A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"You're keeping something from us!" Nasir scowled coldly. His red eyes peeked up from under his golden mask, protecting his pale vampire skin from the harsh desert sun, as heavy clothes wrapped around him from every angle.

Zohran rolled his eyes with a hint of agitation. "We've already discussed this yesterday, Nasir," he grumbled. "She doesn't want to talk about it, and it doesn't matter. We have bigger problems right now."

His brown, muscle-bound body glistened as it was almost fully exposed to the elements. His upper body was covered in golden jewellery, his shoulder-length black hair was wild, and harem pants covered his lower body, leading to bare feet.

"Nothing happened!" Zahra hissed aggressively, leaning forward on the table as she looked between the two men. "That bitch who grabbed me had some way to stop my teleportation, but after that fricking man did his whole spiel about needing us to hold the line, he let me go!"

Zahra was dressed in loose, thin clothing. It showed a lot of her lustrous brown skin, but the outfit was more designed to be airy than revealing. A long black braid hung from her head to her lower back.

Both men looked at her sceptically, but while Zohran was indifferent to her lies, Nasir was angry. He smashed his fist against the table and glared at her. "Lies! I refuse to believe he'd let you go so easily! We're supposed to be allies, but if you keep this from us, it will erode our trust at a time where we need it the most!"

Zahra looked at him with a scowl. She knew he was right, but how could she just admit to the shameful situation she found herself in?

Suddenly, Zohran's nose twitched, and he snapped his head to the side, just in time for Erik to clap as he approached.

Erik slapped his hands together slowly, methodically, as he approached the trio with a small smirk and a battle ready, grinning Astrid by his side. "I couldn't agree more, Nasir, my friend!" he greeted with amusement. "You should really tell them what happened, Zahra."

His own muscle-bound, rosy body looked even more powerful than that of Zohran. They were both dressed in no more than harem pants, but Erik couldn't help but think there was a certain flair to Zohran's look that he missed. 'Perhaps it's the golden jewellery?' he thought curiously. 'But then,' he glanced at the armguard on his right, and Naeku's self-made bracelet on the left, 'I really can't let go of either of these.'

As he glanced at the wrists of his clapping hands, the trio in front of him jumped to action.

"You!" Nasir snarled, and snatched his spear from the table, before instantly taking a combat stance. The bright red light of runes shone from beneath his clothes, and streams of magma twirled around his body. He glanced at Zahra furiously. "You told him what we knew!"

"No!" Zahra vehemently denied, her voice trembling with panic. She shook her head as she, too, took a combat stance on instinct. Soft, illusory red magic circles appeared in her hands. "I told him nothing!" She looked at Erik with anxiety as the sigil on her back burned to remind her of its presence.

She knew she'd be useless if it came to a fight.

Zohran didn't bother with their bickering, and simply shifted to werejackal form, snatching two sabres from the table. Pitch black runes appeared on his skin as shadows trembled around him. He growled at Erik, ready to pounce.

Besides Erik, Astrid's grin widened as she rolled her shoulders, still adorned with her swords resting on them. Pure sunlight began to leak from her body as orange-collared runes appeared on the patches of visible skin. Instinctively, Nasir recoiled, his eyes widening in horror.

Erik watched this all happen with a confident smile. Slowly, he put his hands back in his pockets and shrugged, his body relaxed, seemingly full of openings. "She's right. She didn't say a word. Probably wouldn't have, even if I'd been willing to torture her for a while. No, what happened between us was far more interesting."

With Nasir momentarily occupied by the feeling he got from Astrid, and Zahra clearly flustered and anxious, it was left to Zohran to reply, despite not usually being the talker among them.

He glanced at his allies and growled unhappily before turning to Erik. "Then how the hell did you find that sigil so fast? It was underground and had no doors leading to it!"

Erik snickered and shrugged again. "Competency, I guess? Surely you're not unfamiliar with the word?"

Zohran scowled before looking at his allies again. "Would you two get a grip?!" he snarled angrily.

Zahra calmed down, but looked miserable, knowing she'd be unable to contribute if it came to a fight.

Nasir also calmed down, but his spear firmly switched from pointing at Erik to pointing at Astrid. "W— What affinity is that?!" he cried out, his voice wavering a little as he forcefully suppressed his instinctual fear of sunlight.

There was a reason Sigurd had been afraid of fighting Astrid's mother back in Norway, and it wasn't just because she was a little stronger than him.

Astrid pumped her eyebrows, her eyes flashing orange for a moment. "Come and find out. I'd love to show you."

A shiver travelled down Nasir's spine. There was a part of him that knew what affinity this was, even if he had a hard time accepting it.

As the trio tried to get a grip on themselves, Erik looked around curiously. "This is truly an awe-inspiring place… although I didn't really expect you to continue hanging around here, knowing I might show up at any time."

Zohran focused back on him, muscles tensing under his fur, jackal lips constantly curled in an aggressive snarl. "We didn't expect you to show up so soon, but more importantly, we can't give this place up. It's crucial to our defensive line against the hunters."

Erik chuckled calmly. "Ah, trying to remind me about what I told Zahra, huh? There's no need for that. We didn't come here to fight."

Next to him, Astrid scoffed. "Speak for yourself! But I suppose I'll wait for your say-so."

Smirking, Erik glanced and thumbed at Astrid. "Let me introduce you three to my lovely wife, Astrid. I believe you met her shortly before."

They all looked at Astrid and felt the pure power roiling from her body, causing them to either gulp or become a little excited. Zahra's hand instinctively inched towards her throat, where Astrid had grabbed her before.

Nasir, still unable to look away from Astrid, steadied himself and returned to his usual cold tone. "If not to fight, then why are you here? Let me remind you, we might be wiling to fight, even if you are not…"