiet for a moment, until Erik spoke up again, as if suddenly thinking of something. "So… you said it wouldn't be so bad, based on everything you know, but you don't actually know all that much?"

For the first time in a while, Elora flinched, and actually shrunk back a little. Her emotional feed actually showed some guilt as she sighed and nodded wryly, "That's right. I don't think it's dangerous, but this is one of the few things my knowledge falls short on. I'm sorry, love."

Then, she turned her attention to Emily with a grave voice. "And you, too, Emily. I know you still don't like me much, and I'll admit that studying your situation is extremely interesting to me, but I swear I'll make your safety and wellbeing my top priority."

Elora was a typical fairy, in that she loved to experiment and accumulate knowledge. Thus, the prospect of studying a phenomenon that even the Obsidian Enclave's libraries had little recorded knowledge off, was truly a dream come true for her.

Yet, Emily was also family. And if she was to follow the ideals that she herself claimed to aspire to, then she had to put her sister-wife's life ahead of her own desires.

Thus, while the emotions pouring from her emotional feed were filled with greed and desire, they were overshadowed by determination and concern.

Naturally, Emily could feel that as well.

The raven-haired beauty actually felt a little anxious regarding this whole thing now due to the uncertainty that came with it. Yet, Elora's assurance actually made her feel better, despite the tension that still existed between them, because she could feel the fairy's genuine concern.

Thus, she nodded with a small smile, "I know, Elora… thank you."

Afterwards they continued talking about the potential consequences, and how to handle them, for a little while longer. At the same time, while their minds were in deep conversation with each other, their bodies continued moving towards their destination.

* * *

A few minutes later, Erik and his allies walked into the same clearing as before. Erik, Emily, Emma, and Astrid were walking up front, while Seraphina was walking behind them together with Dimitri.

Unsurprisingly, Katya's brother had decided to keep a healthy distance between himself and his previous tormentors. Otherwise, however, he appeared to have returned to his charming self, and had now decided to focus his efforts on Seraphina.

Surprisingly, she responded positively to his attention, but whether that was out of genuine interest or simple courtesy because of his relation to her boss was unclear.

Elora had her own theories, however. She noticed that Seraphina occasionally glanced at Erik with a hint of frustration, and the fairy couldn't help but giggle at that. She suspected Seraphina was just hoping to annoy or spite Erik, because she knew he was interested in her.

Ultimately, however, Erik simply didn't care. He did like Seraphina, but he didn't consider her as one of his women just yet, so if the vampire decided to shack up with Dimitri instead, that was fine with him. He already had plenty of women in his life.

Time would tell where their relationship went. That said, Erik wasn't one for second chances when it came to starting a relationship, so if Seraphina chose Dimitri this time, for whatever reason, that would be the end of Erik's interest in her. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

For now, however, he needed to stop for a moment, because there was something he needed from Dimitri.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

To that end, he turned around, causing his wives to follow suit. Dimitri quickly interrupted the story he was telling Seraphina, to look at Erik with a hint of curiosity. It was clear that Dimitri was a confident, carefree man, and while his pride had taken a hit, he was quick to recover.

Seraphina, on the other hand, now almost looked at Erik smugly, although for what reason was unclear.

"Before we go on to deliver you to your sister, I need something from you, Dimitri," Erik told him in a casual tone. Meanwhile, Emma and Emily glared at him, while Astrid simply smirked.

"Ah! Da?" the man exclaimed, a little surprised, but his expression quickly morphed to an expression of sincerity and pride. "Please tell me! Dimitri will do anything for saviours!" he continued while hitting his chest with his fist.

Erik grinned a little at the man's response. 'You know what, he and I are pretty different, but he's not so bad. Perhaps we could be friends someday,' he thought to himself as he looked at Dimitri's sincere expression.

But then he quickly focused on the current situation. They likely had a full three hours before Alexandre would arrive back in Bamburgh, after which he would still have to somehow track and pursuit them, but that still didn't mean they could just sit back and relax.

So, he noted Dimitri's apparent willingness with a nod, and stuck out his hand, which quickly started to glow dark-green. "I need you to agree not to mention a word of anything you see or hear during your time with us, to anyone except the people here right now."

"Ah?" Dimitri muttered, as he looked at Erik's glowing hand with curiosity. But then he quickly laughed, grabbed Erik's hand with no hesitation, and nodded, "My lips are sealed, friend! I cannot wait to see Sestra again!"

Erik blinked at Dimitri's willingness to grab something so clearly magical in nature. Then, he grinned while shaking Dimitri's hand as the covenant formed. "Boundary issues aside, you're an interesting man, Dimitri," Erik chuckled.

Katya's brother laughed heartily, "How you dare to say such thing to me, when you are clearly more so! I don't need to fight you to know you are stronger than me… and then there are your wives…!" He whistled softly through his teeth with twinkling eyes, "Magnificent…"

When the covenant was formed, Dimitri looked at the back of his hand curiously, while Erik smirked at him. "They are amazing indeed, but hands off, right?"

Dimitri laughed and nodded, "Da, da. Hands off!"

Then, he showed Erik the mark and raised a curious eyebrow, "So… what's this?"

Erik quickly explained the basics of a covenant, while Seraphina actually looked a little aggrieved, as if she'd been expecting something else.